Topic : Is This Normal Social Discussion

I just wanted to send my love and give all of you a hug.

I told Dad about your Shadow and how he and Cy could be buds now. He said Cy would love that, he loved dogs. I have the great vision of that Vicki, thank you for giving me that. =)

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox

So I think your new name should be Dr. V-little. lol

I believe you do really love animals. Farm animals are much different than pets. Even my grandmother's cats were not like cats people have as pets. Her dog too would see them as prey. But farm cats (if they survive) become very feral. And indeed will keep the mouse population down, along with the bird population. So babies chicken have a precarious start in life when there are cats in the farm family.

Kittens are the only kind of farm cats you can actually pet and play with, but that doesn't last for long....and is only when you can catch them. Because their life is much different from a domesticated cat they are much more wary of humans. Though they will come to feed in a dish if left alone. We used to watch them out the windows at my grandmas. We also used to play dress up with the kittens. =)

I have a cousin who is a just a few months younger than me and we used to chase down the kittens and then dress them up in our baby doll clothes. They were the perfect fit!! We would then carry them around in a watering can or a wheel barrow and act like they were our babies. Much more fun that a silly baby doll that didn't move at all. Trying to hold a kitten cradled in your arms is a real challenge!

The best kittens were the ones that had been in a fight with a hen. As I said cats and chickens are not the best of friends. Hens are vicious creatures and will peck anything that comes close to their chicks. Including kittens. So on the farm it wasn't uncommon at all to see kittens with no ears, or one ear. Hens will peck them off. I know that sounds horribly cruel but it is part of the world of farm animals and how they coexist with each other.

My cousin and I loved the kittens with no ears best, and one ear was almost as good. They were the highly coveted kittens when playing babydolls with them. It was quite the coup to have the 'baby' with no ears, or one ear was almost as good. With their ears gone the little heads were nice and round and fit perfectly in a baby doll bonnet. hehe So she caught the earless kitten had the coolest 'baby'!!!  One ear was doable you could kind of get it in the bonnet if you tied it on real quick, but if they had both ears well forget it, no bonnet for baby. =..=  =^..= =^..^=

They must have been inferior boy babies! LOLOL Funny now that I think about it we only had girl baby doll clothes so it was always dresses and bonnets. Probably wouldn't have been fun if we had to deal with trying to shove a tail in clothes. =P

Needless to say the cats hated us almost as much as they hated the chickens. =)

I don't know much about other farm animals. My grandpa raised hogs and cattle for slaughter, so those were not pets they were crops. I love cattle and have always just wanted to raise cattle. Johnny used to raise cattle and I once upon a time had visions of me and him having cattle and raising the boys on a cattle farm. Pffffttt....well that didn't work now did it. lol  Hogs....well yuck, good money, bad smell and mean omg they are horribly mean. They will eat a child, they are very dangerous. No one on a real farm thought "Arnold" the pig on Green Acres (is that right?) was 'cute and cuddly'. Pigs are evil.

Johnny and his dad also had bees. John has been learning about beekeeping when he sees his dad. A few years ago a virus killed most of his hives so he has had to start over. At one time he had around 16 hives, but I think he is just working with one now. They sold honey locally for years. So Johnny knows all the ins and outs of beekeeping and harvesting honey. Pretty interesting stuff, though I never got over my fear of being stung. It is amazing to watch him handle them.

Well I didn't mean to ramble on so. I loved being on the farm when I was a kid, I think about it a lot actually. Sometimes I think I need to write down all the funny little things we did there, they are the most wonderful memories to me. I figure heaven has to be something resembling the best times of your life, so the farm is going to be somewhere in my heaven. =)

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox

PS-I forgot all about that breathing snorting then with them. hmmm something to think about for sure. =/

Thank you so much sweetie. That is one of my very favorite songs ever and you are right it seems to really fit for Cyrus. I don't watch tv so I don't know the commercial you are talking about, but this has always made me cry, it is that beautiful and emotional.

My dad is so lost in this. He told me yesterday that Chris (his wife) started screaming at him that he was her only child and at least he had two other children. I feel sorry for my dad because he doesn't have a relationship with those 'two other' children because of her. She is angry at me and Alan for not being close to Cyrus. I told dad that I didn't know how that could have been, I also had been wishing it was different now that it is after the fact. But you know the phone works both ways and everytime he was in the hospital since I have lived in GA I have offered to come down and be of assistance if I could. Everytime I was told not to worry about it. Now I hear this. *sigh* 

This funeral is going to be strained at best I am afraid. Alan and Ang (bro and sil) are coming here Monday. The funeral is Wednesday. Cy's aunts and uncles are flying over from Korea for the funeral. The funeral is the day of my pre-op so all that has to be changed. This is going to be a tough week needless to say.

Thanks again Neecie for the song, it is just perfect.

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxo

We need some really cool travel adventures about now. =P

~Ami

xoxoxo

Ami,

I am so sorry.  Wishing you lots of strength to get through this week.

Hugs, Loretta

Are you changeing your surgery date?!

Ami just try to be there for your Dad. Apparently she's never gonna be happy. Sometimes you can only do what you can and regardless of what it is, it's no gonna be ok with her. Knowing that going in may help to make it better. Awful to lose a child. Awful....

Okay, I'm not Trace and my travel adventures are a bit different owing to the charming bunch of bickering sisters that occupied the back seat of this journey but here goes.

We got back from a quick few days trip to Philadelphia last night.  My hubby had to go on business so we decided to tag along for one last trip before school starts on Tuesday.  We drove down at night so the girls slept most of that trip.  We try and do as much traveling at night as possible, Lily who is 6 has not quite outgrown the car sickness that kept me usually within a 20 mile radius of my house for the first 4 years of her life.  My oldest showed an interest in the Revolutionary War period of our country and since we live so damn close to so much history I did not want to pass up an opportunity. 

 We stayed at a hotel that had an outdoor pool, we had a mini suite type room so I figured how bad could it be for the girls and I to hang out in the room/pool while hubby spent the morning in meetings.  By 11:00 we had enjoyed the complimentary breakfast, read books, watched tv and had a quick swim (the weather was not pool friendly).  Then things started to get ugly.  The younger two were perfecting the various ways of whining mmoooooommmy and then tattling on each other.  The oldest was slowly dying of starvation, or so she said.  Figures that the place doesn't serve a complimentary lunch. Oh and the place was in the burbs, nothing of interest to walk to safely.  By 1:15 when I finally heard from my hubby that he was on his way back but lost I was ready to say screw the Liberty Bell, I want to go home.

He found his way back and we finally got the hell out of the hotel.  My children are much nicer when they are fed, me too.  We spent the rest of the day at Valley Forge which was a beautiful park.  We saw a half dozen deer sharing a field with picnickers, it was a beautiful site.  Trying to imagine the hell that the men who spent a winter there endured was humbling to say the least.  I think that my two oldest took something away from the visit.  If not they humored their mother who loves history and did a great job acting interested.

Yesterday we went into the historic part of Philadelphia.  The two places that I wanted the girls to see were Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.  Something about walking up the same stairs as men such as Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, holding the same railing.  I get into this kind of stuff and I loved the tour that the Park Service provides.  The Rangers were animated and seemed to enjoy telling the stories and dispelling some myths that make it into history books.  The girls loved the Liberty Bell, I've told them when a beloved object has been damaged that just because something is broken or not perfect doesn't mean we can't love it.  Love that history gave me a great example.

We visited Ben Franklin's grave and considering the contributions that this man made to our country and beyond it was so very simple.  No witty sayings, no ornate carvings, very simple.  It was by his request.  Couldn't miss the feelings of greatness in this city.

So we ended up having a very good time even after the rough start.  On the way home we somehow managed to time our travel and we missed the worst of the NYC Labor Day weekend travel.  And now I am officially ready for my little darlings to head off to school. 

Wishing you all a lighter load in life.

Oh you are a mommy after my own heart! I love history and I love all the sites and sounds...and most of all the feelings that come from walking the same places all those great people walked. Raj and I toured Chicamauga battlefield the on the trip back from taking John to meet his dad this summer. I'm like you I love this stuff. I am glad our country sees fit to preserve historic places, I think it is very important for generations to have an understanding of why we are who we are.

Hehe for our honeymoon we toured the USS North Carolina battleship. Raj's choice but I will say it was amazing. That was one of the things I missed so much when my folks divorced. We always searched out the historic spots no matter where we lived. Something we did as a family and I have wonderful memories of that. Your girls will too. =)

As for your youngest and the car sickness. Not trying to be nosey or anything but have you had an opthamalogist check her eyes? Not the school screening thing they do and not an optomistrist, but an opthamaologist? When you mentioned car sickness I had deja vu to be honest.

I'm not sure you know John's history, but he has a long history of very serious very bad eye problems. Something we were not aware of at all until his muscles gave way in his eyes and they began to cross. If his muscles had not been so weak (a blessing in disguise) he would be permanently blind in one eye. But thank goodness his did. The PO (pediatric opthamalogist) told us that in most cases the eyes are strong and parents never know there is a serious problem. John began wearing glasses at 14 months old and had to have both eyes operated on by 19 months. He was blind in his left eye by then. We were very fortunate that his surgeon was successful and it has all worked out the best it could. He sees very well now, though he does have to have glasses and always will need lenses to correct his vision. He does have some depth issues but not serious.

Here's the thing, he was car sick all the time. He hated to travel and like you we could only go places at night. Because at night, he couldn't see that things were moving, he couldn't see the motion. And he slept. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about his case because my antennea wiggled when you mentioned Lily's travel dilemma.

Ok enough with that.

Thanks so much for a wonderful story, makes me want to see Philly someday. =)

Hugs,

~Ami

xoxox

You are a master storyteller!  Perhaps it's wrong to enjoy the foibles of others ... but dammit, I haven't laughed so much in days.

Still chuckling...

T.