Bubba 2007 - 2010

It was a dark and wintery night, and there, outside, sitting on a ledge of our solarium window was a tiny unknown furry object. We brought him in and gave him a good forever home. He weighed all of three pounds, was all white with beautiful golden eyes. I asked Ed to name him and he was christened Bubba. Sounds like a big name for such a cute little ball of snow white fur that could fit in Ed's hand. As time passed, he grew into his name topping out at a very healthy 14 pounds. (Could Ed be prophetic?)

Bubba took no crap from the dog that outweighed him by four times. He and Shelby would chase each other around the house (Bubba was like a lightening streak, so fast and agile), and Bubba would ambush and pounce on Shelby whenever he had a chance. They were the best of friends. We often called him Bubba-Tut, implying that he was the King Tut of the house, which of course, he knew he was.

The first time Bubba saw Shelby he arched his back and looked just like a Halloween cat, except he was white. I was fortunate enough to even capture it in a picture. It is one of the best. He was very photogenic and simply beautiful to look at. I have a lot of beautiful pictures of him. This is Ed’s favorite picture of him. Now I ask you, is that a beautiful Bubba-Tut or what? I have posted an album of Bubba pictures here.

Ed spoiled that kitty big time. Every morning before he left for work there had to be some treats on the floor for him. If they weren’t there by 8:00am, we heard about it as Bubba could become quite verbal. He would walk in between Ed's legs and make him almost trip to be sure he had Ed's attention to remind him not forget about the kitty treats. And he was always at the door when we came home to greet us.

Bubba loved to curl up in the bathroom sink to sleep, which posed some problems for getting ready for work in the mornings (mostly for Ed though, I would leave him there). Sitting in a window watching birds was his favorite pastime, and he loved when we had open windows and could hear them too. It all helps when your stalking ya know.

Last Thursday-Friday he stopped eating and became very lethargic. Things just weren’t right all weekend. Monday it was off to the vet, who could not really find anything wrong during an exam except for his dehydration. They took blood and would call the next day with results. We went home pumped with fluids and some high calorie, sweet and yummy cat food that he was sure to love. Wrong.

The next day came to call he had renal failure (a fancy pants word for kidney failure). His bad blood count (or whatever the proper medical term is) was almost off the charts. Nope, he had not eaten anything poisonous that we could find, he never went outside. Kidney failure is very rare in a cat only 3 years old it is more common in older cats, not mine. He went back in to the vet’s immediately and was put on an IV and closely monitored.

Sparing the gory details, after two nights at the vet hospital he was not getting better, and was in a lot of pain as the toxins were backing up in his body. I had to make the call today to let him go. If you are still reading this I am sure it is because you are a pet lover too, and you know how hard this is right now. I know all will be well soon and it only hurts when I think about him.

I will post this and go now to clean out his litter box, put his food away, throw away the uneaten cat grass, and pick up all the little fuzzy mice that are hiding all over the house. Ed said it well when he said that God gave us a beautiful gift. We loved him and he loved us. He had a great home, and we will miss seeing him in the window as we pull into the drive. Now, if you were a little fuzzy mouse where would you be?

Wii and me

We started out bowling. Yea, that's how everyone starts. Then we had to get a Fit Plus with the balance board. It's Wii and me now!

For those who don’t know what this is, it is a program that takes you through exercises while you stand on their board where every movement is captured and calculated. I ride a bike, ski through slalom gates, take a ski jump, do a ‘super’ hula hoop, do some dancing, karate moves, and even do some yoga. Lately, I have even been trying to walk a tightrope and juggle with balancing in a huge ball. Somehow, someway I even run for 3 minutes. It is actually kinda fun. If you knew anything about me you would know this is a major miracle! The other miracle is that I have been doing all this consistently!

But have I lost weight? Nooooooo! Do you know how depressing and disappointing that is? Ed has a good attitude about it all he says as long as he is getting fit he doesn’t care about the weight. I want to lose it.

“Ok Vicki, stop whining about working out. It is good for you.” That is what I need to keep telling myself. So, Wii, it’s just you and me!! Let’s rock and roll (before I get depressed)!!!

Seems like I can never think of what to write about, but once I get started it just flows. Taking the time is the big thing....just take the time.

My favorite scripture is on Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know I am God...." Yep that about says it. Now if only I would!

The LOL Cat Bible version says it like this "Make quietz, and seez I am Ceiling Cat..."

If you want to read something totally hysterical, read about the Ceiling Cat. People have actually taken the bible and translated it into the LOLSpeak version, and the Ceiling Cat reigns. "In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh Skiez an da Erfs n stuffs."

If you haven't seen this, you have to check out the LOL Cat Bible web site. You can actually buy this book on Amazon now!

Oh my gosh!! Did I just blog about something in the bible!! Is this really me? Yikes!!!!

(Pssst, God is really and truly good!!)

Kitchen/Dining room...you're going down!

We are finally tackling the kitchen/dining room project, if only I knew how long this is going to take! Seems like our home projects take such a long time to complete (some are still not totally complete). But that won’t stop me from starting another.

I have agonized over this kitchen/dining room for years. How many people do you know have six, yes six, entrances into a dining room? Do you know how hard that is to work with? It is agonizing…oh, I already said that.

Can I just say, whoever came up with the idea of z-brick should be shot? That is some nasty stuff. You cannot take it off without taking the wall with it. At this point, all I want to do is paint these rooms, put in a new floor and be done.

But no…you have to take out the drop ceiling with these horrible fluorescent lights first, do patch work on the ceiling (but we gained two more feet in the room, this is good), take down the wallpaper, now paint (oh dear what color to choose) rip up the flooring yourself (the installers are afraid of asbestos), and take a look at replacing the entrance door and possible door to solarium. Oh, what to do about the cabinets? All this with one day off a week together to work on this project.

But wait!!! There’s more!! After all that, you can’t keep using a dining room set that is 25 years old now can you? And what about the rest of the furniture in the room? Oh, if you only know the agony of it all!!

Thank God we have the option to even think about doing this work. Some people live with much uglier dining rooms than mine (or so I’ve been told, I’ve not seen this for myself!). But now is the time, I have other plans for my life!

Is this what it is like to “grow old together”?

This is my first time, so I did not know what to expect. But here are my thoughts about it. About what? About my life with Ed.

Lately we have gotten into some great and (at least to me) meaningful discussion about some deep subjects. I have explored some topics that maybe being a Christian I shouldn’t be exploring. And there is Ed, right there with me, my friend, my companion, my confidant. Being able to talk about these things gives me more confidence in me and in my relationship with my loving God, and Ed.

Speaking for me, I have grown into a deeper feeling of peace and contentment with my life and with our relationship. I can see why people who have been married 30, 40, or 50 years or more seem so happy. Sometimes it looks like a glow is about them. How sad it must be to lose that when it happens. I can’t, won’t go there now.

From Jas to Shelby to Gracie

Jas was the best dog in the world. She was my ‘perfect’ dog. When she died and we got Shelby, it took a long time to love her even half as much. But time marched on and now she is my ‘perfect’ dog.

Now I love her so much I didn’t want her to grow old before her time and thought she needed a buddy to keep her company during the day and to keep her more active than I had been doing (as confessed in previous blogs about her).

Enter Gracie. We have only had her for about two months, and I am sure I am in the same spot I was with Shelby at this time. I feel so protective of Shelby. Gracie just wants to play when they are outside, and there are times when Shelby just wants to poop in peace. Gracie will run up and nip at her leg or neck to get her to play. Sometimes I think Gracie to too rough for my mild mannered ‘perfect’ Shelby, who turns the other cheek every time to Gracie. I still see so much ‘puppy’ in Gracie, as I should, she is still young. I think she probably never really got to play much as a puppy and now she is feeling freer to do so than she probably ever has.

I am sure I will grow to love Gracie as much, but now isn’t that time. She is awful cute and she can look at you a certain way that would melt any heart, especially a dog lover’s heart. We just need more time together.

There seems to be a pattern here. Is this how it is done? How is it that these creatures of God's can get so deep into your heart? I could expound on their differences and their similarities, but suffice to say that they, for the most part, get along great. I think Gracie and I are just in for a time of adjustment. Once that time has passed, will I be able to handle two ‘perfect’ dogs, at the same time?