Remembering

The first Lucy in my life (besides the Peanut's character) was Lucy Sather, Jess's dog. She was an adorable creature that I fell in love with shortly after I met Jess in 2004 when I moved to Austin.

Sadly, last week, Lucy suddenly got sick and after many tests it was determined she had suffered from some strokes and had bleeding on her brain.

Jess and Ken got to bring her home for a few days but eventually made the tough decision to say goodbye, knowing her quality of life wasn't the same.

I know how hard the loss of a pet is. It's one of the hardest things I've been through but it's also a true reflection of the impact they have on your life. The pain and sadness is all worth it (although believe me it doesn't feel that way at the time) because it just means you loved them so much.

I am aware that Buster's little life will be over before mine and it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. But it also makes me aware of how much I should take advantage of every moment we have together.

I'm honored that I got to be such a big part of Lucy's life. I will always remember what a great singer she was, her licking mine and Jess's legs after long runs (mmmm....salt) and her beautiful eyes. Lucy also inspired me to get my own dog. After knowing her for a year I decided to get Max. I am forever grateful that she led me to that path.

I already miss Lucy and wish I could take the sadness away from Jess and Ken's life. But I do know it will get easier and that we're all lucky to have known her.

Updates

I've had a lot going on but not much time to catch everyone up so this is just going to be one of those blog posts where I try to catch you all up. So I apologize for the lack of humor and creativity - I'm just sticking to the facts.

It's that time of year when life gets busy and stressful but I have to admit, I love it. I love the temperature change, the smells, the music and food and the overall sense of festiveness.

So let's begin in Mexico. One of my 2010 goals was to take an actual vacation. Sure, I've taken time off from work this year and in year's past but it's usually for an event for one of my beloved friends or when I tag on extra days of a work trip to travel or see friends.

So Devon and I decided to book a trip to Mexico and invite our friends. Turns out they all (well, almost all) wanted to go. There were 6 of us, divided into two rooms (hence the pictures). My room was known as 'Team Half Marathon' as we're all in training mode right now. But we quickly coined ourselves as 'Team Sensitive' b/c we are also the girls who cry easily and get hurt feelings. But it's only b/c we care so much! The other room was 'Team Sorority Girl' b/c they were all in sororities in college.

It was the most relaxing 5 days I've had in years. I turned my blackberry off and didn't read emails for the entire trip - it was so worth it to completely disconnect. Suffice it to say, I'd like to make this a regular occurrence.

Next up was Thanksgiving and Door Busting. My dad came in town for Thanksgiving and despite a nasty stomach bug that he (and many others) caught, we had a great week together and he got to meet Audrey for the first time. I then went with Devon and Kelsey for our second annual 'Door Busting' black Friday experience. We shopped from 1 - 5am and had some good successes. It was the coldest night of the year thus far, though, as you can see in the pics (note: if I'm ever lost, you can return me to LIVESTRONG).

I then got to enjoy a 'fancy' night with co workers at our annual holiday party. This year it was at the club level of the Austonian - the tallest building in downtown Austin. The view was amazing - you literally forget you're in Austin. It was tons of fun but I'm not cut out for 2am nights anymore. It takes me all day to recover. Here I am with the rest of the 'Navigation' Team:

But what better way is there to recover from a late night by eating delicious food and watching holiday movies. Haley hosted our third annual 'Love Actually' viewing party and potluck. As you can see, we love to eat. And the company was great, too:

I woke up refreshed and ready to spend the next day with Lucie. We walked to a park near Chris and Missy's house (after Lance passed us on his bike) and checked out the peacocks and peahens. Lucie could have stayed for hours. But we decided to go to lunch and met Jen, Larkin and Layne at Phil's Ice House, where she promptly wanted to sit on a cow:

Last but certainly not least. I got a new TV. I have officially entered the 21st century and have a flat screen HDTV. I don't know how I went this long without one. No picture for this but suffice it to say it's pretty magical.