What I've been up to...

How have 49 days passed since I posted a "Goings On" post?? Last time I went a month without posting an update, people were calling and emailing to make sure I hadn't died. Now, I guess they just assume I'm 1) Boring 2) Buried in cat litter 3) In the witness protection program and just as I would, people have gone looking for more fertile blogs to enlighten and stimulate them. Just as before, when so long went by without me "journaling" I really have to concentrate on what I have been doing to even remember some of it. AND, these lapses really negate the positive effects that journaling is supposed to do for oneself. No wonder I feel stagnant a lot of the time. 

Since mid-July, four kittens have grown up and journeyed off to their new homes. That is pleasing to me and I am happy that they are happy, too. Toby has settled in to his new home in Iowa, with no spraying behavior there! And Sunny has been spoken for, but as I just changed his and Disco's anxiety medication, I would like to wait a couple of weeks to see if it's helping so he can go off to his new home with a prescription to ease his transition. I am getting frequent updates on them and photos, too...here's a couple of Henry Oliver, Jasper and Clover, and Toby: 

 

I had a mini-vacation thanks to one of the kittens. I flew down to Charleston SC to deliver a kitten to a couple who have one Furrydance cat already and they have become such good friends, I feel so fortunate to have them in my life. The weather gods smiled on us and it wasn't terribly hot or humid and I was grateful for that. We did a carriage tour of Middleton Place, a plantation, which was both interesting and peaceful. Middleton Place The grounds were lovely and I took lots of photos. Here's a couple of my favorites:

 

Just to give you perspective, the mansion you are seeing is just what is remaining of the place--the main house and left flanking wing were destroyed by fire and then an earthquake! Saturday, we did our own little walking tour of Charleston, ending up getting thoroughly soaked by a downpour, but it was warm and we dried off before long (thank goodness for gauze shirts and tencel pants). I did have squishy sandals for a day or so afterwards, though. 

We went by a new rescue & adoption shelter and I was very impressed with the facility and how warm and welcoming it felt. I didn't take any photos there, but here's a link to them PetHelpers.org and here's some of the photos I took around Charlestown (that lovely street with the pastel painted houses is called Rainbow Road and as a side note, the shelter had their cat cages made to look just like them!

  We ate at a wonderful "Low Country" restaurant and I had to have Yellow Grits and Shrimp and it was divine! Kristynn and Tommy told me I had to have Boiled Peanuts, too Goobers and I am not sure what I thought a boiled peanut would taste like...but it was like any other legume that had been boiled--mushy and bland.

  That being said, after the third peanut they sort of grew on me and as we drove along back to the house, all of us were digging into the paper sack on the console of the truck! Tommy goes to The Citadel College and we drove around the campus and managed to be there right as the afternoon parade began, and then the downpour began and I got the funniest video of the cadets marching in the rain, didn't slow them down one step, as they had to end the review and head back inside--heads up, pace even, uniforms soaked!

   

We rented movies, ordered Chinese take out, BBq'd steaks one night (and I found a new favorite liqueur--a Sweet Tea infused Vodka called Firefly, which made a nice Southern version of a Long Island Iced Tea), had a big breakfast one morning of Tommy's great french toast and I got to sleep in and not have the worries of home/work/life in general. I am so glad I got away and got to enjoy the company of friends and see new places, and knowing my cats were in the care of my wonderful catsitter, made getting away possible. I was disappointed that I didn't get to meet a friend of theirs they have been telling me about for months...a laid back, birkie wearin' Doctor who lost his wife to cancer about the time that I lost Mike. We'd corresponded a little and even if we didn't "spark", I was looking forward to seeing if he was as warm and friendly as Kristynn said he was. But after initially saying he'd love to come over for a BBQ, he begged off at the last minute due to... a flea infestation (that's a new one) and then said he was shy around women and could we meet up for coffee (and then never responded to Kristynn's page)...sigh. Must not have had time to read Miss Manners.

Henry Oliver, the kitten my friends were adopting, settled in amazingly fast, even getting used to their dog and sharing the couch with her after only 4 days. I think he will be quite a different personality than their first kitty from me and that will be fun for them--he is clingy and a purrbox, where Teddy is more of a restless teenager. Here's a couple of photos of Henry and Teddy:

 

Work at the Cat Hospital has been frustrating due to ongoing new computer software issues, but we are making headway and in a couple of weeks, three of us are flying to St. Louis for a 3 day training seminar. Hope I come away with lots of shortcuts and new ideas...and can then relay them to those who couldn't attend (that's the hope anyway, that nothing's lost in translation...).

And as this is Labor Day weekend, I also get an extra day off (I'll need it since I've been on the computer most of the day) and am invited to a BBQ out in the country and with the weather being fantastic right now--cooler and almost like fall--I am going to relax, eat and drink (and am taking along my sleeping bag just in case I have to "sleep over", sharing floor space with Silly and Tango in their little abode...