Our cats, in a nutshell

Below are the actual notes left by the cat sitter during out recent trip to Fort Lauderdale. I think it captures each of the cats' personalities quite nicely...

"Day 1:
Hi! Both Abner and Ari were all over me and following me everywhere. Ramona just ate then she would run off when I got too close. We had fun with the toys then a good rub down for Abner and Ari. We had a very nice visit."

This one in particular sums them up:

"Day 2:
Hi! Fresh new snow this morning! Ari went on the porch for a bit then just ran around like a little crazy cat. Ramona ran for food, I told her it’s ok to save some for later. Abner is his usual sweet self; lots of hugs and kisses to offer. We had a very nice visit."

Over the next two days she experiences one of Ari's little knock-everything-off-the-table-one-by-one sessions:

"Day 3:
Hi! Looks like the kitties let in all the strays, to get out of the storm. Mail and other little things were all over the floor. Ari had all kinds of things to say. We had a very nice visit."

This one is a little more about the sitter than the cats, but she still takes the time to mention the party the cats hosted:

"Day 4:
Hi! Kitties had another party last night, there were things all over the floor. There was a red truck parked in front of the white house across from your driveway, when I went to park I hit it … Besides that, the kids and I had a nice visit. "

My favorite part of the below note: "like it was her last meal...." That's our girl.

"Day 5:
Hi! The kids were great! Ari always had something to day. I love that Abner lets me give him hugs and kisses now. They played tag with each other with the laser. Ramona just kept eating like it’s her last meal. We had wonderful visits!"

From winter to fall

Took my first digger of the season this morning. Not so gracefully, but with a bit of style, IMHO.

I was out on the Minuteman Trail, as per usual, and had an internal commentary going about how well I had handles any icy stretch. My approach is a semi-prance step, lifting the legs a little higher to accentuate the up down motion, and minimizing the back and forth movement. Wait - that makes it sound like I am hopping, or a police horse... Trust me, it works for me.

Anyhow, I was plodding along and heard a bicyclist coming from behind. I went to step towards the edge of the path to get out of his way, and caught my toe on a tall chunk of ice. That's when the slo-mo part of the fall began. It seemed that I had all kinds of time to think through how I'd fall, or perhaps I just recalled memories of my skateboard days when falling was fairly common. In any case, I pulled my best Boris Becker impression and rolled in a tidy ball, protecting the hands and chin.

The bike guy stopped and asked if I was ok, which was nice of him. I don't even think I made eye contact thanks to my temporarily injured pride. My hope is that from the outside it looked as if I pitched forward, dove into a somersault, and then rolled back on to my feet. It went that smoothly.

Luckily, my legs were sort of numb from the cold by that point, so I hardly felt anything. Wrist and palms were a little sore, but that's it. Within seconds, I was on my way again.

I am sure it won't be the only slip and slide of the season!

Good kitty

Our most active cat, Ari, just jumped on my laptop keyboard and created the following meeting in my Outlook calendar: KKKiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll. Scheduled from 9-9:30 this morning.

Um, should I be afraid of him?

Technically the full text was:
n bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb nnnnnnnnnnnnn?KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll

Perhaps he's only partially mastered the English language, and he's trying to tell me something larger...

early morning run

Things that made yesterday morning’s run memorable:

• Watching someone take advantage of the early morning light to take pictures of Spy Pond and its inhabitants
• Seeing Spy Pond in the early morning light
• Passing a young boy who was nearly invisible beneath his bundles of clothing, happily pedaling his training-wheeled bicycle a few feet behind his mom
• Feeling like I was wearing the perfect balance of clothing – not too hot, not too cold (this is an ongoing quest)
• Running to mellower music than usual. It was just that kind of morning.
• Hitting a groove, finding a stride, and knowing that I was speeding up without any extra perceived effort.
• Being out and about just as the sun is coming up, making up for the fact that it sets so early these days.

Paso a paso

I received a notice in the mail that one of my student loans is about to be paid off. $3000 down, $80,000 to go!

While a daunting payback road lay ahead, this smaller sum is actually quite significant. The loan was made during graduate school, shortly after my father passed away. I had worked my way through undergrad and grad, but when my father died (sort of unexpectedly, sort of not - a story for another day) I decided I needed to make some changes to allow for more trips to see my mom, mentally recover from the loss, etc. Plus, I was enrolled in a dual degree program, and this was the year I was slated to shuttle from one campus to another. That left even less time for the non-academic pursuits.

So, a couple weeks after his passing, I went to the Dean of my school to see if there was some help they could provide. I wasn't sure what I needed, but it seemed like this what what you did in such circumstances. I also knew that when my best childhood friend's parents were both very ill, her school stepped in and did everything they could to support her and make sure that she was able to stay in school. After explaining my circumstance, the Dean thought for a few moments, and then indicated the school could offer "Emergency Assistance" - a short term grant aimed at things like paying your heating bill if you come up short.

Um, not exactly what I was hoping for.

I responded that I would likely need more assistance than that, given my expected decrease in income and increase in expenses, but that was the end of the offer. Additional pleas got me the offer of a $3,000 loan, which I have been slowly paying down the past seven years. That year, I also ended up taking out loans above and beyond the federally allowed $18,500 to cover my lack of income, which I will continue to pay for the next 30 years or so.

We're our largest and best investment, right?

I switched the monthly payment over to an autopayment so I wouldn't cringe every time I wrote the check (and because, let's face it, who wants to write a check if you don't have to?), but even the school name appearing next to the deduction in my online banking account bugged me.

Now that loan is about to disappear, leaving me with an extra $50 each month, and perhaps a little less bitterness towards the whole situation. Perhaps.

Working from home

Today is the first day I'm exercising the option to work from home. Traffic on Fridays is stinky all around, thanks to MA residents heading either to NH or the Cape for the weekend. I can't blame them, as they are nice destinations. Heck, I look forward to being one of them.

I have a pretty sweet setup going on right now. Laptop, coffee, water, a napping cat on either side (I set out some fleece cat traps which are pretty much impossible to resist amongst the feline set), laundry being washed in the basement... And without the drive, it's like having three extra hours in the day. Nice.

Happily, the most active of our three cats, Ari, is one of the current nappers. He has an internal alarm clock that goes off at 4:45 am every day, at which time he starts to play with any noisy plastic bag he can find. And meow. This little bodied cat can meow like none other. P and I have learned to largely ignore it, but it does have the potential to leak into your dreams.

Three cats is a lot of cats. It feels like a tipping point of sorts, where suddenly there are lots of personalities, allegiances, triangulations of kinship, etc. in their world. At the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady I'll stop there for now, but I may start logging some of their exploits here and there. It's a show, for sure.

Gym foul

Today I checked out the gym at my office building. Two treadmills, two stationary bikes, an elliptical, some weight machines and dumbells squeezed into a corner, and a huge space to stretch/host a pilates class. It's small, but it's something, and it will help me continue to keep up with physical activity even with my newly increased commuting time.

Treadmills aren't my favorite, and I much prefer being outside. Still, it is a nice backup, and when the weather turns super cold here in New England, I'm happy that I can still go for a run to clear my head. I've been running outside since I started the new gig, and last night decided I just didn't want to get up that extra 15 minutes early (read: 4:45am) to hit the road, beat much - but not all,, shockingly - of the traffic, and get on the minuteman to enjoy the morning air.

So this morning I found myself on a treadmill, with a short run as a goal so I would also have time for a little strengthening (something I don't do often enough). The treadmill faces a mirror, forcing me to either watch myself run or stare at the ceiling. I studied my gait for a little bit, and decided I liked my new-ish running shorts from REI. And I stared at the ceiling a lot.

As I was finishing up, I realized I forgot to grab my towel in the car and bring it with me. Not wanting to head out into the cold parking lot when I was all sweaty, I committed a total gym foul - I used someone else's towel. I know P is probably cringing at this... Heck, I needed a towel, this one had been there for a few days, it was clean, there was no one else in the locker room... It was all too easy. I tried to leave it pretty dry in case the owner came around, and luckily I escaped with no one the wiser. Except, well, you.