Tabbies are the best!

I have had kitties since I was 7 yrs old but have never had a plain grey tabby. We had orange cats when I was a kid - Sunshine and Whiskers, but we had to get rid of them as my Mom developed allergies pretty much right away so I didn't get real attached although I remember crying and carrying on when they were taken away.

Then when I was 22 or so I adopted an orphaned barn cat who was brown bear black - longish hair. He was my lovely boy Iggy who I taught to jump up into my arms from the floor but wouldn't let others hold him.

I brought Iggy down to Florida when I moved here when I was 30 and laid with him on the kitchen floor one Easter night when he died in 1993 at the youngish age of 10. :(

It took some time before I got another kitty..I was pretty tore up. This is what Iggy looked like - he was black but in the sun light you could see some brownishness in his fur.

Katie was next. I found this sweet little Calico kitten while in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. She was chasing an older couple across AIA in the rain and she was only about 3 lbs - about 10 weeks or so. I said " is that your cat?" and they said, "No, what cat?" So I scooped her up and brought her home with me to Florida. She was quite the personality - She charmed everyone but didn't like being held not even by me until she was older and sick. She developed Kidney disease and I administered Saline solution to her 2-3 times per week the last 2 yrs of her life. She died right before we got Jamie. I think there wasn't enough room in the world for both Katie and Jamie. Katie died Dec of 2005 when she was only ten years old. Jamie was born the following January, though we didn't get custody of her until she was four and a half months old - later in May. Anyway this picture is similar to Katie but she didn't have long hair and her markings were more symetrical:

While I had Katie I adopted an all grey cat named Kimba - Kimba was long haired and a bit of a pill. He never had the great personality of Iggy or Katie so was a bit of a forgotten child. He also started marking his territory when we moved to our bigger house in 2000 which royally pissed me off. He died of CRF in 2007, a couple of years after Katie and died a bit young as well I think he was 10. However he was quite handsome - here is what he looked like:

We also had a third kitty with Katie and Kimba named Poncho who was my little love bug. He adored me and loved being held as a baby.  He had kidney stones so I also did the Subq fluids on him his last year and a half and he also died young. It tore me up once again to lose him in 2009 or so when he was only 11.

http://jamieandus.blogspot.com/2008/04/rip-poncho-1997-2008.html

After the three of them died I was haunting the ASPCA website and found an adorable litter of kittens that needed a home.We started out fostering them but of course we kept them all. Truman, Spicy and Minnie.

Jamie was only 2 and a half when we adopted them - I think it was too young as they became afraid of her and have always avoided her except for Truman. 

Alas Truman died REALLY young at only 3 - he also got stopped up with Cysts in his urine and though he recovered from the surgery he came home on several drugs and his liver failed from the valium they gave him to relax his urinary tract.

So we were left with two again - and Minnie and Spicy wanted nothing to do with Jamie. So we got a dog - yup  a dog when Jamie was five and a half. That's a story: 

Jamie had been begging us for a dog for quite a while. One day I asked my friend Michelle - these cute blonde boys mom if we could borrow her newish dog named Samson. They had gotten him as a pup from the shelter that Christmas and Sammie was about four months old. Well I brought him home and Mike flipped out! He was livid! I told him no worries we are just going to 'try him out' to see what i will be like to have a dog in the house. The next day Mike wouldn't go to church. He refused to leave 'that dog' in the house alone so Jamie and I went alone. When we came back, Mike's heart melted at how Jamie was so excited to see him. But I returned the dog that day as planned.

Later in the week I called Michelle to see if I could 'borrow' Samson again as it went so well. She said she would like to see if we would take him. They could see how much Jamie loved Samson and they were overwhelmed with too many pets and humans in the house as her husbands' brother had just moved in with his dog and they also had another dog (plus a cat and two boys and three adults in a smallish house). So now we had two cats and a dog - and we were at the three pet limit Mike had mandated for our household....

But then I found Cody. Meowing piteously in the church parking lot, surrounded by the church feral cats. I went over to him and picked him up and he hugged me around the neck and it was love at first sight (for me! and Jamie and my Mom who were with me when I found him - Mike not so much)

http://jamieandus.blogspot.com/2012/04/introducing-cody.html

Ok so now we were at four. My mom used to say how did you end up with the best cat AND the best dog in the world as both were very affectionate with all and Jamie finally had a cat and a dog who would let her love on them and play with them.

And really I felt satisfied. I didn't plan on going any higher- No more pets! Mike was sure to tell me over and over that we were not going to get ANY MORE PETS!

Then this summer happened. I just couldn't let another litter of kittens become ferals so Jamie and I socialized the litter of five kittens. And I found homes for four of them...but that last kitten couldn't get adopted - He was just a plain grey tabbie and nobody wanted him. I kept saying I just know we are going to get stuck with this cat! Mike couldn't believe I didn't want him. But I didn't. I didn't want any more turds to chase and didn't think I wanted such a plain boring cat. After all my kitties are usually quite striking and usually have great personalities. (Aren't they? See above) Shiver was his name as he wasn't as socialized as the other kittens and just shivered and shook when we first brought him home.

Then I administered flea medicine - I split an adult dose between two of the remaining kittens. Gator (which we started calling him) almost died from the medicine. DO NOT DO THIS. They have kitten doses...If you split the dose there are two medicines inside those pods and you may give most or all of one of the medicines to one of the kittens and it can hurt them. Anyway see that blue blanket? I kept that kitten in that nest for three days right with me at all times. I spoon fed him canned cat food and syringed water in to him. On the third night (he slept on the pillow next to mine) he started purring for the first time ever and later that night woke up and started trying to play and that is when I knew he would survive and also that he had found a place in my heart. He has turned out to be the most affectionate and lively of the bunch.

So now we have FOUR CATS AND A DOG!

Geesh. 

Not the best year but the trip was worth it!

I hoped to make each year more productive as the year before as a Realtor.

I actually hoped to do 1 million the first year 2 million the second etc.

Last year I hit the 2 million mark and this year I will be slightly shy of that mark. (Or more than slightly depending on whether 2 of my pendings close before the end of the year).

So I am not hitting the marks I had hoped but have no regrets. The trip was amazing and my life is pretty darned amazing too.

I am thinking of getting certified as a substitute teacher so I can pick up some hours and pay if real estate dwindles like it did for me in September and October. $80/day is better than nothing!

And real estate is a hard, awesome, frustrating but incredibly rewarding way to make a living. I love what I do. I won this cruise last year as I had a GREAT end of the year. (And was able to bring my daughter Jamie on the cruise for a negligible cost). Let's hope next year is incredible as well.

Kitty Wrangling Or TNR ing

 The original kittens on the porch step - well three of the five.

 I thought Gator was going to die!! He just laid there for 3 days!

 Gator, smaller than my water bottle.

 He could fit in Dad's pocket

 Gator now - Well loved and getting tall!

About three months ago I noticed my neighbor lady's cat colony had another litter. This colony has been there for a couple of years and the kittens keep coming. We starting stopping over there a couple of times a week to socialize the kittens and when they were about 6 wks old I kitnapped the kittens.

I found homes for all but the littlest plain tabby. I was NOT doing this to acquire another cat. We had 3 cats and a dog and I do alot of turd handling.

Well as it happens everyone wanted the Siamese and the Tabby marked kittens so we got 'stuck' with the plainer Tabby. But he is the sweetest kitten. 

I gave him some flea meds a bit too early and he almost died. See above in the blue blanket- He just laid there and was so lanquid! He wouldn't eat- I had to force feed him with a syringe. I was taking him to bed with me and holding him so I would know when he needed to pee or poo. He would wake and cry and I would put him in the box to do his business and then bring him back to my side.

He was a bit shyer than the rest as he normally didn't come out when we stopped to do the socializing. (That is him hissing at us on the front step in the top photos.)

Here is the whole litter - I kept them in a dog's crate most of the time to keep track of them.

 I called this one Spitfire!

 My friend came and picked between the last two.

 Gator's mom on the way to get spayed.

 Mom with a kitten in her pocket.

 Gators dad?

 Gators aunt?

My friends daughter wanted Gator but Lipp got chosen by her mom instead.

So the last 3 months have involved TNRing. 

Trapping, Neutering. Return is a program my city uses for Feral cats. Instead of putting them down then encourage the community to bring in the feral kitties and they fix them and give them shots and return them to the original site.

I trapped 13 cats for the program. One of them got let loose by my daughter - so now there is a black and white female (Probably Gator's aunt) loose near my home. The other 12 were returned although I only see four there at the original site. What happened to them all? I don't know but the neighbor lady is sure grateful I helped her cull down the herd. Now I return the traps though I didn't catch them all. Mr. Mustachio remains at the outskirts of the colony. He was just too clever to be trapped.

I am unnaturally happy & unconcerned about life (NOT WORRYING)

I just got some good news about a diagnostic mammogram and biopsy I had Monday. Whew...But I don't think I sweated it that much actually.

In fact for some reason I am not sweating things right now. I have nothing closing which is unusual for me as a Realtor. But I am not freaking out.

Thinking about cancelling cable, yes. Worrying not really.

Why is this? I am not sure, but for some reason Faith has said her prayers.

Life is good!!

Balmorhea State Park, Texas

When scoping out our route out west I found this hidden gem in the western part of Texas. Balmorhea is a state park that was constructed during the Great Depression by the CCC Civilian Conservation Corps) It has a spring fed swimming pool - and is it ever huge! And Cool! So our campsite looks like we are in the desert and a short walk away is a clear stream heading to the huge pool - which is up to 25 feet deep on one end and has lots of Diving boards.
When we arrived there were about 20 cars at the side of the road as they had closed the park for the day. They close it when it fills to capacity and just let in a car when a car departs. Luckily I had internet and when tto the site where they said all campers can come in so we didn't have to wait. Checked in and hooked up and walked to the Spring fed pool. What a great cool off!

Forget the Alamo?

We are on the 2nd night of our great RV adventure or Westward Ho! as I like to call it. We got here to San Antonio at 12:45 - a far cry from early in the evening we thought we would arrive.

There was a huge crush of traffic jam on I-10 out of Baton Rouge that took over 2 hours to go approximately 15 miles. For some reason traffic was diverted to only one lane.

Then in Houston THE FREEWAY WAS CLOSED! Yup you heard it right, they just closed down part of the freeway and diverted traffic away from I 10 and didn't tell you where to go! WTH?!

So anyway our 7 hour trip took almost 12. I'm getting very afraid of our 12 hour trip from Balmohea to Tombstone on Monday night! It's not like you can make changes - you have to book ahead so I am not quite sure what we will do - get up at four am? To get there by ten pm?

So tomorrow we may just skip the Alamo. Forget it...But Mike really wants to see it. (He is a History teacher and quite the history major and a huge history buff.  He really should see it. We all should.

Tomorrow Balmorehea is only 5.5 hours away (Or so they say....) We shall see.

Summer is here!

We are having an eventful year - Jamie and I just got back from our cruise to St Thomas and St. Marteen and now we are preparing for a cross country rv trip! Yup we lucked out and got a Mammoth Lakes Condo for $300 and then someone from church is loaning us their RV!

We plan on seeing the Grand Canyon, The Alamo, the Mississippi River as well as Yosemite and some presidential sites for Mike the History Buff.

We are picking up Jamie's best friend in Los Angeles and bringing her with us! We are lucky that someone from Church has agreed to live in our house for the 3 weeks or so we will be gone.

Oh my the excitement around here!

Little Dog Envy

Jamie and I have been talking about maybe getting a small dog someday. She loves to hold them in her lap. The dog at the top is a dacshund//chihauwah mix my friend had, the one at the bottom is a teddy bear pomeranium that we saw at a street fair.

The thing is small dogs seem to have issues with pooping and peeing in the house.

And I just don't want that. So Sammy will probably suffice. 

(Not that Mike would let us bring another pet in the house.)

My Great Grandmothers' maiden name is Arbenowsky

I was named for my Great Grandmother on my dad's side. Since his mom never married he carried her maiden name and was raised by his grandparents. Yup, he was a bastard. His mother was an alcoholic and back in the thirties that was not a good thing. I get the impression his mother kind of floated in and out of his life and maybe lived a bit in the gutter.

His Grandparents owned a large house in which they rented out rooms and apparently his mother got impregnated by one of the boarders. Of course the man took off when the pregnancy was revealed or maybe even before.

Dad wasn't proud of his family story, he didn't talk about it much. I just remember a few times if ever he ever spoke of them. Both of my great grandparents died before I was born. His mother - my grandmother lived until I was three or so.

I think my Mom was the one who really filled us in on all of it. Great Grandma was from Russia and Great Grandpa was from Germany and they lived in Detroit near Hamtramck.

Now here is the spooky thing - a gravestone with my maiden name on it!

Christmas busyness

Too much fun and almost too many events.

Jamie performed in her first 'Dance Ensemble' performance at the Jacksonville Landing and she did terrific. I managed to suppress my urge to tell the dance teacher to put Jamie first in line as the line leader didn't even move to the groove like my baby. And she was smiling so big and pretty. Proud of my girl. They will be performing at our local Arts Market (RAM) This Saturday around noon. They are also scheduled for some UNF Basketball games.

And she is in the Church Pageant - she has the lead kid part! She is playing Christmas 2014. So lots of line learning and rehearsals there.

Plus she is doing some public performances with her Rythmic Gymnastics troup at some college basketball games this month, and then competitions January through April.

So busy driving her back and forth to school and activities I am realizing my Real estate career is allowing her to participate ALOT more than if I had a regular job.

Speaking of real estate - I am having a terrific year. I may have 18 transactions closed by the end of the year! And almost double the production (Over 2 million instead of just over a million)

I did so well I won a cruise this month! Watson offered an incentive to its associates who sold 8 houses, and listed 7 and sent 2 referrals within a 10 week period. I can't believe I made it!

The cruise is in May and I will be taking Jamie only as Mike can't get the time off at that time of year.

So now time to put up the tree!

I used to jump off this bridge!

We used to go visit my Step cousins in Hubbard Lake MI during the summers whern I was 13 -15 - Three years in a row we would go up there and stay a couple of weeks. My cousins had four kids and they had a mobile home on their property that they let us stay in. It was really old and didn't have too much other than beds and a small kitchen but it was free. And FUN!

I think this is the bridge that we used to jump off. I was pretty much the only girl that would do it and boy it looks much higher in my memory...And maybe this isn't the bridge....

Google map memories.

I lost the deal of a lifetime Saturday

I had been showing this older couple houses in Hidden Hills - They had a townhouse to sell in Atlantic Beach and I even went on a Listing appointment there and they agreed to list with me. But didn't sign.

She was moving here to be with him and was the one to call me. and to set up all of the appointments. I showed them houses four times. So that was 5 times I spent time with them. All on Saturdays or late afternoons during the week.

She even at one point said she was moving back to Jersey because he wasn't moving along fast enough. But then she returned and said he was getting the house ready. The house he lived in with his deceased wife of many years and she had decided she wouldn't live in.

She was driving the train and he has taken over the controls. He mentioned early on that he had a Neighbor friend who sold real estate. And that is who is listing the house.

I am the procuring cause on the houses I showed them. So technically if they buy any of them I should get the commission or some part of it.

We will see. I may just let it go. $10,000 worth of commission out the window. Wah.

School Frustrations

I just don't get why the School administration has to be so controlling and not only that a bit sassy about it.

I understand rules and the meaning of rules and why they can't be broken....Wait maybe I don't.

When there is a rule or policy in place that doesn't make sense in certain situations why can't we ignore it?

Last year I took Jamie out of school at 2:45 every other Monday for her meeting with her counselor.

EVERY OTHER WEEK.

This year I showed up on the Monday at 2:45 and they refused to get her for me. Citing the policy of you can't get your kids between 2:30 and 3pm for whatever reason because it upsets the schools' transitioning of the students. There is a new principal who took it upon herself to tell me this loudly and clearly in front of administration and other parents. There. Will. Be. No. Exceptions. It's. Policy.

So she was late. And now I have to pick her up at 2:25 for her 3pm appointment even though the facility is less than 5 minutes from the school.

I think that is just crazy. She will now miss her RTI time for math. RTI is help from the teacher for kids who struggle with the subject as my daughter does.

The other option is to take her out of school at 1:45 for a 2Pm appointment (Or any other hour of the day) Then she will lose out on one and a half hours of instruction. Instead of 15 minutes.

I just think if it benefits the student it benefits the school.

They also quit offering 'drop in ' aftercare. Without telling us at the orientation nor did they send home a note or any kind of notice.

So the second week of school Jamie had a rehearsal for the school's troupe of dance. It was on a Tuesday at 4pm so she would need transition time and care. I came into the office that morning to pay for that day's care. I was met with rejection. Nope, we don't do that anymore. And here is a sheet of punishing rates for being late to pick up your child.

Late 10 minutes? $10 Late twenty minutes $15. Late 40 minutes $20, and so on. I think if you get there at 5:30 its like $65 for the late fee.

Now come on. Things happen. Parents have a stressful enough life trying to work and provide and make sure your child has everything they need. WTH.

Oh and also if you are late dropping your child off...You now have to walk them in and sign them in at the desk for them to get a pass. And if you dare to not do that they call you on the phone and admonish you. And yes that is what they do.

Last week I got Jamie to school late one day. They called me that day...- oh crap Jamie's school is on the phone, what happened to her?! And they admonished me. Told me if I was late again I had to come in to get her pass. Then two days later they called and admonished me again!? For the same late drop off. WTH? I said "You already called and admonished me for that on the day we were late" Staff, "Admonished you?" Me, "Yes, Admonished me. Isn't this what this is? Look I know it isn't your fault, you are just doing what you are told, but I am telling you that this smacks of authority or administration vs the parent"

Shouldn't we all be on the same team? To get our kids the best education they can get?

That is all.