Attentively Attentive to all Things

I have a rant ahead, and before I get going, let me preface what I am about to rant about.  For about a year now, we've been making an effort to more environmentally friendly.  No, we're not as good at this as we'd like, but it's a slow process and we keep plugging away.  We have plans to do more, but require the time to put such practices into place.  We're getting there, however. One of the things I've been trying really hard to do is stop using plastic grocery sacks in favor of the fabric ones. I have nothing against anyone who uses them, of course.  They are handy to have around and last a long time.  However, when you get to where you have 2 cabinets full of them, then it's time to rethink the plastic grocery sack.  Yes, we can take them to recycled (another stage in our process), but why not use something reusable?  I have multiple fabric bags from many, many different places: CVS, Kroger, Walmart, the bookstore, one from my dear friend Kr...

....I am keeping chickens.  The history of keeping chickens for eggs, meat, and feathers goes way, way back, and I won't bore you with a lecture.  Needless to say, we're doing something many have done before us.  I resisted at first, thinking about the smell, the poo, and the general overall ick that would come along with them.  Then I visited a friend and her flock.  I was hooked.  Hers free range and actually greeted me as I stepped out of the truck.  As I watched them crowd around the feed, I thought "I can do this!"  Next, I set out learning about breed, because yes, there are many, many breeds of chickens!  Not all chickens lay white eggs, the majority lay brown, and then there are those that lay blue ones.  I agonized for weeks over what breed I wanted, then I realized I could order multiple breeds at once!  Happy thought indeed!  I decided to narrow it down to 4 breeds, and 12 chickens to start with.  I didn't want...

...my baby girl Caris was born.  Many of you know the struggles we went through to have a baby.  I was practically into my seventh month of pregnancy before I dared to buy anything for her for fear of jinxing everything.  Her birth is a blur for me, as I was very sick and sadly don’t remember much from that time.  The prominent memories are those of worry because she was so tiny, and that she wasn’t warm enough, or eating enough.  I was worried about the heart murmur that kept her from being immediately released, and most of all, I was scared to death that I wouldn't know what to do when we got her home.  That notion was tested a few times in the middle of the next several nights, but lo and behold, she has made it to two years without too many issues.  Experienced moms will tell you all those thoughts are normal and will never cease, and indeed today I am still worried about those same things.  However, now I’ve added her falling down the baseme...

Last night at 9:30pm, I uploaded my last assignment for the semester!  I am now a free chickie until the end of August.  I can't even describe the feeling of freedom I have. I have a to-do list a mile long, but I have a reprieve until after Caris' 2nd birthday party on June 4th.  This list includes plans for to turn Caris' nursery into a toddler room, the purging of my closet (*shudders*), the purging of my kitchen, redecorating both bathrooms, taking care of flower beds, and at some point, read and review as many books as possible.  You never realize the simple joy of reading a book of your choosing, until you are made to read uninteresting textbooks for a class that has nothing to do with your major.  *sigh* I also hope to get some writing done, and a certain story finished.  We'll see how that goes.  My writing bug hasn't kicked in yet, but I'm hoping it will soon. We're off to Gatlinburg, TN this weekend for a family vacation. Yep, that'...

....and we've been everywhere today!  We started with breakfast at the Crackerbarrel, which is always a great place to take Caris.  Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the blueberry muffin that was quite literally as big as her head.  There's always much fun to be had with crayons and the little toys they have on the tables.  She even ate yogurt with a normal sized spoon and didn't end up with it all over her,  which is a feat itself.  Then we went down to Lowe's to buy...well, I'm not sure what we originally went for, but we ended up with a VeggieTales herb garden starter set, and two sunflower and one pumpkin starter sets.  Then it was off to Sam's to find a wall mounted hand sanitizer thing, but of course, they don't have these. We ended up with diapers, some outfits for Caris, and a hugely huge back of oranges.  After this, I tried for Starbucks, but compromised for The Apple House instead.  We have some lovely greenhouses around this ar...

Tonight, around 8pm, we lost Piper.  I have to get this out, so please forgive me for the rambling. Piper was 9 years old, but never acted like she was an older dog.  She was full of energy and life.  Piper was probably the sweetest dog I have ever had the privilege of having in my life.  She always wanted to be where you were, whether it be in the bedroom, or in the living room--she was there. At the beginning of this month, I noticed she was breathing funny.  Her entire stomach was going in and out, along with her chest, and I knew something wasn't right.  She wasn't eating well, but we had just changed foods, so I thought she didn't like what we had bought.  We went back to the old food, and she still wouldn't eat.  She sounded like she had a cold, but I couldn't shake the feeling there was something else going on.  Our vet confirmed her diagnosis of blastomycosis, a fungal infection that coats the inside of the lungs with a thick yeas...

I've not blogged recently, mostly because I've been busy with school.  Okay, overwhelmed with school.  But that came to a bit of a halt this past week. One of our dogs, Piper, was diagnosed with blastomycosis, a deadly fungal infection.  She acquired this by breathing in a spore, which turned into an infection in her lungs.  My once powerful, and sweet German shepherd girlie is now a very sick, thin, baby.  It breaks my heart to have to tempt her with all sorts of foods to get some calories in her.  Today, nothing would induce her to eat but about five licks of gravy and meat.  Yesterday, she ate 4 eggs.  She still drinks, though.  Especially after I force peanut butter in her mouth and make her swallow. I'm not naive enough to think she will come through this with flying colors.  If you followed the link above, and read the information, you know we're likely fighting a losing battle.  But, as long as she continues to make an e...