Just a Light Dusting...

We had a little bit of snow for Christmas...

And then again yesterday!

And it was just the right amount:

it was pretty, it melted quickly,

and we had no trouble getting out of the driveway!

LOL

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Merry Christmas!

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2 verse 14

♥ ♥ ♥

Focusing on a Distraction

Someday maybe I’ll write a book about The Importance of Focus and the Power of Distractions.

After all, it is what you focus on that determines almost everything.

And allowing yourself not to be distracted or carefully picking a good distraction can sometimes be the smartest thing you could do.

I believe The Power of Distraction can be very powerful.  For good OR for bad.  Some distractions can be bad, sure, but some are very practical and can be very wonderful.

Distracting yourself with TV when you’re sick can get your mind off how bad you feel.  A night out at the movies may distract us from the difficult week at work.

Focus on living within your means, and you create a debt-free reality.  Focus on what the Joneses have and your discontent can tempt you otherwise.

A Sunday drive can distract you from something crummy that happened, displace it out of your brain and help you get over it.  And if an ice cream cone happens to join you along the way… well, that may just be a necessary bonus.  :)

Focus also determines your reality.  Perhaps it is their choice of what they focus on that make the optimists so positive.  They continually focus on what they have, not on what they lack.  Half-full.

(Personally, I tend to be a bit too cheerful for some…!!   Some of it is in my genes, but also perhaps it’s because I am constantly thinking in relative terms.  Compared to X, Y isn’t so bad.  It could be a lot worse.  That sort of thinking.)

In the Winter, when I am lying on my back on an ice pack, I also have a sock full of hot dry rice on my tummy, warming me so I don’t turn into a popsicle.  (!!)  Now I feel delicious warmth when I consider the one, and bitter cold when I concentrate on the other.  Both are true at the same time.  How I feel actually depends upon which one I focus on.

When I am in pain, however, my focus is usually totally on that.  If it’s a lot of pain, it is just in your face.  It is truly the pits.  And pain is such a thief.  Pain can not only steal all your attention, but your joy, your energy and your very essence.  Not that it can’t be helped sometimes.  Sometimes it just is.  Pain stinks.  Thank heavens the pain-filled times in my life are not very extreme.

And not just pain.  Sometimes it's just what happens in life, and it's horrible.

But if I can shift…  If I can be *distracted* by something, then I am a few degrees freer.  Freer from pain, or freer from temptations, or freer from my crazy brain...

And the greater attention I pay to what my focus is, and the more aware I am of the distractions I allow or choose, the more I am rewarded.  It helps you live with intention, doesn’t it?

I think that’s why the Bible says, focus on things above, not things here on the earth.  It knows that something is going to occupy our brain, so why not make it the good stuff?

And I believe that to a great extent we actually create the reality we live in.  So, as much as we can, why not make it a wonderful one??

Your thoughts are your choice.

Brainwash yourself with good ones!!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Outtakes 1

During the year I take lots of photos

that for one reason or another

didn't make it to my blog.

I'm calling them

"outtakes".

I hope you enjoy them.

Some of them are my favorites...

Here's a photo of a raccoon

that I'm calling

Mr. Tippy Toes

And there was a little something extra

in the deer corn bucket one morning:

And lastly,

our "little" female cat

being sorely tempted by those crazy turkeys:

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

ChiaoGoo Interchangeables

If you happen to be looking for the new

ChiaoGoo Red Lace Interchangeable Twist
complete set or small set,

they are in stock as of this writing

at Loops in Tulsa
and you can buy them online!

www.loopsknitting.com

I checked, and as of a few seconds ago
they had 36 complete sets

and

23 small sets available.

Since they are so scarce these days,

I thought I'd share my wonderful find with you all.

And p.s.
mine came in the mail today!!

But it's a surprise for my birthday,
so don't tell.  LOL

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Kidney Kitty

Well, our wonderful little diabetic kitty

has also developed chronic kidney disease…

Bummer. 

‘Cause we are controlling his diabetes really really well.

Fortunately, we caught his kidney numbers early with bloodwork,

and we’ve been on top of it, but it’s always terminal. 

So when he lost another pound recently, I knew that was bad. 

So I took him in to see our wonderful vet,

who said we could try giving him
subcutaneous fluids twice a week.

Sigh.

I knew that fluids thing was gonna be in our future,

I just didn’t know how soon.

We’ve been able to give the cat his insulin shot twice a day,

and even have been able to poke his little ear

for a blood sugar reading whenever,

but sub-Q fluids???

Naturally, I had to read up on this on the Internet.  :) 

And I found a great website http://www.felinecrf.org/ 

that has tons of info, and that even directed me

to a website with better needles
(that were also a really good deal).

But we’re not very good at giving the fluids yet... 

And by “we”, I mean Mr. Man. 

LOL 

(I don't think I could ever do it!!)

Thankfully, our wonderful vet tech makes house calls
and can help us out whenever.

But it turns out that fluids are just part of his new therapy. 

I also give him some MiraLax for his constipation,

and some Pepcid for his acidy tummy. 

Who knew, right??

And gosh!  Between those 3, he’s back to himself again! 

At least for now.

But, ya know…  I hadn’t even realized
that his personality and behavior had changed.

Things erode so slowly that we didn’t notice anything. 

All we noticed was his weight loss. 

(We weigh our all pets monthly--‘cause stuff like this happens.)

But now he’s back to being happy and social,

and picking on the little female!  :)

Who knows how long we will get to enjoy him... 

They say that with chronic kidney disease
they are headed for the cliff,

but that each cat has its own speed.

He’s the sweetest and best cat in the land,

so we hope he takes his time. 

♥ ♥ ♥

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Quote o' the Day

"How you do one thing

is how you do everything."

-- unknown