Thursday thinking

I still miss Augie a lot.  I thought I heard him meow the other day, and I keep expecting to see him laying on the dog's bed or to come climb in my lap while I'm sitting on the floor.  Our other elderly cat, Spot, is turning 18 in April.  For now he is in decent health.  He notices Augie's absence, though.  The first night Augie was gone, Spot wandered through the house all night meowing.  They used to sleep together on the dog's bed.

Aside from Spotty we have two other cats, Emily and Benny, who are about 2.5 and 3 years old, respectively. Then there's good old Chester, the dog, who we guess to be about 9.  I do love a house full of pets, despite the cost, the mess, the work, and the inevitable heartache that comes along with it.

Augie and Spotty enjoying a sunny spot at the back door.  Nov 2011

Thea and Faith are going skiing for the first time this weekend.  I've never really had an interest in skiing, but I'm happy they're going to have the opportunity to try it.  They are excited.  Holly and I are staying home by ourselves.  I told her it was going to be a special Holly-and-Mommy night.  Her eyes got wide and she said, "Let's have a movie night!  With EATING!"  So, movies and eating it will be.

I'm getting a haircut tomorrow.  This is only news because I don't get my hair cut often, and when I do, it's usually just a trim.  This time I really am looking for a new style (if you can call the shapeless mess I have now a "style").  It remains to be seen whether I can communicate my wishes to the stylist, whether she can cut it that way, whether my hair will actually do what the girl's hair in the picture is doing, and then whether I can actually pull it off myself at home.

Augie

Today we had to say goodbye to Augie, our oldest cat.  You never think of this moment... when you are holding the tiny kitten in the palm of your hand; when he is chasing a string you are dragging around the house;  when he is tumbling on the carpet with his adopted sister; when he is snuggled next to you in bed purring; when he is rubbing his head on your chin; when he is meowing for his dinner; when he realizes you are sad and climbs into your lap to comfort you... You never think of this moment that you will have to say goodbye.  This is the crappy side of pet ownership.

Augie was only about 8 weeks old when we brought him home from the pound.  He was indeed small enough to sit in the palm of Rick's hand.  Over the years he moved with us to three more houses, saw many adopted brothers and sisters come and go, and saw three rambunctious children added to the mix.  Augie accepted the kids with grace -- he never scratched or bit them, although he stayed well out of their way when he didn't feel like dealing with them.

Augie lived nearly 19 years with us.  He was a good friend.  He was a good cat.  The doctor and techs at Arbutus Veterinary Hospital helped him complete his life's journey with peace and dignity, and I held him at the end and thanked him for everything and told him how much I love him.

Rest now in peace, Augie.  1993-2012

Augie performing his trademark forehead-bump on his first day home from the pound.  1993

Tiny Augie  1993

Augie and Allie the day they knocked a bag of flour off the top of the refrigerator and made little white footprints all over the apartment.  1994

My first babies.  1994

Augie watching over me and just-born Holly.  2006

Just this past summer, Augie relaxing on Holly's bed.  2011

The Lady

Holly found a picture similar to this in a book about cats -- Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman

She brought it to me and said, "Look Mom, is this Lady Gaga?"

New Pictures

Despite the fact that it is a kind of arduous process to manually crop, size, place and caption pictures in my current photo album setup, I am still doing it until I work up the time and commitment to look for another option.  And because of that arduous process, I'm about five months behind in posting pictures.  Here are the links to see pictures from August 2011 -- page one and page two.  Soon there will be a third page of pictures from our trips to Six Flags America in August.

A little taste of what is there:

Enjoy!!

Reading in 2012

I surpassed my 2011 book-reading goal -- my goal was 18 books and I read 34.  I usually have a huge surge in the summer and early fall, and then tail off through the last two months.  That was how it was this year.  I finished reading the 32nd book in early October.  Anyway, you can see the list here if you are interested.  By and large it was a good bunch of books.

This year's goal is 20 books.  I have about that many waiting on the shelf to be read.  I'm starting off this year with 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winner The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.  I'm about a quarter of the way through, and let me say that it is definitely a crushing novel for a wanna-be novelist to read.  The story is awesome so far, and yet I have to keep stopping and reading back over paragraphs just for sheer enjoyment of the way the sentences are crafted.

What are you reading this year, or what did you love last year?  I would love to hear your recommendations.

Close of the Year

Some randomnity...

A few days before her birthday, I told Holly about the night she was born.  When I got to the part about giving her her name, she frowned and said, "But I didn't want my name to be Holly!  I wanted it to be Rapunzel."

I gave Thea the Hunger Games trilogy for Christmas.  She read the first book in 24 hours.  Then she read the second book in the next 24 hours.  I'm so happy to have her reading and being excited about a book, but it seems like kind of a waste if she's going to "use up" this Christmas present in three days.

Tonight I had to deal with a puking incident and a disgustingly clogged sink (not related) at the same time.  Kind of an overload of Ick.

My great-grandmother taught me to crochet when I was a kid.  I haven't done it in years, but in just the past couple of weeks I've picked it back up again.  It is so satisfying to sit with the needle and yarn and a mug of coffee and some music playing.  It feels very grounding and at the same time brings back fond memories.  So far I've made a bunch of coasters/potholders, and one head wrap with a flower on it that is not very attractive.  The coasters are kind of rough but I'm still enjoying using things I made.  And I think with the right yarn, the head wrap could be really pretty.

Today there was only one radio station left, that I could find, still playing all Christmas music.  (101.9 FM)  As much as I wanted to avoid that grating music all of December... today I found myself listening to that station, and actually singing along.

I'm glad that Christmas is over, and look forward to a brand new year, but boy do I dislike the winter.  I don't like January or February and thinking of all those gray days stretching ahead of me makes me want to hunker down in bed (in my new flannel sheets -- Christmas presents!)

Pez candy:  Nasty.  Did I actually like that stuff, as a kid, or was it just fun playing with the dispensers?

Mind? Blown!

Holly:  Mommy, are skunks real?
Me:  Yes.
Holly:  Oh. My. GOSH!