Life, Loss, and Lengthy Posts

April.  Has it really been since April when I last post?  A lot has been happening.  I needed a blogging break.  Among other breaks.  Blogging was one thing I could actually break from - whereas - the rest I wasn't able to.

It's been a hard several months.  In April, I lost my mother-in-law to Small Cell Lung Cancer.  It was an awful 3 year battle or so.  After the first year, they did preventative so it wouldn't spread to her brain.  Because of that preventative treatment it fast-forwarded Alzheimer-like symptoms.  Cancer Sucks.  I've said it before and I will say it again.

In May, we also lost Charlie.  He was about 19 years old and for those of you who I've known for a while - knew he was feral since the time he was a baby and was a rescue.  He battled strange issues throughout the years and we had always dealt with them.  The last couple of years he was deaf, too.  In the past year, we had watched him get smaller and smaller and he got to the point where many things he once loved were difficult for him.  Things just started shutting down and the vet assumed there was cancer somewhere but didn't want to put him thru all the tests and anxiety.  For the first time since I was 3 years old I'm without a cat in the house.  It's strange.  Our fur family is the smallest it's been in a long time.  Riley and Cricket are still around but we have been having problems with Riley and his natural aging process, too.  He's about 18 or 19 years old now, too!

In June, we found out the company we work for had been sold.  We've been dealing with the change ever since.  It's mostly been good with more changes on the way but it's been a non-stop world-wind of things happening one after another.

Also in June, my mother found out that the sore on her face near her eye was skin cancer.  From what we can gather, everything should be ok, but we had to wait over 3 months for her to be seen again.

With everything going on, I have been unsuccessfully trying to deal with my own stress.  My chronic pain issues seem to come and go like they have in the past BUT now I am dealing with a few other issues I haven't dealt with before.  One being a scalp issue.  I have been trying to treat it with coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, etc.  Just when I think I am making some progress it comes back with a vengeance.  I'm pretty sure it's some kind of psoriasis or eczema of some sort.

I try and keep this blog positive and happy and try and learn things and archive them but it's been so hard with this post not seeming to do any of those things.  I have been doing a TON of volunteer work and between that and seeing my niece when I can those seem to be the only two things keeping me somewhat sane.

I chopped off all my hair.  It's time for me to do it again.  I've gained weight again and need to shed about 20 pounds.  I think I would feel better if I did.  Winter is coming and that is when I struggle even more with not being as active and on-the-go.

I have a lot of things to blog about but am afraid I just don't have the time.  Because of Riley aging and reverting back to his separation anxiety years I'm not able to sleep in bed anymore.  I have to sleep down in the recliner so he won't bark.  Sleep has been few and far between because of it.  I know it's taking a toll.

I'm trying to start my days earlier so I will have some time for myself but then I just start jumping into work and not doing the non-work things I need to be doing.

I need to re-work my time.  I need to start listening to podcasts.  I need to shake the negative and focus on the positive.  I need to spend less time with the people and things that make me feel bad and start realizing I'm not that bad of a person.  That's been hard for me my entire life.  Certainly something I need to work on.

I have a lot of photos over the last several months I need to post and blog about here.  Many of them have to do with volunteering and new vegan finds but I'm also trying to take more photos of my surroundings and BREATHE.  I won't share those in this post but I hope to in near-future posts.  I just wanted to update you on where I have been and why I haven't been posting.  I need to start posting again...I think it will help me in the long run.  Thanks for NOT giving up on me.

Relay For Life Quarter Auction, Homemade Wine, & My Dad

I can't believe it's been a full two weeks since I attended a local Relay For Life Quarter Auction.  I wanted to blog about this well before now!  Oops!

This is the first Quarter Auction I have ever been to.  It was a bit confusing at first but it ended up being REALLY fun and I know they raised a slew of money for their Relay Team!

The girl who arranged it is a friend of mine and she started her team because she has lost her sister, mother, and uncle all to cancer.  My mom, dad, and I participated in the fundraising auction as participants but didn't win anything.  We also participated as donators of our Wildtree Products, too, and our auction items seemed to have a lot of interest!  In addition we did a live tasting during before, during, and after the event - and during the breaks.  It was a FUN time!

In the first photo above you can see my father with the pink number signs!  I LOVE him dearly!  He's an awesome guy! 

I follow a few of his high school buddies on Facebook, too!  A week or two ago one of his friends posted this photo of him.  My dad thinks it was from when we he was leave from his time with the Navy during Vietnam.  He was on the USS Kitty Hawk during that time.  I just LOVE old photos!  I think he looks adorable in this picture!

In other DAD News...

His Wine Making is going VERY well!  He has started a white wine and will be entering his semi-dry into next weekend's Amateur Wine Making Contest.

I really hope he places!  It would be a VERY big deal for him!  I will certainly keep you posted on that! 

Here's another look at his revised Wine Bottle Labels!  The one he's entering is the RED.

I  think he will be purchasing two more containers so he can have more than 2 wine's 'working' at the same time.  One of these days I should take photos while I am over there and post them so you can see them!  It's an interesting process that he's been trying to explain to my sister and I for a while now!

I have to say the wines I have tasted that he's made so far have been VERY GOOD...they have exceeded my expectations!  And with them being the first wine's he's tried - I think the outcome was EXCELLENT!  He's had a lot of feedback from other wine lovers already and he's very pleased.  I think I take after him in that regard...when we get positive feedback from others it just makes us want to do more and more!  I'm so proud of him for getting into Wine Making - it's a great new hobby for him and something that mom and dad can do together!

RIP My Precious Gabby

I've been going over and over in my head how I was going to start this post...how I was going to write it.  Just like the decisions that were made...none of it is easy.  As some of you know I took Gabby into the vet yesterday and she didn't leave with us.  I had an overwhelming feeling that the news wasn't going to be good but I didn't think she wouldn't come home with us either, you know!?

She had been losing weight.  Not that she had weighed all that much to begin with.  I thought at her heaviest she weighed about 7 pounds but at her last visit (and it had been a while) she weighed 8 pounds.  We noticed we was losing weight so naturally I tried to give her anything she WOULD eat...TO eat.  We went with wet/canned food and she LOVED it.  Very soon her sunken flat tummy started 'feeling' more like a cat tummy that was satisfied and full.

Thru EVERYTHING Gabby didn't miss a beat.  She's always been the sweetest, happiest cat I've ever known.  Even at the vet's office she was purring and giving kisses to everyone.  Which made things even worse when it came to those choices.

The results of the X-Rays showed that her stomach was 3 times the size of a normal cats stomach but it was filled with liquid.  Long story short - after other tests and process of elimination - her vet said everything pointed to Liver Cancer.  We were crushed.  We are still crushed.

The vet said 'it' was inevitable.  Whether it was 1 day, a week, or a few.  Her little body was doing everything it could to 'get thru it' and 'fight'.  Because she was so small and lost so much muscle and because we had already been giving her wet/canned food there wasn't anything that could bring back the muscle she had lost.  When they weighed her yesterday she weighed 6 pounds.  I know for a fact she had gained weight in the past week because of the food and the uninterrupted meal time we were giving her.  We put Charlie in another room while she was eating so she could concentrate on the food.  I'm assuming that there was about 2 pounds of weight in her stomach but that is just my guess.  So I don't know if that means she weighed roughly 3 to 4 pounds when she did lose the weight initially.

The vet told us that she could 'turn' with a snap of a finger.  That she was 'walking on a cliff' and one step to the right or the left could cause additional issues.  We continued talking about everything and came to the realization with our house hold and family that she had several potential obstacles that could come into play including stairs she could fall down, another cat and 3 dogs that could play too rough with her not-knowing, as well as other issues.  DH and I both work during the day and would hate to have come home from work to find that she fell down the stairs or injured herself while we weren't there, you know!?

The vet told us that we were already doing what he would have suggested us to do.  She wouldn't get better - only worse.  Of course I was torn because she was our furkid but also because she was still purring to the very end.  It just didn't seem right.  I'm just not sure what else to say.  I cried for HOURS.  This morning I thought I was going to 'make it' until I heard the end of the song BABE by Styx and I completely broke.  The photo above is one of my faves of her - if not MY very favorite.  She's such a sweetheart.  We adopted her when she was roughly two in 2003.  We figure she was about 13 years old.  We will always remember her.

I set up Facebook Pages for each of our furkids.  This morning I changed hers to a Remembrance Page.  I would appreciate it if you would LIKE her on Facebook.  I know I try and keep this blog uplifting and positive but it's been an awful time in the Bliss House Hold.  I just really needed a place to write.  Write about her.  Write about everything.  Thanks for understanding and reading.  

I will say that we've received TONS of condolences via email, text, Facebook, Instagram, thru our co-workers, radio & VoiceOver Friends, and it's been amazing!  Thank you so much!  May our sweet, precious Gabby Rest In Peace.

The Reason I've Been 'Few & Far Between"

The main reason I have been 'few and far between with my posts lately is because last week our company and our community lost someone very special.  He lost his battle with cancer after a dozen years or more.  He was a fighter, that is for sure!  He's been with the company I work for since 1975-1976.  He was very active in the community and the boards and organization such as Salvation Army, Chamber, Kiwanis, etc.  He was a huge part of his church...a Sunday School Teacher, Youth Mentor, and much more!  He was married for 9 years to his darling of a wife.  He has two grown sons, two grown stepdaughters, and 3 grandchildren.  He was like a father to my husband.  He was a friend.  He was extremely social, funny, witty, helpful, brave, and compassionate.  Work was very strange last week.  I'm glad he's at peace but still very sad he's not around.  The service was beautiful.  The poem above is "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost.  I remember back to The Outsiders from the 80s as it was recited but it's always stuck with me throughout the years as one of my favorite Robert Frost Poems, too!

Weekend of Remembering, Wildtree, Wineries, and Camping!

I have a lot to post, once again!  I will have at least 3 - if not more - blog entries today!  I figured I would start with some of the events of the weekend.  Of course it was Memorial Day Weekend a time to remember our Military Members - Past and Present.  My father was active during Vietnam.  He was in the Navy but in with the Marines on the USS Kitty Hawk.  My Grandfather was in the Military as well...During WWII.  My Cousin's Husband is still in the Military and made a life long career of it.  He hopes to retire in the next couple of years.  I had another cousin who was a Marine and in Desert Storm.  Many Co-Workers and others, too!  I think we all know some one who has served or is serving.  I thank all who have put their lives on the line for us and this country.  Thank You!

This past weekend a co-worker of mine attended our local Four Flags Ceremony in Heritage Park, Crescent Park.  It's always a wonderful ceremony.  The photo above it one that he took and we used for our FB Pages at work.

Another photo that wasn't taken by me is this one of Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies.  It was taken by the family of Melissa Swanson Braley.  Click on her name to visit the Caring Bridge Site for her.  2 days ago you will see the story of the Butterflies.  I cannot get over this story!  Unfortunately, Melissa lost her battle with cancer over the weekend.  You may have read mentions of the fundraiser we were doing with our Wildtree Stuff for her to raise funds for her treatment.  We are still raising fund for her family to help pay the medical bills as well as donate money towards her 2 young girls she left behind.  She was only 33 years old.  This weekend we will attend her service.  CANCER SUCKS!  Too many people are struggling with it and it's devastation is NOT slowing down!  I was chatting with Opal about this on her blog earlier today.  Each day - it scares me more and more!  It seems each day I hear YET ANOTHER person with cancer regardless of who they are, what they do, how they try to prevent it.  If you or someone you know would like to contribute to the Wildtree Fundraiser for Melissa Swanson Braley - CLICK HERE.

In other Wildtree News - we were over at Noble Winery in Westfield, NY, on Saturday and did well.  We sold out of the Hot Pepper Jelly and a few of the oils.  Here's our set-up.  It was really cold that day and we were near the water.  I did manage to get some neat photos of the land, tho!  Some of which are playing havoc with my blog post so I might save those for later in the week!  Here is one of them, tho!  I used a filter in a new App I am tinkering with!

Oh!  Here we go!  Here's another one I was able to insert in the blog post!  It's a view from the front of the tasting portion of the facility looking across the parking area and drive way - looking at the Vineyard!
They also have a wonderful dog that roams the grounds!  I didn't get a photo of her but she was awesome.  I took a break and played 'fetch' with her for a while.

Next time we visit there the weather will be MUCH better!  And I hope to get some better photos of the water past the "green" on the other side of their building.  It's beautiful!

Sunday and Monday my husband and I spent some time in the woods.  His family owns over 100 acres.  There are several branches of the family that camp there on occasion as well as other branches of the family who live full-time on the same road as the camp!  Here are some of the generations of the family as well as the greenery of the land.  You can see some campers, 4-wheelers, a campfire pit, picnic tables, and many people scattered throughout.  It was chilly but fun.  A few people bring their dogs up, too!  We brought Sammy up when he was alive but I don't think our 3 now would handle all of the activity - they are pretty low-key!

Here's one of Wendy's Dogs.  She has 'twins' and they are gorgeous!  Wendy is Dale's Cousin.  There was so much that took place this past weekend and I took LOTS of photos!  I have LOTS more to share with you, too, but the posts will be long so I will leave it here, for now.  In the meantime...how was your weekend?  Do anything special?  Take any photos?  How was your weather?  Anyone specific  you want to remember - feel free to do so in comments - too!  Thanks for stopping by!  More coming soon!