Date days with the hubby!

Many of my friends know, Gene and I are extreme opposites on every level. That's not a bad thing in any way; it just means it's harder for us to find something we both want to do and can enjoy time together. His perfect day is spent inside working on projects on the computer. Maybe it's programming, playing a video game, or studying - but it's definitely inside and revolves around finding ways to advance himself and not spending money. Me, on the other hand, I am always ready to go, looking for an adventure, day trips, or some fun activity to do, a little less worried about saving.

At any rate, a few weeks ago we had planned to go to Knoebels with friends on a Friday. However, the weather decided to not cooperate and called for rain ALL day. After all but 1 friend cancelled, we decided to stay home. He worked on computer stuff, and I had a movie

day with Rachael. Still a great day off from work. We had both been looking forward to walking around Knoebel's, so we decided to go on Sunday instead. The weather was iffy, but we figured we should go for it; if need be, we would just go home. It ended up being perfect - no rain, not too hot. We rode a few rides, got some drinks/food, had great conversation, and then went home. The perfect ending to our day was seeing the newest Deadpool movie. We hadn't gone to the movies in over a year, so that alone was a nice treat.

I don't typically like Marvel movies, but for some reason I LOVE Deadpool. It was a great movie. It truly is a movie that is rated R for a good reason, so if you are the right age, check it out. It's something I want to rewatch as there are some hidden jokes that I missed the first time!

We did go back to Knoebels a second time, which ended up being a day of double dates. Before we met up with anyone, we just walked around, got a drink, and enjoyed the cool morning. First, we met our neighbors' daughter and her boyfriend. I ran to meet them as they were next in line for a roller coaster, leaving Gene at the exit to wait for us. The four of us continued to walk and get on rides, with Gene being the bag holder, patiently waiting for us at the end of each ride. It was great to catch up with them; O is leaving for college, and A is a senior in high school. Lots of big changes are coming their way.

We leave them to enjoy the rest of their day and meet up with Janine and Nick - who are finishing up their lunch. Gene and Nick chat about programming, Janine and I chat about a bunch of different stuff. We head off to hit more rides where Gene once again patiently waits for us to get off the rides. The weather forecast kept saying chance of rain, but no rain actually happened at the park. We are in line for a trackless coaster - one of my favorite rides, when there's literally one flash of lightning. We are pretty much at the front of the line when they say due to the weather they are shutting down the ride, we all have to go back and get our ride tickets back since we can't ride. What a bummer! We take that time to get a snack and ride some other rides that don't get shut down.

Overall, the double date day was fun all around. Good conversations, great company, and lots of fun. Gene even got on one ride because he said people were giving him weird looks when he was waiting for us on the last ride. My favorite part of both our days at Knoebel's - the car ride! We have great conversations in the car with no distractions. Sometimes they get heated - hello politics. I love that we can pass the time in the car chatting, and it's a quality conversation not just about how our day was.

We do have another date day planned - a day at the beach. It's just a day trip, we both have different things we want to do. Me - sit on the beach and read, maybe walk and find shells. Him - walk the boardwalk, get pizza and browse the shops. Here's to another great day spent with my husband, as we are finding things to do together!

Til our tails cross again,

Mel

Cats Rule & Dogs Drool

How much truth is there to the statement Cats Rule & Dogs Drool? While dogs are notorious for drool and sloppy drinking habits, cats are far from being drooler's and sloppy drinkers. Most of the time that is. I have been doing lots of pet sitting and over night stays with dogs. This has been a reminder of just how different they are from the cats with eating and drinking.

I house-sit for quite a few dogs, and honestly, none of them are really big on drooling. They are just really messy with the water bowl - either slurping and then walking away with their mouths open but still full of water, so it's dripping everywhere. Just last week, Blu, a little Frenchie, was blowing bubbles in her water dish. We took her for a walk and had a dish of water that she would stick her whole nose into (practically up to her eyeballs!) and blow bubbles. She would walk away and then come back for her official drink of water. I'm not quite sure what that's about, but honestly, it is the most adorable thing ever!

I sit for Scout - a German Shepherd that I love. She is protective, adorable, and big. She is a very messy drinker. Starting with - she prefers the toilet bowl water over her fresh, clean bowl of water. I guess the toilet water is always nice and cool! But that being said, there is absolutely a line of water drops from the toilet to wherever she lands in the house - on the couch, sprawled on the floor, or upstairs in bed. Thank God it's clean water!

As for the cats in my life - they are absolutely more finicky about drinking. Cats are notorious for running more on the dehydrated side of life. Just my cats alone, have 8 water bowls available at all times to them. All of them different sizes and shapes - three of them are "moving" water, the rest flat water in different sizes/shapes of containers. By far they prefer the moving water. We created a bubbling water fountain for them that most of them prefer. The bubble piece is a smooth piece of ceramic so it keeps the water cooler than just a dish of water and it keeps the water flowing. They are most drawn to the very top where the water literally bubbles and then falls as a thin layer down the rounded ball. Double win in their book for water drinking. Sometimes for a little added entertainment they will dip their paws in the water, make little waves and then have a drink. Occasionally if a toilet seat gets left up, they inspect - getting toilet water on their noses and paws and tracking it everywhere while looking for some nose bumps.

Back to the finicky water drinking - put a cat and dog side by side while they drink, hands down a dog will ingest more water in the same amount of time than a cat will. Not so

shocking, especially because cats are very particular about not getting overly wet when drinking, taking little sips all the time. On occasion, my cats like to "water" their toys and I'll find them floating in the water bowls. They haven't done that since I added a moving whale to one of the bowls. It has the ability to move around, but I just leave it floating in the bowl. No more picking out soggy cloth toys from the drinking bowl. I have yet to see a dog water his toy in such a manner.

Cats may rule the world, but some do drool - take Roughy for instance. The right amount of attention in the right setting and he drools enough to leave a wet spot under his chin. None of my others have picked up drooling yet. But the potential is out there.

Dogs absolutely drool - given all the right circumstances, but in no way can you say Dogs Rule and Drool! Dogs just don't rule like cats do; they certainly lack the attitude that is natural to cats. Dogs rule in a more cute & innocent way. I'm more likely to sneak treats to a dog than a cat because dogs will eat just about anything. Meanwhile, the cats will turn their nose up if the treat isn't the right flavor, shape, brand, or the timing for a treat is wrong.

Leading me to - yep, cats are finicky about food. It takes twice as long to feed a cat and give them medicine if it must be taken with food or mixed in. While dogs, you can put their pills in cheese, a pill pocket, covered in peanut butter, and they have no idea you just medicated them. Cats absolutely know if you added meds to their food or a treat. Mix meds into a dog's food, they still eat their meal in 2.5 seconds. Mix meds into a cat's food 30 minutes later, and you're still walking behind them coaxing them to eat the last of the medication/food mix. This became blatantly obvious this week while doing cat drop-in visits. In the time it took me to scoop litter and handwash cat plates, the medicated food was still being eaten, very slowly.

Cats Rule, sometimes Drool.

Dogs Drool, sometimes Rule.

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

Dreams & Nightmares

Not everyone has them. If you do have them, maybe you remember them when you wake up, maybe you don't. Superstition says that telling your dreams to people is bad luck. Yet there is a belief that the more you talk about your dream, the more likely it is to happen. I'm not sure I fully believe it's bad luck to tell your dreams. For some reason, I seem to remember hearing, "Tell your dream so it doesn't happen."

There are some psychologists who say that dreams reflect our worries, fears, desires, and things like that, which in some ways makes absolute sense. Especially if you're not one to take in all of the things around you. Sometimes we need a nudge to see what's going on. Maybe that comes in the form of a dream or nightmare.

Generally speaking, I don't have dreams or nightmares, but when I do, they are very strong and generally wake me up to the point of no more sleep to be had. The number of times that has happened could be counted on one hand. I guess I don't fall into the deep sleep that is required for dreams, as a tosser, turner, and being up every hour on the hour, there isn't much time to let dreams run.

Surprisingly, a few months ago, I had a dream that woke me from a deep sleep (for once, getting a good sleep, ruined by a nightmare!). I say nightmare because it truly was something I would never want to happen. Needless to say, immediately upon waking up, I woke up Gene and told him about the dream. He brushed off my dream as nothing (to the point that months later he doesn't remember me telling him).

What was this nightmare? It's summer in real life, but in my dream, it's winter, with snow on the ground and very cold. (My ideal weather!) Clearly, this dream is set at my current house. In the backyard where this takes place, everything is just how my yard is set up now - all covered in pretty snow. I'm on the sunporch because I realize two of my cats have gotten into the yard. None of my cats go outdoors, so I'm desperately trying to get them in out of the snow and cold. Peppermint, my tuxedo cat who was the matriarch of our cat family, refused to come in. Instead, she pranced her way along the shed and down the alley. No amount of calling, coaxing, treats, or anything would get her to come back.

Following closely in her footsteps is Rollie, a Siamese, another of my senior cats. There's a moment of debate in Rollie's mind - follow Peppermint or come inside with me back to warmth and food. Rollie comes in with me, while Peppermint looks back at us but keeps on moving. I'm happy Rollie came in, but baffled why Peppermint wouldn't. Then I wake up - in a panic, crying, realizing it was a dream/nightmare. Peppermint crossed the rainbow bridge last year, so I'm trying to make sense of this dream. The only thing I could come up with seemed far-fetched, but nonetheless, it was all that made sense. Peppermint was telling me Rollie was sick, her time was coming, and Peppermint was ready to guide her.

I know, crazy, absolutely crazy. There's no way that could possibly be. So like any crazy person, I called the vet at 7:20 am (they open at 7) after fighting with myself that I was absolutely crazy and that no, I wasn't. What could the vet do for me? Confirm some facts from Rollie's last visit. The receptionist answers (someone who always has a smile, ready to help and a shoulder to lean on). I say I just need to know a few things about Rollie's last visit, then I'll tell you why and you can call me crazy. We both laugh, I say I'm definitely having a rough morning.

My questions: When was Rollie in (not too long ago, she's current on her shots), did we do bloodwork (we did), how did the results look (they go over them with me when we get them back, but confirmed nothing to worry about). So I say, "Boy, what a relief," but now why am I frantically looking for those answers? Because of the above-mentioned dream where Peppermint is coaxing Rollie to follow her. I tell this all to the receptionist and she says: nope you're fine! It's just peppermint saying you're doing a good job taking care of the rest of the cats.

I go on about my day after we laugh about the dream. What a relief that Rollie is up to date with everything and shows no signs of anything to keep an eye on. Life should go back to normal at this point, right? Wrong, not with 12 cats. Instead, we end up at the annual visit time for the Siamese cats (Rollie and Smokey). Rollie gets sick a week before her scheduled visit, so I take her in for an emergency visit. The next week, Smokey goes in for her visit. They both get updated on shots and bloodwork. Rollie has lost some weight, but not enough to be alarmingly concerning.

We received results for both of them - Kidney Disease. I probably shed a few tears over this before the panic set in. Now we have two cats that need a special diet, supplements, etc. Gene and I are maxed out on time to dole out meds, prescription food is expensive. We free feed, how am I going to make this work.

Just as I feel like I'm getting the kidney disease situation sorted out (including putting 11 cats on prescription food), Rollie gets a "cold," or so we thought, followed by her eye being mostly closed. Two more emergency vet visits for her led to the diagnosis of a tumor/cancer.

While all that is going on, all I keep thinking is Peppermint tried to tell me. She showed up in a dream, and I tried my best to make sure all was well with Rollie. The thing with Cancer/Tumors is that they can go undetected, with no symptoms, and then it's a full-blown thing. So yes, I followed up with my vet, they double-checked the blood work for me, and did everything they should have. I did everything I could, but still, we missed the tumor.

So, do dreams come true if you tell someone? This time, it absolutely did. Do I sound like a crazy person? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I would do all that again.

In addition to that, I wear a Fitbit every day. I NEVER hit my "zone" workout. I literally have to be out hiking to make that happen. So imagine my shock when, sitting on the floor at the vet's office holding Rollie, she's taking her last breath and my Fitbit goes off saying I hit my "Zone" workout. I almost died right there. Gene chalked it up to me knowing Rollie took her last breath and I was so worked up. My friend Barb said, maybe it was Peppermint saying she was there and is showing Rollie the way. I am more inclined to believe Barb. It aligns with the dream, as wacky and crazy as it may be. But Peppermint and I were soul mates so it makes sense that she is still attached to me in some way, even if it's unrealistic.

Hug your fur kids a little closer today, take pictures of them all the time. Cherish the good times, laugh at the bad times, and enjoy every minute with them!

Till our tails cross,

Mel