My last day of summer :(

Though I thought I was done with the high school web development curriculum, I was not, and I've been working on that and trying to catch up in the garden, before returning to work this coming week.  The course was supposed to be a one-semester course, but it was erroneously published as a year-long course.  By the time we noticed it, students had already planned schedules around the class.  So...I'm adding some material to the end to extend the course.  We'll get to cover some fun topics I didn't think we would have time for (objects and cookies, along with others), and I'm enjoying that. I would liked to have had the time to do something fun though.  I like to name my summers.  Previous summers include "Summer of the broken wrist", "Summer of the heart crap", "Summer of Dej & Laree's drug exploration".  This summer gets to be called "Summer of drudgery".

I had a long, productive cooking day, getting ready for the work week. The first couple of weeks are always so difficult, intense, and hard to get back into the swing of things, that I try to have as much done ahead as I can to take a little stress off.  I still need to make a batch of hummus, but I  have everything done, cleaned up and put away, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to get back in the kitchen.  The hummus may have to wait until Tuesday.  So far I've made:

• Dal
• Roasted Red Pepper Sauce - I've never tried this before. I'm serving with pasta and
• Roasted broccoli (harvested from our garden today), cauliflower, and eggplant (also from our garden)
• Stewed seitan and potatoes in miso gravy served over
• Quinoa
• Peeled and prepped 2 bulbs of garlic (I use a lot of garlic)
• Chocolate "ice cream" (and chopped and froze another big bunch of bananas for the next batch of ice cream)
• A giant fruit salad, because we go through buckets of fresh fruit

It's going to be a really rough week for Froggie, who still can't stand to be separated from me.  I've barely left the house this summer, and suddenly this week, Luce and I will both be gone for long periods of time.  Frog and I are both going to have withdrawal!

Froggie loves the idea of going for walks with us, but struggles, and I have to carry him for at least half the walk.  Pugs have issues with breathing and overheat easily, and he's an old man with much shorter legs than anyone else. He loves to look around and be carried while we walk.  We walk four or five (we watch Sophie--Dej's dog a lot) dogs, and carrying one isn't particularly easy. I gave in and got a doggie backpack carrier for him.  He loved it! He relaxed against me, looked around, and was a very happy boy. His face said, "What took you so long to figure this out."  He gets a ridiculous amount of exercise following me around the house everywhere. I walk fast, so he runs, and I go up and down the steps dozens of times a day. I'm not worried about his exercise level, so the backpack seems to be a good solution for us for now.

I'm not totally certain what my schedule will be yet.  I know my class times, but Luce will be starting at the high school on our campus, and I will have to arrange my schedule around her transportation needs.  We don't yet know her schedule.  The school runs like a college, rather than a high school, so they don't need to be there all day every day.  We won't have her class schedule until next week (I hope!), and then I can set my office hours and set my daily schedule.  I don't like not knowing.  I'm going to try to be home as much as I can for Froggie and may have to get someone to come sit with him on my longer days.

Max and Elvis moved into their third new "nesting box" this morning.  I'm pretty sure they have decided that the eggs will come if they just find the right box.  Poor little guys!

A squirrel, a bat, and a cat

I should not be blogging today, but since I've fallen behind again and didn't get to it yesterday, here we go.  I'm in a heinous mood, sitting right on the fence of explosive rage for many reasons and no reason.  I have days like this, and as much as I wish I could just banish my shit mood, I haven't yet been able to do so.  I think perhaps if I could get an intense workout in, it may help.  Also spending a few hours working hard in the garden helps, but neither of those fit in my schedule until later today.  I may sneak in a workout after lunch to see if that helps, but I'm having some severe pain issues today and haven't yet been able to control it. I don't like blogging in this state of mind, because I tend to be very negative, and nobody enjoys that.  I'm also (perpetually) behind on my prep work and should be doing that, but I'm hoping to blog while my migraine meds kick in, and then maybe I can focus on my prep a little better.

I've had a few animal-rescue encounters in the last week.

Monday night my friend called as she had a baby squirrel on the ground--a victim of the sudden wind storm.  The baby was too young and weak to make it back up to the nest (about 40 feet up in a maple tree), so we took her to Madison. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture--she was so precious, but it was kind of a crazy night.

Last night I got a call to go catch a bat that had gotten stuck in Dej & Russ' basement.  The little bugger wedged himself firmly between the stair runner and the basement wall and floor--right in a corner that was almost impossible to reach.  It took us nearly an hour to get him out. We tried for quite a while to "encourage" him to move out on his own, but it became apparent that he would die there before he would move. Then we moved to the wedging myself under the stairs and trying to pull him out without hurting his tiny little self.  I wracked up my shoulder pretty badly in the process, as there was a large piece of plywood there that I was wedged under that kept jacking into my shoulder bone. The adrenaline kept me going last night, but I'm really paying the price today.  Finally, I was able to grab him and get him out.

We took him outside and let him chill out on a big rock under their lilac tree for a bit, hoping he would perk up and fly off.  We played brown bat recordings on our phones, and he perked up and looked around, calling back.  I felt so bad for the little guy, looking for his family!  He did try to fly a few times but couldn't pull it off, so we knew he needed help. Russ took him to Four Lakes Wildlife Rehab, but they don't do bats there.  They gave him emergency fluids and fed him, as he was quite weak and young. I think he got stuck in the basement without much food, got scared, hid, and became dehydrated and weak. He is going to Ken, the bat rehab guy, today.  I hope he can be released back on their property, so he can reunite with his little family.  I adore bats and fantasized all night about keeping him (not realistic or what's best for him, but fun to think about).

This video clip is so cute.  I very gently touched his back foot, hoping to motivate him to fly.  He did not like it.  That's a lilac leaf (for scale) next to him.

I have a kitty living in my first-floor bathroom for now. This young cat showed up a couple of months ago and has been eating here and hanging around. He's been so timid and skittish that I couldn't get near him.  Every time I saw him here eating, I tried to make "lovey eyes" to start to befriend him, but he was terrified of everything--every noise, movement (outside or inside our house), scrawny, and it wasn't looking promising.  I could see that there was a strange wound/injury on his back left paw, but there was no hope of getting close enough to see it.

Last Wednesday, I was out in the driveway repotting some houseplants, when I heard a cat crying. I looked around, and didn't find anyone, so went back to my task.  It started again, and finally, he crept, slowly and timidly out from our garage and approached me. He slowly started to trust me, and finally crawled in my lap.  Over the next few days, we built a relationship. Every hour or so, I would go out, call "kitty, kitty", and he would instantly meow back and come running.  He quickly started standing in the driveway under my kitchen window and cry for me to come out. I spent several hours a day outside on the deck cuddling with him, as it became apparent that he was terrified of life and only relaxed and ate when I was with him. This is time I didn't really have to spend, but how could I leave the poor miserable little guy alone? Once we had a reliable routine, I was able to schedule a vet appointment for him. He went in Monday morning.

One of the hardest things to deal with, during this period, was that I would snuggle him and go to bed around midnight only to come out early in the morning to find him with new bloody wounds that he didn't have the night before. Despite trying his best to hide in a corner of my garage, he was still getting beat up every night. He's a full-grown cat (about a year old) but only weighs 6.5 pounds.  There are a lot of big cats that roam this neighborhood.

He was in good shape, other than the foot.  The foot was a mess, with a severe infection that had been festering for months.  The blood and pus had formed a huge mass that was firmly lodged between his toes. They got it out and found that the flesh was completely raw and it left a very open wound.  They treated it, gave me some antibiotics and said he needed to be kept inside until the foot healed up.  We've made the bathroom as nice as we can for him, and he seems quite happy here--much happier than he was outside.  Luce and I rotate spending time in there with him, so he's not alone.  He cries when he wants company.  I can at least take my laptop in there and work while I spend time with him, so I'm not falling any further behind.  

He was chipped, so I found out the whole sordid story of his sad little life. He was adopted from the Humane Society by a beast of a woman (also named Amy).  She lived about four blocks from me. She then moved out, leaving him and another cat behind at the rental. The landlord called her and told her she had to come back for the cats. She did, but I'm guessing he escaped in the process, and she made no effort to find him. The other cat was promptly dumped back at the Humane Society.  For the last three months, this young, scared, indoor kitten was left to his own devices, trying to survive.  Thank goodness he found the reliable food, water, and garage accommodations available at our house and finally came to me for help.

He is incredibly sweet, very affectionate, and has impeccable litter box habits. He is a house cat (a lap cat) and does not want to be outside.  I'm working very hard to find him a loving, permanent home. He's much happier here than he was, and this is probably as good as he's had it in his short little life, but I want better for him.

In between the animal stuff, I've been trying to keep up with my prep (four different classes this semester).  The web development class is finally finished and uploaded to the host, so now all I have left is getting ready for my fall classes.

I've hit a plateau with my upper-body lifting, and I'm getting more frustrated by the day. I should have been able to increase my weights by now, but I'm stuck at the same level I've been lifting for months.  It seems to be getting harder, rather than easier.  There's something going on with my shoulder that feels stuck and hurts all the time. I'm stretching religiously, and even gave it a two-week break (from lifting), with no improvement. I don't know at this point if there's something mechanical that's impeding my progress or if perhaps I'm not eating enough to build more muscle.  The plateau, along with the constant pain, and my inability to figure out the problem(s) is making me very crabby .