Signs announcing that we found a stray cat went up in our neighborhood yesterday morning, but so far, nobody has called to claim Ares. Alyssa is getting really attached to him, especially after he slept next to her on Sunday night, so I explained to her that he might belong to someone else, and if he does, we’ll have to give him back. She seemed sort-of-okay with that, but then asked if that happened, could we visit him? Poor girl. She has Fritzy all over her 24/7 (that cat seriously mopes when she’s spending the night with my mom or one of Dan’s sisters), and the other three cats and Leah, but she quickly attached herself to Ares, too. She takes after me in that regard. I remember being eight or nine years old, and finding a lost dog in the local park. It was a bitterly cold late afternoon in January, and since the dog was both friendly and injured (his tail was bleeding; that’s all I really remembered), I led him home to my mom and begged her to find his owner. If I remember correctly, he had a collar, but no tags, so we took him to the local animal shelter. If I also remember correctly, his owner did eventually claim him, and the animal shelter called us to pass along his thanks.
This isn’t the first time I’ve taken in a stray cat, either. In April of 2003 I found Goliath on the side of a road in Pittsburgh. I brought him home, cleaned him up, got him neutered and vaccinated, and then we gave him to my brother-in-law the following September. Goliath grew into his name; he is a MASSIVE cat. He’s at least seven years old now, and spoiled rotten.
Anyway. On Sunday afternoon I bathed Ares, clipped his claws, and put a flea collar on him. I called our veterinarian, and the soonest appointment available is on Friday. I’ll take him in then to be scanned and vaccinated. I’ll wait another week, and if I don’t hear anything from anyone, he’s most definitely ours, and I’ll get him neutered. (Another thought just occurred to me: our back yard borders a field that is adjacent to an Amish farm. It’s entirely possible that Ares was a barn cat that wandered off. Hmm. I might stop by there this afternoon to ask if they’re missing a cat. And if they are, if they want him back, LOL. The Amish are pretty notorious for having barn cats and dogs that aren’t really pets, you know?)
Right now I’m at Panera Bread. I haven’t been here in almost three weeks, and I have to admit, I missed it. Even before surgery, I didn’t come for the food (though their broccoli cheddar soup is positively amazing!) so much as I came for the kid-free, distraction-free atmosphere. And since having surgery, I definitely don’t come for the food. I order something each time I’m here, obviously, but more often than not most of it comes home with me, or hits the trash can. This morning I ordered a muffie (perfect size!) and a bottle of water, so I’m good to go with being able to finish what’s on my plate. Keeping it down, of course, is another matter altogether. Heh. Speaking of which, I need to call my doctor’s office and schedule a follow-up appointment to make sure the pneumonia is gone and my lungs are clear. With that confirmed, I can re-schedule my stricture fix. I’ll be able to eat normally at some point, LOL.
I have two large (and by large I mean 4000 words each) writing assignments, but I have some blogging and miscellaneous work I want to get out of the way first. I have until 11:45am to tie up all the loose ends, and then I’ll be catching a ride with my mom out to the agency that oversees my brothers’ placement in foster homes, and their community and home visits with my mom. Speaking of which, on February 4th it was court-ordered that the boys be transitioned home. Thank god, no more fucking around. Weekly home visits were also ordered, in addition to increasing the community visits (visits at a local agency office) to every week, instead of every two weeks. My brothers had their first home visit last week, and they were ecstatic. I brought Alyssa and Ryan over to my mom’s house, and they paired off — my fourteen year old brother and Alyssa; my twelve year old brother and Ryan — just as they did before my brothers were taken by CPS. It was really cute to see and hear them interact together, especially my twelve year old brother and Ryan. He (my brother) is autistic, and he and Ryan have very similar personalities and autistic “quirks” (though my brother never head-banged). Both my fourteen year old brother and Alyssa are also alike in personalities; both are chatter boxes and drama queens, too. Haha.
I can’t wait to get home later today. I have an important phone call (read: job opportunity with an awesome company, whee!) scheduled for 5:00pm, and I also want to play on my desktop. Go figure that between the five year old desktop and the nine month old laptop, it’s the desktop that I can install Mac OS X on (my laptop’s graphic card isn’t yet supported). I copied my music over and installed Google Chrome, iTunes, AIM, MSN, and Twhirl. Now I need to figure out how to get my saved passwords off of the laptop so I can put them on the desktop; I also need to figure out something with email. Currently I use Outlook for email, and sync it between my desktop (Windows 7 installation) and laptop using SynchPst. Obviously, that’s not going to work with Mac OS X. So yeah, I need to work on that. I need to be able to access my email at all times. I can go the webmail route if I have to, but that’s icky and boring, so I’d obviously rather not. ;) Suggestions, anyone?
i am so glad you put up flyers about the kitty! it’s good to know that you care enough about him to help find his owners if he has any! *hugs* it just makes me feel so good, especially since you know apparently whoever found shadow didn’t return the favor. even I posted missing flyers for him and someone can’t be honest enough to contact me! who knows. i’d rather him be happy though than something else
it was so funny how i told you i wanted an orange cat like that one , and then found one on craigslist the next day !
aw you poor thing you’re still sick! I just came down with something. I hope its just a bad cold and not anything worse but I do have a fever so that sucks. Would you want to keep the kitty if it’s not claimed? I wish I werent so allergic to cats because I love them but I get sick when I hold them. I hope you get your stricture fixed soon. <3
I have a MacBook Pro that I absolutely love and I have had it since August (got it for school). Since then, I have been tempted to build a new desktop PC that is Intel based just so I can install the Mac OS on it without spending tons on an IMac. It’s kind of weird to hear other people preferring it over Windows
Also, I’m glad to hear that your brothers will be coming home soon. I can only imagine how much stress will be relieved off you and your mom because you won’t have to deal with the system anymore or at least not in that nature. I remember when my aunt and uncle were foster parents and even the things they’ve had to deal with, with people accusing them off false things.
Aww, I hope that in the event that Ares has another owner that Alyssa won’t be heartbroken over him having to go back to another home. But it’s great that you are trying to see if Ares does have another family, maybe one that’s been trying to find him. I’m also glad that your brothers are getting transitioned home, I’m assuming they’ll be able to spend more and more time at home until it’s a permanent status? =)
Use the mac mail client? Otherwise Thunderbird works fine on mac. Yay for Mac OSX.
Isn’t he a little fat to be some amish stray? I hope so, for Alyssa’s sake!
Before anything, good luck with everything for your job.
Regarding your email, I’d go with the webmail since that’s the safest route. I know it’s boring but at least it works and it will give you what you want.