Our Gidget

Yesterday was a sad day when I had to say good-bye to our family dog, Gidget. She had been a part of the Metcalf clan for about 13 years, I don't think my youngest daughter remembers life without her. Our oldest daughter had "found" her on the way home from school and begged to be able to keep her. She was so small she could not even get up the stairs of our house. For me it was not love at first sight. I knew she would get big and having a dog was a big deal for our small home. I wish I had more pictures of her when she was that small... but that was before we owned digital camera's so all I have are the hard copies. Maybe one day I will scan them into the computer.

My children quickly fell in love with Gidget, and she and her ever shedding fur became a permanent fixture in our home. She was the best running partner when I ran the trails of the mountains close to our home. Never venturing too far from me... keeping a good pace.
She was a smart dog... many times I would find big bags of dog bones in the back yard, I'd ask my husband why he left the entire bag in the yard after he bought them. He would say... he never purchased them. One day our neighbor came over to explain that Gidget had been escaping our back yard... going into his garage when it was open and stealing the bag of dog bones! What a crazy dog!

Kaitlyn and Gidget

I was hoping that she could make it through the summer, but it became painfully clear that this was not going to happen. It was evident the last few weeks we had her that her ability to move was fading. The stairs to get to the yard were too much for her. I feared she would fall when we were not around and be hurt. Gidget always seemed happier in the winter. She would roll in the snow and chase it when we snow blowed... summer was not her season, too hot with her big black coat.
Bill and I drove her to the vets... he had us lay her under a tree by the office. He didn't want her scared, and Bill and I agreed. She laid her head on my lap and slowly feel to sleep. After she was gone, we covered her with a blanket. I will miss her so much.
We had fireworks last night in the neighborhood, our city's founders day. Gidget hated fireworks. It was weird to not have her barking and whining, I'm sure at the next thunderstorm I will feel the same, she hated them too.

She will be missed

Let the Craziness Begin

I few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me to join his Wasatch Back Relay team. For those if you that are not familiar with this race here is a link that will explain what it's all about. Anyway my friend had a team member drop out due to injuries and needed a replacement.
After my last years experience I had thought to myself that this race would be just a once in a life time thing. But like so many times in my life the clouds of forgetfulness fog my brain and I agreed to join their team. Let alone, there have been a few co-workers talk to me about joining a 2010 team! We runners need to plan our torture well in advance. And I have surprisingly agreed to join them yet again. I have been contemplating what chemical I'm missing in my brain that makes me think this will be something I will want to do another time?
So I will venture out this Friday and Saturday with this team and hope I can run my parts without slowing the team too much. I'm glad they are not competitive, I don't think I could do it with them if they were. But you still don't want to be the weak link.
I will try to take some pictures and if I survive I will post my 09 report of how things went. But until then... pray for me that I will come through without too much more damage to myself.

Fairy Updates

So here are some updated picture of the fairy that I have been working on. She is painted and partially clothed. The bottoms are the color her outfit will be. I just tied the top across her chest for modesty :).

Here you can see the back of the boots I sculpted and the back of her bikini bottom, not much too it but I thought her bottom was so nice I had a hard time covering it.

On other angel of the front of her. You can see her body details and the front of her bikini bottom.

Here you can see the fronts of the boots. They have swarovski crystals in the front. So let me know what you think of her so far. I really need to get myself busy and finish her up. My mind has already started to think of the new things I want to create, so I know it's time to be done with her. Wish me luck that I can complete her soon :)

Love

I found this quote somewhere I can't remember now; and had saved it to post. I forgot about it, then found it again, so I'm posting it now. I have been married for almost 29 years, my oldest daughter has been married for 10, and now my oldest son will be celebrating his first year of marriage this weekend. So to all of you I dedicate this quote.... Love you all!

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

- Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

"Love is the beauty of the soul." --St. Augustine