Photo Challenge: Day 20

The Father's Day cake that Logan made...

Logan: "Mom, the cake came out uneven because the oven's on a hill. What do I do?"
Me: (assuming he used actual CAKE pans)..."Take it out of the pan and trim off the part that sticks up. Then flip it over and frost the smooth bottom of it."

Logan: "It fell apart and the entire middle of the cake is still in the pan, stuck."

I got up to see how bad it really was. He tried to flip the whole 9" x 11" cake out of the glass baking dish onto a paper towel, to make it easier to flip back into the dish later, he said. When it stuck, he put the stuck part in the hole on the paper towel. THEN he called me in. Too late to fix it now. He just covered the whole thing with the entire can of frosting, which was white but he added flavorings & color to it.

It was an honest try. It still tasted good, and was a nice gesture on his part for Tim on Father's Day. I didn't want to make him feel bad, so I simply said, "Logan, you and I cook. Jordan bakes."

Photo Challenge: Day 19

FREE! It's my favorite word, especially when it comes from smartly hunting out grocery bargains and matching them to coupons. In this picture, everything in it was free! The bath tissue, the deodorant, air fresheners, toothpaste, toothbrushes, all of it! And that's just from one week.
Other weeks, I've gotten free relish, yogurt, dish detergent, salad dressings, mints, and more!

I love seeing the savings to my family every week, and I really enjoy teaching others how to do the same. I'm so thankful for my new friend, Kara Rozendaal, who showed me how to maximize them. If you've ever said:

- I only buy store brands so they won't work for me.
- I don't have hours on end to cutting, gathering, and organizing a binder full of coupons.
- They're really only good on baby products & pet stuff, so we don't need them.
- I'm a good "by the unit price" shopper, so I save more than that 15 cents coupon on the name brand.

That's where I was. I said all those same things. Truth was, I shopped store brands, dollar stores, clearance racks, and I did save, but I also had to be willing to sacrifice quality. Most things were watered down or didn't perform as well as the national brands. All I looked at was that I saved more on the store brand than a coupon's face value on a non-sale item. There's so much more to it!

Now I buy $4 mayo for under $2. I never pay as much as $1 for cereal or pasta. I get coconut and almond milk for about the same price as store brand regular milk, yogurts are usually half price (off the sale price) or better when I get done. And I consistently pay a lot less for turkey sausage, kielbasa, and Lloyd's shredded beef & chicken than most people.

If you'd like to know how to save on everyday items, from snacks, to food, to personal care & paper items, let me know. I'd be happy to show you how.

Photo Challenge: Day 18

Okay, it's hard to write about me. I've spent years scrapbooking and journaling about others around me, always from behind the scenes. But I do realize that this photo challenge is to capture our world - and since I feel it's my job to tie it all together and make it work on a daily basis - I'll include a brief snapshot into ME.

I can't write about myself because I know me differently than how others see me (they aren't in my head hearing my thoughts, fears, and hopes). Instead, I'll just give a list of words that describe me, my likes, my habits, my world. Here goes:

Pink (the color, not the singer), denim, scrapbooking, 80's, Phantom of the Opera, Air 1 radio, my faith, open book, reading, cooking, "doing tea", coffee, vanilla not chocolate, sunshine, tanning, encourager, swimming, palm trees, no snow, hate the cold, family, building memories, couponing, homeschooling, Facebook, Zumba, Monavie, learning, friends, extended family, board games, loyal, helpful, teaching, bible studies, writing, blogging, motorcycle rides with Tim, dogs, bubble gum flavored anything, sneakers over heels, roller skating, ice skating, Chinese food, Greek anything, life is funny, humor over jokes, detailed planner, organization, the answer person, solution oriented, clean house, organics, non-GMO, conservative republican but respect others' rights to think differently, share my faith but not pushy or judgemental, lunch with Mom, and long phone conversations with Tim while he's on the road.

Photo Challenge: Day 17

Logan...if Jordan is a "mini me" in her appearance, then Logan is a "mini Tim" in his. They look so much alike, but they're so different in so many ways.

Tim: introvert, quick to judge, snap decisions, always running late or taking a long time to get things done, prefers to stay home and watch superhero cartoons & movies.

Logan: extrovert, accepts everyone where they're at, agonizes over decisions, ready to run out the door in a flash to be with friends, hates staying home, likes the latest, greatest, action movies.

They see people differently. They empathize with others (or not) differently. They have very different opinions on things. Their idea of fun varies quite a bit. But yet, they actually have so much in common. They share many of the same strengths:

Both: Are loyal to those they love most, are very hard-working, have very inventor/engineering minds, understand physics like no one else I've ever met, share the same hobbies (like shooting, camping, playing guitar, etc.), and come to the rescue when someone needs help. They are the last 2 boy scouts in my book. As Tim once put it, "I even change tires for UGLY women." They'll get the door for the elderly person behind them, they'll ask if someone needs help when they see them looking around confused. They're first to jump in at an event when they call for volunteers to help set up or tear down the room. They're both very, very smart about a wide variety of things. And in a survival situation - my money's on them.

I treasure my homeschooling years to really, intimately, know all the little details about each family member. I know their strengths, weaknesses, hopes, dreams, failures, lessons learned, points of views, and most of all...I know their hearts.

I see so much more when I look at this picture. I see a Father and Son, and all that goes into being who they are.

Photo Challenge: Day 16

Raising the First-Born...They say the oldest of the siblings grows up to be more driven, more responsible, and more independent. In my experience, I find that to be true. I'm the oldest, so is Tim, so you'd expect that we'd understand Adam, our own first-born better, right? Also, my personality is a Melancholy (the thinker, planner, list-maker & organizer). That's the same as Adam's main personality too, except that his can often border on OCD, but he's doing much better these days.

So why so many struggles as we were raising Adam? I think it's the being independent that really makes the difference. He's always been a hard worker and more responsible than anyone else his age (more than most adults, to be honest), but that independent streak is so strong in him! We have a great relationship because I've homeschooled him. I've been there for everything in his life. I've never missed a sporting practice, game, tournament, play, or anything else important to him. We've had thousands of hours to discuss life, politics, faith, dating, life skills, careers, personalities, academics, music, friends, plans for the future and disappointments. Tim, unfortunately, had to be gone for most of his childhood to provide a living so I was ABLE to do those things for our kids. That put them on very different sides of almost every issue for about 5 years.

Adam begged to work at an early age so he could be responsible and buy himself those things he wanted just weren't in our budget - brand name shoes, skinny jeans, video games, movies with friends - to his credit, he's never asked us for a penny for anything - not even once that I remember. If he wanted or needed it, he found a way to earn it. Anyway, being in a new environment where people were lazy, selfish, and had little if any character traits worth copying, changed Adam. He stopped appreciating what he had and instead, complained because his life wasn't as "easy" as he thought his friends had it. Granted they may have had parents buy them more stuff, or they took vacations to exotic places, but Adam failed to see that they lived in a home with an alcoholic, or drugs, or had been through rough divorces in their home, or never had either parent around - which led to life-altering poor choices in these kids' lives.

Then we had to move to the mountains. Although it was pretty traumatic for him to leave his friends, have to quit his job and be broke, live in a very isolated, rural area with nothing much for teenagers to do...it did do a lot of good as well. He learned to appreciate what he had. He began to see the poor choices of others for what they were, and how they led to bigger issues down the road. He learned to work hard again after thinking he could be lazy and "deserved" to make the salary of an experienced professional at the inexperienced age of 16 (I believe his words were, "I'm all done with physical labor and minimum wage jobs." - at 16!!!). Over those 2 years, he grew, matured, learned, and worked. When we returned to the Valley, he came back happy, out-going, willing to do physical work at odd hours for things he needed.

Over the last few years, Tim too has undergone changes. He's had time to rest from almost 15 years in high-stress sales jobs and working 60 - 70 hour work weeks. He had time to live where there's space, open sky, clean air and water, and to sleep in - a lot! He's also grown and matured. He let go of selfishness and trying to have so much control over others that he was micromanaging everyone and everything. Now he's in a job where he's gone a lot, and it gets lonely, but when he's home, he's really home and with us. He's not overly stressed, doesn't do a lot of physical (although he works hard in spurts, it's not a taxing job all the time). He gets plenty of sleep and rest. And when he's home, he wants to be with us, doing family things together, and he's learned to appreciate his children, and their individual personalities and strengths. He's more accepting of their weaknesses as he's learned to understand his own. He's become the husband and father I've always known he could be.

So here we are about 4 years later. Tim and Adam, his first-born, now on a new journey to discover each other all over again, through new perspectives. Each learning how valuable the other is, and both appreciating their time together.

I love this picture of them sharing a moment together and smiling. Although Logan looks more like Tim on the outside, I see lots of Tim in Adam, on the inside. And I love them both.

Photo Challenge: Day 15

Still Daddy's Girl - Jordan has always been very clingy with me, but she's always been Daddy's Girl, too. When she was an infant and a toddler, she was Punki-doo to him. She would race to the door to be the first to greet Tim when he got home from work. She would sneak into the room (with my permission first) to tickle his toes sticking out from the edge of the blanket to wake him up in the morning. She watched cartoons and movies from his lap instead of just on the sofa or floor.

Once she was starting school, she became "Monkey Duck" to Daddy. I'm not sure where it came from, I think I'd feel insulted being called a Monkey Duck but she always liked it. She even used it as a password for a game page she used to go to. Maybe it's just knowing she was special to her Daddy? That he picked her name just for her, and only to be used by him. She knew she "belonged" to him.

In the early teen years, Jordan's been more independent and moody, as expected. She's had lots of times when her own insecurities and Tim's stress levels caused them to drift apart a little, but her new name is "Chickie". Now I think I gave that to her, but maybe I got it from Tim, not sure - but it defines yet another season of her life.

Now that Tim's home time is special and he's changed so much that he's a joy to be around, she's once again, Daddy's Girl. She wants to talk to him on the phone when he calls. She wants to cook and bake things for him when he's home. She wants to go with me to pick him up. And I even notice how she dresses up for his arrivals and departures.

I don't know what her new nickname will be once she's an adult, done with school, but I'm sure they'll have a new pet name he'll call her, and she'll plan dates with him to have coffee, or lunch, or to feed the ducks in the park.

I aggressively protect my relationship with Tim, but with Jordan, I don't mind sharing him with her one bit.

Photo Challenge: Day 14

This photo challenge is to take time to enjoy the everyday moments around me. One of the highlights of our family's month is when Tim comes home for a few days. Things run pretty smooth while he's on the road for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, but when he's home, we change things up quite a bit.

We have a ton of errands to do when he first gets home so he can leave for his next trip fully stocked with things he needs to make his trip more successful. It means grocery store runs, Dollar stores, usually some kind of new tool to make his job easier, and a trip to American Discount Foods. They buy out other grocery stores' and restaurants' inventories and sell great stuff, brand names, high quality items - but at a fraction of the cost.

Anyway, after the initial errands are run, we stop having any type of schedule and just let Tim relax and play it by ear. We take time to eat a sit-down meal together as a family. We take time to watch movies on Netflix or from the library. We may go to the park, or walk around Ikea for ideas, or walk around some stores for exercise. We just let our days unfold while he's home, since it's only a day or two that he gets to rest and feel like he's been on vacation.

It's sad when he has to leave again, but this new schedule has made all 5 of us appreciate each other more. The kids have learned to follow my leadership, I've learned to give each of them individual attention where they're at, the kids miss Tim while he's gone and want to be around when he's home, and when Tim's here, he's actually "all here" with us. He's not stressing over not being at work like when he was in sales. He's calm, more understanding, less demanding, and enjoys doing things together as a family - as well as making time for just the two of us to be alone too.

We miss him, and someday he won't have to be gone so much, but for now, I think it's what we all needed to get where we are right now, and it's what's best for everyone. I appreciate Tim's sacrifices that he's made and continues to make to provide us with a wonderful home, in a great neighborhood, living where we want to live, with the resources we need. I pray that I never take it for granted.

Photo Challenge: Day 13

You know what I love about our new home? It's comfortable. I feel so relaxed when I'm at home. Maybe it's all the neutral colors? Maybe it's because everything is new and in great working order? Maybe because it's the nicest home we've had since Dover, NH back in 2003? I don't really know, but I love being at home.

I can nap or read on my bed and be at peace in my room. I can stay focused and clear-headed typing away at my kitchen table, I can feel God's peace as I read my bible in my chair on the back patio, I can relax completely sitting on the sofa watching a movie with one of the kids, I even feel contentment as I fold laundry in the new laundry room.

They say a man's home is his castle. I say for this woman, my home is my refuge, my place to ease into the mornings, rest and restore my soul during the night, and create great memories with my family and friends during the days.

Even Furlough has her favorite spots to relax and take a nap - like hiding in the dark corner of my room in the laundry basket.

Photo Challenge: Day 12

Reinventing or Rediscovering?

Logan is like many teens (and adults)...he's always in the process of reinventing himself - or is it just rediscovering?

Reinventing fits, because he tries new hairstyles, new clothes, with or without hats, new styles of music, new guitar techniques, new circle of friends, and more.

I also think rediscovering works because I've watched Logan through the years. He actually cycles through things. He's got habits, mannerisms, key phrases, interests, and more that he changes, but tends to return to a few years later.

Right now, he's broadening his guitar playing to include some classical, some jazzy-sounding riffs, and he's backing off some of the more modern metal-sounding songs. He's recently changed his hairstyle again to a more front-sweeping style instead of just having it hang straight down - I like it better now. He spent a long time wearing a hand-crocheted cap from his grandmother, but now he's wearing a fedora style hat wherever he goes. He always recycles his interests in 80s music and vintage games he played as a little boy.

I don't know how long it'll take him to find who he thinks he really is and feel comfortable with where he's at. Some people spend a lifetime trying to figure it out, but I think he's getting closer. I think once he does, he'll rediscover what I've known all along...who he is deep down is a wonderful, loving, caring, highly intelligent, engineering, helpful, hard-working, out-going, man of God who could change the world if he really wanted to.

Photo Challenge: Day 11

Finding the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything, doesn't it? We don't have the money right now to buy big name jeans, so we just keep an eye out for a pair that might fit better than sweatpants and don't cost a fortune.

Jordan found this pair while we were in the Goodwill at the corner. Where else can you find jeans in great shape (if you search carefully) for just $7.99?! (Or half that if it's got the right colored price tag). Jordan found a pair that made her legs look thinner and longer and when she put them on, something magical seemed to happen to her. She came out of her room with her head held high, feeling more confident, just KNOWING that she looked good in them. Now when she wants to look and feel her best, these are her go-to jeans.

Yes, the perfect pair of jeans fixes everything...well, almost. But that's close enough.

Photo Challenge: Day 10

Oh, how we love to swim! Maybe it's because we were born on the seacoast. Maybe it's the heat here. Either way, our family loves to swim. Especially me and my 2 youngest. We do miss having a pool right outside our front door like we did in the condo a few years ago, but there's so many pools here that finding a place to swim isn't a problem. We have several lakes that aren't too far away, public pools that are actually managed better and cleaned more often than those I grew up in back in Massachusetts. There's also lots of friends & neighbors here with pools that invite us over to swim now and then.

This particular pool is just about a mile and a half from our house. It's only $1 for Logan & Jordan and $2.75 for me - where else can you spend a day for just $4.75 of our entertainment budget?

Jordan likes to swim, Logan enjoys the 2 water slides there, and I love tanning - so this place, especially because it's only 5 minutes away, is perfect!

Photo Challenge: Day 9

There's always something new or different to see around here. Sometimes it's a plant or flower we've never seen. Other times, it's a home feature you'd never find in New England. Sometimes it's a bug or spider that you don't want to ever see again. On this particular day, the "strange scene of the day" was a guy up in a tree quite a few stories high, trimming off all the dead branches off a tree on the next street. You know how it is...you wake up to the sound of a chain saw, and something inside you has to go see where it's coming from. I'm not sure why, but it will stay in the forefront of my mind unless I make a point to see what's going on. Well, I found it - I'm glad Tim doesn't have to do THAT for a living!

Just popped in to say Hi

My camera's not working properly right now. I'm taking pictures but it's kind of a pain to download the new ones every day. I'll try to get all caught up by Monday night, that'll be Day 18.

Photo Challenge: Day 8

Ahh, the thermometer...

When we lived in Concho, it symbolized justification for me always being cold. Very often we had a hard time keeping our bedroom, kitchen, and living room above 60 degrees. Especially at night or first thing in the morning. Our main living area was at the back of the house where we went without the sun hitting our side of the walls for 6 months out of the year, so it never got a chance to warm up. We just spent half the year in the shade. I'd look at the thermometer to prove to myself I'm not crazy about being SO cold all the time.

Now in the Valley, it's a symbol of happiness for me. I don't care that I was born in New England where it's often very cold. My body "belongs" in the heat. I look at the thermometer when it says 100, or 108, or even 110 degrees - and it makes me happy. The heat really doesn't bother me. Thankfully, I don't have to work outside in it like so many people do, and for that, I'm truly appreciative. But there's something about the way my body feels when the heat hits my joints. The pain I experienced in the cold mountains is gone. My joints feel warm and pain-free here in the Valley of the Sun, even in spite of having rheumatoid arthritis in my neck and right hand.

Seeing so much red in that thermometer is a quick reminder to be thankful for days without pain, shivering, gloominess, and sadness. And this next winter, my body will be very thankful that we live here.

Photo Challenge: Day 7

Computers - What would our life be without them?

I've recently gotten to ask myself that very question. In November, our home computer died. Fortunately we could go to the library a mile from the house and use theirs for an hour at a time, but how different our lives have become without them. I know people use them for all kinds of things, but without ours, here's how our life was different:

1. I didn't have access to Google. I love information, reading, research, and being able to look up locations, recipes, and answers to my questions as they come up. I've become rather spoiled when it comes to getting answers right away.

2. No entertainment. We lived where cable didn't exist, and we didn't have money for satellite TV (not that we watch enough to warrant the cost anyway), but when our computer died, we lost ALL forms of entertainment. We lost browsing through websites like Pinterest.com, we lost communicating with our Facebook friends & family, we lost Netflix so we had hardly any movies we haven't already seen 100 times, and we lost the chance to play the games we used to fill our days while living in such a rural place with few attractions.

3. We lost the ability to Skype with my sister - something we rarely get the chance to do with her work & nursing school schedule plus a 2 to 3 hour time zone difference.

4. I lost the ability to blog. Sometimes I just HAVE to write. It has to come out through my fingers typing or I feel like I'll go crazy. Losing that was no fun. I spent too many hours losing sleep with no outlet to blog.

5. I couldn't print out photos to scrapbook. I love to scrapbook, and it helps me get out my creative urges - but without a computer to edit & print the pictures I had taken, I was a little wound up.

I didn't grow up with computers like my kids did. In fact, I think I was 30 when we got our first one and I barely knew what to do with it. In high school, it was so new that I had "keyboarding" the year after I took typing on an electric typewriter! We learned to cut & paste, edit & delete paragraphs, and not much else. Everything was still DOS back then, no such thing as Windows.

Fast forward to Christmas. I got a laptop from Tim for my gift. It was more expensive than anything we'd ever gotten each other before, but our desktop was barely alive and was dying any minute, holding on by just a temporary attempt to fix the problems. We got it to work long enough to transfer most of the stuff out we wanted - good thing, too - because it died again about 3 days after moving here in May. Had I not gotten my laptop, our home wouldn't have a computer right now. That makes it very hard to grow an internet-based business.

I'm sorry that we've become so dependent (and expectant) on our computers, but I'm also thankful that we have one that works.

What would you do without yours?

Photo Challenge: Day 6

A neighborhood, at last!

The last 2 years were spent living in a very rural area. It had many advantages and a lot of good things came from it, but for 3 teenagers, there wasn't much to do - especially for our "middle child" who needs new things, people to see, stuff to do, and a new adventure all the time. Boredom would have led him into trouble.

Before that, we were in a very congested condo complex in the city. Although there were lots of people and cars (and stray cats), it wasn't what I'd call a neighborhood. To me, that word conjures up images of houses, green lawns, private driveways, neighbors who spend time together on the weekends, kids that grow up together. We had that back in NH for 2 1/2 years before we decided to move permanently to Arizona. After 7 years in that complex and the 2 years in the mountains, we're finally in a neighborhood again.

We're still pretty new here, so most of our interaction with our neighbors is just waving for now, but we did get to talk to one family here in our cul-de-sac that were very friendly. I'd like to get to know them a little better. There's a few teens just a few doors down, but I don't think our kids have met them yet. It's summer here, and in the Phoenix area, it's hot. People leave for vacations and the teens try to get summer jobs, so I think we'll see more of our neighbors when the fall comes. Hopefully by winter, we'll be enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors with them.

To me, a neighborhood has a community feel to it, a sense of belonging, and we feel at-home here already. The palm trees, nearby park, birds of every type, quiet streets - it's a great place to live. Almost all the streets around us are cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads. That keeps us a little more protected from speeding cars, strangers that don't belong, and excessive road noise. I don't know how long we'll stay here, or if we'll end up buying a place in a new neighborhood in a year or two, hopefully if we do, it'll be our last move for a long time. But either way, we're thankful and happy to be in Carriage Lane, our neighborhood, our home.

Photo Challenge: Day 5

My quiet, early morning spot - I've had one for about 10 years now. It's been a chair on the patio, on back porch, and now on our new patio. There's something about those mornings when I can't sleep, and I wake up irritated or still tired but I can't get to sleep. I need to get re-centered. I take my bible, head outdoors, and spend about 15 to 30 minutes out there rebooting my day to start it right.

There's something very calming about reading God's Word in the cool morning air, seeing the hues of early morning sun on the treetops (especially on the palm trees, it's a pretty shade of golden pink), hearing the birds just waking up, and smelling the fresh flowers and grass. Even when we lived in a mostly cement, busy condo complex, watching the sky turn colors listening to the birds, it was enough to calm my spirit.

In those times, I've grown, learned, understood, appreciated, planned for, and looked forward to all the good in my world. In a world that's so fast-paced, time speeding by faster as the years go by, it's nice to have a small piece of space where it all stands still and waits for me to re-center my focus, my head, my heart, and my spirit - before starting the next day in this short breath we call life.

Photo Challenge: Day 4

I'd love to say this is about my son, but it's not. It's a given that my kids are a part of my everyday life...this is really about the Mexican blanket in the photo. No, I'm not kidding. Really. That particular blanket is a big part of my world. Even in the hot weather - but especially in the cold weather.

I found that Mexican blanket while shopping at Old Town Scottsdale a few years ago. There was a shop where they had these blankets for just $5! Best $5 item I ever bought. This blanket has been with me like a little kid's security blanket. It was there when I was watched movies snuggling with my husband or kids, there when I watched the kids' soccer and football games, there when I napped in the car on long drives with the family, and there when a nap could fix everything. The most amazing thing about that blanket is it magically senses what I need. No, not really, but hear me out. When I was in the mountains freezing in the winter with multiple layers of clothing, mittens, and shoes - I could get warm under that blanket. In the summer when I needed to rest, it would make me feel cozy but not too hot. And for some reason, every time I cover up with it lying down, I fall asleep almost instantly and awake refreshed.

Do you have that one item that acts like your "Linus Blanket"?

Photo Challenge: Day 3

Furlough - our cat

If I'm going to photograph our life, I can't really neglect putting in our cat. We're actually "dog" people, but no one left a dog out to die all those years ago, so we have a cat. Let me explain briefly. We bought our first real house, it was a duplex in NH. It was still very cold that fall. One day, I heard a strange scratching sound on the cellar door. I opened it, and in walked this cat. She must've found her way in through a broken basement window to keep warm. I put her outside after she walked around a bit, and she would repeat this for the next few days. The nights she didn't sneak into the cellar, she would spend them on our back porch meowing until you wished she'd lose her voice. She couldn't really be chased off, she'd just come back. We didn't feed her, but she begged anyway. I found out from the upstairs tenant that she was one of a neighbor's litter from St. Patrick's Day. She was only about 8 months old now, looked half-starved, and the family had moved and just left her behind. I hadn't seen any other cats that were from that litter, just her. When we let her in, she let the kids pet her, play with her, and since they were only 1, 3 and 5 - they were pretty rough sometimes, by accident. She never hissed, scratched them, or tried to bite them. She never hid under the furniture. She always sat with one of us, and was never any trouble, so Tim finally said, "Since she's good with the kids, why don't we just go ahead and keep her." I asked Adam what we should name her. Being only 5, I'm not sure where he came up with it, but he immediately said, "Furlough". I asked why and he told me it was because she was furry and low to the ground. 'Nuff Said.

Now it's time to move a few months later, and we didn't know that she was pregnant until just a few weeks before, she had been so starving we just figured she was "filling out". I think she had her kittens about a week before the move, maybe it was just a few days. We had Tim's grandmother watch her & her 3 kittens during the move, then brought her home. The kittens were given away but we kept her, had her fixed, but there was one drawback. The vet told us she was only about a year old, very young to have fixed, but we told him she'd already had kittens. To do this, he said because of her age, he'd have to cut the muscle that holds up her stomach for some reason, so she'd always look like her stomach was either dragging, or she'd look bigger than she really is under all the fur. I wasn't taking her bathing suit shopping, why would I care if she looked fat?

Over the years, almost everyone who's ever come to our house has either said, "Wow, you have a fat cat!" or "you're cat's pregnant?!". Ok, so the vet was right. You could feel that her hanging stomach was just empty skin, but unless you picked her up, yeah, she looked fatter than she was.

Today we still have her. It's odd now that she's older than Jordan. We never really gave it much thought until a few years ago. We've had her for 13 years this year. She still doesn't bite, or scratch people, or hiss, or hide. She's the quiet member of the family. I've never understood how people think of cats as members of the family, but she's always been more like a small dog. She sits on command, does tricks for her treats, chases off other animals from the property, licks Jordan's face when she gets up in the morning, and loves people.

We had a big realization how important she is to all of us when we almost lost her twice living in the mountains. The first time was after we first moved there. She got bit by a wind scorpion/sun spider (it's a spider that resembles a scorpion) in her water dish. It left a big, swollen lump on her neck, she couldn't eat for a week, and kept hiding under the woodpile. We though it was going to explode on her neck and she was hiding because she felt she was going to die and wanted to be alone. Well, we fed her Monavie juice from an eyedropper since she couldn't swallow much, and forced her to drink water, and maybe that helped. The mass did explode, she had almost no voice on the inside and was bleeding on the outside off and on for days. But she pulled through. That's when I realized how much we still wanted her around. She'd become Jordan's best friend.

The other time was just before this move away from the mountains. She couldn't keep anything down for days. We can only assume she ate something bad - maybe a mouse that had eaten d-con? or a bird that died of something other than old age? Not sure. We didn't think she'd pull through that - but again, we gave her Monavie for a few days on her food. She didn't keep much down, but she pulled through once we moved here and is doing just fine now.

She's old now, doesn't play much, has trouble jumping up or down from beds & the sofa, but she's still very loving to people. She licks you as you pat her - like a puppy.

I couldn't blog or photograph our life without including Furlough.

Photo Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: At the park on the next street over we've been watching both the turtles and the ducks, especially the baby ones. I got this photo because it seemed to carry the heading "But You're So Different". Every day we encounter people that are so different from us. Maybe they look different, or act culturally different, or have an opposite personality from us, or they dress different, or talk different, (you get the idea). We all have pre-conceived notions about those that are different, but do we ever stop and think how we appear to them? Maybe we seem too aggressive, or too loud, or too people-pleasing, or too old-fashioned, or too self-absorbed, etc. If we realize that WE'RE different to most people, maybe we can make a conscious effort to be more friendly, or to help out someone in need, or maybe just pass on a smile to someone who's hurting. Be encouraging to someone who needs it. You never know who's life you may touch for the better.