Two

We are making progress, though I have reached my capacity for living in a chaotic mess. We've finished the biggest room-L's bedroom. We have two coats of polyurethane left to do on the cat room, and four coats left on the upstairs hall way.

M ended up joining in to help, and with my dad's help Friday and M's, it's gone fairly quickly and painlessly, though I was planning to be done by now.

Her room turned out great, and she can't wait to get moved back in. It's so shiny and slippery and fun! Right now all of the cat room furniture is stuffed in her room until we finish the cat room. Oh, we also still have to put the quarter round back up in her room. I will be painting that tomorrow morning, in hopes that we can get it back on tomorrow night.

Our baby robins continue to grow bigger very quickly. This time I got two little beaks peeking up. Both parents were yelling at me from the locust tree as I was taking these pics.

A plan for Ivan

I spend a lot of time thinking about Ivan and his issues. He’s been on Prozac for about a month with no significant change. He’s not growling quite as much (I think), but still seems very depressed and unhappy. He absolutely HATES taking pills and now avoids me, in case I have a pill, which makes him even more miserable, because sadly, I am the light of his life.

While I was watching Cat from Hell this weekend, I had an epiphany about Ivan. As Jackson was describing the cat’s behavior, he was discussing how much time the cat spent in low, tiny hiding places, which is pathological for a cat. They should be big, in big, high places. It struck me that as Ivan has gotten worse through the years, he has also become very small (emotionally) and seeks out increasingly low, tiny hiding places.

Despite the noise he makes and the posturing he does with humans, he’s not mean or aggressive. He’s a terrified tiny little guy. He’s always been fearful, and it has gotten worse. He absolutely dreads any confrontation with any other cats or non-family humans. He spends most of his time in avoidance mode, but when he can’t avoid, he tries to bluff.

The outdoor cat enclosure has helped with a lot of the cat issues and has made many of the cats infinitely happier. Ivan has not and will not go out there. He has always been terrified of everything outside. When he was a tiny kitten, he would go out with me (safely in a harness), but at around four months old, I noticed that he was afraid of everything—every noise, every shadow—and was increasingly miserable. He has no curiosity about the outdoors and would probably freeze and have heart failure if he had to go out at this point. I would love to see him spend time out in the enclosure, but that’s just not realistic for him.

We have the cat trees and climbers and really can’t fit any more in the house. Those are heavily used by the other cats, so Ivan avoids them. Vertical space and height are SO important to cats, and he needs some vertical space that he can call his own. I found a wonderful solution. I will be ordering and installing wall shelves/climbers on various walls of the house. They won’t take up any of the floor space that is at a premium, and with enough vertical climbers and perching places, Ivan will be able to find one that he can stake out for himself. I feel very encouraged by this hope. The pieces are very nice, though a bit expensive, so I will have to just get a few at a time as finances allow.

I also need to make a priority of playing with him one on one. He loves to play with the various toys that require a human (da bird, etc.), but so do all of the other cats. As soon as I start a play session with one, several others show up and join in. He stops playing the minute another cat enters the room, so he doesn’t get much fun time at all. I’m scheduling a little time every day (or as often as possible) to get him in a room alone, close the door, and let him play with no other cats in site. That will help his state of mind and confidence quite a bit.

One of my favorite things about Ivan is that whenever he is lying within reach of me, he reaches out to hold my hand. He loves to put his front paw pads on my skin. He stretches his little claws out and grasps me. Sometimes his long, sharp claws get stuck in my skin, but that's a price I'm willing to pay for holding hands with my little guy. If he can't reach me, he will grab and hold a piece of blanket or available fabric in his little front paw, making sure that his skin is in contact with the soft material. I know this sounds as if I'm anthropomorphizing him, but I'm not--I don't do that. What I love about animals is their non-human-ness, so I'm more inclined to downplay their similarities to humans than create them.

I am determined to help him become a happy, well-adjusted cat. I think I’ve read every book that remotely addresses issues like this, so I’m glad to have found Jackson Galaxy’s show as another good resource. I don’t know how long it’s been on, but I’ve only watched two or three episodes so far. One of the items on my to-do list is to track down and watch any episodes which I haven’t seen. {** just checked on the show and see that it only started this month, so I think I've seen them all} I actually only became aware of the show because it was on The Soup, which we (M & I) enjoy watching on Friday nights. (We don’t watch most of the shows that appear on The Soup but greatly enjoy watching Joel mock them.)

I noticed when looking at some of the pics of Ivan that I could see the reflection of me taking the picture in his eye. It reminded me that when Dej was little, I would have her look closely in my eyes and see the reflection of herself. I told her it was because I loved her so much, and she was always in my heart, and that's why she was always in my eyes. She believed that for quite a long time. It was so cute.

Tomorrow night I will be starting the epic and extremely frightening task of sanding and refinishing the hardwood floors in L's bedroom and the cat room. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm giving it a shot. My dad has volunteered to help, and he has done it before, so that's reassuring. My husband has not volunteered. I think it's going to be very unpleasant but will be awesome when it's done! If it goes well, I'll be doing our bedroom next.

Hell on wheels

I have finished grading finals! That is not a fun task. I also got my semester grades done and entered into the system, so I'm officially done with my semester now. That's such a good feeling.

I took a break from grading Thursday night to take L roller skating with my friend O and her children. It was a bit of a treck, as the roller rink is in Watertown. I don't think there are any rinks closer to us (at least not with a nice wood floor).

Their rental skates were deplorable! It also completely bothered me and grossed me out to think about the other feet and possible nastiness that had been in those skates before me. That never bothered me before. I don't remember even thinking about it, but now...kind of disturbing.

The last time I went skating was here in town, before the roller rink closed. It was probably ten years ago or so, and we took Dej. I was a bit nervous about remembering how to skate after only going once in the last 25 years. I used to be quite the little roller rink rat--going every single weekend for a few years in my teens. I was quite good at skating back then. I was hoping I would feel right at home and it would all come rushing back to me once I got the skates on, but it wasn't quite that simple.

As I was trying to get back into it and get comfortable, I noticed that the wheels were really chewed up (which does not help!). Also, L was afraid and very timid on the skates, which surprised me a bit. She was clutching on to me for dear life and did so for most of the night. As we got further into the night and I was getting more comfortable and secure, I was able to catch her and keep her from falling most of the time. The first part of the night, though, she took a fairly bad fall right onto her tailbone. It looked horribly painful, and she cried, and I felt sick. She went back out, though, and I was proud of her for being so brave.

I didn't think until later in the evening that I should have taught her how to fall safely right at the beginning. I was so busy trying to teach her to skate and keep her balance, I didn't think about the falling thing. I know when I learned how to downhill ski, the first thing the instructor taught us was how to fall, because falling is a guarantee. I feel pretty bad that I didn't and could have prevented a couple of bad falls if I had. Now she knows, though, so next time should be better.

She took me out on one of her really bad falls, and my whole (considerable) weight came down on my left knee. It's quite bruised, puffy, and sore as hell. I've been doing a lot of ice and Aleve since then. It should start to improve soon, as I'm being pretty careful with it. I need it to improve soon. I am losing ground in my workouts and strength levels that I've built up with my regular exercise, and I'm getting very frustrated. Plus I am starting on the sanding/refinishing the hardwood floors this week on Weds., and I need to be fully mobile.

I was pretty pleased that L said she wants to go skating again, probably every other week during the summer. It was fun, and I realized that I really miss skating. I used to love it, and I still do. I want to get back to my previous skill level with it. It's also good exercise, and that's become very important to me over the past few months. I may get some knee pads before we go again. I can't afford to be slowed down by knee problems! I also may have to load my Android up with some good music, because the music they played SUCKED! I was forced to listen to a whole Miley Cyrus song, and that's grounds for gouging out my own eardrums. That simply cannot happen again!

My friend's boys, Logan and Colton, had a completely different approach to skating than L did. There was no gripping mommy and taking things as slowly as possible. No--they were all about running as fast as they can on the skates. They skated like little hockey players. Go as fast as you can, balls to the wall, fall, get back up, go as fast as possible... It was funny to watch the very different approaches. They were very cute on their skates. Because they are boys of a certain age, I have to restrain my impulses to grab them and squeeze them and tell them how cute they are. They were so cute skating, that I almost blew it and mauled them, but envisioning their horrified little faces kept my behavior in check.

I had to save the most exciting news for last: We have a nest full of baby robins on our front light again. I try not to terrorize them by looking too often or taking pics. I only have one good one right now, but I will try again later today or tomorrow for more. Mommy is never far from them. While I was snapping the photo of the babies (only one is showing here though), mommy was ferociously yelling at me from our 'Twisty Baby' locust.

Cats, cats, cats

Carrie has a new hobby, which borders on an obsession. She LOVES to play with water in the kitchen sink. If I run water for any length of time, she appears instantly. Half the time we enter the kitchen, we find her already sitting in the sink, staring intently at the faucet. Our faucet does not leak at all, yet somehow she apparently believes that if she stares hard enough, long enough, the water will appear.

I am very stingy with water and hate to waste it (I even save and reuse "gray" water), but I find myself giving in and turning on a light drip for her. She's so cute and determined! Once she sees that the water is coming out, she plays with it for a minute or two, and then gets serious. She turns her back on the water and sits for a minute--sometimes several minutes. She doesn't like the water to know she cares. Then after she's pretty sure the water isn't expecting anything, she whirls around for the surprise attack

I try to be kind of slick about turning it on, because I don't really want her to figure out that she could turn in on herself.

Yesterday I put together a new cat climber. I've been looking for something narrow to fit in that spot that would allow easier access to the outdoor cat enclosure without blocking the doorway. My friend Julie had just put hers together when we were there last week, and it looked like the perfect solution. I will be getting another one to go inside the outdoor cat enclosure (but will have to wait for a couple of weeks, when I will have the money). It will be perfect out there, though we will have to screw it to the wood, as I don't want it on the door

Tica discovered it right away and loves to hang out on the top shelf. I wanted to test it's load-bearing capacity, so tonight I threw a catnip party. The chubby twins (they are huge, and I would guess they are 18-20 pounds, though I haven't weighed them) were both on it at one time, rolling around, while Tica was on the top rolling around. It held up with no problems whatsoever.

This kitten needs a home!

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity and very little sleep. Thursday night brought a kitten rescue, and she is temporarily staying with us. She will be getting spayed on Tuesday morning. She went to the vet on Friday, and is healthy--no FIV or Fel leuk (whew!).

Friday my in-laws came at lunchtime to RBG for the plant sale. They took L out for lunch, while I went to my normal Friday lunch. I got a call there from Allegrea that I was needed for an urgent squirrel rescue. I drove as fast as possible, stopped home to get a ladder and a blanket, and went to the pine tree of death, which had sapped the poor baby squirrels. There were five babies (initially six, but one was able to get free when we grabbed the others) stuck to the side of a pine tree, about 20 feet up, and to each other.

We found when we got them away from the tree that they were horribly stuck together at the tail. Yvonne from Fellow Mortals picked them up, and took them back to the hospital. She anesthetized them, separated and cleaned them up. They are doing very well. The suffered some nerve and tissue damage but will be fine and released once they are back to 100%.

Mommy squirrel was quite unhappy with us, but she stayed with her two other babies.

The five little rescues were adorable but wouldn't let me get a photo of their faces. They kept burying them in the blanket (poor frightened things), and I didn't want to terrorize them with the camera. I got a couple of pictures but not a good one, unfortunately--part of a face in one, and the sticky tail until in the other.

After M returned from the plant sale Friday night, he grilled out, despite the unpleansant rainy weather. We had a nice dinner.

Saturday night was AFA's annual spring Fiesta. The whole family was going to go, but Dej and Russ didn't make it, as they had colds and were feeling poorly. My parents and my friend Julie joined us. The burritos were excellent, and the Corona made them better.

The silent auction went very well, and L scored some carved marble figurines--a cat and a panda. She bids on and tries to get the animal figures whenever they are at the silent auctions. She has quite a little collections of figures.

Earlier in the week, L made this beautiful canvas drawing of a cat, using pastels. It's hanging on the wall in our family room, and M and I find ourselves staring at it frequently. We LOVE it. It has such depth and really draws you in to the picture. The flash really fades it, and this photo does NOT do it justice!

I fell in love with a Theron Ris painting at the silent auction and wanted it in the worst way. It was two wolves and was entitled "Til Death Us Do Part." Money is a little tight (again) due to the unforeseen kitten expenditures (again), but I was seriously wanting it. I finally talked myself out of bidding by reminding myself that I will have plenty of beautiful canvases made by my own little artist.

I bought this piece by Theron 20 years ago at an animal rights conference. I fell in love with it, but I was a poor college student (and single mom) and didn't have much money. I bid on it and won and was just giddy. My puffin painting has been hanging on my (various) walls since then, and I still LOVE it. It hangs in a prominent spot in my kitchen right now, and it makes me happy to look at it.

In the garden...

I haven’t done any weeding yet this year, so as usual, I’m starting out the gardening season already behind. M has done the majority of the spring clean up, including removing one of four of the yew trees that line the front of our house. The one closest to the door has been dying for years, but I wasn’t quite ready to give up on it. He’s been ready to rip it out since the browning/dying process started. Now that it’s gone, we have a very strange looking bare spot in front of the house, and then the three remaining yews (and one of those isn’t looking too good). We’re trying to come up with something for that spot that we both like, but haven’t yet selected anything.

L has promised that THIS year will be the year that she REALLY sticks with weeding. She is hoping to earn enough for a laptop. I, too, am hoping she sticks with it this year, because it’s clear that I don’t have the time to keep it up properly and really need the help.

There are still lots of daffodils hanging on, tons of grape hyacinths, and a lot of tulips. Some of the tulips and daffodils are already done at this point. The magnolia tree is still looking fantastic, and the peonies (all except one) have buds. Most of the alliums are up with buds, and there are a couple that have opened already.

The catnip is vigorously growing, and we’ve already taken fresh cuttings in for the cats to party with three times this year. The poppies have germinated and we have thousands of them right now that are about 1-2”. In a few short weeks, we should have quite a poppy display.

We haven’t yet planted our containers or even picked up plants for them, but M & L started three containers of greens from seed. They’re looking good right now, and I’m hoping to get at least one meal for the rabbits & guinea pigs before it gets too hot for greens. It’s very hard to keep up with the produce needs of the buns & pigs, and since they can only eat organic produce, it can be tough to find and very expensive. We can’t start seeds in the house anymore (so our growing table and lights just sit there tragically unused), but I would like to experiment with different ways to grow greens outside for as much of the year as possible. They are very cheap to grow and very expensive to purchase, so I’d like to reduce the amount we have to buy.

Happy Mother's Day!

We finally had some reasonably nice weather today, though I didn't get much time outside to enjoy it. My family was overly generous with gifts again! I truly wish we could get away from the whole gift thing, but old cultural habits can be nearly impossible to break!

M brought me breakfast in bed, and L brought a beautiful boquet of hydrangeas--nikko blue, which I love but cannot grow in our soil. I took some pics of the flowers right away, knowing it's likely that the cats won't allow me to have them very long. I had a hard time getting a shot without a cat in it, because they were obsessed with the flowers, as always. I tucked the vase behind thing on my dresser and built a barricade of objects in front, so the cats couldn't get at them to knock them down (again; they had already knocked them over and spilled water everywhere while I was trying to photograph them). It didn't work, because by the time we had returned from lunch, they had been tipped over--water and flowers all over the dresser and floor. They are in a new hiding place in the bathroom, though I think Carrie has noticed them, so they'll need to be moved again.

Before we left for lunch with my parents, Dej & Russ, L was anxious to give me the gifts she picked out. She had a very pretty little bag on the kitchen table for me, which I loved and thanked her for, but she told me to look inside, where I found a note telling me to look outside on the patio.

I went out to find a beautiful garden peacock that I had lusted after in Target recently. Taped to the peacock's tail were cards--one from L and one from M--that they had made. I will find a special spot in the garden for my pretty peacock, who I have dubbed, Krishna.

After lunch we all gathered at my parents for razzleberry pie with vegan ice cream (YUM!!). My mom surprised me with a pretty green hoody. She had one on which I admired a couple of weeks ago, and now I have one of my own. :)

Dej brought my mom and I a set of Rubbermaid containers. We often send food over to her and our containers rarely return home. She also got me a beautiful bird (peacock?) jewelry box.

While I love and appreciate the very generous gifts from my family, I most appreciated that we were all able to be together and enjoy each others' company.

We will get to see Grandam Carolyn on Friday, but L called her and chatted with her for quite a long time this evening. She was outside on her swing for most of the conversation.

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Yesterday I was home in bed with a raging migraine--one of the really nasty ones complete with nausea and vomitting. Our blinds were closed, except one that I always leave up about 3", so the cats can look out over the back yard. I noticed from my bed, that I could see the new birdhouse M put up this weekend. He didn't consult me on the location, and I was a bit puzzled by the somewhat odd spot he chose. In the photo it looks like it is near our back fence, but it's not. It's about 20' away, in the yard.

I watched a sparrow fly back and forth, building a little nest in the house. He then perched on top and sang his little heart out. I hope he attracted a little sparrow hottie and they have some babies! I will be watching daily for developments. I am now very happy with the random spot M chose, as I can lie in bed in the mornings, and watch the activity in the bird house as I try to convince myself that I can indeed haul my fatass out of bed and make it through another day.

There is a lot of activity in the garden--it's a very exciting place this time of year. We haven't yet found any bunny nests, but we are watching. We have to make sure we find the nest before the dogs do!

I took a couple of shots tonight before class. The magnolia is full of buds just starting to open. The peonies are growing very fast and will soon be in bloom. The lilac trees in the back haven't bloomed yet, but I'm anxiously awaiting that heavenly smell.