Another bunch of disjointed ramblings...

Another word about comments...when someone leaves a comment on the blog I'm supposed to get an email telling me about it. Sometimes this happens...sometimes it doesn't! LOL If I have missed replying to someone's comment please forgive me. The only way I find out about some of them is if I stumble upon one when I'm typing a new post.

My humblest apologies to our neighborhood for the state of my flowerbeds. I'm embarrassed that I've let them go so badly this season. I found out it took me much longer than I would've hoped to get used to taking care of two kids, a house, two cats...etc.! Once I finally figured out how to juggle all of that, along came my surgery/surgeries and I wasn't ALLOWED to play in my overgrown weed patches. My landscaping suffered greatly. I promise to do better next year!

The boys get along like they were littermates. I still can't get over it. I've never had two cats get along let alone love each other like these two do. The girls think they are endlessly fascinating and Claire is madly in love with Gus who just lies there purring and lets her do just about whatever she wants. Yet another double blessing from God.

And yes, I'm going to talk about my cats if I want to. They are just as much a part of my family as my girls. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't understand it there's nothing I can do or say that will illuminate it for you. You either get it or you don't. I'm not being snide or sarcastic so please don't read that tone into my words. I'm only saying, either you're an animal person or you're not. If you're not, please don't hold it against those of us who are! ")

The girls are growing and changing every single day. They have both gotten so TALL! We went for our first vacation as a family of four in late August. We spent five days or so in and around Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was so much fun...but I was glad to get home too! The girls had a blast. They loved Bronner's...they are their Mama's daughters after all. The last time Garry and I were there was two months before we received our referral for Hope. We had visited many times before and found it such a special place. We purchased our stockings there...one for Mama, one for Daddy, and one for Hope...whom we hadn't even seen yet. The emotions that washed over me as I walked through those doors again...this time not only with Hope but with Claire who wasn't even a THOUGHT the last time we were there. And of course, we bought Claire *her* stocking on this trip. ")

Hope started her second year of preschool in September. She has the same teacher she did last year and she's in the same room...and she loves it! I pray she can *always* be this excited about school. She is still into Lilo and Stitch...loves to play with Little People...likes to visit the library and devours just about any book you hand her...still obsessed with Little Einsteins...and she loves her little sister.

One of the mother's at Hope's preschool whose child was also returning this fall saw Claire and said, "She's not a baby anymore! She's a real live toddler!" Yeah, she's her own person. She has the strongest personality of any human being, adult OR child, I've ever known. She's got a temper like nothing I've ever witnessed...and of course have had jokes tossed my way about my *own* temper. ") She will literally eat just about anything and in huge amounts. She is not only walking, but running and climbing as well. She does a lot of talking...we can make out most of it but I wouldn't put anyone else on the spot! LOL She's got her own words and sounds for a lot of things...and most of them sound very similar. Our pediatrician's have assured us that this is normal and she's exactly where she's supposed to be developmentally. She knows everyone in our family and calls us by name. I am Mama. Garry is Da-Da. Hope is Puh-Puh. Gus is Guh. And Wally? Well, I'm not really sure how to spell her version of Wally! LOL She is another little beacon. People flock to her just like they did and continue to do with Hope.

I love both of my girls fiercely...but don't think for a moment that life with them is all hearts and flowers! LOL As much as they adore each other there are screaming fits...both individually and together! Today they were fighting over a toy. I put the toy in timeout. I've found that's more effective that putting the girls in timeout! We've had some small jealousy issues but really nothing major. In short they're perfectly normal sisters.

A word about posting pictures...I'm becoming increasingly uneasy about posting pictures of my girls online. There are too many nutjobs out there that will snag pictures of children and do God only knows with them. At one point I had some posted at Yahoo photos. They could only be seen by folks I allowed to see them. Yahoo photos is no more...so I've got some up at facebook.com. It's not foolproof but at least I can attempt to restrict their viewing to people I know.

Hope and I decorated the house for Halloween this week. She is so excited about trick or treat...and so am I! ") I've waited so long to have two that can share a "theme"! LOL Terri, you will enjoy this...

Last year I looked all over for a Stitch costume for Claire. I had high hopes she'd be home for Halloween and I wanted to dress the girls like Lilo and Stitch. Hey, it isn't hard. Hope wants to be that EVERY year! The only ones I could find were for beaucoup bucks and I couldn't see paying that amount of money and not knowing what size she'd be or even if she'd be here. SO! This year, after MANY years of coaxing, Hope agreed to be Mulan. I was just about doing cartwheels in the street. I went online trying to find a Mushu costume for Claire. Again, if I wanted to pay $40-$60 it wasn't a problem. So I thought maybe I'd dress her like Yoda...simply because I'm insane and I think it would be hilarious. Last year AFTER Halloween, I bought several costumes for next to nothing that were on clearance at The Disney Store. We gave some to Hope for Christmas and some for her birthday. She uses them to play dress up. One of them was a Hula Lilo costume. It still fits her perfectly...so I said to her, "Would you like to wear your Hula Lilo costume this year and maybe Claire can dress like Stitch?" She was jumping up and down she was so excited. I went straight to eBay, found a brand new one in Claire's size, and got it for less than $25 WITH shipping and insurance. It arrived yesterday. It is simply ridiculous how excited I am about it! LOL

A word for those still waiting for referrals...AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! My heart just aches for these folks! CCAA just finished matching babies to parents whose LID's went to the end of November...*2005*! To put that into perspective...our LID was September 5, 2005. Claire has been home for almost nine months. People whose LID's were only three months after ours are still waiting to see a picture of their baby. AND, geez I thought "The Great LID Mix-Up" was horrifying. That doesn't even begin to compare with what's going on now. You can read about it starting here. You will end up at the Rumor Queen's site. You are looking for posts titled "A Mystery", "Still A Mystery", and "Trying to Solve the Mystery". To Cheri, Shane, and everyone else still waiting...JUST HOLD ON! YOU ARE SO CLOSE!

I've rambled long enough. I'm headed over to facebook to play Scrabble. I am hopelessly addicted to online scrabble and am currently playing 13 games. ")

Barb, if you are reading this please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you! ")

Blessings y'all!

Allow me to introduce you to our newest family member. This is Wally!

I first spoke of Wally in early June. I also told you that he had his own story. Read on if you care to!

I always knew I would have another kitty after Humphrey passed. As angry as I was at God, I knew He would bring another furry soul into my life. Remember? TRUST ME.

I had decided that we would give Wendy at Kitten Krazy a call at the end of June...and I was checking the website at least once a day looking at precious little faces. Yeah, well, you know what they say about best laid plans. Suddenly I had surgery scheduled for the end of June. So, I decided the end of July. Oh...I am so funny! It appears I still haven't caught on that my timing and God's timing aren't anywhere near being in synch.

Garry took Gus for a routine vet visit and came home with a message for me from Dr. Arends. Apparently she said, "You have to PROMISE to tell Melissa. I have a cat for you." Garry said, "I don't want a cat." She said, "I know. But tell Melissa." He said, "What's wrong with it?" She said, "Absolutely nothing. That's why I'm telling you about him. You guys need a break. I've already called and talked to the foster home. He's yours if you want him." As he is relaying this information to me I ask, "What color is he?" When he said black and white I started crying. I couldn't deal with another black kitty so soon...even though Hope had told me right after Humphrey passed that our next kitty would be black. I continued asking questions through the tears and found out that he had been found in a Wal-Mart parking lot about a year ago. He was rescued by Save Ohio Strays, named Wally, and put into foster care. Dr. Arends said she had kept him for awhile until a foster home opened up. I immediately went online and located his picture on the Save Ohio Strays website. I didn't get any feelings other than I was glad to see that he seemed to be EQUAL parts black and white.

The next couple of days I'd keep checking to see if he was still available and that silly face started growing on me. Garry called and made an appointment for us to meet him on a Sunday. I filled out the adoption application online...which by the way was only SLIGHTLY less involved than what we did for our girls! LOL I started to talk about him to Hope who immediately started calling him Sam because, and I quote, "MY favorite store is Sam's Club." So we called him Sam.

Sunday arrived and the family piled into the car to go and meet Wally...errr...Sam. When we got to the nice lady's home she welcomed us into her living room. Wally was in a large cage in the center of the room. Garry and the girls sat on the couch...I sat on the floor in front of the cage. I believe the nice lady's name was Teri. She opened the cage and Wally shot out. He went behind the couch, did a slow lap around the room, came up behind me, and laid down against my back. Yeah...I started crying. He rubbed up against me, let me pet him, and purred up a storm. He really didn't want much to do with Garry and the girls but what do you expect? Hope was dying to touch him and Claire was leaping around like a jumping bean! In case you haven't already figured it out, we brought him home! On the drive home Garry and I decided that he really "looked" like a Wally and tried to persuade Hope of the same. She came around, but only if his middle name was Sam. Thus was born Wally Sam!

If you haven't seen God's Hand in this yet, read on. When Horatio passed I told Garry that when I was ready for another cat I was going to ask Dr. Arends for assistance in choosing one. I trust her...yes I TRUST her. I never said anything to her...nor did he. He stopped into the clinic one afternoon for some food and as he was talking with her she said, "I'm scared to death Melissa is going to ask me to help her choose a cat. I don't want to! There just aren't any guarantees!" So when he came home in June and said SHE had a cat for me? Well, enough said.

Still need convincing? He and Gus get along so well it is scary. They eat together, play together, wash each other, and sleep on me in the bed together. I've NEVER had two cats get along as well as they do...and so quickly. It was literally a matter of DAYS.




And in case you are wondering...Wally is VERY much like Humphrey. He has MANY behaviors that were unique to Humphrey and whenever he demonstrates them, no matter how frustrated I may be, it is like receiving a hug from Heaven. He also has his own personality as well. We've decided that Wally is really an all white cat and that his black parts are from Humphrey. He is yet another precious gift from God to our family...and yes...he likes the girls too.

God's blessings to you! ")

P.S. If you've been wondering where I've been lately...I'm hanging out at facebook.com! Yep, I'm helping to show all those youngsters that folks over 40 can have a "social network" too! Come and visit...look me up! ")