Treasures are everywhere!

You can find treasures anywhere and everywhere. She loves to go to Jungle Jims. Yesterday she found a mandarin. She carried it around the whole store, didn't want to give it up for checkout( she cried and cried till she got it back), carried it to the car through a torrential downpour and carried it into the house. I'm surprised she didn't sleep with it. 🍊

She's thriving with her mama. I see it in her laughter, her hugs and kisses, her squeals of laughter and screams of joy. Her little nonsense songs and her whispers.

We lovingly call it her mommyitis but when you're 20 mos old and you only see your mama 4 days a month, you cling to her for dear life. She doesn't want her out of her sight.

So harmful. Kids need both parents equally. No parent is better than the other. Both bring their own qualities to the table. And children need both to be healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Why don't folks see this?😢 But I tell you this, we will never give up. Never.

This is my life.

Most of my time is devoted to these two. In one way or another. My only daughter. My only granddaughter. The 4 days a month she gets to be with us we treasure. The days she's not with us, we're working on her case.

This little one brings out the best in both of us. I've never laughed so hard, so long, screaming laughing and just so full of joy when she's with us. She's just the funniest ever!

She's almost walking all by herself confidently, learning many words, colors and numbers in English and Spanish.

Her mama and I read with her, play games, play pretend, sing with her, walk with her, run with her, blow lots of bubbles with her, explore together, and so much more.

In spite of the custody battle which could go on for 16 years, she's so worth every second. We'll keep fighting the good fight. It's what good mamas and NanNans do. 💕

What?

So listening to a song yesterday "Love Travels" by Ceili Rain (you can find it on YouTube-they performed live last night in concert), this thought came to me. My Apple Dumpling was taken by her father very close to the day Mac passed away

Mac was very close to me and my daughter. Almost like a shadow. So concerned if we were upset or anxious. Wanting to always be close.

I feel like he left at the time he did because he has a new heavenly job-to watch over my Apple Dumpling as she is so far from us.

Call me crazy. (I've been called worse.😅) It just suddenly makes sense to me. I know they say our dog's spirits that have passed on are close to us. I think he's close to Apple Dumpling as we love her so much and he was such a guardian and protector.

I have no facts or evidence but I know my Mac. What do you think? Leave me some comments on your thoughts on it.

Whatcha got there, polar bears?

Yep, that's what they say. No one can imagine two 100lb big white dogs. One thing for sure, I feel safe with them here. Their big, deep bark lets folks know "NO TRESPASSING!".

I usually walk one at a time. At least for now as Princey is still young and distracted. Even walking with just one, heads turn when we walk by.

For big dogs they do walk pretty well on a leash and harness. If they didnt, I'd be flat on my face.

And it's not my first rodeo with big Pyrenees. I had 2 before them, Mary and Smokey. Brother and sister. But I'll save their story for another day. And yes, I walked them both together. And calamity followed. More another day....

They're really big lovable teddy bears. But get ready, here comes the season.

What season you ask? SHEDDING SEASON! Big white clouds everywhere. Inside. Outside. In your bed. On the couch. In the yard. On the table. Everywhere.

It's a trade-off. Big lovable body guards in exchange for drool (that's a whole other story) and SHEDDING.

I say YES! to the big, white, polar bear, shedding, drooling body guards. Job well done, my ever vigilant buddies!

Hug your buddies today and have a great weekend!

Hey, you're not a lawyer!

No I'm not. And neither is my daughter. But when you've exhausted all your resources, you gotta do whatever it takes.

It's really rough defending yourself in court. But it's possible. Many more folks do it than you would think.

You know your story best. You are impassioned with it. So now you need to study the law and it's processes. Not easy. Not at all.

But possible. There's many resources out there including lawyers themselves. Lawyer Wendy Hernandez has great videos as well as many others. There's Google, YouTube, Law libraries, support groups, Facebook pages and groups and on and on.

You just can't give up after a loss in court. You learn from every hearing, mediation, pre trial, trials, motions, decisions and more.

You keep and document everything, make good notes, take pics, anything you think might help your case.

You remain calm, collected, polite and respectful in all encounters in the courtroom.

You pray and pray and pray some more.

And you never, never, never give up. ❤. You keep on truckin, as Wendy Hernandez always says. I look at that face in the pic above. And know this Apple Dumpling-we will never, never, never give up!

Love this!

https://www.ktva.com/story/40113805/photos-dogs-of-iditarod-47

Look at all the happy faces. These dogs are doing what they love. ❤

Another pic of my Batgirls

Here's one more pic of them. We think from 2002 or 2003. Janie was smaller, more compact. Cheba was taller, leggier. I love them. So unique and full of life.

Remembering the Batgirls

Here's 3 more dogs from my past. The yellow lab is Buddy. Found as a stray on East Miami River Rd by my daughter and her friend, we fostered and trained him for 6 mos then found him a wonderful home. The 2 black dogs are the Batgirls.

Sisters found at a flea market by my daughter and her then boyfriend. Shepherd mixes rumored to be part coyote. Not sure of that but when I heard them bark, howl and yip, I couldn't be too sure.

Their ears look like batwings hence the name. They were close, probably closer to each other than to us. It was so neat because when they heard something, their heads would turn in sync. Started out in the same crate, later when we tried separate crates, they raised such a ruckus, we put them back in the same one together.

Sisters through and through. They would play and play and fight and fight. Usually not serious. One liked to cuddle with stuffies (Janie the smaller more calm, shy one) and one like to rip stuffies apart (Cheba the bolder, more assertive one).

Janie loved the water and would play in a 5 gallon bucket of water and jump into the baby pool. She also would catch anything you threw in midair. I taught her many things but High Ten was her best. She would jump up and put a paw in each of my hands. Janie was the more affectionate one.

Cheba on the other hand hated water, would chase things rolling on the ground and didn't do as well with tricks as her sister. Cheba was more independent.

They both hated fireworks and one 4th of July they got startled suddenly by a loud boom and crawled way under the deck. My daughter's boyfriend had to shimmy under the deck and pull them out. So ever after I would take treats out with me and practice desensitizing them to fireworks. As soon as one went off, I'd throw treats up and yell happily "Fireworks! Yay!". It really helped these two batgirls.

Sadly Janie passed away suddenly one evening. No warning. Left for training classes one evening and returned and she was gone. Cheba was left alone sisterless for the first time in her life.

I bought her some new stuffies to help cheer her and amazingly enough, she cuddled with them instead of ripping them apart. ??? She also took on a lot of her sister's traits like catching objects thrown and playing High Ten with me.

Very odd but I read that it is common for dogs that live together. When one passes on, the other will take on some of the deceased dogs traits. Interesting.

Cheba lived several more years. I tried to spend more time with her.  I know she missed Janie and now they're probably playing and fighting again in doggie heaven where every day is the very best day. 😇
I love my batgirls! ❤

Never stop.

I will never stop fighting for these two to be together at least 50% of the time. It's only right for many reasons.

The one big reason-this baby needs both parents equally. She needs to grow up knowing and loving both.

Four days a month does not allow for a fulfilling relationship with a parent. Especially when you are only 20 mos old. She was taken away wrongly and her best interests were not considered.

The case is still in litigation so I won't say a whole lot more. But I hope none of you ever end up in family court. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I really hope both parents can come together for the sake and life of Lydia and do what's best for her. It's not about mom. It's not about dad. Or even about grandparents. It's about Lydia. Period.

And anything but equally having both parents in her life is abuse in my eyes.

Sun shiney Sensay!

So here's another one of my dogs. She actually started out as my daughter's dog. She was dogsitting her for this lady and she never came back for her. She was just a wee pup at the time. So sad.

She was a shepherd/Rottweiler mix. Always happy. Always active. So much so that she popped open her spay incision twice. Loved her toys and chews.

That table she is posed on was her favorite place to perch. She was a big girl but gentle and sweet. I loved working with her. She was so smart.

Miss you big girl. Love your big smile. 💕

Grey is the new happy!

Walked this sweet girl yesterday at the Animal Adoption Foundation for their Walk A Hound program. She had just gotten there a few days ago so if she's not up for adoption yet, she will be. Her name is Grey.

They say she's a lab mix but I think some husky as she has a grey stripe down her back and a grey tail. She acts like a lab but is strong and muscular like a husky. She's absolutely beautiful!

Her personality is much like a lab. She is curious and alert. Tail always up and took treats easily. After a few laps around the trial she didn't pull as much. I had so much fun with her.

Come on out and see her. I think you will love this gorgeous girl! I do.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.....

Well there is no jury. Not in cases like this. Which is a shame. Custody cases are decided by a judge or magistrate. They are human after all. They can have bad days or a bad breakfast. And then you lose.

I can't go into detail about this as it's a pending case. And the fact that I was not in the court room. I ask my daughter if she wants me to come in. She always says she's adult and can handle it on her own. Commendable.

The baby's father always has either his mom or both parents come in with him. He's 45. And in my opinion not as mature as my daughter. Yesterday his mom kept wanting to say stuff to the judge in the hearing. She was shut down.

Which as it should be. It's between Lydia's parents. Period. I should not have a say either.

What I will say is I watched my daughter carry this baby for 8 1/2 mos, care for her alone for 15mos and she is the best mama ever. And she gets cast aside and disrespected by the baby's father and family like she's some random stranger off the street. She was even told by them not to cut her baby's hair.

So you know some of what we're up against.

The magistrate has scheduled them for mediation in April. I think that's good because they can hash it out in front of a neutral person. Unfortunately they aren't always neutral as we saw last go round. So we ask for your continued prayers. My daughter wants what's best for the daughter she loves so. I want the best for all so this nightmare can be over.

Facebook Memories-I love you and I hate you

Seems like Mac's pics pop up every day. Not their fault I took a lot of pics of him. I love seeing them. I forgot about a lot of them. It happens. Our lives get busy. Then on a dreary cold day, his cute face pops up. Makes me smile.

Also makes me cry. Sometimes I hate you Facebook memories. I think I'm done grieving. But no. Maybe I will always grieve him. That is till I see him again.

Do I believe that 100%? I dunno. But believing and thinking I will helps me in this life. His wiggly butt dance and enduring roooo rooo. The way he would "tap tap" me awake in the morning.

Guess who is "tap tapping" me awake now? Yep Princey. Maybe Mac is whispering to him to do that? Princey has also taken to sleeping on the same spot on the couch as Mac did. And jumping up when I move or get up from a chair. "Where ya going , mom? "Can I go too?" Mac did that all the time. Tulip-nah. She's her own dog.

She's independent and smart in her own right. Sleeps right up next to me. Love that sweet girl. She keeps Princey in line.

Have a great Monday! Enjoy all your dog's wiggly butt dances and following you everywhere. They aren't with us near long enough.

Spring in 16 days! (wiggly butt dance time) 🍀

Houston, we have a problem.

Bonus day! 2 posts in one day. I'm going to be busy working on the court case the next couple days. Hearing is Tuesday March 5th. Keep us in your prayers.

So here's the problem. Princey is almost 18mos old. Not neutered. First because he's a large breed. And it's wise to wait till at least 2yrs old till he's stopped growing. Second, I've read a lot of research and I'm still on the fence if I want to do that at all. He's always under my watchful eye. Always. He's super sweet and very bonded to me. I don't want to risk changing that.

Here's the problem. My next door neighbor just told me he's building kennels in his backyard and going to breed beagles. He has 2 breeding pairs. That's just great for him.

Not so great for me. And Princey. He already pays too much attention to them. I'm also afraid when Tulip hears the little pups crying, she'll go crazy because she was a mama several years ago. She still is very maternal.

Wow. Like I didn't have enough on my plate. I was trying to decide before he told me his plans about what different options I had to replace my aging fence. I guess that decision is a no brainer. Privacy fence all the way. Thanks, neighbor.

So we did this the other day....

Walk a Hound. What a great program at the Animal Adoption Foundation. You don't need any special  training, just sign up and show up. So my daughter and I signed up for the first time last Thursday. We were welcomed and given a treat apron, treats and poop bags and a dog to walk.

My daughter got to walk Jerry- pictures above. A joy to walk and they had so much fun. I got to walk Linus. A beautiful hound. He was somewhat skittish at first, warmed up and did well with me until we got around to the road. The noise was very scary for him. So as not to stress him further, they took him back and got me Sadie. Cute little mix who had just arrived a day or two before. A little unsure but a wonderful dog.

We all had fun and have signed up for next Thursday. It's just for a hour and it teaches the dogs a lot. And you get a lot of love in return.

Come join us. Go to their website and pick a date and sign up. They also have other levels of volunteer commitment you can do. They have orientation and training for each level. Check them out!

A well run, clean, force free, positive no kill shelter. Well done!

Sums it up

https://thebark.com/content/gift-great-dog

This story reminds me of my relationship with Mac. So I really love all my dogs. I've had many. But sometimes there's this special bond. Some are closer to you and just are your heart and soul.

Oreo was one of them. A beagle basset who had some issues. A big lug with thick soft ears and big jowls. Loved to lay in my lap even though he was over 70lbs. Funny, smart, endearing. Left this earth too soon.

Sage was another. Part wolf, part German shepherd, part mystical. My first encounter with wolf dogs. He was one of a kind. So many adventures together. I'll tell you more another time.

Then Mac. My chowpei. Unusual mix that people mistook as a dingo. He will be gone 6 mos next week. The pain is still as fresh as if it were yesterday. I find new pics I forgot about on Facebook memories almost every day. I have his ashes, collar and raincoat in my memorial corner with the others. But still grieving. Maybe I always will.

I have my Princey and Tulip. They are great comforts. Especially when they both jump into bed with their 100lb selves. I have to fight for room and covers. But I wouldn't trade them for anything. Most days😄.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend! Spring can not be far away.🍀