As usual it has been too long since I have written. I often think about it and even get as far as logging in before I decide that I need to head to bed instead. I do have to work tomorrow so this will be brief with a New Year's Resolution to try to be more consistent.
We had a good Christmas and as I had hoped it was far less stressful than last year. I think actually having time off was a big plus. Natalie and I were able to do more this year. She participated with the Children's Choir two nights, we baked lots of cookies (still eating those) made a gingerbread house together (check that one off the list to NOT do again :)) decorated the tree, opened a day on the advent calendar each day and did our best to keep Pippi out of the tree. Natalie went "shopping" at school and bought some sweet gifts for me and Bashka for Christmas. Two of the Christmas parties got cancelled due to weather or sickness so it was fun to stay in on those nights.
We continue to work hard every night on her letters, counting, sight words and reading. I have seen such an improvement in her skills. This past weekend Natalie went and spent several nights with her cousin in Virginia. She was very anxious to come back home and yesterday and today she has told me numerous times how much she missed me. When I went to get her, I was thinking about the first time she spent several days with her cousin. Oh, how she did not want to come home with me. She cried and cried and was as mad as could be at me for making her come home. I heard from an old friend on Fasebook today and he commented how much Natalie looked like me. The funny thing was that he had no idea that she was adopted. Yesterday I was telling my mom how corn would affect poor Natalie's belly. My mom turned to me and said, "she gets that from you!" Ha ha! (I have had a sensitive stomach) On one hand I love the fact that so many "things" are assumed and yet on the other hand, I am always willing to share that Natalie was adopted (not that I go around broadcasting it, but if the opportunity arises then I share) if only to show others was a wonderful blessing adoption is.
2009 was a hard year in so many ways. I lost my beloved cat Selah, my cat Maxx came very close to dying and Natalie going to school has been a way harder transition for me than for her. Yet, 2009 has been a great year in the relationship that has developed between Natalie and me. I do love my little girl even more than last year if that is possible. I am excited to see what God has in store for 2010.
May you all have a Blessed and Happy New Year!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Catching Up
Natalie and Pippi
Pippi growing up fast
Pippi helping decorate the Christmas tree.
Natalie and her cousin Heather at Thanksgiving.I know it has been awhile since I posted and I really don't have the time to write tonight, but I did want to share a few pictures. We had a great Thanksgiving at my sister Susan's home and as always she blessed us with lots of clothes and toys for Natalie. As we head into December and the many activities going on, I just want to pause and try to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas. Natalie had a "homework" assignment tonight (one of several) to make a list of everything that she wanted for Christmas. We didn't do the assignment. Natalie doesn't really understand the concept of making a list of what she wants for Christmas and as long as I can get away with it, I really don't want her to be in that mind set of "getting" at Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love giving gifts and getting gifts, but I really want the focus to be on Jesus and the greatest gift we have ever received. I want Christmas to be about giving and appreciating the "getting" and not just opening of one present and rushing onto the next gift.
Already people have asked her if she is excited about Christmas and Santa coming. Everyone has a different view about Santa and I respect however people have decided to include Santa. For us, Santa is a part of Christmas, but Santa is not the focus of Christmas. I am determined this year for Christmas to be far less stressful than it was last year and also more meaningful to Natalie as she understands so much more. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas just in case I don't write before then!!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Yikes! It is November!
But I am glad it isn't October any more. October was a rough month. As you well know, it was the month that Natalie had the H1N1, Selah died and Joey was very sick. Yet there were good things that happened in October too. We made our annual trip to Southern Supreme who host an Open House every year where you get to taste their yummy treats. Two weekends ago we went to the Black Walnut Festival which turned out to be a disappointment as they did not have any black walnuts for sale or children's activities as they had advertised. But we decided to take a trip to Pilot Mountain and it turned out that we timed it well as the colors were really pretty. Last weekend we went to Fayetteville and spent the weekend with my wonderful friends, the Boyles. We had a great time and it was also neat to catch up with some friends I have not seen in years. Natalie had a blast even though she was quite worn out by time we came home.
Another thing that happened in October was the arrival of Pippi. My good friend and co-worker found a kitten in her yard about 3 days after Selah passed away. I was not sure that I wanted another cat so soon. (She has dogs and couldn't keep her.) This was also at the time when Joey was so sick. The vet suggested that I wait 2 weeks until I took her so Joey could adjust. So my mom kept her and I slowly transitioned her to living with us.
She is a sweet kitten, but she is also a terror! The "boys" have adjusted to living with her and Joey definitely is more playful with her around.
This past week I also got some good news about Natalie. Last April she was screened for kindergarten. At that time she was showing a year delay in language skills. So earlier this month I asked her teacher for her to be tested in her language skills. They agreed and retested her with the same test from April with the understanding that is she still showed a significant delay, then they would do in depth formal testing. Well, it turns out that in April Natalie was at 3 years 10 months and now 7 months later she is at 5 years 4 months which is her chronological age. Whew!! All those days of repeating, working and going over and over things has definitely paid off. It also shows me her ability to learn when there are opportunities and encouragement to learn.
This weekend we have stayed home and it has been glorious getting the yard done, the house cleaned and maybe just maybe some time to do a little reading.
Another thing that happened in October was the arrival of Pippi. My good friend and co-worker found a kitten in her yard about 3 days after Selah passed away. I was not sure that I wanted another cat so soon. (She has dogs and couldn't keep her.) This was also at the time when Joey was so sick. The vet suggested that I wait 2 weeks until I took her so Joey could adjust. So my mom kept her and I slowly transitioned her to living with us.
She is a sweet kitten, but she is also a terror! The "boys" have adjusted to living with her and Joey definitely is more playful with her around.
This past week I also got some good news about Natalie. Last April she was screened for kindergarten. At that time she was showing a year delay in language skills. So earlier this month I asked her teacher for her to be tested in her language skills. They agreed and retested her with the same test from April with the understanding that is she still showed a significant delay, then they would do in depth formal testing. Well, it turns out that in April Natalie was at 3 years 10 months and now 7 months later she is at 5 years 4 months which is her chronological age. Whew!! All those days of repeating, working and going over and over things has definitely paid off. It also shows me her ability to learn when there are opportunities and encouragement to learn.
This weekend we have stayed home and it has been glorious getting the yard done, the house cleaned and maybe just maybe some time to do a little reading.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Correction :)
Upon reading my blog, my friend Todd told me that I needed to make a correction about the night Selah was in his apartment. It turns out that Selah was not under the bed like I thought, but rather she had crawled up under the covers. So when he pulled the covers back there was Selah!! I can just picture it and it makes me smile to imagine little Selah giving Todd quite a surprise.
Joey went back to the vets again on Friday. Turns out he had a fever and was dehydrated. He had been vomiting all Thursday night. So he got fluids, antibiotics, and medicine for nausea. I am happy to report that he is doing great and back to his usual self now.
Natalie and I carved a pumpkin the Saturday before she got sick. She drew the face and I cut it out. Here are some pictures.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Selah-The cat of nine lives
The expression that cats have nine lives seems to stem from the idea that cats handle amazing feats or accidents and survive without a problem. I'm not sure if Selah's long life was due to the fact that she used many of her "nine lives" but she certainly appeared to do just that. The first time was when she was just a little kitten. I believe I have shared on another post that when I first got her, she was just skin and bones and full of fleas. The next day I had to attend an event out of town all day. I asked a friend to watch her and keep an eye on her. She told me later that she prayed and was so afraid that Selah would not make it through the day, that was how tiny and sickly she was. But she did and she continued to gain strength and weight. For years she weighed in at 10.5 pounds. Her next life event occurred when we lived in Newton, Massachusetts. I lived in a side by side duplex. My neighbor Todd and I shared a common front door that opened into a little screened in porch. The door to his side was on the left and mine was on the right. We also shared a common basement. Todd was a great neighbor and often when he had to be away, I would feed his dog. One night I left my apartment and went into his kitchen and fed the dog and went back to my apartment. Several hours later, I headed up stairs to bed. I couldn't find Selah. I looked everywhere upstairs and down stairs. I was beginning to get upset. I even looked in the basement, but couldn't find her. I figured she must has some how squeezed under the bulkhead in the basement and gotten outside. By this time it was 11:00 at night and I was walking up and down the streets calling her. I lived near a major road and was so afraid of what could happen. At midnight I gave up and headed home. About that time, Todd arrived at home and I told him Selah was missing. He kindly helped me go through the neighborhood again, but we had no luck. I decided to put food outside the door and sleep down stairs just in case she showed up. I had no sooner laid down on the couch when the phone rang. It was Todd and he said to me, "Sherri, come get your cat!"
It turned out that when I went next door to feed his dog, I had left my door open. I had gone in the kitchen and she had come into the apartment and gone upstairs. When Todd went to bed, she came out from under the bed and scared him silly!! I was so grateful to have her home!
Fast forward several years and I had just moved to North Carolina. I was using a mover and I had arrived at my apartment with Selah and Maxx and personal items. The truck was to arrive in 2 days. So I left the cats in the apartment and went to spend the night at my sister's. I came back the next day and there was no Selah. Maxx was there, but I could not find Selah. There really weren't any boxes and there was no furniture for her to hide under. I kept calling her and the only thing I could think of was that some how she has climbed up the dryer duct and was stuck inside. But I couldn't see anything. So I began a wide sweep of the apartment again. I went into the bathroom and opened up the doors under the sink. Lo and behold, there was Selah. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She must have pulled the door open with her paw and then slid in with the door closing behind her. So she had stayed under the sink possibly for the whole night. Again I was grateful that she was okay.
Often when I had to go away for a week or so, I would load up the three cats and take them to my mom's house. At that time she lived about 45 minutes away. One time I left them and went somewhere. I found out later that my mom could not find Selah for a day. She looked everywhere and was so afraid that some how she had managed to get out the door. Finally she found her. She has squeezed herself under the decorative edge of the dresser and had slid under it. You couldn't see her behind the dresser, but only if you got on the floor and looked directly under it.
In the next year or so, Selah began to lose weight. I finally figured out that she was having trouble with her teeth. When she was a kitten she was so malnourished that her teeth suffered. So she had to have several abscess teeth pulled. She made it through the surgery okay and began to put her weight back on. Last year right after I returned from Russia with Natalie (I had been gone a month at this point) I noticed that Selah would go to eat, meow, shake her head and walk away. It took a week or so for me to finally realized that she was probably having trouble with her teeth. Sure enough she had a huge abscessed tooth. At that point she was almost 19 years old and I was afraid she would not make it through the anesthesia. But the vet promised that she would have her under only a short time. I felt I didn't really have a choice. Either she would continue to starve to death if we didn't do the dental surgery or I could risk that she didn't come out of the surgery. So I agreed. The vet told me that I could go home and she would call me. I left the office and headed home. I don't think I had been home more than 30 minutes when the vet called to tell me that Selah was up, moving around and doing great. The tooth had been really bad. I picked her up later that day and she continued to eat without a problem and gain some weight back. By then she had come down to 8 pounds and stayed steady at that for about a year. She would never eat can cat food and only ate the crunchy dry food. That always made it hard when she was having trouble eating.
In April of this year, she began to show signs of weight loss and slowing down. I would take her in periodically and the vet would give her fluid subcutaneously. She would perk up and be fine for awhile. Between April and July I averaged a visit about once a month. In July she seemed to take a turn for the worse and one day I went into the vet's office sure that I would have to have her put to sleep. It was a difficult day. But the vet showed me how to administer the fluids and I began doing this at home. I did this for 2 weeks and she also began to eat Maxx's special formula food. She bounced back, gained a pound and I stopped the fluids. But the last one or two time I gave her the fluids, she had begun to meow whenever I put the needle in. So for 3 more months she did great.
Then 2 weeks ago today she began her decline. Her weight had dropped and it was too painful for her to have the fluids administered. She continued to eat some, but it was evident that she was having trouble eating the crunchy food. I began syringe feeding her which she hated. I think I knew in my heart that there would be no returning from this decline and that she was not going to be able to use another one of her "lives." It was so heartbreaking to watch her begin to struggle every day.
As hard as it was and I cried all the time, I had to also focus on the long and wonderful life she had lived. I have been corresponding with Gwen Cooper who wrote the book "Homer's Odyssey, A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wondercat" (www.gwencooper.com) I had shared about my three cats and so I wrote to tell her of Selah's passing. She wrote a very kind and quick response. She wrote one sentence that really spoke to my heart. She said, "To live long and well and ultimately go quickly is about the most any of us can hope for, which makes Selah an extraordinarily lucky cat." Selah did live long and well. I found a chart online that converted cat years to human years. Selah had lived to be 96 years old in human years. What an extraordinary and wonderful life she did live. She has been and will continually be greatly missed. Thank you for taking the time to travel down memory lane with me and remember so many things that make Selah the great cat that she was!
It turned out that when I went next door to feed his dog, I had left my door open. I had gone in the kitchen and she had come into the apartment and gone upstairs. When Todd went to bed, she came out from under the bed and scared him silly!! I was so grateful to have her home!
Fast forward several years and I had just moved to North Carolina. I was using a mover and I had arrived at my apartment with Selah and Maxx and personal items. The truck was to arrive in 2 days. So I left the cats in the apartment and went to spend the night at my sister's. I came back the next day and there was no Selah. Maxx was there, but I could not find Selah. There really weren't any boxes and there was no furniture for her to hide under. I kept calling her and the only thing I could think of was that some how she has climbed up the dryer duct and was stuck inside. But I couldn't see anything. So I began a wide sweep of the apartment again. I went into the bathroom and opened up the doors under the sink. Lo and behold, there was Selah. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She must have pulled the door open with her paw and then slid in with the door closing behind her. So she had stayed under the sink possibly for the whole night. Again I was grateful that she was okay.
Often when I had to go away for a week or so, I would load up the three cats and take them to my mom's house. At that time she lived about 45 minutes away. One time I left them and went somewhere. I found out later that my mom could not find Selah for a day. She looked everywhere and was so afraid that some how she had managed to get out the door. Finally she found her. She has squeezed herself under the decorative edge of the dresser and had slid under it. You couldn't see her behind the dresser, but only if you got on the floor and looked directly under it.
In the next year or so, Selah began to lose weight. I finally figured out that she was having trouble with her teeth. When she was a kitten she was so malnourished that her teeth suffered. So she had to have several abscess teeth pulled. She made it through the surgery okay and began to put her weight back on. Last year right after I returned from Russia with Natalie (I had been gone a month at this point) I noticed that Selah would go to eat, meow, shake her head and walk away. It took a week or so for me to finally realized that she was probably having trouble with her teeth. Sure enough she had a huge abscessed tooth. At that point she was almost 19 years old and I was afraid she would not make it through the anesthesia. But the vet promised that she would have her under only a short time. I felt I didn't really have a choice. Either she would continue to starve to death if we didn't do the dental surgery or I could risk that she didn't come out of the surgery. So I agreed. The vet told me that I could go home and she would call me. I left the office and headed home. I don't think I had been home more than 30 minutes when the vet called to tell me that Selah was up, moving around and doing great. The tooth had been really bad. I picked her up later that day and she continued to eat without a problem and gain some weight back. By then she had come down to 8 pounds and stayed steady at that for about a year. She would never eat can cat food and only ate the crunchy dry food. That always made it hard when she was having trouble eating.
In April of this year, she began to show signs of weight loss and slowing down. I would take her in periodically and the vet would give her fluid subcutaneously. She would perk up and be fine for awhile. Between April and July I averaged a visit about once a month. In July she seemed to take a turn for the worse and one day I went into the vet's office sure that I would have to have her put to sleep. It was a difficult day. But the vet showed me how to administer the fluids and I began doing this at home. I did this for 2 weeks and she also began to eat Maxx's special formula food. She bounced back, gained a pound and I stopped the fluids. But the last one or two time I gave her the fluids, she had begun to meow whenever I put the needle in. So for 3 more months she did great.
Then 2 weeks ago today she began her decline. Her weight had dropped and it was too painful for her to have the fluids administered. She continued to eat some, but it was evident that she was having trouble eating the crunchy food. I began syringe feeding her which she hated. I think I knew in my heart that there would be no returning from this decline and that she was not going to be able to use another one of her "lives." It was so heartbreaking to watch her begin to struggle every day.
As hard as it was and I cried all the time, I had to also focus on the long and wonderful life she had lived. I have been corresponding with Gwen Cooper who wrote the book "Homer's Odyssey, A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wondercat" (www.gwencooper.com) I had shared about my three cats and so I wrote to tell her of Selah's passing. She wrote a very kind and quick response. She wrote one sentence that really spoke to my heart. She said, "To live long and well and ultimately go quickly is about the most any of us can hope for, which makes Selah an extraordinarily lucky cat." Selah did live long and well. I found a chart online that converted cat years to human years. Selah had lived to be 96 years old in human years. What an extraordinary and wonderful life she did live. She has been and will continually be greatly missed. Thank you for taking the time to travel down memory lane with me and remember so many things that make Selah the great cat that she was!
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