Today dad told me Abby was dragging her back legs down the stairs, she still didn't really want to eat, and she just looked SO uncomfortable laying on the couch, so I knew it was time to let her go. I just can't watch suffering like that. I called the vet and she said to come on over..she said Abby might have gotten a blot clot that paralyzed her back legs, and there's nothing you can do when that happens besides letting her go. Abby didn't even growl at Glitter this time, though she was growling at everything else lol. She gave Abby a sedative to calm her down, while mom and I were petting her. As she was giving Abby the medicine to put her to sleep, I told Abby what a great cat she was and I was SO happy she chose me at the shelter that day in 2009 (she purred all the way home!) and that I'd see her in heaven someday. I wish I could have said more, but I was crying too much (and the medicine works super fast). The vet said I'd get her ashes back in a few days, and an impression of her pawprints, which I plan to get as a tattoo in her memory. Glitter knew something was wrong, and let me hold her while she sniffed Abby, and pawed at mom's leg when we were leaving, awww. There aren't enough words to describe how amazing Abby was. The day I adopted her, she put her paw through the cage, as if saying "hurry up and take me home!" She loved everyone..a complete stranger could sit down and Abby would be in their lap in two seconds haha. All you had to do was walk in a room she was in and she would start purring. One day I was crying in bed and she licked my tears away. I loved her little white paws. I am SO grateful we had so much time together, and don't regret a thing, even if this part is heartbreaking. I'm just glad she's not suffering anymore. I will NEVER forget her. I might get another cat eventually, it's just not the same without one! In her honor, I'm going to post a couple of pics from each year I had her. My cartoonist friend sent me this picture on Facebook:

Yesss!!

My aunts called mom after they heard and Gina, who has a very powerful connection to the supernatural/afterlife, told me she had an image of Abby standing next to my legs, looking up at me and thanking me. Awwww! It'll be cool when Abby visits me in my dreams, like my other pets do. I'm glad she's still watching over me <3

( abby through the years )

March 2: What's your personal creed? Try to be positive and caring towards everyone, even in hard times. Enjoy things, you're never too old to have fun! Be surrounded by books haha

Earlier today, grandma passed away. Mom left last night because they couldn't get grandma's oxygen level stable, and mom said grandma waited for her to get there and then passed away. I'm really glad I was able to see grandma as much as I did this year. Her quality of life really wasn't good this year, so I'm glad she's not suffering anymore. She was one strong lady though, and always so sweet and kind to me. I loved her house in Wichita because she lived next to a sycamore tree haha. Hawaii by James Michener will forever remind me of her, because it was one of her favorite books and gave me a copy to read. I'm not sure about funeral arrangements yet, but of course Vicki said to leave whenever I need to. I will treasure 35 years of memories with grandma forever <3 (this picture is definitely one of my favorites of her and me)

( more pics of grandma )

There are probably other pictures of us together, I just need to find them. I hope she's at peace in whatever afterlife there is!

There's a crazy-sounding winter storm coming this weekend (my head can feel it, ugh. The first major snowstorm is always the worst). There's a possibility of heavy snow with mixed freezing rain, accumulations of 6 to 10 inches, a glaze of ice, and winds could gust as high as 35 mph. O_o I hope the power doesn't go out! I think I'll be staying inside under a blanket this weekend LOL

17. Are There Topics That Should Be Off Limits to Comedy? Yeah, like rape and things like that

18. What Animal Are You Most Like? A cat in certain ways, a sloth haha, etc

1. When did you most recently eat rice, and what did you have with it? Yesterday..yellow curry
2. How do you feel about mustard? Gross lol
3. What’s your favorite way to eat corn? Popcorn!
4. What’s the best oat-based breakfast cereal? Cheerios
5. What are some great ways to consume sesame seeds? On bread

RIP Queen Elizabeth, that's definitely a shock to the world. :( She had quite a legacy!

( pokemon update )

7. What’s your most and least preferred forms of exercise? Explain. I'm not a huge fan of exercise lol, but running is definitely one of the worst..I always hated running the mile in school. D: Swimming can be fun lol

8. What’s your favorite quote? Why is it special to you? "If you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore," for one..exploring is cool, especially if Cherry thinks so ;)

9. As you fall asleep, do you prefer to be flat on your back, curled on your side, or on your stomach? What position are you in when you wake up? On my back (which has me dreaming about the top of my bed LOL) or on my side to both questions

Mom came in to work today and told me Jack, grandma's English husband, died yesterday..awww, so sad! :( He was such a nice guy and had a long full life (he was 99 when he passed). During World War 2 he designed airplanes! He will definitely be missed. I think mom and Aunt Cindy will try to go to his funeral, unless covid makes it virtual only. I feel like getting grandma back to the US will be a big job. I'll miss going to England to visit them, but maybe I can see grandma more often when she gets back to the US. Goodbye, Jack, I hope you're in a nice place where you can see and hear again!

Yesterday I saw that mom had commented on my autism video on Facebook, which surprised (and pleased!) me, because she doesn't go on Facebook much, but she said Jo told her about it and she decided to check it out. I also TRIED to say that I posted it on the Facebook autism group too, and yikes my words failed me so badly! I cringed so hard when trying to say "posted," and the rest of the sentence felt so mixed up! I said "ugh, I hate that word!" and when mom said "which one?" I said "po-po-post!!" Mom was like "WTF why are you stuttering??" *dies of embarrassment* I told her it was Donald's fault LOL. That happened like three hours ago and I'm still cringing (yeahh that's why I try not to say that word!). I have a feeling I'm not going to live that down haha. I hate when my brain dies like that though, ugh!

( sept. 7-8 )

Today's trivia: The name "jaguar" comes from the Native American word "yajuar," meaning "he who kills with one leap"

My cousin Jacque (on the right), who owned the buffalo farm in Wisconsin, died yesterday from complications of breast cancer (she had it some years ago too, but fought it off). She definitely didn't look well in recent pictures of her. :( That made me SO sad, she was such a kind, fun, easygoing, energetic lady, who had lots of family and loved them very much..I always loved going to visit her. I wish I could have seen her again, I think the last time was in 2013. I'll never forget my first visit to the farm (2003), which became one of my absolute favorite places (I wonder if her husband will keep the farm?). RIP Jacque, I will never forget you and will be missed by many <3

Jacque would have loved this though:

Great job, Scott!

( her obituary, if you're curious )

20. What is something you really wanted as a child? "Real" pixie dust haha

21. What parent are you more like? Both in different ways

22. Do you have a preference on name brand vs store brand? *shrugs* I just buy what I like lol

Today's trivia: The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona, but the Spanish city thought the design was too ugly, so Gustave Eiffel pitched it to Paris instead, as a temporary landmark during its 1889 International Exposition

Yesterday I learned that Marjorie, my landlady of almost ten years, had passed away. I just saw her last week and she seemed fine, so it must have been sudden. I was so surprised and sad..she was always so nice and we had good conversations about cats and stuff lol. She will definitely be missed..it'll probably be hard to replace her, since she'd been working here so long. So sad, and scary to be reminded of mortality D:

Mom asked me to go to bingo with her to help her and her boss celebrate a customer's birthday, so I was like "suree" haha (it was a surprise party, and she started crying! Awww). I still feel weird going there, but it is fun. On one game someone got a bingo, and for some reason after that the caller tells us the next three numbers that would have come up next..if that person hadn't called bingo, I would have gotten it! (It was number 16 too!) Darn haha, maybe next time?? :P

It's supposed to be -29 on Friday and -32 on Saturday..looks like winter has caught up with us now D:

( Day 347-351 )

Today's trivia: New Mexico's Department of Transportation added grooves to the section of Route 66 between Albuquerque and Tijeras that play music when you drive over them going the speed limit of 45 mph. The grooves work just like the rumble strips, which vibrate your car if you drift out of your lane. These particular strips are positioned to create different pitches when you drive over them, and if you do, you can clearly hear "American the Beautiful" play through the vibrations in your car's wheels (I want to try that!)

Denise had to put to sleep her last surviving cat today..he had kidney issues, and seemed to be doing well last week, but he took a turn for the worse this weekend and couldn't recover. He was only 10 years old. :( She had to put her other cats to sleep last year and in 2017, so my heart just breaks for her. It's never easy to say goodbye to a pet you love :(

It's so cold outside (-30) that my heat refuses to go past 61..maintenance said all their properties have been having that problem, and they can't do anything about it till the cold spell breaks..ouch. Luckily I have a little portable heater, my hands would be like ice cubes otherwise!

( Day 7: A song that wrenches your heart out from sadness )

Today's trivia: The tallest tree in the world is Hyperion, a redwood in California. It was discovered in 2006, and is 379.7 feet tall

1. Did you have a cell phone prior to your thirties? Did they exist? Whoa hold on there, I'm not 30 quite yet LOL, but yeah, they've been out a long time lol
2. Did you have cable when you were a little kid? When did you first get cable? For awhile..I still remember the very first show I watched on it was Figure it Out. I might have been around 10 or 11..
3. Do you know what 8-track tapes are and did you ever own an 8-track tape player? I just Googled it..not what I was thinking lol. My parents might have had one in their car..
4. Did you own cassette tapes and walkman or tape player in high school and college? I had a Walkman in high school..the others I had in elementary school
5. When did you get your first DVD player? I'm not really sure, but I remember the ads for DVDs when they first came out ("coming soon to DVD!") and thinking "what the heck is a DVD??" LOL. Random trivia: Twister was the first movie released on DVD ;)
6. Did you learn how to type on a typewriter? Did you own a typewriter growing up? No..I remember that my great-grandma used a typewriter when writing me letters and stuff though
7. What was the first computer you owned? The first one I remember was a giant clunky one mom had (a "boat anchor," as Paulette calls them haha). I think the first one that was mine was a Dell laptop
8. What age were you when you first got email? Hmm..around 13 or 14?
9. What age were you when you first encountered the internet? Was it around when you were a kid? It was, but I don't really remember my first time using it..
10. What age were you when Facebook, Twitter, and Dreamwidth, and Livejournal started?
Facebook: that was 2004, so I was 15
Twitter: 2006, so I was 17
Dreamwidth: 2008, so I was 19
LJ: 1999, so I was 10
11. What was your first cell phone? How old were you when you got it? Do you even own one? I think it was a Samsung flip phone..maybe around 13 or 14. Yes I do
12. Have you ever owned a smartphone? Yeah
13. What was the first printer like and the paper that you used when you got your very first computer? Could it print photos -- the first printer you worked on or owned? Not sure about the printer, but I think the paper had these perforated holes you could tear off. One of them could at least
14. When you were in college, freshman and sophomore years, did you type on a computer or type-writer? A computer
15. What age were you when streaming came out? You can pick decade - aka 20s, 30s, teens... Hmm..I just Googled it, and the answer seems complicated..Wikipedia says 1995, so I was 6 years old
16. What age were you when you got your first MP3 Player? Do you even own one? Maybe around 14 or 15. Not anymore, unless iTunes counts :P
17. Did you own a record player, cassette player, CD player or MP3 player as a kid or teen? Yes to all except the record player
18. At what age did you start blogging on the internet? I was 14, back in 2004!
19. E-book reader -- when did these come out? What age? That was 2004 as well
20. How do you listen to music? On what devices? The radio, iTunes, YouTube..

I can't believe Stephen Hawking died! (I actually gasped when I read that he died.) It was amazing he lived so long with ALS! He kinda seemed invincible..wow

( March 12-14 )

Today's trivia: The radioactive chemical element astatine is the rarest element on Earth. Only an ounce of it occurs naturally on the planet at any given time

Sad news to report from Talkeetna, Stubbs the cat has passed away.

According to a release from Nagley's store, the unofficial Mayor of Talkeetna, Stubbs the cat passed away in his sleep Thursday night.

The release states Stubbs was 20-years-old.

As Stubbs grew older his public appearances at the store became less frequent. "The last time Stubbs was in the store; he got to snuggle with the employees and relax after a good long days’ work," the release reports.

Stubbs served as the town’s unofficial mayor since 1997.

Awwww no, that's so sad!! Sounds like he lived a nice long life though, and I'm so glad I got to meet him! Now it'll feel like something is missing from Talkeetna :(

( July 23: A Relationship )

Marc's funeral service was lovely, and definitely sad. He and Paulette had been together for 46 years..wow. Paulette said she was not going to "shut down" her emotions..she wants to always feel the deep love they had for each other. I didn't know Marc like some of the others did..I'd only met him in person once, but he was definitely super kind and caring like other people there said. He'd always welcome me back after I got back to work after a vacation..aww I'm gonna miss his phone calls. :( Paulette said to look at the pictures of him at the back of the room and look into his eyes and see the love from them. I looked, and there was *definitely* something deep about his eyes. She also brought in the watch he was wearing that stopped the moment he died..wow. He will always be remembered <3

( Day 10-Handwrite your lucky number )

Today's trivia: The longest battle of WWII was the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted from 1939-1945