Sarah Day & Immortal Dogs

Saturday was "Sarah Day". Since Jason had gone on a 4-day fishing trip two weeks before and last weekend I spent the entire time scrubbing tobacco nastiness, Jason said that I should just do something for me this Saturday. Isn't he great!?

I decided I would take a lunch, my ipod and a good book down to the coast (only 20 min away!) and lounge on a beach. I headed out early, as it gets crowded quickly and was all settled on my beach blanket before 10am. And guess how long I lasted? Just shy of 2 hours. And then I missed Jason and Ella so much that I headed straight home! I decided what I wanted to do most for me this Saturday is spend it with the two people I love the most!

We packed our little family up and headed to the cute little park we discovered last Sunday that's just 5 minutes down the road from us. Again...lazed on the blanket, swam in the water, walked down the trails and swung in the swings. We had a little BBQ in the evening and went out for a family walk around the neighborhood afterward...perfect weather for it! And Jason and I finished off the night by watching "Marley & Me". Such a good movie! Quite a tear jerker at the end there. But Jason cried more than me on this one! He said he cried for about the last half hour. This led to a discussion and final conclusion of pure denial that Hunter is immortal.

A Few Last Tidbits....

Well, we said goodbye to Gabby with quite a bang today. I was nursing Ella when I heard gut wrenching, awful, evil meowing sounds. (Jason tried to put Gabs in a cat carrier by himself...not a good idea) Then I saw one lightning streak of black and white make a bee line for under our bed. Next, Hunter came running in beside me, head low and tale tucked between his legs. That's because he was being chased by a giant, puffed up, ANGRY Mr. Quinn (our other cat...who this morning bore an uncanny likeness to the cat pictured at left.) who was coming to Gabby's defense by chasing, hissing, growling and and beating our 65lb. golden retriever with his front paws.... Whether Mr. Quinn thought Hunter was trying to hurt Gabby or merely decided to take out his frustration on the dog because he can... is still unknown. But all of this got an immediate bottom lip reaction from Ella and she started bawling.

"Lord Help Us if this is any indication of the move to come!" Is all I could think.

After helping Jason put Gabby in her carrier he was off to deliver her. I'm at home (a.k.a. the chaos zone) finishing up some last minute things, enjoying the babe and reflecting.

She had one shot today. Didn't even cry! She's so lovey and happy all the time...except if anyone but Jason and I hold her! Oh, how I hope she outgrows that quickly! I so want others to be able to enjoy the love that she is! She is talking up a storm. She likes to make this funny sound with her throat...sometimes blows bubbles, attempts zurburts, sticks out her tongue, and is now saying "gagagaga" all the time!

Jason and I feel so loved. Scott and Esther had a bonfire at their house for us last Friday night. Four other couples that are good friends of ours came and it was the perfect last little gathering for us! Cute kids running around...good food...men being manly tending the fire...good girl talk...good discussion...much laughter...and s'mores to end the night!

On Saturday we got together with Kevin and Wendy for breakfast. We've known them for a while but not really gotten to KNOW them until we moved out here. And even though we've only been here a short time, we feel so connected to them. We have so much in common. After filling our tummies the boys went to move things and the girls stayed back. We, AS ALWAYS, had great, real, edifying, thought provoking conversation. Love it!

Sunday we were one of the announcements....they let everyone know it would be our last Sunday and expressed that they'd all miss us. Then my mom, sister and I went out to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday, then drove around to look at camps for my mom. It is far too rare an occasion that all three of us women are together. So it was great! And then that evening our small group held a kind of going away BBQ and gave us a lovely card with well wishes.

These are the things in life that matter. These are the things that are priceless. Wonderful Family. Great friends that care about us. Great relationships. Great connections. Great conversations. Time spent together. Kind words. Help given. Love shared. Oh how blessed we are! Our hearts are full!

These are the things that are hard move further away from! O Lord I know that you go before us, making a way for us, preparing our path. Thank-you for that!

I suppose I shall be signing off for a bit. The movers come early tomorrow morning. After they are done, I will clean, and we will head down to our new place...spend the night there and greet the movers in the morning! Don't know when we'll have internet so, so long for now!

Free Cat

I'm serious. I've resorted to putting my cat on my blog. I know free cats are a dime a dozen but hear me out!

Sadly we cannot take Miss Gabby with us to the new apartment. We really want her to go to a good home. So if you want her let me know...if you know someone that might...pass a link to this along. If she doesn't find a home we'll give her to a no-kill shelter...but she'd really like some new people!She's spayed and up to date on all shots as of Thursday so those won't be due again for a long time! She likes being patted and brushed, will sit with you and snuggle in bed too, is good with other cats, dogs and infants as well! And she's really funny and dazed when hopped up on cat nip! :)Awww...look how cute....

Let the Video Bombardment Commence!

My sister-in-law let us have her video camera on extended loan when she learned a niece was on the way! :) We've been taking videos like mad but just today spent the time to figure out how to get them on the computer and convert them to the right format to post. And by "we" I mean I have been taking videos and Jason figured out how to get them on here.

So watch out people. I think you'll be bombarded with videos from here on out!

Enjoy this latest one! Jason's Aunt Doreen graciously lent us this jumperoo. Ella's learning curve over the last few weeks has been awesome to watch. At first she liked it but just sat there...then she played with the toys on the tray....then she pushed up off of her feet every now and again...and in the past two days she has figured it out and exploded with jumping excitement! She'd do it all day long if we let her!

And here's another one. People are always asking how our dog Hunter is with Ella. Well, he's pretty tolerant and pretty sweet as you can see!

Mr. Quinn's Kitty Diagnosis

Well, you've heard a lot about our dog, but I'm not sure you've been introduced to my kitty. I say "my" because I had Mr. Quinn before we were married. Sure Jason loves him, but whenever he does anything bad he's "my" cat. And so for the purposes of this post he's "my" cat.

So as not to unduly prejudice you against Mr. Quinn, I am going to share some of his finer qualities with you before I move on to the actual story I wanted to tell you about him. He is an amazing animal...more like a dog or a human than a cat.

1.) He has no "off mechanism" when it comes to the eating. If he was given food 24 hours a day, he would sit there and eat until his stomach swelled and exploded into a meow mix mess all over the kitchen. As a result of this quality he used to weigh 18.7 pounds. Mmmm, that's not a typo 18.7 pounds.

2.) He had to go on a veterinarian mandated diet...only 1/4 cup of food a day. Now he weighs 14 pounds! Yeah buddy! As a result of the lack of food though he's developed some other behaviors.

3.) When we eat, he sits aproximately 2 inches from your plate and begs. If you give him ANYTHING, he will eat it. He has eaten beans, chips, corn and yes, even a jalepeno!

4.) Also, when he gets hungry, you'll know it. How? Because he will walk over to our (quivering) 65 lb. golden retreiver and hit him, yes strike the dog with his paw while hissing and making a weird gutteral meowing sound. He does this because it's the one thing he's found that will get us to pay attention and give in and feed him. (As a result, our golden retreiver never walks within a 10 foot radius of Mr. Quinn and NEVER makes eye contact with him.) And some other wonderful qualities...

5.) He gives kisses.

6.) He lets me clip his toe nails and hold him in my arms like a baby.

7.) When he hears someone in the driveway or at the door, he bristles his hair and runs to the door to protect me.

8.) He crawls under the covers with us and often wakes me up in the morning by grooming my hair.

Okay, so do you love him? Good. Then I can tell you this story and you won't hold it against him... The other day I made a trip down to our (partially finished) basement to do a little creative memories at my fold out table, when, all of a sudden my sniffer caught a wiffer of a foul odor. Musty basement, I thought at first, but no. I continued to follow the old nose and alas, it led me to the source....a virtual LAKE of cat pee on our futon. (Don't worry Jen, not yours, the other one.) This was not a one-time pee. This was Quinn's "I've found a new litter box that I'm going to pee in EVERY TIME I HAVE TO GO" pee. And by my aproximation it was at least several weeks worth.

Needless to say, the futon is at the dump now. Also, we took Mr. Quinn to the vet to see if he had a urinary tract infection. No. NO he did not. Our vet, Dr. Richie (who by the way is an AMAZING vet) did a thorough job asking lots of questions and finally pinpointed the problem. He tracked the beginning of the issue to about the time I started my new job. And the diagnosis? Mr. Quinn has Kitty Anxiety! Yes, that's right. The change in my schedule and me being gone so much more had thrown Mr. Quinn into the depths of anxiety. He loves me and doesn't know what to do without me! And why, you ask, does this explain the pee? Cat's like the smell of their own urine. It is comforting to them. Mr. Quinn is stressed and feeling upset and smelling his own pee makes him feel better. Yup. Awesome!