{"id":656,"date":"2010-04-03T02:19:56","date_gmt":"2010-04-03T06:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/03\/catching-up4210\/"},"modified":"2010-04-03T02:19:56","modified_gmt":"2010-04-03T06:19:56","slug":"catching-up4210","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/catching-up4210\/","title":{"rendered":"CATCHING UP\u20144\/2\/10"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Catching up 4\/2\/10<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

Although I have updated this blog from time to time, I have not really written too much about what is going on in our life presently.  I spent January and February substituting as principal in an elementary school in my old school district\u2014Columbus, Ohio, City Schools.  I was not sure I would physically hold up to the strenuous effort of once more leading a school, but for those two months I had a ball being back in harness once more.   I spent the days working with kids, parents, and of course teachers; I worked twelve or more hour days many a day to catch up on the paperwork at night.  Public schools get so much criticism, but the teachers at this school in particular do a herculean job of educating children with so many needs from children needing to catch up to the gifted.  I spent at least two weeks in depression after leaving; I still miss the kids, parents, and of course the wonderful staff.  I am lucky to still see some of them socially now.  I had wanted to volunteer after my role of principal was finished, but I think that the returning principal would be a bit uncomfortable with me in the school helping as the kids might still see me as the principal instead of a volunteer.  It was a really great experience!<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

Al is now undergoing chemo therapy for his liver cancer and is very tired most of the time.  He has never given in to his age and has always just trucked along, but he has slowed way down at least temporarily.  Today he had more basil cell carcinoma removed from the top of his head.  He has a four inch wide and very deep area that looks like a crater that results from the surgery he had to remove the cancer from his head in December.  This area is nearly as big and even deeper.  How he endures I don\u2019t know.  He has battled one form of cancer or another for the last eighteen of our twenty six years of married life.  He wants to live and continues to undergo treatment including the chemo which makes him ill and drains him. Please keep my Al in your thoughts and prayers.<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

The three puppies we kept from our litter by Ch. Aranel Renaissance out of our Ch. Rattlebridge Delta Dawn are really lovely at four months.  We won\u2019t know for several more months if they are going to be real contenders in the show ring.Their names are Rattlebridge The Dawnald (boy); Rattlebridge Cyber Dawn (boy) and Rattlebridge Dawnatella.  Of course I have no photos as my camera has been in the shop.  We have also kept a tri girl Rattlebridge Tantaliza and a blenheim boy Rattlebridge Over the Hump (he looked like a Humphrey\u2014then I had to find a cute name for registration for my Humphrey.  We will see how all progress; if they look good I may even once more enter the ring for the first time in two years. The Dawnald is with my friend and co-breeder, Sherri Meyer, who will show him. She handled her Italian Greyhound to Best of Breed at the IG national last year so she will certainly do right by Dawnald. <\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Spring Frenzy is upon me!  Just got 75 Red Robin fence roses in the ground and expecting more to come so that when finished our fenced yard will have these wonderful roses acting as a hedge; they are touted as being better than any fence, but we would never trust anything but fence with the dogs.  I am not a fan of invisible fence for Cavaliers or other Spaniel or hunting breeds\u2014one sniff of a bird or a glance at a butterfly and a Cavalier may be gone!  Many dogs figure out that the discomfort of one zap does not measure up to the joy of freedom.  I would never want to take the chance.  I have also planted several knock out roses,  blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries last year. All look to be coming  up except for a couple of blueberries and raspberry\/blackberries (who can tell the difference without the berries!) Although our home had several nice garden areas when we moved here, I have feverishly slaved extending gardens, creating new ones, putting in walks and in general obsessively (is that a surprise!) putting my mark on the place.  How about planting   countless daylilies and daffodils; I transplanted many of the daylilies from the farm and cannot wait until they and the once that were already here and the ones I bought at the lily farm, take over the front ditch and fill in around all the daffodils so that their foliage hides the withering daffodils.  We have no tulips unless one counts the stubs chopped off by the darling Bambi\u2019s. The farm was too spread out to plant really intense flower gardens and our log home in the woods would not allow anything but shade flowers to grow; I am really enjoying killing my back as I plant and then transplant when I put a plant in a place that doesn\u2019t eventually make me happy. <\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Good Friday\u2014the death of Our Lord Jesus and the birth of our Salvation<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, well yesterday since I just looked at the clock, was Good Friday. The Stations of The Cross were at 3:00 pm. At 7:00 we came together again for the Veneration of the Cross, Holy Communion, and the prayers to the Divine Mercy.  Both services were very beautiful and well attended at my Church, St. John Neumann in Sunbury, Ohio.  While always a Catholic, I had been a \u201chalf assed\u201d Catholic for many years.  I am now \u201cfull assed\u201d ( and is my ass full!) and participating in all our Church has to offer.  I wish Al could join me, but Al dislikes all religions as he feels they are all hypocritical and I cannot blame him as some of our religions preach one thing and do another.  Scandals have certainly rocked the Catholic Church, but the horrible sins of pedophile priests do not take away from what our Church teaches\u2014 worshipping and loving God  and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.  <\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is very late and I have to be in the garden early in the morning, but finally made myself sit down to \u201ccatch up.\u201d May you have a wonderful Easter and go to your Church to worship Him.<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Catching up 4\/2\/10 Although I have updated this blog from time to time, I have not really written too much about what is going on in our life presently.  I spent January and February substituting as principal in an elementary school in my old school district\u2014Columbus, Ohio, City Schools.  I was not sure I would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattlebridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}