World's cutest grandniece and grandnephew

Friday cat blogging

Here are the cats who are braving the winter here or nearby. PuddyTat is barely visible behind Little One and Tommie while Tim goes for the warm water. Dudie is on the middle shelf.

Behind Dude is the pillow where he is spending these 15° nights. Sometimes Little One joins him.

I don't know where Tommie has been staying but he was in the garage when I got home a bit ago. As soon as I drove in, Little One ran over to see what was happening. Tim has decided she likes the heating pad after all. I haven't seen Jellico for several days.

The food accumulates and freezes so I have to collect it and bring it in to thaw. I don't think any of the usual night critters have been around as the water is clean.

The latest iPhone saga

Tuesday was a miserable driving night. The rain, the 34° temperature and lots of traffic made my weekly drive home from Pittsburgh more scary than usual. When I got to Mercer, I thought I'd check the weather. I couldn't find my iPhone. It wasn't in any pocket. It wasn't on the dashboard where I usually put it. It wasn't on the other seat. ARGH!!! It wasn't in my backpack. It wasn't in the car anywhere.

Wednesday morning I called Rodef Shalom. The lovely woman who answered the phone took a flashlight and looked for my phone. She couldn't find it. If it turned up she would call me.

I checked MobileMe but had no idea what the password to try to locate the phone was. Ugh. Would have to take care of that next time.

Yesterday I decided to drive to Pittsburgh and check up on it in person. Perhaps it was still lying on the parking lot. I had a difficult time getting thru Greenville with school buses and amazingly stupid drivers. At one point I asked Godde if I were not supposed to go and roadblocks were being placed in my way. But I realized that, for a change, I was calm about the delays. Normally I would be irritated and restless. I asked for another sign that I wasn't supposed to go and nothing happened so I continued.

There were no broken pieces of a phone in the parking lot. I thought about going in but knew she would call if they found it. Drove off to find a place for breakfast as I hadn't even had coffee. Stopped at Bob Evans which has free wifi. Had a wonderful waitress who kept my cup filled.

Felt compelled to return to Rodef and went back. Gracious lady said the cleaning people had looked carefully and found nothing. They even moved the seats in case it was stuck. She asked if I wanted to look myself. I said I trusted them. She INSISTED so I went and looked where I'd sat.

AND THERE IT WAS. Hallelujah.

I had put it on the arm of the seat to look for water bottles which had escaped on the inclined floor. Apparently I hit it and it fell. It was carefully tho almost invisibly balanced on the mechanism between the seats. The wonderful lady gave me a big hug as everyone seemed to rejoice including the maintenance man. Really nice folks at Rodef Shalom!!!

And thanks to my guardian angel, the Holy Spirit, Godde and all the hosts of heaven who take such amazing care of me. This is yet another example of why my faith is so strong and I try to listen. If only I were better at it!

Friday shuffle

Preface: I am most grateful to be able to post this today. I lost my iPhone last Tuesday night. Yesterday I found it. More about that in a separate post.

1. Since You Asked - Judy Collins
2. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Stefan Scaggian Trio
3. I'll be Faithful - Dusty Springfield
4. How Can I Be Sure - The Young Rascals
5. Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
6. A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy
7. Widor: Allegro from Symphonie VI - Michael Farris
8. Reflections - Diana Ross & the Supremes
9. Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis
10. Stravinsky: Ave Maria - Westminster Choir
Michael Farris was the organist at Holy Trinity Lutheran when I was in the choir. He was teaching at Eastman when he died suddenly in his 30s. Sad.

Friday cat blogging on Wednesday

Little One is still coughing and his eye is still awful but he is eating today. Here a little chicken has made strange companions. Normally Tim hisses at Little One. I'm always amazed that the cats will eat with each other but not tolerate each other otherwise. I'm hoping she and PuddyTat will be friendlier with him once he is neutered.

The plastic below them has caused a problem for Little One. Since he was tiny he would stand on the middle level, reach up and hoist himself onto the roof where they are eating. The new plastic which should keep at least some of the coming snow off that shelf prevents him from doing that. He will have to learn to jump like the others. Poor kid.

Little One is funny. This morning he was in the blanket where he was supposedly locked in. He has no fear or a poor memory. There is a big dog that comes around occasionally and eats the catfood but wanders home when I tell him to. He doesn't chase the cats so he didn't scare Little One who just sat and watched. While I was taping, stapling and cutting plastic, he hung around wanting attention. He seems to have forgotten or forgiven me for taking him to the vet. I've never seen a cat so desperate for attention. He is a cutie.

Friday cat blogging on Monday

This morning I heard a horrible hacking noise when I fed the cats. Located the source on a pillow back in the corner on the bottom of the cathouse. It was Little One coughing and sneezing. His right eye was glued shut. I scrubbed the carrier in the bathtub and got an appointment with the vet. I told them I'd call if I couldn't catch him.

The gals took one look at the carrier and disappeared. They know what it is about. Fortunately Little One didn't catch on. He ran away for a bit but eventually came back and let me scritch then grab him. On the table he went nuts. I'm always amazed by what cats can do with their bodies. An assistant with a towel and I managed to control him. I got one little claw mark but no blood. He has an infected eye and upper respiratory trouble. He is too sick to risk anesthesia so castration will have to wait. They told me to try to catch the boys on Monday and Wednesday mornings then give them a call when I'm successful. They will work the boys in.

Meanwhile I have to try to get some powder into Little One twice a day. How to do that with him running around and eating with the other cats. Suddenly I remembered that I have another cathouse at the back of the garage. Perfect. I closed off the catdoors and put a litterbox in there. Washed the water dish, filled it and plugged it in. Rearranged the blanket Tim had been using and put a heating pad under it. Carried Little One in there, opened the carrier door, exited and quickly closed the big door behind me.

I've checked in on him three times. The first time he was up on the shelf - see the photo a couple of posts below. He launched himself and flew around the room finally ending up near the litter. The second time he was curled up in the blanket and got out but didn't go far. I removed the carrier. Last time I couldn't find him and couldn't figure out how he got out. Then I found him hiding behind the blanket. That's the photo. I've given him some tuna and some chicken but he hadn't eaten anything the last time I looked. Doesn't look happy, does he?

Meanwhile PuddyTat is happily snoozing on her heating pad. I finally turned it off awhile ago as the temp won't go below 30. Teens are forecast for midweek so she will need it then.

I doubled Tim's foam over and he figured out how to get between the layers. Didn't get a photo tho.

More comments on Anglican, um, stuff

I'm very happy that the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elected two women as suffragan bishops tho I wish the words referring to sexuality could be omitted. Both people are wonderful priests who will be wonderful bishops according to what people who know them are saying. Why we have to know that they are women or that one of them is a lesbian is beyond me. Godde doesn't discriminate so why should we? I fear that many men especially will not want to confirm one of the ladies. To some, qualifications mean nothing. It is all about whom she chooses to live with. May the Holy Spirit wield the hammer she uses on my head to knock some sense into their theology.

Meanwhile the Episcopal Diocese of Lousiana chose a person who seems to have been the most moderate on the slate. There was one candidate our little group of OCICBWers prayed would not be chosen. We are happy.

And who should have something critical to say about the American choices for bishop? Why it's the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Bless him. He all but threatened TEC with expulsion if we consecrate another homosexual bishop. Has he said anything about Uganda and the possible genocide of homosexuals if the proposed law is enacted? Has he rejected the labeling of homosexuals as cockroaches by one of his Ugandan Anglican bishops at a funeral recently? Nary a peep. He needs to hold his head in shame.

I know a whole bunch of wonderful LGBT people whose lives are boringly normal and totally nonthreatening which is more than I can say for some "evangelical Christians'". I pray those in Uganda can be like the insects they are labeled and outlive many times over those who would persecute them. I'd prefer the Ugandans study their Bibles and quit listening to the American hatemongers however.