Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

It has definitely been a banner year for me, well, me, Chris and Andrea. We came off of 2011 with the loss of our beloved Aussie, Draco in November to foster a soldier's dog in January. Angel was not allowed to go home to Korea (where she was born) with her family who was being relocated there because she lacked a blood titer. We fostered her for two and a half months, getting her the necessary titer and shots; getting the proper sized kennel and finally getting the necessary passage and escort to get home. We could not have done it without the help of many friends and their friends and of course, United Airlines who waived the normal fees to get her home to her soldier and family. My many thanks to Sandra, Janet, Christopher, the Air Race family, James Bear Branch Animal Hospital and Home Again for getting her back to her family. I am sure that there were so many, many more who were in the background that helped with this endeavor, God knows who you are and I'm sure that He ...

...and since it's still not quite over, I don't doubt that there are still a few surprises waiting around the corner. I must admit, when we came into this year, all I was really expecting was my new baby granddaughter who was due in March, right around her sister's first birthday. Soooo, little Cutie Patootie made us wait an entire week for her arrival, which pretty much means that we have been suckered into being at her whim probably for the rest of our lives. All she has to do is bat those baby browns, turn up the side of her mouth ever so slightly and I'm giving away the farm. Sis has that ability, too, but she doesn't have it quite down pat as the Little One. I'm doomed to be a pauper. Of course, the first statement is just a bit misleading, because as some of you may know, we were also fostering a soldier's dog until we could get her home to Korea. With a lot of help from friends and United Airlines, Angel got home to her family in February. That wa...

I promise, I will never scoff at folks complaining about jet lag again. As I am typing, it is now quarter to one in the morning and I'm wide-stinking-awake. Go figure. So, to recap yesterday. I got practically zero sleep the night before because now I have this weird thing that if I have an alarm set for myself, I won't sleep right. I haven't figured it out yet, maybe its something deep in the memory banks that hates alarms and knows that it is my deepest desire to take a sledge hammer to any alarm clock that is meant to wake me from my peaceful slumber. I don't know. The funky thing is, if the alarm is set for someone else, I could care less and will sleep like a baby. Hmm, I can't figure this one out. Anyway, so no sleep from the night before equals mass quantities of deeply strong coffee to stay coherent enough to make it onto the planes to bring me home, so we stop at Starbucks on the way to the airport in Okinawa. Their idea of venti is roughly the size of ...