Prayers, please

Once again, I ask for your prayers and positive thoughts for "our little Kody", the kid Cliff and I jointly babysat for a couple of years, way back when. I still recall teaching him the motions to "Eensey-Weensey Spider"... although when he said it, it came out, "Pidie, Pidie". But he did the motions perfectly!

I've told you before about his wreck, and the burns he suffered. He returned home Monday, but the skin grafts have become infected and he's had to go back to the hospital today.

Please remember to pray for Kody, if you are a praying person.

Wow, did I actually go a whole day without blogging?

We're in a celebratory mood: I've been cooking and we've all been eating. We're enjoying having Cliff's youngest sister, her husband, and their dog with us. Cliff's other sister, Rena, is back from Wisconsin where she had her latest day in court with her ex. Last year she wasn't too happy with her lawyer; today she's proud that she didn't switch horses in midstream, because he earned his keep this time.

One of my readers, Vicki, left a comment saying she had an egg beater she hadn't used in the thirty years she's had it, so she's sending it to me. Merry Christmas to me, eh? My readers rock! I have to be careful what I mention here; last year I was mourning the fact that nobody has bubble lights any more, and a reader from Texas sent me some. I'm enjoying them thoroughly this year.

Have I told you that I always wanted a new Cadillac?

Cliff's youngest sister and her husband, Pat, mentioned to us that their dog, Mindy, has suddenly started getting on their bed, and she's never been allowed on any furniture. You'd have to meet Mindy to know that she is one of the most well-behaved canines you'll ever see. She obeys all commands. Pat can walk her in their St. Louis neighborhood without a leash and she never leaves his side, even when other dogs pass by.

They left Mindy here yesterday while they went to Pat's family Christmas get-together, and during a rowdy playtime with Sadie, she ran and jumped on my bed with her ball. I chided her and she jumped down, but I puzzled over this latest turn of events. What would cause such a change in the behavior of a dog who has been so nearly perfect for three years?

The light bulb turned on, and instantly I knew what had happened: The last time Pat and Charlene rode here on their motorcycle, they left their pet with an elderly neighbor who loves Mindy dearly, and has the most spoiled little lap dog you've ever seen. I could picture with my mind's eye the sweet little woman's brat-dog jumping on the bed with her at night as he's accustomed to doing, and the lady looking down at poor Mindy thinking it just isn't fair that she has to sleep in her bed alone on the floor. I visualize dear Miriam patting the bed, enticing Mindy up to join her.

When I laid out this scenario for Pat and Charlene, they agreed that had to have been what started this recent behavior. So now they're going to have to work at ridding Mindy of this unwanted behavior.

I have a slight issue with my cow, Bonnie: her calf, being at least half her size, is none too gentle when he nurses her, and he has her two front teats so sore that she kicks him away. It doesn't help that his belly is likely full from the tall grass Cliff turned them onto. This puts me in a position of doing something I had not counted on... milking every day. She isn't too "kicky" with me because I apply udder balm to the scabby places, and once it's worked into her udder, her pain stops. Hopefully this will pass. I've put Sir Loin up today, hoping he'll be hungry enough tonight to take all her milk... even if I have to put her in the stanchion and put a "kicker" on her so she can't shove him away.

It's always something with these pets, isn't it?

The local boy who recently had a wreck on slick roads, Kody, has to lie on his belly in the hospital for seven to ten days while skin grafts take hold. What an ordeal for a sixteen-year-old boy to face, and with pain from a broken pelvis, too! It's not exactly a merry Christmas for him. Even though Cliff and I barely know him now, we refer to him as "our Kody" because of the couple of years we babysat him as an infant.

He was a lifesaver for us at the time, because our son was in Germany, our daughter and her family were some distance away, and we didn't get to see our grandbabies much. We poured all the love we had for our grandchildren into Kody, and he soaked it up like a sponge. He was one of the best, most timely blessings ever sent our way.

I know he and his family would appreciate prayers for him, and I would too.

It was a sad time indeed

Yesterday, just as I was attempting to pay our T-Mobile bill online, our DSL went out. I waited for an hour or so before calling about it; the tech talked me through the usual attempts at resuscitating my modem, and then decided there was a bigger problem. Later on my daughter called to tell me she was also without Internet.

I really didn't miss it so much yesterday evening. I had several things to watch on DVR. But when I wake up at 4 or 5 AM in the morning, that's when I am on the computer a lot. I was totally lost.

I fiddled around with pictures in Iphoto, editing them and arranging them. That made me feel more normal, since I was at least on the computer.

Did you know there's no Solitaire on a Mac? What's up with that? I do have a free game called "Hoards of Orcs" that I played for a while, but I was losing so much I gave it up as a lost cause.

Of course I always worry when I can't get online, because I have cakes baking in Yoville that might burn, and crops planted in Farmville that will ruin if not harvested in time. Oh, it was a rough period in my life, let me tell you. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't follow all my Facebook friends through their day.

My friend Judy went to St. Louis Monday for her heart surgery, and today was the day. The last report I heard, all was going well. It's a risky operation, so keep her in your prayers.

Also, the local boy I babysat many years ago, Kody, had a wreck yesterday morning; his left foot and pelvis are broken, and he has burns on his back that will need skin grafts (somehow he landed in contact with the muffler, as I understand it). I'm sure he and his family would appreciate prayers and good thoughts on their behalf.

I received this update on my friend Judy from Jessica at 5:P.M.: "I just got off the phone with Chris and he said Judy's surgery is over and things went well. She is in ICU recovery and in pain, but okay. The doctors did not need to do anything other then the bypass, which is really good news.

They said everything else is okay and not bad enough to mess with, and like I said earlier, not worth the risk to repair. She had some fluid around her heart and the doctor said she did have a heart attack, but the heart looked really good and there was not any heart muscle damage. It looks like everything went as good as it possibly could given the circumstances."

Kody

Several years ago, Cliff and I found ourselves with three grandchildren… all of them out of reach. Our son’s two children were with him and his wife, stationed in Germany. Our daughter had moved 150 miles or so away and was living in south Missouri.

One baby boy saved our sanity. His name was Dakota, but everybody called him Kody.

He was six months old when I started babysitting him. I believe he was around two years old when he left us.

He was so cute, and so much fun. He bore on his little shoulders all the weight of how much we missed our grandchildren.

I sang “Eansey-weensie spider” to him, and he did motions with his hands trying to imitate what I was doing, saying, “Pie-dee, Pie-dee”.

He was an active baby. He took short naps, and wasn’t one to sit quietly and watch TV.

He’s sixteen now, and we haven’t really kept in touch with him. I was grocery-shopping recently and the bag-boy spoke to me, calling me by name. It was Kody. My heart melted.

I will always love that boy.

I “friended” his mom on Facebook last week and saw a picture of the baby boy who filled the void when my grandchildren weren’t available. He will never know how much he means to me, even today.

God bless you, Kody. I hope life is kind to you.