God doesn't take his gifts back!

God gives all of us gifts. We can have gifts for teaching, counseling, raising children, showing compassion, or rescuing animals. And as much as we would like to sometimes, we cannot give those gifts back. I have a new squirrel who was brought to me very very deyhydrated, near death and covered with fleas. It took 4 injections of subcutaneous fluids and hours of trying to get him to eat before he finally TODAY he figured out how to suck on the syringe. Now, I am exhausted and was talking to a friend. She said out of love, " You've got enough on your plate, you need to not take in any more squirrels, etc." I wanted to say, "Well, YOU NEED to quit dragging your plants in and out of your garage and just let them deal with the cold." She has taken her plants in and out of her garage at least four times due to this nasty weather. To me, that is "too much on HER plate". But I wouldn't tell her to stop caring about her gift- loving plants. I would love to have the ability as some people would be able to- to fling an almost dead squirrel into the woods and never give it a second thought- but I am physically unable to do that. Nursing that squirrel is my gift and as tired as I am I cannot give it back. Nor, can I give back the gift for taking care of my husband and children and teaching them everything I think they need to know. I have a friend with six adopted kids with special needs and people think she's nuts. IT"S HER GIFT- SHE CANNOT GIVE IT BACK. While you may not agree with other people's gifts, don't argue about them, because God gave them and I don't think you want to question HIS wisdom.

God's grace

I am short on time but wanted to say that there are no accidents with God. I took Sassy to Petco last night to get groomed and at the last minute had to get some dog food- on my way back there I ran into a friend that I had been praying I would see. We talked for a long time about a certain situation going on in my life that has been very trying. And while I was there, there was a very lovely young woman who had a litter of puppies that were to be euthanized and she rescued them. I don't EVER STOP at adoptions- after all- I am a rescue- retired, but still- I don't adopt puppies. In fourteen years of doing this I have NEVER adopted a mixed breed puppy(Sassy was five when we adopted her) or even LOOKED at mixed breed puppies in pet store adoptions- literally. But something made me stop. And there in the middle was this tiny little mixed puppy and after talking to the rescue woman, I discovered that she needed a foster home for this little tike, as she needed to be fed four times a day (she's the runt) and a ton of TLC and this woman is a teacher. Now, she didn't know me from Adam's house cat, but when I asked her what I could do to help (God was telling me that this young woman was hurting and needed some TLC of her own) she said, " Could you take this little girl home and give her some attention and foster her for me?" Now, she saw something in me that she instantly trusted- was that God in me? I hope so. So we have a little mixed breed pup who weighs three pounds who we have named Gracie- (It is by grace we are saved and not through anything we do ourselves). This little dog and her littermates were saved by the grace of this woman. So next post, I"ll post pics of Gracie- now named Gacie- I leave out the R. She's so cute and I am so glad that I could allow Ana to sleep a bit better last night. Right now, I have puppy poop to clean and pretty girls to feed. :)

Shut up about the pink shirt- where is everyone's BRAIN???

I am so fed up with the cops doing the investigation for Haleigh. First it was the 17 year old girlfriend put her to bed, then it was she was in the bed with Haleigh. Now they are saying there is a possibility that she wasn't home at all when Haleigh was taken. Now, if I put a child to bed and then got into my own bed, I would remember that. If I slept with the child in the child's bed, I would remember that, so why is this girl having such a hard time sticking to one story- either you tucked her in and slept in another room or you got in bed with Haleigh- how hard is that to remember????Then it was "she was wearing a pink shirt and undies" and then it was "no pink shirt- we have the pink shirt." Ok, maybe I am the only person on the planet who thinks like this but WHOEVER TOOK THIS CHILD SURELY PUT DIFFERENT CLOTHES ON HER AND PROBABLY CUT AND COLORED HER HAIR. So why is the media still stuck on the damn pink shirt. We are not looking for a child in any certain outfit, for God's sake- we are looking for a child who could be wearing ANYTHING- boys' clothes, a baseball cap, overalls, you name it- kidnappers do not keep the child in the clothes they found them in -that is just common sense, or at least it is to me. I know this because it is a well known fact that when kids are abducted from stores like Walmart, the abductor takes them into the bathroom, cuts their hair, throws different clothes on them (making them look like the opposite sex) and then walks out of the store and no one notices. So can we please post photos of this dear child with a progression of what she would look like with a boys' haircut, red hair, blond hair, black hair, or a buzz cut? Because at this point, she could look NOTHING LIKE HER PICTURE and no one would notice her as a boy, or with short red hair, or dressed in a purple dress. COME ON MEDIA- quit wasting time asking about the damn pink shirt- surely your minds are quicker than this??? And the investigative team should quit wasting time giving us updates every day only to say, " There is no pink shirt and no, we cannot answer any questions at this time." WHY IS THAT AN UPDATE??? Is that supposed to make Ronald FEEL BETTER??? Stay off the TV and look for the child, please. Don't get me wrong- I so want to find this baby- but I am so sick of the investigative am holding these ridiculous update press meetings only to tell us nothing. Does anyone else think about the possibility that the child could look totally different now? Why aren't new pictures of her being posted? SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!!!! We care about every missing child because we are parents, so I pray for Ronald every day and for Haleigh's safe return, but having lived in Florida my whole life, I have to say that after 10 days, I don't think she will be found alive. Miracles do happen and I am still praying for one, but if I was Ronald Cummings I would be skinning the media and the sheriff's office alive for wasting every one's time with updates that have no new information and for not posting new pics of how Haleigh COULD LOOK NOW. In the meantime, I will continue to pray and send this post to the Times Union. Maybe then someone will think of updating her pictures. Heavens.

I finally succumbed to the lure of..........FACEBOOK!!!

All my younger friends who have been hounding me can finally smile- I am on Facebook. I had a long list of why I didn't want to deal with Facebook-

1. I don't have time.
2. I don't have time.
3. I don't have time.
4. It's going to be some sex predator place with naked women everywhere.
5. My kids will want to be on there and THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE ON FACEBOOK. PERIOD.
6. It's not as cool as everyone says it is.


Well, I still don't have time but DANG, IT IS FUN. I haven't yet seen any naked women, thank the good Lord- and I have connected with a ton of college buddies, which has been AWESOME. My kids are able to see pics of people I have told them about like my first college roomie, Steph, and my first real boyfriend, Daniel. I've been able to see what became of the people I went to London and China with and able to just keep up to date with local friends- a nice way to pray for their sick kids, get pics of their life, etc. I am still not ready to let my girls be on Facebook- I don't know enough about the privacy settings yet. Now, we've got to get Jon's gorgeous self on there- he's pretty interested. Have I said lately that I won the lottery with this man?? Well I did, and when all his old girlfriends see him on Facebook, they are going to be JEALOUS. Hee Hee Hee. Sorry ladies, he is so mine and so happy to be my own private zookeeper. :)

Taking applications for anyone who wants to take over my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome! Qualifications below

Note to readers- I am pretty much in remission from CFS now and lead a pretty normal life except for occasional "crashes"- meaning I will overdo it one day and spend the next day in bed. Many of these symptoms were the ones I experienced in the first two years of having the illness. I am a very happy and busy woman now, but occasionally I do get FED UP with being tired after doing some ordinary thing like washing the dogs. :)




Well, it's been 15 years of having this disease and last night I decided I've HAD IT. I am taking applications for the next person to take this ailment and leave me free of it forever. There are many qualifications, so before you fill out the application, please read over what it takes to own this disease.

1. You must be able to quit your job in moment's notice. Note, having money in savings is a must or you must not be the bread winner in your family.

2. You must be very patient and able to tolerate huge amounts of pain. If you cannot deal with joint pain, constant headaches, sore throats, and sore lymph nodes, stop reading now.

3. You must give up your right to lift anything over 2 pounds on some days - you will need two hands to put milk in the refrigerator, will not be able to take clothes out of the washing machine, or drive a car that has a stiff steering wheel. You will not be able to hold a blow dryer above your head for more than 5 minutes, so short hair is a must. (Plus the fact that short hair doesn't look as dirty and greasy after lying in bed for 3 days straight as long hair does.)

4. You cannot be one of those "I won't take medicine for any reasons!" people. You must be willing to swallow any pills that your doctor tries on you, as well as have the ability to swallow $100's of dollars worth of supplements, some of which are as big as your thumb. Clear out two cabinets for the massive amounts of natural herbs, seaweed tablets, vitamins with extra b-complex, colostrum, and prescriptive pills you WILL BE TRYING. Most of them won't do a damn bit of good and you'll eventually throw them out, but you must try and try you will and you will try with a good attitude, always.

5. You must love your bed more than anything else in your life. You will be spending a lot of time there. On any given day you may sleep up to 17 hours. Your sleep will be non restorative and you will sweat through 4 or 5 changes of clothes a night, so keep a stack of clothes next to the bed and be prepared to wash alot of wet clothes and sheets. Doubling up on pillowcases is a must. Layering towels underneath you is always helpful so that you don't have to wash wet sheets every day.

6. Be prepared to lose at least 15 IQ points. This is called "brain fog"- it will render you helpless to complete sentences, will have you calling family members to tell you how to get home from WalMart, and cause you to have a panic attack in the grocery store as suddenly you have no idea where you are and why you are there. This will come and go with no warning. You will be reduced to calling spoons, " the thing that you eat soup with", and looking at the dishwasher and asking your spouse, "What goes in there to wash it again?" You must get over it and stop crying at the fact that you feel like someone with brain damage, because you ARE someone with brain damage and the MRI proves it.

7. You must be capable of seeing at least 15 doctors, many of whom will suggest that you are depressed or going through menopause at 30. You must be able to muster up the guts to ask the receptionist, " Is there someplace back there where I can lie down, because I can't sit up?" You cannot be discouraged when you have to wait more than an hour to have your blood drawn and you will teach yourself to love needles. You will teach your children to never fear needles or having blood drawn. You will be willing to humble yourself to call someone to pick you up from the doctor because in the hour and a 1/ 2 that you waited, your hands and arms have become numb and driving would now be dangerous.

8. Get used to saying the words, " I cannot make it tonight." You will be saying that alot- as well as "I won't be able to keep that appointment", and "Sorry, Mommy cannot go on the field trip-it's too much walking for me." Get a tough skin about people staring at you as you sit against a wall in Walmart while your spouse shops. Better yet, get a stadium seat and carry it to all malls with you in the event that there is no bench to sit on and then ignore people's glances. Become familiar with the feeling of losing your breath - a trip from the bed to the bathroom will cause it and climbing stairs will be almost impossible, for the exertion will make you sit at the top of the stairs for five minutes before being able to get your breath.

9. Be prepared to either lose or gain tremendous amounts of weight, and instill in yourself an iron will that even though you would rather peuke than eat, you will pour mustard on a slice of turkey and swallow it whole because your body NEEDS PROTEIN. Remember the tricks of your youth with downing foods that you hate because all food will become repulsive to you when you are most sick, but you must eat or you will get weaker. Cereals and sweet foods will be all you want to eat, but you will resist eating them as you know that they will make you sicker, so you force down spinach salads and McDonald's cheeseburgers because your body can only fight with strong soldiers in your body.

10. Make sure you have married someone who is patient, understanding, willing to pull more than their fair share, ready to believe your unbelievable symptoms, and go alone to many family functions. This person will be the closest to God you will ever get in your life and their love will keep you going on days that you want to give up. The love of this person and their encouragement will allow you to stop stressing and rest.

11. Last of all, get to know God really well. His word and his presence will be the only thing that will keep you from killing yourself on some days. You will spend hours begging him for pain relief and sleep. His promise of healing will be a promise that you cling to night and day. You will spend so many hours in bed that you will learn to pray for everyone you know constantly.

Now, do I have any takers??? Thought not.