wild man's happy ending

Boys Will Be Boys

Dudley the kitty was (happy ending..just hold on) pretty rowdy. As in completely crazy. I have several friends with kitties and I was forever asking them if any cat they knew of ever (fill in the blank) and the answer was always a resounding NO. He didn't like to get in boxes, but he liked to eat them. He ripped my soft sided sauna and swung from its rafters like a cat on the flying trapeze. Freaked the hubs out when that happened. He got on top of my kitchen cabinet..he wasn't always a great hop, so he was scratching to pieces one of the cabinet doors. Fun. Times.  He was addicted to food so he started waking me up for breakfast around 4:30am. Ya know what I don't want to do at 4:30am? Be awaked by a cat. Ya know what annoys a cat at 4:30am...a 'mom' that's not dosing up the vittles. He hung from the window toppers in our bedroom one night. And knocked every component off our little tv table beside our dresser...vcr, roku box etc..on the reg. He was ruining all the rugs in the whole house. And every afghan too. I could not keep him off the counters when I cooked which was very hard. And I was terrified he was going to jump in the oven. I'm not even kidding. The weirdest thing he did though was lose his ever loving mind for about 20-30 minutes every day...that is when he would do super charged things like jump on top of the frig..from the floor. It was insane. He would run full force into WALLS.  I can't even describe all the things he did. Just too many.

Attack Cat

The thing that was the most disturbing was the attacks. Often times when I was sitting up in bed, he would get this wild look on his face and I had about a half a second to protect myself. Which is hard to do sitting up in bed. I was attacked on the face and head more than once. I called my vet's office in tears several times just asking what am I going to do with this cat???? I wanted him put down because honestly he scared the cr@p out of me. But she would never go there. I get it. But it left me high and dry. I could not surrender him again to the city because he would have just been stuck in a tiny cage again..and he was berserk and crazy from the last time that happened. So it furthered my feelings of being trapped by the situation.

Cuddly Dudley

He was super friendly and cuddly a lot of the time. He demanded a lot of affection at certain times..especially when he was hungry. The cuddly times tugged at my heart. I loved that part and I tried to love him. But the cuddly feelings were always cut short by the remembrance of times when I was cleaning up my face from the latest attack.

Just Plodding Along...UNTIL

So things just plodded along. I felt trapped. Hubs HATED him. And daughter wanted to love him because he was the resident kitty and well..that was enough for her. She got swatted at a couple of timed but never walked away with the wounds I suffered though, thankfully. One day I made a random private comment on an instagram story about the horrors of declawing. She asked me a bunch of questions and I told her we were going to have to consider it if we could not get a handle on his behaviors. I don't think she heard anything from me but that I considered declaw. In a heartbeat she told me that she was going to have a lady that runs a very prominent account for rescue contact me. I said that I recognized her name and that I knew there was no way she had time to talk to me. Within a few seconds, I had a private message from her. We talked extensively and she actually agreed to take Dudley and work with him etc..if I could get him to VEGAS. I texted the husband who was traveling on a business trip at the time. He was all for it and was looking up airfares. Like I said..he hated the cat. Over the course of couple days, the lady in Vegas got me in contact with a more local rescue after telling her my story. And very long story short, I talked to the local (well... 40 miles or so) lady and she said she had an open spot in her rescue if I could get him to her the very next day. So suddenly the plan went from 'in a few weeks we may fly to Vegas' to 'tomorrow I am driving Dudley to the big city'. I have to say I jumped at the chance for him but it tugged at my heart also. Even after everything we had been through. But overall I was happy he might get a chance with someone else.

The Big City

I texted the hubs about the whole 'I can take him tomorrow and we don't have to go to Vegas'. He was all for it. So the Saturday before Thanksgiving, I was to take him.  I woke up early and he got the wild eyed look that I knew all too well. I sat up in bed with my hands out but he tore me up anyway. I was angry that he did it but it certainly made the day easier. I was growing more and more scared of him. So was my daughter. I had told the Vegas lady and the rescue lady about his propensities and i really don't think they heard me. The day I took him, she 'tested him' and told me she didn't think he looked like he would just do something unprovoked. I said ok and signed the papers and walked out. I have wondered since that time if he just did not like me. Or if maybe I did things that rubbed him the wrong way..but I don't know what that would be. Or like I said..maybe our personalities just weren't right, ya know? I knew I never wanted him in a cage because as I told her, he would go nuts. Thankfully Vegas lady talked to the rescue here and he was going to stay with a very experienced foster mom. I have trolled the rescue on FB and about a month or so ago, he was adopted by a single lady and her bf. I am glad there are no kids. And I'm glad its somebody who knows more of what they are getting into as far as his extreme energy. I hope he ends up with a kitty sibling eventually. I think he would like that. I have obviously not reached out to the owner or the rescue etc but I stalked a bit hoping to see if things went well for him. I hope this home is his happily ever after.

Instagram Haters

I unfollowed a billion cat accounts that I had followed. I just needed a break from cats. I was pretty messed up by everything that happened with D.  One day I decided to try to follow the Vegas lady again...I really loved her and appreciated all she had done for us. I figured out she had blocked me. So she could post pics of D and talk about his urgent need for a home...and drag me through the mud as his owner in the process. And then all her minions chimed in as well...some saying pretty nasty things about me. It really hurt me. I was just trying to save a cat from a shelter and I did the best I could.

Sometimes I think about writing Vegas lady and telling her how hurt I was by her post..but at the end of the day its not about me..and she doesn't even know me so she can't be my judge anyway. It's about the cat. And everybody involved did right by the cat and I'm forever grateful..even to Vegas lady.

So that's the story. Pretty crazy, huh?! Sometimes people ask me if we will ever have another cat. Honestly I really don't know. If so, not for a while. We really need a break.

the cat we adopted twice

This has been in my drafts folder since May of last year.  This is the beginning of the story about us adopting a nightmare kitty. In my next post, I will let you know how the 'story' resolved. Hold on to your hats..its gonna be a bumpy ride.

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There is a new kitty boy in our lives. It's been a rocky start. Ok, sometimes it just feels rocky all the time.

I had been scouring the Petfinder app starting about two weeks after Annabelle passed. Too soon..I know (now). But anyway, this one "little" cat stood out to me every time I searched. I secretly hoped one day I would search and not find him because I had this bizarre draw to  him and I hoped someone else would get him. I know that sounds weird. It was weird. So one day I went to the shelter and he was there. His shelter name was Lance. And he was so so affectionate. And for some reason the people at the shelter thought he had been declawed on all four. And yet he didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. So I felt like he was too good to be true and called the hubby and finally decided to bring him home.

Immediately upon getting him home we realized he did indeed have claws. I wasn't quite ready for that. So I called the shelter and they said I could bring him back. It was late and they were closing so I planned to take him back immediately the very next morning. He stayed in our bathroom. I encouraged our daughter not to get too attached to him because 'he was leaving'. I would go in and take care of him..and cry..because he was super cute and showed a lot of affection. Hubs thought he was 'too big'. So his fate was sealed. I took him back.

And I continued to think about him for the next two and a half weeks. The girl and I talked a lot about him. Hubs and I talked about him. In different lights of course. ; ) But I finally talked the hubs into trying again with him.

So one day I told the girl that after lunch we were "going to get him". She knew exactly what I meant. Y'all...he was an absolute terror. He was beyond crazy! It stressed me out so much that long before the week's end, we planned on returning him. But I never felt settled about the matter so it never happened. I also took him to the vet because we wanted to know just how much this tub of bricks weighed, because he felt like he weighed almost 20 pounds. 8.3. Whaaa?! He knows how to make himself feel heavy. Very weird. The vet told us that she expected him to weigh about 10  full grown. So the 'he is too big' argument went out the window...AB weighed 15. He currently weighs 10.5. ha. I think he's going to weigh a little more still.

He is extremely active. And playful. He was estimated to be about 8-9 months when we got him in May. One day he got so "playful" that he kind of went off the deep end and attacked me. I got two gashes in my ear! So we planned once again to send him back. Or better yet...I know..terrible thing to say..euthanize him because he's such a horrible and scary animal. Before you say anything..I know! But that never happened. I read a lot of books and talked to a lady I met on insta who is a behaviorist.  And we are taking more careful note of his affect before he goes nuts. And he is learning through some discipline not to go bonkers on me. (He did it today and he had not done it in quite a while. But it was less severe and he stopped much more readily). He's an active teenaged boy.

To be fair, he is quite affectionate..when he is hungry. Which is in the mornings before I get up. So I get some cuddle and purr time early in the morning. Sometimes he goes under the covers and suckles on my pajamas and purrs his brains out while I pet him. It's sweet..but kinda gross. He is super smart. He plays fetch. And he is very athletic. He can jump from our kitchen counter to on top of the upper cabinets. He can also jump from the floor TO THE TOP OF THE REFRIGERATOR. No joke. It was crazy. He has only done that once..during one of his Tasmanian devil moments when he's just super charged. We are hoping he grows out the kitten stage sometime before we lose our marbles.

And that's how we adopted the same cat twice. We almost named him Ditto. But instead we named him Dudley.

the aftermath

I walked in the door with the empty carrier and wasn't quite sure what to do with myself.

I knew I needed to clean the litter box area and throw all of that stuff away. I mean..I was sad, but that wasn't my idea of something special to keep.

I cleaned things up and threw some things away. I washed the towel from her carrier and her special blanket. My girl put the blanket on her bed and I put the towel away with all the old 'extra' towels we rarely use.

If I walked past the bathroom, my head turned involuntarily to check to see if the litter box needed scooping. If I walked past the bedroom, I looked for her form in the crumpled up covers on the bed. In the mornings, I shed tears because I didn't have that cute little furry mouth to feed and doctor. My daughter checked the hallway every time she left the bathroom. She also missed being needed for drinks at the bathtub water fountain.

So many routines just shattered by loss.

But mainly I just rattled around the house, numb with grief.

I know she was just a kitty. But the grief is very palpable.

And in some ways, it set me back in grieving our little boy. So many similarities. I was the main caregiver for both. So many routines just gone. I was buried for a number of days. It was so hard. And for the first time, I experienced an anniversary of Bub's without Annabelle to sit and watch me to make sure I was ok, if I got upset. I felt a little lost. I would sometimes just hold her and cry..and now I needed her to cry into and she was gone too.

We are some better now. My sweet friend bought cute little necklaces for us within minutes of AB's passing and had those in the mail to us very quickly. We think of her and smile more than crying now. And somewhere along the way, I ordered necklaces with Annabelle's name on them. We wear one or both of those every day. It helps us. We can see them and smile and think of her.

We miss our sweet kitty. But thankful for all the love we could share with her..even if she didn't always 'love' in return. Cats!

Our sweet Annabelle's last day

On Monday March 20, I was a mess. I knew. I called the vet early but she was busy. She was supposed to call me back around 11 but by God's great grace, she didn't call then but called right after I got home from dropping of my girl for a college class. Dr G said the way she was acting meant her kidneys were failing pretty quickly. She said we could do fluids (and make her miserable because of repeated vet visits) in hopes of buying a little bit more time with her. But I knew from the last time we went to the vet, that she was 'finished'. She had let me know that she was done with interventions. I had been praying that I could keep my mental promise to her. So I declined the interventions and the vet and I both agreed, that this was a very reasonable and merciful time to stop. Tears fell. The vet couldn't get me in until 2pm..or wait until the next day and then she could come to our house. I had wanted to do this at home, but I didn't want to watch her suffer for yet another day. So I told her I would be there at 2pm. And then I cried. I busied myself crying on the phone to a friend but before I knew it, the dreaded time to leave was upon me. So I did my little hunt to find her buried in the folded bedspread on the floor. I folded back the layers to find where she had crawled in..much like many times before. But knowing this time was the last time. This time it broke my heart into a million little pieces. I snuggled her and talked soothingly to her, all the while falling apart on the inside. I could not lose it. I had to drive. So I put her into her kennel easily. Usually she could or would put up quite a stink. On that day, I just set her inside without a fuss. She didn't even cry on the way to the vet. She was so unwell. Bless her heart.

We were quickly ushered to a room and I took the lid off the carrier. I wanted to hold her. But she wasn't having it, so I set the lid back in lace so she wold feel safer. The vet came in ad told me she would be right back. Some techs came in and I signed some papers and answered some questions. Soon the vet came in with the first sedative. She told me she had to give it in the muscle and it was sting a little. It must have because she hissed. Her last parting gift to Dr G. Everyone left the room and I waited and watched. Soon, her head lowered a little bit and her breathing calmed significantly. I started petting her somewhere along the way, trying to soothe her and tell her what I good job she was doing. She purred for me which was a sweet parting gift to me. Soon after, her little head lowered against the carrier. I continued to pet her and tell her I loved her. I took the lid off the carrier at some point to kiss her and be as close to her as I could. (I was a little upset about the idea of holding her at this point, because I knew she was limp.) I pressed my face into her body, taking her in. I kissed her little head and back and rearranged her face so it wasn't pressed against the carrier. I knew it didn't matter but I needed and wanted to care for her and fuss over her, soI did. And then the moment arrived for the vet to come in with the last injection, to be given in the vein. She very gently lifted Annabelle's sedated body out of the carrier and spread her out on her side on a towel. I could see her face and pet her while Dr G administered the drugs in her hind leg. The room was completely still as we watched her, petted her and talked about how beautiful and soft she IS. I enjoyed using the present tense with her in those last moments. I cried and kissed her. After just a couple of minutes, the vet listened under her little tiny chest, and told me she was gone. The vet offered to make a paw impression so we did that and also did some paw prints. I asked for some of her fur, so she went for the clippers and a bag an did that for me. And then she quietly told me I could stay as long as I needed to and slipped out of the room. At this point, I was sobbing. Kissing her all over. Admiring her sweet tiny body. I tried to close her eyes, but they didn't really close. I snuggled and nuzzled around her neck and under her eye (my favorite softest place to kiss her) I wanted to breathe her in and for my skin to memorize the feel of her fur. I got fur all over my chapsticked lips, but didn't care. I kissed her some more. And sobbed.

I knew I had to be aware of the time. And yet I dreaded the thought of walking out the door. I took some pics of her precious little feet as I held them in my hand. Finally I knew it had to be 'time' whether I felt like it was time or not. I went down the hall to tell them I was ready to leave. A tech came in and wrapped up our sweet girl in the towel she was laying on, holding her much like a baby, face side up, just like my hubby did when we gave her steroid pills. I hugged the tech so I could be close to Annabelle one more time before she carried her away..giving her more kisses and looking at her one last time..one last touch. I turned my back and they carried her away. They told me I could pay later and I was so thankful because I was a wreck! After a bit, I went down the hall and gave them all the techs and Dr G a huge hug and thanked them. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to. I gathered myself and put the carrier back together, placing everything inside the empty carrier for the terrible ride home. A tech walked me to the car so I could give them unopened food for a credit and gave me another huge hug and I was on my way. Heartbroken and somber. I had survived one of the most difficult things I had ever done. We are crushed and so so sad. Many tears. But we are so thankful for her little life and all she meant to us.

Forever loved, sweet kitty girl. Gone but never forgotten.

Annabelle Late 2002 - March 20, 2017

For the next little while, I am going to blog about my kitty. We had to make the difficult decision to put her to sleep a week ago today. It was devastating for our little family.  I know she's "just a kitty" but she was our kitty. And she came into our lives a little less than a year after we lost Bub. I have cried many tears with this sweet little fur ball standing watch to make sure I was ok. Bless her little heart. She's a special girl to us. And dealing with grief in another form has been a struggle that has brought back thoughts from the past.

Today I'm going to begin telling the story of her final months and her final day. My sweet friend Amy suggested doing it as a form of therapy. I have struggled with wanting to forget because it was so hard, but never wanting to forget because I loved her so much. So here goes...

We knew she was going down hill. we had lived through a few bouts of kidney failure. and those brought us some added years. Last year at Christmas, my girl and I enjoyed buying her some fun presents. We got her a catnip paper bag and some pop up cubes to rest and play in. We got a book from Amazon and it came in one of those fold out cardboard contraptions, so we laid that in front of her little two room pop up condo and it looked like a sidewalk. Very cute. It provided hours of entertainment for her and for us as we watched her having a good time.  But we knew she wasn't well and that it would probably be her last Christmas, so we wanted to enjoy her in it and we did.

A few months ago (I honestly can't remember if we learned this before or after Christmas) we found out she had probable lymphoma. The vet asked if we wanted to pursue treatment. My answer was absolutely not. I did not want to potentially harm us by exposure to harmful drugs. And besides, she already had a long list of health problems. I could not see putting her through any more misery. Just doing the blood draw was so traumatic that she wasn't herself afterwards for days. (I secretly hoped at this point I would never have to do more interventions for her because I felt like she was telling me she was 'done'.) So we did a round of oral steroids. It was cheap and safe. And it bought us a little bit of time.

Early on during the steroids, she acted like a kitten again. She was super playful, was eating and drinking well and gained back a bit of weight. She was so happy and enjoying life. but as it goes with steroids, the dose tapers off. And with the tapering off of the dose, we could see the life and liveliness in her tapering off as well. It was sad. We knew. And I spent a lot of time trying to get our daughter ready for the inevitable. And to get myself ready for what I knew would be the task at hand. One of the most difficult tasks of my life. But that's getting ahead of the story.

We were doing the steroids and trying to make the best of things. Giving our kitty girl extra cuddles and love when she would allow it. Giving extra broth pouches an wet food that I made into a slurry, in hopes of getting more fluids down her and making it into a treat for her. but most of her days were spent hiding, since it was winter. But we had some warm days and she enjoyed playing and we enjoyed watching her.

As we tapered off of the steroids, things started to change drastically for her. she was losing weight. and begging for water. It got to a really bad point on her last weekend. She just wasn't herself. I knew then that she was miserable and not enjoying herself in the least. I was preparing our daughter for the end. And trying to prepare myself for what I knew would be up there on the 'worst days ever' list.

To be continued...

going to the place to do the thing

***This is a rant...you've been warned. lol***

I have been getting phone calls from the funeral home that did Landon's 'stuff'.  It had always gone to the machine because I wasn't home. And I never called them back.

Well, a few days ago they caught me. Drats! Seems they have new owners now and they wanted me to come by and check on my paperwork and make sure their info is correct bla bla bla. I asked how long it was going to take and they assured me that if I didn't have any questions, it would not take very long. So I made the appointment at a time that I could squeeze it in 'just to run by there and get it done'. Whatever 'IT' was.

Well...I arrived for my appointment a few minutes late. I had to run by the vet to get some stuff for the cat (we think she has cancer..she's 14..it sucks but it is what it is..she's an old cat. Anyhoo..) I walked in the door and my eyes immediately went down the long corridor to the door we walked through to see our baby's little empty shell for the last times.

And lost it. Nice. : /

So I am quietly trying to pull it together, Gertrude and this older lady asked me why I was there and offered to escort me to a small room to wait. She was nice and is very good at handing out condolences so she pretty much insisted on giving me a hug while I am doing all the sucking it up I can get ahold of.

Well...I know..lots of well..a lady and a man came in. Double teamed. Fun. And they chatted a little bit about the plots we own bla bla bla. They also chatted me up about Landon and commented on his stone etc (honestly I was surprised they knew what was on it!)  and I think that helped them have an idea of what all we went through before they ever talked to me. It was sweet but hard talking to them. But really their intent for about 99 percent of the visit was pre-need. Y'all. I was so not prepared for any of that. I wish they had been more honest about their entire intent for the visit. But I guess if they did that, they would have very few people go through the door. But UGH. It took an hour!

So much info and so much to think about. On top of the emotions and the every day stress of being in remission. I didn't say a word about that..they would have been all over it and had me dead and in the ground before I could sign my name. LOL

I finally made it home around 2pm and dumped some veggies and fruit in the Vitamix and dumped a smoothie in an old Nutribullet cup with a lid and ran out the door to pick up someone.

Some days adulting is just hard. 

***end of rant..thank you for listening, my friends!***

happy stuff

I went to the gym today in SHORTS and did not freeze. I may have blinded a few people temporarily with all the bright shining light from my snow-white legs. But other than that, it was good to be out and about wearing something lightweight and comfy. I know winter isn’t over yet and will surely show it’s ugly cold head, but I take what I can get when I can get it.

I took my kitty back to the vet today to get her kidneys checked out. Again. This was just a recheck to make sure everything was still grooving along the way it’s supposed to. She did a quick test and we waited for the results. And then she called her a miracle kitty again. Her labs are looking better than ever. And she’s gained 3 ounces. So it’s all good in the kitty hood right now.

I made baked flautas and what started out to be a mango salsa but was more of a veggie and fruit Mexican salad after I added everything but the kitchen sink. The girl and I both loved it. All the bites were eaten.

I’m still loving my NutriBullet. Love-ing! I am finishing a green smoothie while I write this.

See, happy stuff. I like that.

something to frame

So I had the cat to the vet yesterday. She is definitely feeling better. They thought about bringing in the clear box with the air tube to just put her in it and gas her to get some blood. But I suggested we try to get blood out of her without the gas. Thankfully she did great. She hissed at the very end…I would hiss too if that’s what I did. Getting stuck with a needle hurts! But it’s done and over, unlike getting gassed. She acts drugged and unhappy for hours afterwards. So it was a win.

And I thought we’d have to wait until today to get the results, like last time. But last time she was looking for more things in her blood and it took longer. So, the vet and I chatted, she with arms crossed relaxing against the counter and me with elbows rested on the cat’s carrier. Within 15 minutes the results were back.

And she said her labs were fairly nearly perfect…something she wishes she could frame. : )

Every bit of her blood except one little part is completely normal. She now doesn’t think she had kidney failure as much as she was sick and it caused her kidneys stress. Her blood rebounded that much!

So for now we will do fluids only twice a week this week and next. Then once a week for two weeks and then blood at that fourth week. She will recheck that one little thing that is still off kilter. Hoping it corrects itself by then. Not sure what will happen if it doesn’t. But for now, she seems to think she is on track for a normal life expectancy again. Strange to hear after having to have the discussion about maybe having her put down just two weeks ago.

So she is happy now. She will be glad to leave those daily vet visits behind. She was out of sorts this morning because I had to lock her up in the office because we are having some dry wall repairs done. We had a slab leak in the summer and they had to cut a hole in two walls. And we have a busy contractor. So today is the day. She has cried a river wanting out of there. I feel sorry for her. She thinks she’s locked up so I can take her to the vet later. I wish I could just tell her it’s ok but it doesn’t work that way with kitties.

And within minutes of the workers arriving this morning, I rinsed out my tea cup and realized we have almost no water coming into the house right now. So I called the city. There is a problem but they aren’t sure what it is yet and not sure how long we will be without water. That’s really made me rethink that “good to the last drop” cup of tea I had this morning. Good times, y’all…good times.

a little kitty update

She seems to be feeling better. She’s more active. Eating, drinking and all that jazz. All of which are good signs that things are moving in the right direction for her. : )

We did fluids every day last week, including Saturday. We had Sunday ‘off’ from fluids and I take her today for more blood work to see if things are turning a corner for her. The vet said last week that all the ‘signs’ (active eating drinking pooping etc) are good “prognostic indicators” that things will be ok for a time. But we find out tomorrow with the results.

But y’all..she is a stinker. she has found amazing hiding places and at times has worn us slap out just trying to find her or get her out of something so we can take her in to the vet. It’s been interesting and funny and kept our minds off all the what-if’s lately.

Right now every door that can be closed is closed in an attempt to keep her in the front of the house. I’m hoping she will chill out soon and eat and drink. Her vet appt today isn’t until later, which isn’t my favorite. I’d rather do it and be done with it, but scheduling didn’t work in my favor this time. Sigh…

From what I understand, I will still be having to bring her in for fluids but not every day. But on a tapering off schedule sort of thing for quite some time. The vet called it ‘a commitment’. I just thought this is a drop in the bucket. Although I never had to get either of my kids out of the arm of the sofa. Ha.

Hoping all goes as gently and easily as possible for her today. Have a great Monday! : )

some stress

Last week was a super stressful week. Last weekend, I had been noticing that the cat wasn’t eating very well. Monday I took her to the vet. She did blood work on her and I got the results Tuesday.

She’s in kidney failure. Y’all, I cried and cried. I know she’s a pistol, but I love her, as crazy as that sounds.

So we were in and out of the clinic last week giving her fluids and some new meds and foods and we’re hoping she turns a corner. It’s possible she can sort of snap out of this and have some good months and be maintained for a time. We even learned how to give her fluids here at home after getting a couple of lessons from the vet’s office. Yesterday I’m thankful to say, we were able to do it here at home instead of having to load her up and take her somewhere. Hoping we are successful again today.

Been private messaging my cousin (who is an emergency vet, but not AB’s vet) to get advice over the weekend as we keep watching her. She got a push of antibiotics in her fluids on Friday and she’s hardly eaten since. Ugh. Not sure if it’s the antibiotics or something else, but her not eating is worrisome.

We will recheck her levels in another week or so after (hopefully) doing fluids every day and see where things are. We are hoping she’s bounced back a bit and her kidneys start doing better, which is possible. If they aren’t, then we will be having to explore…ya know. And that makes all of us very sad to think about.

And Wednesday I had an onc appointment right in the smack middle of everything else. I had to have a bone density test before my appointment. And I found out Wednesday that I am in the beginning stages of osteoporosis…fancy word for it is something like osteopenia or something like that. So I will be having to order something called Grow Bone from Amazon which is cheapest, because it’s pretty expensive stuff. And take it for a year. Sigh….

I just gave the kitty some wet food, which she usually doesn’t really care for…and she’s been in there licking at it, so I hope she’s making a bit of a dent in it. Unfortunately it doesn’t have any of her “sprinkles” (meds we now have to add to her food because of her kidneys) because she won’t eat the wet food WITH sprinkles. Bleh…it’s never easy.

Hoping things turn around for our kitty. We are all pretty sad right now.

Both these girls have aged a bit since this was taken, but it’s still one of my favorite pics of them together. : )

a new every day routine

Every night she gets up on our bed and finds her snuggle spot and goes to sleep.

Every morning she hops off the bed before I get up, hoping to hide under the bed and avoid being caught and medicated.

Every morning she eventually comes out. Hunger always wins.

Every morning I put on an Academy Award worthy performance of not giving a rip that she came out from under the bed…so I can snatch her up and give her some medicine.  And then she runs and hides under the bed. Again.

Every day she continues to hide under the bed until she gets brave. Or hungry again. And ventures out from under the bed. Again, with my award performance of not giving a rip that she’s out and about. But this time, I don’t need to grab her; I’m just glad she’s out and about.

We go through this same routine. Every day. And every day I talk to her and tell her that if she’s already had her medicine then everything is cool and she can just relax and go about her day.

But every day she gives me the same “what the heck you talking about, lady?” look. And I feel dumb for trying to reason with a cat. Cuz it’s impossible.

At some point every day she comes around and figures out that indeed I am done poking meds down her and she can just ‘be’. But this has to be re-learned. Every day.

We go through this same routine every stinkin’ day and sometimes it wears on me.

It’s like that movie 50 First Dates.

I’d like to thank the Academy…and my cat..for making this award possible. Oy.

spring break in our rear view mirror

We all survived spring break. It was a pretty low key non-event around here. But we managed to squeeze in a little fun. : )

My girl turned 18. She had a small get together with her besties.

I made cupcakes. And there was no licking involved on my part. For the first time. Ever. And I didn’t eat one either. These aren’t the prettiest cupcakes but they are a recipe of my mom’s that this bunch seems to enjoy. So instead of a bundt cake, I made cupcakes. And I sent the leftovers home with everybody so they weren’t staring at me. Crisis averted. : )

One of the girls made her this pretty bookmark. This girl is a reader herself so it makes me smile that she gave my girl a bookmark for her birthday. It’s very pretty. Good job!

She could use it in Pride and Prejudice. She was having to read that for school. And this sort of book is not her thing really. (even though she finished reading it last night and ended up liking the ending, so it’s all good) But the girls also gave her this…

…which I think is a hoot. The light is awful because the flash is so obnoxious that I shot a lot of pics without it. : / But the book on the left is P&P and the book on the right is P&P and Zombies. Cracked us up! A fun little gift while she was trudging her way through the real thing. : )

They also did some things you can do now that you’re 18 kinda stuff. One of the things they did was a mock-wedding. This is the ‘bouquet’ being tossed. The girls made tissue paper flowers for fun and used these in their ‘wedding’. It was a hoot!

The party was fun. She had a great time getting together with the girls and I had fun planning it and listening to them laugh. : )

Also during spring break, my girl went for her driving test. Well, nerves got the best of her and she drove into a parking lot instead of making a right turn. And got so flustered, she didn’t do well on the rest of the test. She did not pass. (she went again a few days later and passed with flying colors, justsoyaknow) She was crushed and a little embarrassed but handled the situation with grace. I was thankful for her attitude and it was a learning time for her…even though she was disappointed at the time.

We drove to a podunk town near us to order her a class ring. It is one of the things about school she was missing and really wanted one. So we found a company that could make that happen even though she home schools. So that was a fun little outing.

On a funny note…we have had trouble with our potty flapper for ages. I can’t tell you how many we’ve gone through. But his time the hubs came home with something different.

Isn’t it cute? It’s kinda like being at a bed and breakfast every time I flush. Or not. ; )

My garden seems to be taking off. I have baby strawberries.

And the kale is getting bigger. And everything is really doing well and growing. And the squirrels are doing their best to dig it all up. Will be making a fence’y kinda deal pronto!

I had to take the cat to the vet Monday. She had a weird tummy. Come to find out she had lost THREE POUNDS. Gah. So the vet did a bunch of blood work on her and she’s got high thyroid. So we’re doing meds for that. She’s acting better but not eating as much now. I may end up trying to find something herbal for her if she doesn’t start eating soon. She is on antibiotics also which can cause her not to want to eat. The thyroid med doesn’t taste bad and it’s not hard to get it down her. But the antibiotic tastes bitter and she foams at the mouth with every dose. Which is gross, in case you didn’t know. ha. So it will be a long week or so til that’s over. Ugh. Poor kitty. Aaaand in a strange move I still don’t understand, she slug slobber onto my lip last night. Poor me. : p

Well I think that about covers all the major activities of spring break and beyond. Hope you are all doing well, my friends. : )

irons in the fire

There seems to be a lot of irons in the fire these days. And then throw in a “might” thing, and I’ve just been hopping.

First of all, Friday was crazy. By noon I had a blog post written in my head about how nutty the day had been. But it only went downhill from there and by the end of the day I didn’t even want to think about it, much less write about it. I was just glad it was over.

I was doing a lot of washing so the girl could go to Disciple Now weekend at church. In true Texas style, we knew the weather was fluctuating and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to wear.

And the cat was acting funny. It’s never good when you get a text while you’re at the grocery store telling you that the cat has been doing Toby’s new trick all over the house.  Things can only go down hill from there.

But I got the house cleaned up, killed a bug and got the cat to the vet. She needed some assistance, shall we say. They kept her for a while and then I went to pick her up. She had a little bit of litter on her tail and I thought I’d just wipe it off with a wet paper towel. Well..that would be my bad for assuming without taking stock in the situation.

She needed a bath. Just let that settle in, won’t you. The CAT needed a bath.

I didn’t have any cat shampoo because cats usually take care of this sort of thing on their own. I had some cat wash stuff that you just put on a cloth and rub all over her, but that just wasn’t gonna cut it. So I sat her in some water in the sink. I thought I’d have less chance of losing her in the sink rather than with me hunched over the tub. I’m getting too old for that kinda stuff. She sat there with the offending end parts in the water while we splashed her and cleaned her paws with cat wash. We left her in the bathroom for quite some time hoping she would finish the job and get herself presentable. But I guess she was traumatized. She just sat there on a towel staring at the door.

Finally I let her out of the bathroom and she settled on her spot and got herself prettied up.

I am still giving her wet food with medicine mixed in. We’ve never given wet food. It smells. That is all I have to say about that. I’m still watching her intake and her box to see that she gets all straightened out.

And now for the “might”..we might sell our house. We have to find something we like first, and that is proving to be anything but easy. I’m picky. But I think everybody is. So I am trying to be patient. I’m not very good at it.

And I’m calling to get prices on a few fixes here. If we do sell, everything will be updated and pretty. And if we don’t sell, WE can enjoy the updates ourselves. This not what I call ‘the fun part’. The fun part is fixing up the new place and the old place selling easily. The selling part doesn’t always happen easily in this market. I’m a little skeert.

And I bought some cat shampoo.

Thanksgiving break

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. We did. We didn’t go anywhere, but still had a nice time.

Wednesday we visited a local hotel that really decks the halls and enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. Got the perfect shot for the annual Christmas card. Bonus!

And Saturday we went to the city’s public gardens and just enjoyed being out. The weather was just perfect and the fall color was stunning.

Enjoyed being off school for a week, although we did keep doing PE. It gets us one week closer to being done. Woot.

We also did the tree. I think the torch has been passed. The girl has done all the tree trimming for two years running now. And she does a really good job.

The cat is enjoying a new hiding/sleeping/play area now that the tree is up.  Glad we can be of service.

time for the news

In random news tonight…

I called Subway the next day and asked to speak to the manager. He didn’t act like he cared that much to hear about my issues. Why do I even bother???

And now for a personal interest story that’s sure to make you smile for all the wrong reasons….

Today I went to Kroger, the orthodontist’s office and out to lunch with friends. And then came home and realized there was a hole in my jeans at the top corner of one of the back pockets. And it flashed pink checked panties out the a little smaller than a dime hole. All day long. Clearly I need to spend a wee bit more time reintroducing myself to my clothing in between seasons before I go gallivantin’ all over town thinking everythang’s fine.'

You’re welcome.

And now for a nice fluff piece to end this newscast…

When we got back from Disney, I just pretty much threw a lot of the random stuff in the middle of the living room floor as I was weeding things out to find clothes to wash. That includes the leis we were given as we entered the Polynesian.

  

The cat seems fascinated with them and enjoys curling up behind them, putting her nose in them, laying near them…whatever strikes her fancy.

It’s so cute, we don’t want to take them away from her.

Well, I guess that wraps up tonight’s random newscast. Good night, y’all.

cat day planner

Jump off couch when I hear the alarm clock go off. Sit in the hallway. Staring. Waiting on movement.

Maybe get on bed and beg for rubs. Or maybe not. Depends.

Hop on bathroom counter. Waiting on the faucet to be turned on.  Hope he turns on the water. If so, take a drink.

Run into living room. Plop down on the floor in front of the big guy. Waiting on neck rubs. Get mad as he tends to move his hand like he’s rubbing my neck but I have to get up and get under his hand to get rubbed. Roll around and act cute, hoping he will change his mind. Roll around some more. Either give in and go under the hand or get mad and walk away. Depends.

Sit in front of bowl waiting on her to feed me.

 

It doesn’t matter if there is food there; keep waiting for fresh stuff. Meow a little if she doesn’t get a move on. Rub up against table legs and act cute if she still doesn’t get a move on. But don’t let her pet me.

Finally eat breakfast. Take care of business. And then lay in wait for the other people to eat breakfast.

Get excited if the mom eats toast. Beg for the crust. Touch it with nose and swat it out of the saucer. If she’s having cereal, have a cow until she lets me lick some of the almond milk left in the bottom of the bowl. Then, move on.

Wait on the kid to get moving. See what she’s having for breakfast. I like to let her pet me on the head while she eats. Cuz I’m nice like that.

Go to the bathroom counter again and wait for the mom to turn on the water. Glare at her if she only turns it on for herself. How selfish.

Take a nap. 

And another one.

Lay on a piece of tissue paper they’ve left on the floor for me. 

Or maybe crawl in a box some new shoes just came in. I think they’re keeping it around just for me.

Take another nap. And another one.

Wake up long enough to play with a gnat or tiny toy for about 5 seconds.

Take another nap.

Stare out a window for a while.

Or sleep hide under the bed.

Lay on the couch with the big guy while he watches tv. Sometimes he’ll pet me without me begging.

Stare a hole through him because he’s not petting right away.

Beg for midnight snack.

Go to bed on the couch. But not on the blanket they provide for me. On the couch. The red chenille looks much prettier against my white fur.

Wait for the alarm to go off so I can do it all again.

Yes, she is a very predictable cat. And yes, she does these things every single day. Funny kitty! : )

my three buddies

These have been my constant buddies lately.

 

‘Cuz I ain’t been feelin’ so hot.

Actually I have bronchitis.  Have had it for a week and I’m slooooowly on the mend.

And if you’ll look there under the remote, there is a crease in the carpet.  Because I’ve been sleeping on the sofa bed.

‘Cuz I don’t want all the coughing and blowing to wake anybody up.

I was putting the sheets on the sofa bed for Miss Boo, though. Right when I was starting to ‘go down’ with my bronchitis, she was going to have FOUR teeth pulled.  Um..yeah. So I made the sofa bed for her, and then took it over after after that.

Leave it to the kitty to feel the need to get in on the action. Now you see her….

…now you don’t.

And yes, she crawled into the couch cavity.. right where her little nose is pointing in the first pic. 

I really have spent most of my time either laying on the couch or in the couch bed.  I’ve read some blogs off and on and commented a little here or there.  But nothing consistent. Sometimes I’ll think I want to comment but then my brain freezes over and I can’t think of a single thing to say.  DUH.

I’m thinking I may do ‘the random’ tomorrow, and then maybe by the end of the week I’ll feel more like myself.  So don’t be offended if I haven’t made the bloggy rounds.  The only rounds I’m making these days are between the couch, the kleenexes and the inhaler.

a little bit more to the story

The other day I was at a department store.  Shopping. Which is something I don’t do very much of… especially for myself. Anyway, I was looking at some winter tops. There was a lady there holding up a Christmas sweater vest kind of thing and trying to decide which green top looked the best under it. 

Now, I don’t usually just start talking to people. Not very often anyway. But on this day for whatever reason, I did.  She kept holding the sweater up to a kelly green top and then up to a green apple/lime green top. I told her I liked the lime-ish green top the best. And I also told her that we painted our daughter’s bedroom that color.

She acted surprised.  “Really?!” she said.  Yep.  Took three coats to complete it but we think it turned out really cute.

She told me that her daughter wanted her room painted that color and she told her no. And then she told me I was a good mom for painting my daughter’s room that color.  Isn’t that funny?!

I didn’t tell you the story to tell you that somebody thought I was a good mom, but I just got a kick out of that lady. She was so sweet… even before we got to the part about my mothering. lol  I told her thanks and we chit chatted some more.

I think I might have told her about this, because I was just sooo excited about it.  And I guess I still am because I keep bring it up, huh?!

But there’s a part of the story I haven’t told.  I was having lunch with a friend and she said she wouldn’t mind playing around with this project for me. So she made it for me.  She’s quite a whiz with Photoshop and all that fancy stuff.  I just told her what I thought looked good and what I thought we could tweak.  And after a few tries, we came up with this.

Thanks AM! As I’ve said before… so stinkin’ cute!

a little more Christmas fun

Before the Christmas season is completely old news, I thought I’d share a couple more highlights… or maybe I should call it some more fun stuff from those days.

The cat had a really good time.

She loves hiding under paper.  Her best side, no?!

I made this for the hubs.  Isn’t it cute???  I found a bowling pin at an antique store and spray painted it antique white and taped off to paint a red stripe.   Then I used sponge letters to spell DAD and added the stars, both in red. I touched up the edges of the D’s because they weren’t crisp enough for me. I think it turned out really cute.

I guess I should explain the reason for the gift though. He decided late last year that he needed to lose some weight.  So get ready to hate him girls.. here’s what he did!  He stopped eating snacks and started doing the Wii Sports Resort. And he did a lot of bowling on there… thus the little nod in the gift. 

But the fact that he’s lost 30 some-odd pounds by skipping snacks is pretty amazing… and a wee bit annoying at the same time.  But good for him!

And then there’s a little bit of Merry Christmas To Me!  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a bunch of rubber stamps for scrapbooking with my Christmas money.  I’ve borrowed stamps and liked them, but resisted buying them for myself, but they’re a better deal than stickers.  Once it’s on the page, it’s over. So I’m going to try to use more rubber stamps. I used a couple of them on my scrapbook calendar for this year. Cute.. but I still need a little practice.  : )

We also made a gingerbread house a few days before Christmas. It turned out cute… but we kept chipping away at the icing.  Very klassy….but yummy!  We put a dot of icing on Miss Boo’s nose and a tiny red candy (and took her picture). 

Rudolph’s goofy stand in.

I’ll spare her the drama of posting that pic on the world wide webby of fun.

So that was a little more Christmas fun, but now the season is done. Happy new year y’all.

blogging in the new year

So it’s New Year’s Eve, and here I sit. Blogging.  I’m sure I’m not the only one, though.

Many of you have done a year in review, and honestly I really don’t want to review this year.  For the most part, it was just hard.

So I think I’ll stick to a Christmas break in review kinda deal.  We’ve really enjoyed having time off during the holiday.  We’ve had some family time and just relaxed without work and school stresses pressing in on us. And that’s been so nice.  We’ve watched movies together.  We’ve eaten together. We’ve gone shopping together.  I could go on and on. 

We’ve even watched it snow together.  I can’t say that we played in it… because we didn’t.  I kind of hate that, but I also hate the cold. I was a little surprised that hubs and Boo didn’t want to get out in it, but we HAD been “out in it” technically returning home from the resort place, and I guess after all that drama, we just weren’t up to it anymore.

But I took pictures!  Out the front door.

And out the back door. OK.. I actually didn’t open a door to take that one.. I parted the blinds with two fingers and took the pic with the other hand. It’s good to have a talent, I guess.

But I think this pic sums up the weather we’ve had of late... with or without the snow.

Just wake me when it’s over.  This pic totally cracks me up.. she’s hugging her back foot!  Yes, that’s my unmade bed.  And yes, that’s about a billion blankets. 

Winter, I am not a fan.

Happy New Year everybody. Stay safe. Stay warm! : )