Perhaps the worst thing about using the bathroom in a public restroom is trying to maneuver the toilet seat so you don’t actually have to sit on it. I never sit on public toilets or any toilet seat other than the one in my own home. I have decided that the best way for me to avoid sitting on a public toilet seat is to put toilet paper down on the seat. Though, I wonder how much protection this actually offers? The worst feeling ever is when you have the toilet seat all prepared with toilet paper, and you go to sit down, and the toilet paper falls off, and you wind up sitting directly on the toilet seat! Eeek! I hate it when that happens! I’m always worried I’ll get crabs or something.

I don’t believe the people who say you can’t catch anything by sitting on a public toilet seat. “There are more germs on your cell phone,” they say. Personally, I will always fear the public toilet seat.

Happy toileting!

In social settings, all conversations seem to lead to children. My child did this or that, etc. I guess if I had children I would want to talk about them too, but during those conversations I just twiddle my thumbs because I have nothing to contribute, and cannot relate in the least.

Sometimes I think people have children because that’s what they are “supposed to do.” It’s what our society expects. You know…get married, have 2.5 kids. Though, a lot of people have children by mistake, and that may be another reason everyone my age has at least one child.

I’ll be honest, a part of me does want children, but that small part outweighs a much larger part. How would a child change my life? I have no idea, but I know from what people tell me that it would be significant. Plus, I could never picture myself driving a mini van…just saying. So, I guess when it comes to the topic of children, I will just feel left out for now, and live vicariously through the lives of my friends, and families children.

During the sermon, Nick said he based his life on Jeremiah 29 from the Bible which talks about God’s plans for our life, “plans to prosper us, and give us hope, and a future.”  ”Nothing you see with your eyes can satisfy your soul like Jesus can,” Vujicic said during the sermon.

If Nick still has hope, then what’s holding you back?  Why not let God use your disability, whatever it may be to encourage others?

For more information on Nick, visit http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

As adults too, we always question people’s motives, so if you randomly ask a new friend to hang out, it almost looks suspicious.  ”Why are you asking me to hang out?  What do you want from me?  Do you need money?  Are you hitting on me?”  It’s not as cut, and dry as it once was.

Amazingly enough though, some of the best friends I have are the ones I’ve made later in life. If you are lucky enough to make friends when you’re older, sometimes those can be the best of friendships.  At almost 30, I feel like my life is pretty much headed in the right direction, and I’ve had enough life experience to recognize the types people that I want to be a part of my life.  Though, don’t you just miss the days, when you could call your childhood friend up, and ask their parent’s if they could come out, and play?  I know I do.

Recently, George Rekers hired a young gay escort from rentboy.com. Rekers is an anti-gay activist, and baptist minister.  He is also a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).  He formed the Family Research Council with James Dobson, another well known anti-gay activist.  You can can read the full story about Rekers, and his gay escort here: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-05-06/news/christian-right-leader-george-rekers-takes-vacation-with-rent-boy/.

If someone is truly gay to begin with, then they will always be gay.  No amount of therapy of any type, Christian or not can help someone who is really gay change.  Yes, there are people that claim they have overcome their homoesexuality, and most of these people are just living in denial.  That’s why so many gay people who get married end up having affairs with people of the same sex, and why so many of these so called ex-gay leaders end up living out their lives as homosexuals.

Being gay is not a sin that is to be overcome.  That’s a misnomer that has been preached in churches throughout the world with little consideration of the facts.  The passages of scripture used by these ministers have been taken out of context, and used for an un-healthy agenda.  These same passages often used forbid eating meat, shellfish, and trimming your hair, which are all common practice in today’s society.  Similarly, in history, many white churches discriminated against black people.  Most churches now realize that this practice was wrong, and willingly accept black people into their congregations.  Thomas Road Baptist Church is an example of a church that did this.  God created us all, gay or straight.  He doesn’t want us to change the way He intended for us to be.  He loves us all, just as we are.

Still not convinced?  Google “Why Can’t I Own A Canadian” or watch the documentary, “For the Bible Tells Me So.”

Zoe was our cat that we had for five years.  When we got Zoe at Petsmart in Lynchburg, her name was actually “Snowy.”  We think they called her that because she was all white.  We thought Zoe was a much classier name, so we changed it.  Though, Chrissy still called her Snowy once in a while, especially this past winter when it snowed so much.

The sad thing about when we got her at Petsmart is that we actually considered taking her back. We still feel guilty about that to this day. Keep in mind we had 2 other cats when we got Zoe, so it was a difficult adjustment for her, and she let it be known. She growled like we never heard another cat growl. Over the years once she adjusted, we would still hear that little growl every now, and then.  Especially if we tried to clip her nails.  We grew to love her little growl.

Interestingly enough, we had more pictures of Zoe than any of our other cats, and we are really glad we do.  It’s funny how it worked out like that.  Zoe was such a beautiful cat! We always called her a socialite.  She thought she was a model.  Sharon loved taking pictures of her and Zoey loved getting her picture taken.  It always seemed like she was posing.

Zoe was a very sensitive cat.  She loved music, especially the song “Somewhere of the Rainbow,” which Sharon always sang to her.  It did not matter what she was doing, she would always come running when she heard that song.  She loved watching American Idol, but not so much this last season. This season was not as good as seasons past, and Zoe realized that. She cared so much about everyone else, especially her brother, Jeb. When he was anxious or scared or upset she would clean his head.  Sharon had to take her with him one time when he went to the vet.  She really helped to calm him down.  There were times when one of us would be crying, and Zoe would come up, and tap us just to make sure we were okay.

Sharon always had to tuck Zoe in at night or Zoe would cry until she did. We babied her, and we are so glad we did!

Zoey would always follow us to the bathroom.  She did not like to be shut out of rooms.  So if the door was slightly shut she would open it and come in.  She would keep us company while we took a bath.  She would lay down in the sink.  She loved the bathroom.  When no one was in the bathroom she would sometimes sneak into the bathtub and drink water out of the drain.  We would see her wet little paw prints on top of the trash can in the bathroom.

She loved to open all the different doors in our house, like the closet or cabinet doors.  Especially the cabinets with food in them.  We even had to put a child lock on one of our cabinet doors to keep her from getting to the food.  One time Sharon heard a lot of noise from the kitchen.  She went to see what it was and Zoey was just sitting beside one of the cabinet doors.  Sharon opened the cabinet door and inside the cabinet was her brother Jeb sitting there trying to get out.  Apparently Zoey had opened the door to let her brother in the cabinet and once he got inside the door shut and he was trapped.  She did not open the door to let him out.  It was as if she was playing a little sibling joke on him.

Zoey had a lot of funny little quirks.  It was all of those funny little quirks that made her so special.  She would lay on Sharon while she watched television.  If Sharon would talk during the show she would put her paw on her mouth.  It was as if she was telling her to be quiet because she was missing what the people on television where saying.  When Sharon would fall asleep on the sofa she would lay on her  chest.  She would tap her face or mouth as if to make sure she was okay.  Sharon would always tell her it was okay that she was only sleeping.  She would always purr and she purred louder than any cat we have ever heard.  Her purr was comforting.  We would tap her back and she would purr louder.  We would joke and say we were turning up her volume.

Whenever something was bothering her she would go over to the cat toys and dig out her pony.  Out of all the toys she would always get the pony.  It did not matter if the pony was buried beneath all the other toys she would always dig him out.  She would run around with her pony in her mouth and kick him with her back paws.  She would always make this really cute loud yell.  She would never use that yell any other time, it was reserved for her pony.  We always thought she would beat the pony up to take out her frustrations.

She had a special meow for every occasion.  She would make a special meow when she found a bug.  We  always knew when she had a bug by her meow.  We knew her every mood by what meow we heard.  When she had to go to bed at night she would let out meow only reserved for that time.  It was a meow letting us know she was not happy.  She always knew when it was time for bed and she would go willing most nights.  But as she was going she would meow to let us know what she really thought.  It did not last long because a minute later she would start to purr.  She would look up and let Sharon know it was time to tuck her in for bed.  Sharon would rock her and pat her back and talk or sing to her.  She would then sit Zoey in her little basket and she would go to bed.  Some nights however she would cry for Sharon to tuck her in even after she had already been tucked in.  So Sharon would always go and tuck her in again.  She knew she had us wrapped around her paw.  Sharon did not mind though she loved to tuck her in because she was so cute and funny.

She loved to sleep in baskets.  Any box or basket laying around she would claim as her own.  One time it was a bread basket, but the bread was no longer there.  We have several baskets around the house that all belonged to Zoey.  It did not matter what size the basket or box was she would always try to make herself fit inside.  A few times the box was way too small for her, but she would keep circling inside the box and try to squeeze into it.  We had several baskets  in each room.  Sharon’s mom got a really nice basket just for her and we had it in the living room.

We still have the all her baskets.  Her brother and sisters still sleep in them from time to time.  We sometimes still think we see her laying in her basket.  It is hard to believe that she is gone.  We did not realize how much we would miss all of off her funny little quirks.  It is so quiet here now because she was a very talkative kitty.  It is hard to adjust to the quiet because we miss the meowing.

She would always remind us when it was time to feed them dinner.  Now we do not have that little reminder sitting next to the food meowing telling us it is time for dinner.  Sharon does not have a kitty to tuck in at night.  We do not have a companion to keep us company while we take a bath.  We no longer see the little wet paw prints on top of the trash can.  We were so blessed to have had such a wonderful kitty!

She was still a young kitty and we thought we would have her a lot longer than we did.  She just got sick all of the sudden and within a week she was gone.  The vet said it was her kidneys.  We tried treatments, but her kidneys continued to fail.  There was nothing anyone could do.  Even though we did everything we could it is still hard to lose a beloved pet.  Especially a kitty as sweet and special as Zoe(y)!

We will always remember you with fondness Zoe, and you are always in our hearts.  We miss you so much, and we always will.

Chrissy & Sharon