end of a chapter

This last fall a stray cat showed up on our doorstep. Initially she was to shy to let us near her, so we left her food and would talk to her eventually gaining her trust. When she did finally let us pet her we became suspicious that she had kittens. After following her one day our suspicions were confirmed tucked away in our woodshed she had two beautiful kittens. The kittens were even more skittish then momma and for weeks we attempted to catch the little felines. Over the last three months it has drove me batty trying to win their trust but these kittens were just becoming to wild. I have been obsessed with trying to catch them to find these two beautiful cats a good warm home. One of the kittens also needed medical attention as she/he was born with a bad eye. Well finally in what can probably only be described as a great comedy my son and I were able to lure the kittens into the nice warm kitchen with a warm wood stove and lots of food, and presto we had them. We kept them inside for a week, we fed them and most of all we loved them. Soon these little wild felines were domesticated loving cats ready to find good homes. Last weekend my husband took them to a cat shelter where they are getting the medical attention they need and awaiting adoption to loving homes, and momma cat well lets just say its tough to type when you have a cat laying on your lap...

He will be coming around the mountain

My husband has started getting patches of gray hair for a while now, something that I have delighted in rubbing in his face. The tables have recently turned and he has had the opportunity in giving some of that grief back. He now has been pointing out the new patch of gray hair that now grows from just behind my right ear. I have heard jokes and silly tales that moms of boys go "gray early", well if such is true then after this nail biting weekend my small gray streak is soon to grow into a full head of silver hair. My son has taken up snowboarding, and while I don't want to sound like a mom boasting, he is good, real good. He gets on that board and is a natural, getting far to comfortable and now starting to perform tricks and stunts that make this mom gasp and sick to her stomach. I keep a list of orthopedic surgeons stored in the back of my head, certain that this new hobby of his will no doubt result in at least one trip to the ER. Do all moms of children who love extreme sports have these thoughts rolling in their head, or do they have more confidence in their kids? I am elated that he has found something he loves and I smile inside watching him grow at it. I don't want to hold him back from it, but I sill hold my breath every time he is up on that mountain, only breathing when I finally see him come to the bottom still standing on his own two feet!

Goodbye cousin

When I was little, despite being separated by 4 states my cousin and I managed to be thick as thieves. When we did get together it usually meant bunking out on my grandparents pull out sofa, laughing into the late night, stealing snacks from the fridge, and making pinkie promises to always be Best buds, best cousins. I have a shoe box of letters she mailed when we were apart. One such letter describes how she told her friends at school she had another sister,(that would be me) that was being raised in another state by her Uncle. It was a lie, it wasn't right but I felt so proud that she would call me her sister. Over the years being states apart we grew apart. I cant even begin to describe the differences in our two communities/cultures her from the city me from the country we took different roads, made different decisions. It hurts now to think about how far we drifted apart. No fighting, no disagreements, just two people moving on in different directions. After loosing my father I thought about her often and had tentative plans to go see her this spring. Sadly however there will be no reunion this spring as my dear cousin only a month older then myself passed away unexpectedly this week. It has been a tough weekend. I have spent a good part of my weekend sitting on my bed the box full of letters, and albums full of pictures, the sweet memories and echos of us planning pranks to play on my sister and her brothers, discussing boys, our futures... I will miss you Bridgett!

Happy New Year!

Its a new year! While I cant complain about the last year which brought some amazing opportunities as well as a healthier me, I am so looking forward to this new year to come. Already, we have some exciting plans ahead! So very sadly we could not stay awake until midnight last night. Instead we set our alarm for 1145pm, took a cat nap and then when our alarm went off the family all climbed onto the couch to join Dick Clark in the count down and to toast in the new year and exciting things to come:)