Satisfying Saturday

Executive Summary:
I had two goals for Saturday: 1) to pick up some items of necessity for my trip to New York and 2) to spend some good time with kateyule. Both goals were achieved.

Detailed Report:
Got up Saturday morning and lounged about the internets a bit before pulling myself together and making myself acceptable for public consumption. Hit the vet's office to pick up Spanky meds, then picked up kateyule from KA and TW's place. Our first order of business was to catch a Weight Watcher's meeting up in the Northgate area. I was glad to do this before my trip, as I won't have time to go to a meeting while I'm out of town; this was a nice dose of "stick with it" to take with me.

We had lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe at Nordstrom in the Northgate Mall. I had half a turkey panini with salad; Kate had a delicious-looking shrimp salad. We then ventured out into the wilds of retail. The Nordstrom lingerie department made quick work of my need for a specialized foundation garment. We made a stop at Torrid, where interest but no joy was to be found, and made our last stop in the mall at Lane Bryant, where I found the black slacks I wanted for the trip. I also found a pretty, sparkly scarf.

Kate expressed interest in hitting Two Big Blondes, a plus-size consignment shop in the International District, so away we went. What we didn't know was that there was not only a baseball game at Safeco but a soccer game at Seahawk Stadium, both of which were in the direct path from Northgate to TBB. We sat in traffic for a while, but finally got to the shop, where riches were to be found. I tried on a number of things but didn't find anything that was quite right. Kate had success finding a dress and a couple of nice, comfy tops.

We ended our day by having dinner with KA and TW at Fu Man Dumpling House in Greenwood. The dumplings were, in fact, excellent. T and K told us about their dinner in Washington DC with the Italian ambassador, Judith Martin, and Jon Singer (a more eccentric and interesting group of people would be hard to find). It was a nice, though incomplete, catch-up with them and we have promised each other another dinner when I get back from New York.

After dinner, I parted company with the group and went to Capitol Hill for mimerki's housewarming party. My intention hadn't been to arrive so late. Time just got away from me. There was still, however, plenty of festive company to enjoy, and my impression is that the house was well warmed by the time I departed around 11 PM.

Once I got home, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was delighted to get to spend so much time with Kate, to see T and K, and to enjoy the boisterous company of mimerki's guests. Today, however, must be quieter and more productive. There's still much to do before I head back east.

Pre-trip anxiety attack, right on schedule

Yessiree, folks, it's the ole reliable scarlettina special--the Pre-Trip Anxiety Attack--right on time. I'm obsessing about stupid stuff, getting in a little hyperventilating for good measure, and freaking out about my cat-sitter's sudden reluctance to give Spanky his sub-Q fluids. She's coming over in about 45 minutes so I can train her, but she left me a message telling me to arrange a visit to the vet in case she can't do it. She has no idea what she's asking. I'd rather Spanky miss his fill-up rather than put him--and the cat sitter--through that. So I don't know what I'm going to do. I leave in about 36 hours and now I'm just . . . I'm so angry with the sitter I could spit and I don't know what to do with myself. dreamline may be getting a phone call.

::sigh::

Cat sitter redux

The cat sitter just left. I am feeling much, much better. Apparently I misunderstood her telephone message. I just listened to it again and, yes, it could easily have been interpreted as I interpreted it. Apparently, the message was intended to ask me to think about contingency plans should Spanky not be willing to be handled, rather than a contingency in case my sitter found herself unable to stick him.

And here's the thing: I've been working with this sitter for years. She's known all my cats and has been wonderful with them. I'd recommend her to anyone without hesitation. One of the reasons I've stuck with her so long is that she's experienced, extremely reliable, and has done vet-tech type tasks for many of her clients. I think the pre-trip anxiety just distorted everything.

So she came to see the ritual that Spank and I go through for filling his tank. I had her handle him, and she watched how I set everything up and put in the needle. I think she was concerned about how he might react to the needle insertion, but he's never been difficult about it. Seeing how calm he was relieved her mightily. So, the plan at this point is that she'll fill his tank on Wednesday and give him his injection, and she'll do it again on Sunday. If there's a problem on Sunday, she'll leave me a note and when I get home on Monday night, I'll take care of him.

I'm exhausted with relief about this. I need to go sit quietly for a while. All units, stand down--and thanks to everyone who provided referrals and was willing to step up just in case. I could not be more grateful. You, my friends, are awesome.

Welcome to the family gifts

One of my projects for the trip has been making gifts for my brother's fiance M and her 7-year-old daughter. Completed them tonight. They're a surprise; my brother knows about them, but the fiance and the daughter do not. Since M is apparently not much on the Web, I feel comfortable posting these to share. The pic of the daughter's necklace didn't come out well, so I won't be posting it here, but here's the necklace I made for M. It's a little dark (someday I'll learn to properly set my white balance), but this gives you a pretty good idea. The pearls are crystal Picasso agate; the bicones are Indian Red Swarovsky crystal. You don't want to know how long it took me to make this. I'll just say that I've only made this pattern once before, and it was for me. I'm unlikely to do it again for a while. I'm quite pleased with how it came out. I hope M likes it.