You Raise Me Up

The last few days have been rough here at LTHS.  Tears have been shed, bonds have been formed (some faster than others), and time marches on.

Thanks to Connie, Susan, Audrey, and Dianna, who listened to me sort everything out during my rambling phone calls, we have turned a corner. 

I know many of you know that Miss Kylee is ill with congestive heart failure, but I'm happy to report that she is doing much better thanks to some adjustments to her medications!

When I decided to end my blog I was overwhelmed with an older sick dog, and a new puppy who wasn't exactly welcomed into the pack at first by a certain Mr. Quinn.

I was in tears at the thought of having to take this sweet face back to the breeder.  It's amazing how one little puppy can steal your heart in such a short time.

And I think I was just overwhelmed in general by trying to keep too many plates spinning in the air.  When you do that, some are bound to come crashing down, and they did last weekend.

Your emails, offers of help, and prayers made all the difference for all of us.  I'm happy to report that everyone is now fine in this family of 4 plus 3 dogs, so Misty is here to stay!!!

I also realized some things over the past 5 days...I'm not superwoman.  I don't have a cape or cool gold bracelets and I can't be all things to all people.  I have to take care of my pets first and foremost right now, so blogging will be a sideline, not my life as it's been for the past 10 months.

I think that those of us who enjoy and take pride in our blogs (and I would have to say that that is 99.9% of those who do blog) sometimes find ourselves a little stressed and stretched.  We want to reply to each and every comment and feel guilty when we can't...even hunting to try and find someone's email address when we get the no-reply comment thing.

We put pressure on ourselves to craft, create, and produce quality posts...sometimes at the expense of ourselves.  We try diligently to visit other bloggers and comment on their wonderful posts, even when we don't necessarily have the time.

But this face needs me, and so do the other two furry faces in my family at the moment.  So I will try and undo the past almost 47 years of woman training.  The training that makes some of us put ourselves last and feel bad for not being able to be all things to all people.

I came to all of this because you all have raised me up over these past few days and reminded me that you won't be upset if I can't comment on every post you write, even if I do read them.  That you'll still be ok if I don't post as often...because you are me, you've been in my shoes, and you understand! 

Your wonderful emails and comments let me know this...so thank you to each of you for that wonderful support!!!

Mr. Tide is an amazing man, and when I shut down my blog he asked me why I was doing it.  I told him that I needed to concentrate on real life at the moment and although he knew it was true, he said "but you love doing your blog, so I think you should reconsider and just not post as much."

I was adamant that if I couldn't do it all the way, full force, and put everything I had into it then what was the point?!  Can you say "Type A" to the max?!

I mean the holidays are coming, there are things to be done and a lot on my plate right?!

And then I got a lovely package in the mail today.  I had been expecting it and was anxiously awaiting its arrival from Wales.  I had purchased these lovely handmade tags from my dear friend Sam's Etsy Shop!

Sam, who also has the wonderful blog The Nest,  had sent me an email letting me know that she had shipped these wonderful tags, which I can't wait to use on a special tree this year, and she also said there would be a little surprise coming as well.

An early Christmas present of sorts, and she told me that the surprise wouldn't be for me...so of course I was intrigued and couldn't wait for the package to arrive.

When I got home this afternoon there was the package waiting in my mailbox.  I raced inside to see what the surprise might be.  Inside were the lovely tags I had ordered and several packages wrapped in brown paper.  There was also a sweet handwritten letter from Sam telling me that when her children, Seth and Lily, had seen the pictures of Misty they wanted to send her something.

The note went on to say that they couldn't just send Misty something without sending something for Miss Kylee and Mr. Quinn. 

So there they were...three packages with darling handwritten tags from kind and caring children who had never met my dogs, or me!

There was a pig for Mr. Quinn, that actually sounds like a pig when you squeeze it!

And a duck for Miss Kylee, which sounds just like a duck!

The last package was for little Misty Belle.  It was a soft furry duck or maybe it's a goose, who cares which it is, all I know is it was the cutest, softest puppy toy I'd ever seen in my life!!!

It brought tears to my eyes and for the first time in 5 days I felt like everything was going to be ok...not just ok, but back to normal.

Some people may unfollow, or not comment, or even get mad when I can't reply or visit their blogs, but you know what, that's ok!  I have this face...

And this face to remind me that true friends are there no matter what, they truly do raise you up when you need it, and they are unconditional with their support and love.  It took two wonderfully generous children, (thank you Lily and Seth), who are miles away from me, and a deluge of support from wonderful blogging friends and my family to remind me of how very fortunate I am! 

I have also had some dear friends and fellow bloggers offer to guest post in order to keep the cobwebs at bay here on LTHS while I'm off tending the home fires...and I can't wait to see what wonderful things they'll create!

So if you're feeling a little stressed out, over taxed and guilty due to blogging...I highly recommend getting a puppy...it works wonders!  But if you aren't really up for the whole puppy thing, just learn to let some of it go, and wait to see who raises you up...it will amaze and surprise you, I promise!

Until whenever my friends...