THE END OF AN ERA - A Tribute to Mr. Kitty

Yesterday, June 23, 2008, we had to put our loving and lovable cat, Mr. Kitty, to sleep. He fought hard against what we finally discovered was a fungal infection that first shut down his bone marrow and then led to pneumonia. His health continued to worsen, and we did not want him to suffer any longer. He had not been able to sleep for about 2 days and was unwilling to eat or drink.

I'll can still remember when I first saw a very skinny Mr. Kitty. At first, he did not want to let me pet him, but after a bit of coaxing, he tentatively let me pet him. Soon he was hanging around fairly often, and when we started putting out dry cat food on our front porch, he was a common fixture! Strangely, after that, he was unlikely to warm up to any strangers!

We'll always remember the way he would wake us up to go outside or to tell us he wanted to eat - CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. Mr. Kitty would play with the handles on our bedroom furniture as if they were door-knockers to get our attention!

In addition to his waking us up, he was also one of Sandra's "napping buddies." Often, he got blamed for "making Sandra take a nap!"

We'll always remember how we thought one of his former names must have been Dell or Gateway as he preferred to be sitting in our laps in place of the laptop computer!

Another great memory was when our younger cat, Rascal, had not come home for a couple of days. We all feared the worst. Sandra said, "Come on, Mr. Kitty. Let's go look for Rascal." Off they both went - both calling for Rascal - around the block. About 10-15 minutes later, Rascal was home. I think it was Mr. Kitty's calls that led him home!

He was such an easy-going cat, allowing us to dress him up like Elvis or a Halloween character. Yet, if one of us was having a bad day, he'd make sure to give us extra special attention.

I'll always remember how he liked to hang around me when I was working outside.

I'll always remember how often in the mornings or the evenings he would stand up tall and majestic to watch the sunrise or the sunset as if he were giving thanks for the beauty before him.

I hope you consider clicking here to see pictures of our beloved Mr. Kitty -
he was always very photogenic!

Memphis 2007 Vacation

For a vacation this year, Sandra and Troy met some friends (Tom & Sue Goebel) in Memphis, TN to take part in "Elvis Week" festivities. We arrived on 8/15/07 and left on 8/21/07 (you can check out pics by clicking here!). Here are a few highlights from the trip:

8/15/07:

• We ate Superior B-B-Q on Beale Street, and Troy got to sing Elvis karaoke (Heartbreak Hotel) while there.
• Troy got invited to sing and play guitar on two songs (Reconsider Baby & Steamroller Blues) with a local blues band (The Juke-Joint All Stars) in an outdoor pavilion!
• Troy & Tom got to shake hands and have a picture made with guitar virtuoso, James Burton (Elvis' guitarist)!

8/16-17/07:

• We had VIP tickets to the 30th Anniversary Elvis Concert at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. They project video footage of Elvis on a screen, and members of his band play live. It was sold out. The VIP tix meant that we got to attend a reception before & after the concert where we had B-B-Q (again) and other snacks. We also received some quite nice souvenirs (a pic of Elvis, Lisa Marie, & Priscilla hand autographed by Priscilla, a copy of an autographed pic of Elvis' TCB band, two different souvenir books, & a champagne flute), and we sat on the 4th row. At the reception, we got to see Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, Jerry Scheff (Elvis' bassist - thanks to my friend Sue, I got his autograph on his CD, A Fire Down Below), Ronnie Tutt (Elvis' and Neil Diamond's drummer), Glenn D. Hardin (Elvis' pianist), and Richard Sterban (formerly bass singer in the Stamps Quartet and currently in the Oak Ridge Boys - I got his autograph).
• We also had tickets to the Midnight in Vegas concert, also at the FedEx Forum. The video footage of Elvis was all from Vegas. The band was more rockin' at this one. Maybe they were nervous at the earlier show. This was the first (and likely last) showing of this concert - sadly.

8/17/07:

• We ate at one of Elvis' favorite Italian food restaurants, Coletta's. He liked their B-B-Q pizza. We didn't have that.
• We visited Sun Studio at 706 Union. Still a cool place.
• We visited the Rock 'n' Soul Museum adjacent to the FedEx Forum. This is well worth the price of admission. It is a history of Memphis music starting in the early 1900s. It really helps one see how rock & soul developed. FASCINATING.
• We did a riverboat dinner cruise on the Mississippi River and ate . . . you guessed it . . . B-B-Q. Troy got to sing three Elvis songs with the band (Jailhouse Rock, All Shook Up, & Little Sister).

8/18/07:

• We took a little 1 1/2 hour drive to Tupelo, MS to see Elvis' birthplace. The highlight here was the story wall of Elvis' childhood friends reminiscing about the good old days. The adjacent museum was "okay."
• The Tupelo Automobile Museum is worth the price of admission with cars going back to the late 1800s and including rarities such as a Tucker (only 51 were ever made).

8/19/07:

• We went to church & visited Troy's Aunt Mary & Uncle Rich in Collierville, TN. We also said farewell to our friends, Tom & Sue.

8/20/07:

• We went to the All Access Jumpsuit Museum across the street from Graceland. It was pretty amazing, beginning with the two-piece karate type suits he wore in '69, to the first actual jumpsuits of Feb '70, to a suit he never got to wear in concert. It was pretty amazing. I wish they would have spread them out more, though. It showed how little Elvis Presley Enterprises care about Elvis post-'73. Most of those suits were jumbled together in one place, so you couldn't see them well.
• We visited the Gibson Guitar Factory near Beale St, where they make guitars such as Les Paul Studios, semi-hollowbodies electrics (like the ES-335 & B.B. King's Lucille), and hollowbody electrics. Too bad I didn't get to play one!
• We walked around downtown Memphis window-shopping until we go tired.

That's our trip in a nutshell. Wish you could've been there!

Rascal's New Home

Last week we moved into our new house. Our new kitten Rascal wasn't too sure about it at first, but now really likes the new place. Mr. Kitty has been harder to convince...he's spent a lot of time hiding under the bed.

A New Friend

Troy and I have a new friend... He started coming around our house and he was so skinny we just had to help him. Of course now he's here everyday. This is also how we came to adopt Mr. Kitty, he just showed up.

He is very sweet and friendly. I'd guess he's probably about 6 months old, no more than a year. But we are not sure that we need another cat. If you would like to give this cute kitty a new home let us know!

European Vacation

This week we returned from an amazing Mediterranean cruise. We had three stops in Italy - Naples, Messina (Sicily), and Florence. There were two stops in Greece and one stop in France near Nice. There were also three sea days where we relaxed and enjoyed the on board entertainment.

Here's our Online Photo Album

Happy Halloween!

VACATION TO ILLINOIS & MISSOURI

We left, Sunday, August 27 about 2pm in the afternoon to head for vacation - our first of the year! Our first stop was Springfield, Missouri where we visited my brother and sister-in-law (Tony & Vivian). We spent the night in their house that is over 100 years old! On Monday, we ate together at Hemingway's Blue Water Cafe (http://www.hemingwaysbluewatercafe.com/) at the Bass Pro Shops. They have a great breakfast buffet.

After Springfield, we headed to St. Louis (with a brief stop at a Russell Stovers outlet store on the way). We stayed at the Radisson Hotel downtown, and we had a view of the Gateway Arch from our room! The first thing we vistited was the Old Courthouse followed by the Gateway Arch (http://www.gatewayarch.com/). The ride to the top of the arch gives you an opportunity to Rock 'n' Roll! You can see for MILES from the Arch, though, and it is a neat view! At the arch we watched a National Geographic film on the BIG screen about the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was very interesting. After that, we ate at Skeeter's Eatery (http://www.skeeterseatery.com/) in historic Laclede's Landing (http://www.lacledeslanding.org/) - a neat place to window shop.

On Tuesday, due to cloudy and sprinkling skies, we visited the Missouri History Museum (http://www.mohistory.org/). They had great exhibits of Charles Lindbergh and the 1904 World's Fair held in St. Louis (did you know the Olympics were held there that year and tug-o-war was one of the games?). There was more to see, but maybe we'll see it next time. After eating at Jimmy's on the Park (http://jimmyscafe.com/) we made our way to the St. Louis Art Museum (http://www.stlouis.art.museum/). They had some pretty nice exhibits although some were not viewable as there was some construction going on. Then we made our way to The Loop (http://www.ucityloop.com/) where we did some window shopping and ate at Fitz's American Grill & Bottling Works where they make and bottle their own root beer! It was fantastic (http://www.fitzsrootbeer.com/). You can even order their root beer on-line! We even watched a movie at the historic Tivoli Theatre (http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/St.Louis/TivoliTheatre.htm) also on the Loop. The movie we saw was Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? (http://www.mrsmithmovie.com/) It shows the sad state of our political system.

On Wednesday, we made our way to the Anheuser Busch brewery for a free tour of the St. Louis facilities (http://www.budweisertours.com/docs/stltour.htm). Feeling famished from our tour, we found Zia's on the Hill (http://www.zias.com/). They had the BEST Chicken Parmigiana I have EVER had. Be sure to eat there if you go! Full of good food, we made our way to the Missouri Botanical Garden (http://www.mobot.org/) - what a beautiful place! An additional attraction was a Chihuly Glass (http://www.chihuly.com/) exhibition in the midst of the beautiful plants. The St. Louis Zoo (http://www.stlzoo.org/) was the next stop, and we were lucky to get to see a 350 lbs. "baby" Asian elephant named Maliha! This is a GREAT zoo, but plan to do a lot of walking as it is a bit spread out. We ate at the Thai Gai Yang Cafe. Their food was okay, but REALLY spicy!

On Thursday, we made our way to Kahoka, Missouri to visit my Aunt Maxine, Uncle Eldon, Grandma Bourgeois, and cousins (Brent, Tracy, Ryan, & Latisha). I helped Eldon and Brent a little bit with some work on the farm. That evening we shared a good, old fashioned family meal together, thanks to Maxine's great cooking.

On Friday, we went with Maxine & Eldon to Hannibal, Missouri (http://www.hanmo.com/). To get there, we took the ferry across the mighty Mississippi River at Canton, Missouri (http://www.showmecanton.com/) to Illinois. Then we went through Quincy, Illinois to take care of some errands. After eating at Steak 'n' Shake, we got to Hannibal. In Hannibal, we visited the Mark Twain Cave (http://www.marktwaincave.com/) did some window shopping in downtown Hannibal, even walking by Mark Twain's boyhood home (http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/). After getting back to Kahoka, we ate pizza with our cousins and watched them get ready for their car shows over the Labor Day weekend.

Saturday, we made our way to Versailles, Illinois to visit Grandma Sims. To our surprise, we were greeted by my cousins Andy (and his wife Carissa and their daughter Jaslyn - their expecting a boy in February) and Jake (and his girlfriend Amber). Our visit was cut short, though as Andy had to go play a gig with his band (http://www.mattallendoubledeuce.com/) and Jake had to go work on his house. The rest of the day was spent visiting with Grandma and relaxing.

Sunday we went to church (http://www.chambersburgchristian.com/) with Grandma followed by lunch with my cousin Bob (and his girlfriend, Chris) and my other cousin Bob (and his son, Baylor). Bob and I got a chance to jam before he had to go run lights and sound for Andy's band. Later in the day, we went to Jake's house in Griggsville, Illinois to see all the renovations going on. They are doing great, although they still have a lot of work to go.

Monday, we hopped in the car and drove for over 12 hours to be back in Wichita Falls. Sadly, we had a "welcome home gift." Someone had shot a hole through our kitchen window and blinds. That was a bummer, but not enough to spoil the fun from our vacation!

If you want to see pics from our vacation, go to: http://tampicotimes.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album04.