Nuggets of Love

I am back from one of the worst weeks in recent memory. My bird Kiwi passed away, my computer died, and I ended up having surgery this Wednesday, the day before my birthday. I even spent most of my birthday in the hospital.

After the groggy fog cleared, I realized how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends & family, and such an amazing husband. I was showered with love and support, flowers, phone calls, and texts. Here are a few nuggets of love from my hospital stay:

 Gorgeous flowers and card from Cristal

 Ben and Tracy came to visit and got me Chik-Fil-A, and a balloon!

Becca brought pretty cookies and funny cards :)

After I returned home from hospital fun, the presents started flowing! Here are some sweet gifts I received:

 Mark Ryden is one of my favorite artists. Aron found a limited edition necklace of his famous Rose painting. It is amazing, I just love it.

I am a walking cliche-I love red roses. These were courtesy if my sweet Aron as well.

Ben and Tracy gave me this awesome, vintage/earthy necklace I cannot wait to wear!

 Cristal made yuuummm cupcakes and.......

 ....found me Italian Vogue, which is no easy feat! Loovvee :)

Though my birthday wasn't exactly what I expected, it was pretty wonderful just the same. We are going to do a low key dinner tomorrow at the Romano Macaroni Grill. What to wear, what to wear...? 

Happy Friday!
Adrienne

Goodbye Kiwi

This is not a fun fashion post, but a way of saying goodbye to my bird, Kiwi.

I adopted Kiwi in 1999 from my sweet friend Sommer. She had a condo full of animals, and a baby on the way, so one day Kiwi came home to live with me. Sommer and her husband loved him dearly, but they were quickly running out of room.

Kiwi was my companion for the next 12 years. He was with me through many moves, a few boyfriends, and all of life's ups and downs. He even lived with my mom for a period of time, and she grew to love him as well.

Kiwi was not a quiet birdy. He was an early riser, and made sure you were as well. He appeared to be a one person bird, but I would go out of town, he would grow fond of whoever was taking care of him when I was away. Faithful? Maybe not. But he was a sweetheart :)

He had a little song he would sing to me every morning, along with the kissy noises my mom taught him to make. He wanted me with him always, and would shriek if I left the room. 

Kiwi was a rambunctious bird, back and forth back and forth on his perch all day. Always excitable and always happy to see you. But his cage was his world, and he very rarely wanted to leave it.

Kiwi became sick last week. He grew quiet, and was sleeping all day, and I knew something was wrong. My friend Cristal took him to the vet for me Saturday (I am sick and could hardly move at the time). I gave him his medicine and prayed for the best, but he succumbed to pneumonia Saturday night. I can't believe he is gone.

I am still grieving for my bird, so this is not the most eloquent post. Douglas Copeland sums up my feelings best, in his book, Life After God:

"And on the TV were still more birds! Such lovely creatures and I thought we are so lucky to have the animals. What act of goodness did we as humans once commit to deserve such kindness from God?"

So goodbye my little Australian Red Rump Parakeet, my little Kiwi, my Weester. You will be loved, missed, and remembered. My sweet little bird.

Adrienne

A Break From Cleaning the House.... the story of my birdie Kiwi

Hello Followers New and Old,

Thank you to the new followers of my blog! I wanted to let you guys know that I read each and every comment, and they mean so much!

I am taking a break from cleaning. I need to psyche myself up before I clean toilets and vacuum 5 pounds of cat hair off the sofa. Also, our bird Kiwi is screaming, for no apparent reason, so.......yeaaaaaa. Have you met Kiwi? He goes by several different aliases: Weester, Weester Bird, Wee Wee, Weester Maneester, and so on. Here is a picture of his loveliness:

He looks so peaceful and calm in this picture, doesn't he? Well, he isn't. He is a feisty, gorgeous, Australian Red Rump Parakeet. He is at least 12 years old. My friend Sommer gave him to me back in 1999. She was pregnant and living with her husband in a small condo with too many pets, so one day Weester went home with me. I swear, this bird has been with me through everything. He even lived with my Mom for a while.

Sommer told me that she rescued Kiwi from a lady who was abusing him by not giving him food and water. What in the hell is wrong with people? So, needless to say, Kiwi has some issues. He won't leave his cage. In my opinion, he thinks the outside world is just an extension of his cage. I have to wash his cage out with him inside of it!

Kiwi also likes to make the sound of screeching brakes, which is lovely. He hates cups, glasses, and telephones; basically anything you raise to your head. He makes a bizarre noise like a rattlesnake when you drink a glass of water.

Kiwi used to have a friend called a Bird Buddy. It was a soft little green felt thing attached to the inside of his cage. He liked to snuggle up to it at night, and attack it during the day, especially when I walked into the room. He thought I was jealous of the Bird Buddy, and would go out of his way to attack it whenever I glanced at his cage.

Well, one day I hear Kiwi in the bedroom making a strange, desperate noise. I walk in, and see that his claw is tangled in his Buddy and he can't remove it. I unhook the Buddy from the cage, and think that maybe Kiwi will figure out how to free himself. Ummmm, no. He decides to lay, face down, on the bottom of the cage-the Buddy still attached to his foot-and give up. I am panicking, so Aron helps me out. I hold my tiny fragile bird and Aron removes the Buddy from his claw. Weester appears not to have been too traumatized by the incident, but the Buddy is no more.

Well, back to my cleaning duties. Some actual fashion stuff later :) Weester says bye-bye. Do you see why they call them Red Rump Parakeets?

Hugs,

Adrienne