handsome football official

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Shanda

On Sunday I went to watch my son’s first football game of the season. I didn’t see much of it because I was distracted by this handsome football official. He’s not wearing stripes yet but he will in the next game. He’s new at officiating. It was a very fun day, but maybe last year I would have been annoyed because he wasn’t right next to me watching the game and holding my hand and stuff……….doesn’t he want to spend time with me, I whined to myself?

“It seems such a difficult task for so many to realize that happiness and love are not gotten by force of will, nor are they automatically granted simply because you show up. The greatest amount of getting is through giving. If you take care of the ones you love, even when you’re hurting or not in the mood or they’ve done something to annoy you, it not only shows love, it primes them to be more giving…..selfishness not only cuts out your partner, it cuts out God, and without God, there is only ‘me’. And ‘me’ is ultimately alone.” L. Schlessinger

Marriage is an ongoing work of learning and staying even when, once in a while, the relationship seems impossible to keep peaceable. The most recent and personal lesson I have learned lately is that my own well meaning opinions can really be “righteous indignation” in disguise. “I just know I’m right about these things so I’m going to dwell on the ways our marriage could be better if only I could get my points made.” I got myself so frustrated with this futile thinking that I finally decided to give up “caring” about things like “he’s never home at any particular time so we miss family dinners, everyone knows families that eat dinner together around the table like the Waltons are the best and highest standard we all should achieve”. At the time, I thought maybe if I gave up the fight of “wanting our marriage and family to be better” (using my personal and plenteous ideas that I worked very hard to think up, a whole long list of things which could be greatly improved) than it would allow me to move on to a greater and healthier independence as a female who didn’t need a man after all. The joke was on me because when I did that, stopped nagging, stopped expecting more in our marriage, I actually became free and happy. He was already free, but then I joined him. My expectations were out the window, therefore ANY LITTLE THING that happened between us was a real and honest blessing to me. Nothing changed, we love each other deeply, have always loved each other, he’s the man for me, nothing changed–but my attitude, which is no small wonder. It was really weird. I’m still rather perplexed by it. However, I am grateful that God has saved me once again from becoming the woman who is always studying (thinking) but never gaining knowledge. Amen! 1 Timothy 3:7

And you know what? Our family life is just fine even though we only eat around the table maybe once a week. So there, studies! (Don’t listen to the studies, just live your life! It’s a beautiful thing.)

feeling plump and happy already!

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Shanda

I like to sit on the side of (our wrap around) porch. There is a wooden bench here and as I look through the railings into the flower garden I can see things. Further into the distance, but not too far, there is the road and the woods. This morning the sky is so blue peeking through the leaves of the treetops, which are dancing gently. My finger tips are cold this morning as I type. It’s 72 in the sun and less than that where I am sitting. I’m snacking on cashews and mint tea. I’m thinking about home……

Yesterday as I was listening to the radio on the way to Costco, I heard a happy little news report about a nursing home in which the staff is attempting to make the residents feel more at home in the decorations, design of the building, and special lighting. They want the residents to feel at home. So interesting.

I named this blog “Good to be Home” because in my opinion, home is the dearest place on earth and in Heaven. As you may be aware, we can sometimes feel homesick even in the most coziest of homes, and that is because we aren’t made just for earth, we are ultimately made for Heaven.

“The believer not only is well assured by faith that there is another and a happy life after this is ended, but he has good hope, through grace, of heaven as a dwelling-place, a resting-place, a hiding-place. In our Father’s house there are many mansions, whose Builder and Maker is God. The happiness of the future state is what God has prepared for those that love him: everlasting habitations…….” ~Matthew Henry

Despite the hope and assurance that a better home (oh joy!) is coming, I believe it is important to “feather our nests” so to speak, in the here and now, as we live out our days.

My son Ethan is away at college now, and the very first thing we did when we took him there was to get his dorm room all set up. It felt so good to make his bed, hang up his clothes, find a place for all of his things. He had pictures and special belongings from home to keep with him and decorate with. His roommate did the same, putting a big American flag up on the wall and choosing nice bedding and pillows. They have a little refrigerator in their room for cold drinks.

Even if you are a college student you should still consider making your place homelike for yourself. A small vase (jar/tin can) with something fresh from nature: a humble, small branch, tall pretty grasses, or a flower picked from those nice landscaped gardens would be sweet. A “flameless” candle, a pretty throw pillow, a string of lights, all these things could be done at little cost to the pocketbook but to much benefit of the soul. A special blanket and a stack of familiar books is nice, or an organic room spray for a fresh scent, a framed photo of your dog or sister or (mom)…..

I’ve considered making my big SUV more home-like! I keep a blanket in it and hang an air freshener on the rearview mirror. As a personal touch, the kids love to add stickers to the windows and doors and also scribble on them with pens (I’m being truthful but sarcastic now).

What about travel? For me, these are the things required to be cozy (and at home) in a hotel: books, pens, notebook, iPhone and charger, and socks. Poptarts are nice, too. 🙂

At my real home, I simply must have a cat or four, as well.

Oh yes, food!! Food is a HUGE part of home life, isn’t it? Food makes every event just that much more special. Seth and Caleb have a football scrimmage this evening and I didn’t want to go until I realized that I could take a bag of some special snacks; homemade granola bars, cut up fruit, some hot tea in a thermos. I have several Susan Branch cookbooks and I read a recipe, an actual RECIPE yesterday for a special garlic flavored popcorn…maybe I’ll try that, I mean it has to be good if she included it in her cookbook?

Maybe this is why some people ALWAYS take lunch to work from home. It’s just cozier, all yours, special, made for YOU…….make lunchtime (any mealtime!) a special time, a nice break for yourself in the midst of a busy day.

Yesterday my kids watched a favorite TV show while munching crackers and cheese. It’s so cute, the way they always have to eat the same snack during this particular show. If you watch it, you will see why. (highly recommended).

I love to visit my mom at work because she has made her whole office look cozy! She has plants, lots of pictures of her family, framed maps (she loves maps!), and blue glass in the windows (it looks so pretty with the sun shining through them). Her personality shines.

Sometimes I visit Rich at work (he has his own office) but I’ve seen the cubicles there…..and each one is such a reflection of the person who uses it!

Why do we put so much effort into creating these places for ourselves? I have to believe it satisfies something in our souls that God put there. A place that says “you are home, be at peace, you are secure, you can rest now.” What a gift.

Not only that, but to do things like baking or decorating requires slowing down and being thoughtful, both of which are becoming harder and harder to do, but essential to well-being. It’s much easier, when we are frantically busy, to grab drive-thru meals (I do it, too!!) which are not very nutritious or nurturing, to say the least. What soul-satisfying moments we miss (both in the preparing AND the eating) when we don’t cook or bake our own foods.

To make a house a home takes time, mindfulness, and hours upon hours in the kitchen.

It’s a job, yes, but like any job it can be done spiritually, with thankfulness that we are blessed and fortunate to even have nice homes and plenteous food!

From my bench on the porch I had a hummingbird come to visit the zinnias. Even a hummingbird has a nest to make, and to put babies in.

With wings so fast that they hum.

And a place to tuck their feet so they are completely out of sight (and out of the way for better aerodynamics!)

They are very fast fliers.

It’s strange I know, but flying birds and their tucked-away feet just make me smile.

I like the way the photos look with the railings blurred away but still there, like a frame.

It wasn’t all hummingbirds.

*******

Time for another road trip!

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I took this photo last Sunday with my phone….we were coming home after taking Ethan to college and then spending a few days in Lake George, NY. That big green thing in the back is a blow up Gumby — a prize from playing a game at Great Escape amusement park.

It’s these five who will be going with us to NY for a family reunion TOMORROW and to visit our friends Janice and James and their kids. This will be the third weekend in a row we are away. Jacob and Michael will be home taking care of the house and pets while we are gone and Ethan of course will be at school.

I’m baking later for football snacks AND road trip snacks. (any favorite recipes to share?)

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The other day I was blogging in bed with these creatures at my feet. (three cats, and Parker the dog who still smells a little skunky even after 2 baths).

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On a different “other day” I left to take Grace school shopping and Jacob called me on my cell phone because he had passed me as he was going home. He had a starbucks coffee for me as a surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so I turned around to meet him at the gas station and he handed it to me through the window with a smile. I’m still crying about it.

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This is so random…..I went to the library to put books in the free box and liked this display so took a photo of it. I want to study these birds now! And I want some to come live in my chimney! Do you know this bird? Have you ever seen them?

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And this (again at the public library) was fun. Someone painted bricks to look like books– to use as bookends. I loved how the Holy Bible was one of them!! I’ve read all these (brick books) except The Notebook. I refuse to read anything by Nicholas Sparks. (just one of my quirks–I hear he is a very good author–so maybe someday).

Happy Friday! Happy Labor Day weekend!

******

PS, something funny: the whole time I was writing this I was also texting my brother and planing on a gathering at Mom and Dad’s on Sunday evening. He immediately thought “FOOD” and in no time at all he arranged the entire menu and told me that mama was making cookies. “I’m feeling plump and happy already” he texted. As we should be.

Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places… Isaiah 32:18

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Psalm 23:5

how quickly they grow

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Shanda

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He arrived on a Thursday.

He gave me happy baby kisses on a Friday.

We went for walks in the woods on a Saturday.

And took him to church on a Sunday.

He started school on a Monday.

We baked brownies and pancakes and mashed potatoes on a Tuesday.

He brought home a sweetheart named Tessa on Wednesday.

And left for college on a Thursday.

~for my son Ethan, on the day before we leave for Vermont.

time with mom and dad

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Shanda

I’m sitting on the porch watching a butterfly sip from a big pink zinnia. It’s hard to type because the middle finger on my left hand has a bulky fingertip bandaid on it after I cut through the fingernail with a kitchen knife. I was slicing cucumbers to make pickles.

There is no fresh air. The smell of smoke is everywhere because David and his friend Emily K are melting soda cans over a bonfire. I regret putting the fire pit so close to the house because every time they make a fire, the smell of smoke permeates everything. Some children go for walks and collect cans in order to cash in on the five cent refund…other children play “melt the medal” with them.

I see a hummingbird enjoying the zinnias. I wish I had my camera…hold on….

Okay, I’m back.

Today I am writing about the next day of our weekend back home. Saturday was the family reunion at Colleen and Roger’s house. Afterwards, Grace and Sarah went to spend the night at my parent’s house and Caleb went to spend the night at my brother and sister in law’s house. Rich and I felt so strange with only three boys with us. (Jacob had stayed home in CT because he had to work). We went to our favorite pizza place and then to the hotel to sleep.

Around lunchtime the next day we went to Dave’s to pick up Caleb. He had had a wonderful time with his Uncle and was full from a big breakfast at the Crackerbarrel.

Dave and Maria don’t have kids so Dave didn’t sleep well in worrying about Caleb. Isn’t that the sweetest thing?

After we reunited with Caleb we drove on to my parent’s house “up on the hill”. It was raining outside so Mom made the burgers inside on the stovetop, with her grill pans. She and Grace fried two pans of sliced onions in the drippings to eat with the burgers. We had homemade potato salad, homemade pickles, and chips.

a corner of mom’s kitchen….I love her decorating style so much.

garden tomatoes, cut paper on the window. two mixers for cookies, cakes, and breads.

Well, we only had one afternoon together so despite the rain Mom and I went out to the garden so she could show me everything. My son Jacob made the “Mr. Gregory’s Garden” sign. My dad’s name is Gregory, and it’s a pun on the wonderful Beatrix Potter story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

‘Now my dears,’ said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, ‘you may go into
the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden:
your Father had an accident there;
he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.’

Mom and Dad keep the garden all fenced in rustically so as to keep out the critters.

Dave and Maria work in the garden whenever possible, too. Maria planted these really fascinating watermelons; “Moon and Stars”….see the little yellow stars on the leaves and the melon?

Mom wore boots, I went barefoot. First we went in the shed where I took some of her onions, garlic, and a potato. She showed me her gourds which are almost ready to turn into birdhouses.

She offered me boots several times but I needed to feel the mud and grass and dirt under my bare feet.

Heirloom tomato ready to pick.

Her sister is growing potatoes in old tires, and she is growing tomatoes in them. I have decided that my garden totally needs some old tires. 🙂

Reflected in a silver bulb

Perseverance corn…..

“I planted corn three times and the chipmunks ate the seed. I bought fresh seed at agway and planted it the end of June, way late in the season. I call it perseverance because Dad kept telling me it would never grow and I told him I was not going to give up.” ~Mom

That’s the kind of mom I have.

Grandpa’s old barns in the distance.

Mom set to work finding cucumbers.

She also had me get inside the bean teepee which was pretty fun because I felt just like a kid again. She looked in at me though the drippy green vines and said, “Isn’t it neat?”

I ate a crunchy green bean.

I was standing in front of the bean teepee.

Mom and I got completely soaked and it was very refreshing. And cold.

I was given all kinds of cucumbers and had quality time with my mama.

(Today I cut my finger making pickles with them.)

“I’ve never seen you get hurt before!” ~Sarah
“Grandma has cuts on her fingers, too.” ~Grace

Back inside the house, Rich took a photo of us and mom gave me a dry shirt to wear.

Sarah felt like such a big girl after spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. She’s still bragging about it to people. She loved the puppy, too, except when he gets too close to her. (he loves children and chews on them).

She feels important when Grandpa lets her hold the leash.

Dad and Ethan played music together. It was wonderful.

From the other end of the house, Caleb joined in, too.

We had to leave their house around 4:00 so that we could get home at a reasonable hour.

It was still raining when we left and I enjoyed that old drive down the hill.

Soaked it in, so to speak.

Aunt Betty’s house.

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Mom when she was a baby.

portrait

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Shanda

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I took this photo of Sarah (6), Caleb (11), and Seth (7) today during a walk in the woods.

Motherhood has taught me the meaning of living in the moment and being at peace. Children don’t think about yesterday, and they don’t think about tomorrow. They just exist in the moment.
~J.Gilsig

we saw an Indigo Bunting today!!!!

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Shanda

Better than any argument is to rise at dawn
and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.
~Wendell Berry

I gathered a little lunch snack for Sarah and she ate every single thing but the lettuce. And then she wanted more peas so she went outside herself and picked them. She started a project of opening them up to only get the peas out (these are sugar snaps and we generally eat them whole) and she worked until she had about 1/8 of a cup. Then she ate them. Parker the dog ate the cases.

I stayed home from church with her while Rich went with everyone else. I cleaned the kitchen and living room and vacuumed while she rested and kept herself hydrated. I’m very pleased with how she is doing today.

At one point she said, “I’m so sad because I got that beautiful necklace at the hospital and I never got to wear it. It’s lost.” And I said, “No it’s not lost, it’s around here someplace.” “Yes it is! Lost is when you don’t know where something is so… it’s lost.” Then I agreed she was right. Five minutes later she found it.

As soon as they came home from church Ethan took a nap.

Rest on a Sunday. It’s only natural.

I went on the porch to read but I didn’t read for very long because it is a very moth and butterfly sort of day. Quite distracting. I went in the house to get my camera and Dave walked around with me to see what we could see.

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me. ~Thomas Jefferson

The most exciting thing David found was a monarch caterpillar. We look for them yearly but have not seen any for several years!!

It was rewarding, in a way, because I never ever weed out milkweed in the hopes that we will once again get caterpillars. The milkweed this one was on grew right through the middle of my lilac bush by the kitchen window. Can you see the caterpillar? David spotted it right away. We couldn’t believe how fat it was.

We put it, along with plenty of milkweed, in an old empty aquarium. We will observe it while it forms into a beautiful butterfly….stay tuned!

Naturally, I wanted to go up to the field to try to find more but none of the children would go with me. I went out to the garage, where my husband was waxing his car, and asked him to go along. He agreed to go as soon as he was done with the left fender.

I waited for him by the stream.

We picked some wild blueberries (1/4 of a cup) and I put them in my pocket.

We talked.

We were attacked by mosquitoes.

We saw birds and butterflies.

MOST EXCITINGLY!!!!!!!!!!!

An Indigo Bunting!

what a heavenly blue

It’s mate was there, too, and they were making all kinds of noise to threaten us so we believe their nest was nearby.

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther

yellow cake with creamy butter frosting

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Shanda

homemade cake

The other day I was in Goodwill and I found & purchased a 1982 hardback copy of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book . Since I was hungering for a cake I set to work that very day, using both a cake and a frosting recipe from the new-to-me cookbook. When the cake was complete and I tried a piece, I had to admit that it was amazing. Not to mention the frosting recipe calls for an egg instead of milk. This was a huge revelation to me (remember, I am determined to use eggs in every way I can because I have a flock of pampered, well cared for hens which give me almost 2 dozen a day). If you’re local and want to buy eggs from me, they are 3 dollars a dozen. I have NO QUALMS whatsoever about using a raw egg in frosting because the eggs I use couldn’t be any fresher……..

This is a plain and simple yellow cake and I can’t even tell you how much better a homemade cake is over a mix. I am not a professional pastry chef like my dear cousin but I have eaten her cakes and have 20 years of baking experience as a susie-homemaker in the kitchen so trust me. A homemade cake is the way to go. (using a mix is not an unforgivable offense, however) If you do use a mix, at least make homemade icing for the top.

Yellow Cake

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (If you only have salted, then omit salt in recipe)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk

Grease a 9 by 13 cake pan. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter about 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat till well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating after each addition. Pour and scrape into prepared cake pan. Bake in a 375 oven for 30-35 minutes or till done. Cool before frosting.

NOTE: if you want a layer cake, bake in two greased and floured 8 or 9 inch round pans. I usually keep the cake in the pan to frost and serve.

Creamy Butter Frosting

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a small mixer bowl beat butter till light and fluffy. Gradually add about half of the powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar, then additional milk if needed to make frosting of spreading consistency (I like mine as a soft-spread).

NOTE: this cake must be stored in the fridge because of the raw egg.

ANOTHER NOTE: Thank Goodness my mom taught me a trick if I ever ran out of powdered sugar (which I did for this recipe!) She told me I could make my own powdered sugar by pouring a couple cups of regular granulated sugar into my vitamix mixer and blending! It was fun and kind of like magic. Thanks, Mom!

We have been eating this cake for a week and it still tastes as good, if not better, than the day I made it.

NOTE: I’ve been running on the treadmill as a result.

A party without cake is just a meeting. ~Julia Child

I want to read allllll the books

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Shanda

I would be most content

I dropped of David at school after an appointment and went to the library to return books.

I wandered the aisles and realized…..I wanted to read all the books. I imagined being stranded and locked up, in a library and I didn’t mind the image. So many books. It’s amazing how many have been written, how many are contained at the library, free for the borrowing.

if my children

a stack of my own books by the bathtub

grew up

what we listen to in the car

to be the kind of people

reading in a coffeeshop

who think decorating consists mostly of

currently reading:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

and

The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hamelin This book is the published diary of a German Jewish woman who began writing it at the age of 44 in the year 1690. She was compelled to write because her beloved husband had died and it gave her something to do during the long lonesome nights. She had 14 children and she wrote the diaries for them. In it, “She tells how she guided the financial and personal destinies of her children, how she engaged in trade, ran her own factory, and promoted the welfare of her large family. Her memoir, a rare account of an ordinary woman, enlightens not just her children, for whom she wrote it, but all posterity about her life and community. Gluckel speaks to us with determination and humor from the seventeenth century. She tells of war, plague, pirates, soldiers, the hysteria of the false messiah Sabbtai Zevi, murder, bankruptcy, wedding feasts, births, deaths, in fact, all of the human events that befell her during her lifetime.”

building enough bookshelves.

~Anne Quindlen

another sarah story

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Shanda

I woke from a deep sleep and opened my eyes in a pitch dark room.

“That was NOT knocking on my door I just heard,” I reassured my very sleepy self and turned over to drift….away…..

The door opened slowly.

“Yes?” I said, politely. (I’ve trained myself through the years not to shriek)

“My stomach hurts!” said Sarah’s small voice.

“Are you hungry?”

“I….think so!” she said, uncertainly.

I didn’t realize at the time that she was looking for a different answer and simply wanted to sleep on the couch. But yesterday was another procedure day and she had to miss meals for it and I automatically thought that a stomach ache would make logical sense from lack of food.

It was 5:15 in the morning and soon she was munching on cereal but offered up this piece of information, “Usually when my stomach hurts you say go and sleep on the couch…..”

Ah.

When the cereal was gone she said, “It still hurts.”

I knew just what to say this time. “Let’s go get you on the couch.”

She smiled.

I asked Rich why she didn’t just get on the couch in the first place rather than wake me up.

“She’s not that type of girl. She needed to get your okay first.”

This is a photo she asked me to take of the Lego man at the hospital. We were there on Wednesday to get her stent removed. Unfortunately, she was very anxious about it and when it came time she started passionately crying. The doctor asked us to come back the next day so she could be sedated. At a children’s hospital every member of the staff knows the very best way to treat their small and vulnerable patients. They explained that because Sarah was so young, it was important for us to avoid any procedure that would cause any lasting fears or trauma. Even something as simple/quick as a stent removal needs to be done thoughtfully and with Sarah’s anxiety reduced as much as possible.

She liked the lego man because he was holding a picture of someone she learned about in school. “It’s a ferret? I mean, a fairy? And if you catch him he will take you to the end of a rainbow for a pot of gold.” This is what she was in the process of explaining when I took the picture.

It was 73 degrees that afternoon and we went to the woods and she played with her animals while I leaned against a solid, friendly pine tree and read a book.

A flock of chickens came walking out of the woods.

“Who’s chickens are those?” she asked, confused because they seemed to have journeyed from far away.

“Ours!” I answered.

She sat next to me and ate an orange and made me shoo away the hens if they came too near. Which they did, because they wanted oranges, too. We threw little bits of peel and laughed when a hen ran to pick it up and then drop it back down again, only to have another hen do the same thing because chickens don’t eat the peels either.

We were directed to not give her food after midnight and to only give her jello, ice pops, gatorade, apple juice, or water up until 11:30. To take our mind off food we went shopping. I don’t take her shopping too often because she absolutely LOVES it. She carefully looks at everything in the store and makes honest, careful decisions about what to buy. I had to remind her yesterday that there are limits and she, after all, has no job.

She picked out the pink sneakers that have lights from Target, and the sparkly pink braid from Justice.

We went back to the hospital at 2:30. The sedation entailed two syringes of clear fluid inserted into each nostril at the same time, with four of us holding her in position. She sat in my lap as she cried and sniffled and fidgeted with disgust, holding a towel over her nose and mouth to catch any drips. A VERY DREADFUL way to take medicine. But soon it did the trick and she was relaxed and smiling. The stent was removed in less than five seconds and the two of us were absolutely exhausted by the whole ordeal. A whole lot of fuss for a 4 second stent removal. UGH.

After we observed her and gave her a slushy I left her with the nurse and went on my way to the parking garage-6th floor-to get the vehicle and drive it to the hospital entrance where Sarah arrived in a wheelchair. She was confused as to why we wouldn’t let her walk, “Don’t my legs work? Can’t I walk?” “Yes, you’re just a little wobbly right now.” “No, I’m not!”

They said the medicine would make her forget the procedure but I keep waiting for her to forget and she hasn’t. The main purpose of the sedation was to make it less traumatic and it certainly did do that, she was calm and cheerful for the whole rest of the day. We drove through rush hour traffic to the nearest Wendy’s (she always craves a #9 after a doctor’s appointment–which is a grilled chicken sandwich *no fries*) and I got a big waffle cone with strawberry topping from across the road at Sonic. It did it’s part to soothe my nerves.

After we came home she was full of adrenaline and we had to make her stay somewhat quiet. However, this morning she’s all tuckered out. The excitement finally caught up to her. We look forward to a nice day together. (Right now she’s watching Gordimer Gibbons).

how can I keep from bragging?

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Shanda

So I have this really talented feline who has a passion for ice skating. She’s out there practicing constantly and so I thought I would take a few photos of her when I was letting the chickens out the other day. She is completely self-taught!

The pictures just do not do her credit. She was doing a layback spin JUST before I took this one. Lately, she spends most of her time working on her toughest skill, which is a triple axel followed immediately by a double toe loop. I would have taken a video but I didn’t know how to do it. Plus I was standing stock stiff in shock.