Flying a Flag

To: My friends who aren't American or really don’t understand the American government and some things that I believe set America apart from the rest of the world and also make it the oldest continuous government in the world.

Uncle Eric

Eric Raymond Johnson

Born: January 18^th 1965
Died: February 25^th 2015

Putting my fingers to the keys, I’m at first just tapping away without any words forming. I’m not sure I can do this…I've thought about doing this for four days now…ever since that call…that call from my mother that I almost didn't take because it was late, I was tired, and my husband had just gotten home from his long day away and we were still just catching up. But I answered.

Best Friends Part V

This is where the multi-dog household really comes in. It wasn't until we had four dogs in the house that I really began to understand this. At first, with my boys and Hershey, it was all fine. Dare and Da’shain are so chill with other dogs, that I didn't realize that Hershey, well, she doesn't quite understand dog manners, like the “leave me alone, I don’t wanna play with you” cues. And Cash, well….he was a touchy little guy….still is, sometimes.

Dear Daddy

Dear Dad,

A lot can happen in twelve years, sometimes it seems life slows down as you get older, fewer things happen, but, looking back, that doesn't seem so true.

Ferguson Burning

Monday, November 24^th my husband and I stayed up entirely too late watching Ferguson burn. We watched reports of which businesses were burning, how many firemen couldn't keep up with how many fires and how many cops were on the streets. We also listened, hoping for more information on why. Not more information on why Ferguson was burning, that I understood, even as I didn't agree with it. More information on why the Grand Jury hadn't indicted Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown.

NaNo T-Minus 2 Days

The past few days leading up to NaNo have been spent trying to flesh out my story (without actually writing about it). A LOT more difficult than it sounds. What am I supposed to do, just write it all in my head and then come back and put it “on paper” in a week (now three days?). Doesn’t fly, or at least not well. And now that I’m in the mood to write, it’s like the words just won’t stop. I've yet to decide if that’s actually good.

Rescue Volunteering

As I prepare for bed tonight I realize that this will be our last night with our latest foster, Dio. Dio marks the sixth foster dog we've had, the fourth that we've seen through to adoption (we adopted our second foster and another just didn't work out). While I am so happy to be able to foster these amazing dogs I’m also left with the fact that it breaks my heart to see them go.