mason garden

From December to January we had a lot going on

My cousin’s wedding and rehearsal

We’re so excited for Ryan and Amanda. They just announced that they are having a boy. Saturday they invited family and friends over for the big announcement.

Everyone was holding their breath!

And it’s BLUE!!!

Christmas at the Driver’s house

My dad setting up the Wii that Thomas got for my parents

Thomas trying to assemble a puzzle ornament with the help of some tape

Oscar enjoying is first Christmas without his mommy around

My mom trying Wii Sports golf (she’s not bad!)

The tree

Proof that I was really there

Thomas loafing

James loafing

We had a lovely dinner

See

January 19, 2010 at 9:15am we took Mr. Oliver Tails aka Fuzzy to be put to sleep. In mid November 2009 he came down with lymphoma. He struggled for almost two months in a loosing battle. In his memory I’d like to share his life’s story.
One night in December of 2003 I was driving James home to his apartment in Citrus Heights. As we pulled into the parking lot this little tiny cream-colored bullet shot across the parking lot with a distinctive limp and James asked me if he should try to catch it. Not sure what prompted me to say yes but he hopped out of the car after what turned out to be our little Fuzzy. He put up a really good fight running into the ivy and up the fence. I parked the car and got out to help catch him. We got lucky when he slipped off the fence and hung on. James grabbed his scruff and hauled him up over the fence and into his jacket. Not knowing quite what to do with him or if he was really badly injured we took him over to my parents house and locked him in a bathroom while my parents, James and I talked over what we should do with him. He was such a cute blue eyed cream puff with a bad limp. Even with his problems he was such a good kitty at only six weeks. In the bathroom we put down newspaper figuring he wouldn’t know how to use a box but he refused to go on the paper and was extremely “relieved” when we brought him a box. Eventually James decided to take him home and he stayed there ever since.
His health wasn’t the greatest to start with but he was so cute that even with his nerve damage, probably from his broken tail, and eye infection we decided he was worth it. He spent several weeks getting well and then having his claws removed because he couldn’t retract them and was sticking to the carpet like Velcro. I still remember the little guy in a head cone.
He was a difficult one to name. We spent months trying to pick a good name. In the end we decided on Fuzzy because we kept calling him fuzzy butt and fuzz tail. I’m not sure why but we thought it would be fun to have a vet name like a pure bread horse has an official name so we came up with Mr. Oliver Tails. The vet never new he had a different name.
Fuzzy and James quickly became friends. James would sit at his computer and Fuzzy was always right there on his lap or on the back of his chair. They would even play jumping games where James would pat his legs and Fuzzy would jump up onto his legs and into his arms. James was always covered in scratches and I would tell him to stop playing like that but they wouldn’t. Fuzzy would also play fetch with little fuzzy balls. Once we got married and moved into a bigger apartment together we would throw the ball down the hall and Fuzzy would bring it back until he was worn out.
At some point before we got married I bought dwarf hamsters and Fuzzy loved Snowball and Tinklebell. He would sit on top of the giant Rubbermaid tubs we’d turned into a hamster cage for hours. One morning James found the tiny kitten inside in the middle of the hamster cage just observing the oblivious little animals. He wasn’t a threat. Tinklebell was only with us for a few months before she passed away suddenly but Snowball stuck around for about 3 years long after the other two hamsters, Caterina and the other one I can’t remember.
After we got married we decided Fuzzy needed a friend to keep him busy so we headed to the SPCA and picked out the crazed Cutie aka Queen Tut aka Ms. Kitty. She rocked his world. The first time they met face to face she got out of the bathroom we’d locked her in. She shot out of the bathroom and took off after him. He ended up cowering in a corner while she tried to sniff him. From that point on he was fascinated with her. She would steal his fuzzy balls but would also groom him. Eventually they became snippy friends. He would groom her and then start biting and they would end up in little fights but would eventually settle down and take naps together.
Fuzzy’s favorite spot was on our apartment deck in the sun. He would sit under the railing for hours watching the cars drive by and ducking back when someone would walk by. He was a good boy never trying to jump off the second story deck. He was happy to lounge. I guess he had his fill of the wild life in his first six weeks of life.
He also had an extreme fear of plastic bags and aluminum foil. They were his enemy and he would run for cover. After one of us had a birthday we brought home an aluminum foil balloon. The string taunted him and he had to get it. The poor guy got the string wrapped around him before he realized there was a balloon attached. He freaked out when it followed him and he flew around the apartment until he wore himself out and ran into the bathroom where he piddled on himself. James and I didn’t have time to realize what was happening until we found him huddled in the bathroom. We laughed ourselves to tears many times over the crazed balloon incident. After that we left all balloons out of reach.
Fuzzy could always stir the horde into a feeding frenzy. Any pull-top can and he was right there mewing away for food. Within seconds he would have all the kitties swarming like sharks. He had a very distinct meow that could be heard all through the house. In the mornings he would wait till James and I were up before starting his demands for attention and then all the kitties would follow him into the room.
My favorite picture of him was of him on his first Christmas sitting under the tree on the red tree skirt. He looked so happy. Christmas will always remind me of him. Under the tree was his special hiding spot. I was so glad he was able to spend a few days under the tree before he had to be separated from the other kitties. He spent his last month in the office with a nice window to view the cars and birds.

(Sung to the tune of “Joshua at the Battle of Jericho”)

My kitten was running way too fast
Too fast
Too fast
My kitten was running way too fast
Too fast
Too fast
He slipped and tripped and that was it
It was over in a lickity-split
And the cat came tumbling down