Ode to Sheena, Princess Warrior

Ode to Sheena Princess Warrior

Sheena came from humble beginnings, a farm cat off a local Nebraska farm. We answered a newspaper ad giving away free kittens and home she came. Basswood Drive was and will continue to be her home. From an early age Sheena ruled the roost. Although she was small, her personality was fierce. She would never back down from a fight and though many “toms” tried to muscle their way into her territory, she let them all know just who the boss was! We incurred numerous trips to the vet to repair wounds.

Throughout the years Sheena had to share the garage with new comers. First there was Blackie, she arrived in the late winter and to all our surprise was expecting. So Blackie, Sheena and a litter of kittens all shared space for a while.  The next intruder Sheena had to share her dominion with was Snowball. This dude was like a free spirited surfer dude whom Sheena walked all over. In her later years Larry built a perch for her to spend her days gazing out the window at birds during the long winter months.

During summers, Sheena was the resident watch the grass grow kind of cat. All the neighbors knew her and would comment how she would just lounge about on the front porch watching the comings and goings of the neighborhood. Sometimes she would venture across the street to watch Tim work on his cars or down the road to play with the neighbor kids but never would go too far from home.

Sheena grew up with our kids and was on to her next set of neighborhood kids who loved to stop by and talk to Sheena as she rolled about their feet. Sheena always had a fondness for men in addition to children. I was never her favorite but that was ok as we had a great understanding and commitment to each other in many ways. I was ok with her digging her claws into Larry’s stomach as she kneaded her happiness into him as I watched from the other patio chair.  She loved spending time with us on the deck in summers. She would always take the best chair and frown upon us moving her. Whether it was sitting by the fire, having dinner, or sitting in front of the fan we were guaranteed a visit from our Sheena.

Sheena’s prey of choice was reptiles and amphibians (snakes and frogs). She was never one for “normal” cat prey. Larry and I were sitting on the front porch one evening commenting what a slacker Sheena was never catching any mice as she listened intently. Be damned but the next day she dropped a dead field mouse on the step as proof she could mouse but just chose not to. We watched what we said after this!

Oh how Sheena loved the garden. She knew the words “go to the garden?” and always followed us down to inspect our planting or weeding. She would do her part taking a big poop in the freshly tilled soil or smashing down weeds as she rolled her white fur in the dirt. A couple years ago during a garden escapade there was a baby bunny eating our plants. The bunny had gotten through the fence and couldn’t get out. Well we dropped Sheena in and she ran around the garden a few times chasing the bunny until she was just exhausted. She flopped over where she was and didn’t move until we carried her back to the front porch.

Sheena the Camper Kitty – after we purchased Big Blue, Sheena had to go inside and inspect. After that first time she claimed the camper as hers and learned that word too! Every time you’d say, do you want to go to the camper out she went to wait for us to open the door so she could climb inside and have some lounging time on the couch or in the front window. She would even ride around the neighborhood looking out as we drove around. She never did make it on a trip with us but would have done great!

Sheena, you brought us many great memories over the years. Your fierce independent attitude will be missed and standing in front of the cars preventing us from entering the garage is missed already.  Love you tons girl.

I just can't help myself sometimes....

I try to be a good person.

I try not to gossip.

I try to set a good example for my children.

But then some incident will toss all that goodness out the window and I have to start over at ground zero. Yes, I am back at ground zero after the story I am about to tell you.

First let me say I work for a VERY and I mean V - E - R - Y conservative company.  We have approximately 10,000 signs alone in our office building. Everything from be sure to scan your security card before entering the elevator to restrooms ----> to caution stairs to how to change the coffee filters. You name it - conservatism is a way of life.

Besides the signs, we have extremely aggressive safety rules. I understand 100% wanting to get home safely every night and it is vitally important for those people working in the field but we take things to the extreme.

Yes I am getting to my story but you needed some background to understand my story.

After my lunch-time workout I get a cup of ice to take back to my desk for my afternoon water. I like the ice in our break room area as it is the tiny small pieces a bit larger than crushed ice for my cup. I don't like the giant cubes so I make special effort to get ice before returning to my desk.  So as I am waiting for the elevator with my coworker I reach into my glass to pluck out a tiny piece to eat.  Oopsie, it falls on the ground. Well I know this is a company sin so I kick the minuscule piece of ice over right next to the wall out of every one's way and no one will be injured from this piece of ice.

I get on the elevator with a bunch of people.  There is a lady still outside the elevator that must have seen me move the ice and it was just not good enough for her. She makes loud disgruntled grunting noises as she is bending down to pick up this 3/4 melted piece of ice to show how displeased she is for me doing such an atrocity. How could anyone  leave that ice cube beside the wall to melt? 

The elevator doors are now beginning to close and I just can't help myself. I take a much larger chunk of ice and toss it out the almost closed elevator doors.  My friend bursts out laughing so hard I think she is going to pass out. Two of the other passengers have looks of terror on their face that I would do such a thing and one passenger pretends not to see anything.

I am sure a safety bulletin will be distributed shortly on the dangers of ice in the workplace. If only I could have hit her with it...

What a spring we have had...

Now that it is summer, I guess I should be writing about our wild spring. First, the weather stayed so cold for so long. We had our latest frost ever in May. We got our garden in so late that we only got one cutting of lettuce! The tomatoes are slow in growing, the sweet corn has been blown over and replanted so many times I doubt we harvest anything. I think you are catching my drift of how our spring progressed.

Next there were the storms! Oh such dreadful things. We have had torrential rains - 3+ inches at one time on multiple occasions. Wind- yes the wind normally blows a lot in the Midwest but with the storms it was awful. It blew down trees and power lines, the news stations cameras even caught the winds moving down the streets. Next was the hail...so many folks properties destroyed or badly damaged by the giant hailstones. Our automobiles battled the hailstones valiantly but lost as you can see in the photos.

This was one that went through daughters car - yes that is about tennis ball size.

 

 

Here is son's car. It by far got the worst of it with windows broken out, head lights, tail lights, interior and of course exterior. It even blew the wiper blades off the front of the car...or beat them off.

This is just a photo of one of the many flooding incidents in our driveway from the large quantities of rain in a short period of time.

 

 

Lastly and most sadly are the tornadoes that have hit. It was the first loss of life in 10 years in our state. There are many photos and videos on the Internet so I won't bother sharing here but it made me so sad for those folks. I pray for them and also ask why?

 

To end on a positive note, I am happy to say we have the cars back on the road and kids are happy and thankful to be driving again.  I am ready to move on to the warm summer days.

 

Date Day

Hubby made a marriage declaration!!! It was way past time for a date day.

I couldn't disagree with him. I mean our last official date vacation was last August to Wisconsin so it was definitely time. I have been working on that work project since last August it feels like so we took a day off just to spend with each other.

Of course one of the cats gets sick and needs to go to the vet, so we do that first thing in the morning. Then we come home and get a few more chores done. Finally I say - we go now or I am starting a 2 hour baking project.

Out the door we go. First we had an early lunch and then it was off to the zoo. What was hubby thinking????? Every school kid in a 3 state area along with adult supervisors and other various parents with strollers and babies were there that day. So much for a quiet day at the zoo. We made the best of things.  We did go to the butterfly house as that is my favorite part of the zoo. It is only one room but full of humming birds and butterflies and other small ground birds.  As you can see in the photos below, the butterflies thought hubby's Green Bay Packer hat was something special. How fun!!!

There is a second part to the butterfly house that houses various bugs and creatures. I do NOT like bugs so we scurried though that part to get out the exit.

With all the people we decided to walk the zoo instead of visit buildings. We walked the perimeter where there were way fewer people. It is nice with most folks being so lazy these days, it was a fairly quiet walk. We saw the prairie dogs. There were signs saying keep away and do not feed. Some idiots can't read and were doing just that.  Can't fix stupid so I'm sure the prairie dogs will be fenced off soon - not to keep them in but to keep idiot people out!

Next was up by the rhinos, around the lake, through the plant garden, by some hoof stock and back to the entrance. It was a great day to have a date.

After the zoo we heading to look at campers. We have nothing to pull a camper with but it was fun deciding what we would pick if we did.

Next we stopped at our frequent haunt - Menard's. Picked up a few things and made it home in time to greet the children getting home from school.

We made a nice dinner and sat on the deck for a while.

I call it a VERY successful date day! I can't wait for the next one.  I have it planned. :-)

A little bit of love

My husband and I ride to work together. Part of our ritual is before we get out of the car we give each other a kiss.

This morning we were both mad. He was mad at me and I was mad at him. It was a quiet ride to work with him sitting cross armed in the passenger seat and me grumbling as I am driving.

We get to work and I park. I just want to get out of the car and run screaming away. It is time for our morning ritual. I look over and there he is all puppy eyed looking at me. He is all puckered up and ready.

I say, "What do YOU want?"

He bats his eyes, leans closer and says "Trouble, that's why I married you."

Me - anger floating away as I kiss him.

Body Buttons and Guages

I hadn't thought about this much until reaching middle age when things start to wear out/go on the fritz. Our bodies can be an analogy to a car or other piece of machinery.

When we are young, we are like a shiny new car. We look good, we run great, and any dents in muscles or broken bones we have heal quickly and efficiently. We are also naive enough to think things will never change.

Then one day it does. It actually gradually happens over 10 years or so but you wake up one day and think....HOW did THIS happen?

I think I am at about 150,000 miles right now. I have some failings in various systems. First off my engine does not metabolize it's fuel as efficiently as it once did. The engine/stomach still demands the same amount of food, but since the car only tops out at 80mph instead of 150 mph the extra fuel turns directly into stomach or @ss fat. This does not look good on this older model car.

Next are the exhaust systems. This is very prone to failure in my model. It backfires something fierce and the bladder gauge never tells me the truth. One second it will be flashing red alert, get to the bathroom now or I will release here in the kitchen. Yet when you rush to the bathroom and complete the release cycle you find out it was only 1/4 full! Other times you go for hours and wonder how the bladder could handle all the backup.

Then there are the temperature gauges. These things are super sensitive in my model which has both a hot and a cold gauge. The hot gauge will not tolerate temperatures over 80 degrees. It is very prone to overheating even with proper hydration. Heat exhaustion has occurred frequently. The cold gauge is not any better. At approximately 8pm the model shuts down all heat stores and goes into freeze mode. Hands, feet, nose and especially @ss turn into ice. Core body temperature drops 2 degrees. Flannel pj's are must year round. Then 3am hits. The emergency generator kicks in and warms up the core temperature 5 degrees causing excessive sweating from the inside out. Flailing of covers and removal of all clothing occurs within seconds. Sometimes I think both gauges are on at the same time!!! This scenario is followed by sleepiness the following morning.

This article is limited to buttons and gauges but you must remember to care for with extra care the tires and body of these middle aged cars. Weekend warriors are especially susceptible to damaging the body of various models.  Healing of twice the time is likely. Same is true for filter abilities of the liver with copious amounts of alcohol consumed on weekends.  You get about 100,000 miles of wild drinking filtering ability before that organ begins its decent into what is affectionately known as "pickling" of the liver.

I hope to make it to at least 500,000 miles. I will keep making the needed repairs and hope for the best.

Have a great day!

Resolutions

Each new year I think it does a person good to think about what needs improved in their life. If you hear someone say "Nothing" they are lying to themselves. There is ALWAYS room for improvement in one's life. Go ahead take a couple minutes and think about what needs improved in your life. STOP READING UNTIL YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF SOMETHING!

See I told you you could think of something. It is good for you to recognize improvements that need to be made.

Next step is a bit harder. Yes, I am making you think about this. What can you do to make this improvement you have just thought about?  Am I asking you to do something drastic - NO. I am asking you to think about what you could do to make this improvement.  STOP READING UNTIL YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF SOMETHING!

See it isn't so hard just to think about what you can do. It is Good to think about improvements and what you can do to actually implement a piece of this improvement.

NOW is the H-A-R-D-E-S-T part. Actually do what you just thought about doing. What?!?!?!?!?

YOU

CAN

DO

THIS!

Yes, I am asking you to actually physically do what I only asked you to think about a minute earlier.  Yes, you can do this.  It will be GOOD for you to even implement even if it is only for a while.

There is always next year to extend this idea just a bit longer.

Now I am going to give you my personal example. Yours can seriously be anything from driving slower to stop smoking to walking more. I am not asking you to lose 100 pounds or run a marathon. I am only asking you to try and improve yourself for a period of time. Forever is a period of time but only if you are a real over achiever. :-)

So last year I decided I was going to eat healthier. I actually implemented this and watched myself eat healthier up until this fall after the garden ended. Then I did not do so well. Last spring I lost 8 pounds. I kept it off until this fall when I quit eating as healthy and gained it all back but one pound. I am still taking that as a win because I DID NOT gain it all back.

Now we are onto a new year. This year I am going back to eating healthy plus I would like to incorporate smaller portions into my plan.  You see it is not big things but small things that add up to big things that make a difference.

Don't worry about impressing someone else. Do something that makes you feel better. Decide to do  random acts of kindness. Plan to do it once a month. Even if throughout the year you only end up doing it twice, you will have made a positive difference in the world and that is what it is all about.

Blessings to you in 2013. I hope you make a difference!
Hugs~

True Love

I do not know the circumstances behind this couples death but the romantic in me is choosing to believe they just couldn't live without each other. This appeared (some things deleted) in our local newspaper.

Ramona Stevenson, 81, died Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, in Blair and Feris Stevenson, 88,  died Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, in Blair.
A combined memorial service will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, at Sievers-Sprick Funeral Home. There is no visitation. A private interment is planned.

Ramona Wilson was born July 19 in Elliott.

Feris Stevenson was born Sept. 19 in Hamburg.

He served in World War II.

The couple married on August 28, 1978.

Mr. Stevenson lived on and loved the Missouri River for approximately 25 years. 

The couple shared a love of fishing and camping and loved to fish at Summit Lake.

The couple is survived by children and their spouses.

Memorials may be directed to the family.

I want this to be how myself and my husband go to the great beyond.

Out my dining room window...

I love fall.
I love the colors.

I was sitting at my kitchen table this morning and smiled a big smile then I gave a contented sigh. The oak tree was changing colors by the hour. It currently has about 4 shades of leaves. It is beautiful. I had to take a couple photos. These photos in NO way do justice to the beauty of this tree. The colors are way more vibrant than the photos show.

There was green, yellow, orange, brown, and red.

Life is good.