Today is a day to BE.

I woke up this morning and took a nice deep breath. Let 5 dogs out to pee, fed'em, and climbed right back into bed. 10:30 am, I took another nice long deep breath. Ahhhh. Today is a day off and my soul already feels juvenated from just simply sleeping in! Such a beautiful thing.

And now it is time for some life updates! What the heck have I been up to?! Let me share.

I am dogsitting/housesitting! Yep, again! This time for 5 little dogs that probably combined don't equal Max. But there are 5 this time and I noticed this morning that I now have circles under my eyes. 5 dogs is hard work and I now worship the ground that Mary LaRose walks on because I don't know HOW she manages these pups and finds time to relax. However let me share that these 5 dogs: Lily, Gus, Colby, Mufasa, and Scar are the cutest little love bugs and I do enjoy their presence............ minus the waking up early and barking in harmony at any little pin drop of a noise.

My dad has been in the hospital! Not as fun as an update for sure. But the good news is that he is finally home. He was graced with a 3 night/4 day stay at the fabulous Sutter General Hospital in downtown, Sacramento. It all started last Wednesday night with a weird pain in the lower left side of this groin. By Thursday morning the pain was quite strange and real bad, so he and my mom went to the Dr. Our Dr. was not in and so off to the emergency room they went. After some long hours in emergency and lots of tests, my dad was diagnosed with Diverticulitis. This is an intestinal infection that happens when certain foods cause inflammation in pockets known as diverticula in the intestine/colon. So... thanks to antibiotics, lots of visits from all those who love him, and pain meds, he has finally made his way home! So so glad! What now? Well, he has to change his diet forever. He will forever have to eat a high fiber diet and never ever again eat strawberries (anything will small seeds really), peanut butter, and popcorn among many other "must be avoided foods". Mr. Whipple is in for a journey of learning to love some foods he never thought he would have to love. Shall be interesting! Nonetheless, despite the pain and discomfort, my dad kept his hilarious spirit the whole time.... and when I asked him "Dad, how are you doing?" he responded, "I'm OK monnnn (Jamaican for "man"), while placing his fist upon his head as we were asked to do in Haiti, on our cruise, during a jet ski excursion, to indicated to the guide that we were A-Ok. Only my dad, only my dad!

Next to report: Taylor came to visit! Woohoo!!! She came at the most perfect time to provide for a great, fun-filled weekend. And boy is that what we had. We went to Dad's Sandwiches downtown and had amazing sandwiches and a great chat, visited my dad in the hospital and got locked in a parking garage (scariest moment of my life... but yes, we did get out....eventually!). BBQ'd with lots of friends, went to church so she could meet, see, and experience the Sun Grove I LOVE LOVE LOVE. And then we topped the weekend off with a day at the fair with Cory and some Kate Plus 8 that night.... anddd a new iphone video chat date with Anns. It was so great to see her face! So so so wish that she could have spent the weekend with us!

[Pictures courtesy of Cory's Camera!]

And lastly, yesterday! Yesterday Danielle Young and I made the journey to visit our very missed and loved friend Kallie Markle. Such a great day. Such a great visit. We got to see her one last time before she pops out little Mr. Mini Markle. The day consisted of talking, buying a carseat, talking, eating Chipotle, talking, going to a dr.'s appointment, talking, and seeing all the fun baby stuff Kal and Josh have accumulated. We would like to call it a day of milestones! I am so happy and excited for them and absolutely can't wait to meet the little monster.

[I wish I was inserting a picture here. I had a bad picture taking day and did not document... ahh!]

And now for Today! I have finished registering for classes for this upcoming fall. Grad school is here and approaching whether I like it or not. Oh dear. And I have this very day to BE. And I am going to go do just that. Happy Wednesday.... go BE.