Certified Pre-Owned Cats!

Saw this, and found it amazingly touching. The Michigan Humane Society created this ad poster and video to help promote adopting adult cats. They are adopting out adult cats for free to help find them homes.

#3

So, it would be bad enough for my dad to have rare autoimmune disease and...

• have it go on for 10 years
• have a stem cell transplant
• catch the flu post-transplant
• happen to have swine flu
• is having such a hard time holding down food my mom bought a blender (mmmm... the milkshake diet?)

But did it have to be the rare version of swine flu that is immune to the regular swine flu meds?  There have been 9 documented cases in the world- 2 prior cases in the USA, and my dad makes number 3.  He is now officially an international health hazard.  Impressive.

Maybe it isn't a good idea to ask what happen to cases 1 and 2.... Because the answer was, "One survived."  Of course, my dad had and important medical call to take, so I had to wait another 10 minutes before finding out that the 'non-survivor' was already terminally ill.  (Yeah, not post-transplant, no-immune system ill - I asked.)

Dad Sent Us All This Photo, Sums Things Up...

It does make finding balance a bit of a struggle.  Finding joy in the everyday wonderfulness of life.  Going to work, and school, and hanging out with friends, and how does one enjoy that knowing all this is going on?  Shouldn't I feel like crap about it?  

Well NO!  Or at least, not when I can help it.  Sure, there are times it sucks that he is so ill (ok, it sucks all the time), but if I've learned one thing through all this, it's that I can't let it control my life.  Of course, far easier said than done.  And I've spend my fair share of mopping time wondering how to balance it all.  Still trying to figure that one out.  But it's not something I'm giving up on.

So for all those wondering how Steve is doing, that sums it up.  

The Mysteries of Twitter

I finally have succumbed to Twitter and am tweeting as brandiejune.  Is it twittering or tweeting?  How does one conjugate 'to twitter'?  He tweets... they tweet... we twittter... 

Do peacock tweet?  What bird did this idea come from?

What's Been Going on

I am officially a quarter of a century old. I feel sooo old! But at the day was nice. Following a lovely Glen Ivy trip, we did a small dinner party with some friends. Craig cooked up tasty foods as always. And Christy made a super tasty red velvet cake.

Just make a wish and blow!

Ahh- wish came true. It was a lovely time. It was a little tough that so much money was spent on the move that we couldn't do much, but it was still a nice time.

I wish I could say things were going as well with my parent. Post stem cell transplant, my dad caught the swine flu. There is all sorts of crap in his lungs and he's down to 130lb. They also worry he may have pneumonia. The specialist are still trying to figure out exactly what's wrong, and more importantly, how to make it better. The scariest was a call I got from him at 9pm and he told me his heart wasn't working. Freaked me out. Turns out it was cuz he wasn't eating, so they pumped him full of potassium, and he's doing better. He still sends update emails in the middle of the night after taking too much ambien, and those are pretty hard to understand (there is a lesson here kids about the dangers of emailing, calling, shopping ebay or amazon while on drugs...). We're just praying and taking it one day at a time. I never cease to be amazed at my mom's strength to be on the front lines all the time.

While I have much better health, I have had a constant string of migraines for the last 3 weeks. My neuro doctor is out of town, and his PA said the meds take time to kick in. Doesn't comfort much the fact that I still have to get through school, work, and finals...

We were able to move out of the old place by the deadline. I'm so happy not to feel gross all day from packing and cleaning. I will miss the paint job we did to my old room. It was truly lovely.

I love the new place, but I'm sure I'll love it even more when it's unpack!

But the cats seem to be enjoying it.

And some super exciting news- Stef got into grad school!! Yay!! Super congrats to my little sis. We'll both be graduating summer of 2011 now! I'm so proud of her and happy for her!

Last Friday Craig and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. We were both pretty tired and broke from moving, but had a lovely night out at the Cheesecake Factory. Then we went home to play a board game I got for my lover/nerd.

I heart Craig. :)

Kittens Update

As many of you know, a while back I took in some little kittens my roommate found in the alley.  In case you were wondering what happened to them, here's a followup.

Franklin was adopted at an adoption fair through MeoowzResQ.  The family that adopted him already has several cats, and their 13 year old daughter wanted a kitten for her birthday.  While Franklin was her first choice, she checked out the other cats at the fair just to be sure.  She was completely sure Franklin was the kitty for her.

Bootsy was adopted by a coworker's friends/neighbors.  A lovely couple came over to meet him.  While I got anxious when they stepped out to discuss, they did decide to adopt him.  He is now named Peanut (I love it!) and living with another kitty.  The best part is that I can ask my coworker how little Peanut is doing.  Status- he's doing great!

And finally, little Curie.  Craig wanted to keep her since she was so shy (and he claims she loved him the best too), but you'd never know she was shy now.  Total affection kitty, she races around to Craig, me, and our other two cats for attention.  Constantly a purr ball, I'm thrilled at the new permanent addition to our family.   

Of course, she does have some boundary issues... (that's my cup of water thank you!)

Now I just can't wait to foster more kitties.... but we probably need to unpack first...

Kelvin Is Not Normal

Warning: Cute Cat Post.

I recently watched a video about Winston, a 'not normal' cat, and it made me think about how my scottish fold, Kelvin is 'not normal.'  

We adopted Kelvin (named after the Scottish Lord Kelvin) off Craigslist when K was about 9 months old, and he's our little burnt marshmallow - burnt and crusty on the outside and creamy and sweet on the inside.

My adorable marshmallow guys.

Scottish folds are quiet kitties... well, you wouldn't know that when dinner time comes around.  K tends to do the 'I'm dying... meow... feed me now.... meow.... I haven't had food since yesterday... meow... I've only had dry food ALL day....MEOW!!!'

Sorta like this guy:

Scottish folds are friendly, and have dog-like personalities.  He lived in the closet for a week when we first adopted him, and usually doesn't like to be pet.

However, he loves to be pet in bed.  He insists on bed snuggles, and lying on his back for belly rubs.  

Rub me now!

He's been rather freaked about the move, but I'm hoping he'll feel better once we're settled in.

Bonus: Baby Pic of Kelvin (his previous owner sent this to me).

We Made It

My poem about the last week.  Just be happy I'm not more emo.

We got out of the old place by the first.  

I spent the week being grimy, sweaty, and gross while moving/cleaning.  

Our new place is full of boxes.

I'm too tired to rhyme or count syllables.

Time to sleep.