Family
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Over The Rainbow Bridge | Samson
In December of 2002 Chris and I were living in Melbourne, Florida while he was going to graduate school. We’d been married about six months or so and I’d been hankering for a pet. A dog wasn’t ideal at the time and it took some time to convince Chris that a cat was a good idea for us. He hadn’t grown up with cats but I had and knew that they could be just as fun as a dog—well, at least the right cat! We went to a couple of different rescue shelters before going to the Central Brevard Humane Society to see their selection of cats. Samson was there,…
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Zoe & Grayson
I got to see my niece and nephew, Zoe & Grayson, two weekends in a row after not having seen them since the very end of January. It was quite a crazy two weekends, the second weekend especially since they came down to see me. Zoe’s moving on from kindergarten to first grade! I can’t believe it! And Grayson, well, he’s a little daredevil. I’m afraid for my future in dealing with having a boy of my own…I think my hair is going to turn gray fast! (Still haven’t really found a gray hair yet. There’s one or two that I can’t tell if they are white or just really…
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Leo Turns 10
It’s hard to believe this little kitten is now 10 years old! Leo came into our life July 1, 2004 when we lived in an apartment in far west Miami. We’d heard a squeaking noise all night, sounding like a bird. At one point I got out of bed and walked around to the back side of the apartment, we were on the ground floor, to see if I could figure out the noise. I saw nothing, but the next morning Chris found Samson sitting by the sliding glass door staring out at this kitten that wanted inside. Chris and I managed to corral him to stay on the porch…
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Who’s That Crazy Doggie??
Back in 2008 and 2009 we dogsat Baloo while our friends Marc and Eliana went on a crosscountry roadtrip. During that time Baloo became part of the pet family and we really grew to love the dog. He went on hikes and adventures with us and was a lively and entertaining addition to the household. I don’t think Samson and Leo thought that, but we did! We hadn’t seen the doggie since we left Florida in 2010. We attempted to see him in 2011 when we went on the Florida Trail but when we dropped by Eliana wasn’t home. Eliana and Marc weren’t home this time around either since they…
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Feral Cat Love
Sweet, sweet Little Callie. She lets us pet her, sometimes we can pick her up briefly. Unfortunately she and Fred are both picked on by Tom and Mr. Stripey, and apparently by Ruby on occassion. Sometimes I wish I could bring her inside and she could be a girlfriend for Samson or Leo. Fred, sweet and shy boy. We thought we were going to lose Fred last week. Two weeks ago Ruby was sick for a few days, lingering off by herself and not eating. She appeared miserable but after three or four days she began eating. Sometime in the middle of her sickness Isis disappeared. She has not returned.…
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The Faces of Christmas Eve
First up was Christmas Eve at my parent’s house with my brother, sister-in-law, and the niece and nephew. I think Grayson gets it this year more than last year as is evident in the photos below. Lots of great facial expressions from those kidlets this year! Next up we’re off to Chris’ side of the family! Happy Christmas y’all! (I’m gonna have to find a way to watch Happy Christmas Miss King sometime today…dangit, it’s not on Netflix.)
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Zoe at Five
My niece, Zoe, is a little over 5 years old now. It is hard to believe that she’s now really just a tiny adult. Of course she’s not really an adult in knowledge and mannerisms yet, but she’s definitely beyond the baby and toddler years and has her own personality and opinions. Girl has attitude. She, her brother Grayson, and her mom and dad came down over the weekend for one of our multiple-times-of-year ‘Whitlock Weekends’. Or at least that’s what I like to call ’em, the times when my family comes down to visit, or I go up to visit them. It was a great adventure this weekend, full…
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Early Spring At Tandy Hills
A couple of weekends ago I was in Fort Worth visiting my folks and I really wanted to go for a short hike, get out and stretch my legs. I managed to convince my dad and mom to come along to Tandy Hills for an hour long jaunt to see what was blooming, if anything. I noticed paintbrush coming up but not yet ready to bloom. We found a different pocket of trout lilies than we normally visit, but I couldn’t even find an old flowering spike. They would have bloomed in early to mid February. I wonder if the drier winter prohibited their blooming this year. Lots of yucca…
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Christmas
Christmas is so much more fun now that there are kids around. It is complete mayhem too! My nephew looks like my dad here quite a bit, particularly in the hair department (sorry dad!). Zoe loves Kylie (original name Colley, Zoe named her. Short story: Sugar and Spice are Kylie’s parents. Sugar and Spice are brother and sister. They weren’t fixed yet. They bred. Had babies. My brother and SIL didn’t need more kittens so my mom adopted Kylie after Red died in June. Mom didn’t like the name Colley so she renamed her Kylie. Kylie has a brother Nathan who is still at the other house. End story) but…
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SNOW!
In the early morning hours of Christmas morning the rain started in heavy with a bout of hail sometime in the night. It rained most of the morning and stopped sometime after noon when we went to visit my grandmother at her assisted living facility. We checked the radar and the snow line was coming closer and before we left our visit the snow had started. We didn’t expect it to accumulate but it did! All afternoon the snow fell in heavy flakes and finally when it accumulated enough Chris and I went outside to play! Our heavy winter wear was not with us so my dad let us bundle…