Rhoneisms

Roy was big for his breed, kind of dopey but very lovable. If Roy were a human, he would have been a laborer, like a handyman. Stocky, friendly and his pants just barely covering his bum. He would spend more time sitting around and shooting the breeze with you than doing the job at hand but there would be no way you could get mad at him because he would be so lovable. You would just chalk it up to Roy being Roy.

Roy liked to lick soft things, like stuffed animals, rugs and furniture. Once he started he would do this for hours. Licking compulsively as if unable to stop. Roy could not, given this fact, figure out why the cats did not want to play with him. When Roy slept, he would snore loudly and, every once in a while, he would whimper and twitch, obviously having a good dream, probably about licking the cats.

In the last few months Roy had a tough time. He was unable to walk, he lost control over his functions, his hearing was going and he seemed very frustrated and confused. We had to let Roy go to sleep today. I hope he is somewhere peaceful and licking cats.

This is the third of several entries for the readers of my various locations around the interwebs. A definition of people, relationships, holdings, and terms that I refer to often:

We currently have three houses. We do an adequate but admiral job of keeping up with them all. We tend to refer to our houses by the street name or house number. As a matter of fact, I have found that people who live in Saint Paul generally all refer to their houses this way.

• The 230 House – This was the house I lived in before we got married and we moved into Princess Bethany’s house. It was the first home I ever owned. Great location. Walking distance to the schools. Grocery store and some other useful shops just a walk away as well. I put a ton of work and money into it before meeting Bethany so it is very well updated. It is currently on the market so if you know anyone who lives in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area and is looking for a great place, send them my way.

• The 627 House – This is the current house we live in. It was Princess Bethany’s and now we all live there. It is an 1886 Victorian with three floors. It is a beautiful and eclectic house and I have really fallen in love with it quickly. Because it is 140+ years old, it needs a lot of love and labor but it is quite comfortable and livable. We are currently working on refurbishing the back bedroom into a nursery for Trixie.

• The Summit House – This is the house the Bethany inherited when her Mom passed away last year. Summit Avenue is considered by many the most outstanding example of original Victorian boulevard architecture in the United States. While this house was built in 1917, it is still a stately and elegant home. It has many perks including a in-groud pool and a hot tub. We eventually plan to move and live there full time but that will most likely not happen for at least a couple of years as there is much we would like to do and enjoy in our current home.

This is the second of several entries for the readers of my various locations around the interwebs. A definition of people, relationships, holdings, and terms that I refer to often:

Tiger and Polo – Our two cats. Like most cats, they have very distinctive personalities.

Tiger is very protective. When you make a plate of food, he likes to come up and sniff it. Not because he wants to eat it, but because he wants to make sure it is OK before you eat it. Bethany tells me that when she first took Polo and Tiger in from their previous owner, Tiger would back Polo into a corner to keep him away from Bethany. He would not let Bethany near Polo until he approved. Tiger is very sweet and likes to cuddle with us before bed each night.

Polo is very much a one person cat and Bethany is his person. He mostly hides from everyone else. He will only tolerate me in any real way if Bethany is around. He will usually jump into bed shortly after we have fallen asleep and will tap Bethany’s face with his paw in the morning when the alarm goes off to make sure she hears it. He also has a tendency to leave hit cat toys in the other animals food bowls. We are not quite sure if this is out of protection or spite but we lean towards the latter.