Gabby's 15 Minutes of Fame :)

Gabby Abby got her picture on Cuteoverload.com!!

I'm absurdly excited as I adore that site and visit it multiple times a day.

Go see HERE!!

YAY Gabby Abby!!

Gabby Abby

I took Gabby Abby to the Vet for her post adoption checkup.

She's been sneezing a bit which I think is from a touch of kennel cough from her being at the Humane Society with other animals.

The Vet checked her over and thinks that she might be much younger then the HS noted on her chart.

We had been told she was 1 1/2 years old. The vet seems to think she is about 8-9months old! (This would explain why she is still so tiny)

The good news is her kennel cough isn't real bad.
The bad news is she has a broken tooth and it needs to be extracted.

One of her back molars is decaying :(

We will be scheduling her to have tooth surgery in a couple of weeks--after she's done taking antibiotics for her kennel cough.

The antibiotics is in liquid form. We have to shove a eyedropper and a half full of the stuff down her tiny gullet once a day.

She was great the first time I gave it to her. The second time she wasn't having anything to do with it and protested mightily!

I wrapped her up in a towel and handed her to Lord V to hold while I attempted to get the medicine in her mouth. She wriggled and struggled to get out of the towel hold, swishing her head from side to side to avoid the medicine dropper--but we managed to get it down her right before she freed her back feet and dug her claws into Lord V's inner thigh!

I don't know who bellowed louder, him or her!!

hehehehehe.

Good times.

Good times.

O....M.....G...!!!!!!!!

I was clicking around checking up on the blogs I love to read when I clicked over to Cuteoverload.com and found THIS!!



EEK!!!!

An entire HOUSE of Hello Kitty!!!

*faints*

Go HERE to see the inside pics...

Little Red Nosed Angel

She doesn't give us a choice.

She skips over to where you are sitting and pushes her little body onto any available part of you that she can lay on.

Her purr is so loud it vibrates through your insides.

It reaches into those sharp hollow places Guido left behind and like a Mothers soft hand when you are sick, it soothes you. Comforts you. Heals you.

Last night I logged on to WoW to play for a bit when Abby jumped onto the chair, where I was resting my leg, and curled into the spot that once was Guido's.

She pressed her head against me as if to say, "It's OK now. I'm here." And prompty curled up and went to sleep.

My Guido can never be replaced but this little Angel in red striped cat skin is solace to the soul.

Gabby Abbys New Toys

"Hi. My name is Gabby Abby. I have a new family who loves me very much."


"They bought me a new yellow collar and some new toys today!"


"A crinkle bag thats a little scary..."


"And a toy mouse that squeaks as it bounces up and down on a string"


"Lord V got me a remote mouse and I've been chasing it all over the house."





"This makes my new Mommy and Daddy laugh which makes me very happy"

Two Claws UP!

Friday afternoon, Lord V, MiniWarrior and I went to go see the movie "UP".

I wasn't really in the right mind frame to go see a kids movie as I was/am still grieving over losing our Guido, but I thought it would be good for MiniWarrior to be out of the house and to have something that would make him laugh.

Lord V and I were blown away with how wonderful this movie was. Without giving you too many details (as I don't want to ruin the movie if you haven't see it yet) I will say that the message in this movie is powerful, heart rending and uplifting all wrapped up in a huge bubble of animation brilliance.

It was because of this movie that I finalized my decision to get another kitty.

I urge you to go see it.

You'll understand what I mean when you do.




Oh...and before I forget. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all of you men out there who created or help raise a child in your life.

There is something so deep and precious about a mans hand on a child's life. I hope you all never underestimate how much you are valued.

Gabby Abby's First Evening

Abby is not quite sure what's going on.


She tentatively meets her big brother


Sniffies...


Ah! She braves the wide open spaces with big brother.


Dog conquered...what's next?!


She spies something in the distance...



Game On!

Gabby Abby

We got her!

She's sweet and adorable and VERY talkative!!

pics later!

Abby

I found myself at the Humane Society website today.

I just had to see the sweet face of a cat.

I miss Guido so much. The emptiness in our house is palpable.

I miss his chatter. I miss his purr. I miss. Him.

There was one cat who's picture caught my eye.

She is a red tabby. Orange and cream colored.

The description of her was what made me pause:

"Abbey is a real talker! She makes cute chirping noises when you pet her and loves to tell you how she is feeling...."

That was my Guido. He chattered to me all the time. I knew I had to go see Abby.

Lord V, MiniWarrior and I zoomed to the animal shelter. We left at 5 but the adoptions closed at 5:30. We got there a few minutes too late but were able to go see Abby.

We walked into a room full of cats in cages. One voice rang out as soon as we entered.

A soft chatter.

It was Abby.

I opened her cage and lifted her into my arms.

She curled into my arms like she belonged there and began purring loudly.

I held her and pressed my face into her warm fur, drinking in the sounds of her.

Lord V took her for a bit and she curled into his arms like she already belonged to us.

MiniWarrior held her and turned her up to hold her like a baby. She tolerated it and purred for him.

I kept telling Abby I'd be back for her when I put her back in her cage. She kept trying to go back into my arms.

They would not let us adopt her because adoption time ended at 5:30pm...but tomorrow they open at Noon and we will be there (hopefully) to take Abby home.

Guido

We lost Guido last night.

He snuck out of the house and was attacked by coyotes.

I found him this morning and we buried him.

Our hearts are heavy with grief.

He was a great cat. A wonderful cat.

We shall miss him, dearly.

Grade School Graduation

MiniWarrior graduated grade school today.

He is now an official Middle School/Jr.High Student.

He's come so far. Worked so hard.

I can't even begin to describe to you how proud I am.

MiniWarrior

He's 11 with an ancient, mysterious soul.

He adores coffee, Pickles and Pooch Cafe comics, stuffed dogs and frogs.

He still sits with his favorite companion Butterscotch (a stuffed cat) when he is relaxing but now leaves her behind when he goes to his Dads house.

He has begun referring to girls as "Hot" or "Sizzling hot"...but doesn't fully understand why he enjoys them "yet".

He loves to draw and has begun leaving cartoons he's sketched behind with crazy jokes that he belly laughs at.

I sketched one this morning for him in my note to him but will miss hearing his laughter as I am at work and he is home, sipping coffee and plotting to get more then one allotted cup outta Lord V.

He is sweetness that is as pure as the smattering of sun freckles sprinkled on his face.

Yesterday in my bid to convince him to get his hair trimmed I captured a picture of him on my iPhone so he could see where his bangs needed cutting.

He rolled his eyes teenage style and allowed me to take his picture.

I adore this picture.

It is so MiniWarrior.

Mikeys Rememberance Today...

Mikeys funeral is today.

My little family will attend with me along with many coworkers.

I shall endeavor to remember to smile, for Mikey would have hated it if we were sad.

I hate funerals.

I hate that people wait until someone is gone before they speak of how much they cared for them.

I have lost family members and know that each day could be the last you see of someone.

I have tried to embrace that knowledge when I deal with those I care for.

I am often met with puzzled looks when I tell someone how wonderful I think they are.

How they do "this" or "that" particularly well and how much I appreciate it.

Puzzlement laced with suspicion. Surely I must have some motive for exalting them.

Something I want from them.

Nothing so dark. Nothing but the knowledge that one minute we are here and then...not.

I spent my last day of work last week wandering the hallways and cubicles with the memorial card for Mikey.

Each person told me stories. Memories they had of Mikey.

We laughed. We sighed. We paused and shared sad silence together.

Each person said how much they would miss him. What a great person he was. What a large heart he had...

Every person.

It took me from 7am until 4pm to meet with people...and it was only a percentage of the people who knew Mikey and loved him.

I kept thinking how much Mikey would have loved this. How he would have loved hearing every ones memories of him.

There were dark times at our job where he had despaired, thinking no one liked him.

How I wish he could see how very wrong he was.

He was loved, tremendously.

He will be missed, grievously.

Happy Ending

I had an interesting event happen yesterday to me at work.

Awhile back, I'm thinking over a month ago--I can't remember exactly, I found a wallet on my lunch walk.

It was pretty beat up and, from what I could see in my quick peek at it for identification, filled with money and strange odds and ends.

I could only imagine the horror at losing my wallet. It's more then money lost...its the deeply personal things we put in it that cannot be replaced.

As there was no identification, I brought it to the guards at my work. They had me put my name down on a piece of paper so they could put who dropped it off in their reports and that was that.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday the building manager came to me with my Boss and presented to me an award along with the saga of the wallet.

Apparently they had quite a bit of trouble trying to locate the owner. There was no identification in the wallet. There was, however, a receipt for a bank.

They contacted the bank and had the teller put a note on the persons account directing them to the guards at our building and that they had the wallet.

A month passed with no contact...then one day, a man approached the guards.

He was dirty and appeared to be carrying his belongings in a bag attached to his shoulder. He was mentally and physically challenged. He cautiously approached the guards and inquired about his wallet.

When they presented it to him, complete with the 120.00 dollars that he had in it, he began to cry and jumped up and down frantically hugging the guards.

The building manager told me that they all had tears in their eyes, witnessing the joy of this man.

The award was nice and the kudos that have come my way, frankly, quite embarrassing as I think--truly--that I did nothing more then others would have done...but the ending? To hear about the joy? God. That made me feel wonderful.

MiniWarrior is always losing things. He rolls his eyes at me when I tell him to tuck his money back into his wallet or pocket. He has concentration issues and loses track of things very quickly if he doesn't tuck them safely away. I fret about it and when I cannot be there to keep him from losing important things later in his adult life.

I'm hoping I just bought him a little good karma :) That someone, someday, somewhere, will take the time to turn in something he's lost and they can share the joy with him.





http://www.gizoo.co.uk/Products/PCGaming/Wireless/loc8torLite.htm

A Feast With Friends Makes For A Lighter Soul

Our friends came over last evening for a BBQ.

An eclectic couple with large hearts that "he" hides behind with his gravely man voice and stoic stance while "she" flits around and sprinkles gentleness like dust from butterfly wings.

"He" was the one who introduced Lord V to me 6 years ago: "I know someone you're going to like, she's a good gal..."

And for months while Lord V and I were beginning to date and getting to know each other he would call me faithfully, each night, inquiring how my day was and how things were going.

A short, 2 minute call, like a Dad checking in.

He seemed to know when we moved past the stage of dating and into the deeper relationship of falling in love. The nightly phone calls stopped. He no longer checked in. He handed his watch over to Lord V with faith that I was in good hands.

They stood around me last night while I grilled huge T-bone steaks on our outdoor BBQ. The air was moody with the smell of oncoming rain and mingled nicely with the cooking food.

We talked of their recent travels and work around their garden at home. They exclaimed over my new garden and listened to my plans for more yard renovations while I shifted the meat on the flames and shook the grill basket of roasted red potatoes, carrots and onions cooking slowly beside the steaks.

The flow of our chatter followed into the dining room where we consumed our feast over cold glasses of beer and a bottle of red wine.

We finished with Key Lime Pie and French press coffee then ambled to the family room to the sofa and talked until the sun went to bed and the stars peeked through our windows.

I yawned and like a mother hen "she" gathered up "him" and declared it time for me to get to bed as I had to work early in the morning.

Hugs, manly handshakes and a wave as they drove back to their home and the evening was done.

I awoke this morning and the heaviness that has pressed upon me since the death of my friend was lighter, more bearable. The pain still lingers like a canker sore inside me, but its better and I find myself smiling today.

Loss and Contemplation

So yeah, I've spent the last week moping around questioning the futility of humanities exhausting grind through life.

I realize this is a natural process of grieving. The minds shock of a life and all it entails suddenly "gone".

*poof*

I wish I had answers as to what is on the other side of life. That mysterious place where we go when we leave this world.

Unfortunately, all my religious studies in college answered nothing for me, thus my Agnostic stance.

The world, as I knew it, before my friends death has changed. I look at familiar things and they have taken on a strangeness.

There is a hollowness inside me. An empty spot that was reserved for Mikey.

I find myself talking to him. Asking him to let me know he's OK. That I understand he is busy with watching over his family and, I'm sure, the shock of no longer being part of this earth...but to please, let me know there is more then this life.

More then the daily grind that ends in...

So yeah. I'm in the state of what psychologists would label as "grieving".

Grieving. Such a small word for a flood of feeling.

I don't have any answers. No guide book to life and the here-after. I just know that my friend was once here, laughing with me, grousing with me about work, pondering life and family and struggling to answer his grandsons billionth "WHY, Grandpa" question...and now he isn't.

He isn't here.

And I am.

All that makes up life continues and I watch my right foot follow my left as I move forward. Ever forward, because that's what we do.

We laugh and cry. Fight and embrace. Eat and sleep. Ponder and Dream...

We live. Until...we don't.

There is no other solution. No other recipe we can follow.

I took an extra moment this weekend to stroke the soft skin on my sons cheek, tracing the line of freckles that dance across his nose.

I played his favorite game of frogs with him and revelled in the sound of his laughter.

I let him have that extra half cup of coffee.

I baked cinnamon twists for my little family to enjoy with their Saturday morning coffee because it filled the house with the happy smell of home.

I walked and picked wild flowers, arranging them in a vase with some roses that grow along side our house.

I curled up on the sofa in the living room and shared the afternoon silence with Lord V as we read our books.

And today friends are coming over for a BBQ.

There will be laughter and feasting and shared life experiences.

And that's what it's all about.

Right?

The...living.

Sadness

I was told today that my coworker and friend of 14 years died Sunday.

I was supposed to see him tomorrow. We worked Wednesdays together.

We talked often of him coming to Lord V's and my house to go fishing and share a cold beer.

Tonight I sat upon the rocks on our shoreline with a fishing pole and a beer and felt the loss of what will never be.

I shall miss him...beyond measure.

Impersonations by Kevin Spacey (Full Video)

Did you know Kevin Spacey did impersonations?! He's quite GOOD!
I found this while following Deadites video blog of Shatner :D