Goodbye, Beautiful Boy

Yesterday, when I woke up and saw the date - 10/10 -
I thought "Today is an auspicious day."

Boy, was I wrong.

 



Yesterday, our beautiful mew Titus was hit by a car.

 

{Feb 2010}

 

He was only three years old and he was perfect. I miss him so and my heart is broken. As my mom said, "It's a wonder I can still love with all these animal-shaped holes in my heart."

It is unhappily coincidental that I just posted this, about pet loss and why October sucks. I didn't expect to add another sad event to my list so soon.

 

{Dec 2009}

 

Titus was one of the kittens we rescued in October of 2009 and was a frequent visitor on the blog. He, along with his sister, Ruby, have brought us so much joy over these past few years. I only wish we could have had a few more.

 

 {Titus (green collar) and Ruby as kittens - Dec 2009}

 

{Ruby is on the left, Titus is on the right - May 2011}

 

{Ruby is above, Titus is below}

 

He was loved, and loving, and oh so beautiful. I don't want to share much about how he died, but I will share pictures of him and leave you with this thought:

 

"I know you're in a hurry, I know you have to get to work, I know you have a big meeting. But if you hit an animal, please stop. Please stop and find someone who can help if you can't. Please have some compassion, because that's someone else's family that you just drove away from."

Welcome To The World Baby Luke!

I am so happy to introuduce you to my new boyfriend, Luke! He was born on Tuesday night and I immediately fell in love with him. You may have seen his parents' maternity shoot here. I went to visit him yesterday and just stared at him. He's stolen my heart :)

 

 

Happy birth day, Luke!

My Forays Into Extreme Couponing! {Also, Better Than Free Honey Maid Graham Crackers At RiteAid!}

One of the ways I have been saving money has been...
EXTREME COUPONING!

 I started out as a casual couponer, using a $0.50 off coupon on my Smart Balance butter. Within a week, I discovered I am not casual. I have all the attributes of a good couponer - eagerness, thriftiness, TIME, zeal, access to many computers/printers, organization, and enthusiasm.

 

And then it got crazy.

 

Soon, I found that I could get things for FREE. Well, I'm a sucker for free. Here's a breakdown of my latest deal:

 

To do this deal, you'll need a RiteAid card, and 2 Nabisco coupons from www.smartsource.com (choose Nabisco from the brand drop down menu, press go, then select the first and only coupon - $1/2).

 

Certain Nabisco items are 2/$5 at RiteAid (Honey Maid, Cheese Nips, Saltines, and Ritz Crackerfuls).

 

There is also a $2 UP Reward (money you can use at RiteAid the following day), PLUS a $5 Up Reward when you spend $10.

 

SO, if you buy FOUR boxes, that would be $10. You'll get $5 in UP Rewards, $4 in Up Rewards ($2 per box). That's a cost of $1 to you.

 

BUT, use your coupons and you'll save an additional $2, which means you're getting FOUR boxes and making $1!

 

 

With the coupons, you have an out of pocket cost of $8, without them, it's $10. Note: there is a limit of 3 uses per RiteAid card for each UP Reward ($5, $2).
 

 

My receipt was $0 because I had enough UP Rewards in my account to pay for the out of pocket costs.

 

This is still a good deal even without the coupons! I am using some of these, but a lot of them will be donated to a food drive at a local school this holiday season. FREE GIVING! :) 

 

I first heard about this deal from SouthernCaliSaver. Note: this deal may not be good in all areas - check your flyer for the UP Rewards listed.

 

Dear Daughter, Please Stop Texting

 

 

It drives my dad crazy when I text.

Even though I explain that it makes him sound like an old man, he can't help but say

"Kate! Stop texting!!"

whenever I look at my phone.

My general (annoyed-teenager-sounding) response

"I'm NOT texting!"

 

My dad is super subtle, right?

Pet Loss And Why I'm Not A Halloweener

Last night, I received a very sad message from a friend who had to put down her beautiful Rottweiler. He had cancer and it was the right thing to do, but it is NEVER easy.

 

Then, this morning, I saw that Clemence from Oh the lovely things lost her mew recently.

 

The timing is impeccable because I was already thinking about loss. This time of year hits me pretty hard and I'm so sad to add another soul lost to the list. October and November are my least favorite months because of this sadness. It's not that I don't like Halloween. It's that Halloween has been tinged with darkness since 1995, when I spent it in a rocking chair in a dark living room, listening to my dad cry in the next room. And since then, the sad has piled up. Cats and dogs and people...they just don't seem to last through the season around here.

 

I just want to go home and cuddle my mews. Am I off work yet?

 

Dear All Friends Who Are Currently In Relationships

{via}

Dear all friends who are currently in relationships,

I don't understand you.

I don't.

I don't know if I can ever be you. Some days, I really want to be you - all cuddly and smooshy and moving forward with your life plans-y.

But other days, I look at you making these huge compromises. And I think...I could never do that. I mean, I've been in relationships. Long-term ones! But I don't think I ever was that person who gave herself so completely to anyone that she lost HERSELF. I've always been Katie. Not KatieandVictor or KatieandPercy or -- you can tell I'm making up these names, right?

This weekend, I saw a friend who doesn't hang out with us very often and I asked if he was attending a birthday party the following day. His response: "Not sure, gotta see what the boss [i.e. his wife] is doing." I almost died. I mean, WHAT?! If I want to go to a party, I'll go to a party. And in this case, the birthday boy was a very good friend of his, like groomsmen at each other's weddings sort of good friend. I couldn't comprehend the maybe.

Now, I understand the glow of new love. And I understand checking with your spouse to see if they're already making dinner before you make plans to go out to happy hour. But I don't understand this whole concept of not doing something unless your partner wants to.

Did you all lose your identities?! I am a person who likes to go to farmers' markets. If I were dating a boy who didn't (god forbid), should I stop going because we can only do things together?

Um, that answer is no, by the way. NO. I should keep going - with boyfriend, or without boyfriend. His preferences don't change MY preferences.

I know that relationships come in all sizes - and that every couple has their own way of communicating. But I so strongly believe that you should not give away your decision-making power. And you should not give up your likes and dislikes. And you should have some things that you maybe even do by yourself.

And maybe...this is why I'm single.

Sincerely,

Katie

Shana Tovah U'Metukah

Tonight marks the second night of Rosh Hashanah and though I'm not Jewish, I like to celebrate this holiday because the meaning resonates with me. Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the Jewish year, and to Jews, the birthday of mankind. The general idea is that one must accept God as King, and that God's desire to continue creating the world rests on this acceptance. I don't know about that part, but I love the themes of renewal, hope, giving thanks, abundance, and clean slates.

I explained a bit about the apples and honey tradition in this post here and for the past few years, I've taken time to sit down and dip apples into honey.

 

{blue pomegranates by ZehArtandJewelry}

This year, I'm going to add pomegranates and challah bread, as my local Jewish Center now sells fresh challah. Pomegranates are eaten as they symbolize the wish to have a year full of good deeds, just as pomegranates are filled wth juicy seeds. Challah bread is a centerpiece of any Jewish meal and symbolizes the food from heaven provided to the Jews after the exodus from Egypt.

 

Even if you're not Jewish (as I'm not), I hope you can appreciate the meaning behind this day - and shana tovah u'metukah

(wishing you a sweet and happy new year)!