SNOW DAY!!!!!

The weather man has ALWAYS been wrong in the past but he pulled through this morning! I awoke to Josh waking me to tell me that all Little Rock schools were out. So at 7 this morning, I was doing the roger rabbit dance in our bedroom. The only downside is that we were NOT prepared to be "shut-in" and Josh and I are going crazy! There is nothing on TV and we have no movies to watch...maybe I'll make a cake! That will be perfect for my "Staying Thin, in 2010" diet plan! If anyone else if off work today due to snow.....good for you! Relax and have a wonderful 3-day weekend!

Christmas Puppy

My mother-in-law has been wanting a puppy for as long as I can remember and so I decided that for Christmas we would get her a puppy. I went down to the Little Rock Animal Shelter (that's where we got Koen) and found this precious Shepherd Lab Mix. He was only about 8 weeks old and he was soooo tiny! Josh and I kept the puppy at our home for almost 2 weeks before Christmas and it was wonderful and of course I got attached and cried when we actually had to give the puppy to Brenda. Brenda was extremely surprised and absolutely LOVED the puppy! Keith (my father-in-law) loved the little dude to! I failed to mention that the little guy didn't get off to a good start with having worms, mange, and a bacterial mouth infection. After Christmas, the puppy kept getting worse and developed kennel cough which turned into Phenomia. It broke my heart that we gave Brenda a "sick" puppy but he was just so cute and I wanted to save him from the shelter. On my little sister's birthday (January 9th) I got the call from my mother-in-law that she had to put the puppy down because he had Distemper. Distemper is a contagious, incurable, often fatal, multisystem viral disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems of dogs. Young puppies between 3 and 6 months old are most susceptible to infection and disease and are more likely to die than infected adults. So I am very sad to report that the puppy didn’t make it and it was heartbreaking. He is in doggie heaven now, but I can assure you that he had the best last weeks of his life with a loving family! I think that Brenda and Keith will be getting another puppy later on this Spring when it’s not so cold outside…. So the whole reason for this story is this…I told my mother-in-law that she needed to call the shelter and let them know about the puppy. The shelter is reimbursing us for not only the adoption fee but for ALL his doctors visits! Can you believe it…I was totally shocked! Maybe Brenda cried to them over the phone and they felt really bad. It’s about $580 something that Josh’s parents and we spent on this pup. RIP Moses! 

Recovery

Mom's surgery went very well and now Mom's in the recovery stage. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Now she just has 6 weeks of "recovery" time and Dad and Lori will be wonderful nurses! Ashley has gone back to Gainesville and I am back home in Little Rock and just about back to normal. I still haven't completely unpacked from Miami and dread doing it. We have a MOUNTAIN of laundry to do and no detergent. Off to Walmart I go tomorrow! It's past my bedtime but I just wanted to give the update on Mom...

Mom's Surgery

I am about to board the plane to head back to Bentonville and I just wanted to say a quick prayer for my mom.  Any surgical procedure is a time of tension, fear and hope that the surgery will cure the problem and I know my mom is very ancious to get back to her normal life.  I believe that she is waiting to undergo surgery at the moment and I know it's a time of anxiety for the whole family.

"Dear God, please be with Mom during her back surgery this morning.  Please hold her in your arms as her body is Your creation and she needs you.  Calm her fears and guide the surgeon’s hand that is going to change her back, and may she heal and function better after this is all over with. In your Holy precious name, Amen.”

Rude People = Miami

So I finally got to check in my room this afternoon and as soon as I did, I changed out of my "travel clothes" and took the $10 round trip shuttle to the Dolphin Mall. That place let me tell ya is HUGE! I had about 2 hours to shop and of course I didn't even make it around to even half of the stores. They had this really cute store similar to Forever 21 but even cheaper!!!! It was called Love Culture? Never heard of it but I loved it! I will tell you what I didn't love.....the people! The last time I checked, Florida was a part of the south but I guess southern hospitality doesn't apply in Miami. These people are extremely RUDE! First, about 90% of the people here are from different countries and don’t speak good English (or pretend not to speak English). I got turned around in the mall and asked a lady who runs one of those booths in the middle of the mall (you know the ones that try to sell Proactive face wash and cheap jewelry…) Anyway, I asked her where the food court was located and as she rolled her eyes and said “No speak English” (in perfectly good English I might add). Now how are you going to have a booth and harass people into buying hair straighteners, but not know how to speak English? RUDE! People just run into and walk in front of you without ever saying excuse me….I don’t know, Miami has just rubbed me the wrong way. Let’s just say I probably won’t be back to visit anytime soon. Tomorrow morning I am free to roam again and then the conference starts at 1pm. It’s supposed to be pretty tomorrow and there is a marketplace area within walking distance so I’ll probably go there in the morning. I am about to hit the hay due to my early start today. Plus I’m an hour ahead here and it’s 10pm. Past bed time!

Miami FL

This morning Dad took me to the airport at the butt crack of dawn for the flight to Miami.  The hotel didn't tell me that check-in wasn't until 3pm so I am sitting here in the lobby waiting on a room at the moment.  It's raining (there goes my tan!) and the closest shopping area is a $35 to $40 taxi ride away.  There is a shuttle here that is $10 for a round trip to the mall but I can't get on there until 3:50pm and it's only 2:20pm so I am officially BORED and STARVING!  Oh well, no use in complaining!  I have nothing planned for tonight and tomorrow my conference is from 1pm-5pm and then I'm done and I go home.  Pretty quick trip so I'll just sit back and relax!

Today the Lassiter girls woke up at the butt crack of dawn and took Mom to get her pre exam work done at the hospital.  Afterwards we went to Borders and got Mom the Inflamation Diet Book that the doctor requested Mom get on after her surgery.  I love coming home and spending time with my family!  I'm always so sad when I have to leave.  I'll be home again soon though, hopefully.  I will be flying out to Miami on Sunday morning from XNA and returning Tuesday for work.  Short trip and I've never been to Miami before.  Hopefully it will be nice weather...maybe I'll get a tan :) 

Home Sweet Home

I know you were all wondering about me :) I haven't blogged in FOREVER and I promise to write more often...I've just been busy and I was sick for about two weeks so anyway...I'm back now! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! So my New Years Resolution was not to eat ANY candy for a whole year and what am I doing right now....ohh eating some lemon heads and nerds. I am SO weak! It's only January 14th! Terrible I know! I did however tell myself that I was going to start drinking more water and less soft drinks and I'm doing great at that. I'll work on the candy :)


I just got home to Bentonville last night so we could have our family Christmas. It was the only time that Ashley could come home from Gainesville so I waited to take vacation when she would be home. All us chick-a-dees are under one roof for a few days and Mom and Dad are happy! I haven't written about my Mom yet on here....she hurt her back before Christmas and it turns out that she has a bulging disk and will need surgery. We took her to the doctor today and scheduled her surgery for next Tuesday, January 19th. Mom is scared to death, but she'll be pain free after the surgery and she will be able to move around better. Please keep her in your prayers! We put her in the wheelchair today at Sams and wheeled her around. It's the first time she's been to Sams in weeks and that it a total shocker! You know that she's really hurting when she doesn’t go to Wal-Mart or Sams Club 5 times in one week, but she will be better soon and Lori and Dad will be wonderful nurses during her 6 week recovery time! In the meantime I will continue to do the chores around the house for my mother and wash clothes everyday! Just kidding mom, but seriously you do the laundry way too often! Love you!