Two friends have now asked if I have become a crazy cat lady. One added, “You’re much too young for that.” The answer is no, I am not a crazy cat lady, but I reserve the right to become one in my old age should I so desire. But I doubt it. I don’t like furry homes. One cat is easy enough to pick up after, feed, pay attention to, and snuggle. Multiples bring crazy into the mix. Too many variables that way. So no, no crazy cat lady here.
I’m just temporarily feeding two kittens that were raised in my window-well. There were four at one point, but one day they were all gone. Later that morning, I went outside, and there was one of them, meowing pitifully. As soon as she spotted me, she ran at me and started nuzzling me. What could I do but pick her up? Feedings, a bath, and temporary room and board followed. (I’d like to add that I didn’t receive so much as one scratch while bathing her. Amazing.)
Halloween evening just after my roommate April was said goodnight to her beau, she came in and said she thought she had heard some kitten meows from outside. So I went out to the porch to investigate. Barefoot. And it was cold. But then we saw it– a kitten sibling, running in the general direction of the house, meowing up a storm. Not little kitten mews, but long LOUD drawn out meows of alarm. The little guy kept running toward us, but then got spooked, and ran under a parked car.
We used his sister as a lure and I caught him, but it cost me a long kitten slice to the thumb.
So now I have two little orange fluff-balls in my home. They aren’t staying, but I feel compelled to see to it that they have a life better than a stray’s. I’m not sure where their other two siblings are, but at least with these two I can make a difference.
I figure they need all the help they can get. The more tame of the two is so attached to us that she meows when we’re walking around and she’s not in our arms. The other one just meows from time to time as if he’s still confused as to the specifics of his whereabouts. Also, it took him two days not to hiss at us when we bent over to pet him. So, they need a little training and some more people-time before they’d be ready for adoption… They’re quick, so I think they’ll do just fine. They were totally litter trained after one day, so I figure the other stuff will work itself out.
So I’m taking care of a couple of cute if not odd kittens. . . but I’m no cat lady.
Does anyone want a kitten?Dedicate (donate, give all) your life to something larger than yourself and pleasure– to the largest thing you can: to God, to relieving suffering, to contributing to knowledge, to adding to literature, or something else. Happiness lies this way, and it beats pleasure hollow. — Annie Dillard
Amen to that.
She now has a collar, and that’s the name on the tag. It is official.
Also, she got her first round of vaccinations, and she was not herself for a day and a half. Normal Boo: runs around, chases toys and me, bites (mostly me), squawks, and occasionally cuddles with me. Boo on vaccines: stares blankly ahead, meows when picked up, sleeps, and avoids eye contact. I was worried they’d done something permanent to her personality, but she was her normal nibbling self this morning. First she pounced on me with a Halloween mouse in her mouth, and then when I drifted back off to sleep instead of getting up to play, she jumped on me, nuzzled my head, and started kneading my neck and chewed on my hair. Don’t you love those mornings when you don’t even have to set an alarm?
One of her new pastimes is to stalk after the voles in the back yard. When she’d decided that she’s close enough, she launches herself at them. And when she fails, as she inevitably does, she tries her best to reach down as far as she possibly can into their tunnels. It has yet to do anything but entertain any who watch her antics. (Check THIS out if you want to see her in action.)
Cat and her prey (in her kitty dreams).
Please don’t judge me about buying her special Halloween toy mice and an outfit. They were marked down. Plus, I’ve found that when I stir the mice around in cat nip she’s entertained for at least twenty minutes.
*For the record, she isn’t a real vampire cat, and she actually looks like kinda cute when dressed up.
October 16th was my roommate Amy’s last day as a single girl, her last day as our roommate. So of course, we had a girl’s day that lasted half the day. We had to celebrate, and see her off right.
Amy, April, and I went shopping, Amy got her nails done, and we saw her wedding cake in process, and newly finished. There is no superstition about seeing the cake before the wedding day, right?
That evening, all of us roommates, as well as a couple of other friends got together for dinner.
From left to right: Schaara, me, Bre, Rebecca holding Adelaide, Amy, and April.
The food was super tasty, but my favorite part was holding Adelaide. She’s Bre’s little girl, and I pretended I was doing Bre a favor so she could eat, but I just wanted some more Adelaide time. She is just so very sweet and fun.
The end of girl’s night consisted of Amy and I chatting it up and painting our toe nails until far too late at night. And get this–the night before her wedding, Amy gave me a manicure, just because. So sweet.
The next morning, Amy left for the temple grinning. The rest of us drove up a little while later to the Oquirrh Mountain temple.
For those who don’t know, before the actual wedding (in a temple), there are a few words of advice shared by the person who will perform the ceremony. This particular fellow reminded them to do good, to be Christlike, and to keep the Lord between them in order to grow closer as a couple. Well, first he said, “Love one another, respect each other, and sit closer together.” Gavin looked at Amy, shrugged, and tried to scoot even closer to her on the love-seat they were occupying.
And then they were married. It was such a happy experience for everyone. Amy and Gavin had dated for four years. Everyone there was so happy to see them make it official, to take that next step. I looked around after the ceremony, and everyone was either beaming or crying for joy. That day had been a long time coming.
Then there was some photo business to attend to with a bunch of ridiculously happy people.
Mr. And Mrs. Cox
They had a few people with professional cameras clicking away on their digital SLR’s, and then there was me. I got a roll of photos of them on my Holga. That was the first wedding I’ve covered with a plastic camera, so I’m looking forward to the prints.
The afternoon wrapped up with a luncheon in the Velvet Room at Thanksgiving Point. We had a yummy lunch and then we got to pounce on the cake. Mmm hmmm.. Rebecca sure knew what she was doing– it was delicious. And the whole box of cake pieces that came home with us? Gone before the end of two days.
And then there were three… It is sad not having Amy around to gab with, but that sadness is such a tiny little thing next to the overwhelming happiness I feel for her. Change is good.
Also, it helps that she’ll still be living in Lehi and that we’ve already got one girls’ night out set up.
And yea, I dyed my hair.
Washington was lovely, even if it rained for a while each day we were there.
Driving in, Mike and I stopped by Snoqualmie Falls.
Later that night, after an eventful drive that included the car dying in the late hours of the night, a tow, waiting for the repair place to open, sleeping in the auto shop, and a new battery and alternator, we pulled into Olympia, where we would be working and sleeping.
The morning after getting into town, I met up with an old friend, Andy:
He’s an old, old friend. I’ve technically known him since elementary school, but back then he was my sister’s friend. He found my sister and I on Facebook (where else) a little over a year ago and we’ve been pen-pals and phone friends ever since. So, it was neat to see him in real-life again. He was a good tour guide.
We went to Pike Place Market and had amazing clam chowder and grilled salmon sandwiches at the Market Grill. While you sit somewhere along the counter, they grill up your fish to your specifications right in front of you. And man alive is it tasty.
After grabbing a bite to eat, we wandered around and checked out what the market had to offer.I loved all the mish-mash of colors, textures, smells, and sounds. Well, maybe I didn’t love ALL the smells…
But I did love everything about this place. We each grabbed a gigantic cookie to finish off our afternoon snacking. Mine was some kind of almond deliciousness half dipped in chocolate.
We of course, followed that up with another piece of quintessential Seattle:
After some more driving around and site-seeing, it was time for Phở. (Pronounced fuh.) So good and tasty. There is so much that goes into making it, that I was surprised by how inexpensive the meal was. I got a subdued variety of meats and animal pieces, sticking to brisket and flank. Call me boring, but I wasn’t so sure about eating tendon, tripe, or a few other parts that Andy got piled on his. He got me try his though, so now I can say that I’ve tasted cow stomach.
That night there was a bunch of movie business, same went for the next morning, but late morning, Mike and I drove back into Seattle for a bit.
This time we walked a lot more, so I got to see things more close-up.
I took quite a few photos that day, and I juggled four different cameras, so I’m excited to see how each camera captured the city.
While walking around, Mike and I stopped by Piroshky, a Russian bakery. We got three different ones, but after eating one each, we were stuffed. Eating out, lunch was only about $3.50 a person, how cool is that?
Later that night, Andy took me out for sushi. I should have photographed the way our food was plated. It was amazing. We had a few different types of sushi, the first came out on a huge platter shaped like a fish. The second came out on a two foot high wood boat. I was too busy eating to photograph it, which is a shame, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, it was fun. And then Andy ordered dessert– strawberry ice cream. And it came out to our table looking like this:
Mochi Ice Cream
The outside was almost room-temperature chewy sweet mochi, and the center was a more familiar cold strawberry ice cream. You eat it with a little bit of whipped cream. This is the first I’d ever had of this concoction, and I’ve gotta say, its a winner in my book. I loved the mixture of flavors, textures, and temperatures.
And that was pretty much it. We left the next day late in the morning, got stuck in traffic a lot, and made it back to drop me off at my house at 6:30 am. It was a cram-packed whirlwind of a visit that left me wanting more.
Did anyone else pick up on the food theme going on? Just wondering.
I have had a wonderful time in Seattle and Olympia. Washington is amazing! I’m already planning out return visits in my head. . .
More to come.
