Hello! We've had a lot of stuff going on here, and now we actually have some things nailed down that we can go on the record about.
1. We're moving back up north next month. Yes, that's soon. No, we aren't nearly packed enough yet. Yes, we're working on it (actually, Mark is doing some work on the library as I type). We are gratefully accepting the help of a number of locals, and if anyone wants to send piles of money our way, we wouldn't say no. ;) The new apartment is right by the Chicago River (picturesque!) and there are not one but two parks less than a block away (convenient!). We'll also be just a short bus ride away from Auntie Aiieeee, which is another good and useful thing. The rent is also cheaper, which is a big motivator.
2. Proton, our beloved/reviled feline companion of more than nine years is currently on his way to his new home in Kentucky. My mom came to fetch him, and is taking him to a lovely new home that's way bigger than anything we are likely to own any time soon, with fewer scampering, tail-pulling three-year-olds. He's been progressively more irritable the past year or so, and while this change of venue is definitely increasing his stress in the short term, I hope that he can now live the rest of his kitty life in more comfortable surroundings. The rest of us here are, of course, very sad at his moving (thought I'm not sure why, since he did his level best to destroy everything we own in recent weeks) but it's for his good and ours. Most notably because our new apartment doesn't allow pets. We will still be able to visit him, since we have a built-in excuse to be in Owensboro as long as Uncle Sean and Aunt Hillary reside there. We're hoping to see him again (hopefully settled) when we are in the neighborhood around Christmastime.
Why all this change and why now? Money. Until we can manage to increase our income, we need to trim our spending. After the first of the year I'll be looking for work (freelance and otherwise), which will bring even more change if I end up employed once again out of the home. I'm not looking for work now because 1) we're moving and 2) this might be the last chance we have for a good long while to visit grandparents without screwing up anyone's work schedule and 3) I'd rather look when the seasonal-hiring thing is over for the season. Once we're settled in our new place I'll be in a much better position to find employment that we can all tolerate as well as possible.
There are a lot of issues involved in all this, which I'm not going to get into here, but I hope everyone knows that we are factoring everything into our decisions and doing what is best for our family.
Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Zoo and Tea Party
Gaz has just discovered the joy of riding her Scuttle Bug trike over bubble wrap. All she needs is a rousing top-of-the-lungs rendition of the alphabet song to complete her noisiness.
In other news, she was pretty well behaved yesterday, despite much exertion at the zoo (for a friend's birthday) in the morning and at the baby shower (a tea party with all the trimmings!) in Wisconsin in the afternoon. We made a rather late day of it, and even still she wasn't too bad on the drive home. She talked to the one star she could see out of her window. She noticed that it seemed to be traveling our way, and so invited it to come home with us.
Her cat obsession continues, as she spent the entire baby shower trying to con various people into letting the cats out of the bedroom. She compensated by then eating so much icing that she was wired and crazy the rest of the day.
Now for an early dinner, because I imagine today we're going to have a nice, early bedtime.
In other news, she was pretty well behaved yesterday, despite much exertion at the zoo (for a friend's birthday) in the morning and at the baby shower (a tea party with all the trimmings!) in Wisconsin in the afternoon. We made a rather late day of it, and even still she wasn't too bad on the drive home. She talked to the one star she could see out of her window. She noticed that it seemed to be traveling our way, and so invited it to come home with us.
Her cat obsession continues, as she spent the entire baby shower trying to con various people into letting the cats out of the bedroom. She compensated by then eating so much icing that she was wired and crazy the rest of the day.
Now for an early dinner, because I imagine today we're going to have a nice, early bedtime.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Two Weird Little Things
Last Friday we took Proton to the vet because, wonder of wonders, he's peeing on everything. Again. So we go (Gaz of course had the best time talking to all the people and animals), get pills, come home and he doesn't want to come out of his carrier. Fair enough. So I leave the door open and eventually he decided he was hungry and finally left his wee cage.
The carrier, though, is not a typical cat carrier. It's small dog size, both because Proton is a large cat (13 pounds of sinewy jungle cat, dontchaknow) and because he freaks out somewhat less if he's got pacing room. This also means that the carrier is big enough to entice curious toddlers.
She first demanded that Proton vacate the carrier so she could get in, and when he didn't leave she tired to squeeze in alongside him. That obviously didn't work and she soon gave up, but in that space of time between when Proton went for a snack and I noticed that he was out and about, Gaz managed to get in the carrier. She went in butt first and got everything but her legs inside. But then she wanted to move around and when she couldn't go forward or backward or in or out, she started crying hysterically. I tried to help her wiggle out, but I couldn't get her to keep both arms on the outside. All I could think of was to take the top off the carrier. So while I frantically attacked the screws, Gaz finally figured out how to get her legs inside, after which it was much easier to crawl out. And crawl back in. All that mama adrenaline for nothing!
The other weird little thing: she's eating Cheerios with a fork. And it's working!
The carrier, though, is not a typical cat carrier. It's small dog size, both because Proton is a large cat (13 pounds of sinewy jungle cat, dontchaknow) and because he freaks out somewhat less if he's got pacing room. This also means that the carrier is big enough to entice curious toddlers.
She first demanded that Proton vacate the carrier so she could get in, and when he didn't leave she tired to squeeze in alongside him. That obviously didn't work and she soon gave up, but in that space of time between when Proton went for a snack and I noticed that he was out and about, Gaz managed to get in the carrier. She went in butt first and got everything but her legs inside. But then she wanted to move around and when she couldn't go forward or backward or in or out, she started crying hysterically. I tried to help her wiggle out, but I couldn't get her to keep both arms on the outside. All I could think of was to take the top off the carrier. So while I frantically attacked the screws, Gaz finally figured out how to get her legs inside, after which it was much easier to crawl out. And crawl back in. All that mama adrenaline for nothing!
The other weird little thing: she's eating Cheerios with a fork. And it's working!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Hugging the cat
She's figured out how to "pet the cat nicely." After yesterday's kitty trauma at the vet's office, she's been a paragon of good behavior towards one's fellow creatures. I guess seeing him howl and bark in the car and in the exam and waiting rooms inspired some empathy.
You can just barely see the cat carrier behind her. This was the source of much fun after we returned home. The game went like this: Gaz opens carrier door, cat goes in, Gaz throws shoe in with cat and closes door, Gaz opens up door again and looks at cat, Gaz closes door and cat complains, Gaz opens door and cat gets out. Lather, rinse, repeat.
We're still waiting on a test, but so far the cat is not full of any more evil than ususal.
You can just barely see the cat carrier behind her. This was the source of much fun after we returned home. The game went like this: Gaz opens carrier door, cat goes in, Gaz throws shoe in with cat and closes door, Gaz opens up door again and looks at cat, Gaz closes door and cat complains, Gaz opens door and cat gets out. Lather, rinse, repeat.
We're still waiting on a test, but so far the cat is not full of any more evil than ususal.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
sleeping better, cat worse, jumping fun (for a while)
We're all sleeping better these days. Frequent or long-duration naps during the day have been the magic bullet for Miss Gaz, so the night-screaming-that-cannot-be-countered is at a minimum. Now that the settling is feeling more settled, we're all a lot less stressed. Which leaves only the usual stresses of work, trying to keep the dishes/laundry/etc. from taking over, and trying to keep the cat from breaking/ruining everything in sight.
As far as Gaz is concerned, he's a wonderful cat. He lets her grab big fistfulls of his face or back or tail or belly, sometimes even an ear, and only complains a little when she pulls with all her baby might (which is not an insignificant level of might, I must say). No, he's only a bad cat with the adults. Like today, when I finally get Gaz down for what I hoped would be a longer than average nap (average nap this weekend: 15 minutes) and he just can't stop screaming at the bedroom door or the hall door, which is right next to the bedroom door. I spray the alleged pet deterrant on both doors, and he looks at me, screams, and goes right back to screaming at the doors. So I confine him to the back bedroom and what does he do? He uses the playpen for a litter box, and Gaz's toys and a blanket as litter to cover his business. Then no sooner had Mark cleaned up that mess, Gaz had a little explosion in her pants. The poop bucket is full tonight.
So the cat is driving the adults insane. He still gets attention, just like we've been trying to do since Gaz was born. He was just fine for the longest time, but the older she gets, the worse he acts out. I don't know what we're going to do about that. Is there cat prozac?
But enough whining about the cat.
Right now Gaz is wearing some jammies that Grandma Cel brought up last weekend. Just a week ago she was routinely crawling out of the legs because while the top half of her is definitely 18 mo. size, her legs tend to be a bit shorter and her feet are definitely on the stumpy side so far. I'm sure that'll change once she starts walking and her little hams will become perfectly serviceable strolling apendages. But for now, ham feet. Ham feet that don't fill out jammy feet all that well. She's filling out the jammies so well, I can't believe it's only been one week of growing. Right now she's bouncing in her doorway jumper, but we've almost exhausted the fun of that. She's jumping wildly, which is soon to turn to jumpin maniacally, which then becomes jumping and crying hysterically. It's interesting to watch the progression. And she's still got a cat toy in her hand, so if anyone was wondering how long cat toys are fun for, the answer is "at least a month."
So we're okay, but now I definitely have to move her to another entertainment device.
Sorry this is so fractured and random. It's hard to be coherent while keeping an eye on her. More later, perhaps when sleep happens.
As far as Gaz is concerned, he's a wonderful cat. He lets her grab big fistfulls of his face or back or tail or belly, sometimes even an ear, and only complains a little when she pulls with all her baby might (which is not an insignificant level of might, I must say). No, he's only a bad cat with the adults. Like today, when I finally get Gaz down for what I hoped would be a longer than average nap (average nap this weekend: 15 minutes) and he just can't stop screaming at the bedroom door or the hall door, which is right next to the bedroom door. I spray the alleged pet deterrant on both doors, and he looks at me, screams, and goes right back to screaming at the doors. So I confine him to the back bedroom and what does he do? He uses the playpen for a litter box, and Gaz's toys and a blanket as litter to cover his business. Then no sooner had Mark cleaned up that mess, Gaz had a little explosion in her pants. The poop bucket is full tonight.
So the cat is driving the adults insane. He still gets attention, just like we've been trying to do since Gaz was born. He was just fine for the longest time, but the older she gets, the worse he acts out. I don't know what we're going to do about that. Is there cat prozac?
But enough whining about the cat.
Right now Gaz is wearing some jammies that Grandma Cel brought up last weekend. Just a week ago she was routinely crawling out of the legs because while the top half of her is definitely 18 mo. size, her legs tend to be a bit shorter and her feet are definitely on the stumpy side so far. I'm sure that'll change once she starts walking and her little hams will become perfectly serviceable strolling apendages. But for now, ham feet. Ham feet that don't fill out jammy feet all that well. She's filling out the jammies so well, I can't believe it's only been one week of growing. Right now she's bouncing in her doorway jumper, but we've almost exhausted the fun of that. She's jumping wildly, which is soon to turn to jumpin maniacally, which then becomes jumping and crying hysterically. It's interesting to watch the progression. And she's still got a cat toy in her hand, so if anyone was wondering how long cat toys are fun for, the answer is "at least a month."
So we're okay, but now I definitely have to move her to another entertainment device.
Sorry this is so fractured and random. It's hard to be coherent while keeping an eye on her. More later, perhaps when sleep happens.
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