I forgot about this until after I published the last post, but this bears repeating, in my opinion. If you’re not a cat or any animal person, for that matter, this post will be of no interest.

Zola and Alex have had a… strained feline relationship, to say the least. She gets downright bitchy about her food and for the longest time would charge at Alex as they were waiting for breakfast to be dished out. Now, I just make sure she has her food before Alex comes into the room and mornings are much more peaceful. But she’ll also charge at him if she thinks I’m ignoring her. Needless to say, on the rare occasions when her advances are more playful (she cannot resist pawing at Alex’s tail), they are not accepted well. At all.

But Zola has met up outside with the cat we call Baby Daddy, since they used to run together and I’m certain he was the father of her kittens. They’re both fixed now and since they are friends, I usually give him treats whenever I see him. He’s very friendly and sweet to humans.

Last night, I went out on the front porch to bring Zola in because The Boyfriend and I were getting ready to leave. I saw her rabies tag glowing underneath the next door neighbor’s hedges and I called to her. At the same time, Alex followed me out and went into the front yard. Baby Daddy was hanging under the hedges with Zola, and he spotted Alex. He immediately began to run toward him and Alex went into his defensive pose. I was afraid I was going to have a brawl right then and there.

What happened next is something I have never seen before and honestly, I don’t know that I would have believed it, had I not seen it myself.

Zola ran out of the hedges, passing Baby Daddy. But as she did, she looked at him and gave him a quick meow over her shoulder. Then she went right up to Alex and touched his nose with hers. She never made an aggressive move. And neither did Alex. He was still in defensive mode, but after a few seconds he broke contact and calmly walked around the corner of the house.

And that was it. It was as though Zola told Baby Daddy, “It’s ok, he’s cool.”

Don’t ever try to tell me that cats don’t have personalities. There’s clearly more communication going on between them than most of us humans realize.

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Zola has been exhibiting some interesting characteristics lately, interesting in the sense that she’s acting very much like Mickey in some ways. We’ve been letting her out lately, first for small amounts of time supervised and now for longer periods unsupervised. I didn’t really want to go that route, but given that she spent the first eight months of her life outside, it was clear that she wasn’t going to be happy strictly being an indoor cat.

What’s funny is that frequently, she’ll go to the door to be let out, and then stand on the outside patiently waiting for me to join her. So, I do, and then we head out to the backyard, where she proceeds to hop up on the bench next to me - just like Mickey used to.

The Boyfriend said that energy can’t be destroyed and that Mickey had a good life and maybe her energy is now part of Zola. It’s an interesting thought, and rather comforting.

Still, Zola has a personality of her own and she’s still very much a kitten at heart. Today, on one of our excursions outside, she immediately spotted something in the flower beds and stalked her way into them. Moments later, she came back over to the bench, carrying something in her mouth. I was relieved to see that it was a dead leaf. I wasn’t quite as thrilled to realize that the leaf had been covering up some kind of insect (I suspect it was a cicada or katydid).

She tormented her prize for a while and at one point, chased it a little too close to me for comfort. I got up and moved closer to the house and talked to my mom who was still inside. A minute or so later, I noticed that Zola had her nose to the ground, looking for the bug. I hadn’t noticed anything getting away, but she had clearly lost it. I walked a little closer to her and asked her where it went. Obviously, she didn’t answer. But she did turn away from me just enough for me to notice her “victim” had managed to attach itself to her collar.

She had no clue.

I had my cell phone with me, so I quick snapped a picture. Between her moving around and my trying to avoid the bug, it’s a bit blurry.

She never did figure out where it was. A few minutes later, she must have thought it was back in the brush, so ran back in. When she came back, she was bug free.

Mickey would have had it. But Zola has plenty of time to fine tune her hunting and gathering skills.

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First, there was Friday and heading out to El Camino Real with My Dear Friend Wendy. A girl’s night out that ended in The Boyfriend needing to come pick us up. But not before we made a new friend named Jeni who was there meeting a semi-blind (talked to him on the Internet but never in person) date. He turned out to be quite the jerk, so Wendy and I set about finding her a nice guy. She and Brian seemed to hit it off pretty well and text messages since then have reiterated that he is AWESOME!

Here are the teeny tiny cell phone shots:

Mmmm… strawberry margaritas

Wendy seems concerned that the pitcher is almost empty. (Let’s not talk about how many times it was refilled, ok?)

Who knew that Christmas in July meant beads?

And then there was Saturday, which started off a little rough (gee, I wonder why), but resulted in a trip to the Farmer’s Market downtown:

(I actually took that photo two weeks ago, but strangely enough, it looked EXACTLY THE SAME when we were there on Saturday.)

After the market, we went to The Blarney, an Irish pub downtown that we had been meaning to visit for a while. While I don’t have a photo, I can tell you that the service was superb, the Bloody Mary I had definitely kicked the remainder of my hangover out the door, and they have the most amazing Loaded Baked Potato soup. If you are ever in Toledo, I highly recommend you pay this place a visit. And call me first, so I can go with you.

After a relaxing afternoon, The Boyfriend and I headed back downtown for my first ever Mud Hens game at Fifth Third Field. A friend of JM’s couldn’t use his tickets behind home plate, so we were the fortunate recipients:

The Mud Hens beat the Pawtucket Red Sox, 1 to nothing. I was a tad disappointed that their scoreboard didn’t have a big “MUD HENS WIN!” plastered all over it, like their Major League counterparts up north. But here’s a picture of the scoreboard, anyway:

See? Here we are!

It was a gorgeous night for baseball. We had a lot of fun. And capping it off? Fireworks!

Sunday night kicked off OLSSI 2008, which was also a lot of fun, but that’s another post completely!

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I would just like to wish Kat the happiest of birthdays - and not only because I take great joy in knowing that she turns 42 a full month and 11 days before I do.

But also because she is the bestest ex-stepsister I could ever have. And she knows that the “ex” and the “step” part mean absolutely nothing. She is my sister and she is my longest long-term friend, for the last 33 years.

Holy hell are we old….

Love ya, Kat! (And Laurel too!)

P.S.  -  Remember, Kat, that my dad reads this too. So as old as we feel, he’s feeling even older. Hehe… (Love ya too, Dad!)

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So, our little diva escaped the other day. The Boyfriend was getting ready to leave for work and when he opened up the front door, she was out like a shot. He immediately went into panic mode and started to chase her. BAD IDEA.

It was a nice day and because of that, Princess, TOTO and I had decided to walk somewhere off campus for lunch. We were having a great time, right up until the moment where I returned to my office to find two frantic messages from The Boyfriend. I started to FREAK OUT because all I could think about was that I just spent $165 on tests and vaccinations and now she’d escaped. According to The Boyfriend, she’d headed straight for her old house. I had visions of the asshats coming back to suddenly reclaim their abandoned cats and me needing to fight them for custody of Zola.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. I got home, grabbed the bag of kitty treats and started calling for her. And then I waited. She finally showed up next to the asshats’ house, right by their next door neighbor’s car. I calmly approached her and asked her if she wanted treats. She sauntered in my direction, but just before I could snatch her up, a UPS truck rolled by and scared her off again. But the treats brought her back and before she even knew what was happening, she was back in the living room of her NEW house, munching happily away.

When JM got home from work a short time later, we ran up to Pet Supplies Plus and bought, among other things, a hot pink collar with a bell on it. She looks so adorable with it on! Not only that, it gives us an idea where she’s at if we can’t see her and we’re headed toward a door. But she hasn’t even tried to get out since The Great Escape. Perhaps she realized once and for all that being here is living the good life?

Today, Alex and Zola touched noses for the first time since they’ve met. The protesting still takes place, but it has lessened considerably. I think they’re doing really well considering it hasn’t even been a week since they were introduced. The Boyfriend thinks that Alex will end up adoring her. He might be right. She’s kinda hard not to love.

Especially when she does things like earlier this evening: JM had taken her collar off to put on a tag that we registered. When he had it attached, he held up the collar to see how it looked and she ran over to him, as if to say, “Hey! That’s MINE!” And then she offered no resistance at all when we put it back on her. I think she knows how good a look it is for her.

Diva might not be far from the truth with this one…

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Zola went to the vet for the very first time today. It was with great trepidation that I awaited the results of her feline leukemia test. After just a few days with this sweet girl, I have become attached to her. It also didn’t help that we were in the same exam room where I said goodbye to my beautiful Mickey. I only almost cried once, though.

Feline leukemia was negative, though she did test positive for a tapeworm parasite. She was treated for that in the office and will have a follow up in a few weeks. While we were there, they clipped her nails and she received her first vaccination for distemper.

The car ride there wasn’t horrible, because she was in the carrier. But she definitely did NOT care for the carrier at all. She scratched and clawed and dug the at the floor and the sides - to no avail of course. But at the vet’s office itself, she was a total trooper. Not one complaint except for a sore claw spot that they figure she got caught on something. She didn’t flinch at the shot and while she didn’t really enjoy the de-worming pill, she took it like an old pro. Not bad for a cat who had never seen a vet before.

He estimates that she is about seven or eight months old, which would put her at about twice the age Mickey was when we got her. But Zola is about the same size as Mickey was. I expect she’ll be rather petite.

So, today was a good day for her. She’s adapting to her new home quite well. Just now, a guy strolled down the street with two dogs that were barking loudly and constantly. And Miss Zola, crashed out on the floor next to my chair, never even moved. She knows she’s safe at home.

Mickey would be pleased.

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This is Zola.

Pending the outcome of her visit to the vet (hopefully early tomorrow morning), she’s going to be Alex’s new little sister.

He hasn’t met her yet. Well, not officially. I’m sure he’s encountered her outside once or twice. You see, Zola is one of the four cats abandoned by the asshat neighbors across the street. I was convinced none of them would make good pets because I couldn’t get her to come near me. But H, my neighbor next door to the asshats, had somehow coaxed her up on the front porch and it turns out she’s quite the affectionate little lady.

So, hopefully she’ll get a clean bill of health. If she does, we’ll have cats from A:

to Z:

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Completed:

• Two assignments for Photoshop class, due on April 14
• One professional project for Photoshop class, also due on April 14
• Two Cubs games, one win, one loss
• Two Tigers games, one loss, one win

Currently working on:

• One six-page website for Dreamweaver class, due on April 14 (Completed)

On today’s TV agenda if they’re not rained out:

• One Tigers game against the Chicago White Sox (hoping for win #3) (Nope. Another dismal loss)
• One Cubs game against the Philadelphia Phillies (hoping to start new winning streak) (Bottom of 8th, it’s not looking good.)

That’s all for now.

*** New *** As I logged into WebCT to upload the site I finished (and I have to say… it looks DAMN good), I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I can now relax for the rest of this evening and still have tomorrow to do laundry and run errands, etc. And then I noticed that my Photoshop instructor has already uploaded next week’s assignments.

*sigh*

She couldn’t even let me have ONE DAY to enjoy having nothing due….

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Well, Dad’s home from the hospital. Let’s hope that’s the last he sees of the place for a while. I talked to him briefly this afternoon, but he was pretty sleepy from medication so I didn’t keep him on the phone. I was going to go out to visit him tonight, but I have two days to finish up a project for one of my classes because this weekend, I don’t want to be on my computer for anything.

Yes, you read that right. I’m unplugging for the weekend. And if all goes well, I’m making it a regular thing. It’s become too much of a distraction and until I can make some progress in other areas of my life, I need to limit myself.

So, every night this week (with the exception of last night), I’ve been trying to spend the majority of the evening working on homework. The only thing I haven’t figured out is how I’ll work in the genealogy research. Fortunately, I’m at a point now where I have to physically go to a couple of libraries and the family history center. My aunt from Texas is coming into town next month and I want to pick her brain. She’s done extensive tracing on my dad’s side of the family, so I’m hoping she can give me some encouragement.

The death certificate I ordered is for a man that I believe is my great grandmother’s younger brother. I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to learn their mother’s name. Here’s what I know:

In the 1870 census, she appeared as Adaline Briggs, born in Pennsylvania about 1847. She was married to John Briggs, and they had three children: Alfred, Emma (my great grandmother) and a child listed as Thomas. Fast forward to the 1880 census and Adaline is no longer listed. Thomas isn’t either, but there is a James Dallas born the same year (and given what I’ve learned so far, he went by Dallas, which could have been confused as Thomas by the census taker). There’s also another daughter, Laura, born about 1874.

I know that Emma and Alfred both ended up in Ohio and I know that Dallas stayed in Pennsylvania. But I don’t know what happened to my great great grandfather, nor do I know what happened to the younger sister. Most of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, so there’s a large piece of the puzzle missing, in which I might have learned where both father and daughter ended up. And what happened to Adaline?

Even curiouser, what was her actual name? Emma’s death certificate lists her mother’s name as Ada Ebert. Alfred’s lists his as Elizabeth Ebbers. I can’t find ANYTHING on either one of those names so far. So, I’m hoping that the death certificate of James Dallas Briggs gives me a little more concrete information to use.

I only wish I would have developed an interest in all of this sooner, when my grandmother was still alive to answer some questions. But I’m not giving up. Someone somewhere has the information. I just have to find it. And finding information happens to be one of my strengths.  It’s a mystery. Good thing I grew up reading Nancy Drew!

And now it’s back to the homework… a little less worried and scared tonight. Dad, if you’re reading this, I love you. In fact, I love you even if you’re NOT reading this.

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My dad is in the hospital again. He went in on Saturday, but I didn’t find out about it until Sunday. Funny thing was, I immediately called my aunt (his sister), whom I’d promised to keep updated on his condition since she knew nothing about his cancer until he’d sent a mass email out to everyone letting them know that the surgery had been a success.  But my aunt already knew.

It’s not surprising to me that I’m the last to find out these things. Most of the time, my dad has been in and out of the hospital before I’ve even been let in on the news. An interesting moment took place this morning when my mechanic called.

Amos: How are you doing, Mrs. B?

Me: I’m fine, although I have to say I’m a little nervous. If you’re calling me this early in the morning, the news about my car can’t be good.

A: Hey, did you hear about Gary??

M: You mean, Gary, my dad? As in, he’s in the hospital? Yes, I heard.

A: Gary’s your dad? I didn’t know for sure. Yeah, I guess if he’s your dad, then you’d hear about him being in the hospital, wouldn’t you?

Me: You’d think.

********************

When I repeated the conversation to TOTO and Princess, TOTO said something along the lines of, “Imagine if you’d found out from your MECHANIC that your dad was in the hospital.”

I don’t think it’s too far from the truth to say that heads would have ROLLED.  It would have looked (and sounded) like a bowling alley.

Forgive me. I get bitchy when I’m scared and worried, and quite frankly, I’m scared and worried. I want the weather to warm up because this fucking cold winter doesn’t do anything for anyone’s spirits and I want my dad’s spirits to be as high as possible. It’s been one thing after another this winter and it needs to STOP. I am absolutely, positively, not ready for anything to happen to my father, and dammit… I think I deserve to have that particular wish granted. I already lost the only other man in my life that I’ve ever completely trusted. Is a few more years with this one too much to fucking ask?

*********************

The one piece of good news does come from my mechanic. Lulu needed the new tires, which I knew, but other than that, only an alternator belt, an alignment and an oil change, and she’s good to go for the trip to C-bus next week. Even better, new tires mean I have more confidence driving on slick roads across town, which means I can visit my dad more often. I didn’t go up to the hospital today and I didn’t get a chance to call before it got kind of late, so I’m heading up there tomorrow.

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