Practice, Practice, Practice

To reverse the joke, that's how you get to Lincoln Center!!!

Last night, Bud performed with his kung fu team at a Chinese New Year celebration at David Geffen Hall.  Originally, only the older members of the team were going, but Bud was added pretty much at the last minute.

We never dreamed that he would ever be on the Lincoln Center stage!!  What a wonderful and amazing experience!  I don't know if it dawned on Bud until we got there just how big a venue and event this was; the couch didn't seem to know Lincoln Center at all and so maybe they were all spared some of the anticipatory jitters.

So, he spent most of Saturday with his team, practicing, practicing, practicing.

Waiting

We're here!

Checking it out

Dress rehearsal--he's the red/white blur in the back right

And yesterday, we went into Manhattan for rehearsal and the performance.  We had lunch, checked into our hotel, the Empire, across the street, met up with  his teammates, and then Sis and I went back to the room (grabbing Starbucks coffee on the way), where we met up with Ma, Gong, and Goo.  We went back to Lincoln Center around 6:45 and took our seats in the back of the first tier (which was better than we expected.)  As we got closer to time, I got more nervous about the whole thing (because I knew how big Lincoln Center was!)

Backstage

Heading to their room

Meanwhile. Bud and his team got a very truncated rehearsal and a ton of waiting time in their green room, where they chatted, ate sandwiches, and made friends with other performers from a Chengdu dance team (our group was the only American-born group of performers.)I understand it was kinda tense at times backstage and acts rehearsed, chairs were moved, kids got a little stage fright, and adults spoke sternly to each other in Mandarin.  But our team hung together tightly and made the most of it.  They watched the internal monitors to know when it was their turn, about an hour into the evening.

View from the stage

Dress rehearsal--he's the red/white blur near the photo's middle

Wow.

Am I a proud mom!

The finale of their routine--he's the red/white blur in the back row, very middle

The program

Their section of the program was about ten minutes, but it was a well-done routine and they looked great.  (There was a glitch with the music, but the team waited it out.)  Bud did his 9-chain and his Tong Bei form--beautifully!  The team got lots of cheers.  And I got all choked up.  Later, he said he could hear some of the applause.

Leaving by the stage door on 65th

We opted not to stay for the rest of the show and so met the team in the lobby for congratulations and photos--Bud was both extremely excited and pretty exhausted.  And hungry.  So we said goodbye to the group and our family went out for a celebratory seafood dinner at a place called Ed's Chowder House.  It was delicious.

Bud's eyes were drooping over his souffle and we headed upstairs to bed.

Wow.

As his teammate's mom said, "This was a real bucket list item.  Except it probably wasn't even on their list yet!

Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine's Day, here are 14 questions about me and my spouse:

1. Where did you meet your other half?  Shelving books at the university library

2. How long have you been with your significant other?  Since 1994

3. If you're married, when did you say "I do"?   August 1997.

4. What song did you walk down the aisle to? We had a whole playlist for the second wedding (or the first wedding, after the civil union.)  There were Indigo Girls songs and maybe Lover's Waltz by Jay Ungar.

5. Do you have any children yet? Twins and, in total, 5 cats (currently, Albus, Hermione, and Mojito, plus Mr. P and Morgan.)

6. What's your favorite thing about your other half?   Kindness, loyalty, caretaking, tenderness, intelligence and curiosity, creativity and inventiveness, organizational skills,   But best of all, we have such a good time together and laugh a lot.  She's so cute when she laughs.

7. Were you and your other half high school sweethearts?
No, but she was 19 (a few weeks shy of 20) when we met.

8. Where was your first date?
Early on, we went to "Rent."  She brought roses and we went out to O'Lunney's afterwards (or was it peppermint schnapps hot chocolate at the Marriott Marquis?)  Before that, we ate breakfast and lunch together everyday of the summer of 1994.

9. How long were you dating before you said "I love you"?
Hmmm, we were dating without knowing we were dating.  We said "I love you" as friends pretty early on (I wrote a long treatise on it in a book dedication!)  As more?  August 23, 1997.

10. How long were you dating your other half before he/she proposed? 4 years  We kinda proposed to each other, in the midst of an argument over the book, Bar Stories, on the phone between Chicago and NYC!!  I said, "What would you do if I told you I loved you?  and she said, "I'd buy you a ring."  Done and done.

11. Where is your favorite place you have traveled with your other half?  We have fun near and far, but some of the best trips were our first trip together to Galena, two trips to Door County, our Great Lakes lighthouse tour,  our "nano-honeymoons" in Union Square, London and environs three times now, two trips to New Orleans, three trips to Disney World, even just Old Sturbridge Village, Mystic Seaport, and Hancock Shaker Village, and all the lighthouses and living history museums.  I know I'm forgetting somewhere.

12. How do you and your other half plan to spend Valentines?  She hates Valentine's Day and so we never do much.  We're going into NYC with the kids.  I have some candy for everyone but didn't get to doing the Zentangle gifts I'd planned.

13. What does your favorite 'date night' consist of?  Now?  Locally, dinner and maybe some bookstore browsing.  Grandiose plans would be our overnights in NYC with a Broadway show or a museum exhibition and a meal or two.

14. What is the best gift you have received from your other half?  Early on, she gave me a beautiful silver hair clip.  It was always so romantic.  But exchanging rings (from Tiffany's) in front of the fountains at the Plaza Hotel is a favorite memory.

Tidbits Plus

We have been very pun-ny recently, mostly before sweet Mr. P died.

• Sis, when we were talking about "Ceiling Cat," which in our family is kinda the Spirit of cats gone by, said that our cat Albus must be "Cat-olic."
• Goo referred to our cardboard cat tree as "Fort McKitty."

Plus, there have been three other fun and distracting events in the last few days:

• Mama took Sis rock climbing!  Sis loved it; even Mama climbed the wall.  (Bud and I stayed home in our pjs.  I fell asleep and, when I awoke, I said, "Did I fall asleep?"  He replied, "Yeah, Mom, it's April.")  Sis would love to go again, but, until she is 13, she has to climb with an instructor.  Maybe we'll take the Girl Scout troop.  
• Goo stopped by on his way home for a swazu in Vermont.  He loves the scenery and the food--local restaurants, food purveyors, and such.  He brought four loaves of bread (challah, brioche, boule, and baguette) to share with us from King Arthur Flour, and a great Cabot cheddar, plus some maple syrup and even maple syrup cotton candy.  He stayed for a few hours chatting and keeping us company.
• Today, the kids went rollerskating (as part of a birthday party, which Bud squeezed in between two kung fu practices) for the first time.  Yep, on wheels, not ice.  Sis took to the rollerblades right away, though she realized she couldn't move in them quite the same way.  Bud wore traditional skates and soon had the hang of it enough not to hug the wall.  The rink was old school, with disco ball, flashing lights, indoor carpeting, and those molded plastic-coated benches.  They even did the hokey pokey and the limbo (Sis did well at this, mainly because she is so little.)   I have such good memories of rollerskating--I took lessons (and could "shoot the duck," which was a maneuver squatting with one leg extended!) and even had skates well into college (when I had a terrible fall and almost broke an elbow--the nurses at the urgent care clinic had to scrub my arm to remove all the gravel!  And also use tweezers . . . ugh.  I never really skated again, but I could relive the sensation today.  I'm not sure I'd ever strap on stakes again, but it sure would be fun (and terrifying.)  I think the kids will skate again.  And I'd love to watch.  
  

Downtown

When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

So go downtown
Things will be great when you're downtown
No finer place for sure, downtown
Everything's waiting for you

-=-=-=-=-=-

Yep, we went downtown yesterday.  Well, really Midtown, but you get the idea.  Yes, NYC was our special outing--to the Discovery Center in Times Square to see not only the Star Wars costume exhibition but also the Vikings exhibition.  And we had a great time!

First, it's always great to be back in my old neighborhood, though it's changed so much.  Still, I feel 25 again and filled with the positive memories of my time in the city.  It's like going home.

The SW show was good, too.  I've seen other SW shows, namely "The Magic of Myth" in both Milwaukee (on my own) and Brooklyn (with Mama in 2002); it had costumes plus models, props, and blueprints.  This show was all costumes (plus a few blasters and lightsabers.) We got to see all the standards, from both trilogies.  I especially liked seeing Princess Leia's white dress from New Hope.  I wish they'd had the Hoth, Cloud City, or Endor clothes, or even especially the Force Awakens outfits.  Still.  There were all the various Jedis, Han Solo, Chewie, C-3PO, R2-D2, BB8, lots of stormtroopers, various Senate officials, Yoda, and Darth Vader.  There were more elaborate gowns for Amidala than you could shake a coathanger at, but they were lush and complex, even if I don't like the movies.  I was amazed at how small the infamous metal bikini is; no wonder they had trouble keeping it on her--there isn't anything to it!  Bud said that costume always makes him feel uncomfortable.  Me, too, and I think that was the point.  We liked seeing Rey, Finn, and Poe at the end, their clothes continuing many of the trends started in the first three films.  

We had lunch just a few buildings down from my old home, at the barbecue joint Virgil's.  Quick, reliable, tasty.  And NYers just don't eat at 11:30 so we got a table easily.

Then we went back for the Vikings exhibition.  I've also seen a few major Viking exhibitions--at the American Museum of Natural History and at the British Museum--and this one actually compared, though it was smaller.  It had some great artifacts--brooches, swords, amulets, needles, axes, even dried bread--plus a few stele (though I think they were all reproductions.)  And of course the "ghost ship," which is suggested by rivets hanging on strings, since the wood was all lost over time.  There were several interactive kiosks and some lovely photos of reenactors and museums in modern-day Sweden.  Plus, there were even some Nordic dogs, in town for the Westminster Dog Show, that were like the dogs the Vikings would have had.  Sis and Bud enjoyed seeing them.  The exhibition was all about the daily life of Vikings--which never included horned helmets!--and so went out of its way to separate them from the marauding Beserkers who attacked Lindisfarne, etc.  This shift in the scholarship has been a long time in the making, but I didn't realize until now that "viking" is actual used to reference the activity of going on an expedition "to go Viking" or to "be on a Viking."  It's NOT the name of a group of people, like we use Swedish or Icelandic or Norwegian.  It was an activity.  Still, in a few ways, the exhibition did too much to erase the more violent aspects--the reason there are graves everywhere and lots of trade is because of their offensive maneuvers and plunder.  But, it was probably not much like the tv show, "Vikings" (which I like anyway.)

We picked up some cupcakes from the Discovery Center cafe and headed home through Friday afternoon traffic.  All things considered, it was a great day, and, even more, a good distraction from our sadness.

Waves

I'm not sure I can write about yesterday and what I have poetically referred to as our cat Mr. P entering immortality.  Maybe someday, if and when I need to.  Suffice it to say, we were all there and we were all able to say goodbye in the ways we needed, including Mr. P's original owner.  And it happened quickly, painlessly, and peacefully.  We are very sad but also grateful not only to have known Mr. P but also to have been able to let him go when the time came.

Luckily, it's our school's winter break starting today so we can spend some days grieving and recuperating.  Our mantra is "be gentle" to ourselves and each other, because we know grief can cause all sorts of emotions and behaviors--anger, sadness, listlessness, forgetfulness, regret, nostalgia, and then just moments of being really quite normal.  Everyone seems to compare it to waves--one that sucks you down and you have to swim back to the surface (Pema Chodron) or a succession of waves which you have to float between until the next one (and the peaks get lower or the distances greater and you see them coming.)  And so we go up and down.  We're also trying to "stay with it" (also Pema Chodron), stay with the grief, instead of staving it off and avoiding it with shopping, food,  endless video games, or whatever.  Similarly, also from Pema (Mama is listening to some of the Buddhist nun's sermons in her car), we are trying not to "escalate our suffering" with anger, meanness, avoidance, etc.; it's bad enough without our making it worse.  And we know that soon, we'll be able to remember Mr. P with more happiness than pain.  For now, though, there are tears and quiet pauses.

So, today, we're home.  (The kids and Mama got haircuts.)  Tomorrow we have an outing we planned a couple of weeks ago (after canceling our big trip to DC and Williamsburg which was supposed to be now; we didn't want to board a sick and anxious Mr. P.)  Saturday, the kids have a ROLLER-skating birthday party which is novel; neither has rollerskated.  Sunday, we might have another outing planned (we'll keep it hush-hush until it goes through, but it promises to be pretty exciting.)  And Monday will be more R&R before work and school.

We are grateful to friends and family who have called, emailed, posted, and even dropped by with cards and a beautiful plant (though thankfully not the kitten that the girl thought would cheer us up!)  We're okay and we'll be better soon.

Good Night, Sweet Prince

 . . . and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Patron, aka Mr P, 2000-2016

Rest in peace, Mr. P.

May we who love you be comforted.

Vigiling

Mr. P hasn't gotten better. We're vigiling now (with goodbyes and quiet company, at a distance), though he remains comfortable and not in distress. Sure, he surprised us almost a week and a half ago, but . . . .

Pancake Tuesday

Snow day Friday.

Early dismissal Monday.

Two-hour delay Tuesday.

At least the snow delay gave us time to have a big pancake breakfast in honor of Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras.

Sis made the buttermilk syrup while I started the pancakes.  Once the kids were full, Sis made my pancakes so I could eat--so sweet, so talented!  She's really expanding her kitchen skills.  This weekend, she made our family chocolate chip cookie recipe completely by herself, including the oven work.  And she cleaned up!  That's the best kind of cook.

We may or may not have a full day of school on Wednesday.

And then Thursday is a half day, Friday AND Monday are holidays, so it's rather a wonky week for us.

Monkey Business

We celebrated the Year of the Monkey today, on Chinese New Year's eve.  It was our usual day of rituals and feasting, with the kids old enough to help out more with both.

Here they are carefully molding the rice for the presentation table to the ancestors.

Sis makes some pork meatballs for the broth.

The family altar where we say prayers to the Buddha.

Offerings to the Buddha, which the kids helped transfer after prayers.

Bud helps pour liquor for the ancestors.

The table for the ancestors.

There was a new empty chair at the table, for Mama's grandfather, Lao Gong.

Aren't these pretty?  Red bean paste buns.

Chicken, pork, and duck.

Paper money to burn for the ancestors.

Burning the paper money.

Not pictured is the groaning table of food that we sit down to after all of the prayers.  Many of the foods are reheated and combined in soups and stir fries.  I love the stir-fried fresh bean leaves and also the Buddha noodles with bean curd skin, dates, mushrooms, and gingko nuts.  Oh, and the taro with coconut milk.  The kids love the soup with the meatballs and fish cakes and the fresh chicken.  This year there was duck, which Ma made herself, with brown sugar and black soy sauce and a long salt-curing and then simmering.  Mama loves it all (except gingko nuts!)  And there are so many candies and sweets, each year is slightly different depending on what is available where (Ma and Gong visit dozens of stores in various areas--Manhattan Chinatown, Flushing, Bay Ridge, Avenue Q, etc.--in the week or so leading up to today.  In fact, one shop owner harassed Ma for buying so much!  And wouldn't even give her a box, wanted to charge her for it.  But the shop makes old-fashioned Chinese sweets so Ma puts up with them!)  This year there were candied kumquats and lotus seeds, various nut and seed bars, red bean paste buns, coconut buns, "smiley face" sesame balls, these peanut-filled "empanadas," sponge cakes, sesame buns with lotus paste, and these awful Osmanthus candies that Mama found (they looked good, though.)  You'll notice that most of the foods have red dots--Ma meticulously paints each piece or places a small paper cut out dot, as a blessing.  Her hands were noticeably red today.

Also, you can't quite tell that most of us are wearing red along with a new item of clothing--this year, we all got black Millennium Falcon t-shirts!!!   The house is also decorated with lots of red and gold, both old decorations of symbolic paper money and new Monkey things.  I don't think I took any photos of the decorations, though I did shoot a video of my favorite singing turtle, which flashes while you hear the song "Gong xi ni!" (sung over and over again in a squeaky girl's voice.)  I'll see if I can eventually link to the video here.

At the very end of the day, right before we pack the car with enough leftovers for days plus makings for the Buddha soup on the seventh day, we exchange red envelopes, "ang bao."  This is when we say our little chant, ""Xing jia eu-ei, xing ni huac chai, ang bao tua tua kai."  The amount of money in your envelope is related to your age, which is calculated slightly different--you are one on the day you are born (you get credit for womb time) and then turn 2 on your first Chinese New Year, so you are always about 2 years older than your Western age.  So in this case, the kids got a multiple of $12, plus $2 for luck.  (They get more than the adults, being kids, but later when they have jobs, they are supposed to give us envelopes.)  

And so we drove home, ready to start a new year . . . .which might just begin with a snow delay or even a day off!

Crowding Out

We had another good dinner last night.  "Is it Wildtree?" Bud asked.  Sorta, just the seasonings on the chicken.  Easy "roast" chicken, sweet potatoes, stir fried green beans.  We ate it all, minus a bit of the chicken which will go in soup on this rainy day.

We have a family goal to eat more fruits and vegetables.  We're each aiming to increase our intake.  Sis is aiming for three a day; I'm looking at four to five.  Bud just eats.  Yesterday, we hit our goals, which was good.  My thought is--using an idea from Heather Bruggeman called "crowding out"--that the more fruits and veggies we eat, the less junk we eat.  We'll see.  But if it can already go well in February, when good produce is pretty limited, we should be doing really well this summer and fall.


-=-=-=-=-

Easy WT "Roast" Chicken, adapted
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon Rancher Steak Rub
2 tablespoons Hearty Spaghetti blend
1 1/2-2 lbs chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients and let marinate 4 hours or overnight.  Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, turning chicken over halfway.


Baked Sweet Potatoes
3-5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
cinnamon, enough to generously sprinkle over the top

Combine ingredients and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until tender and caramelized.

Miss JR


Stir Fried Green Beans
1 lb green beans, washed and cut into 1/2" pieces (with scissors is easiest)
grapeseed oil to sautee
soy sauce
garlic powder

Preheat skillet with oil until drips of water pop in oil.  Add little green bean pieces.  Stir Fry until green beans begin to wrinkle.  Reduce heat and add soy sauce and garlic powder to taste and 1/4-1/2 cup water, covering to steam until desired tenderness.

Mama Hungry

Purr On, Mr. P!

The cardiologist we saw on Saturday has every hope that Mr. P will be around for a check up in three to four months, once we tweak his meds some.  In fact, besides the congestive heart failure, the vet thinks Mr P looks great for his almost 16 years.  Still, we have to watch his eating (he needs to eat more--he's lost almost 20% of his weight, which isn't good under the circumstances) and his breathing (rapidity--more than 22 breaths in 30 seconds--indicates he's not getting enough oxygen.)  So, we've been doing both.  And he seems pretty good.  To say we were thrilled with both Mr P's improvement and the vet's prognosis is putting it mildly.  Of course, things could always change, but we hadn't dreamt of months, only just days or weeks.

"I'm too sexy for that bald spot."

Goodbye and Hello

We bid a fond farewell to our Honda Odyssey (onetime nickname: Homer), which we'd had for almost 11 years.  We bought the minivan when I was so pregnant I couldn't get behind the wheel much less test drive it; they were born about 3 weeks later.  We brought them home from the hospital in that car, drove around for endless car naps almost to Massachusetts and back while discussing all manner of things (often after church on a Sunday), and went on several family trips, before we switched to Mama's 2011 Subaru Outback for travel.  I loved listening to my music (too loud) and toodling around town, with my rainbow MOM bumper sticker on the back (it even attracted attention from other lesbians once in awhile, who would give thumbs up or comment at lights!)  I almost didn't have music--early on, Sis "fed" quarters in the CD player, stopping the whole system, which was still covered by the warranty and a recall, by just days.


And now I have a jasmine green 2015 Subaru Forester, which sits and drives a lot like my Honda and is roomier than Mama's Outback.  I like that it's partial zero emissions and gets better fuel mileage; Mama is glad that it has four-wheel drive for ice and snow (if we ever get that again.)    I was really impressed at how well (and hard) she drove a bargain--they tried a few things, but she stuck to the price and got us a good deal.  I was a bit sad to say goodbye to my MOM bumper sticker; they don't make them anymore.  But I added the one below this morning and it gives my car some character.

Otherwise, I almost had a mild heart attack when I realized:  this is the car the twins will learn to drive in not too long from now.

Doodle Therapy

Trying to maintain some equanimity this week, I have been doodling more, both repeating previous designs and experimenting with new ones.  I found a couple of magazines, with some designs and ideas I hadn't seen.  It's been quite the release.

And today, out of nowhere, my Zentangle Kit for my workshop in April arrived today; I didn't even know they were sending it, much less now.  So I have some new supplies and materials to work with, which is exciting.

Allegiance

We took a break from our kitty hospice here (we had someone feed the patient, though) and went into the city last night to see Allegiance, the musical about Japanese-American internment camps during WWII inspired by the life story of actor and cultural icon George Takei.  We had been on the fence about going anytime soon, but the closing of the show was announced and I realized how much I wanted to see it, especially after a few friends really recommended it.  So, Mama found this great opportunity through her audience rewards membership (for frequent Broadway attendees, and we're not all that frequent) to attend a Q&A with the tree main cast members, George Takei, Lea Salonga, and Telly Leung.

Musically and structurally, it is not the strongest of shows--I've seen worse (Whistle Down the Wind, anyone?)--but emotionally it was extremely powerful, especially in light of current world events with Syrian refugees and the vitriol spewed against them (and Mexicans and Muslims and women and people with disabilities) by Trump.  The musical follows one Japanese-American family's experiences and reactions to its experiences when they are incarcerated in miserable circumstances after Pearl Harbor; the son is very patriotic and joins the Army but the daughter comes to resist the internment, pulling their family apart and separating them for the rest of their lives.  Gaman, a Japanese word from Zen Buddhism meaning "to face the unbearable with dignity and patience"--a kind of mindfulness in the face of crisis--is a key tenet (and song.)  The show also addresses the worth and dignity of all human life, the importance of social justice, the scourge of racism, difficult decisions in times of war, standing up for one's beliefs, the nature of loyalty and allegiance; you could say it's a very Unitarian Universalist musical.  But it doesn't give easy answers--both the patriotic son, the resistant daughter, and ancillary characters are often sympathetic--and, even though there is a technically happy ending (when the now aged son is reunited with his niece), as Bud put it, "it wasn't a very happy show."

The performances were marvelous, though.  Takei, of course, is best known for Star Trek and his work as a gay rights advocate and now leading cultural figure.  He was in turn funny as the old grandfather and touchingly tragic as the aged Army soldier son.  Salonga, whom Mama saw in Miss Saigon some 22 years ago, has an amazing voice and sings many of the show's most touching songs.  And Leung was an exuberant and then devastated young man.

Best yet, we got to hear from all three of them after the show!   It was fascinating to hear them talk about the different iterations of the show. Apparently at some point there were two brothers and no sister, a mama, the nurse was actually just the daughter of the warden, Sammy was a minor character with asthma who only had one song. Leung talked about all the changes in the six years he's been with the workshop and the show. Salonga talked about how her Chinese-Japanese husband has relatives who managed not to be sent to camps because they moved to Colorado where the governor refused to lock anyone up. And of course Takei talked about the seat he is leaving open for Trump  to come learn about the very real effects of discrimination and racism in our world today (Trump even recently said he would have supported the camps during WWII.)  I saw the seat--it was down the row from us during the talk-back--and it had remained empty.  It wasn't very long, but it added an extra-dimension to the narrative and to our understanding of the process of the creation of musical.  

On another note, beyond my beliefs in social justice and anti-racism and my appreciation for Takei's work (I've donated to Takei's legacy project), I was just so glad to see a musical about, created by, and performed by a mostly Asian team.  No other show has that.  And with my two half-Asian children, it's very important to me that they see beyond stereotypes (of Asian doctors, science geeks, straight A+ students, prodigy violinists, and wimpy conformists who always follow the rules) and also that they see strong role models standing up for what's right in the world.  

And so, while I can't hum any of the songs this morning, the story and images will stick with me for a long time.

-=-=-=-=-

I'm going to try, later, to fold the origami flower that played such a role in the show.  

A Little Kitty Mystery

I'll start by saying that Mr. P is doing very well, considering his terminal diagnosis of congestive heart failure.  He's having good days and nights and we're enjoying them together.

But yesterday, there was a moment . . . .

I had gone upstairs to feed him because he still needs to be encouraged to eat.  I opened the door--and no cat.  Not on the bed, in the litter box, or at the food.  I even checked the closet.  Then my foot brushed a warm, soft mass under the bed, the same place our dear Morgan would hide when he was dying.  Oh, no, I thought.  What happened?

But as I knelt to check Mr. P, I noticed he was very alert, not lethargic and indifferent . . . .and then something out the window caught my eye.

A gray and white cat.

At the second floor window.

The gray and white cat, standing on the little roof of our porch to get to the window must have scared Mr. P.  And now he was "waving" and "knocking" to get my attention.  I closed the curtains.

See, the same cat had been at Bud's window, also above the porch, the evening before.  We had called his owner, as we pulled him off the roof, to make sure he wasn't lost, but apparently he's a regular outsider and even more regularly gets into other people's houses!  So, we put him back outside.

I guess he was coming back for a second visit.  Well, Mr. P won't be inviting him in.  Mr. P was so scared, he curled up in my arms for a few hours, head tucked.  Poor thing.

I still don't get how the visitor got to the second floor.  The little tree in front doesn't overhang the porch roof and is too slight to hold a cat's weight anyway.   I guess he could have gone from my minivan to the garage, across to the small roof at the back of the house, under Sis's window, and then up and over the rabbit run to the front of the house and the porch roof.

But the foot prints in the snow seem to suggest he shimmied up the gutter . . . .

Stay tuned for the continuing saga of the visiting kitty.

Life Everlasting

“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.” 

The mother-daughter book club met last night to discuss Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.  I won't give away the big spoilers but will say that the book explores questions of the meaning of life and death and the meaning that death gives to life.

But the meeting wasn't all serious discussions--though, the majority of girls opted for the choice the protagonist Winnie Foster didn't make (except my Sis, and a couple, who agreed with Winnie)--we were treated to flapjacks, just like the ones Winnie enjoyed with the Tucks.

Even better, the hosts served them with buttermilk syrup!!  I had never heard of such a thing, but it is amazing, sweet deliciousness--all sweet creamy buttery-ness.  I bought buttermilk today to make some with pancakes later in the week.

Sis, during the discussion of life and death, said that if she could, she would grant Mr. P immortal life.  So sweet.  He is doing remarkably well, all things considered.  We put him on an appetite stimulant and he ate almost two small cans (which is what he needs to eat to avert liver failure.)  He is also moving more--he's been downstairs twice (he's here right now!)--and being more like himself. He has even made his usual "mac" sound that we haven't heard since before last Wednesday.  And he's been sitting on me and leaning up against me, even curling up in my arms.  It's good to see our Mr. P's little light shine brighter.

Of course, we recognize that he is at the end of his life.  Stats seem to say that cats with congestive heart failure--and 40% don't make it through their first episode--usually live just months (which makes sense--I think humans only live about 5 years?), so we know our time together is short.  But knowing this reminds us to appreciate every day.

Which, in many ways, was the lesson of Tuck Everlasting.


Buttermilk Syrup
via Six Sisters Stuff

¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup of sugar
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, and buttermilk and bring to a boil. Once it's at a complete boil, let it boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and whisk in baking soda and vanilla. It will foam up during the boiling, and especially when other ingredients are added. Serve with your favorite pancakes or waffles. Best served warm.  Good on pancakes, fruit, with a spoon!

Winter Fun: Blizzard Photos

Yesterday

Today

Winter Fun: We're Having a Blizzard

Yep, it's been snowing and blowing since 7 a.m., dropping upwards of 12" on us, though it's hard to tell with all of the drifting.

We skipped ice skating, kung fu, and haircuts (cancelled yesterday.)

Instead, Sis and Bud went sledding with the neighbor girl and then made a snowfort, which they stocked with snowballs for later.  Then, all cold and damp, they all came inside to share snow ice cream and hot chocolate.  Later, Bud built Legos.  Sis read a book and then read another book.  Mama played "Spit" with Sis and "Blink" with Bud.  I doodled and crocheted a new hat (with yarn that I ordered just yesterday and was amazingly delivered during the blizzard!  I would have specified, "No need to deliver during natural disasters.")  The kids played Minecraft.  Mama napped.  We all petted the various cats (Mr. P continues to recover.)  We had eggs and Irish bacon with toast and marmalade, then tortilla soup and quesadillas and finally mini Victoria spongecakes while we watched "The Great British Bake Off." We called Gommie, Ma and Gong, and wished Lambeth a happy birthday.  I took some pictures and looked at everybody else's on FB.

Tomorrow, it should be sunny and we'll get some great snow photos.  But, for now, here are some taken, mostly, from the safety and warmth of inside.  The last two, contrasting night and day, are my favorites.

Happy Birthday, Lambeth!!

Wishing you many happy returns from across the pond!  I hope you have a good day and a great year.  We love you.

First 24 Hours

Mr. P had a big day, his first full 24 hours home after his medical emergency.

We made an appointment with a cardiologist, talked to the vets at the ER place, consulted our regular vet.

We medicated him, supervised his visits with kids and other cats, and kept him comfortable, safe, fed and watered him.

The biggest responsibility was making sure he moved around safely, i.e. that he didn't face plant off the bed, with one gimp from leg.  Unfortunately, he was very anxious and easily startled today.  I moved the computer on the covers and he jumped out of his skin; Mama brushed a tray with her foot and he threw himself off the bed.  I caught him twice, but once he got right past us both.  He then bolted down the stairs and then down the basement stairs; I was practically frozen in place with worry that he'd break a leg or his neck in a fall, but he made it all the way down.  And then used the litter box and lay down exhausted on the treadmill.  Even though there is a litterbox not five feet from his spot on our bed.

But the part I thought might be the hardest was pretty easy:  the NYCats' first owner came for a visit today, the first time he's visited since depositing them in our care 13 months ago.  We had always agreed that we would tell him of health emergencies; Mama called him early yesterday when it looked so dire, but when things settled down, he decided to visit today instead.  Mr. P was pretty sedate but let Mr C pet him; I couldn't say if Mr P recognized him, but Mr C thought he did.  Same with Mojo, who was ensconced on his warm dryer and welcomed the attention.  Hermione even got some pets.

It was nice talking to Mr C, who calls Patron his "lion," albeit a kinda failed Alpha one.  He recognized P's casual indifference to some of the pets by the turn of an ear and he said he was always a big purr-er.  He also characterizes Mojo as a sneaky little cuddler.  He thought it was funny that Mo burrows in blankets, something new.  He still loves his cats, of course.  But he also has been keeping his distance to respect our relationship with them.  And he is so grateful and happy for our care.

And so the day has come to a close with Mr. P sound asleep in Mama's spot on the bed, breathing comfortably.  It was a long day for all of us, but better than the alternative we thought was in store.  And that's great.