Journal

Saying Goodbye

2012-02-13T02:29:08Z

Two weeks ago, we put our cat Madchen to sleep. It was very sad, even though we knew it was the right thing to do. I got Madchen as a gift on my 20th birthday, and she had been a fixture for all of my adult life.

I left the next morning for eight days in California, and then immediately upon returning we jumped into the foster/adoption transition stuff. So I haven't spent a lot of time grieving. But sometimes it still catches me offguard to realize that she's not around.

I wonder if the dogs miss her. Over the last year they became quite amicable. In fact, in the last few months, Madchen would sleep tucked under Bill's left arm, with Gracie tucked under his left arm and Maya at the foot of the bed. If I came to bed late, there was often no room left for me in the menagerie.

Looking back, I didn't take many pictures of Madchen. And the pictures I took are mostly her sleeping, or standing on a table. Not the stuff of great photo-editorials. But I did take this video last year, on the day that the dogs decided that maybe she wasn't a squirrel to be chased, but instead a very interesting squirrel to be studied closely and perhaps even befriended.

First Overnight with the Kids

2012-02-13T01:49:21Z

On Wednesday, we visited J&S at their daycare. J told us solemnly that he threw up that morning, but since he played very nicely for a couple of hours I didn't think much of it.

Thursday evening, both Bill and I started feeling...not so great. By the middle of the night, we were both making separate trips to the bathroom every half hour. (I have never been so grateful for multiple bathrooms in our house!)

So you will understand, dear reader, why on Friday morning we were not at our best. We dragged ourselves to the county offices to complete our foster parent paperwork (hurray, it's official!) and to pick up the kids for their first overnight at our house.

We were both sipping ginger ale as fast as our stomachs could handle it, but I was pretty sure one (or both) of us was going to faint or do something else equally traumatic in front of the kids.

I'm happy to report that no one lost consciousness, and in fact the overnight visit went remarkably well. The kids slept 12 solid hours (and Bill and I were in bed and fast asleep by 7:30pm -- and thus quite refreshed by the morning) AND took a 2 hour nap the next afternoon.

(Gracie, however, was impatient with all the sleeping, and eager for S to wake up and play.)

I also got to break out my new diaper bag. I made it with awesome fabric from Tonic Living, using a tutorial from the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog.

We dropped the kids off, alive and well, on Saturday afternoon. And then we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting on the couch with the rest of the ginger ale and the final disc of The Wire: Season 1. Damn, that is a good show.

For friends and family, here is a video of J&S singing. Melts my heart a little.

Happy Belated Birthday

2012-02-09T22:27:27Z

My niece turned three last November, and I took these pictures with my iPhone. It took until today (oh, approximately 107 days later) for me to figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer. My tech-savvy days appear to be over.

They must go through mayo by the gallon.

Happy birthday, sweet girl.