New Year's Eve

Can't believe New Year's is here again.  All I can say is that I hope 2011 is better than 2010.  Nope, I'm not in the mood to be cheerful and be all happy and put up a lively uplifting blog.  Today it is what it is. 

Have a safe celebration tonight and I'll catch you all down the road.

Giving Thanks

This is Thanksgiving week, and I have so much to be thankful for this year.  It was rough with the tornado and all, but we have made it.  They finished up the house last week and if I do say so myself, it is beautiful!  I still have to get pictures hung on the walls and the boxes in the garage cleared out, but we are good.

There's been sickness this year, too, but thankfully everyone is on the mend or well.  I am so thankful!

A week ago Saturday we brought our dogs home from Mother's house where they had been staying since the tornado struck.  We took them for their shots and on to the groomer to get all dolled up before they came home to their new digs.  They looked so handsome when we picked them up!  Each of them had a bandana tied around their neck and they smelled wonderful!

I've never seen dogs so proud to be home!  They ran all over the back yard, sniffing and checking out the new fences and their new little covered shed that we had built for them.  They were so happy!  Later on that week we got a new Great Pyrenees.  He's 8 months old and already weighs 85 pounds!  Jimmy named him Toby Dick, the Great White Dog.  Toby is adorable and is adjusting well to his new home and brothers.

Little Pugsley worried me all last week.  He was blind and deaf and when I picked him up from the groomer he just laid his little body up against me, something that little ball of fire has never done.  As the week progressed I realized that he was unhappy.  He just stood around and when he did try to walk, he walked into the fence.  He had no idea where he was going.  My heart was so heavy because I knew something was going to have to be done.  I grieved all week long over that little sweet dog.  Thursday I went out and when I petted him, he curled up his little tail and wagged it at me.  He had not done that in ages; he kept his tail limp and hanging down.  Friday morning I took their food out and he wouldn't eat a bite, which was unusual for him.

I had a doctor's appointment in Huntsville Friday and Jimmy went with me.  The appointment took FOREVER and when I got out I met Debbie to head to Nashville for a quick overnight trip.  We were going up I65 when Jimmy called and told me Pugsley had died.  He said it looked like he had just fallen over.

The Lord works in wondrous ways.  I don't think I could have stood to see Pugs dead.  My last memory is of that little tail curling up and wagging when I petted him.  He knew I loved him.  Friday night I was able to go and see Bo at a benefit.  He was sweet and it always does my heart good to see him and hear him sing. We also met a guy named Mike Farris, who sings gospel songs.  Mike used to be with the Screaming Cheetah Wheelies but he has been singing gospel music for several years now.  He won a Dove award last year.  Just listening to him sing gave my heart comfort when all I wanted to do was cry about Pugsley.  Here is Mike singing Can't No Grave Gonna Hold This Body Down.


I had a good trip and when I got home, Jimmy had already buried Pugsley right inside our fence.  He said that when he was burying him, Ernie, our basset hound, sat and bayed.  He has been missing him something terrible and will not let Toby near the grave.  Animals amaze me.

Well, I went on a rabbit chase, but it all ends up pointing to this thought:  God is good.  God is merciful.  God loves me and for that I am humbled and grateful.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I am going to!

This is Puglsey on November 13 right after we picked him up at the groomer.  RIP, buddy.

Chilly Wednesday in Albertvegas.

The only thing we have in common with a "Vegas" is that it's a town in the United States of America!!

I’ve been a terrible blogger. Sorry. Just not enough time in the day I suppose.


A lot has been going on as far as work around the house after the tornado. The hardwood is down in 3 bedrooms and the hall and den, and all they lack is our bedroom. They have painted everything except our bedroom and bathroom and they still have to put in the new windows. The privacy fence was put up yesterday and they have constructed the shelter for the dogs. All we need now are the two sections of fencing that will pen them into a corner of the yard. I miss them and I want them to come home. Poor Austin just doesn’t understand why I’ve abandoned them over at Mother’s house.

The library is coming along. Maybe everything will be done here by the end of the year, or if we get lucky, the end of November!

Jimmy, Seth and I went to the Smoky Mountains. It was so gorgeous there with all the fall foliage! We had a really good time, and smack dab in the middle of the vacation was a Bo show. How much better can you get?

The weather is turning colder and I’m making chili for supper. It seems like a good night to hunker down, eat chili and watch Criminal Minds all wrapped up in a blanket.

Boring, boring, boring post. Maybe I’ll get inspired before too long.

Still Hanging On!

I forgot I had written the previous blog back in May. I had never posted it, so I went ahead. Here is where I started my new one. If I repeat myself, just ignore it!

Wow. My life has been chaotic since April 24. I really think I was in some sort of shock. We stayed outside the house for a week. We had no power, so we only came in to sleep. Mother's house provided showers and charges for our cell phones. Although all the library employees were working at the rec center, I stayed home. I was in no shape to help anyone. A TV crew came by and I promise I sound like a war survivor. I'm stuttering, I'm surrounded by destruction and I'm a total mess. Here is a breakdown of what all happened to our property:


My Tahoe was totaled

Layke's Accord was totaled

Jimmy's Element had $4K worth of damage

The truck had $1K worth of damage

The garage's bricks were blown off. It has to be destroyed.

Our little concrete block building had blocks blown out, the roof lifted and windows broken.

Our chain link fence was totally flattened.

The roof of the house over Layke's room was torn away and the water caused the ceiling in his room to collapse.

Numerous windows in our house were blown out.

Five huge trees were uprooted.

All total, we had about $84K worth of damage.


It's been three months. So far we've only got the roof replaced and the vinyl on the eaves of the house replaced. The trees have been removed. But everything else is still the same. This is a long, tedious process. The chaos has become a way of life. My house inside looks like, well, it looks like a tornado hit it!!


But I'm hopeful. When all is said and done we're going to have some really nice improvements. I've been wanting to remodel, but this isn't the ideal way!


On a bright note, I did get to spend a week in Nashville with my friends at the CMA Fest. It was a much-needed respite and I have been in a good state of mind ever since I got back.


The library was damaged and we opened up for the public on June 3 after weeks of working inside to get the glass, dirt and debris removed. Our children's department is still closed and our internet still doesn't work, but we're limping right along. No summer program this year. We had planned to have it in the park. There is no park left! Only one tree is left standing. The playground equipment is destroyed. So, we had to skip this year.


Jimmy has become a music star! He is part of a group called NewSouth. They had a concert in Guntersville Saturday night. They want to play at private parties, corporate events, community events, etc. They got a great reception from the approximately 100 people who came out to hear them Saturday night. They play country and classic rock. Great combo! The members of the band are Jimmy, Lynn and Tony Morgan, David Ogle, T?, and Johnny. Jimmy told me today that they are going to play at the City of Boaz's back to school celebration, whatever that is!

The future is going to be better. The repairs WILL get finished. And I have a trip planned next week with Jimmy to get away for a night. I'm looking forward to it!

Sunday morning after the tornado was a whirlwind of activity. Some dear friends came and tackled the the trees with chainsaws and another was scavenging for loose tin to patch our roof. Jimmy was only a week out from knee surgery, so he and I stood or sat there in a stupor and watched as these folks cut the trees from our vehicles and cut the five downed trees into small pieces.


It's all blurring together for me, but I remember Monday more friends and relatives showed up with machinery and pulled pushed and drug all the trees, downed fence and other trash to the edges of the yard. They also did this for our neighbor and I was amazed at how cheerfully they worked to help us, not expecting one thing in return.


I've never been on the receiving end of any kind of charity before. If you haven't been, you cannot begin to know how much every act of kindness means to a victim. Policemen guarded our neighborhood 24 hours a day, people drove by when the roads were cleared and brought hot meals, water, boxes of food and were always asking, "Do you need anything?" I was in a stupor. I kept my phone charged with a car charger and I got lots of messages from friends with encouraging words. I appreciated every one of them, but I did not have the energy to reply. If you sent one or left a message on voicemail, I got it and it meant so much.


One day some people from Domino's pizza came by and gave us pizzas. A television station was filming and I saw myself on tv a couple of weeks later and I looked shell-shocked. I guess I was. The only time I lost it the entire time was on Monday morning. I received a voicemail from my personnel manager telling me to get the library staff and report to the fire station to work. There is no way I could help anyone in the shape I was in. I left an incoherent message on the mayor's cell phone and Jimmy drove me to the fire station in the truck (our only working vehicle) and I just told them there's no way I could work.

I stayed home all that week and reported back the following Monday. We worked at the recreation center, the operations center for disaster relief. Then we came over to the library and worked both outside and inside the building.

My Bo friends were terribly kind to me during this time. Their generosity still amazes me.

The Albertville Tornado~ Saturday Night

A couple of weeks ago I lived through an EF3 tornado which tore through my city, Albertville, Alabama. To say I've been in shock is an understatement and I'm having a difficult time with the entire experience. Bear with me as a recount the night it happened. Then I'll try to summarize what all has transpired since that night in a blog later on.

Saturday night, April 24th, started out being just like any other Saturday night. We had supper with my mother and daughter and all sat around the living room cutting up and having a good time. Except there were tornado sirens blaring. The front moving through wasn't in our part of the county, so we sat there and watched the television as it passed on by.

A little later, we headed home. The boys, Jimmy, and I were in the den and I had received a message from a friend in Birmingham that said for us to watch out, there was another cell headed up our way. The tornado siren blasted a couple of times, but then quit. We had the television on to Channel 19 in Huntsville, where they were tracking the storm. I looked at their timetable and it said that the tornado would be in White Oak at 10:21. Glancing at our DVR's clock, it read 10:21. Since White Oak is literally right down the road, I told them that we should take cover in the hallway, and Seth and I did immediately. Jimmy and Layke went and looked out the front door, of course.

Suddenly the lights flickered and then went out. Jimmy slammed the door, Layke rushed past Seth and me in the hall, grabbed a blanket and threw it over us as Jimmy came and made a dive for the hallway floor. About that time our front window exploded in and the house began to shake. I have never heard a sound like that before. The tornado roared like a freight train and debris was pelting the house. I sat on the floor, head bowed, holding my little dog and praying fervently for protection.

Suddenly it went quiet. Totally quiet. I kept asking, "Is it gone? Is it gone?" and Jimmy made his way to the front door. He said, "Oh my God, Lisa, come here, our cars are crushed." I rushed in there, looked out, saw the trees down, power lines broken and all the destruction and I said, "I don't care. We are alive." And I've never been so thankful to Jesus in my entire life. I frantically called my daughter and mother to see if they were all right and to tell them that although we had been hit, we were all unharmed. They had no damage at their house, but the power was out.

We made our way outside, me cautioning the boys to beware of the downed power lines. Neighbors were coming into the street and everyone seemed to be physically all right. It was pitch dark and all we could see and hear were the sirens heading over to the trailer park. Trees and powerlines completely obstructed the roads and if someone had been injured, there is no way an ambulance could have made it onto our street.

We came inside, lit some candles, and just sat there. We were worried about the dogs and Jimmy opened the back door and called for them. Ernie and Austin came running in, went to the den, and laid down. They did not move all night long. Pugsley, sweet little half deaf, half blind dog, had slept through the tornado and was still in his doghouse. Seth went and got him and brought him inside, but he wasn't aware of what had gone on even though his doghouse was wedged in between a tree and our patio privacy fence.

The night was long, and we tried to go to sleep, but it was fitful. Around 3 we were wakened by flashing lights and chainsaws. Firemen and policemen had arrived in an ambulance and were sawing their way through the trees and utility poles in the road. Layke and Jimmy took them some bottled water and we watched as they somehow cut a path through the debris.

As strange as it sounds, I thought to myself that there was probably still some hot water in the water heater so I took a shower and washed my hair. I knew that Sunday was going to be a long day, but reality had not yet set in.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I don't really like to think about them anymore, but I guess they cannot be avoided.

All day long my phone dinged with messages from friends. Every time a post is made on my Facebook page, a message is sent to my phone. So all day, as the phone dinged, it made me smile and feel good to know somebody was thinking about me.

Layke and Seth sent me flowers, some lovely yellow tulips. Jimmy brought by some candy and a balloon and Rachel brought me a Johnny Dep tote bag. Pretty cool. Seth took me out to lunch at the Yum Yum Tree. One of the girls at work had made a cake and we had ice cream and chips. Mother came by after work and brought a gift to me that she had been working on for quite a while.

We did NOTHING last night. It's a long story, but let's just say all that good stuff that happened in the first 3/4 of the day got obliterated in two seconds flat around 4 p.m. The best birthday ever turned into the worst. Oh well. Maybe next year will be better.

A Rambling Blog to Catch Up!

I have been sadly neglectful of this blog! Life has been busy this year plus I've gone on a girls' trip and I was sick two weeks, so that has sucked up 3 weeks of the past two months!

Yesterday I had my hair cut for the first time since late November or early December. It had grown a lot and I had him even it up around the bottom and put some nice, long layers in it. It's about shoulder length still and he cut two inches off of it! It's amazing how quickly it had grown. My hairdresser likes my hair SHORT, but I told him to just humor me! I wore it short for almost 10 years and I got sick of it!

I'm sad to say that I haven't kept up with my smoothie drinking. :( I have the stuff at home to make them, so I may just do that for lunch today. My diet went down the tubes. Not in the frame of mind to do it. *sigh* Story of my life. My fluffy, chubby, plump, fat little life...! But...

Exercise has got to become part of my routine!! I'm going to CMA Fest for a week this June and we'll be walking and climbing to the top of the Titan's stadium and who knows what and I've got to be in shape to do that in the blistering heat. OMG. Why don't they have CMA Fest in March or April?? That would be perfect weather. Oh well. I am also going to a big event the end of March/first of April in Nashville. The Tin Pan Songwriters Festival has various songwriters appearing at seven different venues for five nights. I'm only going for a couple of nights but it should be great fun.

This is a hodge-podge of subject matter today. Sorry about that, I'm feeling kind of scattered and unorganized. I'll try to bring it together somehow!

Here at work we are planning for the Summer Reading Program. This year we're doing things a little differently. Instead of paying for entertainment for every single program, we are implementing reading books to the kids and doing a craft of some sort. Last year the sidewalk chalk day ended up being the best day we had! The kids drew all over the sidewalks at the back of the building and we fed them popsicles. Perfection on a hot summer day!

At home I have several projects that I would like to get done this spring. Jimmy seems like he's game, so keep your fingers crossed for me! This weekend we're going to start making preparations and decide what we want to do first. This is mainly going to involve painting and flooring. Layke won't be home to help. He has gone to Chicago with the show choir. Ah, the benefits of being a music teacher! They are going to do some fun things including catching a Blue Man show. Now that doesn't interest me, but he seemed excited about it!

Another thing I've started doing around the homefront is that I've started back my couponing. It's addictive! My sister-in-law is really big into it and is a huge encouragement- she even sends out emails telling us what's on sale, etc. Stacking coupons is the way to go! I got one of those air fresheners that is motion-activated last week for about a dollar after using coupons. It's like a game to me. I hope I find some great deals this weekend. Can't wait to see the Sunday coupon section of the newspaper!

And weddings are in the air! I went to a bridal shower a couple of weeks ago and I have two or three more gifts to get for some couples. What an exciting time of life this is for them. Everything is brand new and sparkling and the future is out there in front of them with endless possibilities and dreams. Ah, it's wonderful. I love Jimmy more today than the day I married him. We have been married almost 31 years and we still have so much fun. But I really think people should seriously consider giving us and other oldyweds a shower. Our towels and such are a disgrace! LOL I could use new towels, dishtowels, heck, I'd even like new dishes and silverware! :)

Alrighty, enough rambling. I'll try to be more together in the future!

Pond Scum

I'm drinking it. Well, it looks like pond scum anyway. A friend told me about "green smoothies", a great way to get in leafy vegetables and fruits. My diet is not very fruit and vegetable friendly, so I thought I'd try them.

Actually, the smoothies are pretty good. I put a cup of water into a blender, add two handfuls of raw baby spinach, a banana, a quartered apple, and some frozen blueberries or frozen peaches or both. Voila! Pond scum! I'm going to try my best to drink one every day and I just might get wild and vary up the greens! We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of food, I bought a local cookbook yesterday and there is the weirdest recipe in there! It's Blue Cheese and Peach dip. Yep, you heard me right. It has cottage cheese, onion flakes, blue cheese and canned sliced peaches all blended up together. It's to be served with vegetables. Who knows, it might be good, but that was a recipe that stopped me in my tracks. Bizarre to say the least!

I'm trying to eat better. Really I am. But I'm craving Cheetos and Doritos and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips! *sigh* Guess I'll drink my stupid smoothie and try to be content.

Our Tennessee Weekend

We got home this afternoon from a weekend in Tennessee. Friday around noon we left and headed up to Monteagle, TN, where I we stayed in a little cottage (their fancy name for trailer!). We checked in, changed clothes, and headed out to Nashville, an hour and a half drive from there.

We got to BB Kings right around 5:30, the time the Bart Walker Band was going to start their set. Seated on high stools to the side of the stage, we had a bird's eye view. We ordered dinner and Bart's band played their first set.

Bart is an amazing musician! Jimmy loves the blues, and we had a great time listening to him. Typically Reese Wynans plays keys for him, but he was in a recording session that night, much to Jimmy's disappointment. At the break, Jimmy rushed up and purchased a CD from Bart and we chatted a bit, and then who walked in the door but Mr. Wynans!

Jimmy was thrilled to death! He bought a poster and got it autographed and had his picture taken with him. He wanted one of me and Reese and Reese misunderstood and offered to take a picture of me and Jimmy! LOL, I told him that I had plenty with Jimmy already!

The second set was off the hook! It's an amazing thing to be listening to the man who was with Stevie Ray Vaughan all those years. Man, he's a legend, and we had a blast!

At the second break, Jimmy and I headed over to the Limelight where Stephen Cochran and Jeffrey Steele were going to be doing a show. We got there and joined some friends at a front table and waited for the show to begin.

Stephen was first, and he did a great show. Jimmy enjoyed his bass player, Ryan Byrne, who was playing with some slick moves! Afterwards, Jimmy bought him a drink and enjoyed chatting with him. We also talked to Stephen a good while and I must say he is a super guy. He has always been so sweet and genuine every time I've ever seen him, and Jimmy told him that he was his hero. He was injured in the war and has a remarkable story. His back was broken into six pieces and he was told he would never walk again. But, oh, does he walk!!

Then came what I had been waiting for....Jeffrey Steele! Holy crap, that is one talented man! He can sing, play the crap out of the guitar, harmonica, and keys, and engage an audience like nobody I've ever seen. And his songwriting skills are remarkable! To name a few...Tim McGraw's "The Cowboy in Me," Diamond Rio's "Unbelievable," Rascal Flatts' "These Days," Faith Hill's "When the Lights Go Down," Trace Adkins' "Chrome," LeAnn Rimes' "Big Deal," as well as Montgomery Gentry's "Speed," "Hell Yeah" and "My Town." And there are tons more!!

We started out standing at the front over to the side, but it wasn't long before we made our way over to the center right in front of him. He did a 3 1/2 hour show! Unfortunately we had to leave about 45 minutes before he finished due to our long drive back to Monteagle. I'm glad we did leave when we did. It was very foggy and took us until about 2:30 a.m. to get back.

Saturday morning I woke around 7, made some hot chocolate and watched Good Times on television. I crawled back into bed with Jimmy and we got up around 12:30! We grabbed some breakfast at a local Waffle House, then came back and slept all afternoon!

Saturday night we went to a 4 star restaurant there in Monteagle, called High Point. Jimmy had made reservations for us and it's a good thing. The place was covered up! The house the restaurant is in was built and financed by Al Capone. It was just beautiful. We were seated at a corner table in what was probably the original dining room. The house has all the original light fixtures, and it was a pleasure just sitting there!

Our waiter started us off with a drink- me a pomegranite martini and Jimmy an Old Fashioned. He brought bread for us to eat while we perused the expansive menu. We finally decided upon Brie en croute for an appetizer, Lobster bisque, High Point Oscar steak (filet with lump crab meat and asparagus), baked potato, and we shared a creme brulee for dessert. It was an amazing dining experience. I certainly would drive the hour and 45 minutes or so to eat there again.

This morning, Sunday, we woke early and decided to head on home. It was pouring rain and rained terribly on us the entire way home. We have had a nice, relaxing afternoon. I spent some time working on the pictures I had taken and uploading them. It's been a great weekend!

Nashville, Lulu, and Fighting Sleep

Yes, I know I should be in bed, but sleeping is so boring! I don't know why I fight it so at night; I always have my entire life. I'll be sorry in the morning for sure.

There is nothing really earth-shattering going on in my life right now. Jimmy and I are taking a much-needed mini vacation this weekend. We are staying at a cottage in Monteagle, TN. We're leaving at lunch on Friday, driving to Monteagle and checking in, then heading on into Nashville to go and hear Bart Walker's band play at B.B. King's. He plays from 5:30 to 9:00. Jimmy was SO hoping to meet Reese Wynans, former keyboard player for Stevie Ray Vaughan, who is Bart's keyboard player, but Bart told me today that Reese has a recording session that he don't believe he'll get off in time to play. Bummer for Jimmy, but I'm still looking forward to hearing Bart.

After that, we're making a beeline over to the Limelight where Stephen Cochran is playing. He's supposed to start at 8, but I'm hoping it'll be later! Then after Stephen is Jeffrey Steele. OH.MY.GOD. Next to Bo Bice, he's my favorite! That man can put on a show! And boy, can he sing! And boy, is he sexy! lol

After the shows we're going to drive back to Monteagle, sleep in on Saturday, and enjoy a dinner at a fancy schmancy restaurant that night. Then we're going to go back to the cottage and the cottage's hot tub! Sounds heavenly!

My little Lulu dog, the 2 pound chihuahua, is going to be left at the mercy of my boys. She has to have a pill every day (I give it to her wrapped in some Velveeta) and a half a dropper of liquid antibiotics. Man, they'd better do it or mama will be on the warpath when she gets home!

I inherited that dog from my daughter Rachel, who rescued her from getting put to sleep at the vet's. Rachel got a new minpin, so I got Lulu. I would never have chosen that dog, but I've got her and I love her even though she loves Jimmy more.

Now that's a funny thing, her loving Jimmy. He's not an animal person. But she sits beside him in his chair and he's really sweet to her. I guess it's because she's so tiny. He even took her to the vet today, an unheard of event in times past with our other dogs!! And get this- he made an appointment to have her teeth cleaned! Man. That little dog has him wrapped and I think it's hilarious.

I adore all my dogs. Austin, Ernie, Pugsley and Lulu are the best dogs ever! Cesar would approve of how good my "pack" is! They're sweethearts. And I have a little dog-crush on Cesar! He is THE MAN! He isn't afraid of anything, not pits, not chows, no dog scares that little man. That's awesome!

All right. Back to reality. It's almost eleven and morning will be here all too soon. Guess I'll head on to bed. Adios!!

Pepe la Pew Sunday

This morning was cold but we braved it and headed out to the early service in Madison. We left the house a little before 8, made our regular stop at Starbucks, and pulled into the parking lot and made it in just at the right time. I was expecting a smaller crowd that early, but I was fooled; once again the place was packed!

Why did we go so early today? You see, I had a family get-together to attend at one, and that’s the only choice we had.

My mother had two brothers, one of whom has passed away. His daughter, my first cousin, was hosting the lunch today at her house.

Pat lives in a beautiful home on who knows how many acres. Her husband raises cattle for a living and they have a beautiful farm. After picking Mother up, we got to Pat’s house and saw several cars already there.

Stepping into her lovely den, I noticed that she had candles burning everywhere! And there was this….smell. Everyone was talking about the skunks that were living under their house and how they can NOT get them out! Apparently one had sprayed and they had done everything in their power to get the smell dissipated, even wrapping the floor vents in Saran wrap!

The day before Tommy, her husband, had set a trap and had successfully caught one of the skunks. He had it in the trap in the back of his truck way out near one of his barns. Of course I had to go look! Jimmy and I took off in the freezing weather and cautiously approached the pickup. There was a piece of old carpeting covering the cage and I slowly raised it up. All I could see was black and white fur. It was very still and we were VERY quiet!!

I learned a fascinating fact about skunks today. Tommy said that a trapper who lives close by told him that the fur has the same feel as mink. He used to sell the fur of the skunks he trapped for $13 and companies made “mink” coats from them. Apparently some regulation has stopped this practice and now the man only gets $1 per pelt.

That makes me laugh to think that some snooty person is parading around in a “mink” coat and it’s really a skunk! LOL

We had a nice lunch (after a while we became immune to the smell!) and visit with my cousins. I’ve been home for about an hour and let me tell you, all of our clothing, down to our underwear, smells like a skunk! Jimmy’s car smells like a skunk! We’re washing everything and hopefully the smell will come out!

That’s been my day so far. I’m going to relax a while and gear up for another week. Just thought I’d share my skunk story. :)

Rest in Peace, Tiger Jesus. I love you.

Today my heart hurts. My precious Tiger Jesus, the cat who showed up on our lawn as a tiny little kitty 10 ½ years ago, is gone. She has been sick for a while with a skin condition that terrorized her and she clawed her hair out and made herself bleed. This morning things at home came to a head and we made the difficult decision to put her down.

Tiger was a strange little thing. She couldn’t meow; my youngest son said she quacked! She showed up outside and was there a couple of days and I told Jimmy that if she was there the next day, I was bringing her inside. Well, she was, so we headed inside the house with her. I’ll never forget looking around at Seth and asking him what he wanted to name her. He said, “Tiger”. I said, “Tiger what?” because all of our animals have middle names. He said, “Jesus, because Jesus sent her to us!”

Tiger was skittish and would not let us touch her, much less hold her. We patiently loved her and after about 3 years she finally allowed me to hold her. A little later on she allowed Seth to, and ever since then we’ve been the only people she trusted.

She was so funny about things. She slept with me and would stretch herself out against my back. If she got thirsty or hungry we’d know about it because she would tell the news!

Jimmy didn’t share our love of Tiger. He called her “that damn cat” but he’s been sweet to me today.

Layke and Seth took her to the vet; I couldn’t do it. They put her down and were going to cremate her. They asked if we wanted her ashes, but we declined. I’d rather have my memories than a box full of ashes. That’s just too painful.

Thanks for bearing with me while I memorialize my cat. I cried a river this morning at home and I’ve fought tears all day at work. I’ll miss my baby girl.

Joy and Light on a Sunday Night

It's a cold Sunday night and I'm sad because the holidays are over. The thought of going to work tomorrow is like ramming bamboo underneath my fingernails. Last Monday started off with some man chewing me out when I opened the door because our time clock wasn't with his watch. I dread it like the plague.

Today we went back to Madison to church. It's really a nice place and Seth adores it. We had lunch at Chili's and tell me something: Why do they serve you a main course salad with no form of bread or crackers whatsoever?? I ordered a Cobb Salad and there was nothing but the vegetables and chicken. I'm a carb person; I need my bread!!

I got home and put on my pajamas and gave little stinky dog a bath. She has to have one every other day or she stinks something terrible. Plus she gets fleas. I don't know how to get my house free of them. The cat has them and never goes outside plus Lulu has them. They do not bite anyone but Jimmy.

Tonight I made a farewell to good food snack supper. Buffalo Chicken Dip, nuts, chips and dip, and Oreos. Whooo Weeee. I'm going out with a bang! Tomorrow starts my world of counting points. Again. Why could I not have been born genetically predispositioned to be tiny and petite instead of being HUGE?? All you would have to do is look at the picture of my paternal grandmother and her sisters to know where I got it. Makes me sick. I know of a lady who is older than me but she can wear cute little jeans, heels and has a fantastic figure and she told me that she has never had a problem with her weight. I hate her.

I did not get as much accomplished as I wanted to these 3 1/2 days I was off. I did get some kitchen cabinets cleaned out and my display case rearranged. It's something I guess.

All right, enough joy and light from me tonight. Going to see what's on TV besides freaking football!!