Goodbye Molly

It all started about 15 or 16 years ago. We are really not sure but it doesn't matter. My father came home one day with a "britney spaniel" about 7 or 8 months old...named Molly. My father was about 72 years at the time and my sisters and I could not figure out why he wanted this dog at his age. She was very active but behaved well for my dad. My mother really was never a dog lover but she tolerated all the dogs we had when we were growing up. Molly was no different. She was definitely a "girl" dog but my mother always referred to her as " him". My sisters and I would always correct her and she would just laugh and continued to refer to her as "him".

Molly could run like the wind and loved to catch the moles that were invading my parent's backyard. Of course Molly did more damage than the moles did because she would dig and dig and dig until she caught that nasty little creature. We would then have to go and fill in all the holes she had dug.

Then came April 12, 1998, the day my father passed away. It was Easter Sunday and actually a beautiful day. My father died around 5:30am...just before sunrise. I thought what a wonderful day to go to heaven.

Now that my father had gone, my mother was home alone for the first time in her life except for Molly was there. She became a wonderful companion to my mother who didn't drive and was retired. They developed their own daily routine. She loved Ritz crackers and every night my mother would give her eight crackers. Why eight crackers we will never know. Then each night Molly would back up to my mother who sat in her infamous rocking chair and would want my mother to rub her back. My mother who never really was a dog lover became attached to Molly and Molly to my mother.

About 3 years later my mother made the decision to go into an assisted living due to her diagnosis of alzheimers. She could have taken Molly but it would have been too much for her to handle and not fair to Molly to rob her of a place to run. So I took her. She adjusted well and developed her own routine at her new house. She got along with our dogs for the most part but she let them all know she was boss and she was the boss.

The past two years we could see her decline but tried not to think of the day she would be gone.
Then this past Christmas my youngest son, Ben got a black lab puppy named Winston. He was a big puppy and about the size of Molly. He wanted to play and she played with him. Sometimes I would think Winston was getting to rough with her but she would paw at him and would ask for more. I truly believe Winston extended her life and gave her the last "hurrah".
When we got Jack (our newest addition) about two months ago it was like she said, "ok...Winston you now have a playmate.....my work is done."

We think Molly had a stroke on Friday and gave her a chance to recover over the weekend but this morning she was actually worse. My sister Anne and my son Ben took her to the vet to be put down. I could not watch her suffer nor could I take her myself. I am so grateful to them for taking her for me. I just could not do it.

My good friend who lives across the street where my parents lived all those years offered to let us bury Molly in her backyard because we did not have a place to bury her. Her backyard was fitting because it took Molly back to where she started.....on Carolina Avenue.

Molly, you were the best dog any family could ever want and you touched many. I love you and I will miss you.

Goodbye Molly.......

WINSTON...THE BIG BLACK DOG!

We have a dog..or shall I say my son, Ben has a black lab that was given to him last Christmas as his BIG Christmas gift from us. I was hesitant at first about getting another big dog and one that sheds no less...but we did it.

I’ll have to admit...I’ve fallen in love with Winston. As of now he is about 9 months old and he weighs 77 pounds. He is so long and he has the longest tongue I’ve ever seen on a dog.

He has a mind of his own but is a very quick learner. He was house broken in a month..and can now do several tricks that he would learn in a matter of minutes. Sit, lay, roll....shake hands...(both hands)..and now we are working on the going outside to get the paper. That one will take longer.

But today...Mr. Winston got a wild hair and proceeded to be just a bad dog. He ate two screws that belong to a pistol my husband was working on at the time. Now we wait for the wonderful poop! No...my husband waits for the big event. These screws cannot be replaced.

Then..while I was taking him outside to see if we would retrieve the screws..he decides to take a running jump into his kiddie pool..then jumped back out..ran down the little hill..right into my legs...and knocked them right out from underneath me and down I went. I landed more on my left side and at the time I had my blackberry in my hand talking to my sister in law. All I could say was OMG..OMG...“““thug“““. My blackberry never left my ear...LOL. Winston then proceeds to try to bite my hair and take my sunglasses off my head. All I could do was laugh.
At first I thought...“boy, I’m not even hurt“...but now...I’m starting to get a little stiff.

Despite all that Winston has done today...we still love him to death!!

This all got me to thinking about how we live our lives day to day and what God thinks of us. We make mistakes, say things we shouldn’t, do things we shouldn’t, and just plain screw up...but God still loves us unconditionally..even during our screw ups. How awesome is that?

Now let me go find that Advil....again....

WHERE'S THE MOTIVATION?

Lately I've been extremely motivated on exercising. I have to give all the credit to God because I have people praying for me to stay motivated and I've asked him myself to help me in staying "gun ho" with it all. And so far...I have. It's like everything has finally clicked with me in the exercising, watching my calorie intake, and wanting to stay healthy as I can be.

I've had several people to ask me how I stay so motivated or they commented on "how motivated I am". Believe me...the motivation has not always been there. In fact it's been missing for years and years. It's so great to get back into something worthwhile such as my health and really take it seriously. Maybe all of this has come around since my nuclear stress test in May. It all turned out great. I think with having such a great outcome it gave me even more reason to make sure that it stayed that way. Sort of like having a second chance.

God does this with us everyday. He gives us a second chance...a third and fourth. Daily we mess up, but when we ask Him to forgive us..... he makes our stress test come out clean...again and again. So have you been lacking in motivation to build a closer relationship with God? Or have you ever truly had a relationship with God? Whatever your answer just know that God's grace gives us the luxury of the "do overs"...and I think that's a good thing.

Happy Mother's Day Betty......

Today was Mother’s Day. I can’t say it was the best one...but it surely wasn’t the worst. I’ve had those. But for some reason...this year....my mother was on my mind ALOT. Is it because it might be her last? I don’t know...could be. And in all reality...I wish it was. Why would I say such a thing?

You see, my mother has alzheimers. She has had it for 11 years. The past 11 years have been eventful and hard. It’s very hard to see someone who use to call you everyday (whether you liked it or not) wither away to nothing. Not only does she have to live with this horrible disease but she is completely blind in one eye (detached retina) and very cloudy in the other. She also has diabetes. So..imagine having alzheimers and being blind at the same time.

But my mother still is very pleasant to be around. She still has a bit of a sense of humor, but each time I see her I have to introduce myself to her. I am her daughter....the baby....and she doesn’t know me. Do you know how hard it is to talk to your mother and she has no clue of who you are?

I love my mother but I love her enough to wish her to be free of this horrible disease. Do I wish she would go to sleep tonight and not wake up? You bet I do. Then she would be free of this disease and could then go to heaven and be with my father and her parents that she speaks of so often.

I was unable to visit with my mother today due to being sick and not knowing what I have. But she wouldn’t know if I came or much less that it’s Mother’s Day. My intentions are not to put a damper on anyone’s Mother’s Day. But this is all I have of my Mother today....and these are my thoughts.

So if your mother is still living...and she still calls you ....sometimes with annoying questions or tells you that story more than once...just deal with it. One day...you’ll long for those phone calls...or that story one more time...

Happy Mother’s Day Betty....I love you.

Today I realized that I am killing myself.....with sugar that is. I am a sugarholic and I am coming to terms with these facts. For so long I have denied it but I truly believe this is what is causing me to hang on to the "fat" that I carry around with me and for the up and downs of my blood sugar...the crashes...and the fatigue. I will be 45 years old this May and I want some changes made by my birthday. So...starting tomorrow, Feb. 16th, the withdrawals begin. I'm scared and excited at the same time. Maybe this will get me back to the gym for another aerobics class. As my Daddy use to say..."it's bad to get old". I said that last time didn't I?

Wake Up Call

Today Phillip had his first cardiologist appt after having a small event in December involving chest pains and some tingling down his left arm. It was enough that it scared him. He was taken by the guard at the plant to the plant doctor. They checked him out and really didn't find anything pressing at the time but recommended he see a cardiologist. So they referred him and today was the day. We really liked Dr. Mac Bowman. We heard he was the best in town so we wanted the best. He asked a lot of questions, really listened to his heart, his breathing and Phillip himself.
We have a stress study scheduled on March 6th. We will know more then of what is going on with him. Dr. Bowman says by looking at the EKG and bloodwork that the majority of his problem is hereditary. Therefore he put him on Crestor for a month and we will know more in about a month of what we are dealing with. We do know he has a good bit of weight to lose and so do I. It will be a joint effort. And we both will start to increase our exercise regime. Heck..increase...maybe START IT....

Like my Daddy always said: it's bad to get old.

FRONT ROW CENTER

((I originally posted this on another site January 12th and wanted to move it to where my other blogs were.) Needless to say...I haven't been back to the gym....but I'm going...that will be another blog.) LOL

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Well tonight (Jan. 12th) I finally took the plunge and went to my first aerobic class in 20 years. It wasn’t any high impact or advanced class, but as basic as basic can be when it comes to exercising. A couple of co-workers encouraged me to go since I’ve been paying for this membership to the Family Y for several months and have yet to grace the place with my presence.

When I drove up to the car filled parking lot, I almost turned around and went back home. I thought to myself how in the world are you going to walk in that place in front of God knows who and get on a piece of equipment that I don’t really know how to work? I called my friend Toyia who was already inside waiting on me and told her that I just thought I better go in the morning, but she kept at me and I went.

I went straight in and got right on some type of bike and acted like I knew what I was doing but I didn’t. Then walks in my other co-worker/friend, Tiffany. She informs us that we are all going to do the aerobics class that starts in five minutes. I of course gave them my many heartfelt regrets and kept peddling that bike. They gave me dirty looks but left for the infamous aerobics room. I thought to myself “whew….that was close, and I’m off the hook.” One minute later Tiff comes back out and says “you are coming to the class. Get off the bike and join the class. There are only 5 people in there.” So…I get off the bike. Like what kind of “hold” does she have over me? She’s not my mother!!

I enter this room…with a wall of full of mirrors, step benches, 3–5 lb weights, rubber bands (whatever they are call) and floor mats. The worst item was the mirrors. I already knew I was overweight but I certainly didn’t need a mirror to show it to me even more. I decide I’m going to stay in the back. I’m getting all comfortable in my little spot and here comes Mr. Trainer. He introduces himself to me and ask me about my exercise past, injuries, etc. I state that I have no injuries of yet and that I haven’t participated in an aerobics class in 20 years. He grabs my hand and tells me that he wants me in the front where he can watch me very closely. Oh my gosh…I’m doomed. Now I have to exhibit my behind in front of the entire class. Just what I wanted to do tonight. Drawing attention to myself was the last dang thing I wanted to do…and now…I’m the center.

So all of this got me to thinking about how we treat God. He so much wants to be the “center of our lives” and so many times we want to put him on the back row. Like the instructor wanted to watch me closely…God too wants to watch you closely. He wants to the be the center of your life and he wants you to watch HIM closely and follow his lead. The more I go to that class and watch my instructor, the more in shape I will be in as well. When I let God become of the center of my life, the more my life becomes in shape with his blessings and grace.

Now let me go find that Advil….........

Good News!!

I received good news yesterday and today. Ok..yesterday's news! My sister's breast biopsey turned out to be fine. A fibroid which will be removed. But what a relief. Today's news is I got my letter from Brown Radiology stating MY mammogram was GREAT! That is very good news since I'm considered "high risk". Plus this last mammogram was a digital one. It was great because it kept me from having to do an ultrasound in addition to the mammogram.
So...thank you God for the good news.

If you are 40 years old and have not ever had a mammogram you need to get one. You know there is nothing to having one. You might get a little uncomfortable for a minute but a paper cut hurts worse than this. It doesn't even really hurt...it's just uncomfortable for a minute. For me it doesn't bother me in the least.

So get that mammogram! It could save your life!

Grateful for my job!

So it's been one heck of a week at work. There is always drama at my workplace but I would not work anywhere else. I love my job and I love my co-workers. We can have the best time at work, but still be very professional. I feel so grateful to have the job that I have. My Lord..look at how many people need jobs...and to think I HAVE a job that I love!!!!! How awesome is that? And how I need to thank God for giving me this job. I do believe that God has me in this position for a purpose. I have helped many people and given them food for thought due to things that I have personally gone through. I think that is why God has me where I am. So....I obey him and do what he says.
God is good.