Don't Be Caught In That Dress!

Well, I was on my way to Culver's on my lunch hour today for a Chicken Cashew Salad.
Unseasonably warm and sunny today in northern Illinois.
On my way back, I caught a glimpse of this billboard.
Really?
I drove around the block to get a picture.
So tell me, what do you think?

Yes, this is our local undertaker.  (Do they still use that word?)
That woman is Mrs. Smith...........no, really,
it's Mrs. Smith.  I used to work with her husband Mr. Smith at RB&W.
Mr. McD has taken over all of the local funeral homes except for one.
Not sure why he has to advertise.
Maybe to put the one still in business, out of business perhaps.
He's also the coroner for our county.
Hmmmm, somehow I think that may be too close of a conflict for my liking,
but we still keep electing him.
It was never so evident as the day my father-in-law died and he came to the hospital.
He was sitting in with the family as we discussed whether an autopsy would be needed.
(He strongly urged against it....and now we wished we would have had one.)
Then he asks what funeral home we want to send the body.
Hmmmm, just doesn't seem right.
but we keep electing him.
Oh, he also owns The Beverage Store.  He converted the old Harley shop into a package liquor store.
Hmmmm, that's convenient.
Almost like one stop shopping.
You buy booze, drink too much and drive, kill yourself in an accident.  He prounouces you dead and sends you to his funeral home.  Too gruesome?
Well, something is wrong with this picture,
but we keep electing him.

So let me know what you think.........
about the billboard,
NOT the dress.

Oh, can you say a little prayer for Evan?
He is our crane operator and he was seriously burned this morning while transporting molten steel.
Prayer is always better in numbers.
T h a n k y o u!

My niece and her two boys gave this to me for Christmas when we went down to my brothers over the New Year.  Finally hung it this morning over my kitchen doorway.  It was kind of plain with just the wire and nail, so I added some greenery and a little raffia bow to hide the mechanics.   The story behind the sign is that she went to a little winery in Wisconsin and there was a little rustic store next door of hand made gifts.  She saw this and thought it would be perfect for me.  

She was right.......and I love it!

I have been having so much fun getting my house back in order since the hardwood flooring has all been installed, however, with my day job, and preparing for my father-in-law's estate hearing next week & trial in March, it has been a slow process.  PLUS, my sister-in-law said I MUST purge and organize my stuff before I put it back ~ like the clothes that I loved to wear in the 80's? ~ realistically will probably never fit me again, so give up that notion.   

Trying hard to abide by her wishes.  

I believe she is probably right.

So for now, I'm just going to be thankful for what has been accomplished and leave it at that.  

   

Have a great weekend ~ and stay warm! 

PETS and Favorites on the First at The Polohouse

YES!  I have been waiting 2 months to share

 and it is all about PETS!

Growing up on a farm, we had lots of pets.

Yes, those are cows.  Holsteins to be more precise, actually registered holsteins, (except for that one Hereford my sister-in-law is holding).

After reading all of the great blogs that have already linked up to Alison's party, I couldn't resist entering my cows.  Even though it has been many years and they are long gone, I have not forgotten them.  There is something about the cycle of life and watching the cow you raised from birth, also give birth, AND the best part is seeing that little one get on all fours within the first 24 hours and awkwardly take their first steps.   

What a blessed childhood I had!  I would not have traded it for the world.  (Gosh, have I said that before?)  But I will elaborate more on my cows in a later blog.

Dogs have always been a long time favorite.

This is Camanche, my brother's Australian Shepherd. Boy, could he jump, and he loved playing frisbee. 

This is when he was a pup.  (Notice the purple ribbons on the bulletin board - yes, those are our winnings from our COWS.  Purple is best.)  I loved Camanche but for some reason he didn't like my dad.  He once bit my dad in the back, while he was mowing lawn on the rider lawn mower.  Can you believe it?  Dad was not very happy.  Luckily my brother got married soon after and took Camanche with him.

This is Amy, our border collie.  (She is waiting for me to throw the frisbee - yes we are a frisbee family.)  We had several border collies over the years.  They were very good about helping me herd the cows in from the field.  (Again, there's that cow word.)

 This is Katie.  She was a shepherd mix that wandered into our yard one night and never left.  She loved riding in my convertible. (She could care less about the cows.)

Today we are surrounded by cats, mostly rescue.  For fear of being called out by the "cat police", I will only share a few.

This is Digit.   

She's polydactyl, hence the name.  She belonged to our neighbor across the street but would always come to our house every night to eat.  One night she didn't show up, and after 3 days, I called the dog pound and asked if they had a recent stray with numerous toes and a notched left ear.  "Yup, she's here and her time is up."   She has been with us for 10 years now.

This is Patches.  For the longest time she was eating the cat food we left out on our back deck but we rarely saw her.  She was wild and so skittish that any move we made inside, would send her lickity split under the deck.  Then winter came and it was one of those years when the temp would be below zero for many days in a row.  It became clear to us she was very sick which allowed us to catch her.  The vet said she wouldn't have made it through the winter.  We nursed her back to health and have had her about 13 years.  She is the most grateful cat!   

I even let her sit on my Longaberger basket.

But the cat that captured our hearts was "Lil Man".

We found him one August night in our subdivision, sitting in the middle of the road, looking dazed.  When he walked, he staggered.

 He was fixed and front declawed. 

Several ads in the newspaper produced no inquiries.

Like so many others, he had been dumped.  

He was welcomed into our home and soon carved a niche in my husband's heart.

When you came home from work, he would greet you at the door.

He was the sweetest animal I had ever met.  

And he had the most beautiful eyes.

By husband and he were inseparable.

(Here he is sleeping on my husband who is under the chenille blanket.) 

This was our Christmas card picture that year.

Unfortunately Lil Man had CRF, chronic renal failure.  You can prolong life by administering subcutaneous fluids, which is exactly what my husband did.  That would go on for a few weeks, and he would seem to thrive, and then he would crash, which would result in a brief hospital stay with an IV hook up, and he would be good for a couple more months.  After the third time of crashing, he did not bounce back and after seven months of falling in love with him, we had to let him go.  It was just days before my husband's surprise 60th birthday party, so we dedicated the night to Lil Man and encouraged everyone to bring a donation for the local no kill animal shelter in his honor.  

He definitely left paw prints on our hearts forever.

Now I'm just a teary mess.


......so if you haven't stopped on over to Alison's Linky Party yet, by all means do so!  You can jump from here if you wish.  There are definitely some cutie pies and great stories, and Alison has been such a gem to host.