BUSTED

We've been pooh-poohing over Angel because she's sick. Poor Angel! QE and I were doing our own thing in the family room last night when we heard fwump--Angel jumped onto the kitchen counters. SHE IS SO BUSTED!!!! We tell her to get down, and what does she do? She proceeds to walk across the entire island, in front of the cooktop, and jumps down at the other end. Ok, we don't want our kitties on the counters because we still like to entertain and feed our guests, and ensure that the food we serve was prepared in a sanitary environment. Seeing pawprints on our shows-everything granite doesn't quite provide the reassurance to guests, oui? But still, I am proud and relieved that Angel is capable of jumping on counters because it means she's not old yet. She just plays helpless and lets us blame Davis for all the paw prints. Such a smart girl.

Her vet visit yesterday set us back over $200 including her prescription kibble. She was still straining this morning so she's now on prednisone too. Angel's relapse has made me realize that our health really is the most important gift. Without our health, who cares about a trip to Vegas, meeting John Rzeznik, knitting, video games, or anything else? Hopefully our little girl will recover soon. Her health and happiness really is my top priority.

Princess Angel

Our resident cutie is not feeling well. She makes multiple visits to the litterbox in a short period of time. We drove to the vet this morning and she cried the whole time. I was prepared to get pulled over for driving erratically and once the officer heard Angel, s/he would understand and let me go on my way. We arrived early, so Angel and I sat in the car. She stopped crying the moment I opened the top door of the carrier to pet her, perfectly content to be in the carrier.

I admit it, I have separation anxiety. Nobody puts Angel in a cage! As the tech took her carrier, I said bye to my princess and told her I loved her. The tech got confused until I clarified that her name was Angel and not Princess. tee hee I forgot to tell Angel to make pee and the sooner she does the sooner she can come home. Oy. Called the vet's office. Angel's stone is still there and her bladder is empty. Please make some pee, little princess!

At 2:00 this morning, I saw Angel sitting outside our bedroom. I scooped her up and placed her on "her" pillow on our bed. She wanted none of it since my pillow is soooo much nicer apparently. I didn't sleep much after she joined us since I was fighting to keep what little pillow I had. She was so soft and warm though. I would gladly sacrifice sleep to have Angel next to me. I find myself doing everything it takes to keep the princess happy. Maybe my sole purpose IS to keep Angel happy. How could it have taken me this long to figure it out??

It's a GIRL!!!!

Ok, so it's not official, but QE and I have started the adoption process to adopt a little girl, 2 years old. Her humans moved into an apt that doesn't allow animals. Halle (Hay-lee) is currently in foster care. In Massachussetts! She's not the most beautiful or regal looking cat, but I have a soft spot for sob stories. QE is already dreading the integration process because it was quite a bit of work to make Angel and Davis get along. And they still aren't friends. They are housemates and don't go for blood everyday, but we were hoping they would be play buddies.

We hope Halle will help Davis expend all of his excess energy and be the ideal playmate. This would leave Princess Angel to be the diva she is and nap to her heart's content.

It's always nice adopting an animal rather than buying a (usually) purebred. There are so many animals who were mistreated through no fault of their own. The sad stories are enough to make me question humanity. But at the same time, there are rescue workers who try to mend broken bones and broken hearts, so there are people who do care. Giving a rescue animal a second chance at a happy life is the least we can do. If nothing else, it hopefully offsets all the other evils in the world and lifts our spirits knowing we are doing a good thing.

Un-Bearable

My latest project is a bear from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I think the book has a lot of patterns that are much more complicated than necessary. For example, my bear is knit in the round on two circular needles. Why is that necessary when dpns are just fine???? I can see if we were knitting a tube top for an elephant that would require more room on a needle, but a toy bear??? It seems like the pattern designer is trying to impress with a more technical approach when a simple and more common method is fine. Why do knitters feel the need to make everything so much more difficult? The fear of being called simple and their patterns easy? Kris Percival is also guilty of creating patterns that are more complex than necessary. Her baby booties comes to mind.

My bear wasn't knit to the pattern's instructions--knitting with two strands of yarn. I used one strand of 100% alpaca that I bought at last year's Sheep and Wool Festival. I also used smaller needles. As such, my bear is much smaller, and cuter imo. It's the perfect size to be a teddy bear to a doll. :)

Orphaned

This will be the first Christmas that I will not spend time with my parents. It hit me hard when Dad called from the airport and said "see you next year!" I don't see my folks every day, so the holidays are definitely "guaranteed" time that we will see them either on the Eve or day of Christmas/New Years. It was rather amusing that Dad and I speculated on whether my soon-to-be sister in law is knocked up. My brother is nesting and talked about baby logistics and he's not even married yet. At a minimum, he has a full-blown case of baby fever.

So no parents this holiday. Maybe they will call. Yes, I think Dad will call because his only wish is for his family to be together. And my brother has to ruin it by living in Germany for what seems like 10 years. Way to go, bro.

It will definitely be a very quiet holiday this year. Just me and QE with our little furry kids.

Storytelling

I miss my kids. Getting the smackdown at work. Life as usual! :)

QE surprised me with a cute ornament that I liked earlier this week. I thought it was cute since it's our first Christmas in our new house and we see lots of birds year-round. In fact, I saw a bluejay last week! He also surprised me with this Merry Trio that is adorable. Ok, so it's a bit menopausal and homely, but still very cute. Angel digs it and Davis has no idea what to make of the singing and bells.

Ripped

Lots been going on, but not much worth mentioning. Working is consuming my life. I ripped my entire picovoli last night. It was made with ggh super merino in a charcoal gray. Loved it. But the yarn has a different guage than the DB cathay, so I sort of knew it may not work. And sure enough, it didn't. Too small methinks. I had invested at least 20 hours into it, but better now than when I was almost done, right?

Our little buddy has been sleeping with us lately. He just hunkers down for the night and stays put. He's so cute. When he finally leaves the bed, I am there to steal his warm spot. Ahhhh...warm. :)

Join my flock

http://www.homemadesimple.com/en_US/dawnsaveswildlife/joinFlockLanding.do?flockID=35766001418205

I think it's neat how rescuers really use Dawn dish detergent to clean up animals after an oil spill and such.