Gratitude

Both Richard and I feel as though we have had another rough week at work and sometimes it is hard to not get down on your life.  It is easy to get overwhelmed, complain about work, who did what to us, what is wrong with so many other and so on…. etc.  
What people fail to realize is how lucky we all really are.  We have a roof over our head, food on our table, family that loves us.  That is more than 85% of the world has and yet people still complain about their life.  
I think people need to spend less time complaining about their life and others; spend more time enjoying and being thankful for the life you have.  Don’t complain about your family members, be thankful they are alive and you have the ability to speak with them.   Many people have lost their family members and would give anything to be able to speak to them one last time.  
If you think about it… if you were to die tomorrow would it be worth it spending all that time complaining?  Wouldn’t you rather focus on the good in your life?  
I think when people start to complain they should instantly have to write down 3 items they are grateful for.  It is hard to complain and grateful at the same time.  
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How lucky we are

Both Richard and I had a long rough week, or in our minds it was a rough week.  As you know I work with the crisis center on island, the center is fairly full at the moment with mothers and 10 kids between the ages of 1-10.  They are all living in a place the size of our condo, sleeping 6 to a room in bunk beds.  As well school starting up in a few weeks the center is getting lots of calls from past clients needing help to provide school supplies for their children.
It got me thinking I remember just how important it was when I was a kid to go back to school in brand name jeans and you had to have the best of everything.  How unaware just how lucky I was to have such a wonderful and supportive family, to never go without. Here we have 20 kids in the outreach program that would just like to pencils and paper to take to school on their first day. 
So, we went out school shopping, which is interest not ever having a kid and having no clue what to get for them!  I ended up with about 10 pack packs full of crayons, markers, notebooks, pencils, erasers and all sorts of other stuff.  Of course I couldn’t show up with put cookies, so I had to make a stop to pick them up as well.
I arrived at the center and it was busy with kids happily playing while their mothers we working to get them ready for church. The most beautiful little girl ran out in her best Sunday dress and as she carefully picked out a cookie with pink frosting she gave me a big hug and kiss being careful not to get her pretty dress dirty.  
I also had the pleasure of meeting a past client that was there to receive assistance as her daughter was very sick and she needed help booking a ticket take her back home. 
So as you think how rough your life is, how awful your life is… Be grateful for all that you have.  These poor women and children have been abused by someone who was supposed to love and take care of them and they made the brave decision to walk away with nothing but their children and clothes on their back to try and find a better life for them and their children.
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Yabbey

Yabbey had a rough day yesterday- she had to have 5 teeth pulled so she was at the vet all day and came home with stitches in her mouth.  Then she wouldn’t take her medicine, so she had to back to the vet today to get a shot.

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New Home

Unfortunatly our new lodger had to find a different place to stay for a few days.  Mainly because of this kitty!

Everything was fine in the house, until she got spooked and ran from him…  after that she became a play toy for Turbo!

He went to a home about a mile from here until he goes to his forever home on Wednesday.

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New Lodger

Well today was a surprise when I got home…  We have a new friend to stay for a few days before his new ‘parents’ get back.  The cats are of mixed opinions so far but he seems quiet, friendly and very well trained/well mannered.  I guess I’ll be doing a lot of walking in the mornings, lunchtimes and evenings over the next week…

Avery was concerned….
While Yabbey was less interested and kept her distance….
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South Rim

This morning you had two options:  sleep in or get up at 4:30 to see the sunrise over the rim.  I figured I better not push my luck, so I let Richard sleep in.  After breakfast we headed off for what we thought was going to be a hike along the rim.  Upon further information it was actually 3 miles in and out and you descended over a mile in that distance.  So, far from an easy hike with our sore legs!  We got dressed including bandaging the blisters on our feet! 
I was getting more and more nervous as we got to the rim and the weather was getting worse as we got closer.  When we got to the rim the rain and turned to sleet and there were even lightning strikes you could see in the canyon.  Russ made the decision that we should not be hiking on the rim with the lightning.  I have to say that I was a bit relieved at his decision!
 

We ended up just hanging around the south rim and eventually heading back to Flagstaff. 

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Hike out

Today was probably our earliest start as we were up tearing down our camp at 4 am.  We wanted to get an early start before it got to hot out for the hike out.  Everyone in the group was a bit worried about the hike out and the first mile really woke up your legs as it was a steep climb up before it flattened out as you got into the village.  The next 6-miles or so went pretty well and we kept up a good pace.  I could feel my feet a bit and figured I was getting a few blisters, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to stop and take a look!  Finally we got to that last 1 ½ mile and it was pretty intimidating standing at the bottom of the canyon and seeing how high we had to hike to get out.  We started and decided to take it slow and before we knew it we had made it to the top.  We actually finished 3rd and 4thout of our group!  We were tired and sore, but really proud of ourselves. 
The first thing we saw was a little girl and her mom selling snacks from the back of their car and we went for a Twinkie- I have to say it tasted absolutely amazing… I think it may have had something to do with the hike we just finished.
As everyone finished we had a picnic lunch and got back in the van for a 4-hour drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  As we got to the hotel everyone was excited to take a nice warm shower so everyone ran off to there rooms pretty quickly.  Richard and I showered and headed to the hotel bar for a beer to celebrate! 

Dinner was at a hotel right on the south rim, and the food was ok…  nothing spectacular, but it had really nice views.  Once again it was early to bed! 
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