You Can't Teach an Old Bitch New Tricks

Let me introduce Isabella (formerly Betty Poop). Isa was living in San Diego with D's cousin Lena and her beautiful kids. Unfortunately Lena's painful schedule did not allow for a puppy so D and I adopted her on our way out of town a few weeks ago.

But I am getting ahead of myself. After we returned from OR we began scheduling trips for Jen to come visit us as per the court order. The first attempt we made we ran into a road-block from Jen's mom. It was amazing. Here we had left court not a few days earlier after coming to a mutual agreement and she was already denying the visitation. After a few emails from D reminding her of the court ruling we finally settled on our first visit. It is so exciting. We are currently attempting to schedule Thanksgiving, I imagine I will be here again letting you know how difficult it can be...

While we were in OR we received a call from D's mom telling us that Grandpa Berry had been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer that is inoperable. This was (is) heartbreaking news. They have given him two months to be with us. So D and I decided that we should jump in the car and drive down to see Grandpa the weekend after returning home from OR. We left around 2 in the afternoon on Friday and arrived late that night. We spent most of Saturday hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Berry at their home. Grandma cooked for us (she is awesome) and we played with the kids and chatted up Grandpa. D's brother and sister-in-law, Eric and Gia, were also there visiting but we didn't get a lot of time with them this trip.

That night after Grandpa was ready for bed D and I took Lena, her three kids, Lori (another cousin) and Andrew to dinner. We had a great time laughing and being silly. I was surrounded by such lovely kids, I really enjoyed it.

The next morning I sat with Sandy and had coffee before we left to drive home. I ALWAYS enjoy those mornings with my second mom, we can talk for hours, even if we don't agree on everything, and still have a great time. She is such a loving woman, I am thankful that she and I get along so well.

After we were all packed and ready to go Sandy and I were kind of chatting our way out the door when she mentioned that Lena needed a home for her puppy and I jumped on it. We called Lena and 20 minutes later I had Isa in my lap and we were heading home. She did OK in the car, peed on me twice, but I survived.

Now she is a fixture in our home. She comes to work with D and I every day, then comes home to play with her 3 new siblings till bed time. She is loving the back yard, her private bedroom and her new wardrobe. I just adore her!