Today I took some students to the beach to clean it up.  One of them found a dead seagull.  'Can you say a prayer for the seagull?'  I said of course I would. 

We buried it with sand, stood in a circle around it, and said a prayer thanking God for the people present and for all our feathered friends.

They saw the value of the life of that one bird.  It blew me away.

In August at the age of 48 I graduated from college!!!  My employer gave me a $2,000.00 bonus for having my degree.  (I would have gotten a raise, but am maxed out salary wise there.)

I have previously held an Associates Degree in Nursing.  Now am a BSN. 

Cali is feeling so much better.  She has been on her thyroid meds since Monday night and her Ivomec (for the mange) since Tuesday morning.  She has had no adverse reactions to the Ivomec which means she can probably withstand the 6 month treatment.  The thyroid meds are for life but they have put bounce back in to her step, she is wagging her tail again and her eyes are bright and happy.  It can take 1 to 6 months for her hair to grow back depending on the pet.  I can already feel stubble on a lot of her body!  Yeah!!!!!!!!
Probably one of the reasons she got the bad skin infection while camping and the relapse of the mange (it never truly cleared up) is that stress brings on mange.  Her body must have been stressed beyond belief due to her thyroid problem.  Hypothyroidism also makes dogs more susceptible to skin infections.  Looks like Cali is going to fully recover as long as she continues to tolerate the Ivomec.  Again the treatment is 6 months long and then she needs two negative skin scrapings after that so by June 2008, I hopefully will have more good news to report.  Oh and the scabs on her body are starting to go away.

I cleaned my kitchen Wednesday and Thursday night.  All the clutter off my counters.  Most of the blood that Cali shook on to the cabinets.  Will take care of the rest of that today.

Am going to empty my pantry tonight and make some sense to where everything is, in it.

Martha Stewart once said she thought Barilla pasta was the best so I tried it and agreed with her.  Unfortunately, it is white pasta and I prefer whole wheat or the fun grains, spelt etc.  I heard a few months ago Barilla now had some multigrain pastas.  Looked but never found them in Canada.  Guess it came out first in the US.  Well.....today in the grocery store it was there!  So I bought Capellini.  It has 24% of your daily fibre intake.  I am totally stoked.

I never could stand Martha until she went to jail.  Then I started to watch her show and she really has some useful tips.  The show isn't on when I can watch it anymore.  I do subscribe to her magazine: whole living body & soul (very good magazine).  Have her huge book: Homekeeping Handbook.  Maybe I will start to read it!  ;D ;D ;D

I bought some beautiful baby carnations yesterday and some decorative gourds.  Every time I walk in the kitchen and see the flowers and the gourds in a fall coloured bowl, I smile.  Not only are they beautiful but my counter and little table are cleared off and I can see them. 

I too had a crappy week as well Yabbitgirl but it is great to reflect on all the good things that are happening  in our lives.  My dear sweet BF fell down some stairs yesterday and twisted his ankle and bashed himself up.  On the bright side, he didn't break anything so he only has to rest his ankle for a couple of days and ice it.  See good news because if he had broken something, he wouldn't be able to work because of his line of work.

Oh, and my friend Janet is home.  She is out of the hospital.  She also said if she can handle the trip, she would like to come and see me in the new year.  She wants to see me one last time.  So although she is still very ill, she has made a goal that she wants to keep.  Even if she doesn't make it, she will know that I would welcome her in my home any time and take the week off work.

She prefers visiting me because she can be stress free here.  I will of course give her my bedroom if she comes because I have a TV in there.  Then I can sit on the bed with her and we can giggle about all the silly childhood things we did.  When I talked to her in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, although she was very weak, I made her giggle.  Guess that is what a 45 year old friendship can do.

Just read the ingredients of the Barillo Capellini.  It is not suitable for vegans.  It has dried egg whites in it.

It also contains:  Durum wheat, oats, spelt, barley, lentils, chickpeas and flaxseed.

I am not vegan but it is sad there are egg whites in it because it would be perfect for vegans if they weren't an ingredient.

Hope everyone has some good news to share.  Nothing is more heartwarming then reading something uplifting!

My best news of course is Cali!  In a week or two, she will be able to come upstairs again and sleep on my bed with me. She can't right now because of the blood and scabs but they are clearing up beautifully!

My last good news is I bought a kitchen scale today.  It measures in grams up to 5 kgms.  The reason I am excited as I have always wanted a scale to weight my birds.  Bird scales are expensive.  This was on sale for $37.49 from $49.99.  Biko, my parrot can stand on the glass top and my budgies can be put in a little bowl with air holes.  That is how they are weighed at the vet.  Maintaining weight logs can help determine if a bird is overweight or is ill due to weight loss. 
A lot of kitchen scales I have seen do not measure in as low a measurement as grams.  Budgies don't weigh much so grams are a wonderful measurement.  Also can measure in imperial.  Not as helpful for birds.  As a bonus, I can also use it for food! :-)

I have a date tonight; the first one in 2 years!!!!  Well, I think it's a date.  It's complicated... :-\

My good news?  Well... There's a 2 term limit for US presidents!!!

Just hoping that Nov. '08 goes well...

I second that!!! 

My good news?  Well... There's a 2 term limit for US presidents!!!

Just hoping that Nov. '08 goes well...

Haha! Yeah, time for him to get the hell out.

I look awesome in yellow  :)

I look awesome in yellow too  ;D It's my favourite colour. Such a happy colour.  :D

No more IUD as of yesterday.... time to TRY.

My good news?  Well... There's a 2 term limit for US presidents!!!

Just hoping that Nov. '08 goes well...

I fourth this!!! :)

And I got a really cool flute off freecycle today!!! 8)

my good news is that i got a brand new (to me) car on thursday :) no more driving around in my kia deathtrap wonderng what would go wrong next --and wondering WHERE it would go wrong

i have an art festival coming up in exactly one week from today. i'm nervous but i'm thinking it will be really good for me

umm... *thinks*... my boss is being nicer to me? thats a good thing cuz she treats me horribly, but at the same time i kinda feel like she's just screwing with my head--she likes to do that.