Sophie's Story

   It is one of those weeks when I had several topics to choose from when it came to writing. I thought I would write about the upcoming election and how I wasn't sure the person gaining the most votes would be the winner in the race. The man who wins may get a really nice house and of lot of perks, but will have to deal a Congress who will make sure that nothing gets done. I was going to talk about how all the rumors,lies and fear mongering have completely destroyed the spirit of cooperation that is needed to really run this country.   Last night C and I watched a show about writer Erma Bombeck. I thought I might write about how I would have liked to have met her and maybe had lunch with her.    Then I remembered a speech that I heard last week.    Guy, a fellow Toastmaster, gave an icebreaker speech. The icebreaker is the first speech that a Toastmaster gives. It is meant to introduce yourself to the club and to asses what skills you have or need to improve. A Toastmaster ca

   I'm sure most of you have heard about Jennifer Livingston by now. For those who missed it, Jennifer Livingston is a television anchorwoman who received an email telling her that as an overweight person she should not consider herself a good example for young people in the area. The writer told her that she should be more responsible and promote a healthy lifestyle. Her response to this email has been the subject of news stories, blogs,tweets and Facebook postings.    The reason why this was given so much publicity is that it is widely considered to be bullying. I'm probably going to get into trouble for saying this,but I don't consider this email to be bullying. Unkind, inconsiderate,small minded and ill advised, but not bullying. The man was expressing an opinion that he had, nothing more.    This does not mean I agree with the writer of the email. What bothers me about it isn't that it's an example of bullying. It's the implication that someone who is o

   Colby and I were hanging out in the bedroom when we heard a car in the driveway. It was very late at night. It was probably the neighbors. Judy, who takes care of us when C and Sophie go on a trip, comes only in the mornings. It couldn't be her. Then we heard the sound of the garage door opener. Could it be? It had to be!   It is best to always be cautious. I jumped off the bed and quietly went into the hallway. Colby stood by ready to back me up. The car stopped in the garage. I could hear the car door open. I walked to the end of the hall and waited. Could it be?    The door opened and the lights came on in the kitchen. It was! It was! The humans were home! I ran into the kitchen to greet them. I started to purr loudly, I couldn't help it. I was so happy to see them. They picked me up and kissed me and petted me. I couldn't purr loud enough. I even meowed a little bit. They were home!    Colby came out to see what was going on. Since he is the guard cat he carefu

   A mix up in our reservations caused us to cut our vacation one day short. I was worried about it as I had to change the reservation three times or so. Fortunately we handled the situation without too much embarrassment. It was not really the way either of us wanted to end our vacation,but sometimes these things happen.   We had a couple of choices. We could either scoot home as quickly as possible in embarrassment or carry out our plans for the day and then head home. Since C and I try to make the best of every situation we find ourselves in, we opted to carry out our plans.   The plan for the day was to shop. There are a few things that I can only get in the area. We have several shops that we patronize because we like and want to support the owners. We had made a list the night before so we were all prepared. We figured that we knew what we wanted so we could shop quickly and still be on the road at a decent hour.   We loaded up the car,paid our bill and headed out. First sto

   Once again the weather people were wrong. They predicted rain every day this week. Today it was changed to sunny and about 61 degrees with clouds coming in later in the afternoon with possible rain.    C and I knew what we were going to do today. It was a day for golf, miniature golf, that is. There's nothing like getting out on the course on a nice fall day. Since this is the end of the season, the courses are empty. We don't have to worry about anyone playing ahead or behind us.   We set out after breakfast. We stopped off at Shopko so I could get a new pair of shades and something to keep my hair out of my eyes. Then off to Johnson Park. The course there is pretty easy and is a good place to warm up. We paid our fee (C got to use a senior discount.),selected our clubs and balls and went out onto the course.    I put my ball on the starting point and took a good swing. The ball hit the side of the enclosed area and came right back to me. This was not the way I wante

   My vacation started yesterday. I'm a bit of a workaholic,so I always feel a little guilty for taking time off. People depend on me, how can I just flit off and leave them? The problem with this attitude is that when you start to think like that, you really need to get away. In the past I did take a little vacation time, but only because I was going on a trip. If I took time off and stayed home, I felt guilty because my coworkers would have to pick up the slack.    I still feel a little guilty about being gone. I know that there is a relief person to work my shifts, but is that person taking care of my people? Maybe I should just cancel it for this year......   One nice thing about having C in my life this that he forces (in a good way) me to take a vacation. His job is so stressful that he has to take time off to preserve his sanity. Since we don't believe in married couples taking separate vacations, I have to go with him. Now I can justify taking time off to myself. I

   We were preparing to go to the Arboretum and I was digging through my closet looking for a suitable hat. C pulled one out of the pile and handed it to me. "Wear this one," he said.    I looked at the hat. I forgot I had it. It was bright blue and made out of ribbons that had been sewn together. (It sounds strange, but it does make a nice hat.) I tried it on. Perfect, brim was wide enough to keep the sun off my face. It was tight enough so the breeze wouldn't take it off. I went into the bathroom to make sure it was on right. As I looked into the mirror, something didn't look right. It was my face in the mirror, but it didn't look the same. I stared at myself for a few minutes trying to figure out what was different. Then I saw it    It was my eyes. They looked blue.    The person staring back at me in the mirror had blue eyes. I closed my eyes for a minute and shook my head. I had to be seeing things. I don't have blue eyes. I opened my eyes and looked

     The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been in the news off and on for the past few years. Due to a certain musical and a certain person that I don't wish to name, there has been some curiosity about this faith. There was profile of the LDS on television a few months ago. Members and former members have been speaking out about what they believe.    The LDS have several customs that I like a lot. The LDS is a mostly volunteer organization. There are no paid clergy and the leaders are also not employed by the Church.The grounds are cared for and the buildings are cleaned by the members of the wards (congregations) that use the buildings. When someone is chosen to do a job for the Church (also known as given a calling) the person is sustained by the membership. When a person is relieved of their duties (released) they are given a vote of thanks.   After the opening hymn is sung the man conducting the meeting reads any announcements. At that time he also reads th