Toonces is rescued!!!

(moving from Montana back to Minnesota)

The short version of this story: Yesterday, I woke up and started crying. Hard. So sad to say goodbye to a cat that has moved with us to Montana, Nebraska, Alexandria and back to Minneapolis. He's been a faithful family mascot and we love him so much. So I cried. The ugly cry. The cry that has you staring at yourself in the bathroom mirror as you cry because you feel that sorry for yourself.

The morning moved along slowly. I filled out all of the paper work telling Toonces' next owners the important stuff like, "he loves water dripped on his back" and "he loves tiny wax paper balls to bat around on the hardwood floors." I ugly cried some more.

It was time to take him to the Humane Society, so we got his crate out. I loaded the diaper bag in the car and the paperwork. I was going in to get Ivar and told Rory we should call our next door neighbor to see if she wanted to say goodbye. I dialed, but then started crying too hard and handed the phone to Rory.

Our neighbor picked up and she and Rory discussed a new plan. You see, there are really only two other people in the whole wide world who love Toonces like we do. Alison our neighbor here in Minneapolis and Joan, our neighbor in Nebraska. (Both read this blog! Hi Ladies!) The rest of the world doesn't really care for our fat, shedding, vocal cat. But these two ladies do.

It's okay that others don't love Toonces. We wouldn't expect them to. We don't love other people's pets with the same love that we love Toonces, so it's okay.

But Alison loves Toonces. She really does and we can feel it. Sadly, her cat is ill and quite old for a cat, and she discussed with Rory that when her cat passes on, she would for real love to take Toonces. For real.

And that changed everything. Because our deadline was arbitrary. Obviously if we had been putting up with Toonces for 9 months, we can handle him a bit longer. We don't know if we'll have Toonces for another year or just another month. But just knowing that there is a loving lady who is ready to love and care for him made this whole story turn into a happy ending.

Not only that, we spent the day yesterday cleaning out a storage room in the basement and put all of Toonces things in there: food, litterbox, bed, pillows... There is a window and a high ledge and a shelf to sit on. And last night we put him in his new room and we could not hear a thing upstairs! Not a thing! He was meowing, but we couldn't hear him.

And the happiest ending to this story? Guess who slept through the night last night...11 hours?

Ivar Nicholas Groves.

Toonces needs a new home

Well, this is a sad post. And sort of a desperate plea, too. We have to find a new home for our beloved cat, Toonces. Over the last year he has developed a period of time in the morning and evening when he gets really vocal. He meows loudly wanting attention and if we don't give it to him immediately, he wakes Ivar up. Every time.

We've been putting this fact off since the day Ivar was born, trying to quiet him every possible way, but at some point the baby's sleep has to take priority.

It's so sad for us. Toonces is a snugly cat, loves to be brushed, so affectionate, fantastic with Ivar, and 95% of the time quietly looks out the window. It's that other 5% of the time that just doesn't work with a baby.

If we had a house that had a room where he could be kept at night, allowing us all to sleep in peace, this would be no problem. And, if we didn't have Ivar it wouldn't be that big of a deal either. All he wants is some love and affection. But that is harder to give with a little baby crawling around.
People who know Toonces (and love cats) love him. He's a people cat, loves chasing little wax paper balls, and likes to eat... which means there is a lot of him to love!

Anyway, if you or anyone you know is looking for a declawed, fully immunized, free cat and would make for a good loving home for Toonces, let me know. I'd be so relieved to know where he is going. Otherwise, he has an appointment on Wednesday with the Humane Society where they'll evaluate if they can keep him until he finds a new family.

Can't tell you how heavy my heart is and how sad I am. It's a terrible feeling to have to give your own pet away.

the three of us

Our good friend Shannon came over one morning in July...it was one of those horribly hot days that was sticky, muggy and so hot we thought we lived in the Bayou. She had a photo shoot with us and I am so happy we captured these shots. These pictures are Ivar pre-teeth and now he looks so different!

I adore the shots of just Ivar, especially the one with his legs all the way to his toes. Got to document those sweet feet! Thanks Shannon for a super fun morning, and for the happiness I found in opening the envelope from you yesterday with these beautiful pictures inside.

baby doll ivar

Ivar and I went to a garage sale yesterday and we found this little doll for a buck. It actually startled me at first looking so much like a frozen, smaller version of my son.

a library favorite

Ivar and I try to walk up to the library each week and I have another favorite I'd like to pass along. This is a sweet book told by a little girl explaining Alzheimers disease with the simplicity of a kid. It's a sweet story, talking about what is different about her grandma and also what is still the same.There is no more cruel disease than Alzheimers. I remember when my grandpa harrington was losing his memory and how terrible the year was when he was aware that he was losing his memory. It was actually a relief once he lost enough of his remembrances so that he didn't realize he was forgetting so much. In that terrible year I remember sitting in his room with him and having him speak some really powerful words over me, telling me that God would surely use my gifts in mighty ways. He wasn't really a tender man, so this conversation was stunning and precious to me. But in the blink of an eye he looked right at me and started shouting, "call the sheriff!" He was very agitated and kept repeating that there was someone in his room who needed to leave. And just as present as he was moments earlier, he was just as impassioned that I was no longer welcome.

This book put a lump in my throat. If you know of someone (and sadly, I think we all do) who is dealing with the sorrow of Alzheimer's in their family, this might be a good book to pick up. I used to work on the Memory Loss floor at the nursing home and thought they should get a copy of this book for that floor so that parents might have some way to discuss with their kids how grandpa's body is still alive, but why the person inside who made that body "grandpa" seems to have gone missing.

You can purchase and see more of the story of Still My Grandma, here.