Friday, May 19, 2023

40 years of cats

 

We’ve always had cats in our lives.   We got married 40 years ago and within months of being married we got our first cat.  Back then you could look in the paper for free pet ads and we responded to one out on a farm and picked out this little orange tabby.  We got his sex wrong at first and named him Tina until the vet told us otherwise.  So, we named him Merlin because Chris was reading Mary Stewart books at the time.   During the first few years of marriage, we moved from place to place, and he was used to riding in a U-Haul or car.  He would sleep in the seat next to us and love going for a ride.   I used to roughhouse with him a lot and taught him to play rough, so he tended to be a bit aggressive to people who didn’t know him.  We even taught him to play catch with wadded up paper balls.   He lived to almost 20 and I swear the last few years were because of the love he felt.

Our 2nd cat Muffy was a beautiful grey Persian we rehomed as an adult a few years later.   She never really liked Merlin, but they got along.   She got out once and got pregnant and had a single kitten litter in our closet.   We gave the calico kitten to friends.  

The next cat that came into our lives Chris brought home from work.  She was found at the side of the road and the vet said she might not make it.  We got her cleaned up and defleaed.   She had a tear in one of her eyes the probably happened from a fight, but she seemed to see ok.   We named her Maddie after Cybill Shepard’s character on Moonlighting.  Merlin was getting a little older when she came into our lives, and it was like she knew he needed a friend to play with and she made him act like a kitten again. Those two loved to play and run around the house together.    Muffy on the other hand did not like having another female cat in the house and never like having her around.   Muffy would pee on the floor outside the litterbox all the time just to let us know.  

After we had lost Merlin and Muffy to kidney disease we were down to just Maddie.  And while she was going through her failing kidney’s and getting weekly fluids at the vet, they had a cage in the lobby with a small grey female and a back and white male named Dorie and Mason.  Mason would come to the cage and all he wanted was for you to pet him.  His sister was timid and hid in the corner.   The sign on the cage said Free: Dorie and Mason must take them both.  I told Chris about them and asked if she wanted to meet them.   She said ‘just bring them home” so I did. 

It was a challenge dealing with 2 kittens and an aging pet in the house, but we managed.   Once Dorie and Mason got a little older, we had the next cat come into our lives.   During our annual Halloween season a stray black and white tuxedo started showing up on the patio and would hang with us by the fireplace and sleep on a blanket we left for him.  After the season was over, I just let him into the house.   He was grateful to have a warm place to sleep and food and water always available.  We named him Hal (short for Halloween Cat).  The following spring, we went on a trip while our house was on a garden tour.  Chris’ sister was watching the house when our neighbors came by and saw Hal, but they called him Abe.  Apparently, they were feeding him too.  Little moocher was going back and forth between houses until someone let him in.  Hal came into my life when I got laid off and took a year off, so I was home all the time with him.  I treated him like a dog, and he would follow me around and come when I called.   He would sit near me and hang out with me in the shop even with loud power tools.   Since he had survived on his own in the neighborhood, we were comfortable letting him outside during the day (he stayed inside at night).  He was the only cat we let go outside because we would stay close, and he let you know when he wanted back in. Shortly after Hal had been living with us we lost Maddie but for a short while we had 4 cats!  When Hal was 13, we noticed him wincing when we jumped up on the bed.  We took him to the vet, and they did an ultrasound and found he had cancer with several tumors internally.   Within a week he was gone.   First and last time we will ever have an at home service.

After losing Hal.   We lost Dorie a few years later.  She had several medical issues throughout her life that we dealt with and in the end of her life, we lost her at home in a tragic and unfortunate way.  With just Mason left at home by himself we thought we should get him some younger cats to lift his spirits.  We found a brother/sister pair of beautiful tabby’s online named Toaster and Strudel.   We just knew they were for us.   But we found out that Strudel had got sick while in the kennel and was being treated at a vet. Until he was cleared to come home, we couldn’t adopt them.  Took a few weeks but Toaster fully recovered, and we adopted them both and brought them home.   Toaster and Strudel did not get along with Mason right away.  It took a long time for them to stop hissing at each other.  They never became good friends, which made us feel bad about our decision.    As the “kittens” got older and Mason started to age they pretty much left him alone and in the end he just wanted to hang with us and wanted nothing to do with them.    Mason slowly started to get pickier and pickier about eating food.   He was totally healthy but just didn’t feel like eating and then one day he just stopped eating and after several weeks of agonizingly watch him wither away to nothing we knew it was time.   Losing that loving cat was tough.    Now we are down to just two.  I know there will be more cats in our lives in the future.   But for now, we are just going to settle down with Toaster and Strudel for a while.  It has been a wild 40yrs. 

   

 

 

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Wow? 5yrs? what have I been doing?

I haven't posted on here in over 5 years?  Really?   Facebook has been my main source of life sharing info.

Let's see.

2015 -  Went to New Orleans for a Haunt convention
2016 -  Lost a dear friend to suicide. 
2017 -  Gained a bunch of weight
2018 -  built a huge chapel for the halloween display
2019 - Lost 130 pounds again and changed my eating and healthy lifestyle

Maybe I can post more often from now on?


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Has it been a year already?

A lot has happened over the past year.  We coasted through Halloween.  Did a Haunt Convention in January in Houston, TX.  Did another one in May here in Portland.  I lost my job in July and became employed in September.   Chris was out of work over the summer from her part time job.  We had some very difficult financial issues.  I gained a LOT of weight back and stopped exercising and eating right.

But things have started looking good this month.  I weighed in at 317lbs in September.  I started my fasting again and am down to 297 right now.  My plan is to continue fasting through the rest of the year with a few breaks and get down to 250lbs.  13 weeks in total.  My theory is that if I just fasted 2-3 weeks every 3-4 months I wouldn't be in this spot.

But now with the full time job which comes with a 20 mile commute each way and a day spent in a cube.  We are getting caught up financially and I am starting my fasting routine in a very controlled environment.  I even have a nice 1 mile paved trail I can walk each way for lunch.  I hope to back to my low weight by Christmas time.

At 900 cal a day with 1hr walk a day starting at 317 on 9/29/16 here is the plan

10/16/14 298.1818
10/23/14 292.5094
10/30/14 286.9791
11/06/14 281.5874
11/13/14 276.3308
11/20/14 271.206
11/27/14 266.2096
12/04/14 261.3384
12/11/14 256.5893
12/18/14 251.9592
12/25/14 247.4451
Goal Weight of  247.4451 lbs reached on 12/25/14 in  11 weeks
Average Loss  5 lbs/week

I have a couple of exceptions for my fast though.  I am going to eat and have some rum at the Halloween party on October 25th.  I am also going out to dinner with Chris for our anniversary on Nov 2nd.  Chris and I are going to Woodenville, WA for a weekend away on her birthday Nov 15th and also to Dundee, OR for Thanksgiving Nov 27-30.  I'll try to eat low calorie and fruits and veggies only on those dates so I don't through myself off too much. 

We'll see what happens. 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Weight loss thoughts

I'm winding down on my 8 week fast to loose the pounds I put back on 6 months after my big loss.  Been doing some soul searching on what works and doesn't with weight loss and me.  Trying to come up with life changes I can incorporate to me life.

Three rules to live by.

1.   Don't be afraid to go back to whatever you did to loose weight before.  Just because you gained weight doesn't mean you can't loose it again.

2.  Weigh yourself often.  At least once a week.  Never go longer than 2 weeks or a month.  2 or 3 times a week if you have to.  If you have to deal with weight issues you should get to know how often your weight goes up and down and what causes it.

3.  Maintain some sort of physical activity.  You don't have to call it exercise or go to the gym.  Just do something that gets you moving every week.  Some great advice I got from a friend is the best exercise is the one you will do.


The rest is just details.  My life long goal is to be a weight loss master.  Someone who can look back many years later and say I lost the weight and have never gained it back.


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Where the heck did summer go?

So I just read my last post talking about the start of summer...and now it is just about over.

We've had several workshops,  Tombstones, Casting,  Columns & Fencing, and foam texturing.   All of them fun yet a little time consuming.

We've worked on a new Celtic Cross and some crypt walls for the graveyard.   We started setting up the Abbey for some new changes.  We are working on a new comment box figure for the year.

We have started going rollerskating on a weekly basis.  We try to walk 3-4 times a week if we can.

During it all I have gained some weight.  Eating too much and snacking mostly.  I got on the scale a few weeks ago and was up to 289lbs.   So I decided to go back on the liquid fast.  I'm going to do it for 8 weeks so I can get back to my goal weight of 245.  Sort of pushing the reset button while I still can.   I'm on week 2 with only 6 weeks to go.  I'm already down to 272.  I realize now I should have started this a few weeks ago before things really got out of hand.   I'm now thinking that fasting for 2-3 weeks might be a normal thing for me every 4 months or so.   After the winter and during the beginning of summer. Both slow times for me and good times to take a break from food.

Although I've gained some weight over the past 6 months I feel I have made some significant changes in my lifestyle.  I am more active.  I have changed the way I eat and what I eat.  I have a few problem foods (bags of chips, and cheese and crackers) but mostly I enjoy more healthy snacks. The issue is really in quantity.  Chris and I even split meals when going out.  Just need to be more diligent and ease up on the excess.

I am determined to be a weight loss master and want to be able to say years from now that I lost 150lbs and kept it off.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Summer is about to start

I can't believe it has been 2 months since my last post?  I helped with the HAuNTcon convention in Dallas, TX the end of April and then put on the West Coast Haunters Convention the end of May.  Those took a lot out of me and put on several pounds in the process.

Now summer is starting and it is exactly one year ago that I started on my weight loss program.  I weighed 408lbs when I started last year  now I am at 272lbs.   My goal is to get below 260lbs by the end of summer.  I was at 245lbs at the end of my fasting in February.

Summer is always filled with Workshops from the graveyard on Saturdays in between working on our own projects that need to be done.  We want to attend the Oregon Renaissance Fair and the Tiki Convention this summer as well.  Lots to look forward to and do.  Going to try to do lots of walking each week and watch how much and what I eat and stay healthy while I enjoy the summer.   Will post more updates as they happen.
    

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

50th Birthday in Disneyland


I couldn't have asked for a better time on my 50th birthday.   I had planned this trip months after starting my weight loss program.  I figured it would be nice reward to myself for losing all the weight and a great way to celebrate my 50th birthday making myself feel young.   

We arrived Sunday evening and checked into the Disneyland Hotel around 7pm.  We got dressed up and headed to Disneyland for Dapper Day.   We rode the Monorail into Disneyland and met up with some friends and then grabbed a bite to eat.  Then we took off and road the Carousel with the other peopled dressed up.  Then off to the submarine ride I hadn't seen since it was updated.  Then we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion a few times.  We caught a glimpse or two of the Fantasmia show on the water.  We headed to Trader Sam's after the park closed at 11pm and had drinks at the after party for Dapper Day with friends.

We spent all Day Monday at California Adventure.  We got in the park 1hr early because we were staying at the Resort hotels.  We walked through the Grand Hotel into the park and got in line for Radiator Springs Racers Fast Pass so we could ride them right away.  We spent the day getting fast passes for the popular rides and riding others that were not busy.  It was a great day.

Tuesday was my birthday so we spent the day at Disneyland getting there 1hr early.  I went to City Hall and got my Birthday Pin.  I wasn't sure what to expect but people told me I had to get it.  Turns out it was a LOT of fun.  Everyone saying Happy Birthday to me all day!  We had breakfast at the Carnation Cafe and I got a free ice cream with a candle!  Had a great day ending having dinner at Blue Bayou restaurant at the Pirates ride.  

Wednesday we went back to California Adventure and rode the rides we missed and had dinner at the Napa Rose at the Resort Hotel.  We sat at the Chef's table and had a custom vegetarian meal with red wine flights.  We had such a good time we made reservations for dinner the next night.  

Thursday we met our friend Cliff at the park (he works at Disney) and spent the day with him doing things we didn't get to on Tuesday.  By the end of the day I had almost everything checked off my list.  We had lunch at Carthay Restaurant at California Adventure and road Tower of Terror with our friend Cliff (he works the ride).  We spent the end of the day at Disneyland and then had dinner at Napa Rose which was fantastic.  

Friday we checked out of the Hotel and met our friend Cliff's wife Jen at the park (she works there too) and she spent the morning with us shopping at the park and hanging out.  Then we finished the list of things we wanted to do and left the park at 4pm to head to the airport.  Before leaving we got to see a show at the Horseshoe Review and the Voices of Liberty at Mr Lincoln.  

We ate pretty healthy most of the time with some indulgences along the way when we wanted to.  We did a LOT of walking all day and had a GREAT time.  Best 50th birthday I could ever asked for.