Missing that ridiculous feline

It's been 47 days.  I still miss Mags. 

Tonight it was the cutting out of the maxi skirt pattern that took me down memory lane.

Maggie loved attacking my pattern pieces.  She wouldn't attack every piece.  Infact she would wait until the floor was a sea of pattern pieces before making her ambush.  She would crouch exceptionally low and then dive bomb the pieces.  The pieces that I had worked hard to stack.  The pieces that I painstakingly folded and smoothed out.

She would attack and topple the pile.

I would tell her she was a crazy cat.

She wasn't.  She was a good cat and tonight I am missing her pattern-toppling-self.

Insta-gram

I finally joined Instagram.  It's kind of cool.  You can post quick pics along with thoughts and tag them accordingly.

My friend is taking a 365-day Instagram challenge.  She is given a weekly assignment and then she snaps pictures according to a theme or topic.

Today was loss.  I choose to post pictures of Maggie's bowl and her toys. 

Today I found some older pics of my sweet feline.  These were snapped at the cottage...

That cat!!!

When we resided at the cottage, Maggie never liked it when I would saute onions and peppers for scrambled eggs.  I believe because the cottage was so small...the aroma from the onions made her eyes water.  She would roll around and rub her eyes. 

From Leah and Ruthie...

Leah and Ruthie met me for much-needed girl time.  I love these girls dearly. They both are cat lovers who understand that Maggie was more than just a cat.  Infact today I realized that I probably talked to Maggie more than any other human.  Plus Maggie kept all my crazy secrets!!! 

At any rate...these sweet friends gave me an adorable coffee sign and the funniest card.  There's a little boy (who looks like Caleb) bent over and getting horse smoothes on the top of his blond head.  On the inside it reads:  I'm not quite sure, either, but I think it has something to do with friendship.  Anyway, here's to good friends and weird times.

From Georgetown Road...

...from my bestest friend Sara...a bit of love...

So thoughtful...

Cats get into just about everything...
But most of all, they get into our hearts.

Around 7:25 every morning...

...Maggie would sit by the sliding window and observe life outside apartment #5.  I think she was secretly plotting feline world domination.  :)

A beautiful gift...

The Lord orchestrated events so that my best friend Ginger was in town for several days...during which I put to sleep my wonderful feline.  I think the Lord sent Ging to me to make the goodbye easier.  He, also, worked through various events to allow us to have a sleepover Sunday night so I wouldn't come home to an empty apartment...and I wouldn't wake-up alone and sad because a certain someone (read:  Maggie) wouldn't be jumping on my bed waking-me-up 5 minutes BEFORE the alarm sounding.

"Can we meet at Meg's tonight?"

My two dear friends, Leah & Ruthie, invited me out for coffee / tea tonight.  Both cat lovers, they understood my loss.  Leah gave up her Kenzie two years ago and shared how she still thinks about her adorable feline.  Ruthie shared how she was frantic when her Suki Pie escaped from her former place of residence.

Loss is loss.  It hurts. 

Tonight after ladies Bible study, I walked in my apartment and did not breakdown.  It'll get easier.  As with any loss, it takes time. 

I miss Maggie most in the morning.  She had a terrible habit of waking me up 5-10 minutes before my alarm would go off.  It drove me nuts...and now I miss it.

The fridge

Although I never gave her people feed, Maggie was always trying to get inside the fridge. 

Heebie-Jeebies

I am not sure who bought these for Mags {Did you know that I would sometimes call her, "Mags-a-row-nee-us"?  It's funny because now, I really can't remember when and where and why I started calling her as such.}...where was I?  Oh, yes, the calico mice.  Not sure where they came from....maybe a Christmas present in her stocking from Santa.  Her behavior was deemed "acceptable" and even "good" most years thus allowing Santa to fill her stocking with treats.

Yes, I am one of THOSE cat owners that buys her furry friend a smallish Christmas present. 

I know...

...that eventually I won't cry when I see little reminders of my furry friend...but for tonight, I am cutting myself some slack. 

My friend Nancy is not a cat lover, yet she would always say "yes" when asked to feed Maggie.  Deep down, I believe Nancy had a soft spot in her heart for my fabulous feline.

Several Christmases ago, Nancy bought Maggie delightful food and water dishes.  They were very Shabby Chic-esque and adorable.

This is just so thoughtful...

Because they were putting my sweet feline to sleep, the emergency animal clinic gave me an impression of her paws. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I sure am going to miss this fickle feline.

Sunday, May 4, 2013

It all started two days ago...
Maggie was breathing differently.  I can't quite describe how or why I knew that it was "different" ~ other than to say ~ it's like when your car doesn't run right.  You are the owner and know how your car normally sounds so when it sounds different, you know there's an issue.

I kept an eye on her on Friday evening. 

On Saturday, she kept to herself and stayed in the laundry room while I went out & about with Trudy.  Later in the day, Maggie let me rub her belly.  Normally this a death wish.  Remember: she's a cat.  Rubbing her belly is equivalent to giving someone a swirly.  You aren't going to be friends after either action.  I call it "cause & effect" ~ Rub the belly = prepare to die.

Sunday while Ging and I were at church and then out to lunch at Applebee's with the Farrell clan, Maggie managed to move from the laundry room to my bed.  We came home from church and found her resting on top of my fleece blanket.  Her breathing was much more labored.

Several phone calls later, we got in touch with the Emergency Animal Hospital off of Morsay Drive.  (Should you have a pet emergency and you live in Rockford....GO THERE!!!!  Their staff was compassionate and kind.)

They took Maggie back for some oxygen and had the vet check her out.  They reported she had fluid around her lungs which could be because of cancer, a rupture in her lymphatic system, heart failure and a third thing which I can't remember.  The fluid could be drained and studied....but it would be a reoccurring situation.  Every two to three weeks, we would be back. 

As heartbreaking as my decision was...I knew she had to be let go.  Maggie hates the car.  When I say "hates" I mean she loathes, despises, etc.  On the way to the vet, her motor ran the entire trip.  Ging chauffer-ed us and I rode in the backseat holding my beloved pet wrapped up in my sage green blanket.  (I am laughing about the "my" part because that blanket has always been Mags.  Never was it mine.)  I think Maggie knew this was IT...and she was purring to let me know that she was fully aware that because I loved her and calls her my own that she had truly lived the dream.  She knew she was spoiled.  She knew that goodbyes stink. 

With a broken heart, I said goodbye to my sweet pet.  She has been with me through several heartache...several joyous moments...  It's not the good vs. the bad...it's that she was there.

It's my fist morning without her....and I will be honest (because if you can't be honest on your own blog, well..that's just a cryin' shame as my suite mate from college would say).  I miss her. I miss that she would wake-me-up 4 minutes before my alarm would go off.  I miss her warm, chinchilla-like hair.  (The vet clinic asked, "Does she have long hair or short hair?" And Ginger said, "She's has chinchilla fur."

I know tomorrow will be easier...and every day the pain will lessen...  It just is rough today. 

Maggie

Hi friends.  Sad news....my sweet Maggie-feline is not feeling so well as of late.  Her motor purrs so I know she's happy...but she's not herself.  For example ~ she is now ok with tummy rubs...which of her 13 years, tummy rubs were an invitation to be bit...thus something I never ever did. 

Her heart rate is normal.  Her ears are up.  Her tail still whips around.

My finicky feline has been with me through thick and thin...that major heartbreak, losing a friendship, the move to Rockford, the heartbreaking ordeal, and so on & so forth.

I am going to miss her greatly.  Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I found it disheartening that Mags wasn't up on my bed sweetly slumbering next to me.  I do not think lifting her up and putting her on my bed would be the most comfortable location for her. For now, she is resting in my laundry room.  She seems content to be next to her water bowl while lounging on the spa bath mat.  {Yes, she is kind of a snob.}

I love this crazy feline!!!

I love Maggie and Maggie loves the papasan.

Not pleased...

I am currently reading 4 books.  I am not a multi-book reading kind of gal.  I prefer to give 100% to one book and read it cover-to-cover before jumping in to a second and / or third book.  Well, I must've gotten a bit crazy because I have 4 books all going at the same time.

Tonight I finished one of the four.  It was a wonderful story of a daughter being able to reconcile with her elderly father.  This book was moving and inspiring.  It left me with the notion that I need to tell people "I love you" and "I am sorry" more often than I do. 

In the end, the father leaves this weary world and goes to Heaven.  As I thought about the brevity of life, I am reminded that Christ's command to us is to love another.  And as the Sunday school concludes, "so that your joy may be FULL."

My apartment roomie ~ the finicky feline in my life ~ found great contentment in perching herself atop my quilt.  When I attempted to snap her picture, her disgust at my enjoyment over the impromptu photo-shoot was quite evident.  She looks sooooooo not pleased...

It's better than a heating blanket...

It's a LAP CAT!!!!

Maggie

Oh, to go through life without a care in the world.  My cat is living the dream.  She doesn't care that there are boxes everywhere and that we are relocating tomorrow and Saturday.   She is not troubled with the predicted Saturday weather forecast.  She only cares that we are in the same room and/or that she can hear me.

I would do well to adopt her mentality as far as knowing my Heavenly Father is in control.  No worries ~ I am only adopting THIS mentality.  I will not take to drinking directly from the faucet or biting others.