Sadness and Beauty and Smells

First... Mom and Dad had to have Snickers euthanized yesterday. I haven't talked to them yet... but, I followed the day's events on Mom's survivor web site. It sounds like the time had come. I know that it has been an agonizing week for them. I pray that they will find peace and comfort in knowing that Snickers is now at peace and suffering no longer. Mom wrote that she is finding reminders of Snickers all over the house today. I wrote back that we found Oscar poop for months! LOL!! And, just a couple of weeks ago when I pulled a comforter out of the attic to put on James' bed, we found more Oscar hair. At first, the reminders will make you cry... eventually they will make you laugh and smile about the time that you had here with her. I'm not sure when that transition actually occurs, but it does.

On a related note, I am still investigating the option of adopting a Great Pyrenees dog. Really, the big thing standing in the way of it right now is not having a fence in the backyard. I've been e-mailing back and forth with a lady involved in the GP Rescue group. She's been very helpful... sending documents, answering questions. I just really want to have a dog. That is what it comes down to. I want the kids to have a dog... and I want a dog. We'll see what happens.

It is an absolutely beautiful day. It was in the low 60s this morning when we got up. Right now it is in the low 70s with a nice, light breeze blowing. The sky is so blue... It really feels like fall.

Isn't it funny how certain smells can take you back to a certain moment in time? Yesterday, we were out on our daily "get James to sleep" drive. It was pretty nice, so we had the windows in the truck down. I smelled a smell that reminded me of the first few days of school when I was in elementary... mown grass. But, not freshly mown grass. Grass that has been sitting out in the sun for a day or so. Of course, I can't adequately describe it because it is a smell. Anyway, the elementary that I went to had no air conditioning. So, we would always get this mown grass smell wafting in on the first few weeks of school, when it was still hot.

This morning, I smelled a smell that reminded me of mornings at college. I went in to the bathroom and smelled the fresh air from open windows / shower / soap / shampoo smell mixture. It took me right back to Oakwood Hall... a mere 15 years ago. I mean 15 years! And the elementary school smell was... dare I say 30 years ago!?! How can smells be such triggers to memories?

Gotta run... Amanda needs some cuddle time...