Another Month Older . . .

No deeper in debt, though. If you get that reference, you earn one thousand bonus retro points.

The end of June and onset of July have roared past us. Keeping up with a feisty kitten has that effect. We decided to introduce Ashe to the house bit by bit, in a highly regimented fashion. Initially, we gave her free rein to explore the living room and office, using a ridiculous blockade of shelving units to keep her from the kitchen and bedrooms. Since Ashe is sufficiently petite to fit through the widest gate openings, additional units were required to block access through these slots. We then let her check out the bedrooms and bathroom while keeping the kitchen off limits. Yesterday, at long last, the little pistol has finally been given access to the entirety of the Carroll household. I, for one, am grateful we have reached this stage; stepping over the makeshift barricade to pour a drink or prepare supper was getting old (and occasionally painful).

Feline relations have, on the whole, improved. Peaches has taken to the little one much faster than either Sandi or I had anticipated. We have gotten used to seeing one gray blur gallivanting after another on paths through the house. However, Samus, who has gotten rather lazy, is less enthusiastic about new play sessions. Our biggest issue has been Peaches' insistence that she partake of the same hearty fare as her new little sister. No amount of mediocre adult cat food can replace the aura of mystery surrounding Ashe's kitten chow, it seems. On the other hand, perhaps the flashy new bowl is the big thing. Who knows?

I have continued work on my dissertation at the office, which made for quite the sense of déjà vu today. This is to be expected, with a holiday over the weekend, but I seriously saw no one on campus. Maybe they decided to get even with me, since I was a no-show after a horrid bout of insomnia overnight on Tuesday. Our sleep schedules were both disrupted that night, but we are pretty much back on track now. The holiday gets Sandi her first weekend off in four weeks -- and only then if you count being laid out with a stomach bug as a relaxing time.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day, everyone!

Nine Years? Really?!?

In the midst of a full midweek day yesterday, Sandi and I celebrated our ninth anniversary. 'Celebrate' is a bit of an overstatement, as we had little opportunity to do anything grand. Beyond wishing each other a happy anniversary and feasting at a Knoxville Chik-fil-A rather than our customary Sonic visit, not much of note marked the occasion. Oh -- we also got some doughnuts. However, in the midst of a culture that cannot seem to get enough of the implosion of a marriage barely older than our own (no links this time; if you are in the dark, count yourself blessed), I wanted to say how much my life with Sandi means to me. I love you, Sweetpea, and you are awesome.

Take care, all!

And Now, a Sixth Man

Finally -- we can rotate somebody off the basketball court during games. The whole 'iron man' routine (not to be confused with, you know, Iron Man or "Iron Man") was getting tiring. Apparently, you can also play football with this many people.

The Holly Help folks have been seriously delayed by frequent thunderstorms and pre-registration at King, so we received permission to take our own collection of Poké Balls in an effort to catch a kitten. On Saturday afternoon, we went to campus with Sandi's coworker and King mathematics alumna Kelly with our carriers and a stash of feline comestibles. Within half an hour, we had nabbed one of the little guys, but another thunderstorm kept us from getting another. Kelly graciously let us have the one we got, and thus Ashe became the newest member of the Carroll household.

We were unsure how quickly a feral kitten would acclimate to home life, but Ashe has proven pretty adaptable. While she is still far more nocturnal than we would like, she already purrs when held or petted. She has also (I am outrageously happy to report) taken to litter box usage quite rapidly. She -- oh yeah, Ashe is a girl -- spends most of her time in our carrier, with several sessions of cuddling interspersed. During the day, while Ranger is outside, we remove the carrier's gate and place it inside the Big Bazooka's kennel. That way, she can check out the surroundings yet still have a safe place to retreat.

Peaches has acted more or less as she did when Samus arrived on the scene: a combination of territorially defensive and interminably curious. Samus is on the whole disinterested; the presence of the carrier seems to bother her more than the addition of a new cat. Their actual interactions have almost completely occurred within the aforementioned kennel framework, as Ashe had not been to the vet before this afternoon. There has been a fair bit of hissing and growling, but no arched backs or slap fights have erupted. Ranger has yet to meet the little one. Ashe deserves a chance to get used to the house before confronting our mini-colossus.

Ashe had her first vet visit this afternoon, and things check out. She weighs a whopping two and one-quarter pounds, which puts her at about eight weeks old. Her feline leukemia test came out negative (yay!), but we have to treat her for roundworms over the next few weeks. She was quite eager to explore the animal hospital. To be honest, she is quite eager to explore everything, but we are trying to pace her exposure to all this new stuff.

The upcoming week promises to be hectic, as we have a waiting families meeting tomorrow in Knoxville, along with an eye appointment. Maybe we will get some uninterrupted sleep tonight. Maybe . . .

Have a great week, everyone!

Who Let the Bugs Out?

I am sorry for the post vacuum, but the month of June began with an unfortunate case of stomach viruses. Sandi and I took turns celebrating our anniversary month with gastrointestinal distress. In our typical fashion, I was down and out for a day or so, while Sandi was waylaid for the better part of four days with symptoms massively worse than mine. Thanks for the high Constitution score, Mom and Dad! However, Sandi's illness had both of us on a truly bizarre sleep schedule, so I was still really thrown for a loop when the time came to return to the routine. I am happy to report that we are both back in fighting form -- not that we fight or anything.

The only thing that has really changed around here of late is our preparations for an addition to the family. Yes, the time has finally arrived . . .

. . . For a new cat. As is probably the case for most college campuses, we have a collection of feral cats at King. Recently, a pair of these little critters hooked up and had a litter of kittens. After this startling new development (but not before, because that would have been just crazy), some folks decided it might be in everyone's best interests if the cats were captured and neutered. Traps have been set, courtesy of local organization Holly Help, on campus to lure in the crew, but funding is only available to alter the parents. At this stage, the only real option with the kittens would have been euthanasia. Being the softies we are, we could not let that happen, so we will be adopting one of the wee ones soon. How Samus and Peaches will respond to the expansion team remains to be seen.

Oh, I almost forgot. We planted a bush in the front yard on Sunday. Sandi had seen the plant at the local greenhouse a couple of weeks ago, and we made the purchase on Saturday (which, by the way, was also the occasion of a fabulous visit from my parents and grandmother. Thanks for coming, guys!). The new flowering shrub helps fill one of the burned-out spots in the lawn from our oil tank adventure. It also looks quite nice, in my humble opinion, although its tendency to shed entire flowers at once is something that requires adjustment.

Your patience is appreciated. Take care, everyone!

Workshop 2: Quantitative Boogaloo

I have spent the last couple of days back at the campus Emory & Henry College participating in a follow-up workshop to the one I attended last May. Only one other King College person attended this year, but we were able to carpool. I will be receiving another stipend for my work, and another plan is in place for a grant application. This, of course, means that we need to get to the business of spending last year's grant money. While we have done quite a bit of what we set out to do (albeit a semester late, thanks to the core curriculum revision), most of our funds are still liquid.

Last week, we had ordered a new doghouse for Ranger; since he now spends his afternoons outside, shelter is of more importance. I am proud to report that the Big Bazooka can actually lie down comfortably in this new model. Moreover, its moderate-density plastic construction makes it unlikely that he will attempt to consume it.

We had another waiting families meeting in Knoxville on Tuesday, which took on a surprising twist. Our guest speaker, a birthmother named Cammy, failed to show up. Our best guess is that she got her days confused thanks to the holiday, but in any case, this meant that Mark had to do a bit of improv. Fortunately, this smorgasbord night did not devolve into an in-depth discussion of legal risk in the adoptive process. That is always a possibility on 'open-mic' nights, but the closest we got was discussing the Adoptive Taxpayer Identification Number which might be necessary.

I wish I had more exciting news to report, but this has been a slow couple of weeks. We will post an update as soon as Sandi meets with the spine specialist; yes, it has been two weeks since the referral. Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Cold Day in Knoxville

The first half of the weekend was largely uneventful; when you distinctly recall how nice the employees were at the new grocery store you tried, little of note is happening. Sandi revisited one of her previous video game purchases while ailing from a stomach bug that hit us both. The weather has taken a turn for the less wet, which means that Ranger has been able to spend more time outside, which makes for a happy Carroll household.

On Sunday, Bethany hosted a picnic for adoptive families at Tyson Park in Knoxville. Each family was supposed to bring a covered dish for the occasion -- a problematic situation for those of us with a two-hour drive. Sandi and I settled on sausage balls, and we spent the morning getting them baked and ready to go. We ended up about half an hour late due to some inexplicable foot-dragging on our part. The fact that we drove past the park (in spite of a 'Bethany Picnic' sign at the entrance) and had to circle back to it exacerbated our tardiness a bit. Once we arrived, we got to see a couple of families from our earlier waiting families meetings who have been placed. Catching up with Chris and Leigh Ann, who are the proud parents of an adorable near-Christmas baby named Chloe, was fun, although the weather was a bit uncooperative. After several days of warmth, the temperature took a nosedive that made the afternoon a little chilly. At least I had talked Sandi into wearing full-length pants rather than capris.

I am proud to report that we performed a successful experiment during our trip. Since the conditions outdoors were supposed to be nice and sunny, we decided to leave Ranger in the back yard rather than leaving him in the kennel for six hours or more on a nice Sunday. In hindsight, this could be the cause of our aforementioned lollygagging. We were quite concerned that the Big Bazooka would hurdle the gate and trail us after our departure, so we circled around the Food City parking lot and drove back past the house. We held our breath when we saw a large black dog loping along the street, but that big fella had several pounds on Ranger. By the time we got back to the house, our beloved half-giant had begun a fresh patrol of the yard, acting confident that we would return. This is a boon, as leaving him in the kennel for extended periods during the day has never really been part of our plans as dog owners. He has stayed outside while we have gone to work the last two days, and we still have no ill news to report.

Have a great week, everyone!

This is Totally Awesome!

Food City, our local grocery store, now carries diet sodas that are not plain cola. I drank Diet Dr. Wow with my supper; I never thought this day would come!

Why is everyone looking at me so angrily?

My assessment hoodoo at school has finally drawn to a close. Well, it had, but another clump of data trickled into my inbox late this afternoon. After that minor addition, my assessment material is finished. In other news, I attended a meeting this morning to discuss our ongoing quantitative literacy project -- you remember, that thing from my workshop last May. I have ended up taking the role of point man, which would normally mean my job is to take the first hit from sniper fire; however, I and my colleague Donna have split the responsibilities of our group down the middle. From here, I will devote my energies to the completion of my dissertation, which looms like this thing. In my spare time, my fevered mind has begun rewriting the lyrics to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" in the mold of a chump trying to complete his doctorate.

We appreciate the prayers that have been said for Sandi and her ailing back. If only I had something to report on her condition. After receiving the MRI results, her doctor recommended a CT myelogram to properly diagnose whatever is going on in Sandi's spinal region. As this procedure involves a lumbar puncture, she was curious what other options were available. Now she is awaiting an appointment with a spine specialist. Keep approaching the throne of grace on this one, folks.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!