Wookie the Kitten

This is Wookie. Well, that is the name that Ursula (the woman who so generously is taking care of her) gave to the kitten that I found a little over a week ago. She also has a dog named Doofus, a cat named Piranha and two deceased animals named Pickle and Burger....funny but inventive (all in addition to her other rescued animals). Wookie is doing so good and growing. Her colors are changing to more of a lighter grey with brown. She has two orangish streaks on each side of her face. She is in excellent health and shows no signs of feline leukemia. She is now 4 weeks old and is no longer being bottle fed.

I went over on Friday and got to see her drink out of a bowl and play around. Well, they don't really play at 4 weeks, just kind of move around and explore their surroundings. She loves to be held and petted.

In two weeks, her care is being handed over to me. I have to find her a home or Shane has to fall in love with her and let me keep her...like I need any more animals, huh? I don't really know that I want another cat so I have been in contact with some animal rescue groups that will let you foster the animal and then bring them in to Petsmart or Petco on Saturdays for adoption. I can assure you it would not be hard to adopt her out as she is so cute and loving. But, that will be hard for me as I fall in love with animals so easily. I will also be sending out another e-mail plea to all I know to see if anyone is interested in adopting her. Here are a couple more photos of her:

**************************************************

Other news: The weather here is awesome...in the mornings mostly and in the shade the rest of the day. We enjoyed Sunday after Shane came home just being outside with Jacob. I also took Jacob shopping for some winter clothes. He was so cute, trying on everything and then checking himself out in the mirror. He kept saying "It's good" even when the pants were too short on him.

Shane left this morning for San Jose. We miss him when he is gone but I sure do get a lot done.

Funny story: Jacob spent Saturday night with his MiMi and PawPaw. They were watching a tv show on the space shuttle Challenger. Jacob asked his PawPaw when it (meaning the disaster) happened...PawPaw said a long time ago. Jacob wanted to know how long ago...PawPaw said about 20 years ago. Jacob asked...where the dinosaurs alive then? Cute huh? I don't know when they actually start to get the whole time thing.

Why Me?

Why does this always happen to me? Stray animals, animals that are dumped. You name it, they find me. Sadie is the only animal that we actually looked for and purchased. Sidney needed a home or she would be euthanized. Pepper was dumped at Lowe's (she now lives with some good friends of ours). Moose was dumped in our neighborhood because she was pregnant and someone didn't want to deal with her. Riley, well, I can understand why someone wouldn't want to deal with her. But, she is a sweetie and we love her.

Now, the new one....a three week old kitten. Last Saturday as I was enjoying having my TV turned on and relaxing in the easy chair, our doorbell rings. It seems that these two horrible women, who live one street over from us, heard a kitten meowing. What do they do? Do you think they try to warm it or feed it or even notice that it looks a little too young to be away from its mommy? NO! They give it to some kid riding by on his bike. He takes it home to his mommy, who says get it out of here. Shame on her too! So, the kid starts riding around on his bike with the kitten and showing it off. They decide, hey, let's go show Jacob. Well, as soon as I saw it I took it from them. They showed me where the two ladies live. I go over and have some words with them...no, they weren't very nice words, but hey, they deserved it.

So, I took the kitten to the only person I knew who would know what to do with her as all the vets were now closed for the weekend. Ursula is a wildlife rescuer. She currently has 9 baby squirrels (she was hand feedling them all but they are being weaned now), a baby bluejay that my dad found and a dwarf rabbit. She didn't look too happy to see me but could tell right away that the kitten needed food and warmth. I am glad to say that she has fallen in love with her enough that she is now keeping her until she is weaned. Then, it is up to me. Jacob, of course, is begging to keep her. I wouldn't mind another kitten, but Shane would. He has "issues" with my new hobby...taking in or finding lost animals a home.

So, if you know anyone who is interested in a kitten, please let me know. She won't be placed until she is weaned...anywhere from 2-4 weeks. She is grey with some brown...very cute, in excellent health and very sweet and loving. She doesn't even realize that she is a cat.

Also, the SPCA needs families to foster some of the lost animals that they have. Some may find their owners within a few days. Some it may take a couple of weeks. If we didn't have a houseful, I would definately foster. They have cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and some slimy critters. They are also hand feeding 900 baby squirrels...yes, 900. Can you imagine?

Did you know that when you hand feed a kitten that you have to burp it afterwards? You rub its back until it burps. You also have to stimulate pee and poop...who knew! I imagine that its the same with squirrels.

My worst fear is that there are more kittens from the same litter lost too. Most likely the mom was moving her babies after the storm and one just got away from her. This is not a feral cat. It is a house cat. Shame on the owner for letting its pregnant cat even outside at all so close to its due date. I wouldn't mind having some words with them either.

OK, off of my soap box. Please pray that we find kitty a home. I am going to take some pictures of her today so that you can all see how cute she is. Of course, cute kittens grow up to be cats.
*********************************
Other news, Shane left yesterday for the church's men's retreat. He loves this weekend. He gets to fish, hang out with his buddies and play drums several times and, of course, worship God. I love it because he always comes home a little nicer and more appreciative of us.
*********************************
Can you believe Christmas is approaching? Today mom and I are going to our first craft show. We love to go to these and get ideas. Sometime we even buy stuff. You can get some great gifts at them for teachers, grandparents, etc. People that like the little stuff. I like to get ahead on my shopping so I don't have to panic after Thanksgiving. I don't have a big family, but Shane does.

Have a blessed weekend all!

Before and After Photos

We finally are up and running after Ike...meaning we have cable tv, internet service and phones back. Here are some before and after photos of our home and yard:

Picture of our back yard landscaping before Ike

Picture of backyard before Ike (the other side of the yard is a fort which fared well except that it now has a lean to it)

After Ike....where are my trees?

After Ike...what a mess!!!

Picture of front yard before Ike

Picture of front yard after Ike

Another view of front yard before Ike

We lost a tree but were able to prop it back up

View coming down our street

Tree down in our neighborhood...and there were many more

Big tree down on Jones Rd. in Norchester

We pray for no more hurricanes this season. Some people are still suffering. Some schools are still out. Jacob started back today. I feel like the school year is starting all over again :(

Happy to be Home

We came home on Friday. Our awesome neighbors had done some clean up work in our yard and hauled all of our trimmings to the street. The city has hired clean up crews that drive big trucks with claws on them and they use the claws to pick up the trimmings. Apparently, they have driven down the streets on either side of us but not ours, yet. I will be glad to see all of those bags and trimmings gone. Luckily today the regular trash pick up came and got all of the rotting meat and other food that we had thrown out of our fridge and freezer.

We ended our week in Canyon Lake with a trip to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. It is so nice. It took us an hour to drive through and see all the animals. I wish I had some pictures to show you but we forgot our camera when we rushed out of Houston. The highlight of the safari was the zebras sticking their heads in the car. One even took Shane's food bag out of his hand and ran off. The ostriches were also pretty in your face. I rolled up my window when one came over. He was mad at me and started pecking at the stickers on my car. I highly encourage you to visit the Wildlife Ranch and the Caverns...wish we had more time to do both. Here is a link to both:
http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/
http://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/

Since we have been home, I have been feeling better. We have had some great times sitting outside with our neighbors. The other side of the street didn't get power until Saturday night. After it came on, what did we do? We had a power party outside in the dark. We didn't stay too long as we were both worn out. My parents didn't get power until Saturday night either. They live in Norchester and they came home as soon as they could. You don't realize how much you love your home until you are forced to stay away from it. I get tired of hearing and reading about people saying we must be crazy to live near the coast or even in a hurricane zone. I will admit, sometimes I wonder. But, this is home and we don't want to live anywhere else. Well, except for Colorado but they have blizzards. At least you can put your fridge/freezer goods out in the snow there.

Take care all and anyone who doesn't have power is welcome to come and stay here. I just extended an invitation to some friends who have been without power for 10 days. He works for Centerpoint and she had been taking care of the boys all alone. I know they are struggling right now. Keep them in your prayers.

Return to Houston

As I said in my previous post, we have been hunkered down in Canyon Lake at Shane's dad's lake house. We love it here. It is quiet and peaceful and the weather has been awesome. But, we are eager to return home. Shane has caught up on his work and is prepared to teach a class on Monday and Tuesday at HP. So, we are planning on driving home Friday.

I am sure some of you are wondering why we want to return. Well, our yard still needs some clean up work and we have missed out on opportunities to help friends this week. The other side of our street is still without power. They have been able to use our washer/dryer and cook at our house, charge cell phones, etc. We also have one big empty fridge/freezer. I am eager to give it a big cleaning before we start to fill it up. And, our cats are there and I hate to leave them for too long as Sidney has separation anxiety that usually ends up costing us $$ at the vet.

We have had some fun. In addition to going to San Antonio and walking on the Riverwalk and seeing the Alamo, we have taken Jacob to Landa Park where we played at the playground and Shane and Jacob fished. After that, we went to eat at the Gristmill in Gruene (awesome meal) and peeked through the windows at Gruene Hall (wish we could have gone in but couldn't as Jacob was with us). Today, Shane and Jacob will be having some more fun either fishing or going on the boat.

As for me, I am sick with fever and sore throat...maybe the same illness Jacob had last week. I am taking it easy which means that Jacob is watching way too much tv...I feel like a bad mom but I need to get some rest which is hard to do in a strange bed. So, I look forward to my own bed and getting well soon. Please pray that I will get well and that whatever it is that I have does not get into my sinuses, which would mean more antibiotics.

This may be the last post for a while as we still do not have internet service yet. Take care all and hope to catch up soon.
Laura

After Ike

I know many of you won't read this post for a while but I thought I would let everyone know what is going on with us. We rode out Ike (not a pleasant evening) and were able to clean up most of our yard the next day or so. I will post pictures of our yard, before and after, when we return home and have internet access. It was a mess and I have a call in to our tree guy as we have some large branches hanging up in our sweet gum tree. Over all, though, we were lucky.

We left town on Sunday to come up to Canyon Lake. There was lots of traffic going into Houston and we saw lots of ambulances and buses headed that way. We just decided to not be miserable when we could come up here and live fairly normal lives. There is dial up internet access here so Shane can work (although slowly) and Jacob and I are trying to keep ourselves busy. Our neighbors are watching the cats and we brought the dogs with us...they love the property here. The deer are out now and I am watching them while I am typing. Shane and Jacob are fishing at the lake.

Our power is back on at home but no cable yet; so, no TV, phones or internet access. We were going to return home Wednesday but are thinking otherwise at this point.

Yesterday we just needed to de-stress. So, we drove into San Antonio, ate on the riverwalk and took Jacob to the Alamo...something he has been asking to do for a while. We had a good time but we are anxious to return home. Jacob is bored and just wants to go home and play with his friends. I just want to take a nap...yeah, right!!! I am trying to think of things to do to entertain Jacob up here but they all seem to be things that I like to do and not him...like eating at the Peach Tree in Boerne or going to the outlet stores in San Marcos. We'll see. We may go to Austin to visit my close friend Cassie and her son Aidan, one of Jacob's best buddies.

That's all for now. Will update more when we return home.
Laura

Sad Sunday

When I got up yesterday, I was so looking forward to finally getting to church to hear an uplifting message. Well, my day didn't quite turn out that way. I was woken by Shane letting me know that my dear, sweet friend Jeanette's dad had passed away the night before. My heart ached for her and her family and that is how I went to church. Well, it got even worse...the sermon was on death, Ecclesiastes 8:10-17. It wasn't necessarily a depressing sermon. It was just on a topic that I didn't want to hear about the first Sunday (three weeks exactly) after my Grandmother died and after the news that I had that morning. After the sermon was over, they played a video titled "99 Balloons." Shane had told me it was a tear jerker but I never bothered to ask him what it was about....the loss of a child. And, as many of you know, we have been through this in more ways than one. We have never lost a born child but ones that had been created in God's sight and the losses were painful. During and after the video there was not a dry eye in the room. I could hear sniffles all around me, including my own.

Here is a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0

Both the video and sermon are about living life to its fullest no matter what your situation is and turning over all your troubles to God.

After the video was over, I thought ok they are going to play a song and I will have that time to pull myself together. It didn't quite go that way. The song that they played was "Still" by Hillsong United which is based on Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"...one of my all time favorites but in the state that I was in, I just couldn't pull myself together and had to leave the room (keep in mind that I sit in the front). Here are the words to that song:

Hide me now

Under your wings

Cover me

within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storm

Father you are king over the flood

I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul

In Christ alone

Know his power

In quietness and trust

If you aren't familiar with the song, please listen to it. It is a beautiful song.

After church we went home and I made one of my favorite desserts to take over to Jeanette's parents home. We spent more than our allotted time with them and their family but I think they were lifted up by our visit. The service will be this Friday. Please keep our friends in your prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Weekend Update

My grandmother Dolly and Aunt Nancy started heading the direction of home today. They will be staying with Dolly's brother outside of Beumont for a few days and then on to Lafayette, where her sister Amy lives. They still don't know if there is electricity at Dolly's house but they do know that there is no electricity at Nancy's house; so, the authorities are not yet letting people into all of their parrish yet. We enjoyed having them here and will have to plan a trip to Lousiana to visit them soon. I think we will wait until after hurricane season is over though :)

Today, Jacob's Nana, aka Shane's mom, took Jacob to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They watched an IMAX movie on Dinosuars which Jacob really liked. Then they walked around the museum. While they were gone, Shane and I went to see Tropic Thunder at the movies and the dinner at BJ's. The movie was funny but was very vulgar and had lots of bad language. I think Shane and I are not used to rated R movies so we were somewhat offended but still laughed a lot (in other words, we are getting old).

I am slowly getting my energy back after surgery. I am feeling better but having to watch what I eat, meaning I am back on my gluten free diet.

I wish there was something more exciting going on in our lives to talk about...maybe soon. I hope everyone is enjoying the first "fall" weather. We spent some time outside with the dogs tonight and Jacob and Shane played football.

Hugs to all!

Louisiana Refugees

This is my Louisiana family and a couple of them had to flee Gustav and are staying at my parent's house here in Houston...my Aunt Nancy and grandmother Dolly. Dolly is my dad's birthmother, who he found about 11 years ago. They live in Houma, LA, where the eye of Gustav passed over. Nancy's husband stayed behind and says that they will be needing a new roof and gutters. We are not sure yet how Dolly's house fared as the streets are unpassable. There is martial law there and they have been told that they can not return home until Friday.

I had planned on joining my parents the next time they went to stay with Dolly but now get to enjoy visiting with her here at home.

These pictures were taken three years ago, right before Katrina hit. My Aunt Georgie (Dad's half sister) passed away from cancer about 3 weeks after these pictures were taken. We made the trip to spend some time with her as we knew the Lord would be calling her home soon. She was a very neat lady and I wish we had had more than a few years with her.

After we stayed in Houma for two nights, I convinced Shane to stay in New Orleans (a city that I love) with Jacob for the weekend. Shane has never particularly cared for NO...too much drinking for him but there are other things to do there. We went to Cafe du' Monde and had beignets and saw a mugging. The next day we went to City Park (ruined during Katrina) and the Aquarium (many sea life passed away there) and saw homeless people lying and urinating on the streets. I may never get Shane to go back there, but I would love to. If you can find where the locals hang out, you can have a great time eating authentic New Orleans's food...or you can just go to Dolly's.

This is Nancy with her son Jeff and daughter Katie and her new husband.

This is Jacob and I standing behind Dad, Georgie and Dolly.

We have been truly blessed by Dad seeking out his birth family. Dolly had one other son (Nancy's first husband and the kids dad, Danny) who died of leukemia after serving in Vietnam. Georgie lived in Germany at the time that my dad found Dolly and my parents toured Europe with her. She also had a very close friend, Marcia, who works for Disney in Florida and we enjoy seeing her whenever we are there. Allthough we are enjoying their visit, I know they are anxious to get home and see what has happened there.