I Got the Finger

Have you ever had the finger? Do you know what the finger is? I'm sure that everyone knows what the finger is and just what finger I'm talking about.
We were all on the way to see Granny Karen the other day and this pickup truck was in front of me. The speed limit was 55 and the truck was going right at 50. I had the go-ahead to pass. I checked my mirrors, put on my blinker and proceeded to pass. Well the driver (young male) must not have wanted me to be in front of him. He started speeding up when I got beside him. Pure spite is all it was. I refused to play his game so I just slowed down and merged back into the lane behind him. Out the window of his truck came his hand. Oh it wasn't a wave at all, it was the middle finger and I had just been given the official bird. The boy's didn't like that too much either. "Mom, he just shot you a bird". "I know, but it's ok, he was just telling me I am number one". They got a good little chuckle out of that.
About a half mile down the road the guy turned right. Nope, notta blinker or nothing. Oh yeah, he gave a hand signal, but it wasn't the turn sign he used. LOL I got the official bird again. Twice in one day and by the same guy. That's kinda like getting a traffic violation twice in the same day by the same cop. HaHa...
My mom and I talked about the driver's attitude and that he must be just having a bad day. My mom's comment was "Sometimes you just gotta look over people like that". And she is exactly right in her wisdom.

Just another great lesson for the boys.

Simple Living - Lesson No. 1 - Food for thought

We are currently living in a very materialistic yet handy world. As the pace of life increases and the almighty dollar takes precedence in our lives, we find ourselves wanting more and hence working more to supply ourselves and our children with all the things they "apparently" need in order to live a happy and fulfilling life.

In doing this, we find we have less time to do the everyday, normal things. The things that used to be taken for granted. The things that seem to be coming extinct. For example, cooking a healthy and nutritious meal for your family. You may be thinking, but I do, do that! And yes some of you do, but how many of you would consider that you are supplying your family with a healthy meal, only to find that you are in fact slowly poisoning them?

I want you to take a little trip back in time, and remember what it was like when you were a child. Anyone under 30 years of age may find this a little hard to fathom, but for those of you who are older. Think about when you went to the supermarket, how big was it? What did your mother buy? How much did she buy? Were you satisfied with what you ate? And more importantly, were you healthy? How many kids misbehaved in your school? Not many I bet!

I remember when I was a little girl, we did a weekly supermarket shop on a Thursday night. The trolley would not even have been half full and in those days the trolleys were half the size they are now. Meat, Milk and Bread were all bought fresh on a daily basis. Bread actually went stale over night (the hide of it).

School lunches, consisted of a sandwich and a piece of fruit or a cookie for morning tea. My mother was always home to meet me at the door after school and we ate a family dinner around the table at night. Nothing fancy, your basic meat and three vegies or occasionally spaghetti.

Amazingly, I was never hungry, I very rarely ever got sick and I was a very happy, well behaved and well adjusted child.

Now fast forward at least 20 years and think about it all over again. What goes into those double sized trolleys. What on earth are you feeding to your children this week? Now I promised you an assignment and here it is...................

Next time you go to the supermarket or store to buy your weekly/fortnightly or monthly shopping supplies. I want you to come home and instead of just unpacking them, I want you to take a good look at everything that you have purchased.

Apart from the obvious "ALL THAT PACKAGING" I want you to think about why you purchased each item and was it really necessary. Take a look at the back of each package and read the ingredients.

How many names or codes do you actually understand and recognize?
Do you really know what you are feeding to your children?
How many preservatives and additives are in the food that you are feeding to your children on a daily basis?
How many things in this shop have you purchased with the excuse that the kids need snacks? Or because its easy?
How many of you purchased muesli bars or fruit strips because they sounded healthy? (Read the back of the packet)

Now I want you to think about something else..........

How many children have ADD or ADHD these days?
How many children are dieing from cancer these days?
How many children in the world are suffering from obesity?
Why are children so often sick with virus's these days?
(and heres one from my kids own mouths) Why do kids have such big feet these days? (Hormones maybe?)

What are these children being fed?

In a lot of cases, even the food which is portrayed as healthy, is grown with chemicals. Chickens are injected with growth hormones to make them grow faster to keep up with supply and demand. And we are feeding all this to our kids.

So what do you do? You simplify! Go back to basics! Cook your food from scratch like mom or grandma used to. If the kids are hungry between meals, give them a piece of fruit. (I can hear some of you whining, but my kids won't eat fruit. That is a load of crock. If they are hungry enough, they will eat it. If you do not provide them with rubbish they will eat the healthy food).

Apart from leading a healthier life, you may actually save yourself a lot of that hard earned money! Think about it!

Tigger's Journal

This may be too graphic for anyone with a weak stomach. Please read with caution.

I have held off on reporting too much about Tigger because of his condition. He has been a very sick little kitty. My last report was that the vet showed me how to give fluids to him with an injection. It has been a long 2 weeks for us with Tigger. Of course it has been more difficult for Tigger than for me and I have to admit it certainly hasn't been easy for me.

Wednesday, October 3rd - 3 of the cats went to the vet to be fixed and declawed.

Thursday, October 4th - 3 of the cats came home and everything was fine.

Friday, October 5th - Tigger very sick. Tigger had to go back to the vet. He had to get fluids via an injection.

Saturday, October 6th - Tigger even sicker. He had to go back to the vet and stay over the whole weekend.

Monday, October 8th - Tigger came home and I had all kinds of instructions on giving him fluids. He just laid around as if he had no will to live. He would not eat or drink anything and he was throwing up (a lot). By process of elimination that Tigger may have eaten some of, one of our house plants - we believe it may have been our Peace Lily. Needless to say that the Peace Lily now lives out side. I am still considering getting rid of the plant completely.

Tuesday, October 9th - Tigger getting worse. The vet ask me to come in and he would show me how to give the fluids via an injection. I got sick in the vets office and thought that I was going to pass out. This has happened to me before at the vets office (LOL). It's only me feeling sorry for the animals that I was with at the time, including Tigger. I started giving him fluids via the injection this evening.

Wednesday, October 10th thru Friday, October 12th - Still giving him fluids via the injection twice a day. He is still throwing up. He is still not eating or drinking anything at all.

Saturday, October 13th - Tigger walks to the water dish and takes 2 laps. He will not drink milk or anything else. He will not eat canned cat food, tuna or anything else. All this time he had been sleeping in the shower in my bathroom. He didn't want to be away from us today, he wanted to lay in the hallway near the den. So we let him stay out all day and be near us.

Sunday, October 14th - No more throwing up. During the night he learned how to open the shower door, somehow get under the bathroom door and under my bedroom door. Today he ate about 5 little niblets of dry cat food. He also went to the litter box by himself. He drank a few more laps of water. He meowed and showed some response when I put my finger gently in his ear.

Monday, October 15th - A few more niblets of dry cat food. A few more laps of water. He drank a little bit of milk tonight. Used the litter box by himself again. He meows a little more now. He is walking kinda funny...Putting his head down and swinging it back and forth as he walks. It looks like he is drunk. I am still giving him fluids via injection. He purred a little bit.

Tuesday, October 16th - His appetite is really starting to pick up. More trips to the food bowl and to the litter box. His litter box trips are clearing up. There was blackish blood and then red blood, now they look more like wet cat food. Today he fought the injection and I made a call to the vet. Per the vet...as long as he is not dehydrated, I can hold off on the injections. Tonight I managed to get him to drink some milk and some chicken broth. I also got him to eat a little bit of canned cat food.
Now he walks very weird. His back legs don't want to work. It's almost as if they were asleep. I kinda feel sorry for him but I have to give him credit because he certainly is trying.
I tote him to the food dish and take food and liquids to him. I take him to the litter box and generally he uses it. The reason I am carrying him is because of how he is walking.
Tonight he is starting to perk up his ears and eyes when he hears certain sounds. He still wants to be close to us and we are still letting him be close to us.

Wednesday, October 17th - The girls get their stitches out and Tigger is getting a check up. I will update more when I get back from the vets office.
Update - The girls did get their stitches out. The vet and his assistant was pretty impressed with Tigger. The vet said that the way Tigger is walking is a sign of diabetes. However, he doesn't believe that it is diabetes because Tigger's walk has improved since yesterday. Not much but there is an improvement. To give you an example of how he is walking - it's kind of like one of the raptors on Jurassic Park.
I am trying to let him walk more on his own now. I do help him to the litter box because I want him to be able to make it on time. He is drinking more chicken broth and milk. He is eating more dry cat food and canned cat food. Tonight he showed an interest in 2 very important things. Those things are his play cubicle and a piece of yarn. He really perked up with the piece of yarn and batted at it. The vet has him on medication now, which I am sure will only help.
Just to let everyone know, the vet said that there is still a chance that he may not make it. Also, the vet wants to see him again in about 2 weeks to monitor the improvements.
Oh yeah - lots of purring now too and he is bathing himself.

Thursday, October 18th - I am amazed at the progress that Tigger makes overnight. He is sitting at the shower door this morning, asking to be let out. When I let him out, I immediately notice that he is walking a little better. I follow behind him to make sure that he wants his breakfast. I give him milk that he smells of and is done with it. He don't even want his chicken broth. I kinda get concerned about it. He heads off in the direction of the dry cat food. That's what he wanted. He starts eating and I begin to wonder if he is going to get full. I offer him a little canned cat food and he wants only a tiny bit of it. He hurries off to the litter box, does his business and off he goes again. He gets to his cubicle and there he lays for a couple of hours. Later on he lays by the window and soaks up some warm sunshine. He chased his ball for about 2 feet today. Tigger was laying on the floor today and did a long cat stretch. Throughout the whole day you could see his walking improve. Now he walks with his legs straighter and more like a slinky type of cat walk, his tail up in the air. Purrs and purrs. He ate more canned cat food this afternoon. More long cat stretches and even one where he rolled over onto his back wanting a belly rub.

Friday, October 19th - We can see his improvement from hour to hour today. His walking has improved so much. It's almost as if there has never been a walking issue. I called the vet to get a refill on the meds that he was just started on. The meds are to help his liver heal. The liver damage is caused from the plant he ate. When I called the vet, I had to tell them all about how much he has improved and still improving. They were all so extremely happy. No more fluids through the I.V. Tigger is now eating like a horse and begging for more. He actually chased one of his little bell balls today for about 5 feet. Once he got to it, he had no interest in playing with it.

Saturday, October 20th - Now that Tigger is so close to being well, I just may stop updating daily on him. I will let you all know what the vet says when I take him back in a little less than 2 weeks. Today Tigger is back. Walking normal and in to everything. He hides under the bed and waits until someone walks by and then he pounces on them. He played with his bell balls today for a long time. He also played with one of our other cats (Biscuit). Long, long cat stretches and so much more cat personality.

Hang in for the vet report in a few days.

Simplify and Survive

With all the recent talk about Global Warming and dim predictions for the future, many people are sitting back and wondering. "Well what could I possibly do, that will make a difference?" "I am only one person, in a world of billions, even if I try it will not make an impact"

If you are thinking along these lines, then you are wrong. Every little thing we do, every decision we make has an impact in some way or form. Have you ever heard of the Butterfly effect? A butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world could cause a hurricane someone else?

Perhaps you have never considered yourself to be a "Greenie or Treehugger" but just by dropping by and reading Alta's posts on recycling you may have been touched in some way. Or you may just mention it to someone else and give them a reason to stop and think a little. It may not mean anything to you at this particular moment. But it may just be the trigger, that sets you on a different path for the rest of your lives.

Today I have one word for you. That word is "SIMPLIFY". What does it mean to you? What do you think about when you say it? In what way do you think you could could simplify your life? Do you even think it is necessary?

Many of you will be wondering, what on earth I am getting at. Others will be setting their thinking wheels in motion while they are still reading. I dare you! Stop what you are doing for just five minutes and do nothing but think. "How Can I Simplify?"

Tomorrow I will be back with a little assignment for you! Don't worry, there are no grades involved and you may actually learn something about yourself.

For those of you who find it hard to think or can't slow down enough to work out what to think. Here a few ideas.............

What are some of the things I WANT in life?
Why do I want them?
How do they benefit me as a human being?
Do I really NEED them?
Can I take them with me when I die?
How do these things impact the environment? (Everything does in some way!)
What can I do to improve myself?
Are the "normal" stresses in life really necessary?
Why do I even do things that make me stress?
How does this effect my health?

You Gotta Turn Green

Green has really never been my favorite color. But here lately, I am thinking that Green is much better than the other options. Why? What the heck am I talking about? Well, I'm gonna tell ya.

Green is the color that our planet needs to be. I'm not kiddin. You can do a little part to help our planet. It isn't difficult at all. I can't even remember how I found these links, and really, how I found them isn't all that darn important. The fact that I found them and I want to share them with you, is the important part.

I've never really considered myself a tree hugger. That is in the terms that most people around here think of a tree hugger. In the true terms of tree hugger, I am a tree hugger. You don't have to be classified as a tree hugger to utilize any of these ideas. All you have to do to utilize any of these ideas is enjoy breathing. Before we know it, the air we breath isn't going to be breathable anymore. Do something today.

TreeHugger has a plethora of handy guides to help you green your lives with ease, while understanding why. Their aim is over 100+ guides so do come back to visit. And please tell your friends, family and colleagues! Most of us understand that we need to do something, some of us understand what to do but few of us are actually doing anything.

Natural Resources Defense Council has a Green Living Toolkit where you can get the tips and tools you need to help to bring a little green into your life. Check out their guides to saving energy, protecting your health, giving green gifts and more.

I found a lot of these ideas helpful and useful. Our family will be trying a few of them to see if we can help more than we already do. You should try too!

More Recycling

Have you ever driven into a town and notice their welcoming sign? We have a couple of towns that have a sign saying "Welcome to ________ We Recycle". Ok, that's cool. I like that idea. I have to do business in these towns every now and then. They used to have old horse trailers that had been converted into Recycle trailers. They park them around the county in different cities. They park them in the same location all the time...except recently.

Yes, until recently. Where in the heck have all the recycle trailers went to? I mentioned that our lives changed after reading an article about plastic. We discussed the article at supper one night and Superman decided that he wanted us to do a little more. Now we are recycling all of our plastic containers. Milk jugs, condiment containers, laundry containers and any thing else that we buy that comes in a plastic container. So we clean them all out, stuff them in a bag and load them in the car. Off to town to rent a movie, stop by the grocery store and hit the recycle trailer. They moved it! Why? It's been there for over a year now, maybe longer. How can we recycle our plastic if the darn trailer isn't there? Now the back of the car has a bag full of plastic containers. I'm gonna tote them around until I see a place to put them.
We cut down on our plastic bag usage when we shop. I mean way down. We now carry our own bags and put our items in our bags - not the stores plastic bags. The boys are really enjoying using our bags and cutting down on the amount of plastic bags that we use.

I'm gonna write a letter to the editor of our local newspaper. That's what I'll do. Maybe just maybe someone can shed some light on the location of the recycle trailers.

Staying In Touch

I know! I haven't been here much. But I've been busy. Remember me saying that I have a very full calendar. And since Granny Karen is in the hospital, we have been running to the hospital to visit with her. We are also taking care of her animals while she isn't home.

There is still a lot going on around here and there will be all month long. Hopefully, this week the boys and I will be able to skip school and go to the library book sale. I look forward to that sale twice a year. I haven't been to it in about 2 years now, but I still mark it on the calendar just in case I find myself in the area of the sale. I will make it a point this week to be in the area. I'll have to tell you all about it too. I know the boys will enjoy it. I just know it!

I have a little journal about Tigger that I will be sharing later in the week. He is still hanging in there and what a little trooper he is.

Full Calendar

Have you ever wondered when it will every end? What ever "It" is. Well some days I wonder. This whole month has been a month from - yep - you guessed it. Oh yeah - and we are only 11 days into this darn month. What will the rest of the month bring?

Granny Karen has had her knee surgery this morning. MJ has surgery on the 23rd of this month. And my mom will be having surgery on the 31st. I have heard all my life that things come in three's. Will the surgeries are certainly coming in three's.

My October calendar is certainly full. And now I have to write more things on it. I think it may just be full after this. LOL And I just got a call from my sister saying that I need to pick her up at the airport on the 30th of this month. I knew about it but I had kinda forgotten. Just as long as I don't forget on the 30th I'll be ok.

Our weather was much cooler this morning. It was very nice to walk out the door and not feel like you're walking into an oven.

Yesterday the boys and I decided that we would have class on the road. We had a doctors appointment for MJ and from there I wanted to run by the book store. I couldn't find any books by James Patterson on sale. I did buy another "Wee Sing" cd for the boys. I love these little songs on these cd's. Once we left the book store, we decided to go over the Target and just look around. We have been looking for some Halloween cookie cutters and couldn't find them anywhere. We found them at Target, they were right inside the door and they were only $1 a pack. Pretty darn good deal.

We have been doing a little paper mache'. It is so very messy but so much fun. We are making pumpkins. I really have no idea how they are going to turn out but right now they look really cool. We started out with a balloon and then we started layering the paper mache'. We tied a string to the balloon so that we could hang them to dry. We are making them in a couple of stages because we want them to be sturdy. I'm excited about decorating them!

WW is baking cookies right now. He just said to me that he has never baked cookies before. I bought a roll of the toll house cookies and I got him started baking and off he ran with it. Chocolate chip cookies too! Yummy!

Even though our calendar is full, we are finding time to have fun and spend time with each other. It's very important to enjoy your family no matter how busy your life becomes or how full your calendar gets.

Tigger Still Not Well

After a long weekend for us, I called the vet this morning to see how Tigger was feeling. Tigger is on a long road to recovery, if he actually recovers. The facts are hard and I am crying as I tell you this. Tigger did make it through the weekend. Tigger could go any time now. We all pray that he get better and stays with us for many more years.

Our vet has tried and tried to figure out what went wrong. In all reality, we really don't know.

On Wednesday we took him, Biscuit and Captain in to be fixed and declawed. Surgery went well with all of them. We brought all of them home on Thursday and they all just laid around sleeping and resting. Friday morning I noticed that Tigger was very lethargic and dehydrated. There was also some greenish liquid throw up on one of the carpet runners. I immediately called the vet and he suggested that we bring Tigger in for some fluids. Tigger stay all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We brought Tigger home today with all kinds of instructions and what to look out for.

The vet started asking me questions about house plants. I told him about a few that I have and he believes that Tigger may have eaten some of my Peace Lily. This may be what is causing his problem.
Possible liver damage.
We are just not sure. We know that he is still lethargic and dehydrated. Tigger is home with us now and I am giving him fluids all the time. He shows no interest in food or water. I am giving him Gatorade with a syringe.

Please keep Tigger in your thoughts and prayers.

Our Lives Changed Today

Reading our local newspaper changed our families lives today. No joke! It really did. You finish reading and let me know if your life will be changed today.

By the time you've read this sentence, Americans will have thrown away over 15,000 plastic bags. They will have recycled about 150.

The simple plastic grocery bag is an amazing invention. Plastic bags are strong, inexpensive, and durable. They can be used to hold groceries, lunches, clothes (dirty or clean), prescriptions, trash and more.

But there's a problem with plastic grocery bags. Once they're made, they basically never go away. In a landfill, a bag may take over 1,000 years to break down. In other words, the bag you carried home from the store yesterday might still be there for your great great great grandchildren's great great great grandchildren to enjoy. What an heirloom!

Of course, many grocery bags don't go to a landfill. They end up polluting rivers, oceans, beaches, forests, parks, streets, parking lots, schoolyards, backyards, and athletic fields.

This pollution is deadly. Californians Against Waste claim that 100,000 turtles and marine mammals are killed each year by plastic marine debris. That's approximately one every five minutes. A cow in New Delhi died after ingesting 35,000 plastic bags, according to Indian media reports.

While yesterday's plastic bags sully the landscape and kill wildlife, more and more plastic bags are being manufactured today. According to Salon.com, Americans use over 100 billion plastic bags each year. That's 274 million plastic bags a day, or over 3100 per second.

Reuseablebags.com estimates that about 12 million barrels of oil are used annually to manufacture the plastic bags used in the United States. That's enough oil to create about 240 million gallons of gas, which could fuel over 500,000 cars with gas for an entire year.

We're swimming in a sea of plastic bags. If we don't act fast, we may drown. Fortunately, there are several easy steps you can take to help reduce the plastic bag waste you produce.

First, stop using plastic bags in the grocery store. Don't replace them with paper bags, which require more petroleum to manufacture than do plastic bags. Instead, replace them with reusable shopping bags.

Reusable bags, often made of cloth or recycled plastic, are inexpensive, large, and sturdy. If each American household brought one cloth bag per trip to the grocery store, we would throw away 10 billion fewer plastic bags per year.

Reuseable bags come in all different kinds. You can get designer bags, such as the ones offered by Hermes for $960. Publix offers a less chic model for under $2. Better yet, look around your house and you may find a variety of cloth bags, backpacks or other suitable totes lying around. Stick them in your car so you don't forget them.

If you do forget your reusable bags, then make sure you bag your groceries carefully. Grocery baggers seem to operate on a per-bag commission, double bagging anything heavier than a loaf of bread. Ask the bagger to fill your bags up, and only double bag when absolutely necessary.
When you get home, don't throw the bags away. Bring them back to the store and drop them in the recycling bin. Experts estimate that only 1.2 percent of plastic bags used in the U.S. are recycled.

These simple steps alone could cut America's plastic bag waste by tens of billions of bags per year, saving millions of barrels of oil, thousands of turtles and marine mammals and preventing countless instances of unsightly litter and dangerous pollution.

Unfortunately, not enough Americans are taking these easy steps. If we don't clean up our act, then government may have to step in. In some places, it already has.

Several countries, including Taiwan, Thailand and South Africa, have banned plastic grocery bags. San Francisco recently followed suit, and other American cities are considering similar legislation. Such legislation is expensive, time-consuming and should be unnecessary.

Citizens need to stand up and act on their own to eliminate needless plastic bag waste.

In the time you took to read this column, Americans threw away over 900,000 plastic bags.

Whether by legislation, innovation or individual action, we must eliminate our dependence on plastic bags.

Do your part today.

I give full credit to Stuart Carlton. "Stuart Carlton is a Ph.D. student in the Interdisciplinary Ecology program at the University of Florida's School of Natural Resources and he Environment."

Local Peanut Festival

Today was the Local Peanut Festival in the little town where I grew up. Superman was going to take Granny Karen's car in to the shop and work on it, but he changed his mind and said that he would go with us to the festival. I am certainly glad that he went with us.
These are my 2 rock climbers. MJ almost at the top and WW getting close too.

This moring when we all finally rolled out of bed, it was raining. The boys were all excited about going to the festival and the rain kinda dampened their spirits. We let the boys know that we still may be able to ride up to the festival and if it wasn't raining then we could walk around. That gave them just enough to dry out their spirits a little. With that said and done, Superman and I disappeared to get dressed and ready to ride. Once the boys saw that we were dressed, they disappeared for about 1 minute and returned all dressed and ready to ride. I love the excitement in children.

Was it only raining at our house? 10 minutes down the road and the rain had stopped. There were 5 of us who were really glad we decided to give the weather a chance. It seemed like the closer we got the more the excitement grew.

The festival was about 10 blocks long and 1 block wide. I know - not very big. You would be amazed as to how many booths, rides and just plain fun they can pack in such a small space.

There were pony rides, boiled peanuts, fried peanuts, goats to pet, miniature ponies to pet, bean bags to throw, friends to say hello to, hand crafted everything, tractors to see and so much more. We ran into an old friend that we had not seen in several years. He knew about us wanting to adopt and we just had to introduce the boys to him. He was elated for us!

The boys were antsy because they had spotted those air rides and games. It's the ones that there is constantly air blowing them up to make them bouncy.

There was a box like thing that the boys went into, they could jump and do flips and such.
There was a huge slide like thing.
There was a distance race on a bungy cord.
And the one I liked the best was the rock climbing wall.

Of course they had to try out each and every one of them.

Especially the AMERICAN FLAG

Every week I like to read our local newspapers online. Tonight I start reading one of our local newspapers and of course I just have to go and read the editorial. The article that I am talking about just upset me. Why? If you are an American then you will know why. Please remember that I am posting this because I am an American and I believe in our country. This post is not meant to offend anyone!

Letters to the editor
Students banned from wearing flag
Editor:
It has come to my attention that the Levy County School Board does not allow Students, especially at the Williston Middle school, to wear any clothing with a Flag on it. Especially the AMERICAN FLAG!
I find this absolutely ludicrous. This is AMERICA!
Who are we going to offend? A Muslim? An anarchist ? An illegal?
I have also been advised that the Pledge of Allegiance is not pledged each morning in class. Is that true? Why not?
This IS AMERICA. The Land of the FREE. We Are “One Nation Under GOD” or have you bubble heads forgotten that under the guise of political correctness? Read the entire article here.

Tigger Not Feeling Well

And back to the vet we go. Tigger hasn't been feeling well since we brought him home from the vets office. Last night he would drink a little water and then throw up a lot of fluid. Poor little guy just laid around and was very lethargic. He was extremely dehydrated. After a call to the vets office today, they suggested that we bring him in to get some fluids in him. I had a doctors appointment in town, so we just dropped Tigger off and then went to my appointment. We went back by the vets office to see if Tigger could go home but they suggested that he stay over night so they could watch him and get more fluids in him.

We are all worried about little Tigger.

And They Sleep

We all know that cats sleep. A Lot! We picked all 3 of the cats up from the Vets office this morning. I was concerned about the ride home and how the boys and the cats would handle each other. Well, I was concerned for no reason at all. Ok - call me a worry wart!

Everyone did well from their surgery and were ready to go home. When I first saw them all in their kennels at the Vets office, I wanted to run and grab them all and just love on them.
I think I have become a softie after all these years. Really! To the point that yesterday after we dropped the cats off at the Vets office that I was going to cry. We managed to get about 10 minutes down the road and I started to really thinking about them. Thinking about the surgery and if something happened and should I just go and get them or call the Vets office and cancel everything. I had to talk myself out of doing that.

The ride home was not bad at all. Now getting them out of the car was a different story all together. Captain had somehow wedged herself under the front passenger seat. Tiggie, oh he was easy because he had laid down in the back floorboard and went to sleep. Biscuit hid in the very back, in the cargo area. JD and MJ climbed in the cargo area and locked the door. I guess they thought that Biscuit might attack them and open the door and escape. Locking the door sure did prevent that from happening.

Everyone is home at last. Last night it was very quiet here at home. I think the cats must run around the house and make all the noise. Yeah - right! Once we brought all the cats inside, I put them all in my bedroom where it's nice and dark, cold and quiet. Biscuit finally came out about 2 hours later and decided the best place for her was in my lap. Tiggie has just laid around anywhere. It's like he walks 10 feet and then just falls over for a nap. Captain has hid in my bedroom all day. She always has liked it calm and quiet. Finally tonight around 10pm, she came slipping into the den. She paid me a quick visit and was off to grab a few little nibbles of food.

My arms were loaded with medicine for all the cats. I was almost overwhelmed with all the vials and syringes and this and that. At first I thought I was going to pass out. I really was overwhelmed. I started taking notes about the times and such of the meds. Why? Because I didn't want to forget. I was blinded by all the darn things. All the instructions that I needed to know where written on each package.

Instead of all the cats running around and chasing poor Mindy (our Schnauzer), they are all hiding somewhere where they cannot be bothered. I am guessing that Sunday or Monday the normal activity of cats running between our feet while we try to walk will resume. At least now when they grab our feet it won't be with claws.

And The Total Is...

Hopefully you all remember our cats. Just in case you don't - There is Captain Hooks, we call her Captain. She is named that because she is a Hemingway cat, she has 6 toes. There is Biscuit. Now how she came about that name is a long story. Biscuit is the litter mate to Captain. Then along comes Tigger. He got his name because he is stripped like a Tiger but acts like Tigger from Winnie The Pooh. We call him Tiggie. And last but not least come Dusty. He is our big fat yellow tabby cat. He was named Dusty because he always looks smutty.

It was either Friday or Saturday that we noticed that Captain and Tiggie were getting a little too darn friendly. Oh they were just all smoochy, smoochy. Ok - no more cats. Not gonna have it, no way, no how. Since then we have been putting Captain in our bedroom and letting Tiggie have run of the house. Then we would put Tiggie in one of the boys bedrooms and let Captain have run of the house. Every now and then someone would leave a door open and we would all run into each other trying to grab cats. Kinda like a cat scramble. It was a sight for sore eyes.

Saturday I called the vet, made the appointment that was long over due. Yep! The one to get Captain, Biscuit and Tiggie fixed (Dusty was done several years ago). Not only are we getting them all fixed, but we are having their front paws de-clawed. I know the de-clawing is a touchy issue for some and I understand. But think of it this way.
Our cats never, ever go outside. And when they all get to running and playing, you can sometimes find them about 4 foot up the wall. No joke! They will jump up and grab on to the wall. They just kinda hang there like a squirrel and look around as if to say "can you see me now?". The walls were not made for cat claws.

The vet gave me a total on the phone when I made the appointment. To get the 3 cats done, the total was $550. I thought, shoot, that's not bad. This afternoon I called to check on them and they were all doing just fine. I'm sure they are all really mad at me right now but they are well and that's what counts most.
Oh yeah - And The Total Is...$689.00
Biscuit had an infection in her uterus. Why or how - we don't know. She will be on antibiotics for a few days. I really am looking forward (NOT) to giving a cat (especially Biscuit) a darn pill every day. That's where a sling shot comes in handy. LOL Get your husband to sit in his very favorite recliner, put the cat in his lap and ask him in your most sweetest voice - "Darling, will you pleeaaassssseeee hold Biscuits mouth open", then you load the pill into the sling shot and take your very best aim. Now - fire away!

Ok, so we know that's not gonna happen. Just suck it up and give the darn cat the pill. Yep, that's what I gotta do.

Fall Like Weather

All of the professionals say that Fall is not in the air. Well, I am a native Floridian and I say Fall is in the air. At least we are having Fall like weather. I think it may be from several of the storms that have come and gone from the Atlantic and from the Gulf of Mexico. Today we had some much needed rain, which our family always welcomes.

Here in Florida, we don't have to much of the leaf changes. One day the trees have leaves and the next they don't. That's pretty much the extent of our leaf changes. I did notice today that the Sycamore trees have really turned their leaves to some pretty colors. We've had a breeze for the past couple of days too and that has been really nice. This is the kind of weather that I love to be at the barn in.

I love the smell of the barn. Hay all stacked up and it has such a country smell. The smell of the compost pile is so earthen. The smell of the horses when they visit me at the barn.

It may not be Fall yet - but we sure are having Fall like weather.

Living in the Real World

We all know that once the weekend is gone that Monday comes along. It's a fact. Not one that much of us like but it happens. And once again I find myself asking - where did the weekend go? I wonder where the weekends go because we stay busy. We always seem to run from here to there and back again. I'm not so much the runner in the family, it's more Superman than me. The boys are all fine with staying home or being on the go. I really think they prefer to stay home than running from here to there. However, there are times when they will ask if we are going anywhere. I try to post our schedule (appointments) on the calendar and I do a pretty good job of it. I just don't post things like buying groceries or horse feed or things like that.

Yes, it's Monday. I used to really dread Mondays. That's when I worked in the real world. Now that I am a SAHM (stay at home mom) and a WAHM (work at home mom), I don't dread Mondays anymore. Funny how I said the real world. What exactly is the real world?
For me the real world consist of rolling out of bed at a decent hour, doing the brush teeth and make bed thing. Next I'm trying to get things a little organized for our daily school lessons, while I am waking the boys up and reminding them to get their chores completed. They're pretty good with their chores, so that's the easy part. Doing this and that for all the critters, such as feeding, cleaning the litter boxes, opening gates for horses and so on... Next, I'm giving a bottle to our baby squirrel while making sure that the boys clean the table and do their dishes after they eat breakfast. Then we're off to school where we talk about Columbus sailing the ocean blue, counting from 1 to 200 and figuring out what number comes before and after. We work on growing plants, examining plant cells, work on cursive writing, figure out the plot, setting and characters of a story. We work on spelling words and telling time. We do addition, subtraction and we multiply and we divide. We do fractions and we count beans. We draw and we color. I think it would have been easier to just say there isn't anything that we don't work on.
Some days we all walk to the mailbox together. Some days we run errands and read road signs. Everyday we laugh! No matter how bad the day is - we still find something to laugh at.
We eat lunch and we clean up our mess. We add some more and count some more beans. We count coins and we try to talk in Spanish. We run, we jump and we sword fight. Some days I'm toting a cat like a baby trying to get them out of the bathroom while answering 900 questions. Some days I'm feeding the baby squirrel while trying to wash my hands. One just never knows around here. LOL

Schools out and we all run our separate ways. Me to the barn and then to the kitchen. The boys? Oh they scatter in all different directions.
We all sit down to supper and we laugh and giggle and we talk about our day. We all do the cleaning up from supper and then we all scatter again. The boys scatter off to get their showers and do any homework that they have. Then they find us and hopefully we all can sit down to a movie or to another family conversation or even for some quiet time to read a book.

Bedtime. For everyone except me. Of course I am the one that has the most problem going to sleep. I take the time that everyone is asleep as my quiet time, my time to relax and finally read my emails, clean off my desk, do a little dusting, maybe even some laundry. Now I'm thinking, just how many hours are in the day anyway. LOL

In the morning we start all over again. That brings me to another question. Isn't it time for me to get some sleep? Yeah - I think so!
Goodnight all!