Family Day 2017

"If you move faster than the music, it will look strange; if you move slower than the music, it will look strange! Be like autumn leaves which follow exactly to the rhythm of the wind!"

~Mehmet Murat ildan

I am only posting a Leaf Of The Day today, because we are going on our official Family Day outing! Family Day has been a family tradition since we got married on October 13th, 1990. As newlyweds, we had planned to have a child or two, and so we decided because young children might not understand a wedding anniversary is mostly for mom and dad, we created a special day, October 23rd, made it our own Family Day that the whole family would enjoy!

We were inspired to create that day, because as Alan and I were honeymooning in Half Moon Bay, when we happened to meet Joe Montana and his wife Jennifer at Pastorino's Pumpkin patch. They were there with their children, enjoying their family day, and they were having such a good time choosing pumpkins and enjoying a hay ride and pumpkin pie, that it was more than just a little heart warming! And a new holiday was born, Family Day!

Well, we were never lucky enough to have human children, but we did have little fur babies that fill our hearts! Our cat, Elvis, was my baby, but he was Alan's best friend! When he passed away, and we were so lonely for the sound of little bells running through the house, along came Hendrix and Dylan... and a few years later... Joey! Joey was a surprise! We had our little family, and then one day Alan found Joey, who had been abandoned on the San Mateo bridge. He was cold, underweight, and injured by some crows who were trying to fly off with him!

He was so scared and so tiny, that we couldn't help but fall in love with him! That happens sometimes to couples who have human children too. You think you have a full family, and then one day you find out there is one more ready to join your family and be loved. But it's really quite the same... love is love. And while our family is a little unconventional, its ours, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

The cats don't come with us, of course, but when we get home there are new treats and a new catnip mouse for each, and they get to have bites of baked yams, which all three boys enjoy, and is fine for cats in proper amounts, and lots of snuggles! Sometimes balloons and a game of laser mouse makes for a fun time. But earlier in the day, it's just Alan and I, in Half Moon Bay, reminiscing about our honeymoon, and the long road that lead us to this Family Day... October 23rd, 2017! 

Mood: Happy

~Me

Where The Love Is

"Shit happens. Doesn't mean you have to step in it.

 But if you do, I would buy a new pair of shoes."

~Kilburn Hall

Stuff happens in life. Sometimes stupid, meaningless stuff. Stuff there is no excuse for or understanding of. I don't think I will ever fully understand what all has gone on this year, so I am learning to live with it. Isn't that what they say to do? If you can't change a circumstance, try to change how you feel about it? Well, for me, it means simply learning to live with it. I am trying my best, but it's a matter of taking one step forward, and away from it, every day. I think I have moved passed the panic and frustration. I am moving past the depression a little more and more with each passing "normal" movement, like fixing a meal or making the bed. In other words moving on. The depression began to scare me a bit... well... a lot... but I think it was the depression that helped me come to terms with all of it. I experienced the full five stages of grief, which from what I have read, is a perfectly normal response under the circumstances. I am now in the acceptance stage, and while I have a blue day here and here, and I am still a little worried being able to swing the ability to own a home, I go to bed at night incredibly grateful for whatever time we end up spending here.

 A year, two, maybe five years... it's all good. If we should find that we need to sell and go a different route I am okay with that also. But in the mean time, this new house has taken me in somehow. It has a wonderful nurturing vibe to it, in fact both Alan and I felt it from the first moment we saw the place. We looked through a lot of houses, and none of them made us both smile the way this one did! The house was meant to be ours, for however long it is meant to be, and it takes good care of us. I have been reluctant to feel love for the place, but it's wearing me down. I am pretty much in love, and I don't even know when I let the emotion in, but I did. Stockton, California has it's challenges, but it has been getting better in the last couple years. The neighborhood is Lakeview, and it sits in north Stockton. It is the third best neighborhood, the best neighborhood is about 2 blocks west of us. LOL. So it's in a stable, reasonably safe part of the city. Stockton is a big city, so yes there is crime, but it's all about knowing where you can go, and any given hour of the day, and being aware of your actions and surroundings.

We all have to do that anyway. After the terrible tragedy in San Bernadino last week, the point was driven home that one can't be too diligent. We can't live a normal life if we dwell on stuff, but being aware of your surroundings just makes sense. So, I am no longer "just making the best of it" I am settling in. We are making the house ours, and it feels good. Any place Alan and the boys are will be home for me. They fill the place with so much silliness and love that it would be impossible to not love the place. I think that's how we made it in the little Berkeley cottage for so long. It wasn't the cottage, it was the love inside. Alan and Elvis, and then Hendrix, Dylan and finally the little brother Joey. 

Our house is a home, no matter where we are, 

but I am kinda digging the new place!

Now, if I could just motivate myself to get the unpacking done! 

Leaf Of The Day

December 6th 2015

Mood: Relaxed

~Me :)

FUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKK

"You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over analyzing

 a situation' trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... 

or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on."

~Tupac Shakur

Okay, well, FUCK! Last night I found a note taped to my front door, or I should say, taped to the front door of a cottage I have been renting for 14 years, giving me 30 days to GET OUT. Why am I being evicted? Because, as it turns out, this cottage has been an illegal apartment since 1965. No permits, no verified inspection certificate, just a "cute, cozy" illegal dwelling! End of story! So, I have been paying for 14 years, and making minor repairs, and treating this place like I owned it, only to be kicked out of it, with 30 days to find not only a place we can afford... in Alameda County... but a place that will allow my three cat children. 

My family. My babies. 

In two months the owner of my cottage will be tearing my my cottage down, as if it never was. As if all the memories we made here... never were... God... like it never fucking existed. It will be like I never put up pretty blue curtains, or painted the walls cornflower blue. My kitchen was painted apricot, or was it? And my bathroom soft lettuce green. Elvis spent his last day in my arms here, and I spent so many afternoons listening to the distant Ethereal Musician playing his saxophone I can't even count them. I lived here when 9/11 happened. On that day there wasn't a single sound anywhere in the neighborhood, except my distant Ethereal Musician playing that tune on that lovely saxophone... 

the tune was... America. And just hearing it, made me feel, safer somehow.

The most frightening thing of all, is having to get rid of my babies.

I can't survive that. I won't survive that.

Later today I am contacting a lawyer, to see what my legal options are. 

After that... we'll see.

Right now, 3:15 AM Pacific Time, all I can do is cry.

Mood: Devastated

~Me :)

 

Mousies

"In nine lifetimes, you'll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you."

~Michel de Montaigne



Today is a big day! My baby, kitten Joey, is 6 months old now and that means it's time for him to take a trip to Dr. B's for the last of his shots and be neutered. Joey was about 2 months old when he came running into our lives, literally, but it doesn't feel like we have been his mom and dad that long! He is so much fun, and he has all these little quirks, like chattering to himself, so you can imagine how much I will miss him over the next three days! And you know I am going to worry about every little thing while he is gone! 

Is he warm enough? Is he lonely? Does he think we kicked him to the curb? Will he be missing us and sad? The truth is, he will probably be going through all those things, and it breaks my heart! But Dr. B. is an amazing doctor, and his nurses are the best, so I know he is in safe, loving hands, and before I know it, we will be picking him up! Thursday afternoon will be here in no time... right?

Thursday. I just have to get to Thursday!

 

"If a cat spoke, it would say things like 'Hey, I don't see the problem here."

~Roy Blunt Jr.

Mood: Anxious But Happy

~Me :)

A Family

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

~Angela Schwindt

Alan and I are Furbaby parents. Don't laugh... it's a thing! At least try to understand, because I am here to tell you how rewarding and life affirming it is! Little boy humans, little boy cats, same thing! You might not understand that unless you are a pet person! But here is the point... you teach your human children values, and manners, and most importantly all about love! You do the same thing with cats. Do you think sibling rivalry only goes on in human families? If you do, you would be wrong! 

We brought Hendrix home first, Dylan followed about a week or so later. Hendrix is a wonderful, loving, joyful cat, but blending the two personalities took some effort on our side and theirs! Within the first couple months Dylan was already showing signs that he truly loved Hendrix, and Hendrix had assumed the role of Dylan's, and our, caregiver! He watches over all of us!

Dylan and Hendrix are a little over 5 years old now. They are adult cats, set in their routines, and ways! A couple weeks ago, along came baby Joey! Dylan is no longer, "the baby," and he seems a bit upset about that! Hendrix isn't sure he wants another brother who may not want to play with him. Dylan is a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes, so I am hoping as we break out the toys which the 3 boys share, we will find that important common ground.

It is already going amazingly well. Patience, patience, patience! Dylan's favorite game is chasing a ball down the hall, and bringing it back! He loves fetch! Hendrix runs through the house, but never interferes with Dylan's game! Hendrix likes to play with stuffed animals. He can throw them really high in the air, and is excellent at catching them! While he plays, Dylan sits on the sidelines, and watches his brother play! They both enjoy the laser mouse game, and Zhu Zhu pets RULE! Joey is really enjoying the laser mouse game also, and today all three cats played, with zero drama! It was amazing!

Now, I bet you are wondering about how you teach a cat values. Well, Elvis was the best example of that. He would put his toys away every night, when he saw Alan and I go to bed. He insisted that 10:00 PM was our bedtime, by coming into whatever room we were in, standing in front of us, and staring. HARD. And he would refuse to move, until we got up and went to bed! He was an amazing cat, and he was that once in a lifetime pet, that you never get over!

He has been gone over 5 years, and I still think about him every single day. I know one day, hopefully 20 or 30 years from now, I will have to face losing one of my furbabies again, and honestly I don't know how I will survive it! I just don't! But I try not to waste a single moment thinking about it. We are all in the here and now. Families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and fur, and I wouldn't change that for anything!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Eat. Play. Love.

"The cat has complete emotional honesty... an attribute not often found in humans."

~Ernest Hemingway

My goodness, I think Hendrix has caught my cold. Since I first found this lousy illness, about a month ago, he has been a constant companion, just like his brother Dylan. In fact, both he and his brother have been keeping my feet and my shoulder quite warm as I sleep.

I am loved.

But unfortunately, I think Hendrix, and possibly Dylan, have caught the cold.

I know there are some illnesses that can be shared between fur-babies and their human parents, one of them being the H1N1 flu. According to Petside, there were 10 documented cases of that particular flu having been shared between pets and owners. Yet other websites claim that there is not enough evidence to say for sure about the possibility of transmitting a simple cold to a cat, but careful hygiene while around your kitty cat friend is strongly encouraged.

Hendrix has been lethargic, uninterested, and generally displaying an extremely quiet demeanor, which is not his usual self. Hendrix is the more playful of the two. He LOVES to look for the red laser dot, and follow his favorite mice on a stick. He is loads of fun, but while play is important, so is LOVE and EATING. They are the only two things that he will consider stop playing for. His priorities are EAT. PLAY. LOVE. So, when he stopped playing the last couple of days, you can imagine how much it worried me.

The good news is that he has been eating small amounts of food, and cleaning his fur. He is using his box regularly and on time. And when pushed, he will at least follow the laser mouse with his eyes. There is a part of me that thinks Hendrix might be simply tired out from taking care of Alan and I. He walks both of us to the bathroom, and he comes and sits with me when the coughing gets so bad I feel like I am going to stop breathing. On some level he is worried about that also I think, yet he will not let me go through it alone, which pretty much makes him my best friend. :)

Last night we fed him a half a jar of his favorite baby food, Chicken in Chicken Gravy, Gerber's #2. He seemed to perk up a bit after that, which lifted my spirits more than I can tell you! Dylan and Hendrix both are due to visit Dr. Barrett for their annual checkups soon, so I think I will schedule them for this week. It's always good to touch base with Dr. B., he is a great man, and actually he is considered a hero to our family! One day Dr. B. will retire, and I don't even want to think of what we will do. I wouldn't take my little boys to just any pediatrician!

Ooops... I mean veterinarian.

NO, I mean pediatrician. Well, veterinarian/pediatrician

Yes. That's accurate.

Yes. (Insert nodding head here)

Think good thoughts for my boys... okay? :)

Mood: Happy but concerned.

~Me :)

I Can Has Spoiled Cat?

"On the other hand, I think cats have Asperger's. Like me, they're very smart. And, like me, they sometimes simply need to be left alone."

~Jodi Picoult

This is the face of a spoiled cat. Can you see the spoil? LOL. On the other hand, this is also the face of my child Dylan. Ask any cat enthusiast about whether there is any real difference between little boy humans, and little boy cats, and they will tell you, NOPE. Little boy humans and little boy cats are pretty much the same thing. Both are willful. Both have NO problem informing you of how completely wrong you are. Both species will fight with their brothers, out of a need to play and engage, and out of a need to express how completely pissed off their brothers can make them! LOL. Ask me sometime about the HUGE mistake I made over a little blue catnip mouse, that nearly lead to WWIII. No kidding!

I never had children, well, I never had human children. I was pregnant once, I lost the baby before I even knew I was pregnant. I never had time to become emotionally attached to the child. I had a very easy miscarriage, not emotionally speaking, but physically. A lot of blood, but no pain. I didn't even realize that was what it was, until a couple days later. After that event Alan and I didn't make any conscience decisions to not have children, I think we thought we might one day, but it wasn't really a priority. Here I am, a couple months away from my 51st birthday, and I can say that these furry little men meet all the needs I have maternally speaking. And I know one day I will meet my child in a different light then this one, but for now Elvis is keeping them filled in on all things mommy and daddy.

My furbabies love me. The need me, and they allow me to know that. I have someone to take care of and guide, although these two seemed to have come with the manuals on how to raise a proper human, so in actuality, I think it might be me who is being raised. I know I learn things from them all the time, and I can admit it! Here's the thing... what makes these two little boys right for me, is the fact that I will never have to get a call about a school shooting! Or a call about my child having gone missing. Or go through the worry of him coming to me one day and telling me he had been hurt by someone in such a way that he could only heal so just far but never completely.

Anyway, these two young men needed us, because of their individual stories. Both lost their feline mommies, but I was more than willing to shower them with love. And look at Dylan... I might be a little partial, but isn't he the most beautiful tabby cat? He isn't overly affectionate, but he doesn't mind being hugged for as long as I need to. He gets a deep brushing each night before I go to bed, and he purrs so deep that he sounds like a monster truck! His favorite thing in the world is to have his belly rubbed! Sometimes, when he is feeling silly, he will make an O formation with his mouth which means he is about the playfully attack. It's the funniest, cutest thing ever. I must do a video soon so I can share with you.

Sorry, I know I am going on and on here. I suppose I should put a sign at the top of the blog that reads...

WARNING: HOPELESS CAT LADY LIVES HERE. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

LOL. But really, isn't he cute?



Alan and I are thinking about sending a photo into I Can Has Cheeseburger. Without telling you which one is Alan's and which one is mine, care to help us choose the best one?

#1.

#2.

Dylan is a very spoiled cat, and I admit, I am the one who spoiled him! I am spoiled to, Alan is the one who spoiled me. Hendrix is spoiled, but that was both Alan and I together. Alan is spoiled, but that came from Hendrix, and me... a little. LOL. Okay, we are just a bunch of spoiled people, but there is so much love and life in this house and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Mood: Happy... still sick! But not happy I am sick!

~Me :)

Sleeping Dylan

"Meow means "woof" in cat."

~George Carlin

Dylan has an amazingly calm affect on me. Just watching him sleep helps me sleep better. On the other hand, when he is talkative... he is TALKATIVE! Dylan does not have any problem speaking his mind. The subject varies from MY BROTHER HENDRIX IS A JERK, to PLAY BALL WITH ME RIGHT NOW! Sometimes he will make little sounds and noises when calling me. I have heard his say MaMa. I know, it's hard to believe. Sometimes, very early in the morning, I can hear him in the window answering the call to morning coming from the cute little rooster next door. And most evenings you can hear what sounds a lot like singing coming from the bathroom just off my office. It's a fairly regular event since he was a small kitten. He gets into the bathtub, and sings away. I think he likes the acoustics in there. LOL. There is stress in life, it can't be avoided, but when you have a little person like Dylan, who loves you no matter what, it makes everything so much easier to take!

I love him. He is my baby.

"If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much."

~Mark Twain

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

My Babies Are Growing Up Too Fast

"If there is a spot of sun spilling onto the floor, a cat will soak it up."

-Joan Asper McIntosh


Can you believe how big Dylan as gotten? And Hendrix is even bigger! We took both boys for the weigh-in yesterday, and here is the result. Dylan is now 4 lbs 10 oz and Hendrix is, hold onto your hats, 6 lbs, 9 1/2 ounces! He is almost 2 pounds heavier then his brother! Goodness... where have my little fuzzy babies gone?

We don't know their exact age, but Dr. B guesses that they are within a week or so in age, and they were probably born very late in August, or maybe the first of September, so we decided to make September 3rd their official birthday. I haven't decided yet if we will do a party in the yard for them the way we did Elvis. They are their own people, although they were great fun during Christmas and Hanukkah, so we will probably do something special. Think a party at Chuck-E-Cheese might be a good idea?LOL. Wouldn't you love to see those party photos?

We let them out in the yard yesterday to let them run around and play for a while. The weather has been really warm for January, with temperatures reaching the low 70's. Glorious weather... really, really nice, so used the opportunity to get in some practice using Alan's camera. I am really hesitant to use it, if I lost the lens cap, or scratched the lens, I would feel so bad, but on the other hand, my boys are growing so fast that I want to save as many memories as I can. You know... they have both lost all their kitten fuzz! How can that be? ;)

Dylan is my boy. He cuddles with me and sits on my lap while I do my blogging or other online activities. Hendrix is Alan's cat. He follows him around and runs for the door when he hears him get home from work. Hendrix loves hugs, and will stretch upwards with his front feet stretched upwards so he can be picked up. Dylan prefers the snuggle to a hug, but both boys love to show affection and that is really nice. Dylan plays a game of fetch with me each night before bed, while Hendrix carries his favorite stuffed animal "Chip" around the house, biting and chewing on him, then saving him and grooming him when he is done. It's so much fun to watch him carry Chip around. By the way, "Chip" is a squirrel, and was named after the squirrel that used to be the logo for Blue Chip Stamps. Remember Blue Chip stamps?


What do you think? Is there a resemblance? LOL.



I love my fur babies! :)

Dylan, November 6th, 2008

Hendrix, October 28th, 2008

-Carly
"Dylan In The Sun"
Berkeley, California
January 13th 2009
Afternoon