Crocin' Out in Maine!

It's been a strange summer. Two things were weird, I had limited to zero interactions with cats and then our family cat Buster died! Let me tell you, losing a pet is one of the hardest deaths to handle in your life. I am happy to say that Buster is now interred in our backyard with a beautiful Easter Lily growing magnificently on top of him.

You know he is enjoying the life up there with all the treats he can get from the Big Man (or Woman!).

On to happier things though! We will miss Buster and loved him dearly, perhaps now C&C will follow my journey of convincing my parents to get another family cat? It's worth a shot. My birthday is coming up.....

Off topic again! 

SO this summer since I did not have cats, y'all saw I got pretty creative with my time doing crafts. However, I also picked up a new sport! Water Aerobics. Now, when I first heard the idea of me doing W.A., I will admit I scoffed, eye rolled, and had the "yeah I can do that attitude." I went in the first day like, "Whateverrrrrrrr, I go to CROSSFIT EVER HEARD OF IT? This will be a piece of cake." Nope. Nope. Nope. While I may have been the youngest person by twenty years, those women had me HUSTLING. I didn't know you could run tires in water. I wish I didn't know that you could. It was tough and I did not know sweating in a pool was possible. Also, drowning was a very good possibility. Luckily there were always two lifeguards on hand (and I really think one was assigned just to make sure I didn't go under). 

I got my fanny and ego handed to me so I knew it was time to get to work! I stuck very close to the teacher Barbara so I knew exactly what she was doing every second of the workout.... May have looked like a lost duckling trying to find its mother. My grandmother also did the workouts and has done them for several years. She found it hilarious I thought it would be so easy. On our ways home, after which I would have tried to convince her to drive me home, I would always complain about how sore I was going to be, how hungry I was, and how much water I swallowed. I bet she put in earplugs during the ride home. I would have.

 So while I was putting my body through water torture, my mind would go to a happier place of Cats and Crocs....and I began to notice things around the pool. These things? CROCS! OH MAN. So glad to have found something fun to concentrate on!!!!!! I then decided that my next blog post would be a trip to the pool with my Crocs with a VERY, VERY special ending to the blog. Okay fine, I'll tell y'all: it's my Water Aerobics class doing our choreographed dance to Shake it Off by Taylor Swift! WE CAN MOVE AND SHAKE!! It's so fun.

Here we go....
Going to the pool with Crocs

First things first, we have to shower before getting into the pool. It's important to rinse off any germs before getting in (actually IDK why we did it, other people did so we did too...and yes I would jump off a bridge if other people were too) 

They got their own shower. 

Ooooooo at the COLD waters edge. The Mainer's always said the pool water was warm....don't ever listen to Mainer's when asking the temperature of water. 

Barbara (the Mother Duck....also the instructor) and I in our Crocs at the water's edge! I stalled as much as I could to avoid getting in the freezing pool at 8 am. 

Met some BEAUTIFUL neon green Crocs on the way to the pool. The toes (not pictured) also matched. FAB. 

Purple Crocs without their owners. I never knew the owners to these Crocs, but I bet they were worried I would steal them when they saw me taking photos of them. 

YELLOW! and with decorations! TOO cute. I need to get some of those (color and decorations). 

Look at us!!!!! This is just delightful to have made so many friends in Maine that also own Crocs. You can truly tell the character about a person by how the feel about Crocs. 

If this doesn't make your heart soar, I really don't know what will. This is just such a calming photo. I could look at this for days. In fact, I am looking at it right now just smiling. So happy. 

Okay, the grand finale! Our wonderful Water Aerobics instructors led us through a choreographed dance every Tuesday and Thursday, and I was by FAR the worst one.  It's fun and funny. I love it so much. You may need to play the song along with the video because it is a little hard to hear...but one thing that isn't hard to see is how good I got at SWIMMING! Crocs were unfortunately not allowed in the pool but they watched with the lifeguards to make sure we were okay. Enjoy!

Water Aerobics!

Maybe some of y'all should try it..............

Crocs Out!

Bets

Rest in Cat Heaven Sweet Buster Williamson.

Buster, Baus, Bussy, Mr. Bus- anything you called him, he did not answer. He was his own Cat and as his bio in The Real HouseCats of South Carolina said "Life in South Carolina is a game, and I make the rules."  He was born on October 6th, 2000 in the chair in our den. My mom was not too pleased initially because my little brother Locke ran in screaming that Callie (a calico cat…how original!) had a rat. Well, she wasn't pleased any further when it turns out Callie was having 5 kitten babies in the most commonly used room, in the most sat in chair. Buster was the first out and we always joked that he came out first so he could begin eating first. He was a lover of food, who can fault him?

 There's the little cutie in the top right after they were born.

Locke appointed himself as their godfather and watched them everyday.

Buster had a great life though growing up with four Williamson children could be tiresome, chaotic,  and ______ (insert any adjective to describe pandemonium). He got used to being chased around, held so tight he almost died, and placed in dolls clothes.  He did not fault us, but developed into a very chill cat that knew how to hide…well. He lived through the sad deaths of our first beloved cat Polly Wally Wing Wong, and our first dog Duke. He lovingly looked over the additions of Colonel, Buncombe, and temporary guests Grits, and Hampton. 

Oddly, Buster was most at home with the dogs. He knew he was top dog and demanded to be treated as their equal.

Buster as a kitten with Duke and Maggie- brother and sister pair

Waiting to be served first as was the protocol of Top Dog to youngest

Buster was around for fifteen long years and we love him dearly. I know he's up in Cat Heaven purring in some cat nip, and sunning himself on a warm bed. He was fit to be a king while on Earth so I can only imagine he's living out that dream up there. I'll miss him dearly, but one day…We'll be reunited. He was a good one. 

A little slide show with photos and videos of Buster during his best days. 

For non-mobile users

For those on the mobile and if the video won't work, I have uploaded to youtube
Buster Memorial

Lovingly Cats Out,

BetC