Wednesday, August 25, 2010

OH-NO!!

Oh Yes!!!
***
Anyone who knows me, knows that I come across the strangest things. From a snapping turtle that layed eggs on the side of the road to a domestic ferret running down the middle of the busy road, amongst many other crazy things!! I proceeded to rescue the turtle eggs and bury them in the backyard. They eventually hatched out and I had over 25 baby turtles that I released back into the wild.
***
The ferret was another story that did not end well and the poor vet tech who I was hysterical balling to, threw me a kitten to hold and love as I handed over a dead ferret. He would have been fine if the stupid guy I was yelling too just stayed in a parked position. Needless to say, a few profanities later, I was rushing the ferret to the vet...
Ugh.
***
Anyhow, back to this story. I was heading to work this morning with Graydon in tow and we had just gotten off an exit and proceeded onto an on ramp. As I drove up the on ramp (its a bridge over a railroad track) I noticed something on top of the chain link fence. I drove past it and realized that it was a baby opossum. After realizing what I saw, and announcing it to Graydon who saw the same thing, we turned around to see it again. As we drove past it, it looked like he was repositioning himself to try and make a jump for it.
***
Needless to say he would not have survived because it was about a 100ft drop on the other side. I drove past him, pulled over, did an (illegal) u-turn and drove past the opossum to park. We jumped out of the car, and I was lucky enough to have a bucket because I did have a fleeting thought of cuddling the thing in my lap as I drove.
Ummm, yeah right...this baby had teeth!!
***
So we walked down to where the bridge and the chainlink fence started and out of safety I had Graydon stay on the side before the fence. I continued down the side of the bridge to the baby and the poor little thing was shaking like a leaf...
It was pretty far up there and I had to stand on my tippy toes on a curb to just be able to reach the end of his tail. Yes...I touched him...
***
Really not thinking it through, once I got his tail I realized that the front feet would not let go of the fence. These little guys have five fingers just like us and believe me he had a death grip on the fence. I grabbed a lace throw I had in the car from the pottery show I did over the weekend (stay tuned for pics of that) so I wrapped it around my arm and proceeded to try and pull him down. Afterwards Graydon said that the opossum looked like superman flying when I had a hold of his tail. So with the free hand and arm that was wrapped in the throw, I reached up and he crawled onto it and wrapped his little arms around me. Not letting go of his tail I put him in the bucket and put the throw on top of it.

Now what the heck was I going to do with him?
I stopped by a nearby vet who gave me two phone numbers for the State Police. They in turn gave me three numbers for the DEC, who in turn gave me one number for a wildlife rehabilitation specialist. She did not answer but the DEC guy told me it was ILLEGAL to transport wildlife in your vehicle. OMG, who knew. That goodness I didn't get pulled over...
***
So I ended up deciding to let him go in a field, woody area up the road. Hopefully this little guy makes it on his own. Like I said he did have teeth and I do hope nature kicks in and teaches him how to fend for himself.
Now, believe me when I say the weirdest things happen to me.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Birthday Recap

It was a crazy week of parties and thank goodness for the one on Saturday night. We attended a wedding reception for friends across the street and they had rented a 200 person tent. It was a beautiful reception and everyone looked like they had tons of fun.
***
This leads me to my next entry...
Saturday was BEAUTIFUL...
warm, sunny and a little breezy.
Sunday, not so much.
We woke to rain and it proceeded to rain ALL day long. I had mentioned to our friends the night before that if it rains on Sunday, could we borrow their tent. They responded with a "SURE, we have it until Tuesday...help yourself". Thanks soooooo much Tom and Mary for your generosity!!!
***
We took them up on their offer and had Graydons 11th Birthday party under the big top!
Perfect for the whole carnival themed party we planned.
We had lots of games with prizes for the kids to play. One of our favorite TV shows is Minute to Win It and Todd had looked up online the different games...
Cookie on the face
water bottle/balloon
flip the water bottle
and more...
The kids and some adults :) had tons of fun playing them...

Nana enjoyed watching everyone with the games and of course she brought her famous baked beans which I lovingly had two helpings!! Thanks Nana!!

Graydons cake turned out cute...its a little wonky because the humidity was high but all in all it looked like how I envisioned it.

I also made root beer flavored cupcakes that looked like miniature tubs of popcorn. The kids had a cupcake eating contest and it was so much fun!
***
Overall, things were GREAT minus the downpour outside the tent.
But who actually paid attention to that when the festivities were awesome under the...
BIG TOP!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Happy 11th Birthday Kiddo!!!

My baby boy turns 11 today at 11:55PM.
I wish him a long lifetime of
Happiness and Love
***
Happy Birthday Graydon!!!
I love you more than life itself!









Friday, August 13, 2010

I see the sun...

I have been absent again due to my aunts death. She lived a great life of 89 years and I was fortunate to be with her, talking to her, holding her hands when she passed away. It is not something that I thought I would be able to handle but I did because I wanted her to know it was okay to go.
***
The last couple of months have been so hard...
between all of my daily duties, I was with her frequently.
Now I feel a void in my life and I need to get back into some sort of a daily routine.
I am amazed by how many times a day I call her number to check in on her...
I've been to her house several times since her passing and its so lonely and quiet.
The oxygen machine is gone, her hospital bed is gone and she is gone.
***
I will live my life as she would want me too...
I will remember her everyday...
I will cry some more...
but I will carry on.
***
It's just so sad...

Monday, August 2, 2010

Well...


not really but sometimes it feels this way.
I have been absent from blog world again. Since the last time I blogged many things have happened. Life, stress and life I guess. Graydon was in a soccer camp at school all last week and so were extremely busy with soccer coaches from the Red Bulls organization. Every night was at a host families house for dinner. Long days and long nights...
***
On top of that my aunt is back into the hospital. This time is a pretty serious event. Since being in, she almost has given up the will to fight anymore. I went to the hospital yesterday and was shocked to find out that she has rejected all pills now. The doctors came in earlier that morning and asked her if she wanted to forgo taking her medication, due to the fact she keeps saying to them...leave me alone and let me die. News to me, she has not said that to anyone else but them. I suppose I have to abide by her wishes and support her decision.
On top of that, I have a meeting with Hospice sometime today to discuss her next course of action. After stopping her meds, she will really only last a few weeks if that.
I need to prepare myself for this event, but how do I do it?