The pic is of "Bird Cat" and it was one of many purchases I made at the 4 Bridges Art Festival. For those of you who know that I have a bird phobia and are wondering why I bought it, I just imagine that the cat is about to eat the bird. A little sick, but it works.

I had a little too much financial fun there, though. Oh, well, it was all so pretty! How was I to resist? The only thing that could have made it even better would have been a shoe vendor. Maybe next year...

This week at work has been crazy! I've been department hopping, project juggling, going to a funeral, and setting up a blind date - but not for me!

The funeral was for my aunt T's mother. She died Saturday night from cancer - she was very ill and in pain so her passing was a blessing in that respect. T has lost a lot of weight caring for her mother and is just exhausted. No matter that it was a blessing - I still cannot imagine losing my mother. It literally makes me tear up just thinking about it. And to stand at the front of the room at the funeral home and have to greet and talk to all of the people - I would just want to scream, "You don't understand! She was MY mother!" I know many of you have lost your mothers and I cannot understand how you function. Even the thought nearly paralyzes me. We all have to go but I do not have to like it or accept it gracefully! I didn't do that when Maggie died and I have not plans to change now! Tirade against death now over.

On a much better note (maybe I should have put this before the death rant but at least I'm ending on a good note!), I have set up my first blind date! My friend J is meeting a guy I work with, M, on Sat for drinks. I am more excited than they are - they are just nervous while I am completely giddy! My self esteem isn't on the line! Why should I be nervous? I'm going as a "date facilitator" and if it goes well, I'll leave. If it bombs, we'll drink a few beers, dump him, and have a good girls' night.

Now, I'm working on getting myself a date! I'm working on it and will report fully when it happens!

And I have not given up on the socks - I am waiting for my brother to give me his foot measurement. Very rude of him to keep me waiting, I think.

So the Bailey story. She has had this sneezy-thing for a few months that then progressed to coughing and pushed me over the edge when she began mouth-breathing. Have you ever seen a cat mouth-breathe?? It is soo creepy looking! Cats are not meant to breathe out of their mouths! So off to the vet she went again. One liver panel, one set of xrays, one thyroid panel, one new antibiotic prescription, one new food, and one $237 bill later, and I have a very traumatized cat. Thank god my mom took her!! (Side note: Mom dropped something off at my apartment two days later and all she saw of Bailey was her butt as she ran under the bed!)

So here is where the sudifed comes in. Bailey had lost 11 oz (which is a lot for a cat that barely tops 7 lbs) and so I told the vet that I thought part of the issue was that she couldn't smell and Dr. L agreed but they don't make a decongestant for cats - strange, huh? Dr. L told me to get children's sudifed and give her 1/4 of the smallest dose. So off I go to CVS and sign away my life and dna and called my mom to cosign, etc... and home I go to dose the cat. Cats do not like getting medicine period. They really, really, really do not like getting GRAPE flavored medicine. She looked like she had rabies - foaming at the mouth, panting, hacking... it was gory. Of course, through all this taste bud misery, she still cannot breathe through her nose. Spit went everywhere!

But, next day, she was breathing through her nose a little - lots of sneezing which was good. She ate and beat up on the other cats a little. All good signs. This morning, she ate half a can of food, beat up on all three of the cats, and didn't breathe through her mouth once! The sudifed was a total success!! Dr. L ROCKS! Grape flavored medicine, not so much.

So due to the financial strain Bailey has caused, we are on a ramon noodle diet this week. The one week I decide that it is o.k. to spend $100 at Target on new pants, the cat's health crashes. Everyone assures me this is how it always works so that makes me feel a little better. What made me feel the best was my mom floating me $137 until tonight. God Bless Mothers!

The heel has been turned! I am on the downward decrease of sock #1! That is, sock #1 of the second attempt to make socks for my brother. Attempt 1 ended in the garbage on fire - but the fire part was not intentional. You think you've blown out a match and you can be so, so very wrong. But now (new yarn that is not cut and has not been chewed on by a cat) I am rollin' right along! As they just got 15" of snow, he might still be able to wear these before they thaw out for their 3 days of summer. Now how loudly will I be whining this summer when we are simmering at around 100 degrees and they are sweltering at 80 degrees? Very, very loudly. I am honest enough to admit it.

As for work, I feel like the new kid in day care - I am catching every damn disease that comes through that place! First, I catch the "digestive upset" that wiped out half the shop. Now, I have a head cold. My nose and my lips are chapped and I can't breathe. I called my mom just to whine about being sick - I don't feel that I received that appropriate amount of sympathy but it was better than nothing. (I just had to stop typing to go sneeze and blow my nose - any sympathy yet??) And my ears won't pop. I'm taking my deaf, itchy, sneezing self to bed - after a brief stop over at Robotusin Land. Good sleep tonight!!!

And Bailey had to go to the vet - I'll write about that tomorrow or Friday night. But here is a teaser - I am dosing my cat with grape flavored children's Sudafed. So we're both drugged up on cold meds. Needless to say, this is a very happy and relaxed apartment.

So I decided that since this blog is called "knitwithcats" I should show some knitting with / on my cats. So here are 2 of my babies: the very large boned one with knitting resting on her belly is Tinkerbell and her pillow is Izzy. And the knitting, well, that is my new sock for my brother. As many of you know, the old sock and I stopped speaking and I decided to kick it out. So, now I'm working with new yarn, Jitterbug by Colinette, and it is great to work with! A hand paint that is superwash wool with a nice tight twist - slides deliciously on the needles. It is a little browner in reality than it looks here with nice highlights of navy and cranberry. He will love them!

I found this new website that has some great roving and hand dyes! I was really impressed with the colors and weights offered. Very worth a visit!

http://www.helloyarn.com/

I also ordered 3 new books from Amazon:

Lace Style: Traditional to Innovative, 21 Inspired Designs to Knit

I have been told that this book is a little disappointing design-wise, but has some good tips. So, I'm going out on a limb and getting it anyway - critics be damned! Of course, I'll most likely regret it, but hey...

Then I ordered

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave

Anne already has this book and I saw it and love it! And therefore must have it! It will be 4 years from now until I finish anything from it but that is never the point, now is it?

And finally, I preordered:

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting

I don't think I need to say anything else about this one - the author speaks very well for herself, thank you. Very excited to get this one!!

And here is Blinky - watching television. Fascinated by it! Enthralled! Moving her head side to side as different characters speak! How creepy is that? I think she might have a "problem." Does anyone know a good kitten interventionist? I may have to cancel my Amazon order so that I can afford her treatment. So sad on so many levels!!!

Off to knit!

So have I been knitting this week? NO! Between the time change and PMS, I have been totally wiped out! I took Bailey to the vet on Friday and Dr. L (who is the best vet ever) prescribed her some antibiotic pills - no problem. Saturday morning, I give her a pill and off I go. Sunday morning, I go to give her a pill and the pill bottle is gone! How do they do that?? I think she sent Blinky and Izzy on a recon mission and they knocked the pills down to her and she hid them. I have yet to find the damn bottle! My mom picked up another bottle of pills and now they have to be stored in the fridge to prevent theft. They are crafty, tricky little bastards but they have yet to figure out how to open the fridge door. Yet...

I went to traffic court on Tuesday morning and was there for 2.5 hours! No talking, reading, or chewing gum - I'm not kidding. All to show the judge my current registration. What a joke! So annoying!! I mean, it's not like I brought this on myself by forgetting and then procrastinating updating my registration. I blame the whole thing on the cats. Somehow, this was their fault. It just was.

Oh, and the pic? That is the view I have all the time as I walk into the bathroom - Izzy and Blinky's butts. Do they have a water bowl? Yes. Do they prefer to drink out of the toilet anyway? Yes. Ahh, my babies...

Wireless Internet @ Home!!

Special thanks to Zoro, Stretch, & Me Too's mom for the great suggestion on wireless internet! Backstory: I called Comcast about wireless internet and they would be happy to set it up for me for $179.00 and I would have to be there and then they would have to check this and that and then I would have to rent the equipment from them for $5 a month.

Well, retelling this story, the above cats' mom said, "just go to Best Buy and do it all there!" So off I went today and spend $80 on equipment (including a self-install kit) and they signed me up with Comcast. I was in and out in literally under 20 minutes! And, because I had Best Buy do the activation, I am paying $19.95 / month for 3 months! Stupid Comcast person!

And my glasses were not the correct prescription - I was always walking uphill - so I went and ordered new glasses and a new contact prescription and hoping this goes better. Very annoyed with the glasses people, too!!

O.k. I think I'm done bitching... for now...

But on a happier note, we had our first post-knitting store class / knitting group on Sat morning and had a great time! It is nice to see everyone again and catch up on the gossip! Not that we ever gossip, though...

Off to finish laundry! But now that I have wireless at home, I will be updating this blog on a much more regular basis so check back often and be sure to leave some comments!!

Still Greasy!! And Loving It!!!

As promised, here is a pic of where I am working! You are looking down the center aisle of the shop with repair bays on each side - approx 30 bays total. On this day, I helped unhook a drive shaft, drop a transmission, pull out a clutch, and finally repaired the two recalled gears that necessitated all of this work in the first place! Then, we had to put it all back again! That day, I was the filthiest I have ever been in my entire life. Grease in, on, and ground into every part of my body. But I also had my best night of sleep in a long time. Too much fun!! But my cuticles are shot and my nails are so short and still encrusted with grease - I think my brother's socks are going to smell like an auto shop. At least it will be a manly smell!

The cats have struck again! The little bastards stole one of my shoes! I wore it yesterday and when I looked for it this morning, one was gone! They like the laces and therefore the shoes double as prey!

And I got new glasses! Yea for my team! I can see things at a distance now! Life is good - kinda scared to see what the guys look like through my new glasses, though. And they feel weird on my face - I've been wearing my old pair for over 3 years. This is like a very drastic (and extremely expensive) haircut. I feel like my face is tilting to one side - slight "I look weird in my new glasses" paranoia.
Off to put the laundry in the dryer! I swear I will try and do better about my posting frequency - sounds like a condition on a pharmaceutical ad.

So Tired and So Greasy!!

Just a brief note to let you all know that I am still alive and so are the babies - but barely. Me, not the babies. I am leaving home at 7 am and leaving for home at 8 pm. I am very tired... and did I mention greasy? I'm working in the shop with a mechanic (they are called techs now not mechanics because so much of their work is on computer) wearing a tech uniform (but they wouldn't give me one with my name b/c I'll only be there for 3 weeks - I am still getting over that disappointment), rolling under trucks on a crawler, taking off wheels, and hooking up laptops to trucks in a sometimes vain attempt to find the cause of the customer's issue. We race around test driving trucks and hard rock attempts to drown out country in alternating repair bays.

I have the best mentor, Oscar, who is extremely patient with me (which engine is yellow, again? the answer is Caterpillar) and also has no mercy when it comes to me actually doing as much of a tech's job as I am able. He enjoys making me get filthy. But I'm not complaining - I'm enjoying this job immensely! I am never bored, learning more than I can remember without writing most of it down, and meeting a truly odd ball group of guys - most of whom have a wicked sense of humor.

I have to admit that the level of testosterone is a little overwhelming compared to the last 2+ years of total estrogen saturation but at least I now I have the strange (and very strong) desire to go out and get - a date. Yes, that's the word.

O.k. Off to shower, sleep, and do it all again with the help of a barrel of coffee. I'll see if I can get any pics at the shop but no promises. Then again, this group might love the idea of having their pic online. I may have to lie and tell them that porn is somehow involved - I'll have to work on it tomorrow.

A new chapter with some new pics

I have ended a very turbulent chapter of my life and am getting ready to start a new job on 2/5/07. Very exciting! I do have some financial clean up to do and some apartment cleaning and organizing (desperate measures are needed on the home front). Of course, the babies are being overwhelmingly helpful - Bailey is sitting on my left arm supervising content and technique.

I've cleaned out and sorted my yarn stash, donated some to charity, and put yarn with patterns. Now, I just need to get it all off the floor, into bins, and stacked. I will get it all done this weekend because I will not come home to this mess my first week of work. You can see the babies supervisory capacities at full throttle above. From the front: Tinkerbell, Blinky, Izzy, and Bailey. My bosses.

So off to eat some pizza, knit, nap, and then do some actual work.

Busy Day!

Today was a crazy one - but fruitful! I am employed! Oh, the joy! I can hear my mom cheering from miles away. I haven't been home to tell the girls yet but I am sure they will be very relieved. Blinky, the baby, is recovering very well from being neutered and has seemed to have blown off the trauma completely. Here's a picture of Izzy, the second youngest, on the left and Bailey, the queen, on the top of the cat tower. Seeing this picture, I realize it's time to take some updated mug shots of the girls.

When I have more time, I'll retell the drama of her capture and the fact that though she is only 10 weeks older, she is Blinky's sister. Lots of feral cats, humane traps, trips to the vet, and much drama was involved. We are all still receiving therapy to recover.

a few kitty pics for your Viewing Enjoyment

This is Blinky enjoying a yarn nap on some Kid Silk Haze. She is one of the four kittens I bottle fed this summer and the only one I kept. She was neutered on Thursday and has not missed a beat. I'm just excited that the picture loaded!

Testing

Just testing this blog to see if it will work - the first one would not let me sign in and blog. So here's to hoping!!