In Memory of Mr. Moe

Our Mr. Moe died on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2007.  We made our donation to the Parma Animal Shelter in his memory a couple days ago and my husband wore the tie with his picture on it that I made for him..  Moe was our first cat and very special to us both.  We adopted him when he was 8 years old.  He survived Fatty Liver Disease and lived with us for seven years.  Spunky Doodle worked very hard to win him over when she moved in with us, but eventually did.  I remember staying up with Moe that last night of his life, finally going to bed at midnight.  He was still breathing when I left him lying on the couch, but he died before dawn.  We got Manny Boy five months after Moe died.   

How do you honor your pets who have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge?

On another note, I am ending this year with a heavy heart because the husband of a long-time friend of mine went home to be with the Lord last week.  I can only imagine the grief she must be dealing with and I feel bad that I didn't make it to the funeral home yesterday to see her.  I know of two other ladies at our church who have fathers struggling in the hospital at this time.   

Related posts to Moe:
 Our Precious Miracle Cat
 Sweet Dreams
 Our Happy Reunion
We Still Miss You, Moe

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Aww Mondays: Keeping Warm

Spunky got to the heater first, but Manny tried to get some heat too. Spunky Doodle hogged most of it though.

 Spunky Doodle notices the camera first.

 Then Manny Boy notices too.

Joining in with the Aww Monday blog hop.

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Christmas Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is hosted by 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. I have a few this week:

Christmas

One of my new toys.

•  We attended a beautiful Christmas Eve service at Parma Heights Baptist Church with traditional carols, candle lighting and only an hour long.  I really enjoy the traditional Christmas carols and it seems we hear them less and less.  I was surprised to find out some of the fifth grade boys never heard of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."
• We had a very good Christmas with both of us getting lots of nice things from the other. We both love to shop for each other (even though I am hard to buy for) so opened gifts throughout the day. 
• I was very pleased with myself that I was actually able to assemble the reading lamp I bought for Gerard!  If I had known I would have to assemble it, I probably would not have bought it.
•  Christmas morning, after opening a few presents, we went to the West Creek park with Abby.  Even though it was pretty cold, we dressed warm and enjoyed walking in the peace and quiet, with a thin covering of snow all around--good thing I wore my boots.  It looks very different in the winter!
• Along with some very attractive and comfortable clothes, we also got some cool "toys" and gadgets which I will share about in separate upcoming posts.
• Our cats had a disappointing Christmas this year--no tree, no special food (because Spunky has a very sensitive stomach) and no cat nip.  We did get them the Meow cat toy that is battery operated with the little thing that spins around under a plastic crinkly cover for $20, but neither of them thought much of it so I returned it.  Our cats just like the simple pleasures of bags, boxes, string, ping pong balls and other household items.  
• Abby got special treats though so she was quite happy!



After about 2 min, I'm done

• We watched a couple cute Christmas movies, finished up our ongoing checker game which ended in a draw, and enjoyed a relaxing day with our pets getting some reading in.
• The day before we got our new garage door opener and now have keys to disengage it in case of a power failure--I can actually open it by hand very easily now!

Trying to get my treats out of the tiny bag.

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3 Good Things

As of yesterday, I am staring a new habit of listing three good things that happened during the day.  According to "The Amazing Five-Minute Trick That Improves Your Mood and Builds Your Bones" doing this will help me feel better and help my bones.  I don't know about that, but what have I got to lose?  It suggests that at the end of every day, you evaluate your day and list three good things that happened.  It's so easy to let the bad things that happen get our attention and steel our joy wiping out the good things.  Like yesterday, for example, lots of good things happened:

1. Got a free bus ride to work because the ticket gadget wasn't working.
2. Got Christmas presents from all four of my bosses!
3. Even one of my former bosses visited and brought me some candy!
4. The garage guy called to say he could fix our garage door tomorrow morning.
5. Had an easy work day.
6. Hubby got paid today.
7. I gave away four more of our extra 2014 calendars today.

What about you?  What good things happened to you yesterday or today?

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One Distracting Lady Bug

image source:  FreePik

In church yesterday, about just the time the Pastor started his message on Jesus being our Counselor, I became distracted by a cute little lady bug crawling across the back of the pew right in front of me.  I picked it up and put it on my notes and tried to keep it on the paper.  Lady bugs are fast!  I had to watch it very closely and when it got close to the edge of the paper, I gently used the pen to turn it around and get it going back in another direction.  I'm sure the Pastor was wondering what I was doing.  It went pretty good until I had to use the pen to write something in my notes.  It got on my thumb a few times and fell on my lap once but I got it back.

I had no intention of squishing this little bug, but rather was planning how I would get it back outside.  At the end I used two papers (the bulletin and my interactive note guide) to keep the little ladybug on a paper.  When it got to the edge, I just put the other paper next to it and let it crawl on that one.  It was pretty warm yesterday so I didn't have any problem opening a door and letting it out into the courtyard.

I was still able to listen to the message during my lady bug encounter in case you are wondering as some of my Facebook friends were.  Playing with the ladybug reminded me of how wonderful it is when God redirects our lives to accomplish the good plans He has for us. 

So, what would you have done in this situation? 

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Friday Fragments (Pictures, help, banking, frozen, books)

Friday Fragments is hosted by 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. I have a few this week:

Hi dad!

Abby With Santa

Abby visits her vet (the one that saved her life after being attacked) almost every day on her walk and they all enjoy petting her, giving her treats, teaching her new tricks and even photographing her. This week, one of the receptionists took her picture by their CHRISTMAS tree and emailed them to us.

Please give me the treat now.

This is the one I am using as my screen saver at work.  She is very still here because she is waiting for the treat she is expecting to get soon.  They are so nice to us there and they all love Abby! 

Banking

I went to the bank this week to deposit my bonus check. I fill out the deposit slips, a small portion into my checking, with the rest cast back which I put into my savings. I look at my checking balance which said I had a negative $1.46 available in checking (due to the hold placed on the check).  Good thing I noticed! This is so crazy, to make a deposit and not have anything available in checking because it was a big check? Good thing I went at lunch instead of on my break because the teller went to lunch and I had to get that hold switched to my savings instead.

Frozen

It got so cold that our garbage can lid was frozen closed! There was a layer of ice all around the lid so I finally went out and used the handle of one of our small summer clippers to chip it off.

Help!

Work got crazy this week with the pressure of sending out company "holiday" cards. (I hate that term, but that's what they were--no mention of Christmas anywhere!) Fortunately, when I put out a call for help because I could see there was not way I could get them out on time, five other secretaries came to help me out. What a relief I felt when I saw how fast it was going with their assistance. Look around, is there anyone you could help with something?

Books

Dark Justice by Brandilyn Collins (a Christian fiction suspense novelist) was one we both liked about mothers and daughters who accidentally come across a flash drive that makes them a target for terrorists. See our review.

And, for the "holidays" I read a thought provoking book about the war for Christmas by Sarah Palin called Good Tidings and Great Joy--Protecting the Heart of Christmas that I can't get out of my head.



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A Special Email from Santa

At PNP Portable North Pole you can create a personalized video from Santa Clause for someone. It's very cute!  I created one for my husband (since we don't have kids).  I'm sure though kids would love it too.  It is easy to do and doesn't take very long.  The hardest part I think is choosing what pictures you want to use.  You can email it to whoever you want. 

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Wordless Wednesday: Wish He Didn't Have to Go

Quiet time with my daddy before he has to leave for work.

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Monday Mischief: Up on the Stable Spunky Goes

I had to go after that ribbon!

Be sure to check out our Christmas Quiz that we posted yesterday!

Joining Aww Mondays and Monday Mischief blog hops. 

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A Christmas Quiz--See How You Do

So, you think you know the first Christmas story?  See how you do with this quiz I am using in my Sunday School Class today:

1)  This month's special holiday is ________.

2)  Who is the Messiah?

3)  What are the four names given to the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6?

4)  According to Isaiah, why was God going to send the Savior?

5)  Who would be the Savior's most famous earthly ancestor?

6)  According to the prophet Micah, in what town would the Savior be born?

7)  Shortly before the Savior was born, people wondered WHEN He would be born.  God revealed this secret to someone.  Who was the first person God told? 

8)  True or false?  Jesus was born in a manger.

9)  On the night Jesus was born, some people were outside in the dark.  Who were they and what were they doing? 

10)  When Jesus was 40 days old, Mary and Joseph took him to the Temple to dedicate him.  They also took an offering.  What was their offering? 

11)  Two people saw Jesus in the Temple:  an elderly man and an elderly woman.  What were their names? 

12)  How many wise men came to see Jesus in the stable? 

Click "read more" below for answers:

Read more »

No Wind!

Just yesterday when it was so cold outside I said at least we didn't have snow. In fact, we made it all the way to Dec. 11 without having to shovel here in Parma, Ohio. Then this morning, we woke up to this:

Although the temperature is only 11 degrees, I am thankful there is no wind today because I cleaned off the car and shoveled without getting cold. I dressed very warm. Got in some great exercise this way too to start the day!

Joining the The Little Things Thursday blog hop for the first time today!

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Aww Mondays: Browns Lose Again!

Browns lose again

The Browns played a great game against the Patriots yesterday but the last minute, Tom Brady led his Patriots with the help of a bad call by the refs to win the game by one point! Final score was 27-26. Browns were in it right to the end with a field goal that was about a foot and a half short. Too bad. I watched upstairs rooting for the Browns and had to listen to the end on the radio because I had puppet practice, and Gerard watched in the basement rooting for the Patriots. I had more fun than he did most of the game, but in the end, he was the happy one.
 

Anything is possible with Brady on the field!

Join Aww Monday blog hop.

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Sunday Sharing: How Great God Is!

image source:  allfreeclipart.com

Last Sunday the boys in my Sunday School class were bringing up some good points and actually asking some good questions related to the lesson which was about the problem of sin, the origin of sin, which led to Satan, consequences and God's greatness, power and love.  (Yes, we cover a lot in one lesson.)   The thing is as I was doing some digging during the week to follow up on some points that were brought up, one was this verse:

He counts the stars and names each one. -- Psalm 147:4

This led me to read all of Psalm 147, then Psalm 148, then Psalm 149 and Psalm 150--all chapters about God's power, greatness and plain amazing awesomeness.  It was a special time of private worship.  I couldn't help but break into singing "To God Be The Glory."  Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord!


This is another good one too that I thought of later:


I encourage you to read these Psalms and be reminded of how truly wonderful God is! What scripture highlight did you come across last week? 





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This Gives Me Hope

When my husband shared this video with me of the backup quarterback of the Browns, I must say I am encouraged. Even if you aren't a football fan, I think you can appreciate his phenominal ability to throw a football accurately.  This is truly entertaining and I hope you take the time to watch, especially if you are a Browns fan. 

The Browns (my team) play the Patriots (my hubby's team and one of the best) this Sunday.  The Patriots are favored to win by 11 points, but we beat them before when no one thought they could so we'll see what happens.  That's what makes football so exciting to watch, things change quickly.  I hope Alex Tanney gets to play because I really think he would be fun to watch. 

At least Browns fans get a variety with different quarterbacks in there.  I hope they are able to pull a rabbit out of the hat with this guy. 

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Enjoyed Seeing Ender's Game

Yesterday we went to see "Ender's Game" and loved it!  We both had already read the book, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and were thrilled that the movie followed it very closely.  As far as we could tell, it just cut out some of the video game stuff and some of the battles at battle school.  We thought it was well cast and liked the same characters in the movie as were in the book.  For the most part, the actors were cast like I had pictured them from the book except for Ender.  I had pictured him as being younger, but we both enjoyed it very much.  It's science fiction and futuristic. 

Here's the trailer:

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Monday Mischief: Bookmarks Are So Tempting!

My husband brought in this and asked what it was:

It's the top of a cat bookmark I broke off to play with.

I left the working part of the bookmark for mom--just took off the top.

I like putting the bitey on the cardboard but batting it is fun too but I need someone to hold it for me.

Joining in the Monday Mischief hop.

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Sunday Sharing: Gold and Apes

I was reading about Solomon in I Kings 10 this past week and was surprised at how much he liked gold.  Not only did he cover practically everything in the temple he built with it, but he also had shields of gold (v. 16), a throne of gold and ivory with lions on it and on the steps going up to it (v. 18), and gold cups and dishes (v. 21)!  I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in such a fancy place!

But, this verse made me laugh:

 . . . Every three years the ships returned [trading ships and Hiram's].  They brought back gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons. -I Kings 10:22

Gorilla at Cleveland Zoo (Are apes and gorillas the same thing?)

He must have liked the apes and baboons too to have them brought in every three years.  I like finding new and funny things as I read God's Word, don't you?  Please share a scripture highlight you came across this week or feel free to comment on this post. 

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