I won’t lie to you. Friday was a rough night, so I was more than determined to enjoy myself at my friend Rylee’s annual backyard bash. Basically, she cooks for and entertains more people at her house than we had at our wedding. A good time is always had by all (even by those who don’t remember much).

For the occasion, I bought a new dress:

From Ross. $12.99. No lie.

One of the many highlights of the party is the arrival of Rylee’s fabulous family, up from Portland. They are as warm and welcoming as they come. I’m particularly fond of the nieces and nephews so I was happy to have a visit from Lucy who commandeered my lap for the soup course. Don’t think for one second I didn’t know she was after my soup.

Lucy, age 5, took this picture.

The theme this year was Cajun, and I somehow managed to feed myself and Lucy without spilling a drop. Not easy with a wiggly little girl on your lap! Smart move on my part for wearing a dress that could actually hide spills!All the nieces and nephews are this cute. See?When I first sat down I thought my bib had been set out for me and pureed carrots were the first course. Oops, those belonged to ole Blue Eyes above.Yes, I actually do always try to color coordinate my appetizers with my jewelry. Thanks for asking.

The photos only become more incriminating from here as there is a talent portion of the evening wherein we were tasked with changing the lyrics to popular songs and literally singing for our supper. We were assigned “Hit Me Baby One More Time” which I had to admit I was not super familiar with, tune-wise, but we managed. We got dinner. Let’s put it that way.

Sometimes, no matter how down you may feel, the company of good friends and a happy family are enough to make it better. At least for a few hours anyway.

Our Beloved Derby (Classycoon's Hudson Highlander) 5/10/00 - 8/20/10

As corny as it sounds, we are those people whose pets are their children. Though I’ve had many pets in the past, I’ve never had one from kitten until the end, and I count myself lucky because these last few weeks have been excruciating.

We’ve known that Derby has had a heart condition (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – common among male Maine Coons) since he was three years old, but, for the most part, we could ignore it. There was not much to be done really, but we knew his condition could shorten his life. We are so very grateful for the ten years we shared with him.

He was a wonderful, loving, highly amusing cat who charmed us like no other, and everyone who met him could tell he was special. He loved banana bread, biting my pajama buttons in the middle of the night, and looking out the window when it was time for Chris to come home.

When we first got Cady in 2002, she chased Derby up a wall (literally), and then they stayed separated by a gate for 6 months. Everyone said they would work it out. Sure enough, one day about 7 years ago while we were on vacation and Cady was at the kennel, Derby called a truce and came downstairs. They’ve been working it out ever since. Yesterday, Cady laid down next to Derby, as close as I’ve ever seen them. She knew it was time to say goodbye.

Our hearts ache with a pain I’ve never felt before, and we will miss him every day. I know everyone says this, but he really was the best cat ever.

Go in peace, my handsome boy.

Before....

Note to self: If you’re going to add shredded zucchini to your pancake mix, make sure to skimp on the water a bit. There’s lots of moisture in the zuke. Other than that, ENJOY!

After! With Almond Butter.

These were goo-oo-ood! What a great way to get a serving of veggies!

Thanks soooo much to everyone for your support. Between my hearing and Derby not being well, this has been a rough week. I won my second unemployment hearing because my boss did not have a good excuse for missing the first one. Maybe I’ll go into it in a future post, but just be sure that if you’re going to skip a hearing with State officials that you requested you’d better have a better excuse than “I left for my home in Hawaii and didn’t leave anyone in charge of opening the mail for twelve days.”

I will admit that a lot of my brave face was an “Act as if” attitude, but it worked. I wasn’t afraid when I heard my former boss’ voice on the line or the woman who essentially got me fired. I was ready, and I trusted my lawyer. (Get a good lawyer! That’s my greatest piece of advice – besides Hide veggies in your pancakes!).

The day before my hearing, we decided to take my mind off of it with a 3 hour bike ride in 90 degree heat (whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?). Fortunately, there was a Piroshky reward at the halfway mark since we were headed to the Taste of Edmonds.

www.kaleenkapiroshky.com

I love how my search for a Piroshky photo brought up this:

You say Piroshky, and I say Krasinski...

Not. Really. The. Same.

Anyhoo, I was so starving that by the time I took a picture of the last two bites of my P-I-R-O-S-H-K-Y, I was too sunstruck to take a decent photo. I’ll spare you the blurry one Just know that a beef and cheese Piroshky is Delish! (PS. I think my babysitter used to date the Piroshky guy and brought him over to our house when I was in high school. I remember a LOT of free Piroshkies)

After we ate, I tried to buy a little time before having to get back on my bike for the hour and half ride home (with a LOT of uphill action). This will show you how desperate I was for a little bit more rest. We sat in the shade and watched this guy “entertain” the crowd (and I use that term very loosely).

'Nuff said.

I would rather have listened to another round of “I just don’t look good naked anymore” than get back on my bike. I swear that’s what he sang, and, frankly, I used it for motivation. Speak for yourself, Kind Sir.

A reminder that you can get there from here.

As most of you know, this has been a doozy of a summer: I was fired from my job; I had to hire a lawyer when my boss filed to deny my unemployment benefits that were awarded to me by the State (twice); our beloved cat, Derby, went into congestive heart failure the week of my first hearing and Chris’ 40th birthday (Derby’s still hanging there); and the latest: Yesterday, I spent 7 hours in the local emergency room.

Last night was the longest I’ve ever spent in a hospital for myself. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever spent that much time in a hospital, period. For that, I consider myself extremely blessed.

Besides my wonderfully supportive friends, former coworkers, and blog buddies, what’s really helped get me through is Perspective. And humor, but mostly Perspective. Though I’ve been off the self-help bandwagon (except food-wise) for quite a while, one of the things that has been of great comfort recently has been Tony Robbins’  TV show, Breakthrough. (I just read that the show’s been canceled which I think is a great shame, but it was there for me when I needed it so thanks TR!)

Anyway, the show was about real people facing MONUMENTAL challenges, and it made me realize that my stuff is piddly. Piddly, I tell you. Regardless of Tony’s guru reputation, I actually felt greatly relieved after watching Breakthrough – like a weight had been lifted. One of his tenets is “If you have a great challenge, face an even greater one.” In one case, he took a quadriplegic man skydiving. In another, he made a couple on the brink of bankruptcy spend a week on Skid Row. Both experiences were life-changing and helped these people cherish their lives.

Right now, in spite of everything, I am really cherishing my life. I worked really hard to get here, and these little bumps in the road are not about to set me back! I hope no one else is going through a rough time, but, if you are, please know that you are not alone. You’re in good company, and this too shall pass.

I joked around that I was going to go skydiving before my hearing, but I think the trip to the emergency room did the trick. If I can pass a kidney stone, I can handle this nonsense.