Thursday, July 31, 2008

"Buddy" the Lhasa

Posted by Picasa

Buddy - A Fine Dog for Us!

When I came to Texas, I brought my last two homebred Shih Tzu who joined Hubby’s two cats and they all lived harmoniously. They were all seniors and a little more than five years ago, the last one, Harry, the Shih Tzu, died. (I had been in the Dog Fancy in Canada since 1977 and had shown, bred and/or owned Scotties, Lhasa Apso, Boxer, and Shih Tzu.)

We only lasted five weeks without any animals!
So, our search for a “new” dog sent us to the next town where a fine, established breeder had some puppies and a 10-month-old Lhasa Apso.

After carefully going over one puppy and the 10-month-old, we picked the older one. His color was beautiful; his body was sturdy and although he was a little nervous, he seemed very loving.

It took two men to get our reluctant fellow to an old wire crate waiting on the back seat of the car. He was tucked in for the ride back to our home. As he had no name, we selected “Buddy” as we drove home on Hwy. 59 through the rain.

Lhasa Apsos (named after the capital of Tibet) were originally guard dogs inside Tibetan monasteries. (Tibetan Mastiffs were on guard outside.) In North America, they were originally in the Terrier Group. Later, they were moved to the Non-Sporting Group. Although the term “clown-like” has been used to describe them, the standard called for them to be “chary of strangers”.

After two long nights, Buddy settled in. At nights, he stays by our bedroom door and during the day, he is in and out, enjoying our large backyard. Originally, he was not very obedient to commands but that has improved somewhat over time. He was happy and soon became very loving toward Hubby and me. For us, having Buddy is a joy. He keeps us hopping, alive and happy! After a while, Buddy started to enjoy company and was in fact, over-zealous and had to be tethered with a lead.

When we learned Ava was on the way, we knew Buddy needed a beautiful crate where he could be when the baby visited. Even at age 4, Buddy was not the dog for youngsters! We took him to PetSmart where we found a spacious fiberglass crate. We put a sheepskin, toys and water in there and Buddy knows that is his special place when Ava visits.

Many of the Retrievers are excellent breed choices for households with children. The Labrador, number one in AKC registrations for the past 10 years, would probably be my first choice for families, followed by the Golden Retriever (currently No. 4 in popularity) and the Boxer (currently No. 6 in registrations).

When choosing a dog breed for children, do go the the American Kennel Club website. Look for a dog breed that has an easy going temperament and is known to get along with children. In general, when you ask around, you will find that most sources will lead you to a medium-large dog breed.

www.akc.org

Ava at Three Weeks with me

Posted by Picasa

A Very Special Person!


This picture is very precious to me. Here is Ava at three weeks, seemingly saying, "You came to see me again!" Having missed all the joys of infants over all these years, this special moment, captured by Hubby, means the world to me.Here, finally was a healthy, happy, beautiful baby related to me in my Texas extended family!This was a year and a half ago and Ava has never once disappointed me. Of course, I am always thinking of what she could recognize, what she would like to eat, what would bring that beautiful smile, etc.
Of course, I sometimes see things at the store that she might like, cute outfits, and so on. I guess this is called "spoiling" and I believe this is a right of grandmothers everywhere! I have a distinct advantage in being a great-grandmother! There are no responsibilities for me, other than to keep harmful things out of her way when she visits.
There is, of course, the large matter of "Buddy", the Lhasa Apso who had come into our household before Ava was born. That was not going to be a problem for any of us, because Buddy received a brand new stylish fiberglass crate the Christmas before Ava's birth. Thankfully, Buddy seems to understand. (I will tell you some other time about breeds of dogs I would have chosen for a child.)
One of the first things I quickly realized was that most people my age also have grandchildren and if I was going to play the game well, I had best listen to their stories, visit their offspring and always give them equal time. That has not been a problem at all because now, the hurt has diminished and I finally am learning to enjoy little ones.I love "cropping" (scrapbooking) Ava! It is super having Ava to dinner and watching her eat a plate full of ordinary veggies. (She'll be slim and trim like her Mom if she can keep that up!) It is super having Ava come to church, although - immature as I am - I do find myself distracted!
Sometimes I think I may be not sharing Ava enough with Hubby, but I think he enjoys watching me finally come out with children.Children are a special gift from God and they deserve all the grandmothers they can get!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

About Living!

The story of Prof. Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture) is not so much about death, as living. Did you think about that? You probably know that Prof. Pausch died last week, having lived longer than his medics had forecast.

Randy was in very good condition physically though his body was being consumed by cancer. So, he was able to play with his children and even played informal football on invitation from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He and his wife chose a new home where she and their three young children would continue living. We saw film clips of him enjoying his last days to the max.

When my own father was dying, he talked about sitting in the backyard eating a peanut butter sandwich. Well, even then, at age 22, I figured it out that the time to do those enjoyable, simple things is when you are still well!

Now that I am a senior, I try to live each day – not crammed with major events – but with simple, ordinary enjoyment. Reaching out to people who are sick, keeping in touch with those far away, and the possibly the hardest for all of us: forgiving those who have offended me in any way are everyday goals. I try to see great-granddaughter, Ava, as often as her parents’ schedule allows because she is just pure joy to me. I go “cropping” every week – Scrapbooking is so calming for me. My biggest blessing, of course, is my Hubby and we do almost everything together!

My friend (of 48 years) died in January. In September she had a stroke and was not able to communicate well over those months. But she had lived every day to the full and was always reaching out to those who needed attention. She was an animal lover and they were a cause for her. Her family was everything to her and she mothered them always. Fortunately for me, we had lunch at the Pickle Barrel in Toronto last July and we always kept in touch via e-mail. One of the nicest phrases I heard from her husband was his calling me, “her OLD friend”. So, unlike Randy Pausch, she was not able to make plans or tell people she loved them. But, she had done that all her life!

You can watch Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture on YouTube.com and his book is currently at the top of the bestseller lists. These are musts for all of us to see and read.

What you get out of this, hopefully, will be that every day we live is a precious gift and we must remember that tomorrow is promised to no one.

Go to YouTube.com for:

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Let's Go and Play . . .

Fitness expert Richard Simmons was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, where eating is a major pastime. I know this firsthand now as we live only a couple of hours from the state line and have a wonderful Cajun restaurant named Ralph & Kacoo’s. (The Cajuns are related to my extended family in Nova Scotia . . . well, more to the point, Acadians migrated to Louisiana!)

Silken Laumann, a fellow alumna of St. Clement’s School in Toronto was raised in Ontario – Toronto and cottage country – and was an Olympic rower. She excelled in sports. Silken writes and campaigns for parents to help their children get active.

Richard Simmons was a stocky child, lacking in self-esteem who was never picked for teams. He lived with a weight problem into his early twenties. After becoming fit, Richard took up the cause of helping others to lose the pounds and get healthy.

There are a lot of big people where we live and that, coupled with encouragement from Hubby, triggered me to lose weight. This is harder to do when we are seniors, but it can be done. It takes lots of willpower to eat proper and balanced meals and exercise every day.

Most people acknowledge that Richard Simmons has been an advocate for a healthy lifestyle for as long as most of us can remember. At his website you can view his presentation to the U.S. Congress. Richard is behind the Fit Kids Bill which would guarantee quality physical education for every child no matter what his or her abilities are. (Currently, there is no Phys.Ed in most U.S. public schools.)

Certainly in the United States, there are a lot of children in front of computers and game systems not getting exercise. Coupled with Canadian Silken Laumann’s advocacy for rediscovering the joy of play in families and communities, we can probably conclude that lack of children exercising is a North American problem.

In addition to children not exercising enough, of course, we have fast food and pizza as major contributors to our avoirdupois. Yes, another factor is both parents working and many parents raising children single-handedly. The days of Mom standing over a stewpot on the stove are so long-gone, that soon there will be nobody to remember them!

This is, of course, not just a juvenile problem and there has just been information about exercise also warding off dementia and Alzheimer’s.

If you go to Richard Simmons’ website, you will be able to see what he is trying to do and what you can do to help these efforts.

If you go to Silken Laumann’s website, you can also learn and act.

Here are your links to those websites and I wish you all a healthy, happy and active day!


http://www.richardsimmons.com

http://www.SilkensActiveKids.ca

Monday, July 28, 2008

Keith & Martha renewing vows after 10 years - almost two years ago!


Look at me now!

I came to East Texas with a lot of baggage mostly from the deaths of my two children in infancy from microcephalism. Even though that was years ago, I had never really had any closure. I avoided children because I didn't know how to talk to them or what to say. Hubby helped me create better times and more good feelings about myself.

Well, here I am two weeks ago at our church's Vacation Bible School thanking about 60 to 70 young children for the food they had donated to our local food bank.

There are better photos of me, but none to show you how far I have come in working with children! I had about 3 - 4 minutes prepared with questions to hold their attention. I look pretty calm in this picture and that is because the children were actually paying attention to me! Wow!

I told the children that Jesus told us that as you have done to the least among you, you have done to Him. So, it was as though the children had given that food to Jesus.

I also told the children that they would remember this Vacation Bible School for all of their lives! We didn't have VBS when I was a kid, but I sure remember a Sunday School Teacher named Mrs. McPhail. She taught us how to cut the paper from the inside of a design. Yes, I bet she planted the seeds for my love of scrapbooking - or "cropping"!

My Texas life has brought me more self-assurance, more confidence. I spend more time reaching out to help others than I do worrying about myself! Life is good!
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Let's Start at the Beginning!

In my beginning, there was Yonge Street. Yonge Street starts at the north shore of Lake Ontario and goes pretty straight north through "Toronto the Good". Keep driving and Yonge Street becomes Hwy. 11. Keep going and you will be in cottage country. Ontario folks tend to live near or on the water, so many had a house in town and a cottage up at Lake Simcoe or Lake Muskoka.

When I was young, I lived one block west of Avenue Road and two blocks north of Eglinton Avenue. Right on the corner. That's in North Toronto. Lower school was Havergal and High School was St.Clement's! TTC or bicycle was my transportation.

The last house I had in Toronto was actually in Thornhill, by the pond, on old Hwy. 7 West that takes you out to Woodbridge.

After I was widowed and met a Texan online at widownet.org, I married and moved to East Texas. That was almost 12 years ago! We are about 100 miles north of Houston and about another hundred to Louisianna.

Only one lake in Texas - Lake Caddo (near Marshall) - is a natural lake. All others are man-made.

I had to learn to pronounce Zee for Zed (the letter "Z"); say "Kakkis" not "Karkees" for beige trousers and Hubby used to accompany me to the supermarket to help me understand that all they were asking at the check-out was "Paper or Plastic?"

Was it a culture shock? You betcha! A dozen years later, I am one of them, but they never let me forget my roots, eh?

The biggest change in my life was church! Every Sunday! Lots of activities, some responsibilities, and bible study. I cherish my friends from church. We have an amazing Pastor and we are growing our numbers.

Oh, I went to church in Ontario, but not with the timetable I do now! And there was an amazing Minister there also! Could it be I wasn't really paying attention, or could it be that now I really do live in the "Bible Belt"?

If I leave you with one thought from this first entry, it would be that when you need a kind word, a smile, someone who's genuinely interested in how you are doing, my church is where you go! I wish for all people - all Christians - a close-knit church like ours!

There's a good start for my blog.