Memorial Day

One of my fondest memories as a child was participating in the annual Memorial Day Parade in Sinking Spring, PA  - the town in which I grew up. My grandmother (whom we affectionately called 'nana') lived only two blocks away from Penn Avenue (a main street which runs through Sinking Spring) where the parade route lead us  to the VFW of Sinking Spring where every year they held a special ceremony honoring our fallen veterans. The ceremony took place on the rather large front lawn of the building and consisted of, amongst other things, the drum and twirling corp which I belonged to for many years, "The Boutiques of Berks County" and my high school band, "Wilson Senior High School Marching Unit." I learned at a very early age what, "Parade Rest!" meant. So you see, I had the honor of being a part of this beautiful ceremony since I had been 10 years of age up until I was 18 years old.

The Memorial Day Parade, marching on Penn Avenue - 1982 (I am pictured here on front left-hand side). 

It is something I will never forget. Every year, we marched along the strip of Penn Avenue then proceeded onto the VFW of Sinking Spring Headquarters for the entire ceremony. The VFW President spoke to everyone in attendance and then the 21-gun salute shots were fired in remembrance - followed by the playing of Taps ...

There are no official words for “Taps,” but here are the words for one popluar version:

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh..

And, as a Girl Scout, we always ended our weekly meetings holding hands in a circle and singing this version:

Day is done, gone the sun

From the north, from the south, from the east,

from the west 

Safely rest,

All is nigh.

Back in 2014, I created a memorial wreath which I donated to our local PA Veteran's Association in honor of their service. They came to my house personally to pick it up and deliver it to the PA Veteran's Association located in Fort Indiantown Gap, PA ...

Ironically, my husband and I joined the VFW of Sinking Spring last year. My husband served in the Air Force during Desert Storm, but was stationed in Turkey for a year then worked in Washington DC for his last three years before his honorable discharge. Before you can even be considered for membership to such an organization, you must provide your official documents as proof of your service. Both my mother and I are social members through my husband.

 

Honoring ALL of our fallen who served bravely and proudly to fight for and preserve our country's freedoms ... MAY GOD BLESS!

Homecoming

After much nail-biting and pacing the floors, we were able to bring our Sir Leo back home late this afternoon! The emergency vet nurse called us at 7:30am to update us on his progress and told us that the plan was to take out his cath at 2PM today, then check to make sure that he was able to urinate on his own before allowing him to be released from the hospital. So, we received a second call around 5PM and the news was good - the nurse informed us that Leo was able to urinate normally - and A LOT which they were very happy about - as for us, we were elated to hear this surprising news!

They gave him an antibiotic shot of convenia and sent a prescription home with him which is typically used for after cats are unblocked called "Prazosin." Prazosin is an oral medication that is often used along with other medications to treat and manage urethral obstructions in cats. A urethral obstruction happens when mucus, crystals, stones, or other debris forms a plug in a cat’s urethra—which is the exit path urine takes out of the bladder. When a plug forms, a cat is unable to urinate. 

Next, we must touch base with our regular vet as to changing his prescription food, etc. as they suggested. In the meantime, the emergency vet will send Leo's medical treatment paperwork to our own vet. As you can see, Leo was VERY HAPPY to be back home with us again ...

Of course, we will need to keep a close watch on him so he will be "vacationing" in the catio for a fews days. I cleaned it up and gave him a fresh litter box with the scoopable cat litter so that we are able to SEE if he is urinating daily as he should be.

In other news, Friday marked my 2-year anniversary working at Alcon and they sent me an e-mail congratulating me ... 😐

And, a cool summer top that I ordered weeks ago arrived in the mail this past week ...

Also, my husband surprised me with a special little gift Thursday night when I arrived home from work. It was a Larimar sterling silver necklace and earring set ...

Larimar is the embodiment of the tranquil Sea and Sky energies. Its soft, soothing blues and calming turquoise is streaked with white patterns that resemble sunlight dancing beneath Caribbean waters. It brings the ancient wisdom of Atlantis and the healing power of dolphins to harmonize the body and soul. Larimar is a crystal of serenity, promoting relaxation in every aspect. Use as a worry stone, or place in the home or workplace to assure a pleasant atmosphere. Hold as you sit on the seashore, or gaze into the sea-like patterns of the stone, to reconnect with the ebbs and flows of your inner tides. As you sit in a bath surrounded by blue candles, use Larimar to connect with the healing powers of the dolphin through visualization or dolphin call music. Simply wearing Larimar creates a fundamental awareness of the “all-rightness” of the world. 

Use Larimar to overcome fear of doctors, hospitals, injections or surgery. It promotes clear and confident communication with health personnel. As a crystal of the Throat Chakra, using Larimar in a pendant or laying-on-of-stones treatment will unleash the voice of one’s deepest wisdom. Singers may also find Larimar a wonderful talisman for enhancing and protecting the voice. 

Thank you all for your kind words of compassion and support regarding our Leo - very much appreciated, friends! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend! 💜💚💙💛

It's always something ...

Well, here it is - the start of the Memorial Day weekend and as usual never a dull moment! It all started yesterday morning while I was feeding the cats before work. I noticed that Leo was acting "funny." I caught him squatting to try and urinate in front of the refrigerator. When I looked on the floor to check what he was doing, there were a couple of little wet spots. I could not tell for sure IF it was urine because it was clear with next to no odor what-so-ever. So after I returned home from work that night, I noticed he was doing the same thing in the cats room. I turned to my husband and said, "WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM!" So, I very quickly cleaned out the catio that we normally keep Merlin in and changed the litter box with the scoopable cat litter. I put Leo in the catio for the night and he confirmed what I suspected - he was badly blocked! He has been on Science Diet Multi cat food for Urinary Care ever since he was diagnosed with F.U.S. (Feline Urological Syndrome) a couple of years ago. I know the signs - he tried to urinate outside of (as well as in) the litter box (corners,cat beds) and he kept licking himself - this is an attempt to stimulate his urethra. 

So, first thing this morning we tried to get him into our regular vet for an emergency visit, but to no avail (real nice, right?). Then my aunt recommened a really good emergency vet located in Lancaster, PA. We called them and they took him immediately! They asked us for a brief history on him, ran initial bloodwork, took x-rays to see if there were any kidney stones blocking him, and cathed him. As they had us fill out and sign the necessary paperwork (as is standard), it hit me like a ton of bricks when they asked if we wanted them to resuscitate him should he go into cardiac arrest at any time. I immediately began crying. I knew that he also had a heart murmur and that concerned me greatly, too! 

They instructed us to call them back around 12-12:30 today to check on Leo's results. When we called, we spoke to the emergency vet on duty and she informed us that Leo's bloodwork was okay other than showing a slightly low potassium level, they found no kidney stones in his x-rays, they said that his unblocking went rather well. The vet also noticed that his belly was pretty bare and asked us if he over-grooms due to anxiety. I told her that he does tend to groom his belly a lot and she asked us if we would like her to dispense some anti-anxiety meds for him and I said yes we could try them. I have no intention of keeping him on them long term because of possible weight gain (not to mention kidney damage) - after all we MUST keep his weight down due to his diabetes issue. 

More importantly, the vet told us that we did a "Good job!" catching Leo's blockage early as he most likely would have not only had kidney damage, but even worse easily could have died by the end of the weekend! They further told us that Leo's bladder was the size of a GRAPEFRUIT! They said they will call us tomorrow and barring any more problems we should be able to pick him up and bring him home - I PRAY that we can!!! We miss him and we all need him back home again - even Miss Ginger awaits ...

Throwback Thursday - A Blast From My Past

Greetings to all! I don’t know about you guys, but I LOVE You Tube! Just yesterday morning I was surfing around in hopes of finding some very old footage from my High School Band days back in 1982 and 1983. Much to my delight I actually found a couple of old videos. I had been a twirler (2 baton) since I was 10 years old and I was involved in drum and marching corps up until Senior High. I was a twirler in both my Junior and Senior High School days and it was in that year that we took a High School band trip to St. Petersburg, FL and won the 1983 Festival of States National Championships! The Festival of States was indeed a National event with the catagories being judged on marching band (which included a 4 minute field show), concert band, and stage band. What a fanastic year that was! ...

I am the fourth twirler in the first row L-R.

Taken at a H.S. football game ~ me and my long-time best friend & twirling partner in various competitions, Karin. We had competed as a duo and won many trophies and ribbons throughout the years.

Sitting in the bleachers at a High School footlball game waiting to perform at half-time. GOD, how I always hated having to sit through those stupid, boring games! LOL!

The 1982 & '83 Talent Olympics competitions held at The Hotel Hershey, in Hershey , PA ...

Anyhow, I just thought that you all might get a kick out of the following clip which was taken from the last few minutes of one of our Field Show competitions. The song was “Firebird Suite” and I am the twirler up in front third in from the left on the left-hand side. You may want to only watch until we march off of the field as the rest of the video is just the awards ceremony ...

And, an old video I found on YouTube which was posted by a former bandmate of mine. The clip was originally taken with a camcorder (THAT is how old it is), burned onto a DVD, and then uploaded on the net so the quality is NOT the best, but neither was technology back then. It is of one of our many field show competitions. I remember starting out on the left side of the field, but like everyone else the twirlers were moving ALL over the place during the performance. You may also notice the judges walking all over the field. We were always told to ignore them because they watch for any distraction and IF they get in the way of your baton, flag, rifle, or other to just hit them. No worries, these guys were experienced judges and NO fools - they knew when to back off - lol! My God, how I do so miss those days. Hope you enjoy!

Sunday this and that

Happy Sunday all! Well, I was supposed to work this weekend, but thankfully, it was cancelled because of an order of components which they were waiting on to arrive.  And so yesterday, my sister and I decided to spend an afternoon catching up and shopping - kinda a last HOORAH before the wretched mandatory weekends begin ... 

We stopped off at the local Yankee Candle store where they had some spring items on sale for 50% off ...

These votives smell JUST like Strawberry Quick! 💗

Delicious chocolate scented candles, too!

And a lovely spring candle holder with a Fresh Mint scented candle. I also found a pretty daisy topper to go with them! ...

We had a nice lunch at Flanagan's Pub ... 💕

And last, but not least ...

... a HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my fantastic co-worker - Ms. Sonia!! I met her only a year ago after I began working at Alcon and what a SUPER lady she is! She has got to be one of the most caring people I have ever had the pleasure of working with! And, by far one of the most hardest working women I know. She was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and has four beautiful children. She works two full-time jobs - second shift with me and third shift at a nursing home. However, I did not truly get to know her very well until last summer when she and I worked side by side together on my job workstation for three months. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to get to know her better throughout this time. We shared much about ourselves which I rarely share with very many people - most especially co-workers. She and I are the very same age and despite the fact that she had lived a pretty difficult life, she loves ALL people! And if you are fortunate enough to work with her, you can see it certainly shows. She LOVES to laugh. so I gave her two birthday cards - one nice and one funny one - she loved it and could not thank me enough. You are very welcome, Ms. Sonia!

SURPRISE!!!

This is the gorgeous cake that her daughter sent to her on Friday night at her second job at the nursing home.  😍

Have a blessed Sunday, friends!

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