Lil Mr. Sneezy

Ok...well this one has me stumped. Anyone ever heard of a cat being allergic to the outdoors? One of our cats will soon be dubbed Lil Mr. Sneezy! When put him in the yard,  he of course freaks out b/c he's not used to being outside but the crazy thing is that he starts wheezing and sneezing! so idk what to think!

The tragic story is how we came to adopt the lil thing... I turned on the dryer and heard a horrid sound. After moving everything around, grabbing a cage, and setting up a way to trap what we thought was a squirrel, I finally reached in and pulled out this tiny kitten. How in the world it managed to make it's way on my porch I haven't the foggiest b/c we have a door... slipped on unnoticed while one of us were coming in is all I can figure.  My dryer vent cover broke not real long ago, and we've yet to get a new one. Thinking nothing could get on the porch and get in, we didn't much worry about it.

Well, this little feller made his way on the porch, went in through my vent, and was completely in my dryer...and was almost killed. Luckily as quick as I heard the horrid noise, I knew something was there and we found the feller... but not before fur blew out my vent! He had a patch of hair shaved off his scalp and off each ear,  half his little nose was gone [literally!], and his lower front leg was ripped open from the joint to the paw.

Now, I am no cat person...never was...but... I felt horrible!!! I doctored and coddled him constantly even letting him sleep on my chest at night!! and prayed with my kids that he would be ok. I knew it wasn't my fault the lil guy climbed in the dryer vent, but I knew I had turned it on and off twice trying to figure out what was going on...so my doings led to his near death experience.

Well, he's a spoiled rotten little kitty now! He's all healed up, thankfully, but he still doesn't have leather on his nose. I don't think that will return. Ever so often he'll bump it and it will bleed, but all his other wounds are healed.

He's now getting big enough to go out into the world and chase the chickens, birds, and field mice! Mostly he's male...fixed or not...they spray, so he's got to go outside, but each time I take him out he goes crazy! I don't know if the wheezing and sneezing is anxiety or allergies, but it's the strangest thing I've ever seen!

So call me crazy, but I'm going to pray this little kitten gets over whatever he has so he can live a fun, full life outdoors. You might think it's a little silly to pray for a cat, but Proverbs 12:10 says "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." so why not... if a God tells us a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, then God must also regard the life of all beasts...even lil sneezy ones and would be okay with us praying for it! and what would I tell my kids anyway if I said no to that.. we pray for them when they are sick! I couldn't just say... God doesn't care about that, now could I?

So...here is our little sneezy feller (including a depiction of him drawn by my 6 yr old as part of one his creative writing assignments... he's learning about pets, why we think God gave us pets, and how we are supposed to care for and love them. He'll be memorizing Proverbs 12:10, too).

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Um... the cat or the bed... one of the two is a bit out of proportion! If he grows to be this big...well...I'm moving out! lol!

Give to the community; they give back!

Saturday we had another outreach event dropping flyers at houses and on windshields. My kids just so happened to come across a house where a woman came out to give her lil pup a potty break! They were more than eager to run over to hand her a flyer! See it goes like this...if they see a puppy, they've got to pet it!!

Next thing you know we were walking up the street with a new puppy! The  pup spent the rest of the day riding in my husbands lap as he creeped along with our vehicle while we scurried from house to house handing out flyers! The lady lived on a corner lot, at an intersection, and was worried the pup was going to get ran over! She seemed a little sad, but told the kids that he really needed a good home! We were more than pleased! We had the perfect home in mind!

So...this lil feller is now the new best friend to my neighbor - my mother-in-law. She's been ever so lonely since the loss of husband, though we are over to visit everyday. I was so excited that she decided to take the lil pooch! I hope he brings her lots of joy!

Isn't he a cutie?! He's a dapple dachshund or as we here in Louisiana call it... a Catahoula Weenie Dog! lol!

Problem is... he doesn't have a name yet! We forgot to ask the lady what his name was, and now he's just DOG! So we're up for suggestions!

Blessings,

All Before Noon! Whew!

Yesterday I mentioned keeping my cousins 10 month old daughter and 2 year old son. I only had to keep the 2 year old till his aunt could get off work to get him, but the 10 month old stayed over night. Bath and bedtime were a breeze, and she slept all night waking about the same time we normally wake at our house! All went amazingly great! She's a very good baby!

About the time I'm dressing her, her mom calls. They were on their way. I looked at the clock; the book mobile was on it's way, too.  I hurried to get everything together and by the door. I had just gathered the books when the book mobile pulled in the drive. We get on, get to checking in and checking out, and up comes my cousin.

I pass off the baby to her daddy, make a few trips in and out of the house for all her stuff, and then we just stand there talking. I can't figure out why the book mobile hasn't left yet, so my oldest volunteers to check and see what's wrong.   He discovers that in the midst of the hustle and bustle dealing with the baby's stuff we forgot our entire crate of books on the bookmobile! The woman has to be the most patient person I know! and sweet as she can be! She didn't act like she was in any hurry at all! I felt bad b/c with baby on hip, I headed off the bus, and had told my oldest to pack the crate... he never heard me. teens don't hear much, do they? lol!

Once my cousin and her family leave, as does the bookmobile, we head back in the house to finish up the morning chores. My oldest had a project to finish up, so he sits down to conquer that task. I sit down, too! I thought I'd take a quiet moment!

Not...My daughter runs in hollering about something being in the neighbors yard. So off I go again... thinking what now?

"Mom, something is in there!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you hear it... MOOOOM!!!? Listen to the dogs!"

"What?"

"LISTEN!"

"I can't your yelling!" lol!

And so... low and behold I hear a familiar sound... it's our missing cat! Well, the newly adopted stray cat  that is!

See... he made our house his home on Monday or someone else made our house his home when they dumped him. I'm not so much a cat person, but good for the cat, my kids are. They couldn't help but fall in love with him. Then...he goes amiss! After being gone nearly two full days, they were sure he'd never come back.

Now what is that I spy with my little eye... it took a lot of spying to figure out where he was, but I spotted him al'right! Blending right in with the bark... he's got a unique pattern (something like that of an occelot), so I could barely make him out fifty foot up that pine tree! The neighbor's squirrel dog wins again... cept this time, he's done treed himself a cat!

We call the neighbor cell phone, move the dogs from one part of the fenced in area to the other area, and call that cat over and over and over again! After a while I give up which makes me look heartless to my kids or more specifically to my 14 year old!

"Come on, we're going home!" I say.

"But, Mom... It can't get down! I have to climb the tree!"

"You're not climbing the tree!"

"I can use my climbing stand or those things dad has to hook on your boots!"

"I don't think so!"

"Mom! It is NOT going to climb down!"

 It got up there, didn't it!"

"But there aren't any branches...It can't jump down!"

"It will get down!"

"Mom, it won't!"

"It will figure out the dogs are penned up, and it WILL get down! I promise!"

"Mom, call the fire department!"

"No!"

"Mom it's gonna die up there!"

"I've never seen a dead cat in a tree before!"

"MOM!!!"

"COME ON!" I hollered waving him toward the gate.

Now during the time we're going on and on fussing about this cat, we're supposed to be getting ready to go to my mom's work place for her birthday lunch. My daughter had already left the scene when her nose started bleeding. Dry air does it to her sometimes. I had instructed her to do the usual stuff, but when I got back to the house, she was still having issues.

Her brother, who knows everything, told her...
"You know if you lose too much blood, you'll die!"

That's all it took! She was convinced, she was dying! Crying frantically doesn't really help  too much when you trying to stop a nose bleed!  I get to looking at the clock and think... we can't do this anymore. I call the doc's office, and we end up loading up to see the doctor. By the time we drive there, wait in the waiting room, and see the doc, the nosebleed stops. Seriously my kinda luck! Not that I wanted her to be bleeding like that forever, but I so hate sitting in a waiting room full of sick people! lol! ... nothing like going to the doctor well just to get sick, ya know!

We get the all clear, and then head on to my mom's office! Just so happens they are serving Gumbo! Oh... yum! We love Gumbo...or should I say my gumbo. We use beef sausage and chicken. This was chicken and sausage gumbo...but it was pork. We don't eat pork, so that was out. The other options was squirrel gumbo... and that was most definitely out! rofl! I'm from the country, but I don't like it that way! ugh...

My daughters exact words were, "Mom, I think I'm going to be sick!" lol! I thought, "Me, too, honey! Me, too!"

I think she wasn't so much talking about the gumbo, though I am sure that was the icing on the cake...so to speak... btw we did eat a piece of that! :) Baby, bookmobile, blood draining down her face and throat, thinking the cat was going to die up the tree, being convinced by her brother that she was going to bleed to death, and then seeing squirrel parts floating around in a pot... a little too much for one little girl all before noon! She was exhausted!

"Can we just go home? I want to go to bed!" was the next thing I heard.

"Me, too!"

Manic, Mundane, Meaningful? Oh...Mondays!

Monday is just about over for me. It's approaching midnight here in Louisiana! The night is cool, there is a soft breeze, and I've got the window open to enjoy it! The crickets are chirping their usual song! It's quiet now, but it has been some kinda crazy in this house today! I can't even begin to explain it! I've laughed, I've cried, and unfortunately I even screamed a couple of times... pushpin right in the hand kinda does that to a person... amongst other things! lol! Mondays are never mundane at our house!

family Bible reading followed by the words my husband spoke as he closed with prayer...

discovering the mess my daughters ferret made under her bed (I am so ready to put that fuzzy up for adoption)...

making salisbury steak while guiding my 6yo step by step, and then watching him form those oval shaped patties in his most particular way...

how pitiful our poor bird must have felt when he saw someone dropped off yet another stray cat, and the kids brought it to meet him...

my phone dinging ever so often with text messages from my hubby, trying to encourage me throughout the day... 

made it through the day and climbing into bed... oh how Marvelous!

And here's praying tomorrow I have something good to say besides... Torturous Tuesday! rofl! :) 

God Bless 'n Good Night,