Changes!

Hello everyone! Since things are changing in my life I thought it would be a good idea to update my long-neglected blog. As you know from reading about me, I am slow to accept change, but eventually things even out and I calm down. :D This could be a long post, since quite a few things are going on. I'll try to talk about them in the order they've been occurring.

First off, I'm not sure I've mentioned my father, but he's starting to get Alzheimer's Syndrome, and although I think the memory part isn't *too* bad, his communication skills have decreased quite a bit. Pretty much to the point that, unless you know him, you'd have a hard time figuring out what he's talking about. Part of the problem is his trouble with pronouns. He replaces "his" or "it's" with "my". For instance, if one of his cats has trouble with flea bites, he may say: "Oh yeah, I just give a little squirt to the back of my neck and we don't get those bites." This really confused the vet, who thought he was using the medicine on himself. Anyway, my sister and I are a bit worried at times. He drives well enough, but what if he got in an accident (even through no fault of his own)? Would he be able to communicate with the police or other drivers? Also, he's up on that hill by himself. The other day the smoke detector went off (due to burning some toast) and he didn't know who to call...

So, plans have been in the works to create a sort of apartment at my sister's house, converting an old great room into a living space. Work has been going extremely well, as we have an excellent general contractor who really knows his stuff. He may not need the apartment right away, but it will be comforting to know it is finished and ready for him to move in if things deteriorate. My sister is a hospice nurse, so she would be able to take care of him, possibly even full-time if she wanted to. I handle the business end of things, such as his bills and investments and such, so between the two of us, we really have a handle on his life :)

The next change concerns my mate, Hunter! He will be joining the culinary arts program at LCC next year, so this year he will be taking all the regular classes not directly connected to the program. He really wanted to start the main program this year, but wasn't able to get the reference letters in time to make the cut. No worries though, these regular courses are also important! Plus, once he does start the main culinary arts program, he'll be at school sometimes more than 10 hours a day, so I'll miss him when it finally comes to pass :(

In other news, one of my best friends from Second Life completed her move from Michigan to Eugene just this last month. She's been planning the move for months, and it finally happened. There were a few hiccups with car trouble on the way out, but she made it, and was able to stay at my place for the time it took to furnish her new apartment and get a bit familiar with the town. I have to say, it's really nice to have face-to-face contact with someone that before I only used to see on Skype every weekday at lunch. Now I'm able to stop by in the morning on my way to work (instead of just chatting on the cell phone) and visit directly at lunch. It's really fun having her around, and although I know she's feeling a bit like a fish-out-of-water due to the unfamiliar surroundings, that just takes time and will eventually become easier. I'm looking forward to a lot of great movie nights, day trips, and potlucks between all of us!

Lastly, we have a new kitten in the house! With a story behind it, so here goes. Last Thursday, September 2nd, Hunter was driving back Springfield on McKenzie Highway (Highway 126) and noticed someone up ahead throw some gray trash out the passenger window into the center of the highway. As he passed the spot, he noticed that the trash was moving and alive! He immediately pulled to the side of the road with flashers on, and, waving traffic to stop, rescued the poor gray kitten, only 6 weeks old. He then drove to the emergency vet nearby, who determined it may have a concussion, and visually had some road rash from being ejected from a moving vehicle at 55MPH. I still can't believe anyone could be so heartless. The emergency vet didn't have the staff to watch the kitten overnight, so we took it in and put it in our spare room, worried it may not survive the night. It wouldn't leave the corner of the room, and would hiss and swipe at anyone who tried to touch it.

The next morning, he was still wary of humans, but doing a bit better, and over the holiday weekend the whole household was checking in on he, giving it food and water, and a safe place to recover. By the end of the weekend, he became a normal kitten again, purring and nuzzling, chasing a string, eating and using the litter. Hunter and I took him to the vet to check for any terminal diseases (which we wouldn't want passed on to Remington or Samantha, of course) and it passed with flying colors. After a bout of indecision on my part, we decided we would keep him, and name him McKenzie. Just think: if Hunter had been 5 minutes sooner or later on that stretch of highway, he may never have seen it and it would have died right there. It just felt right to have it be part of the family. The vet said at 6 weeks it would normally still be with its mother, so it needs some special care. I've always wanted to raise a kitten to adulthood from the start, and now we have the chance. It's the cutest thing: we also call it "little squeaker", as you can see from this video.

Well, that's all I have to report at the moment. Thanks for reading :)