Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Unexpected vacation?

So apparently, without even realizing it, I declared August a month of vacation for this little blog. I'm not even sure what happened to August-- it came and went so quickly. So much has taken place in the little span of this month-- two birthdays, a weekend painting project, a family BBQ, a family garage sale, helping a friend move...

And of course the biggest thing, losing my cat Ruby and spending the last 17 days searching for her (with no luck so far). Thank you so much for all of your kind words and support in our search for her. We are still holding out hope that she will make it home soon.


Anyway, I just want to apologize for my absence lately; but Fall is coming and I am starting fresh! With a new season (my favorite!) comes new energy, new ideas, and new enthusiasm! I guess my mind is still in the school mode-- there's just something refreshing and exciting about starting a new year (even if I'm not in school anymore).

So stay tuned, and, as always, thank you for visiting!

Monday, August 15, 2011

My heart is aching

A most terrible thing has happened.
My beloved cat, Ruby, ran away. 


It all happened so fast.
Friday evening, the hubby and I were driving to Portland for the weekend 
(as we do almost every weekend). 
We had Ruby in her crate with us (as she always is). 
She is not a lover of car rides, and therefore had an accident in her crate. 
So we took the next exit, pulled off into a gravel lot, and proceeded to change the towels she was laying on
(again, a very typical scenario). 


But just as we were done, with Ruby back in her crate and me closing the lid, 
something happened.
She got startled and bolted upright. 
Before I knew what was happening, she had darted under the car, 
across two lanes of traffic 
and into an overgrown, thorny ravine. 


We searched and called for her for two hours. 
With no luck. 
Just a bunch of scratches from blackberry bushes.
And lots of crying.
And broken hearts. 

I am devastated

We went back the next day and posted twenty-five fliers in the area. 
We knocked on doors.
We passed out another twenty-five fliers to mailboxes. 
We went to the humane society.
We left a flier at the post office. 
We made two ads on craigslist.

And now all I can do is wait. 
And hope. 
And pray. 


Ruby is my baby. She is the first pet I've ever owned. 
She's only 3 years old, and I've had her for 2 of those years.
And boy, is she spoiled.
She gets canned food a lot. 
She gets treats.
She has a million cat toys. 
She sleeps on my bed every night
and curls up on the couch with me to watch tv or take a cat nap.
She's extremely lazy.

She's an indoor-only cat. 

And that worries me the most. 
She doesn't hunt.
She doesn't know what the outside world is like.
She's never had to worry about cars.


And now she has to survive in the wild. 
In a city 35 miles from home.
A 45-minute drive from here.

My heart is aching. 




Meaningful Monday-- Finding time


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Books on shirts. Shirts on a mission.

Have you heard of Out of Print clothing? I think I am in love!


Out of Print Clothing is a company that celebrates classic novels through fashion.They are a shirt company that exhibits popular and sometimes out-of-print book covers on soft tshirts and sweatshirts, including such stories as Pride and Prejudice, Walden, The Sun Also Rises and Of Mice and Men.

Here are some of my faves:

Who doesn't love The Great Gatsby?!

A classic coming-of-age novel. 

The well-known Scout, Atticus and Jem. 

And it gets even better. Not only does the company create beautiful novel-inspired clothing, but they also promote a great cause. For each shirt sold, they donate a book to a community in Africa through their partner, Books for Africa. They also sell a Books for Africa tshirt which donates 100 percent of the proceeds to the cause. How great is that? 

So you can look cute, promote a classic novel, and spread the joy of reading all at the same time. 

Can it really get much better than that?