A minor progress report

This will be brief because this is how my head feels right now (warning, link has sound). This really is one of the worst headaches of my life and I've had it for the last seven hours. But even my head being squeezed in an imaginary vice with flames can't lessen my excitement over my progress on the First Hand Knit Sock Ever.

I just finished turning the heel on the plane ride down to Florida and it really was as exciting as everyone said it would be. I read the directions a dozen times and kept thinking, "um, ok, if you say so, but that doesn't sound like it's going to make anything other than a giant mess." And then next thing you know I had a heel! And then it joined back up with the rest of the sock and it started to turn into a foot! Holy crap, I'm making a sock and it's awesome!

I highly encourage all knitters to make socks. It's not very hard and that heel part really is pretty magical. It was all I could do to contain my excitement on the plane. Now just to finish sock #1 and get crackin' on its mate.

In other news, I saw giant killer whales this afternoon but you'll have to wait for pictures of that because I forgot my compact flash reader. But that was pretty kick ass. Not "oh my god, I'm actually turning a tube into a piece of clothing" kind of cool, but very cool all the same.

If you squint your eyes, the Christmas tree seems even brighter.

I'm taking a break from the drudgery of work and packing to share some happier tidbits. While we are all incredibly sad about the loss of Lucky, everyone seems to be taking it in stride. Our family has had some great track records of dealing with grief in all its forms and everyone's support is a great help. We all cheered ourselves up on Sunday night by working on our Christmas tree that came from the office. We had a tree gifted to us when the 9' tree from the office had to leave lest our newest employee puff up like a blowfish from allergies (note: we should add that to the interview questions for any future employees). Since we like Jen more than needles stuck in the carpet at the office, the tree had to find a new home and with some creative trimming it fits nicely in the corner of our living room.

My parents came over to help with the tree and I was reminded that Daddy really enjoys putting up a tree. Since we not only had our lights but the six strings from the office (this is what happens when Bossman and I can't agree on what to buy), there were plenty of lights to go around. We had to do some bulb testing to get my favorite set to work and replace some duds along the way, so that slowed us down a bit, but we were undeterred. At one point my father was going to go home and get his voltage meter, but I reminded him of the giant pile of lights in the floor we still had to work with and a medley of lights might be a better use of all our efforts. Once we had filled the tree with lights, it really did start to look like Christmas.

I'm still woefully unprepared for the holidays, having not purchased a single present yet, but it seems to work out every year. While working on the tree with my father and chatting with my parents it felt like we were building some fine holiday memories of our own. In many ways it was a way to take lemons and turn them into lemonade so that we could enjoy some quality time together and give my father a chance to reminisce about our beloved cat while focusing on some happier projects than digging graves in the backyard.

It also helped that while we were working on the tree, the kitties were super involved in chasing the strings of lights across the floor and investigating all the boxes of crinkly paper. It's always nice to enjoy those around us while we give thanks for those we miss.

I don't know that we'll actually get around to putting garland on the tree this year unless I go out and buy more because Ms. Kitty has staked her claim. I hope everyone else is able to focus on some happy things in amongst the stress of preparing for the holidays. If you need to, just look at the cute kitty pictures occasionally. It cheers me and Daddy up.

Ms. Kitty stakes her claim to the garland

My father doesn't have many friends, but the ones he does we hold in high regard

You may remember that my father's cat Lucky is very very old. For the sake of perspective, I'm going to give some snippets of the e-mails from my father over the past few days. On Friday afternoon, in amongst discussions of all the various humidifiers he had stored for my choosing, I got this email:

I don’t know if [Lucky] will make it many more days – he stopped eating about a week ago. I tried to give him liquid tuna juice and chicken soup broth – but he acted like he couldn’t drink. Later I tried to give him water with a dropper and he fought and gurgled like he had trouble swallowing. Yesterday morning, I told Mom that we should just let him go – he was wasting away and sleeping peacefully. But the next thing we knew, he was standing, looking strong, and seemed to be drinking sugar water I fixed for him. So last night I got about an ounce or two of chicken broth in him with a dropper – and he swallowed ok (under protest).

Friday night, Daddy came over to deliver some humidifiers for me. My eyes have been very dry lately and I thought they might help. He left around 9pm and said he was going to go back and try to feed Lucky some more. Saturday around 3pm, I got this email:

Last night about 3:00AM I had decided to take him for an IV under skin to get him hydrated – and maybe he’d take liquid broth a little better – and then try an enema. BUT, when I called, she said there was a long wait – and I should consider just going to reg vet at 8:00 AM.

This morning, my mind went back and forth – it had been so limited, getting broth in him that he was just about "used up." Plus his quality of life wasn’t that great lately, and it seemed hardly worth it to put him through grueling recovery. I did give him about an ounce of broth – but it seemed like a lost cause.

So I made him comfortable towels, and he rested pretty well -- and a little after 2:00PM his breathing went to seldom out-puffs; and he seemed to go peacefully.

I guess I won’t bury him ‘till tomorrow.

I cried when I read the e-mail but not because of Lucky, so much. He's lived a long and prosperous life and been very comfortable through his old age. I cried for Daddy's sake. Lucky has been his cat for many years and one of his best friends. I talked to Mom the next day to find out when the funeral would be and she started getting choked up on the phone too. Again, we weren't so sad about Lucky, although we miss him dearly, but as Mom said, "I'm afraid this is going to break Daddy's heart."

Yesterday afternoon we drove over to my parents. Daddy had already dug a fine grave. I was in charge of bringing the right sized box and clean towels. (Look around your house and see if you have a good sturdy box for burying a cat. The pack rat gene is strong in our family.) We helped Daddy make a bed for him out of clean towels in the box. Lucky barely fit in the box, but he always was fond of squeezing into a box that was too small for him. Daddy kept petting him and talking to him and straightening the towels. We then carried him to his gravesite where the box fit perfectly. Daddy had to verify where east and west are so that Lucky would be looking towards the sunrise. Then we filled in the hole for him and laid one of my father's best friends to rest.

My mother and I were talking about how Lucky was good practice for how well he'll take care of Mom when she's old and feeble. But it's still hard to watch my father mourn someone he fought so hard to keep healthy for so long. I know this is a long sad entry to wade through and I thank all of you who have come this far. I just wanted to make sure we don't forget this treasured member of our family and how much he meant to us all. If you think your heart can take it, you can watch the video from June of my father petting Lucky.