9/13/06

this address. And change your bookmarks!

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I had physical therapy yesterday morning for the first time since surgery. The physical therapist asked about my pain – I’m having NO pain in my back at all, yay! – and looked at my back, and told me that my back is looking MUCH better. So much better, in fact, that I’m going again in two weeks, and then another two weeks after that – assuming the pain doesn’t suddenly reappear – I’ll probably be discharged as a PT patient. I’ve gotta say, I’m going to miss the back massages. I might even have to suck it up and start getting regular massages. Or maybe I’ll just talk about it and never do it!
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To my UTTER shock and amazement, the motherfucking floor guy didn’t show up yesterday at all. When Fred called him a little before 9:00, he told Fred to give him “An hour and some change” and he’d have his “demo guy” come out to start the job, then his “floor guy” come out to finish the job. At noon, I had to get up and leave the house, because sitting around waiting for Bungholio to show up would just stress me out. So I went to Target, where I couldn’t find anything I went to look for, OF COURSE, then I went to Shoe Carnival, where I couldn’t find any shoes that I liked at ALL, then I went to Publix, where I bought a chef salad for lunch, and while I was standing in the nut aisle pondering soy nuts (soy is something I need to not eat too much of, since it can mess with my thyroid, but limited amounts are okay, and I was in the mood for something crunchy and salty, but all they had were these HUGE bags of soy nuts, and that wasn’t what I wanted) Fred called me. “Oh, you won’t believe this,” he said. “What?” “I just tried to call him again, and there was no answer. Then like two minutes later the phone rings, and it’s his cell phone. It was his wife, trying to sound like she’d just woken up, and she said that he was out getting medication for her.” “Oooookay…” I said. “She said that her mother died, and he’s been helping her deal with it, so – get this – she hopes I won’t hold it against him if he can’t get the job done today.” “Oh! Her mother died!” I said, too loudly. “Well. Isn’t that CONVENIENT?” Isn’t it strange how when people want to get out of doing something and don’t want you to be pissed off at them, a family member conveniently dies? “I just kept saying ‘When do you think he could call me?'” Fred said. “And she finally said that he might be able to give me a call tonight.” After spending a little more time fuming, Fred went into the bathroom and did what he should have done from the beginning. But I’m going to let him tell that story.
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While I was in Maine, the manager of the cat shelter I volunteer for sent out a couple of emails looking for foster homes for various and sundry kittens. Since I was in Maine and because Fred’s a party pooper, obviously I couldn’t take any of the kittens. I emailed the shelter manager to let her know I was in Maine, but as soon as I got back I’d be ready to take in fosters. When we adopted Sugarbutt and Tom Cullen last year, Fred’s first caveat was that we never foster again, but I talked him down from that and in the end we agreed that we wouldn’t foster again until the boys were “older.” Their first birthday came and went (at the end of June), but I knew that I was going to be leaving for Maine in a few weeks, so I put it off. When I got back from Maine, first we thought I had hepatitis and then I was so worn out I couldn’t think of doing anything, and then there was the gallbladder surgery, and then this past weekend I was looking at some old entries of mine, with pictures of the first batch of foster kittens we had, and I got the yearning. Monday evening I emailed the shelter manager to let her know I was ready to foster if she had any kittens in need of some fostering. She emailed me back and said “Thanks, but all I’ve got is a 3 week-old bottle-fed baby.” My response? “Gimme!” (Actually what I said was “I’ll take him, if you don’t mind worried phone calls for the first few days!” And then I didn’t hear back from her, and I thought, Well, maybe she likes taking care of the kitten herself and I thought about emailing her and saying “Keep me in mind if you get any cats in who need fostering!”, but I decided that perhaps she doesn’t sit in front of her computer all freakin’ day long like I do, and I decided to give her a call at a later point. Then yesterday afternoon I was sitting in front of my computer when the phone rang. It was the shelter manager, and she asked if I was serious about wanting to take the bottle-fed kitten. You bet I was. We haven’t named her yet, but for the time being I’m calling her Maddy (it’s one of the names Fred and I came up with last night, along with Sara Laughs, Sara Tidwell, Misery Chastain, and Mirabelle). She’s about 2 1/2 weeks old, and she’s ADORABLE. Of course, how can a kitten that age NOT be adorable, I ask you? Not only is she bottle-fed, she’s also not at the point yet where she can go to the bathroom on her own – won’t be for a couple of weeks, I think – so I have to wipe her to stimulate things in that area. So far I’ve fed her twice – late last night and again this morning (I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to feed her) and she eats like a champ and pees like a champ, but as of yet, there’s been no poop. I’ll feel better when there’s been a bowel movement; at least I’ll know I’m doing everything right. The other cats are freaked OUT, especially Sugarbutt, who was a bit clingy last night. Mister Boogers likes to think he’s a total tough guy, but when I’m in the cat room feeding the kitten I leave the door open and what does Mister Boogers do? Sits six feet away and growls. Not close enough that the terrifying 10-ounce kitten could actually GET to him or anything, but he feels like he’s defending his territory, I guess, and that’s good enough for him. Okay, enough blather. On to a few pictures! Does the cuteness KILL YOU? Because it oughta. Full belly, empty bladder, happy baby. All of the pictures I’ve uploaded today can be seen here.
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Reader yawny cat pics! (Don’t forget to send yours in if you haven’t already!)
This is Robin’s pretty Mango, who is apparently wearing a Disney Princess hat, which isn’t in the picture. I think we should all buy Disney Princess hats for our cats. I know Mister Boogers would look smashing! This is the beautiful Gracie, who belongs to Dana. Dana’s Karpuz (who looks less like s/he is yawning than complaining about something. Hee!) And Dana’s gorgeous Shadow. I love checking out Dana’s Flickr site, there’s always a cat pic or two to admire.
Thanks for sharing your pics, Dana and Robin!
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Previously 2005: let’s just say I am NOT very fond of Robyn v. 2002 right now. 2004: My mother hung up the phone and said “If she wanted closure so bad, maybe she should have shown up at the nursing home to see her!” 2003: No entry. 2002: I think he has a camera hidden somewhere in the bathroom, and when I’m in the shower, an alarm goes off and tells him to call me immediately. 2001: Time to go cold turkey, Deb… 2000: WHEN WILL THE SUFFERING END???]]>

30 thoughts on “9/13/06”

  2. Oh, so sweet! One of mine was that size when I got him (many, many years ago), although I had to get up in the night with him to feed him, too.
    My current kittens are 12 weeks old, and they seem like Godzilla compared with Maddy.

  7. Thanks for giving everyone the heads-up about the journal – and how in the hell are you going to give that baby up after you have bottle fed her? Yikes! She’s too cute and I’m a sucker. But then again, so are you!

  9. I think you need to keep this one!! That is the cutest cat I have even seen in my life and I dont even like cats! She is beautiful.

  10. The cuteness is too much!! I want to come through the screen and squish her, but that wouldn’t be so good on a cat her size. Heh!
    And I was shocked there for a minute seeing my cat (Mr. Mango) on your page! I’m like what the…? LOL. Brain fart happening!! By the by, his princess hat is in the pic, it’s the pinkish blob over his head. 😀
    Ok, enough of my blabbering.

  14. OMG – the cuteness is overwhelming! Thank the gods it’s you doing the fostering and not me b/c I’m not sure I could ever give up the babies. You are such good peeps!

  15. OMG! The cuteness is overwhelming! She is beyond precious! And I vote to keep Maddy or go with Misery Chastain. Both have a “ring” to them!

  16. That is one gorgeous baby-cat, and tabby cats are my favorite kind! One of my cats had to be hand-fed, and now she is HUGELY fat. I don’t know if she eats so much because of the hand-feeding or not, but other people have said that hand-fed kittens will sometimes turn out to be fat when they mature. Mine is named, “Kitten”…a name that hardly fits her now! 😉
    Good luck with the baby. Looking forward to the cute pix!

  18. Kitten-envy, kitten-love!
    About the pooping: I once bottle-raised a tiny
    kitten, and found that the pooping could be stimulated
    better if you put a bit of baby oil or vegetable oil
    on a very soft cloth and rub its bottom with that in
    gentle circular motions. It’s more difficult to get
    the kitty to poop than to pee, for some reason, but
    the oil really does do the trick.
    Hmm … are you really going to be able to give
    that baby up? So cute — even though I’m mad at
    cats right now, since we came back from a few days
    away last night and found that one of ours had
    chosen to ignore the perfectly good litter box and
    had shown her displeasure by doing her bathroom
    functions (both of them) in the middle of our bed.

  19. Oh, Oh the cuteness is killing me seriously.
    We just ended up with #4 & 5 two weeks ago. I only wanted to get one but didn’t have the heart to leave the other all alone. So I took them both. 😉

  20. I am just sitting here wondering what special reward will be waiting for you two in heaven. You are such good people. That kitten is the luckiest kitten in the world.
    I wish I had a scanner. I have a good photo of Frances Bean yawning. You will just have to imagine it!

  22. Too weird.
    I have those same kitten pictures..lol. I found a 2 week old orphaned kitten in June. A grey tabby who needed to be bottle fed and all the other fun stuff that goes with that. 🙂
    He is now 12 weeks old and firmly implanted in our home and hearts. His name is Gusgus (my daughter named him after the fat little grey mouse in Cinderella). I have honestly never met a calmer, bolder, sweeter-natured cat (which I am sure is because he was hand raised). Now if I could just get him to stop sucking on my earlobes all the time!
    Good luck with Maddy, Robyn.
    Pat

  23. Maddie is so adorable, you have inspired me. I miss the kittens (there are back in Istanbul) and after I have my tonsils taken out and am over that I am going to call the shelter nearest me and see if they have a need for someone to foster. Of course the 5 cats here won’t like it much, but I have an empty bedroom at the moment so I feel I CAN do it.
    Thanks for sharing my cat yawn pics!
    Dana

  24. What a cute baby. I’m not a cat person myself and I feel us dog lovers are being discriminated against! 😉 Can we send some dog yawning pictures in? Just kidding, sort of!
    Speaking of dogs, I’ve been meaning to ask you since you are moving out to the farm, do you guys think you will ever try a dog again? I remember when you guys adopted one, but then it tried to bite Fred or something. Can’t remember exactly. If you do, I would suggest a basset hound. They are the BEST dogs and wouldn’t dream of biting a person. They could even hunt rabbits for you. lol The only draw back to a basset hound is, even after they weigh 60 lbs, they still think they are lap dogs.
    Good luck with the baby kitten, it sure is adorable!

  25. You. Are. Killing. Me.
    GAWD…so friggin’ cute.
    I can’t wait to be able to move so I can get a cat. Check that, two cats and a guinea pig. Yeah.
    Sounds perfect.

  27. Awwww,I got it! It’s like you are the Mia Farrow of the cat world!
    Adopting cats here and there.
    Foster mom extraordinaire!
    Y’all are absolutely fabulous!

  28. OMG! You have already single-handedly been responsible for Fuzz and Fizz (or Furby and Gizmo depending on who you are talking to in the house.. you were right.. I went right to nicknames ;0) now you are bound and determinded to have me out hunting for a baby kitty to bottle feed! Oh the cuddle factor is killing me!!!
    You will never give her up. 🙂

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