Crap.

From Wickedrad79:



Also? Anyone read the lolcats rss feed? The "please help blind cats" thing is KILLING me. I can't even look at the ad. Makes me want to cry.

an end of sorts

Well, I'm not going to make it to the finish line of the Ravelympics. I've got a ton done, but I have to work Orientation tomorrow--a session for first-years and their parents, so I have to be, you know, awake and well-spoken. I'm happy with how it looks so far and what I've got done.

Ricky likes it, too.



I've got a few more on Flickr following the project, including a few tonight without Ricky (start here).

various and sundry

Feels like I'm due to write something, so here goes...

Piper has an ear infection. Squirting medicine in a cat's ear isn't as fun as you might think it would be. She's almost completely mended, though.

Which leads me to my grandfather, who should be mended, part 1, on Thursday when he has his Whipple Procedure done to correct his chronic pancreatitis. Following, my grandmother will be staying with us for several days while he's in the hospital. Conveniently, the hospital where he's going (and it's a great doc there, btw), is just down the road from a Metra stop, so I can take her to visit him and then hop on the train for a few hours of work. There's no reason to think anything should go wrong with his surgery, as he's got a doc who does these all the time, but if you can spare some good thoughts on Thursday morning, they couldn't hurt. I intend to work on my sweater crochet project while we wait.

And while we're on crocheting, I'll note that I'm going to participate in the Ravelympics, which involves a 17-day challenge project, mine being an afghan of 4' x 4'. I mapped out the design yesterday, which is allowed, though I can't start the crocheting till the opening ceremonies of Beijing. I hope I can do it.

One recent project is almost completely done: our wedding invitations. I just picked them up from the printer here on campus. The invitations, reply cards, and maps have, so far, cost less than $8 80 cents (I can do math, really) apiece, though I haven't yet purchased envelopes. Damn, that price is good, and I'm ecstatic with how the look. I want to walk around campus with them, going up to people and saying, "Look! Don't they look cool! I designed these! And they were printed on campus for super cheap!" I'm like a kid.

Finally, I'll note that I've embarked on a large project I'll be proud to finish very soon: uploading all of my cds to my computer. I'm nearing the end of the alphabet, and I broke 6,000 songs yesterday. Once I get everything on there, I intend to go through the catalog and mark the files I don't want included as fair game for my shuffle. Plus, I can't imagine my iPod, awesome as he is, is going to be able to hold all this stuff. This is a hell of a lot of music, friends, and I think it needs a little prioritizing. After all, I don't need holiday music on there now, so trimming the catalog a bit is worth it, especially if I don't have to listen to "Elf's Lament" until December.

the battle for dominance

Just home from the groceria with picnic supplies, and I'm checking email before I gather up our supplies and head out to meet up with my family. This is the time in the morning when all kitties should be basking in the glow of the sunny hardwood floors.

And not fighting with me.

Several times now, I've had to go retrieve Piper from the kitchen counter. The last time, she got up into the ledge of the picture window above the sink and onto the wooden drawers we have up there, which makes her too high up for me to grab her. I'm not sure what she wants up there, whether it's to be away from the other cats, to enjoy the sun in the big eastern window, or to lick the edge of the milk jug I've rinsed out and set out to dry before depositing it in the recycling.

And like a good kittymommy, I nudged her down to a reasonable grabbing height, picked up her, pilled her, and put her in a living room window. Naturally, she complained in her usual Piper style--annoyed half-grunt/half-meow. She's now laying in the window where I deposited her, watching me type.

I wonder what she's plotting for her revenge.

sick kitty alert!

Essentially, Maddy has a cold. She has a viral infection that is settled in her head and luckily not yet in her lungs. On Friday night, she was snotting all over the house--hard to teach a cat to blow her nose. She was cuddly like a sick little one, and when I woke up Saturday morning to continued congested nose whistles, I opted to skip the clinic to take her in to see the vet, which is always a pleasure as cat people know. As expected, she was running a fever, but because her discharge was clear and her lungs sounded good, we're basically on a wait-it-out treatment plan, complete with decongestant and low grade antibiotic (in case there was any bacteria in there thinking of getting going). Poor thing. Her sneezing record on Saturday morning was 21 times in a row. Her brain must have hurt. Since Saturday, she's continued to wipe her nose on me, to cuddle as much as possible, and to burrow as deeply into the bed as possible. I'm convinced that Saturday night's extreme burrowing that had her even under Anne's t-shirt was about a heat-seeking fever. Our best joy of the weekend has been trying to pill the damn cat. It's a two-mom job. Anne wraps her up in a purple blanket until she's a Maddy-Burrito, and I plot my move, as the first time I get her mouth open is the only hope for dropping both pills down her throat. My finger has been royally chomped on, so much so that it looked a little swollen yesterday. Honestly, I'll miss her kittycuddles when she feels better.

our cats are awesome

This comes courtesy of my lovely girlfriend:

Last night I was leaning against the counter, waiting for the chicken to cook, and watching the cats. Piper was sleeping soundly on the rug in front of the wall of bookcases, Maddy was rolling around the kitchen floor, and Ricky was in the window near the bookcases.

Soon Ricky got bored and decided to explore the top of the book cases. I had a couple of light-up buttons we got at a Chicago Sky game a few weeks ago up there, and when he came up to them, he stopped and sat down.

Looked at the buttons.
Looked at Piper, sleeping below him.
Looked at the buttons.
Looked at Piper sleeping.

He picked up one of the buttons in his mouth, walked a few steps over so he was directly over Piper, leaned down to aim, and dropped it square on her head. Piper FREAKED out, looking everywhere but up for whoever dared to disturb her sleep. She settled on hissing at Maddy, who was 15 feet away.

*thunk* Ricky dropped the other button on her head, watched her freak out again, then jumped down lightly beside her (sending her running to hide under an end table by the couch), and began bathing himself, his work done.

I love our cats.

at home with my feline friends

Who needs cable when I have these guys?!

Piper doesn't get along with either of the cats all that well. She especially despises Ricky. When he tries to mess with her, she's usually the one running, though he's good about not pushing her too far. Today, she won the desk chair.