Monday Musings and Two MeMes

What a day this has been. Sounds like the beginning of a song doesn't it? Well, it has been a perfectly delightful day. Jim's hand is doing really well so I decided to leave him at home and have a day out and about.

Yesterday afternoon I discovered some fruit flavored marshmallows left over from Christmas. I use these to make my favorite "cathedral window" cookie. Knowing I should use the marshmallows up as they will be stale by the time we return from Nevada, I made some cathedral windows. Now, you need to know that I dare not have these in the house or I will nibble at them until they are gone. I just cannot leave them alone. So, I decided to deliver them to some of our shut-ins from church.

First stop was to visit my buddy, Larry, who has a defibrillator like me. We have had fun comparing notes since he had his implanted in November. Larry has several heart problems and has been under the weather for several weeks. I stopped in with cookies and had a great visit with him and his wife. I also got to meet their adopted greyhound, Emerald. What a fun way to start my day.

From there, it was on to see Ernie. You may have read my post about the death of Ernie's wife, Lena. We all miss Lena and are concerned for Ernie living alone after 71 years of marriage. When I arrived at his house, I found four of the five generations of his family there. His granddaughter, great granddaughter and his great, great granddaughter were visiting him. What a nice day for him. I only stayed a short time. It was good to see him with his family.

Another friend from church, Marilyn, has been diagnosed with ALS. Her husband has been in poor health for quite some time. As you can imagine, this diagnosis was quite a blow to them. They had to give up their home and move to a Senior Citizen Assisted Living community. Marilyn has also had to give up driving and Jack hasn't driven in quite some time. You might think they would be depressed and feel sorry for themselves. Just the opposite. They are so determined to praise God and make the best of their situation. I spent a wonderful 45 minutes with them. I was so uplifted and encouraged after the time with them. They do have a lovely apartment and are well cared for. I was blessed to be in their company.

I finished my visiting by going to the nursing home to see Florence. I found her sleeping, but she woke up and smiled at me. I fed her a cookie which she said was delicious though she couldn't eat it all. It was good to spend some time with her.

Along with all my visiting, I managed to go to Lowe's and buy a folding table, stop at JoAnne's and buy some thread, pick up some travel books at AAA and have a quiet lunch.

I got home just in time to go with Jim to the MLK Day ham dinner at church. This dinner is put on by the youth groups to help pay for their trip to a nearby Christian camp for Snow Camp. This is always a time of spiritual renewal and just plain fun for the kids. The food was good as usual and the service was superb. These kids outdid themselves.

The dining hall was pretty full.

The kitchen staff.

Fellowship time

Tired youth group leaders.

My post title included memes. I have been tagged for two and thought I'd include them today. The first one came from Pam at Country Mouse City Mouse who tagged me with this pet meme.

1. What is the first pet you remember. My first pet was a cat named Shine. He was a black kitty with a white spot under his chin. He wasn't the friendliest cat in the world, but he loved me and I him. He slept with me every night. He was killed by a car. I remember my friend saw him dead by the side of our street and my Grandma carried him home in her apron. Our neighbor buried him for us.

2. How many different pets have you had. Five.

3. What was your strangest pet? I think probably the turtles that my aunt gave me for Easter one year. Back then, they painted the poor little reptiles. They died pretty soon after I received them and I buried them by the side of the house. I was about seven years old and I dug them up once. I guess I was just making sure.

4. What is your dream pet? I don't think I have one. I have always though I'd like to own a cocker spaniel.

5. What is your nightmare pet? Cujo?

6. What is your best pet story? I have several but I think the best one would be about my cat Timmy. He was the most spoiled cat in the history of the world, and could get himself into much trouble. He loved to get into my grandmother's crochet cotton whenever he could. One day we went to town. In those days, no one ever locked their doors. When we arrived back home we couldn't get in the front door. My grandmother sent me around back. When I managed to get into the living room, there was a whole skein of my grandma's crochet cotton wrapped around chair legs, tables, lamps and finally, the doorknob with Timmy tied up, all four paws. When I stopped laughing, I got some scissors and cut my way to the door, freeing Timmy and letting my mother and grandmother in.

7. What is your saddest pet story? It would be the loss of my dear dog Frazier. If you have been a reader of my blog, you know how dear that dog was to Jim and me. It is still hard for me to talk about it. Without going into all the details, it is my belief and that of the Vet that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. I spent the night with him downstairs in the living room. He couldn't climb the stairs. I had to carry him outside to do his morning business. We took him to the Vet and she said there was nothing to be done. We held him while she gave him the shot that allowed him to go to sleep. I am crying as I write this. I miss him more than I ever thought possible.

8. Do you have a scary animal experience? Yes. My aunt had German Shepherds who were not friendly. She had them penned on another aunt's porch and I didn't know they were there. I came running up the walk and steps to be greeted by them jumping and snarling behind a baby gate. I was afraid of all dogs for years after that.

9. What was your favorite pet? My boy Frazier.

I never get tired of posting his picture. Isn't he handsome?

10. Do you have anything you want to tell that doesn't fit in any of the questions. Only that Frazier didn't like us to leave him alone. Our punishment was to find a tissue from the waste basket laying in the middle of the hall when we returned. When we traveled, our friends, the Haaks, would keep him. One day I called them to see how things were going. They had been out to the movies and when they came home found a tissue laying in the middle of the floor. They felt they had arrived.

The second meme comes from Faye at Dutch Gramma. Hers is a photo tag. Here is how it goes.

Go to your pictures. Go to the sixth folder. Go to the sixth picture. Post that picture and the story that goes with it. This is fun.

This is a picture of our daughter, Gretchen, Jim and his brother LaVerne. This picture was taken in February of 2006 in Pahrump, Nevada. If you know anything about Nevada, you know that Pahrump is famous for more than its winery. It was a fun day.

So ends my Monday Musings. Thanks for dropping by and sticking with me. Hope this is the beginning of a perfectly delightful week for everyone.

As for the tags, I won't tag anyone in particular. If you want to join in, please do and let me know so I can be sure and read what you post.

~hippo hugs~