Mini Jane comes to visit!

Mini Jane came back to visit me in Richmond! We have had a lot of fun together so far.

Here we are posing together at work!


Sharing some creamy chicken enchiladas for lunch... YUMMY!!


Mini Jane tried her hand at crocheting... it didn't go so well!


This is as close as Mini-Jane could get to meeting the monkeys here at work.


She got to try on my lab coat... it was a little too big!


She helped me fill some syringes for the rats. ...


and load them on the pumps.


She made sure all the wires were hooked up correctly.


Her first meeting with one of the rats. ... He tried to flirt with her.


So she bopped him in the nose to show him who is boss!


She showed him where he was supposed to be pressing!


Then she rode him around the cage for a little while!!


She decided to weigh herself (she binged on that enchilada!!) .... 1oz.


Taking a closer look at the reading (unfortunately it had already zeroed out...)


So that was it for a work day...


Mini Jane next accompanied me to Operation Catnip on the 15th! She didn't want to get her nice clothes dirty, so she raided barbie's closet and found a nice uni-tard circa the early 80's!

Once there, She help me set up for the day...




She helped me sell some more crocheted kitties!!


Here she is helping out at the medications station, this is where the cats get their ears cleaned, get their dewormer and flea meds and the medicine that helps wake them up.


Taking a nap with a kitty in the recovery station...this kitty kind of reminded her of her Holly.


Doing a little Jazzercize with kitty in recovery.


Then... She finally got around to helping me at my station... the fluids station. This is where the animals come directly after surgery. we give them fluids to help with their recovery. Catnip was a busy day... so this was the last picture we were able to take while we were there.



Yesterday... Mini Jane helped me pass the time while I was waiting for my doctor. I had my pre-op appointment and the doctor was running late. Mike was with us... and he just kept shaking his head.

Mini Jane hanging on the table...


Mini Jane decided the stirrups are super comfy for someone her size!!


well... that is all we have for now. Don't worry... there will be more to come! It may be a while before I can post again, since we don't have internet access at home anymore. My last day of work will be on the 23rd, and my surgery is on the 25th. I have to stay one night in the hospital... so I should be home sometime on the 26th! wish me luck! at least I have lots of people to help me... Mike, Mini-Jane, my mom and larry... plus mike's parents and cousin live close by too!

Stachie... Then and now!

When Stachie was a kitten, he used to love to attack the string handle of the camera while I was attempting to take pictures of him! Last night, he did the same thing. Here are two comparison pictures. One from August of 2007 (about 3 1/2 months old) and yesterday... almost 2 years old. He has grown a wee bit!

Hank and Winky...best friends

Here are some pictures of Hank and Winky playing together. It is crazy to think that Winky was about half the size of Hank when we first brought her home less than a month ago... now she is almost the same size as him. She is full of spunk and loves to play. My hands are recovering nicely...now that she wrestles with the other kitties instead of my hand! She has quickly learned about treat time and how to chase the red dot (laser pointer) along side all the bigger kittens without getting trampled or colliding. She is a quick little bugger! Her sneezing is getting much better...almost non-existent. We have a day or two left of medicine. The last picture is a close-up of Winky... you can see how nicely her eye has healed.







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newest crocheted kitties

This is "Licorice" ... a solid black kitty that was a special order.


This is "Cotton Candy"... I made her out of one of the yarns I bought online...


"Jelly Bean" and "Cotton Candy" ... I think Jelly Bean might be one of my all time a favorites. She makes kitty #10. (not including the original...not very good one).


A close up of "Jelly Bean" I got this yarn online too...

2 weeks to go!

2 weeks from today... I have my big surgery! I am sooooooooooo burnt out at work, that I am actually looking forward to a couple of weeks off... I will take them any way that I can get them. I will probably be taking more time off than I originally expected, which is nice. I thought that I was going to have to use all of my sick, person and vacation time to be off for my surgery... but, I recently found out that I only have to use 5 sick days and the rest will be covered (at 100%!!) by short term disability! YAY! so, now I don't have to rush back.

I got a surprise in the mail on Monday... Mini-Jane! I am excited to have her here with my to help with my surgery. It is always nice to have a friend around, and anyway... her last stay with us was very short! I haven't set up her "apartment" yet... I will be sure to take lots of pictures when I do... Mini-Jane will be living it up with a bedroom, office and kitchen (many thanks to Matel for making such fine barbie furnishings when I was a child!). I may have to go out and get a new mini-toilet. ... I might have to do that tonight, since it is the 11th of the month!!!! (Mini Jane and I will have to have a drink tonight to mark the monthly count down to when the real Jane returns to the states after being in the Peace Corp).

ok, what else... Winky is fully transitioned into house life and is getting along great with the other cats. I think Hank and her are quickly become best friends. She is currently addicted to pipe cleaners...which was Hank's toy of choice when we first brought him home too. I volunteer with Operation Catnip this weekend, and as always... I am really looking forward to it. It is really nice to have a found a group where I feel that I belong... we are all kindred spirits there. It takes quite the army of volunteers to keep the clinics going, pretty much the same group of people every month. It is hard work... but rewarding and fun at the same time.

well... I guess I better get back to work. I hope to post some new pictures soon!

Can food be"obnoxious"????

In a conversation that just occurred with an unmentioned party... they said something that I found quite odd. We were talking about food and they said that they don't eat ribs because they find them messy and obnoxious. Obnoxious?? I get the messy part but can food really be called obnoxious?? hmmmmm??? and mmmmmm.... now I am craving some bbq pig!

Winky... stitches out and hanging with the big kids!

Here are some more pictures of Winky and the rest of the gang. She got her stitches out last week. Her wound is healing well... sinking in to match the contour of her eyesocket. But... her tortie coloring hides it well. Mike let her out of her room on Friday afternoon and she has had free run of the house since then. She is a quick little think and very agile...you would never know that she was missing an eye by watching her play, dart about and jump around. She is starting to play some games of chase with the others, but is still leery of contact with then (unless it is her jumping on one of their backs...which she has done to both Lydia and Emmy a few times). Most of her wrestling occurs with my hand... she has sharp teeth and claws, so my hands are quite torn up (and that is playing with her while my hand is under a blanket!) She isn't quite as lovey dovey as she was when she was "locked up" ... now it is play, play and more play. I get a little bit of cuddling late at night, right before bed (ok, so it isn't technically late at night...but late for me!). She has learned her name (Winky) already and will run and jump up on the couch when I call her name and make kissy noises. Her fur has gotten super soft and silky (not quite as silky as Hank's) and Mike and I are quite convinced that she has more than doubled in size since bringing her home.




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Hank... and his military crawl

Here are some pictures of baby hank... I guess calling him "Hank the Tank" has caught on with him and he thinks he is in the military. He military crawls across the ottoman, the bed... and occasionally the floor when he is playing. it is hilarious to watch. The pictures show
what he looks like when he is finished crawling. he will stay like this for quite a while!

What we did while we were snowed in!

Over the rainy turned to snowy weekend... Mike and I painted our master bathroom. Mike installed a new toilet (yay... I am very excited about this, our old one was... crap. (pardon the pun!). it is funny what you get excited about as homeowners!). I did the slate backsplash. I still need to get some grout.... But, I am very pleased with how my first tile job has turned out so far!!