getting to know you...

While the Shu, Mark and I were traveling around visiting our friends and family-

(Shu clearly takes the notion of vacationing to heart!)

Cade was busy getting to know his first family.
He and the kids have been busy bonding and keeping my sister and brother-in-law on their toes.

His first little act of Future Service Dogness was to wander around Kim's house,collecting a few things to keep in a basket.

I mean...

The youngest Osinkosky, little Miss Caroline, took one look at the cozy little nest and decided she'd like to partake.

But no worries,
she made up for it with a tour around the house :)

  Fast friends :)

early on

i'm sure most of you are aware of the vastness of my family...

yes, i'm the 4th of 9 children,

but that doesn't even begin to cover it.

grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, 

second cousins, and beyond.

not to mention all of my amazing in-laws.

all of that to say this:

when my diagnosis dropped,

i was rallied around.

supported. 

held up- sometimes literally.

i'm a blessed lady, yo.

its a humbling thing,

this needing of so much aid.

its confusing and unendingly frustrating

to suddenly need people with me,

doing the things i am "supposed" to be doing.

running, playing, dancing with Shua.

cooking my beloved food.

delivering me to endless doctor appointments.

cleaning (ick).

driving.

but a lady could not ask for a better support staff.

it renders me speechless.

which, i'm sure most of you are aware,

is an astounding feat.

this past Thanksgiving, 

which doubled as my birthday this year,

my family presented me with a letter.

not only had they put together a couple of raffles

to raise money for a Service Dog

(including a little OSU-MI board),

they had opened a bank account.

specifically for my Service Dog expenses.

i was, and still am, flabbergasted.

money just keeps showing up in the darn thing.

its what has enabled Kim and I to start this project.

for her and Janet (of Service Dogs of VA) 

to drive up to Michigan.

for us to be able to come home with this little love:

talk about a Thanksgiving to remember.

and so it begins.

my dream of having a big, warm, fuzzy partner 

is coming true.

my dream of having a hand (or mouth!) to help me during the day

is coming true.

my dream of having a dog in my life again

is coming true.

i'm a blessed lady, yo.

and Cade,

you could not have 'happened' into a better circle.

 welcome, little buddy.

Cade, Cade, Cade

i can finally say his name out loud!

wait, i meant,

i can finally type his name into the blogosphere!

this is Cade.

and we love him.

the story of how he came to be is coming soon.

once my head can organize the beginnings of this into complete sentences.

or, as is mostly the case in my writings,

complete phrases.

for now,

can we all agree that puppy-induced 

Wet Willies are both hilarious 

and foul at the same time?

i believe we can.