Baby Talk

I can't keep my words straight some day. When I try to speak, the words come out in the wrong order and then I choke on some in my throat. I never seemed to have this problem before I got pregnant. So, I strongly suspect that this has something to do with the baby. I think my brain cells are so concentrated on the baby growing that I there aren't enough left to talk.

Happy Anniversay Charlie

One year ago today we brought Charlie home from the rescue organization. In that year, both Jeff and I beat cancer scares, I underwent surgery and we got pregnant. It's been a busy 12 months!

This morning, Charlie got a bath (so did Gilligan--who really smelled like he rolled in something awful). Yesterday, to start our anniversary festivities, the dogs got cornstarch bones and kongs filled with liver spray (think liver flavored spray cheese). Today, they got their special treat of Frosty Paws dog ice cream. Boy were they excited! Poor Gilligan got sick from it though, so we still have 2 ice cream cups that we will have to sneak to Charlie at some point.

The happy puppies are resting now!

(PS--Gilligan has been eyeing down the crib and pawing at it. Jeff contemplated picking him up and putting him in it, but thought better of the idea. We decided we would leave this as a "baby only" place.)

An Easter Gift

The east side of the Carrizo plain, in the Temblor Range, about 50 miles due west of Bakersfield , California . Photo taken by Barbara MathewsMay 14. 2005
The Day GOD SPILLED THE PAINT!

I Can't Imagine...

I recently visited a website I view often to find out the author of the site is expecting her eighth child. (8th, that's not a typo.) She just this past March celebrated the first birthday of her seventh baby.

I am having such a hard time anticipating and getting ready for this baby that I can't imagine thinking ahead to a second, much less the eighth. (Of course, my husband is already thinking ahead and we would like to have our children somewhat close together.) I just need to worry about getting number one here!

Sofa Napping

I am a Roman Catholic. I believe in the power of psychiatry to help heal depression and mental illness in addition to spiritual solutions. I believe that if I want to scream during childbirth, it's my right. I believe that I am on a journey with Jesus not aliens.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Scientologists and their right to believe whatever they believe. I have a problem with certain Scientologists who loudly and insistently tell everyone how much better they are than the rest of the world.

I will name names. I can't stand Tom Cruise. I own exactly one of his movies. "Top Gun". I won't ever buy another one and I won't be seeing any of his new work. He has yet to realize that it is one thing to live out your faith joyfully so that others might see it and proselytizing in such a way that it demeans others. Going on the "Today" show and arguing with Matt Lauer and telling Brooke Shields to "get over it" in reference to her post-partum depression are just two of the examples in which Mr Cruise has shown that for him, his religion is a sign of his "greatness" over us fellow mere mortals.

Well, Mr Cruise, I'm napping on the sofa you jumped off of. And I am praying for you. May God have mercy on both of our souls.

Thanking St Francis

I love St Francis of Assisi. He is the patron saint of animals and ecology and ecologists. As my husband and I have planted saplings for our new baby and have been working on a garden, St Francis has been close to my mind. He believed in simplicity and seeing God in all things.

I thank St Francis often for helping to protect our earth through his intercession with God when I tour state parks and go on nature trails or enjoy mornings at the beach. I can't help but think that if it weren't for St Francis' intervention, we wouldn't have so much natural beauty to enjoy.

This week I thank St Francis especially for protecting my dogs. Charlie suffered an injury this week when, while playing outside, he accidentally was stabbed by a stick. Luckily the injury was not life threatening and he is expected, with stitches and antibiotics, to make a full recovery. Charlie, like Gilligan--our beagle--, wears a St Francis medal on his collar. We also have a St Francis statue in our backyard where our dogs play. Our vet advised us that if Charlie was to get an injury like this, he got it in the best possible place. It missed all his vital organs and bounced off the bone. The injury happened just inches from where his St Francis medal hangs on his collar. I prayed all night while we waited to take Charlie to the vet that St Francis would protect Charlie. And he did.

St Francis has also protected Gilligan. Gilligan has suffered seizures since he was almost two years old. His seizures have been controlled by medication and now that Gilligan has lost all the weight the medication caused him to gain, he is a very healthy beagle!

Many people question Catholics as to their belief in saints. I do not pray to a saint the way I pray to God. Instead, in much the same way that many people "talk" to friends and relatives who have passed on, I "talk" with these men and women whom I consider friends, and ask them to intercede on my behalf with God. It's just like asking my family here on earth to pray for me.

I believe God answered both my prayers and the prayers of St Francis of Assisi for Charlie's recovery this week.

So I thank you God for your miracle.

And I thank you, St Francis, for your powerful prayer and intercession.