Maudlin Monday

Kitties!

Rupert here, in mourning.

Do you remember me telling you a few weeks back about my second white whisker project?

Well, disaster has struck!

Mommy was giving my Daily Love and Pettings (in the bathroom where they are always administered, like clockwork) when my curly white whisker fell OUT!  Just like that.  Mommy saw it all happen.  She saved the whisker, but what about my dignity?  How will that be repaired?

Woe is me!

I'm lop-sided now.

Back to the whisker drawing board...

Happy Monday!

XX  Rupert  XX

Purrs, Please

Kitties!  

The Baby here.

This morning (7/1) I am going to have surgery to see if the vet can find out what keeps making me so sick.  Antibiotics appear to kick back my not-feeling-so-goodedness for a while, and then I start to have bad days again.  There was an undefined mass on my ultrasound, and the vet thought she might have felt something on my innertubes--so since I'm stronger after the last antibiotic treatment Mommy and the vet decided it was worth the risk of surgery to look and see if whatever is bothering me can't be removed, for good.

Mommy was elebenty kinds of upset and crying when she dropped me off at the vet's office, so I think we both could use some purrs...me for a safe procedure and her for the anxiety.

Thank you all so much, I sincerely hope I'll be back soon.

Love,

XX  The Baby  XX

Truncated Thursday

Kitties!

No photos (or much of anything else) for today's post...yesterday there were contractors in the house doing drywall repair, contractors on the roof installing solar panels, and the dreaded mobile groomer made her annual appearance as well...and now FOUR of us are nood.  We spent the day herded, huddled, and hiding on the Catio...

That is all.

Happy Thursday!

(it can't be any worse than Wednesday--can it?)

XX  The Katnip Lounge  XX

Sleeping Beauty

Friends and Kitties!

Sheebie here, or at least most of me...I may have not quite recovered all of what I "lost" last Wednesday!  Thank you all for the get well wishes, they worked.  Fortunately it was only a 24-hour stomach flu bug, and I managed to sleep, albeit all hot and sweaty, at least twenty of those hours.  And I have begun Sleeping Until a Civilized Hour (eight o'clock) in the mornings--that's right--my new shift has started, and so far so good...

Oh the heck with that, I LOVE IT!

Although, I admit, there is some adjusting to be done, although nothing taxing, more like when to go to the grocery store, and what day to change the sheets.  Scott and I will have to work out new meal arrangements, too, although since I've started making smoothies for lunch it's so much simpler.  And I think that's what this whole shift change is going to mean for me, simplicity.

When I was in college I learned a new meaning for a word I already knew: elegance.  Elegance in the sense that something was stripped down to be understood in the simplest terms; a mathematical proof, or a chemical equation.  Everything perfectly balanced, with nary a number or electron extra.  This is what internally I always strive for, I realized, today when I was pushing hard, walking up a giant hill.  That even though I have stuff (and I like my stuff) on a physical plane I need to be elegant in my mind to stay sane.  To be sparing with my mental energy and allocate it correctly.  It was one of those "aha" moments and I don't know why I've never parsed it like that to myself before.  

This may have some ramifications on blogging.  Already I've started to pare down commenting because it was causing me more stress than joy to check in daily on so many blogs.  It's a painful process, weaning, and if you don't see me "visiting" as much please don't feel slighted--I still love you--and read you, it's just that I gotta keep it simple.  I'm gonna keep on blogging, though.  The Kats and I have too much to say, never fear, and I enjoy the crap out of the creative process.  And of course every comment I see on a post born of nothing but my imagination (and to be fair, maybe the antics of my husband and fur kids) is a little dopamine-reward rush.  I'd be an idiot to want to quit pushing that particular lever, and although I may enjoy alternative mental health, I'm not stupid!  So we'll still be around, one way or another, because at the heart of it, I'm hooked.  Hopelessly addicted, and happy to be so.  It's simple, really.

Thanks for being such wonderful readers.

I hope I don't sound too stuffy or pedantic, but sometimes I need to get it out--elegantly.

The Kats will be back tomorrow...

Happy Sunday!  Love Yourself.

XX  Sheebie  XX

Sheeb-a-laneous

Friends and Kitties!

Sheebaramowitz here.

My Road to Hell good intentions for an illuminating and insightful post went down the tubes when I came home and used my writing time to wash my car, and also because right now I'm in a state of mental flux and change always disrupts my concentration.  Plus, I'm lazy.

So I'm going to use this post to order my thoughts and Make a List*

I'm swapping shifts even earlier than planned; November 15th is the first afternoon of the rest of my (working) life!  Although I'm excited to no longer get up at 5 AM I'm filled with anxiety:  will I get anything "done" in the mornings (I will, it's my most productive time), will I get to yoga class regularly (yes, I signed up), will I get stuck with doing the cat boxes every day (effing better not)...et cetera.  Whoever said change is good forgot the painful inertia factor.  I know intellectually that it'll all work out organically in it's own time, but that doesn't stop my mind from relentlessly trying to shove all the mental pegs in the holes no matter what shape.

I love my new-to-us $300 sofa!  I get the chaise section, Scott and the cats divvy up the rest.  My corner has been christened the Control Pod, from which I do all my techno stuff, read, nap, and control the TV remote.  And that's a lie.  Only sometimes do I control the remote...Scott has this baffling habit of passing through the room and switching the channel/volume to whatever suits him, and then exiting the area. Weird.

Girlie Paragraph Alert!!  I am going to ask my OB/GYN at my yearly exam about starting estrogen replacement therapy.  I'm wondering if fracturing my kneecap has anything to do with bone loss (nb: ask for bone density referral) and I've noticed other changes since having my parts removed, as well.  Recent research has swung back in favor of estrogen (alone, no progesterone) treatment, and I'm only 50.  Anyone out there have an opinion?  Yes, no, patch, pill, cream?  

OK, any men out there, it's safe to begin reading again.

This is my favorite time of year.  The hots are over, and it is simply glorious outside, every day.  We have a pantload of yard work to do--another anxiety on my list--and since the windows are open again I want to paint a couple of rooms, another-self-imposed chore.  Why do I do this?  I should be out riding my bike but I feel guilty about leaving stuff undone...typical for me.  One of these days I'll finally have time to relax.  heh.  In the meantime I have plenty to do...did I say earlier I was lazy?  That's another lie.

It really bothers me that I don't get around to commenting on blogs as much as I used to.  I know, but still.  I wish I had paid attention in (any of the three) typing class(es) I took, I'd be much more efficient.  Of course I have to do much of my typing one-handed, because Rupert chooses to repose on my left arm with his chin resting on my hand every.  single.  night.  Hitting the shift key is nearly impossible.  And, no, I can't move him--that would be mean.  We all know who rules this house...

Whew.  Thanks for helping me sort my head out, you guys are the best!

Happy Sunday!

XX  Sheebie  XX

*How fun, you get to do therapy with me!