And then their were three!

We were recently asked if we would like another greyhound.  The owner lived in a small apartment and really didn't have time to tend him.  Of course I said yes.  Good thing we have a large yard, because this small house is a little crowded.  Meet Lenny (Leonard) He's big, black and extremely friendly.  Shelby our fawn greyhound wasn't sure if she wanted a live in playmate at first, but now they get along fine.  Poor Gigi is now a squeaky toy to two.  Luckily if they get too raucous, she can run under the furniture or jump on my lap.  My kids say I've replaced the dogs for them now that they're gone.  Maybe so, but we enjoy them and they keep us going instead of becoming couch potatoes. Greyhounds have such interesting personalities.  They're huge puppies, but run them for 15- 20 minutes and they'll sleep all afternoon.

A Challenge That Will Change Your Life.

What Would a Holy Woman Do?  

This was the question posed to we sisters in Relief Society.  The lesson was based on a book, What Would a Holy Woman Do?" by Wendy Watson Nelson.  It was an inspiring lesson and we were given the same challenge that was presented by the author of the book.
It lead me to purchase the book on my Deseret Bookshelf app and take the challenge.  

"If for just three day, you took the holy women challenge, what would you learn?  If, for just three days, you chose an activity, something you always do---just one activity each day--- and ask yourself the question "How would a holy woman do this?  What would a holy woman do?"---what would you be drawn to do?  How different would your days unfold if, in a difficult situation, you asked yourself "What would a holy woman do?"





I don't profess to be a "Holy Woman", but I came up with these few things I personally would like to focus on. 
* Start my day with prayer
* Have an attitude of gratitude(look for blessings in all things)
* Welcome Glen home at lunch & evenings (sometimes  the dogs greet him first) 
* Prepare dinner in advance (that way we're not eating at 8:00 pm)
* Do some form of exercise daily (Housework counts)

Wish me luck.  I feel a change already in just making the decisions to take the challenge
                                                                          

Wish granted!

For Christmas I gave my dad a family tree.  He never knew his father and I've been over 30 years trying to find his genealogy.  It was the best gift every.  I only wish I could have found pictures for him.  I hope you can read it.

When the cat's away, the mice will play!

Or in this case while we were away the mice had a great time.
I had a wonderful Christmas with my daughter and her family.
I returned home to mice tracks all over the house.  YUK!!
I even put out poison everywhere I could think of that the mice might go and the dogs wouldn't.  This after an early morning visitor while I was in the bathroom a week before we left.


We live in an old house and when we first moved in we had issues with the little creatures.
It took a couple of years, but I thought we had gotten rid of the problem.

Seriously even my dresser drawers had droppings in them.

I'm totally grossed out right now.  This was not what I wanted to do New Years Eve.
Rubber gloves and disinfecting wipes in hand I'm now on a clean-a-thon.
Everything is getting vacuumed and disinfected and all my clothes are getting washed.

I just had to vent, but right about now even Mickey & Minnie would be exterminated if they showed up at my door!

On a happier note.  It is a good reason to sort through my stuff and I'll have less Spring cleaning to do this coming year.

Happy New Year!

Family found

After 30+ years of doing genealogy and searching for my Grandfather Spotton,  I've finally found him and his family.  Using Family Search and ancestry.ca  I guess I had to wait for the government to release the proper census records.

I'm going to make my dad a family tree for Christmas.  Dad has no memories of his father as his mom and he divorced when my dad was young. Daddy is 81 now.

Not only did I find my grandfather in the Canada census, but his parent and grandparents.

I'm so grateful for all those people who do indexing of government records.
Hopefully someone will benefit the same way from the ones I index.

There's something like a line of gold thread running through a man's words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.  ~John Gregory Brown, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery, 1994

Gratitude is the best attitude.

Yesterday there was an incident at the Magrath School, hence the 'Lockdown'.  A lot of people feared for their children and rightly so.  I have seen a disturbing number of blogs and comments on other sites of people complaining about the school staff and the RCMP.  I felt inclined to share a few thoughts on this, so I'm getting up on my soapbox.

1/  One parent wrote that they could have at least put something on the automated phone line. 
I'm sure they'll think of that next time should the problem exist.
Yes, you didn't know what was going on.  Sorry that not notifying each individual parent wasn't our first thought but, the safety of the children was.

2/  Kids complaining that they weren't allowed to use their cell phones. 
This is so inconvenient in a world that lives on facebook, texting...
The staff can not keep track of every phone called made during a lockdown.  It is simpler to ban the use then try to figure out who would cause a panic situation, give out wrong data or maybe even converse with the 'suspected criminal'.

3/  There was so much drama and overkill by the police.
 Let us count our blessing that it ended peacefully.  Sometimes it doesn't, as anyone with a TV will know.  Better to be on the safe side then.  Instead of complaining about how inconvenient it was and be grateful that we have such services in our community and country.  We complain if they do something and complain if they don't.  They can't win. 

4/   Laying blame. 
Before we start laying blame let's walk a mile in the shoes of those involved.  Many problems of the world would be over if we all remembered the Golden Rule.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_rule_(ethics)

I'm getting light headed up here on the soapbox so I'll step down and wish all involved {even in the slightest way} peace in their hearts and hope for a bright future.