All moved in.....almost......

It has been really fun moving in to my new place....unpacking, organizing, decorating....all of it.  It has been a slow process, especially while Bailey was crashing at the house those 5 weeks.  When my parents came to pick Bailey up a few weeks ago, they dropped off my secretary's desk. 

I've had the desk since my Great Aunt Grace passed away over 15 years ago.  My mom had it refinished a few years ago and it looks awesome.  I have it in the living room.  My parents also brought over a box of stuff from my Grandma Ila.....tea cups, measuring spoons, a jam jar, sugar and creamer set, various dishes...opening the box brought back A LOT of memories of growing up.  We lived right next door to my Grandma, so I was over at her house on a daily basis.  I remember using those measuring spoons to help her bake.  And the tea cups in her hutch in the kitchen.  She was a huge part of my childhood, and I think about her often. 

Also in the box was a number of vintage napkins and doilies.  I put the jam jar and one of the doilies on top of my desk.  One of the things I love about my house is the chandelier in the dining room.  Check it out......

When the sun is shining through the windows, the crystals make little prisms appear on the walls.  As you can tell, I'm still obsessed with the ShakeIt app for iPhone.  I pretty much use it always.  I picked up these funky skeleton bridesmaids at a little boutique in Ballard, Romanza, yesterday.  Trying to get in the Halloween spirit.

You know who is also loving the house?  Frank.  He has made himself quite at home in this place.  He is like my little guard cat.  He's constantly surveying his domain, when he's not sleeping of course.  It is pretty amusing to get out of the shower and see him standing guard in front of the bathroom door.  I don't think he misses Milo much, but that is okay.  He's always been a solo cat.

     

Inspirational, to say the least........

I do not attempt to hide the fact that I am a total blog stalker.  I check like 15 blogs every day.  Even if a new post doesn't appear on my Blogger dashboard, I still check their blogs just to make sure Blogger didn't miss a post.  I know, crazy.  With that said, you'd think I'd be a better, more consistent blogger.  I'm sure some people have given up on me after checking my blog every day for two weeks and finding nothing.  For that, I apologize, I'm trying to be better :) 

During my usual daily blog stalking of one of my favorite scrapbook pro's, Elizabeth Kartchner, I stumbled across the blog of a friend of hers, Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson.  Her blog is called Nie Nie Dialogues.  Her story is quite inspiring.  I'm not a religious person at all, but her video makes my scientific brain ache for some sort of faith.  Faith that all of "this" isn't for nothing.  Check it out......


   

It's time for some new music..........

It has been awhile since I've bought new music, so I decided to indulge with a few new treasures.  Fistful of music?  More like two fistfuls.  Here they are in no particular order..........

I have been totally digging on Florence + The Machine lately..... "Dog Days Are Over"...... such a great song.  Her album "Lungs" is awesome.  It has been on repeat since I picked it up, granted I bought it like an hour ago, but still.  All signs point to this album being a 2010 favorite.  Her performance at the VMAs?  Amazing.  Track 5 -- Kiss with a Fist...... love it. 

Next up, The Posies "Blood / Candy"...... I love me some Ken Stringfellow.  I remember seeing them in Bellingham in the early 90's, still one of my favorite shows of all time.  Plus I got one of the coolest t-shirts ever..... a graphic of a lunchbox with flies buzzing around it.  It's in a box somewhere, waiting for my rock t-shirt quilt to come to fruition.  Favorite song on Blood / Candy so far: Licenses to Hide.  Check it out.

Onward.  Kings of Leon "Come Around Sundown"..... It is no secret that Kings of Leon are one my favorite bands.  Love love loving this album.  Loved their show at The Gorge in July.  I'm so obsessed with them they could probably shit in a box and I'd find some excuse to love it.  There are just some artists that really do it for me, and Kings of Leon definitely are one of them. 

The Black Angels "Phosphene Dream".... I loved their album "Passover" from 2006, so I thought I'd give their newest a shot.  I haven't fully explored this album yet, but I heard some female vocals on one song and welcomed the change from their usual dark tones. 

Also not totally explored yet.... Sufjan Stevens "The Age of Adz".  It is in the car, just waiting for me to take a leisurely drive. 

In other music news...... Last night's Glee episode makes me want to bust out my copy of Rocky Horror.  Such a great movie!!  One of these Halloween's I'm totally going as Riff Raff. 

His humpback is unrivaled.  Oh oh oh.... speaking of Halloween..... I have my costume all dialed in.  It requires a 9 volt battery and some sound effects.  Any guesses?      

Bangs!!

I've been wanting to do this for awhile.  It was time for a change. 

Around here.......

In the wake of losing Milo, I've been trying to keep myself busy and occupied while I'm at home.  The last thing I want right now is more tears!!  My friend Cyn lost her precious pup a few months ago, and we talked about how our eyes were 10x their original size from all the crying.  Seriously, I woke up Sunday morning and my eyelids looked alien in their puffiness.  I've been doing more organizing around the house, trying to get settled and comfortable into this new home.  One of my special decorations that means a lot to me are these tea cups.......

They are vintage and lovely and heirlooms from my Memere Ila and Great Aunt Irma.  Now that I have my own home, I am excited to bring all the cool family stuff I've been keeping at my Mom and Dad's house to my place.  Including my vintage secretary desk from my Great Aunt Grace (my namesake).  My mom had it refinished a few years ago, and it looks awesome.  I'm going to put it in the living room.  I'll post pictures.  I picked up this fun little Halloween decoration a few weeks ago when I worked at my cousin's pharmacy in The 'Ville.

Its an old witch boot, pretty cool huh?  I put some orangey / red berries in the boot to give it that Halloween flair.  Speaking of Halloween, I really need to figure out what I'm going to be this year.  I think that will be my project for my day off tomorrow.  I think a trip to the costume shop is in order.  Something that is a game changer this year for the costume?  The fact that I have contact lenses.  Why a game changer you may ask?  Because it means that I can wear a mask.  This opens so many costume doors my friends.

Other things going on around here that I'm excited about?  Bailey is leaving on Friday!! 

Don't get me wrong, she is super sweet, and a great comfort right now after Milo's passing, but she is definitely putting a crimp in Frank's lifestyle.  Since I have to keep Bailey and Frank separated, I haven't been able to put together my office / craft space.  I'll be super excited to get that done so I can start scrappin' again.  Especially with my scraptastic weekend planned in November, I need to start planning for that as soon as possible, it is going to creep up quickly.

Who couldn't love a face like this?  I'll tell you who. Frank.  That's who.            

Saying goodbye to an old friend.......

It has been an emotional few days here, to say the least.  Milo's condition kept getting more grave and complicated, ending with the discovery of metastatic pancreatic cancer.  It turns out the pneumonia was due to his body shutting down from the cancer.  My poor little sweet boy.  I only had a year with him, but he brought so much joy to my life.  He was an incredible comfort for me, and I will miss him terribly.  I said goodbye to him Saturday afternoon.  We were placed in a room together, with a blanket on the floor.  They took the cone off his head, and he laid down in between my legs and fell asleep.  So comforting.  We spent some time alone together, me bawling my eyes out quietly as he rested next to me.  Later, the vet came in and he was set free.  Free from pain and suffering.  It was peaceful, and I am grateful his life ended in my arms.

I love you Milo, always.  

We've had better weeks.....

What I really need right now is a giant cleansing breath. But it just isn't happening. The past couple weeks have rattled my nerves, to say the least. First up.... my sweet little guy Frank....

He's lost a fair bit of weight the past year, and I finally took him to the vet to try and tease out a reason for his shrinking size. At first we were looking for evidence of hyperthyroidism, when those tests showed up normal, we moved on to the pancreas..... Sure enough, the poor guy has an inflammed pancreas.  He's been on steroids for 5 days now, and he's doing sooooo much better.  He seems to be putting some meat back on his bones, his fur is looking the fluffiest it has looked in months, and, not to be too graphic, but his poo is looking top notch!!  All firm and well formed :)  There is nothing quite as satisfying as a solid turd from an ailing feline.  And you know what else?  I was thinking the steroids were going to make Frank all cranky, like they do to humans, but no.  He is super lovey and affectionate, which I'm totally eating up.  He's even been letting me hold him, which he NEVER lets me do.  So it seems as though Frank is on the mend.....

Which leads me to my guy Milo...... Ugh...... My heart is just aching for him right now because he's still under the weather, and the vet isn't 100% sure what is going on with him.

This past weekend I noticed that he was doing this cough / gagging thing, and his appetite started to do a nose dive, which is kind of a big deal if you know Milo.  He LOVES his food.  The biggest issue I could tell was he was panting.... A LOT.  Like sucking in air type panting.  Sometimes it would be bad, other times it seemed like it would calm down.  He was still eating a little bit, drinking a lot of water, and going to the bathroom, but he just wasn't his usual self.  On Tuesday I took him to the vet and he was put on antibiotics for what they thought might be an intestinal infection.  Over the next two days he didn't improve that I could see.  Last night his breathing while he was sleeping just seemed really labored.  So this morning I took him back to the vet for x-rays and a blood draw.  The vet just called back and I guess his x-rays show quite a bit of fluid built up in his lungs, which could be one of two things.....pneumonia or heart disease.  His blood panel showed an elevated white blood cell count which would indicate bacteria.....so possibly more likely pneumonia.  But I'm still freaked out to say the least.  The vet has started a broad spectrum antibiotic for the possible pneumonia, and a diuretic to help get rid of some of the fluid in his lungs.  I pick him up in a few hours.  Milo has only been a part of my life for a year, but I really can't imagine losing him, I love him so much.  He's a great companion, always excited to see me, tail wagging with his goofy, stubby-toothed grin.

Please send positive thoughts to both Milo and Frank!!!