About Me

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I live on 6 deeply wooded acres in the boonies of Middleville, MI. I'm married to an amazing man, Brian. He's pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm a big animal lover. I have 5 cats; Bella (6), Cognac (3), Georgia (3), Maggie (2), & Auggie (8-9mos.) We recently lost our kittens, Aesop & Amelia, to a battle with Feline Leukemia. I feel the need to mention them. They were amazing beings that showed unconditional love like no other cats I've had. I also have Cheech (9) that I'm fostering. We have two puppies; Charlie & Henry. Having a blast! I'm a dabbler in photography, photo shop, & crafts. I'm kind of a bookworm/nerd/geek. Yes, I have read the Twilight Series. No, I'm not obsessed. I love Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum - among others, obviously.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Mags

So, a few nights ago Brian and I went into Pet's Mart to buy some science diet for the cats and puppies. We decided to look at the cats in the adoption area...

With Aesop's death still so fresh in our minds, we weren't planning on adopting.

...Until with met Maggie. She has no tail. She was basically undesirable to most others. But not to Brian and I. Since the cost of adopting one cat was the same as adopting two, we put in for adoption for another cat, Lizzie. From birth she had a really nasty ear infection causing her head to permanently tilt.

I submitted an adoption application online and I got a call back from an Eileen the next day...

She said we got great reviews from our vets. Upon talking to her about Aesop, Amelia, and Cognac's struggles with blindness she told me that it was just so refreshing to talk to someone like me. She told me that I lived up to my name since Amy means beloved or to love. On my list of references she called my Mom. She didn't even ask my Mom anything. Eileen told her that she had raised a wonderful daughter.

While talking to Eileen she told me that Maggie had been in foster care for a year. It seemed that no one wanted her because she didn't have a tail. Shame on them. Brian and I don't really think of it as a mutation or a defect. We think of it more as a rarity. Eileen informed me that Lizzie had been adopted. She asked me if I had any other cats in mind since the price was the same... I asked, "Do you have any kitties with special needs?" She informed me of a cat dubbed "Festival." He was abandoned at a festival in the area and is really sick. She said he had an eye infection so bad that it caused him to be blind in one eye. I told Eileen that Aesop was blind in one eye and that we already had experience with it. She put our names down for Festival. However, he isn't out of the woods yet. He has a little ways to go. But if he passes a fe leuk test and makes a full recovery, he'll most likely be ours, too.

But for now, meet Maggie...


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She loves our huge windows.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Update & Pupdate

Where to begin...

I've recently had some testing and things aren't going that great. I had to have a stomach emptying test about 3 weeks ago. The test showed that when given a "normal" sized meal my stomach takes just over 4 hours to even start emptying. yay.

Last week I had to be sedated for an upper GI scope. That was a trip... The doctor, an animated man with what could have been a fake southern accent, told me that I need to eat maybe 4 small meals a day and to stay away from fried foods, fatty foods, and roughage. (I already do.) While I was out he took some biopsies of a few things he didn't like and I should be getting the test results in the next couple days. He also said that my stomach was inflamed. (Mainly from my stomach taking too long to empty and stomach acid just sitting there.) He's also testing me for a bacteria that could be present and causing some inflammation. I also have some stress induced gastritis. (This is something I've had since childhood that flares up from time to time.)

I also learned that I'm hilarious under sedation. For instance, while I was waking up I was telling Brian the recipe for egg salad. I also tried IM'ing my Mom as soon as I got home saying, "my tum ibflamed."

I go to see my family doctor today to talk. And hopefully I've lost weight. I've dramatically changed my caloric intake and I've been exercising when I get the chance.

The puppies are doing really well. They have learned how to come, sit, lay down, and roll over. They are incredibly smart. I absolutely adore them. They are up to about 20 pounds each now. (They should be about 55-60 pounds as adults.) We've almost got potty training down. Henry alerts us when he has to go... Charlie doesn't. :/ But all in all they are doing well. They are just big puffy balls of cuteness.

Here are some recent pictures:

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Georgia sleeping.

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Cheech sleeping.

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Cognac sleeping. (Notice a pattern here?)

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Here is Bella fake sleeping.

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A while back we babysat Natilee for a night. She loves those blocks. (Brian picked them out because he personally loved them growing up.)

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Natilee again.

And now... PUPPIES.

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Charlie.

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Charlie again. (He's very photogenic. It's harder to get pictures of Henry since he's all black.)

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They had just gotten back from the groomer... All puffed up. :)

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"Mmmmm.... rawhide..."