One Week Review

It's been a week since Spazz left us.  I find myself going through similar emotions as I did when my grandmother passed.  The 5 phases of death, if you will.  Even for a cat.  It's amazing how much difference one little kitty can make in a household.

He was an under foot cat.  Always there, even when he was in the way.  Didn't matter how many times I stepped on him, he stayed under my feet.  When I was cooking, when I was washing dishes, while I sat at my computer.  15 years of looking down before I move is a hard habit to break and I'm still caught off guard when I look down and he's not there.

If I had to put a positive emotion on his death, the only thing I have come up with, aside from his no longer suffering, is the lack of worry.  I never realized how much I worried about him while I was gone.  I'll catch myself thinking about him, the habit of worrying about him, and realize there is no longer any need.  That brings first relief, then sadness.

It's the absence of him that hurts the most.  I guess that's true of anything or anyone we have loved and lost.

Sweet Spazz

I came here yesterday after being gone for 3 years.  I came here to look at pictures and read posts of my dear kitty friend, Spazz, whom I had to have put down yesterday.  Then I came back today to update the kitty's ages over there on the right.  I then decided to update the banner. Then I pushed the button to write a new post.  And here I am.

Spazz... somewhere on here in the midst of 700+ blog posts is his story.  I was never very good at tagging, so most of them aren't.  I'm here now so I can one day come back and read and remember.

In the last three years, Spazz went from weighing in at 28 pounds down to about 3.  He wasn't laying around sick for all that time.  He was still his old Spazz self, enjoying the simple pleasures he always had.  But the last few months it was obvious that we were closing in on our last days together.  Thoughts of having him put down started to creep into my thoughts more and more as the days went on.  But I knew it wasn't time because he was still his old Spazz self.

One of his favorite things in the world was eating.  Obviously.  Two days ago, when he stopped eating, I knew it was time.  He knew it was time.  I could see in his eyes he was ready. He was no longer his old Spazz self.

I was able to be there when he left.  I wanted to be there.  He went very peacefully.  The doctor was very kind and left the room to give us time.  I had a very hard time walking away.  I had to keep placing my hand on him to see if he was breathing.  He wasn't.  He was still so warm from being wrapped up in the towel I had wrapped him in to make him feel secure.  The knowledge part of my brain knows that it takes time for a body to cool, even a small one, but some other part of my brain was saying that he was still alive because he was warm.  And some part of me thought that when he left I would feel him go.  And I didn't.  24 hours later it's as if I'm still waiting to feel that.  But the lack of him being right next to me as I type this is felt.  Deeply.

And then I pushed the Publish button...

Funniest Video I've Seen In A While

Link: http://youtu.be/uIbkLjjlMV8

Wow

Link: http://youtu.be/zEQskIsHKT8

Have A Happy Day

Link: http://youtu.be/S1jk4F1757A

This Made My Eyes Water And My Nose Burn. It Tastes Like BURRRNING!

In a Northern United States accent: "Gasp! ... Pollen! ... Pollen!"

Link: http://youtu.be/WLY-8_PfxAw

A Key?

Jedi parenting 101

Link: http://youtu.be/wsBon3DTwIY

Very Interesting Documentary About The Japan Earthquake And Tsunami

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuRELrpytWI

America... The Way It USED To Be

Self Motivated. My Kind Of Cat!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0TEYMeFwEA

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe...

The Only Father-In-Law I Ever Had

And he was a wonderful, sweet and kind man.

Manuel Lopez Jr., 78 years young, passed away Saturday, March 19, 2011, surrounded by his family. Funeral: 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. George Catholic Church. Interment: Mount Olivet Cemetery. Rosary: 6 p.m. Tuesday in Mount Olivet Funeral Home Chapel. Manuel was born Dec. 25, 1932, in Del Rio to the late Manuel Lopez Sr. and Maria Lopez. He had a passion for life and despite illness in his last months was able to play golf, take road trips to visit family and friends, play his accordion to much applause, walk on the beach with his wife, and see to it that this year's tomatoes, onions, squash and cucumbers were planted. A professional musician in the 1950s, influenced by the conjunto sounds of South Texas, Manuel was a pioneer in blending it with the jazz orchestra style. His bands toured to dance halls, helping to introduce this blend to the plains state regions of Oklahoma and Kansas. Retired from the city of Fort Worth, Manuel was an active member of St. George Catholic Church and a kind, dear friend to all who knew him. The sound of his laughter and song will be greatly missed. Manuel was preceded in death by his son, Manuel Lopez III; daughter, Janet Jeri; sister, Beatrice; and brother, Alex. Survivors: His devoted wife of 57 years, Dorothy Lopez; daughter, Elizabeth Lopez-Jones and husband, Frederick; sons, Gary Lopez and wife, Kim, and Kenneth Lopez and wife, Cathy; granddaughter, GerRee and husband, Lee; grandsons, Gary and fiancée, Katie, Chris and fiancée, Anjeline; grandsons, Rory, Joshua and Travis; granddaughters, Kryston, Erin and Kendyl; sisters, Elida, Argentina, Dina and Tina; brothers, Max, Jose, Arturo and Frank; and numerous beloved extended family and friends.

Family Portrait?

Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

Happy 23rd birthday, my dahling daughter!

Mommy's Nose Is Both Scary And Funny

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9oxmRT2YWw

You Will Fall In Love

I someday want to be at a party like this.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX13LwnZss

LA Without Cars

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C4aYYmZOgA

I LOL'ed

This video was titled, Best 4 seconds ever. I've watched it so many times, I'm up to about a minute and a half.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eYlMCNHKn4

Just A Thought

In light of the recent earthquake in Japan, I took some time out this evening to watch some footage on YouTube that people have put up that were there. Scary stuff to this Texas girl who has never experienced such a thing. Out of all of the video footage I saw, and there are more to come I'm sure, there was one thing I didn't see in ANY of videos.

The most notable natural disaster that has hit my country that I can recall was hurricane Katrina. The big hurricane that hit Louisiana and the surrounding states several years ago. Granted, I was not there, but again, lots of footage on YouTube.

The difference between the two? There was not one single video I found for the Japan earthquake that involved looters.

Nature, You So Cool

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRT60-kw78