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September 25, 2008
Matt Damon Rules
I love Matt Damon...he's one of my all-time favorite actors. Plus he has an incredible sense of humor (see him sing with Sarah Silverman). But here's one more really good reason I like him now more than ever. He's SPOT ON about Palin, dinosaurs and nuclear codes!! Watch:
Posted by Amy at 09:47 AM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2008
Missing My Kitty
It's really hard having to walk by his empty room, seeing all his things still there, unmoved. The carpeted tower he slept in, his food and water bowls, his litter box, even his medications. I can't bring myself to move his tower or his litter box out of his room. I can't bring myself to even empty his food and water bowls.
It's strange walking up the stairs from the basement without having to use the baby gate that kept him downstairs under our supervision (so he wouldn't make a mess upstairs).
I get sad every time I look at his pictures, yet I stare at them so longingly.
There's a hole in my heart every time I walk down to the basement, thinking I'll hear his croaky meows pleading with me to pet him. Thinking I'll see his black, furry body rounding the corner toward me, his handsome little face looking up at me expectantly.
That hole burns painfully knowing I'll never be able to hold him in my arms again.
I can't rub his soft belly and see him turn on his back, his little purring motor going like crazy. I'll never kiss him on the cheek or on top of his velvety head or be able to tell him again how much I love him.
It's only been 3 days, but it feels like an eternity, I feel so empty. I miss him SO much. I wish I could have my kitty back. :*(
Posted by Amy at 11:33 PM | Comments (1)
September 18, 2008
Hideous Rebellion
Early this morning, Don and I had to say goodbye to our best friend and baby, Hideous Rebellion.
He'd been sick for quite a while and he was pretty old for a cat, 16 years old. He had a form of cancer that caused him to have weakness in the hind limbs and muscles and had trouble relieving himself. I nursed him as best I could and he seemed to be getting better, even stronger in the hind legs, walking straighter and gaining a little weight back.
Unfortunately, yesterday evening, he started acting strange. We realized he was having seizures, one of which was pretty severe. It was incredibly distressing to watch him have to go through something like that, even knowing he wasn't aware of what was happening or feeling any pain. The vet said that he wasn't likely to get any better, especially given his current state of health and age. So we spent a few hours with him saying our goodbyes and telling him how much we love him. Don held him in his arms and he left very peacefully.
He was Don's first cat and he was our best cat--very affectionate, very cuddly, and very sweet. The most you could get from a best friend like him. It broke our hearts to have to say goodbye to him and we miss him terribly, but we're glad that he isn't suffering and didn't feel any pain.
We love you Hideous. We miss you. We'll think of you always.
Posted by Amy at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 03, 2008
Labor Day Weekend 2008
This weekend was our last trip to Canada for the year (or at least the season). Don and I decided to take the ferry this time both ways and try not to stop for dinner/lunch. So I made sandwiches that we ate on the ferry and it took us exactly 6 hours both ways, only stopping for a quick 2-minute bathroom break. And both ways the ferry was AWESOME! We wait only 5 minutes or so and it gets across in 5 minutes and even going through U.S. customs is a breeze! There's never any backup and we don't have to wait an hour to cross as we sometimes do going over the bridge.
The weather could NOT have been more perfect the entire weekend. Mostly to all sunny, warm and not muggy. Great swimming weather, really. We took a trip on Kevin's boat one day and met up with Tom and Karen to go swimming in one of the bays down the way from the cottages. The water's real cold right at first but after a few minutes you get used to it and it's fun just floating around in the water which is SO blue, COMPLETELY clear and very clean. You can see to the bottom 15 feet down and it looks like it's only a few feet deep. And the best part is, NO SEAWEED to get tangled up in! I love it! We did the same the next day, riding on Tom & Karen's boat and meeting up with Kevin, Ann and Justy and his friends. This time, we ate sandwiches for lunch there too.
Sad part was, this weekend is when we have to take in all the stuff off the beach and put it away for the season. So Don and I helped put away the picnic tables, chairs around the fire, putting away the boats, jet skis, and kayaks, disassembling Tom & Karen's dock, putting fences around the bushes and trees so the deer won't eat them in the winter, stuff like that. I felt bad I couldn't do much lifting cause I'm not very strong that way, but I did help take apart Tom's dock which is made of aluminum, so it's light. I unbolted a bunch of bolts, dragged in some of the planks from the water onto the beach, and helped them get all the pieces up off the beach to keep the winter ice from damaging it.
We also had a couple good fires. Jon took down a tall, narrow tree so we had more than enough to burn, plus I'd gathered a bit of kindling which lasted the two fires. I like burning the kindling on top of the logs because it gives off more light than the logs and you can see who you're talking to. We always have great conversations around the fire...there's never a lack of good company there!
The last day, we went waterskiing. Don tried, but his heart wasn't in it, so he quit after 3 failed attempts. I got up a couple of times. First time, I fell cause Tom took a hard turn I wasn't ready for (he's used to driving for Jon who's really good on slolem). I think I hurt my knee slightly on one of my failed attempts. Second time, he took it more cautiously for me and I did well, I just got tired and had to let go of the rope. I was going to try slolem, but I would have had to drop one ski and it was a bit choppy, so I chickened out and just did the normal two skis. I swear that water is so clean and wonderful to swim in! Most days, I just bathed in the lake (pretty common to do there). I only took one hot shower at Aunt Nancy's. I hate to use their hot water too much and the water in the lake is so nice. It's just hard to wash 100% because you're in full view of everyone and in your bathing suit. But I could wash my hair, which was the most important. Hard to go more than a couple days without shampooing. Ick.
We played lots of poker, Texas Hold 'Em, of course. First night, Uncle John picked me apart piece by piece till he finally won the game. Second night, Don did the same. But both nights, we all had some really good hands! Lots of high cards kept coming up to make straights, flushes, and I think we might have even had a straight flush! There were too many good hands that a lot of times, I couldn't back down because I had good reason to think I had the best hand only to find out I lost by the skin of my teeth...repeatedly! Aw MAAAANN!!! But I swear, I've never had so many good hands...let alone so many flushes! Eh, in truth, I was only out $5, but it doesn't really count since Don put in my ante the first night. Second night, I put in my own $5 and broke even. I LOVE playing cards!
We also celebrated Don's birthday with cake and singing happy birthday. I'd already given him a bottle of 25 year old MaCallan, his favorite, back home. And even as busy as we were, I still was able to read about 2/3 of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer which my pen pal Christy turned me on to. I'm enjoying it quite a bit!
I took a few videos and lots of pictures which, of course, I'm posting on my Youtube and Picasa pages here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/priori2ude
http://www.youtube.com/user/priori2ude
Posted by Amy at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)