That pretty much sums up my last week.  I wanted to come visit yesterday but I just didn’t have the opportunity.  A good blogger has some posts in the vault for just such occasions, but I never claimed to be such.  I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am basically winging it!   I have given up being organized until the kids get back to school.  This post, in fact, is in fact a good example of my being all over the place and lacking focus. 

For anyone who’s been following the real estate market either out of macabre curiosity or because you are currently buying or selling, I had a significant spike in real estate phone calls over the last week and lots of showings this weekend.  All the houses we looked at were decent too!  Minimal mold, no intentional damage, etc.  It was the first time in a while I felt optimism with regards to that part of my life.

Did anyone else cry during Opening Ceremonies?  Ever since I was a kid I have just been overwhelmed when it comes to the Olympics.  The sense of unity and all forces, friend &foe coming together for this one event… the overall “community” spirit… THEN there are the Olympic Athletes… people who reached for the stars and and are achieving their dreams right before our eyes.  WOW!  It’s just such an amazing glimmer of hope and inspiration, especially when trying times might make you forget the endless opportunities available to us.  Anyway, I have had to start taping the Olympics because it was hijacking my days!  As powerful as it is, it wasn’t inspiring the towels to jump out of the baskets and fold themselves so we had to set some limits!

Lastly, and what’s been keeping me the most distracted is Poor Cheese.  The antibiotics were not enough and his poor little body was overwhelmed with infection.  Over the weekend the mattery stuff sealed his eyes shut so that he couldn’t see to walk around to eat or drink.  We put some warm compresses on his eyes which helped momentarily but they sealed right back up.  His tummy never healed and one side of his face was and body was swollen.  So we took him to the vet who agreed he was in a lot of pain and would not bounce back.  The kids knew that we were likely putting Cheese to sleep at that visit and when our vet explained everything to them they both put smiles on their somber faces, gathered around him, put their hands on him and told him what a good boy he was.  No tears.  While we waited through his procedure they laughed and reminisced, “Remember that time Cheese broke out of his cage and we found him asleep, sitting up, under the couch?”  But when our Vet returned with him wrapped in a little blanket in his cage the floodgates opened.  The twisted matted hamster we sent to the surgery room didn’t look like Cheese.  But released from the pain and in peace, there he was.  Our Cheesie.  Dad buried him in the back yard marked and his spot with a headstone.  “RIP CHEESE” it says.    It was plain that everyone missed him last night because night time before bed is our hamster play time and feeding time.  So our routine had a hole in it but everyone went to bed feeling that they took good care of him and satisfied they did all they could. 

A tough thing for them to see, for sure, but a good lesson about an important part of life.  I hear so many people say that it is for these reasons that they don’t get attached to pets or maybe don’t get pets at all because it hurts too much to let them go.  But I think that building those bonds when we are young and having to suffer through the heartbreaks on that level could play an important part in preparing for the future and relationships with people that we love and lose later in life. 

So that’s it.  My busy week.  What have you been up to?