Saying goodbye to a pet

I didn't want another cat.  I especially didn't want a cat with long hair.  But Chris found "Buffy" on the local shelter website and begged if we could go look at her.  I said fine, but we are NOT coming home with her.  Well......we came home with her. 

Chris fell in love.  And how could I say no?  I mean, he isn't even a cat guy.  But there was something about this one.  We quickly changed her name to Gracie.  I think she even liked it better. ;)

Our hearts were recovering from the loss of our sweet Harry.  He was our first "baby" and we loved him so much.  Gracie sure did help heal that wound.  Now, she was NEVER a cuddly cat.  She hated being picked up and only wanted to be loved on when SHE wanted it.  She was very independent.  A loner.  If she were human, she would be the old lady on the block that the kids would be afraid of.  Not because she would do something mean, but because she was just old and crotchety!  The crotchety part of Gracie's personality is what we loved best!  Especially with the kittens in the house recently.  She was never mean, but the kittens new without incident that they should just stay away.

Everyone that would come into our house and see her would ask how old she was.  She looked old!  You could just tell by looking at her.  She had this weird habit of doing "the running man" in front of the water bowl.  We still don't know why she did this.  It was weird.  But that was our Gracie!

Her hair.  Oh my gosh.  The HAIR!  I HATED the hair!  She would shed something fierce.  She would lose clumps of hair, but never managed to be bald anywhere.  I don't know how something could lose so much hair and continue to shed for years and years!  Gracie's only really bad habit was at night she would lay on my kitchen table.  She knew she couldn't get in trouble for doing it then.  Every.single.morning I would have to come out and clean off the table.

That didn't happen yesterday.

All the years of complaining about it and I was sad yesterday to not have to clean her hair on my table.

I did however find a few clumps on the kitchen floor. What used to bother me, comforted me.

Gracie had a peaceful death.  She lived a great life.  14 years!  She gave a lot of joy and happiness to my family.

We love her.

We will miss her.

We will never forget her.

The decision to move.....

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. We have had so many things going on, decisions to make.  For the last two months we have considered moving.  Not something we take lightly.  Especially for Maggie's sake.  She is so happy here, settled.  BUT, we have two big reasons we need to move.  (1) We want to be closer to Chris' work and Maggie's school and (2) we live next to the neighbors from hell.

So we have spent our evenings when Chris comes home from work and our weekends looking at homes.  We have found 2 that I think I could be happy in.  We could have the chickens at both places :)  There is a third that I have not seen yet.  The setting is intriguing.  A horse ranch.  They have horses, pigs, etc.  I think it would be an excellent place for Maggie to be at.  The house is tiny.  It's dirt cheap.  That's what scares me.  I love the fact it has solar power.  We could be saving up to about $600 a month (or even more), which would be really nice.  We would definitely not be there long term, and I know it.  So that's a huge plus.

Part of me wants to move into the beautiful new home, fresh paint, new carpet, hardwood floors, huge layout where we wouldn't be on top of each other.  Part of me wants to save money.  I guess nothing can be decided until we actually see it.  I am hoping it is as "charming" as the ad says.  :) 

I am sure I will be posting more about this!

CSN giveaway winner!

I am so sorry about how late I am getting back to you all!  My computer crashed on Thursday afternoon and I just got it back a few minutes ago.  {sigh}  Lot's of catching up to do!

I ran the numbers through Random.org and the magic number 3 came up! 

Congratulations to Gabriele from Work of Childhood!

$50 CSN Giveaway!

The kind folks at CSN Stores have generously offered to do a giveaway! 

A $50.00 Gift Certificate that you can use in any of their 200+ stores!

Check out their LED lighting.  You could use your certificate towards something like this cool 7 piece Snowflake Solar Light Set

Ok, ok, I know....it's July.  But we are always looking for Christmas decorations around here!  LOL

Or this beautiful Mortar and Pestle

I just LOVE it in this Kiwi color

Or what about a fun hammock? 

I love the colors on this one!  I can see myself in it right now!

This rug is adorable!

It would look perfect in Maggie's room!

So, as you can see they have a LARGE variety of items to choose from. 

You wanna win that $50.00 gift certificate, don't you? Well, I don't blame you!  Here is how you can win it!

3 separate entries, 3 chances to win!

1. Leave me a comment telling me what you would use the $50.00 gift certificate for.

2.  Blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment that you did with a link

3. Become a follower of Snoodle.Doodles

This giveaway will end on July 8, 2010 at 5pm PST

*Any entries after that will not be included in the drawing*

*This contest is open to US and Canadian readers only*

*Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner*

GOOD LUCK!!

Home of the free because of the brave!

To all the service men and women, past, present and future, thank you for what you do and for the gift that you have given us.  I am truly thankful. 

I hope everyone has a happy, safe holiday.  Remember the gift of freedom we have been given while you are out enjoying yourselves. 

To our soldiers who are not home, come home safe.  Soon.

We got an email from a soldier!

As you all know we sent a cup of coffee to a soldier by using the Cup of Joe for a Joe program through Green Beans Coffee.  When we sent it we also sent along a little note including our email address.  Well, today we got a message back from a United States Marine serving in Baghdad, Iraq!

Maggie is thrilled beyond words! 

This is what he had to say:

Hi Maggie! Thanks for the cup of coffee! I really appreciate you thinking of all of us over here in Iraq and making such a sacrifice by giving your own money at such a young age. It is people like you that keep morale high and keep us focused on our mission. I will gladly drink the cup of coffee that you gave me on behalf of all my fellow service members here in Baghdad. Thanks again. Major Matt McConnell, USMC Baghdad, Iraq P.S. I have a daughter and her name is Maggie too! She is only seven months old!

So of course she was thrilled about the note, but was excited to hear there is another Maggie.  :)

If you haven't sent a cup of coffee today, please do!  Especially since this weekend is such an important one for the USA.  Our men and women are sacrificing so much. 

Stay safe Major Matt McConnell.  Hope you get home to your Maggie soon!