Saturday, April 30, 2016

BOWLING FOR THE KITTIES

My bowling team, "Paw Prints on Your Heart." 
Last Saturday, April 23rd, I participated in the Toronto Cat's Rescue's 12th Annual Bowl-A-Thon. I had heard about the event from a friend who volunteers with them and quickly decided to take part.

Rob and I usually pick one charity event a year to raise money for, along with the monthly donations we regularly give to organizations that are important to us. This year it was an easy decision to get involved with TCR's bowl-a-thon. It was held the same month as Meadow's passing last year, and seemed a great way to honor her. Meadow had a great life with us, and raising money to help other cats have a great life just seemed a good thing to do.

Toronto Cat Rescue is a registered charity and volunteer run organization. They help thousands of cats find homes every year. You can read more about them by clicking HERE.

I want to thank everyone who sponsored me, we helped TCR raise $25,000, and beat their goal! It's not too late to donate though, you can still sponsor me HERE until May 7th.

Below are a few pics from what was a great charity event. I love bowling, I love kitties, and I will always love Meadow, it was a win-win-win day!


Helping thousands of kitties every year.
Lots of prizes to be won.
Registration table, it was very organized, I like that.
Cat toys for sale, most of them home-made. We bought a few things for Merry & Molly.
Lots of merchandise to purchase.
I wore Meadow's leash for good luck, it worked, I won a prize and got a couple strikes and spares.
Going for a strike.
Success!!
My sister from another mother.

Shake those tails ladies.
A big Thank You to Jenn for organizing our team.
I was actually one of the top fund raisers, thanks to my sponsors and won a prize! I gave everyone on my team something, and some of the stuff I will be donating back to TCR. I saved a few things for Merry & Molly to enjoy.


Trying to decide what prize pack to pick.
New kitty bed and a bag of  other goodies.

    

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

A YEAR WITHOUT MEADOW

She loved the backyard, even on a leash. 
I've always believed that everything happens for a reason, even the crap. April 12th, 2015 was a hard day. It was the day we ended Meadow's suffering due to kidney cancer. The loss of Meadow was the hardest thing Rob and I have ever gone through as a couple, that may sound strange to some, but it's true. I loved Meadow, but Rob and her had a special bond, and I had been privy to it for over 11 years, so I knew how hard her loss was going to be on him. I grieved for me, but my heart was also aching for him.

The next few weeks were hard, but knowing that we did what was best for her helped us cope with the loss. I remember we kept her food dishes out for over a month, because neither one of us were ready to put them away. It was a comfort for us to see them in there spot. We talked about her when we needed to, we looked at loads of pics and shared memories of her. We talked about ways we could honor her. We decided our Christmas card for 2015 would be a pic of her, and we had a special Meadow calendar made for us.

Our 2015 Christmas card.
She was a princess.
We still talk about Meadow all the time, she's still a huge part of our lives, just not physically. We will always love her and she will always be a part of our lives. It was hard to let her go, but it was harder to see her suffer. Rob did a nice tribute blog to her today.

We had no plans to get another cat, I honestly didn't think we would have another fur baby in this house for a few years. We most certainly weren't thinking about any new additions on that day, but little did we know, that a couple weeks after Meadow's passing, a couple little kitties were being born that were going to need a new family after a rough start in the world. I couldn't stop thinking about these two little kittens, and so after being fur free for a little over 2 months, we brought them home and I like to think Meadow would be just fine with that.

Looking out the upstairs window.
No Meadow, we can't plant you, you are one of a kind.
At peace. 



Thursday, April 7, 2016

HELLO GOODBYE


On March 24th I flew to Alberta to spend a week with my brother and his family. The weather wasn't very good that day in Toronto, freezing rain, snow, and ice pellets. I kept checking the status of my flight and it kept saying "on time", so Rob drove me to the airport as planned. I got checked in, through security and boarded the plane for my 11:15am flight, all on time. We went through the pre take off  instructions, and then we waited, and we waited and we waited some more. We sat on the tarmac for 3.5 hours before finally taking off for our 4.5 hour flight. We were told a lot of grounds workers had called-in due to the weather, and it delayed the luggage being loaded and there was also the wait for deicing.  Eight hours on the plane was going to come back to haunt me soon, but at the time I was just happy to finally land in Alberta.

I wish I had a picture of my welcoming party waiting for me when I finally landed. I was never so happy to get off a plane in my life. But seeing the joy in my sister in-law's face and my two nieces when I finally walked through those doors made it all worth it, and I know my face lit up like a Christmas tree upon seeing them as well.

The next three days with my brother and his family were great. We celebrated Easter and my oldest niece, Ashlee, had her 16th birthday while I was there as well.  

I woke up on the Monday not feeling so great, and spent the remainder of the trip resting at my brothers. I landed in Toronto late last Wednesday, and have been home recovering from an respiratory infection for the past week. I've spent a lot of the last week not only feeling sick, but feeling sorry for myself as well. How dare I get sick on my vacation, and while I am visiting family I only see once a year, not fair!!! We didn't get to do all the things we had planned to do while I was there, nor did Rob and I get to have a great long weekend together after I got back, all because I got sick.

It took a TV show to end my pity party. I'm still recovering from my illness, but at least I'm not feeling sorry for myself as well.

When I first heard about CBC's TV show, "Hello Goodbye", I knew I would love it. I've always enjoyed watching the coming and goings of people at the airport. This show is about just that, people in arrivals and departures. I've been watching season one while I've been home recovering. I haven't watched a show yet that hasn't moved me to tears, both happy and sad. I will never look at people in the airport the same way again, they all have a story to tell.

Watching other peoples stories made me appreciate mine. Opportunities, circumstances and life in general has me living far away from my family, any time I get to spend with them is precious. Sure it sucks that I got sick, but at least I had those 3 great days with them before hand. I had some awesome belly laughs with my sister in-law, celebrated my nieces 16th birthday with her, watched my nieces hunt for Easter eggs and made new memories with them all.

My brother was working when my plane landed which was why he wasn't at the airport to greet me, and he was also working the day I left, but he made sure to make a quick stop at the house to give me a goodbye hug, tell me he loved me, and also to tell me I was the "greatest Aunt ever", before I left. Highest praise possible to receive from him.

Sandy (sister in-law) and the girls drove me to the airport for my afternoon flight home, and as always, I never let anyone come into the airport when I am leaving. I don't like the "goodbye" part of visiting family, the hello's at the beginning are much more fun.