Wow.

It has been a long, long time for this writer not to have written. There are so many contributing issues, the least of which is the "m" button that popped off my laptop. I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to re-secure the &*#$% thing to no avail.

The issues surrounding our family are growing up, meaning it is no longer appropriate for me to write about them on a public forum. Just know that two kids on the autism spectrum plus a host of other unmentionable challenges continue to plague our family, which is actually what has kept me far from this keyboard in recent months.

I am trying, folks, to keep up and am doing a miserable job. My house is total wreck, my new workroom 3/4 of the way finished, friendships moved on . . . life is generally kind of crappy right now.

The good, you ask?

My marriage is as happy and solid as ever. We cling to one another for dear life through these things, and laugh at as much as we can.

I continue to love my job wrangling anywhere from 23-45 dogs at a time and taking care of a smaller group on the weekends. These dogs are one of the greatest loves of my life. I enjoy them immensely. And the cleaning? Well, that's just icing on the cake for this obsessive, OCD woman who can't keep a square inch of her own home clean raising three boys. The dogs are cleaner and more responsible than my children.

My boys may be frustrating and hard to deal with at times, but they are God-loving young men. This is something I need to keep at the forefront of my mind when wanting to roll their heads down the sidewalk. Mrs. Zipps is very, very good at reminding me of this when I walk across the lawn to cry on her shoulder (or shoot angry lasers from my eyes). Perspective. If Jesus came back today, my whole family would go back with him - even if dishes from three days ago were sitting on the computer desk.

The puppy we adopted in December - the deaf American Bull Dog who, as a foster pup, came to Club Canine one day and stole my heart - is AMAZING. He is the bombdiggity and I'm not even kidding you, here. He is smart and loving and snuggly and tolerant and well-behaved and and and ... I can't say enough good things about him. Perhaps I should just write this blog about him and change the name to JOSHUA AND HIS VENTURES AS AN AMAZING DOG.

As always, I have the best mom and dad and sister and brother and brother and sister-in-law and nieces and nephews that anyone could ever, ever ask for. Without them, I would be toast. And not the good kind with real butter and cinnamon sugar.

And. AND this morning the guys are here installing our new heat pump/AC/whatever so we will stop melting in our own skin. Life is good! Right?

Yes. It's finally summer, no more snow and ice and dreary, colorless landscapes. Indiana corn and Indiana melon are on their way. The Farmers' Markets are finally back. My tomatoes and herbs are growing. I hear birds chirping outside my workroom window. I smell my lilac bush. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the younger boys.

I can do this.