Take time for friends in 2009.....

This was sent to me earlier today, and I thought it was worth sharing:

Too Busy for a Friend...

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.


Several years later, one of the students was killed in

Iraq and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They f ound this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this wit h me at all times,' Vic ki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

Rest in peace, unknown kitty.....

Well, we had to put the unknown kitty to sleep. He didn't have bad injuries (other than some old scarring from fighting, etc), but the vet said his temperament was so bad that she doubted he could ever be domesticated. She said we could pay $200 to neuter him and put him back outside and continue feeding him and hope for the best, but we thought that would be cruel. If he stands no chance of ever being domesticated, it's cruel to put him back out where other animals could attack him or he could get hit by a car or worse. Isaak is bringing him home and we'll bury him in the yard. And darn it, I'm crying over a cat I didn't even know or have a chance to bond with. If there is a place in Heaven for cats, I hope this poor cat makes it there.

Now we're going to turn our attention to rescuing Zorro. I feel if his injuries aren't too severe, he does stand a chance of being domesticated because his temperament is much better. He's let me get really close to him, and he's even let me touch him and eaten out of my hand once. So please pray that we get him in the trap and that his injuries are treatable.

It was the wrong cat :(

Well, no jubilee yet. Isaak no sooner left here with what we thought was Zoro when the real Zoro limped onto our porch! I guess we had his twin in the cage. Isaak took it to the vet anyway, and turns out, it has an injury, too. In the same leg. Now I am suspicious that someone might have shot them. If that's the case, the humane people will be called in and they'll take it from here. Keep praying we catch the real Zoro. We're going to set the trap and hope for the best.

WE CAUGHT HIM!

Just a brief update for the post below this one. WE CAUGHT THE CAT!

Twinbrook Animal Clinic in Middlesex was the ONLY PLACE AROUND that would treat a feral cat if we caught him. So they gave us a cage to use to trap him, and we put it out, baiting it with tuna fish. I never thought he'd go in it, but we found him out there in it a few minutes ago. The clinic is closed now, so we'll take him in first thing in the morning. Wish us luck.....and a not so costly vet bill. We're not exactly financially fit for this right now with my husband off work, but I wouldn't be me if I let that poor cat suffer.

Amen Jesus---because he does answer prayers----even ones about saving a feral cat. :)

Outdoor kitty is hurt......:(

You're all going to think I'm crazy, but please pray for my outdoor kitty, Zoro. We hadn't seen him for 2 days, and I was getting really worried. I saw him on the porch this morning, curled up on an old blanket I put out there for him. I was so excited I ran out there to greet him. When I went out to feed him, he "cried" a lot. He doesn't usually "talk" to me at all. In fact, for awhile, I wasn't sure he could meow. Once I got close, I figured out why he was crying. When he came to eat his food, his left front leg was hurt. He can't even move it. In fact, it's basically just hanging there. I suspect maybe he got hit by a car or another animal got him. He's clearly in a lot of pain. But here's the bad part......he will not let me get ahold of him. His trust only goes so far with me, which is letting me get no more than a foot close to him. Last week, I did manage to touch him on the head when he was eating, but he quickly ran off. I've been trying to get him to trust me enough to nab him for months now, but nothing works. I tried everything this morning because I was desperate to help him, including downright chasing him once I couldn't get him any other way. For a cat with a bad leg, he's surprisingly fast.

He crawled under a huge pine tree in my neighbor's yard, and I tried, but I can't get under there. I'm so worried he's going to die. I just am not equipped to get ahold of him. He has claws and teeth, and I have no guarantee he wouldn't use them if he thought I was going to hurt him. And the last thing I need is to go to the hospital since we have no health insurance. I called Animal Friends to see if they will come try to trap him for me. If anyone has any better ideas, I'm all ears. For now, I'm waiting for someone to get back to me from Animal Friends. Please pray that I can get to Zoro and get him help. I'm really worried he might die, and darn it, I've become attached to him! Life has been pretty sucky lately, so if this poor cat that I've befriended dies, it's really going to send me over the edge. :(

Ho! Ho! Ho! And a barfy Christmas......

So this year for Christmas, Santa brought us the stomach flu. No joke.

Connor wasn't acting at all like himself on Christmas Day. It started when he woke up and wasn't at all happy to see that Santa had visited our house and left him toys. He just screamed "NOOOOOOOO!" for about 20 minutes and then hid under his blanket on the couch.

He didn't eat anything all day. And at 4:30 this morning, he woke up throwing up. It was swell. The poor kid threw up about 4 times before he finally went back to sleep. And he didn't understand that he couldn't drink a bunch of stuff, because that just made him throw up more.

So far today, he's been able to keep down only fluids. He's done nothing but lay on the couch with his blanket. When my kid doesn't move, I know he must not be feeling well.

We have no idea where he got this. We were around a lot of people Christmas Eve, but none of them appeared sick. And to the best of my knowledge, none of them are sick yet. So the only thing I can think is Santa brought it with him. Thanks, Santa. Next time, could you leave us some toys instead?

Double Trouble!

Back in July, I started feeding a stray cat that was hanging around our house. I was pretty sure he was a feral cat, as we had a pregnant female cat in the neighborhood last year that nobody knew who she belonged to. I am pretty sure this is one of her offspring.

Being the animal lover that I am, I started feeding it. I tried my best to make nice with it so I could grab it and take it to the shelter. No dice. It only lets me get so close, then it runs. I was even laying on my belly on our cold cement porch this morning, inching my way toward him, thinking I'd be less threatening that way. It was good until I got close enough to nab him. As soon as my hands went up, he took off. Because we have no idea where he came from or where he goes when he's not here, we dubbed him "Zoro, Cat of Mystery."

When the weather got cold, Isaak built Zoro a house. I've never seen him use the house, but it's out there.

Today, I have been doing my best to get my hands on him, because it's only 4 degrees outside and I am worried he's going to freeze to death. I was busy admiring him sleeping on an old quilt I put on a chair on our porch, when I noticed another black cat come sauntering up to the food dish. Our neighbor has a black cat, but it is about 4 times the size of Zoro and is very easy to discern from Zoro. But this one looked exactly like Zoro! And when Zoro saw the other cat, he didn't chase it. Instead, they wandered off together. Now, I'm not sure how long these two have been playing switcheroo on me, but I'm pretty sure I've been fooled this entire time into thinking I was feeding one cat. Now I am facing the realization that I have two cats I have to rescue from this weather. God sure has a funny sense of humor.......

YIPPPEEEEEEE!

WE ARE DONE!

When I say we, I mean me and my dad. And when I say done, I mean with his 40 radiation treatments for his prostate cancer. For the last 40 days, we have been going to Pittsburgh every day for the treatments (except on the weekends). It has been a very time-consuming event for both of us, and I'm not sure which of us is happier about it being done----OK, I'm sure my dad is happier since he was the one getting the radiation. But I come in at a close second. :)

While all that driving to Pittsburgh----and sometimes sitting around for an hour or more if the radiation machine was having problems (which is did often)----it wasn't that bad. I got to spend extra time with my dad. My dad is cool. He knows lots of stuff and he's the kind of guy who tells it like it is, whether you like it or not. So getting all that extra time with him was a bonus. I will sort of miss that.

But we're done for now with the daily road trips. He goes back in March to measure the levels of his prostate to see if the radiation worked. I'm praying it did. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for a successful outcome.

Just call me Scrooge.....

I'll be the first to admit it: I am definitely a candidate for playing Ebenezer Scrooge this year. I'm just not in the holiday spirit.

Normally, I am one of those annoying people who deck the halls and spend the entire month singing Christmas carols. I used to put my tree up right after Thanksgiving. But this year, I was lucky to get it up at all (which was just 2 days ago, by the way).

I guess I just have one too many reasons to be down in the dumps lately, and I am letting it affect me and my normal Christmas cheer. I'm not really sure how to get in the spirit, because at this point, I'm skeptical that even the ghost of Christmas past would have a hard time getting my behind in gear. So I guess I'd better start practicing saying Ba Humbug now.

Je t'aime et bon nuit!

So, the other night, I went to the secret sister dinner at church. Then I had band practice. When I came home, my son was counting to 10 in French. Yes, my husband is from Canada and they speak French as a second language there---primary language if you live in parts of Montreal. I was pretty impressed Connor could count to 10. Then I was blown away when he learned to say "oui, s'il vous plait," which means "yes, please." And tonight, he learned how to say good night and I love you in French---Bon nuit et je t'aime.

I am so blown away that he's picking it up that easily. It took me 6 years of French (with a teacher who was actually from France) to be able to speak somewhat fluently. My 3 year old may surpass my ability here pretty soon! I wonder how you say smart cookie in French? I can't remember. Better go look that up. I might be needing it. :)

Oh the irony!

So, my dad has been mentioning that he wouldn't mind having a Vietnam Veteran hat since he's been seeing all the vets down at the VA Hospital wearing them. For Christmas, I decided to get him one, because he'd never buy one for himself. I had to special order it because they are in such high demand.

Well, it came in the mail today. When I opened it, I expected to see the stamp on it say "Made in China," because let's face it: it's hard to find anything that isn't made in China these days. But much to my surprise it wasn't made there. Oh no. It's much worse than that. I'll give you three guesses where it was made. Are you ready for this? It was made in.....Vietnam. I'm not sure if this is a joke or what, but I'm pretty sure my dad will not find it amusing that the very country where he was sent to war is the country now manufacturing his veteran hat. I should probably just send it back now.

The right attitude.....

So last night, I forced myself to stay awake to finish watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Front of the Class. And I was glad I did.

The movie was based on the life of Brad Cohen, a man suffering with Tourrette's Syndrome. He was diagnosed at age 6 and back then, Tourrette's wasn't widely known or accepted. He had a pretty rough childhood, and some of that came from his own dad, who thought his son was just goofing around and could learn to control the ticks that come along with having Tourrettes.

The thing I liked most about this movie was this man's overwhelming "can-do" attitude. He didn't let anything stop him from becoming a teacher, or getting people to accept him for who he was instead of penalizing him for having a condition he can't control. It made me realize that if someone like Brad Cohen could keep a positive attitude about life, then darn it, so can I.

Thumbs up to Hallmark for realizing this man deserved to be showcased in such a way. The actor who played him the movie did an excellent job as well. And anytime a movie makes me realize I should be grateful for what I have and never be satisfied with not achieving my dreams, it's never time wasted.

If you want to learn more about the real Brad Cohen, visit his website at: http://www.classperformance.com/

Happy Holidays? I think not!

IT'S MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Say it with me now:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have to say that one of the most annoying things about this time of year is all the people walking around telling you "Happy Holidays." Um, no. It's not "the holidays." It's CHRISTmas. That's right. I'm one of those annoying Christian people who wants to remind the rest of the world-----which has commercialized Christmas into something so warped I don't even recognize it anymore----that the reason for the season is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It's not about Santa Claus. Although, as our pastor preached last Sunday, the man on whom the fictional Santa Claus is based was actually a very good Christian man. But what that real person has been turned into is a crying shame. Somewhere along the way, people got the idea that Christmas was about how many gifts you'll get, being good enough to put one over on Santa so you still get those gifts, or whether your parents were able to trample everyone else in line at Walmart to get you the hottest item this season.

No, I hate to break it to you, but Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. I have taught my son---who is only 3---to say "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus." And let me tell you, it annoys the majority of people we meet. In Target last Wednesday, several people were telling us "Happy Holidays." But Connor, in the way that only a child can, gleefully responded by saying "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus." Some people thought it was cute, some did not.

I realize to a great portion of the world, Christmas isn't about Christ. And how sad that is, because they are missing out on the love, joy and peace that comes along with knowing the greatest reason for the season.

What Christmas is all about.....

Today, me, Isaak and Connor had a very wonderful visit with a nice lady named Barbara at St. Barnabas nursing home.

We visited Barbara as part of the nursing home's Presents for Patients program, in which St. Barnabas partners with WPXI to bring local families together with residents at the facility who might otherwise spend the holidays alone.

Barbara was at the nursing home recovering from a bad fall. At some point, she likely would return to her home. She does have family in the area, but was very happy to receive visitors. We brought her a gift and spent about an hour talking with her. It's my understanding WPXI will use some footage of our visit to promote the Presents for Patients program on TV, so at some point, you'll be seeing my ugly mug on Channel 11.

I really enjoyed talking with Barbara, and spending time with her reminded me of the many years I spent with the residents at my parents' small personal care home in Blairsville. They had residents there who, without my family, would have had no one on Christmas. Those residents became like family to us, and now that my parents no longer have a personal care home, it sometimes seems weird for us not to be sharing our love with them on the holidays.

There is always going to be someone...somewhere....who is faced with spending not only Christmas, but every other day of the year alone. Many people are in need of our love and fellowship. If you're interested in spreading a little holiday cheer and remembering what the true meaning of Christmas is, I encourage you to get involved with Presents for Patients, your local food bank or any other organization reaching out to the community in which you live. I assure you, it will be an experience you will treasure for the rest of your life.

Spare no one

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27996349/?GT1=43001

So, police are saying that Walmart didn't train its employee well enough, and that is why the poor man got trampled by masses of people who just couldn't control themselves long enough to get inside like civilized human beings. Uh huh.

I am no fan of Walmart, but where is the personal accountability here? The real fault lies with the hundreds of people who trampled this man to death because they just couldn't wait to get inside and get their big screen TVs and toys. I'm not sure all the training in the world could have prevented this given the mentality of those shoppers.

Police say they are reviewing video of the incident but doubt they will be able to charge anyone. Here is my thought: they need to check receipts from the first hour of check outs at that store. Most people pay with credit cards these days, so it wouldn't be hard to track them down. I think anyone....and I do mean anyone....who was in that store right after that incident should automatically be charged with involuntary manslaughter. I realize this sounds harsh, but maybe if people realize there are consequences to such horrendous actions, they will not be repeated in the future.