You Had Me At Meow

Last Tuesday we made a very difficult decision.

Tigger had been steadily declining in health for 5 months. We kept putting off the decision, wondering if we would wake up one morning and the decision would have been made for us.
We waited for signs that he was suffering and tried some all natural pain medication. By Tuesday, it was no longer possible to put it off.

On the advice of my good FB/Bloggy friend Bunny, we took Tigger to the SPCA in Sanford FL.
I was okay until my loving husband started crying as I was signing all the paperwork. We couldn't bear to bring home an empty carrier, so we donated it to the shelter.

We have had a pet almost continuously in our 31 years of marriage and I had 3 cats before we got married. The house is very quiet. Mr Sunshine misses Tigger greeting him at the front door after work every night. I miss him in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Before his world became confined to the spot in front of his food dishes, he used to climb in bed with us every night...stretching out between us while we read, one of us scratching his back and the other one rubbing his head.

We have been remembering how tiny he was when he came home at 6 weeks.

We named him Tigger because Sorority Girl was in a production of Winnie The Pooh And Friends that week.

Cape Cod Kid showered his love on Tigger in a very different way. They re-enacted the famous scene where Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a live chicken.

We remember that we have never seen a cat with so much fur before....

...who seemed to be so pissed off that hot summer when we had him shaved!

This is the very last picture I took of Tigger.

April 1998~August 2010

This Is All Kind Of New To Me

Lately I feel like I'm being bombarded with a lot of things that are new to me. Considering the fact that I'm not on any anti-anxiety medication, I'm handling it all pretty well.

Work is presenting itself with all kinds of drama. I have some serious misgivings about a new employee, but for now I'm just going to keep observing and see if her behaviors become long-term habits. My boss has also given me a HUGE challenge. Deep in my heart, I don't think I can do it, but I'm going to give it 150%.

I have new hair! Well, it's still my old hair, but it looks new. I've been coloring it myself and was just "bleh" about the results. I couldn't get the color right...too light, too dark, too dull.
This week I decided to see a professional. I wish I had taken a camera to get a picture of the darling Sandy who did my hair. She looks like she's about 15 and her long, gorgeous hair was 3 shades of brown and ORANGE! She did my base in 2 different shades of warm brown, gave me some awesome caramel highlights and a great cut. I like it, I really like it!! It was worth the 8 and 1/2 hours I had to work to pay for it.

When my old cat, Buddy, died in 1994, he was 15 years old and healthy until the morning I found him hemorrhaging all over my kitchen floor. It was an instant decision to take him to the vet to be euthanized.

Tigger is not doing well. He is about 14 years old. In the past year he has aged so much. In the past month is has become so obvious that he will not be with us a lot longer. He has no strength in his back legs, so he can't stand up on the kitchen floor. He slides around, so I put a small rug from the living room to his food bowls. He can't jump onto the bed anymore, so we pick him up to get his bedtime snuggles while we read. He only makes it into the litter box about 30% of the time.

He still eats and drinks, cuddles and purrs. He doesn't really seem to be in distress. I know I'm losing him a little bit each week and I need to do a little research about when the time will be right.

I'm dealing with all the new by BREATHING, relaxing, trying to get enough sleep and staying away from too much junk food.

March Was Madness

March is OVER. Thank God.


The last time I was here, I mentioned that I was having a hard time with some generic Trazodone. That was a gross understatement. After a week of misery with nightmares, I decided to get off the meds. THEN the misery really began. My anxiety level went sky-high. All I did was work, sleep, work, sleep, read, work, watch TV, sleep.

I still take a lot of naps, because I wake up about 7 or 8 times during the night (have you met my friend, Fibromyalgia?). I'm not even thinking about going back on the trazodone. I can't be in a drug haze when I may need to function at work at 9am

In the middle of my nervous breakdown, poor Tigger got really sick. I had bought a different cat food....not a different BRAND, just a different FLAVOR. It brought on a week of....too upsetting to describe. Let's just say there was a whole lot of floor-washing, carpet-cleaning and cat-bathing up here in the treehouse.

We put our pathetic baby on a 24 hour fast, and then back on his usual FLAVOR of food. It took another week to get his stomach straightened out, but it's better now. The whole episode really aged him, though. He doesn't seem to have the strength to jump on the bed anymore. Tom had to pick him up last night, to put him in between us, for his nightly snuggles while we read.

On top of the stress under my own roof, the ground-floor apartment in my sister's Massachusett's house flooded. My nephew lost almost all of his posessions and the insurance company isn't covering it. My aunt (who has been seriously ill since December) is still having complications from her treatment. My Mom's other sister, who is famously obnoxious and bossy, added another layer of her stress onto my Mom.

I haven't been commenting much on blogs or facebook, but I have been keeping up with all my favorites.

So far, April seems to be bringing back my Sunshine. It has been warm enough to sit by the condo pool. Easter Sunday we went to brunch at a nice little local restaurant. I feel like my batteries have been recharged.

Tigger's Take On The New Apartment

me: Hey Tigger, you've been living here in the treehouse for about 3 weeks now.
How do you like it?

tig: Well, it's kind of cool. Definately more quiet. Interesting layout in the place.
Can we discuss the bathroom?

me: Sure. What about it?

tig: It's a little small compared to the last place. You have my litter box wedged in between the toilet and the tub. NO PRIVACY!

me: Hey, I'm not happy with that location either. Can we discuss your new habit of jumping out of the side of the litter box and onto the edge of the tub? Twice a day, I have to clean kitty litter out of the tub. Try to get a handle on that.

tig: Sorry, I'll try to do better.
Did you realize there are 2 doors in this bathroom? I can walk in a big circle
from the hall, through the bathroom, through your bedroom hallway and
back to the spare bedroom. Let's call that DAILY EXERCISE!

me: What do you think of your new eating arrangement? It's in the kitchen!

tig: It's a little weird for me. I was used to eating in the laundry room and now,
NO PRIVACY! And what's up with that big tray thingy under my bowls?

me: When you used to eat in the laundry room, I would go in and sweep once a
day. Now, I'm not so fond of crunching on Kitty Kibble every time I walk
into the kitchen. Have you noticed that we don't even have a laundry
ROOM anymore? Would you prefer to eat in the laundry CLOSET?

tig: You know what I REALLY like? Those big sunny, sliding glass doors in the
spare bedroom. In the other apartment, I had to stare at a wall all day,
when I napped on the far side of the bed.

me: Oh yeah. Remind me that we need to chat about the all-day napping
situation. You really don't pull your 24-Pound weight around here.
I could teach you how to sweep up the kitty litter off the bathroom floor.

tig: Oops. 'scuse me. Speaking of naps, I'm due for another one right about now.

me: OK, Big Dude. Thanks for chatting with me today.

The Birthday Post: Guest Blogger Tigger

Yesterday was Little Miss Sunshine State's birthday. She's feeling a little blah lately, so she asked me to recount the fun and festivity of her birthday.

Don't I look excited?

My big sister Sorority Girl was here Sat. night and she put some black stuff on LMSS's hair.They re-watched this week's episodes of SYTYCD.

Then she couldn't fall asleep until the wee hours of her birthday morning. She blames that on Menna Puss. I know she isn't talking about me and there had BETTER NOT!! be another cat in this house.

She woke up at 11:30am. The house was very quiet because everyone had already gone to work. She went into the dining room to find a pot of fresh coffee, bagels and cream cheese, a vase of her favorite flowers (daisies, carnations and alstromeria). and an iTunes gift card.

She ate breakfast with some lady named FACEBOOK, then she popped a Calcium and Vitamin D so she won't break a hip when she falls. You do know she is old. So old that Dwight Eisenhower was President when she was born. There was no such thing as DIGITAL. Telephones were attached to the wall. Bread cost 25 cents a loaf. Nobody had ever heard of the Beatles. TV was black and white and there were only 3 channels.

There was a big thunderstorm, so she turned off the computer and attempted the NYT Sunday Crossword. Her mom called and my big brother, Cape Cod Kid and his girlfriend called.

After that she decided to bake a Lemon Cake. When I asked her why, she said "Sometimes a girl has to create her own happiness". She offered me a piece but I turned her down. Hacking up lemon-scented hair-cakeballs would not have been nice.

At 4pm she turned the computer back on. She read some celebrity gossip, called Jon Gosselin a douchebag and looked at photos of cute, celebrity babies. She played MahJong Solitaire until she elevated her world ranking to 14,400.

Then she went to work for a long night at the Shower Gel Store.

Just another day in Paradise. Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes on Facebook!

Interview With Cat

Actually, it's Interview BY Cat.

January 22 is National Answer Your Cat's Questions Day.

Honest to Friskies. I Googled it. In honor of our cats and how they stare at us with a tilt of the head, I allowed Tigger to interview me.

Q: Is it true that I'm adopted?
A: Yes, it's true. Chip the Bunny had passed away and I made the mistake of taking the kids to see a litter of kittens. You were a tiny little ball of grey and white fluff with big blue eyes. Your Mom was a Single Calico. She had a one night stand with some unknown Stud Cat, who turned out to be a HUGE Maine Coon Cat.

Q: Why don't I have a dignified name like T.S. Eliot or Carl Sandberg?
A: Sorority Girl was in a dance production of Winnie The Pooh when we got you.

Q: Remember that summer when you had me shaved?
A: Yes. It was very hot and we didn't have air conditioning. You were living on the dining room table, under the ceiling fan and panting like a dog.

Q: Why do you wiggle your feet when you read?
A: I'm hyperactive. Stop biting my toes.

Q: Are we having tuna for lunch?
A: I haven't decided.

Q: What do you think when you're reading and I stand on your chest, in between the book and your eyes?
A: Can't think. Can't breathe. Get your butt. Outta my face.

Q: Can I have a baby brother?
A: No. I'm too old. Go take another nap.

PHOTOS: Holiday House Tour

Jen from Jen On The Edge invited us to do a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE.

Welcome to The Sunshine State. We're about 6 miles north of Orlando.

Would you like a sugar cookie or a peppermint fudge brownie?

Oh, Look! It's some of the cast of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.

And here are the rest of them.

I have been collecting snowmen for about 6 years. I don't have room to put all of them out on display.

Our living room is too small for a tree, so it's in the dining room.

More snowmen.

The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care.

This little Snowball Dude makes me laugh. He arrived on a plane last Christmas with Cape Cod Kid (who arrives from Massachusetts TONIGHT!)

The next picture is why he makes me laugh.

There's Chrissmassy Cat. He likes to sit under the tree. He's very well behaved and doesn't attack the ornaments.

Out on the patio.

Good Night.

Messing With My Cat's Mind

When I open this drawer, no matter where he is, Tigger will come running to the kitchen.

He's hoping I'll be having this for lunch and that I'll be sharing it with him.

Sometimes I mess with his mind and pretend I'm having something else.

"Woman, that is NOT tuna. Quit messing with my mind or I'll go hack up a hairball on your bed"

"That's better. The can shape seems to suggest tuna. Let me read that label."

"Let me rub my forehead on it and use my exceptional powers to determine if it is REALLY tuna and not that stuff they call CAT FOOD."

"You ARE going to share, right? right? PLEASE? I'm BEGGING!!!!"

"Thanks, Mom"

Guest Post From Tigger

Hi. I'm Tigger. I'm 10. I'm the Sunshine State Family Cat.
Little Miss Sunshine State is having a busy morning. She showered and shampooed, swept the floors, made the bed, drank 2 cups of coffee, exercised and now she's getting ready to meet Sorority Girl for lunch and go to work at 2pm.

Mr Sunshine got up first. I did my usual, walk 3 inches in front of his feet.
~Dude, that's the bathroom, not the kitchen. I can't believe you went in there BEFORE you fed me.
~Dude! That's LAST NIGHT'S WATER. What do you mean you are running late.
You better tell the woman to change it. I demand clean, fresh water twice a day.

I took a 2 hour nap while the woman did her morning chores. I helped her by curling up in the hall and not being underfoot.
~Hmmmm,now she's in the pantry. She's standing in front of the drawer with the can opener. If she's making tuna salad, I'm totally going over there to beg.
Nope, she's just having another cup of that hot, brown stuff.

She put some smelly stuff on her fingernails. That was a GREAT time to rub my face on her hands and get some lovin'.
Then she talked on the phone. I heard her say "Mom". I decided not to get on the phone and say "Hi". That woman doesn't like me AT ALL.

I was napping and opened one eye and saw Sunshine laying on the floor. This is the Universal Cat Signal for "Climb on my chest, you 24-pound ball of fluff".
She spotted me strolling over and started pulling her knees up into her chest. Total avoidance maneuver.
~It's starting to look a little Yoga-ish. If she does DOWNWARD DOG, I'm seriously going to bite her face.
Oohhhhh, Way to Rock the CAT STRETCH, Sister Sunshine!

Now she's walking out the door. I heard she might go to Boston's Fish Market.
She had better bring me leftovers. Or I'll seriously bite her face.

I'm exhausted. I need another 2 hour nap.

Chrissmassy Cat

See the hairy dude under the tree? Yes, the artificial tree. Shut up. Little Miss Sunshine State hates vacuuming pine needles in July.
That's Tigger. Doesn't he look all sweet and cuddly? He's not having a bad day. He looks like this all the time. When we got him 10 years ago he was a tiny little ball of grey fluff.

He's now 24 pounds of Maine Coon Cat with a tiny bit of his mama's calico mixed in. And he bites me. Hard. Often. The vet called him an "agressive hunter". I've almost thrown him out many times. His favorite activity is biting and standing on your chest while you are sleeping so you will wake up.
His favorite place to hang out is in between us in bed while we read, so he can get his back and his head scratched at the same time. Until he gets tired of being scratched and he bites me. Did I mention he bites?

Tigger LOVES the (artificial) tree. He's never been outside. We had a coyote issue on Cape Cod. Now we have a gator issue in the Sunshine State. His Maine DNA thinks it has been magically transported back to the cold New England forest. He can smell the evergreen. He can feel the snow under his paws. He can taste the small forest creatures he has agressively hunted.

Any day now I'll have to be brave and put the presents under the (artificial) tree. Tigger may not want to give up any space in the (artificial) Maine forest. He may bite me.
Somebody hand me the oven mitts