Tuesday's Tidbits

Have I mentioned that an enormous owl has taken up residency in our front yard? (see exhibit A) Slightly worried for our little kittens, especially since this owl is killing and eating something every single night. Any non-violent ideas on how to get rid of an owl?

Exhibit A (By the way, I feel like I should mention that Brian took this picture all on his own in manual mode; he even went and changed lens.) This is using the zoom so you can't see quite how large this owl really is.
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One night last week, Brian and I put the kids in bed and then made these Banana Nutella Grilled Sandwiches. Oh. My. Stars. Yes, it's true. I don't like to share the good desserts with the kids.

Camden has started giving me these one-armed side hugs. They are very sweet and give me a glimpse into teenage Camden and adult Camden because I imagine I'm going to be getting these for a very long time.

I debated mentioning this, but in sticking with my theme of brutal honesty on this blog (and also to dispel all those rumors of how "well" I'm handling this), I spent Friday and Saturday hiding out in the bathroom while I cried buckets of tears. I am completely fine now and feeling strong, but I do find that the further into this journey I go, the more I realize that cancer is in my life to stay. And it's not always easy to feel any sort of positive about that.

Rory has gotten in the habit of insisting I don't get up. She puts her finger in my face and says, "don't get up, mama, don't get up!" She's also so many times on bad days climbed up on the couch with me, rubbed my arm and asked if she could pray for me. It makes me cry every time.

Despite my cold, I woke up this morning (after sleeping 8 whole hours!) feeling stronger than I have in weeks. It's nice to feel good.

And over the weekend, I had several nights of insomnia so I took advantage and did a little scrapping.

Sahlin Studio/Valorie Wibbens: Make a Wish

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Comments

Joy said…
Wow! Go Brian! : ) I've always heard you can put one of those "fake snakes" in the tree and it will scare them away. Of course, if I forget the snake is there, it would scare me too. LOL

Oh, Melissa - it just breaks my heart to hear you've been down. : ( You ARE an amazing person - you let your love for God shine through no matter what and that is an example to me of how to handle things "well". Your family is an amazing example of love and support. Praying for you daily that there will be a day soon where you are fully recovered and the word "cancer" never crosses your mind. Love you, girl.
Your second scrapped page made me cry! I have no idea how to scare an owl away, but I know people who have put a fake owl in their tree to scare other things away. Wonder what the owl would think of a fake owl??
Elizabeth Frick said…
Your children are absolutely too adorable. The side-arm hug and your ability to see Future Camden was just too lovely.
I'm with Elizabeth - LOVE the second scrapped page!
Ok, the owl is super cool, but I STRONGLY suggest bringing the kittens inside.
OK, that owl is scary! And awake during the day?? I don't think that's right...

I'm sorry you were so down. I'm sure I've said this already, but you deserve to be down... even in your down moments, you amaze and inspire me. That said, it breaks my heart that you have to suffer at all. (((HUGS)))
joelsgirl said…
I think it's amazing you're not crying and complaining all the time, so you totally are allowed two days of hiding in the bathroom crying.

Rory is precious with her taking care of you and praying for you. You are so blessed to have her. You must stop these side hugs from Camden, though, at least in private. Just tell him mommys get full hugs at home. For the rest of his life.

Good luck with that freaky animal eating owl.
KrisJ said…
Love your pages.. and I love the owl! But I hope you can get it to shooo so that your kitties are safe!
Amy said…
I have absolutely no owl experience, which I am quite thankful for, so no advice from me.

Those sandwiches sound yummy and I don't blame you one bit for waiting until the kids went to bed. We have to wait until Lukas goes to bed to enjoy our nightly ice cream otherwise we have to share.

I'm so sorry to hear you've been down but you completely deserve 2 days of crying in the bathroom. Sometimes letting it all out is the best medicine! You have been handling this all with such grace and God has been using you in ways that you will never know until Heaven. I pray that He will continue to give you the grace and strength to face each day and that His peace will overwhelm you.
Susan said…
Thank you for your brutal honesty!! As much as I am positive that I'm going to beat cancer, I am always fearful that it will come back. And just fearful about living with cancer looming over me in a much more serious way for the rest of my life. It's scary shit, there's no way around it.

Your pictures are beautiful and joyful as always though! Have a great weekend! xo
Krista said…
Nutella and Banana Sandwiches?! Wowsa! Can you put up a plastic owl? Maybe they don't like competition...
And I think you are more than allowed a good cry, and to get mad, angry and all those other emotions that I'm sure are there. What you are going through is just not fair. HUGS.
Anonymous said…
I think it's a Great Horned Owl. Kinda hard to tell since I can't zoom in on the picture to get a closer look at it. My kids would be so jealous if they knew you had an owl in your yard! We've watched The Guardians of Ga"Hoole movie roughly a million times and we're reading the series of books that the movie was based on. The kids now want a pet owl and ones to live in our yard. :D
Anonymous said…
Addendum to my comment: Conner thinks this is a great grey owl. I don't see any tufts on it's head so it's probably not a great horned, even though they're just about the biggest ones in our area. There are lots of good pictures of different kinds of owls to compare him to here: http://www.owl-pictures.com/

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