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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Poor Piccadilly

Piccadilly (Dilly) is a happy camper at this very moment. She is rolling around on my carpet trying to make herself stinky again.
I had noticed the last couple of days that she was really biting at herself. I thought she might have hot spots like Lucy had so I gave her a baked potato the other day. She appreciated the thought, but it didn't stop the biting. Tonight I was petting her when I saw a big, fat, nasty flea. For me to see a flea on Dilly's back is a very big deal because she has a thick, wiry, curly black coat. I shouldn't have been able to see anything. Unfortunately, I did. So even though it was already 11, Dilly got a bath. She was happy to come into the bathroom with me until she figured out what I intended to do. Then she tried to dog those long black toenails into the floor. It did her no good, I was determined, so my big dog got half plunked, half shoved into the bathtub where she tried to escape twice and then, halfway through realized she wasn't going to get away, so she sat down in the tub. Just sat right down, still covered in soap. It didn't speed up the process any, but at least she wasn't trying to escape.
So now she's clean and relatively flea free. She even smells nice (although I'm sure she doesn't think so). I think she has decided that whenever she gets a bath she is extra pretty...she sure acted like it after this bath! Dancing around and sitting there looking at me like 'aren't I cute?'. Yup, she's cute!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

After the Buzz 2006

 
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Getting the Buzz 2006

 
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Say Cheese!

 
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Fall

 
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Fall

 
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Colin's One and Only Attempt at Riding a Mechanical Bull

 
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Goggles Are Cool!

 
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Huh, That Pumpkin Might Be Big!

 
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The Pickle Picture

 
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My Little Scarecrow

 
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Mommy and Ian

 
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Daddy and Ian...Look at the Goatee on Daddy!

 
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What a Cute One Year Old!

 
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One of My Favorite Baby Pics of Ian

 
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Saturday, September 20, 2008

Regarding Henry

A simple letter sent my day into sadness today. I received a letter from Group Health (Colin opened it thinking it was a bill) telling me that I needed to choose a new OB/GYN due to the unexpected death of my current OB, Dr. Henry Drygas. I had no idea that he had passed. I haven't been to Group Health since August. He passed away September 3rd, 27 days shy of his 61st birthday. I will really miss him.
Dr. Drygas made me feel instantly at ease when I had visits with him. I never felt nervous or self conscious around him, which says a lot about him since going to see an OB/GYN isn't usually a joy for women!
I met Dr. Drygas around Aug. 2000, when I was pregnant with my son, Ian. I was considered a high risk pregnancy, so I was assigned to Dr. Drygas. I saw him and some of the other docs in his office a lot during my pregnancy. He didn't get to deliver Ian because Ian decided to be born on the weekend when Dr. D wasn't on call.
I do remember him coming to see me in the hospital to talk me into getting a spinal patch (I'd had a botched epidural and they'd leaked spinal fluid, I had a horrible headache). I had already decided to get it, so he just stayed and chatted for a while.
I just saw Dr. Drygas the end of July or 1st of August. It's hard to believe he's gone. I know I'm not the only one who'll miss him. He was loved by his patients. He left some big shoes to fill. Farewell, Dr. Drygas, we'll miss you.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Big Dog

Lately, I've been noticing that my dog is big. Okay, I noticed a while ago, but her new habit just proves it even more. Dilly has decided since the living room furniture is no longer cluttered with stuff she would like to use it. Big deal, you say? Most dogs jump on the furniture once in a while? Well, Dilly doesn't jump on the furniture...she sits on it. Yes, you read that right. My dog is so big that she sits on the furniture. Especially our ottoman. That silly dog walks right over to the ottoman (she's tall enough that her belly is over the ottoman) and she plunks her booty down on the ottoman. She even put her hind legs on the ottoman. Note, I said her hind legs. This is her trick to try and get away with this. Only her hind legs and booty are on the ottoman, her front legs remain on the ground at all times making it appear that she might just be really close to the ottoman, but not really on it.
She doesn't fool me! I know she's on that ottoman!! She is very unrepentant of this behavior. When I tell her to get off or go, she just looks at me like I must be nuts. She doesn't want to move. Several times this week I have reprimanded her and the only way she would move was if I started to get up to physically move her. Then, she reluctantly saunters off with a glance that says 'I'll be back'. What a naughty girl!!
I guess that's how you know if you have a big dog or not. If they can sit on your furniture...they're BIG!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

A Cure For Clutter?

I must admit that for my entire life I have been the poster child for living the cluttered life. Being uncluttered I was certain would require too much time and effort to really be of any benefit to me. I was busy. I had places to go and things to do, I couldn't be bothered with getting organized. That was pretty much me from infancy until I got married. Just ask my mother. She tried to make a game out of picking up toys and I would laugh and love watching her pick up my toys and then, when she left the room, I'd dump the toy box out. I was two at the time and shouldn't have been able to pull over something so big, but I did.
After I got married, I was still cluttered (sorry, no fairy godmother to cure being cluttered), but now I was organizationally envious. I saw organized spaces and they inspired me (to want a maid). I assumed the task was still too daunting, so I did what all good cluttered people do..I lived with it. I waited until something absolutely had to be done and then I did it. I tackled mountains on a regular basis. Mountains are tiring, so I'd finish with one mountain and be too tired to tackle the next...it was a vicious cycle. My family was being sucked into this cycle, too. My son rarely picked up anything, my husband left clothes lying around (is this a clause in the marriage license that men must do this?). None of us really liked it, but that's life right??
Well, not so fast! My homeschool group posted a seminar about getting organized. It came through in my email and I glanced at it and thought it looked interesting, but it was on a Thursday night in the "big city" and I had to drive there the day before, so I decided I probably shouldn't go.
Have you ever had something that won't go away? You've already made the decision, but it keeps popping back in your mind? That's what this class was doing to me. I had decided not to go, but I guess God must have other ideas because it kept coming to my mind. Finally, I gave in. I decided to talk to Colin about and see what he said. He said it was fine, so I rsvp'd.
The day of the class came and I was tempted not to go. I am so glad I didn't give in to temptation! I learned so much! Did you know that habits are catching?? Good and bad habits alike are catching. I know where I "caught" some of my bad habits and here I was passing on bad habits to a new generation!
It's been a week since I went to the meeting with the Clutter class. Here's what has changed so far: dishes no longer pile up, they are cleaned immediately after being used and each person takes personal responsibility for their own dish (I wish this had been incorporated in my family growing up, I hated the chore of doing the dishes! This way no one person is stuck doing the dishes), our laundry mountain is getting smaller and no longer do things sit in the washer or dryer waiting to be taken care of, they are dealt with immediately, my bed is made every morning (dad, please pick mom up off the floor because I know she just fainted!).
We have decided as a family to slowly get uncluttered, that way we aren't overwhelmed (and stop before we are uncluttered) and we can do a thorough job.
Just tonight Ian came out of his bedroom with little tears in his eyes telling us he wanted his room clean, he didn't like the way it felt compared to the rest of the house.
So hopefully, we will keep this up. The lady who gave the class said if you keep it up for about 21 days it should become a habit. I know keeping the dishes clean immediately after dirtying them has started to become a habit...Colin doesn't leave dirty dishes in his office anymore!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Mom's Got All The Answers

I'll admit that sometimes I've got some pretty good answers for all of Ian's questions. He has a lot of them. I'll also admit that some of my answers don't really make a lot of sense if I stop and think about it. Especially when I'm tired.
Today I was very tired, but it was the night to sign up for AWANA so we headed to the big town and I picked up Colin and we headed to dinner. We ended up at the mall where we could make our choices for dinner. Colin went to Charlie's Subs and Ian and I ended up going to Thai Way for, of course, Thai food. So we were standing in line waiting, watching the lady in front of us order three dinners to go wiping out most of what was in the warmer trays...when Ian asked me "Where is Thai food from?" This is what popped out of my mouth...."Taiwan.............uh, what did I say? Uh, I mean Thailand" Hopefully, no one there heard me say that, although one of the cooks looked kinda smiley after I said that, but I couldn't be sure.
Of course, then Ian wanted to know where Thailand was, so I told him it was in Asia. So he asked me if it was close to Russia and I told him, no China is close to Russia, but Thailand is a more tropical Asian location. At least that answer made more sense than Taiwan, I honestly don't know where that came from, but it certainly proved that I really was tired!

Monday, September 1, 2008

A Precious Gift

So this past week got me thinking about a precious gift that I get. You get it, too. Every morning when we wake up we have been given a gift. The gift of another day to live and breathe, to be with our families. Another day of being alive.
Sometimes I get so busy or so caught up with other things that I forget to appreciate the fact that today is a gift to me. There wasn't a guarantee that I would get to see it, to live it, but here I am, experiencing it. I'll admit there are some days that don't feel much like a gift, but even the lousy days are another day of being alive.
You might wonder why I've been thinking about this topic and I'll tell you. I have been bombarded with reminders of just how precious life is and how quickly it can end this week.
One morning this week I woke up and checked my email, like I usually do. In my email was a letter from one of my friends on the Homeschool Lounge asking for prayer for fellow homeschool mom. Her three year old son was missing. I logged in to find out more details and there was an update. Her sweet little boy had drowned in the pond in their back yard. My heart just ached for them. So all week I have been praying for their family. I will continue to pray for them. From the later updates that I read, I know that this family knows Jesus and that they are praying that God will use this tragedy to bring people to Jesus.
Also this week it seemed like every time I checked the news I read about someone else dying. A 13 year old kid at football practice on his birthday while his mom was at home making cupcakes to celebrate his birthday died from an undetected heart problem.
There were other reminders. If the news wasn't enough to make me aware of my mortality, I could always open the email from my mom with an obituary of someone I "might" have known who was close to my age from my hometown. Obviously, my mother has reached the age where she scans the obits at least weekly if not daily. Thanks mom! (I hope you know I'm teasing you mom!) (and yes, she really does forward me obits from time to time).
So back to what I was saying...I know this sounds depressing and it was for part of the week. But then I had another request to pray for a young man in Iraq who had collapsed with a temperature of 108. I prayed and so did many others. He is now back in the states in a military hospital. I don't know exactly how well his is doing, but he's conscious and I think that he is on the road to recovery.
So there you have it. Each day is a gift. We don't know how many we get, so we should be thankful for each one and try to use it wisely.
If you think about it this next week, would you please pray for the family that lost their son and also for the soldier who needs to heal and thank God for the opportunity of another day while you're at it!