Rough Night

Kathy and Travis visited us in shifts last night. She brought a chicken dinner and hung out while he watched their kids at home. Then they switched. He was invited for cigars and beer, and chairs were set up on the deck for us. He declined a cigar when he arrived, so I smoked while he drank. And much shit shooting ensued. That will be my last cigar for a good while; I'm smoked out.

The boy skunked both of us last night by rousing us with noises and then falling back to sleep. I woke up just after midnight to his cooing noises, usually a warning that he's about to go full wail. I sat up with him for more than two hours before he fully awoke to drink. I caught up on late-night TV, including Craig Ferguson, NBC's poker show, and some House, before putting him to bed right before 3 a.m. Your Sister got out of bed in reply to his noises at 4, and he didn't wake up until 6. We are dragging this morning. He, on the other hand, has learned how to smile and stay awake.

She hasn't filled me in on the vet visit, but she did clear away all the items of the girl cat. The other cat knows something's up, and he seems lonely. I know we'll get a new cat before the end of the year. I think we decided last year to maintain a two-cat home.

Picture of the Day
Whee.

Rough Morning

Your Sister decided it was time to put down the younger cat (the girl, the one with the tail) this morning. She was eating less and refusing her medicine. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get her settled, and it appeared she had found a place to hide and fade away. Your Sister made an appointment for this morning and took the cat while I stayed home and watched the deputy. She returned about an hour later with an empty cat carrier.

Even though we knew this was coming, it's hitting Your Sister hard. The boy is a good distraction. She hasn't told me the details yet. I'll hear about it this evening. We may have friends coming by to deliver a meal, and that will help her get through the day too. I might have another cigar with the husband of the couple to amuse her.

Light 'Em Up

I have new lenses in my old frames. I can now see through dimensions. This new clarity is a little nauseous making. I may have to increase my monitor resolutions to shrink the type. It all looks enormous today.

I wish the daily activities could be made more interesting, but we have a distinct pattern these days. When I got home, Your Sis asked immediately if we could take a walk. Out we walked. The baby is a lady magnet; a passer-by turned around to peek into the stroller. I'm pretty sure it was the wife of an actor from two of my recent plays. I was also stopped this weekend by a motorist I didn't recognize. It was only when I saw his car parked next door that I realized he was my neighbor, the trooper who saved my bacon during the first bad snowstorm. I am dumb. This cannot be blamed on a lack of sleep. I'm not missing that much compared to her. She gets up more often because she has to pump anyway, and she argues she might as well feed the baby. I will have to pull my weight in other ways.

After a meal of leftovers eaten hurriedly between baby feedings, I cracked open a box of cigars. A coworker gave them to me yesterday on my return to the office. I hadn't smoked anything for years, and I never smoked a cigar. Your Sister has never smoked period. I walked her through it, and we posed for pictures. I hadn't realized how much of a chore it is to smoke a whole cigar. My brain never connected the relative girth of a stogie to a cigarette and the effort required to go through one quickly. We didn't finish ours. They are now in the compost bucket waiting to soon spoil our already coffee-addled compost worms. Maybe my twinges of nausea are a cigar hangover.

We continue to get lots and lots and lots of free formula mixes, and we add each new parcel to the formula ziggurat in the nursery.

Picture of the Day
Early German battlefield communications. They put their faith on backpack dreamcatchers and wonder why they lost two wars.

New Tricks

We used the Snuggi for the first time to visit the grocery store. He resisted it at first but acclimated within a few minutes and slept through almost all the store trip. The former student/cashiers went crazy for him and called to Heidi in whispered coos.

We are now carrying a bottle of instant formula in the diaper bag. It's an emergency drink. We gave him a pre-mixed 2-ounce bottle last night to judge his reaction. He took to it immediately, and there didn't seem to be any digestion problems. Again, this is a back-up option at best. We have eight ounces of milk in the fridge every day, and we have milk in the freezer. Your Sister will hang out with longtime pals on an upcoming weekend, and I'll have plenty of drink options for him. The following weekend, I'll catch roller derby and learn if my logo entry won.

The 11 pm feeding goes well. He nurses around 9 and gets a top-off at 11 and sleeps for a good while. We might have figured him out. Your Sister has taken to reading to him to help him sleep. I prefer the pacifier. Both methods appear to work.

Two teachers brought us dinners Friday and Saturday, and we've made plans to make dinners throughout the week. We think we're managing the boy well enough to plan for this.

I'm now back to working at the office, and I hope she isn't insane when I get back home.

Picture of the Day
The Periodic Table of Swearing