First Christmas for lil Jack

Yoga kitty

Yoga-zen kitty. Enjoying the after glow...

Betty

Investigating the package...

In memory of My big sis

For the past few years I haven't been able to put a Christmas tree up. It's just always been too painful. Her favorite holiday and she's not here. I often wonder what life would be like if she was still here ... I miss her so deeply. 

Virginia this is for you. Merry Christmas. Truly wish you were here with me 

Sweet Oliver

Four years ago today I woke up to my kitty Oliver enduring fatal  health issue that would eventually end his life. Thankfully he didn't suffer long. The vet said they couldn't help him. He had lost the use of his back legs and his lungs were quickly filling with fluid. I can't remember the name of the condition, but it's similar to a stroke, and even if it occurs in a hospital they can't do much for the beloved pet. It was such a sad day. I miss him.

He was a sweet guy; when he wanted to be. We had a love hate relationship. If I was paying attention to him he would hiss and attack me. But when I came home at night I could here him jump from the bed to the floor and hop down the steps to greet me at the back door jumping up and rubbing my leg and purring. He would be hissing and growling at me one minute and curling up and purring with me the next. I miss his quirkiness. 

My daughter brought him home one night and he was instantly at home. He always had this attitude that he allowed us to live in his house. He had that attitude the rest of his life. He was a loner, and when I brought home two other kittens, or when my daughter brought her kittens over he got a real attitude. But he loved my kitty Betty. She was the only cat that could get near him. I even caught him sleeping near her one afternoon. When he didn't come home from the vet she knew something happened. She didn't allow us to touch her pick her up for a week. He was her buddy. She was heart broken. 

I still remember going to pick him up from the vet office. How heavy my heart felt, and the love the staff extended in their condolences.  I could see the sadness in their eyes too. They cared for him for most of his life and they knew his temperament and how loving he was on the flip side of it. 

We miss you Ol!! Thank you for bringing us such love and devotion. RIP sweet man. 

The first snow of the season

It's been a week of frigid temperatures some days dipping into the single digits with the windchill. So I figured the predicted storm would deliver
a lot of snow today. It began late in the afternoon. Driving home was a little slick it appeared to already be sticking. They protected the storm would come mostly during the late-night and early-morning hours. It started to snow late last night and continued until early this morning.

When I woke up the Jeep look like this:

First snow with the 1996 Orvis (for me). 

I had to do some digging to get the Nissan out. But the Orvis drove right over the snowdrifts. Was kind of fun to look at the expressions of people when I drove out instead of digging out. 

Listening to the news tonight they're predicting another snowstorm Tuesday! So my running schedule is truly suffering. Sometimes I really miss having my own treadmill as much as I despise them. **HEAVY SIGH**

Beat Santa 4 Miler in Old Orchard Beach

This morning on the way to Sebastian's birthday party I stopped to run the Beat Santa 4 mile race in old Orchard Beach.

Is a small race that I read about online and decided to stop by and run before heading up to Windham. 

I hadn't been in old Orchard Beach for a long time. It was freezing cold!!! I was not feeling my best. It started later in the morning than I'm used to. Finding my pace is a little difficult. It was a fun race though. A lot of people dressed up as elves with wings, and bells and fun tights with elf like shoe coverings. The kids that saw the elves running down the road were very excited and happy. Yelling and clapping and pointing them out to mom and dad. Most of the beach was closed down and deserted. Was a nice easy course. No major hills except for one at the start. Around the 3 mile mark I was starting to feel like I had no energy left. So it wasn't working out to be a stellar race for me. I was surprised when I saw the clock reading just under 37 minutes. A nine minute plus pace isn't bad for feeling as bad as I was. 

After the race I stuck around for a little while to warm up  and to see the results. The first page I had a look at was actually the awards page. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had placed third in my age group. This wasn't actually the first time that's happened, but the first time I stuck around to actually experience the thrill of it. For slow runner like me it's quite an accomplishment. Not everyone was as excited over my accomplishment as I was though…LOL

As you can see I am still quite chilly at the finish….