10/7

Today we woke for school in anticipation of Ry's very first school field trip. Excitement was in the air. She put on her school shirt and we all headed for school. The school bus was waiting in the parking lot. This was to be her first school bus ride!

I dropped off Kai in his class and took Ryenne to hers. Cruz and I then went and picked up Gams to follow us to the mall. My iMac started acting crazy the other day and I needed to have it looked at. Turns out that the repair is so costly I just decided to get a new one. The old one is, after all, about 6 years old and slow. I couldn't have Photoshop and Lightroom open at the same time. I was very bummed about this because money doesn't grow on trees and I almost cried handing over the money.

But then I thought to myself the positive sides of this - A) I just had a wedding and thankfully CAN buy this computer without using a credit card and B) it will make my workflow so much faster. Both computers are at Apple right now getting the files transferred from the old one to the new one.

On the way out of the mall, we saw Ry's class leaving Build-A-Bear. It was absolutely adorable.

When I picked up the kids from school I heard all about Ry's great day - they built a class animal at Build-A-Bear, went to have lunch at Zilker Park, and rode the train. Plus the schoolbus ride was an added bonus.

So those are the mundane happenings of today. Now to turn another direction....

As many of you know, I have had a lot of issues with my dog Chico. Peter and I discussed the life that Chico is living right now. He bites our children and he basically wakes up, get's put outside, fed, and then back in the laundry room at the end of the day. I am not happy that this is his life. I am not happy that my dog, the dog who was like my child before I had kids, lives this life. I'm not happy with the anger and hurt I harbor to him. How I look at him and love him, but yet I hate him when he hurts my child. It's just not healthy. And now that Winter will be coming and Cruz is starting to crawl (almost) it is just not safe to have Chico.

I had made an appointment today to talk to the vet about putting him down. Actually the appointment lady said that the doctor won't just put an animal down - it has to be discussed first. So I arranged for Mom to watch the kids and Peter and I could be together to talk to the vet.

Peter let Chico inside and we put on his blue and red harness. He was excited that he got to go somewhere. We headed to the vet and I shared my feelings with the vet about why we need to let Chico go and put him down. I wanted him to go peacefully with Peter and I with him, to love on him the way that we did before we had kids - when he was our everything. I just can't stand the thought of him going to a shelter and not being adopted because he's a child biter and being put down by himself. I can't just find another home for him and know that they may not treat him with kindness when he bites someone they know/love. I feel whole heartedly that this was the right thing to do. The vet agreed and said we could do it right then. I was caught a little off guard by doing it right then. I hadn't prepared myself fully. And I know that Peter hadn't prepared himself fully. But there we were... having that moment that I had thought about. Peter and I there together, loving on Chico as we did so much before we had kids. He kissed us both. We pet him and loved on him.

The Dr. gave him the same injection he would give to put an animal to sleep if he were cleaning their teeth or doing some minor surgery. Chico relaxed and we held him and pet him for about 5 minutes. When he was completely relaxed, the Dr came back and injected him and it was over. It was so fast. And so peaceful. We kissed him. And I KNOW in my heart that this was the right thing to do for him. But it still hurts and I'm still sad.

So rest in peace Chico McNugget. I hope you're in that big doggy park in the sky being the alpha dog you've always wanted to be. I'll always remember all of our happy moments together.