Thankful Thursday

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Today we're thankful for being keepers. You might ask what exactly does that mean LOL.

We received this from someone who thinks we are a 'keeper'. So we are sharing it here with everyone we think of in the same way!

A Keeper

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, work shirt and a hat; and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things: a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, re-heating leftovers, renewing; I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But when my mother died, and I was standing in that clear morning light in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it, it's best we love it... And care for it... And fix it when it's broken... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true: For marriage... And old cars... And children with bad report cards... Dogs and cats with bad hips... And aging parents... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep, like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special... And so, we keep them close!

Read this quote at Mona and the Mommy's, which we totally agree!

Good friends are like stars... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there!

Happy:

LS said she's getting rid of the coffee table in order to get rid of my quirky habit of napping on it.

Can you see my stunned look?

Then she said it's just a joke! Phew!

So today I'm thankful for the coffee table. Where else can I take a cool nap on a cool glass surface...I'm also thankful for LS' quirky sense of humour. It has better be just a joke!

Has anyone here being asked to get rid of any quirky habits so far?

Oh yes, you guys are so clever! The picture was for the begging event indeed. Well, that's all for my entries. At least, LS said she's done with all the rummaging through the albums.

Hope everyone is having a thankful time with everyone's 'keepers'.

Thankful Thursday is hosted at Sting My Heart.

Quirky Happy

This is another entry for Paw-Limpics hosted by Lenny. Can anyone guess which category? Don't forget 31st July is the deadline!

Don't forget to vote for your favourite Goody Photos at The International Goody Exchange Album, graciously hosted by Chef and Mr. T-Bone Beasley! Speaking of which, I've yet to cast my votes (oops!). Have you?

I was tagged by Lorenza for the Unspectacular Quirks Meme.

These are the rules:
1.Link to the one who tagged you. List the rules on your blog.
2.Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
3.Tag some blogger friends with links.Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.

Here I go with some of my unspectacular quirks:

1. I like to lay a few kibbles on the floor mats and rugs only to eat them last.
2. I like to take evening naps on the coffee table
3. I like to towel dry myself on LS' shirt when she's blow drying me after bath.
4. I like to fertilize LS's potted plants with my natural droppings at times.
5. I like to run from one rug to another while playing ball game.
6. I like to carry the ball in my mouth while running round and round the dining and coffee table every night.

I'd like to tag Huskee Boy, Latte, Moco, Ollie, Rusty, and The Zoo Crew! Have fun!

Note:

Does anyone know what happened to Frasier at frasiersblog.blogspot.com? I couldn't find the blog at that link. Hope he's ok though.

Monday Blues

Guess who's having a bout of Monday blues?

Not me.

Bye LS! Have fun at work now! Don't worry about me, I'm just going to be sleeping my morning away.

No, this is not a new picture of me. But you can bet this is what I'll be doing today while LS is at work.

LS fished this picture out for the Paw-Limpics.

I've been tagged by Willow to do this game.

What is your name?
Happy Bark-a-lot (Very funny, LS. Delete the latter, please)


If you could change your name, what would it be?
Happy Birthday (Why not? I could be getting presents everytime my name gets called. Hehe...)


What is your pet's name? (It could be a webkinz or a real pet)
LS (Although I let the humans think I'm her pet. You and I know who the real pet is here)


If you could change your pet's name, what would it be?
Roomba (She acts just like one, really. The way she's always cleaning on auto pilot)


What is your brother or sister's name?
None in the house. Biologically I have 3 but I didn't know their names.


If you could change their name, what would it be?
N/A



I have to tag as many people (or critters) as the letters in my new name!

That's 13! Gee...hmm....let's start with

Amber, Abby+Rosie+Jackie+Gidget+Lola(that's 5), Amber Mae+Chloe+Faith (that's 3), Levi, , Petey , Rambo, and Tuffy.

My apology if you've been tagged and done this. If you've been double, triple or multiple tagged but haven't get it done, here's another one. Hehe...

Thankful Thursday

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray
Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise

James 5:13

LS : Never thought I would be thankful for this new neighbour of mine who sings in the shower all the time. But I am! LOL! This morning I was woken up by her singing "As the deer panteth for the water" at 6.30am. It was good as I had to leave the house earlier today. If not for her singing, I would've probably woken up at my usual 7am and rushed like a mad person. And probably rushing poor Happy too on her morning routine.

HAPPY'S PICTURE
NOT AVAILABLE

Happy:

I'm thankful that LS didn't go into one of her mad morning frenzies today. I don't like to be rushed, especially when it comes to potty business. Do you?

I'm thankful that LS's camera battery went flat. So that means no more pictures for the moment till she remembers to recharge it. That could be a while hehe...I'm also thankful that LS has thrown in the towel as my coach. Just heard her mumbling to herself she'll just have to make do with some old pictures. Isn't that a lot to be thankful for?

Hope everyone is having a thankful week too.

Thankful Thursday is hosted by Iris at Sting My Heart.

Wanted : New Coach

I never thought that I'd be so glad to see LS off to work. What a weekend I had!

LS has been spending most part of her free time at home aiming the camera at me. Then, all she ever say was "Happy, stick your tongue out" (coming from a person who's always telling me not to stick my tongue out).

Even my snooze time wasn't spared. The moment I had my eyes closed, I can see flashes going off in my face.

Looks like Coach LS and I don't see eye to eye in our training and pace work. Do you think I'll do better with a new training coach?

This is me hiding behind the curtain for some peace

(Picture blurry as LS used her mobile phone camera. See? Camera again!)

Arte-y-Pico Award

Really honoured to receive this lovely award from Abby. Thank you, Abby!

We would like to pass on this award to: Amber, Chris, Moco, Rocky, Rusty.

Paw-Limpics countdown

Note to yesterday's Thankful Thursday post : We forgot to mention that the extension of Psalm 23 did not originate from us. We're merely thankful for receiving it time and again, and would like to share it here with everyone! We apologise for the wrong presumption.

I'm really way behind in practising for the Paw-Limpics Games hosted by Lenny. The deadline for entry is on 31st July 2008. It's going to be really exciting, isn't it?

Do you think this picture qualifies for the sticking tongue out event?

Perhaps I should practise harder. Has everyone started practising for the games? What will you be participating in?

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thankful Thursday

Hosted at Sting My Heart

Today we are thankful for:

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd

= That's Relationship!

I shall not be in want

= That's Supply!

He makes me lie down in green pastures

= That's Rest!

He leads me beside quiet waters

= That's Refreshment!

He restores my soul

= That's Healing!

He guides me in paths of righteousness

= That's Guidance!

For His name's sake

= That's Purpose!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

= That's Tribulations!

I will fear no evil

= That's Protection!

For You are with me

= That's Faithfulness!

Your rod and Your staff they comfort me

= That's Discipline!

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

= That's Hope!

You anoint my head with oil

= That's Consecration!

My cup overflows

= That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life

= That's Blessings!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

= That's Security!

Forever

= That's Eternity!

Happy is thankful for :

I'm very thankful for this new bowl that was a gift from Amber Mae during the International Goodies Exchange Program that was so graciously hosted by Chef and Mr.T-Bone Beasley.

I'm also thankful that my head is small enough otherwise I wouldn't have been able to put my head into the bowl to get a better view of my food hee...

See how the bowl fits my whole face nicely?

Hope everyone is having a thankful time too!

Driving Miss Happy

Going for car rides is one of my favourites; next to eating, antagonizing LS, barking, sleeping....erm...the list goes on.

So when LS said we are going for a car ride, I was so excited.

Can I drive this time? Can I? Can I?

Driver's seat - empty.

Does that mean I get to drive?

Guess not...I'm still in stuck in the same old carrier.

This is me sticking out my tongue in protest.

Why aren't we dogs allowed to drive? I'm sure we make good drivers. We rarely get lost. We don't need road signs and maps as we have excellent inbuilt tracking system.

Don't you think so?

Thankful Thursday

All the saints send their greetings

2 Corinthians 13:13

Some days it's hard to be thankful for when the skies aren't exactly sunshiny blue. But it's more the reason to be thankful for, especially for the little things that we take for granted.

So, this week we are thankful for:

1) A bit of cheery sunshine this morning

LS - it's really uplifting after days of wet and gloomy weather
Happy - I get to go for a walkie this morning yay!

2) A gift of fresh home baked cookies

LS - it has been a while since I've last enjoyed any fresh home baked cookies

Happy - me too! me too! yummy!!!

3) A funny email received (picture below)

LS - a child's innocence is so humorous and heartwarming

Happy - children that like and love us

Message from a child to God

Hope everyone is having a thankful time too.

Thankful Thursday is hosted by Iris at Sting My Heart.

Some Things Never Change

In our earlier post on 'Top Ten Things No One Told You', this is one of the reasons why it is no longer safe to have an elegant and attractive arrangement of candles on your coffee table.

As you can see, old habits die hard.

Don't you think I make better display than candles?

This is one of my puppy old habits. What habits do you still carry on from puppy days?

On another happier note, received this cute card made by Rocky, Bear and Angel Lacylulu! Sorry it took us a while to post it. It's really so sweet of you to take the trouble!

Thank you so much!

101 Baby Handling Tips for Dogs

Recently LS talked about attending a baby full moon. It's a customary celebration of a baby turned 1 month old. As usual, I wanted to tag along. But LS said I'm no good with babies as I'd probably make them cry.

Ok, I decided to check online for tips on handling babies. Found one with instructions on how to hug a baby properly. Thought it'd be great to share it here with everyone too.

Instructions for proper baby hugging:

1. Spy a baby

2. Be sure that the object you spied was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques. If you smell baby powder and the wonderful aroma of wet diapers, this is indeed a baby.


3. Next, you need to make the baby lie flat before actually beginning the hugging process.

##Note: The added slober should help in future steps by making the 'paw slide' easier


4. The 'paw slide'. Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up

5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented 'hug, smile and lean' so as to achieve the best photo quality.

Dogs, if this is properly done, it will secure you a warm, dry, climate-controlled environment for the rest of your life.

After all the intensive lessons and if you still fail to get near a baby, proceed to the next course.

How to properly pee on the hooman's computer

Any other tips on baby handling?

Thankful Thursday

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom

2 Corinthians 3:17

As our friends are preparing to celebrate Independence Day tomorrow, we too are thankful for the freedom we have over here.

We are thankful for this story as it made us realise that some of the best lessons in life is not learned through mankind but God's other beautiful creation.

Note from Happy : After a loud protest from me, LS has grudgingly acknowledged that she has learned a lot from me too.

EAGLE STORY

Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.

When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet’s office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her dowl cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power course through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.

By Jeff Guidry

http://www.sarveywildlife.org/

Thankful Thursday is hosted by Iris at Sting My Heart.

To Our Friends Who Are Celebrating, Have A Happy 4th!

Top Ten Things No One Told You

Received this in the email and thought it's really funny and true. Not sure who the original writer is though.


10. A large-breed puppy is fully capable of eating your brand-new, hideously expensive, as-yet-uninsured digital camera.

9. By the time your puppy is a year old, you’ll be on a first-name basis with all of the vets and staff at the local animal hospital.

8. You don’t have to worry about the sock your puppy ate because it’ll come out all right in the end.

7. A small-breed puppy is perfectly capable of getting up on top of your fridge if he really wants to.

6. It is no longer safe to have an elegant and attractive arrangement of candles on your coffee table.

5. You follow safe food-handling practices and thaw meat in the refrigerator because you no longer have a choice.

4. Even the smallest puppy with gas can clear a room.

3. When your puppy reaches the age of six months, you will no longer be physically capable of wearing him out.

2. While you’re teaching your puppy basic obedience commands such as “Sit” and “Stay”, she is quietly reorganizing and running your entire household.

And the most important thing no one told you about your first puppy:

1. No one sleeps until the puppy sleeps.


LS said she sure can relate me with No. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7! I'd like to stress that I've never climbed on top of the fridge before. Although this has just given me the idea. Hmm...

Which one(s) can you relate to?