Getting up to date

It's been quite a while since I'm made an entry into this space. There have been quite a few things going on in my life -- some good and one bad -- and I just haven't had the time nor the energy to post.

Late in September, we moved into our brand new house in Elgin. It was really tough to leave our old house after living there for just over 13 years. It was tough on the family, especially Kevin who has not known any other home. He was excited about the move until it came to the moment when he said goodbye to his room for the last time. I was fighting tears myself as I watched him deal with this change. The night we actually moved, we were up until 4:00 a.m. packing everything. We ended up using three PODS, two rental trucks plus a number of trips between the old house and my in-laws to just move our stuff.It was completely exhausting.

On Friday, September 28, we closed on our new house and began the unpacking process. It took about 3+ weeks to move boxes and furniture from the garage and to have any semblance of a "home." Even now, six weeks after the move, I don't feel entirely comfortable in this house. It will come with time, but I don't feel that sense of "intimacy" (for a lack of a better word) with the house.

The real bad news happened the evening of October 9th. My little dog, Mozart, was captured and killed by a coyote while on his leash. To make a long story short, he was outside along with two other dogs, before they went to bed. While I was bringing one of the dogs in, a coyote sneaked up in the dark and grabbed him. Of course, I did not know this at the time. I stayed home from work the next day looking for him. Finally, around 3:00 p.m., I literally stumbled upon his remains. There was literally nothing left of him but blood, fur, bones and tissue. The fur did give me enough to identify him. The only good thing about this is that I have closure, but I am saddened beyond words about this. Even though we still have three other dogs, there is a discernible void in my life right now.

Mozart's legacy is the fence that has just been built. We had planned on building a fence, but held off because of the cost. After what happened to Mozart and hearing other coyote "incidents" in our new neighborhood, we decided to press forward with the fence. It's too late for him, but this will save our remaining dogs. Even with our other dogs, Mozart was my dog, my companion and my friend. For those who are interested, I created a Flickr set dedicated to him. He was a beautiful little dog and I miss him greatly.

Now with Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching, things will hopefully slow down so we can settle happily into this house.