Sunday morning. January 31, 2010

Hi, Everyone,
Man has it been cold! Single digits and windchill below zero! Goodness!

Hubby got a cold week before last and I was hoping to avoid getting it but started with it last Monday. It stayed in my head for four days and by Thursday night, it worked its way down to my bronchial area. I had to see the Doctor on Friday for my blood results, and he went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic so I don't get into pneumonia as I have before. I feel better this morning, but still coughing.

I've been really busy with grant writing and meetings. Much to do and take care of.

My computer guy was out here on Sat. and put in a new modem for my computer and cleaned up my hard drive with unnecessary programs on it. It does run better now. Sure wish we could get DSL around here! Dial-up is so slow and inconvenient.

Callie-kitty is so much fun! She and Tigger play all the time when they aren't napping of course. Callie sleeps with us and she curls up under my chin and my arm. She is really developing a personality. When she first arrived here, Tigger would grab a hold of her and pin her down. Now Callie is getting bigger and she is able to get Tigger down! Callie is going into the vets on Tuesday morning to get spayed. Also she is going to have those extra ear flaps removed below her left ear, and a little thing growing on her left lower eye rim. Not sure what that is, but it does fold into her eye. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it could grow and be a problem later on. Might as well get it done while she is under the anesthetic.

Most of the major bookstores I had book signings over the last years have reduced book signings dramatically. So, with my author friend, Joyce Bishop Morris, we are going to the the craft events in the surrounding areas. I did one last year in Massillon, (going back May 1st.), and it was very successful.

I have been blessed of late as I still hear from readers about my books. This always gives me a boost and I am so grateful my books are still being read and passed on to others to read.

Much to do today inside so I better get to it soon. Father-in-law is coming down today as usual. He will be pleased with the soup I made. Vegetable beef barley. Very good. (I made Chicken Noodle soup the a couple weeks ago. I always try to send some home with him.)

One great thing is happening. The days are getting longer and it doesn't get dark now until after 6 p.m. So spring is around the corner! It can't get here soon enough!

Take care, be blessed, stay safe, and thanks so much for stopping by.
Until next time,
Becky :)

Sun. morning, January 17, 2010

Hi, Everyone,

We are having a heat wave (40+ degrees) and all the (14 inches) of snow is melting away. The melting snow at the east end of the house is making a little river into the pond. The pond is overflowing on the south side. The change of water is good and supplies more oxygen to the pond and the fish, but goodness, what a lot of water! I just hope the liner doesn't rise up again because of the meltdown. The fish will be scrambling for space. Then if it freezes again, uh-oh!

Callie-Kitty and Tigger-Digger are having a ball together. They sleep well at night but at 4 a.m., they are wanting their baby food, and dry food, and then it is all out play for a couple hours until it is nap time again. Callie is growing and getting stronger every day. She and Tigger go to the basement each night when hubby makes the fire in the fireplace and play down there too. I will be getting her spayed as soon as she reaches 5 pounds. I have an appointment this week for her third inoculations and if she is 5 pounds or over, I will make arrangements to have her spayed before she comes into heat. The vet will also have to remove the extra two ear flaps growing below her left ear.

I had some women in my WISH Group recently. They were arrested when the hubby called the police. It should not have happened. They are the victims. I hope this gets dismissed for both of them and they can get on with their lives. It is not fair. I wonder at times if the police are really educated in what has taken place and who to really arrest. Do they take the time to listen to the woman and what has happened? Can they not see she is fearful and devastated by what has taken place? Do they not see how anxious and upset she is because either she found out he was cheating on her or she had had it with his constant control of her life and this was just another tactic get back at her or show her who is in control? Then there are the children. The totally innocent ones having to witness all of it. They are so torn apart by it all and don't understand or have a clue what has happened or why.

Enjoy your day. Lift your face to the sun and feel the warmth. Be glad you are alive and count your blessings everyday. Some women in violent and abusive situations don't even have the desire to get out of bed in the morning. They are caught up in a constant state of confusion...an endless emotional roller-coaster ride and cannot see any hope to escape.

Take care,
Thanks for stopping by.
Becky :)

January 4, 2010 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Well, the company left last night and is heading back to Iowa early this morning. Then returning to Nebraska after dropping the kids off in Iowa. Brother-in-law is divorced so he does a lot of driving to see his teenager kids. He is a very loving, caring, and devoted father to them. They have a very good relationship. They are fun kids. They love to try and beat me at pool, and at Euchre! Doesn't happen! I cooked endlessly for the last two weeks with the holidays and return visits of company, but hubby made his delicious spaghetti yesterday and of course it was a hit with everyone.

Callie-Kitty is doing well. She is growing quickly. She and Tigger play at different times of day. Zip, rip, chase, wrestle, hide-and-seek, attack mode, all of it. They even have been napping together on the chair or back of the chair.

I threw my back out three weeks ago on a Saturday and it is slowly getting better. I really aggravated my two herniated discs when I stepped in a hole out by Clara's box. But, yesterday was the better of days since it happened and my Chiropractor has helped me once again tremendously. I am so glad he is close by. I'm going in today at some time and get another adjustment and therapy. Probably after work before I head home.

Heading into work this morning. Lots of snow coming down these last few days and even right now and into the week. Not a lot of accumulation presently, but it all adds up after a while! It has been very cold also. We had 2 degrees above zero yesterday morning. BRR!

Take care, be safe, and I wish for you a very good and healthy 2010.

Becky :)

Christmas Day, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Today is the celebration of our Saviour's birth. Happy Birthday Jesus!
Did you know?: Santa comes once a year. Jesus is here every second!
You can sit on Santa's lap, but you are in Jesus' loving arms 24/7!
Santa has helpers, elves, and a Mrs. but Jesus is the Trinity. His helpers are us, spreading the word of His love and redemption and saving salvation.

Santa says: If you're good you can get presents. If you're bad, you may not.
Jesus says: He forgives our transgressions and loves us regardless of them. He welcomes us with open, loving, and forgiving arms and takes us into His fold. We are lost sheep without Him.

What has happened to Christmas? Is it all about retail sales, money, shopping and decorating? I believe some of it is if you can do this. But, what about the person who has lost his/her home, job, finances, car, and is so desperate to make some kind of Christmas for the children?

At times, and I have been there, there is no money for presents or even the traditional Christmas food. It is a very sad time, but reflecting back on that desperate and devestating time in my life, I held onto the meaning of Christmas, and somehow, the Lord saw me through it, celebrating in my heart and being thankful for being alive and the will and the strength to go on living.

I pray for all those who are desperate, lost, uncertain where their life is going, and pray they realize the Christmas day is just a day to celebrate and the presents are always necessary. Your life is your gift from Jesus, and your gift to Him is yourself. Thank Him today for that.

Be blessed, stay safe, take care, and I'll be back soon.
Thanks for stopping by!
In God's Love,
Becky :)

Tue. December 8, 2009 New kitty and things

Hi, Everyone,
Thanks for stopping by these past weeks. Hope you are safe and doing okay.

Well, we did it again! We got a new kitty. She is a Calico so therefore we named her "Callie." I know, really original, but hey, she needed a catchy kinda name so there ya go! She is about 8 weeks old.

She got off to a rough start with her Mother. They were dumped in the dog box pen at the dog pound. It was very cold. Then a rescue person, Erica, took her and the mother home. She put the baby kitty in her spare bathroom and treated her for many fleas, fed her and gave her some warm bedding. Erica announced at the CCAPL meeting on Dec. 1st. the kitten and the mother were available for adoption.

I called Erica later and told her we could take her if she was Feline Leukemia tested and was negative and we would pay for these things done. So, on last Thursday, she took kitty to vet in Minerva and got her checked out, tested, vaccinated, and wormed. Very bad case of variety of worms.

I had a two-day fund-raiser and would be done at Noon or little before. Poor little thing was really skinny yet had a pot-belly.

I brought her home around 12:15 p.m. on Sat. Introduced her to the rooms of the house and Tigger. Tigger, being the "older kitten" (over a year old now), was pretty curious of this new thing that invaded her home!

I fed the little kitty "Kitten Chow" different times during the day and evening and she had access to water in the dish. I thought she was consuming a large amount of both and acted so starved. (She is very skinny and weighed 1.7 pounds at the vets.)

Well around 7 p.m. she threw up everything she had eaten since she got here! Then the diarrhea started! I put another litter box in the front bathroom as she sure didn't have time to run all the way back to the one in the office room when it hit as she had found the bed and was lying on it. She was so tired from everything and all she had been through. (Although the other litter box helped, she still had a few accidents and I cleaned those up right away. She had to have been so stressed from riding in the car, being dumped at the pound, Erica's house, our house, new cat, in the matter of less than a week!)

When hubby went to bed, he put her under the covers and her little motor was running and she was purring very loudly! I went to bed shortly thereafter and got up at 4 a.m. the next morning. She and hubby didn't get up until 6 p.m. Sunday morning.

I knew I had to get her on Pedialyte, Kaopectate, baby rice cereal, and baby food (preferably Lamb) soon to help her with the loss of fluids and food she had eaten. So I went into the store at 7 a.m. and got everything. I started feeding her every two hours or so small amounts. It took another day and a half for the diarrhea to stop and now she is doing much better...finally! She and Tigger are starting to play too! It is comical to watch! I did talk with the vet on Monday and she said to start her with very minimal amounts of kitten chow. I got a bag of Imes which I prefer. Soon I will eliminate the litter box in the front bedroom as she is finding her way to the back office where the other one is.

We are having our "Annual Christmas Party" this coming Saturday, so I've been busy with decorating inside and out. My friend is coming this morning to help with the basement cleaning and decorating this morning around 8 a.m. It will be good to see her and catch up on things.

Also another thing that I had been very busy was preparing for the Annual Meeting of the CCAPL and elections of officers and directors. I am President again, and for that I am honored.

I'll be back soon folks and I really appreciate your stopping by. Tell others about my books and hopefully save lives of those dealing with domestic violence and abuse.

Take care, and be blessed, and most of all, stay safe!
Becky :)

Sun. morning, November 22, 2009

Hi, Everyone,
Thanks for stopping by and great to hear from some of you!
I've not had a chance to do my blog with so much going on.

Early Friday morning, around 1 a.m., I was awake and reading, I heard the most ear-piercing scream from one of the cats. I jumped out of bed but didn't know where the sound was coming from until she screamed again and it was then I realized the scream came from the office room where we also feed the cats and have their litter boxes. When I turned on the light, I saw Tooter lying in the litter box on her side. She was breathing really hard and couldn't move. Hubby had come running also. I stroked her head and talked to her and as we watched her take a couple more breaths, she died!

I don't know if she had a heart attack, or a stroke, but her death was so quick. She was a very good kitty and was especially fond of sitting on my lap while on the phone, watching T.V. or reading. She also loved to be brushed and combed. She was around 15 years old, and I guess it was just her time to go. She and Tigger were actually playing earlier in the evening and Tooter had curled up by my legs and was purring which was her routine each night when I went to bed. I will miss that. She had a good life here, and she was a rescue years ago. She was found in the middle of the road where obviously someone dumped her as a small kitten. We may get another kitten soon to keep Tigger company. She seems lonely and lost without her buddy.

Hubby put her in a box and then put her in the garage. I had to work a fund-raiser all day for the CCAPL and hubby had to work on Friday also. When he got home, he made her a nice wooden box to bury her in. Hubby dug the hole while I was working a fund-raiser again. We buried her yesterday out in the wildflower garden next to B-Bob and Sissy. Now they are all together again. We put her favorite sock toy, a ball, and a mouse she loved to play with in the wooden box with her. We will miss her.

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is almost here and then Christmas. Father-in-law brought the Butterball turkey down last Sunday. It will just be hubby, father-in-law and me on Thanksgiving, but I will prepare a feast just the same!

I received the highest compliment I could get the other day while at a fund-raiser. A gal that came to my WISH group sessions, is remarried and has a wonderful life now! She said I saved her life when she was with her abusive husband and ended up coming to my sessions. She looked so radiant, happy, and at peace. I was humbled.

Sometimes I never know if I help someone or make a difference or not. Her kind and encouraging words were wonderful to hear to lift my spirits that day!

Gotta go for now. Much to do today. Laundry, cleaning (yuck), and loading wood in the woodshed after hubby splits it all with the log splitter. Father-in-law will help too!

Take care, be safe, and be thankful.
Becky :)

We have so much to be thankful for!

Sun. morning, Nov. 1, 2009

Greetings everyone,
Thanks for stopping by!

I saw a gal yesterday in a local drugstore who was in my WISH program a while back. She is doing well, although her ex-husband stopped making the house payments of the home they had, and it went for Sheriff's sale recently. What a jerk. Anyway this is another tactic abusers use to get back at the victim who has moved on in her life and away from her abuser. She is struggling to find a place to live with her kids, but with the determination she has, she will be okay. She is a survivor!

Also heard from a gal I met in Oberlin at a book signing. She finally got her divorce form her abuser. She received full custody of their daughter and wants to move from the area that caused her so much grief and pain...mentally and physically. Good for her. She is also trying to move on, but then again, her abuser is pulling all the stops to keep her under his control. She is a determined woman, and I know she will keep going and make it. It is a constant challenge for survivors to just try to keep their head above water, survive, and try to get a decent life for the themselves and the children involved.

I was out at the pond the other day and saw a tiny flash of orange and white. It was a baby fish! Didn't realize I had a baby fish in the pond! It was only about an inch long and very pretty. I'll be anxious in the spring to see if it survives the winter. I did observe the fish spawning about two months ago, so it must have been produced then. Very late in the season, but hey, I haven't seen any baby fish in a long time, so this is a good thing!

The leaves are almost down and I've used the riding mower to mulch them twice now. Probably one more time and that will do it.

Hubby and I went down in the field yesterday after the rain stopped and cut up more of the big Oak tree that fell during the hurricane last year. The trunk is huge! Father-in-law will be coming down today and he can help too helping me stack the wood in the woodshed after hubby cuts it up with the log splitter.

The Benefit Dinner/Silent Auction I've been working on, is almost complete. It is Nov. 7th. A crew of volunteers will be going to the hall on Friday to decorate, arrange tables, set up the silent auction items, and everything else that needs done. Right now I believe the number of people attending is around 100. So this is a really good response as there are many other functions going on around the area. When we planned this event, there wasn't anything else going on, now there are many. I guess that happens.

My author friend, Joyce Bishop Morris and I, are meeting on Thursday with two other writers for an InkPot writers group meeting at another restaurant in Kent. We are excited we may have recruited two more members!

Winter is just around the corner, and I am not looking forward to it! Although I love the snow falling and Christmas time, but not the short hours of daylight, ice, freezing rain, and general bad weather that comes with winter to drive in. I don't do well with the cold temperatures anymore either. Age thing I guess!

Lots to get done today before the wood-cutting excursion. At least it is going to be a better day, weather-wise to do this.

I'm going to drive down to WalMart this morning after the daylight appears and get some groceries and some other items and be back before the wood-cutting starts.

The dogs are all doing fine. They are still searching in the wild flower garden for the rabbit that took off out of it over two weeks ago! Keeps them busy and good exercise for them. Clara is still fetching her ball of course.

Take care, and be safe. Learn all you can about domestic violence and abuse so you will not be a victim!

Best regards,
Becky :)