Father's Day

To my Dad:

Thank you for being a Dad that was around. That coached my teams, that came to my games. That helped me to be better but never pushed me to the point of hating what I did. Thank you for sending me on all my trips growing up and for being 100% behind me moving to Germany for a semester. Thank you for my pony. Thank you for being the sane one between Mom and I. And thank you for being an amazing Grandfather to Jane.

To my husband:

Thank you for trying, failing, and succeeding to be a parent to Jane. We clearly did not know what we were getting ourselves into but being a parent with you has been the best experience of my life so far. You have shown patience, calmness and understanding with your daughter and its beautiful to see. Can you believe we have a baby girl?!?



And Happy (belated) Father's Day to all the Dad's out there - to my Godfather, Mr. Bahr, I know your family misses you, and I do too, to Mr. Knodel, to my Uncle Judd, to my father-in-law, to Jeremy, to Scott, to Mike, to Gregg, to Todd, to Deepak, to John and to Eric .. and the countless many more. You have no idea the influence you have and will always have. Thank you!

June Jams

The latest mix. There is a lot of new music. Some old stuff too, just to make sure you keep listening. Listen in your car, on the el, or at a BBQ. Just listen!

1. The Mission (M is for Milla Mix) / Puscifer

2. I'm not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance / Black Kids

3. Shark in the Water / V V Brown

4. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked / Cage the Elephant

5. Lay Me Down / The Dirty Heads (feat Rome)

6. Do-Wah-Doo / Kate Nash

7. Don't Stop the Music / Jamie Cullum

8. Healing Hands / Citizen Cope

9. Stop for a Minute / Keane (feat K'naan)

10. Nobody / Kate Earl

11. Swing / Zero 7

12. Come Home / One Republic & Sara Bareilles

13. Believe / The Bravery

14. Wheels / Jamie Cullum

15. Dream On / Aerosmith

16. Between the Lines / Stone Temple Pilots

17. Highway 20 Ride / Zac Brown Band

18. Thieves / She & Him

19. Hello / Glee Cast

20. The End / Pearl Jam

Summer Movies ..

This summer for movies has been a bit of a drag right? Not a lot of quality, and nothing too exciting. I can't even fathom how the Oscars are going to find 10 films this year. There were however some I was excited to see, and some still coming.

Sex And the City 2 - if you've read one review, you know how bad this wound up being. It's way to long. They attempt to make you feel sorry for the four of them and that can and will never happen. The fashion was of course, the reason to go, but I found myself laughing maybe twice throughout the entire movie. The jokes were AWFUL. I really hope they end it here ... don't ruin people's memory of these four.

Steve and I went to see Iron Man 2 on my birthday, I was giddy about this movie and on most accounts, it delivered. It's much more of an action film than the first. It's loud, filled with a ton of fight scenes but it does still have the Iron Man charm - because of RDJ and Gwyneth. Scarlett is ridiculous in the movie, and there really is no point to her being there, though Steve would disagree. The absolute best part of the movie was the addition of Sam Rockwell. A PERFECT heel. I thought this was worth seeing, but it's not the anti-action movie, like the first was.

You either loved Eat. Pray. Love. or you hated it. I loved it and so far it looks like they may have done the book justice (though this is not at all how I pictured her now husband). Can't wait for Italy ...

As if there was any doubt what movie I would save for last. Eclipse was my favorite book of the four and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. I just re-read the book and was reminded how annoyed I get with Bella but we get a heavy dose of Edward and really, that's all I am looking for. J, S and I already have our tickets for opening night. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Swoon.

All dogs go to heaven

At least, that's what I think.

The Steinhagens have had a rough couple of days. We had to make, so far, the toughest decision we have ever made. Vinney sent a third person to the emergency room on Monday night. The bites have gotten consistently worse, and this was only triggered by Steve's Dad trying to pet him, and he would not let go. He went home with 17 stitches.

I wish I could tell you why he got worse. I wish I had an answer, a moment I could tell you he became aggressive. But it's been getting worse over an entire year. He started being aggressive with other dogs, then strangers, then sometimes us. We learned his triggers, we tried to avoid them. We attended obedience classes, we worked with him at home with a trainer. You couldn't discipline him, or tell him no firmly, he would respond aggressively. But, he was our dog, and we loved him. Then he bit our dog walker, someone he knew from the beginning, then he bit Steve, on the lip - and sent us to the emergency room and home with 11 stitches, then he bit our friend, then he snapped at George, and everytime we said - we will work on it. This is not his fault, he was abused before us. But he scared us Monday night, and we knew we had no more options. We can't put Jane, or anyone else at risk.

I want to thank every single person I've talked to at CEBR this past week, especially the Directors. Your support, and direction has been incredible. I think the decision itself was the hardest, although the drive out to Dr. Navin's today was not easy. Steve stayed with him, we didn't want him to be alone. Coming home, being home is hard. The house is too quiet.

I get rescue. I love rescue. We will ALWAYS rescue. You take the good with the bad. You take an animal who wasn't given a shot, and you give him one. I don't know how people can choose *not* to rescue with all the unwanted animals in this country. But I can say with all my heart we gave Vinney everything we could for our wonderful three years with him. He was loved, cared for medically, fed, played with, walked, and trained. I know his actions were not his fault, but the fault of someone before us who if I ever found, I would hurt.

He will always be part of our family. The last six months, he wasn't finding the joy in things he used to - in his walks, in his time with us, he even snapped at George. He was scared, or anxious every waking moment and responded with aggression, we tried to teach him other ways to cope with it but it never seemed to click. I'd like to think he's up in heaven now, with Winston, napping and waiting for us one day.

We will always love, and miss you Vin. I hope you are at peace now.