Thinking...A Lot!

So much has been on my mind lately that I really don't know where to start tonight.

But I think I'll start from the present and work my way back in time a bit to tell you what things have been on my mind lately.

Tonight, Mandy and Maya are in Philipsburg -at the High School there -where the cast (selected from auditions last Wednesday and Thursday) are doing a "read through" of the play that will be presented in early July. The kids are going to do "Aristocrats" and Maya has a part -one where she actually plays a character with a name this time. In the past, the plays she was in, she was part of a group that sang and danced but they were just this group of kids and had no names pertinent to the production.

I've never seen the "Aristocrats"so I have nary a clue as to what each character in the play is like or about or anything, but she is a member of a group called the Alleycats" and as such, her role is that of "Fig Cat" -for whatever that's worth. Needless to say though, she is quite excited that she has a part -for openers -and that her part -her cat -also has a name. Can you say "proud as punch?" That would be Miss Maya about now -and truth be told, that would also describe Mandy and me too!

Next on my backtracking list is a little issue concerning Sam -our not overly brilliant dog. Sam is very much a house dog so the only time he is outside usually means he is tied out front on a lead or one of us is walking him on a leash. Usually. However, once in a while he does decide he wants to escape and then, if he does sneak outside without being tied or on a leash, he tends to run and roam and drives us crazy then trying to get him to come back home.

Well we had a problem here last week what with the laborers who have been coming here for the past two weeks now putting insulation in the house and they then have been going in and out through the front door and also through the basement door. And in the process and with a tad of confusion too, Sam managed to escape not once, but twice last week!

The first time was on Wednesday and as he began trotting down the road, one of the laborers called to me that he was outside and did I want him out. No way did I want him outside and loose, for sure, so I told him that. At the same time, the UPS guy had just delivered Mandy's Avon order and he asked me if I wanted him to take care of Sam. (He's very familiar with Sam and his big mouth bark and as soon as Sam realizes who it is at the door, he's all over the guy, sniffing him and licking his hands, begging him to pet him, ya know.) So anyway, I just laughed and told him "It depends on what you mean by take care of him!" He laughed and pulled away and I headed into the house in search of my shoes so I could go chase after the mutt. While I was doing that though, the laborer came in, bringing Sam in with him! I asked if he had gone after him and he said "No, the UPS guy just pulled up alongside of where Sam was standing by the road and told him 'Go home, Sam' and that's what he did!"

Well alright! That worked out quite nicely didn't it?

Unfortunately on Thursday, it was a horse of a different color as Sam again escaped but this time no one noticed he was out on the loose. I was busy trying to get papers together to take to the lunch I had scheduled with my classmates about our class reunion and then, had to shower, try to do something with my hair, get dressed and ready to leave -all of which had taken me a good 90 minutes -when I realized Sam was missing. Oh brother! I was already running late, had no clue which direction Sam had gone and no time to go on a foot patrol to try to find him and shepherd him back home. So as I left, I mentioned to the guys here working that he was out and if/when he came back, would they please put him in the house and make sure the door was closed then. As I left in the Jeep I drove down the road, slowly, trying to look about to see if I might spot him but no luck, so I started out of town then, also trying to check around for him as I drove by but again, no dog to be seen. When I came back home though, there was Sam, reposing ever so nicely in the bay window in the front of the house. The guys told me he had just arrived back home shortly before I got there!

The bad part to this episode though is that last night, a neighbor with whom my daughter is friends on Facebook posted about how upset she was because another neighbor's dog had come by her house, had accosted her dog and her and she couldn't get him to leave and he was very aggressive, growled at her so she had to get her grandson to get rid of him and even then, the dog wouldn't leave. But, she went on to say a neighbor had stepped in and had taken the dog back home. She then added that although this dog's owners say he is very friendly, that is only when he is on his leash as he was very unfriendly to her. To add insult to injury, she also claimed that the owners let this dog run free all the time -every morning as a matter of fact -because he comes by her house every morning!

Well, in reading this, Mandy asked me again then about the times Sam got loose last week because she felt this lady was describing Sam. I told her to just send her a private message and ask if it was him. So Mandy did that and within about 45 minutes, she got a response from the lady saying yes, it was Sam.

Now I understand about dogs not being permitted to roam freely and believe me, we do try to take every step possible to keep him inside, under control but sometimes things to go a bit haywire and animals do get loose now and again. So I will take responsibility for him in that respect. However, the other things she wrote in that post were out and out, blatant lies and that was what really upset me! The dog has been loose maybe 3 times since the first of the year and 2 of those times were last week. He most certainly isn't being let out and loose every morning though to run freely. And as to the friendliness of this mutt, I would defy anyone to find a dog who is friendlier than Sam! We've had him for three years now and in that time, the kids do sometimes rough house with him, sometimes they get a bit rougher too than they really should, but at no time has he ever so much as growled, snapped or nipped at either of them -or at anyone else -friend or stranger who has come to the house! If anything, there are times I almost wish he were a little more of the guardian type dog, ya know!

Yeah, I was ticked off about this little deal but it was not because she wrote about the dog running loose but rather the lies she wrote about us and him. That, to me, is really ridiculous and totally uncalled for!

Moving back a couple days now, I've been dividing my time the past week between things pertaining to our Anniversary Service and Celebration Dinner at our church this coming Sunday, trying to get a few more things taken care of with respect to our class reunion and in any free time I've had, I've been back to the old embroidery! Still struggling with this tabletopper I started shortly before Christmas but it is coming along now!

Last week, a girl who graduated a year ahead of me and who had done a lot of the leg work for their class reunion last year and I were in contact and she promised to send me some things and information on stuff their class had done. Today, I received a packet in the mail from her with 35 wrappers she had printed off for us that we can use to wrap around candy bars and give them to each guest at our reunion. The wrappers say Cooper Township High School,Class of 1962, 50th reunion and then, in the center, there is photo of our old high school! Pretty cute!

And now, my little guy here is all ready to go to bed -just need to give him his meds and he'll be good to go.

And I'm going to go check on Facebook as well as online too about the latest news on a little girl -age 6 -from Philipsburg (which is about 12 miles from us) who is currently a patient at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia where she is in ICU, in very critical condition -a result of a remission she had in February of a very difficult form of leukemia. This little girl had so many set backs last weekend and was doing so poorly that by Tuesday night when I went to bed, I really expected that Wednesday morning, her parents would be reporting that her fight had ended.

But instead, Wednesday morning the report -while not great -was that she was showing some tiny signs of improvement. Thursday morning, the report -still not perfect -was more improvements seen. Now, four days later, she's still far from being out of the woods, but the doctors told her parents they have no clue as to what caused this turn-around to take place.

Her Dad told the doctors he thinks he knows what did it though!

He said he firmly believes it is because of the entire community of Phlipsburg plus all the adjacent little villages, the Philipsburg School, all the other area schools, people from all over the country who have been supporting this little girl's quest to recover, through prayers, cards, letters and benefits galore in support of her and her family!

It was heart-wrenching last week to read the journal posts from her Mom and Dad when her condition began to deteriorate and then just seemed to be on the final downward spiral. I don't think I can imagine what pain and anguish her parents were dealing with then and I definitely do not ever want to even think about something like that happening to my grandkids -or my children even though they are adults now. As hard as the reports were for me to assimilate, I can only imagine -or think I can imagine maybe -how difficult it had to be to live through that!

So I'm telling you about this little girl -who will celebrate her 7th birthday this coming Tuesday now -May 2nd -if you believe in God, a Higher Power, whatever, would you please keep little Miss Emily Whitehead in your prayers for a complete recovery? I put the link in there to the reports her parents have been posting on her condition so if you'd like, you can read and see for yourself what a courageous child she has been and is today! She was the Poster Child for the 'Thon Dance at Penn State University back in January which is the big thing on campus as the students raise funds for research and aide for children with pediatric cancers. One of the new phrases around these parts on the internet from the many offering prayers for Emily is a take off on the Penn State's most known cheer -"WE ARE! EM'S ARMY!"

Keep Emily in our hearts and prayers please and keep this growing by sharing it with others!