Media Lunch & Media Happenings

This week you will see a lot of posts having to do with last weeks' county fair.  Yesterday I blogged about the food I consumed and a few furry friends I made.  Today I thought I would tell you a bit about the media side including the Media Lunch as well as some of our radio interviews during our live remote broadcasts.

First up - the Media Lunch.  There were over 50 people who attended and speakers included various fair board members and volunteers as well as a politician and a few people from our vacation bureau.

These beautiful arrangements were the table centerpieces!

Most of the attendees had chicken but there were two of us who didn't consume it.  The one was a girl I have known for years and she has Celiac and Wheat allergies and I don't consume animal products.  We were so blessed that the organizers made us a special mixed greens salad with veggies and cute strawberries topped with Balsamic.  It was wonderful!  And greatly appreciated!  The main organizer was the wife of one of the fair board directors and her former in laws were strict vegetarians so she understood where I was coming from!  A great time was had by all during the Media Lunch.

This year there was a new bench dedicated to our former morning show host, sales manager, and dear friend who passed away from cancer about a year and a half ago.

Here's a photo of the bench - it turned out wonderful!  One of the fair board directors made it!  We placed it in front of our radio booth and will also store it in there during the winter months, too, to protect it from the elements!

We were able to interview so many different people throughout the week!  It was fun!

One of the interviews we did was with The Swon Brothers on Tuesday afternoon.  They performed live on stage later that evening.  The brothers were super nice.  If you are fans of the TV Show "The Voice" they may ring a bell to you!  They did a great interview that afternoon and were a couple of fun guys!  You can see me here with my ponytail which I sported most of the week for a few different reasons.  One being I need to get my hair trimmed and colored and the other reason being it was just easier to deal with during the week with all of the running around we were doing.  We had a pretty neat set-up then again we have been doing this each year it seems to get better each time we do it.

When I do my post about the 4 concerts last week I will get into each performance a bit more.

But in the meantime here's a closer look at the interview we did.

For the most part the weather was pretty good.

It poured pretty hard core on Monday afternoon and evening and sprinkled a bit after that but mostly it was bearable weather-wise.

Another funny thing about being on the radio during fair week is everyone wants you to do things out of your comfort zone.  My husband has always wanted to operate a huge tractor and a few of the other track guys put me on one to tease my husband.  I got to operate one before he did.  He was so jealous.  But he was able to drive one around during the parade they did on the track later in the week.  Here's a snapshot of the two of us on a huge John Deere Tractor.  I was sitting funny so it's not all that flattering but my eyes look really blue - don't they?

You'll Always Be The Queen Bee ~ Suzie RIP

I really tried to prepare myself for Suzie's passing.  I think no matter how hard you try - it doesn't matter.  It didn't seem to lighten the blow. 

Eventho in the back of my mind I knew something wasn't right.  Saturday Morning we took her into the vet and they did some X-rays.  The scans showed that she had fluid throughout her body...her stomach, by her heart, near or even in her lungs.  They discovered a Heart Murmur that had gone unnoticed until then.  There were shadows in a few areas on the X-rays in the stomach that they didn't confirm as cancer but had a hunch they were.  Similar shadows were near the liver.  With further tests they could determine if her liver was failing, if it was liver disease, or cancer in or near her liver.  Even more apparent were the masses that showed up her Suzie's heart.  There were several.  The vet was confident those were cancerous tumors.  She told us that in could be days or a week but the end result was the same.  It wasn't a matter of 'if' but 'when' Suzie would collapse. 

Suzie has always been and will always be the Queen Bee in our family.  That was her personality.  She was always strong.  Always the LEADER of the pack.  She's had a lot happen in the last 5 or 6 years and always bounced back.  Some bounces were harder than others...especially the last surgery she had about a year ago to remove 2 more 'fatty tumors'.

We adopted her a year after we adopted Sammy.  At that time Sammy was over 10 years old and Suzie was around 2.  Suzie's been a part of our family for about 12 years.  She loved Sammy and Sammy loved her.  We adopted Riley about 7 years ago.  Sammy was very protective of me but tolerated Riley.  Suzie was the buffer usually.  I can't believe it's been about 6 years since we lost Sammy.

Riley always idolized Suzie.  I'm worried about him - I know he will miss her terribly.  Paco entered our lives about 3 and a half years ago.  Paco thought Suzie was pretty freakin' cool too...and again...Suzie was the buffer in the house hold.  The older Suzie got the more acceptable she was of most other animals in the house and outside of the house, too!

Suzie loved to snuggle under blankets when we 'turned in for the night'.  She loved laying on blankets.  She enjoyed wearing sweaters eventho she only had two or three of them.  When we started Paco's collection of sweaters - she seemed to have a renewed interest in her sweaters.  Since she was mostly Jack Russell - she was always on the go - walking around the house - and was quite the spitfire. 

She's been gone since around 10am on Saturday.  It's been hard for everyone.  It's been quieter.  The sofa and bed seem bigger.  For the first time since we adopted her - I'm now the only "Bliss Girl" remaining in the family.  The boys have taken over.  I've told them not to gang up on me!  It's been a rough year.  We went from 7 Bliss Family Members down to 5 in less than a year.  Dale and I are trying to give extra love to Riley, Paco, and Charlie.  Paco's still having to go to vet appointments every couple of weeks for his ITP, including another one today at 2.  Suzie is missed and always will be missed.  She was an incredible WOMAN...and I do mean that with emphasis.  She will always be the Queen Bee...no matter what.  Rest in Peace my sweet Suzie.  I'll continue to sing CCR's "Suzie Q" with wonderful memories of you, darling!

Pups & Plants of the Weekend

I have two posts today!  Be sure to scroll down for my first one regarding FOOD OF THE WEEKEND.  This one will be a bit longer but it's specifically about Furkids...Pups to be exact...and progress on the plant life at the office.

This first photo my sister took of me with my parents Puppy Lexi.  She's doing really well!  She's a very good girl...very sweet and VERY smart!  She loves to slow dance as you can see here.  Yes, I even got some puppy kisses!  Another thing you may (or may not) notice is that their floor is different.  Yup!  My father totally re-did their kitchen floor in less that a day!  It looks SHARP!  He did a GREAT JOB!

Here's a photo of all three of our dogs - together!  This was shortly after they ate dinner.  One of the things they enjoy doing after a meal is to 'wash' for some reason.  That's what Suzie and Riley are doing anyway.  Paco has his eye on something else in the next room, I guess.

This weekend was COLD...especially yesterday and on to TODAY.  It was only 10 degrees when I parked my car this morning!  The dogs don't like the cold either...it's not just me!  Eventho it was bitter cold at least we had nice sunshine that shined thru the windows!

Some sad news from last Friday...my mother-in-law lost her last of 3 dogs.  Wally was a 9 year old Boston Terrier.  He wasn't feeling well Thursday Night or Friday Morning and she took him to the vet.  They found a mass in his stomach that was larger than a softball. She lost her other 2 dogs about a year ago to other cancers, too.  And before that her 1st dog to Mouth Cancer...that dog was also a Boston.  She says she's 'done' with pets and decided to give all of her stuff away.  She wanted us to have some large dog beds and after she cleaned them she gave them to us to bring home.  Both Suzie and Riley LOVE them!  Paco tried to pull the other one around the house until I folded it and put it infront of the TV.  I hope he warms up to it as a bed and not a toy.  Time will tell.  I feel really bad for my mother-in-law - it was VERY hard for her.  MY Mother text messaged me this morning and told me one of their cats was sick so we are waiting to hear back regarding her text results, too!  AND...Charlie has a vet appointment for Friday because he split open that wound on his tail again...I thought it was doing so well, too!  Grrrr!

On to the plant and planting news! 

We are still rolling along with the Container Garden which will then transform into our Rooftop Garden if all continues to go well! 

Here's a photo from this morning!  It's our very first sprout of Brussels Sprouts starting!  YAY!  We thought we would start small and then transplant them if all continued to progress!  We tried about 12 of them, I think.  I will keep you posted on the progress!

And speaking of 'first time sprouts'...here's a look at the very first signs of life from our Broccoli!  We have the Broccoli started in a 1 and a half gallon bucket.

Did you know that Broccoli is part of the Cabbage Family?  Broccoli is high in vitamin C and dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium.  A single serving provides more than 30 mg of vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of vitamin C.

Now...on to the updates and progress of our "GREENS"!!!

We now have signs of life from all 6 of the 'greens' that we started!  5 lettuces and kale!  Here's a look at the Grand Rapids Lettuce.  I am aware that some of these lettuces we will most likely have to transfer and transplant into another area or space them out a bit more but some of the lettuces are said to 'thrive' in various conditions such as in more confined spaces.

That's NOT really the case with the Rosalita Lettuce you see here.

Rosalita is a 'head' lettuce...so we will have to replant these and space them out better.  Oops!  Live and Learn, I guess, right!?

This is our ROCK STAR so far, tho, so perhaps it will 'transfer' alright.

I just LOVE how it looks like they are reaching for the sun!  I told my co-worker that I thought they were dancing too...she giggled at me and called me a 'hippie'...but from her that is a compliment and fun little joke her and I have going!

We are still waiting to see 'movement' on our Carrots as well as our 3 onions.

I do realize that onions take longer.  With the 3 that we are trying first...one is about 70 days, another 80 to 110, and the other about 180 days.  Of course the "Ron Burgundy" onions take the longest LOL...inside joke...see previous gardening posts for more on that!

So...gardening buddies...what do you think so far?  For a first timer!?

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.