A Birthday Wish

I am taking a brief break from my break to wish my beautiful Pumpkin Pie Girl a Happy 18th Birthday!






Happy Birthday Madie, I love you forever and for always!

Taking a Kat Nap

With all the things currently going on in my life, I have decided something has to be set on the back burner.

I will be taking a little blog-vacation. I hope to still be able and stop by and find out what is going on in the blogging world. I still want to do some blog stalking and because I am a little (OK, a lot) snoopy, I still need to know what's going on.

See you on the flip side! (Don't I just sound like Dick Clark??)

And a BIG thanks to Manic Mariah. For wonderful support and understanding! Thanks for your being my sounding board and for being a great blogging friend.

Sunday Sermon

Heaven

Recently I received an email at work that showed a little sign fight between a Catholic Church and a Presbyterian Church. Their banter starts out fun and cute and as the signs progress it gets a little testy. At one point the Catholic sign says, "All Dogs Go To Heaven". The rebuttal from the Presbyterians was "Animals don't have souls. Read the Bible". We all laughed at this exchange until Friday.

My co-worker has a little wired haired Jack Russell Terrier. She has had him for 10 years. He has been with her through the teenage years of her daughters, her divorce and her ex husbands tragic death, through dating and was an excellent judge of men! Her little Jazzman got cancer. He was a very sick little guy and spent the last three weeks with us at work sleeping under my co-workers desk. He was a sweet and well behaved dog.

Thursday night he took a turn for the worst and she had to have him put to sleep. She is, of course, broken hearted. Those of you with pets can understand how she feels. We are all sad at losing Jazz. He was one of those Great Dogs Of The World.



The timing of the email fight between the Catholics and Presbyterians was a bit ill timed. My co-worker is not a religious person but finds spiritual things all around her. She believes there is an afterlife and found some peace in her belief that she will see Jazz again.

I personally think that Heaven will be like the Garden of Eden. Humans and animals living in peace and love. When I pass on to the other side I like to think that I will be greeted by my Dad, my Grandparents and friends I have lost. But I would be sad to think that all my babies would not be there too.

I hope Tammy and Sime, my pets from my childhood, would be there. That Matues and Moose, my St. Bernard's would also be there to jump up and give me big wet slobbery kisses. And all my kitties would be there too. Jasper, Nibs, Cream Puff, Cracker, Puma and my sweet dog Haddie.

I miss them to this day.

I find comfort in believe that and I know my poor sad co-worker does too. Because, after all:

All Dogs Do Go To Heaven (And even Kitty Kats)!

Wordful Wednesday

When you have a blog you have a certain amount of power. When you don't post as many times as people (say your Aunt) thinks you should, you have in your power to post things about her. So for today's Wordful Wednesday, I am going to feature a picture of my amazing Aunt Marsha. And some of your should beware, she is a blog stalker! And a pretty good one too. Plus she is on Facebook too.

My Aunt Marsha is only 10 years older than me. When I was a little girl I always thought she was so cool and hip and words like that that we don't use anymore! I remember as a teenager, she was a newlywed and had her own apartment. She took me there one night and gave me the dress that became my most favorite piece of clothing in the world!

When I had my babies she came to visit me and always brought my beautiful Grandmother with her. That always meant the world to me. I wasn't very good at visiting myself. I can't quite tell you why but I missed out on a lot of family stuff but Marsha would always keep me updated!

Here is a picture of Aunt Marsha, second from the right , in 1959. We were celebrating my sister Marrla's 4th brithday. In the front row are my cousins Karen and Nancy, Marrla and me. In the back row are my aunts, Brenda, Bonnie, Jeanene, MARSHA and Diana.

Every year for my birthday and for everyone else in the families birthdays, she will call and sing Happy Birthday. I have a lot of cousins. And that means a lot of singing.

And finally, if I pass away before her, she will be the only speaker at my funeral. I want tears brought on by laughter, not by sadness.

My Aunt Marsha is the best! The best Aunt, the best support, the best everything. Love you Marsha!

For more Wordful Wednesday posts see Angie.

5 Things

Melissa B, who just happens to be one of my very favorite bloggers (and please, if you haven't been over to visit her, run, faster than a speeding bullet, right now! I'll wait here for you!) had a post the other day where someone had given her 5 things to think about and then right a post about that has to do with just her. Now Melissa is a gifted and talented writer. Someday, I hope she writes a book. I would be her biggest stalker. (I mean fan.)

So, after thinking about this for a few days, the following, is my take on 5 words and what I think about them.

Cats! (Or Kats, as this Krazy Kat Lady likes to say)

My love affair with kats began when I was barely able to walk. When I moved to Utah (I had been born in Germany and then lived in Lacey, Washington) I was barely a toddler. In Salt Lake we have the Hogle Zoo. A great place for a toddler. The animals were all lovely, but the moment I walked in and saw Shasta, my little heart was set a twitter. Shasta was a liger. Not the liger from Napoleon Dynamite fame, but a real live daughter of a tiger and a lion. She was beautiful and I was hooked. Shasta died when I was 16 years old and I cried to think my good friend was gone. She now resides at the Bean Museum at BYU. It's free. You should go. You should blow kisses at her for me!

This isn't Shasta, but I would have loved to give her a hug!

Over the years I have had some pretty great kitty kats. Sime when I was young, Jasper as a newly wed and Cracker and Stripers in my middle age. To be honest I have had so many kitties I really can't list them. Let's just say if my hubby were not deathly allergic to cats, there would be a couple here to keep me company!

Family

As I have said before, I come from a pretty amazing family. My Dad has six sisters who are the best in the world. My Mom only has a brother. My Step Father has more brothers and sisters than I can count. But more importantly, I have 5 sisters and 6 brothers. I would like to tell you that we have a wonderful perfect family, but I really can't. What I can tell you is my family has come through some pretty tough times and most of us are pretty functional. I have some wonderful sisters and have been blessed with a great sister in law! I have a little brother who really is my favorite. Nieces and Nephews who are the best.

I have some family members that are now ex, and it broke my heart to lose them. But I get to see them all in three weeks. A Neice is getting married!

Two years ago I married into another huge family. Now, like many of my friends and my oldest sister, I have Grandchildren. And I really do need that sticker that says, "My Grandkids are cuter than yours!" Because, now, that is completly true!

And lastly, I do have two Sons and a Daughter. There was a time when I wanted 12 children. I know now that someone up above, knows us a whole lot better than we know ourselves and blessed me with the 3 I should have. The best thing about my children is I know they love me. And hopefully they know I love them. Somewhere along the way I do hope I did something right and taught something good and important.

This is my side of the family on my wedding day. In this picture is my mother, step father, step mother, three sisters, two aunts one uncle, a cousin and neices and nephews. Also, my three kids! Check out Alex. He is fourth from the left. He looks so young!

I learned that there are times in your life when you need your family more than anything else. You need their love and support and understanding. We've had some big changes in my family over the past 5 years and we have all pulled through and now have happier lives.

My Friends

I have one friend who has been my friend since we were in 4th grade. She has been my rock during times when I didn't think I could cope. She has been my cheerleader through so many of my adventures. She has been my inspiration during difficult times. Hers and mine! She is an angel sent from Heaven to help me here on earth. I owe her more than I could ever return to her. And I haven't seen her for much too long. She lives in Idaho and I am here in Utah. Pretty close huh? We stay in contact and have through most of our lives. She is a sweetheart and I am lucky to have such a friend. Sidlet, I love you!

When I was young, friends were my life. They were a way to escape the world I lived in and enjoy some time as a real child or teenager. Most of my memories are of the friends, who like Calgon, took me away from it all. Lucky for me, my friends were good kids.

As I got older, married, had children and settled into life, I have made new friends. Some come and go, move on and pass away. My friend, Carla, has been here for me through all those rough roads you travel as an adult. I owe her so much for being a listening ear and having a loving heart. She is the most compassionate and kind hearted person ever. She gave me the courage to make hard decisions and is always supportive of my choices. Love you Carla! Let's go get a shake!

And I can't forget my blogging friends, many who I have never met. My thanks to you for actually stopping by and reading what I have to say! You are the best.

Community

Homebody should be another of my middle names. I prefer to stay at home close to the people and things I get comfort from. Not to say I don't love to travel, it's just so nice to be home. During my early years of life I moved 6 times, went to 6 different elementary schools and made dozens of friends. But, I lived in my past home for almost 30 years. That is where home is to me. There with the people who were 20 somethings, newly married, having babies, building careers and trying their hands at yardwork.

My new home is across the valley from my former one. It was a hard transition leaving behind the familiar and the comfortable.

I have discovered that no matter where you are, if you have a sence of community and well being, you are where you belong.

Last weekend it was Pioneer Day here in Utah. We had already been to one celebration on the 18th (The Grass Roots were there, my friends! Well, at least Rob Grill was. It Rocked!) so we made the decision to just stay home. We have a darling family who lives across the street with three little boys. The youngest of these boys loves my hubby. He will stand and yell at him until he acknowledges him. So very cute! This family was doing a little Firwork display. We dragged the lawn chairs out to watch the show. These cute little boys ran over to us, crawled on our laps and spent the evening entertaining us with the tales of their lives. This is what a community is. Feeling a part and sharing your love with those who are around you.

Amy Tan

As you may or may not know, I won the book, The Opposite of Fate, from Melissa during the SITS Spring Fling. Reading is the only real hobby I have and this book is so very good.

If you have read other Amy Tan books, and enjoyed them, this book will be a delight for you. She tells stories of her life and has such a positive spin on how things work out by either Faith or Fate.

Her father was a Christian and her mother a Buddist. Her life was built on her fathers faith and her mothers crazy antics. As I read I thought for sure she would be a completely disfunctional adult. Her mother would rant and beat her and tell her she was going to kill herself. Not the best enrivonrment to be raised in. But Amy Tan has a wonderful outlook on life. She has taken the bad and changed it into good. She has serious health problems that she deals with and moves on.

I found this book to be so uplifting. Amy Tan, and her family, has overcome the worst life can hand you and turned things into blessings. Thank you Melissa for sharing this with me and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good summer read!

Thanks to Melissa for giving me something to write about and for letting me do some real thinking about important things in my life!

It Takes A Little Patience

I am off today with Alex to do some school shopping. He starts High School in less than a month and he HAS to look good. Plus we are going to spend some time in Park City and Heber City. I just can't seem to get enough of either place this year!

So have a great couple of days until I get back to work.

And for your viewing enjoyment....a very cute kitty showing how to be patient!

Sunday Sermon

Miracles

Since this Sunday Sermon post is titled Miracles you would think that I would be posting about Miracles from the scriptures. Things like turning water to wine, Virgin Births, healing the sick, raising the dead and parting of seas.

Today I'd like to expand that into little everyday miracles. Just missing a car accident, finding out that the test that at first came back badly actually turned out to be just fine, having your wayward child start to change their life or maybe finding a $10 bill in your pocket. Little things that happened all the time that, to you, are miracles.

I had my own little miracles taking place in my yard this past month.

You may remember my Wordful Wednesday post a while back when I posted shots of my "wildflowers". They looked like weeds. Many hours were spent in the backyard chatting and signing to those motley looking weeds and lo and behold....a miracle happened.

My normally brown thumb has turned to green and I have flowers!

Here is a snap of my tomato plant too. I actually have a red tomato.

So you see, there are miracles everyday. In every step we take and in every breath we take. Great things that proceed out of that which is small. (Quoting from one of my favorite scriptures!)

In Job 8:7 it says:

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

And I know they are not talking about flowers and tomatoes it's still nice to remember that little things can make a big difference!