Another paper done!!!

Got that darn term paper done! I really should have started working on it sooner. Yesterday morning I had a pretty good rough draft finished with a first line of revision. I asked a couple of people that I knew would be very thorough proofreaders to proof it. So then last night, I started incorporating many of their suggestions into my paper. I almost feel like I should be citing the 2 of them. They were of great assistance to me. Finally, went to bed at 3:00 AM for a few hours. Another review this morning revealed a few more corrections and now it is printing!!

Sam's latest pictures

The puppy that wandered into our yard and hearts a little less than two weeks ago has certainly been the center of attention over Thanksgiving with the boys. They all thought he was adorable and took turns playing with him. Yesterday morning, he agreed to do some doggie modeling for me. I was able to capture a few really cute pictures of him.

Little Bit & The Christmas Tree

I've had many cats over the years and have found that Christmas trees with all their bangles and sparkles offer quite the temptation. But no cat before my precious Little Bit has loved the Christmas Tree more than she did on her very first Christmas. We got her as a very young kitten in Sept 2004 and we got Panther as an adult cat 1 week later. So December gets here and we begin to put up the Christmas tree. (I use one of those box jobs that can be reused for a few years so you always start by putting the tree itself together.) From the very first branches, we could tell Little Bit was a little more than interested. She started climbing the tree as we built it and was there every step of the way in the decorating process. She would run up under the tree and go to the center and climb straight up it to a place near the top and then pop her head out. Then ornaments would start to fall onto the floor. Many times that season, branches of the tree would fall out from her rigorous climbing. We decorated that tree daily that entire Christmas season. Not one time did Panther attempt to climb the tree. He was content to bat at some of the low lying ornaments. Here are some of my pictures from Dec 2004. I used the picture in my header as a Christmas Postcard that year. I really liked it. I had not noticed the reflection of the word "Joy" in the blue ball until I put it on as by blog header.







When it was time to take the tree down and store it for another year, Little Bit was there expressing her displeasure at this horrible injustice. How could we provide such a wonderful inside playground and then in such a short time remove it. I just love these last 2 pictures of Little Bit enjoying the tree as long as possible.


Strangely enough, she has never climbed our Christmas tree again.

Post Script

Our family truly had a blessed Thanksgiving. We had a small gathering, but it was good. We had all three sons and our precious daughter-in-law. So this was quite a feast for only 6 people. Kirsten came earlier to help with all those last minute preparation tasks. She was a tremendous help to me.


Our menu included:
Turkey
Ham
Dressing with Giblet Gravy
Deviled Eggs
Sour Cream Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Cream Cheese Corn
Pasta Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potatoes with marshmellow topping (It got a little bit too brown)
Homemade Hot Rolls

For Dessert:
German Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Pie
Key Lime Pie
Coconut Crunch Pie

That was a lot of cooking and a lot of leftovers!! (And a lot of clean up--thank heavens for helpful Kirsten.)

Rusty and Kirsten brought their dog to meet our new Sam. They didn't get along very well, but all the people did and everyone enjoyed playing with the dogs.

We also played some X-Box and games. Some of us scoured the ads and made plans for Friday's shopping frenzy!

I went to bed pretty soon after everyone left.

Then Friday--I got up at 4:00 and got ready for the day. Kirsten was here about 5:15 and we headed out hunting for bargains. Her list was a little more specific than mine, but we both ended up with some pretty good deals. Can't post picture or give more details or I might spoil someone's surprise. We were all shopped out by around 10:30 and got back to my house by 11:00.

So yesterday afternoon included some minor household chores and naps and a start on my term paper.

Today, I absolutely MUST write that paper!! So no photo challenge for me this time around.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Psalm 106:1

Praise the LORD.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
His love endures forever.

Here's wishing all my blog friends and their families a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope and pray that you will find joy in today's celebrations with friends and family!

I thank God that He has allowed me to discover the world of blogging this year and that through it I have met some very loving, beautiful people. Thank you for being my blog friends!!

Gonna try to be brief--but we'll see when my fingers stop typing! LOL

I'm finally just about well from my recent bout with the flu or upper respiratory infection.

I've fallen madly in love with my new little doggie, Sam. Yesterday we had a very close call. My son had put him outside at my request because he acted like he needed to go potty. I was studying for my test. About 10 min later we heard a commotion on the porch and my hubby went to check it out. He came back in and said one of our neighbors said it was her dog and she was taking him back. He didn't want to go with her and had yelped! I just felt sick inside. I know it had only been a week and I shouldn't be so attached to a dog, but truth is I had fallen in love with the little guy. I made a couple of comments about how that was best, he was a lot of trouble, etc. Son says, "Mom, are you going to be okay?" Hubby says the lady said she had 2 other dogs--another just like Sam. Then son says, you ought to see if they'll sell him to you. So hubby jumps up, put shoes on and grabs his wallet and heads out the door. In a few minutes, my Sam is back in my arms. He's all snuggly like he was scared by the whole ordeal. Hubby says, the owner of the dog couldn't speak much English but had a friend that spoke a little more English with her. Hubby speaks some Spanish, so he told them in combo English/Spanish about how his wife had fallen in love with what we thought was a stray dog. The friend translated to the owner and I think exaggerated what my hubby told her. After a little coaxing, she GAVE him the dog and wouldn't take the money he offered. Now isn't that a sweet story!!

I'm off work from yesterday until next Monday--almost a full week! I really needed the break.

I have finished all course work except for the final for my online class. Final is open from Dec 6-10. I plan to do it on the 6th. I have a 99 ave going into the final, so I am pleased with that class.

The other class has 2 more class times to meet. We have a paper due next Tuesday (I have not started it yet) and teacher says we are covering 3 more chapters before the final exam on Dec 9. So my next 2 weeks will be pretty well focused on that class.

I'm taking a break from school today and at least most of tomorrow. I'm cleaning and cooking today and visiting with family tomorrow. Going to try to get most of my food prep work done today.

So I better get with it!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

More about 4-H

"I pledge my head to clearer thinking, My heart to greater loyalty, My hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world."


Yesterday I posted that 4-H Club was a major part of who I am today in my post of 6 random things. Some of you may not know what 4-H Club is. So I decided to tell you a little more about 4-H.

4-H is youth organization sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service under the USDA. You can click here to learn more about it from their web home page.

But for me personally---

My parents were leaders in the local club from the time I was around 7 or 8 (I think) until I was in high school. So I pretty much grew up participating in lots of their activities. We had group wide meetings monthly. Each meeting included a business meeting, a program, recreation time, and refreshments. Members had responsibilities to coordinate and participate in these different roles and doing so taught parliamentary procedure, public speaking, team work, leadership, etc.

There were smaller project groups that formed with members choosing an area of interest and a leader would meet with those kids to learn practical hands on skills. My 2 major projects were food & nutrition and clothing. I also was in a horse project for a while and perhaps some other groups from time to time. My brother (Butterfly Gardener's Dad) was in a woodworking, an electrical group, as well as the horse project group. He ended up with a career as an electrician probably due to his foundation from 4-H.

There are contests at the local, district, state, and national levels for many of the various projects. I competed at the state level in several different areas. The annual Food Show requires you to cook a dish, present it in an attractive display area, and be questioned from a panel of judges for nutrition information. The annual dress review included sewing a garment, modeling it, and answering questions from judges. I think you also had to complete some paperwork related to the project as well. I also participated in method demonstrations and illustrated presentations. For these you prepared a presentation including props and visual aids and gave about a 10 minutes talk about a subject area. You were judged on your presentation. Each year you completed a record book documenting your experiences for the year and turned that in for judging. We had an annual county awards banquet where members from all over the county were recognized for their achievements.

In addition to this, there were leadership conferences, camps, etc available to attend. Some lasted a weekend and some were a week long. One of the major highlights of my time in 4-H was participating in the National Citizenship and Heritage Tour the summer before I was a junior in high school. I went with a group of about 120 other 4-H members and leaders from all over Texas (I didn't know anyone else in the group when we left) from Dallas to Washington DC. We had 3 grey hound buses and stopped at various historical attractions in route. It took about 3 or 4 days to get there. Then we spent a week in classes on citizenship and toured the Washington DC area. We went to the homes of Washington and Jefferson and spent a day on Capital Hill meeting with our congressmen and observing congress in session. Then we took another 3 or 4 days to drive back home stopping along the way.

So 4-H taught me practice skills of sewing & cooking and a host of other leadership, public speaking, presentation, organizational, parliamentary procedure, community service, and other life skills.

As an adult I have served as a leader in 4-H and have been a judge at Food Shows and tutored other members in method demonstrations. I did all that before my kids were old enough for 4-H and for some strange reason never got them involved in a 4-H club. I'm not sure why. It just didn't happen.

At any rate, I am thankful for the major impact that 4-H had in my life.