Welcome to our very furst Blest Sunday of da Mew Year. Can you believe it? Another year has come and gone. Saying goodbye to 2016 was very bittersweet fur us. Last year brought us so much sadness and yet, so much joy. We all meowed and chatted ‘bout just what kind of posty we would make today. We’ve made some mew furiends this year and lost some old ones, so in da end we decided a look back was the way to go. Fasten your seatbelts and let’s zoom back to January of 2016. (This posty looks longer than it is, cuz we added lots of fotos fur your viewing purrleasure.)
Y This ain’t so bad after all.
What a fine time; sis Lexi was still with us. We don’t make resolutions in our house, so instead, me gave you all a challenge. With so many anipals awaitin’ their furevers, me challenged you to all share and do whatever you could to help more of those anipals than ever befur. We partnered with a shelter here in Oklahoma and shared adoptable kitties every week till the shelter was empty. That’s right, they actually went fur several weeks without any kitties needin’ furever homes. January wasn’t all work tho’. Mommy and me made mes furst pick up truck fur the annual Cat Scout Derby. Me didn’t win, but we did have a good time. Mommy fur sure isn’t crafty. MOL And we never could have known when we wrote ‘bout our pets grief that we would be facing that ourselves very soon.
I luvz minez mommy even more today
In February, sis Lexi was havin’ more bad days than good, and we started getting all sentimental and mushy. We celebrated our 2nd blogoversay; and just in time fur Valentine’s Day, sis Lexi wrote a thank you post to mommy. Me wrote mes thank you a couple of days later. And we got all educational and wrote a post telling you all about spay/neuter and vaccinations.
When March came blowing in, sis Lexi took a turn fur the worse. She couldn’t balance very well, and wouldn’t eat much. Ever the Service Cat tho’, she continued to do what she could to help mommy; giving her massages meowning and night. And on Wednesday March 9th, 2016, sis Lexi gave up the fight and went to heaven. Mommy was a mess; me was a mess, and we wrote another post onpets grieving. We ended the month explaining why mommy needs Service Cats.
Isn’t this just beautiful? Lexis’ furever resting spot that will sit on mommys desk.
April found us trying to figure out how to go on without sis Lexi. We began our search fur a new Service Cat to help me help mommy. Little did we know, that she hadn’t yet been born.
May came rushing in, and found us posting home made treat recipes. You can check out a couple of those treats here and here. And furinally on mommys’ birthday, May 27th, she got a lead on a new Service Cat in training. She had been born April 21, 2016. Sis Lexis’ birthday would have been the 29th.
So we waited with baited breath fur June to roll round. The day finally rolled around and mommy went to pick up mes new sisfur and helper. She was a little puff ball of pi_ _ and vinegar. A real spitfire, mommy called her. Of all the names mommy threw out, the little spitfire answered to Raena. Mommy had done a little research and thought that was purrfect. It’s a shortened form of Rahannan and means “New Beginnings”. We purrticipated in our furst Blogville Pawlympics, and turned Miserable Mondays into Service Cat Mondays. We plan to continue posting those Service Cat posts this year, so ifin you have any questions about Service cats or training cats, just let us know.
July came bounding in just like Raena. We continued our Service Cat Monday posts and Raena got to make her furst post all by herself. And she learned all about treats, catnip and giving reviews. She learned how to be a blogging cat.
August sped in and saw Raena saying goodbye to monthly VET visits where she got poked and prodded. Raena continued to grow and explore her new home. We continued with Service Cat Monday and also wrote about kitties teething. We ended out the month with a day of remembrance written by mommy for sis Lexi.
September 2016: Raena and me both got our furst Silvervine sticks. OMC Those things are outta this world. And we continued Service Cat Mondays, offering training tips for all kitties.
October was the month Raena had her “spa day”. We both got new harnesses and Raena learned to walk on a leash and go out in the stroller. We ended the month telling you about Shad, mommys’ furst Service Cat.
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Me couldn’t wait fur November to get here, it’s mes Birthday and Gotchaday month. What a time. Me got some great purresents and we finally had pizza. Raena got her furst nip nanner fur mes birthday. We also posted leash training tips in a Service Cat Monday post. And we were so blest to have received boxes fur mommy that included cleaning supplies fur all kinds of cleanin’, food and turkeys fur our holiday dinners.
Finally, December blew in and so did Christmas. OMC Were we ever blest!!! We got purresents, food and mommy food too. We received a couple more gifts over the weekend, that we still haven’t got fotos loaded fur. You know what else? All of you, our readers and furiends have been here fur us. We luv you all so very much!!!
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We’ve shared lots of sorrows this year, and also lots of joy. Some of us lost beloved family members, both furred and non furred, and some of us got new family members. The one thing we all have is the luv we share. 2016 was a roller coaster ride fur sure, but we wouldn’t have made it thru without all of you. Thank you all fur being our furiends, and sharing your lives, luv and support with us. The year was full of so much more, we just couldn’t list it all. We are indeed, Blest. ‘Member to take a minute today and everyday to give thanks fur the blessings in your lives. We’re joinin’ the Kitties Blue fur Sunday Selfies, and we hope you enjoyed our little slideshow with more Christmas fun. We can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll all be up to this year.
Hello everyone, mommy Audra here today. Can you believe Christmas is just a week away? For anyone who reads our blog regularly, you know that I don’t write posts often. I live for my girls, and they have so much to say. And when we started this journey into technology and social media, my “fears” of the all seeing intrusive internet, led me to speak through them. I quickly learned about Facebook pages and the girls’ personalities came to life. I knew we, especially Lexi, had a story to tell I just didn’t know if anyone was interested. Through the years I’d sent her story to cat publications, only to be disappointed by their lack of interest. Somehow, through the magic of the internet, we connected with people. Lexi touched peoples hearts, the way she had touched mine. When she introduced her sister Dezi to everyone, their story took on a life of its’ own. And out of that, DezizWorld was born. To keep this post from going on for days, I’m just hitting the highlights.
We garnered followers who quickly became friends. I remember the first person I ever spoke directly to in something other than the girls’ voice in a comment. We began to look forward to seeing and reading about our friends lives. And of course we always love seeing photos. Who could ever tire of seeing pictures of beautiful cats? And they’re all beautiful, aren’t they?.
I remember our first Christmas in social media. The kindness and generosity of those “strangers” now friends. Yet still, people we would probably never actually meet. I didn’t understand how people could be so loving?. For the first time in the girls’ lives, they actually had a Christmas with presents under the tree. And not the repurposed ones I’d dug out of the bottom of the toy box. They were so adorable. They almost didn’t know what to play with first.
And then, Lexi got sick. Again, it was you, our friends who reached out. It was you, our friends who helped and you, our friends who were there for us, when she died. In some ways, this year has flown by; and in others, it has been the longest and hardest year of my life. For those of you who don’t know, for the last 25 years, I had lost a cat every 5 years. It felt like a curse. When Dezi turned 6, we celebrated like never before. I took a deep breath for the first time in years. It was always the younger cat that left me. I never even thought there’d come a day when Lexi would be the one to go. I really mean that. I know how unrealistic that sounds, but it’s just the way it was. Anyways, you were all there for Dezi and me, and for that, we can’t say thank you enough. I’m still trying to pick up the pieces.
But life goes on. Soon Raena would join our family, and hopefully your hearts. You’ve all welcomed her, and for that I’m grateful. As some of you have noticed and emailed us about, Dezi’s personality has changed. When we started all this, we determined to always be truthful, good, bad or otherwise; and you can continue to expect the same. Dezi faced the same loss as me when Lexi died, and it did affect her personality. At least I can reason it all out, Dezi doesn’t truly understand everything that happened. With the addition of Raena and Dezi becoming the “big sister”, her personality has continued to shift. These are all things to be expected. I imagine she will continue to evolve as Raena continues to learn and grow. Dezi’s still that sweet beautiful kitty girl you’ve all come to know and love, she’s just trying to find her way in our new dynamics. Those of you who read our blog regularly will be here to see how it all plays out. We imagine our blog will continue to evolve as the girls’ personalities take shape.
We do hope you will continue to follow us in the coming years. I know today is Blest Sunday, and we’ve had a multitude of material blessings this week and want to say Thank you very much. But I wanted to take today to thank you all for the biggest blessing in our lives, You. Yes, it’s been a rough year for us, but we have been blest every day to be a part of this community. We pray for all of you daily. We share your joyful times and your sad times. Many of you have felt the pain of loss this year, and will be missing one or more of you family/furry family members this Christmas. I’m not here to offer you advice on how to cope as I’m still reeling myself. But I do want to remind you, to take a minute and give thanks; we are all Blest. As long as we’re all here for each other, we’re never alone.
We would also like to thank you all for your kind words and Christmas wishes and cards. Some of you may have already received our card, and some of you may have gotten it more than once. I apologize if you receive(d) multiple emails from us, this old belles’ memory isn’t what it used to be. lol The girls and I want to thank you all for everything. And we wish you all a very Merry and Blest Christmas.
Dezi & Raena: Don’t furget Sunday Selfies with the Kitties Blue mommy.
(Dezi runs to the living room where mommy sits at the computer waiting. Raena chases closely behind making her signature humming sound.)
Dezi: Sorry me’s late mommy. Sis Raena kept jumpin’ on me while me was tryin’ to take a bath.
Raena: Oh Purrlease sissy, you swatted at me furst.
Dezi: You stuck your tongue out at me Raena. Dat’s not nice!!!
Mommy A: Alright girls, that’s enough. Ya’ll don’t sound like the blest girls you are. And you know what today is, don’t you?
(Dezi and Raena meow in unison) It’s Blest Sunday mommy!!!
Me luvs Blest Sunday. It’s kinda turned into da day when we tell all our furiends how much we luv them, and how fankful we are to have them in our lives.
It is sissy and we do fur sure. But I’s got to thinkin’ dat maybe some of our furiends think we just say dat.? Dat maybe they hear it from us so offen they might be thinkin’ we’re just sayin’ it and don’t really mean it.? You know, sompawdy asked us why we called everypawdy gawjus, bootyful or handsum.
Me worries dat sometimes our furiends might doubt us Raena, but then me thinks ‘bout it and me knows our furiends know dat we really mean what we say. We’ve only ever told da truth, so there’s no reason fur anypawdy to doubt us. As fur why we call everypawdy gawjus, bootyful or handsum, it’s cuz we think they are. When you see with eyes of luv then all you ever see is good and gawjusness. And we have da mostest pawsumest furiends in da universe.
I’s totally agree sissy. And they’re real furiends. Did you hear ‘bout da awnty dat wrote mommy da email cuz she was worried ‘bout her and others getting’ scammed?
Fank you awnty Donna.
Yep Raena, they care ‘bout us, cuz we care ‘bout them. Dat’s a huge gigantor blessing. And awnty Donna knew how bad mommy felt when she fell on and broke our track toy; ‘specially since it was your favorite, so she sent us a new one.
Why don’t da ball move? (plastic’s still on)
There is goes. MeoWwwwwww
And catnip too. Fanky fank you awnty Donna.
She sure did sissy, and a bag of treats/noms too. Fanky fank you sooooooooo much awnty Donna.
And then a couple days later, da UPS man showed up with this big box fur mommy. We know, cuz mommy checked and rechecked da address label. Inside was all kinds of yummies and goodies fur mommy. We don’t know who sent it, but they’ve fur sure got mommys number. There was a box of Ghirardelli chocolate with chocolate chips brownie mix inside. And how did they know da night she got cut up she couldn’t find any triple antibiotic cream? Well, we’ve got some now. And a honey cornbread mix, and cheater mac and cheese, and…well there was so many yummy and useful things inside dat me thought mommy would never stop cryin’.
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I’s not sure I’s know da difference ‘tween sad cries and happy cries, but mommy said this was da happiest of cries.
Yeah Raena, mes not sure how to tell da difference either, but me knows she was beside herself happy when she peered into dat box. And we all say a meowsy big Fank you to whoever sent it to us. They also included a bag of noms fur us. With da bestest mostest gawjus furiends in da universe and material blessings too……our blessing meter is overflowin’. Fank you all fur bein’ da bestest furiends ever.
I’s second dat sissy, and so does mommy. We’ve been thinkin’ hard and we’re gonna be writin’ our letters to Santa tonight. We can’t wait.
Don’t go overboard Raena. We have been asked ifin we have an amazon wish list, so we’re postin’ da link. Purrlease don’t feel as tho’ you must get us anythin’, but fur those of you wonderin’, here it is. Dezi and RaenaBelles wish list. In da meantime, we’re joinin’ da Kitties Blue fur Sunday Selfies. Fank you all again and again.
Hey, are ya’ll there? Actually, are ya’ here? It’s RaenaBelle, and we’ve got a real treat for all of you today. We’re going to post the Purrfect Gift Guide for 2016. Yep, that’s right. Ifin you were here Furiday, you know that sis Dezi and me had different ideas ‘bout what to call our guide. Well, we meowed about it yesfurday and came up with what we think is the purrfect name for our guide. Now, we’re not saying the other guides, especially those posted by our furiends aren’t great; we’re just saying there are some peeps and anipals that can’t afford items on those guide lists. Like us. So, we put our heads together and came up with gifts we think everybody and furry would like. Okay, so maybe there are a couple things that some of our furry feral furiends might not appreciate, but there’ll for sure be some things on our list that even they will like. You might have noticed that for the most part, I’s been writin’ in human English. Well that’s because we want all our furiends and followers to be able to read our guide. Right sissy?
That’s right Raena. We have put together the purrfect gift guide for peeps and anipals alike and we want everyone to choose at least a few things from our list. We know the posty looks long, but it’s a lot of fotos. Purrlease stay till the end, because we have a real surprise for all of you. So Raena, are you ready with your first gift?
I is sissy, sure enough. I’s want to start the list with a freebie but goodie.
1. A Big, Gigantic hold on with both arms, hands and paws HUGGY. No air hugs allowed. Only the real thing. You can hold on as long as you want. The longer the better, right?.
I’s know, we have a few furiends who be a little on the feral side and won’t really like this one, but wait, there’ll be something for ya’ll too.
Kissy kiss mommy?!!
2. Pucker up and KISS the one(s) you love.
Mommy kisses us all the time, and we love it. Again, No Air Kissing allowed. Well unless you’d get your face scratched off. In that case, we’re all for Blowing those anipals or peeps a kiss.
Kiss me mommy!!!
Oh sissy, I’s do love a big mommy kiss. That’s a great gift for our guide. And, another freebie. That brings me to the third gift on our list. And, even our more feral furiends will like this one.
3. Say I Love You from your heart.
Look into the eyes or face of your anipal or peep and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Us kitties will probably respond with a loving slow blink, doggies with a body shaking tail wag and peeps might actually say it back to you. And by the way, this is another freebie. It won’t cost you a cent.
I’s luvs you too mommy.
Me luvs you too mommy.
Oh Raena, that’s a great one. Me so loves it when mommy tells us she loves us. That goes well with mes next item on our gift guide.
4. Call, Email or Text your loved ones and let them know you’re thinking about them.
Say it even ifin ya’ get their voicemail. Sometimes a message from a furiend, can really make your day. Of course you could also send a snail mail card, but most of the time, we don’t even have money for a stamp, so calling, emailing or texting works better for us. Some of you travel and leave your anipals behind. We know your voice, and find it comforting, so calling up and telling us you love us lets us feel close to you.
Meowllo? I’s just called to say…
Oh sissy, at less than .50 cents or free that’s another great idea. I’s couldn’t imagine mommy leaving us behind, but I’s would sure love to hear her voice ifin she wasn’t with us. Mines next item is a biggy.
5. Clean Up. That’s right, help somebody by cleaning their house. Anipals, put your toys away in the toy box.
You know, there are housekeeping tasks that be really hard on mommy, and we’re having a lot of trouble finding a helper, so she would really appreciate somebody helping her out. And guess what? It’s another Freebie!!!
Let me help you mommy.
That’s a good one Raena. Me has another pawsum idea for our list.
6. Volunteer. Pick a day/days and head over to your local animal shelter and help clean cages, socialize kitties, walk dogs, or better yet, foster and/or adopt.
Oooooooooooooh sis Dezi, that’s a pawtastic gift. Anytime you can give to those less fortunate is a true gift of love. They could even volunteer at a spay/neuter clinic like mommy. Peeps could also take photos and share anipals on social media to help them find their furever homes.
Yep Raena. And they could even go through their toy boxes and donate any unused or gently used toys, beds, blankys, scratchers, outgrown collars/harnesses or food to the anipals in the shelter. Another freebie that takes advantage of your time and things you have around your house already.
Speaking of volunteering and time, I’s have another great gift idea sissy.
7. Visit a hospital or nursing home.
The holidays are really hard on a lot of peeps and anipals, and sometimes those in nursing homes get forgotten. Just a few minutes of your time can bring a smile to their faces and really make their days. Ifin any of you furries are calm in nature, the holidays is the one time of year when the rules get a little lax and even though you’re not a certified therapy anipal, you might still be able to visit. Purrlease check with the nursing home before you visit to find out the rules/policies.
Visitin’ da pharnacy
You’re right Raena, that is a good one. You and mommy will be heading to the nursing home before long. They’re going to love you. So far we’ve got a lot of great gifts in our line up. But maybe, you want something tangible to put under the tree, right? So here’s the next item for your gift giving pleasure.
8. Write it down and Wrap it up. Grab a post it, old bill envelope, old receipt, or any piece of scrap paper, and write a little note telling the recipient to redeem it for a HUG, KISS, or Whatever. Get Creative and then wrap it in whatever you can find.
Gentlemen listen up, mommy says whatever you do, don’t wrap your note in a small ring box or “the blue box”. Ladies get too excited with expectation. Even the most loving woman can become a total stranger when she doesn’t find a/”that” ring inside. MOL As for wrapping paper, mommy’s used old calendar pages (picture side of course), newspapers, brown paper grocery bags, old manilla envelopes, and that packing paper that comes in chewy boxes makes great wrapping paper. And a box in a box in a box can add fun to your hand written gift.
That’s a great idea for peeps Dezi. I’s have one now for the furries.
9. Filled and Tied Old Sock. Filling: Newspaper, Packing Paper, Garden Grown fresh dried Catnip, Foil, Parchment Paper, Another Old Sock. Paper Items will make a fun crinkle toy, while Material Items will make a fun bite toy.
Good one Raena. Peeps might even check their pets toy boxes for old balls, toys and squeakers that we don’t play with anymore and stuff them down inside that sock. The possibilities are endless. Just use your imagination. And mommy says every sock drawer has a mismatched sock left over from the washer eating it’s pair. Hmmmmm Me didn’t know we had to feed the washer too. No wonder we don’t have any green papers. MOL Me has another item that’s a favorite for lots of kitties.
Oh Dezi this guide thing is so much fun.
You’re right Raena. Me’s glad we did it.
10. MILK JUG RING.
Oh sissy, that’s the cool piece of plastic that locks the lid on the bottle of milk, juice, vitamins and jugs of water.
Yep Raena, and they can be wrapped up and put under the tree or even hung on the tree for decoration.
Hmmm What’s this? This blonky doesn’t taste very good,
but it sure looks like fun.
Decorations? Speaking of trees sissy, I’s love our tree. The lights are so cool. They blink off and on, off and on. I’s loved them so much, I even tried to eat a few.
Me knows. Mommy says ifin you can’t behave she’ll have to take the tree down. So purrlease sissy, leave the tree alone. Let’s just watch the pretty lights flash.
I’s’ll try sissy, I’s promise. Anyways, we hope ya’ll liked our Top Ten Gift ideas. We know you’ll find at least one thing for everybody/furry on your list. Now…
Everybody come in real close. We wanna give you all our gifts to you.
(Dezi, Raena and mommy A gather together and grasp arms and pull each furiend and furry/furless furiend in for a Huge Hug and a Big Kiss. They then look into each friends eyes/face and…)
“We Love you soooooooooooo much. We are soooooooooooo grateful to have you in our lives. We want to say Thank You for being You. You mean so much to us that we can’t truly express it in human words.”
(Dezi and Raena each slow blink and purr to each furiend. While mommy A takes each by the hand and in true Southern Belle fashion, offers a curtsey in honor of their greatness and furiendship.)
I’s been learning so much about Christmas, and all the things that go with it. You’ll have to stay tuned for our letters to Santa. They’ll be coming up later this week. In the meantime, we’re joining the Kitties Blue for Sunday Selfies. And…
Service Cats U.S. 