Blessings

After the week I had last week, I think it's time to do a little counting of the blessings. I'm going to try my best not to get snarky this week, even though I still have reason to be...it's better just to rise above.

The link above is for information on St. Francis of Assisi. I want to start my blessing post by talking about where I went this weekend (before the Renn Fest on Sunday). My sister and her husband are both United Methodist ministers, and Dave had a pet blessing (in conjunction with the feast day of St. Francis, which I believe is October 8th?) at his church. The turnout was small, as it was the first such event and the weather was kinda weird, but quality definitely trumped quantity. Hunky and I got to meet a brassy and bold miniature schnauzer named Bubba and a dainty little chihuahua girl whose name I can't remember. Dave used the Blessing of the Pets from the UMC hymnal and it was just a neat way to spend a Saturday morning. Hunky thinks the Milkbones were pretty awesome too... So thanks, Unka Dave and Aunt Susan, for letting us invade your house and share that experience with Dave's congregation. At one point Dave went up to the church building to get something, and the people there for the blessing couldn't stop talking about how much they think of Dave, and how blessed they are to have him as their pastor. Made a sister-in-law right proud!

I'm blessed with an incredible family. They are intelligent (5 masters degrees in the family) loving, compassionate people who never meet a stranger and are always ready and willing to help. They are my litmus test for everyone I new bring into my life.

I'm also blessed by having the amazing souls that share my house with me. Hunky was an incredible ambassador for his breed on Saturday! Of course, when compared with smaller breeds that have lots of energy and spunk like the two that were there, he is the paragon of stoic nobility...but he held a stay and rooed when asked, so I have to give my boy credit for that. Profile went with me Sunday to the Renn Fest, and again reminded me how much he trusts and loves me as his person when a child (who I think had some intellectual challenges) repeatedly pinched his head (till I moved his hand), asked the same question over and over, tried to look in Profile's nose, and stepped on his foot. When we first got Profile, that child would have gotten snapped for stepping on his foot. Yesterday Profile let out a little growl and that was it. He and I are working as a team now...he growls to let me know I need to take control of the situation and I did, and no one got snapped at or bitten. He is a very smart dog, and I don't know what I'd do without him.

Jeany is just a blessing with feet. She is silly, she is beautiful, she is loving, she is maddening...and she is going to leave a huge hole in my heart when I move out and leave her here with Scott. That's about all I can say about that without losing my composure.

Last even though they were first, my kitties...Fran and Zoe have been with me for 11 years. How much has changed in my life over 11 years, and yet they remain the same. Zooey still crawls up into my face and tries to snag what I'm eating just as he did Susan 10 years ago when she visited to help me move from West Virginia. Franny still screams when you pick her up like you've pinched her, just as she did the day 11 years ago when I picked her up to put her in the car to go TO West Virginia. Mills...well, Mills is Mills. He still rolls over on his back when I walk past him and swats my foot for me to come play and I am still awakened to him purring in my ear...although at 7 years old and about 13 pounds, the purring is a bit louder than it was when we first got him at 7 WEEKS old.

Yep, I'm blessed, a thousand times over. The things that I let get to me last week are miniscule. The people that drove me to "snarky" are details. All I have to do is sit back and think about all the blessings I have in my life and I can't help but smile.