Friday's Letters. :)

Oh yeah, hip hip hooray, FRIDAY IS HERE! Come on, do the Friday dance! Woop woop...woop woop...

Now let's focus on our Friday's Letters:

Dear Mom, do you know how old I feel when you give me these toys from my childhood? (just kidding, I love it!) The cutest thing - this Queen Busy Bee that had a string to pull it behind you as you walked.  The wings go crazy spinning, like the busy bee that she is! She is now a feature in my china cabinet, with all the other old stuff.

Dear Autumn, I am sooo enjoying the beautiful sunrises and sunsets in my day.  I love the pinks, yellows, oranges, and reds - in the sky, in the leaves, it's just good stuff.  So be prepared with a lot more photos of random driving shots (like this one, taken from my parents house, looking towards the back of my house) because as long as we have pretty skies, I'm snapping and sharing.

Dear Pressed Clovers, I'm focused on you this weekend.  I have to get some orders completed and my own Christmas presents in the works so I won't have so much pressure during the holidays. :) This is a paper bag album under way - one I stayed up too late working on this week!

Dear 31 Days, I'm happy to have found a new topic to blog about.  I went back and read the sad posts about Muffin's passing... I can see the total slump in my posts for the past several months. So this is good... I'm happy. :)

Ya'll have a great weekend and believe it or not, I'll post this weekend with more from the 31 Days series!  Now go link up with The Sweat Season! :)

Final Farewell.

You may know I write for a small newspaper/magazine in my community, where I often mentioned my cat, Muffin.  I know you are sick of hearing about my cat drama, so this will (hopefully) be my last post about it.  I felt like I owed it to my readers of the column to let them know Muffin had passed, so here is that article.

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Those of you who have been reading with me for a while now are probably familiar with my cat, Muffin.  My faithful sidekick, my buddy, my furbaby, my pal.  The only way to describe Muffin would be larger than life – both in personality and physical attributes.  Small wouldn’t describe her at all.

Just before my family packed up and headed to the beach, I had to make the very difficult choice to put Muffin down.  She became sick and we tried to fight it together for about a month, but there wasn’t any improvement and only decline.  I’m so thankful I had a great vet who helped me through it all and made it easy on Muffin, too. 

Muffin and I had been together for some 12+ years or so.  When I first moved out, my mom insisted I would need a friend to keep me company.  Just so happened someone dropped this little kitten off at a vet’s office and never came back for her, so she ended up becoming mine.  Well, actually, mine and my sister’s, as we were housemates.  Katie was still in college and wasn’t home much, but Muffin belonged to both of us.

While she started out small, she showed her big personality from the very beginning.  When Katie picked her up as a homeless kitten from the vet’s office to bring her home that first day, she managed to find a way out of the box and sit on Katie’s lap, paws on the steering wheel as she helped Katie drive home.  We should have known then she would rule the house and we were simply there to serve her whims.

Katie and I had her together for 10 years.  During that time, Muffin expressed her opinions on more than one boyfriend with the swipe across their head as she eyeballed them from the back of the couch.  Come to think about it, she was pretty much spot on in her opinions.  When Katie got married, Muffin became mine.  If Katie was getting the husband, I was getting the cat, so Muffin and I settled in to daily life for three more years.

I think that’s what I miss the most.  As annoying as it was to have an obese cat stomp all over me in the middle of the night, I also don’t have her snuggling on my stomach purring when it was a bit chilly in the house.  I miss her waiting on the bath mat beside the tub while I grab a shower in the mornings.  I miss her sitting on the side of the tub while I soak in a hot bath.  Or curling up in the recliner while I watch tv.  Or covering her eyes when I have the light on and she wants to sleep. Mostly, I miss her greeting me at the door, letting me know she’s happy I’m home.

Quite frankly, it sucks to be Muffin-less.  But I also know I made the best decision in her care.  I just couldn’t see her suffering so I’d have a buddy.  But I will also admit it was very lonely walking into my door after being gone for a week and having no kitten to greet me and welcome me home. It’s been a tough loss, but the kindness, understanding and support from my family and friends makes all the difference.  I’ve gotten flowers, food, cards and lots of love.  Katie and I joked we should set up memorials to the York County Animal Shelter because Muffin had so many fans.  Even the deployed soldiers I’ve written to would send mail back to Muffin.  Despite her rather grumpy and ill-tempered nature, she’s touched quite a few lives.  And sometimes those touches involved claws.

I’ll get another sweet kitten, just not right now. When I’m ready for a new friend in the house, I think I’ll adopt from the county shelter.  I’ve been checking out the cats and dogs that need a home and I swear, they are so stinkin’ cute.  (Ya'll, go check out your local shelter - I'm deleting info about my local shelter b/c most of ya'll aren't from my neck of the woods.) I really don’t need to adopt right now, but I hope you’ll consider looking at them and seeing if there is one right for your family.  The joy an animal can bring to you and your family is priceless.  A pet is a treasured part of a kid’s childhood or like me, a companion for someone at home alone. 

I know many of you understand my loss and I appreciate your sympathy through a difficult time.  I felt like I needed to let you, my readers, know why I wouldn’t be mentioning her anymore in my column and that she’d passed.  I never knew how much something the size of a shoebox could impact my life until she was gone, but I’m thankful for the friendship we had while she was here.  Go give your sweet furbabies a snuggle for me.  And please consider finding a forever home for an animal looking for a family. Many thanks. 

Friday's Letters.

Dear brother, Happy (belated) Birthday, Bro! :)  Enjoyed seeing you and Angela last night for a small party.  It's always good to get together with you two.

Dear Rain, What's the deal? 7.25" in 11 days. Daily monsoons are the norm around here these days.  It's just odd, since we are normally in a drought.  Anyway, all this to say, can you send me a wee bit o' sunshine so I don't lose my ever lovin' mind? Thanks. 

Dear Scrappy People,  Interested in winning this little 4.5" x 4.5" paper bag scrapbook? All you have to do is comment on the picture at my company's Facebook page. www.facebook.com/PressedClovers.  Find the original posting where I mention the contest and make a comment before Monday! 

Dear new Instadaily and Instaweather apps, I know I'm driving everyone crazy with pictures like this posted on all my social media outlets.  Sorry! But you are so much fun to play with! Now I need one more that makes cute wording and hand drawn elements for trendy pics!!


Dear Macy,  You are HILARIOUS to me - always making me smile. I'm so thankful for you, I love you and pray for you all the time. Precious little girl, you are just too cute! :) #SweeetNiece
Dear God, I have SO much to learn and I'm making mistakes every day (and every day You forgive me and show me You love me!).  I see the same theme over and over again in my life: Don't compare myself to others because You, God, have made me to fulfill a specific purpose in Your plan! Why would I want to change that?  There is a purpose to the struggles. There is no need to worry! To pray more and worry less.  I see these messages, and I'm learning so slowly.  Thank You for being patient with me!
Dear readers, Thanks for your support during my disappearing act and the loss of my furbaby.  I still miss her, expect her to be waiting on me when I get home.  :(  But ya'll have been awesome. 
I'm linking up with Ashley. :) 

Disappearing Act

I know, I know, I disappeared for a while there and took some time off from blogging. I'm sorry, truly, but I just needed a break. I'm so sad and I miss my Muffin cat. Mondays are worse because I miss Muffin Mondays. :( I never realized how my life revolved around one overweight cat until she was gone.

 Immediately after losing my sweet kitten, the family packed up and headed to the beach for a week. Holy cow, I had no idea how much energy would be zapped out of me by an 11-year-old and a 1-year-old. Wowzers. I've been home since Friday night and I'm still so tired my eyes are crossed. I must say, I live alone and I didn't realize how much I loved my house until I wasn't there for a week. So as much as I loved vacation, I loved coming home, too. Enjoy some pictures of my family enjoying some beach time together!

Folks, I'll try to get back into the habit of blogging.  I have missed ya'll and keeping up with your blogs.  I just haven't felt much like myself and I have just been lazy lately.  Recuperating is what I'm calling it... :)  Glad to be back! 

Muffin Monday - The Last Hurrah

Well folks, I'm afraid this will be the last Muffin Monday.  She has never overcome her issues and still isn't eating.  Instead of watching her suffer as she continues to not eat, I've decided to put her down this week.  It's a tough decision, as you can imagine, but my vet has been wonderful through it all and respects my decision. My family has also be so supportive, knowing this has been my buddy for the past 13 years and is a very loved member of my household.

A sad posting, but I'm also relieved that she won't be in pain or struggling anymore. Such a tough decision.  *sigh* Such a rough decision.  But I truly feel it's the right decision.

So a lady came into the office this morning to work here for the first time. She'll be here for a week and we've never met.  Don't you know I totally lose it as I'm trying to email the vet and she walks in about that time? Yeah, that's my luck.  But she was so understanding since she had to put her dog down a few weeks ago, so we are now two peas in a pod. And then her daughter just texted that she's at the vet with her dog, which may also have to be put to sleep.  Sheesh!  We are all basket cases over here!

I'll post pictures from Macy's birthday party later today or tomorrow.  I'd appreciate your happy vibes sent my way to pull me through this! Many thanks!

Monday Monday - Update

Muffin had a rough weekend. She's sick of me squirting medicine down her throat... well, she actually runs through the house spitting it out all over my floors. *sigh* Yeah, I'm in serious need of a mop job.  You know she's sick when she turns down tuna. Say a little pray for her, please?

The rest of my weekend, when I wasn't torturing the cat with medicine, involved visits to the hospital to see a coworker's husband, visiting with my friend, Donna, over dinner and catching Sweet Niece #1's dance recital.  She's growing up so fast!  Not only did she have a GREAT recital, but earlier in the month she earned her yellow belt in tae kwon do!  She's multi-talented! Go AH!

I almost didn't recognize her when she came up to us because she had her braces removed and got contacts within a week of each other.  So she's changed a bit!  We are so proud of her. She's really artistic, too, so she's got mad skillz! 

Ya'll have a great week and you know I'll keep you posted on Muffin.  :)  Thanks!

Friday's Letters.

Dear Friday, I thought it was Saturday on Wednesday. So for the love of heaven, please be nice to me because obviously this has been a long week.

Dear co-worker peeps, Thanks for going along with the mouse ears, just to be silly for A.  We are really happy for you, A, A, A, & A, that you are heading to Disney World! I hope you have a GREAT time!

Dear Sweet Niece #2, I know teething is driving you insane and I'm sorry. But that doesn't make it OK to throw blocks around the house. Tsk Tsk. You are supposed to be a SWEET niece, remember?  Did you know one year ago (this week) your mama fell down the steps with you in her belly? Yup. She was so scared - ended up breaking her foot. Then you were born one week later!! :) Almost one, baby girl!

Dear Muffin, girl, not only are you putting me in the poor house with vet bills, but you made me cry all day Monday I was so worried about you. I'm glad you are feeling better. Let's work on not spitting your medicine out all over my house, OK? Thanks.

Dear Self, sunscreen is your friend. Especially when you are super sugar white. Maybe you'll remember next time. :)

Dear Sweet Niece #1, Look at you! All grown up, got your braces off and I hear you got contacts this week, too! WHAT! And you'll be heading into SIXTH GRADE! *sigh* I thought growing up wasn't allowed! I'm very proud of you (congrats on your Yellow Belt, too!)

Dear next three weeks, you are SO BUSY, calendar, and I'm thankful for all the great events coming up.  I sincerely hope my body will recognize the need for sleep to survive it all! :)

Go link up with Ashley and enjoy other folks' letters! Fun stuff! :)

Muffin Monday - Sick Kitten

This is a repeat picture, I know, but my sweet kitten isn't feeling well. She's been to the vet this morning, which is tramatic enough, had xrays, bloodwork, steriods, ... she's not feelint well at all. I'm hoping she's at home resting and the steriods will make her feel better.  Blow her a sweet kitty kiss for get well wishes, please.  She's my only baby... :(

Muffin Monday + A Bit More.

Happy Monday, my friends.

Muffin is happy because I finally found some MSM for her at GNC. MSM helps her tired ol' joints and really makes a difference in her ability to jump up on the bed and chairs. Everywhere I've looked has been out, so I'm thankful for GNC.  Granted, the poor fella in there who is taking a few too many of their supplements thinks mom and I are freaks for buying their products for our animals... but whatever. A happy Muffin makes for a happy Beth.


If you noticed, I kinda missed the Every Day in May blogging this weekend. I tried, but my attention span did not lend itself to following prompts everyday. So I'll do a few here and there until this month is over. But go enjoy other people's blogs. :)

I'm so very excited to see May end since my sweet niece #2 will be turning one in June! This weekend I worked on the giveaways for her party, clay bunnies made from air drying clay and a bunny cookie cutter.  This week I'm going to experiment with watered down paints to see how it looks. You know I'll let you know how it goes.

Sweet niece #1 was home this weekend! She was a HUGE help with the yard sale we had on Saturday.  What a great seller she is! And she's just hilarious with her running commentary. I don't think she means to be funny, but she really cracks us up sometimes.  Sweet niece #2 has a rotten cold and it's making her miserable. She's also teething, so you can imagine how happy she is, poor baby. She clung to my shirt this morning and just rested on my chest.

Ok, I'm off to do work. To do something. Ya'll have a great Monday. Pics of a new scrapbook tomorrow! :)

Every Day in May: Happiness

What makes me Happy?

1. Family.

2. Sunshine! Sunrise!  Sunsets! 

 

3. Kind People (strangers, too, but I don't have pictures of strangers)

  

4. Flowers

 

5. Ok, My Nieces get their own bullet point

6. Success

7. Autumn Leaves

8. Quotes

9. OTTERS

10.  Muffin. Well, cats in general, but I love my Muffin. 

 

So there you go!  Enjoy - and follow the button on the right to link up!

Muffin Monday.

Muffin was none too happy about missing her designated day last week, so I'm posting her pouting here today.  Ok, what's REALLY happening in this picture is she wants me to turn off all the lights and GO TO BED. She covers her face with her paws and does her best to ignore the light and the tv.  Why she doesn't just go into a dark room baffles me. :)

Ya'll have a great week.  I'll be posting AGAIN in a matter of minutes to complete my Every Day in May blog post for today. You know you love being smoothered with Bethie blog posts on a Monday! :)

Muffin Monday... ZZZzzzzz....

ZZZZzzzzzzz.......

Friends, I don't know about you, but I had no desire to get out of bed this morning.  Obviously, Muffin totally agreed with this concept, too.  It's so cold, rainy, gray, nasty... let me please just stay in bed and snuggle under these warm covers please.

*sigh*  No such luck.

But I had a GREAT weekend, lots of Macy Mae time which always makes me happy. I make an awesome cake (I'll share it with you tomorrow), banana bread muffins, washed clothes, just rocked it. AND I completed a scrapbook order for Pressed Clovers! Woop woop! Imagine me doing the Cabbage Patch of Victory (it's a dance move... you'd just have to see it to understand it).

OK, It's Monday, folks. And we are going to have a good day. Do you hear me? YEAH! So go out there and WORK IT, feel good about what you are doing and SHINE! :)

Friday's Letters

Is it Friday already!? Wow, the weeks of Spring are flying by and we'll be complaining about the heat of Summer soon.

Dear Muffin, sweet kitty, I'm soooo sorry. I know you are an older kitty but I never imagined you would slip and fall into the tub this morning! I did hop out and chase you around the house until I caught you, then I dried you off.  On a funny note, I did get a free mop job out of it. ... ....

Dear Office Depot, I love your store, truly. Enough to mention it on Twitter and gain a reply from you. However, if you don't get this crap straightened out with my Work Rewards or whatever... I'm going to get grouchy. I'm talking about $40 here, so get it worked out. Seriously.

Dear pollen, I love you in the form of honey. I hate you in the form of yellow/green powder that coats my car and makes me miserable.

Dear Pintrest, you are so evil for introducing me to these types of projects, like I have time to be making these things! But oh, how I love to browse you and day dream.


This however, is one of those things I pinned and made. OH MY GOSH, so tasty. Try it here.


Dear Dropbox, you are making me very happy. I love saving my pics to your site from my phone and then accessing them on my computer at work. Seriously, so easy. Check it out. And I love that you are free, because I'm broke. :) And Katie loves logging in and snagging the latest pic of sweet niece. :)

Ok, I'm off to enjoy my weekend. Not sure what I'm getting into but I'll talk your ears off about it later this weekend/next week.  You know I will.  Have a great one and go check out the other letters! Well, nevermind it doesn't seem to be up this week. Go check out Ashley's page anyway!