A Dark Cloud over Bloggerland

There seems to be a black cloud hanging over Blogger land this week.

Maybe it is just the smoke from the fires burning in CA. I'm not sure, but it seems that everywhere I visit this week, we have all been in a funk.

I can see the storm heading our way. It seems we are driving right into it's path. I've tried putting on the breaks, but I'm afraid my momentum is going to take us straight into the storms path. Yep, it's a down hill ride from here.

I know that we are all fighting some battle or another.

Suzanne has her health and animal cruelty, Bob and KookieBear have their depression,

MJ has her poofter porn addiction, I.V. has the Big Sur Fire (Man I hope God helps him fight that one because that is such a terrible disaster.) And the rest of us are just battling life in general. Like everyone else, I am struggling too. We learned this week that my sister's cancer has invaded her liver, and I have the symptoms and preliminary positive test signs of Lupus. I have to go to the Doctor later to get some further testing done. But that's not why I'm writing this post. I feel that so many of us are just needing some positive guiding light.

So I've done some searching.

I'm not sure I've found the light, but I have decided, things could be much worse.

I mean, look at Iraq. Are any of us living in fear of being blown to bits if we go to the grocery store tomorrow? I think of all of the parents and families and friends of the soldiers and civilians that have lost their lives to the war. I think of the grieving families of missing children.

I think of the paraplegics that cannot walk, or the mentally ill that are unable to think.

I think of the blind, and the deaf, and I think of myself.

I really have been blessed. I've been blessed by two of the most beautiful boys in the world.

They are funny, and smart, and so kind. (Yes, I realize they aren't mutant teenagers yet, but right now they are wonderful.)

I think about my husband. He is such a loyal, honest, and hardworking man. And I love him with all of my heart.

I'm blessed with such a wonderful family and I am thankful for each and every member.

I think about my parents. And although their health is ailing, they have lived such long and full and wonderful life and I have had good quality time to spend with them and really get to know them.

I think about my job, and my education, and my home, and my car. I have all that one could need. I have shelter, food, and transportation. I even have more than that. I have entertainment at my fingertips. With just the push of a button I am connected to people half the world away. I think of my friends and when I try to start to count them, I realize there are so many of them that it is difficult to count. I attempted to send out an email message the other day to everyone of my friends in my contact list, and it wouldn't send because there were more than 50 names on it. I guess Hotmail will not send to more than 50 recipients at a time.

You see, there is so much that we should all be grateful for. And yeah, we are going to have some bad times, but we really need to try and pick ourselves up and keep on trudging.

I sometimes look at my dog sometimes and I think, "God, she is so lucky."

I scratch her belly and her ears, I give her food, I give her shelter, I take care of her if she is sick, and she really has no worries. Or does she? She certainly stresses out when I am sick. She knows when I don't feel well. She is so excited when I get home from work. I can tell that she misses me when I'm gone. So does she worry that one day I won't return. When we have a thunderstorm, she is unhappy and upset if the entire family is not close together, so she worries and frets about us. We are her pack even though we aren't even the same species. We are her family and that is how she sees us. That is how I see each of you. You are part of my pack and I am worried about each and everyone of you this week. I hope that the Supreme Being, whomever you all call him/her is watching over you, and I hope that he/she is able to deliver you out of the storm that your life is weathering at the moment. I can feel the protective wings over me. I just pray that they are spreading out to cover you, my family and friends as well.

I want all of you to meet Apollo. Apollo used to be my Mother in Law's dog, but after her passing last summer, he went to live with my Brother in Law(BIL). We are keeping Apollo for a week while BIL is on vacation. Apollo was delivered to my house at 7:30 this morning. I had only been in bed for about 3 hours, so I was quite displeased to see BIL that early. I was even more displeased to see a very wet and hairy Apollo being released into my home. I promptly showed Apollo to the back yard and then returned to the front door in expectation to retrieve dog food and other doggie care items that would be needed. None were received. Instead, I was told that Apollo may have ticks, and needs to be given the heart worm medication that we give our dog. We weren't even given any food to feed the dog. But after watching Apollo and Javie play, and seeing how Apollo greeted my husband (husband and dog had bonded last summer as husband basically took care of dog while MIL was in hospital.) my angers about caring for Apollo faded. He is a wonderful, gentle giant of a dog. And we are happy to have him as a guest here at our home. And as you can see from the picture above. He is smiling, so I think he is happy to be here too.
I think Javie is happy to have a friend to play with, but I can see her getting a bit jealous if we dote too much of our attention on Apollo. But Javie Dog is a wonderful dog, so I'm sure she will be fine. Now, does anyone have some doggie shears I can borrow. Apollo is a shaggy mess and in dire need of a hair cut.