New Normal

As I begin this post, let me just say that many folks will probably think I am looney to continue to write about my cats.  These cats have been with us for a long time and they are part of our family.  Maybe not as important as Seth, but still important.  


It has been interesting getting used to Roxie not being here with us.  Every night when we get ready to go to bed, she has always been lying on our bed, waiting for us.  Rob said the other night that he misses her being on his clothes.  It never failed that if Rob had a shirt on the bed that Roxie was lying on it.  I think it was her way of being that much closer to us.  


Doodle and Jack are missing Roxie as well.  Jack has been around us a lot more than he usually is and he and Doodle are actually getting along.  Doodle has always had issues with Jack from the time he came to live with us.  Roxie was kind of like the mediator--she got along with Doodle and she got along with Jack.  
Seth has asked about Roxie a few times.  He is still quite young to understand that she is buried in the back yard.  He keeps asking if she is coming back.  We tell him that she has gone to kitty heaven and that she is not hurting anymore.  That seems to appease him for that moment but I think that he still misses her.
It is so odd to get up in the morning and not get a request from Roxie to go outside on the porch.  She loved to sit on the couch out there to watch the birds and just enjoy being outside.  Whenever we got ready to go to work, we almost had to fuss at her to get her to come back into the house! 
We are adjusting (although it is NOT easy) and I am very thankful for the memories we have with our pets.  Hug yours today!

Roxie

I may be posting this too soon.  My emotions are still pretty raw.  So excuse me if this post gets wrinkled with snot and tears.  A cat is just a kid with fur.

We got Roxie in January 2001.  Rob's mom picked her up off the side of the road at her workplace.  She was a full grown kitty and looked a lot like our first feline child, Doodle except that she did not have white on her face.

We believe Roxie was abused before she came to live with us.  She was very skittish of us in the beginning and would hide under the bed all the time.  She would swallow her food without chewing it and this would cause her to regurgitate it a lot of the time.  We tried several things to help her with this problem--surgery, different foods, feeding her separately from the other cats, but nothing really ever solved this problem.  We called her our "special needs" kitty.

Roxie became more loving towards us when we moved into this TINY 2 bedroom apartment while we were looking for a house in late 2002.  She was forced to live in a very small space with two humans and two other cats.  She learned to be a little more sociable.

Roxie had this amazing purr.   It was so LOUD.  At times she would sound like a car motor idling.  It was just a good feeling in the morning to be awoken by her at my side with that motor running.

This past Monday, I noticed a change in Roxie.  She had been sitting in our windowsill and had not moved.  Usually, she is an avid bird watcher and that day she had a very blank expression--it was like she was not even seeing the birds.

I picked her up to move her and I felt this lump on her right side that was not on her left.  She did not want to do anything but lie down.  We took her to the vet on Tuesday and found  out she had lost 4 lbs. since April.   Through an x-ray, we could see that she had a mass in her lungs and an abnormal bulge in her liver.

We decided to bring her home for a couple more days so that Seth could spend time with her.  Roxie is a cat who has always kept to herself during the day...it was never unusual for her to hide out underneath the bed until late afternoon.  What is so interesting is that she did not emerge these past couple of days until after Seth had gone to bed.  I think Seth had too much energy for her.

We took her to the vet this morning to have her put to sleep.  She lived out her last hours doing what she loved best--going into the garage, going out on the porch, laying on the trunk at the end of our bed,  and spending some time with Jack, our third feline child.  She was very weak and she went quickly this morning.

Rest in peace my feline child.

I Don't Have a Green Thumb, But Mother Nature Is Smiling On Me!

I do not have a green thumb.  In fact, I have killed an aloe plant before.   :-(  I don't think that I inherited any of my daddy's horticulture loving genes.  This summer though, I (pardon the pun) turned over a new leaf.

 

This is my Lantana.  Daddy planted it for me last year in this pot and suggested that I move it to a bed in the backyard last fall.  I didn't do it and I really thought it had died especially with our terribly cold winner.  Guess what?  In May, it started to sprout new growth and this is what it looked like last week.  I think I will get brave and divide this in the fall because I want to put some near our mailbox.  I do not have a green thumb--I just water this at least once a day and fertilize it 2-3 times a week.

This is my pink geranium that I won as a door prize at a spring ADK meeting.  My initial thought honestly was, "Oh great...something that will die on my porch this summer!"  It has lived since April when I brought it home.  Although it has a few blooms on it here, it has had many more and has been very full of blooms at least twice.  You may notice the new growth on it that will bloom in the next week or two.  My daddy raised tons of these in his greenhouse when he was an agriculture teacher, so I have seen him care for these.  I hesitate to say that I have killed one of these before.  I am making a good effort with this one and I hope that I can continue.

Also, you may remember this post where I talked about my Topsy Turvy growers.  I have since pulled about 7 more cucumbers from the vine.  I really don't think it should be marketed as a tomato grower--we have not had a lot of luck with tomotoes, but it could be the hot, dry weather that we have been experiencing. 

I swear I do not have a green thumb, but this new leaf has inspired me with hope for next year.  I would like to grow some green peppers and some squash.  I also want to try my hand at some sunflowers. 

What I Have Been Reading....

I have been able to read some this summer...here are some titles I have recently completed.

The Shack by William Young

I recently picked this book back up after abandoning it about 3 months ago.  Yes, my students--you read that right, Mrs. Bright ABANDONED a book.  I did go back to it though and that is very important.  This book got a little weird about midway, but it mixes tragedy and faith in a very interesting story.  Many people are blown away by this book, but me not so much.  I feel that I am pretty strong in my faith and that may be the reason why.  It still is an interesting read and it puts a different spin on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews

A Washington lobbyist caught in a political scam tries to escape the public eye by journeying to small town Georgia to "fix-up" a house that was left to her father.  Dempsey Killebrew learns how to restore this house while at the same time trying to avoid the FBI, learning how to live in a small town after living in metropolitan DC, and juggling the southern hospitality suitors seem to throw her way.  Mary Kay Andrews does not disappoint with this selection and this is a great read if you are a fan of southern fiction....it really left me wanting more!

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

I must be honest and tell you that I have not read a Mary Higgins Clark book in a long time.  I went through a period several years ago when I could not get enough of them and then I got tired of them because they became so predictable.  Mary Higgins Clark is a wonderful mystery writer, but I guess when that is all you read, you get burned out on it.  I selected this title out of our professional book room at school.  It is one of her more recent titles and I thought it was a good read.  I saw that it was about twin girls, so I thought I could make a connection since I have twin nieces.  In this book, the three year old twins have just celebrated their 3rd birthday.  Their parents have gone on a date and the twins' baby sitter is drugged by an intruder who kidnaps the twins.    The kidnappers demand a ransom and the twins' father's company comes through with it.  The initial plan is for both girls to be left in a locked car to be rescued.  One of the kidnappers does not go along with the plan and only one twin is returned to her parents.  I do have to say that Mary Higgins Clark has not lost the magnetism that she uses to keep you reading.  I went through this book in about 3 days.  It did help that the chapters were short.  This would be a great beach book or a good quick read.

I am working on The House on the Gulf right now by Margaret Peterson Haddix (a young adult title from my school library), and I plan on beginning The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks in the next week or so.  What book suggestions do you have?

**Images courtesy of Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Annual Roberson Family Beach Trip 2010

Our 2nd Row Beach House, AlwaysNSeason

I think this is our 3rd year in this house.

 Papa Gene showing Seth how to cast

  Seth and Rob enjoying the ocean

Thanks Uncle Johnny for setting up this tent!

 Cousin Katie and Cuz-in-law Brent

 Seth floating around with Carson and Caitlyn

Brent and Lesley

 Helping Cousin Jeffrey create a sand creature....what is it?

 An octopus!

 The Askew Family

 Uncle Johnny and Aunt Nette

 Cousin Jeffrey and Mumsie working on a crossword puzzle

 

Mama Jane and her grands  'farming' 

 The Bright Family

The kids buried Rob's legs in the sand

Seth following in his family's footsteps and their love to fish

 A wonderful week was had by all, and of course it was the fastest week of the year!