Happy Birthday, Enda!

Our sweet Enda girl celebrated her 9th birthday!  What is that in dog years, 54 years old? Officially middle aged?  I can't remember life without this sweet girl.  And, in fact, the kiddos do not KNOW a life without this crazy red head.

This year has been a lot of up and down for Enda's health.  This time last year we were contacting different vets, running tests, traveling to Columbus and Auburn and Forsyth seeking the cause for her decline.  She could hardly move, didn't want to get up and play, losing weight, not eating, shedding like craaaaaaaaazy.  We ruled out hips, cancer, and all the scariest things, but still didn't have an answer!  Finally a new local vet (now our main vet) suspected Addison's disease, and a final test confirmed that (plus an allergy contributing to the hair loss).  

Fast forward to now, and nearly 8 months of daily prednisone and monthly allergy shots, and we have our Enda girl back.  She still loves to run and chase squirrels, LOVES to be on the farm, must be in a lap or on you at all times, and even loves to kiss and snuggle with the kids.  We feel like she's aged faster than we expected, and is much greyer (and chubbier) than many vizslas her age, but I guess this is to be expected when your body is managing a chronic adrenal disease.  

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!  Here is a massive data dump of your life lately.

Introducing our Sweet Ginger Kitty

I can't believe I'm typing this...but we got a cat!!!  James finally relented after his wife and children begged and begged and prayed for a kitty.  Ginger started out in the garage as an "outside cat", then made it onto the screened in porch within 2 days, and now she's inside our house and sleeps on JB's bed every night. The girl is a charmer, what can we say.  

Out of all of my cats throughout my (nearly) 40 years, I've never had a calico. She's just gorgeous, with the absolute sweetest demeanor. Our neighbors brought her over at Halloween (she had been hanging out at their house as a stray), thinking she may be a good cat for the farm (where James wants some ferals to control the mice).  She confidently came out of the carrier, purring and rubbing our legs, let the kids hold her and drag her around like a rag doll.  I said "there is no way we can drop this cat off at farm!!"  Plus she was small (the vet said about 4 months old) - still a kitten.  While I can't imagine that someone would cruelly dump her off  (which appears to be the case, as I did try and try to search for an owner), I'm so glad she wound up with us. After the past several months I can definitely say that she's a great cat!

I'm not sure who came up with Ginger but it stuck and it fits.  Although everyone (BUT JAMES) loves her, she is certainly closest to JB and me.  JB just adores her, and even has learned to clean the litter box and feed her.  She starts hollering every morning around 530AM for wet food, and loves to hide and ambush us (and Enda) when we walk by. After several weeks of tension, she and Enda have actually become friends, playing with each other and living harmoniously in the house.  

We excited to have her part of our family. :)  And now for tons of cat photos from her first few months as a Sasser, because why not.  

My 2020 Reading List

I loooooooove my annual reading challenge AND I love my GoodReads app.  I am not a big app person (can fit all my apps on one screen, organized of course), but GR is one I utilize for all it's worth.  I follow friends, I add book recommendations, I track my progress of a book, I "shelve" finished books, etc.  If I didn't have it, there is absolutely no way I'd recall each book that I read over the years, or have my list ready for my Pines Georgia Library System app (one of my other favorites). Now if they could only integrate them...

So my 2020 challenge this year was 30 books, and I met the goal.  I committed to this number back in January of 2020 before we knew what all was in store for us this year.  I can't tell if the pandemic made it harder or easier to read.  On one hand, our social life came to a grinding halt and we were home most all of the year. However, we were also home all together, all five of us, including 3 littles who give zero personal space, so my alone time was limited.  What really helped me out in reaching the 30 this year: daily devotionals/spiritual readings, children's literature that I read at night to JB, and then also I just went and hid a lot to dive into a good novel. :)

Here we go: my 2020 list of book that I read - 

Fiction

1. The Namesake, by Thumpa Lahiri
2. Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward
3. An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones
4. The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See
5. China Rich Girlfriend, by Kevin Kwan
6. The Space Between Us, by Thrity Unegar
7. Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers
8. The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
9. Anxious People, by Frederik Backman
10. The Girl with the Louding Voice, by Abi Dare
11. The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride

Fiction – Children’s Literature

12. The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
13. The Witches, by Roald Dahl
14. Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry
15. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl
16. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
17. The BFG, by Roald Dahl

Non-Fiction / Memoir

18. Educated by Tara Westover
19. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

Non-Fiction / Historical

20. Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep
21. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Raden Keefe

Non-Fiction / Spiritual Growth

22. Awaken, by Priscilla Shirer
23. Sources of Strength, by Jimmy Carter
24. Inspired, by Rachel Held Evans
25. Letters to the Church, by Francis Chan

Non- Fiction / Professional, Mental and Physical Growth

26. Stress Less, Accomplish More, by Emily Fletcher
27. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Siegfried Engelmann
28. How to Lead in a World of Distraction, Clay Scroggins
29. Make Your Bed, by Admiral William H. McRaven
30. The Fast Diet, by Dr. Michael Mosley

Although I normally read diverse books or books written by a diverse set of authors, this year in particular I tried to seek out books by authors of color or books that had been identified as ones that present a different cultural POV.  I'll continue to do this in 2021, and fortunately there is much more awareness about this so some wonderful books are championed on lists that I read for recommendations. 

Still unsure what I'll aim for in 2021...I will say that 30 was a stretch!  I finished the last book (The BFG, with JB) at 1045PM on NYE.  For this reason, I may set my sights a little lower at 20 or 25...  I also want to tackle some more non-fiction historical, which are usually thicker, meatier, and not as quick to work through like a riveting novel. So, we shall see... :)

2019 List; 2018 List, 2017 List; 2016 List; 2015 List; 2014 List

Ringing in the New Year

Normally I would do a "year in review" post to close out the previous year, but this year I did not.  I don't have the motivation to.  And it's really not because 2020 was a terrible year for our family. Reflecting back, there was heightened anxiety (more than usual, for this Enneagram 6), uncertainty, disappointment, and inconvenience...but also so many blessings, good fortune under the circumstances, sighs of relief, and also divine protection.  I fully recognize that many in our community, within our friends, and in our great country and world are not so lucky. They closed our 2020 thinking that any year could be better than that one.  And I pray that 2021 brings them comfort, peace, and a definite improvement over the past year.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about this new year.  I'm very ready to move forward!  I have great hope and expectations thanks the roll-out of the vaccine and the promise of "normalcy".  Hopefully "normalcy" that is reflective of some of the learnings we had during this 2020 pandemic year (such as how valuable unstructured home and family time really is). I'm in no rush to return to nightly activities every.single.day. :)

So, ringing in the year. How did we do it? Quietly, haha. I got home a little late from work on NYE, took off my make up around 8PM, and wore sweats and a fleece.  A friend texted to say she was spending her first NYE in a long time without a bra on, and I thought "SAME!" (although, let's be honest, sports bras are more the norm these days, haha).  James, the kids, Gia and I enjoyed some food, sparklers, and running around the house - with no intention to be up at midnight. After we got those rascals in bed, James and I cozied up on the outdoor porch under our marvelously hot outdoor heater with some wine.  Then, lo and hold, we talked till 11:45PM!  

Thus, it made no sense to go to bed. We moved from the back porch to the front porch right as the clock struck midnight, watching our (loud, crazy) neighbors shoot off some large, beautiful mortar fireworks.

(Thankfully, no kiddos woke up under all the noise!) 

New Year's Day we made sure to eat our black eye peas (for luck), some greens (for fortune), and enjoy some sweets and drinks (prepping for a dry, healthy January).  I got zero pictures of the entire family, minus one pic from our grocery store run in our new masks.  

The rest of the weekend we tried to stay sane.  Our first weekend of the new year was cooooold and super rainy. We took walks between the showers, played games, and then baked homemade cinnamon rolls (which I had wanted to do the entire pandemic!)

The weather finally turned gorgeous on Sunday so we could enjoy the land.  We're lucky that Gia is here another week with us, and the kids are loving it.  

Here's to a HAPPY new year and many blessings in 2021.