Mr. Whiskers is displeased

No one can snub you like your cat.

Mr. Whiskers is displeased because he smelled fried chicken, saw fried chicken, but did not get to eat any friend chicken.

He holds a mean grudge.

Sunday afternoon at the Zoo and Henry update

I've written about my friend's son, Henry, here, here, and here. Sunday, we got to visit him. The rehab hospital is fantastic and Henry is improving a little each day. When we were there, he was playing in an air hockey tournament with some friends from school.



We took his brothers out to the Minnesota Zoo.







I always wish I had taken more pictures when I go there.

What do you enjoy doing on Sunday afternoons?

I bought a little Spring

The first daffodils of the season--from the grocery store. None in the yard, yet. The snow is still melting. I truly love Minnesota, but this cold, snowy winter has been LONG. Cabin fever abounds.

Three weeks from today we leave to visit my parents in sunny (I hope) Florida. Once we get back, there should be daffodils and early tulips in the garden. I can smell damp earth when I go outside, and I am impatient to dig, plant herbs, divide hosta .......

I think some of my houseplants may get repotted next week----I really need to play in the dirt.

Do you have Spring Fever? What are your symptoms?

MY FAVORITE BOOKSTORE

My youngest son had school off today--it was parent-teacher conference day since report cards came out yesterday, and we had some time this morning to do something fun. We started the day by picking out birthday presents for one of his friends.

We have a strict rule in our house that books=birthday presents. This usually doesn't meet with an argument if we get to shop at
Wild Rumpus, our favorite bookstore. The best part of going there is taking my kids. They love the cats (Sumo is their favorite) and the chickens are too funny. Today, we got to pet the chinchilla!


Then, we drove around Lake Harriet




and watched the snow melting. I'm looking forward to seeing it green again, and going to summer concerts at the bandshell.


Our last stop was for ice cream at Sebastian Joe’s . I had the peaches&cream. YUM.




How was your day?

THANKFUL THURSDAY 3/5/09

Friends.......

Over the past couple of weeks I have had tremendous support from many friends. I know it's cliche (but they are cliches because they contain truth) that you don't really know who your friends are until things aren't going well.

Today it's my turn to give a little back. I've been writing about my friend's son, Henry, and his accident and injury. He's in rehab now, and doing much better. Today was his first day in the pool, and he was able to move his leg on his weak side.

Well, some mutual friends set up a Wiki so all of us can sign up to help with meals and other things for the family. Today is my day to do dinner for their family. I signed up a week after the accident, and this was the first day I could get, because so many friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends had signed up, too.

I was amazed to see how many people were willing to help. WOW.

I'm surrounded by kind, generous people and I'm so thankful for them.








Check out Rhondi’s blog for the other THANKFUL THURSDAY participants.

Perspective

Last week, we had a typical spring Minnesota snow storm--blowing snow leading to white-outs, and about 8 inches of new snow on the ground. School was on time the next day and life went on as usual. The kids and the shelties were thrilled with the weather. Today, it's going to hit 40. My kids will refuse to wear their coats after school. My teenager is going to demand to wear shorts. I have windows open. Such is life in the Great White North.

Before we lived in Minnesota, DH and I lived in Florida for 3 years. By the end of our time there, our ac was set to come on at 80.

It's amazing what you can get used to.

It's that way with so much in life. Everyone has a different take on "normal"---how a family relates to one another; what your financial priorities are; how you spend your free time; how people dress.

And then there is stress. It can build over months, or years, and for the longest time it seems "normal" until there is a breaking point.

I hit that breaking point two weeks ago. I'm beginning to heal, with the help of great friends, but it is a slow process. My life has been disrupted in so many ways and writing has suffered.

It wasn't until I began to climb out of the dark hole I've been in that I started to realize how deep the hole was, and how long I've been falling. It wasn't until life became less painful that I understood how much pain there was.

I'm not sure when I will get out of the hole, or what "normal" will feel like then, but I am looking forward to finding out what life will be like.

THANKFUL THURSDAY 2/26/09

Over at Rhondi’s blog , it is THANKFUL THURSDAY. Check out her post and the others linked there.



FORGIVENESS.......



Martin Luther King, jr.:

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.




Confucius:

The more you know yourself, the more you forgive yourself.



William Blake:

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.




Mohandas K. Gandhi:

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.