Slow Day at Work

Shhhhh…… Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t have a single appointment on my schedule this afternoon. So I managed to complete some paperwork (discharge summaries). Now, though, I’m twittering my thumbs. I feel an office cleaning coming.

Productive Sunday

Honestly, I had a great Sunday. Got up early enough to do my morning routine, followed by assembling the cart I bought from Fleet Farm, the lawn mower I bought from Menard’s, and building a compost pen out of fence posts and chicken wire. After that it was mowing up the leaves (We are surrounded by trees!) which required an extensive amounts of emptying the bag on the mower. After that Tina grilled up some pork steaks and we enjoyed an evening meal sitting on the deck and enjoying our hard work.

However, there are still many projects left for us to work on. Off to the side from the garage is a pile of logs, sticks, and boards that is quite the eye sore. It is destined to be dismantled, with much of it going to the compost pen, and others to the fire pit (the one I want to buy once I figure out what’s allowed). In addition to the pile, the rest of the area along side of the garage still needs cleaning up. There are flower beds, a collapsed rock wall, and various plants growing that may or may not be survivors of what appears to have been a few years of neglect.

Now, though, it’s time for me to go out for a run. You all have a great start to your week, Monday not withstanding.

Good Morning!

Just dropping a quick post shouting out to the few readers of this humble blog before I go for a run. Hope you all have a beautiful day.

New Plug In

It appears WordPress is going to roll out a major change in the coming weeks. It’s new editor is called Gutenberg. So, in preparation for this change I installed a new plug in to see if my site will still work. I’ve also switched to a theme that appears to be Gutenberg ready. Hopefully the transition goes smoothly for my blog.

Just a Treat

I was late giving Kang an afternoon treat. Usually treat time is 4:00 PM. Anyway, I finally remembered at 5:00. I called him down, dispensing the treat into a stainless steel bowl. Kang looked at the bowl, then looked around. I realized he was looking for Cinnamon. He wouldn’t eat the treat. It was then I started crying. I walked into the living room, sat on the Love Seat, and continued crying. Kang followed me. I picked him up and he purred while I cried and petted him.

And yes, I will still get another kitten for Kang. And for me.

She’s Gone

She was my faithful companion for close to 15 years. The longest significant relationship I’ve ever had outside of my family. Today I had to put her to sleep. She had bone cancer. Aggressive bone cancer. Last month when I took her in and learned she had hyperthyroidism they also took x-rays of her leg because she was limping. Then there was only a small amount of swelling. It could have been a sprained ligament. It wasn’t possible to tell. Today, when I took her in the vet could feel hard masses up and down her left hind leg. She was unable to tolerate any touch to her paw.

Cinnamon was not your typical rescue cat. I didn’t rescue her. She chose me. I was working one Saturday morning back in 2003 at Cochran Center when I heard this forlorn yowling. It was a beautiful, sunny summer day, with blue skies and just a hint of a breeze. I was finishing up some progress reports when I first heard it, off in the distance. Over time it became louder and more insistent.

My office was on the second floor in the stairwell of the building. So I made my way downstairs to investigate, stepping out the door. I didn’t even get my foot down to the front step, and she jumped on it. I was smitten.

“How cute.” I thought to myself, reaching down to pet her. My hand hadn’t even gotten below my knee when she jumped up into it. I was surprised and went to lift her up to pet her. Again, I don’t think I managed to get her much past my waist when she lunged right up onto my shoulder and started rubbing against my chin. I was now way past smitten.

She was a dark, reddish brown color. There was a patch right below her neck running along her spine for a few inches that was the color of cinnamon. Hence the name. She was with me from then on except for a six month period when I was staying with my sister in Grantsburg while I saved up money for a place of my own.

I’ve finished crying for the moment. No doubt I’ll have more tears as the day and the weekend progresses. I will miss her. And I will never forget her.