Conversations you don't want to have

This morning Kent and I were using instant message before we talked. You see, we talk in the morning (my morning/his evening) so I like to make sure he's available and he needs to make sure I got up before he calls. And his IM said he had some exciting news to share. Well now, that sounded interesting!

Turns out Kansas City had a tornado warning (not watch) and so he'd had to wrangle all three kitties into their carries and take them to the basement while the threat passed. Getting cats into carriers is never the most fun but especially when there's just one human, three cats and a pressing need to get them into those carriers sooner rather than later.

So when we talked, they'd been back upstairs for not even an hour. Yikes! As I told Kent, he made a really bad Dorothy and the cats would never be mistaken for Toto.

I'll leave you with an old photo of kitties in kennels. Not much has changed, they still hate being in them.

Gifts from afar!

My dear friend Freshhell made me some amazing things, which I got on Friday. Some were for the kitties, but some were for us.

Here's Wally loving on the new catnip mice (which she made and they are awesome):




And here's how mean I was to Wally by stacking things on him:

That's an octopus on him, an octopus pin cushion!

And as you can clearly see, the pillows are cat-tested and approved:

Isn't that fabric the coolest? She said she got it from a thrift store and that it's from the same era as our house. I'm just so impressed and blown away by her talent.

A quick snooze

Yesterday I did something very atypical for me. I took a short 20 minute nap, but don't worry. I wasn't alone.

Disclaimer: I called Kent in to see the kitties so I wasn't truly asleep here.

A small splurge

I bought this print in Hilo. Look closely and you'll see why I bought it.

Kitties everywhere

Yes, I saw another kitty.

Well actually this one was a kitten. Turns out there’s a small feral colony near the New Jersey program and a female had a litter not all that long ago. One of the kittens got stuck in a storm drain during a heavy rain storm, and one of the employees slithered down and around and got that kitten out. He took her home where his mother nursed her back to health.

The mother is very allergic to cats so can’t keep her, but someone else at the program has a sister who wants another cat. So the kitten was at the program yesterday, zipped into the guy’s jacket with her little head poking out. She’s a solid black cat with amber eyes and didn’t mind people gathering around and petting her behind her ears. I have a soft spot for the black or tuxedo kitties.

No sign of the feral kitties behind the Days Inn here in Bordentown. But it's very cold in NJ, so I'm sure they are all tucked away someplace out of sight and hopefully a little warmer.

Kitties in Seattle

First: the picture is the view from my room. We're here to evaluate potential locations for our client's annual workshop. Last year we held it in San Diego and next year it will be in Seattle. I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt and because they want to impress us, I'm in an executive suite. I'd like my apartment in Boston to have these views.

Now to the blog stuff.

I've always been surprised by how many homeless people stay in Boston year round to beg and panhandle, especially given how nasty the winters can be. So I wasn't surprised that Seattle has as many people begging and panhandling as Boston; this climate has got to be a lot better for anyone who stays outdoors a lot. I was very surprised at how many had dogs with them. You’ll see that a little bit in Boston but in Seattle it almost seemed like having a dog or three was required in order to beg for money.

Generally I don’t give money in that situation. I’d rather donate money or goods to groups that can do a lot more with my money, and help a lot more people. Until yesterday, I’d given money once to a guy who was out of work and desperate. He hit a strong note with me, and I cried a bit after I left him, both for him and for me.

Yesterday as I was heading back to the hotel from a fruitless mission to find a Washington state bear, I saw a guy with what I at first thought were two small dogs. You see where this is going, I’m sure. Yes, they were two kitties and looked to be in good shape with glossy fur and not skeletal at all. I petted one of them (a small gray tiger, not a tawny gray tiger but a white/gray tiger—very striking) and admired the other, out of reach, tuxedo kitty. And yes, I gave him money.

In other news

I just got an email from Kent. He wrote:


Dear Elizabeth,

With this email I resign my position as house husband effective on 9/29/2010

Love,

Kent


Those words mean we are returning to a two-income family and I'm not ashamed to say I teared up reading them.

This picture isn’t actually from today but it’s pretty typical of how the cats react to news that doesn’t net them tuna water or a new toy:

If only they knew, they have a huge change coming up in their kitty lives. The boys have pretty much had a hairless one keeping them company since we got them three years ago. Well that's changing now.