Request for Prayers, Energy, Etc.

canyonwren's much-loved cat, Stapha, is very ill.

Cat Update

It's been brought to my attention that I don't post much about Jack. This is mostly because Jack is a very polite, self-possessed and dignified cat.

Jack does not wake us in the morning when he wants food. He waits until we're up and about, then stands at the top of the stairs and meows that one of the kids should follow him. (He doesn't bother asking me to remedy his food/water/litter issues unless none of the kids show signs of getting out of bed. He also doesn't curl up to sleep with me unless none of the kids are in bed.) Once downstairs he'll lead his chosen attendant to his food and water or to his litterbox and meow that the situation should be improved please.

He'll occasionally play with a toy, but only until he notices you watching. He'll then sit up straight, in "dignified adult cat" posture, and give you the look which means "Why, the very idea that I'd act like a kitten! You insult me!"

He's not a lap cat. Once in a while he'll walk up and rub my chair and legs with his paws and ask to be picked up. He's gone again within five minutes. He'll cuddle up against someone's side, but the lap is a very time-limited thing.

So, yes. We have a cat and it is good. We love our Jack.


And with that, I'm off to the library to get my three I.L.L. books, and to the grocery store for "we got flu" supplies.

Things Which I Did Not Know Until Just Now, #54329

If, in an attempt to have ginger soda which actually contains noticeable amounts of ginger, one opens a two-liter bottle of ginger ale and drops in a bit of candied ginger, the ginger ale will foam in a most impressive manner, more than if one had vigorously shaken the bottle. If one happens to not have the bottle of ginger ale over a sink, this will make a rather large mess.

How about that! New knowledge! Whee!

*changes clothing*

ETA: if, on the other hand, one makes sure there's enough room in the bottle (or glass) to allow significant fizzing, this works just fine and tastes very good. Assuming one likes ginger, anyway.

Books!

Someone got a little overly ambitious with the public library's online catalogue.

• Norman Maclean: A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, due 3/2/2006 (almost done) ETA: finished 2/12/06
• James A. Hetley: The Summer Country, due 3/2/2006 (not started) ETA: 1/3 through
• James A. Hetley: The Winter Oak, due 3/2/2006 (not started)
• Anna Freud: The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, due 3/4/2006 (Interlibrary Loan, just picked up)
• Anna Freud: Problems of Psychoanalytic Training, Diagnosis, and the Technique of Therapy, due 3/4/2006 (Interlibrary Loan, just picked up)
• Anna Freud: Before the Best Interests of the Child, due 3/4/2006 (Interlibrary Loan, just picked up)
• Richard P. Feynman: Six Easy Pieces, due 3/12/2006 (just picked up)

(Yes, this means you'll get a break from Too-Many-Posts-Woman.)

The Other Side of that Coin

Here's my Nohari window. Have at it.