Dogs and Cats #2

Wywy ventured out of his closet voluntarily this morning, nibbled just a bit, wandered around the house, and retreated. I got him out periodically to love him and offer him food, and several times he sat on my desk for a while. Tonight when I came home from dinner, he was waiting at the door and yowled to be fed, but didn't eat much. I'll feel better when he's eating again.
Scooby, who sometimes lounges in the house until 8 p.m., nicely went out at 5:15. I fed him and left for a 5:30 dinner meeting. Just got inside the restaurants when the heavens let loose--hardest rain I've seen all summer, and it kept up for almost an hour. Got home in time to bring a grateful dog inside, but now it's thundering and lightning again. Scooby's food was scattered all over the back steps--a soggy feast for the possums but I don't suppose they're fussy.
Spent the whole day working at my desk and felt good about it. Moving my Texas food book right along. Other than that, the world is in its place, I'm a happy camper, and I have nothing profound to say. Oh, except I snagged my right sideview mirror on the garage wall this evening and killed it. In my own defense, it's a narrow 1920s garage, and I've driven in and out of it for 17 years without a problem. As the new director of the press said at dinner, "It's Murphy's Law. Bound to happen."

Cats and dogs

Wywy in a happier day.

You know those cutesy things you get (maybe in email) written from a cat's point of view, about "my person"? I'm thinking of writing one, because I can only imagine what Wynona is thinking. After his/her trauma at the vet yesterday--a bath (I'm not sure she's ever had a bath), shots, blood work, etc., she/he disappeared last night when we came home. He emerged sometime after supper to ask for food but ate very little. I didn't see him again all evening, nor did I see him this morning--usually he's right behind me as I head for the bathroom, yowling for his food. I simply couldn't find him--looked under my bed with a flashlight, in the back of my closet where he sometimes heads. Finally found him in the guest room closet where he'd made a nest of some empty grocery bags I keep there. He blinked at me, I petted him, put food and water right by the closet door, and left for the dentist. But here's my Wywy dialog:
"My person thinks I should forgive her for yesterday's horrible experience. She tried to tell me it was all for my own good, but I know better. It was a form on animal cruelty. I'm going to stay here so that she doesn't whisk me off to that 'spa,' as they called it. And if she thinks she can buy forgiveness with food and water, she has another think coming."
This evening I called the vet, and they said it's not unusual for a cat to hide for a day or two--Wywy's done it before, but only for hours. Tonight I got her out, put her on my shoulder, and loved on her/him. He was quiet and seemed to enjoy it, so I went and got a small can of tuna (not the good Pisces stuff, thank you very much) and fed him that. He ate and wandered around the house a bit, stopping to drink a couple of times. But now he's back in the closet. I'll continue to see where periodic loving gets me, but cats are finicky and funny.
Meanwhile Scooby has taken a notion to dump over his food bowl every night, I think because he's mad at me for making him go outside in the evening. I tell him the possums will eat what he spills and about half the time some critter eats it by morning, so I've cut down on the amount. Maybe cooler weather will soothe him. Or maybe both my animals are getting old and cranky--Wywy is 18, old for a cat, and Scooby is 11, at least late middle age for an Aussie. But both seem fine and lively most of the time--it's just these personality quirks they developed.

Food--for animals and me

Night before last as my cat lay on my desk, I saw a flea crawl across her head--where the fur is sparse. A flea? On my desk? Next morning I was off to the vet to buy a flea pill for cats, though it only kills all the fleas on her for 18 hours. I figure that's enough since she's an indoor cat and the indoor/outdoor dog is on preventive medication. But how to give her the pill? With the vet's sanction, I crushed it up in part of a small can of tuna--man, did she wolf that down. So then I had to feed her the rest of the tuna by bits, and I'm afraid she's now spoiled. Tuna is the worst thing you can give an older cat with kidney disease (hers is mild) but oh, how I wish I could give it to her every day. I'm truly afraid now she'll turn up her nose at that kidney diet cat food.
Meantime I realized I was past due giving Scooby his flea and heartworm meds. I handed him one pill last night when hecame in and he threw it on the floor contemptuously, so this morning I crushed it up and spread it on a "sandwich" of saltines and peanut butter. He sniffed and ignored, and I truly thought he wasn't going to eat it,but eventually it was gone, there was a wet spot where it had been, and I found no trace of it in the yard. So tonight,, I crushed the other pill and spread it over a slice of liver cheese (like braunschweiger--one of my many indulgences) and hand fed it to him, sitting on the steps by the back door. He loved it. I'm going to have to figure out a better way of doing all this, but it still beats putting liquid flea medication between his shoulder blades, which always took two people.
Food for me: today was what I call a real retirement day--no obligations, no lunch dates, a blank slate. So one of the things I did was to boil the fresh beets that I had been given earlier (I'd boiled the greens much earlier before they wilted). Then I baked four chicken thighs (they come four to a packet--what is one to do?), seasoned them with soy, lemon pepper, and garlic powder (it's important to put the soy on first--otherwise it will rinse off the seasonings). Baked them mid-day and then refrigerated--I love cold chicken.
Other than that, I did piddly things around the house, putting away this and that, things I'd left lying around, did three loads of wash and still have one to do (how can one person have so much laundry?some of it was cleaning rags--Socorro cleaned yesterday--and some was napkins, etc., from having company).
Tonight I went to see my friend Charles and had a good, if brief, visit with him. He was a bit confused--when I called to ask if this was a good time, he asked what time it was and I said a little after four. He said, "In the morning?" Now why would I call him at four in the morning? Colin called just before I left and said, "Tell Uncle Charles to look out the window!" Then Charles had it in his head that I had ordered food for tonight (we'd been talking about going to lunch though now that he's pretty much in a wheelchair, I can't take him places since I can't fit the chair into my car). But I couldn't convince him I hadn't ordered food--I hope his dinner was good, since he thinks I ordered it. But I hate to see him confused like that.
No, I haven't written, but ideas are whirling in my brain, and I think I'll do a bit of internet research tonight. Now that my involvement with TCU Press is winding down--a new director starts June 1--it's time for me to get serious. And it would be a perfect time for my agent to tell me he's got a publisher interested in one of my manuscripts, but that hasn't happened yet. Oh, well.

Then again, off again rain

This morning it was sort of sunny when I woke up but there were dire predictions of storms to come, so I rushed--I really did--to get to the grocery before the storms began. It was sprinkling when I got there and apparently it really dumped while I was shopping, but it was back to sprinkling when I came home, so I only got slightly damp unloading groceries. Maybe it was the weather and the greyness, but I felt at loose ends. Did my yoga (not my best session but Elizabeth say not to worry about that), and then decided to tackle the shower stall in my office bathroom.

That's a story in itself. Two or three years ago--who knows how long?--I decided to clean out my drawer of financial information, etc. You know, you really don't need investment reports from 1985 of accounts now closed. So I carefully sorted some things into a bag to be shredded and others into one that could just could to the recycle bin. About halfway through the drawer, I got bored, put the bags in the shower stall (no one every uses it) and forgot about it except for an occasional guilty thought. The other night, when I got the TIAA-CREF folder out for Jim Chaffee, I realized that I had records in it back to the early 80s, so I went to get out the bags. Now I knew Scooby had been sleeping in there, but I was unprepared for the mess--the black garbage bags had disintegrated into small pieces, and many papers were already shredded. The shower stall was ankle deep in paper mess. This morning I spent over an hour cleaning out about 3/4 of it (tomorrow I'll tackle the remainder). There was lots of dirt and grit--when Scooby's coat is long, he brings it in, though I think some of it was kitty litter (unused, I hope) and I couldn't quite figure that.

By then it was lunchtime and I decided retirement meant weekends were for leisure. I avoided the cookbook and other projects on my desk and spent much of the afternoon reading Krista Davis' second novel, The Diva Takes the Cake. I an enjoying the novel a great deal, and my hat's off to her for the way she ends each chapter with a cliff hanger suprise, then begins the next with a digression--a letter to her syndicated column or a query to her rival's website, while the reader is itching to find out what's going on. A nap, and then time to cook dinner for Jordan and Jacob--sauteed flounder and salad for us, a wider variety for Jacob but he ate mostly green peas and blueberries. But we had a good time, and Jord and I had a good visit. They all leave, Jacob included, for four days in Jamaica Tuesday--he will happily tell us he's going to a beach.

Just before they arrived it began to rumble and thunder. When I fed Scooby he tried desperately to get into the house. I blocked that and told him to eat his dinner, but when I looked he hadn't touched it. So I let him in, put him in the office while we ate. After Jordan and Jacob left, it was sunny again--we got no rain out of that thunder--and I encouraged a reluctant Scoob to go outside and eat his dinner. Then I sat on the porch with a glass of wine and my book. It was a lovely night, cool and comfortable. I'm sure I've said this before, but my house is in an old neighborhood (my house was built in 1922) so there are lush green trees all around, and it's a real pleasure to sit there and just stare at the scenery. Calming and peaceful, which is what I'm all about these days. (Last night Elizabeth said I looked different--relaxed!)

A pleasant day. Who cares if I didn't accomplish anything. I did have a stray thought about contracts and emailed the controller--only to find she was working on Saturday. When I accused her of that, she said, "So are you, and you're retired!" I told her it was a stray moment.

Cats and dogs

This will come as no surprise to anyone, let alone me, but cats are finicky. I have a wonderful new petsitter, a big gentle man nicknamed Moksha. He comes twice a day and emails me after each visit. When he's here, he brings Scooby into the house (something I would never do until evening for fear I'd never get him out again), and the three of them--Moksha, Scooby, and Wywy sit on the couch while he loves on them and talks to them. My neighbor even commented that she heard him talking to Wywy through the door, and he was so kind and gentle. I love on my animals, but in passing--Moksha does it deliberately. Scooby loves the attention, and I swear his face fell when he saw it was me Sunday night. But other than being a little extra demanding and in a hurry to go to his bed, you'd never know he missed me. Wywy, on the other hand, decided to punish me. He sits endlessly at my elbow on my desk--annoying if I'm trying to work on papers, and he knows it well. And he decided not to eat wet food. I put it out, he ignored it, it got stale, and I threw it away. Today, after two days, he has deigned to begin to eat again. But his look is still reproachful--and he still ignores me when I'm right in his face. Today I reached over to pet him and he bit at me--not enough to break the skin but enough for me to bat him away.
The book world is in turmoil over the Google Print Settlement--Google scanned a lot of books in public libraries, without permission; a class action suit was filed, and google lost. But administering the settlement is a nightmare, and we at TCU have put off dealing with it too long. Today we finally moved ahead, which means an intense couple of days getting a mailing out, but I am glad we're doing something. The press also has a big event this Sunday--but not as big as I'd like. Last year we had 225 people for Books & Music in the Garden; this year, we have only 64 reservations. I'm sure they'll pick up toward the end of the week, but not enough. Something to rethink.
I read a blog today about whether or not it is better for writers to slog away and write crap when they're not feeling inspired or to just wait; general opinion, better to write. Most books are rewritten, not written. So I'm in the process of getting the end of my novel down on paper, no matter how worthless the prose seems to me. I'll go back and carve it into scenes.
And my cookbook is almost here--at the bindery. They might try to drop ship some to me for Books & Music in the Garden, and I will for sure have them for my April 29 talk to the TCU staff book luncheon. I need to start working on mailing lists, etc. but rest assured, I'll post a huge notice on the blog when the book is available. In some ways, I have more of myself invested in that book than any other I've done. I guess the one that comes closest is my short story collection, because no one publishes short stories any more and I was so determined to see mine in print. New York publishers? Who needs them?