Friday, May 31, 2013

7 Friday Fragments (strange and new things, books, park, baseball, holiday)


Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Free Shirt

My husband got was given a free BOSTON STRONG t-shirt by someone from work this week.  He loves it!

Most Runs

The Cleveland Indians have scored lots of runs so far this year, with some big blowout games which got me wondering if standings went by most runs scored instead of wins/losses, where they would be. I good searched it and lo and behold, there is a very nice chart listing all the MLB teams in order of number of runs scored in 2013. The tribe is tie for 4th place as of Thursday night (before the game) with 219. Guess who is in the lead: The Colorado Rockies!

Favorite Reads for May

Non-fiction by Military Wife, mother of three boys
Thriller/Mystery
Karen's favorite was Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner.
Gerard's favorite was Dinner With the Smileys
Actually, we both enjoyed both of these books! Click the links to see our full reviews.

Building Something but What?


When I went to the library garden during lunch yesterday, this is what I saw there! I guess it is for the Captain American movie that is being filmed but I don't know what it is.  There are openings on both sides that look like doors. I think it sort of looks like Noah's ark. Any guesses?

Lunch at the Park

Wednesday, when I went to the nearby park for lunch, I discovered lots of food trucks come there including one selling ice cream! Unfortunately, a cone cost $2.50 which is more than this cheapskate wants to pay. There was also a small band playing and a guy doing handstands!

New Hose


I used my Walmart gift card for a pocket hose. It is krinkly and folds up real small and is kink resistant. Our other hoses always seem to get holes in them.  I also got fabric markers that Manny (my tabby cat) is very happy about but will let him tell you why in a post during the week.

Memorial Day

The tiger was awake and even smiled nice for the camera!
It was cool here for Memorial Day, but we still had a nice time, starting with a early morning walk with Abby and making a vlog about my transitional lenses (posted yesterday). Then we went to the zoo for four hours and got everything in except for the Australian Adventure area before it started to rain. We'll pick that up another day and will post a slideshow of it sometime in June. We had a very nice visit and dinner with some friends from church late afternoon. Did you do anything special Memorial Day?

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

One of My Favorite Purchases



I'm joining up with Mama Kat's Vlogging Workshop for the prompt "Share your May Favorites." Although I didn't make the purchase this month, it is May and my transitional lenses certainly are a favorite purchase. What is one of your best purchases?

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Bathing While We Spin

I like spinning chairs and so do our cats, Spunky Doodle and Manny.  Me spinning them around does not seem to bother them at all as you can see in this short video:


We highly recommend spinning chairs for humans and cats!  Have a Purrfect day!

See more cats or link up your cat post with Cats on Tuesday.

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Monday Mischief: Bonus Meal

The Food Stash I Broke Into

Hi, it's me, Spunky Doodle (the "Spunkster") reporting on my latest mischief.  Friday night, when my mom was in a rush to leave us, she didn't close the food cupboard door in the hallway all the way so I was able to go right in!  I searched among all the bags of food and treats in there but didn't find any open.  This was a bit upsetting to me; however, I am not easily discouraged but started biting through the side of the new food bag that wasn't open yet with great success!  I managed to have a little extra feast.  Unfortunately, I was so excited about this great opportunity and my success, that I ate so fast I regurgitated it all over the bag and a little bit more on some material that was in there too.  I quickly made my escape.


Saturday morning, when my mom saw the crime scene, she was happy I only made a little tear in the one bag and quickly cleaned up the mess without even getting her camera for a picture for this post because our breakfast was already later than usual!  She was happy to see I am still spunky and called me her Spunkster, one of my nicknames that I try hard to live up to.  She was more upset with herself for not closing the closet door all the way than she was with me.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYONE! 


Joining in with Monday Mischief, Aww Mondays and Pet Pride blog hops today.

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sunday Sharing: Why Didn't Paul Listen and What If He Had?

For my scripture highlight of the week, I chose Acts 21:4, 12-13 and 30-31 which says:

(4) We looked up the Lord's followers and stayed with them for a week [in Tyre].  The Holy Spirit had told them to warn Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. (12) After Agabus said this, we and the followers living there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  (13) But Paul answered, "Why are you crying and breaking my heart?  I am not only willing to be put in jail for the lord Jesus.  I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem!" 

Paul did not listen to the warning and in this case, went on to Jerusalem:

(30) The whole city was in an uproar and the people turned into a mob.  They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple.  Then suddenly the doors were shut.  (31) The people were about to kill Paul when the Roman army commander heard that all Jerusalem was starting to riot.
Here's my thoughts:

Previously, Paul always listened when the Holy Spirit prevented him or told him not to go somewhere.  In Acts 18:21, He told them good-bye and said, "If God lets me, I will come back."  This showed Paul was acknowledging God in his plans and that he was willing to go wherever God wanted.  I am curious as to why Paul did not listen this time when he was warned not to go to Jerusalem.

I also wonder if Paul had listened, if he would have been spared this incident had he waited for God's timing and wonder what God had planned for him instead.  I guess that's something I'll never know unless I remember to ask Paul and God when I see them in heaven some day.

Finally, this passage reminded me of James 4:13-15 which says:
(13) You should know better than to say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to the city.  We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!"  (14) What do you know about tomorrow?  How can you be so sure about your life?  It is nothing more than a mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.  (15) You should say, "If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things."  
Contemporary English Version
Even though Paul went to Jerusalem in spite of the Holy Spirit's warning, God still used him there to speak to the very crowd that tried to kill him! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this or your scripture highlight of the week in the comments.

(all scripture passages are from the Contemporary English Version.)

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Friday, May 24, 2013

5 Friday Fragments (news, scary things, books)


Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Captain America

The filming of Captain America in downtown Cleveland causes inconvenience and traffic jams. They have the roads blocked off pretty far down from where they are actually shooting but people still like to watch.

Oklahoma Tornado

What an awful thing to happen! I feel so sorry for those people who were in the path of the tornado this week. I saw this video of a lady being interviewed that crawled out of the rubbish but was sad she couldn't find her dog. Then he wiggled out too on camera during the interview! Her prayers were answered! This brought tears to my eyes: Tornado Survivor Finds Dog During Live TV Interview.  This is worth seeing!

Scary Stuff

Image source:  Email from a friend
A friend brought this to my attention: WND previously reported on a documentary called "Homegrown Jihad: Terrorist Training Camps Around the U.S.," and how it offers evidence that "Muslims of America" operates a series of training camps in the U.S.  Kamal Saleem was trained in terror starting at age 7 at a PLO assault camp, learning to know and hate his enemies, was indoctrinated in radical Islam on his mother's knee and studied with his father how to despise Christians and Jews.  I ordered his book, The Blood of Lambs from the library to read.

Amputation

The husband of one of the bridesmaids at our wedding and a long-time friend chose to have his one leg amputated from the knee down rather than wearing a boot for the rest of his life. Here's his Facebook message: Keep me in your prayers. I am having surgery 5/21, a below the knee amputation on my right leg. I am looking forward to it. His surgery was this week and he is now in rehab for four-five days. He's had a lot of health problems and now this!

Happy Reading

Image source:  Author's Blog
I just finished reading Lynn Kellan's first book, Anything You Ask on Kindle and liked it. She writes contemporary romance and blogs at www.forloveorfunny.com.  It kept me turning pages and I was anxious to get back to it to see what would happen next!  Great job, Lynn!

I just finished reading a candid non-fiction book about a military wife and family that would be a great read for this Memorial Weekend called Dinner with the Smileys by Sarah Smiley.  It's one we both liked!

GO BRUINS!  GO TRIBE!  HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL WEEKEND EVERYONE!


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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Unusual Sights In Downtown Cleveland

Once again, last week when out at lunch time I saw a couple unusual things.  First of all, last Friday I saw four different groups of high school kids in small groups of about eight wearing t-shirts that said, "Amazing Race Cleveland 2013."  The first group I saw had yellow shirts, the second had orange, the third had green and the fourth had blue.  JFK was on the shirts too so I assume that was the high school they were from.  Apparently, they were playing the Amazing Race, looking for different clues.  One of the blue team told me there were ten teams!  It looked like they were all having a great time--it was a gorgeous day for it!

Notice my pretty bushy tail?
In the library garden on Friday, a couple people from the Cleveland Zoo had a table with literature about different activities available at the zoo and the Metropolitan parks, but they had brought along a couple stuffed friends:  a coyote and an owl.  She said people sometimes confuse the coyote with a wolf, but the coyote is smaller. 

Of course I had to pet them both!  The nice lady offered to take my picture with the coyote:
I should have had my first cat, Mr. Moe, stuffed like this!  That was my thought after petting this guy.
For an alternative to burial or cremation of a pet, learn about freeze-drying a dead pet at www.pet-animalpreservation.com.  Would you consider this for your pet?

Posted Mr. Moe's story earlier this week.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Pretty Flowers

Time to plant


Prettiest Yard on Our Street


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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Our Precious Miracle Cat, Survivor of Fatty Liver Disease: Mr. Moe


I first met Moe at the Parma Animal Shelter. He was an older cat, estimated his age to be eight. He was a big 12-pound, furry, white cat with black spots that reminded me of a cow. He was the only cat with those markings that I ever saw who had a black spot going up his nose. I felt sorry for him being in that tiny cage and he looked sad. I would go visit him on a weekly basis, just to see if he was adopted yet, but week after week, he was still there. He had been neutered and his front paws were declawed. He seemed like the perfect cat for us, but never having had one, I was hesitant.

I would also go visit the cats at PetSmart. They were always so cute. At that time, I didn't have any pets and neither of us ever owned a cat. The day I saw Moe at PetSmart with the Parma Animal Shelter volunteers, I went home and asked my husband, Gerard, if we could get him. My wonderful, husband said sure, if you want. So I hurried back and bought $70 worth of cat things and brought Moe home with me in June of 2000.

I wasn't crazy about his name, but did not want to confuse him so we just kept his name the same. We loved him so much. The first thing we did was set him up in our den upstairs because it was one of our smaller rooms so he could adjust gradually. He was pretty curious and after walking around the room a bit, he checked out the long walk-in closet. I was so excited about getting him that I called my friend, Debbie, to come over to meet him and she did.

We took a lot of pictures of Moe right away. Just like parents do when they have their first baby! That's how we felt, like proud parents. The strange thing though was, I noticed he would drink but he didn’t eat. We got the same kind of food he had at the shelter, but he didn't seem to be hungry. I didn't think too much of it at first, just that he was going through a period of adjustment and it would take a little time. After several days of not eating anything, I decided to try some different kinds of food and set up a whole buffet for him with about eight different kinds to try. He would look at them, sniff a little and turn away. At this point I was concerned. Even I knew that going weeks without food was not good.

I called the shelter and the woman said I had to get him to eat or he would die. Near the end of July, we took him to the vet at the corner of our street and they gave us some squirt stuff that we were told to squirt into his mouth 3 times a day. We tried but Moe was very strong, quick and determined not to let us do it. Both Gerard and I would gang up on him and Moe would always win. The most we ever got in was very minimal. I prayed that we'd be able to do this but Moe always won out. I prayed for Moe constantly, that God would make him better. I went back to the vet at the corner of our street to see if they could do it for us. Gerard and I both work but I was willing to bring him up there every day for them to do it but they wouldn't. They gave up on him and just said he's not going to make it. I called the shelter again, begging for their help telling them that if it was up to us to give him this stuff, he would die because we just couldn't do it. She said to bring him back and they would try to help him.

Dr. Hart, the vet in North Royalton worked with the Parma Animal Shelter pets and she took Moe home with her and force fed him for a week. He had developed fatty liver disease by then. Moe was constantly in my prayers all that week and we finally got a call from Dr. Hart saying that Moe was eating on his own again, that he probably had started developing this problem while still at the shelter and it wasn't our fault, and did we still want him. Of course we did! Gerard and I joyously picked up our Moe Cat from Dr. Hart as soon as we could and brought him back home. Sure enough, he became a big eater. After that shaky start, we always liked watching Moe eat.


We enjoyed many more years with him! He was the boss and ruled the house. We let him have whatever chair he wanted and waited on him hand and foot. We brought his food over to him where ever he chose to settle in at. We gave him Science Diet for senior cats which the was Dr. Hart's suggestion and one can of Fancy Feast for breakfast every day. He also enjoyed getting tuna treats now and then. He would even hop down off the chair for that.

We loved petting and playing with Moe. He sometimes would come on the bed with us in the morning and even come under the covers with me. Many nights, he would sleep on top of the covers at the foot of the bed with us. His favorite chair was also our favorite chair, but when I came from work to watch my taped soap opera each evening, Moe would jump down and let me have the chair. He didn't like to share. If we were sitting in it when he wanted it, he would let us know. He'd come over and sit right in front of us, looking up at us with his big eyes until we moved, which we did. We continued taking lots of pictures and video of Moe and even had two of the pictures made into posters and hung in our house.


Gerard and Moe were great buddies. When Gerard laid on the floor reading the newspaper, Moe would walk on it right where Gerard was trying to read. Once in awhile, Moe would even climb up on Gerard’s lap while he sat in a chair reading a book. Moe also liked to follow Gerard to the basement bathroom to watch him shave. Sometimes Moe climbed in the sink too. Moe would greet Gerard when he came home from work and really enjoyed his afternoon Fancy Feast treat Gerard gave him when we were trying to get him to gain some weight.
Moe enjoying his tuna pops

We took Moe to only Dr. Hart for his annual checkups. He developed a thyroid problem that was controlled with Methimazoile (goop that I put on the inside of one of Moe's ears every night at 9 p.m.). He didn't mind it and was very cooperative.
Spunky Doodle preparing to jump on Mr. Moe

After first checking with Dr. Hart and the Parma Animal Shelter for advice, in July of 2004, we brought in a stray little cute black and white kitten that was born at my dad's house in a litter of four. We introduced them very gradually, keeping Spunky only in the den for five weeks. We just brought Spunky out in a carrier by Moe so they could get to see each other some and meet safely. Moe would just hiss and then walk away. When we finally let them loose like Dr. Hart said we had to do if they were ever going to co-exist freely, Spunky would chase and jump on Moe. Moe would hiss at her and she'd usually back off. The thing that scared me though was that Spunky had little sharp claws and Moe didn't. When Spunky got to be six months old, we got her spayed and had her front paws declawed too. She lost some of her spunk after that and calmed down more. Moe finally accepted her and they got along. Spunky would still chase Moe, but it became kind of a game for him and he even seemed to get to like it. He would always outrun her to the chair. I'm not sure if she let him win all the time on purpose, but I think so. Whenever I saw Moe, I was always reminded of God's answer to my prayer.

One phase Moe went through was meowing loudly waking us up at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. every morning for about two or three weeks. I think he mostly just wanted some attention and some of his Fancy Feast so I gave it to him. He was the boss. Sometimes, he would jump up by my pillow and start biting my hair--ouch!  (I later found out this is a sign of cats affection.) When I moved my head, he would overtake my pillow. That's when I gave him the nickname "Monster Moe." Once we turned our bed around so that the top was next to the wardrobe, he didn't jump up on the pillow anymore.


About six months before he died, I noticed Moe was losing weight and became concerned. He was drinking a lot of water and was still eating, but he was much skinnier. We took him to the vet and were told the thyroid medicine didn't seem to be working anymore so she increased it to the highest dosage and said we probably wouldn't have Moe another seven years. That's when I knew he was going downhill fast. The vet assured us though that he wasn't in any pain.

Spunky Was Always Ready to Play
We just had a wonderful last Christmas together. Moe was very energetic and fun on Christmas Day. He and Spunky played. The following Saturday though, Moe wouldn't eat any breakfast so I tried giving him some tuna, and he did eat that. He could barely walk, sort of wobbled along very slowly. I felt so sorry for him and very helpless. I knew his time was coming and prayed again, that he would just die peacefully in his sleep and not last long like this. I also prayed that we would be home with him when he died and that it would be soon so he wouldn't suffer for long. Throughout the day, he just took a few more bites of tuna, but that was it. By Sunday, his legs were even weaker. When he jumped off our bed in the morning to go for water, he just plopped on the floor and couldn't get up. I carried him to the water bowl and he took a drink. I went to church later than usual because I was so depressed and wanted to spend as much time with Moe as I could.

Monday I had to go back to work but Gerard was still off. He called and said Moe couldn't walk at all anymore. Gerard carried him around for water but he even got to where he couldn't drink any more. It broke our heart seeing him this way, but Gerard wanted him to die a natural death and stay with us as long as he could. I agreed. I had already put down my dad's three cats that year and didn't want to make it four.

God was gracious and merciful once again to us. We spent a quiet New Year's Eve with our cats, I let Moe lay on his mat on my lap and got to pet and talk to him for an hour before going to bed. It was a precious time for me and Moe. He never stayed on my lap before. The longest was maybe one minute. Moe just died  on New Year's Eve after Gerard and I finally went to bed, but both Gerard and I had lots of time with him his last few days. Gerard woke up at 1:30 and saw Moe had died when he went to pet him. We'll always have fond memories of him. We buried Moe in our backyard at 8:20 a.m. New Year's Day of 2008. (What a way to start a new year--I sure hope it gets better along the way!)

We were blessed with having Moe for 7 1/2 years after the vet had given up on him back in 2000. It really is a miracle that Moe recovered from the fatty liver disease to live to be at least 15 1/2! He was our wonderful, precious Mr. Moe Cat!!!  We will always remember him!

This post was inspired by Sparkle's Fatty Liver Syndrome Kills--Help Save Leo.

Join in the blog hop with Cats on Tuesday.

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Aww Monday: Bye to The Greeter Cat

This is the cat that is the greeter at Richardson's Greenhouse where we buy our flowers every year.  When we went this year, we found it went to the "Rainbow Bridge" over the winter--it lived 20 years and was such a nice cat, letting strangers pet him.  I was sad when I heard, we will miss this guy!

Related posts:  Flower Planting Day, Yea!

Join in on Aww Mondays to find more cute pics.

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Sunday Sharing: We All Need Encouragement

When reading through Acts this week, I chose my highlight of the week from Acts 18:9-10 which says:

One night, Paul had a vision and in it the Lord said, "Don't be afraid to keep on preaching.  Don't stop!  I am with you, and you won't be harmed.  Many people in this city belong to me.  [City of Corinth]   (Contemporary English Version)
What a "shot in the arm" that must have been for Paul.  Even he needed encouragement and God was there to give it to him! 

I think everyone needs encouragement sometimes and Tuesday, I looked for some.  My biggest concern is how will my husband and I manage in the future, having no children to help us out in our old age.  Will we have enough money to live on?  Will all our money wind up paying for a nursing home?  I'm sure I am not the only one who has this concern; however, that does not make me feel any better.  But here is a verse that I find very encouraging and comforting that puts my mind at ease:

I will still be the same when you are old and gray, and I will take care of you.  I created you.  I will carry you and always keep you safe. --Proverbs 46:4
I don't know what my future holds, but God does and I know Him!   I hope you know Him too and will share a highlight from scripture that you came across this week with us in the comments.  Or, feel free to comment on this post. 

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Friday, May 17, 2013

6 Friday Fragments (news, sports, books, life, gifts, funny)


Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Bruins

My husband learned to never go to bed early while the Bruins are playing. They were down 4-1 under 10 minutes to go, in game 7 of the playoff round. He thought (1) the Bruins had no chance, (2) was disgusted, (3) had to get up at 4:15 a.m. so missed their amazing comeback to win in overtime 5-4! He was so happy!!!

 

Missing Children

Three girls were found alive a decade later that were held captive in a house that is on a street that my bus passes. There were lots of cars around, gawkers taking pictures of the house where they were found. Our Pastor mentioned on Sunday that there are 92 missing children in Cleveland! Here is a link to a news article with more detail if interest: Police: Amanda Barry, Gina DeJesus Found Alive.


A Page-Turner

I was reading Lisa Gardner's thriller, Touch and Go yesterday in the library garden on my lunch hour. I got so absorbed in it that I forgot to check the time and got back late! It was such a beautiful day I just lost track of the time. Oh well, that's what personal time is for.  The link will take you to our reviews--this is one that my husband and I both loved!

Good Things

7 a.m. Wednesday sky on my way to work-beautiful day!
Last week I posted about things going wrong and not working, but then I also made a list of nine things that are going well! Just wanted to let you know, there are good things happening too.

(1) Get to go to an Indians game for free during work Monday;

(2) My Twitter account has been re-instated,

(3) we got our G-tech vacuum cleaner replaced,

(4) Will be getting a $50 cashback bonus from Discover Card,

(5) got two gift cards ($25 Walmart and a $50 Target),

(6) got computer speakers now at work so can hear my email notification sound,

(7) both our baseball teams are doing well and the Bruins are still in the playoffs,

(8) we are feeling well, enjoying our new porch furniture,

(9) loving the warm sunny days we had lately!

(If you missed my post about my Twitter account being suspended, it's my v-log post:  What Bothered Me This Week?)

Mother's Day Gift

My Mother's Day gift arrived: an Indians Jersey with my name on the back with a sweet card from my wonderful husband!

Funniest Post

I have to share the funniest post of the week with you that I found over at The Junk Drawer: All That and a Bag of Chips.

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