21 December 2014

That's My Sister

When I was little, I loved my sister and brother very much. When my youngest sister joined us (and I was 17), I loved her also. One thing I learned though was that as much as I loved them, they hated me. They told people that they were not related to me. In one instance, one of my sisters pulled a knife on me and threatened to kill me. I spent a lot of time away and hiding after that. I was always so proud of my sisters and brother. I loved having them, but they did not reciprocate. To this day, one sister has informed me she wishes I was dead. Interesting that at this point, I just don't care and can really enjoy the thought of cutting her out of my life. She doesn't want me and I don't need her. So I have adhered to her wish, I am dead to her, but by the same token, she is also dead to my family (my children and husband). Because without me, she would only have 2 nieces. Without me, she would not have 2 brothers-in-law, only one.

I am hoping that I am doing better with my girls. I don't want them to ever say to a sister, I hate you and I wish you were dead. Or I hate you and I am going to kill you. Both of those things have shaped my feelings towards my sisters. I don't deny them, but I also don't really trust them.

I can remember when my girls were little, they didn't have a lot of interaction with my family. Part of it was they wouldn't come up to where I lived. Part of it was when they did come up, they didn't come by to see us. When the girls were younger, we tended to stay closer to home, it was hard to go places with them because there were three of them and one of me. After so many years of being on our own, we don't wait for people to visit and we go where we want, when we want and we don't tell anyone where we are going or if we are even going to be in their area. But my girls are different. They talk to each other. They laugh with each other and they share secrets with each other. They are tight. They love each other. They may fight a little here or there, but they get along very well. They stand together and they show a united front. I feel for anyone who tries to break them apart. They are going to find a united front. A group of girls who love and are loved.

17 December 2014

December FB saved pages

I have saved quite a bit on my FB page this month so far, but I haven't had time to move them, so I will do it a little here and a little there. I was really amazed at how many things I had saved this time and how long it has taken me to find them. There are recipes, patterns and just fun things and educational things. Enjoy.

Recipes:
Red Velvet Cookies
Peanut Butter Potato Candy
All Star Holiday Cookie Recipes
Meatball Sandwich Casserole
75 Cookie Recipes
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Christmas Vanilla Roll Cake
Italian Christmas Cookie Recipes
More Italian Christmas Cookies

HomeSchooling:
Netflix Educational Movies
Math High School Games
Mystery of OH's Serpent Mound
Website Design Workshop Free
Free Math Worksheets

Patterns:
Hobbit Inspired Knit and Crochet Patterns from Lion Brand
Two Tone Granny from the Crochet Crowd
Moogly Links for Crochet Slippers something for the whole family
Quick Mini Garland
Magic Griffindor Scarf
Moogly Links for Quick Crochet Gifts
Daddy's Simply Easy Mittens
30 Free Christmas Amigurimi Links
Moogly Links for 10 Free Last Minute Crochet Christmas Presents
Christmas Penguins
Crochet Holiday Joy Hat
Reindeer and Penguin
25 One Night Crochet Patterns
Crochet Owl Candy Cane Holder
Starburst Flower Mandala Square

Just for Fun:
Christmas Knitting Bingo
12 Days of Homeschool
99 Texting Acronyms Parents Should Know
40 Famous Authors on Reading
Creative Ways to Say Goodbye - my kids said these every day at the end of preschool day.




Chocolate Cake For Breakfast Defense

Bill Cosby one time told the story of feeding Chocolate Cake to his children for breakfast. His excuse, the children wanted it and it had some breakfast things in it - eggs, flour, etc. His wife got on his case about feeding the children inappropriate food for breakfast.

When our children were young, I was taking care of something else and my children had followed their Dad downstairs to get a drink and food. Notice, I don't say breakfast because I don't consider ice cream breakfast food.

I asked why the girls had ice cream for breakfast? His response, "They helped themselves." I became Bill Cosby's wife - "You are the Parent, tell them no!"

I truly believe that working Dad's cave to their children's demands for the wrong foods because they don't want to be the bad guy and also so they don't have to take responsibility too often.

It's like when you see your child eat cold left over pizza for breakfast, to hear them say, "What? It has all the food groups! Dairy, meat, vegetables, etc." But usually they are older and sometimes in college. When they are in preschool you would hope they eat better than ice cream or chocolate cake for breakfast.

But his little slip up doesn't get him off the hook. He still has to feed them breakfast. If I let him off that easy I would never get all things completed, and just stress myself out more than necessary. So I'll just have to make sure he knows that the Chocolate Cake Defense doesn't work with me.



Special Place in Hell

This may come off as insensitive, but there has to be a special place in hell for people who abandon, abuse or throw away an animal(s) that they took in to be their friend. On Monday, this beautiful, sweet, loving, very ill, white cat showed up in my garage. She was covered on her back half with something that stunk. After she had been in the garage for awhile, she tried to clean it off herself. But she just couldn't get it all. She was starving (what you see is a plate with canned cat food) and very thirsty. She was needing medical care. I posted her picture all over FB in hopes that her owner (the cowards) would reclaim her. I didn't realize at that point how very ill she was. But as the day progressed and the next morning, I knew she was very ill. I had dreams all night long that she was dead. We fixed a very large carrier up with a blanket and we set her up with a temporary box to use for potty. We named her Ursula.  But she was not able to make it to the box. A very wonderful woman with a group that helps to rescue cats, contacted me and had me bring her to their favorite vet office. They took her from us and checked her out. She had Feline Leukemia and they loved her and fed her some really good food and they put her down, so she would not have to suffer any longer. Her last 24 hours on this planet were good ones, but they could have been better and the people who dumped her are cowards and idiots. Taking care of these sweet gifts are a blessing and one that should not be taken for granted. My girls and I are heart broken, she was such a sweet, loving little girl. We really just wanted her to have a chance at a good life, like the one that our sweet rescues have enjoyed over the last 14 years that my husband and I have been together.

07 December 2014

My Birthday Date

Last night (Saturday), my husband and I went to Macaroni Grill for supper. This was his gift to me, to take me to a restaurant to celebrate my birthday, belatedly. We were waiting for a table and I was knitting and we were talking. I was also watching the people around us.

There was an older couple. You could tell they were dating. They were so cute together. They were paying attention to each other, cuddled together, and holding hands. They were talking about every day life and things that were happening to them and their families.

Next to them was a younger couple. They had their cell phones out, looking at the screens and texting other people. After awhile, they put their phones away and talked a little. But then a phone buzzed and they were back into their phones.

There was a group of women, who were wearing what looked like pj pants, it was a mixed group of older and younger ladies. The older ladies did not have their phones out and they were just sitting off by themselves. On the same bench were the younger ladies and they were a little more animated. But they had phones out.

Now, as I stated, I had my knitting with me. But I was talking with my husband and we were talking about what was going on around us. We also noted that it seemed that the buzzer that they gave us, was not working as they came into the area looking for us, asking us if we were "Mary." Then we went and sat at a table. I did put the phone out. That was so that if it rang we knew it was ringing, but I didn't stare at the screen and I didn't play on it. When you are parents or you have someone who is ill, you carry your phone everywhere. You use it to make sure that all is well. But, yes, I did have my phone and yes it was out. But I didn't sit staring at it or texting with someone else. My priority was being with my husband.

Now, I will also state, that due to food allergies and the menu, the place used, I needed to use my phone to look up ingredients in the food. If I had ordered the wrong thing, I would not have been able to eat or if I had eaten, I could have had a severe allergy reaction. I think there is a time and a place for phones, but I do like how that older couple did it. They were more interested in each other than in their phones (if they even had them with them).