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A Tale of Two Kitties

It was the summer of 2007, I had a boyfriend who I very much wanted to marry. I also very much wanted a cat, a grey cat, to be exact.  I was talking on the phone to said boyfriend who was on his way home from work.  He was driving on the freeway when he suddenly said he needed to get off the phone.  He saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped to get it. 

He was only five weeks old and weighed a mere half a pound.  Needless to say, he was skin and bones.  This is the first picture I ever took of him, they day we found him, on the way to the vet to get him checked out.  It turns out he was pretty healthy, other than ear mites...which meant he had to have his ears cleaned everyday.  If you have ever tried to keep a tiny cat still and clean and medicate their ears...you have felt my pain.  This is not an easy task.  Because he was so young I had to bottle feed him, I came home on all of my lunch breaks and fed and cleaned the little guy.  He was a little on the ugly side at first, very coarse scraggly hair, but I loved him.  He and I, we formed a bond very early on. 

Because of where on the freeway he was found, it was obvious that someone had put him there, maybe thrown him out a window.  His little voice was terribly hoarse from screaming and he was left with what I think was kitty post traumatic stress...fearful of the sound of cars passing by.  His voice the first couple of days made him sound like a tiny Edward G. Robinson .  Instead of meow, he said "yeah"...it was actually very entertaining, but, I digress.  As he got older, he transformed into a beautiful animal.  He definitely has his mean streak sometimes, but, this little kitt I raised from a five week old

kitten still has that special bond with me.  He sleeps with me almost every night, right up against me, keeping me warm.  We have an unspoken love for each other.  I think he knows I am the one who took care of him, I think he knows where he came from and where he is now...and however much he seems he thinks I am his slave at times, I think he is thankful for us, for our home (ok, his home, haha) and loves us.  I love him too.

Fast Forward to the summer of 2009.

The boyfriend I so much wanted to marry is now my husband.  We live comfortably with our beloved grey cat.  I go on a grocery trip with my mom and find a kitten lying in the parking lot, flailing around.  My first thought was it had been hit by a car.  Without hesitation I grabbed a towel from the trunk, scooped her up and took her to my vet.  I would pay to put the poor thing down, and stay with it, so it had someone who cared, evern if just for the last few moments of her life.

This is what she looked like on the way to the vet, the very picture I sent to my husband.  He was panting and licking her front paws, it was obvious she was in pain.  To my suprise, despite the horrendously hgh temperature, malnutrition, infection and dislocated front legs,  the vet said he thought she had a good chance of surviving. It was his guess that she had been kicked...yes, someone kicked the poor helpless animal and left her for dead in a parking lot.  She didn't have any spinal traume.  She just needed someone to nurse her back to health.  So, we called our landlord and asked if we could take her in..just long enough to make her better and find a home for her (hahaha, yea right).   A couple of days later, I took the little nine week old one anda  half pound kitten back to the vet.  Something was wrong.  She had a hernia.  It literally looked like her abdomen continued into her leg (it did, really).  The poor little thing needed surgery.  So...she got what she needed (and our savings account went bye bye)

So, after surgery and at least five weeks of being on cage rest (confined to a box so she wouldn't run around, so her legs would heal) lots and lots of antibiotics (after her infection went away she caught a virus) and lots of love, the vet declared "you have a healthy cat!"  I was SO happy!  I cried! No lie!

The poor little abused kitty quickly found her way into our hearts, and we found ourselves asking the landlords if we could keep her, which they said yes too!    It took a lot of time and patience to introduce her into our little family unit.  As three (hubby, grey kitty, and myself) became four, we realized how happy we were to have two instead of one! We had another little kitty to keep the other one company, the only problem, she hated him!  We though he would hate her!  After awhile she warmed up to him, and now, he is the coolest thing in the house...and we are the lowly servant folk.  Haha.  When we moved, she was brave for him, checked out the new place, and spent her time sitting next to him while he hid in the closet.  They sleep next to each other during the day.  They even groom each other, which I am told is rare for them not being littermates and being two years apart in age.  Both were abandoned, both were found by us, and we love both of them to pieces!  We may not have children, but we have our kitties, and that makes us very happy.    ♥

COOOOOOKKKKies!

So, today, I bake cookies.  I changed the recipe a little by using butter instead of shortening (cause shortening just looks like something no one should eat) wheat flour instead of white, and less sugar than it says too!  I think they're pretty good!

Chocolate Cookies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cocoa

powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs, then sift in dry ingredients.

Chill for about 30 minutes.

Roll in powdered sugar.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Serving Suggestion:

mmmm milk and cookies!

♥

LOST

So, we started watching Lost in February and are now about 8 episodes away from being caught up...I cannot believe this show.  It is insane. It is awesome.  It may possibly the best show ever.  That's all.

We all live in a yellow submarine...

So, Thanks to Monica I tried out this great new bread recipe (new to me anyway).  It was much easier than one I had previously tried, and instead of sugar, it called for honey! Excited to try my new bruschetta recipe on this bread!

Today, my neighborhood had a neighborhood yard sale!  Here are a few of the steals I got!

Big steal: Beatles CD's for 50 cents  a piece!

50 cents for the set!

I decided to try to spruce up our back patio a little bit...not only do I think the neighbors would appreciate it (we share it with them, I'd only be sprucing up our half) but it'd be a nice place to sit and eat dinner this summer!

Well...I guess that just about covers it, I got some other goodies, but this is all I took photos of....oh, and I should mention, I was joined by my lovely friend Joanne!  That always makes things much more fun!

♥

Julia ♥

Are my readers (all one or two of you..hi)  sick of hearing about Julie and Julia yet? Well...here is one more for you!  I stopped by my favorite little thrift store today...not really looking for anything, just wanting to buy something so I could get quarters for change (laundry is never-ending) and I found this gem!  It's not Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but it is by Julia Child and it fits my recent mood!  I am very very excited for it...and I think the mother and son who own the thrift shop are too...for I promised to bring them something I cooked from it...she said something sweet!  So, here I go looking for a dessert to bring them next week ♥    

"Julia Child & More Company" by Julia Child

purchased for $1

Bon Appetit!

♥

Broken Record ♥

I feel like a broken record.  I have this tendency.  I have made a practice of, when speaking to a friend, relaying a story, pausing mid-sentence and asking that friend "Have I told you this before?"

I am also a broken record in my entertainment.  Seriously...have you noticed I have watched Julie and Julia for the past three days?  As I type it is playing behind this window on netflix...seriously.  When I like a song, I listen to it constantly until I can sing it by memory.

So, today, as I watched Julie and Julia, I moseyed over to the real Julie Powell's blog.  While I have done a little research and am not a huge fan of Julie herself, I identified greatly with the fictional Julie from the movie.  Anyway, I was reading part of the blog, which hasn't been added tool since Julia Child's death in 2004, and I read about how Julia Child didn't even take a cooking class until she was 37.  37.  I am not even 24 yet, and I feel so old.  At times, when I am at home, doing my housewife thing (which I do love) I look at my life.  I am married...which was probably what I wanted most out of life, and am so happy that I am, and to the man of my dreams, I am so blessed.  But then I look at my lack of schooling...not currently in school but planning on going back, working on my AA.  I look at my empty home, no children, not expecting..and I can't help but wonder if life is passing me by.  I know that I am in a season, a season in which the Lord willl teach me a lot.  And, today, I was encouraged, I was encouraged by a woman who has been dead for six years.  A woman who started something that would change her life...when she was 37.  So, today, as I head out to run errands, I think, I have a lot of living left, and a lot of opporunities ahead.  Who says you have to do your biggest things in life right out of high school...who says society has to define youtha nd beauty and success.  I am a housewife, and I am happy.  Julia Child started cooking classes for her husband and her love of food, not to impact the cooking world...so, I am going to start small and start at home (while watching Julie and Julia again and again)! 

So there!  And Bon Appetit!

♥

Well, I have an unexciting day today...running errands, paying bills, grocery shopping and finishing my sister's wedding invitations....maybe I'll throw in a little cooking and eating in there...seeing as I am watching Julie and Julia...again!  yum!

♥

Inspiration ♥

So, as I watched Julie & Julia for the second time, I ran to the kitchen, i had to try to make what Julie and Eric were eating on screen.  I didn't have the all ingredients it appeared she had, but I was enormously happy witht he result.  It last just long enough out of the oven before I scarfed it down-YUM!

My recipe:

butter

Two slices of whole grain wheat bread

2 small classic tomatoes

3 fresh basil leaves

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

jack cheese

i coated a frying pan with butter, toasted the bread in it until desiredly brown

chopped tomatoes, chopped basil and combined ina bowl with just enough olive oil and vinegar to coat it.

placed the bread on my baking stone thingy (coated with olive oil) and covered with the tomato concoction.  Drizzle with leftover oil and vinegar from bottom of bowl, and top with finely shredded cheese.  Put in the oven at 350 for a few minutes (when the cheese starts melting)  and EAT!

"bon appetit!"

♥

Simple Smiles

After a horribly sleepless night (no specific reason, just lost sleep).  I am feeling pretty good.  I am allowing myself a day of utter laziness, watching a new favorite move, Julie and Julia....I am insanely in love with this movie!  I want to cook...and read about someone from the past, and be inspired, and eat something yummy!


Speaky of yummy, I am trying to change my black thumb.  I have attempted to have a Basil plant before...and failed...an epic fail.  But, I am trying again, and as I type my sweet little plant, that smells divine is kissing the sunlight in my kitchen.  I'm not sure how long it'll survive being in the kitchen...it is a little in the way, but I don;t want to forget about it outside!  That, and I abhor the thought of bugs crawling on it--ew!!!  So, for now, the basil plant...who I should name Basil...not BAY-sil...but BAH-sil...how British of me!  Anyway, so, for now Basil is a new member of my family, who contributes greatly...mmmmm basil!  Pampered, maybe not as much as my cats...but still, I talked to the plant today...I know, I know...but it's kind of endearing!  So, off to finish my movie!  Basil says hi, he's happy sunbathing ♥

a smile in an envelope

I received this adorable card from my friend Cathy.  I met Cathy about seven years ago.  She and her husband were some of my favorite customers when I worked at a bookstore.  I have learned that the Lord can bring us close to other people, even when we only see them from time to time, in a workplace.  Cathy now lives in a different state, but I am so blessed to be able to stay in contact with her.  Receiving love via paper sent over miles and miles of land. 

♥

A New Day

Today is the first of some sundays we'll be taking a step of faith.  Today we walk into a church we have never been to, listen to the pastor, look around, and pray if this is where God wants us.  More sundays like this to follow....feeling a little apprehensive.  Trying to learn to be still, quiet, observant, and trusting!

our thrifty date

My Dearest and I went on a date today.  We spent the afternoon getting lost in local thrift stores.  Then had dinner and are now home to watch some TV and enter into dreamland.  Here are some of our finds. 

His:

Vintage Looking Clock $7.99

Little painted pottery to house our laundry quarters $1.99

Hers:

Actually, the book was for me, but he chose it for me...so sweet! 

The Poems of Longfellow  $3.99

A beautiful purple bottle (for I have great love for these romantic knickknacks) $4.99

We spent a bit more on items we would normally wait to purchase for less, but we had a great time and love our newest additions!

Sonnet

ON MRS. KEMBLE'S READINGS FROM SHAKESPEARE

O PRECIOUS evenings! all too swiftly sped!

Leaving us heirs to amplest heritages

Of all the best thoughts of the greatest sages,

And giving tongues unto the silent dead!

How our hearts glowed and trembled as she read,

Interpreting by tones the wondrous pages

Of the great poet who foreruns the ages,

Anticipating all that shall be said!

O happy Reader! having for thy text

The magic book, whose Sibylline leave have caught

The rarest essence of all human thought!

Oh happy Poet! by no critic vext!

How must thy listening spirit now rejoice

To be interpreted by such a voice!

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-

♥

sooth me

My Finds ♥

My husband and I have filled our homes with things that fit our personalities. We have also done so for very cheap prices.  Thrift stores are the best stores.  (Craigslist is pretty awesome too).  Here are a few of our finds, our friends that share our home ♥

This is THE green chair, the one I write all of my blogs from.  I purchased three chairs, all similar to one another for $5 a piece, and carried them two blocks to my home.

Buffet: FREE

We got this beautiful piece of furniture to put our TV on.  I found it on Craigslist one night, around 11pm...and made my poor, loving husband drive me across our city to retrieve it from a curb.  The knobs are new, we (meaning my husband) built a new shelf for the inside.  I love this piece, it makes me wistfuly think of the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

This little gem proudly hangs in my little cove of a library in my home.  It reminds me of Pride and Prejudice.  Thrift store.  $4.99 (it was 50% off from$9.99).

Pair of Barstools: $25 off of Craigslist

Even though we no longer live in a home witha  breakfast bar, I refuse to part with these, I love them!

This is my newest little friend, I think his name is Chester.  I found him for $2 on a thrift  store excursion with my friend Joanne.  Isn't he precious!  I love his little puffed up body. 

Now that I feel thoroughly content with remembering all the the good deals God has given me for my home...I think I shall go clean it!

Have a lovely day ♥

I was on facebook this evening looking up people from before, before I was who I was. People I have met along the way. I was so very saddened to see that the majority of the ones that professed to be Christians, to love the Lord with all their hearts, have evolved into this shell of what they once were, severely, rebelliously liberal and bitter. I look at my own walk and see the struggles I face, looking for a way to grow with all life has thrown my way. As sad as I am to see the state of these people, so angry, so wanting to be anything but what they once were, how I knew them, I am wanting to be more driven to be the opposite. I know what it is to grow up in the church. While many who didn't wish that they had, I have seen the struggles this has brought. I have seen so much hypocrisy...so much sin, so much that is NOT of God...and I can understand, I can understand, to some degree, where these people are coming from. But when everyone else has proven faulty, severly human and unreliable. There has been one constant, God. Hebrews says He is the same yesterday today and forever....people change, God doesn't.


Where does this all fit in with the fabric of our lives...changes, seasons, yet a God, a Savior that remains the same, ever-steadfast, ever-strong...I feel I have so many feelings, hurts, questions, fears, doubts, but I cannot escape the inescapable God...the God who has seen me through hard trials, and helped me to breathe again, helped me to still see beauty in simplicity despite a bleeding heart...and for that I keep on. Even when i cannot fathom answers tot eh hard questions in life, He remains. Even when I don't understand how so much evil can exist int hsi world, He remains. Even when I just want to live my life by my own undertanding, He remains.


I fear a purposed blog has become a rambling, but this is my heart, right here, right now. Whilst so confused and discouraged, so encouraged...the walls around me shift and slide, yet there is the one strong tower that is unfaltering...if only I can find my way, hold on tight, and learn to watch the shifting sand be swept away, and still remain, remain with Him, because He remains...