weekly gratitude

 time at the lake with sweet friends

and really good food. 

 lovely sunsets with happy children

and foggy sunrises

in our little corner of the planet

Although I needed my time away from the virtual universe, I am finding myself so eager, almost overwhelmed, with the desire to 'catch up' on everything I have yet to share with my sweet blogging friends (that'd be you....just so y'know ;)

Soon there will be a blog post with the much anticipated (from both sides) 'before and after' home renovation pictures. It has been a tough road and I can see why people fork out the big bucks to buy a turn key house. Although I don't know that we ever will just because we are gluttons for punishment and too stinking practical for our own good, I can see the attraction in buying a home with level floors, insulation and more than one bathroom to divide among six people. But, if we would have purchased a turn key home, we would not have the great before and after pictures to share or a genuine appreciation for an extra toilet.

I have written about our sweet kitty Max, or Sir Maxwell as the kids liked to call him. We are avid cat haters to be honest. My husband sees no real value in their existence over all and I have never been able to disagree with a solid argument.
Until last summer.
Little Maxey Kitty made our house his home and was determined to turn two cat hating people into cat appreciating and even cat loving (although my husband still denies it) people.
He succeeded.
He was more like a dog than a cat and even our German Shepherd/Husky Brody came to enjoy his feline companionship (which is truly remarkable since he has single-pawedly done away with other attempts to own barn cats....). However, just after his first birthday (according to our speculation), he became ill and was unable to move properly. He needed to be quarantined due to the holiday weekend and our inability to take him to the vet. His symptoms resembled a few known to Rabies and we couldn't take the chance. After spending two days in a dark and isolated part of the garden shed, I couldn't take it anymore and brought him out into the sunlight on the soft grass. My husband scolded me, but held his tongue when he saw Max's joy in the sunlight. He moved slowly and awkwardly through the grass, walking as far as he could before collapsing. He got up again, as though to thank me for the soft grass and the sun on his face, but it didn't take long before he lay down again, this time for good. We all knelt around this little furry creation and wished things had been different. He was such a sweet kitty. Although I felt stupid for grieving for a cat, he had become a sweet member of our clan and we all enjoyed his presence.
Due to the nature of the possibility of Rabies, we had to bring his body to the vet to have him tested. It was an agonizing two days as my mind contemplated the possibilities of a positive result. We had all been exposed--the kids, the neighbor kids, the chickens, the dog, friends, the youth group....... Who else had contracted this deadly virus? The more reading I did, the more fearful I got.
Yesterday the call came. He tested negative for Rabies. Praise the Lord!
He had been vaccinated, but being a country cat, there is always the possibility in spite of our efforts to prevent it. Rather, he had contracted bacterial meningitis, which is rare, but that means nothing to our family. Rare seems to find us.
So in spite of missing our sweet kitty and his goofy antics, we are thankful that we are healthy!

This weekend the girls and I are going to enjoy our yearly tradition of the Dick Beardsley Half Marathon and 5K. The girls will run the 5K with my dad, while I run 13.2 blessed miles. The pre-race jitters have already set in and I am hoping that swinging a hammer and carrying full laundry baskets will count for effective training. Miles will tell.

Rather than rambling anymore, I will share a small sampling of the happies in my heart....

~my morning walks with God when the world is still asleep and the sun is just peeking over the horizon

~a negative test result for Rabies

~a beautiful tiled shower with three shower heads and enough room for our entire family 

(not that we would ever try...) 

~the ability to lace my shoes, open my eyes, and run until I hurt

~the blessing of a husband that provides the means for me to stay home with our sweet children

~the desire to home school and the ability to do so

~pony tails and a husband that thinks they're sexy

~classic rock and roll that helps the miles roll by

~great friends

~bonfires

~fireworks

~Biolage shampoo 

~garden fresh veggies

~home made salsa

~Thomas the Train sets that occupy a busy 4 year old boy

May God bless you and yours this weekend!

thankful.

tiffany