Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A cat and a crow


A few years ago, I looked out the window to see about 50 crows hanging out in my backyard. We usually have a few crows, but 50 at once seemed kind of eerie. Eerie is a little understated, it was really a flashback into like viewing the movie Birds as a child.


Upon further observation, the 49 crows were watching over one that was hobbling back and forth along our back fence. After pulling on my big girl panties and convincing myself that the 49 would not attack me and eat me alive, I went out to see what was going on. As if on que at my arrival all 49 crows quickly flew away, abandoning the one. It was just me, the girls, and the crow. The crow could obviously not fly.

The crow tried to hobble away, but was looking rather pathetic. It couldn't find an escape past our fence....not as smart as the neighborhood rabbits who have several holes or the government housing adolescents who hop right over and through instead of walking around. Kitty Bear had done her damage and with a hubby on permanent law school hiatus, the solution was up to me. Do you have any idea how big and scary crows are when they are hobbling along your fence line and hissing at you?

I went inside and secured a box and a quilt. And if you could have all seen me, scared out of my mind, repeatedly throwing this quilt and missing, you would have been embarrassed for me. I think my girls were a little disappointed in their supermommy's skills. I finally cotton-lassoed that big black sucker in and then had to figure out how to get the bird filled quilt into the box. I went with the option of putting the box right over the quilt and using as much of the quilt to secure the bird in the box.

The real trick was removing the quilt to securely close the box without removing the bird too. Ahhhhhhh! My writing cannot do justice for the shaking in my bones.

We got in the car and listened to the crow shifting around in the box and making hissing noises. Trust me when I say this crow was not in its right mind. There was no cawing to be found anywhere in Knox County. The 49 other crows flew far far away and our boxed guy could ONLY hiss. I found new meaning to the phrase "pray without ceasing" and counted myself very blessed when we got to the UT Veterinary clinic without any incidence.

Two days later, I received the dreaded call. Despite the clinic's assurance that they would do everything they could, they couldn't save that darned crow. The emotional image of a release back to my backyard of freedom almost overtook my soul. What would happen to the other 49 crows who kept coming back to find their friend?

I guess they will have to go do some good elsewhere. Maybe one could watch the following video and take some cat nurturing lessons. I think that Kitty Bear is just a lost little kitten who couldn't find enough love from that crow. I know she has the heart to make friends.

And now the video that has been sitting in my drafts for the past year.

You all know how I love animals. Well, at least Valerie knows...she always forwards me everything she gets about animals. If you have a few free minutes, watch this video of a crow who mothered a cat. It seriously brought tears to my eyes...I am just kind of funny that way!




Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Writing on the Walls



Marla, my friend, was frustrated that her well-behaved 3 year old had taken a red dry erase marker and colored all over the place. “Red” she mused. “Why did it have to be red?” all over his arms, his toys, and most frustrating the newly painted walls. My mind traveled back; back to California in 1995.

My parents were forced to sell my childhood home. Dad had been out of a job for a long time, and we had to go, so we were packing. I was now an adult, helping out mom and dad. Mom was bawling. I said to mom, “It’s just a house mom. It’s not going to be our home anymore. It’ll be o.k. We’ll make a new home.” Those words have haunted me repeatedly for the past 14 years. My understanding was so limited.

Mom and I stepped into the now converted living room. A wall had been knocked out of my childhood bedroom. We started removing furniture and there it was! We found the memory right behind the couch. It was crayon. It was on the wall. It was the coloring contest that mom could never bring herself to paint over. My brother and sister and I had been quiet in my bedroom. Mom knew we were up to no good. She came in to find us beaming with pride. We weren’t afraid of mom; we wanted her to judge whose picture was the best. She proclaimed Adam’s “Superman” the most creative, but immediately complimented his younger sisters on their handiwork also.

And so the story goes. Mom knew how to love kids. She would never break a tender heart over some crayon. A wall was never worth it.

I now have three little ones. Mom’s wisdom is always with me. I am not as patient as her, but I want to be. I try and keep my walls clean because I want to have a nice home. But, honestly, when all is said and done, I want my home to be a place where I raised character, not wall perfection.

It’s my dream. I want to build a home where there is a room just for writing on the walls. This home would be a place where kids would feel loved. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to be “home”. I want to carry on my mom’s legacy. I want to be a mother who creates a fantasy world for each tenderhearted child. What a dream.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Dad's Money

A few weeks back Bella accompanied me to the bank. It was a wondrous experience for her as she had never been to Daddy's work bank before.

We stood in the line for the teller.
Bella asked me about my little deposit bag. I explained to her that this was daddy's bank for work
and that I had to give the bank the money that dad had earned.

She asked me how much money daddy had in the bank. I told her that it wasn't very much, but that this deposit would give him more money.

She exclaimed to me and the three people behind us in line:
"Maybe we should go to daddy's work and get his money.
Daddy has a lot of money at work."

I was perplexed.

I then rememebered that we have been trying to teach Bella about coins. Daddy had given her free reign in his change drawer a few days before. She loved counting all those pennies. I guess I had better go and rescue the change from the office, now that you all know where mu hugely successful lawyer keeps his big bucks.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

One Lucky Girl

What are the odds that a girl could find a four leaf clover on St. Patrick's Day?

She was lucky.


Friday, March 13, 2009

Mormon Temples

Thanks to Candace for this video about the Mormon temples.
It got me all excited about where I will be going tomorrow.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Alice needs.



Sheila had a fun game on her blog.
I had to play along.
I have a thing for words and random testing.
Go to google and type your name with the word "needs" after it.
See what comes up.

Here are my self revelations:

Alice needs help to start dating.
Alice needs someone to dance with her.
Alice needs more work.

It's a little eery, really.


It's almost like that game my mom used to play.
Get the big family bible and open it to a page,
point your finger to a passage and
"wha-la" you've got personal revelation.

C'mon, you know the superstitious side of you wants to play along.

And, yes, LG, I do expect a date this weekend
that includes dancing in the dark....
and more work of course.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Laughter is contagious.

Wendy posted this on her blog today.

It had me peeing in my pants.

Almost as much as the time when LG was the guy they made fun of.

Hope you can get a laugh.

If you ever stay in Gatlinburg for a weekend,

you've got to check out The Comedy Barn.

Funny stuff.

I