Saturday Morning

A Day Like all Others!


Started with the home phone ringing....obviously someone does not realize it is early Saturday and I deserve to sleep a little later than usual? How rude! I do not answer it and I haven't even looked at caller ID to see who it was. If I am truly needed I will get paged or receive a call on my cell phone. Home line is only in case my cell is not working. But now I cannot go back to sleep. Grrrr!


Peed and went to Facebook....let's see what there is to read...tons!...my friend Melinda's blog I always look for and yes! she has one today along with her lovely pictures of life in southern Portugal. Her time is almost up and looks like she may be moving to Cornwall for a stint. Lucky her..... no real home, moving with the wind. Someday....

My pool was first... with me being gone several days, it got naaaaasty! Can't see the bottom! What with the oak trees dropping those little wormy things that held its pollen...the water is now a pretty shade of jade. Flush out the filter, clean out the clogged skimmer and net up what is now on the surface. Amazing, how much a tree can drop! A jug of chlorine and wait until Monday to check the water.

Ahh I must water all the plants I bought last weekend, which also need to be planted and placed prettily on my deck. Can't wait to see it done once again. It makes it so pleasant out there.
Back to Facebook to catch up with a few more entries and was reminded of Pandora, through Emily's posts. I am now listening to Abigail Washburn radio station. LOVE listening to some bluegrass...revs me up to get things done. Right now it's "Girl on the Turnpike Road", by The Crooked Jades.


Opened the living room windows and deck door which reminded me of how much hair Shiloh has shed, as it flies across the floor. I will get to that later.
Feed Shiloh, Feed Red.



Open my bedroom windows and see a pretty nest in the tree.








I wonder what birds were in it, which reminded me to feed the wild birds.



Thankfully Shiloh is outside so she can make sure the squirrels don't eat it all up. Little stinkers! I think they watch me from the treetops and when I put out the seed, the food-on-the-horizon chatter starts. Not today, boogers!
Woah, there goes a bunch more hair! Shiloh! How can you, with such short hair, shed so much!!


Quick phone call to Sarah who is suffering with breast issues. Poor mama! Went from mastitis to internal breast yeast. Very painful! Left her a message...she's probably nursing, as all new mamas do. :)

I'm Back!

Finally Blogger got rid of that junk that was covering my blog. It took several times to communicate with them with never a personal response. I had pretty much given up on ever being here again when I decided to take a look and it was back! Yeah!! I am now able to stgart blogging once again.
I have changed a little since the last post, eh?
LOVE

Aging

I look in the mirror and see someone so different to the one I see in photographs. So I grab my camera and take several pictures, then study the skin, its lines, its placement and realize the effects of my aging. As a post-menopausal woman, I, like many others have learned or are learning the art of accepting the process that getting older has on our body, face and hair.
For the end of last year, as a part of this "acceptance" and because I was so tired of dealing with dying my hair and watching the white line of the new growth making me look like a skunk, I cut my hair. I called it the chop chop. After 4 or was it 5 cuts, I went from long dark hair to very short silver hair. WOW.
After months and months post-haircut, I started to believe the people who told me it actually made me look younger. Really? Silver hair? Short, like almost all women my age? UGH.... so hard to believe. But as I study my face in the mirror and smile to myself, I nod as an approval nod and walk away feeling better about the change.
This "change" is not about the loss of the menstrual blood, it is a psychological change.... but an acceptance.

Labs

One of my anxiety producing events is my periodical blood work, to keep up with my health. Layla drew my blood on Thursday and I was wishing results the next day. But the cancer marker takes more than a day to be processed, and I had a weekend to contend with. Seems that all 3 times before my caminos is when my labs are done, and always I wonder if the results will come back and I will not be able to go.
Cancer fucking sucks. Even though it was cut out of me, the chemo was completed and it's been 2 and a half years, I am still reminded every day from news story lines, my friend dying a couple of weeks ago, another friend newly diagnosed....
Several phone calls to my secretary and finally she tells me the results arrived. She faxed them to my home and I stood over that fax machine wishing it would print faster. Honestly, that is how it was for me.
First thing my eyes looked for was the column with the "abnormals". All good. Then I looked for CEA, my marker.... a smile came up and tears did as well...the numbers went down. Way down from my last time.
I tear up as I write this.

Today

So many thoughts and feelings today.
Grateful: TY to all the people who love my new "do"
Anger: At myself for not getting my paperwork done that had promised myself I would do.
Happy: at having met one of my forum friends who came by through Tallahassee.
Amazed: At the movie Slumdog Millionaire
Concerned: At how cold I get
Amused: at how my dog Shiloh knew I needed a kiss
Content: at having connected with the sun for an hour
Sad: that my friend is taking a turn for the worse.
Glad: she is surrounded by family.
Pissed: ha! That my son misses the toilet (still)
More emotions to come, for the day has not finished.

Shiloh, oh, Shiloh

My doggie was part of a gang related killing this morning. Geeeeee, that sounds awful. But, it's true.

Working on my computer, I hear a lot of dog barking, yelping and commotion and run out and realized there is a fight going on in the corner of my yard which I cannot see, for it is a wildlife area (means I do not cut anything down, it is thickly wooded). Kristopher's and Amy's dogs are there as well and I thought it was a dog fight, only to realize there was a cat involved.

I scream at Shiloh to come and she came rather quickly, put her in the house and went back out, but the other 2 dogs are still at it. I can hear the poor cat moaning. Amy yelled at them to come and wouldn't so she got the hose and squirted them. Wink came and I put her in the house. Then she picked up Muka and carried him inside. She was brave enough to deal with the cat, which is so hurt it strikes out at her. She cannot pick it up but talks to it and realizes it cannot move, the eyes are rolling back but it still hisses at her. We cannot do anything for it at this point and chat about whose cat this may be. She called K and he called me and is pretty sure the cat belongs to the next door neighbors... the same neighbors whose other cat was killed by our dogs a couple of months ago. Oh boy.

That time it was in their yard. They let their cats loose and dogs, because they are dogs, want to chase them. It is so tempting to see prey several feet away. They hopped over the fence and killed it. We felt awful about it. I had already made plans to build a wooden fence and shortly thereafter it was built; now the dogs are not tempted to jump due to a cat sighting.

But this time the cat was in our yard. Different story. Has to do with territory. Has to do with pack mentality. Has to do with dogs not had their hunting instinct bred out. It is still there so I cannot find fault for what they are doing. It is normal. We don't like it, but it is normal.

Amy and Kristopher have 2 cats. Their dogs live with them and know they are part of the family. So it is not like they are cat killers. They are hunters. So are cats.

Our neighbors had (had)4 cats... all outside cats. Now there is an issue with that as well. They are out hunting, killing squirrels and birds. Even the birds that come to my feeders. I had to change location of the feeders so the cats could not see when they are being visited by hungry birds. I no longer get possums, raccoons and armadillos like I once did. The animals keep them away.

Cats cannot be contained by fences like our dogs can. They are free to roam and do their own killings. I feel they are fair game when they jump into our yard. As much as I hate that people's pets are being hurt, damaged or killed, I feel that if they are allowed to roam they are targets for animals whose instincts are to protect, hunt and kill if necessary.
We wonder whose cat this is. It does not belong to our neighbor.... I found out a few minutes ago when I was "breaking the news" to her. Sigh of relief that it was not hers, but I know someone is missing their beautiful huge cat. In the meantime he is in a box until burial time.

As far as these dogs are concerned, it's business as usual. Please keep your cats inside.

In the last 24 hours

-I received news I am going to Haiti with Project Hope and got my e-ticket. My ship, the USS Kearsarge will get us in Haiti, they will pick us up at the airport and take us to the ship in a helicopter (I am sooooo excited about that)then it is R&R time for the crew (guess we are getting there just in time for some fun) and then we go to the Dominican Republic. I am bummed about not doing the work in Panama, but there's next year.
-My daughter Layla who is in Tennessee to deliver her sister-in-law called me to tell me the baby was born by caesarean. All is well.
-My neighbor calls me to please help.... a neighbor down the street (must have been on drugs or has some kind of mental problem) was running in the street naked, tackled this old man who was waxing his car, who in turn sat on the unclothed guy, the police were called, and while the cop was handcuffing him, the guy babbled out numbers in an incoherent manner. I went inside the old man's home to tell his wife that a little excitement just occurred, that her husband is fine, that when she sees the police and the ambulance outside, they are just making sure he is ok, just a little cut on his hand .....hahahha.....
-Two hours later fire trucks, cops and rescue squad were 2 houses down and I never found out what happened.
-The electrician tried to hook my office up with electricity, only to find that the wires were cut at the main. Now I have to wait until Monday to get it hooked up.
-The phone company, yesterday turned on my number, 385-BABY, but were unsure of hooking it up in the office. Another crew came today and now I have a phone wire draped across the yard. Another crew will come Monday to bury it.
-I get a phone call, that one of my lovely families had a tragedy. I have delivered their 7 kids, she is pregnant with number 8, but yesterday, a horrible accident.... she and the kids were planting fruit trees, she had to move her car, and suddenly baby Joshua ran out in front of the car. He died. I was shocked. The baby who was born into my hands, to a family I adore is now gone. I got into midwife mode to tell her support people to make sure she gets nourishment, rest and vitamins and then when I spoke with mama Kim, I lost it. My heart aches.
-Salvador went to the Seminole game and I heard the stealth airplane go over the stadium..... what a roar, rumble....wish I could have seen it.
-Kristopher, Amy and I cleaned the backyard of every bush, vine, gumball and debris. Then I brushed the pool. Those are forms of meditation, working in the yard and pool, and all I could think about was the Plath family.

Roomba!

It's not a dance, it's my trusty little vacuum robot. It actually makes more work for me than a regular broom and a regular vacuum cleaner. It is small, and my area is large enough that it can hold much dust, dog hair and dirt. The trick is to get everything off the floor, make the area uncluttered enough for the thing to get around and leave the house. Really, just leave. Because when I don't, I watch the damn thing going around, criss-crossing the floor, and missing a spot here and there. Of course if I don't watch, it will eventually make it to that spot, but no, I go, stick my feet in front of it and make it turn around to go back to the spot. I do this over and over, so really, am I saving time? But it's so much fun!!

Birth Gathering

It was a lovely day today. I headed out to Silver Lake for our annual Birth Gathering. Many of my older and newer clients came, and like always I smiled all day from seeing all these lovely families. (My jaw is a little achy)

Turns out many of my clients made friends with other clients at past gatherings. So of course, I realize this is another example of how our birthing practice creates community.
The food was great, so many tastes, from juicy seasoned ribs to vegan scrumptious salads. Food was plentiful.

The children, oh the children, I must say are all beautiful. We had several red-haired babies there. I love it!!
My ballet group showed up. Their kids now moving into their teens.
A few I had not seen in years.
I wish I could have spent more time with each of them, it is so hard though, so we kiss and hug, take pictures, catch up and then mingle.
Or go down to the lake, our beautiful lake.
I am looking forward to many more of these

Grand Central - Frozen in New York

Saw this twice today from 2 very different people, so thought I must share also.

Grand Central Station in New York