Sad day

Howie and Toby like to drink fresh water from the tub.

Howie liked (just this one time) to feel the baby kick.
And this is what happens when you use a flash on a cat. Glowing green eyes (instead of... glowing green eyes. Wait a second...)

This week our ward's organist went out of town, so he asked me to play the organ today in church. At BYU music camp in 1998, I took an hour organ lesson, so I'm quite the pro. I went over to the church twice to play around on the instrument, playing with the different stops and preset combinations, and attempting to learn the pedals.

I learned that it takes more than 2 days. Maybe next time.

Basically, I can play the pedals, but the accuracy leaves something to be desired, as does the tempo. So unless I wanted everyone to sing funeral durges while cringing at my random bass line, I decided to leave it to the manuals.

And I did fine. It was pretty fun, actually. When I got nervous, my hands got a little sweaty, and then they started slipping and missing notes. That wasn't good. But I doubt many people noticed.

As for the title of my post, it was a very sad day today.

Yesterday morning when Kevin and I went on a walk over to the nature center by where we live, we let Howie play outside.

And that's the last time we've seen him.

Now, if this were Toby, I wouldn't be terribly worried, since Toby has common sense. Howie, on the other hand, has no sense of direction and no sense at all. He may be out playing in someone's backyard. He may be smashed in the street somewhere. He could be stuck in a tree. Kevin thinks he probably ran up to someone, purred, and flopped over so they could rub his belly and take him into their home. Whatever the case may be, he is gone.

Toby is really lonely without him, and he whines at us a lot. I don't blame him. I miss Howie too.

We walk around the neighborhood every couple hours, and we put up some signs this morning. This afternoon it rained, so I'll have to do it again tomorrow.

I really miss the little guy, and seeing as how we came upon him by finding him stuck in a tree, I really don't doubt his getting into trouble. If he were coming home, I think he would have made it back already, being hungry and lonely or something.

I still hope he makes it back, and I check out our windows all the time to see him come prancing out of the bushes without a care in the world. And I really hope it happens. He's a sweetie pie. And so soft! And incredibly affectionate and appreciative. We all miss him so much!