It's Time for Your Close-up...

No, the above photo is not another new cat for us, but isn't he cute! That's Mr. Buttons, who I met last Friday. I've started volunteering at the Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville, a great organization that tries to find homes for hundreds of animals every day of the year.

I helped with a photography session for the animals available for adoption. My job was to serve as a "runner," or basically getting the cats, dogs, rabbits and rats (yes rats!) out of their cages for photos in the community room and then taking them back to their cages. It was fun, but a lot of hard work!

Most of the cats were scared, and they had font claws, which I'm not used to since Sammie and Cash are front declawed. They didn't scratch me, but I could tell a few of them were less than thrilled about having their photo taken. One of the other volunteers loves rats, so she handled getting them. The dogs were loving and excited but more challenging since they are larger and have tons of energy. I dealt with a boxer mix and a rottweiler mix who wanted to run around and play.

Below are some of the animals I saw Friday. They all need good homes, so please visit knoxpets.org if you are interested and willing to be a responsible pet owner. One of the reasons so many animals end up at the shelter is because their owners are irresponsible. As Bob Barker says, please have your pets spayed or neutered.

Halo the rabbit


Sam the rat


Ingle the dog


T-Rex the dog


Greta the kitten


Gabel the kitten

My New Little Brother

It's Sammie writing here. My parents decided that I was lonely and needed another sibling. I admit I have missed Dolly the past couple of months, and I know my parents have missed her too. Also, there are so many loving animals in the world who need homes, and I used to be one of them, so it's important to share my parents with another feline.

My mom really wanted another cat in the house, but she also wanted to wait until after my parents returned from their Florida trip a few weeks ago. She looked at various animal shelter's web sites, and then a former student (Thanks Tony!) suggested she check out craigslist.com.

Since I don't have front claws, my parents didn't really want a cat with front claws just in case we decided to have a cat fight. She found a few people who were trying to find homes for their declawed cats, so she made some phone calls. I think my mom wanted to get another tabby cat and probably a female, but sometimes you just know something is right even if it's not what you thought would happen. This is how I ended up with my new little brother.

My mom talked to a very nice woman named Amy who had a three-year-old black male cat who is declawed and neutered. She and her husband are middle school teachers, and they have a nine-year-old daughter named Allison. They've recently moved in with her mom who is not a cat person, so they are trying to find new homes for their two cats. Tigger had already been adopted last week, but Ebon was still available. They went over to their house and met him. He was shy but a very handsome cat. Amy was very happy about meeting my parents and felt Ebon would love living with us.

Well, so far, so good. He spent the first few days in the spare bedroom, and we did have a few hissing contests, but he's hissed more than me. Now, we like to sniff noses. My parents have renamed him Cash after the legendary Johnny Cash.

At first, Cash liked to hide under the spare bedroom bed, but he's a lot more active now.



He comes out a lot more and explores our house.



Cash prefers to lay around on the floor and isn't crazy about being a lap kitty, but that's fine with me since my mom's lap belongs to me and only me! He does love to rub up against my parent's legs.



Cash got a special present in the mail from Ryan, the little boy of my mom's friends from college. He picked out a blue animal toy for Cash just like his favorite "Fa" stuffed animal. Thanks Ryan! We both have enjoyed playing with all the toys you sent us, and the treats are very yummy.





Cash is a lot more active than me and quite curious. For instance, on Friday morning my mom noticed the fish net that should be next to the aquarium was on the floor, and the fish food container was nowhere in sight. My dad finally found it Friday afternoon under the spare bedroom bed, and Cash had managed to open it, so there was fish food everywhere under the bed!

He also likes to "sing" like Johnny Cash, especially during the night. Last night he also knocked over my glass of water on my dad's night stand. He loves to sit in the window and watch the birds. He also makes the clicking noise to attract the birds just like Dolly did. I'm making that noise now too, but I'm not as loud as Cash and Dolly.




We're glad Cash has joined our family. I think Dolly would approve of him, but she's probably glad she doesn't have to live with him and can just watch over us.

Una Comida Deliciosa (A Delicious Meal)

On Wednesday night, we went to our friend Susana's house for a delicious Venezuelan meal. Susana's husband Simon is my Ph.D. colleague, and he is currently in Venezuela conducting research for his dissertation. They have two wonderful hijos (children), Leandro and Isabella, who are very smart as well.

My good friend Aya was there as well, and we dined on a wonderful meal of plantaines, ensalada (salad), carne (meat), queso (cheese) and a special pan de maiz (cornbread). Susana made a tres leches (three milks) cake with fresas (strawberries) on top for dessert, which was so good!

Isabella and Leandro are teaching Aya how to make the bread.



Yummy plantaines!



We talked to Simon using Skype, a software application that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet. He could see us very clearly, but he didn't have much light at his house in Venezuela, so he looked like Darth Vader from Star Wars, which is also the background image on their computer. Simon is in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. See the resemblance?



Muchas gracias Susana, Leandro and Isabella! We hope to see you soon Simon! Safe travels!

Three Years Ago Today...

It was our last night in Gainesville, Florida. Hard to believe it's been three years since we moved to Knoxville. It was a Saturday, and we had finished packing. The movers had already come on Friday, so Saturday was our final day in town. I remember getting a haircut and pedicure at my favorite salon. We also had a yummy steak (chicken for me) dinner at my parent's house.

We thought that night would be the last time we saw my family before we left early the next morning, but as we tried to pack things into both cars, we realized they would not fit. So we called my parents, and they came over Sunday morning and picked up some things to store for us until they visited us that October.

Today, I edited a friend's dissertation...never thought I would be doing that three years ago! Time really does fly when you're having fun...or when you are always doing something productive. I wonder what we'll be doing next year on this day?

10,000 E-mail Messages

David recently needed an official transcript from the University of Florida for a job he's applying for, so he had to call UF and reset his Gatorlink username and password to electronically order his transcripts. This also allowed him to check his UF e-mail account where he found hundreds of messages. I thought our accounts expired once we had left UF for a period of time, but no—the accounts are permanent.

Well, I have him beat! I called UF yesterday and reset my account. When I checked my e-mail inbox, I had close to 10,000 messages dating back to August 2006. They stopped last July since my inbox was well over quota. I couldn't believe it! I spent some time going through them and making sure there wasn't anything important. Many were spam messages, but some were e-mails sent from various companies and organizations that I had subscribed to over the years.

I forgot to take a screen shot to prove how many there were, but here's one of my perfectly cleaned out e-mail inbox!

15 Books in 15 Minutes

15 Books in 15 Minutes

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. List 15 books you've read that will always stick with you. They should be the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Great Expectations
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
4. A Separate Peace
5. Goodnight Moon
6. Green Eggs and Ham
7. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
8. The Grapes of Wrath
9. The Sound and the Fury
10. The Elements of Style
11. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
12. The Bible
13. Writing for the Mass Media
14. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
15. The Diary of Anne Frank

Down on the Farm

During our Florida visit last weekend, we stayed the first night in the house that belonged to my grandparents in Brooker. Jason and Kristen live there now. In addition to the house, there is a lot of land, around 150 acres. I had not driven in the back in a while.

David's dad came up for the party and spent Saturday night at my parent's house with us, so we had extra time to spend with him. He greatly enjoyed riding around the farm and seeing a part of old Florida.

Papa, who would have celebrated his 87 birthday today, planted a lot of pine trees on the land before he died. They provide a lot of forest, but when storms move through the area, they fall on fences, causing some headaches.



Here is an example of one of those potential headaches. The tree is leaning and could fall on the power line to the house, not a good thing. They are going to take care of it very soon.



This is an antique tub that acts as a pond drainage system of some sort. Some of the land in the back is swamp land and very wet and muddy.



I didn't realize Jason was in this shot until I looked back at the photos. We're driving down a path. I think the sun's glare is causing the frown on his face. :)



The ponds aren't as dried up as they've been before, but I'm not sure how many fish are in there.



My nieces, Mia and Mattie, love running in the back. Mattie runs all over the place and very fast. I would have taken a photo of her, but she was out of sight within seconds. Here is Mia taking a rest.



It was nice to drive around and see the farm. On Sunday, David and his dad drove over to Gainesville and saw the new sanctuary that St. Patrick's Catholic Parish has built. St. Patrick's was the church we attended when we lived in Gainesville, and they've had plans to build a new church for many years. Construction plans were put on hold a few years ago due to rising costs, so it's nice to see they've finally completed it. They'll dedicate the new sanctuary on August 15.

Fish for dinner?

No, we don't have another new cat...yet.

Last night I was in the kitchen making dinner, and when I turned around, I saw an orange tabby cat outside on our porch, peering inside. I put Sammie in the bedroom and closed the door, and then David and I investigated our visitor.

She had a collar on and clearly was someone's pet. We looked over at our neighbor's porch and saw another cat sitting there with a similar collar. They had just moved in, so David went over to ask if they were missing a cat. In the mean time, I let Buttercup (the owner told us her name when he came over) in the house since I didn't want her to run away. She walked around, sniffed everything, and then found our fish tank! We bought the fish last year so Dolly and Sammie could watch them at a safe distance, but neither seemed interested. So it's funny to us that the first thing Buttercup noticed was the tank. She sat there for several minutes just watching them.

It turns out that our new neighbor is actually renting a house down the hill, but there were bad storms Sunday night that caused flash flooding. His house had four feet of water, so the rental agency let him move in next to us in a vacant house while they repair his house. We weren't home Sunday night, but I guess it was fairly bad in the Knoxville area. Buttercup is an indoor/outdoor cat and had gone back to her old house last night. When she made her way back up the hill, she got confused about where her new house is since they all look the same. Too cute!

Happy Belated Birthday!

This past weekend, we journeyed to Florida to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. However, he had no idea what we were up to on Saturday. His actual birthday was July 7, and as usual, he went to Outback Steakhouse with my mom, brother and sister-in-law. We mailed his gift in a card, and another birthday was celebrated...or so he thought!

We've been planning his surprise party for months now. It was my brother's idea, and it was a great one! We celebrated at the Brooker Community Center with a BBQ lunch, catered my my mom's cousin Mike. Very yummy food!






And what's a birthday party without a birthday cake from Publix?!?!?!?! It was sooooooo good! Dad even blew out all his candles on the first try. We didn't put 70 on though. There are fire regulations at the center we had to follow. :)





Below is my parent's adopted granddaughter, Caidence. She is the granddaughter of my mom's hair stylist, but they've grown quite attached to her. She even spends the day with my parents from time to time. She sometimes calls my dad "my Amos!" She is a cutie!




It was a great day with family and friends, and we're so glad no one spoiled the surprise. It was hard on my mom since she knew what was happening and had to be careful about what she said around my dad. After the party, my dad said he was glad the next day was Sunday—everyone should go to church and ask for forgiveness for lying so much the past few months. Happy Birthday Dad!

For the Birds

We've had a bird feeder for three summers in Knoxville now. It's outside our bedroom window and perfectly placed so kitties can gaze outside and dream of a tasty meal. This summer, however, the Blue Jays have found us, and they literally consume all the bird seed in the larger feeder within a day.



David filled it up Saturday evening and by Sunday at noon, the big container was already empty!





While they eat a lot of it, they also knock a lot of it to the ground. We're glad they are here, but it's annoying that we have to replace the bird seed so often.



Fortunately, the doves are ground feeders for the most part and will eat a lot of the seed on the ground. Sammie loves to sit in her tree and watch them.



Summer also means summer gardens! I really miss the fresh potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and squash from my parent's garden. David's boss has a garden this year, and he's been giving us some white onions and garlic. We used them last week in a yummy pasta dish. Thanks John!

TGIF

It's Friday again. How did that happen?

I'm teaching every day during the summer session in June for an hour and a half. After being away from campus for a month, going every day definitely changes my routine, but I enjoy it. Overall, my summer students tend to do better. I think it's because they're only taking my class and possibly one other, and we see each other every day!

Because it's the summer, a herd of UT students work at Oak Ridge National Lab, so parking is harder for David since they've also closed one of the parking lots to construct a new building. The opposite is true for me. There is plenty of parking at UT.

Hope you enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend!

Remembering Dolly

I realize it's been several weeks since I've blogged. Some of you know that Dolly, our cat, passed away on Tuesday, May 26 around 3 p.m. after a brave battle with chronic kidney failure. It's been a hard couple of weeks without her, but I think I'm finally ready to write a few thoughts about what happened.

We're so thankful we had a few more months with Dolly after she got really sick really fast during our trip to Florida in March. After a round of antibiotics, she was herself again and stayed that way almost until the end. The last week, I noticed she was losing weight, and then she didn't want to eat. The ulcers in her mouth made it difficult to chew. I finally found a shrimp and crab soft food packet she loved, but the weekend before she passed, she stopped eating that too. I would put dry food in a bowl with some water, and she'd lick the water.



She still enjoyed going outside on the porch and watching the birds, but we knew the end was coming. The Tuesday morning after Memorial Day, we scheduled an appointment with the vet. As this point, Dolly couldn't jump and had trouble walking, so I would lift her up on the bed or into the cat tree. We wanted her to know how much we loved and cared about her. Right before we left for the vet's office, I picked up her and placed her on the bed. Sammie came over on her own and licked and sniffed Dolly's face. I took one last photo of them on the bed together. When we returned from the vet's office, Sammie was laying on the bed where Dolly had been before we left.



Upon seeing her, the vet knew she was severely dehydrated, even though we'd given her fluids twice a day. She also could have been facing heart failure and liver disease. It was time to say good-bye. This was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The vet, Dr. Lisa Koob, and vet tech were wonderful. Dr. Koob also had tears in her eyes. We all petted Dolly as she went to sleep. Her little tail kept wagging up until the end. I leaned over and kissed her one more time and said good-bye.

We had her cremated and picked up her ashes last week. They put them in a paw-printed tin with her name on it. I placed it on the window seal since Dolly loved looking outside at the birds. The vet's office also took a paw print of her in clay, and we brought it home and baked it so it would harden. We're going to get an urn, but I'm still shopping around.





Sammie definitely misses Dolly. I never realized how much Sammie followed Dolly's cues when it came to eating and being around us. She seems lost, almost confused, about what to do and when. Dolly would always come in the kitchen and loudly meow when she wanted to eat, and Sammie would hear her and also come to the kitchen. Sammie has wanted to spend a lot of time outside on our porch, more than ever before. I think she might expect Dolly to be out there. She is a very loving cat, and I don't know how David and I could have gotten through this without her.



I also don't know what we would have done without wonderful people who've sent their thoughts and prayers. Lisa, who has taken such wonderful care of our girls when we've been out of town, brought flowers and some cake the next day. She's so thoughtful.

We've also received some greatly appreciated cards, e-mails and phone calls from family and friends. These folks know and understand what it's like to lose a pet. Pets are members of the family, and I honestly was closer to Dolly than some members of my own family. It's sad that some people don't understand this connection. Losing a pet has made me even more aware of how much they mean to humans. Even if you don't know what to say when someone loses a pet, it's better to say or write something than nothing at all. I used to not realize this, but now I do.

Below is a poem I found online. I found quite a few out there, but I really like this one. I still cry at times and expect to see Dolly on the bed, or greeting us at the door when we come home, or gently tapping me on my face with her paw in the middle of the night when she wanted to eat. We only had Dolly for six years, but we're very thankful for that time because she taught us how to love and be loved in a very special way. Dolly was one of a kind.

We love and miss you Dolly!



Four Feet in Heaven

Your favorite chair is vacant now...
No eager purrs to greet me.
No softly padded paws to run
Ecstatically to meet me.

No coaxing rubs, no plaintive cry
Will say it's time for feeding.
I've put away your bowl, and all
The things you won't be needing;

But I will miss you little friend,
For I could never measure
The happiness you brought me,
The comfort and the pleasure.

And since God put you here to share
In earthly joy and sorrow;
I'm sure there'll be a place for you
In Heaven's bright tomorrow...

- Alice E. Chase