I'm not too happy about the recent decline of the St. Louis Cardinals, but other recent events in the St. Louis area have considerably tempered that disappointment. A mother's throat was slashed and her 8-day-old daughter kidnapped ~ a news story with a happy ending when the baby was found and returned to the mother, who survived the knife attack. However, there was no happy ending in another story ~ a pregnant woman bled to death after being hit in the head by someone who was supposed to be her best friend ~ a best friend who then cut the mother's belly open with scissors and stole the baby, who also died. The mother's three other children were also missing, and after an intensive search, their bodies were found Saturday ~ stuffed into a washer and dryer at the housing complex where they had lived.

You like to think that crimes this heinous could never happen in the Heartland, but heartache tolerates no boundaries. Still, I continue to believe that God made love the strongest force in the universe, and somehow, some day love will prevail.

Hug your loved ones a little more tightly today, okay?

So now I have to worry about only the old folks' home!

I've been home today with my little boy. He had his little operations yesterday, and today he is recuperating peacefully at home ~ and he's so happy to be here. Even before we left the vet, he was licking and nuzzling by hand, and since we've been home, he stays close to his mommy. The vet assistant said he was one of the friendliest kitties they have had there, so my sweet little Joey manages to charm everyone. :)

Yesterday was the killer. Things surely were quiet and lonely around here without my little boy. I had thought Elly Fae would be especially happy to have a break from her brother, but she was being a little clingy ~ like she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Since he's been home, she's ignored him ~ but I notice that she wants to be in the same room with him while she's ignoring him. :)

I have to say a *huge* thank-you to my neighbor, Elly. Since I had to leave for school an hour before Joey could go to the vet, she offered to take him there for me. So at 7, I put Joey into his carrier and took him over. At first, her three girls hissed at him, and he hissed back ~ but then she took him into her *big* bathroom and closed the doors and let him out of the carrier to nose around and then play with his ball. I had put his favorite ball in the carrier with him. That made me feel better because I was already feeling terrible about not being able to feed them that morning. I had four sets of hungry eyes looking at me and wondering what was going on with the empty food bowls. I can't stand letting an animal go hungry! I didn't even eat breakfast myself because it wasn't fair for me to eat when they couldn't. I fed the girls after I left Joey with Elly, but I was still majorly guilty about Joey.

However, now he's safely home, and my fuzzy little family is all together again. Thanks be to God! :)

I have been following updates on Barbaro's recovery as well as updates for two sets of conjoined twins that were separated: the Carlsen twins and the Herrin twins. Because the Herrin twins shared more connections, so to speak, their separation was more complex and their recovery slower. Since there was only one kidney, one twin ~ Maliyah ~ will have to have a kidney transplant later. Throughout everything, I have been warmed by the love, support, faith, and optimism flowing within and around the twins. Their support system of family and friends is phenomenal. And thanks be to God, the twins are going home today! If you want to check in on them, their dad maintains a Web site for them at www.herrintwins.com. You go, girls! :)

In the midst of my genealogical peregrinations, I stumbled over a site to upload photos, music, and text in honor of loved ones who have passed on. According to their mission statement: "Visit My Memorial is especially designed in an easy-to-use format which lets you create and maintain a memorial page. It allows people to visit the commemorative page and offer their condolences even if they are far away. Visit My Memorial lets you cherish your loved ones and share your memories forever."

Here is the page I made for my mama: http://www.visit-my-memorial.com/show_memorial.php?id=117

If you would like to create a memorial for one of your loved ones, visit this page and then click on one of the links at the bottom.

I know you have been eager to see the latest photos of my furry family, so here they are, top to bottom: Melanie (8), Chelsie (4), Elly Fae (2), and baby Joey (7 months). How did they get so spoiled? :)

My first sale was beyond exciting, but not enough to make me quit my day job. :) I have a long way to go before I challenge Dan Brown's stats. :)

Yesterday provided me a unique blend of old and new.

I have had some trouble with a bump on my heel for quite some time. Finally the darn thing became painful enough to impede my walking enough that I went to a foot specialist for the first time in my life. However, this particular foot specialist, Dr. Nolen, happens to occupy the very same small office building that my beloved "Doc H," Dr. Maurice Horsman, occupied for so many years. Doc H and I went *WAAAAAAAYYYY* back ~ in fact, he delivered me. And then he was my regular doctor until he retired, maybe 15-20 years ago. He has since passed away, but I retain fond memories of him, and when I needed a doctor's name for my book, I named the character Dr. Horsman.

So yesterday's trip to this doctor was a blend of curiosity and nostalgia. However, the old place doesn't look a thing as I remembered. The basic floor plan is the same, but Dr. Nolen's wife has the whole building decorated with country crafts and furniture, antiques, lace curtains, and even floral switch plates and plug-in covers ~ absolutely beautiful! Dr. Nolen himself is no Doc H in appearance either ~ Dr. Nolen has blond, curly hair and blue eyes. What a pleasure putting my feet in his hands!

I still miss Doc H, but I won't mind returning to Dr. Nolen's office for the next cortisone shot in my heel. (By the way, that cortisone is a miracle! I can walk without a limp for the first time in a while now! Dr. Nolen's diagnosis: I have bursitis in my heel.)

This past week marked the ninth anniversary of the tragic passing of Princess Diana. Like 9/11 and the death of JFK, her death marks one of those times when you will always remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news.

At that time, I was still on AOL, and I had just logged in to see the headline on the main news window. Though I'm not much for IMs, my friend Pammy and I spent the next couple of hours exchanging IMs as we both looked for further updates online and on TV. I will never forget that night or scenes from her funeral ~ particularly her sons walking behind her casket and Elton John's voice breaking as he sang his amended *Candle in the Wind* for her.

Now there are more updates on her: because of the inquest into her death and because of the new book written by her former butler, Pat Burrell ~ a book where he asserts that the mysterious diamond ring on her finger when she died was NOT an engagement ring.

*Be Mine* webmistress Emmie Jean Henderson has a beautiful tribute to Princess Diana at the *Be Mine* site: http://bemine.com/tributes/princess.htm. She was kind enough to include the poem I wrote at the time, and I share it with you now:

In Memory of Princess Diana

Sleep now, our gentle warrior,
You have earned eternal rest.
Though your light shined much too briefly,
By your love we all were blest.

You brightened the lives of many
With your gentle, caring way ~
You touched the hearts of all the world,
And we mourn your loss today.

Our world will now be darker,
And our hearts are filled with pain,
But there's one more star in Heaven
To illumine God's domain.

So sleep, our gentle warrior,
Soothed by angel lullabies.
Your love will beat forever
Although death has closed your eyes.

(c1997, 2006 by Vikki L. Jeanne Cleveland)