This post is for Patti as she is one of Zoe's biggest fans. Although Oscar is the newest member of our family, Zoe remains the princess of our family. She is a ragdoll breed cat and is the most WONDERFUL cat ever. I highly recommend anyone interested in getting a pure bred cat to look into ragdolls. The only negative is she does shed. She has a GREAT PURR..SONALITY.

Zoe and Oscar get along really well. Ragdolls are extremely laid back cats and this trait serves her well with Oscar. He will want to rough house and play so he will jump and lay on top of her. The normal reaction from another puppy would be to play, the normal reaction from a cat would be to fight back and run away. She just lays there. LOL! Seriously. It's awesome. Oscar immediately gets bored because there is nothing for him to do so he gets up and leaves her alone.

The first picture is Zoe sitting on her perch. She is not allowed on our kitchen/dining room table or our kitchen counters but this table is acceptable. Zoe is my cat and my dh doesn't get to into her until that is I place things on this table. He gets upset because I'm messing around with Miss Zoe's space!

The second picture if of Zoe drinking her water. Yes, this is really how she drinks it - laying down. She is honestly the laziest cat ever. It's awesome.

The third photo is of Zoe in a grocery bag. She loves any bags or boxes!!!

So see Patti - I still love Zoe. She's so beautiful and sweet how could I not?!!!!!!

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Cathy |

The second photo is of trees. Have I ever told you I have this thing for trees? I love them. Someday I will live in the middle of trees. I grew up living in the woods and I miss it terribly. Trees give me a major sense of peace and calm. They remind me of my mom, my family before. Trees are beautiful and are my thing. I think I should do a page about that on my new clean table with stuff from my semi-organized closet!

Oops. Photos are in reversed order - you get the idea.

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Cathy |

• My son is Type 1 Diabetic. He is faced with a life most of us don't understand. Children on shots living into their sixties will have close to 75,000 shots in their lifetime. Think about this, 75,000 shots in their lifetime. I use this example simply because this is something us non-diabetic people could identify with or attempt to grasp. But reality is diabetes is much more then shots. He is faced with a future of debilitating issues that I as his mother can't bring myself to fully internalize. Diabetes on numerous levels sucks and I want it gone. Stem cell research provides a hope for a cure.
• My family has been directly impacted by cancer, deeply. My mother died when she was only 35 years old of breast cancer. I was 12 years old at the time and an only child. It was a lonely horrible time in my life. I was at high-risk for both breast and ovarian cancer myself due to hereditary predispositions. There are numerous other cases of cancer both in my family and my husbands family. Stem cell research provides a hope for a cure so other children don't have to experience a loss of a parent to cancer.

I know that when we hear the words stem cell, the first things that pop into peoples minds are embryonic stem cells and human cloning issues. Important issues but what do you really know about those topics? Is that all there is about stem cell research? It has been my experience that those that don't agree with stem cell research really don't know much about it. If you fall into this category (and that's ok if you do) all I'm asking is that you open minded and do some research on the subject. Don't just say you are against something if you haven't educated yourself on the topic. And, don't just let others tell you what you should believe - no matter who they are. I challenge you to read up on the initiative and Amendment 2 in Missouri. Educate yourself to what is really going on. Understand it. Take the information you have learned to the sources that disagree with it and discuss it further. Get all sides of the issue. I challenge and ask you to then and only then to make an informed decision on your position on stem cell research.

To help get you started on your research, check out The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. This is a great site with a lot of useful information about the subject. The site also contains links to additional sites with even more information - the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is one of those sites. Use this information. Take the time to learn about it. You owe it to yourself and to others to make an informed decision.

That's enough of that for now. I've got to go because I"m in the process of doing my research. Afterall I need to be able to speak intelligently to others about the issue to those who ask questions or state inaccurate facts. Education is the power we have. No matter what your final decision - that's what it's all about!

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Cathy |