Perspective

I am passing along this blog called "the Journey". It is on my blog list on the right. I haven't added any new ones to my list in ages--in fact I have removed them. This one touched me so much that I knew it needed added.

It adds a different perspective to life, it shows what is important. This girl has turly given her life to the children and people of Uganda. I will say that in my mind, Uganda has seemingly been that place far, far away where people suffer. For me, there was not a true picture of any of it--the good, the suffering, the abuse.
Again, for me it was probably hearing that Brangelina have adopted from there and so on. What this girl is doing is so far-reaching and so uncharacteristic for a person of her age and so God-led. Read. You will be encouraged, stirred, and challenged.

Sitting

Here I sit in the quietness. Every once in a while, I hear a page turn from the other room (Aliyah reading). The girls are in bed, and I'm pretty sure Aliyah will fall asleep with a book or books in her bed.

Tufsey is sleeping in the other room. He is under the weather again =(. He is highly susceptible to anything/everything. We are hoping to be able to help him by giving him some plain probiotic yogurt and water once Josh is home. Yes, we do love the kitty.

I am contemplating the week and looking forward to the weekend. I miss Josh and I wish he was home. With it getting dark out so early now, it feels lonely this week.

We had better success today at the cursive writing. Once Aliyah is able to practice it more, it will come with time. Keirah is still pretty happy about school. She reminds me of her letters/sounds later in the day--it's cute. We attempted to squeeze in what we could of school before going to work this morning. When I got off, we went to visit Josh for dinner. I gave Aliyah the option of doing her math speed drills in the car as well as her math test. Actually, she loved it! She had all of the drills done in no time and the test as well. She was all finished before we even pulled in to get Josh.

I briefly looked at my Snapfish book project and then closed it. I can put it off longer. They have free shipping until Sept. 10th now. I typically do Shutterfly, however I have a $30 credit to use with Snapfish. I'm trying to decide if I want to do a summer book and then the girl's birthdays or if I want to try to squeeze it all into one.

Plans for the weekend...well hopefully a date tomorrow night. Josh is participating in a golf outing on Sat. and then has to work. He starts vacation Sunday and we'll see from there.

We decided on a project for spring...a new fence--at least on two sides. We bought a fence a couple of years ago and some portions of it are HORRIBLE--namely two sides! It simply did not hold up. Our choice is an arch top white vinyl one. It is taller than the one we currently have so that will be great. My first choice would probably be a black wrought iron or aluminum, however they are pretty pricey. The vinyl will be pretty and low maintenance and that will be great. The other side that we aren't looking at replacing will most likely be completely or pretty close to covered with honeysuckle vine. Taking the fence out would probably ruin the garden wonder of the honeysuckle vine. Once it covers the fence...it's staying.

Life feels busy

Who knows how to sum up the week thus far aside from crazy busy. The girls have started schooling which means we have as well since they are homeschooled.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it. It just makes schedules fuller. Not only work, but before or after work there's schooling to be done. Add to that cleaning the house and tending to the day to day and wow--it feels packed. This year's challenge in school for Aliyah is going to be cursive writing. This subject has been taking the longest.

Tufsey has been pretty energetic until today. I don't know if he is having a tired day or is relapsing back to illness. We are going to give him some droppers of C L O and yogurt tonight. We have been mixing it with his food, but he probably needs more of it to help build up his system. He is still eating, just seems run-down.

I'm making a Snapfish photo book --I mean I started making it. I'm just not in the mood to do it I guess. It needs to be finished before Aug. 28th so I can get free shipping. Looking at the pictures reminds me that I still need to finish my posts about Chicago.

The tile project is looming right in front of us. Hopefully it can be completed with ease and in a short time.

These are the days where I can tell that summer is closing out. Fall is beautiful, however I know what it brings behind it--winter--which I hate. I know when the crickets are chirping, mosquitos are biting, locusts are humming, days are waning, that we are at the tail end. I will miss my garden and days/evenings outside. Shortened days mean less chance for a bike ride.

Vivacious

We spent a good portion of yesterday cleaning/organizing the house. I think that in the summertime we tend to spend so much of our time outside that we care to spend little indoors. We do clean during the summmer--don't worry. Things just tend to get a little more chaotic in the closets/drawers. The house smelled wonderful!

The porch got some cleaning love as well. I cleaned the floor. Soon, we will have the porcelain tile down =). The same goes for my kitchen. We are excited!

On the Tufsey front, his sides are beginning to fill back out. He has a voracious appetite and is drinking like normal again. The meows are back as is purring. Since he is so active again, it is difficult to give him his magic Tufsey treatments. He has gained a lot of strength back--close to 100% now. Josh mixed in the magic with his food this morning so that was great. I took him outside this morning to hopefully do his duty. He wanted to explore. He finished up and tried to sneak away.
He is ever so active and is watching out the door when we leave/trying to get out as well. Josh petted him last night and he flopped down and rolled over so he could get some belly scratching. Oh yes, his fur--looks beautiful again. He has been working very hard to clean himself and get off the residue of all of his Tufsey treatments. I think the Pedialyte has been tough for him to get off his paws. They are slowly returning to the bright fluffy white.

The girls are eager to begin school for this year. Keirah is so excited to start pre-school. I feel like there are a few things I need to get done before that happens--like the Snapfish photo book that I need to do from summertime. Since the days are shorter now, maybe I will get it done one of these evenings when they finish up their school work.

Happy Gorgeous Sunday to you all!!

C L O & 9 Lives?

Here is the saga of Tufsey...

So, I posted Aliyah's letter to Tufsey on Thursday morning. Tufsey was heavily knocking on death's door late Wednesday when it was written. He wasn't moving around--simply sleeping and barely opening his eyes. He hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in over 24 hours.
Since neither Josh nor myself felt we could euthanize him, we chose to let him live out his final hours with the family he loves and who loves him. I had a migraine on Wednesday night and went to bed earlier (around 10). Josh and the girls stayed up a bit longer remembering the happy times with Tufsey.

When I read Aliyah's letter on Thursday morning (pretty early)--I was crying. Josh went out to check on the porch thinking surely he had passed. Miracle of all miracles he was still with us. We figured it would be possibly just a bit longer.
My mom called around 8 in the morning to check on him and told us that she and my grandma thought we should attempt giving him cod liver oil in a dropper.

We didn't do anything and she called back again. We agreed (after all what was there to lose). Grandma brought down the C L O and Josh gave him several droppers of it. Tufsey began responding. We still didn't know what to think since we were told he probably wouldn't be able to fight off the fever that he had.
We gave him a few more doses throughout the morning and he wanted to go outside and walk around. Okay...he hadn't moved out of his bed the day before.
He showed interest in his food, but simply could not eat. Grandma then decided he should have some special yogurt. We went ahead and gave him the yogurt in a dropper, C L O, and doses of water. We later picked up Pedialyte at the store for him as well. We continued this throughout the day at various intervals. Tufsey continued to show improvements and even ate about 3 tiny bites on his own (with a lot of difficulty).

Friday morning came and Tufsey was even more alert than before. He was given the new regiment of magic Tufsey treatment before Josh went into work. My mom came and gave him the regiment early in the afternoon.
I came home from work and Tufsey was sitting up watching out the porch door. He wanted to go outside so I obliged. (he is no longer allowed to roam anymore)
I was able to give him a dropper and a half before he jumped out of his bed and walked away. While I was with him, he began slowly eating his food. It was dry food which he normally prefers, however he tried.
I picked up the girls and we picked up some kitty tuna at the store. We brought it home to Tufsey and he began eating--miracle of all miracles. He ate and ate and ate. Following that, he began cleaning his paws and face. He hadn't done either in probably 3 days. He ate some more.
Last night, Josh gave him some more droppers of the Tufsey magic potions. Tufsey, ate some more. He arched his back when we petted him and stretched--all things he hadn't done in days.

This morning we got up and as soon as Josh opened the back door, Tufsey jumped up and MEOWED. He hadn't meowed in days. I was putting his food in his dish just inside the door to the kitchen and he jumped in and began eating. He ate some dental treats and regular treats and milk in addition to his tuna. The new development as I began writing this...he was drinking water on his own again!!

Obviously, we know he is feeling better and is eating on his own accord. He will not be allowed to roam due to his illnesses and the likelihood of getting sick again which his body has MAJOR trouble fighting. He has his home on the porch and if he does well this weekend, we will probably get him a litter box for the times when we are not home to take him outside.

Aliyah is amazed that he is feeling better and we have tried to tell her that he could easily get very sick again--we just do not know. Tufsey is doing his normal Tufsey things and wants petted---rolls to his back for more and watches our every move. He really needs to fatten up. He wasn't big before and without food and water his sides are sinking in as well as his cheeks. Hopefully with his new regimen of stuff, he will feel at 100%--at least we would hope.

Josh remarked that there never was a cat like Tufsey the cat. We love him and it's obvious he loves us.

Sorry, I haven't updated and made you think he was gone. We simply didn't know he was going to even make it when I posted.
I guess maybe grandma just knew something that could help a kitty that none of the rest of us knew.

Happy Weekend and hopefully some more happy days for the kitty.

Tufsey--a letter from Aliyah

This is Aliyah's goodbye letter to Tufsey. I will add my thoughts or comments in parenthesis.

Dear Tufsey,

You know I've been reading a lot of books to you this summer, and you that I love cookies. And that I like people coming to my house. And sometimes things turn into disasters and that's OK. Even though it's not fair, and sometimes when I try to do things for you, it turns into a disaster--like feeding you and playing with you.
I have a promise for you when you die. I will never leave you. And I have another promise to you, that I will never leave you alone without Whiskers (his mouse toy). And I like it the most when you curl up, wrap your tabby tail around yourself and go to sleep. You first came to our house, and your kept coming back and we decided to keep you. And I have something for you before you die, that I will bury your toy with you since it's the only thing you'll play with. I will never forget you and always know where you are. I love you.

Aliyah

Yes, this made me cry! She also had to read a book to him.

Sick Cat

We have determined that Tufsey is not feeling so great. He has been lethargic and has little to no appetite. In addition, he just lays around sleeping and does not respond to anything we do. He also seems to be losing weight.

Aliyah is trying to make him comfortable so she covered him with a towel and she has this lullaby music playing for him. It's cute how she tries to take care of him.
Fortunately, he has an appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon. This was scheduled already so that he could get his shots and all of that good stuff.

I'm ready to see him get back to his usual self. He did drink some milk a few minutes ago so we are glad about that.