The latest poop...I mean scoop

Hi all, It is Sunday morning and I have a couple of hours before I leave for church so thought I would drop a line to my friends and family. Well, first of all... I finally was approved for social security disability! I signed up over 1 1/2 years ago, and Friday I went before a SS judge and was approved. She made the decision right there. I have no idea how long it takes to finally get a check but at least I know that I will be able to pay the rent in the future. I have not talked about my disability with many people, only my closest friends and family even know. I will not go into details here. In general my disability is the result of many various health issues that have prevented me from more than part-time and occassional work for the last few years. It was determined that I am unable to work 8 hours a day on consecutive days (I've known this for a long time now). It is ok if I work just a little bit, which I have been doing and will continue to do. I just can not handle more than that... I have been picking the "fruits of my labors" in the garden lately, and have very little to show for it. One huge mound of potatoes produced two large potatoes and about 5 little radish sized potatoes. I have about 12 small green tomatoes, one gallon sized bag of broccoli, and a few small beans and pea. I have picked several turnips and a few beets, these I feed my worms and chicken (yes only one chicken). Next year I want to get my veggies in the ground earlier and hope for a longer season. My neighbors had a huge field of corn, that grew taller than my head. Yesterday they were pulling out the stalks, probably for their cow. Anyway, my first year as a gardner in Montana did not go so well. It was my fault because I did not plant early enough and did not spend near the time in the garden that I needed to. I am looking forward to next year. Next week my mom and sister Cheri will be here to visit for a week. I can hardly wait. I am thinking about what things we will do. I would like to take them to Hot Springs, MT for a day. There they have real hot springs where we can soak in the "healing" water. There are several places where we can go. I would also like to take them up to Libby and spend a day. There we will sight see (ie. go see the river, go around the town, eat out, etc). We will probably just stay home a couple days and relax, watch DVD's, and play games. One day we will go visit Jennifer and the kids, maybe go to Sandpoint to shop or go to a movie or the mall. I will have to work a couple of days (which means a couple of hours on two days). I am really looking forward to them being here. Of the 8 kittens, I have 5 left. I have made arrangements to have them all spade and neutered. The local "humane society" (actually a place called "Pets for Life") has a program where I can have all nine cats done in Kalispell, MT for only $25. They told me to be sure to include the 3 kittens that have homes already. I promised to keep the mother cat. I think I might keep one or two kittens (if they are fixed, why not?). The kittens are so cute to watch. They play constantly. I can not step or sit without almost crushing one or more of them. My old cat, Ginger has reappeared. She is skinny and is eating like she is starved (which she probably is). She is staying in my bedroom, away from all the other cat/kittens and seems very happy to just sleep on my bed. My house is now full of litter boxes!!!!!!! The only thing that I hate about cats. Yesterday I had a new entry door put in. No more light around the edges of the door. No more breezes coming in around the door. It is great! Today sometime the man who put in the door will be back to finish the trim around the door and fix my leaking toilet. I am so happy that I found him. He lives in Clark Fork, ID and it turns out that he knows Britt Ivey and Ray Sherman both from my church. In fact he was telling me how the mormon missionaries would not leave him alone! LOL Anyway he is a real nice young man and is willing to help fix different things around here (as I have the money). What a blessing he is! Well, I guess I need to go get prepared for church. I will post again soon. Love Cathy