Licorice, a.k.a. Louie, a.k.a. Dootie, a.k.a. Lu, a.k.a. Fluffmutt and the List Goes On...

Thank you for all your thoughts for Licorice that were emailed and left in the comments. I believe she is going to be fine. Louie has never had any signs of any health issues related to what happened this week, so it was quite shocking. It was a grand mal seizure which can be caused by many different things.

My personal beliefs about dis-ease is that there is a reason for her to present these symptoms. She has definitely taken a step down from being the center of my attention since Little B was born. I believe that this is in part, why she had illness arrive. I also believe that pets absorb energy from their owners preventing them from getting ill (particularly with dogs 'holding' the cancer for their companion).

I've done some BodyTalk sessions on her (addressing a parasite in the brain and more) and also hired Katherine at Bay Area Body Talk to do a session. We're giving her lots of love and good energy towards health.

Dootie Dude is very dear to me and this made me remember and reexamine how precious and fleeting life can be. She has been at my side long before I've known most people in my life now. She is truly a companion like no other.

I am very grateful to have her enriching our lives and teaching me about love, acceptance, control, sensitivity and...

 ...Jedi mind tricks...the force is strong with this one.

Quotable Sunday

Pray for what you cannot see.
Pray clearly
for what you can only faintly grasp.
Pray silently
from the core of your being.
Pray for healing.
Pray for humanity.

Pray lovingly
Pray deeply ---
pray so deeply that
the prayer and the praying
become one.


- Charlie Elkind from WorldPrayer.org

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Please keep my dog, Licorice, who had a seizure yesterday, in your prayers. Thank you.

It's in My Genes

When I was a little one, I remember my mom sewing and crafting all the time (well, at least when she wasn't antiquing). Each season she would be making something new. A bunny for Easter, a Santa Claus for Christmas, a quilt for our birthday, etc. She also spent a lot of time making clothes for us as well as our dolls. I don't mean simple outfits. I mean ruffles, layers, little flowers, little details everywhere...perfect clothes fit for only a princess.

So, it came as no surprise to hear that my mom is crafting something regularly now. During her non-work time she makes the fairies and mermaid you see here.

I think my two sisters and I were greatly influenced by this because we all craft now:

My oldest sister, Cindy, was the more artistic one when we were younger. Her drawings were amazing.


Which explains why the babies seen here, that she sells on E-bay, are so amazingly detailed yet SO small. How does she do it?

And check out these:



She also makes monkey and human baby reborns that are equally amazing.

My other sister Kim was the more bookish one of us all. Which explains why, when she first learned to quilt, she was quilting king-sized, appliqued quilts that same month (that's right folks, read it and weep...KING-SIZE)! She also taught herself to knit. A feat I never would have accomplished....talk about tenacity and patience.

I guess you could say, it's just in our DNA. The nurturing had a whole lot to do with it as well.

My mom just wrote this about her mom, my beloved and dearly missed, Grandma Thelma:

"I don't have the patience to quilt, it is sad I did not enjoy doing that like mom did. She would love the babies and fairies; she loved dolls. I think that is why we always had so many dolls and doll clothes. I still have a few Tammy clothes she made me; the coat is lined and has fur at the top with little pearl buttons. She wouldn't let me have Barbie and Ken because Barbie had big boobs."

I have very fond memories of Grandma Thelma having a quilting bee with her Mormon friends and everyone hand-quilting a gigantic quilt together.

***

With the holidays around the corner, it's a great time to buy your loved ones a doll, monkey or fairy. Check their store out here; their customer rating is 99.9% positive. Talk about customer satisfaction! Plus, I heard that Cindy is doing commission work if you have someone in mind...

Quotable Sunday

Appreciate the Divine details that are woven into every second of your life.

- Caroline Myss

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For a complete list of Quotable Sunday visit are so happy.

Teething Tribulations

This past week has been incredibly challenging. I said goodbye to a loved one, screamed at a very small loved one, got so wrapped up in something that I missed the big picture called life, hardly slept for several nights running (teething tribulations), and now am sick.

I guess it is no surprise, to be sick after such a wearing week. Yet, as any mama knows, being sick with a little one who demands your all - when you're already worn down - is, well, shitty. Watching our backyard neighbors shoot off an air gun at the flock of crows in their tree pretty much topped off my week with the sour cherry. I refrained from asking if they were inbred. Let's just say, based on past behavior, the question would have been redundant.

I've been fantasizing about packing up and just getting out of dodge. But, what is dodge exactly? Wouldn't it just follow me around until I found the next town marked with a sign that said, "An Even Bigger Pile of Dodge :: Duh, what did you expect?"

Through all this, Little B is smiling and laughing still. Thank heavens for little girls.

***

This video was taken a few weeks ago when Bronwyn had just barely turned 6 months old.

Quotable Sunday

“If you love something set it free; if it returns it's yours forever, if not it was never meant to be.”

- Proverb

***
In my heart will always live a yellow - abundantly loving, always present, smiling, warm, beautiful - Labrador called Martini. She has taught me so much, and this last lesson we learned together was the most difficult and challenging lesson I have ever learned.

I listened to god, to angels, to my heart, and to hers. Separating it all out, I was left with a line that will always connect me to her and her to me.

Your warm eyes, your soft tummy, your kissable nose, your special bunny hop, your tongue all over, everywhere all the time. But that smile. That is what always got me.

Tini, you are so beloved and special. I MISS you dearly. I love you. Always. And, forever.

Couch Potato

In preparation to give Bronwyn her first real meal (sweet potato), I learned how to sign potato. I've decided to skip the rice cereal mostly because I don't think it's really that nutritious. If I were a babe I would want fruits and vegetables. NOW. That's what little B's message seems to be telling me. That girl is ready to eat.

I also had a worse-than-your-average-terrible-cold cold which prompted Bronwyn's first experience at being.....you guessed it: a couch potato and watching that box called the television.

Actually, she watched exactly 17 minutes of video this weekend (which equalled about 17 hours of guilt for me). Five minutes of Caillou the Magnificent before she protested and told me to shut it off. Then the next day she watched twelve minutes of Word World. I swear at some point I heard her say, "Woman, where's my brewski?"

Being a single mom (for the weekend) sucked, more for me then Bronwyn. She got lots of floor time allowing her attempts to crawl. She can move side to side and backwards with no problem. The forward thing she's smart enough to avoid: she just brings the blanket with the toy on it closer to her.

Damn. Now, not only do I have to be smarter than my herding dog, but also my daughter.

Well, perhaps if I start sucking frozen kale sticks (for teething) like B, I will grow big and strong too.

Meanwhile, here's to learning from your dog and your babe, killing your TV....and maybe not to feeling terribly guilty if you watch a few minutes of it before doing so.

***

This post is dedicated to Katie and Kristine; two kick ass mamas who helped ease my guilt about B's first TV time as well as offering to expose themselves to my cooties to help out. You rock!

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Update: I learned that just chewing on kale stems can give a baby gas. I wouldn't have believed it, if I didn't experience it first hand. Try small, frozen carrots instead. They work just as well.