Back again?

Wow!  What happened while I was away?  Everything looks different on Blogger's "Compose" page.

I'm playing around with the idea of blogging again.  The important words here are "playing around".  Since I don't know where this will go, I am not announcing my return to anyone.  Shussshhhh... it's a secret!

Blogger is not the only thing that has changed since the last time I posted.  I have changed and so has my family.

I have less parts.

In June, I went to the ER at 4:00 in the morning.  I had awakened at 3:00 for a bathroom break, and by the time I got back to bed, I knew something was really wrong.  Over the course of about two minutes, I went from sleeping like a baby to flailing all over the house like a wild animal.  It was amazing!  I felt like I was a bull snake who had, somehow, swallowed a coyote.  A big, whole coyote.  And I needed to get that coyote out NOW!  We live pretty close to a hospital, so Mr. Carol For Peace drove me over there in the dark of the night and after a few writhing hours and many cries for my mommy, I finally got some pain meds.  It ended up that a part of my large intestine had flipped and twisted.  Two days later, about 18 inches of my intestine was taken out.

Now I am a new woman.  I am better than I've been in decades.  That surgery needed to happen and no one knew it.  I didn't know that I could be so grateful for a coyote-bulging gut and a resulting vertical scar down the middle of my belly!


I don't have a Buddha buddy.

A little over two months after the coyote extraction, my sweet, sweet, bestest buddy, Buddha died at the ripe old age of nearly 15.  It's been less than three months and my heart still hurts.  I still cry at everything sweet or sad or loving or anything.  I am still a wet noodle.  I can't believe he's gone.  WHERE DID HE GO???

Buddha was the best.

I have a button that sits at the base of my monitor.  A friend gave it to me a couple of years ago.  It says, "What Would Buddha Do?"  It probably isn't referring to a beloved dog.  But every time I see it, I remember what Buddha (the dog) would do.  He would be loyal.  He would be happy and enthusiastic and patient and flexible and accepting.  He would jump up and down with excitement when someone came to the door.  He would like everyone.

And he would love to hike.


I have been able to nurture some of those qualities within myself.  Still working on the art of jumping up and down when someone appears at the door, though.

Dear Buddha - I will always love you.