The story of Mia

 

For several months this past winter, we noticed a furry cat (without a full tail) running around our neighborhood and hiding. The cat would often come into our backyard, slowly approach our screen porch (where our 4 cats like to hang out) and then run away. If I tried to get close to the cat, it would jump over our fence and would not let us near it. In March, more of the neighbors were asking about the cat, asking if the cat belonged to anyone in the neighborhood. The cat didn't look malnourished so we figured it had a home. I was very invested in this cat as I had seen it for several months. Karel didn't want me to get attached to it (or feed it) as our senior cat Madison has a heart issue and we don't want her to get stressed. 

Karel was in Europe for 2 weeks in early April and we were a few days away from Karel's mom returning home to Czech after spending almost 3 months with us. On April 4th, as I was walking Campy in the evening, I noticed the cat was eating a cracker in someone's front yard. Then on the 5th, the cat was across the street looking for food in a grill in a neighbors driveway. The way it was scavenging for food made me think that it didn't have a home. I would often see it hiding under cars. Anytime I would try to go near it, it would run away. I was able to get close one evening but the cat got scared and ran into the drain. As I was looking at the cat in the drain, the person at the house asked if this was my cat and I said no. He said the cat is very scared. 

I walked back home and got some cat food and walked back up to the drain. I sat on the ground and left the food for the cat and it jumped out the drain, at a few pieces and then jumped back into the drain. I could tell it was really hungry. I left a pile of food for the cat by the drain, hoping that it would trust me. 

The next day in the evening, I walked outside and yelled "kitty kitty" and to my surprise the cat ran to me. It remembered me! It had been hiding under cars throughout the neighborhood so it must have learned where I lived. The cat meowed as it came to me and I could tell it was really hungry. Even though it looked well fed, it was very skinny - all the fur was making it look plump. 

I brought out some wet cat food on a paper plate and the cat ate it up. I brought out a water bowl and some more dry food. The cat was very sweet and not overly scared like it was the past few days when I tried to get close to it. It even let me pick it up. 

Once I knew I had it's trust and it knew where I lived, I hoped that it would return the next evening. When I walked outside with Campy the next morning, the cat ran to me. It wasn't afraid of Campy. I was so happy to see "kitty." I gave it more food. In the evening, it came back and I made it bed inside a big storage container but it didn't want to sleep there. 

The next day I decided to make some flyers to see if I could find the owner of the cat. I printed out several flyers and hung them around our neighborhood and the surrounding street signs outside of our neighborhood. 

On the morning of the 7th I was hoping to see the kitty but it was not there. I was so worried. I had gotten attached to it and now it wasn't coming to me. During my morning run I couldn't stop thinking about it. After my run, I walked into our backyard and over our wooden fence into the forest and I yelled "kitty kitty." After a few minutes, I heard meowing. There was the kitty in the woods. It even pooped in front of me and covered it. At this point, I had enough with it being outside and I needed to bring it inside. 

I managed to get myself over our fence and grab the cat. It was ok with me holding it but when I got closer to the front door, it got very scared and tried to escape from my arms. I ran inside and brought the cat upstairs to our spare bedroom and the cat was so afraid. It didn't know what to do so it ran and hide. I brought in a litter box and some food and water and then shut the door. I didn't want our other cats to get stressed. 

While all of this was going on, I was less than an hour away from taking Karel's mom to Charlotte (2 hour drive each way) for her return flight to Czech. During this time, I was worried about what to say to Karel as I knew Karel wouldn't be excited that I rescued another cat. 

Thankfully, our friend and athlete Ruthanne came over to check on the kitty and it was very affectionate and playful while she was there. 

When I returned home from my 5+ hour trip, I was nervous to see the kitty - I wasn't sure if it was going to be stressed. After spending some time with Campy and our 4 other cats, I spent some time in the room with the kitty and I could tell that it was so happy. It could finally relax and get some sleep. I could feel the love and affection that it was giving me as a way of thanking me for bringing it inside.

I finally told Karel (via text) and we video chatted later that evening. He was worried about Madison but he also said that he thought it was very beautiful and sweet (he has a soft spot for cats in his heart). Karel didn't feel that we should keep the cat (we already have 4) and that we would need to find it a home. I was falling in love with this cat so I knew it would be really hard for me to give it away. 

A week later, I took it to our local vet and got some good/bad news. The cat is an American Bobtail (thus the short tail), it was a girl, it had a chip and an owner. Although I was incredibly sad about the situation, I was also happy that I could return this cat to the owner if it had been missing it. The vet tech called the owner that was attached to the number from the chip and no one answered. The person had their number marked as private so I was not able to call the number directly (only the vet). The vet left a message with my number, letting the person know that I had the cat. The cat's name was "sweetie pie" and it was chipped in 2022 - so the cat was at least 2 years old.

The next few days were a little stressful as I was wondering if I would get a call from the original owner. I also had flyers all throughout our area and was waiting for a call. Days went by and then a week or two. Karel returned home from his trip and he instantly fell in love with this cat. After almost three weeks, we named her Mia. 

Although Mia was enjoying her room, we knew the hard part was about to come. We needed to see if she could get along with our established pack. Although we wanted to keep Mia, we didn't know if our crew would accept her. Plus, with Campy being old, blind and deaf, we didn't want any tension in the house with the new cat and Campy (as he can't defend himself). I never gave up on Mia. I was confident that with some work, she could stay with us.

The next week was rough. It was a very slow processes of exchanging smells behind closed doors, introducing the cats slowly with treats and then gradual introductions with our pack of four. It's been very easy to bring in our latest cats (Asher, Sylvi and Ella) as they were all very young. But to bring in Mia - who is 2-3 years old and very confident was a lot of work. We had our doubts and there were some rough days with some of our cats showing their dominance (especially Ella and Asher) but overtime - with a lot of patience - we were able to feel comfortable with Mia in the house around our crew. It took a good month before everyone started to become more tolerable of one another and a good two months before we felt like our crew was accepting of Mia. Oddly enough, Madison (our senior with the heart issue who we thought would be most stressed) hasn't shown any interest in Mia. She doesn't seem bothered by her and Mia hasn't bothered her. It took a while for Mia to break some of her bad habits that she learned outside but she has become the sweetest, most playful and talkative cat. Mia is a good listener and she knows Campy is off limits. Asher did not like Mia when she came but now they play together. Ella is still sassy around Mia as Ella think she is the princess of the house but overall, it's all working out. 

We couldn't imagine life without Mia and we are so happy that we gave her a chance. Mia quickly made herself at home. We love our rescue animals because of the unconditional love that they show us. Mia is so much fun and she shows us every day that she is loving her new life with us. She loves watching birds and squirrels in the patio, talking to us, playing with toys on the stairs, sleeping by the front window and laying out the couch with us. She loves to be kissed and held. 

We love our furry family of six. 
Madison (16-17 years old), Ella (5), Sylvi (4), Asher (3) and Mia (3) and of course, Campy (17 years and 3 months) 

If you'd like to read the stories about our other rescues....

Campy
Madison
Ella 
Sylvi 
Asher
And a tribute to Smudla and Felix.

Your gift to the Greenville Humane Society.

Whether it's to a friend raising money for a good cause, a stranger in need or to an animal shelter, at Trimarni, we regularly find ourselves donating to important causes.

For the past few years, we've donated money to our local Greenville Humane Society on behalf of our business - Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition. We take $1 from every Trimarni purchase, round it up and double the amount - and then give money and food to the local Humane Society. Because of your Trimarni support of our small business, you helped us donate $500 and an additional $100 of cat, dog, puppy and kitten food to the Greenville Humane Society. THANK YOU!






As someone who is passionate about helping others, I can't tell you how much it means to us to have your Trimarni support. Whether it's the purchase of our coffee, one of my books, a bike fit with Karel or purchasing our training plans, your support allows us to give back to others.





Here is how your donation is helping the Greenville Humane Society:

2018 Year in Review

• Adoptions: Adopted 6,099 pets into forever homes which makes the Greenville Humane Society the largest no kill facility in the Southeast just behind Atlanta.
• Annual Save Rate: 99.7% (5,456 animals were admitted to the shelter in 2018. 17 or .3% were euthanized to end their suffering from illness.).
• Admissions: In 2018, 43% of Greenville Humane Society animals were owner surrenders and 57% were transferred from other animal shelters. We now partner with 36 high euthanasia shelters in five states to pull animals. By doing so, we are helping to lower the euthanasia rates in the entire Southeast.
• Spay/Neuter Surgeries: 15,385 surgeries in 2018. 10,594 of these were public surgeries.
• Vaccine Clinic: 52,757 vaccines were administered at the Greenville Humane Society.
• Healing Place/Hope Fund: 2,321 animals were treated for serious diseases and illnesses (in homes and onsite). We were able to treat 61% more animals with upper respiratory infections, many of which were pulled from other shelters while sick, in our new expanded URI treatment room. Overall, 38% of the animals who found their forever homes in 2018 went through treatment in our Healing Place.
• Volunteer Program: 39,495 total volunteer hours donated in 2018. On average, 223 active volunteers each month.
• Greenville Humane Society Website: 732,841 visitors in 2018. Of these visitors, 40.8% were new.

Our 2019 Year in Review

When looking back at the past 12 months, we have had our share of highs and lows. Memories were made and tears were shed. With every high, there seemed to be a low. But through it all, we tried to stay positive and optimistic.

Life can be difficult, unfair and tough to understand. If I had to use a word to describe our 2019, it would be strength. We had to find strength to experience the highs and we had to find strength to get through the lows. Triathlon provides us with many life lessons but in 2019, life hit us hard. Throughout the year, there were several occassions when our hobby of triathlon was put to the aside in order to deal better with the hard times.

As athletes, it can be difficult to stay positive, hopeful and focused during stressful, sad or difficult situations. Uncomfortable feelings can leave us with doubt, anger and anxiety. Struggle to balance stressors appropriately and health (mental or physical), joy for sport and motivation can quickly diminish. There were times throughout the year where it was difficult to start a workout. There were even times when we debated about not starting a few of our races. With each workout or race, our strength was tested. And life presented us with a lot of moments to see how strong we really are. 

NOVEMBER '18

After a unfortunante mishap with Karel's electronic shifting at IM Kona, he finished off his racing season at IMFL, securing his slot to Kona for 2019. This meant that both of us were already qualified for the 2019 IM World Championship (my 5th and Karel's 4th time racing on the big island). Karel was emotionally and physically destroyed after racing two Ironman events within 2 weeks but he was excited and hopefully for the upcoming triathlon season.

After a long time thinking about the idea of working one-on-one with a coach, we decided on Cait Snow, who works under Julie Dibens. This was a very costly investment for us but we were all-in to see if we could squeeze out any performance improvements at IM Kona - which was our big goal for the season. Although Karel received training from PPF, he was never coached one on one. I have never had a coach - instead, Karel has "coached" me over the past 10+ years. Although we learned that our own coaching style works really well for us and we will be returning back to coaching ourselves in 2020, we learned so much from working with Cait (and Julie) and we both were able to squeeze out some best ever performances. Plus, Cait is an incredibly kind, knowledgable and awesome person and we feel so honored to have had the opportunity to work with her. Throughout the year, we made a lot of investments - not sacrifices. We stayed true to our own beliefs so that we never compromised on what was most important to us. In other words, although we were "all in" with our coaching, our health, coaching business, camps and other services (private camps, RETUL Bike fits, nutrition consultations) never took a back seat. If anything, we often had to put our own training to the side.

DECEMBER '18

In late December, just a few days before one of our athletes arrived to spend a few days with us for some training, I was taking Campy for a walk up the street in our (very safe) neighborhood and a lady with four rescue dogs (all big dogs), got loose from the leash as she was walking into her house. The dog approached Campy and as she walked over with her other dogs to get the loose dog, the dogs got anxious and one of them attacked Campy. The lady felt extremely upset about the situation. The next day, Campy was rushed to our local vet and he received several stitches. Campy was a fighter and recovered really well. He still gets a little timid when he walks by the house where the attack happened. The lady with the dogs wanted to pay the vet bill but we declined. We knew it was an accident and we have seen the dogs behave very well around kids and other adults. Instead, she gave Campy a bag full of plush toys with squeakers - which made Campy oh so happy. 

JANUARY '19

To give back to our local triathlon community and to help grow the sport of triathlon, I put together an event to help acknowledge and promote the local businesses, coaches and professionals in our triathlon community. Tri Night was a huge success!

As for racing, Karel participated in a local 5K and ran a speedy low 17 minutes.

FEBRUARY '19

To escape the cold and dreary days, we traveled down south to Clermont, Florida for a train-cation. Although it was not all rainbows and sunshine, it was still a nice change of training environment. I was really proud of my body and what it was able to accomplish during our mini training camp as I felt like my previous training was really paying off. It was still early season but I was getting more excited to get into race season.

Karel also participated in a local half marathon race and ran a speedy 1:15! Because of my previous hip/glute/back issues, I opted not to do this race since it was a "flat" run course and I am better suited for hills and strength-based running. 

MARCH '19

Our annual March camp was a great success. We had a wonderful mix of new and familiar faces. We lucked out with great weather and the group worked really well together - there was no shortage of laughs, support and teamwork.

Not too long before our camp, we received news that one of our local athlete (and friend) had took his own life due to mental health struggles. This news was really difficult for us, several of our athletes and lots of people in our local triathlon community. We have always stressed the importance of health before performance as part of our coaching philosophy - physical health and mental health. We continue to honor this athlete when we train and race, remembering that life can be difficult and there is no shame in taking care of your mental health. Because mental health is not something that can be "seen", never be afraid to ask someone if they are OK, if they need a listening ear or if they need help. 

APRIL '19

Finally, it was time to race! We love starting our our racing season in Haines City, FL for IM 70.3 FL. The race venue is very spectator friendly and the atmosphere is alwas fun. Typically, the weather is warm which is a nice change from the colder temps over the winter. The Trimarni triathlon club placed 2nd in the Triclub division and Karel and I both did OK. I say OK because neither of us felt great on the course but then again, it's really early in the season and we were not targeting this race as a best-ever performance type of race.

A few days after the race, I received an email from the publishing company that asked me to write my first book (Essential Sports Nutrition) and I was asked to write another book. This time, a Running Journal. I discussed this with Karel as my last book took over all of my time and energy as it was my very first book and I wanted to give it 100% of my attention. This time around, I wanted to keep up with our other obligations of private training camps, nutrition consults and coaching. After reviewing the contract and writing timeline, I signed the contract for my second book - The 365 Day Running Journal. 

Then, about a week later, I received another email from my contact at the Callisto Media Publishing Company and I was asked to write another book! I couldn't believe it. This book was a lot more in depth and required a lot more words than the 2nd book. I knew this book would be a huge undertaking but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Karel was a little worried of how I would balance everything but after sleeping on it, I signed the contract for my 3rd book - which I would start writing a few weeks after completing the journal book. I am not one to "wait" for the right time to do something. Although I never want to overload myself or burn myself out, I feel it's important to balance my career with my passion so that I can make the most out of every day of life.

And with highs, come lows. Nearing the end of April, we realized that our 16-year old cat Smudla was nearing her final days. We made the very difficult and heart-breaking decision to let her pass away comfortably and humanely. Because we made this decision a few days in advance, we were able to spend almost 48 hours with Smudla as she enjoyed her last few days in the warm sunshine. If you'd like to read the tribute I wrote about Smudla, here it is. 

MAY '19

May started off tough as Karel didn't feel like he was in the right state of mind to travel alone to St. George for the half Ironman. Luckily, Karel was sharing a house with two of our athletes, which helped him keep his mind off the passing of Smudla. It was still a very emotional week for him, filled with a lot of sad tears. Karel was able to put together a fantastic race and he was happy that he was able to temporaril turn his mind off - away from sadness - so that he could do something that he loved with his body and mind.

February through June is often super busy with private coaching sessions and this year we found ourselves extremely busy with a lot of private camps. We love this part of our coaching business but it does require a lot of time, mental energy and focus. Thankfully, we always have super awesome athletes to work with ;)

In mid May, we traveled over to Chattanooga for the 70.3. It was great to see so many of our athletes at the race and we ended up receiving an award for the TriClub division! I felt like my race did not go so well but Karel put together a fantastic performance - he was on a roll! The competition was stiff for the females and it was great to see so many speedy ladies blazzing on the course.

May is always a tough month for me as my dad passed away from cancer in 2014, just three days before my 32nd birthday. I thought that time would heal but I still find myself really missing him - especially as I go through so many highs and lows in life. But in the spirit of my dad, I try to smile and find the positive in every situation. Most of all, I am making the most of every day on earth - in his honor. 

We had a lovely mid season break where we did litte triathlon training and took part in some outdoor activities. Campy had joined us at our last two races (FL and Chatt) so he was also ready for some recovery. 

JUNE '19

I found myself a bit overwhelmed in June - trying to balance the planning of our June camp, private camps, nutrition consults, Ironman training and writing my 3rd book. I managed to participate in an open water race (with my swim partner Kristen and Karel) which was a nice stress relief to be swimming in the mountains.

Eventually, I had to ask my editor if I could have a break from the writing - I was in a mega writing block where I would sit at my computer for hours and nothing would happen. Thankfully they agreed but I still had a tight deadline to finish the book by the end of September - my deadline was the day before our flight to Kona for the World Championship.

Our June endurance camp was another great success and our campers worked very hard and accomplished so much. It was also very hot! Although our camps are fun, educational and inspiring, they are always mentally and physically exhausting for me and Karel. We sure do love putting on camps but it's a ton of work! 

JULY '19

Shortly after camp, I found myself dealing with a hip/glute/back injury - something that is not new for me. Although I have not been injured in over 6 years, I do feel like I am always "on edge" and cognizant of my hips/glutes when running. I feel like this injury started from a lot of sitting, stress and poor posture and was simply exaccerbated (not caused) from running. Thankfully, I was able to still run and bike (of long duration and at high intensity) without any pain so I was still able to train for Ironman Canada. While I tried really hard to not let my situation affect Karel, I knew he was sad for me. The great thing about this race was that I knew I could put together a really strong swim and run and anything extra was just a bonus (and a big uncertainty). On race day, I finished the bike as 1st overall amateur but that position quickly went away as I managed the marathon run. But our athlete Ericka won the amateur race, which was super exciting. And we had so many incredible performances by our athletes. Somehow I managed to finish the race and not do further damage. We enjoyed beautiful Whistler and Karel put together an incredible performance by winning his AG with a best ever IM run of 3:04! 

AUGUST '19

After returning home from Canada, we finished off a well-needed recovery week before easing back into our training. I still couldn't run but had plenty of swimming, biking, water jogging and strength to keep me busy. Plus, I was deep into writing my 3rd book with a deadline of the end of September.

Just as we were about to get back int structured training after IM Canada, I was snuggling with Campy in bed and he scratched my cornea in my eye. Without being dramatic, this was extremely excrutiating - I couldn't be in any room (or outside) with light, I had to wear sunglasses everywhere, I couldn't drive and I had a constant headache. I found myself sleeping a lot and I wasn't able to gather much energy to exercise. I had to see the eye doctor every other day for about ten days. Finally, some relief. Just as I was getting better, Karel traveled up to Mt. Tremblant to support our athletes racing (and to do some translating for one of our Czech athletes). Our athletes did great and our Czech athlete won his age group (45-49) and qualified for Kona!

Near the end of the month, I heard the sad news that a triathlon friend passed away unexepectedly, which was incredible sad for the entire triathlon community. 

SEPTEMBER '19

Once it seemed like life was starting to calm down and we were able to get back into a good routine, we decided to get two rescue kittens to bring some love and happiness into our family. Although Karel was still grieving over the loss of Smudla, he felt ready to grow our furry family. We welcomed Felix and Ella into our family but sadly, Felix passed away 6 days later from Pneumonia. Ella was a fighter and although she got our other cat Madison sick a few times (and Ella had to be taken to the vet for a few emergency situations over the next two months), she is now living her best life and is officially part of our family. Here is the story about Ella. 

The day after we welcomed Felix and Ella into our home, I received news that my (almost) 96 year old Grandpa Joe passed away. I took a booked a flight for a quick trip up to Ft. Wayne Indiana for a memorial service that my aunt threw together last minute. I arrived Tues and flew home early Thurs morning. Then on Saturday evening, Felix passed away. Needless to say, training had a backseat all that week and we were emotionally wreaked.

Karel celebrated his 43rd birthday near the end of September and for his present, I asked a bunch of people who know Karel to write a note for him. I gave him this "gratitude" journal filled with over 80 notes from so many people who love and care about Karel. With such a tough month, he had a moment of joy reading the notes and learning how much people cared for and appreciated him. 

A few days later, we (last-minute) flew in Karel's mom to help take care of Ella, Campy and Madison while we spent 2 weeks in Kona. At one point in September, we couldn't even think about racing as we were just so empty and mentally depleted from everything that had gone on over the past few months. Life certainly happened and it was tough.  We didn't want to count ourselves out of the race and we knew that our other 3 athletes who were racing, would give us some great energy when they arrived.

Not only did I finish the manuscript for my 3rd book but I started to promote my 2nd book. Writing is like many things in life - filled with emotions from being excited to hating the process to feeling so relieved when it's over and loving the final product. It's pretty cool how a white piece of paper can turn into a book. 

OCTOBER '19

I wouldn't say that Kona was a bust. We actually managed to put together good performances at IM Kona. I had a PR swim and bike and was 4th/5th in my AG off the bike! Karel had a PR swim but just felt flat for the rest of the day. He dealt with his normal back issues and really suffered on the bike and run. He was very upset but with time, was able to move on from the race. We love Kona but plan to take a little break from racing on the big island. We feel so grateful for the 9 times (combined) that we have raced on teh big island. This year was just a bit too much for us emotionally. 

Campy turned 12 years old and he is staying healthy, active and loving life. Thanks to his Czech Grandma who stayed with us for almost 90 days, Campy got to go on lots of walks, hikes and adventures. 

NOVEMBER '19

It was great to have Karel's mom with us for so long as she fed us well and was a huge help around our house. With our coaching business, October, November and December are our busiest months so the extra help was really appreciated. Karel's mom is back in Czech now but thankfully, we have lots of her xmas cookies to enjoy in the freezer.

Although we got back into structured training (back to coaching ourselves), we also managed to fit in some exploring in the mountains. I'm so happy to report that I am back running injury free. Although I turned in my manuscript for my third book in late September, October and November were very stressful with a lot of editing.....a lot of editing. It felt like I was writing another book! But thankfully, the finish product is incredible and all of that hard work was worth it. 

DECEMBER '19

If you are still reading this blog and have made it this far, thank you for sharing the past year with us. On one side of the coin, life was very tough to us this year. While things could always be worse, we were tested in so many ways. We endured a lot over the past 12-months. But on the other side, life kept going and we decided to keep going with it. As with any setback, struggle or stressor in life, you may not be able to change the situation but you can manage your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Although we are athletes, we are also human. We can't do it all and life isn't perfect. Behind every training session, race performance or picture is also a behind-the-scenes story. Remembering that each one of us have our own behind-the scene moments, be kind to others and most of all, always take care of yourself and your own needs. 💓

And make sure to check out my social media channels tomorrow at 12pm EST when I announce the title of my next book! 

Ella, welcome to the family.

On August 25th, 2019, we added a new furry member to our family. However, technically our new kitten did not yet belong to us. Here's the emotional story of our sweet Ella.

On April 30th, 2019, we said good-bye to our 16-year cat named Smudla. Karel had a really difficult time moving on from the loss of his long-time companion but the sight of any kitten would quickly bring a smile to his face. While nothing could replace the love that he had for Smudla, it was in early July when Karel brought up the idea of getting a new feline family member. I was a bit hesitant as I wasn't sure how Campy and Madison (the seniors in the house) would feel about this new addition.

One day in mid August, I was texting with an athlete/friend of ours who lives outside of Atlanta Georgia and fosters kittens. I mentioned to her that when we get back from Kona, we would like to adopt one of her rescue kittens. Karel was interested in a grey kitten and when I mentioned this to our friend, she replied back that she has a grey female kitten right now. Of course, we needed a picture immediately.

At that moment, we fell in love. Although she was 2 months old, she was only the size of a 4 week old. She was found outside with her litter mates, without her mother. Our friend said that her and her simblings were so sick when she got them that she didn't know if they would make it.

Of course, that story made us love her even more. It wasn't until a few days later that we named her Ella.

We were told that she was not up for adoption until she was older and heavier - at that point she could get spayed and could then be placed up for adoption. With strict adoption rules from the foster organization, we were so sad that we couldn't adopt her right away. Ella was being fostered with five or six other kittens and she was certainly the runt of the group. She was struggling to put on weight because she was so active and lively. She would nap hard and play hard.

After another week or two of getting regular updates on Ella, we had a phone discussion with the lady in charge of the foster organization and she agreed that we could take home Ella under two conditions.

1) She was not officially ours until we got her spayed. In other words, we were only fostering her.
2) We had to foster two kittens - Ella and another kitten - so that they could both interact and learn from one another.

While we were only interested in Ella, we quickly fell in love with the orange kitten that our friend was also fostering. We named him Felix and decided to welcome them both into our family.

When the fostering paperwork was complete and the medication/vaccine protocol list was put together, Karel made the 3.5 hour drive on Sunday August 27th to pick up our new "not yet official" family members. I was unable to go with Karel as I was finishing the manuscript of my third book with my final deadline on Monday the 28th.

While Karel was making his 6+ hour round trip, I fixed up our spare room to be a safe and welcoming "kitten" room. When Karel returned to our house with two adorable and tiny kittens, I was a bit overwhelmed with the love that I had for both of them.  Ella was extremely tiny and looked so fragile whereas Felix was vibrant and healthy. Ella was still a bit sick so we had to put medication in her squinty eyes. Feline herpesvirus is a very common viral infection in orphaned and immunocompromised kittens. During a flare up, the kitten may experience an upper respiratory infection including sneezing, nasal discharge and decreased appetite. Other signs include eye discharge, swelling and squinting. Most kittens can recover from this infection in 1-2 weeks.

At the time, we didn't know any of these symptoms but just assumed she had a little eye infection. Our friend was taking exceptionally great care of these kittens and as she mentioned to us before, they were all very sick when she received the kittens (she fosters the most scary/difficult rescues).

In the morning of our first full day with Ella and Felix, I received a call from my mom that my Grandpa Joe passed away at the age of 96. I was very sad that my grandpa was no longer just a phone call away but also grateful that my grandpa could live such a long and happy life. Later that evening, I booked a flight to travel to Ft. Wayne Indiana for a memorial service with close friends and family. I traveld to Indiana on Tues afternoon, stayed there all day Wednesday and traveled home very early on Thursday. Althugh it was a very emotional time for me, I new that I had two adorable kittens to warm my heart when I returned home from my trip. I also had plenty of photos of Felix and Ella as Karel could not stop sending me pictures of his two new loves (don't worry, our senior citizens Campy and Madison were still getting a lot of attention).

Thursday was a very busy day for me. I squeezed in a lot of work and workouts and our weekly educational FB live chat with our team and I was so ready to relax with the kittens at 8:00pm. I noticed that Felix was acting a bit lethargic when we brought them downstairs from their room. He was also showing signs of labored breathing. I texted our close friend Joey (cat mom) and after Facetiming with her to show her Felix, she suggested that we take him to the Animal Emergency Clinic. We left Ella alone in her room and took Felix to the emergency clinic. As soon as we arrived, the tech at the desk took Felix from us to start a nebulizing treatment on him since he was open mouth breathing. At this point, I was so exhausted from everything. Karel and I stayed positive and hoped that it was nothing serious. When we finally saw the doctor, she told us that he has an upper respiratory infection and that they will give him some medication and we can take him home. We were relieved that we were able to take him home as we felt like this was a sign that he would be ok.

Ella was happy to see her buddy when we returned home around 11:30pm. We had a restless night of sleep as we were worried about Felix and when we woke up in the morning, we went right to the kitten room to check on Felix. Of course, Ella sprints out of the room full of energy and ready to eat but Felix was still very lethargic on his bed, still struggling to breathe. At this point, we were scared. So we rushed him to our local vet (5 miles away) and they quickly put him back on the neubulizing therapy. They wanted to keep Felix all day to see how he was tolerating the therapy and if he wasn't showing signs of improvement, we would need to take him back to the Emergency Clinic. Around 4:30pm, we received a call from the vet that Felix was doing worse than before and he needed to go to the Emergency Clinic. We picked up Ella and took them both to the clinic so that Ella didn't have to be alone. Felix was rushed back into the neubulizing area and we waited and waited and waited. They asked if we were ok to take xrays as it would be risky on such a sick little kitten but they also explained the pros and cons of the situation. We agreed to the xrays and it showed pneumonia. We kept Feliex at the Emergency Clinic over night and just hoped and prayed that he would be ok.

We had scheduled a long bike ride with three out of town friends and we barely made 90 minutes into the ride before we had to turn around as we couldn't think straight and we had no mental energy to be on the bike. We played with Ella when we returned home (I asked my mom to watch Ella while we were biking) and texted back and forth to the organizer of the foster group to explain about Felix's situation (we had kept her in the loop through it all). Although Ella was our biggest worry when we brought her home, our strong, vibrant and playful Felix was struggling. On Saturday, just 6 days after we brought home Ella and Felix, we received a phone call that Felix was not going to make it. The foster organizer gave the doctor permission to humanely put Felix out of his discomfort.

We were heart broken. And still are. Did we do something wrong? Should we have waited until they were older? But what about Ella - if we didn't take her in, would she have survived? We ask ourselves questions over and over as we are still so heartbroken about the situation. But Ella has shown us that she is a fighter. She is a fantastic eater, sleeper and pooper and all around fun and entertaining kitten.

As for the rest of September, what was suppose to be an exciting time of peaking for the 2019 Ironman World Championship, we spent at least one day a week for the next 4 weeks at the vet for Ella. We were so close to cancelling our trip to Kona as we had no desire to race in what was suppose to be a fun event for us with so much heartache, drama and stress. Anytime Ella would sneeze or cough, we got scared that something was going to happen to her. If Ella was unusually tired, we started to freak out. She received more medications and vaccines in the month of September and we were on high alert for the next few weeks. We even decided to fly in Karel's mom to watch over Ella to make sure nothing happened to her while we were in Kona for two weeks. The vet staff was falling in love with Ella as they saw her regularly for the month of September. Ella had a few more health complications but everything was treatable.

I hesitated to write this blog for many reasons and we are still so sad about Felix. We also didn't want to talk much about Ella until we knew she was officially ours. At the age of 16 weeks and just tipping the scales at 4 lbs, Ella was spayed on 11/21 and now we can finally officially say that Ella is part of our family.

Although we were expecting a happy and joyful experience of adopting a new kitten, this doesn't change my feelings about rescue animals. It all started with the kindness of our friend who was fostering Ella (and Felix) - which is not an easy job. Every foster/rescue organization relies on donations and animal lovers to help feed, medicate and provide for deserving animals in need of a forever home. She gave Ella a second chance at life and now Ella is living the life with us and big brother (Campy) and sister (Madison). There is an overpopulation of cats and dogs and we must break the cycle. In order to do so, I encourage you to adopt don't shop.

Ella loves her crinkle toys with feathers, boxes, tissue paper, strings and anything loose that she can toss around. She is curious about water, naps all afternoon, loves to go into rooms that she is not suppose to (workout room), loves to eat, likes to play with Madison and Campy (neither of them are overly enthusiastic about the situation but are accepting), loves to chase her tail and is always on the hunt to attack moving objects. She is loves to jump and discover new things. She sleeps in our bed at night - usually on top of one of us.

Thank you for reading her story.