Free Range Early Edition

It's Mother's Day, and while I love moms and am grateful to be a mother to some excellent humans, there's something to be said for limiting the h@llm@rk forced-march kinds of "celebrations."  Discuss, if you are moved.

On the other hand, grandparenting the foster kittens is the best thing that's happened lately!  OMG, the cute is enough to knock a person over with joy.  This batch is not so good with the box as last week's, and also it isn't my bed with which they have had some numerous getting-settled errors, but the cute factor makes it all so forgivable that daughter has suddenly become a cheerful laundry queen. Also, far fewer accidents the second night. 

The Runt of this litter arrived badly underweight, undergrown, and with the words "failure to thrive."  Barky.  Not much interest in food the first night.  It's not that the other kittens dislike him, but he's way small for the pouncing and wrestling they like to do.  Anyway, we're supplementing with kitten weaning formula, doing small frequent meals away from the herd, and so far so good!  He's all perky and eating like crazy.  Like right now, he is on my desk snarfing, wildly purring.

We're going a little rogue with the kitten formula.  The shelter sent him over with some turkey stock that the last foster home cooked, but that obviously was not doing the trick since he didn't want to eat it.  This baby is just developmentally not where his sibs are.  But I think the formula is helping.

What is or isn't helping in your life?

Abbreviated Awards Show

Sweet has pulled every toy off her shelf and dumped it on the floor. I'm in the process of sweet-talking convincing bribing threatening her to clean it up.

Hugs to everyone dealing with unbloggable things, including human stupidity.

Hugs to our nonnie mouses this week, as well as other pixies, dealing with kid stuff and parental angst. See above: I get you.

Hugs to people who keep getting sick and who get rid of headaches only to get a cold.

And because this cracked me right up, despite her misfortune, QWP gets an Elevated Risk of Mullet Award for "... the burnt area immediately below the Remembering What They're All Abouts."

Kittens and supper fairies and dish fairies and working fax machines for everyone! 

It's the Kindergarten Registration Blues

...but not really. Sweet is excited, I'm excited, we're ready. The other mommies were crying at registration today. I guess that's their whine.

My whine is going to be that the kid who didn't speak for two years (remember that?) is going to get in trouble for talking in class. I'm pretty sure of it.

Not to mention the continuing behavior issues.

Pixies, where are your whines this week? Are they old enough to go to kindergarten? Or brand new?

Awards: Kittens For All

In honor of Kathy A becoming a kitten foster grandma, we present kittens prizes for all.

Tabby kittens for Queen of West Procrastination as she helps E rest her tummy from multiple bark incidents.

Black kittens for Sue as she struggles with migraines and meetings.

Orange kittens for Kathy A as she plans her fun reunion and continues her good fight.

Calico kittens to all of those dealing with difficult family members, difficult colleagues,  and non-seasonal weather. 

The Posse is saddled up to Cluestick medical offices that still depend on fax machines for communication.  What year is it?  1995?  No.

See you next week as Esperanza hosts our lovely ceremony.

Greetings from the Home Office

I am here in the Big City preparing for the Meeting That Will Unite Us All.  They even called in a facilitator for it which seems a bit like overkill unless the meeting's true purpose is a bit more nefarious than it's seemingly banal third hand agenda would suggest.  I kid you not, the agenda boiled down to talking about Stuff and not stuff that should mean several us needed to travel to the Home Office in person from our far corners of the Great Lakes region. In the old days of not so distant past, I would try to be a standard bearer and Fight The Good Fight and now?

Since my whining must be constrained, please share yours.  All of yours.  Let us all support you and help you find the energy to continue fighting the good fight.

Door Prizes!

Kudos to great doctors, paper plates, sippy cups, teachers who get it, supportive advisers, upcoming vacation time, houses that sell right away, good non-germy handshakes, the dish fairy, the local great furniture guy, and other happy things.

Cluesticks to the Vector Family, the fireplacing cancer, the freakin' snow, persons who mean well but misunderstand the power of Bark, well-intentioned naptime enforcers who fail to understand the later consequences, the designers of job applications, those engaging in chunky politics, and anybody or anything causing "tired toenails" in another human being.

Hugs to those with heartache.  xoxo

Elevated Risk of Mullet to QWP, for Phantom Bark Smell.  Hope it's gone now!

And help yourself to chocolate, tea, jam and scones, coffee, and other refreshments.

Magical Mystery Whines

Have not yet had breakfast, and already I've channeled Liz's advice!  My SIL was out of it and not eating yesterday; and Saturday they reported swallowing trouble, maybe related -- and we need to ask them to check for UTI.  Yay for a possible solution!

AW:  Nice Easter dinner with the (adult) kids!   W:  Traditional post-festivity dish whine.

AW:  Daughter is now officially trained and ready to assume the fostering of kittens!  And it's kitten season!

One of my friends collects handshakes -- her theory is that when one person shakes hands with another, they are passing along all previous handshakes.  Rubin "Hurricane" Carter died yesterday; he was falsely imprisoned for murder, and back in the day, Bob Dylan wrote a famous song about him.  Anyway, I met Rubin once, so I remembered to tell my friend that he was part of her handshake collection.  You know how sometimes a gift really is perfect, even if it doesn't even cost anything?  I really like the idea of her handshake collection, also.

What's cooking with you?