Reflections from Thanksgiving 08

The baton was passed a few years ago,

so it's official ~~ Thanksgiving happens at Meredith's house.

Not only does she set a beautiful table,

nor only that she bakes a delicious turkey,

but this year she has a beautiful new, 90 year old historic home in which to host

this holiday meal.

Here are some reflections from our Thanksgiving, 2008.

A lovely table setting....

Adrian greets "Dah" at the door, his good friend Doug.

Mimi (Lois) introduces Adrian to the bear who recites "Twas the Night Before Christmas". "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Mimi?"

Grandpa found his spot for football watching.

"This little piggy..." invited all his friends over for Thanksgiving dinner!

(Lois and Jo)

The cookie decorators hard at work!

The hard work paid off - here are some of the masterpieces!

Oh yes, there are dishes to be washed... and then more dishes!

Murphy and Meredith are checking Facebook to see what their friends are up to.

Time to send everybody home. "Bye bye!"

What Are You Thankful For?

Today is Thanksgiving, our official day for giving thanks. If what we read in the Bible is true, then we should be giving thanks every day for all things. I hope that's what you do.

But, in keeping with tradition, what are you thankful for this day? I can think of a few:

My relationship with God, resulting in eternal life.

My family, especially my grandson Adrian - the apple of God's eye.

The secure jobs of my son and son-in-law - so reassuring in this economy.

My home, which is warm, dry, comfortable, familiar - a respite from the frenzy of the world.

My health, such as it is - just aches and creaks, nothing major.

My husband, spiritual leader and mainstay - keeps things interesting.

My church - friends, worship, the Word, sermons, fellowship.

My ladies' Bible study - five wonderful friends who love the Lord and His Word.

My Westie - my Treasure, though terminal with cancer, yet alive in enthusiasm.

And yes, I'm even thankful for financial uncertainty,

for that gives me more opportunity to lean on my heavenly Provider.

So today, and every day, what are you thankful for?

Appointment Update

We had what I consider a good report from Treasure's ultrasound today. Dr. Earl said the cancer has grown only 1 mm since the end of September. So she either has a slow-growing tumor, or it is responding to the piroxicam. That's the drug that causes so much gastro distress. So he has given her an additional drug that might be more helpful in keeping the piroxicam down. We'll see how she does with that.

I'm just pleased that we made it to Thanksgiving. Now we're looking forward to Christmas. Just one goal at a time! And I feel better about leaving her while we are in Pennsylvania next month. For now we'll continue to enjoy our walks and "P-mails"!

Sweet Treasure

Tomorrow we have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Earl to do another ultrasound and see what kind of growth is occurring with Treasure's cancer.

I have to say that I initially didn't think she'd be with me for Thanksgiving. But we are coming up on three months since the diagnosis - one month longer than was originally thought.

I have cherished each day that she appears healthy. And we have had more than a handful of "bad" days when her meds gave her some gastrointestinal distress.

Today I have felt a little apprehensive. There is an underlying fear of what the ultrasound will show. My natural inclination is to retreat from my fears, giving an appearance of "All is well", when inside I know it may not be.

Graham and I are planning a trip to Pennsylvania in two weeks. Back in August I comforted myself with the thought that Treasure would be gone by then; thus I would not worry about her during the separation. Now, what should make me happy has given way to that nagging fear again. If she goes into crisis, I want to be with her.

Tomorrow should give me some answers. I may not want to hear them, but they will be answers I need to have. Meanwhile, we'll continue to take each day that comes as a gift... and be glad.

A New Obsession

Adrian, our future engineer, is fascinated with how things work.

He has mastered the art of turning on and off all his battery-operated toys.

Now his current obsession is with the light switch.

You can't carry him past this one without a curious little hand reaching for the switches.

One is for the ceiling fan in the den...

the other turns off the light in the kitchen.

Just checking to make sure the light turned on!

I just can't resist a closeup of the precious little fingers at work!

Yep! We've got an engineer in the making!

Uncle Murphy

Here's a happy moment.

Murphy and Adrian are getting more confortable with each other and, in fact,

share many a happy moment like this one.

A lot of teasing goes on between them.

A boy needs to have a favorite uncle, don't you think?

Treasure Update

I am so enjoying my new Canon DSLR camera! It takes really good close ups and, when I am able, I try to catch Treasure's face since she always turns away when she see the camera. So while I was photographing Adrian the other day, Treasure snuggled up at my knees and gave me an opportunity to get a real close close-up of her sweet face!

She continues to amaze me with her health. In August we were led to believe that she might live only two months with her bladder cancer. After a month of dazedly watching her and giving her meds, I finally decided to seek another opinion with the vet of my dear friend Lois. He gave me much encouragement saying her cancer could be very slow-growing and she might live many months more. We have enjoyed our days since that appointment and her follow-up ultrasound is scheduled for the 24th.

The only effect she shows is in relation to the meds she has to take. They will cause her to have some gastrointestinal upset which can be either very mild or very uncomfortable. Either way, it usually lasts only a day and I take her off the medicine for a few days and let her rest. The antibiotics don't seem to bother her, so I will ask Dr. Earl just how necessary the piroxicam is to her longevity.

Just thought you'd like to know how she's doing.

More Funny Faces

Our little Adrian has surely learned the art of "hamming it up"!

He is a mostly happy boy who loves to play with whatever is available,

whether it be one of his toys or the remote control.

But when he realizes that the camera is out and it's on him,

the Actor in him really comes to the fore!

Enjoy the progression as he hams it up for the camera!

Happy Faces ~ Funny Faces

A few days after Halloween, Adrian was at our house and Grandpa was trying to entertain him while also keeping him out of trouble. So we put the basket of leftover Halloween candy in his lap and waited to see what he would do with it.

At first he had to pose for a picture, as he is so used to the camera being out and catching him doing something really cute! That accomplished, he set out to discover what was in the basket.

What started out as a basket full of candy quickly became an empty basket, Adrian having tossed each of the wrapped candies on to the floor! I remembered playing all kinds of "games" with my kids that granted them some mischief without a lot of "no-no's" so we made a game of tossing the candies into the waste basket. Adrian thought that was a lot of fun!

And this was one activity that Grandpa could handle since Adrian was content to sit in his arms and toss candies to his heart's content! From the basket to the trash can, back to the basket and to the trash can - held his attention for a good five minutes!

Every time he realized how much fun he was having, Adrian would give the candies a big squeeze and flash his "squinty-grin" - too bad I was at the wrong angle to get that grin. It's a winner! I think you can see it over on Meredith's blog!

I'll post more funny faces tomorrow.

Bible Study

I lead a wonderful group of ladies in a Beth Moore Bible study throughout the year.

We meet at my friend Jo's house, affectionately known as the Doll House.

(Although sometimes it is better known as the Dog House!)

Some of us are fervent "Dog People" and so, for the last year or two,

we bring our dogs to Bible study with us and let them have some playtime while we study.

Jo doesn't own a dog herself, but she is petsitter to many doggies and often has them with her on Bible study days. This week she was sitting with two-year-old Lord Byron, a Westie belonging to our pastor's father. Byron had been looking forward to a little excitement - as if he didn't generate enough of that on his own! Needless to say, Treasure was taken aback when she first saw him. It was like looking in the mirror!

They ran through the house and straight out the door to the back yard

where Byron showed Treasure his favorite bush!

Byron is about ten pounds bigger than Treasure, and nine years younger - and faster!

Before they could get fully acquainted our resident tornado, Jefferson Lincoln White, blew in, through the house, and into the back yard to see who was already here.

Jeffie may be small, but he has no match for his speed!

Lois, Jeffie's mom, takes a moment to introduce them.

We always gather around Jo's table for lunch before we begin our study and Treasure found herself having to share her cheese with Jeffie and Byron. Fortunately we got the six piece chicken nugget Happy Meal, so there were plenty of nugget bites to go around!

After a half hour or so, Jeffie and Treasure realize that they must protect their "turf" from the intruder, lest he steal away some of the affection reserved for them alone.

So poor Byron, every time he came close to either Lois or me, our dogs would give him a

"Get away from her" growl. But being only two, Byron didn't have a clue that he was being rebuffed! He maintained his happy attitude in spite of the warnings. Grrrr!

Uh oh! Byron caught Treasure napping and slipped up on the chair beside me to get a better view of the video showing on the TV.

Speaking of napping, look who took advantage of Kathy's nice warm Bible to curl up in!
Jeffie and Treasure have adopted many moms in the Thursday Bible study group.
Treasure, however, prefers to stay on the floor at their feet.

But when all is said and done, no matter who Auntie Jo brings to Bible study,

Treasure and Jeffie have pledged to be "Best Friends Forever"!

Afternoon Play

There is an old adage someone once taught me -- "Be careful what you ask for!" Because you just may get it and it might not be what you need. I was reminded of this as I have listened to Graham prodding Adrian to "hurry up and walk!" And now that Adrian is learning to "cruise" along the coffee table at our house, poor old Grandpa is a nervous wreck!

Okay Grandpa, look at me!
I can dance whenever my Mommy sings -- "de doo te doo te doo te doo..."

Oh, lookie here, a doggie just like Treasure!

Grandpa is ready to change gears and entices Adrian to read a book with him. This one is about a little elephant who loses his blanket but discovers that God can wrap His arms around him to keep him warm.

This is fun - Grandpa's reading me a story!

Now, let me hold it all by myself!

Well, that lasted a good three minutes! He's had enough of sitting quietly (and safely) with Grandpa. So now we get to see all his "moves" around the table!

Oh Lord, help Grandpa get through this transition!

First we do a little warm-up exercise to get ready for the real thing!

Okay, y'all. Is everybody watching? I'm getting ready to do something here!

Oh wait! Ludee's got the camera out. Here's my sweetest smile!

And so goes the afternoon until Mommy comes to the rescue - of Grandpa and Ludee!

"Howl-oween Westies"

My friend, Linda, on the Ebay community board that I visit, recently attended the Northern Illinois West Highland Terrier Club's Howl-o-ween party. She has been posting pictures she took of the costumed Westies and their "show" and I thought they were too good to limit to the Ebay audience. So I asked for and gained her permission to put some of them on my blog.

Prepare yourself for lots of "Awww's" and "Ahhhh's"!

Here are a bunch of Westies and their owners preparing themselves for their turn on the runway. Some are already dressed while the others are waiting until the last minute to wrestle with their costumes. I'm amazed that so many of these pups are willing to wear the costumes, and not just wear them but also walk in them!

Linda identified these two as "Don Ho" and "Hula Girl"! Their real names are Parker and Prudence. They, and several others in this club, are from the same kennel.

Here are the Red Hatter and her Escort. Oh my goodness, aren't they the cutest? I'm a little partial to this one because I have a picture of Treasure wearing her "red hat" in honor of my 60th birthday! No way was I going to get her to wear a dress, though!

This darling little clown has "hair scrunchies" on her tail. What a clever thing to do! And look how straight her hat is? I can't get over the poise and control of these Westies!

You gotta love this bunny! His little floppy ears kept falling over his eyes! His owner just pointed him in the right direction and off he went!

And how about this guy? Linda said he was dressed as a FAN-atic! He is wearing his owner's college colors and team collar! His hat is edged in green and white feathers. He must have been accustomed to wearing it, as he never fussed with it during the show!

The Wizard and the Bee.

The Wizard's costume was home made. Linda said the black print on the fabric sparkled and contrasted beautifully with the silver lining on his cape.

Such determination on the face of this little Bee! I can imagine him thinking, "Faster! Faster! As soon as I get to the other side, I'm ditching this costume!"

Here are Parker and Prudence greeting their little sister, Plaid, who is going to a Westie home with a big sister named Paisley. Many of these Westies at the party were from the same breeder, so there must have been lots of familial camaraderie going on!

There were so many more pictures posted, I can only give you a sampling of what Linda shared. Let's just say I would have given anything to have been there in person! Hope you enjoy these as much as I have.