Hooray Discovery and NASA

Happy Sunday. Well the launch went off without a hitch last night and it was beautiful. Here is a link to the official NASA shuttle site that includes video and more info. I love the space program and all it has done to make our lives better. I used to dream of going into space or walking on another planet, but I think it will probably be my grandchildren or their children who will have a chance at that. Guess I'll just have to reincarnate.

Today is Colton's birthday party so I will upload photos tonight. Everyone take care.

Vacation 2009

Needed a vacation.

Spent a week at Daytona Beach Shores. Beautiful place. Had the grandchildren along and they had a blast. Nothing soothes my soul like the beach. I love it.

It was over too quickly.

Our last day we ate lunch at the Conch House in St. Augustine.

Lots of fun for all of us. I highly recommend vacations. They are a necessary part of life and if you can spend them with loved ones, they are even sweeter. Don't put it off, just go! You'll be glad you did.

Family Reunion Time

My Dad’s side of the family (the Williams folk) like to get together each year in the summer to see each other. Usually at one of the springs here in Florida (like Hart Springs or Poe Springs), but this time we met at a park just outside of High Springs called Camp Kalaqua. It is a beautiful place with a water park for swimming, a small zoo, and tons of other things to do that appeal to old and young alike. It is quite large though, so there is a lot of walking. My Mom and I rode with my daughter and son-in-law and the grandchildren in their van, so it was a comfortable drive to get there—about an hour away.

We have a pot luck lunch, with each family bringing a dish (or two) to share and we all sit down together at long tables to eat. It was great to see everyone. The grown-ups have a chance to visit and see the newest family additions, and the children get a chance to meet each other and see some relatives they may not see at all except at these once-a-year get-togethers.

If you have family that is spread out so far that regular face-to-face meetings are difficult, the answer could be a planned reunion. It’s a bit of work but the photos, conversations, and memories are priceless gifts you take home to savor in your spare moments. I highly recommend it.

A Broader View

Morning. Hope you are happy and well. When I started this blog, I named it My Pets because I was going to focus on the four-legged denizens of my household. But it has occurred to me that I could also branch into other “pets” as well, such as pet peeves, pet projects, or pet whatevers and still have the title make sense. So feel free to check back or follow me to keep up with the mesmerizing lives of Fireheart, Tabitha, Gaia, Athena, and/or Aphrodite, but realize that more may be found in the way of scintillating entertainment among these posts. Ya never know.
I’ve started to scrapbook and I’m loving it. Scrapbooking delivers gratification on so many levels—creativity, immersion, complete control, a beautiful finished product, etc., that I think it should qualify as therapy (for anything). I know I feel better (lighter, happier) when I am stamping, gluing, arranging, writing, glittering, layering, elements on a page to convey the perfect feeling or message. When I’m done my creation makes me smile but then I just want to start another page.

I have discovered, however, this is not an inexpensive hobby. The bits and doodads are pricy depending on how fancy you want to get. But still, you set your own entertainment budget and prioritize according to what you want, which can at times flip flop. For instance, “Do I want to go to a movie or purchase that new packet of adorable papers?” Responses change in relation to what movie or if you feel you’re due a perk and decide to do both. In my case, the new Harry Potter movie would win.

Saw it, loved it, want to see it again. Came home and stayed up all night reading the last book again. Thank you J.K. Rowling for such a gift as this story and these characters. Good triumphs, honesty, empathy, and loyalty are rewarded, friendship comforts the soul, and intelligence and knowledge are valued. I feel all seven books are destined to join the classics of all time. Shame on the small minds that try to nitpick the series apart based on their own narrow views of life. Enough on that.

Here is a scrapbook page I did as a tribute to my sweet Skipper, who passed away last year.

I'll work on my photography techniques.

Widget cat

Found this really cute widget cat. Isn't he adorable?

Happy Thursday

Ummmm... Early morning... Hot cup of coffee... Life is good at times like these. Going shopping to buy Savannah and Colton school supplies today. I love school supplies. New pencils (all the same length and unsharpened), fresh paper, clean erasers, little plastic "keeper" pockets that fit into your notebook, and a new notebook in a bright cheerful color--I love it. What would I do if I didn't have grandchildren?

He would know.

This is a favorite quote from one of my favorite authors. I just wanted to share.

How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.

Robert A. Heinlein

Fireheart

This is Fireheart, my youngest kitty. He is handsome and good, (just like his namesake in the Warriors series of books—which I highly recommend). He is the only boy in a family of females but he has a loving disposition and plays very gently with the older family members, including me. He loves playing with DeeDee (the miniature dachshund) and since he is a large cat and she is a small dog, they are very evenly matched. They have a ball together, rolling, chasing, and jumping, then they will curl up together for a nap. It’s a joy to watch them. I’ll try to catch some video.


*****


We went to the Zoo in Jacksonville (Florida) yesterday and it was great (but verrrrry hot)! I took a ton of pictures, but I will only post the best. It’s about an hour to drive from Gainesville to Jacksonville, and we got there early, but the day got hot in a hurry. We didn’t get away until they closed at 6:00pm. One of my favorite exhibits was the Komodo Dragons.

Also Stingray Bay was a place where you could reach into the water and pet stingrays. So cool.

This is my granddaughter, Savannah, petting a stingray that swam up to her hand. She loved them.

Gaia

This is Gaia (the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth). She was a foundling that someone left in my yard as a kitten and she has grown into a beautiful cat. She likes to play with my youngest cat, Fireheart, but when things don’t go her way she runs to me for protection. Then, while I’m admonishing him to be gentle, she slips behind him and jumps on him. In addition to that, I am good for ear scratching. Oh, and I open cans (and that’s a good thing too).

*****

Good afternoon. Happy Saturday. I went to the baseball game this morning. My grandson’s team, the Cardinals, did very well. At this age, everyone just plays the game and nobody really keeps score. We all just have fun and cheer for both teams. It’s a good time but even at 9:00 am it is so uncomfortably hot.

Here is a picture of him in his uniform (and later, I’ll have a video of him at bat).

We are really looking forward to the zoo tomorrow and I'll post more pictures.

Tabitha

This is Tabitha. She was named (by my Mom) for the little girl on the old Bewitched TV show. She is a great love and the oldest of my three cats. She likes to sit on my lap while we watch TV in the evenings. If I have a book or a magazine on my lap in her way, she will sit on the arm of the chair and reach out and prod me with her paw until I move it so she can climb into my lap.

Good morning. Happy Friday. My grandson, Colton (5 years old), has a baseball game on Saturday and we are all going to the Jacksonville Zoo on Sunday, so it will be a busy weekend. The baseball games are great fun. Savannah (my granddaughter and Colton’s sister, 8 years old) and I cheer from the bleachers, and my daughter, Ann (their mother), helps out on the player’s bench. My son-in-law, Scott (their dad), is a coach for the team on the field. Luckily the games are early so it’s not so hot and it’s usually before the rains begin. I will post a picture from the zoo.

I’m really enjoying creating my blog. I just got started on a Facebook page and I also started using Twitter (a little). Things have changed so much. I used to be heavily involved with computers through my work. I wrote code in languages such as Fortran and COBOL for years while working as a programmer and I would buy components out of magazines and build working units on my own. But that was many years ago. Now I have trouble setting the clock on my car radio. Ah, well. I have new priorities.

I did some tweaking with my blog’s color scheme and such. Let me know if you think it is better.

Meet Athena

This is Athena (the Greek goddess of wisdom and reason). She is a Basset Hound and the oldest of my two dogs.

Good morning. Getting started a little late today. It's a beautiful day with the sun shining brightly, but I don't expect that will last for this afternoon. The Florida "monsoons" characterize our summers in Gainesville and our weather reports look like they have been stamped from day to day. It helps to keep everything green and growing (and covered with algae). The dogs, 'Thena and DeeDee, love to go out and bask in the sun, and I stand in the air conditioning and watch them. I just can't seem to take the heat like I could when I was younger.

Today's plan is to finish my teaching portfolio and send an email to the college where it can be checked and approved so I can receive my program certificate. I went back to school to get a teaching certificate from Santa Fe College because I wanted to teach middle school math. I have a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Anthropology but I took many classes in mathematics because I loved it. When I decided to pursue teaching, I entered the Educator Preparation Institute (EPI) program at Santa Fe College to learn the necessary education philosophies and techniques and to focus on Algebra as the subject I would most like to teach. I am almost done.

I have added a shelf of books that represent some of my taste in literature and a news gadget at the bottom for your convenience. Let me know if you like my blog.

Good Morning

This is the first post in my first blog. This is my little miniature dachshund, Aphrodite, (the Greek goddess of love and beauty), known better as DeeDee. She is a piebald dachshund with beautiful black, white, and brown markings. She is a little over one year old.