Capital Time at the Capitol

Over Memorial Day, we spent the weekend in the D.C. area to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. Neither DH nor I had been there in years. I had forgotten how much interesting architecture is in the city. 

Seeing D.C. at night adds another dimension to the tourist sites.

We spent one afternoon at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Unbelievable how close the opposing sides were during the heat of the battles.

If you travel to the area, I highly recommend dinner at this restaurant - followed by a walk around the surrounding area. 

The Story of Sweetie

On a Friday afternoon last November, I went to Subway to get lunch to take back to my office. As I was pulling onto the highway, I saw a kitten playing in the middle of the road. Slowing down to wait for it to cross the road, my rearview mirror reflected that a couple of semis were approaching. I honked to hurry the kitten, it started to run, then rolled head over heels. Taking a closer look, I saw that it was stepping on it's front leg, then tumbling. It managed to get off the road and into the grass verge. Pulling over (because I couldn't just leave it and return to my office or I'd be thinking about it the rest of the day), I grabbed a towel from the back seat and, after a brief stalk through the grass, managed to wrap it up and get back into the car with it. We headed to the local vet's office. 

She (as we later learned) was very quiet in my lap (probably in shock), and we got into the vet and had an exam right away. She appeared to be in OK health, except her pupils were very dilated and she had no feeling in her left front paw - it would require amputation. DH was out of town at a conference and I was not about to make a decision on my own as to whether we'd spend that kind of money on a stray. (I was actually hoping that my MIL would adopt her as she had to put down her beloved cat a few weeks earlier.) I inquired whether they could keep her over the weekend and was told no. I couldn't take her home for the weekend unless I knew she wouldn't expose our other cats to anything, such as feline leukemia so the vet tech did the tests, she was negative; but now I had a problem on my hands. A little problem full of personality. 

I left her at the vet's until the end of the day. I finally got in touch with DH, who, after 12 years of marriage, knew better than to tell me "no". I ran home after work, cleared out the bedroom I use as my knitting room, got the cat carrier, and went to bring her back - hoping we'd only have a temporary guest for the weekend. 

Our other 2 cats reacted as expected - not well. They kept hissing at the intruder behind the closed bedroom door. It had been about 10 years since we had to medicate a cat - and it was as unpleasant a chore as I remembered. She was a tolerably good patient. We took her for her surgery the following week - right before Thanksgiving. Our cats were so HAPPY to see the cat carrier leave the house.

 

But then, 2 days later, the carrier came back...and if looks and attitude could kill...

I think cats can curse and swear. Ours looked like they were when they saw that carrier come back into the house. I was just thankful they didn't act out in other ways, such as leaving a physical manifestation of their disgust on our bed or in my shoes.

The kitten handled the surgery and the recovery like it was nothing. The instructions were to keep her from jumping for 2 weeks.

 

Yeah. Right.

 

We kept her from jumping for less than 24 hours - and only for that one day because she was drugged up and lethargic. Putting her in the crate didn't help...she moved the crate by bouncing around in it.

We kept her separated from the other 2 cats until her incision area was fully healed. Then we started feeding them together (her in the crate and the other 2 outside the crate, facing her). We used soft food (the cocaine of kittydom - they'll do anything for soft food); believe it or not, cats can hiss with a mouth full of food. 

It took about 12 weeks before we felt we could safely let them loose together (and we couldn't keep the kitten in the room anymore. She wanted OUT). 

Since then, they've achieved a detente. (Soft food is the answer to all problems.) No blood has been drawn; no injuries inflicted.

Our orange tabby has turned into a grumpy old man with her. This is about as close as he'll let her get although DH swears he saw the orange tabby licking her head. (I think he has more nefarious plans in mind.)

Our female cat has been a nicer to her (which we absolutely did not expect. We thought the male would befriend her first). She'll actually play with her and let the kitten snuggle with her. 

So far, the kitten's killed a number of toilet paper rolls, irreparably bent our kitchen curtain rod by jumping up onto it, jumps up onto the top of our kitchen cabinets (about 10 feet up), shreds any paper left on the floor, plays catch (yes, she brings back the toy, drops it at my feet or in my lap so I'll throw it again), runs faster than our other 2 cats put together, and frustrates the older cats to no end because she wants to play all the time! 

We had a number of ideas for names. Eileen (just think about it for a minute - you'll get it), Peg, Yard (because there's 3 feet in a yard), Cassidy (like Hopalong Cassidy), Tripod...you get the idea. DH picked the name of Sweetie because of her sweet personality. He also claimed that if we gave her a name like that, we could get her adopted more quickly.

Yeah. Right. 

Once you name a kitten Sweetie, she's not going anywhere, even if she does prefer to lie on luggage.  

New Addition

Meet our new addition - as of November, 2013.

Sweet, hyper, sometimes cuddly, and sometimes destructive...still very much a kitten.

Her story to follow.

In Like A Lion

It's that time of year when those of us in the Midwest begin to tire of weather phrases such as "unseasonably cold", "bitter cold", "wind chills to -35", and "record low temperatures". 

Just a reminder of what's ahead - once the ice and snow melts. 

The Ticker Lies

That ticker to the right of this post?

Lies, all lies.

I'd like to reset it...but each time I get online to do that, I'm distracted by some pattern/yarn/tool.

At the rate I'm going, I need a ticker that measures by minutes, not days or months.

GOOOOOALS!

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? How's that working out for you?

I didn't make any this year; instead I decided to follow SavvyMom's example and set some goals. I don't why the difference in terminology makes a difference, but for me it does. 

This year, I've a number of crafting goals for 2014: shop from the stash before buying; keep track of the yards I've knit; update my Ravelry projects page; finish at least one of the  Craftsy classes I've signed up for; complete just one pair(!) of socks; learn to crochet; start knitting Christmas presents; finish a sweater this year; finish WIPS...

Lofty goals, but not impossible.  

We'll see where I am at the end of 2014. 

Not Without A Receipt

Amazing what one can find in thrift stores. 

I'd like to return a portion of mine, please.

Milestones

In January, I reached the one year mark in my new position. It's been quite a year. (This, as my friends will attest to, is quite an understatement.) The area my job covers was reeling after a number of very serious crimes occurred last spring. I'm still dealing with those cases. I have been on the news in the local media markets much too frequently. (If this all seems a bit nebulous, it's meant to be that way in order not to include any terms that could come up in an internet search engine.)

Last fall I had my first jury trial (in my new position, not my first jury trial ever).  After a 10 day trial, justice prevailed, with the jury returning a verdict of guilty on all counts after only deliberating 2 hours and 15 minutes. Sentencing in that case happened at the end of January and the defendant is now within the state's prison system. The more serious cases are slowing coming to a resolution or a trial and (knock on wood) nothing horrifically serious has occurred in the last few months.

I am hoping for 2014 to return to the type of workload enjoyed by my predecessor - busy, but not overwhelming.

Obviously, my hobbies have taken a back seat due mainly to work responsibilities. I'm hoping 2014 will have many less serious events happen in my jurisdiction.

And I hope to get back to being able to craft more and blog more in my spare time.

Thanks for checking back here from time to time.

Thanks for not giving up on me as a blogger.

Acclimation

I stepped outside on Wednesday night and thought, "Hmm, it feels like it's warming up."

Temperature according to the bank sign I passed...

-7


Yeah.