Guest Blogger

I asked her to fill in for me during the end of the school year and the month of June. Imagine my surprise when I logged in last night and saw that she had done nothing. And then I found this picture. Talk about relaxing on the job.

Paw Prints

Someone went out into the snow for the first time today.

She's seen snow from the window, but she's never been in it.

She didn't go far. I think it was too cold for her paws.

And now she's back to her usual Saturday afternoon activity: napping.

Another successful adventure for Maggie.

Maggie's New...Toy?

Wanting to buy for all members of our family this past Christmas, Justin and I set out to Petsmart about a week before Christmas to find Maggie the perfect gift. We got her a few packs of her favorite treats and a couple of catnip toys for her stocking before searching for a larger gift.

We had noticed lately that when we take her to the vet (she has to get weighed every six weeks to monitor her weight for the hyperthyroidism) and we don't put the pet carrier up right away, she will sleep in it for hours at a time because it is enclosed and dark and comfortable to her, I guess. So we decided to look for a bed for her that was enclosed. We found one, and while we had our doubts that she would actually use it, we got it anyway.

Fast forward to Christmas when we gave Maggie the bed, and she had no interest in it. It continued to sit in our living room for the next five days and she wanted nothing to do with it. She would walk by it and we would encourage her to get inside and she would look at us as if to say, "Why would I sleep in some glorified pillow on the floor when I have two separate beds to choose from in this apartment including one that has my own blanket on it?" And, well, she had a point:

That's her sleeping on her blanket on our bed. You can find her there about 20 of the 24 hours in a day.

So we located the original tags for the bed and back to Petsmart we went. They took the bed back without any problems and we were left back at square one with having no idea what to get her. Who knew that the hardest person to buy for in the family would be the cat? We walked around the store for awhile and we suddenly had the idea to get her a new water bowl. We decided that she (and us) could really benefit from one of those water bowls that looks like a miniature water cooler that stores a lot of water. We are constantly filling up her water bowl since she drinks a lot in one day (blame it on the hyperthyroidism) so we went to the aisle with all of the food bowls for cats. While looking at the water-cooler-like bowl, we found something even better.

This something was the perfect gift for our kitty. We didn't just buy her a water bowl...we bought her a water fountain. Yes, a water bowl that has a fountain that she can just step right up to and drink from. Maggie has always been facinated by water running out of the kitchen sink faucet so we thought this was the best thing we could buy for her.

We got home and Justin set it all up. Maggie, curious as to why her regular water bowl was missing, stood around us wondering what this new object was.


We turned it on, and well, didn't quite get the reaction out of her that we thought we would. Instead, this happened:

What is this? What do I do with it? What is that strange liquid coming from that spout? It looks like water. It smells like water. Should I touch it? Probably shouldn't.

We had to laugh at her a little. But then we gave her a nice pep talk about how it was just water and about how she can drink from the fountain. We thought that if we made the stream of water smaller she might not be so hesitant of it. Here's what happened next:

Oh, I get it! It is water! And I can touch it!

We were relieved that she was warming up to it, but the stream of water needed to be back at regular speed (we thought) in order for her to drink from it, but she now had another use for the fountain:

Wow, guys! What an awesome new paw-washer! Think of the time I'll save now! Instead of cleaning by incessant licking, I can just use this! Thanks!

Great, we thought. She thinks we bought her a new toy, not a new water bowl. We were worried that she wouldn't drink water from it and putting her regular water bowl out right next to it would kind of defeat the purpose. We even looked like idiots trying to demonstrate just how one drinks from a fountain (not recorded, sadly), and then she started doing this:

A paw-washer, a toy, and I can drink cold water from it? Awesome!

Success! Well, sort of. She wasn't so much drinking from it, but rather biting at the water. But we felt she started to understand the concept. So we decided to unplug the fountain and see if she would drink from the bowl without the water running (we decided to unplug it each night because if the water level gets below a certain line then the motor can break and we weren't sure how much water she drank at night). Notice how she is confused now by the missing fountain of water:

Hmmmm. Where did that stream of water go? Not sure, but I'm thirsty from all that playing and paw-washing.

Well, she'll drink from the bowl, but will she drink from it when the water is running?


Yes she will! And now we repeat that entire process each time it is plugged in every day. It's the best toy/paw-washer/water fountain/water bowl/gift we've ever bought for her.

Ups, Downs, & Indifferents

A way to organize the last month and a half:

UP: Justin and I celebrated our first anniversary on October 18th. It was a very low-key celebration that included Justin being home for four days straight without working (the next time that might happen is when we have a child...and they might not even let him have that much time off then) so we enjoyed the company of each other from Thursday to Sunday and found it strange to eat dinner together four nights in a row.

UP: I coach some of the best cheerleaders around. We are now out of competition season and I am proud to say that the JV came in third in the state competition and Varsity placed first in the small co-ed division at the Indiana Cheerleading Association state finals. Yep, first. Which means they are state champions. Which means they have gold medals. Which means that they will be fitted for state championship rings in the next couple of weeks. And it means that they are a great group of kids and I'm pleased and thankful that I got to be a part of such a huge accomplishment.

DOWN: My grandmother passed away last week. She was the head of my family on my father's side and the whole heart of the family, really. I spoke at her funeral and felt honored to do so. I think several of my family members will feel lost for a long time, but we will find comfort in each other, and like I said at the funeral, we are the lucky ones that got to be on the receiving end of her love and while she may not be here, at least we get to hold on really tight to that love.

INDIFFERENT: School. Ugh. So overwhelmed. I should be grading something or making an answer key for something or writing a lesson plan for something right now, but I had to take a break. But now that I just wrote that I feel guilty for not doing something for my job. Geez.

UP: I went to a Relay for Life leadership conference this past weekend and had an amazing time. More on that in separate post, but I got re-energized to plan this event. It really just confirmed that I am doing something awesome to honor my mom and that makes me feel good.

DOWN: My dad is selling my childhood home in Muncie and Jess and I had to go there yesterday to help go through some stuff. I'm having a really hard time with this. Is it just a physical structure? Technically. Is it so much more to me? Absolutely. It's hard. I feel like one chapter of my life is ending and I'm definitely not ready to turn the page. It is bringing up a lot of grief from my mom's death that I thought I had worked through. And I feel that I need to keep everything from the house. I feel like if I get rid of something, then I'm getting rid of the memory, and while I know that's not true, it's just hard and that's the only way I can explain it.

UP: It is the holiday season and if I didn't have a million things to do for school, I would totally start decorating for Christmas right now. I absolutely love this time of year and if the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas could last for a few months instead of one then I would be one happy girl!

DOWN: My little Maggie kitty is, indeed, getting older. Justin and I took her for her yearly check-up and found out that she has the early stages of hyperthyroidism. Basically that means that her metabolism is extremely high (which explains why/how she digests food so fast and is hungry all the time...including wanting breakfast at 4 a.m.) and she will continue to lose weight gradually (which an 11-year-old kitty should not do) and eventually it will be full-blown and by then her life expectancy should be about two to four years, which really will be her expectancy anyway by that time. So we are just going to weigh her each month and see when she goes into full hyperthyroidism and go from there. But I continue to snuggle with her as much as possible and feed her scraps from the table almost daily!

DOWN: I haven't seen my friends since BSU homecoming and I know I haven't been the best friend lately since I have been so overwhelmed and busy with cheerleading. But I will see them this weekend so I can make up for some lost time!

UP: Today is Justin's birthday! He is 28 today. Since it is Monday (and if Justin didn't work at the theater on a Monday the place might cave in on itself) he won't be home until around 8:30 so we are having a party when he gets home. The guest list consists of the two coolest girls around...me and Mags. So I am about to put his birthday cake in the oven (he's not a fan of store-bought cake) and I will be ready to sing a solo "Happy Birthday" to him when he walks in the door...party hats and all. I'll take pictures!

Ok, gotta bake a cake! And grade...

Great Weekend!

I truly need more weekends like the one I just had!

Friday night, I went to my friend Katie's bachelorette dinner at Chopsticks Bistro downtown. I had never had sushi before (unless you count the bite I had one time from someone's sushi lunch from Marsh...but I don't) and it was really good. I'm definitely a meat and potatoes kind of girl but I tried two different kinds of sushi and really liked them both. They also had the best crab rangoons I have ever had. Other than the great food, I had a good time with my teacher friends from school.

I woke up way too early on Saturday morning to head to Muncie for homecoming at Ball State. We all met at Allison's house and headed over to wait in horrible traffic to get into tailgating. I was a little nervous at first because we were out by the softball diamonds to tailgate and we had never been out there before (and it was freezing!), but we ended up having a really great time playing football, grilling out, people watching, and catching up. It was nice to act like a college student again, if only for a few hours.

With the best friends a girl could ask for: Laura, me, Ashley, Jess, and Allison.

Laura and I were the first ones to succumb to the cold temperatures and hang out in the car!

Ashley's 16-week-old pregnant belly. There's a little girl in there! I just know it!

I left Muncie around 5:30 to get back home. Then, something happened last night that is extremely rare in the marriage of Justin and Jennifer Leavell. We spend Saturday night together and went out on a date. Shocking, I know. Due to school, cheerleading practice, and yearbook meetings being back in full force and Justin and I already working completely opposite hours, I couldn't remember the last time we had spent more than two hours together, let alone a whole evening. So I came back home to get ready (and let me pause here to brag about the fact that I got home at 6:33, fed Maggie, took a shower, and was ready to leave at 7:40...that's quite a feat for me) and once Justin got home and changed, we were off. We went and walked around at the Hamilton Town Center for a little bit and then went to eat at Olive Garden.

This is how I liked dinner to be served...off of a menu...and not out of the kitchen. OK, I know that sounded horrible, but I'm still trying to get into this whole cooking thing.

We had a great time together. We are really trying to make more of an effort to make the most out of the time we do see each other each week. And yes, I know that there are couples out there that have it way worse than we do, but I can only attest to how our lives are.

Today has been spent doing laundry, cleaning up a bit, and grading. I also found out that Maggie did something that she had yet to do since she has lived with me and Justin--she got us for two meals at breakfast. Since Justin has to get up so early on Sunday mornings to go to work, I got up and fed Maggie as soon as she came into our room crying at 5 a.m. so she wouldn't wake him up. However, she got Justin when he got up because she cried and cried like she had never been fed and he gave her another bowl of food. To a 16-pound cat that gets no more than a half a cup of low-calorie food a day anyway, it must have felt like Christmas morning. Here she is basking in her victory:


If our cat can get the best of us, I hate to think about what our kids will trick us into one day!

Feeling At Home

Our first full day with Maggie was, well, typical. Since I've known this cat for almost eleven years, there is not much she can do that would surprise me. For example, I remembered this morning that Maggie has no concept of the weekend as she came into our room at 5:30 a.m. meowing as loud as she could as if to say, "OK, I get it that I live here now, but don't forget that I eat breakfast on a strict schedule." Still wanting Justin to fall in love with her, I jumped out of bed as fast as I could to get her out of our room before she woke him up. Thank goodness she got a full belly and went right back to sleep. She has found a couple of spots under our bed where she likes to snooze. I think she likes it under there because it is dark, cool, and strangely quiet. I have thought ever since we moved in here that our bedroom must be in a whole other building because you can walk from the main area of the apartment into the bedroom and feel like you just entered a tranquil paradise because it seems so quiet. Anyway, Maggie also got a sense of her surroundings this morning. We opened our patio door and bedroom windows to let some air in, and normally she loves to lay in front of any screen where outside air is coming in, but she kept hearing people in neighboring apartments and would growl as low and long as she could and run underneath the bed. Ten minutes later she would come out and try looking out the window again, only to be spooked and return to her haven. I'm sure this new place will just take some getting used to for her. Other than those adventures, she has spent the day sleeping, exploring the apartment, enjoying some baked chicken that we had for dinner, and now she is snoring away in front of me on the computer desk. Enjoy the photos of her getting used to her new home:

Do you think this is her way of saying that she'll help out with the laundry next Sunday?

Helping me blog.

Showing off her belly. She only does this when she is really comfortable so hopefully that means that she really likes it here!

A New Roommate

Today, I snatched my wonderful (yet capricious) cat from my sister's condo, packed up her food bowls and litterbox, and moved her twenty minutes away to her new home--our apartment! After a few weeks of convincing Justin that I need (not just want) Maggie to come live with us, he finally caved. While I don't feel he is 100% on board with the idea--he actually asked me how much longer I thought it was going to live--she is here to stay. Besides, after the move, I don't think she will ever get back into her cat carrier.

I arrived at Jessica's to a happy kitty. Maggie was lounging around the house, smelling the breeze coming in the deck door, sprawling out on top of a desk, and meowing at my heels for a good head-scratch. Twenty minutes into the visit, I was forcing her head into a cage while she was contracting every claw and digging them into my arms. She isn't one to just go into a small cell that she knows will carry her to some God-awful place. After several failed attempts and a loss of blood on Jessica's part, we dropped her head-first into the cat carrier, loaded her into the backseat of my car and began the journey.

From the horrendous sounds coming from her mouth, you would have thought I was taking her to some pet cemetery to bury her alive. I'm sure her low, screeching meows were part fear, part nerves, and part pain from that not-so-conventional entrance into the cat carrier. I glanced into the backseat at one point and swear I saw foam coming from her mouth which made me think she was having some kind of feline heart attack or stroke and that the trip was actually killing her. I then realized she was uncharacteristically drooling like crazy and panting like a dog. Once at my apartment, Jess and I took her inside, opened the carrier, wiped the drool from her chin, and let her out to explore her new home. I then realized that she had done something that she has never done in her almost eleven years of life...she pooped in the carrier. Maggie is the cleanest cat you will ever come across in your life, but I guess I literally scared the, well, crap out of her.

I fully expected her to find our bed, crawl underneath it, and stay there for a few days. Well, she did just that, but only stayed there for a few minutes:


She came out and continued to pant and sweat for a good half an hour before finally realizing that the torture was over and this was, in fact, her new home. Now, about five hours into the move, she's doing well. She ate her dinner, used the litterbox (thank goodness), and has made herself right at home.


I think she has now gone off to find a good spot to sleep away the awful day she had. And I think Justin will learn to love her. He will at least love that I have something new to point my camera at, and I will love the fact that I have someone to talk to (other than myself) while Justin is at work. Welcome home, Maggie!