Time..please slow down...

Man, where does the time go and why cant time just slow down?


Loved ones grow old and die, my children grow up... and become my age...wait I got older too? I don't feel older, do you?


My mom said she didn't feel older, and yet she couldn't keep death at bay any longer.


Last Sunday my firstborn turned 40, can that even be possible? Didn't I just turn 40, or does it just seem like I did?


My grand kids, are getting so big so fast, and one will be able to drive in a short while. It seems like not that long ago when he was born...


The time factor for this period on earth is going faster and faster. The older I get, the faster time goes by.
Do you know that even though a year is a year, it feels like it takes 6 months to get through it, gone...like that!


I guess I need to focus on loving those around me...


To be thankful for what I have been blessed with... family, friends and yes, the critters.


I think there is really something to the saying "Don't sweat the small stuff, it s all small stuff"


What do you think?

Oh my, my neighbor saw the cougar!

Yep, here it is 3 months after Milli's demise, and I received an update on the villain cougar who took our little Milli.

So you have an idea of our area, we actually are not that far off the beaten track. Every one of the seven families on our road has 5 acre parcels. The neighbors around us have anywhere from 1 acre to 10 acres as a rule. Still, not the feel of isolation from society.

The neighbor directly across the street told me they saw the cougar out their back window, 3 weeks ago. It was their teenage son who saw it, and they said it was a big cat, much bigger then he had expected.

Guess what, they also said the deer have bedded down under the tree's in their back yard in the past as well. I mention this, as the wildlife agent said the cougars love deer, and not as a friend.

Cougars have there own territory they cover, and he seems to be showing up regularly. I continue to stay on alert to keep the other dogs from meeting the same visitor as Milli did. I also make lots of noise when I go to the barn at night!

What was really confusing at the time of the attack, was that we also had a bear in the neighborhood at the same time, who was enjoying the fruits of the neighbors garbage cans. He was helping himself to the cans and the fillings as well. He was carrying off the cans and then after getting the garbage out, eating and rolling in the refuge...yuck!

Oh my how a little house in town can be so appealing to me at times like this....(sigh)

Milli, a small brave Corgi with a big heart.

Milli..my first Corgi and a very special little dog.

She was a Craigslist find, and I thought I was so fortunate to find her. The owner was very careful to place her in a home that was a perfect match..I believe we certainly were that!!!

She quickly became our little "Queen Milli" dog, and she ruled our terrier Randy as her royal servant (he seemed content with this arrangement) .


We did not declare her queen, she self proclaimed her position!



We found her "partner in crime",
Oscar, about a year later on Craigslist as well.
He was the standard size
Corgi and the same black tri-color as our Milli.

Because Milli was so small, people who would see her thought she was a miniature Corgi. Well, since Corgi's do not come as miniature breeds, she was just a very petite little dog.


My Milli was attacked in my front yard in the evening of November 16th, by a Cougar.This was just 10 days after my mother passed away.

After coming back from the barn that evening she was attacked, and taken to the wooded acreage behind our property. I had left the dogs out for just a few extra minutes after coming back after the evening feeding.

With the help of Oscar, who was the hero who helped me find where she was, I cannot believe we found her. I called and called with flashlight in hand, pointing in the direction I thought she was.
While Oscar barked ferociously, I saw her little body come slowly out of the underbrush.

If she had not been in shock, there would of been no way that she could of come to the calls from me and Oscar. She was hurt so badly I cannot describe it. I was horrified by what this animal did to her. We rushed her to Pilchuck Emergency vet, who after trying to save her, said the claws of the large cat has penetrated her body so badly, and actually come out the other side. The damage was to severe to save her.

I still cry when I think of what my brave Milli went through to come to me when I called, and am thankful I at least got to have her in my arms and assure her of what a wonderful and brave dog she was before loosing her forever.

She is buried in my flower garden, next to my little Delilah cat.

My Oscar really was a hero, as I had no way of knowing which way Milli had been taken, and he kept looking down to the backside of the property, which made me go that direction. He was truly calling her as his barks escalated while I called her, and I am sure made the cat release her and let her go.

It used to be that when going to the barn for morning or evening horse feedings, Milli would run out the door, and turn to the other dogs barking non stop, as if to say "Come on!". She would always bark and yap, and Randy and Oscar would run after her, they did not bark, only Milli.

Now, when going to the barn, Oscar has carried on Milli's tradition, and when asked if he wants to go to the barn, he will look at me and bark as he runs beside me, as we go to the barn...as if to say..this is for Milli!

I had the State Department of Wildlife out after this happened, and they sent out a cougar warning to the schools as a precaution. We have lots of deer around hear, and the Wildlife agent said this is the meal of choice for a cougar.

I wanted to share this as a tribute to a wonderful little dog, that truly will walk all over my heart forever.

Pony grooms cat by www.worthashotfarm.com

We will celebrate her life...

It is two weeks now since Gloria, my mom, left this earth for Eternity.

Sunday the 21st, we are having a celebration of her life.

I have spent more hours then I can count, making a movie video of her life with her favorite "Big Band" music embedded in it.

And after scanning hundreds of old, and not so old pictures, I have her 'life' embedded in my mind via these pictures. I have viewed them for hours on end, and I am so glad I had the honor of doing this for her.

As someone who has loved to blog, I have not done much blogging in the last 11 and a half months...as all of our lives changed after Christmas 2009.

As much as my life as well as my sisters life changed while we played "tag" to cover stopping by her residence in assisted living , it was Mom's life which changed the most. And such a hard year it was for her. She fought to recover, but her body was just not able to rebound as she wanted so badly.

I wrote a tribute to my mother on Mothers Day, May 7th, 2009. I would like to include it here, as I don't think I can find any other words to describe this strong, classy, independent, and very smart woman that I was fortunate to call "Mom" for the 6 decades God has given me to share with her on this earth...

I am thankful for my Mom. She is the Matriarch in our Family...and I can honestly say, she is an amazing woman.

She lives here in Washington part of the year, and she lives in Henderson, Nevada the other part of the year. We tease her, telling her that she is bored here in Washington, where 4 of her 5 kids live. This is because her life in Nevada is full of active friends, and many soirees.. as well as her friend George (who I must say, treats her like an Angel)!

She is smart, and sharp and savvy, and kind of strong willed! My mother is in her 80's and a mother of 5, and loved by all of us, and our families.

I honestly think she could of done anything she wanted to, as she is a natural business woman. Like most women of her generation..she did not work outside the home when we were young. She did have a small business at one time, she had a darling Consignment Shop in the "little" town of Issaquah Washington and she later got her Real Estate License, which was a great opportunity to find great deals on houses.

She and my father did very well with finding houses, and they would do a little work on, and than add the new purchase to their little string of rentals.

My parents did not believe in using credit, something their generation learned from the real depression, and my generation and my kids generation can still learn a lot from them.

Mom is a blessings to her children, grandchildren, and her great grandchildren. When my first child was born, Mom said she was to young to be a Gramma, and said the grand kids could call her GG (short for .. Gramma Gloria)..poor Mom, she was immediately named "Gramma GG" ... and has been so ever since!

So.. as I always tell her, I love you Mom!

She enjoyed her piano...we enjoyed it when she played.

Me with her, when I was about 16...

Goodbye to my Mom

The last eleven and a half months have been the hardest period of my mom's long life.

I am one of five kids who had the honor of calling Gloria
"Mom".

I can honestly say, she was one very classy lady who lived life with zest, to it's fullest!

She was a mom; a wife, a world traveler, an entrepreneur, a realtor, and she was a great friend to so many.

She honored this earth with her presence for 86 years, 11 months, and 4 days. We were all thankful for being part of her life.

After breaking her hip late Christmas Eve last year, her life changed dramatically. She was not able to be independent, and could not go back to her lovely Condo on the water of Lake Washington.

She never complained.

We are so thankful we were able to get her back to her home, surrounded by her family, friends, and memories... for the last two weeks of her life.

She passed away on Nov 6th, 2010.

"I Love You Mom...."