He's Ready; And We Might Be Too!

Oh Senior Year, it's been a ride for sure. From a whirlwind first semester of playing soccer, taking tough classes and then applying to colleges to a more relaxed second semester full of waiting, some fun and more soccer than he'd really like to play (did I ever think that I'd be writing that?).

The class of 2025 is apparently the largest class by a few hundred compared to the highest peak of the baby boomers. That means more applications than these colleges were expecting or that they can deal with in a timely manner. So that means - more pushed back early action notifications and a whole lot of deferrals. Austen has had his fair share of those - five to be exact. Due to his high school soccer season going a lot longer than we expected (a good problem to have), we had to cancel many college visits that we had planned so trying to get in a few more before March/April. 

Tom and Austen actually just came back from visiting the University of Tennessee, and it's now top of his list although super competitive from our area as there are a lot of kids applying there - hopefully not in architecture! His number one has always been Michigan (although a huge reach school for him) and he said it rivals Michigan. Big statement from Austen. While he was waiting for his flight home from Knoxville, he did find out that he did get into the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland too for architecture. Two great options as well coupled with his other acceptances from Miami of Ohio and Iowa State (and some money too). Still waiting on the deferrals plus a few more schools and that waiting game is long - probably not til the end of March. Hopefully before spring break he'll know - so he can celebrate he says.

This kid is ready for college. Ready to experience different things, ready to be on his own and ready to be around kids his own age 24-7. I'm kind of ready too. He's definitely become more independent and vocal about what he wants to do (lots of going out with his friends) and less about traveling every weekend for soccer. I get that but I get it more because some of the things happening with his club team this season. That's a story for a different blog but I get it. I get all of it actually, and I get why he's less than thrilled to give up his weekends for a team that's not the same anymore. I'm sad about that because it could have been different but I'm not sad about seeing him transition to this next phase of his life. Sure I will miss him. Our family dynamic will change. I will miss the busyness that his travel schedule brought to our life but I'm ready to see him enjoy this next chapter. 

I've been asked if I'm getting sad - that he's almost gone. That he won't play soccer like this again. I toss that around in my mind and I know that I will miss seeing him play, the times we spent traveling with his teams and the friendships that we've made along the way. But I'm not sad (at least not yet). I'm excited for this next part of his journey. Those things were all just part of his story. To get him to this point. I'm not sure how I will feel the day that I drop him off at college but I know he's ready and that makes me ready to let him go too. 

But not before we get to enjoy spring break in Belize, prom and graduation. Then of course there's summertime too! 

Hailey's Chore List

Recently, Hailey had sent me a text of a chore list or as she said they were just ideas for a chore list where she could earn some money (eye roll from me). Here's what she proposed:

Make her bed for 5days/7 days - $2/$3

Clean up room everyday - $2

Clean out closet - $5

Clean sink drawers/cabinet - $2

Clean bathroom and shower once a week - $2

Vacuum once a week - $4

Help w/ laundry/do laundry - $2

Brush Hair 2/3 times a day - $3

Oh my gosh, when she sent this to me, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. 

First, why does she need to earn money? She is sitting on so many gift cards and a bunch of cash plus we basically buy her anything she wants when she asks for it because she barely ever does. 

Second, most of this stuff on her list is a requirement for just being a member of our family! Make her bed? She should do that anyway. 

Clean up her room? Yes, clothes, shoes and toys should find their way back in their usual places, that's called being neat. 

Cleaning the bathroom? We have a cleaning lady that comes every other week so cleaning the bathroom sink and shower is a no go. 

Clean her bathroom drawers/cabinet? I just may take her up on that and if she can clean Peyton's disgusting sink too (in between our cleaning lady visits) I'll pay her double (don't ever look at Peyton's sink, it will make you vomit). 

Helping with laundry or doing laundry? How about you just turn your clothes right side out so it doesn't take me an extra 20 minutes to do your laundry? That would be a huge help! 

Clean out her closet? I do that regularly and within one week, it's a mess again so how about just keeping that tidy and not throwing more garbage in there? 

Finally, the one that really got to me was that she wanted me to pay her to brush her hair?!!! What the @#$%^&? Really? How about you just brush your hair and get out all the knots every day so I don't chop it four inches because you're 11 and can't take care of it on your own? Nope. Not paying you for that one!

Anyway, Hailey, here's my proposal back to you:

Clean out under your bed: $10 (you should see this disaster, I should low ball her but I think this is fair)

Clean out under your dressers: $5

Organize your bookshelves: $5

Clean sink/cabinets: $3

Do we have a deal?

A Tribute to Sadie

"Dogs lives are too short. You know the pain is coming, but there is such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price." - Dean Koontz

Sadie was born on February 28, 2016, and she left this world on January 3, 2025 - making her just two months shy of 9 years old. She almost beat the 7-9 year life expectancy for Bernese Mountain Dogs. 

Always Crossed Her Paws

As soon as we brought her home we could tell she didn't like the sun. She sought shelter beneath the toddler slide. She was a crazy puppy. Tore up Peyton's homework and would often be Houdini escaping her crate somehow so we had to put an extra lock/carabiner on it to keep her in. At 6 months old, she ate her own toy and had to have emergency surgery to get it out. We brought her home but she was bleeding out so she went to the emergency vet for three days where they told me they were having trouble stopping the bleeding. They finally did. We picked her up and on the way home she jumped over my seats with stitches in her belly. Guess she felt okay. 

She ate the seatbelt in the back of our car that cost us $1,000 to be replaced. She tore the bows out of the girls' hair, especially when they were in front of her in their car seats. She ate the woodwork around our front windows. She nipped til she was 1, and could get out of her collar or harness to chase squirrels. She was such a ball of energy that we put her in two different puppy training classes. The second one was with a one-armed Veteran named Frank. He was mean but his training was effective. I used to sweat going to that class with her, trying to keep her under control, and when I couldn't, Frank made an example of her -but even he couldn't break her. She did pass the class as she didn't try to eat the bunny they put next to her during her final exam. 

First Time We Met

She loved treats but especially donuts and would bark at us until we gave her one. My favorite story about her was when we left her in the way back of our car with a box of 50 munchkins on the floor in the front seat. We went inside. She knocked to the side the gate we had between her third row and the second row. Jumped both seats, ate the munchkins tearing up the box, stepped on my iced coffee and hopped back into her place so we didn't suspect a thing when we came out. It wasn't until I opened my passenger door and saw the box of munchkins shredded and my iced coffee spilling over in the cupholder that I knew what happened. 

At 14 months old, she was diagnosed with Wobbler's Disease caused by a compression in her spinal cord that made her drag her paws til they were bloody. She underwent surgery and a long rehab and recovery period but it didn't improve. 

Berners are the Cutest!

At about 3.5 years of age, I believe she tore her CCL (ACL in humans) getting in and out of our car. She went undiagnosed for a really long time as the vets were so focused on her Wobbler's. I think in the process she tore the other CCL and had trouble getting up/walking. I sought out multiple vets and opinions. After awhile, one vet landed on the CCL tears. I opted for Stem Cell Therapy and PRP to naturally heal her knees. It worked a bit but not that well. One year later, we decided to have her undergo surgery for both her CCLs with a 6 month rehab and recovery program. That was tough for us and her. They kept her longer than other dog patients because she couldn't stand on her own for a very long time and she was 110lbs. When we got her back, Tom and I had to support her to walk outside. My arms ached. Sadie tried and she never complained. Tom and I took turns sleeping with her in the basement for six weeks so she wouldn't have to do any stairs. Eventually, she did get better and was able to sit and get up on her own. But it was short-lived because she had no leg muscles anymore and even with rehab and exercise it was hard to build muscle. Plus, by nature, Bernese Mountain Dogs are just really lazy so she certainly didn't want to exercise. 

These Two Grew Up Together

She continued her biweekly spa appointments for laser, acupuncture and massage. She had skin issues as well as cysts that would burst and bleed, but she never complained. She let the kids (Hailey) lay all over her. She was the sweetest dog who showed you so much love. In fact, I loved laying on her on the couch at night. 

She would contort her big body into a pretzel and rest her head on the bottom part of a chair ("How is that comfortable?" we would ask her). She loved going for car rides, and until she left us, she was going for them almost daily. I was not going to deny her those even though hoisting a 110lb dog into the back of my car every day certainly took a toll on my shoulder. She loved to hang her head off the couch or off her dog bed  - maybe it felt better for her. She would snore and fart. We would laugh. She loved her ear rubs - Austen gave the best ones with Hailey a close second. 

There's So Much Love There

There are so many things I miss about her. During the day, I miss her being under my desk while I knocked out some emails - often sleeping on my feet or the shoes I had kicked off. I miss her sleeping next to me at night and her whining at me in the middle of the night to move her. I miss her on the couch next to me at the end of the day and the warmth of her body on cold nights. I miss seeing her little head pop up in the back of my car when I would take her out on my daily errands. I miss setting our house alarm to "stay" because she was in the house. Now, it's only set to "away." I miss her barking fits when she wanted something but couldn't move to get to it (mostly food) so she would annoy us with her barking. I miss her lying under our dinner table when we would eat dinner together as a family (somehow when she was under the table, she wouldn't bark for food). I miss giving her huge hugs and her burying her face into my arm. Which reminds me that she used to knock your arm with her nose if she wanted something you had in your hand (namely food). I miss her freckle at the base of her nose. I miss smothering her with kisses and about 1,000 other things about her too. She was my girl, my Sadie monster, my Miss America, my Sade. And she was so loved. 

Always Close to Me

We've received lots of cards and gifts from all the people that loved her. There were many. Even Hailey's friends who didn't like dogs loved her. How could you not? She was the most laid back, easy to love kind of dog with the sweetest personality, and the most stunning looks. 

I will be forever grateful for the time we had together and all the love she bestowed on our family. Love you forever my Sadie girl. Run free now. 

Her Cart!

Always Laying On Her

Best Buds

After Her CCL Tears

At the Beach

So Much Love for Sadie

I Forgot When She Used to Hang Out Here

Austen Went to Her Puppy Class

Always Under the Table with You Know Who

So Small and Skinny - Puppy Years!

I See You on the Bed, Sadie!

Her Favorite Place - Under My Desk!

Second Favorite Place - Under the Table

Yay - She didn't Eat the Bunny!

So Many Cards Filled w/ Love for Her

Flowers Too

A Beautiful Ornament - If You Sent This, Let Me Know!

Austen Turns 18!

Austen celebrated his 18th birthday on Saturday. He actually kicked off his celebrations with friends on Friday night followed by breakfast at one of our favorite places - Buttermilk. 

After breakfast/brunch, we went to the PGA Superstore so he could pick out his brand new golf wedge plus a hat of his liking (part of his birthday gift from us). 

He also received new Vuori joggers (from us) and golf shorts as well as many cards and gifts from his relatives. They all take good care of him! Even Papa gave him some money to use toward buying his Lollapalooza tickets this year. He may have been the most excited about those! 

His sisters both wrote him cards. We went to dinner together too (where he did not want a birthday candle or to be sung to). He opted for dessert at Andy's Custard and because I'm a stickler on having a candle to blow out for your birthday (it's essential that you get at least one wish for your birthday), we put his candle in a chocolate chip cookie when we got home. 

I wonder what he wished for? Hmm...probably college admission stuff! Ha! 

Happy Birthday to our now technically adult kid! He doesn't need us to board a plane anymore or sign permission forms but he does need us to buy him beer (which we won't do! He still has 3 more years for that!). 

Ringing in the New Year in Hawaii

After Xmas, we spent nine days on the Island of Maui. The kids had been to Oahu and the Big Island previously but had never been to Maui and wanted to experience that too. It's one of the few times that I said okay with going back to the same place (Tom and I have now been to Maui three times). 

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, hit up the Costco by the airport and drove to our rented house (between Lahaina and Kaanapali) that was on a golf course (12th hole) but had magnificent views of the beach and water. It had a pool table and its own swimming pool and hot tub so we really didn't even need to leave but we did. 

We retired early that first night due to some jet lag (after ordering in some food from Maui Brewing Company). Waking up very early the next morning, we started on our almost two hour trek up Haleakala to see the sunrise. The kids weren't that thrilled to get up early but the time change certainly made it a bit easier (since our bodies were still on Chicago time for the most part). There were some clouds but still the sunrise was amazing. It was chilly up there and we couldn't do the bike tour because two out of three of our kids were not old enough so we just explored on our own. The bike tours are now conducted outside of the National Park due to a tragic accident so I'm glad Tom and I did that back in 2003 when we got married. After heading out of the park, we found a great breakfast spot - the Kula Diner. It had some great Macadamia Nut pancakes and Hailey got her crepes and rice so she was very happy. We headed home after that to relax at our pool before hitting Taverna Maui for dinner (which was also on a golf course). 

The next day was Peyton's birthday and our tour of Lanai so we were up early and had a pretty full day. We were so happy that we chose (and Peyton agreed) to go to Lanai. One of my friend's told me it was her favorite excursion on Maui and it certainly didn't disappoint. Highly recommend. We dined at MonkeyPod for dinner and I'd definitely say the MonkeyPod in Oahu and the Wailea area of Maui were much better. But it was Peyton's choice and she was happy. 

On Wednesday/New Year's Eve, Peyton and Austen got private surfing lessons on Kaanapali Beach. They did really well but wanted bigger and stronger waves. That night we dined at Merriman's. It was spectacular. The food, the views, the service - they even had a Photo Booth of sorts outside to take our New Year's pictures. Another place we highly recommend. 

The first day of 2025, we ventured down to Wailea and did some shopping. Peyton got her Maui decaled Lululemon that she's been wanting since we went to Hawaii last time. She also got her Acai bowl and we ended the day with a dinner at Leilani's on the Beach where we loved their Hula Pie. 

On the second day of 2025, Tom and Austen hit the golf course and stopped by the house when they were on the tee box of hole 12. The girls and I hung out at the pool after getting Starbucks. When Tom and Austen were back we headed to a late dinner at Coco Deck in Lahaina. You can see the devastation from the wildfires still and see where some areas were affected and others were not due to the wind direction. Highly recommend Coco Deck too. It was one of the only restaurants we didn't book beforehand and we weren't disappointed. 

January 3rd was a tough day as the kids woke up to the news that we had to let Sadie go. There were a lot of tears for our special girl as the realization hit them that they wouldn't see her again. It was good that we had no formal plans that day aside from a late lunch/early dinner at the famed Mama's Fish House. So hard to get reservations there and I did it six months in advance! I loved eating there early though because last time Tom and I were there it was so dark, we couldn't appreciate the magnificent views. On the way home, we stopped for ice cream too. 

Our last full day in Maui, we hiked a trail not far from our house to see a blowhole. Then we enjoyed the afternoon at our pool before heading to the Plantation House restaurant for dinner. Austen was especially thrilled to be dining there as the Sentry Golf Tournament was going on at the course that the restaurant overlooked. Austen actually saw Xander Schauffele in the airport when we arrived and gave him a "What's up Xander?"

Our last day, we made plans to do a Pineapple Tour. The tour was awesome and we learned so much about pineapples and got to take home five of them. I learned that there are only two pineapple plantations left on the islands of Maui but they supply pineapples to Hawaii mainly. The mainland U.S. gets their pineapples from Costa Rica and the Philippines. After the farm, we ate lunch at the Paia Bay Coffee Bar where we watched some Sunday football before heading to the airport for our return trip home. 

Everyone enjoyed our Hawaiian holiday and I was glad that I was able to find my pineapple cup at the local Starbucks to replace the one I broke when we were there three years ago. Success!

Views from Our House

Sunrise at Haleakala

Happy with her Crepes and Rice

Lots of Mocktails - Taverna Maui

Snorkeling on Lanai

Peyton Surfing

New Year's at Merriman's

The Girls

The Guys

Mocktails - Mama's Fish House

 

Look at the Pineapples!

Goodbye My Sweet Sadie Girl

It has been a rough year with Sadie and we knew she was growing tired as it became more difficult for her to walk. She couldn't really do the stairs anymore either (and we have a lot of those in our house) - even just the few she'd navigated before. We had to make adjustments to our lives and hers. 

Sadie's Last Family Photo Shoot Pic

We brought her upstairs to sleep every night by using a sling and hoisting it over our shoulders to get all 110lbs of her up there. Why not just let her sleep downstairs? Well, she's a Bernese Mountain Dog and they love to be with their people so I said, someday she will not be here with us and we won't get to bring her upstairs to sleep with us so I am going to do all that I can to get her up here while she's still with us.

We still brought her outside four times a day. Her walks got shorter. Tom built a cart off our back deck with an automatic pulley system to get her back inside safely. She went to all of her appointments - acupuncture, laser, massage - and they did help a bit. We tried to switch up her medications to see if anything would improve her strength. They didn't and some made her pee more or gave her diarrhea (that was fun) so we went back to the tried and true meds. I took her for a ride almost every day in my car. She loved going for rides and I kept it up. We ran errands, went to Starbucks and went to her "spa appointments" which were her laser and acupuncture sessions. 

Life went on and we went on vacations (not too many because we hated leaving her) and her boarding facility would call us with updates and make accommodations for her special needs. We were lucky to have them so we could get away for Christmas last year, Spring Break and our niece's wedding in Italy this summer, and then finally this Christmas. 

We knew her time was limited as she was not doing well the week before we left. She was struggling to walk more and I had some very hard conversations with her vet. She just seemed so tired. Tired of making her legs try to work when they wouldn't. Her body had failed her and she would fall down unless we were holding her. She had a skin infection that took her down and affected her quite a bit in the end but we were finally able to get a quick acting shot approved and she rallied a bit. I thought we could get through the holidays and this trip and we'd have a little more time together and then we'd say goodbye. 

Sadly, her boarding facility called me early one morning while we were in Hawaii to let us know that they were taking her to her vet. Her breathing was labored and they were concerned. So off they went. They brought her in and took her back. Examined her and the vet called me and told me that her oxygen levels were very low - like 77% when they were giving her oxygen and they think 95% is the lowest they like to see. They thought she may have pneumonia. She would need 24 hour care and a feeding tube, and needed to be transferred to VCA Aurora if so. VCA Aurora. Not a bad place but that's where Adler passed away. I couldn't send her there. And I couldn't do it just to keep her alive. She couldn't get air and she was suffering. I needed to let my baby go and I wasn't there. That's the hardest part of all this. If I thought for one second that I could get on a flight and make it back to be there, I would have but I could not let her suffer one more minute. 

I am eternally grateful to the manager of her boarding facility who stayed with her in her final moments on this earth and to her vet. I hope she is up there running, yes running, with Adler. 

Adler was my heart dog but Sadie was the one who saved me after we lost Adler. She was a lot of work even as a puppy but she was the sweetest dog and so stoic too. What she endured in her lifetime, I hope no other dog has to endure. But now she is free. 

Goodbye my sweet Sadie girl. I'll love you forever. 

Stocking Presents/Treats for Sadie

She Loved to Lay on the Couch

I Promise to Love You Forever