We no longer have River in our home. I went in to the shelter to adopt her and, thanks to a massive miscommunication, she was kept by the rescue. Apparently, while I was sitting at home wondering why her photo was not appearing at their website, they were showing her photo to people looking for a pretty, long-haired kitten. We were told we would not be given priority in adopting River, in spite of the fact that she had spent half of her life with us. No amount of begging produced results and over a week has gone by so I think we can safely say she's found a new home. That was the crisis I was dealing with.
We're still grieving her absence. Since I went in expecting to adopt and came home with an empty carrier, I didn't even really get to say "goodbye" and it was very much like a death. We're moving on, but I haven't felt much like writing reviews or anything else. I've read a few children's books and bits and pieces of other books but I'm not even motivated enough to review those, at this point. Change is the only thing helping me get through my days, so I've decided to make this post the end of the blog.
Many thanks to those who have been reading my blog for many years and to the new folks I've just recently gotten to know. I especially appreciate those of you who have taken the time to comment. I miss the days when there was a great deal more interaction and have appreciated every single comment that anyone has taken the time to make.
I can be found at Goodreads as N. Horner (please send a message explaining how you know me, if you want to be Goodreads friends) and on Twitter I am @Bookfoolery. If you've known me for a while and we haven't managed to become Facebook friends, please feel free to email me at bookfoolery@gmail.com and let me know how to find you. I have a very common name so it's difficult to look me up on Facebook without knowing my home email, which I don't publish online. I will always end up talking about books somewhere, so feel free to follow along where I go, if you'd like. :)
Love to all,
Bookfool
©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
This makes me so sad. You've been such an inspiration to me, ever since I found your blog shortly after I started blogging in 2007. I hope you will eventiually return to blogging. I hope your spirit is soon revived, whether blogging is ever again in your future. I wish you the best always and hope we can meet in person some day. Thank you for being my online (and Facebook) friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Bonnie. Hopefully, I'll get past this whole mess soon, but I'm hardly even reading at the moment so it seems like a good time to lay the blog to rest. Fortunately, we're FB friends so you'll hear plenty from me. ;) Love you!
DeleteAwww - this makes me sad. Glad we're friends on FB.
ReplyDeleteThanks, SuziQ. I'm glad we're friends on FB, too! Would hate to lose touch.
DeleteWell, I completely understand, and I do hope that River will now have a happy home, wherever she is.
ReplyDeleteI will miss you terribly. Best of luck.
Thanks, Bridget. I hope River ends up in a nice home, too. Unfortunately, the shelter has not contacted me to let me know where they're placing her. It's pretty depressing.
DeleteWill miss you, too! I'll try to drop by blogs, now and then, just to say hello. :)
Oh, Nancy, I'm so sorry. What an awful shame. Thinking of you and sending you hugs. I'm glad I'll still see you on FB and twitter. x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alex. I appreciate the thoughts and hugs. It's been a joy getting to know you and I'm glad we can continue to stay in touch on FB and twitter. :)
DeleteThis is a sad day in the blogging world! I know you've talked about letting your blog go, but I wasn't prepared to see this post. :( I'm thankful that we're friends on FB (and Twitter, whenever I get around to checking it!) and I hope you and I get a chance to meet some day. Still thinking about you and that heartbreaking situation with River... :( Sending hugs your way, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Les. I was actually considering the opposite . . . keeping the blog going forever but in minimal form. Wasn't expecting to fall apart because of a kitten. LOL Thanks for the hugs. Yes, we really must meet, someday!!!
DeleteI'm so sorry about River, and can't imagine the shelter was using logical thinking in this. I'm also sorry to see your blog go away, as we have similar taste. I'm just glad we will still have FB.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don't think logic was anywhere in the picture, as you say. I'll still be around, of course, Ryan. I just won't be writing reviews at a blog. Will probably just stick to writing when something really moves me (at Goodreads) and talking about the best books on FB, etc. :)
DeleteI am sorry to see that you won't be blogging anymore. You will be missed in your little corner of blogland. I know that you have had a really rough week and so taking some time out might be exactly what you need! Glad that we will still be able to connect on FB though!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marg. I don't know that I'd go this far if I could at least finish reading something other than a book for preschoolers! LOL But, maybe it's just the time. We'll keep chatting on FB, for sure. I'm still enjoying my new Travis CDs. Thank goodness I drive alone, most of the time. I have a feeling someone would be chewing me out, by now, otherwise. ;)
DeleteOh Nancy! I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what you've been feeling the past few weeks with the River debauchal. As to blogging-I understand. I feel as though I've had one foot in and the other out for a year or two and while I haven't been great about commenting lately I want you to know how much I have loved your blog over the years. Yours was one of the first I encountered and I have many great memories of the books you've recommended and the kitties you've shared. Glad to still connect with you via FB. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Trish. I don't know that I could have blogged at all as a young mother so I certainly understand your "one foot in, one foot out" feeling. I guess we're both going through a transition phase. I just don't know quite where my transition is headed. I will have to drop by your blog occasionally to watch those babies grow. :) See you on FB!
DeleteNancy, I'm here echoing what everyone has said - You are going to be so missed here in blogland! I'm sorry to hear what happened with River. That is just so sad. I know we're connected on FB (although I'm terrible at keeping up through that) and I just sent you a Goodreads friends request which I'm starting to use a bit more. Sending you some hugs!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Iliana! I noticed you requested friendship using my gmail. That account is supposed to be closed. Not sure what happened there, but I sent you a friend request for the N. Horner account so watch for that if you haven't already found it. We'll keep in touch! Thanks for the hugs!
DeleteOh, dear Nancy, we've been blogging since 2006 and I know I've dropped the ball in my comments as I've been discouraged about blogging myself. There's so much change in our lives, on a daily basis, from our kids growing up to our parents aging to our own wounds and disappointments. I can feel the suffering you mudpst be experiencing about your dear kitty and can only say that she knew she was loved with you. God bless you, I hope to see you and Les in the summer of 2014, and now I'll have to really open Twitter more often. Love you.
ReplyDeleteOh, Bellezza, don't worry about the comments or lack thereof. I've gotten to the point that I'm so busy with the two houses that I haven't been commenting, myself. River was definitely loved while she was with us. I especially miss her love of shoulders. She often tried to climb or jump onto my shoulder, so I would swing her up there and just walk around with a cat on my shoulder. She was a sweetheart and I miss her.
DeleteYes, we must make that 2014 date official and get to work planning. Love you, too!
Oops, I mean Facebook not Twitter.
ReplyDeleteLOL I knew what you meant. :) Easy to get those social networks mixed up. There are so many of them, aren't there? I'm in relatively few.
DeleteOh no! How awful. I'm so sorry to see you close your blog. See you on Twitter I hope
ReplyDeleteI'll still be around, Beth. I haven't been talking much on Twitter but hopefully things will return to normal, soon. :)
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear that about both your blog and dear little River. (I'm also enraged by the story about what happened with River -- that is terrible.) I've really enjoyed reading your posts, even though it hasn't been for very long in my case.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vicki. We're slowly getting accustomed to little River's absence. She was a joy (and a pain in the neck, but in a way that made us laugh). I see you've found me on Twitter! Yay! See you around, then! :)
DeleteI am so sorry to see this. I have been traveling so missed your post initially. So sad that you lost River but I do hope she has a good home. I've thought recently of fostering kitties in need but have been slow to actually look more into it cause I frame I would get attached to them and then so sad to let them move on. I hope all goes well wi you in the future and of course you will continue to read and love books, even it host the blogging aspect. Do you use library thing? I'm active on there but don't use goodreads yet nor Facebook much at all but I'd like to stay in touch. I think of you as one of my good "online" friends, even though we don't chat often.
ReplyDeleteJeane, I was so shocked about River being taken from us when I went to adopt her that I didn't say anything on Twitter or the blog, at first, and then things just didn't improve. I felt the same way about fostering. I figured if I fostered, I'd end up adopting and sure enough . . . well, I tried. We fell in love with River pretty hard. I don't use library thing but I'll occasionally drop by to visit blogger friends and you could always write to my gmail if you'd like to keep in touch. That would be great! We've been friends for a long time! I'd hate to lose touch. I'll continue to use the gmail; my eldest son prefers to write to my gmail addy.
DeleteYes, of course I'll still be reading and chatting about books! :) Can't shut up about them, really. I think I made husband's eyes cross, last night. I finished PAPERBOY by Tony Macaulay (a memoir) and just had to talk about it. It was actually the first book, other than children's books, that I've finished since the kitten was taken away from us. So happy to be back to reading.
Sorry for the strange phrases there; I was waiting in an airport and typing on my friend's ipad which does strange auto-correct and I don't always catch them. "cause I frame" was supposed to be "because I fear" and "even it host" was supposed to be "even without". What was the computer thinking?!
ReplyDeleteI will miss reading your posts. Maybe I should join Goodreads after all...
I figured you were typing on some sort of device with auto-correct. Such a nuisance. I figured "cause I frame" was "cause I fear". Can't remember how I translated the latter but I got the gist. Would love it if you joined Goodreads. I was afraid it would go downhill after Amazon purchased Goodreads but so far I'm still very happy with it.
DeleteI'm so sad that that happened with the cat, Nancy. It would be such a shock and they really didn't listen to you there. Not fair on the cat either, who would think of you as her home. It's hard enough to lose a pet.
ReplyDeleteReally sad you are leaving the blog world, you always read the most interesting books and have the funniest comments on them. I will miss you! We're friends on FB, I'm always slow to get that far with people, and I don't twitter at all. Take care and all the best to you and your family.
Thanks, Susan. No, I don't think it's fair for anyone - cat or people. It's been a strange mess. I did find out she survived her spay surgery, today, so that's good to know. :)
DeleteOh, thank you. I will still be talking about books - not in as much detail, maybe, although occasionally my Goodreads reviews can get a bit long. I'm glad we're already FB friends!
I've kept up with you so much on Facebook, and yet somehow I hadn't realized that you were ending things here on the blog. Believe me I understand. I had similar thoughts, but just wasn't quite ready to let mine go. But it is all so different than it used to be, and I only post sporadically now. I think when there is a major life change (such as the parting with your dear little kitty) it can be healthy to move on with other things too. I hope this is a good change for you!
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing with the kitty is just heartbreaking, frustrating and infuriating for me from afar, so I can only imagine what you've been going through.
It was just one very brief post on FB, Alyce. I can see how you missed it. It's taken me a long time to step away from blogging for good and the kitty was obviously the catalyst (no pun intended) but I think it's all good. I needed to make some changes; I was just a little nervous that I'd be leaving friendships rather than only the blog behind. After deciding to end the blog (mostly because I was distraught and couldn't read), I realized I'm in touch with *most* everyone in some form so leaving wasn't quite the problem I anticipated.
DeleteThanks. I was just talking about the kitty thing with huzzybuns and said, "I still don't understand how anything could get that far out of hand" and he said, "Want to turn on the news?" Oh, haha. Our crazy congressmen are a perfect example of how things can go totally nutsoid for no logical reason, aren't they? That helped. :)
I am so sorry to see you step away from blogging, Nancy, but I am glad we will still be in touch. I've come to think of you as a friend and I would hate to lose that.
ReplyDeleteI have been following the situation with the animal rescue and River and it's very angry making. You've been treated so unfairly. My heart aches for you, and please know I am thinking of you.
Thanks, Wendy. Me, too! I've been terrible about visiting your blog but I'm glad we have taken the friendship to a place we can continue to be in touch. And, I adore your family updates. Such a little sweetheart you've got, there. :)
DeleteYeah, the rescue situation was really ridiculous. I feel much better now that I've said we're completely pulling out and no longer willing to adopt River because we don't want to have anything to do with the rescue, but I am very sad for her sake. She had a loving home. I'll never fully understand why she was taken from us and why they acted the way they did so I just have to move on. I sincerely hope she finds a great forever home.