Sigh.

"Soft Kitty . . . 

 . . . warm kitty . . . 

 . . . little ball of fur . . . 

. . . happy Kitty . . .

. . . sleepy Kitty . . . 

. . . purr. . .

. . . purr . . . 

. . . purr."*

* - Sheldon, BBT

How's Your Mom Doing?

 That's a question I get often these days. I'm so glad my Mom was able to come here for the wedding and meet so many of my friends! I knew they would love her as much as I do.

So, what IS Mom doing these days? Evidently, someone needs to nail her feet to the floor! Here's one thing:

They go camping in an RV area and spend the day four-wheelin!

I'm fine with it. Really. But Mom? I don't want to see ANY of THIS:

I mean it, Young Lady.

Tuesday is Guest Star Day!

Raw and beautiful; of hope disappointed and loving and letting go.


And this, because surely we're not the only ones who have ever felt this way.

Brought to you by . . .

PECK

 For the love of donuts, would someone please come and adopt this cat?

They Call Me . . .

 . . . the Cat Wrangler.

Those who know me are cackling with glee. (OH. I can hear you!) I am NOT a cat fan, and yet here I am, crossing the street twice daily to feed and water these:

Seville

Smokey

Peck

My elderly neighbor has passed away. Her daughter lives in Texas and took one cat and the dog with them, but she didn't know what to do with the outdoor cats and she had to get back to Texas. I offered to feed them until she could figure something out.

Smokey and JD (not shown) were original cats, but the daughter has no idea where the other two came from and was shocked when I told her there were FOUR. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that when I fed them that night, there were actually FIVE.)

 Glenna named this one Seville because his tail is striped like a barber pole, so he's the Barber of Seville.

Peck (above, by the car) is short for Peculiar. He was so hungry for company he would follow us all around and reach up and pat our knees whenever we stood still. Then he would follow us home and sit outside our door and meow for a good hour.

They're super friendly (except for JD, which is why he's not shown) so if you have a desire to adopt them and take them home, be. My. GUEST.

Sigh.

I've actually not seen Peck or Seville all day, but I refuse to worry because NOT A CAT PERSON.

Tuesday is Guest Star Day!

This post, because AWWW and at the end HAHAHA!!!!

Everyone Needs a Hand to Hold On To

Our house rule is that we do not allow dating until after high school. In theory, we encourage our children to have lots of friends and do group activities; grow and discover who they are or want to be; get to know God and His plan for them - all of which can be hindered by a one-on-one relationship with the opposite gender.

The added benefit of group activities is that they can get to know people better. They can know that, ok, I don't need to pursue a relationship with THAT one, but maybe that one over there I could get to know better? Group activities help them find out so much about a person; how do they react when they win/lose? How do they treat their siblings? How do they talk about their mother? (HEY! That last one is important!)

Lastly, when you're in high school and in no position to marry, four to five years is a LONG TIME to safely carry a relationship without compromise.

When they were 9 years old, this rule made perfect sense. When they were 11 years old and some of the girls were already going boy crazy, this rule STILL made sense and boy were they glad we had it. When they turned 16, this rule became very, very difficult.

Tyler approached me when he was 16 and asked me to explain the rule AGAIN. I did, and it still made sense. He never questioned it again but waited until he graduated from high school, waited another year for Jessie to graduate from high school, and then began dating with our complete blessing and support. (In fact, I would become concerned if I felt they weren't spending enough time together!)

Kelly understood the rule and witnessed the pain of friends who entered relationships too soon. It was difficult for her to take a stand and friends began to think she was The Sinless One, though she tried in vain to convince them she was nowhere near perfect. Her first date was two days after her high school graduation. Strangely, her friends were angry at her for dating and treated her poorly for a while (some still do). Her closest friends eventually came around with many heartfelt discussions, apologies, and amends on both parts. It's so hard to be a teen! (Kelly's still dating that same boy, by the way.) =)

Glenna has now reached 16. When she was younger and told me how much she appreciated The Rule, I told her, "Hold on to that, Glenna! Hold on to that, because 16 is coming and it's going to get rough!" She now fully understands The Rule but agrees that yes, it's rough. She has a GREAT group of friends and we love them all dearly, and for the most part they seem to be like-minded. While they are not without teen drama, this has certainly made things more bearable for teens and parents alike! Still, like I said, it can be difficult. Case in point:

Me: I really want to take a day-trip! You know, where I pack an ice chest with great food, we bring charcoal and swim stuff, and we stay at a place and play and swim and hang out the entire day! It would be us and Ty and Jess and Kelly and Paul .. .

Glenna: [wailing] COULD I PUH-LEEASE BRING A MAN???!!!?! I'm so tired of being the only one who isn't a couple!

Himself: You could bring a man, all right. Bring a man so I could kick his . . .

Me:  . . . how about one of your girl friends? You could bring a friend, and that would be all right!

We all did a Disney day last year and Glenna was the only one who wasn't paired up. When we got home, she found one of my rubber gloves from work and filled it with sand, then came into the house with her fingers intertwined with the glove.

"There! Now I can hold a hand, too!" It was HILARIOUS. (She still has it.)

One Day of Shopping. . . .

. . . while waiting to go to the movies. Spiderman!

This show is my guilty pleasure and cracks me up:

 Sheldon would be so upset that I'm holding his hand, he'd probably give me one strike.

They actually had to make this sign:

And all the nerds were DENIED.

Someone actually printed this one out, boldly ignoring the spell check:

If you only get one knife,  you could at least spell it correctly!

I thought Kelly and I had seen the ugliest shoes previously, but these pretty much WIN:

 The scariest part is that they were not the only shoes we saw with the spike trend.

Himself stood next to this table to improve its appearance:

People are actually going to pay money for this? It reminds me of the Mexican art work for Dia de la Muerta! If that's what you're going for, you may find it at Ross.

Since I'm up anyway . . .

The AC is out and it's a long story on why I'm awake, but there we have it.

Here's some photos from the recent Women's Retreat at Daytona Beach.

 My view of the sunrise from my "balcony."

 Kelly and Kate trying to catch some nap time zzzzs.

 Allie was doing homework. 

Normally, I take several photos in a row and expressions change. Watch Allie at her best:

 Girl cracks me up. She's on to me.

Her sister, on the other hand, fell victim:

This is one of my favorite Kate expressions!

 Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

 Allie photo bombed!

I love these girls!

I also loved the retreat, and I'm so glad Kelly was with me. Her best friend Kate is now in Uganda and she'll be there the next three months. I'm thankful they had that time together!

This . . .

 . . . is one of the reasons we do what we do.

I love you, Princess Glennaviere.

This . . .

. . . has taken over Jack's job of staring at me.

GLENNA!!!! YOUR DOG NEEDS YOU!!!

This . . .

. . . was on my mind this weekend; a perfect present from my daughter-in-love.

and THEN, we received THIS!

This . . .

 . . . is still too high. That's what I had said.

This . . .

. . . is my brother's birthday.

We are one year and one week apart. I used to tease him that if my birthday would have come first, we would have been twins for a week.

Now, after my birthday, we'll be twins for a year.

Caught ya, Boyd!

Told you!

Love you . . .


Miss you. . . .

This . . .

. . . put a pretty big smile on my face.

This . . .

 . . . is why we need good, supportive shoes at The Park.

It's also why the $24 shoes from Walmart will NOT work. My knee and back were killing me by the end of the shift! I can't wear the shoes I wear to the dentist office because they can't be polished (they have mesh). 

I guess I need to look for nurses shoes or something?