Sunday Social - Mali

Sorry this is late. Our internet went kaput yesterday and I spent the better part of the morning on the phone with Chris from India to get it restored.

God bless you, Chris, you saved me!



Next one down on my siggy line...

Anne,
Wife of Fred for 23 years
Mom of:
Patrick (16)
James (16)
Rosie (14)
Bella(14)
Julie (13)
Daniel (12)
My children around the world:
Milly in Taiwan
Eun Hae in South Korea
Felice in Hong Kong
Nadya in Germany
Obrin in New York
And our critters Blue, Sunny, Cindy-Lou, Annabelle, Fiona, and Sophie; Mamfy, Mali, Milky and Punkin; Nick; Frog 1; Charlie and Dizzy; Minnie and Alice; Elfie, Frex, Crope, Tibbit and Ozzy; Genevieve, Pippin and Finnegan; and a dozen or so chooks.

I'd like to ask God why He allows
hunger, poverty, and injustice
in the world,but I'd be afraid
He'd ask me the same thing ...


Is Mali.

Mali came to us in a desperate state about 2 1/2 years ago. Instead of re-writing her story, I'll just cut and paste what I wrote about her back when we found her:

Over the years we have crossed paths with many stray critters. Some we have kept as our own, others we have found loving homes for.

As of Sunday, a new little stray has entered our lives. A sweet tabby kitten we have named Malishka, which is Russian for baby girl.

That afternoon I was sitting on the deck in the late afternoon watching the kids in the pool when I heard a plaintive, repeated meowing coming from our driveway. When I looked down, I saw this pathetic little half-bald kitty looking up at me and crying pitifully. As soon as I opened the gate to walk down the steps toward her, she ran away. Luckily, she didn't run far and she stopped and let me pick her up. It was all I could do to keep from crying out when I saw the hundreds of fleas running all over her bare back and belly.




I took her inside and gave her a bath with some itch-relief pet shampoo, then applied a vial of Frontline to her.

Despite being half-starved and half-mad from all the fleas, she was incredibly sweet and quite the purr-train. We gave her some food and water which she gobbled right up, and made a bed for her in a pet-carrier with a litter pan and a water dish.
Next morning, she still had some fleas, but there were hundreds of dead black dots in her bedding. A step in the right direction. I called the SPCA and reported that we had a found kitten staying with us, but it's now two days later and I haven't heard back from them.

I guess we have a new pet.

Well. Julie does. We've decided this can be her kitty, and she's beyond excited.
Julie went with me today to take her kitten to the vet. We've learned that Mali's about two months old, she has worms, but does not have feline leukemia or HIV. We also learned that she's very cute.

We already knew that.










Meow. Purr. Click. Thanks!

Thrifty? Meet Easy.

Like many folks, I'm in lukewarm pursuit of learning how to eat healthier while spending less and saving time. I've been looking into a few books and checking out some new blogs (especially this one, Heavenly Homemakers), trying to find ways to work more whole foods into our diet.

I've been making a little progress, and I'm thinking I might make a semi-regular blog feature of this. Say, once a week I might write a post about these topics, or share a recipe or something.

And while my progress towards those goals might be glacial, hey, at least I'm creeping along in the right direction. For instance:

Used to be I only made one or two breakfasts a week, and always on the weekends. Now I probably make breakfast 5 or 6 mornings a week.

Used to be I bought a lot of prepackaged junk for everyone to snack on. Cookies, chips, ice cream.
Now? Though I still buy them occassionally (and they must be on sale), I usually make homemade after school snacks, and about once or twice a month I make some ice cream from fresh-from-the-farm milk. Yum.

Making slower progress in how many homemade dinners I make, but I'm getting there. At this point we get pizza delivery most Friday nights, and we might all eat out once every week or two. Yeah. I need to work on that.

Used to be I thought I would not have time for anything "from scratch", but I no longer live in fear of it.

Now, fear not, "from scratch" for me does not mean grinding my flour and making my own pasta. What it does mean is making honest-to-God meals from recipes, not from opening a box and sticking it in the microwave.

We still have a large share of pre-packaged things in our pantry, though, such as boxes of cereals for the days I don't make breakfast, cans of soup for the kids to snack on, and yes, I'll admit it, some Stove Top and some Kraft Mac-n-cheese is always nice to have on hand. I am human. I have my weaknesses. Don't judge.

Anyway, I found a book not too long ago that helps me to:

a) make more from scratch
b) save money
c) save some time
d) feel productive.












It's the Make A Mix cookbook and I have to say, it's kind of cool. It shows you how to make certain mixes in large quantities that can be used to make a variety of dishes.

For instance, I just mixed up a big batch of "Quick Mix" and put it in an old ginormous Costco-type pretzel container. Then when I want to whip up pancakes or muffins or biscuits, I just measure out some of the Quick Mix and add a few other ingredients like eggs and milk and stuff and I'm good to go. Think homemade Bisquick.

Of course, there's all kinds of other things in the book, too, like making your own onion-soup dry mix for seasoning things, salad dressings, etc. The point is, if you spend a little time mixing up the dry ingredients, making from scratch later won't take up as much of your precious time. And of course these mixes you put together from the basic ingredients only cost a fraction of what they cost when you buy them pre-packaged in the grocery store.

Lastly, you can tweak things to get whatever health benefits you might be after, whether that means using more whole wheat flour, less salt or sugar. Whatever keeps your heart tickin', your arteries clean as a whistle, and your blood sugar at a reasonable number, I say go for it.


How about you all? From scratch? Eat out? Frugal? Let me know where you stand....




And throw me a vote, will ya'? Tanks!


Image courtesy Amazon

Farm Friday - Rabbit as Sheep Herder??

All these years I've been using my Aussie to herd my sheep and goats when I could've been using rabbits. Who knew?











Vote, rabbit,
Vote, rabbit,
Vot, vote, vote....

Thanks are in Order.

I just realized that it's been about a year since I started blogging in earnest. As in posting daily, keeping some semblance of focus, promoting it through FB and Twitter, and throwing my hat in the ring in places like Top Mommy Blogs and Circle of Moms and stuff.

And I gotta say Wow.

And I gotta say Thanks.


Not that I'm gonna win any Most Read Blog on the Planet Award anytime soon, nor am I in danger of going viral with a post about an egg-bound chicken or squabbling teenagers, but it's nice to know that folks seem to have responded.

I won't bore you (and embarrass myself) with numbers, but suffice it to say that my blog now gets as many hits in a day as it used to get in a couple of weeks. And though I'll probably never be in the top 10 on Top Mommy Blogs, it's nice to know that I've maintained my position on the "front page" for the better part of a year now.

The act of blogging (as well as the gentle persuasion of some of my readers) has also gotten me to submit a few pieces for publication, and to that end, I have found some success: a bunch of essays in adoption magazines, along with several in upcoming books, as well as quotes in a couple of e-zines and The New York Times. I know, right?

I'm still not even sure why I write this blog. It started as a journal of sorts when we were going through the adoption, and as a means of updating friends and family on where we were in the process. These days, however, it is simply a hodgepodge of the stuff of our lives. The pain, the joy, the wet-myself-with-laughter-stuff that goes on 'round here.

Many bloggers say, "I write for myself". To which I say, really? Then why not a journal in the drawer of your nightstand?

Me, I write to share. Share the funnies, share the pain, share what I have learned/what I hope to learn about Reactive Attachment Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and adoption. Share the critters.
Seriously, anybody want some cats?

Because, you know what they say: misery loves company.

And these days? I've got lots of good company.


Thanks again, people. Really, thanks.....




And as always, thanks for your daily vote by clicking this button.



Image courtesy: blog.hubspot.com

Wordless Wednesday

This is what a lost retainer looks like.














Please lift my spirits by clicking to vote. Thanks....




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