A Really Good Guy...

Life presents us with unexpected gifts and challenges. Yesterday, life challenged us in the biggest of ways as we said goodbye to our dear Logan. 

 

Horicon Marsh - July 2016

 

I can confidently say that Logan will remain in our hearts as the best guy ever... he was a gentle giant of epic proportion (11+ years with us and he never uttered a growl), a true lover of being a dog (hopefully super-serious Rollo learned a bit about the fun of being a dog from him), a zealous drinker at the water bowl (and carefree about actually swallowing what was in his mouth while walking away), a backyard explorer (we won't talk about what he spent a fair amount of time looking for), a fabulous hunter (watch out backyard rabbits and voles), enthusiastic squirrel chaser (of course he never got one, but he always remained optimistic), a little brother to our beloved Joey (we hope you're playing together again), a big brother to our dear Rollo (oh, how the tables turned with having a youngster in the house),  and (quite simply) he was just a really nice guy. The best guy, really.

 

Logan and Joey - June 2006

 

We love all of our dogs and they've all come from sorted backgrounds as rescues, but Logan defeated the odds when he came home with us in 2006 at 3 years old having just recovered from tapeworms and having a tumor removed from his tail. He was left at a dog show (ironically, a Siberian Husky show) and we weren't even at the humane society to look at him. Thankfully, they asked us to and he immediately followed Joey around the yard and then made the winner of all moves, he laid down and rolled onto his back at my feet. We never had a chance and I'm so grateful he chose our family. 

 

Logan, Rollo and Papa - Winter 2017

 

I posted on Instagram during my recent trip to Colorado that our Logan wasn't doing so well and I want to say thank you for all of the comments, messages and kind words - your kindness and love helped both Mike and I through a challenging time. He celebrated his 14th birthday this last February and we know we've been so very lucky to have had him with us this long. Logan had a rough few months and the last few weeks were the most difficult for our little family, and yesterday it was time to let go.  

 

Our merry band of idiots on the way home from the Green Day show in April.

 

Dearest Logan, we love you and miss you so very much. Thank you for being part of our family. Now, go drool all over Joey, chase those squirrels, and be sure to run to your heart's content (with plenty of unintentional somersaults). xoxo

A milestone birthday...

I've been fairly absent here on the blog, on Facebook, and Instagram lately. Rest assured, I'm alive and doing well... March is just a CRAZY month - it's still the "busy" season at Firefly Fibers (yay!), classes and knitalongs need to be planned and launched, Mr. Yarnista and I vended at Madison Knitters Guild (it's a ton of fun AND a ton of prep), we have several birthdays (including mine) to celebrate, the pesky taxes need to be done (are you groaning at this one, too?), and then Life decides to rear its (sometimes) ugly head at the most inconvenient times (you know, just to keep things interesting).

With all that had to be done in March, I set a deadline. Yesterday. I made it to the finish line (mostly) not exhausted - although our boys probably thought I ran away from home and hubby has been a bachelor for the last 2 weeks - and I'm pretty much caught up and even worked a bit ahead on some things. Whew! 

Why yesterday as a deadline? Well, today is my birthday and not just any birthday, it's a milestone - at 12:50PM CST, I'll be 40. There. I said it. 40. I remember thinking 40 was SO old, and maybe it is, but I think I'm feeling okay. So far.

 
 

I had a lovely trip to Door County last month with one of my most amazing gals and we had a fabulous time - a million thank you's to hubby for "manning" the shop so I could get away and not work for a couple days. My gal took this photo of me and it makes my heart smile so big. 

And, just because I love this photo from our Door County trip (I promise I will share all the details soon), I feel like sharing it, too... 

Getting away for a bit, made me realize that I need to make more time for "time off" and what better day for that, than my birthday?! 

With that.... let fabulous 40 begin! Today will be full of food, family (hopefully all of my boys remember me), relaxing, and maybe even some knitting (I hope I remember how to knit). I'm off to open birthday cards and a special birthday package from my dear cousin before we start our day. Hope you have a lovely day and relax a bit, too!

CHEERS!

Moments | It's a wrap...

It's New Year's Eve and as 2015 comes to a close, I'm really excited about 2016! I have plans (as always) and I'll be fine tuning and sharing details in the upcoming weeks - I can tell you that they include a new knitalong for us 2016. Thank you so much to everyone that participated in the Simple Knits and requested to do something similar again. It was so much fun knitting with you with a new wee project each month! We'll  wrap up things with a giveaway, so be sure to post your finished projects in our Ravelry thread if you haven't yet - I know things get busy around the holidays, so we'll go a few days into the New Year to give everyone a little more time to share your great projects with us!

I'm on the last bit of my holiday break and I can't express how elated I was when the snow came a few days ago. These guys were ecstatic too! 

 
 

Tonight, hubby and I will ring in the New Year at home with takeout and Netflix while I knit and go to bed at a way too early bedtime - possibly Rollo barking like mad at us, because that's what he's been doing today. LOL! Before I get to the chowing down and relaxing, I want to say thank you SO much for an amazing 2015 and here's to another fabulous year!

Cheers!