Isn't it easy to see why I loved him so much?

BH was rummaging around through some old photo files he had on his computer and ran across this oldie but goodie of me holding Earl.

If you could only understand the EXTREME purring and snorgling that was going on when this photo was taken, then you'd begin to understand how much fun it was to just cuddle with this big ol' tub of love.

It's been nine months since I had to say goodbye to that sweet boy, and I still miss him like it was yesterday.

Best kitteh evar.

Y'all...

...I am really, really, seriously missing my boy.

DUDES!!

I am so FUCKING ready for this weekend, I can't even begin to tell you.

In short, the past three weeks have sucked donkey. Big time. Most of the suckage has had to do with work. But the remainder of the suckage has had to do with the whole Earl dying thing. And then, if that weren't enough suckage, it has been compounded by the extreme money hemorrhaging that's been going on between wedding preparations and the whole sick/dying cat fiasco.

But, on the bright side, the weather if freakin' amazing, I'm taking tomorrow and Monday off, and I discovered this never-before-posted video of Earl on my hard drive today:


And also, I went and treated myself to a brand new 120 GB iPod classic today. Yes, I'm poor, but like any good American, I've still got credit. Whoot!!

The reason I'm taking a long weekend this weekend is because a) I TOTALLY deserve it after how hard I've been working lately and b) it's my weekend-long bachelorette shindig!! That's right--my awesome friends (most of whom are featured in the blogroll over on the right) have rented a big ass house out at the lake for the ENTIRE weekend so that we can chill, imbibe, laugh, and relax. God, I need it.

So the next time you hear from me, I'll probably be moaning about how worn out I am from the weekend. But I'm sure it will be absolutely worth it.

In Memoriam

First of all, thank each one of you who commented on my posts about Earl or sent me e-mails with condolences when you read that he was no longer with me. I honestly can’t begin to tell you how much that meant to me. Second, I learned something in some of your comments. I learned that my silly love affair with my sweet, chubby kitteh had affected some of you in a positive way. Badger, for instance. She never actually had the pleasure of meeting The Great Purring One, and yet she referred to him in conversation as the only cat she’d ever liked. That, my friends, is saying something. And there are those of you who found my posts about or photos of him funny or touching and, because of that, you ended up liking him too, even though you’d never had him perch on your chest and look at you with lurve in his big, green eyes. Of course there are my friends who WERE lucky enough to encounter this sweet, gentle soul and who were—without exception—charmed silly by his personality, often in spite of themselves. He was like that big, loveable guy in high school we all knew that never met a stranger and never had an enemy. The guy that made everyone he met happier than they were before he’d come into their lives.

My story of Earl, for those of you who don’t know it, is the following: Within weeks of my first husband up and leaving me after nine whole months of marriage, this ugly little kitten—the product of two frequently-fornicating strays we’d been feeding—showed up in our garage. I say “ugly” because I’d never found orange (or “ginger” as they’re sometimes called) cats particularly appealing. Plus, he had ENORMOUS paws that were totally out-of-proportion with the rest of his wee self and he purred entirely too much and too loudly, in my opinion. Although his moocher parents were skittish, this little guy didn’t have an ounce of fear in his tiny body, and walked right up to me the first time we met while his ma and pa bolted away. I scooped him up, he turned on that motor, and the rest—as they say—is history.

I wasn’t looking for a new pet. I had the grand dame, Ellen, who was around 10 at the time, and I was about to say a heartbreaking good-bye to the Siberian Husky my soon-to-be-ex was taking with him. So a kitten was not something I wanted or needed. Or so I thought…

But he quickly moved into my world—much to Ellen’s dismay—and forced me to care for something small and helpless. He snuggled with me in a way that Ellen had never deigned to do (she was nothing if not uppity), and made me laugh with his goofy antics every single day. His kittenish charm never left him, no matter how enormous he got, and that motor of his did not stop running until—literally—the last beat of his big, sweet heart.

It may sound corny, but I am convinced that Earl was an angel, sent to help heal my shattered heart, just when I felt my most lost and alone. And now, mere weeks away from marrying the man of my dreams, he left to go continue his heart-healing work with someone who simply needs him now more than I do.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of him—some you may have seen before, some that I’ve never posted. Please enjoy. One of these days, I will have another B.O.C. (Big Orange Cat, for those of you who haven’t yet been indoctrinated into this fervent cult)—you can count on that. But I will never, ever have another Earl.

A Very Good Boy.

Night night, little fat man.

Earl

June-ish, 2001 - October 11, 2008

Cancer fucking sucks.

It's cancer.

High grade lymphosarcoma of the intestine. I'm just stunned and sad and freaked the fuck out. He's my sweet baby, handsome mama's boy, my little fatty snuggle partner. He can't be sick. He just can't.

But he is.

Update/explanation about Earl

Sigh. God. Where do I begin...

A couple of weeks ago, Earl basically stopped eating. And you've seen pictures of him, right? Clearly this is an animal who enjoys eating. Anyway, I sort of chalked it up to the prescription diet food that our vet had put him on after his last visit. But then he started barfing, almost daily. Cats can be barfy, but Earl hasn't really ever been, so this started to concern me. Well, after this went on for several days, I started to get concerned. I took him to the vet last Thursday to get checked out. They did a through exam and work up on him (including X-rays and blood and urine tests), but couldn't figure anything out. He wasn't running a fever, but he was a bit dehydrated, and he did act like his abdomen hurt him a wee bit during the exam. But that was it. So they sent us home a couple of hundred dollars later with some antibiotics, and told me that if he didn't start eating/drinking in the next day or so, to bring him back in.

Next day: Friday. I ended up going out for the Karlabration--and after the hella week I'd had--ended up getting TANKED and spent the night in Karla's extra bed at the Omni. Next morning when I got home, I discovered that Earl hadn't eaten and had, once again, vomited.

I called our vet, who is open for part of the day on Saturdays, and took him in. They re-examined him, but then sent me to the emergency animal clinic with Earl's records so that he could be tended to there (since they were closing and didn't have the staff to do an ultrasound on him). So, off we go to the emergency clinic. And we wait. And wait. And wait. And finally we get sent back to an exam room. And wait. And wait some more. Finally the vet comes in and examines him, and looks over the papers and notes we'd come with. During the exam of Earl's (rather substantial) abdomen, the doctor says, "I feel something in there." He performed an ultrasound and, bingo, there was "something that shouldn't be there" in Earl's intestines. The doctor recommended, that since this had been going on for some days and Earl was getting dangerously dehydrated, that they should go in and do an exploratory surgery to figure out what the suspicious something was. I signed the consent forms, kissed Earl good-bye, and went out and bawled in my car in the parking lot.

They finally performed the surgery late Saturday night, when Earl had received enough IV fluids to be rehydrated, and the doctor called me to give me the report at 12:45am: They'd found a section of his intestine where the intestinal wall was swollen and enlarged, clogging the intestine itself up. So he'd removed this section and then sewed the intestine back together, and finished the operation. From what he'd seen, he said he couldn't tell what it was, but that the lymph nodes in that area looked unusual, so it might be lymphoma or a leiomysarcoma that, hopefully, had not had a chance to metasticize. But all of this is conjecture pending the pathology report.

Sunday, Geej and I went to visit Earl at the emergency clinic. He didn't lift his head, but he purred and made biscuits as we petted him. He still wouldn't eat, however.

Monday, I had to go get him from the emergency clinic by 6:30a.m. then transfer him to our regular vet for continuing care. The bill at the emergency clinic? $2,100 and change. Dropped him off at our vet's office, and he decided not to eat or drink all day long. So they asked me to come and get him so that he could go home to a less stressful environment so that he might be encouraged to eat. But before we left, we gave them $340 more.

Went home, and tried everything I knew of to interest him in food, but with no luck. He did seem happy to be there and got some much needed rest. And he went poop, which is a positive thing. This morning, however, his poor paw on the arm where his IV catheter is was swollen to almost three times its normal size. Poor baby!! And he'd thrown up during the night. Sigh.

So I dropped him off at the vet again this morning for some more care and administration of "appetite stimulators", and will be going back to take him home with me this afternoon. After I lay down my credit card once again.

He's such a healthy cat, that it's just killing me to see him down like this. Plus, I still don't know what the results of the pathology are, and if it's cancer, I'm going to fucking lose it. Seriously.

Thanks for your notes letting me know you're thinking of us. I really do appreciate it. And I'm sure that if he could, Earl would give you a big ol' head bunk to show his thanks as well.

I'll let you know what happens next.

Something to keep you entertained.

I have had the most awesome awful stressful fun exhausting tear-filled expensive weekend in a long time. I will write about it soon. I promise. However, it's currently 11:35pm, and I've got at least an hour's worth of work staring me in the face AND I have to get up at 5:20am tomorrow because I've got to transfer my cat from the weekend emergency vet clinic to his regular vet clinic by 7:00am.

So, instead, I'll leave you with this:

What the Geej would look like if she'd been a high school senior in 1994.

You can make one too--you pick the decade and the year--by going here. Now, have fun with that, and I'll be back soon.

Signs of autumn.

Well, we've FINALLY gotten a wee bit of relief from the heat and humidity that has dominated this summer. The past couple of days have been glorious--with highs in the low 80s, very little humidity, and lows in the upper 50s. Usually this first little taste of cooler weather is followed by a brutal bitch slap of hot misery, so I'm bracing myself for that.


However, there has been one positive sign that perhaps fall is here to stay. Much like Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day fame, Austin has its own weather-predicting mammal--Lard Ass Earl. And yesterday, September 16th, he sleepily showed his belly, meaning we're in for an early fall.

Or maybe he was just in the mood to air out his junk. It's really hard to say.

Oh lordy. What have I done?

Y'all I just registered for a 3-day Basic Motorcycle Riding Skills class that will take place the first weekend in October. Holy crap. I'm already scared.

In other news, The Geej and I got to hang out with my friend Kristen and her son Graham last night. I think the Geej may have met her match in Mr. Graham. She's usually the bossiest boss in the room--especially when it comes to younger kids. However, Mr. Graham held his own and let hew know who was boss in HIS house. Too funny, really.

While we were there, Kristen showed us this amazing tray she found at a thrift store. It's called "Beach Bunnies" in case you were wondering, and it was on sale for half-off of 95 cents. SCORE! I am very jealous.

Then when I got home, THIS was happening:Just laying there, showing off his creamy twinkie-like center. Of course I buried my face in there and snorgled him mercilessly.

That's pretty much all that's happened around here lately. That, and lots and lots of sweating because it's been BRUTALLY hot. That tropical storm "Eduoard" that the news channels got so excited about was supposed to bring us some rain and some relief, but all it brought was some wicked humidity, which is SO pleasant when it's 102 outside. Blech.

Speaking of "blech," I must say how horribly disappointed I am in John Edwards. I really liked him and thought he was a smart guy. I can't believe he couldn't keep it in his pants. Shame on him. And what does it say about the state of the world that this career-ending story was broken by The National Enquirer? Pitiful.

I call this shot, "Shockingly Worthless."

Yep, this is pretty much what he does. All day. When he's not eating, that is. Lucky bastard...

This happens pretty much every morning.

She wanders into our room and crawls in bed. Sometimes she doesn't fall back asleep (usually on Saturdays and Sundays, of course), most days she does. When it comes time to actually wake up and get out of bed, she stalls by snuggling with him. He purrs LOUDLY and loves it. I love it too. One of these days, she will dwarf him. Right now, they're still pretty even in size.

In her left hand? Her baby bath toy "Elephant" that she's slept with since Russia. She's getting so damn big (did I tell y'all she's insisting on taking showers now?! SHOWERS!!), so I love these little remnants of her babyhood.

Hey! Remember me?

I've got a lot to write about, so I'm going to skip the usual mea culpas about not blogging b/c I've been so freakin' busy, and get right to it.

What's happened recently:

Work is going at Mach 5. No, really. I mean it. Cuh-rayzee-go-nuts.

Last week was the big conference in San Antonio, and it went well. The second night I was there, a big group of us gathered in one of the attendee's room to play Rock Band. Yes, he'd brought all the gear with him from home, and with the 46" flat screen high def t.v. action, it was THE BOMB. I've never gotten to play Rock Band before, and for those of you who know how much I love to "perform," it was a game custom made for me. I tore UP the vocals on "Limelight" by Rush and "Creep" by Radiohead. Can't say I did so well on "Mississippi Queen" (whoever that's by). And I only tried to play an "instrument" once. It was the drums, and it was...well...sad. I also tried my hand at Dance Dance Revolution, and then decided (wisely) that it was time for bed.

I tried to take the day off last Friday, but that didn't work out so well. After dropping Geej off at school, I went to yoga (nice), but then I made the mistake of checking my work e-mail when I got home, and 4 1/2 hours and one conference call later, I realized my "day off" was toast. Sigh.

Last weekend the weather was INSANELY beautiful, which is one of the reasons we chose to take the Geej to the Austin Nature and Science Center--our first time there. I really enjoyed it, and want to go back again and explore the trails, but for our first venture, just looking at the rescued animals and digging in the sand were okay by us.

Monday it was back to the office. Monday was not a good day. In fact, it sucked. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice it to say, I wasn't a very happy camper. Tuesday was worse, and the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I'd made arrangements with BH to pick up The Geej after school so I could go to a 6pm yoga class. Well, work dragged on, and I got out of there later than I wanted to, and then traffic sucked more than normal and--you guessed it--I missed the yoga class. So I went home and immediately made a martini. And then another. I also decided that part of what was frustrating me was that there was no end in sight from the business and suckiness at work. I had no vacation or break of any kind scheduled to look forward to. So I forced BH to humor me and we booked a long weekend trip to the beach in April. Yay!! I wrote it on my calendar, IN PEN.

Wednesday was better, even if I was a bit tired (and a tad hungover). After I picked Geej up from school, I took her for a much needed haircut (she was beginning to look like one of The Ramones), and OMFG does she ever look cute--a stacked bob, short in the back, slanting down to her chin, which is perfect for her super-straight hair. And it makes her look SO much older. Sigh... I just can't believe how big she is when I look at her sometimes. Yesterday when we walked out of Birds was one of those times.

Also on Wednesday night, I discovered this in the kitchen: He was just sitting there, letting the water drip on his big ol' head, purring his big ol'ass off. I swear the boy ain't right.

Tonight, BH discovered this at our friendly neighborhood Spec's:

Ladies and Gentlemen, would you like Sum Poosie?
This wonderful concoction--that the world was absolutely thirsting for--originates from Florida, birthplace of Hooter's and alligator jerky. PLEASE check out their website and the two Grande Douchebags that started this little endeavor. I guess my favorite part of the website is the "Client Testimonial" on the homepage from Mike in L.A.: "Aside from being a great beverage, the name just couldn't be any cooler! I love to see the look on people's faces when I ask for 'SumPoosie'. It's a great party drink and conversation maker plus the girls love it!" Here's a tip for you Mike: These girls who "love" it when you ask for Sum Poosie should TOTALLY try and become one of their "Bottle Models." Then they could appear on a can like this classy 5' 4", 125 lb. gal from Ft. Lauderdale: "Yeah Mom! My modeling career is really taking off!! I'm the latest Bottle Model for 'Sum Poosie!' Aren't you THRILLED?!"

Lee, I'm TOTALLY buying you a case of this stuff.

I probably won't be posting for another couple of days. My friend Lisa and her baby boy Henry (Geej calls him "Him-oh-wee" and is TOTALLY obsessed with him) are coming to visit, AND I'm going to see Ghostland Observatory, AND the Texas Independence Day parade is on Saturday AND the Zilker Kite Festival is on Sunday, AND I'm going to see Built to Spill. So yeah...busy times around Casa Karla May.

More soon.

Really?

I haven't posted since Thursday? Day-um. What a blur, y'all.

So I picked up my car Friday evening (specifically, at 6:01pm--they close at 6:00--and I had to call and plead with them to stay open so that I could get my car) to the tune of $500+. Happy birthday to me, right? Most of that was for "labor" as they tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with the damn thing. Apparently they even had to call Nissan to help them diagnose. Ultimately it had something to do with some electrical connections to the engine coming a-loose (thank YOU Appaliachain kinfolk!), so they had to disconnect, reground, clean, and reconnect everything to make sure they'd remedied the problem. Oh, and I had some rear brake work done while I was there. Car trouble...gotta love it. I did all I could to get Geej fed, bathed and bedded before I myself got in the bed and cratered at 9:30pm. Yep: I'm totally thirty nine.

Saturday it was LOVELY outside. Geej, BH and I ran some errands (including getting my NASTY car washed), had some lunch, and did a bunch of chores around the house. About 4:30, Dah was on the scene so that BH and I could go have dinner with his mom and stepdad. We went out to the Lakeway resort, which I haven't visited since around 2000. They were staying there and treated us to dinner. The place was practically deserted, which must be why they got a room with a balcony facing the lake for only $116/night. Like I said, the weather was GREAT, so they really lucked out. After dinner, we came back in town and went to Deb and John's annual bowling birthday throw-down at Westgate, which is a stone's throw from mi casa. It was fun! And, as usual, I SUCKED. I mean, just because I arrive on the scene with my own ball/bag/shoes, people expect me to be good or something. But no: I suck. I bowled a 54, y'all! See? I SUCK!!

Sunday, both BH and I were dragging a bit due to the late-ish night and the drinking of much wine/beer. It was another lovely--and unseasonably warm--day, so we just hung out with the Geej and did a whole lot of nothing.

This morning, bright and early, Dah and her neighbor Nadine showed up so that I could take them to the airport. You see, Nadine won a week-long "all expenses paid" trip to Cancun at some raffle, and Dah is tagging along as her guest. All she had to pay for was airfare. She's never been to Cancun, and I think she'll like it. But a week? With a somewhat crochety neighbor in her upper 70s? Yeah... I expect to hear some complaints. By me taking her to the airport, however, I was able to secure the use of her car. Why? Because I decided to go ahead and get some cosmetic body work done on mine--I mean shit, if I'm in for $500+ already this month, I should just dive on in to the poo pool and immerse myself, yes? But seriously, I had 1 significant ding, 1 significant dent (from me running into a dumpster), and a bevy of scratches I wanted buffed out. The first place gave me an estimate of fourteen-hundred-freakin'-dollars! What?! Second place as about half that. Guess who I went with? So I've got Dah's wheels to get me around until they're finished doing cosmetic surgery on my car.

Geej's school was closed today (teacher work day), so she went to gymnastics camp for most of the day. She takes gymnastics at school as an "extracurricular" on Mondays anyway, and this same group who teaches gymnastics at the shool offers a half-, 2/3, or all-day "camp" when school's not in session. A lot of her little friends from school go, so I thought she might like it too, and guess what: she LOVED it. I went and got her at 3:00pm, and she told me tonight when I was putting her to bed that she "wanted to stay until five firty." Wow. I'm so happy she dug it so much! But when she got home, she was pretty wiped. So was Earl apparently, but for no real reason other than the fact that he's a fat, lazy slob.

I'm making progress on my epic "To Do" list, by the way. At least I don't feel like I'm drowning anymore (which is saying something). Back with you soon, people.

This is seriously getting out of hand.

I know I've written before about the blossoming love affair between Earl and BH. But y'all...I'm at a loss:

I mean, come ON! Would you look at the self-satisfied look on that damn cat's face?! I clearly do not matter to either of them anymore. Sigh...

One of the very best things about Earl...

...is that he absolutely does NOT care when you do silly crap like this to him.

In fact, he just sits there and purrs. I also love the nonchalant curlitude of his tail.

I said I wanted pepperoni on this!

At least they got the "creamy white filling" right with my order.

At what point do I become jealous?

Earl has become incredibly enamored with BH.

He enjoys whatever BH is reading.

He approves of BH's choice in footwear.

He also enjoys/approves of BH's actual feet.

He likes to snuggle with BH, either underneath a blanket (you can see a wee bit of BH's jeans and shirt in this shot).

Or even if it's on TOP of a blanket (you can see a wee bit of BH's face at the top of this one).

Clearly, he is no longer just MY cat. Nor is BH solely MY man.

Sigh.

Learning to share is hard.

Holiday Recap.

I love it when Christmas is low-key and manageable. That's how it was this year. I spent a great deal of time prepping and cooking, which was actually very enjoyable. Here's what I made:

Chrismas Eve
Polenta Gratin with Mushrooms and Fontina
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Green Salad with Pears and Gorgozola
Iced Christmas Sugar Cookies

Christmas Morning
Green Chile and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Fresh Fruit

Christmas Afternoon/Night
Winter Squash and White Bean Stew with Crusty Bread

I'm happy to say, it was all quite yummy. Including the Bailey's.

Also, the Christmas cookie baking/decorating session went much better than last time. The Geej dressed in her finest fairy attire and got busy decorating with the other elves (Dah, Jaye and BH). Lovely, no?

She finally went to bed after I traumatized her by ringing Santa bells outside of her window. Yeah...I won't be doing that again. Once she was sacked out, BH put together the tricycle...again.(My mom had originally done it, and when I picked it up to bring it in from the garage, the handlebars came completely off.)

I put out all of her Christmas goodies and took bites of Santa's cookies and the celery we left for the reindeer.

Yes, that's ANOTHER baby you see right front and center. You see, Geej has a "swimming baby" (i.e., one that you can take in the bathtub) who has gotten a little...um...skanky. So Santa brought her a new baby for the bath. Meanwhile, the old swimming baby--Britney (my mom named her)--is being retired to Dah's house.

Geej burst into our room at the crack of dawn, whispering LOUDLY, "Mommy!! Come yook! Santa came!!" It was awesome. She was surprised by and loved everything. Then came the unwrapping, which she TOTALLY got into this year (as opposed to last).

The tricycle was a big hit. Here's Dah and Geej, going out on their maiden voyage.

Earl kept wondering where his presents were. It was kind of sad, really.

Now we get to wait another year to do it all again.

What I did this weekend

As you're well aware, it's the night before the night before Christmas. This weekend was crazy busy with last minute getting ready-type activities, as I'm sure it was for many of you. So a brief recap:

Friday:

Dah had the Geej because Friday was the first day of a 2-week stretch that the Geej's school is closed. So Friday evening, I ran a couple of shopping-related errands after work, and then BH and I went out for a nice dinner and went to a club to hear some music. That's right, fools! We actually had a grown-up's night out, and it was nice!

Saturday:

• Vacuumed and washed car
• Paid storage room bill
• Deposited $46 refund check from Austin Radiological Association at the bank
• Tried to get a bracelet repaired; Was unsuccessful
• Got a pedicure (the first one since September...YIKES!)
• Read a chapter-and-a-half in the book I'm almost finished with
• Ate migas
• Did two loads of laundry
• Changed sheets
• Cleaned GJ's bathroom and bedroom
• Swept tons of leaves off the front porch
• Got a bunch of stocking stuffers at CVS
• Went for a nice walk with Shiloh and BH (it was nice except the wind was blowing a gazillion miles an hour)


• Saw this on our walk--


• And this--
• Watched Earl enjoy a sunbeam
• Made a menu and shopping list for Christmas eve, Christmas brunch, and Christmas evening
• Ordered Chinese food for delivery
• Drank wine
• Took a shower
• Watched "Knocked Up"

Sunday:

• Went to Whole Foods to get 98% of the stuff that was on my shopping list I made on Saturday
• Ate lunch
• Folded laundry
• Went to HEB and got the other 2% of stuff that was on my shopping list
• Took a long drive
• Took a short nap
• Looked in on and fed Bookhart's cats (They're doing fine, by the way.)
• Was reunited with The Geej
• Made frito pie
• Drank wine
• Bathed the Geej
• Watched Milo and Otis with the Geej who told be to be on the lookout because, "Those animals poop out babies in this movie."

And now here we are. Tomorrow I've got to work most of the day. Bummer. But tomorrow evening, we're going to try (once again) to make some Christmas cookies for Santa, and then it's showtime after Geej goes to bed.

I can't wait until Christmas morning...