Gus is playful but only when he's in the mood. If he's into it then he and kittens have a lot of fun hiding in boxes and popping out at each other; sneaking up on and pouncing on each other from behind doors and generally participating in friendly, harmless rough-housing. However, sometimes Gus is just not a fan of the kitteh.

Here he is begging to be let outside and is being harassed (and groomed) by Tiffany.

And then there's Vespa. She who is very kitten-like herself. She'll participate in a good chase with the kittehs (sometimes at 4am grrr) until they're all pooped out but she's also got some mommy tendencies and she and they often can be found grooming each other, hugging each other and acting very mom and baby-like.

Here she is giving Tiffany a good cleaning. Or maybe it's Tiffany demanding a good cleaning from Vespa. Either way, cute.

As you can see in both of these videos, Tiffany is a really friendly kitty and she's still available for adoption. What a cutie.

[edited to add that oops I was supposed to edit out the Buffy background noise in the Vespa/kitten footage but I forgot...sorry Zoe!]

1. I ran my furthest run ever a few days ago! 6.5 miles. I strained my calf a little but nothing huge. I REALLY didn't want to hurt myself so I ran really slowly, averaging over 12 minutes/mile (I walked up the hill in Phinney so that messed up my pace a bit, too). The route* was pretty fun and I think I'd like to do it again especially since it covers my commute home.

*This is not exactly the route I took since I really started at my work and ran a few laps at the end around the block waiting to meet up with the husband for a jaunt off to beer land.

2. Remember my peeing problem? Have I not mentioned that? How I pee when I run but only sometimes? Like during a 5K? When my husband decides to abandon me and go to Starbucks so I have to stand around in wet icky shorts for 15 minutes waiting for his ass to return? Well, now you know. I used to think I'd be okay if I only ran in the mornings but that wasn't really the case. Then I thought all I needed to do was run more. My theory was that trying to hold it really gives my kegels a workout w/out me having to think about it. For a while there I thought my problem was solved. I almost, nearly dared run padless, even! Well, I guess I shouldn't have gotten all smug about it because last week I did some hill training, just 3 miles, and voila. Pee. Then I ran 6.5 miles this week after jugs of water and not a drip. I can't figure it out. I still plan on discussing this fancy procedure w/ my gynecologist in the fall. Sounds like a fun thing to do in the winter, right?

3. Barefoot running. Hm, not so much. I've only been out on 2 runs in my Vibrams this month. I'm so afraid of hurting myself still and the training schedule my personal trainer put me on involves too many hills and miles for a newbie barefooter. I do love it though. I should just try to get in a mile now and then on my non-training days. Earlier this week when I was out running I saw one barefoot runner (she wasn't even wearing Vibrams) and two Vibram Five Finger runners all within 10 minutes of each other. Pretty awesome. My personal trainer, who is training to be a physical therapist had this to say about them: "It's a FAD! YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF. Get over it." I said, "No."

4. Oh the places I've run. For my various runs I've made round trips around Ballard, through Discovery Park's trails, up and down (and up and down) Phinney Ridge, all around upper and lower Woodland Park, laps on Ballard High School's track (which oddly made my knees hurt). It's fun to run in places I so often only see from my car. I've learned a lot of lessons about where the sidewalk ends too. Also, where to NOT cross or else be killed. Oops.

5. As a reward for all my hard work I'm getting myself a deep tissue massage. Ah, nice. Now bring on July!

p.s. What's w/ all the "w/"s? I guess I've forgotten how to spell that word out.

May was both a disappointing AND amazing month so I hate to just skip it. I'll do a quick-ish recap (which of course means it will be long and drawn out because that's my style).

First, at the beginning of the month just when I was getting my running groove on I injured myself. I ran about 2 miles in a pair of Vibram five fingers and at the top of a hill both my Achilles exploded. Not really but they were in enough pain that I had to alternate running w/ walking 2 miles back home. Had I known how seriously they were injured I would simply have walked home or begged someone on the street to drive me home. I didn't ice them at all or do anything special but I was in a bit of pain. I figured I'd be good to go within a few days.

Pout, poor me. Injured and not running. Happens to a lot of people I'm sure.

But wait. Let's jump back a few days before that terrible run, shall we? Feeling all zen and inspired by trail runners in the hot desert I was eager to take advantage of my sister Tina's invitation to take a hiking trip to southern Utah. I booked a flight for Zoe and me to fly down there mid-May and I ordered a pair of Vibram KSO's. I started researching trail running in the desert and hiking in Vibrams or barefoot. I was very high on the idea of all the awesome things I might do once I got down there.

And then I hurt myself.

And even worse, a few days after the injury my ankles hurt worse than ever. I was so miserable I refrained from drinking my eleventy million bottles of water at work because I couldn't stand the thought of walking down the hall to the bathroom. About 5 days in I finally started icing and elevating. I was sucking down ibuprofin like it was candy, too. Nothing helped. All I could do was wait and hope that I was healed enough before the trip to Utah.

That didn't happen. I broke the news to my sister and she was awfully sweet about it but what a bummer. We still flew down and I pathetically limped around, photographing majestic scenery in Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon National Parks while Tina, her daughter Marissa, and Zoe hiked. By then, my right Achilles was almost back to normal but my left ankle was ginormous and I was incapable of flexing my foot. At one point, when the rest of the group went on a 1.5 hour hike in Bryce Canyon, I decided to sit on a bench and read but the wind started blowing hard so I slowly hobbled back to the car (only to be passed up by a group of tourists on donkeys who teased me that I should get a donkey of my own). In the car, I opened a beer, took photos of my feet and read a book. A fine way to spend my time at a gorgeous national park, huh?

I will say, it was an amazing trip despite my not being able to hike. I visited w/ my family in northern Utah before heading south which was a treat. I got to take my mom and Randy out for a belated Mother's day lunch at The Garden Restaurant in Salt Lake City (where Zoe experienced her first up close and personal look at those strange and odd creatures: mormons en masse) and visited The Cathedral of the Madeleine (after which Zoe said she liked that Mormon church a lot, not realizing it was a Catholic church). We followed up our day in SLC with a visit to my brother's shop and a family barbecue where I got to meet my newest nephew and Zoe got to hang out with her young nieces. Afterward, the road trip down to southern Utah w/ the 4 girls was the best time ever! We stayed in Kanab at the Quail Park Lodge, ate delicious food at Rocking V Cafe (and at Oscars Cafe in Springdale), visited the Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary, and spent a lot of time cracking each other up. We had so much fun that we're going to make it an annual trip! Thanks Tina & Marissa for a fabulous weekend!

Here's a sample of the photos I took. I haven't even uploaded all of them yet. *sigh*
[click to embiggen]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Of course, as soon as I returned back to Seattle my ankle started getting better. I saw a doctor and was basically told what everyone else told me. Don't run until it's better. And don't run barefoot!

Whatever to them on the barefoot running. After the swelling went down I was finally able to wear my Vibram KSOs and I love LOVE them. 25 days post injury and I was finally able to run again and have been running since!

Finally, the month of May ended with a bang! We attended Stacey & Wyatt's wedding at Alderbrook Resort on the Hood Canal. It was a wonderful wedding and weekend -- really unforgettable! The location, the people, the food, the dancing, the hikes, the hanging out with good friends...all good! Congratulations to two of my favorite people!

***

I shouldn't leave out this important tidbit. Since I last wrote I met up with one of my favorite bloggers, Bossy! It was my first blogger event in the 6 years I've been blogging. I met super cool people and had a fun time*. Hopefully Bossy will swing back my way in a few years. I'll be there.

*scroll down Bossy's link above to see her fun photos of her visit to Seattle

Place #1:
The streets in my 'hood. I've been running a lot lately, thanks to this book* and these shoes. I started regularly running almost 2 years ago -- trudging along at the track and running the occasional lap around Greenlake -- always trying to go faster and/or not feel horrible. It was always a terrible bore and sometimes quite painful. Now though, running in my neighborhood (on a sunny morning especially but a rainy afternoon will do), in these shoes, is completely different. Something just clicked and it's sticking. I take it all in; gaze left to right, deep breaths, smile. I check out each house, note its uniqueness, it's charm, it's rough edges, the hidden people inside, the crouching porch kitties, the flowers, the trees. The smells range from blossoms to caramelized onions to bacon to fresh bread to marijuana. And it all happens in a rush. As soon as I perceive a sight or smell it's gone in a flash. As this is all happening I'm listening to my own breath, realizing that I'm not winded at all, but running like a fine tuned machine. I stop at a traffic light and realize I'm not even out of breath. Now I know the runner's secret. I hope it lasts. (Now don't get all excited. I have no plans to run a marathon or even a half marathon. I just like running now.)

*Here's a funny story about how I heard about this book. The internets are awesome. I follow suebob on twitter. Several months ago suebob twittered about a blogger she enjoyed reading. I clicked on the link and found mad organica, enjoyed her blog so added her to my rss feed. A few months later she posted a great entry about running (and peeing while running which I can totally relate to!) and in that entry she mentioned the book. It all started with a tweet.

Place #2:
My house. The people. The cats. The garden. The spaces. We just finished carpeting our basement office and I hope to make it my "special space". I started doing yoga in there and want to organize the shelves with my sewing and knitting stuff and I want to litter the walls with all my kids' artwork and photos. When I want to read a good book without Zoe wandering in to discuss her hair and its straightness or lack thereof I can go in the office, close the door, and lock it. Click.

Happy Place Photos

My garden on a rainy day makes me happy (plus Vespa**). I could do w/out the bird poop on my window, however.


**why yes, we DID adopt Vespa. I forgot to mention that. She's my first girl kitteh!

Our new walkway makes me immensely happy. (It used to look like this.) I also like the contrast of the new pavers and the mossy cracked driveway.

Office Space. Waiting for me.

And who's in love???

And this? I could do without. I woke up this morning to see this from my west facing bedroom window. The window that I don't have a blind for because there was no need. It looks like whoever buys this townhouse will enjoy quite a show from their 3rd floor.

The group reviewed a performance by renowned ukulele player Brook Adams. Sid got marked off for not finishing. Not a surprise since he "can't write less than 900 word reviews, gosh!".

"He walks into the room, already holding his ukulele, takes a seat on the stool at the front and starts quietly tuning his four strings. After this quiet moment, he apologizes for being late (with a smile, no less) and jumps into his first song."

Dude, check out Brook Adam's Abbey Road.

I doubt anyone will think these are cute NOW. (Also, lilypie totally needs to add a selection of surly teenagers for the slider choice.)

SHE'S STILL NIKI, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING

I was thinking about Niki this morning. All her little quirks* and how often she nearly drives me batty. And what I realized is I ADORE HER and I'm simply amazed that she doesn't adore herself. She's witty and zany and pretty and artistic and kind. If she could only step back and see how wonderful she is then imagine how confident and happy she would become. I hope one day she figures it out.

*Quirks. Like the one time she put caterpillars on the side of the house and had them race up. Like how she comes up with crazy characters like Bald Wheel, Guy, and Tim the Slice of Bread. Like how she refuses to walk in the house w/out slippers. Like how determined she was to get her hair perfectly straight and even when I told her I had no idea how to straighten hair she asked again and again because I'm her mom and that's what moms do, they help. Like how she didn't dare go into the orthodontist's office the other day to get more wax because "that's embarrassing and what if people saw me". Like how she cannot be in the same room with her brother without reminding him how disgusting he is. Quirky.

PRIVACY PLEASE

I know I've written a lot of embarrassing things about my kids on my blog. I wish now that I'd made them more anonymous because OMG I want to continue writing stuff about them but the older they get the weirder it seems, you know? Plus I'm sure they don't like having their name associated w/ a blog about a woman who pees her pants.

Oh, and that part above about Niki? That's okay, because she's not known as Niki in the real world. Heh.

On the other hand there's The Boy. He's a private person. I've tried not to write very much about him lately. I know he's guarded about what he tells me and I hope it's not because he's worried that I'll blog about it (gulp, it probably is). Over the last year he's refused to give me real names for most of his friends. I'll ask who just called and he'll say "Jimmy". I'll ask who he went with after school and he'll say, "Jane". Fine. I get it. He doesn't want to share but when he told me he was going to take the bus to watch movies with a group of people at a friend's house, I demanded real names. I can't let him go off to Sally's house and hang out with Billy and Johnny. What would happen if he didn't come home? "Hello, 911? My son is missing. He went off to Magnolia to hang out with some made up people." I explained this to him and thankfully he understood my angst. He gave me real names.

BTW, Sally and The Boy text nonstop from time to time. Do they have a thing? Are they a thing? I may never know.

AND SPEAKING OF PRIVACY, TMI ALERT LEVEL LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY!

I have a plan for my female problems and I'm feeling optimistic about it for the first time! I saw a gynecologist and first up she did an endometrial biopsy. It HURT. She only told me it would hurt as she was doing it...I suppose not knowing in advance that someone is going to stick a tube in your cervix and suck material out w/out medication is a good thing. She also upped my birth control prescription from the 1-20mgs to the 1-30mgs. The biopsy came back negative (woo-hoo!) and if the pills don't do their thing I'll probably go in for an endometrial ablation. Kind of scary but I'm so up for it over hysterectomy. While she was checking me out and talking about my history of having huge babies she asked me if I ever had bladder issues.

ME, SUSPICIOUSLY: Why yes, what makes you ask? Is it obvious...DOWN THERE?

HER: A lot of women have that problem, it's very common and there's an easy fix if you're no longer having babies.

ME, ANGRILY: Why didn't I know about this easy fix 14 years ago?

HER: It hasn't been super common until recently plus it's only recommended for "older" women. It's a simple little procedure, a few clips here, a stitch there, a knot there, voila!

ME EXCITEDLY: bring it on!

So I might get this awesome sling procedure and then I can run and run and jump and jump and seriously, maybe I'll get a trampoline.

I'm glad I have a gynecologist again. I kind of have a crush on her, even.

I celebrated the good news by getting a cute little nose piercing. Ouch.

2010 EXPENSES

Last year I budgeted and cut out spending in order to pay off my debt. After the debt was paid off in October of 2009 I allowed myself a treat. A cashmere sweater. The plan then was to continue budgeting and cautiously spending and put away some cash. Only, you know what happens when you go a while (wow, a long while) being in debt and paying off debt? A lot of stuff that you should be spending on doesn't get spent on. Like broken appliances don't get replaced. Torn up landscaping doesn't get fixed. Sick cats don't get taken to the vet. The husband's pants get very, very old and fall apart. So rather than instantly save the extra cash I had on hand after debt pay-off I decided to dedicate that spare cash to playing catchup. (Oh, and I had to buy a couple of pairs of boots and what-not. Heh.)

And wow, are we EVER catching up. The cats have been poked and prodded (the humans, too). We replaced our washer/dryer this week. We just ordered the carpet for our basement office. We're working with a landscape designer to put in a walkway where the sewer guys tore out our old one. The husband may even buy new jeans this weekend! Lots of spending in a short amount of time.

There are a few other things I'd like to get but they aren't absolutely necessary (a 2nd car???). It's probably time to reign in the spending and just sit back and save a while.

CATS IN. CATS OUT.

That's been my fostering mantra. Care for them. Don't fall in love. Find them good homes. Carry on. Easy at pie. (Well, I have regrets about giving up Paul and Odin and I kind of stalk my other fosters online but I digress.)

And then there was Vespa. Initially, she didn't please me. Purrful and mreowy to the extreme. A sheddy mess. Also, wounded and picky. And let's not forget her weekend of being in extreme heat. But I liked that she was tiny, almost kitten tiny, and when she came up and curled next to me she'd put the tiniest bit of her chin weight on my lap as if to say, "I'll just have a sampling of that lap if that's okay with you and by all means, if you need to move I'll just scoot over a bit". She only scratches her scratchy pad. She doesn't use claws inappropriately. She has fluffy bum hair. She has tailitude*.

*A proud and fluffy tail that, if detached from said cat, could easily have its own hit tv show in Japan.

Really, I should have gotten her out of my life quicker but stuff happened. We got her in mid February straight from the street (actually first she made a pit stop at the vet for treatment of a deep bite wound that had abscessed). After giving her a total makeover (treat wound, fatten, spay) I started writing up her Petfinder profile in early March. But then one morning we found her licking her supposedly healed wound. Yuck, she had a re-abscess. Back to the vet she went and when she got out five days later she still had 2 weeks of healing and treatment so I put a hold on posting her profile. As of last Monday she was officially healed, stitches removed, off of antibiotics and completely fattened up. Now that she's finally 100% she's playful and fun in addition to all her other sweet mannerisms. She's an awesome buddy for Gus. Her shedding is minor (I think being free of a cage makes for a better groomed cat). She sleeps so sweetly and quietly between us at night. She looks me in the eyes and tells me she loves her HOME.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we might as well adopt her, right? She loves us, we love her. She fits with us and our life right now. We can't imagine not having her around.

So, yes, I need to be careful about that in the future.

I can write about food all I want, however. Feel free to zone me out. Blah blah blah blah.

Have you heard of Spilled Milk? It's a podcast starring Molly Wizenberg (Orangette) and Matthew Amster-Burton (Roots & Grubs). They're funny and cute and silly and they always make me laugh and almost always make me hungry. I just listened to their "junk food" episode and even though I don't like sweets I kind of want to go out and buy a few twinkies and ding dongs.

(And remind me to ask Sid if he knows that twinkies have beef fat in them...because they do...something useful I learned on that podcast.)

Okay, so the first episode of Spilled Milk I ever listened to was their fried egg show. I love eggs, especially fried and sunny side up. And my favorite ever bowl-of-a-bunch-of-good-stuff is bibimbap because I love the way the egg yolk spills down into the rice. Mmmm.

Molly and Matt made kimchee fried rice (mmmm...egg yolk and rice and oh so much more) in the episode and I happened to be super hungry (and running at the track) at the time so I started scheming about how soon I could make it. (Heh, am I the only one who listens to food podcasts while exercising?)

Hm. Oh, here I go again with the silly details. Instead of just getting to the recipe and photos I'm telling you why I decided to make it. Where I was when I decided to make it. When I decided to make it (premiere night of the first episode of Lost's season 6 if you must know).

Okay. Without further ado, here's the recipe.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Adapted from Kye Soon Hong
Makes 2 hearty servings

4 cups cooked Japanese-style (calrose) rice, cooled and chilled in refrigerator
4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups Napa cabbage kimchi, the riper the better, diced
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for frying eggs
2 teaspoons sesame oil
salt and pepper
sesame seeds, for garnish
sliced scallions, white and green parts, for garnish

4 eggs

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the kimchi and cook several minutes.

2. Raise the heat to high, add the rice and stir-fry several minutes, until rice is beginning to brown.

3. Meanwhile, fry the eggs in butter, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Stir butter and sesame oil into fried rice. Season with salt to taste. Divide into two bowls and top each with two fried eggs. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

I followed the recipe exactly except I only used 2 eggs (well, 3). Amazon Fresh delivered all the yummy goodness (although they only had one kind of kimchee but I was clearly too lazy to go out and shop around).

Just look at that hot mess:

Take a closer look. Hot. Mess.

I browned the bacon in the wok, and added the kimchee, then added the rice. I always get nervous when I add the rice because it's a day old, hard and breaky and really doesn't look appetizing at all. It always turns out fine, yet still I worry.

Meanwhile, while the rice cooked I got out my amazing cast iron skillet (thank you Bossy for your influence) and fried the eggs. I biffed it and broke a yoke so I added an extra egg to the buttery pan.

The photo above reminds me of two wishes I've had for a long time. 1) To be able to fry an egg all pretty like. This one I'm finally figuring out (with the exception of the particular eggs in this photo). For me, there needs to be some kind of fat involved and it has to be fried in my cast iron skillet. 2) A level stovetop. Sigh.

I finished up the rice by adding and stirring the oils and chopping the green onions. Bowls were filled and garnished.

Done. Chopsticks readied. Time to eat and watch the Losties.

Yum. Since then I've substituted the bacon for spam but bacon is so much better. I feel a little decadent using butter but I can always burn it off at the gym, right?

Oh, and now off to find a twinkie.

O-Lan, the sad wife in Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth occasionally let her husband know that something was not right with her, physically. Her complaint: "There's a fire in my vitals."

Poor O-Lan. I felt so bad for her.

And, well, lately I've been feeling bad for myself because I, too, have a fire in my vitals. No, it won't kill me and it's pretty mild as far as things that can go wrong with your body go but still, finding out recently that I have a golf ball size fibroid tumor wasn't a happy fun time for me (and usually I try to make happy fun times about everything).

Really, there are many good things about making this discovery (discovered by way of a super fun (no, really!) trans-vaginal ultrasound).

1) I know why I have horrible, REALLY HORRIBLE, periods.

2) I know I'm not infected by a giant parasite with large teeth. That's a relief. Turns out I just have a rebellious uterus (see bad thing #2 below).

3) I know that I don't have anything wrong with the other inside tubes and nothing horrible (besides the cute little fibroid) is growing abnormally in there.

4) I'm fortunate that I've had my children and I'm in my 40s (some women get fibroids at a much younger age which can cause infertility and years of pain and problems).

5) Here's a cool thing: now I know the size of my ovaries and my uterus!

But there are bad things:

1) Fibroids don't go away but they can get BIGGER. And MORE can grow.

2) I can no longer stack the pill (skip the sugars) and just skip my period. With the fibroid, skipping my period just causes my uterus to rebel, have a tantrum and spew pain in all directions (I even think it regularly forms a huddle with surrounding body parts to get them to join in the tantrum, thus I walk around with menstrual cramps (sans the menstrual), nausea, diarrhea, constipation, ligament pain, back pain, and GASSSS ALL AT THE SAME TIME...I AM NOT EXAGGERATING...NOPE).

3) Symptoms of doing nothing: Try not to become anemic, hide at home for several days a month, take lots of pain meds. Hope things don't get worse. Get angsty, whiny, and annoy everyone around me all the time.

Hey, at least I found more good than bad!

Treatment options include hormones (which cause menopause symptoms? no thanks), myomectomy (removal of the fibroid, eek, surgery), and hysterectomy (eek, MAJOR SURGERY).

I'm still doing some research and thinking about what I want to do next. It's too bad O-Lan didn't have those luxuries.

Stay tuned!

I missed telling you about Sid's birthday. Did you notice?

Sid turned 16 while he was in New York City with his dad which was a perfect way for him to celebrate. He and Robert flew out there on Christmas night and spent 3 1/2 days walking around and riding subways through 4 of the 5 boroughs (they skipped Staten Island). Robert was a sport for walking so much. He did something to his knee, perhaps on the flight out, and was in a lot of pain the entire time but enjoyed himself and he and Sid really bonded (in their silent, Moulton-style of bonding). You can tell from the look on Sid's face in the single photo* of him taken on the trip, that he was immensely happy.

*Sid and Robert managed to only take 4 photos for the entire trip. Sid was adamant about not doing touristy things (which meant no taking photos!). It was the first visit to the city for both of them but other than seeing an Off-Broadway show (The Toxic Avenger) they managed to avoid most of the tourist-y stuff. They didn't go up the Empire State Building or visit The Statue of Liberty. They did, however, get to walk around (like awkward outsiders) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with Hasidic Jews and they walked through neighborhoods in the Bronx and checking out Flushing, Queens. All this, in either extremely wet or windy/cold weather. When they came home, they rented The Warriors, which Sid had never seen, and it seems like they took almost the same journey (without all the crazy stuff with gangs and shit happening...).

Because Sid was gone on his birthday he didn't get a birthday cake. After things settled down post-holidays (about 3 weeks later) I finally made him a cake, his favorite, German chocolate. Always yum.

So how's Sid? Sid's doing well. He finished his driving course and just needs to log the hours so he can taking the driving test. (He loathes driving, btw.) He's still writing fun (albeit cynical) articles for the school newspaper. He has is own section now called "Story Time with Sid". One of these days he'll actually review a book he likes, I hope. All the work he put into AP Euro paid off. He got an A, which is quite an achievement. He had a few issues in other classes (not turning in homework because he was working so hard for his AP class and the school paper) but he learned some great lessons about time management and has already started off much better, with more balance, this semester.

He also did extremely well for a Sophomore on this year's PSAT, getting a 205 (77 critical writing reading, 63 math, 65 writing skills). It'll be interesting to see how these scores compare to his SAT next year. He's getting flooded with recruiting mail again and this time he's actually looking through it all and thinking a lot more about where he wants to apply for college in 2 years.

Sid's favorite thing he did recently? Donated blood. He was very proud of himself and said he'll do it again. And again. And again.

Happy Birthday little dude. Keep on keepin' on. Love you.

Sorry that I've been ignoring you. I had a few things involving cats to do in January. I promise that cats won't be the subject of every blog post; just let me get this out of my system, 'kay?

Foster cat adoptions

Odin's original adoption fell through due to a flaky potential adopter (she kind of assumed we'd hang on to him indefinitely until she could get her act together to pick him up; after many unanswered voicemails, I bumped her). He was super popular and we had oodles of people calling to see him. In the end, we picked a wonderful couple who already have another poof ball named Bella (who was just getting out of a cast when they got Odin and I'm betting Odin didn't give her much of a break, poor girl). We received photos; they're cute and he's very loved.

[Odin is pictured here with his new mom Jennie]

Tonks, coincidentally, was adopted within minutes of Odin. Her adopter, Cynthia, drove all the way up from Sumner, WA and even though Tonks would have nothing to do with her, Cynthia fell in love with her. We boxed up a very unhappy kitty and said our good byes. *sob* Tonks was hard to let go because we'd had her for two months and I knew she'd be very unhappy leaving. She'd only just started to feel comfortable with us all and then what do we do? We shove her in a box and send her away. (Ah, the downside to fostering.) The last update received (one week in) was that Tonks does not like Cynthia's two other cats (not surprising) but Cynthia adores her nonetheless.

A very sad day

During December, our old cat Frasier's mental and physical health really went downhill. He quit using the litter box completely just before we were having family over for the holidays. Fortunately, our visitors (my mom and her husband) are the owners of 8 cats and some of those are rescue cats and a few of those are bad litterbox users as well so they were very sympathetic to our issue. It also helps that my mom's husband Randy is a cat whore lover of cats. We somehow made it through the holidays and Sid's birthday but the work to take care of an elderly cat who needs cleaning up after, shots, pills and baths was taking its toll and clearly, Frasier was ready to go. He no longer jumped on our laps. He no longer made eye contact. Just moving was a huge effort for him. We decided to have a mobile vet come to our house and euthanize him because we wanted him to be with all of us in a warm, familiar place with Gumby nearby. It was a very difficult thing to do but when he died, a huge, heavy chunk of my heart broke off...but in a good way (? I can't really explain it). I felt so at peace.

In the end, Sid and Zoe were too upset to be in the room but Gumby sniffed around at the vet's supply box and Frasier's blanket and in the end, settled into a little cat bed to rest just below where I was holding Frasier. After he was gone, Sid visited with him for a while and then placed him in a box along with a few cartoon drawings of him that Sid and Zoe had drawn over the years. We then buried him in our backyard on a late, rainy, and very sad afternoon.

I took this photo of my boys a few days before Frasier died:

And let's not forget the young, wild boy:

And the kitten friend who kept me company as I read Henry Miller back in the day:



Sadness be gone! Bring on the Gus

We only had Odin for a month but in that month he stole our hearts. He was a pretty awesome cat; friendly, puppy-like, goofy, smart. I knew that he was at least part Ragdoll and after reading up on Ragdolls I decided I might like to have one...eventually. I didn't want to bring a new cat into our house until after Frasier was gone and I wasn't sure how long I'd need but figured I'd wait at least a month or two. However, just after Odin was adopted, I searched Craigslist and it just so happened that a Ragdoll teen kitten was looking for a home. Oh man. So adorable and just 9 months old. His mom was incredibly allergic to him but was clearly torn about having to give him up. I restrained myself. I didn't email her. I figured he'd get adopted over the weekend anyway, and I couldn't take a new kitty for at least a month or two.

Then I peeked back at Craigslist on Monday morning and he was still up there. Perhaps it was a sign? I figured I'd give it a poke. I emailed his owner and told her about our foster cat Odin and my recent interest in Ragdolls. I didn't hear back. I checked the listing several times that week and he was still up there. Robert suggested that his owner might just have forgotten to take the post down. I agreed. Time to move on.

On the following Monday, a little more than 12 hours after Frasier died, I got an email from Erin, Ragdoll kitteh's mom. She wanted to hear more about me, my fostering, etc. I ignored the email at first. I was a little shocked to hear from her a week after I'd sent her my initial email and really, I was mourning and not ready. It was a holiday and I was super depressed (understandably) so I decided to treat Zoe and myself to a movie. I let Zoe pick. She picked The Lovely Bones. What a terrible movie to watch when you've just lost a loved one! Seriously, every time that girl wandered around in the fields I saw Frasier prancing around with her. It was insane.

We returned from our movie in the afternoon and I decided to email Erin after all. I figured if he was still available I should at least get more info. I wrote more about our fostering (kittens then cats), our old cat Gumby, and my kids. She emailed me back right away and wanted me to call her. We talked about Gus a little. She told me that she'd received over 50 responses but that none of the responders seemed quite right for him and over the past week she'd been going back and forth about whether to give him up or not and then she asked me if she could visit once I adopted him. Whoa, um, that was unexpected. I think she'd already made up her mind. I wasn't quite ready to bring a kitty into our house but I definitely wanted to meet Gus. Fortunately, Erin lives nearby (which I believe is the main reason she picked us along with the fact that we foster -- she liked that for some reason and is looking forward to seeing Gus with kitten friends) so Zoe and I drove over and hung out and played with Gus for a while. Before we knew it, Erin had pulled out his carrier and between sobs, told us she'd already said her goodbyes and handed him over to us.

We brought him home, introduced him to Gumby and that was that. (Gumby likes him, if only in small chunks. They do a lot of running around which is good for the old boy's heart, I think.)

Meet Gus
(aka Mr. Von Peabody or Gusafuss or Snuffleupagus or GUS!staffson or Gussers)

I kind of want to eat him

I'm sure you'll hear more about him (like the fun thing he did last week that cost me $360).

Sincerely, Crazy Cat Lady

p.s. Gumby deserves a photo in this entry, don't you think?

"Wild World" sung by Mike Bailey who plays Sid on Skins (our new favorite show)

On Wednesday we went out for breakfast at Voula's and Voula told Randy he was handsome. He liked that. After getting thoroughly stuffed I returned home to make desserts. Nothing fancy, just sugar cookies and Rice Krispie treats. I was going to make a pecan pie as well but somehow ran out of time. We had a quick dinner at Ballard Brothers Seafood (I enjoyed a basket of fried oysters** and chips) and then Zoe, mom, Randy, and I went to see Sister's Christmas Catechism downtown. Sister is funny and she only picked on my mom once for talking out of turn. Fortunately, the rest of us escaped without incident.

This morning I'm up early to prepare for a long day downtown. Normally our family does something called "The Friday Before Christmas". We go downtown, see a movie, eat lunch and do a little shopping and Christmas light looking. This year, because Friday was still a school day and we wanted to include my mom and Randy we're doing it on Christmas Eve. I have no idea whether it'll be crazy downtown or not. I'm hoping not. We plan to see the early showing of Avatar in 3D and then lunch at one of the many restaurants in Pacific Place. Tonight is our usual viewing of A Christmas Story projected on the wall with many snacks including spiral sliced ham, artichoke dip and crackers, raw veggies, chips, and cookies. Somehow, I need to find time to buy a pork shoulder today before the stores close since all I could find yesterday at my local market was a bone-in picnic cut.

Tomorrow's plan is to have a sausage, bacon and egg breakfast after gift unwrapping and then a late dinner with the roast I'll hopefully purchase today along with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach (planned when I was originally going to brave cooking prime rib, then chickened out), and a feta and cranberry green salad. Sid, I believe, is cooking a tofurkey roast for him and Zoe. An unexpected event for Christmas evening is to drive the boys to the airport so they can fly off to New York City. They were supposed to leave Sunday morning but their flight was canceled due to the east coast snow storm.

So yeah, that's it, in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to the next 2 days! Have a Merry Christmas!

Wow, I'm going to need to diet after all this.

p.s. My friend Allyson and Paul are getting a brand new baby early next week and that really makes this the most wonderful Christmas ever!

*tmi alert: the WORST period ever. Horrifying. I'm calling the doctor next week. I can't live with this anymore. Birth control pills aren't helping. What's next?

**more tmi alert: oysters help w/ anemia and well, I can't imagine how I couldn't be anemic after having the WORST period ever.

Yes, that's what my mornings are like.

Oh, and then there are the cat food costs. The old, OLD cat cannot eat beef, chicken, rice or corn so I'm left with a brand of canned food that costs nearly $2/can and he eats AT LEAST a can a day. Cat food with names like "Polynesian BBQ" and "Meow Luau". The other old cat also has a special canned food diet and it cannot be sniffed, licked or near the other old cat. Then there are the fosters. The old shelter provided cat food but the new shelter doesn't. Fine. I'm okay with that. The problem is that I feel guilty giving my cats top of the line foods and giving the fosters cheap cat food so they too are getting fancy organic kibble. I feed them in the master bath and that was working out okay until old cat Gumby found out about it and started sneaking in to eat it at night and then apparently told Frasier about it and Frasier decided not only to sneak in at night but to poop on the tile floor when he found out I'd put the food up beyond his reach. Also, I was reminded that young cats are in fact able to bite through food bags and make a huge mess. How had I forgotten that they can do that?

Inspite of it all. I love them. They are fluffy and soft and they purr and they do silly things and they cuddle with me and my kids and they mostly take care of themselves. Yes, there are many days when I'm about to take Frasier in to euthanize him but there are just as many days when I see a nice old cat that isn't doing much harm.

I haven't been so good at promoting my foster cats which is a shame since I did so well with the kittens and they really don't need any promoting; their cuteness sells itself. Currently I have 2 adult fosters. Tonks has been with us since November 10th and Odin has been with us since December 9th. The shelter provides monthly opportunities to showcase the cats at adoption events but unfortunately I missed them because a) Tonks is not keen on cages and strangers; in fact she would hiss and possibly disembowel all living things around her in that situation and b) Odin was still getting over Calici virus when the last one came around.

So the challenge is, how get them adopted?

Well, I wrote earlier that I thought Tonks had found a potential adopter. That unfortunately fell through because the adopter had very little experience with cats and expected Tonks to immediately fall in love with her male cat. When that didn't happen immediately she felt sad and Tonks came back to us. Really, I'm glad she is back with us. She deserves a more cat experienced human as she is a complicated gal. I need to have someone help me re-write Tonk's Petfinder description. The one I wrote for her doesn't really tell her story or give a potential adopter much of an idea of what she's really like, unlike the wonderful Petfinder description for our other foster, Odin, which was written by his previous foster mom.

Odin really is a marketable guy; I don't think I have to do much more for him. In fact, someone is coming over to meet him tonight and once he flops on her lap its a done deal*. I feel a bit bad for Tonks because she made friends with our foster kitten and we adopted her off and now, just as she's starting to trust and play with Odin, he'll be leaving her as well. If Odin does get adopted I'm going to try to find a foster at the shelter that is a good enough match with Tonks that I can possibly get the 2 adopted off together. That would make Tonks the happiest girl in the world. Either that, or I think Tonks would prefer that I never bring another new feline into the house and while I'm at it get rid of my old cats. She'd really like to control the humans and the house single-pawedly if she had a choice.

*I wrote this earlier. Odin is getting adopted! I'm so happy for him but a little sad because he is currently playing fetch like a dog with Zoe and she (and he) are really having a great time.

Frasier

Gumby

Tonks

Odin