Warm Puppies, Fuzzy Kitties, and Life

I am on my second episode of “what Not to Wear” I think there is something wrong with me because I tend to like the before better than the after.

I have seen a “couple” of episodes that the lady does look better afterwards, but mostly no. I would love to go on that show because I think they could teach me some things and give me some good ideas, but I don’t know how far I would/could let them go.

If they saw my closet, they would probably faint. I have so many different type of clothes, and I wear all of them. I find it depends on what I feel like.

Today, I felt kinda yuck…still do, so I wore my hair pinned back and an old flannel shirt. On top of that, I had on a sweat hoodie….just a yuck type day.

Maybe tomorrow I will feel better. I know I will dress better because what I had on today was just not office material, so I need to look better at work.

So…”What Not to Wear”….if you are listening and are reading this and want a challenge……give me a call. I could use a $5000.00 gift card and I have never been to New York, so I am packed and ready to go!

Well, as I posted earlier, I had this stray wonder up a few months ago. I am not really sure it was a stray…she probably belonged to someone that just wanted an outside cat and would just feed her when they thought about it.

I wasn’t really ready for another cat. I still miss my “Turbo”, so I called my friend, mostlycajun. He said he would take it to put with his other six, but I would have to get her fixed and declawed because all his others were, so she had to be too. Actually, at the time I didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy. I named “it” Rudolph because it had slightly red nose.

I took her to the vet and found out she was already fixed, and it was a girl, so instead of Rudolph, I called her Rudy. I did get her declawed. It was hard walking back into the vet. Last time I was there was when I brought Turbo in to have him put to sleep.

I picked her up a couple of days and brought her to “mostlycajun”. Well, his cats all hated her, but he told me there would be some tiffs and hissing and then she would blend in. I don’t know if it was she hated them or they hated her or both.

I called everyday and checked on her. I know he was getting tired of the phone calls, but I felt responsible for her. I only brought her over because she couldn’t stay here. She was already chased a few times by the two pit bulls next door. I didn’t want to find her dead or in pieces, so I thought this was the best. I brought her over on September 9th.

I went to see her a couple of weeks ago and noticed her ear was swollen. One of the other cats had gotten a hold of her ear and it was abscessed. He took her to the vet and got it taken care of. But she would only go from under the bed to the chair in his kitchen and just sit there. She wouldn’t walk around much because she was scared.

He started finding places around her chair where she was going to the bathroom. I guess she was too scared to try and go to the litter box because of the other cats bothering her. So, she just went there. He kept telling me she would adjust because all his other cats did, but I guess some cats just can’t adjust.

I just couldn’t stand to know that she was basically living under a bed or sitting on a chair all day and never being able to walk around because she was afraid. So, I told him I was going to take her back and try to find her a good home. I called my vet and told them the situation and she said she would let people know in case someone was looking for a cat.

I brought her home on Wednesday. She walked around and smelled every inch of the house…every room…every corner. I noticed when she heard a noise or got to a corner, she would peek around slowly. I wondered if she was waiting for another cat to jump out.

Once she looked the house over, I showed her the litter box, and gave her some food and water.
Today she played and ran. She has given me a huge amount of “kitty kisses” which any cat person knows that a kitty kiss is when a cat rubs her head all over your face. I know this will sound dorky, but it was almost like she was thanking me.

I think she is happy here. She sits at the door and looks outside. She was playing with a shoe lace today, so she seems happy. I wondered if she knew she was back where she started. She doesn’t try to go outside when I open the door. She has walked more in the last two days than she probably did in the last two months that “mostlycajun” had her.

I know he misses her, and I know how much he tried to accommodate her, but he loves his other cats too, so what could he do. He was willing to keep her and take care of her even with all her accidents, but I thought this was the best for everyone…. It just wasn’t fair to her to live like that. But I do appreciate all he tried to do.

If the vet called tomorrow and said they found her a home, I don’t know what I would do. As time goes by, I am getting more and more attached. She is less than a year old, but I said the next one I got…. I wanted a kitten. Rudy is not a kitten, but she is a sweet cat.

I feel like she has had it rough. Someone had her and then she came to me. She had all of outside to do whatever she wanted to do. Maybe I should have left her alone and just kept feeding her outside, but I was worried about the dogs getting her and with winter coming up, I would worry about her being cold. But I still feel like I took her out of where she had the whole outside to do what she wanted and took her and got her declawed and then brought her to a house full of cats that hate her.

Going forward….I don’t know what I will do. Mostlycajun said he would always take her back, but I can’t do that to her. Since I have had her, she doesn’t have accidents and is using the litter box, eating, drinking. At first she was looking all around while doing all of this. I guess she was still thinking about the other cats.

I like her, but I hate myself because I don’t have the same feelings I had with my baby “Turbo”. I don’t know if that will come in time or if it was because I got Turbo when he was a kitten and Rudy is already almost grown.

But Rudy is a really sweet cat, and I think she is happier. So, I will take one day at a time and see what happens. Even though she is the sweetest little cat, she will never ever come close to my Turbo. All of this has brought up feelings that I hoped were buried…sad feelings. But this isn’t Rudy’s fault, so I am trying to start new happy feelings. All she wants is a good home and to be loved, and she deserves that….all animals do. So for now…I am doing that.

Yesterday, when I got off from work, I headed to Lake Charles. I meet a friend for dinner. She and I sat and talked for hours. I really enjoyed it. It is so nice to talk to an another female sometimes.

I work with all men. I have for 17 years, so I miss having another lady to talk with sometimes. We had a good time and had a nice dinner.

I got my “Spring Rolls”….YUMMMOOOO.

Don’t they look yummy? I love them.

All and all it was a nice dinner. Can’t wait until next time.

Another one I like that I posted a long time ago.

I do not know if there is a Mildred Hondorf or if the story is even true, but it was a touching story nevertheless, so I decided to post it…..

My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from DeMoines, Iowa.I’ve always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons something I’ve done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I’ve never had the pleasure of having a protege though I have taught some talented students. However I’ve also had my share of what I call “musically challenged” pupils.

One such student was Robby.Robby was 11 years old when his Mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother’s dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he’d always say, “My mom’s going to hear me play someday.” But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but assumed, because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching! Several weeks later I mailed to the student’s homes a flyer on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify.

He said that his Mom had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. “Miss Hondorf…I’ve just got to play!” he insisted. I don’t know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right.

The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my “curtain closer.”

Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he’d run an eggbeater through it. “Why didn’t he dress up like the other students?” I thought. “Why didn’t his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?” Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began.

I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart’s Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo… from allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.

Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. “I’ve never heard you play like that, Robby! How’d you do it?” Through the microphone Robby explained: “Well Miss Hondorf …remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well….she was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that evening.

As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. No, I’ve never had a protege but that night I became a protege…..of Robby’s. He was the teacher and I was the pupil, for it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don’t know why.

This is especially meaningful to me since, after serving in Desert Storm, Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995, where he was reportedly….playing the piano.

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a spark of the Divine? Or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process?

I watched the game between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama. I think I have an ulcer now. What a game. I am so happy for them. Like I said in an earlier post, since I worked in Louisiana so long, I became a big LSU fan.

Tonight was no different. It was a good game….just glad it is over. Maybe my tummy will settle down now.

Way to go Tigers!!!!