Photo Friday: At least I have chocolate!

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Not sure you can see what I intended at the time I took this picture... though the time I took this picture was the point of the picture. 2:37am on Friday morning. I am still working. Yes, from Thursday morning. No end in sight and I'm thinking the kids will be up in the morning before I go down for the night. But hey, I know you can see the stack of Peanut Butter Cups. Sometimes, you've gotta find your own silver lining...


~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~


Blessings,
Kat

Good in the News: Ratchet Comes Home

In May, Sgt. Gwen Beberg helped rescue a puppy from a burning trash pile on the streets of Iraq. The became instant friends and the pup, Ratchet, provided much needed love and support to Sgt. Beberg as she served our country overseas. Her goal was to bring Ratchet back to her home in Minnesota once her tour of duty was over. However, the U.S. military does not allow soldiers to adopt pets overseas and bring them back to the U.S.

The story got out, and the SPCA's (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Operation Baghdad Pups (OBP) stepped in.

An online petition began (started by a blogger) and as with so many online movements, people jumped in to to lend their support. Over 65,000 signatures were obtained and last Wednesday, the military granted permission for OBP to to bring Ratchet to the U.S. However, the clearance did not come in time for the group's flight out of Baghdad that day. OBP, however, was not giving up. On Sunday, Ratchet was on a charter flight to Kuwait and Northwest Airlines has donated the remaining flights from Kuwait to Minnesota. (It usually costs $3,000 - $4,000 for OBP to bring an animal home from overseas, all funded by donations.)

Sgt. Beberg's tour is not over until November, but when it ends, Ratchet will be ready and waiting for her at home, thanks to the help of tens of thousands of people who neither the soldier nor the dog will ever meet. What power there is in the internet, don't you think?

My prayers are with Sgt. Beberg as she completes her time in the Middle East. So is my respect and my admiration and my eternal debt of gratitude for all that she -- and all her fellow soldiers -- do for all of us each day. So many ugly news that comes out of the Middle East these days... what a nice ray of sunshine this story brings.

Read the full story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/19/iraq.ratchet.the.dog/index.html

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Looks like a butterfly, feels like a ladybug

Though I am quite certain I do not deserve this award, I am tickled that my good friend Julie over at The Surrendered Scribe would pass it on to me. What a beautiful gesture from a really sweet, amazing woman, at a time when I really could use a ladybug (or ten). Yes, it may look like a butterfly, but it sure feels like a ladybug to me!

As you may have noticed from my lack of posting lately, life has been very, very busy for yours truly. My outside-the-home job is taking up way more of my time than I care to admit, and it's been a very busy, very stressful, very tiring past 6 weeks. I miss blogging terribly, on this blog most of all (I have 2 others). However, there is an end in sight (to the chaos at work) and I hope to get back to blogging more regularly within the next few weeks.



To all of you who read this blog, thank you, especially those of you who still check in to look for updates even when there haven't been any in a while. I'll be back.... I promise!

And thanks to Julie, for passing on a ladybug that really made my day!

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Meet Your Candidates

Even if you're not "into" politics, it's been very hard to avoid the 2008 Presidential Election news coverage. So many historic firsts this time around, regardless of the outcome. Some people already know who they plan to vote for -- be it based on party lines, specific issues or specific people on the ticket. Others are still trying to sort through it all and make up their mind. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, make sure you have all the facts about the candidates before casting your ballot on November 4th.

Each candidate, of course, has their own website. Obviously, these will be skewed toward each individual candidate. But, it's still a good start to read up on what each candidate says they stand for:

John McCain / Sarah Palin

Barack Obama / Joe Biden
.

Even though I'm pretty sure who I'm voting for, I still listen to and question the ads and what I hear from the opposing candidate. For example, here in Florida, I began hearing radio spots by Obama, saying that McCain did not support and was opposed to stem cell research. Within a few days, I began hearing radio spots by McCain saying that he did support stem cell research. During the Vice Presidential debates, I heard a lot of "facts" from one candidate about the other, which didn't seem to make sense or sounded a bit off. How's a girl to know what the real truth is?

There's a great website that does a lot of the fact checking for you. It purports to be fair and balanced and non-partisan and from what I've seen, it is. Check out http://www.factcheck.org/, where you can read about what Candidate A said and how true (or not) it really is. Of course, the issues and comments are too numerous to list them all there, but it hits on a lot of the biggies.

You may or may not agree that this country is in good shape, and you may or may not agree on the path the new President will take. But the good news is that each of us has the power to help shape the future... by getting informed, deciding what's most important to us and our families, and casting your vote on November 4th to make your voice heard. Together, we decide our future.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Photo Friday: Tranquility

I took this picture early on an August morning at my favorite vacation spot in the world, the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Calm... peaceful... perfect, really. This picture always makes me stop and remember to slow down. Don't make waves, don't disturb a thing. Just take a deep breath and let the tranquility of the moment surround you.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Project Linus: Providing Security through Blankets

As a child, I had a favorite blanket which I called my "bye." Actually, there were two or three of them that were identical, and mom would sneak a dirty one away and replace it with a clean one while I slept. Today, one of those very same "byes" lives in my 5-year-old's bed and has been renamed the "Hugs and Kisses Blanket." Every night before bed, I fill it with hugs and kisses and wrap it around her in case she needs any "mommy love" while she sleeps.

Even though I'm "all grown up" now, I still love that bye, and perhaps that's part of what fueled my favorite hobby of making quilts. I'm certainly not an expert blanket maker but I really enjoy the process of choosing that special pattern for that special someone, selecting the right fabrics, piecing them together and admiring how yards of fabric can become something so special. Maybe that's also one of the reasons I'm so attracted to an organization called Project Linus.

From the Project Linus website:

Project Linus is comprised of hundreds of local chapters and thousands of volunteers across the United States. Each volunteer and local chapter all work together to help us achieve our mission statement, which states:

First, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

Together we have distributed over two million blankets to children in need since our inception in 1995.

You don't have to know how to sew, knit or crochet to become involved with Project Linus, though their website does offer lots of great blanket patterns that would be fun for people of all ages to make, including a really simple "no sew fleece" pattern. If you'd like to donate supplies, you can find your local chapter and contact the coordinator for more information. Or, you can make a monetary donation on the Project Linus Website or by mail.

What a great gift to give a child in need... the love, warmth and security of a made-with-love blankie. These are gifts that can make such an important difference that can truly last a lifetime.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Prayers, please, for The Miracle Baby in Room C

He's a fighter and he'll get through this, and so will his amazing, loving, supportive family. However, it's been a very long, difficult 9 months already and I know that some more prayers and love headed their way will make it a little less difficult.

During the night, CP got a call from the NICU. Austin had been moved back down to the critical care nursery. His belly blew up once again and an x-ray showed that his large intestine was (again) severely blocked. His breathing was fast and unsteady due to the pain and discomfort. The doctors had to put the tubes back in and the biopsy will probably be done sometime today. This is related to the possibility of Hirschsprung disease that I posted about yesterday.

Please, say a prayer. Ask your friends to say a prayer. And please, keep praying. This little boy and his family have been through so much already.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~
.
Blessings,
Kat