Sabrina

So, I had no intention of jumping back into being a kitty momma anytime soon but . . . I saw this girl's picture and the description of her said something to the affect of "12 years old," "owner had to give her up" and "very depressed."  I knew that nobody would want a 12 year old cat - they would look at her and think "she's got one foot in the grave" but I looked at her and thought "she's got a few more good years in her."  I also knew the fact that she was depressed and hiding would turn off people because who wants a depressed cat.  But I thought "she has a broken heart - I understand that - I'd like to hide most days too."  This was on Monday that I first saw her and I couldn't get her off my mind all week.  I just kept thinking about her and how sad she was and by Friday, I decided to go get her (she only a week left before they put her to sleep).  It was hard not to bring some other kitties home with me too but I just didn't feel like I was up to taking in more than one.  I can't save them all but at least I saved one :)

The first couple of days, she wouldn't come downstairs.  Slowly but surely she started coming down on her own and nosing around the house.  Now, she's pretty much taking over the house.  When she wants attention she comes and gets it and otherwise does what she pleases :)  She's a very sweet girl - loves to be loved on (when she wants it).  She's nosey and gets into everything - if I'm in the kitchen, she's standing on her hind legs trying to see what I'm doing.  She doesn't meow but purrs very loudly.  She's very different from Boo so it's taking some getting used to - we're still in the getting to know you phase.  We had our first official vet visit on Friday and everything checked out fine except for her mouth.  She's missing a tooth or two already and has some others that are loose.  So, we're going to have to have some dental work done.  They'll pull the loose teeth and any others that are in bad shape and clean the rest.   I already have her on a very high quality wet food that she loves so she can live without some teeth - we'll just have to keep the rest of them healthy.

Her eyes look a little funky in this picture - I had to use the flash to take it.  Her eyes are a bluish green around the iris and turn into a pretty light green the further away from the iris you go.  She's a brown tabby - all fluff because she only weighs 8 pounds - she's small so that's a healthy weight for her.  Whoever had her before me obvioulsy took good care of her and I'll take good care of her for the rest of her life :)

Butterfly

The week before Boo died we spent a lot of time sitting out on the deck together and this yellow butterfly kept us company.  The week after Boo died, I spent a good 4 or 5 days glued to the couch and it would flutter outside the window directly in front of me.  Once I started feeling like facing the world again, it was gone.  I like to think that it was a gift from the other side :)

My beautiful Boo Kitty went to heaven on October 16th to live with her Papa and her brothers. To say that I'm devastated is putting it mildly. My heart is empty. My house is empty. My life is empty. I'm trying to take comfort in knowing that she's in heaven and my dad is taking care of her - playing with her, smothering her with hugs and kisses, taking care of her, loving her. I'm also trying to take comfort in knowing that one day, I'll be with her forever - maybe that'll be long enough because 17 years sure wasn't. She was the smartest, funniest, most loving, most beautiful kitty that ever was. She was a good little killer too :) I'll miss her and love her always.

Biltmore

Not much going on this summer. Hot, hot, hot!!!! I did go up to Biltmore a couple weekends ago to try out a camera and here are a few of the pictures. (1) A glimpse of Biltmore house from the gardens. (2) Now you can see why they're called the Blue Ridge Mountains - they look blue from a distance. (3) Just liked how this looked. (4) The roses looked just terrible and it was overcast so the lighting was bad, but I got a few good pictures. (5) Sunflowers and bumblebees. Apparently, I'm having blog issues - can't get the pictures any bigger - sorry!

Flowers

As you can see, my hibiscus has exploded - it's covered in blooms and really beautiful. Can't hardly keep the beetles off it though - it's usually covered in white powder. I love the color red and came home from work one day to find my favorite uncle planting this :) I have a second one but it has never done very well - I really should find somewhere else to plant it. I also took a picture of the double petunias on my front porch. The sun has washed out the colors in the picture - they're actually very bright. I love pulling into my driveway and seeing a porch full of them (I have 7 planters). I think they're just gorgeous!

Kelli's Birthday - Take 2

Had my birthday dinner tonight at Missy's house. It was really nice and we had a really good time :) The first picture is me with my new shorter, curly do - my hair went from being stick straight for 35 years to curly almost overnight. The necklace is a birthday gift from the Coopers - a silver sunshine. The next picture is Daniel bowling on the Wii. The third picture is my mom bowling on the Wii and the fourth picture is Leanne cheating at cards with my mom and Dan - we think she was making up the rules as she went along. My mom and I held our own bowling but Daniel kicked our butts at tennis and baseball!

Kelli's Birthday

In honor of my birthday . . .

Dan and the kids went parasailing at the beach!

Now, back to my birthday. I had a great day! Went to see the movie "Hangover" and LOVED it! It's not for anyone who is offended by foul language, nudity or general raunchiness but, thankfully, I'm not one of those people so I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed until I cried :) Thanks to my mom for treating me to it (she's apparently not one of those people either). Will do a joint birthday celebration for me and Missy when they return from the beach. Bowling anyone?