Random Ramblings

So, the weekend of August 16th, we went to Houston... and this car is in my parents backyard...  Joe climbed right in like it was his car...  shut the door and was off and running.  :) 

Jason's Mother and sister came to town last week and took Joey and Jackson to the zoo.  They had such a great time... and as you can see, wore Joey plain out!  What a precious moment caught on camera! 

They had rented a stroller and I just can't resist this little happy face...  that night, Erin, Bobbie and Jack came over for dinner and we had such a nice visit...  and as you can see... Joey had catsup with a side of chicken for dinner.  ;)  Again... good times!  We hosed him off and let him run with his cousin.  

We were supposed to go to Houston this weekend and go out on the boat with some friends and my parents... but with Hurricane Gustov looming we didn't want to get caught in Houston with everyone else evacuating North... and us just trying to get home.  The last time we did that with Rita...  it took us eighteen hours to go to Lufkin... and for those not from Texas, that usually takes oh.. two and a half hours.  EEGADS!  With three cars, two cats and my niece.  Oh yeah and a dog.  ;)  So... we didn't want a repeat performance.  So, we stayed in Fort Worth.  

It's been a good weekend, we even made it to a new church today.  We won't be returning to this one though.  It was  presbyterian church which is great because that's what I grew up with... but Jason says.. "I'm a Methodist!"... I told him they are very similar.  Well, this wasn't quite like any Presbyterian church I had ever gone to and the minister went on and on and on and on and on and on and on...  and on.  After an hour and a half service... we left right before the benediction and picked up Joe and went to lunch.  Sigh...  I'll find my home church.  :)  Just have to try a few out.  :)  

Now... Poodle toots is taking a nap and when he wakes up, maybe we'll go swimming.  :)  A great labor day weekend, just wish we could have seen our family and friends too!  

Happy Birthday my Dear Husband

My wonderful husband is turning 37 today.  Or rather, he has turned 37 and I wanted him to know 37 reasons why I love him so much.  

37.  You are a wonderful husband. 

36.  Your kind

35. You are funny.

34.  You are fun.

33.  Your devotion to family.  

32.  The way you love my family.

31.  You produce beautiful children. 

30.  Your work ethic.

29.  You always put us first. 

28. You 100% believe that this next fishing trip you will catch so many fish that you won't be able to bring them all home. 

27.  You are an amazing fish blackener. 

26.  You are a master at cooking steaks on the grill.  

25.  Your dedication to your friends. 

24.  The way you attack new tasks. 

23.  You always make lists so that everything gets done.  

22.  The way you have taken to this new business venture of ours. 

21.  Your love of animals.

20.  Your ability to train dogs and have them eating out of your hand literally.

19.  When someone needs you, you are there, no matter what!

18.  When I need you, there is no where else you will be.

17.  When my kitty got sick, there was no amount of money you wouldn't spend to make him better, even though you wanted to wear him as a hat.  

16.  You exaggerate stories just like me for comedic value. 

15.  Just because.  

14.  My dreams are your dreams and you always support them!

13.  If there is something that I want, you do whatever is necessary to help me get it. 

12.  Your forgive me when I am not always so ...  helpful.  

11.  Your love of boating. 

10.  You buying into my parents dreams and never making them feel less important.  

9.  You tolerating my extreme closeness with them and even... sometimes... enjoying it.  

8.  Your steadfast loyalty! 

7.  The way you love our son. 

6.  You are a wonderful father.

5.  You don't put up with my bullshit. 

4.  You always tell me you love me, admit when you're wrong, (even when you're not), and only occasionally tell me "I told you so!"

3.  The trips we have taken and the trips we will take. 

2.  You are my rock. 

1.  Because I love you to the moon and back.  

Happy birthday my dear sweet husband.  I hope this next year is even better!

How is it possible

that my darling husband can make so much noise in the kitchen?  I just don't get it.  

I have had the baby to sleep for a whopping twenty  minutes and he is making so much noise that he could quite possibly... wake Frankie!  Sorry... bad joke!  

::: with a roll of the eyes and a tap of the fingers:::: new subject.  :) 

I really don't have much to say tonight... I am better.  Life has a way of going on, life has a way of ... being okay.  I think when you lose a pet or you lose a family member even... you kind of expect the world to stop around you and kind of expect that you get concessions for your loss.  

Nope.  Grieving is for the living... it's not for the departed.  What a lousy thing to say to someone who is grieving but... c'mon... those that have passed on, well at least in my views, are in a wonderful place.  I see Frankie as frolicking through fields, finally free of the chains of the house I wouldn't let him out of.  

He can fish.  He can traipse.  He can covort.  He can even pee on things.  :)  He might miss me...  I hope that he does but I also hope he quickly forgets as he lays down for a slumber in the sunshine.  

Grieving is for the living...  :)  

I hope everyone is having a nice week... cannot BELIEVE that tomorrow is Friday already... where did THIS week go?  

All about Frankie Blue Eyes

I have more pictures of him... but I have to find them.  Here are just a couple.  

RIP my dear sweet furbaby!  08-19-08

You chose me as your people and you loved me best!

Frankie found me while I worked at MarineMax.  It was about four years ago and I was inside when one of the guys I worked with called into me near closing time.  JESSICAAAAAAAAAAAA...  I came outside and there was this furball.  He meowed at me, rolled over exposing his belly and started purring.  He followed me around the marina and then inside.  He continued to meow.  

I picked him up and found some tags.  It had a number but no name.  I called the vet clinic on his tags and they were closed but referred me to an emergency clinic.  

I begrudgingly took him in, (I had fallen in love with him instantly)...  but made sure to take a picture of him first.  Just in case.  ;)  

I kept in touch with the emergency clinic and then with the original clinic for two weeks while they tried, without success, to find his owners.  After two weeks, they called me.  He was mine, if I wanted him.  If I didn't... there was a list of people who did.  

I quickly scooped him up and took him home.  He was gorgeous.  His bright blue eyes pierced mine.  He practically climbed inside my skin to get closer.  He hugged me, he nuzzled me and he licked my forehead.  

He slept on my head every night and if he wasn't on my head, he was on top of me with his paw on my forehead.  He always let me know he loved me.  

He did have his spiteful side to him though... and he REALLY wanted outside.  He was a wanderer and I was always afraid that he would wander away and I would lose him like his first owners.  I never took that chance, although I thought about it about the 600th time he pee'd on my couch.  My second couch that I replaced the first one he had pee'd on.... with.  

He had a bit of an attitude...  and he would walk around aimlessy meowing.. so I got him a playmate.  Sammy... my grey wonder.  She is the skitziest cat...  she runs, she hides and she's not real bright.  I am afraid that inbreeding might have gotten the best of her little brain cells.  :)  But she was Frankie's playmate.  They snuzzled.  They romped.  They wrestled and they played.  Oh yeah... and occasionally they fought.  But they were pals.  

It wasn't until awhile later that he pee'd on my couch the first time.  I hated that about him.  And he was relentless.  He also liked my down comforter...  those were his favorite spots.  Occasionally he would wait until just the right moment to let it go...  but bless him...  I know he didn't mean to be persnickety.  He didn't mean to be difficult.  He was just trying to let me know that he was not liking something that I did.  I mean... how else is a cat supposed to let a stupid human know?  d'uh!

he was also known to sneak out of the house.  I have two such stories.  One time, Jason and I got home from being at the boat and just as I pulled in... I saw a grey streak and then a brown streak.  I quickly jumped out of the car while Jason and I yelled... that was Frankie!  That was Sammy!  

We run into the house and both of them are sitting on the couch looking at us like...  what?  What did we do?  They had literally snuck out for a romp and tried to sneak back in before they got caught. We had accidentally left the door open.  Bad little children! 

The other was while we were moving from Deer Park to Jersey Village.  The bathroom window was open, unbeknownst to me, and I locked Frankie in there so that he wouldn't escape.  

I was working in the kitchen and Jason was in the garage when all of a sudden Jason came running in... "Frankie's out!"  I immediately run outside and start combing the street  yelling his name.  I can't find him anywhere.  The neighbors start helping me.... calling out to him.  Nothing. I start to panic that I am going to have to move and not have my Frankie! 

All of a sudden Jason comes out and tells me that he's INSIDE the house.  Huh?  Apparently, he snuck out again... through the bathroom window, made it around the side of the garage and saw Jason... he high tailed it back through the bathroom window so that he wouldn't get caught the sneaky little bugger.  :)  And who says cats aren't smart?  

Sigh.  I see him everywhere.  I see him on my kitchen table (I know... gross to non cat owners, normal to those that do have them).  I see him on my couch. I see him on my bed.  I see him in my bathroom.  He always greeted me and he loved me no matter what mood I was in.  He slept on the baby changing pad.  He snuggled in Joe's bed, or tried to.  I would always kick him out. He would always go to my mother in law, even though she was madly allergic to him.  He would sidle up to my grandfather or whomever was on the couch.  He was a bit of a snuggle whore to anyone who would pay him any mind.  Even to those that wouldn't.   But, no matter what, he always knew that I loved him.  At least, I hope he did.  

At What Point...

Does the love for your pet become selfishness?  At what point does wanting to keep him alive become "not in the best interest" of the pet?  

I have the most beautiful cat.  He found me when I moved into my apartment right before meeting Jason.  He is a long haired siamese who wants to climb inside my skin.  His favorite place to sleep is ON me.  He slept on my belly the entire time I was pregnant, enduring the endless kicks of Mr. Joey.  

He head butts me, he nuzzles me and occasionally he bats me for good reason.  

He also has had a small problem that he pee's on my couch or on my bed.  :(  Okay, okay... this is a big problem.  But, we have gotten by with washing the duvet, the down comforter and the couch cushion covers.  I have sprayed down the foam so many times that the smell of the spray actually doesn't quite do it anymore.  BUT, for the love of my kitty... I would not give up on him.  

About two month's ago... maybe three...  mr. Frankie was diagnosed with cancer.  Right around his intestine and he was on prednisone for a while but it wasn't shrinking it.  So, I stopped forcing the evil little pills on him.  

He has continued to get skinnier and skinnier and skinnier. BUT he still nuzzled, he still head butted, he still slept on me (he still pee'd) so I figured that he was getting skinny, not feeling great but not in any great pain.  

Well last night...  he pee'd ON us while we were in bed.  Well he pee'd on the down comforter;... but we were in it.  I woke up, for some reason, and found it right away...  and quickly changed out the comforter and threw it in the wash...  but I couldn't go back to sleep.  

I can't help but feel that I am doing this regal animal a disservice by keeping him alive.  I guess I kind of hoped he would be comfortable until he goes onto the rainbow bridge and his greater reward...  but am I hurting him?  He has loved me too much to watch him suffer.  

:(  

I am leaving for Houston in about twenty minutes and he has enough food and water.. but I am terrified that I am going to come home and he will have died without me.  (Insert tears here)...  and I thought about bringing him with me...  but a four hour car ride is not much better.  

Man.  I know that you all are going to feel sorry for me...  (thank you!)...  and I know that there isn't anything that you can do.  Well that's wrong.  You can tell me that I did the right thing by keeping him around.  That my love for him was not selfish.  That he knows that I love him.  

:(  

Just plain adorable pics.

Reality bites....

So, I have always been part of a family that believes in "ostriching"...  by this I mean, if I don't want to deal with something, I stick my head in the sand and pretend that it doesn't exist.  :)  

It works for me.  It's fun.  

The only problem is that when reality sets in, sometimes it catches up to you.  

I think I have been pretending for about six month's that this move just wouldn't happen.  It did.  I am here.  

Since the last week of July, I have been "playing" with my mom.  She has literally been my sidekick, I have been her shadow, she has been mine.  She helped me with the movers in Houston, she helped me with the move on this end.  She unpacked every single box with me.  We have placed every single picture, each little item, designed every tiny nook and cranny.  My husband has been VERY tolerant and somewhat relieved I am sure... as he hasn't had to worry about any of it.  

But now...  as it almost looks like a *home* and she is set to go home...  the fun is ending.  Okay... time over... lets US go back HOME to Houston.  Playing house is only fun as long as the playing continues, no?  

Reality is setting in that come this Sunday, Jason and I with the baby will be heading home to Fort Worth.  And I don't like it.  I don't like it one little bit.  

I know that I worked on cruise ships for five years and was in college before that.  I know that I have had a life without my parents and my sister. I know that I can do it.  I just don't want to.  My mom is my best friend and the thought of her NOT being ten minutes away just... well... it just plain sucks!  I know that this is going to be good for my marriage, good for my *new* family.  I know that financially it's GREAT for us.  I know that this is what we NEED.  

My heart is just sad.  I miss my family already and I haven't even sprung my mother loose.  I miss my friends tremendously!  I miss the ability to call any of them and say... hey, let's go walk.  Let's go to the Tot spot.  Lets go to Olive Garden for lunch.  I miss the traffic.  I miss my house.  I miss my neighbors.  

I know that in time, this will become my *home* and that this will feel normal.  It's just that now...  well now...  Reality Bites! 

I am officially a Fort Worth-ian

Mom and I have been packing for what feels like forever.  Loading up a 2900 square foot house with a toddler is a daunting task and I could NOT have done it without the army that helped me.  Namely, my mom!  She is a tough task master but she gets it done!  Then the huge generosity of all of my friends who came over and took turns watching Joey while we packed.  They are all amazing in spirit, friendship and I just don't know what I would do without them!  

Tuesday night, the night before our moving truck came, our door became somewhat revolving.  People came over to say goodbye..  some brought their kids and helped and some just came to help.  It was such a fun evening with pizza, wine, packing tape and baby giggles.  I think we got the house set and us to bed around midnight.  

Wednesday Morning, I took Mr. Joe to daycare and came home to our truck and the games began.  Our movers were fantastic...  they really went above and beyond , I was so impressed.  It took the greater part of the day but finally about 3:30 ish, they were done and my house was empty.  

I picked Joey up at daycare around 3 and they had gotten him a going away present and had given me a picture book.  They had taken pictures of each of them with Joe and their kindness...  well, it reduced me to tears.  (Now there's a shock!).  

Mom and I packed up the cats and said goodbye to daddy, Richard, Lyndia and Kiki and headed North to Fort Worth.  We stayed in a hotel Wednesday night and arrived at our new house bright and early Thursday morning.  As soon as I walked into my house...  it's just ...  MY house.  :)  

Don't mind the big ole mattress box in the front yard.  :)  They left it outside until last as it is so heavy...  I think they almost forgot it til I said... hey, Raul...  is that my bed outside?  :)  

Now, unfortunately, we had to leave all of our doors open because they were in and out, of course... and we had to turn off the AC so that we didn't freeze up the unit.  AND of course, we don't move in December... NOOOOOO... we move during Fort Worths first heat wave where temperatures are clearing well over 100 and heat index's of 111.  EEGADS.  I never thought we would get the house cool again!  Poor Joey... 

He put up with so much!  He let me lug and tote him...  hug and snuggle him...  feed him in his carseat and then this!!!  He even endured most of the move...  a nap in the stroller and constantly hearing me say... "no no, Joey you can't go in there!  No... Joe NO!...  do NOT crawl into the fireplace...  oops...  No, not that box!"  

The guys finally left around 3 on Thursday.  

Mom and I attacked my house then!  :)  We got a good start on the kitchen and Jason came home.  His mom came into town on Friday to watch Joey while we unpacked and she was a Godsend!!!  We got so much done, it was unbelievable.  The only room I managed to get a picture of though was the kitchen.  Don't mind the box fan...  it's hot work unpacking.  

So... in three days, we have the kitchen done.  The master mostly done.  The baby's room done (except for pictures) and the den sort of done.  :)  We still need a desk, a bar, and to undo the dining room.  We are slowly but surely getting there.  

Today, Mom and I went to the container Store and MAN is that store fun!!!  I was like a raccoon with shiny objects!  I love organization!  I don't use it very often but I love it!  :)  We also hit up Kirkland Home, Pier One, Walmart with lunch and a kids cut thrown in for good measure.  

I take Joey to his new daycare tomorrow and I am heading off to work.  Mom will have a day at the house and will probably continue to work.  (Her choice, I assure you!).  

I guess this will start to feel like my home, right?  It just feels like I am visiting but with my stuff.  I miss my friends.  :(  

And totally unrelated...  just had to include some more Joe pics...  here he has found the pantry but most importantly... he has found the PUB MIX!  :)