Ms Maddie Moo

Our Maddie went up to heaven Memorial Day weekend.

She had cancer, and the final week of her life we tried everything we could to make her better. But her kidneys and pancreas were failing and she stopped eating and drinking.  We had to make the hardest decision we have ever made as a couple, and put her down at 3:30pm on Monday, May 27, 2013. She was 10 years old.

We miss her so, so much.

As a matter of fact, I haven't been able to share anything on here since our hearts were broken so completely. I needed some time and space.

Maddie was such a huge part of our lives. We called her our cat-dog.  She waited by the back door when she heard the garage open, she was usually less than 5 feet away from us, she LOVED to "help" with projects, and she was so friendly...she loved everyone.

She was content when Jeff had a project going.  She would hop up and immediately flop on her side, whacking her tail and flopping enough that papers or whatever would go flying. 

Sometimes, if the project involved a rubber band or enticing piece of string, it was on!  She loved those thick Livestrong type bracelets; she would sit and chew and chew and chase and chew.

Maddie was so friendly that the first night she came home from the shelter, she bounded onto the bed and marched up between us, like "Hi guys!  I love you already!" and settled right in.

She was a purr machine, but snuggled in her own way.  She loved to tuck up against your leg while still sprawling out. Her favorite spot was right by Jeff's left thigh while he was on the sofa, getting petted while he watched TV.  When she was done being petted she would jump down and rest her head comfortably on scratchie, after giving it hell.  She also loved to lay on and paw at crocheted blankets. 

Some kitties are nocturnal but not Maddie.  She was a sundowner.  Most nights she'd put herself to bed - on our bed where your feet go - way before WE were ready for bed.

She loved to go outside and hang out.  One time, we let Bella and Maddie outside to explore.  While Bella was content to munch on the grass off the concrete pad, Maddie stealthily walked down the rocks lining the path, and then proceeded to stalk Bella from across the yard, sneaking up on her. Bella wasn't impressed at all when Maddie pounced!

Maddie was a constant companion for both of us.  She was hilarious, entertained us, loved us, and gave both of us so, so, so much happiness. 

I truly believe that heaven is filled with everyone you ever loved, and I know Maddie was extraordinarily loved. I know I WILL see her again someday.  But I sure do miss her today.

The Dreaded Holiday Weight Gain

Well, I gained over the holidays.  I'm talking about the period from early December to mid-January...cuz who celebrates ONLY Christmas Day?

My gain was 6.4 lbs.  SHEESH.  That's a lot.  (I did swinging things with kettlebells yesterday and the 10-pounder was torture!)

My loss at my weigh in last night was 2.4 lbs. 

I've been back ON the wagon (mostly) since right after Christmas but for a variety of reasons have not been officially able to weigh in.  So it's possible my post-Christmas gain was even more...which makes my loss even more important!

So far this week I've been able to stick to my plans pretty well - working out over lunch, and eating ONLY what I have packed in my lunchbox (ahem, not sneaking my samples out of procrastination).  (But just LOOK at the temptation!)

This weekend will be cold (for Atlanta), so I'm looking forward to Zumba tomorrow morning, and a few naps with my kitty!!!  What are your plans?

Memories of Bella

Bella was such a good friend to me. I got her in the winter of 2004, after I graduated from college and I was interviewing for jobs. Jeff was still working at Coke in Rapid City and was super busy. I was so lonely, and I really wanted something to love.

A few months later, we packed up and moved to Minnesota. She sat with me in her kennel for the whole road trip, and meowed until Pierre, I think. Those first few nights it was just us, an air mattress, our fish, and Bella. We had nothing else in our tiny apartment (our stuff had not arrived yet) and woke in the middle of the night to what we thought was the fish tank water gushing out. No - it was just Bella, who had gotten curious about a Target sack and somehow got the handle of it stuck around her belly. She hated crinkly sacks after that.

We have moved three more times since then. In our 2nd apartment in Minnesota, she loved to go outside on the patio in the spring and summer, while we sat with her and enjoyed the fresh air. This was the beginning of taking her out on supervised outside time. She LOVED to chew on any kind of spiky grass.

Bella loved to play with a few particular toys - especially jingly (when he was in his glory) and the throw-the-mousie game and her boomerang, LOVED her kitty bed, curled around my head in the morning and slept on the corner of my side at night, aircraft-carrier launched onto the bed when she was hungry, and would beg and beg for canned tuna and chicken. Oh, and she would try to drink out of your water glass when you weren't looking. She sat on my lap pretty much every night...she particularly liked to sit on a brown pillow that's on my lap. (She is a princess and wanted to perch perfectly.) She would roll around and 'kitty-whore' when she was really happy (included above).

She was a really vocal kitty. She always seemed to know when jumping up with a "BRRRREOW" would cheer me up, make me laugh, or be totally unhelpful (it didn't matter, she would do it anyway). She liked to respond in little meows when I would talk to her - which I hate to admit, I did pretty often.

She was a great kitty. I am sad our move to Georgia seemed to mess with her spirit - she was just never the same after we got here. We saw glimpses of our old girl all the time, but she just wasn't the same kitty, and deserves better - to go to her nice, new home...with an older single lady and her other 2 kitties. I hope she is happy. I will always wonder. And to cope, I will continue to tell myself she is doing great and we made the right choice.

Goodbye Bella.

Bella's Last Day

We finally found a home for my girl, Bella. A co-worker of an old colleague of mine is going to adopt Bella this afternoon. We are meeting her after work.

I am heartbroken to have to say goodbye to my sweet girl after almost 9 years, but I am hopeful she is going to a home where she will be so much happier.

Jeff and I gathered up all of Bella's favorite things:
- Boomerang toy (the end of a rubber shoe insert...she loves it)
- Great White Mousie (a GIANT toy mouse)
- All of the little mousies that get thrown and chased
- Green Froggie and the Butterfly (catnip crinkle toys she's had forever)
- Jingly (a yellow wand with a orange toy and bell on the end)
- Prescription kitty treats for her gums

And also gathered some logistical items:
- Her kitty bed
- Airplane carrier
- Hardside carrier
- Medical records, shot records, and microchip information
- Extra food and container

It will be so hard to say goodbye today. I will miss her so much.

Bella

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile folks.

I have been beside myself with heartbreak because my kitty Bella has decided she doesn't like change in our household.

Our dining/living room is torn apart because of the water damage...carpet is up in some places, furniture is moved, etc. And she protested by acting out - hiding, being extremely feeble and scared, fighting with Maddie, and piddling on the (remaining) carpet.

So, we have to find a new home. We just can't provide the type of environment she will thrive in - we travel, Jeff leaves for the farm, we change our house around a lot, it's noisy sometimes...she just can't handle us anymore.

I can't bear the thought of her in a cage at a shelter so I have been trying to find a friend, coworker, or foster organization that will take her.

My heart has been so sad, that I couldn't find it in myself to post anything else.

My Kitty Says Hi

Also, here is my dinner: Semi-Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Pillsbury thin crust dough
Alfredo sauce from the jar (Bertolli I think)
Cooked Schwan's Chicken Breast (love those)
Chopped Red Peppers, Green Peppers, and Mushrooms
Mozzarella and a bit o' Parmesan

I just baked that bitch up for however long the dough took, right on the rack...yippee!

A Kitty Story

Looky here! Our backyard is (temporarily) home to a mama kitty and her 5 kittens.

(Can you spot them all? Count the tails.)



Jeff saw these 2 cutie-pies playing at the bottom of our deck and snapped this photo.


We called the Fayette County Animal Rescue on Saturday - they don't operate anything except adoptions until Monday.

It was 90 degrees on Saturday and the mama left the kittens. We gave them some water. And our kitty food. Then we went out to get some cheap kitten food.

It would be kind of fun to see them grow up. But, our backyard and neighborhood cannot handle 6 wild kitties. There are too many dogs, traffic, etc and I would prefer they not torment our girls through the window. All that said, they are feral, but temporarily adopted until we can get them trapped and taken in.

Cat Lover's Manifesto

I just HAD to share this story with you today...there is now PROOF that Bella loves me more than life itself.

The kittehs love us back! A new study demolishes the stereotype of cats as cold, aloof animals that want only food from their owners. The study also reinforces the idea that a special bond exists between females and felines.

In research to be published in the journal Behavioural Processes, scientists observed the interactions between 41 cats and their human families during lengthy four-part periods. Researchers noted all behaviors of both cats and humans, and also assessed their personalities as well as their influence over one another.

What they saw was not just cold, food-seeking behavior on the part of the kitties, but real attachment to their owners. The researchers observed a mutual social interaction in which both cats and humans signaled to each other when they wanted to pet or be petted.

Like our human friends, cats keep track. They were more likely to respond to owners' needs, if their owners had previously responded to theirs. Discovery News reports:

Cats also seem to remember kindness and return the favors later. If owners comply with their feline's wishes to interact, then the cat will often comply with the owner's wishes at other times. The cat may also "have an edge in this negotiation," since owners are usually already motivated to establish social contact.

While men certainly got along with their cats, researchers saw more interactions between women and their animals, finding that cats were more likely to approach women than men and to do things like jump on their laps to initiate contact. Study author Manuela Wedl of the University of Vienna told Discovery News that women's relationships with their cats were also "more intense."

Be careful, however, that the relationship isn't too intense, as happened to this unfortunate woman, below (warning: adult language):

Blanket Disaster

Grrr. Last night my hobby got the better of me. I sat down to stitch together the LAST STRIP of a giant, complicated baby blanket for my little niece, Maddie.

It was too long.

No biggie, I thought. This has totally happened before. I'll just snip a corner and pull a free string, and it will start unraveling. Apparently this pattern had other ideas. Every snip gave me a free string, one that immediately knotted itself.

An hour later, I had made several cuts and realized I didn't have enough yarn in the yarn ball left to "do over" and I better not destroy the rest of this. yarn So I pulled from the other end, totally UN-did the entire strip, and balled it up.

So much for finishing. Turns out I will have to re-crochet that strip to the correct length and THEN I'll be done. I guess that will be my project tonight!

Oh, and my Maddie is adding her own special touches to the blankie:



(I'll wash it before I give it to my niece in a few weeks. I promise!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love yourself and your kitties today! Eat some chocolate. Give your pets some tuna. Everyone will feel loved :)

Funny photos

Ok, who loves the LolCats? I do, I do!

Baked Salmon idea

For your next fancy dinner try this one. It tastes amazing but is super easy!

Mix in one bowl:
2 T butter, melted
2 T Honey Dijon mustard

In a separate bowl combine:
2 T dry bread crumbs
2 T chopped pecans or walnuts
2 t dried parsley

Brush 2 salmon filets with the butter mixture, then sprinkle with the dry mixture.

Bake in a greased, square glass pan for 15 minutes at 400F. Fish should flake in the middle (it's ok to underbake a little).

Let me know how it turns out! And the omega-3s totally balance out the butter :)

Shots, work, kitties

Since it seems like this week flew by without me realizing it, I am recapping it here.

1) Got my flu shot. The regular seasonal flu one, but even that was no small feat. My asthma and GP docs were out with no sight of getting more, as were the 12 other places I called. Turns out the same day my lovely boss-ola told me there was a clinic at work. Go figure. (Lots of stress for naught.)

2) Kept the house picked up. TOTALLY not my forte. I like to leave shoes everywhere. At least Jeff did not see my misbehavior. (Sorry honey.)

3) Played with the kitties, fed them, and in general loved them. I stayed up until midnight some nights to ensure they got some human interaction because I feel uber guilty about leaving them last week, leaving this coming week, and leaving again the week after.

4) Decorated for Halloween. Most of the decos were out but I finished.

5) Worked like a mad fool. In reference to my previous post about procrastination...

6) Paid bills, read 2010 benefits literature, and enrolled. It SEEMS like I spent a lot of time learning all the different medical plans (seriously, it changed a lot for us merged folks), when realy it was only about 4 hours total and in the grand scheme of decisions, I put a lot more time into other less-important purchases.

7) Grocery shopped. Only for a couple things, and mostly to pick up Halloween candy. I don't want the stores to be out of candy on the day of Halloween like they were last year and we were the dumb house that could only give out Nerds.

8) Laundry. Jeff, you're right, the new Washer and Dryer kick ass. Is it sad it has taken me 6 months to realize how great they are?

9) Cleaned out my car. Empty Gatorade bottles and makeup strewn about does not a good professional image make. Although it IS a Sunfire so it is almost sacrilegious to keep it up to an almost 30 year old's standards - it wants to be treated like an 18 year old's palace of freedom.

10) Had dinner with my neighbors...ahhh! What a week.