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Happy Valentine's Day! YAY! LOVE! by Carl
February 13, 2012

YAY! LOVE!

 "I love LOVE" she said.  In response I give her a sidelong, confused, W.T.F? expression.  I do this to negate the fact that I love LOVE too.

I get so many visuals of my experience of love.......

Seeing two elders, sitting close, one in a wheelchair and the other leaning in close whispering and smiling, stroking her silvered head. 

As a new father, watching the peaceful face of my bundle of a daughter gently nod off. 

At the airport seeing a father and son reunited, laughing and hugging after too much time away......both donning Stetson's and boots.

Our yellow Lab Belle,  peaking over the edge of the bed each morning wagging her entire body, licking our elbows and excited for a brand new day with her people.  

As a seasoned father, skipping and laughing hand in hand with my daughter in plain sight of total strangers.

Long talks on the phone with my mom or sisters after years of silence usually interupted by long verklempt pauses of happiness. 

And as a new husband, watching my wife, especially when she doesn't realize I'm watching her, and I wonder what the hell I did to deserve this much beauty and love in my life.

YAY! PETS! by Clary
February 11, 2012

Hi my name is Clary Reichley and I am seven years old.  My dad started YAY! LiFE! with his wife, Rachelle here in Denver, CO.  I want to tell you about my pets.

My pets names are Belle, Sunny, Pendleton and Mia.  Belle is a dog and Sunny, Pendleton and Mia are all cats.  Belle is nine years old in dog years and 63 in human years.  Sunny is 15 years old in cat years and 105 in human years.  Pendleton is two years old in cat years and 14 years old in human years.  Mia is eight years old in cat years and 56 years old in human years.

Belle's personality

Belle's personality is sweetness. 

Here is Belle's story.  Belle had a litter of puppies and she lived on the street.  People were very mean to her, but then the shelter found them and everybody got her puppies, but not her until a guy that was my stepmom's boyfriend adopted her, but she crawled on her belly until my stepmom found my Da and now she loves me.

Sunny is a lazy old cat but very nice.  Here is Sunny's story. Sunny got rescued by my Da and Mama and she was two years old and didn't have any front claws because the people that had her before we got her got her declawed.

Pendleton's personality is scratching the wall.

Here is Pendleton's story.  Pendleton's mom was a feral cat and had a bobtail but Pendleton has a regular tail.  Pendleton had four brothers.  Pendleton was twelve weeks old when we got him. 

Mia's personality is every morning to jump on my bed and kiss me.

Here is Mia's story.  Mia was found on the streets by my Mom's friend's friend. She gave it to my Mom's friend but my Mom's friend was moving so she gave Mia to us.

YAY! COFFEE!
February 10, 2012

YAY! COFFEE! by Carl

My addiction of choice.  Coffee.  Not even so much for the feeling of invincibility I receive from a three-shot Americano as the ritual of coffee.

In Ireland, they partake in eleven-sies with tea.  I'm more of a two-sies man with my afternoon cuppa.  To jump off, step down and take a break every afternoon with my caffeinated mistress (and my wife)! is twenty minutes that's always good to the last drop.

So my dear friend, when the cobwebs thicken and your head fills with gloom, jump off and step down for a cup of invincibility......and a little bit of room!

YAY! FARMERS!
February 7, 2012

YAY! FARMERS!  by Carl

In 1968, I was one of the chosen few lucky enough and blessed enough to grow up in an Ohio farming community.

A family friend (a farmer) was always known to say "treat your work like play and have fun all day".  How true this simple mantra was and still is all these years later. 

As kids baling hay in heat and humidity only a July in Ohio can muster up we 'played' the day away.  Laughing, working and cavorting with my cousins even as hundreds of bales of prime alfalfa hay passed our calloused and splintered hands in an afternoon.......we played.

Tanned and tired we'd truck home down dusty back roads equally thick with the scent of fresh cut hay and lightning bugs, just as our fathers did years prior and theirs before them.

Home to bed with an exhausted body and restless mind.......looking forward to tomorrow.

YAY! SNOW DAY!
February 3, 2012

We awoke to 12 inches of snow this morning in Denver and still counting  . . .

YAY! SNOW DAY!  Hope all of our friends in Colorado are getting to enjoy being snowed in like we are.  Sleeping in, hot tea, reading, Carl's homemade french toast, bacon and oatmeal, marbles, organizing, laundry, naps and the liberation of not having to go anywhere.  Let's see what else the day brings.

Maybe 2 feet by tomorrow!