Sinclair is a wonderful little kitten and will grow into a beautiful
cat. He's already litter-trained...except a little pile in the tub
last night... but that's probably because he jumped the gate and
couldn't figure out how to get back to the box in time. At least he
went in the tub instead of on Dale's chair or carpet or somesuch! He
and Kitty are getting along well and she's even playing more.
Feeding them is becoming tricky as she allows him to steal her food
right out from under her nose. I think she thinks that she'll just
steal his later - he leaves food behind in his dish. What she
doesn't realize yet is that I am picking his dish up when he's done,
because she's fat and I don't want her overeating. So she needs to
eat all HER food. Thus, Sinclair is now getting fed separately. He
also eats everything from hot dog and turkey to bread and macaroni.
(Kitty eats nothing except dry cat food.) It's great to have a
"real" cat again. I'd forgotten about the breath-sniffing and the
table desire, though. Everything I eat, he assumes is his now.
Whups. But still, he's trainable, and knows his place. Patience, I
say... it's hard not to give in to his every whim, but I know that if
we did that, he'd be a cute furry monster down the road. So I don't
give him any of my food unless he's being respectful. Insistence
gets him nowhere no matter how cute he is.
Dale has had to endure my suffering due to an abscessed tooth. Make
that two abscessed teeth. I think. #29 flared up last week to the
point where I took advil and soon, Tylenol. I thought at first it
was related to #4, which had a cavity (filled Tuesday). But, it
wasn't. Three weeks ago it might have been seen, but they couldn't
do the typical xrays because of my gag reflex. So on Wednesday, I
insisted something was wrong and I was asked to come in. They
finally got the xrays by being a bit innovative - having me hold the
little thing instead of forcing all the plastic stuff in there. That
was FAR better and they got three xrays of the same tooth. Abscess.
So I was placed on antibiotics and I kept taking the advil and
tylenol. The next morning I woke up in agony and called in sick. I
knew the antibiotics would take a good 24 hours to kick in, but I
thought the pain would diminish, not get worse. It had been 22 or 23
hours when I finally called the dentist again. I was told to double
the antibiotics for my next two rounds, return to normal, and take
the T/A cocktail together, not separately as I'd been doing. I did
that and the next morning all pain was gone. However, my stomach
turned on me because of all the pills and inadequate intake of solid
foods over the days past. I had already called into work the night
before, knowing by 10pm that I'd be experiencing this issue and that
nausea is for me almost as bad as the toothache. Going to work would
be treacherous for my coworkers.
Good thing I stayed home. By that evening, #4 erupted into a blaze
of fury. NO idea why. It had just been filled a few days earlier.
But it could not be touched. Even the slightest move of my tongue
against it set it afire. I've yet to speak to the dentist about this
one, but I will be when they call today. (If they don't call soon,
I'm calling them...) #29 finally calmed down some but I continued
with the pain relievers until Saturday morning. Then I stayed on
Advil every EIGHT HOURS!! and #4 was only occasionally irritable.
Super sensitive, but at least no horrendous flareups for the most
part. Just enough to let me know that advil was still favoured
despite my stomach's weakening protests.
So, Saturday we went and did some much-needed food shopping and
stopped at Bed Bath and Beyond to get a special toaster that also
poaches eggs!! It's awesome... man, we love that machine!! It's the
most useful home cooking invention ever invented next to the stove.
It can actually poach the egg and toast the toast in such a way to
ensure both are warm at the same time. Oh, and it's got a warming
tray for bacon or other precooked breakfast meats. Awesome.
By Sunday morning, #4 and #29 were still sensitive, but not flaring
at all. I took advil sparingly to help my stomach love me again and
we decided it was safe to do some extended errands.
Thus, last night we went out to Home Depot and got some PVC piping
for a project I want to start working on. Then we picked up photos
(and more Advil) at CVS and headed to Hannafords for more eggs. (I
did say how much we love that machine, right?) And then, we stopped
at Dale's workplace to fix a network issue a coworker had emailed him
about on Saturday.
THAT took us three hours, but I have to say that I enjoyed every
minute. I knew I needed to be home working on a client pc that I'd
picked up on Friday amidst my stomach's miseries, but Dale needed to
fix the problem and I was happy to be helping him figure out what the
problem was, so I didn't object to the time. We were there from
shortly before 7 to nearly 10!! Finally, we isolated the problem to
a particular switch hiding out back. Networking is interesting but
very difficult to trace back sometimes! Teamwork was definitely
helpful in this matter. We got home, ate dinner, and then Dale
assisted me with the client computer a bit by setting it up,
providing moral support, and occasional advice. We worked on that
for about an hour and finally got it to where it needed to be. We
ended up in bed a bit after midnight, exhausted but happy.
This morning as I watched Dale go off to work, I thought of how happy
I am to be with him. My logical brain views "legal" marriage as
legal union with many worldly connotations, the least of which isn't
how people expect to be invited to such things no matter how small we
want it. But somehow it's still more than that. We could very well
just do some legal things to ensure we're bonded in ways that matter
(such as being allowed to visit each other in the hospital if one of
us was put there for some reason). There are ways to avoid the legal
implications of marriage and the whole society acceptance thing.
Still, despite my logical objections to such a concept, I want to
marry Dale with all my heart. So, I conclude that regardless of
where the sense of marriage being the proper thing to do comes from,
it's there, and it's in my best interest to give into it. This makes
me realize just how much I love him. It's not every day someone can
throw a monkey wrench in my logic. We may not do a ceremonious thing
with lots of people, and we may be a bit unorthodox in our approach,
but I know it will be "us" all the way.
As if in answer to all these thoughts I'd had all morning, Dale
called saying that he told his boss at work about what we'd done the
previous night and how helpful I'd been to him. It reminded me of
another quality I greatly admire in him - the ability to give credit
wherever it's due. A lot of people I know have trouble with that. I
never understood it fully. Why take credit for oneself when others
are involved? First, it has no meaning because it's not wholly
true. Second, even if people lavish someone with praise and respect,
it's not truly earned, and some day it could bite someone in the
butt. It's like cheating on a test - eventually someone will ask you
a question, you can't answer, and they may not be able to prove it,
but they'll know you couldn't have possibly passed that test with the
lack of knowledge you possess about the subject. So it's awesome
when I encounter people who not only realize this, but for whom it
comes naturally to simply state truth rather than deceive. It's very
refreshing and is a continuous reminder to me how valuable it is to
think this way. Thus, it helps me stay on the level whenever I feel
myself slipping in other directions. Dale's a good influence.
His honesty and integrity is one of his most attractive traits for
me. Well, anyway, apparently his peoples were appreciative of our
help and offered us dinner at the company's expense. Of course he
told them it was unnecessary (modesty is another of his attractive
traits) but they insisted. So he passed that info along and said we
only need give them the word and we could have a nice dinner together
some night. That's nice of them, although I agree it's unnecessary.
Dale's good that way anyway, and obviously wouldn't have appreciated
walking into a mess on Monday morning. As for me, helping the
company was secondary to my interest in the problem and desire to
help the one I love. I know my priorities now, and he's one of
them. And, it's not every day that I can help troubleshoot a network
problem such as that one.
Perhaps the most awesome thing that occurs between us is
frustration. I've learned that if we're trying to work on something
together and we both feel frustrated, it's a couple things: One, the
problem isn't fixed yet and we're frustrated over our mutual
inability to fix it by our own high standards. Two, we think
differently, and sometimes it's hard to explain to each other what
we're thinking. Being able to reason this out is immensely helpful
in keeping us from arguing or going off the deep end like so many
couples do. And we both seem to do this sort of self-analysis fairly
regularly. Neither of us enjoy confrontation, but I feel it's
wonderful that while we don't always talk about things as they're
happening, there is still a lot of thought behind everything we
experience together. We often discover this later when we both
apologize for seeming frustrated. Communication in a relationship is
definitely vital to its survival, even if it's sometimes delayed. It
allows people to put negative feelings to rest and enjoy the moments
they have together.
So, despite some pain, it was a good weekend. I feel rested again
and ready to fight the world's computers once more. Okay, maybe just
a few at work. :)
~nv
Soon to be our newest family member... assuming we're qualified to be kitten-caretakers... LOL