More Selfish with Age?

As a child and growing adult, you believe things will change as you get older; you think you will be more wise and grateful for life. You think you will make better decisions and react with more dignity. You believe that you will be a better person; more kind and caring and less abrupt and selfish.

I wished this for my own life and hoped that as I aged I would grow to become the best person I can be. I think we are who we are but we continually learn how to interact with friends, family and society in general; we learn how to live in our world. We grow and learn every day of our life...

I hoped I would grow and lose some of the selfish qualities I had acquired over the years. However, I feel like I am still in a place that I wished I would be far from now. I am not sure how I feel about this and as I come to a new stage in my life, I worry how I will react to the inevitable changes and curves that life will throw my way.

Of course I still have a lot to learn and will never be finished growing as an individual but I know I have evolved and truly like who I am as an individual and as a wife. While I feel like I have finally arrived to a new level of life and should be able to continue on, there is still something holding me back. I feel like I am holding on to some selfish aspects but unfortunately cannot let them go... and I don't know if this is going to stunt my growth or if it will help me grow and learn.

I know I have come to another fork in my road; where one way will take me to the best place for this period of my life, and where the other way will take me to a place that may be harder but where I will learn a lot more about myself. Either way, I know that I have to stand up for what I believe in and even though it may be selfish, I think it is what I need to do at this point in my life.

I think...

Our First Stray

We spent a wonderful week with the sweetest little stray kitty. We've never taken in a stray, mainly because they never let you get anywhere near them. I have always tried to help but have never been able to.

Last week, I saw this little sweetie when I was decorating for Christmas; I called her and she came right up to me and started meowing. She was so precious that I had to call the boys out to look at her. She just didn't seem like a stray; she was so friendly and seemed pretty clean. We were pretty sure she was someones and had just gotten lost. It was going to freeze the next night and we just couldn't bare the thought of her staying out there in the cold. So, we took her in and made posters to find her owner.

One week later, we had a good home lined up for her but not with her owners... we think they just abandoned her because they would have seen the signs if they had been looking... how anyone could abandon this little sweetheart is beyond me! She uses the litter box better than any of our cats and will sit in your lap and purr for hours!

Anyway... a very nice woman called the very frst day and said she would be interested in adopting the kitty if we didn't find her owners. I thought it was meant to be because she was a very kind woman with a older cat that needed a friend. She had actually seen the kitty and had wanted to adopt her then. I met her and she was very sweet and seemed like she would provide an amazing home. So, we gave her the kitty and she had a vet visit scheduled for the next day. I am going to check in with her sometime soon to see how the kitties are adjusting. =)

YAY! A happy ending right before Christmas!

Miracle for Christmas... Light Saver!

It's almost Christmas time and you know what that means! It's time for Christmas lights! HOORAY! I really got into this tradition last Christmas and went all out for the first time as an adult. I always string up a couple of sets and we did put some up outside in 2008, but nothing like I did last year. Jon was proud. ;)

Anyway... this year, I got everything done even quicker and even more efficiently; I was quite proud as well. When I was finished, I loved the decorations but for some reason, one side of the snowflake lights had gone out. We hung additional snowflakes on the ceiling and they glitter in the lights; without that half of snowflake lights, one side of the porch was less sparkly. And because there are around 10 little bulbs on each of these snowflakes, I was a bit bummed at the thought of having to check every single one of them.

Well, I never knew if there was something that could check light stands but I was determined to find out. I told Jon that if there wasn't something, we were going to invent it! Well, there was and it is the most amazing creation and the frikin' best $20 I have ever spent!!!

I got the Light Keeper Pro. It can be found here or at Walgreens. I TOTALLY recommend it! Not only will it restart a burnt out set (if the problem is found in the bulbs) but it will also check the entire light strand and individual bulbs!

The first option is the best and coolest thing ever! You pull out the first light that is out in the strand, then put the light-less bulb socket into the Light Keeper Pro, and click the button until the lights come on! You put the original bulb back in and the lights come on again and the burnt bulb can be identified.

Mine came on the first time. It does say to move onto the other options if the lights do not come back on after 20 clicks. I am telling you... AMAZING!

I will never have to stress over those pesky burnt out lights again! Merry Christmas everyone!

Peaches,the Munchkin

We are pretty sure that our little Peaches is some sort of interesting cat breed because she is still soooooooo tiny! Winslow is only a little over 7 months old and is already bigger than Peaches who turned 2 years old about 4 months ago! We looked up some breeds and think she may actually be a Munchkin! It is an actual type of cat and she looks pretty close... we're going to continue to research but in the meantime, Munchkin seems to be a fitting nickname. =)

Isn't she beautiful!?!