the past few days

It's been a whirlwind. My niece had a bowling party, we hit some thrifts, and checked out the flea market that I will be selling in next month. It will be my first time peddling wares at a flea and I've got to be honest, I am bit nervous for it! That being said, checking out the space and seeing what is what definitely put my mind at ease. Also knowing that I have the help and support from my fella, who basically has committed himself to helping me with all things vintage, is a great comfort to me.

We didn't spend enough time with the cats. We know it, and they know it. So we are attempting to make up for that.

The big news in the catworld of our home is that we have switched foods. For a long while they were eating Science Diet ZD, for Roo's inflamed bowels and dietary restrictions. When her kidneys starting failing, we switched to the KD line of Science Diet. Both kitties were/are HUGE fans of the dry variety, and for a little while, they were pretty into the wet food. But in the last couple weeks, neither of them expressed much interest in the wet. I found solace in the fact that NEITHER of them liked it, and that it wasn't just Roo getting sicker. I checked in with our beloved vet, Dr. Tubman (we just call him TUB MAN) and he confirmed what I already knew: at this point, the most important thing is that the little sick cat keeps eating, so if we switched her to a food that she liked, that was fine. I did some research, double checked my findings with Tub Man, and now the girls are enjoying a variety of flavors again. After two years on severely limited diets, the same food day in and day out, obviously these cats are PSYCHED. Poor Kiki, putting up with her sister's needs so patiently all this time, has turned into a bully when it comes to the food bowls. She can't get enough, and we, of course, go along with it. Both of my lovely kits have the fattest bellies they've had in quite some time, and really, it's a wonderful feeling.

As sad as I feel sometimes about the whole thing, it's pretty awesome to spoil someone rotten in their golden years, all the while knowing that when it gets too bad, I will get to make the call, and the ending will ultimately be peaceful and painless. It has me thinking about how we, humans in America, deal with the end of life. I hope when it's my time, it will be peaceful and painless and not drag out for much longer than it should.

Okay. Time for dinner. Stayed tuned for pictures this week. I PROMISE.

today.

This is the date that we chose as our "official" anniversary. Our first date was three days long, and then the two weeks that followed we tried to play it cool while both knowing full well that this was it. So, if memory serves correctly (which is highly debatable), the day we became began going steady, was the twentieth fourth day of February. Since the anniversary of our first date, Valentine's day, and this day all fall with a few weeks of each other, February is the month of love around here. That, combined with this crazy feline love, make for a pretty intense emotional climate, lemme tell you.

We are enjoying our lazy day, recording songs, cooking foods, enjoying afternoon libations, and trying to live in the moment that is this lovely day in our lives. Pretty lucky, we are.

I was going to make a post full of pictures, but I want to knit and watch netflix and get cozy with my best friends.

So you get this instead:

Musings

Turns out that when I have already worked forty hours in a week, throwing another ten hours on makes me very unmotivated. Big shocker, I know.

I do have a few things on my mind today:

This awesome story about a heroic twenty-one pound cat

I am so freakin' pumped that Genie blogged about me!

OH MAN, this is the cutest thing. LOOK AT HIS LITTLE HANDS. (I want a pet raccoon now.)

Help my friend Kate out. She is awseome, and so is this.

Looking forward to a rainy friday... hopefully I can spend it at home with my girls and Cat Dad, snuggling on the couch and getting my knit on.

incorrect

I am working today, in order to have three days off in a row (including a Sunday! UNHEARD OF!) which is fine but it means five ten hour days in a row, and I know the cats are feeling neglected. I had this plan to smother them with attention on Friday, but it is looking like I may have some other business to take care (legal matters) which will mean a lot of driving around for me instead. As much as I would rather enjoy my day off on the couch with the girls, I do find the driving therapeutic, especially given that I so rarely do it these days. We are a one car household and for the most part I am fine with it, except for when I have the thrift-itch on a weekday morn.

My niece turns FIVE today. I can't believe she is so old. Her birthday party is this weekend, at a bowling alley. It should be fun. I like watching little kids bowl, since they generally suck at it. I am really excited to give her her birthday present:



now I kinda wish I got her the TRIPLE fringe. I guess that can wait for when she turns six.

insta-cats

some of my favorite snaps of the girls from the past couple weeks.

when I am not a cat mom

I do things like this.

Here is one photo of two cats.

(from two weeks ago)

How to differentiate between Kiki and Roo:
Roo = white moustache
Kiki = white goatee

Also Kiki is now bigger than Roo (used to be the other way around before Roo got the sick) and Roo has two different color eyes. If it's too complicated for you, or you are lazy, feel free to refer to both of them as KIKIROO, which is what my sister does.

FINALLY

I learned the bamboo stitch (I love knitting though I am, admittedly, not the best) and made this giant cowl using a yarn called PSYCHEDELIC, and Roo decided it is hers. It's a yarn donut, for sleeping inside of, and it belongs to the cats. I need to post a picture, but I am at work and the pictures are on the camera at home. Remind me later, world.

(running on too much coffee and emotions this sunday, remember to lift with my knees and keep my gameface on. crying must be done at home in the privacy of my own sweatpants.)

A thought

I would like to install video cameras to record the cats when I am not here. I am so curious. Do you think they would feel as though their privacy has been invaded?

Not your typical day.

This morning I woke up to extreme pain in my shoulders and neck. It's as though the middle where my neck, shoulders and spine connect is this giant clusterfuck of pain. Unable to turn my head or lift my arms or put a bra, I gave in to the fact that 1. I am old and 2. I wasn't going to work today, which sucks cause we had a sale to set up for and I feel bad when I am not there to do my part... though I wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways.

So I laid in bed today. I took a muscle relaxer at 8 am which caused me to doze in and out, and have the WEIRDEST dreams, mostly involving my mom coming over and re-arranging our apartment while I was sleeping. It felt so real, I am glad it's not.

The cats slept with me for most of the day, too. We were three old ladies laying on the bed together.

Oh, I am still in pain, but I see the chiropractor in less than an hour. And then, maybe some bourbon.

Wednesdays are for this.

Watching hours of Law & Order while knitting with a cat on either side of me. This is why I work my forty hour week in four days instead of five, so I can make sure I have an extra day off to spend quality time with my two best friends. (and supposedly to update my shop and prep for the flea market next month, OH YEAH I should probably get on that...)

Kiki jumped up and sat next to Roo. Then the unthinkable happened, something I haven't seen in fourteen years. Roo started giving Kiki a bath. I filmed it. Eventually I will inundate this blog with pictures and videos, I promise.

They know their time together now is precious, I think. There's has been a lot more spats, trailing each other, and dirty looks when one cat is getting the attention that the other wants, but also, quiet moments together on the couch, enjoying the unmade bed, watching the bird feeder side by side. It is so touching and heartbreaking. I mean, they are fifteen years old. They have been together their entire lives. A fifteen year old cat is like a seventy-three year old person. If my sister and I spent every day of our lives together until we were in our seventies, I imagine we would have a pretty unique and complex relationship, so why shouldn't Kiki and Roo?

Three nice things on Tuesday.

My mouth numbness is probably not permanent! (when it will end, who knows, but eventually, it will most likely go away.)

VIDEO CATNIP ON DVD IS HERE IN MY HOT LITTLE HANDS.

My wonderful fella sent roses to the bookstore! This is the second time in all 33 years of my life that I have had flowers delivered to me. Luckily they came all packaged up with a box so I can take them home with me rather than leave them on my desk in my stuffy basement hovel at work.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I will spend this morning at the Oral Surgery department of Mass General, seeing a nerve specialist to make sure that the hack dentist I saw for my root canal didn't cause me permanent nerve damage (I have been numb since december) and then off to work. Tonight will be spent petting the cats and snuggling up to Cat Dad. He is going to love his gift (I won't reveal it here, but it is probably a book) and more importantly, the cats are going LOVE theirs: the Video Catnip dvd! The VHS copy we have is pretty well worn now, and besides, the dvd will be so much better on the flat screen. Also, it has a loop feature for continuous play!

My kitties = my heart.

I feel a feeling of guilt.

I did not say goodbye to the cats today. I just realized it. I have been at work for an hour and something has been feeling off. And now, through text messaging, we realize that neither of us rubbed Roo's steroid cream in her ear. (Yes, that's right, steroid cream.)

So I will go through this day wishing it will move fast fast faster, and that the night will crawl by, so I can get some quality time in with my girls and go to sleep without feeling like I am a bad catmom.

Maybe this is ridiculous to you, if you don't have pets, or even if you do, but it's my life, dawgs.

How to start a Sunday

Get up before the alarm.
Take a shower (do not shampoo)
Feed Kiki (she is yelling at you)
Feed Roo (she is hiding under the bed)
Make French press (travel mug style since the glass one broke)
Eat a banana
Give Roo subcutaneous fluids (bonnie holds her, trever stabs her, Kiki watches from another chair)
Tell madRudycat how good she is and kiss her though she is visibly pissed
Leave a pile of treats under the kitchen table
Say Goodbye to cats
Go to work and miss the cats.

Here we go again.

Okay. One more time, why not. I have kept blogs in the past, but it's been awhile since I have felt the pull. Lately I have been thinking about it more and more, as I come to find myself looking at other people's blogs and feeling a few feelings: I should do this. I want more space. My cats are cuter than your babies.

And so on and so forth.

I do not have a husband or baby or a new house. I am not a newlywed or a divorcee or the owner of a vintage car or shop. I am just a lady in her early 30's, who works at a bookstore, lives with her boyfriend (of two years, no high school sweethearts here) and our two cats. MY two cats, originally, but I am comfortable enough to call them ours now. I have had my cats since I was eighteen years old, the beginning of my adult life. I moved in my first apartment, all alone, as a sophomore in college, and I needed it to feel like my home, so I did the only thing that made sense to me. GET CATS .

Kiki and Roo are my best friends, the nearest and dearest to my heart. They are my furry babies, my old ladies, my sissy cats. They have shaped my life, defined my choices, and brought me so much joy. I can't imagine my life without them, but this is something that I am going to have to accept, unfortunately, and probably sooner than later. I guess that is part of the reason why I feel compelled to blog again. I am going through some sad cattimes, I am seeing so much beauty in pain and pain in beauty, my heart is swelling and breaking constantly, and I suppose I need some sort of outlet in which to talk about this.

ANYWAYS.... a few other things to know about me:
- collector of: pyrex, crewel, polaroid cameras, starburst flatware, moccasins, silk scarves, books, pillowcases, couroc
- constantly starting new journals and notebooks and abandoning them
- art school graduate
- listens to excessive amounts of hip hop (surprise.) also: weird al
- dying for the country life but stuck in a gritty lil city just outside Boston
- would prefer to just sell vintage as a job, but missed the boat somehow and am currently involved with a wonderful independent bookstore that I love and have loved for years, but could use a change
- suck at updating my etsy shop
- rarely travel, seldom take vacations
- overly caffeinated, bourbon lover
-I LOVE MY CATS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

okay?

Also, that boyfriend I mentioned? Yeah. He goes by the name of Cat Dad. He writes songs inspired by, yes, you got it, CATS. You can hear them here and see his tumblr here.

CATS. CATS. CATS.