Kittens, travel, summer
Anyone in the Pacific Northwest want a kitten?
Ah, well. It doesn't hurt to ask.
Little mama cat from across the street, who is always too skinny to be a mama cat (they say they feed her, but I've seen her appetite in action, so I'm not sure they feed her much), is raising her third or fourth litter of kittens. In our back shed. They're ridiculously adorable - two black & white and very fluffy, and one all black little girl who is going to look a lot like her pretty, short-haired mama.
I've named them - Luna (the brave, outgoing one), Lilah (the all-black, shy but intensely pouncy one), and Linus (who has a little white spot on his nose that looks like a splash of milk). Bea loves them, and is surprisingly gentle with all of them. She's learned to dangle a string for them to pounce on, and I need to get pictures of it.
I'm getting a schedule of the vet school's spaying clinic because, while we enjoy the cuteness of the kittens, little mama cat needs a break and I can't spend another month worrying about whether they'll make it through the night/day/week. They're big enough now to be weaned and we're in the slightly sticky position of trying to find homes for kittens who've been (technically) abandoned but who aren't (technically) ours. Unless feeding them makes them ours, I guess. The little kids from across the street caught them all last week and took them over to their house again, but this week our cat family is back in residence and we have a feeling that when the kids aren't a) there and b) interested, the family isn't going to take care of them. Which is normally something that would make me really angry, but the family is really clearly in over their heads in lots of ways (young, young parents) and trying really hard to keep their heads above water.
I was very grateful for the kittens yesterday, though. After returning home from the ALA conference in New Orleans, I'd expected Bea to see me, get really excited, give me a big hug, and demand milk. What happened instead was that she saw me, became very angry and upset, said "No, no, nooooo!" every time I came near her, and clung to her father for the next 45 minutes or so. It probably took two hours before I could hold her, and it would have taken longer if I hadn't taken her out to see the kittens and helped her play with them. Then I fed her cookies.
New Orleans was great, though I spent a lot more time in my room than I have at previous conferences. I was tired, and leaking milk, and while it felt good to be back, I forgot how much work it was to run from meeting to meeting AND talk to sales reps, AND attempt to be engaging and create good impressions AND to take it all in. I soaked up some new leaders' training to help me better chair my newest committee (I'm a little worried about chairing something I've only just started learning about, but the training helped). I joined discussions about virtual reference, library technology, and learned about upcoming technology and how to better market library services. I snagged an autographed copy of Trickster, an amazing graphic novel of native trickster tales told by native storytellers, and, while wandering through the exhibits, was able to meet Catherynne Valente, who signed my copy of Deathless.
It was almost worth traveling away from the girl, which is saying a lot. I'm happy that I don't have to do this again for at least 6 months, though.
Ah, well. It doesn't hurt to ask.
Little mama cat from across the street, who is always too skinny to be a mama cat (they say they feed her, but I've seen her appetite in action, so I'm not sure they feed her much), is raising her third or fourth litter of kittens. In our back shed. They're ridiculously adorable - two black & white and very fluffy, and one all black little girl who is going to look a lot like her pretty, short-haired mama.
I've named them - Luna (the brave, outgoing one), Lilah (the all-black, shy but intensely pouncy one), and Linus (who has a little white spot on his nose that looks like a splash of milk). Bea loves them, and is surprisingly gentle with all of them. She's learned to dangle a string for them to pounce on, and I need to get pictures of it.
I'm getting a schedule of the vet school's spaying clinic because, while we enjoy the cuteness of the kittens, little mama cat needs a break and I can't spend another month worrying about whether they'll make it through the night/day/week. They're big enough now to be weaned and we're in the slightly sticky position of trying to find homes for kittens who've been (technically) abandoned but who aren't (technically) ours. Unless feeding them makes them ours, I guess. The little kids from across the street caught them all last week and took them over to their house again, but this week our cat family is back in residence and we have a feeling that when the kids aren't a) there and b) interested, the family isn't going to take care of them. Which is normally something that would make me really angry, but the family is really clearly in over their heads in lots of ways (young, young parents) and trying really hard to keep their heads above water.
I was very grateful for the kittens yesterday, though. After returning home from the ALA conference in New Orleans, I'd expected Bea to see me, get really excited, give me a big hug, and demand milk. What happened instead was that she saw me, became very angry and upset, said "No, no, nooooo!" every time I came near her, and clung to her father for the next 45 minutes or so. It probably took two hours before I could hold her, and it would have taken longer if I hadn't taken her out to see the kittens and helped her play with them. Then I fed her cookies.
New Orleans was great, though I spent a lot more time in my room than I have at previous conferences. I was tired, and leaking milk, and while it felt good to be back, I forgot how much work it was to run from meeting to meeting AND talk to sales reps, AND attempt to be engaging and create good impressions AND to take it all in. I soaked up some new leaders' training to help me better chair my newest committee (I'm a little worried about chairing something I've only just started learning about, but the training helped). I joined discussions about virtual reference, library technology, and learned about upcoming technology and how to better market library services. I snagged an autographed copy of Trickster, an amazing graphic novel of native trickster tales told by native storytellers, and, while wandering through the exhibits, was able to meet Catherynne Valente, who signed my copy of Deathless.
It was almost worth traveling away from the girl, which is saying a lot. I'm happy that I don't have to do this again for at least 6 months, though.