Mikita Head Tilt

I thought he was going to be 15 but his original owner, Mike H., corrected me that he was going to turn 16!  Wow, what a long life he had.

I can’t stress what a good dog he was.  Faithful, obedient, calm, happy, friendly, and loving – he didn’t have a mean bone in his body.  He had few health problems most of his life, until this past year when age crept up on him. He brought me so much happiness and love – I will truly  miss him.   Mikita loved him, too.  She would sometimes go up to him while he was sleeping and kiss his face then lay down next to him and go to sleep.  It was so sweet!

God bless you Jefferson. You were a great dog!

I’ve been spending this morning working on last minute emails and documents for the conference.  My Mikita has been right by my side waiting patiently for me to get done and spend quality ball time with her.  I’ll take a few breaks and entertain her since she’s been such an angel today. I’ve got iTunes cranked to my favorites songs and looking out the window at a spectacular gorgeous day.

I love putting events like this together.  While some days it’s no picnic the reward happens when it all comes together when everyone arrives.  There is an extremely talented team working together on all the details.  That’s also what makes it rewarding.  I’m blessed to work with awesome people.

The weather forecast for this week (as of this morning) was sunny and warm. Let’s keep our fingers crossed it stays that way.

Looking forward to meeting and seeing everyone in a few short days.

me, Mike Hyland at Hong Kong Disneyland, 5 months before Grand Opening

I can’t believe 5 years have passed. Since then I’ve been back to Hong Kong for another 2-month stint in 2006, spent 6-weeks in Paris in 2007, toured Madrid and Barcelona in 2007, been to 4 Super Bowls (7 total) and so much more (WDW Moms Panel, Disney Parks Blog, Twitter, Facebook, and so much more.)

Super Bowl XL in Detroit  and trying to look deep in thought in Paris 2007.

What kind of a mom would I be if I didn’t bring out the baby photos!?! (Please don’t click away – these are worth seeing and there’s not very many of them.)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jefferson. Total action shot!!

Here’s a photo of Ashley- my very first dog. She lived to be 14 years old and was quite a girl! She was an awesome dog.

And then came Mikita in December 2007.

And following Mikita’s arrival was the re-friendship with Mike.

I’ve had some really wonderful life moments shared with you here on the blog. I’ve been struggling lately trying to figure out where it goes from here. I have to be honest, I’m confused with all the advice I read on blogging and the “rules” they establish for bloggers and realize I don’t fit into this realm, based of what they consider the “right” way to blog. I blog about everything in my life – my dogs, my man, my friends, my work life, my home life… everything. Yet the “experts” say I should have a niche and focus. This thinking has me all confused and wondering if I should even continue on.
But I will. I enjoy this, even if it’s not what a blog expert says it should be. I hope you continue to read my blog. It will be what it has been for the past 5 years – a blog about my life. A blog about what I do, who I am, what makes me happy. I don’t write this for advertisements so I have no guiding light other than my heart. I hope you continue to stop by once in awhile and enjoy what you see.

Location:  Orlando, Florida

Outside Temperature:  68-degrees

Water Temperature:  57-degrees

Dogs say:  Let’s Swim!

Mom says:  Not me!

Gotta get the ball out of the water.

I can get to it this way.

I’m going in.

Got it!

Ah – Let’s do it again – about 30-times!

Happy Sunday everyone.

]]> http://leanneslife.com/2010/02/21/the-first-swim/feed/ 2 http://leanneslife.com/2009/11/04/wordless-wednesday/ http://leanneslife.com/2009/11/04/wordless-wednesday/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:27:59 +0000 Leanne http://leanneslife.com/?p=857 My Canine Wordless Wednesday

And this is how the day ends.

So, today was that shopping day.  I hit DSW Shoes, Off Broadway Shoes, Stein Mart, Ikea, Petco, and Marshalls. 

The coolest thing I got and probably the most fiscally responsible (read cheapest) was this napkin holder. I know! A napkin holder! But just look at how cool it is. It’s from Ikea. The napkins (also from Ikea)  lay on top of a black plate and there’s a weighted arm that holds them in place. I love it!  (P.S. Hey, did you  notice the awesome photo in the background?)

The biggest purchase of the day was my 4 new pairs of shoes.  Yes – 4 pairs! For you shoe-nistas I am so going to disappoint you. I buy frugally and purchase based on 1) comfort 2) usability 3) need  and lastly 4) fashion.   Don’t come here expecting to see me in Jimmy Choos – it ain’t gonna happen.

But I am excited about these pretty shoes:

The photo doesn’t do them justice.  They’re really dark black suede pumps and look amazing on my feet.  I got some really fun shoes today between DSW and Off Broadway. 

Back to cool stuff – I also got a pretty new duvet  from Ikea.  It’s really lovely in person. 

One last note, nothing to do with shopping.  The other exciting thing that happened this weekend was Mikita jumping into the pool all by herself, no pushing by me or Mike.  Last year she learned to swim.. this year she’s learning to jump in alone.  Yea for Mikita!

Shawnie 1990 - 2009

If there was ever the “sweetest cat ever” – that title went to Shawnie.  She constantly purred and loved sitting in laps.  She was never sickly and lived a very long, happy life.  Nineteen years is a pretty  long time – we were lucky to have her for so long.

My mom is obviously taking it very hard.  For the past five years or so Shawnie has been at moms side – sleeping next to or on top of her every night.  I last saw Shawnie yesterday and it was obvious her time was coming. She looked awful and was having a hard time walking. I’m glad I got to say good-bye yesterday.  She is in a good place now.

Shawnie & Mikita sharing dinner