Cats...

As usual, things have been wild and crazy around here. We are always busy with something going on around here and don't slow down much. Right now, I am relaxing in my lounge chair with our little Angel sitting on my lap while I type this. It is soothing to sit and pet a cat and see her cute face. We were worried about her for a long time. She had stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. She was going into liver failure and the vet wasn't sure if she would survive. But, defying the odds was something she was determined to do. Now, she is on the mend and back to her feisty self. We are all breathing a sigh of relief. We love our cats a lot.

It has made me ponder a lot about how our pets become such important parts of our family and how important they are to us. We have not had too many animals over the years but the ones we have had have been important to us. I think of Kitty Kitty who was the first pet we had after we were married. Ken got him for me on my first Mother's Day after Deborah was born. We were living in Virginia and had gone out to dinner. That was a rare treat back then, but we enjoyed the evening with Deborah and as we were returning to the car, we noticed a pet store. We decided to go in and see the cats. Before we knew it, we were walking out with a cute little white kitten. Kitty Kitty endeared himself to us quickly and entertained Deborah all the time. She loved to love him and he loved to have her love him. When Deborah was tired or sad, Kitty Kitty was always there by her side to cheer her up and relax her. As Kenneth and Ian were born, Kitty Kitty loved and cared for them too. One of the biggest things that Kitty Kitty did was to let me know if the kids were awake from naps even before I heard them in the baby monitor. I always wondered how he knew, but he could and he would come tell me.

Kitty Kitty moved all over with us, from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Then, we moved four times in PA before moving to Texas. He moved with us to Texas and to all the places we lived here too. When we moved into this house, he had trouble locating the boys' room the first night. He had always slept in their room, so he knew he needed to find them. I showed him the room and from then on, he slept there every night. He spent his last night here on earth in their room too. We know it was a struggle for him to climb the stairs at that point, but he forced himself to do it and slept between the boys' beds. The memories of him will always be strong and we will continue to have a place for him in our hearts forever. We miss him every day. We thought we would never get another cat, but then we found Angel at a pet store and she was a rescue. Ian saw her first, and we knew we had to have her. Gizmo joined us a year later as a birthday present for Deborah. He was also a rescue cat. Now we have our psycho cat, Aly Cat who was a rescue as well. Right now, we are fostering her and trying to find her a new home. But, for now, she is as crazy as the rest of us in the Strain household.

I Feel Inspired

I was chatting on Facebook with an old friend from my Young Adult days and she inspired me to catch up and try to keep up on my blogging. I loved reading her blog and she is very diligent about it too. Her name is Jean Swilley Coombs and she lived in PA in 87 to 90. She came back from her mission to Sweden around the same time I came back from Texas. It was fun to chat and catch up with each other after all these years. So, now, I want to see if I can make up for a year of no blog. I will see if I can sum up the past year.

2008

September - My senior year of college
October - Halloween
November - Thanksgiving and Ian's Birthday

December - Finals, Christmas and New Year's Eve

2009

January - New Year's, Ken's Birthday, started final semester of college

February - My Birthday

March - Spring Break - Didn't go anywhere or do anything

April - Finals

May - Graduated from College with a degree in Communication/Public Relations

June - Kids finished school for the year, Deborah went to Young Women's Camp and Kenneth went to Boy Scout Camp

July - HOT, HOT and did I mention HOT?!!?! Couldn't do much of anything. Deborah and I went to Utah for Kristina's wedding.

August - HOT, HOT, HOT and did I mention HOT?!!?! Deborah's 17th Birthday and Kenneth's 14th Birthday

June, July, August, September - Looked for a job - Still looking

Now for some highlights. Christmas was fun. We didn't have any exchange students living with us or visiting this year so that was a real change. More quiet, but we still had fun. Had dinner at Ken's mom's house and that was fun as usual. All sorts of yummy foods and good company. It was nice to not think about school or work or anything but the holidays and enjoying the family. It still seems strange not having Karin around. It had been two years since she died so suddenly before Christmas. We always miss her presence and company during the holiday season.

In January we were back in the swing of school, homework, church activities and family time. Sadly, in January brought the bad news that my older brother Joey had died from liver failure. It broke my heart and I have had a lot of trouble dealing with it on many levels. When we were younger, he was always my greatest advocate in everything. He was very supportive of me joining the Church, serving a mission (he even came to my missionary farewell and brought David and Daniel) and standing up for what I believed in. We had not been in contact much over the years since Mom died, but I had called him on New Year's Day and we had a great conversation. We vowed to stay in touch more and talk more often on the phone. That was the last conversation I had with him and it was tough to think that I wouldn't see him again. He was even talking about coming out for my graduation. It would have been nice to show him around San Antonio.

Well, I did graduate from college and it was amazing. The Ken, the kids, Mom Strain and Amanda came to the ceremony. I was grinning from ear to ear and amazingly, I didn't cry. I was sure I was going to cry as I crossed the stage, but instead I just keep smiling. I hope this is a good example to the kids and they will desire to find a career path and get the education they need. It has been an amazing journey, but one I would take all over again if I could (that doesn't mean I will EVER go to graduate school, but who knows).

We did had a fun summer overall, but it was just so stinking hot this year. We had temps. in the triple digits for most of July and August and no rain. It was yucky. We stayed inside in the A/C. It was even too hot to go swimming most of the time. We would go in the evenings when the sun would start to go down after 9:00 PM. We also made a few trips to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and tried to stay cool. That is always a challenge. We stay in the water park most of the time and hang out on the lazy river or sit in the wave pool. The kids like to go on the water slides so I just wait for them to come back. Now that they are older, I can do that more and more. I also like to see the shows there so I see them while the kids ride rides. We meet up and stuff, but most of the time, they go off on their own. Ian still stays with me for the most part.

Kristina got married to a great guy named Jake Morrill and he is a terrific guy. Great for Kristina. He gives her a run for her money. They were married in the American Fork Temple and it was a great experience to be her assistant at the Temple. I felt a very strong spirit as they were sealed together and I knew that the decision they made to be sealed was to be a blessing for them. I don't have any pictures yet because I kept leaving my camera everywhere and didn't have it when we were at the wedding or reception. I used Kristina's camera for the most part, so I have to wait for her to send the pics to me.

School has now started again for the kids. Deborah is a Senior, Kenneth has entered high school and is in 9th grade and my baby Ian started middle school this year. I can't believe how fast they are growing up and away from me. They don't need me as much as they used to unless they are hungry or want a ride somewhere. I spend my days looking for work on the Internet and by networking. The job market is bad, but I suspect that the right job is out there waiting for me. and I know that I will find it soon. I need to work and I want to work. I will have trouble with not being around for the kids all the time, but they are getting older and can do so much on their own.

Well, since it's after 2 AM, I need to wrap this up and get some sleep for church in the morning. I will try to keep up better and let everyone know what is happening here. I hope it's not too boring.