The sounds of Happy Boys

Made it through the holidays and right now I have the sounds of two happy boys in the front of the house. There is nothing better for the soul than listening to tweens laugh!

Murphy was neutered Tuesday and seems to be doing fine. He misses playing with Ashley but by tonight, they can tussle all they want. I told my hubby I could look into getting neuticles for Murphy (or Murph the Smurf as he is affectionately called), my hubby didn't know what they were. He was appalled that someone actually thought of that - must be a man, he said.

Ooops, I did it again!

Well, after swearing that we would not add to our little zoo, we did. Murphy, the most adorable little stray tabby boy, showed up on my father-in-law's deck. He was starving (literally skin and bones) and he had two collars that were nearly embedded and had to be cut off (they were kitten collars). I am guessing that he is between 4 to 6 months but the vet will tell me this afternoon. He has been with us for a few days and has a good appetite, has been putting on weight and was VERY playful this morning so I think overall he is healthy and just needs the weight gain. Murphy will be the only boy cat in the house so it will be interesting to see how the others react. We already introduced Endy, who was very well behaved. But Murphy growled a lot so poor Endy is still not allowed in our bedroom.

This is a welcome distraction for me - my father-in-law's surgery is next Monday and I am sick over this. I am praying for God to do what is best...well for the most part. A little part of me is still demanding that he is still at stage III and not stage IV. I am thankful for everything we have, I just don't want to lose this man. So I guess that is why I stole his cat! That is what everyone is teasing me about - I just love little Murphy and guess I feel like I have a part of my father-in-law with me since he found Murph.

Will post pictures later.

PS - did I say that 2011 has sucked the big one? Thank God for hubby, child, in-laws and all these wonderful creatures He allows me to care for.

PPS - the vet says he is 5 months old. Am I good or what!

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie

Well Maggie went on a 3 day walkabout. When she showed up Saturday morning, she was limping so we took her to the vet. Unfortunately she had a wound inside her left rear leg that exposed her femoral artery! So my poor little Maggie is now confined to a doggie crate with a cone around her head :(. We have to clean the wound (they were forced to stitch it to protect the vein) and give her lots of happy drugs. She seems to be adjusting but she is really bummed right now and has become an expert at removing the cone in the middle of the night.

So much for our week-end plans - I am just glad she is healing.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday son! 12 years ago I was anxiously awaiting your arrival. Every day has been a joy with their ups and downs and I am pleased at the fine young man you are growing into. Mom loves you!

Eeek how the time has flown

Long summer over, and it was brutal. My mother had surgery and it has been a battle to keep her following doctor's orders. There was some outside interference that caused confusion and that took up alot of my time. But thank God for my uncle. He graciously came down and stayed with her for a month right after her surgery. We are blessed with him. After he left, I would go to her house in the mornings and evenings (before and after work) to make sure she ate and do some manual labor around the house. While it helped our relationship a bit (long story, not going into it), it meant that my son did not have my full attention. I am seeing those effects now - he just started school and is having issues with the summer lazies. He is in 6th grade now and has moved up to Middle School. More homework but since he is in honors classes it is more intense. We had some eyeopeners this week and I surprised him because I did not get mad when some scores were not good (ok, dismal is the word). He is gifted and used to everything coming so easily for him - he admits he thinks he got a little cocky on one particular quiz.

Not that I am happy about it but I am glad he will be challenged. It means that he is in the right environment because sometimes gifted kids do get cocky and if something is difficult, they just don't do it because they are used to things just coming to them. The best analogy I can think of is when Sheldon on The Big Bang theory decided he was not going to learn to drive because he was in a higher stage of evolution than the rest of mankind. In reality, he sucked at driving.

Now for the animal update. Endy is driving me crazy. He is old and figures I am at his beck and call. He is looking at me right now because he wants a bone. Looking is not technically correct, he has figured out how to make all kinds of obnoxious sounds. And he belches like a truck driver. Interesting dog.

The cats are still owning the house with Ashley keeping up her reign of Queen of All There Is. My son and I shared crab eggs with Minnie yesterday (we had boiled crabs for breakfast) and she was very happy. Maggie is still being her sweet self. Oh, and we got all the mammals micro-chipped! I am so happy, I have a phobia about them getting out and us never finding them again.

Gotta go, it is time to wake up my grumpy tween - his birthday is tomorrow and he still has not told us what he wants!

Goodbye

Yesterday my son's father was laid to rest. At 11, how do you handle this gracefully? Like my son did. He has a wonderful group of friends who have been there for him this week and their parents have been there for me. My husband, well, he just is the bomb. I am not sure how he handles this emotion but he just is a rock for us all.

I am doing OK as his father and I were at a place where we were not angry with each other and just enjoyed this precious child. OK, so he drove me crazy but that is what he was for! There is a lot of truth to finish your fights early if not by the end of the conversation.

I was able to spend time with his two other kids and I am still amazed at the great relationship I have with them. His daughter is 6 years younger than me and his son is 15 years younger than me yet they still wanted me there. They are amazing people who do not realize sometimes how wonderful they are. I was the third wife, the second wife was there so but the end of the evening we were number 2 and number 3 - it was rather funny. My son did not attend the after service - he was there for the visitation and then it started becoming too much for him so he went to hang with his friends. At 11, he showed all the grace and maturity that I could only dream about - I am so proud of him.

I just realized that Father's Day is next week-end so I am thinking that I may need to plan something outrageously fun for him. Friday before the service, I took him, 5 of his friends, his sister and her son to Global Wildlife for private tour to feed the animals and it was what he needed. I just need to remember to let him lead me through his grief. I pray that I am able to handle this right.


Well today is a new day and we will move forward. Thank you family, friends (and my one follower!) who have been such a wonderful support for us.

Sad News

So much has happened since I started this blog. I intended on following the lives of our various pets, who continue to have adventures despite their human's dramas.

Sunday, my son's father passed away. It was very sudden and I had to tell my precious 11 year old that he lost his dad. I thought before I would cut off my right arm to keep him from pain - I now feel I would give my life not to have him hurt like this. I hope I am doing the right things for him and his siblings (he has a 1/2 brother and 1/2 sister - both adults but both children who just lost a parent). I am so sad that his father is gone but hopeful that he is able to finally find some peace.

Enough for now - my imaginary horse is hugging me back.

Endy's medium adventure

One of the things I love about this house is when we bought it 3 years ago, it was essentially a tear down that we started renovating to make our own. One of the things my husband hates about this house is when we bought it 3 years ago, it was essentially a tear down. That includes the gate to the backyard, that just does not want to stay shut.

Sleepy husband hear's Endy wining: "Huh, you want to go out?"
Sleepy husband trudges down the hall past 3 windows with a view of the gate.
Sleepy husband lets Endy out.
Sleepy husband looks out the windows.
Oh crap, the gate is open.

So Endy got to run around for a little bit. Not a big adventure because he was back at the back door by the time my husband got dressed to go get him. Two of the neighbors were outside talking across the street and we suspect they shooed him back in the yard (embarrassing! got tons of stuff out in the back and this is like the bazillionth time that he had gotten out).

And Endy's medium adventure ends. It would have been a big adventure had he been able to run the street with my husband running after him. Now I need to remember to fix the gate.

On the horsey front, still no horse. Boo!

Great blogs (since I can't see to stay on topic)

So I missed seeing my post-Egyptian friend yesterday - CRAP, this work thing is really getting in the way of life. Time is too short right now for me to really post something worthy so check out

Green & Green = Black & Blue (http://wildponybeast.blogspot.com/) and
The Adventures of Jack and Jill (http://stonegatefarm-adventuresofjackjill.blogspot.com/)

for bloggers who actually can keep up with their animal's lives. These blogs are awesome in writing and content.

(My imaginary horse bit me but I was too busy to notice! Bad imaginary owner, BAD!).

Friends home (or at least in US)

It has been a VERY long week but the short story is my precious friend, her husband and three kids got out of Cairo about 12 hours before all hell broke loose. I have not spoken to them directly but know they made it to Fort Worth and hope to fly home if the freakish weather cooperates. I have the audacity to say I'm tired, but I am and am going to bed. Time to dream about my imaginary horse while Ashley, the queen of all there is, attacks my feet...