The giant brown moron

I know you're all probably curious. You're thinking "I wonder what that big brown puppy looks like these days?"

So here you go. Recent-ish (if a week or two ago counts as recent in puppy days, which it really doesn't) pictures of Ruby and the boys in their backyard spa. Which is now only a two-ring pool instead of a three-ring pool thanks to Ruby and her exuberant love for swimming.

We usually swim at our town's little aquatic center complete with slides, lazy river and baby pool. But since it was 137 degrees out a few weeks ago, I succumbed to swimming at 7:00 at night in our blow-up pool.

These are tough days. I'm not gonna lie. My husband is sick and it's been hard on us all. Except that the kids and the dogs don't seem to mind much, so maybe it's just been hard on me and him. Mostly him, in the physical sense, and me in the I-have-to-do-everything-so-I'm-tired-and-worn-out-and-can't-complain-because-it-is-what-it-is-and-it-could-be-worse sense.

Did you catch that?

Today we spent the day at the hospital for a fun-filled round of tests that involved anesthesia and scoping. We suspected he has an autoimmune disease so we're hoping for a diagnosis. He's lost almost forty pounds in the last two months. I've done what I could and picked up ten of those (at least in bloating, if not in actual numbers) but we're at the point now where it's not a good side effect anymore and it needs to stop. No one likes the heroine chic look, except for heroine users.

Sadly, all of the blood test and the scopes were inconclusive. So we soldier on with a CAT scan and possible camera pill.

My days are a back-to-back drill of task upon task upon task. I feel like I'm simply moving from one task to the next. Wake up, dress everyone for the day, breakfast, school, work, school, play, feed, bathe, bedtime, collapse. Throw in the exuberant brown moron and her half-blind elderly sister who need two walks a day and you have me about to commit myself to an assylum so I can take a break.

Tomorrow I'm taking a break. I'm going golfing with my mom. And hopefully out to lunch at the club, if I'm lucky.

Don't worry. I know this is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, and time will move us along to a better place one day. I know gajillions of other people have problems way worse than these, and are way more overworked and exhausted. B this is my party, so I'm crying cause I want to.

- H