Our bundles of joy

I mentioned that Boots, our sweet kitty, had five precious kittens on my birthday.  That was four weeks ago yesterday.  Those baby kittens are absolutely adorable and we are having so much fun playing with them.

The first couple of weeks they are pretty boring.  They don't have their eyes open, they pretty much sleep and eat and that's about it.  Then their eyes opened and they wobbled around a bit.  Now they are learning to walk, run, play, climb, fight and explore.  And it's so fun!

Even though Jay had arranged a box with a towel in the back of our closet for Boots, she decided a much better birth place would be up inside the box springs of Lane's bed.  That black material that lines the underneath of the box springs had a couple tears in it...just big enough for Boots to crawl up in there and bed down.  Boots is so noisy though, Lane quickly discovered her hiding place.  It was so hard to see up in there and even harder to leave her alone until she was done.  For the longest time we thought there were only four kittens, but when we finally moved them, we found five.  We were so excited!

After a few attempts to relocate the babies, Boots finally adjusted to the closet and left the babies alone...until it was time to move again.  Someone suggested a small kiddie pool...hmm, great idea.  Only afterwards did I think about the play on words there...kitty pool...ha!  We lined the bottom of the pool with towels and put their box in it.  (Later, Lane cut 'doors' in the original box lid and flipped it upside down to make them a little house.)  The kittens didn't mind the big move, but Boots sure did. Again, she tried to relocate her babies a couple times, but eventually accepted the upgrade.

  Another week has passed and the little felines have figured out how to escape the pool walls...so they are sort of roaming free at this point.  They have their towel and box in the corner of the living room and they always return to it.  I'm figuring out Plan B as we speak.  As of now, they do not use the bathroom on their own and Boots is the cleanup lady, but soon they will be...and they are not going to be free to pee wherever they be.  (ha)

I think we have homes for all of the kittens.  I have a feeling it's going to be a struggle to actually let go of these cuties.  Everyone loves them...except Josie.  Aunt Jo is like that mean 'ole aunt who sits back and watches everything without saying anything - only giving the evil eye.  Every now and then she creeps up behind one of them and gives them a good sniff, but she is none to happy about their presence.

Last night one of them crawled over Hank the Tank II's foot and he hardly noticed.  He is un-phased by most things...a small creature seems to be one of them.  Abby, on the other hand, has to be watched.  She would eat one without a moment's hesitation.

This little guy is by far the favorite of the bunch.  We call him Stripes.  He is kind of a big bully, but we love his personality.  He is outgoing and on the move...and how can you resist those sweet baby blue eyes?

We have enjoyed many babies on our little farm over the past decade (goats, chickens, puppies, piglets) but these kittens have been, by far, the most fun.  I intend on having Boots fixed after these babies are weaned because it is the right thing to do, but goodness, the thought of never having kittens again is downright depressing.  They are so dang cute...right now.

Driving Miss Daisy

Yesterday was the second Thursday of the month...that may mean many things to you folks, but here at the courthouse that is Secretary of State day, from 10am-2pm.  I went downstairs to get postage on some mail and I saw the row of chairs full of senior citizens, patiently waiting for their turn to take their driving test.  I couldn't help but think of my grandma.

The last few years she held her driver's license I brought her for the test a couples times.  She always insisted she come here to take it, where she was comfortable.  I completely understood then and still do.  It's obviously a common theme because we have people lining up downstairs by 8:30 or 9:00 on the second Thursday of the month to get a jump on the crowd...and the majority of that crowd are 75+ years old, just guessing.

The secret is to hang out until about 1:00, then pop in.  No one is waiting.  I had to renew some stickers yesterday and walked right in at 1:25, paid and received the stickers in about two minutes.  It was great.  I even commented on the large crowd of seniors and talked about my grandma.  "She always drove a truck and she talked a lot."  You could see the look of recognition in their grin.  Yep, I think they remember her too...

The times I remember bringing her, it was much like her doctor appointments - lots of chatting and loud laughing.  I now wonder if that wasn't a clever distraction.  She was always so nervous about the test, maybe she was trying to butter up the folks administering it!  I must admit, I was also nervous about her passing the driving portion (I certainly didn't want to be the one driving her home upset) or hitting someone else in the process.

I think she did have trouble one year when she was unable to make it over here on the second Thursday and had to go elsewhere, but in the end she walked away with a driver's license.  I want to say she tested at least until she was 91 or maybe 92, but I could be wrong.

So Grandma was on my mind a lot yesterday.  As I drove home, one of her quirky sayings popped into my head.  It was one I had not thought of forever and I didn't include in my little tribute to her at her funeral.  It shocks me that I didn't remember it because as I repeat it over and over, I can hear her say it just like she was sitting beside me..."Well, I de - clare" (insert loud cackle here and/or maybe a knee slap).

You can hear it too, can't you?

Honesty - the best policy

Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.       Proverbs 28:18 (ESV)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.               Galatians 6:9 (ESV)

Honesty is the best policy - I heard that phrase no less than 1000 times come out of my father's mouth growing up.  Honesty/truthfulness are essential to our character and integrity.

Sometimes being honesty is tricky.  Little white lies like saying you love some one's outfit or hair when truly you don't like it all slip at without thought.  Or how about accidentally telling the truth without realizing that someone else is hoping you won't. (Think childhood!)

I'm a terrible liar.  Always have been and so are my children.  My kids get a look on their face that shouts, "I'm fibbing," even though they may persist in their tall tale.  I can remember a year or two ago, Jay and I got so mad at them because no one would confess to spray painting red paint on the wall in the shed.  They had been asked to spray paint a farrowing crate and were to do it in the shed. What we didn't say was, "Hey, while you're at it, spray wherever you want."  Somehow, red spray paint magically appeared on the wall.  It isn't a huge deal, except that neither one of them would just admit to the truth.

It was so frustrating.  When you're going to get in trouble anyway, why not just tell the truth?  It's a tough theme to get through their heads sometimes.  We know something happened, just tell us and tell us the truth.  Ahh.  I don't expect it will get any easier the older they get.  And they're not chronic liars by any means, but every now and then...

Sometimes telling the truth is painful.  A few weeks ago a young man I know told the truth about something he participated in and was punished for it.  Regardless of the situation, he did the right thing by telling the truth.  I could go on and on about various aspects of the situation, but I won't because I don't necessarily know all the facts, and in the end that isn't what is important.  What I do know is this - that young man will be blessed in the future for his honesty.  God will reward him some day in some way for doing what was right in the middle of something messy.  And I'm guessing that although many will forget about that incident, he will not.

I would be lying (ha) if I said I had never told a lie (s), big and little.  It's not necessarily something I struggle with at this point in my life, nor do I really remember struggling with it much at all.  For the most part, honesty has been ingrained into my brain...by Godly influences, my parents, my conscience.

When in doubt - just spit it out...the truth, that is.

Flash & Chip

I forgot to update you on our guinea pig farm.

After Clovis bit the dust, I promised Lane I would purchase him a new pig and get it at the 'other' pet store.  He trusted me to go alone and when I got there, I called him to describe what I saw.  What I saw were no less than 20 guinea pigs zipping around a large cage.  They were everywhere, in various sizes and colors.  So much happier and healthier than the ones we watched at the chain pet store.

He told me what one to buy (through my descriptions - there's a bunch of brown and white ones, a few white ones, a couple brown, white and orange ones, an odd-looking gray one that looks like a bunny, some solid brown ones, etc.).  I grabbed one I thought was pretty cute and not too big and toted it home.

Lane was happy with my choice (miracle) and named him Flash because of his speed.  He could zip around very quickly and acted NOTHING like poor little Clovis.  (Which makes me feel better, obviously Clovis was unhealthy and it had nothing to do with his care at our villa, right?)

Madolyn came home and fell in love with little Flash and decided she had just enough money to buy her own guinea pig.  I figured what the heck?  We have a huge cage and little Flash came from such a big community, it had to be lonely.  So off we went a week later to purchase Flash a friend.

And wouldn't you know it, Madolyn picked the one I described above as an odd-looking gray one that looks like a bunny.  Typical.  (Mom: Gosh, that dress is ugly!  Mad:  I love it!)  You get the picture.  It was settled, we were bringing home "Chip."

Anyway, before we left I had them check the gender of Chip.  I was told when I purchased Clovis that guinea pigs could have between 2-15 babies at a time.  (I'm not sure if the guy was joking with me or not.)  I had not consulted with my partner in crime at all on this purchase.  (We have an agreement about UAP's --unauthorized purchases.)  But in my defense, Madolyn was buying this one with her own money.  So, technically, it wasn't really my purchase...just go with it.

As it turns out -Chip was a boy & Flash was a girl.  Oops.

So it looks as if we could have our own little guinea pig farm this summer.  I tell all the kids' friends when they come over and play with the little pigs that everyone gets to take a baby guinea pig home when they're born. The kids think it's a great idea.  I haven't talked to any parents yet.  It's like a party favor.  It's only polite to accept the gift.

So we have big pigs outside and little pigs inside...and we could have even more little bitty pigs inside soon...

Forty...fun, frugal and feisty

I had a birthday this week, a big one...and no one really razzed me about it.   I was so ready for it too!  But maybe the only one who thinks it's a big deal is me???  So what if I am 40?  Age is all about your mindset.  I don't feel 40, at least not mentally.  I'm not sure what age I would say I feel like really.  All I know is that the more candles I put on my cake, the younger my parents seem.  (Ha!)

I had a pretty good 40th birthday.  I was surprised with a very practical, but welcome gift - my very own shop-vac with super cool attachments.  We have a really good one, but it's such a hassle for me (and Jay) to try to use it.  If it's in the barn, most likely it has been sucking out hog waste and I really don't want it touching my car or blowing any fumes into my house!  We do wash it out every now and then, but it's not the same, you know...

For lunch, my court reporter friend, Traci, came up to eat with me at the Mexican restaurant.  Not knowing she would buy, I invited Jay to eat with us...and we both got a free meal.  You can't beat that!

Then Jay surprised me with two lovely pots of bright red geraniums.  If you don't know whose favorite flowers those are, you missed out.  Grandma Great bought 19 bright red geraniums every spring to put in her flower bed on her porch.  (I think the number was 19, it was definitely an odd number.)  Later in the evening, my friend Beth brought over two more pots with geraniums.  I was delighted.  I can have some in the front and some in the back.  She also brought some delicious gourmet cupcakes which I have been enjoying all week...(ouch!)

I also got a brand new spiffy bicycle.  Last year I rode my bike quite a bit with Jay while he ran, and although my bike wasn't that old and was exactly what I had wanted at the time, I learned quickly that doing any distance on a bike with hills and dips in the road requires gears.  My beach cruiser was perfect for cruising, but it wasn't built for hills.  Although that had been my excuse for walking my bike two spots at Lincoln Trail Park, and now I won't have one...I'll just have to walk in shame...unless this new bike came with special powers as well.

And to top off an already great day - our sweet baby kitty Boots (now we're calling baby kitty mama) had her baby kittens!  We had been watching her so close for a week now.  And I said last week that maybe she would wait and have them on my birthday...Tuesday morning I told the family she sure was chatty and restless, maybe today would be the day...and it was!

I got some nice cards in the mail, my mom dropped off a birthday card (as I was being rushed away for baseball practice by my impatient son) and my father-in-law slipped me a card too.  I felt a little spoiled when it was all said and done.  As I was getting ready for bed I thought about how truly blessed I am.  I know that phrase is over-used sometimes, but I can't help it.  I have good health, a great family and friends, an awesome little community, my salvation and overall safety.  What more could I ask for?

One of my favorite skits on SNL is one with Molly Shannon. "I'm Sally O'Malley and I'm Fifty." And she usually says something like, "And I can kick!" and then she throws her leg up in the air.  It just cracks me up.  (Honestly at this point, I would pull a muscle if I tried that.)  A coworker brought me a couple pieces of Dove dark chocolate, the kind that comes with sayings on the inside wrapper.  My first one said "Be proud of your age."   Hmm, why not?

My mantra this year is I'm Sarah Wilhoit and I'm 40.  I am fun, frugal and feisty...

The Pampered Ambush

Last Monday the softball game cancelled due to rain so Madolyn and I took the opportunity to go and get her nails fixed up for prom which was Saturday.  I made her an appointment, dropped her off and went shopping to kill time.  She was having a manicure and pedicure so I figured I had at least an hour or so.  I came back once to check in and she was fine so I took off again for a little more shopping.

When I returned, she was in the beginning stages of having fake nails put on so I sat down beside her.  Immediately the flattery began.  One after another, the employees would comment on how we must be sisters, there is no way I was her mother, blah, blah, blah.  I thanked them, of course, but figured it was a ploy.

Pretty soon one of the employees approached us and started in with the comments and then she said to me, "I can fix up eyebrow, yes?"  I laughed and said, oh no, I'm fine.  "No, no, I make you pretty. It be quick.  No problem.  " Hmm, okay, I could see it was going to be a while so I figured, what the heck?  But first I made sure they weren't going to leave me with NO eyebrow at all.  I had noticed that the female employeesall had painted-on eyebrows so it made me a tad nervous.  I was reassured they would not leave me brow-less.

Now, let me preface this by saying, I'm a hairy girl.  I have thick dark hair and it likes to grow and flourish.  My eyebrows are thick and bushy.  (I think my mom calls them the Young eyebrows, an inherited trait.)  I know this, but I also know that what you take out will grow back.  I had had my eyebrows waxed one time before and didn't really notice a big enough difference to have it done again.  I pluck with my tweezers every now and then.  I guess some people are big on proper eyebrow maintenance, others are not.  I would fall into the "others are not" category.

I lie down in this back room and she starts in on the eyebrows.  It was pretty relaxing actually and quick.  It wasn't bad at all.  I could have fallen asleep.

And then it came..."You have hair on lip."  Yes, I realize that.  I always have.  (She said that as if it were a surprise.)  "I take that off too?"  Sure, why not?!  And so she does her magic on my upper lip. Pretty soon, she pulled out a magnifying lamp and had it over my face...then came the scissors.  She was snipping away in my nostrils!  I tell you, I felt like an old man.

Before it was all said and done (2.5 hours later, I was so glad Lane had stayed at Grandma's), I had gel polish on my nails and a fire red face from waxing, Madolyn had cute toenails, snazzy fingernails and waxed eyebrows.  I realize now that the flattery may have been a sales pitch.  They knew what they were doing.  I was suckered in and then ambushed.  Cha-Ching.

Friday Night Fun

Last Friday our plans had consisted of a softball game, but it was cancelled which left the evening wide open.  Jay was off and I asked him what he wanted to do.  He had a great plan - head to an Amish Auction down in southern Indiana.  He baited me with Syd's tacos, I know it...but I took the bait and Lane, Jay and I headed south.

We ate those yummy Syd's tacos on the go and arrived about two hours after the start time for this auction.  I have never been to this kind of an auction and I was dumbfounded at the crowd right off the bat.  It was packed.  There were a couple huge barn/sheds that were filled with people carrying items out.  We went to watch the animals auction.  It never occurred to me that there might be various items being auctioned off.  I would guess there were about six different auctions going on at the same time.  It was madness.

We finally made our way to the animal auction area.  Again, a little shocking for me.  I consider myself pretty country and even redneck-ish at times.  And without sounding too judgmental or snotty here, I was at a loss and felt strangely out of place.  It was obvious that the people there LOVED the auction and probably came every Friday night.  Everyone, but us, seemed to know what was going on, where things were located and how everything went down.  I'm pretty confident we stood out like three very sore thumbs.

I caught myself several times trying to adjust my facial expression.  Shock, amusement, confusion, disgust, uncertainty, anger were just a few of the looks I wore at various times throughout the night. The large animal auction seemed pretty standard, and maybe because I have some experience in that area, I was okay with how everything went down.

The smaller animals, however, were a different story (at least for me).  We walked into that arena/auction area and stood watching from the back for quite a while.  We quickly realized the stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes (some Luv's diaper boxes) contained animals, mostly poultry but some rabbits, in various stages of life.   One diaper box contained three, just-weaned piglets crammed inside! Many of the boxes were just plain boxes, with the top criss-crossed to keep it shut and/or tape wrapped around it.  There were also some boxes that had the top off and chicken wire fastened across it.  I felt a little better about those rigged-up boxes than the ones that were sealed shut.

Jay and Lane loved it and decided they needed a number...so I went and sat down in the stands while they went off to find a bidding number.  I swear they were gone no less than 30 minutes...and honestly, I began to wonder if they hadn't left me.  It was the longest 30 minutes ever.  I felt like people probably thought I was from some animal activist group because I sat there all alone, looking around wide-eyed for Jay...

People would just toss around these boxes, one right after another.  They would fall over, slide, bounce around...and then they would tear open the top and pull out a chicken or duck or rabbit. Plop it down on this spinning table (puke) and start taking bids.  Then they would jerk the animal off the spin top and throw them back into a box, push the lid down and stack them in another pile.  It was a process and men of all ages were focused on it.  It was the craziest thing ever.  I'm not saying they were technically abusing the animals, but they sure weren't being gentle either.  (I do not believe anyone was intentionally trying to hurt any of the creatures.)

Jay was hoping to get a couple ducks (what in the world for, I do not know) and we missed those (dang).  But Lane bought himself a couple very fat, high-dollar rabbits.  Jay wanted him to experience the bidding process so he gave him the card and let him go.  He didn't win the first rabbit he was bidding on and tried again.  Quickly raising his number at the starting bid - Jay giving him a little nudge to the side, No, never take the first bid!  Thankfully, one of the Amish gentlemen who was taking bids took over and announced he had a $5 bid!  It all happened so fast, I'm not sure who was bidding against the Bud, but when it was all said and done we had the top bid of $17.50 and Lane was tickled pink that he had a huge fat rabbit - except we didn't realize we had to take both of them.  Lovely.

At one point, a young man reached up to one of the top shelves behind the auctioneer table and grabbed a diaper box.  They pulled out a very large guinea pig.  All three of us just starting laughing.  It was crazy!

And let me tell you, if you're a hand-talker (like myself, the Quackdaddy and the Bud) sitting amongst bidders at an auction is VERY dangerous.  Both Lane and I came very close to bidding on some poultry a few times!

The only thing I saw worth bidding on were hanging flower baskets.  They were lovely, and of course, we missed them.  I was afraid we might come home with a couple fishing poles once Lane laid eyes on that particular auction, but we moved him right along...

We arrived late but did not come home empty-handed.  I had a full belly from my most favorite tacos and we survived the experience unscathed.  Jay and I both commented that the whole scenario was like something you would see in a movie.  Just plain bizarre.

It's always fun to try something new.  I actually enjoyed our Friday Night Fun.   And in this particular instance, there is no need for me to go back anytime soon...