Hide Haven!

Before you have to wear this dumb freaking hat too. It's like we exist simply for their amusement. Loser Bipeds!

Pay it Forward!

Pay it forward! blog giveaway
From Here:http://dragonhouseofyuen.blogspot.com/






I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!


The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Just cut and paste this one if you like, which i did.

***change the from "here" link above to now link to my blog on your new post.

If you have any kind of critters, keep in mind I will do a better job making them something handmade.

This will be fun!

Early Thanksgiving Feast

I cant believe I ate that last piece of Romaine.
Can somebody bring me a Tums!

Thanksgiving

The cornucopia or cornu Copiae is, literally, the horn of plenty.
When Zeus was playing with the goat Amalthea (Amaltheia), he accidentally broke off one of her horns. To atone for this, Zeus promised Amalthea that the horn would always be full of whatever fruits she desired. This became the cornucopia of the Roman goddess Copia, the personification of plenty. Other goddesses, including Fortuna and Pax, also held the cornucopia.


Thanksgiving is not the best time of year for my family. My dad died too young a few days before Thanksgiving and my brother was in the hospital from October 29 thru the holidays and finally left this world on Dec 30th. It has taken a great deal of joy out of the holidays. My family is small now. We still muddle through and try to make it pleasant.

When the weather starts to get cold in Oklahoma and the wind starts to blow through my bones, I start to worry. I fret about the homeless people that live under the overpasses, worry about the kids that dont have enough to eat and may only know a Thanksgiving meal at their local shelter (if they are lucky) and all the homeless animals.

There is an elderly homeless man that wanders around where I work. He never speaks, never makes eye contact, talks to himself as he goes through our trash and ashtrays outside. He collects the butts to smoke and will eat leftover lunches. I have given him cigs and my lunch from time to time. He just takes it and wanders off, never says a word.

This ticks off my coworker to no end. I get to hear "I hate that guy" or "cant he at least say thank you" I looked at him the other day and asked him when all his sympathy for his fellow human beings went away. He said " I never had any to begin with". Obviously.

While we do feel sad this time of year, I am grateful. Grateful for my roof, my job, my arms and legs work, my mother, brother, nephew, bunnies, friends, the heat in my home, car, my puny bank account, and all the food I want to eat and the good memories I have from Thanksgiving past.

My coworker said "god, you feel sorry for everyone and everything dont you"?

Better than feeling sorry for yourself.

MOM! Haven spilled the food!

Poor Nemo, as much as he loves his buddy Haven he tends to freak out when Haven gets worked up and loses his balance. Everyone probably already knows Haven is my bun with severe head tilt. Nemo had severe head tilt too but we were able to improve it to almost nothing. Haven's is permanent. He has been treated with antibiotics for months as well as other meds. I think our furry kid is tired of the meds so I promised him no more unless he goes down hill. I love this little angel. What a happy loving bunny he is.

Haven got all discombobulated when I cleaned his area. His "leaning box" is a heavy trunk with a baby crib bumper around it. It works perfectly for him and helps him when he has bad days. He was trying to make his way around the room and spilled his food, scaring the crap out of poor little Nemo. I put it back as soon as possible.

For those of you with buns with weepy eye problems I just wanted to share a great discovery. We could not get Haven's eyes to stop weeping, no antibiotics worked, no eye drops worked. Chamomile was too drying to his skin. I found something called Eyebright and it is wonderful. I make a tea out of it and apply it to his eyes. They have never looked better. His "down" eye will probably always weep but the tea helps a great deal. If your bun suddenly developes weepy eye they need a vet visit but if you have chronic problems with it, email me and I will share the Eyebright info with you.

Have I mentioned how much I love these furry monsters?

WooHoo! Kick your heels up.

Miss Tango wants you to enjoy this day!

Time to lighten things up on the blog. Thanks for all your comments. My family has had an amazing life. Mine pales in comparison.

I got an SOS from my girls today. " We need a girls weekend!" they say. Who am I to say no?

I didn't get to enjoy Eureka Springs this October. There just wasn't time. So I will be heading off with my best girlfriends for a weekend of sin and debauchery the first weekend of December. Cant wait!!!!!! We have our little cottage in Eureka Springs, hot tub on the patio and there will be cocktails chilling in the fridge. I am so lucky to have these women as my friends.

I was thinking of friends this weekend. Do you find you have different friends for different reasons? I know I do.

I had dinner and a night out Sat with my good friend Rick. We have known each other for 16 years. He is my laugh partner. Nobody makes me laugh like he does. He is way too complicated for a man. Lots of drama, lots of laughter and tons of fun. He wears me out.

My good friend "T" I have known for 20 years. I was crushing on him bad when we first met. We quickly figured out that wouldn't work but stayed the best of friends. He lives in AZ so we only see each other every few years. It doesn't matter how long its been, we get into a routine right away. He is a riot of monumental proportions. He is no different at 41 than he was at 20 except he has a better job. LOL. He will say anything. He has no "stops" in his head. I have to be careful with him, especially when there are cocktails involved. We get in A LOT of trouble.

Deed is the other side of my scale. We are much alike. We love the same books, plays, movies and I love to embarrass her. She turns red easily and is constantly waiting for me to do or say something that will send her running. She is the only girl I know that wears polka dot flats to a Robb Zombie concert. She has a little girl that lives inside her that never goes away. Love you sweetie.

Jackie is the kindest person I know. She is warm and has passed on her traits to her kids. Never moody, always in a happy frame of mind. Jackie and her sister Stacy will be my trip buddies. They are so much fun. We will shop, drink too many cocktails and eat too many bad things. We will get pedicures and laugh our butts off. We will get a little wild and all the boys will want to hang out with us! We wont let them though. Its girls weekend dammit!

I will be posting photos that are appropriate and stories, yes many many stories. I have more wonderful friends but these are the closet and dearest to me and of course my "bunny friends" at the rescue. That goes without saying. They are wonderful people as are all my blogger friends. I feel like I know so many of you personally. Take care and have a great week!

A man and a soldier

Today I think of something very specific. While I remember my father on this day another story comes to mind.

If you read the post below about my mom, you know she was born and raised in Germany. After the war things were bad, really bad. The was nothing to eat, Not all of our allies acted with kindness. She and her siblings were often hungry and cold. Russian soldiers (not all of them okay.) came through their town and pilfered from their homes. My mother's sister was 16 years old when a group of Russian soldiers caught her walking home, they pulled her into a ditch and gang raped her. They left her in that ditch like she was nothing.

My mother was caned for stealing asparagus from a farmer's field. A little girl, hungry. Someone saw her and told the teacher at school. She was caned in front of the whole class. Kids today have no freakin clue.

There was an American soldier. A black man. My mother had never seen a black man in her little German town. When the Americans came through (before the Russians) they often saw soldiers around town. Mom told me this man in particular will always be in her memory. He would toss candy and his rations to the German kids. They would get so excited to see him. He offered them a tired smile and a little treat. This man gave away his rations, all he had and shared it with his "enemy". Makes you wonder about that term doesn't it?

Mom says now, years later, that she wished she knew his name. I am sure he is long gone from this world. I would have looked him up if I could. Here was a man that came from bad times himself. He was a second class citizen in his own country. His family was most likely poor and had nothing. He shared his food with a hungry little girl. I pray in the afterlife his cup runneth over.

Thank you to our veterans today and thank you to that soldier who only saw a little girl, not an enemy.

Courage

Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why is that significant to me? Oh, let me see, I'll tell you a story.

My mother was raised in Germany, in what later became East Germany. She survived the war, Hitler and then Communist Russia. She decided in 1951 at the age of 19 she was going to try and escape to West Germany. She wanted a better life, more opportunity, and to send some money home to her family. My grandmother had 5 children and lost a husband to war. There was nothing left for them. My brave mother wanted to make it better.

Imagine being 19, escaping with nothing, risk being shot or imprisoned for the rest of your life. The Wall was not yet in place. My mother knew a boy that had helped others get out. She decided to try it. There may be no return for her. Never to see her family again. I doubt I would have the guts.

They waited until dusk. When the guards were changing shifts, they ran. Across the highway and into the woods. It was a long, frightening walk to West Berlin. They made it.

Mom got a job in West Berlin. She worked her butt off and was able to survive. Send money home to her family. My dad was an American soldier stationed in Germany. You can guess the rest.

Momma became an American citizen as soon as possible, she learned English on her own. (my dad spoke pretty fluent German when they met) She was only able to go home 3 times after all these years. All her family still lives in what was "East" Germany.

Imagine living in a city like Berlin, a wall is put up and you cant cross it, even if your family lives on the other side. What courage she had. Building walls between humans? I really dont think so.

There is a lot more to her story. I wont try and tell it all here and now but I will share more as time goes by.

For the fallen and wounded at Fort Hood

1914-1918
We Shall Keep the Faith
by Moina Michael, November 1918



Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,




Sleep sweet - to rise anew!





We caught the torch you threw


And holding high,


we keep the Faith


With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led;


It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies,


But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red

We wear in honor of our dead.

Fear not that ye have died for naught;


We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought


In Flanders Fields.

I will think of you often. Godspeed on your journey to the Summerlands.