March Photo Challenge - Days 10-12

I have GOT to get better at posting these more often!! And I promise no pictures of my cats in this lot!

Day 10 - prompt: love

So, here's the picture...

So, you may be asking, "what the hell does this have to do with love". Well, it's your lucky day, because I'm going to tell you! The dog you see in the picture above is named Snigglefritz. He is about 80 years old, and he is my tangible connection to my grandfather.

My grandfather passed away when I was three-and-a-half years old. I don't have many memories of him, but the ones I do were great. He was only 60 years old so it was a big shock to the family, and since I was a grampa's girl, it was hard to console me when I realised that grampa wasn't coming back.

This dog is one that I used to play with when I was a small child, and I remember very clearly when my grandfather said to me "what's his name", and my three-year-old self replied "Snigglefritz". From that point on, that was his name.

It turns out that this dog was actually a pajama case (he has a zipper in his stomach) that my grandmother got as a child - so we figure he is about 80 years old at least now.

When my grandmother was moving out of her house shortly after Christmas, she pulled this dog out of the closet and said "does anyone want this". I jumped out of my chair and nearly scared her when I yelled "Snigglefritz". She laughed and said "oh my, I had forgotten the crazy things you and your grandfather did". She gave me the dog and told me that it belonged with me. I started tearing up. I'm tearing up just writing this.

Growing up, I would suddenly feel sad and miss my grandfather - I don't if it's possible for a child that young to have serious grief, but I'm pretty sure I must have had it and not really gotten through it, because there are days when my heart still aches for my grandfather. I'm such a sap.

Day 11 - prompt: Live

Ok, so this one's not nearly as sweet or deep...

Welcome to Mt. Laundry! I have no problem keeping up with the laundry - washing and drying it that is... I just don't do a great job of folding it and putting it away (or hanging it up). The bed in our spare room becomes the location of Mt. Laundry, and we clear it off if we have people coming to stay. I have to learn to start putting stuff away as that spare room will hopefully become a nursery, and I've heard it's a bad idea to put a baby to bed on a pile of laundry.

Day 12 - prompt: Eat

Here is tonight's supper...

Chicken and Mushroom Pesto Ravioli. It was awesome!! I love to cook (hate to clean up the mess), and I"m always game to try something new. My hubby is not an adventurous eater, so it's always a challenge to find something that I like and he will eat.