GREAT SCOT! Has it really been almost three weeks since my last post?

What have I been up to? Let’s see…

• Work – Of course, work takes up a fair portion of my waking hours. I’m not going to ramble on about that here but I’ve been considering some ‘how I get things done’ posts in the near future.
• Sleep … well, not really but I’m fully aware that is an area for improvement. Four hours of sleep per night isn’t cutting it and I continually fall into this bad habit of sleeping less for some reason.
• Parenting – Freya is an amazing little bundle of squiggles. This week she has learned to make a bird-like shriek and sort of freaked us out the other day. Jane was holding her and she started to cry and kick around (typical baby stuff) then buried her face in Jane’s shirt and screamed. This new behavior had us worried for a few minutes until we went through our checklist of baby stuff.
  • Last nap? within the hour
  • Diaper change? just now
  • Last nursing? one hour ago but she only nursed for a few minutes … AHA!

  Sure enough, she was just hungry and nursed like a champ.

  Freya has also been practicing for speech much more often lately. Sometimes I’ll come downstairs for a coffee break and she’ll be laying on Jane’s lap looking up at her and cooing as if telling Jane a story. I wasn’t aware that I could smile so big until this daughter of mine came along.

• Martial arts – My mat time has been limited because trying to be a good parent is a priority. I attend Hapkido classes twice per week (usually Thursday and Saturday) and practice Bujinkan and Hapkido movements at home as part of my solo training. This year, I’ve started drilling down into basic movements and making them solid (again). Once I have more free time I’m planning to gather a Bujinkan group for class twice per week as well as attending and helping with Hapkido classes. I should really start adding my thoughts about martial arts training here because I need to get them out of my head and discuss them with the world.
• Runnning – Kona and I have been out a few times this week and I’m getting ready to don the sweaty running gear that is currently hanging in our guest bathroom shower. More updates on running coming along soon as I start planning for the 1/2 marathon in June. With this much time to prepare I think this is going to be a great experience for me.
• Personal Training – I’ve dusted off the NASM material and have been studying again to take my CPT (certified personal trainer) test. This is another of my great ideas that lost momentum and sort of fell by the wayside. If anyone reading this is interested in a free personal trainer to help me stay motivated and gain experience helping you reach your fitness goals, let me know (contact me here if you don’t have my contact info).

So there it is, a quick and dirty update of my life over the past three weeks. Now, it’s time to lace up and hit the street – puppo is getting antsy.

Today was a very emotional day for Jane and I as we had to say goodbye to our very good feline friend Simon. For several weeks his health had been spiraling downward and I tricked myself into thinking everything was better when he showed signs of improvement for one week. However, his face continued to distort from swelling on his forehead and the third eyelid of his left eye was 50% closed. Monday and today he didn’t eat and wandered around with a distant look on his unfamiliar face. We suspect he was losing his vision because he was pacing around the house in strange patterns, running into things and getting stuck behind furniture.

I had to phone the vet to schedule the procedure and for the first time since we met, Jane saw me cry – which proves I’m probably still human.

Shortly after noon today Jane petted Simon as the doctor injected the series of fluids that would signal his retirement. The doctor’s best guess is that his swelling and deteriorating health was caused by some form of cancer. The procedures to verify the diagnosis were out of our price range at this time and it was very likely the results would tell us that he was in very poor health with no chance of significant recovery. It’s very frustrating but I’m confident that we did the right thing by not prolonging his suffering. He had a very good life with us and will be greatly missed.

Now that I’ve set a dreary tone for this post, let’s see if I can pull it around to something more celebratory.

A short and incomplete list of the things I loved about our dear friend Simon.

• His purr often rivaled the roar of a Harley Davidson when he would snuggle up to Jane at night.
• When working in my home office late at night, Simon would often hop into my chair between me and my chairback to fall asleep purring his face off.
• Simon was down for a nap any time of the day and would happily lay on my chest to make sure no one disturbed me.
• He was very good at playing with balls of crumpled paper.
• We could not have house plants because Simon would always find a way to rub his face in them, eat the leaves or knock them over. In the video below you’ll see his love for plants.
• He was one of the most social cats I’ve met. When visitors would walk through our door, he was there to greet them.
• Simon was talkative. He would sometimes walk into a room and start meowing to us as if telling us about his day.
• He was the boss and made sure our other pets stayed in line. When we brought Kona (our dog) home, Simon backed her into a corner the first day to send the message that he’s not to be messed with.
• He was crazy about being picked up and would seriously try to climb my leg just so I would cart him around like a baby.

This video was taken on Simons 14th birthday in our back yard. He was an indoor cat ever since I met him (though in his early days he was indoor/outdoor) and was always interested in escaping if there was a partially open door. The best part was even if he did escape he would only get as far as the first leafy plant because he would have to stop and stick his face in the leaves, it was like catnip for him.

You had a good life my friend and will forever live on in our fond memories and many photos, one of my very favorites is this one: