one foggy monday morning....

Little Miss Sunshine...she is a sunshine, mostly. But last night, she was bad. Everyone had gone on to bed, and I sat here for a bit, basking in the silence, the dogs all snoring, the house quiet for the night. Well. Sunny jumped off the couch, and started....sorry if you're eating your brekkie...she...well, she got sick. She is a scarfer, a counter surfer, a garbage picker, she's a part time monster. So I scooted her little butt out the door, made sure she also went pee while we were out there, we came back in, and I gathered the supplies to clean up the mess. As I gathered the paper towels, she ran to the other end of the living room and squatted....and started to poop! No way Jose! I brought her out once again, then had to clean up THAT mess. rrr. And just to make it more fun, one of the kids had left a piece of pizza on the counter...she jumped and grabbed it, and would NOT drop it. We practice DROP IT, but she's a smart dog, and she is not going to drop yummy homemade pizza. No sir. She is going to play run-around-the-circle, eluding me and gobbling that pizza at the same time. By the time I caught her, she had eaten it all. I tried luring her with treats, but she already had a pretty good treat, and would not be tricked.

Anyway. She's a handful. She has someone's winter hat right now, I guess I get up again and play DROP IT. I have already taken her out like four times today.



I hope the snowman enjoyed her short life. She WAS a girl snowman, Emily made her with the little girls on Thanksgiving day.

The three high school girls got on the bus this morning, after having an entire week off. They had two snow days preceding Thanksgiving vacation. The younger kids are still sleeping, we have to get moving on our school. Paul is home sick, he has a fever, and I am a tad bit concerned about him, but he says he's fine. Just sick.

Some stories are not mine to tell, but I will tell you this, because every other thought that flits through my head is this, "My sister has cancer."

This is my sister Cheryl with me, and our four remaining brothers.

She is my buddy, my friend, we are on the same wave length.

And she has cancer. I won't get into the details, because it's her story, and because she doesn't know much yet, just lab results.

I am trying here, trying to take the same advice I gave to her...take ONE day at a time. Do not be anxious for tomorrow. God has this, He sees the big picture.

But in it all there is such a deep sadness in my heart. I don't want to be morbid, or fatalistic, or a person with no hope, but I don't, can't... live without my sister. So I won't even go there, I will fight to believe that each day, God sends exactly what we need. One day at a time. Just today.

If you are a praying person, pray for my sister. She is the oldest of us seven kids, and has seven kids herself, all girls. She is the grandma of the darling twins I have over sometimes, and of little Davian. My sister is of the tribe of Joseph (The Anne Of Green Gables books...), she and I can communicate without even looking at each other.

Margaret's wedding is in 12 days! Guess who is buying all the food? uh huh. This coming weekend is a Christmas concert at church, then on Sunday, Paul and I are driving to Ottowa with Emily and Mirielle for a birthday feast for a friend. Oh, and on Friday I am going to Emily's White Coat Ceremony, signaling the beginning of clinicals in her Nurse Practioner program. So there is fun, and there is busyness, and there is the the thought running through my head about my sister...:)