Functioning on a Friday

The wind and snow are blowing around outside making it difficult to see across the street even in town. As I opened the thermal drapes for a bit of light this morning and looked out I felt a twang of guilt for not driving the kiddos to school. At least the wind was at their back, I hope.

The week went by in a flash and somewhere in the flurry the girls have caught something. They have temperatures, gooey eyes and colorful snot. Their eyes are glazed over and they are sitting in the chair with a blanket watching George the monkey on PBS. This is not normal behavior for them. I have dug through the medicine cabinet and found some eye drops only a few months old. Hopefully it will do the trick and we will not have to brave the elements and visit the clinic.

It is cold in here today, I can feel the wind in my cold toes and fingers. Yesterday was a balmy 30 degrees and we only wore the liners of our winter coats when we went shopping.

For the last few nights we have been bothered by a mewing outside the patio door. It seems a kitten has found shelter under our deck steps. We moved them to put the siding on the house and they didn't fit back perfectly so there is a small space just about perfect for a kitty to squeeze through to wait out the cold and it certainly doesn't hurt that it is directly beneath my dryer vent where I am sure it feels a little like Florida :) The kids have taken quite a liking to him but I refuse to feed the poor creature and Maleah's allergies are flaring up so we need to find him a home. Besides the mewing is quite annoying at 3 am.

I have been whittling down my stash of yarn by crocheting yards and yards of funky scarves. I happen to love them. I may be crazy but it is fun and keeps me from stuffing my face with food. My wrists are a little sore but in the end I think the workouts are good for them :) Spent a good hour or two following a couple of other yarn hoarders around the thrift stores yesterday. They arrived promptly two minutes before me in three separate stores. I think it was a sign or something. I just don't know what to make of it.

Speaking of exercise, I have been consistent but I am just not seeing any new changes. I like my less fat more skin body but it still needs quite a bit of work. I have hit a plateau and I am getting bored. AND I have fallen off the healthy wagon concerning my meals as well which isn't helping things. So, this morning I am making whole wheat flax seed bread and plan to smother a warm piece with honey and butter to end the week on a high note, sigh. I guess I will have yogurt for lunch. I am thinking Boston Creme Pie or White Chocolate Strawberry. YUM.

Well my fingers are itching for yarn so happy Friday ya'll.

Apple Thief

The girls and I found out why the backyard is covered with apples with teeny tiny bites out of them.

Taking our zoo to the Zoo!

Yesterday daddy had a day off. Between baseball, yard work, and helping out his brothers, dh has very few days with just us. So #1 took advantage of it and begged daddy to take us to the zoo. She had a coupon from school that expired this weekend. #2 had a pizza certificate to use from Book it for Beginners. So after the rooms were picked up and the dishes done we packed up the van for a field trip.

Pizza Hut was our first stop where #2 got his personal pan cheese pizza and the rest of us had the buffet. #1 had chocolate pudding, shredded cheese, pickles and one slice of pizza. She smelled like dill the rest of the day.

Next stop, the ZOO! We decided to change #3 when we arrived. It was too late. The adorable, too tight, 12 month Osh Kosh's showed signs of leakage. I searched and searched for her extra outfit (which I found later neatly folded on the kitchen table). We finally used our water bottles to rinse the jeans and wiped her bottom with a dozen wipes and wrapped her in a blankie in the stroller. I had 3 blankets along for her, no extra bottoms but 3 !@#$ blankets. Grrrr!

It turned out to be a very pleasant day. I skipped the primate enclosure because my sense of smell and my weak stomach just couldn't hack it. We saw most everything except elephants which #1 had her heart set on. #2 had the most fun on the carousel and #3 was happy just watching everything. It wasn't too crowded and we spent the better of two hours running off lunch.

Daddy does snorkeling

We drove around forever trying to find the perfect spot to snorkel. We had the underwater camera thanks to Walmart, Hawaii. It was a beautiful beach and the sea life was pretty amazing.In the first 10 minutes we were there a monk seal and a sea turtle both beached themselves to sun. As soon as they came out of the water people swarmed around them and the life guards started barking on the megaphones, "Keep away from the seal/turtle!" There is actually a law that you have to remain 50 feet from the animals so they rope off an area so the animal can sunbathe in peace. The seal was a female and she had a huge lure stuck in her back but the volunteer who was watching her assured the crowd that she was okay and she was pregnant:) It was like sea world in the Pacific Ocean. I was so amazed I could have sat on that beach for days. DH went out snorkeling for awhile and in all the excitement I thought I would give it a try, too. Until he came back to shore and I noticed his knees were bleeding. The current was strong enough to push him in to the reef and I thought, nope, I'm happy watching. Some turtles came so close to shore the kids who were swimming actually rode them. In the midst of all this animal excitement a local started fishing. FISHING! At a public beach with a full crowd. My husband asked him what he was catching and he quickly snorted,"tourists". We left him alone after that. But I did see him pull half a dozen silvery fish out of the water and bury them in the sand for later.

How much is that Doggie in the window?

Well, a couple of my dear blogger friends were just saying how much they would adore a puppy and since I know where the best little ones are bred, I thought I'd give ya'll a link to Auntie's site. She is the world's biggest animal lover. Take a peek...I know she ships them overseas so up north wouldn't be a problem either...HAPPY WINDOW SHOPPING! She still has 4 pups that will be 12wks this weekend and 4 pups that will be 6wks.

http://www.freewebs.com/petpalpups/

http://www.xanga.com/yorkie_pups

http://www.myspace.com/ilove_yorkies

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/pamela54/Older%20pictures/?action=view¤t=1171810095.pbw



We Have AKC West Highland Terrier Pups For Sale

4 Females $550 each

We Have AKC Yorkshire Terrier

Pups For Sale

2 Males $1,000 each

We Have Fourche Terrier

Pups For Sale

3 Females $450 each

We Have AKC Yorkie Stud For sale

He has sired 4 litters of tiny's $1000

Why are my watermelons caged?

We had a beauty of a watermelon growing; it was a bit bigger than a softball and she was perfectly round. With my 10+ years of 4-H experience in Horticulture Judging (I even once won a trip to Denver)I had little doubt this almost perfect specimen would be a purple ribbon winner.

Today the watermelon wrangler got her mug around the 'looks too much like a ball so I gotta have it' fruit and watery stools are in her future.

So, we caged the other two tiny bulbs of melons and we'll see if we can get one...

Weekend Update from ME...

All right. Here is what you get when I am too tired to update daily. A few days full of updates in one neat and tidy post.

Mother's Day! We celebrate a day early here at our house considering for the last 15 years Mother's day has always meant opening day for amateur baseball. This year I invited my mom over after Saturday night church for a bbq. I only had to boil two batches of potatoes to get them right for potato salad and BONUS, I have smashed potatoes and onion in the freezer for a fast reheat some night. My problem is I try to do everything at once. At the same time I was boiling the potatoes I was doing the dishes, sorting laundry and reading stories to the kids. I turned the burner off after about 12 minutes and then completely forgot about them while they continued to cook in the hot water for another good 20 minutes or so...speaking of which, I am frying hamburger right now?!?!!?! My brother and his wife and son were here also and we grilled and played t-ball until almost dark.

Sunday the Muckdogs won their first game, My dh pitched 5 innings and got a home run, or so he tells me I spent the afternoon enjoying the company of adults and crocheting a blanket. My kinda ballgame...

Monday was a blur, can't even remember what I did. Today, I hardly pulled into the driveway before my dd had to tell me about the baby bunnies they found when daddy was mowing the yard. Seven tiny balls of fur and some don't even have their eyes open. (Much better than a family of snakes living under my porch, right cg?) I fear the dog, Shiloh, will 'take care of them' though.

Dd's preschool graduation is tonight. I hope to take some snapshots with my almost dead camera.

What part of DON'T TOUCH THE DEAD BIRD didn't you understand?

I have been antsy for preschool screening*(which my ds has called screaming for 2 years now but that is a whole 'nother post) because both of my kids have been exhibiting signs that I have interpreted to be hearing difficulties. Dd is always saying, "What mom?" and "Tell me again mom, I didn't hear you." Ds's behavior is more like, "huh?" and completely ignoring me to the point where I wonder if God even gave him ears. I don't think I was overreacting. I was really concerned. Until today. Today I confirmed that it is only selective hearing problems that I am dealing with.

Both kids were outside playing when they started yelling, "a bird, a dead bird, mom we found a bird." The came running inside and I told them please don't touch the dead bird as dead animals have germs and I made them each look me in the eye and tell me whether they had touched it. Ds shook his head no and ran back outside, dd shook her head no and then looked pretty guilty and hi tailed it to the bathroom sink. Moments later ds came back inside holding the tip of the wing of this dead bird high up in the air proudly displaying his find. I screamed, my dd screamed, and I ran to find a trash bag. Meanwhile ds took the dead animal back outside and hurled it over the deck railing into the landscaping. I caught him on his way back inside running to the bathroom, "why did you touch it after mommy said no?" I still have yet to receive a response from him other than a tiny shoulder shrug.

I think this is some nasty payback that my mother cursed me with after telling me more than once, "Wait until you have children of your own!"

*both children passed the screening with flying colors, of course

You win some...

The kids have been outside since 8:45 this morning. When the sun comes out it is hard to keep us inside. Even the cat has been outdoors most of the day. Speaking of Sampson, recently I have become fed up with the litter box, the hair, and the constant licking that animal does. I have never been a cat person and I know there are people out there who are; I just can't bring myself to love him unconditionally. My daughter on the other hand is head over heels. After church on Wednesday night a friend came over to help me with a website thing and immediately he found it hard to breathe and needed some fresh air, I didn't realize cat dander affected some like that. I started thinking and both of my kids have been complaining of itchy eyes to the point that they don't even tell me anymore, they just run to the bathroom for a cool cloth (several times a day) and put it on their eyes (why this was not an immediate red flag for me I will blame, like I do every other thing I do wrong, on chemo brain). Okay so, FINALLY, I came to the conclusion that we should think about whether we might have allergies and if we should get rid of the cat. My daughter caught on right quick and in her little 5 year old brain managed to finagle us into some sort of family vote session. She lined up the chairs and before we knew it my husband and the kids were on one side and I was on the other. My husband was trying with all the power in his soul to keep from laughing as dd went down the line; "Daddy, say what you like about Sampson..." I felt like I was on the stand. When it came to my turn I had all three of the most important people in my life looking at me with sad eyes pleading with me to keep him. My daughter must have felt that I was lonely because she put a baby doll on my 'side' so I wouldn't be all alone. In the end, I gave up. They had good, loving things to say for every one of my complaints and it was 3 people, 1 doll, 1 bear and 1 pesky cat against mean old mom and a doll that was meant only to keep me company. I didn't stand a chance.

He's got it pretty rough

I've never had a cat before.Well,we had them at the farm, but not like this.Sampson spends ALL day sleeping.Mostly in this chair and in this position.The first time I saw him lying there I thought he had had a seizure or something.I ran over to him and shook him awake. But, no, this is how he relaxes.I think he has it pretty good.I don't feel so awful about de-clawing him anymore.I think I am green with envy.Except I think my hands would fall asleep...

Ask the animals and they will teach you. Job 12:7

I have spent the last two days taking my pets to and from the vet clinic to have them spayed and neutered. I feel like Bob Barker. Anyway; Sampson had quite the night before his appointment with the knife. He has been wanted to go outside more often and sits by the patio door and sort of meows this growl until someone lets him out. He is usually back in moments waiting for someone to let him in. Monday night he shot out the door like a bullet and we didn't see him until morning a full hour and a half AFTER his scheduled appointment, thank goodness for small town vet clinics who will allow you to bring your promiscuous pets in late...dh and I believe he knew what was to come and just wanted one bachelor night on the town before the snip snip. If you find a litter of kittens in a few months, we are pleading the fifth. Sam didn't go without a fight, I actually had to put him in the pet porter to get him out of the house after he gouged my dd's cheek.

Shiloh's appointment was today and she was stupidly eager to go. Maybe that is the difference between the cat and the dog? One can anticipate what comes next and the other is, well, non anticipatory.

There is something to be said about not worrying about what comes next though isn't there? I know the moment I found out about my cancer I got online and started searching medical sites and blogs and reading all this stuff about how my body was going to change during chemotherapy and frankly, it was scary stuff. I think I would have been a whole lot better if I had never googled at all. In the hospital, when I was the most shut off from the Internet world as I had been in months. I spent time reading God's word with my dh and even though I was still scared, it brought peace to me, along with some powerful pain medicine:) I was just thinking it might be easier and less stressful to go through life like Shiloh, just taking every ball as it comes to you. Figuring out how to get through each pitch one at a time. I may strike out a couple of times, but I think I am having more fun playing life this way than trying to figure everything out before it happens...

My new favorite goto book is "Lessons from Lucy about Loving God" by Wendy Murray Zoba. Lucy is a Labrador retriever/Boy kin spaniel mix and she became a "life-giving" teacher to the author. Here is a little tidbit to spark your curiosity...

Be dressed for service and well prepared, as though you were waiting for your master to return...Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. Luke 12:35-36 She (Lucy) doesn't understand when you say, "I'll play ball with you tomorrow." There is only today. Are you going to play ball?