Icy

HOKEYDOODLESITSNOWED!!!

Woke up this morning to snow again - this time it actually covers the grass,

and people leave footprints where they walk.

I almost feel like I'm in Canada...

She seems pretty proud of her handiwork

Once Upon An Apology

Once upon a time, there was a negligent blogger. This blogger avoided blogging for a whole month. At the end of the one month hiatus, instead of discovering that blogging ideas were bursting out of her brain, the poor blogger found herself with an empty screen and an empty imagination. And the poor blogger apologized to what few readers remained, and blamed it all on the inappropriate non-winter weather and the difficulty of typing on a new keyboard.

Yup, not too much to report over here. Hmm. Christmas came and went rather quickly this year, owing to the busy-ness of the season and the lack of vacation days. I had two Fridays off work over the "holidays", which were spent driving here and there, opening presents, and sharing much-enjoyed fellowship with family and friends. I experienced my first retail Boxing Day from the cashier's point of view, I went to bed at 11:40 on New Year's Eve, and I missed the Great Lindor Clearance Event. Although I do have to admit, there were many other great chocolate deals which I gleefully took advantage of.

Before going any further, I need to congratulate Rick and Elaine on the birth of their first baby, a little girl named Hannah Rachel. She is a cutie and growing like a weed. And I must say, she has quite the nice middle name! Sorry, no pictures - I was going to take some at the baptism last Sunday, and I knew I was forgetting something, and unfortunately it turned out to be the camera. It's tough to take pictures without one of those.

So now, the middle of January approaches, and life quickly settles into its normal routines again. Well, routines that I am accustomed to now, yet it is striking when you consider how quickly life changes. A few short years ago, life was busy with homework, tours to New York City and Quebec City, and high school graduation. There were big decisions to be made about post-secondary education and areas of study. Then came years of hard work and university fun with dorm-mates and friends, staying up to wildly abnormal hours in the morning and doing crazy things, learning about life and love, meeting new friends and future husbands, while at the same time working hard at our chosen disciplines. Now all of a sudden, we're immersed in our curret careers (wherever that may have taken us) and surrounded by weddings and babies. How did this all happen? Life seems to be a whirlwind of change and sometimes it makes me feel a little dizzy. What does God have in store for our lives next? How would He have us obey His perfect will for us in the situation we now find ourselves in? Life cannot become so busy that we do not have time to seek.

Incline your ear and come to me

Listen, that you may live.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you . . . .

Seek the LORD while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near. . . .

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts . . . .

For you will go out with joy,

and be led forth with peace

Isaiah 55

About the Cat...

"Anonymous said...
i can't believe you found a vet that would actually do something so cruel (declawing) to your cat. if you like, the human equivalent is to have your fingers cut off from the last knuckle, right before the fingernail. think about it. please reconsider.
Monday, December 11, 2006 12:46:00 PM "



Dear Anonymous,

First of all, I must say I am thoroughly disappointed in your cowardice in hiding your identity. If you wish to express your opinion about someone else's decisions, be honest about it. I'd like to have an open conversation with you (because I probably know you) rather than talking into cyberspace.

Secondly, I am quite surprised you "can't believe" there are vets out there who declaw people's feline pets. Before we took Kitty in, I called 11 different vets for quotes, and not a single one had any problems with performing this routine procedure.

And finally, I don't think it's quite fair to equalize declawing with cutting off a human's fingers. Oh, I understand the procedure, and I realize it involves pain for the cat. But Kitty is NOT a human, however much we may want to give her status as a personality under our roof. Also, Kitty does not have fingers, she has paws with claws, and these claws have great and demonstrated ability to destroy furniture, curtains, woodwork, etc, despite the availability of a scratching post and the deterrence of a spray bottle. When such items are destroyed, it makes her owners fairly unhappy, and this in turn makes Kitty feel a little less loved. Since cats use their claws mainly for defense and catching prey, and since Kitty is a stricly indoor cat who will not need to defend herself or catch her own dinner, her claws were not necessary to her well-being, and in the long run were only causing her unhappiness in our home. Besides, outdoor cats mainly use their back claws for defense, and Kitty still has those if she ever manages to escape. And, for the record, Kitty's knuckles were not cut off; the surgery was not quite that invasive (and no, it wasn't the "cut the tendons" surgery either).

As much as we enjoy our cat, she is a secondary addition to our home. She is not a child, she is not human, and there are certain rules which need to be followed. No scratching or biting, no ripping the curtains, no destroying the couch. Since she could not demonstrate an ability to adapt to these rules, we took action, and now she is a happily obedient cat. I am certain that in her tiny cat brain, she has forgotten she ever had them. Don't get me wrong - I believe it is wrong to abuse any creatures which God has delightfully created and given to us for our use and enjoyment. My cat is fed, kept warm, and cuddled - better than her fate in the great outdoors. There are much more cruel activities going on in this world, cruelties to human lives, which we should be focusing our attention on.

For the record, Kitty bounced back quite quickly and is doing just fine - right back to her usual mischievous, whiny self.

Water water water

When you've got Lake Permilla, who needs to put

the effort into digging a backyard pond?

Ouch

Big day planned for Kitty tomorrow. She gets to go to the vet to get spayed and declawed - what fun! She doesn't seem too concerned at the moment, as she is more interested in jumping around on the furniture and preventing me from seeing the computer screen. I have a feeling she won't be quite so enthusiastic when she gets home again on Friday.

Who Likes Mini Wheats Anyways?

Does anyone else love this commercial? Every time it comes on I want to sing along, and it gets stuck in my head. I don't even like Mini Wheats.

My little story takes place at a tropical villa

I fell in love with a flavour, Yes it was vanilla!

Miiiinniiiiii wheats wheats wheats

I wanted vanilla for so long

Mini wheats wheats wheats

It's high in fibre you can't go wrong

Vanilla flavour mixed with wheat

Put it together it can't be beat

Vanilla flavour mixed with wheat

Tastes so good, what a treat!

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHWpGb3zYnM

Good-bye Swimmy

'Tis a sad day in the Vander Deen household, as death has left its cold touch on our doorstep. I am sad to announce that my beloved Swimmy has passed away and is now swimming with his friends in the sewer pipes. Swimmy will be missed by, well, me, anyways, and maybe by Kitty. Swimmy led a long and unproductive life, moving from place to place with an uneasy stomach and a finicky temperament. He knew very few tricks, and liked to hide under his rock. He always enjoyed reminiscing about his mud-puddle days, and would quickly transfom his newly cleaned bowl into a bubbly bubble-nest mess. He ate more than he should have, except in his last days when he ate less than required to survive. Swimmy leaves an empty spot on our bookshelf, but his memory will live on in his very own book: Swimmy, by Leo Lionni.

Swimmy's first day: September 21, 2002. Swimmy arrived with

balloons, fancy-dancy birthday cake, and a big surprise with many

people. Actually, pictured here is Swimmy I, who suffered

much stress and only lasted one day. Swimmy II arrived a few days later,

and soon assumed the general name of Swimmy

Swimmy doing some reading in our new home. He was never one for

much discussion, but he did enjoy his place on the bookshelf.

The Hole Swimmy leaves behind

Swimmy's favourite book of all timeHe taught them to swim close together, each in his own place, and when they had learned to swim like one giant fish, he said, "I'll be the eye." And so they swam in the cool morning water and in the midday sun and chased the big fish away

Busy day

Productive days are great. There seemed to be some extra hours added into today somehow, for which I am happily surpised! We got an early start this morning, getting some grocery shopping in at a store we haven't tried yet. I think I may have found my grocery store - not quite as ritzy as the Real Canadian SS, yet providing choice and good prices. And who can't like a grocery store with fancy ice-cream on sale?
Mike and I then toured across the city aiming for the Dutch import store we had discovered on Ontario street a few weeks back. It was a pretty good store - most of the traditional Dutch things were there, except for a supply of our favorite mugs. I was a little disappointed to see that their food isn't imported from Custan foods, as I always thought that was kind of special, knowing the secret to that name . . .
When we got home, we were quite amused to find that the cat had trapped herself in the little nook behind the fridge she likes so much. We released her, then left to walk downtown for a Remembrance day ceremony in the half-rain just across the Burgoyne bridge. When it was done, we headed further downtown for the library, and when we were about halfway there, the skies decided that half-rain wasn't good enough, and soon we were quite soaked. Taking refuge for a few minutes in the Farmer's Market, we bought some bread and summer sausage. When we finally made it to the library, a note was posted on the door saying it was closed for Remembrance Day. Looking like drowned rats, and slightly disappointed drowned rats at that, we made our drippy way home, where we found that the cat had, once again, trapped herself behind the fridge. Dumb cat. The afternoon was spent, for me, cleaning the house, and for Mike, soldering and plumbing. So, the house is clean and I now have some beauty taps downstairs for the laundry tubs (thanks Mike and Dad!)
And, lest you think our day was nearing completion, we gave the cat a bath and then took off for the school, where lots of marking and planning were completed. Now the famous Vander Deen pizza dough is rising in the kitchen, and it's only 6:30. Amazing!
There is only one problem. I am almost done writing this post, but it is so boring that I might just fall asleep before I manage to publish it.

Remembrance

In Flanders Fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1882-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe.

To you, with failing hands we throw

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.