Little People in Fur Coats

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." Immanuel Kant

My parents house is notorious for abandoned animals. When I was growing up, it was nothing for a stray animal to wonder up. Some we kept (mostly the cats) and others we found homes for or called the local animal shelter. We have had so many, I can't even count them all on 2 hands.

Our most recent resident we named Jasper. Jasper was a scraggly old guy who was so loud. Every time he meowed, you could hear him from yards away. And bless his little heart, every time he opened his mouth you could see all 3 teeth. He stuck around for a couple of months and after a while we noticed a gash on the top of his head. We tried to squirt neosporin in it several times, but he started to catch on to us. We talked about catching him and taking him to the vet; he went with no resistance (he was so friendly). Well, our beloved friend and vet, Dr. Paul, did some blood work and it came back that Jasper had feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS; he had to be put down. My dad and I share the same soft spot for animals, and yes it is sad for both of us, we are just happy he is in a better place.

We have a couple more strays that we have somewhat adopted as our own. Scout has been around for 3 years now. She is the most loving cat I have ever met. I'll take the food out to feed her and she just wants to be loved on. I would take her back to Raleigh if I could, but she is an outdoorsy kind of girl. When she came up, we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl. She was fat and sassy. She has all this hair that makes her seem bigger than she is. I have a big connection with her. She is a sweet cat.

 Another cat we have is Angel. Angel was rescued from the yard. She was caught when she was a kitten and taken to the vet. Dr. Paul told us the she had been living off of earthworms to survive. Bless her little heart. When she was little, she was pure white. The older she got, the more of a calico blanket she seemed to have on her back. She has the bluest eyes that would be so pretty...if they weren't crossed. Yea, she may not be as friendly as the others, but she is happy and in a home not eating earthworms. 

Next, we have Bear. OK, so Bear wasn't a stray, but he was abandoned in a box with 4 more of his brothers and sister (happy to report they all have great homes). E wanted to keep Bear. I think he wanted to keep Bear because of how much I was attached to him. Bear is a sweet dog and I can't believe someone would just dump animals in someone else's driveway. I told someone this and they said, "well maybe the person who dropped them there knew that the puppies had a better chance." Never thought of it that way. I think Bear is a great edition to the family! 

Since the holidays are right around the corner, don't forget about the furry family members. This is the most depressing time for them. Give them some extra love, just because.

Holiday Season

It's the holiday season and there has been so much going on. I had cookie making at mom and dad's and a birthday to get ready for (not mine..E's) and tracked out to go see lights. It's been busy and I have a feeling it will stay busy until the New Year!
Let's start with E's birthday. Birthday's have always been a big deal with my family growing up. For my sister it was more of a birthday month. We always celebrated as long as we could. It was a race to see who could wish who a Happy Birthday first (I usually won). But with E's family, I've noticed it is a little lackluster. Don't get me wrong, I love E's family...couldn't have asked for a better group of people. They aren't as festive when birthday's come into play. E was a little down that day. I tried everything I could to cheer him up, he would just react as "just another birthday."
I knew it would be a day like that, so I bought him the best present EVER!! And I mean EVER!!!!

 So the first picture is him opening his present (he wanted to open it early so it wasn't framed or anything). His reaction the whole time was "No you didn't! No you didn't!" Oh yes I did!! The second picture is his gift, an 11x14 picture of Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers (and a hometown boy). E loves Hamilton. We watched every Rangers game and even watched the World Series in Mexico. Dedication right there. It is now framed and hanging where E can see him everyday (I've already caught him twice staring at it).

Next on the list of busy times, we went to go see the Meadow Lights. Meadow Lights is this little farm area that has Christmas lights. You can ride a train to see the lights, ride a carousel and visit the store (that has old time candy by the pound, yea, we stocked up). The lights were great and it just got me in the season. Before we went, I got my Palm Christmas Tree out and decorated it and made the apartment fill Christmasy. 




Christmas lights...a fisherman catching fish....only in the South





My Christmas Palm :)







A pig....a pig in Christmas lights

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Cletus...the myth, the legend

First off, sorry for the delay. It's been a little busy. But thank's for the patience!

I mentioned "Cletus" in an earlier post (Knee Deep). Cletus and I have a love/hate relationship...I love to hate him! Cleatus is a big part of my life. Cletus shows up at times where he is not wanted. The first time I remember Cletus making a huge apperance was at my sister's wedding. He was obnoxious. He overstayed his welcome, if he even had one. He made my life miserable. By the way, Cletus is my fever blister. Strange, yes, I am.

As you can see, here he is, starting off. He always does this. He will start off just being this annoying bump on my lip. Usually, he hangs out on the lower lip, he isn't a big fan of the upper lip. Cletus has been in my life for as long as I can remember. My dad use to tease me all the time. He told me it was a kissing disease and that I was kissing too many boys (of course that embarrased me and I vowed never to show my face when Cletus came to visit). He was horrible, Cletus..not my dad. He started off as a bump, and then he got bigger and bigger, taking over half of my lip...I swear I could look down and see my lip BULGING!

After hanging out for a couple of days, he would start to turn into this scabby mess. As you can see in a recent picture, he is just hanging out. I know what Cletus is and what brings him on, sometimes. Sometimes it is out of the blue...like in this shot. He is so presistant and troublesome. I have a "Cletus Burts Bees" tube just for him (he has to have his own tube, I don't want him infecting my good tubes). I have tried everything under the sun. Everything I could think of to get rid of Cletus. There is nothing on the market to get rid of Cletus (maybe a prescription...but that's not for me). I have found one thing to help him go away faster. Abriva. Abriva is my new BFF. I have 3 Abriva's scattered. 1 tube in my bathroom, 1 at mom and dads and a pump Abriva in my purse. It is amazing....clears Cletus up in a couple of days (except for the time I got one Cletus and then another one right on top of the old Cletus...it was ugly).

As I said earlier, Cletus has shown up in all of the big moments so far. My sister's wedding, my recent trip to Mexico, numerous beach trips, cookie making day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years...you name it, Cletus has the t-shirt.

 Mexico...really Cletus....Mexico!

The people have been blured out for their own protection.

I know, I can't believe I just wrote about my fever blister, but hey, write what you know, right?