Category: Cats

The most important step.

“What is the most important step a man can take?”

The first one.

That was my first thought upon reading the question in Oathbringer.  As it turns out, that was the character’s initial response too.  It made me think about some significant first steps I’ve taken in recent years.

  1. Followed a friend into our graduate program.  This was significant because it didn’t match either of our majors, though it was my minor.  It was that or law school; I think I picked the right one for me.  That was the first step in my career in Information Technology.
  2. Picked up a flyer for a fan-run Chicagoland convention while I was at GenCon.  That convention is long since defunct, but the effects linger – I met my gaming group, and ex-husband, because of that convention.
  3. Signed our daughter up for karate.  It seemed like something good for her to try, and she was interested in what little she had seen (err… Kung Fu Panda).  There is certainly an element of luck that went with finding the right school, especially since we hadn’t been looking for one.
  4. That first year when I decided to clear weeds out of the old garden patch and plant spinach.  I’ll admit, I had no idea what I was getting into… vegetable gardening is addictive.

As it turns out, the answer was actually “The next step.”  Those were, of course, significant too:

  1. Interviewing with a Chicagoland company when I finished my graduate degree.  Having a degree is lovely, finding a company that will hire you to work with it is even better.  And it’s the reason I ended up in Chicagoland.
  2. The second fan-run convention I attended in Chicagoland was Capricon.  Not only is it a great convention, I’ve made friends for life at it.  It was an excellent next step.
  3. The next step at karate was getting me on the mat with her.  And again after my accident.  That worked out well, I pre-tested for first degree black belt last weekend.
  4. Gardening has turned into a series of next steps for me.  When I moved to my current house, I actually moved a raised bed set in before I moved furniture to the house.  It was early June, which is already a late start for gardening, and it turned into a fabulous harvest.

According to my cats, my first step should be to feed them.  My next step should be to feed them again.  They’re about to be disappointed at least once.

Our kitten, Arwen

I mentioned at the end of November that we had adopted a kitten, who we named Arwen.  She was a resident at the local animal shelter, and her online bio warned people that “did nip her previous owner, so she needs a new family who can handle a playful kitten.”  Given that she’s a kitten, I couldn’t understand why somebody would be worried about nipping.

In fact, she’s barely nipped me in the couple months since she moved in.  She’s clawed me repeatedly, mostly on my hands, but barely touched me with her teeth.  She’s also attacked my feet in bed enough that I added a thick blanket down at my feet for protection.  In other words, she’s a fairly typical kitten, at least in that respect.

She’s also a climber.  She will dash across the living room to leap onto the climbing tower, or jump on the counter, only to be pushed down and jump on the opposite counter almost immediately.  She seems to think the best route to the bedroom window is to cross under the bed, then over the person in bed, onto the nightstand, leaping onto the dresser and stepping onto the jewelry box.

She is immensely curious about our food.  The older two cats aren’t that interested in what we eat unless it’s chicken, but Arwen investigates everything, and wants to lick every dish and every serving spoon… even if we’re not done with them.  I’ve taken to washing the serving spoons immediately, and re-washing if we go back for more, rather than leaving them out on the counter for her… there’s only so many times I can get up to remove her while I’m eating.  And really, some of that food is spicier than a cat should be licking.

More importantly, what her online bio didn’t say is that her purring can be heard across the room.  She’ll curl up on an arm and just start purring, or more amusingly, purr while I’m serving her food as she runs laps around the food container, and as she starts to eat.   Yeah, that offsets any nipping or clawing.  Cuteness wins.

Thankful

This has been a whirlwind years, with plenty of ups and downs to keep things interesting. I am grateful that the ups far outweigh the downs.  Here are some of the things I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving:
  • The Oregonian Cookbook my grandmother sent me a few years ago.  It renewed my interest in poached eggs – I ate an egg poached in homemade broccoli tomato soup this morning – and filled my house with the wonderful scent of cranberry streusel to take to our Thanksgiving meal.  (And amused that spellcheck thinks I should replace “streusel” with “stressful”.)
  • Diane and Arwen on the cat tree
    Diane looking up at Arwen without hissing or growling.

    I’m delighted by the kitten we adopted earlier this week, it’s probably not what my parents expected me to spend my holiday money on…

  • and relieved that Arwen’s introduction into the house has been mostly painless.  Well, at least among the cats… I have scratches that prove there’s a kitten in the house.
  • I am immensely grateful for coffee, since kittens don’t seem to sleep through the entire night.
  • The lovely sounds of Peter Hollens’s Christmas album that I listened to while cooking, and that Cassandra (mostly) has good taste in music.
  • That I have friends and family who appreciate my sense of humor, which explains why I included a note about Dobby when I mailed a sock back to a friend.

I hope everybody had a fabulous Thanksgiving!