It's been a long time

And I almost thought I was done. Who knows, maybe I am. Still, a friend who works with chimps sent me a link to this video and I had to share.

ol' girl

When I adopted Zuzu, back in '98, I couldn't bring her home with me from Florida because she was too sick to travel by plane. My parents still had Sam and Miss, aged felines themselves already, so I asked my grandparents if they would keep Zuzu until I returned a few months later. With a twinkle in his eye, my grandpa said "well, she's the ugliest looking mongrel I've ever seen, but I guess we can keep her." My grandparents got a big kick out of Zuzu, in all her kitten ways, skittering around the house at Lake Jem. Part of her daily routine included jumping onto the kitchen table and knocking their pills to the floor. No matter, she was still treated to a small bowl of yogurt courtesy of my grandma.

A couple of years later, when Craig came into my life, I warned him: "If Zuzu doesn't like you, you're out. She's a very good judge of character." He passed her test and went on to be her true favorite. He has a way with animals. I wish I could say that for the next two humans to arrive on the scene, but my babies don't have the softest touch, and Zuzu spent a large amount of her time hiding out, waiting for the girls to go to bed, so she could join Craig and me on the couch.

In the last year we've made frequent trips to the vet for my ol' girl. Renal Failure. We did what we could, prescription food, vitamin injections, IV hydration, but I knew we were marking time. In the last several weeks I found myself waking at night, thoughts of Zuzu foremost in my mind. I knew a decision needed to be made. I knew I had to make it. Late Sunday night, I called Craig at work, and I told him what I thought needed to be done. I told him I couldn't be the one to do it, so he did what partners do, he took up my slack. He called the vet on Monday morning and made an appointment. I spent Monday afternoon with Zuzu cuddled alongside my lap, and when the time came, Craig gently took her from me.

We buried her in the back yard, tears streaming down our faces. The girls had drawn pictures, and we'd each written a few words to be buried alongside our girl. Grace hiccuped with tears, and Julia, like many little ones who want to emote like those around them, squinted her eyes, willing tears to come. It took a long time before our faces were dry. I think both Grace and I shed a few more tears before bedtime.

Oh, Zuzu, we miss you. We're still crying for you, but we're also relieved that you're no longer in pain. We buried you close to the birdbath. I think back to all the times you stalked birds through our windows in Augusta and Ravenna. I can still hear you chattering, with a bird in your sight.

Heat Seeking Cats (and Cookies with Noah)

I caught this picture of Zuzu earlier today. Our cats move from sunspot to sunspot as the day passes. With this most recent cold snap, I've caught both of them basking in a ribbon of light on the kitchen counter. Normally they would jump down at the first sound of a human. In a testament to the chilliness of our house, the last time I caught Ollie he looked at me sleepily and then buried his nose under his paw and drifted back to sleep.

Yesterday Grace had her regularly scheduled play date with Noah at our house. I didn't want the two of them canoodling upstairs, planning their elopement, so I baked gingerbread cookies for them to decorate.





By the end, my new kitchen floor was covered with sprinkles and many surfaces (in and out of the kitchen) had a veneer of frosting. After cookies, the kids went upstairs to play unsupervised. At one point, Grace locked Noah out of the room for some transgression, and he only gained re-entry by serenading her with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". It was so sweet I almost cried.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Post 2 of the day: Proof our animals are disgusting

I found this note pasted to the bathroom door after Grace discovered a present from one of the cats. In case you can't read it: "Don't step on browness in downstairs bathroom. Thanks." I love how polite she is and also that she illustrated her find.

a few details

As you might imagine, it's been a little hectic around here. In addition to Grace starting school, my older cat, Zuzu, got sick. She's been at the vets since Monday with a surgery on Tuesday. We hope to bring her home by this afternoon. Making a calm and quiet place for her to recover is going to be a challenge. Calm and quiet aren't words that generally populate Grace and Julia's vocabulary.

In any case, the Tetons are coming, I promise. We're going to switch gears a bit though and have Craig write some of the travel posts. It's always good to have the Dad perspective (and it gives me a break). I just have to upload all the damn photos. That's next.

Hope you all are enjoying your summers (since ours is over, Julia goes back to school on Monday).

Look, look, pictures...

We went away for the weekend, and Grace, being concerned about the recent break in, decided to fortify the premises. No one would dare enter after reading these words.



As a snack for the drive, we ate some chocolate covered pecans. These come from the 175 pounds of pecans we harvested from our yard. Yes, you read that right: 175 pounds of pecans collected from our yard by us. And yes, that's a A LOT of pecans.



We went to Augusta to visit my best friend. I miss her terribly. When Craig and I lived in Augusta, I saw Quentin nearly every day. Grace christened her "Aunt Pontoon", and Quentin was the first person to ever make Grace laugh.



Quentin and her husband, David, have THE BEST DOG EVER, Freida. I'm not kidding. This dog is one in a million. We've been telling Grace that when she turns seven, we'll get a dog. On Sunday night, as I was putting her to bed, she said, "Mom, I've been thinking, and I think I'm ready for a dog now."

Pupdate

Puppy has a new mommy, and we are very happy.

Mushu (as Craig calls him) will start his new life next week, after a trip to the vet for shots and such. Jennifer, Mushu's new mom, will take possession after she closes on her new house, which happily rests adjacent to the local dog park. Hooray, for Mushu.

By late yesterday afternoon, I was starting to stress about said pup, so we decided to sweeten the deal. Once Craig offered to pay for the first vet visit, the adoption requests rolled in (4 total). He's a great little guy, and he will be a wonderful canine partner for Jennifer. We'll miss him.

I'm fairly certain

that there's a sign on my house that reads SUCKERS.

This pup was dropped off on our front steps last night. It needs a home that isn't mine.

Monday Edition

The cavalry arrived Friday afternoon.

My sister has saved our butts too many times to count. When she called on Wednesday to say she would be here in two days, I cried. I was exhausted. Grace wasn't sleeping much. I was sleeping even less. Warm showers in the middle of the night were the only thing bringing her relief at the time.

At one particularly low point, in hopes of providing some distraction from the pain, I asked Grace if she wanted Betsy to bring anything special.

"Herself", Grace replied. "I just need my Betsy."

Don't we all need a Betsy sometimes. I know I do.

Of course Bets didn't arrive empty handed. She brought the girls sprinkle and chocolate covered marshmallow kebabs. Only in Savannah can you find such things.



Grace immediately demolished hers.



Julia, on the other hand, was a bit confused at how to approach such a delicacy.



With the girls in safe hands, I was finally able to get out of the house for the first time since Grace became sick. Craig and I even snuck away Saturday night to watch Slumdog Millionaire. My sister is great. She's very good to us, and I know it.

Grace has steadily improved since Friday. She tires easily, and muscle and joint pain make walking difficult at times. I'm not complaining though. Any current issues pale in comparison to what we faced just a week ago. She's done so well that I sent her back to school this morning, and she lasted for an hour and 10 minutes before they called me to pick her up. Baby steps. One of the many doctors we saw regarding her allergy told us it may take up to a month before she fully recovers.

Last night, with the girls in bed, I walked into the living room to watch a little TV. This is what I found:



I used to tell people that Ollie was big boned. I was lying. This cat is fat.

Happy Monday.

Day 19: Useless

You might think that with an animal such as this



the local rodent population would be too scared to enter our house.


You would be wrong.

Day 12: Cats, Lunch, and Changing Rooms

Forward march with my random posts. This monthlong blogalong might be better if I followed a theme. Theme-driven posts, however, require a certain amount of discipline, which, as I've written about in the past, is something I lack; hence Cats, Lunch, and Changing Rooms. Let's do Cats first.


These poor sods. For years they bathed in the adoration of their human counterparts. Ollie, in particular, was treated like a spoiled prince. We held him in our arms during dinner, rearranged our bed to accommodate his needs, and spent a ridiculous amount of money on sensitive tummy food. Ten years later finds Zuzu hiding out in the litter box to avoid Grace and Julia, and Ollie so starved for attention that he salivates on company. The picture above captures them waiting, not so patiently, for dinner. If Zuzu could write, she would scratch "This is what starvation looks like" onto a sandwich board and march around the kitchen.

Moving on. Lunch. Grace is staying late at preschool today for her first ever "Lunch Bunch". You might think I would be the first woman in the house to enjoy a lunch out with friends, but no, it's Grace. To prepare for this momentous occasion, we had a girls night out, which involved shopping and dinner at a deli. First stop, we bought a lunch sack which she picked out herself: "It's brown with lots of pink squares, lots of them." Dinner was next. As we stood in line, I read her the options from the kids menu. She screwed up her face, clearly unhappy with the options.

"Don't they have peanut butter and chocolate sandwiches?"

"No, babe, it's not like home."

Brows furrow, and I silently curse Craig for introducing the Nutella and Peanut Butter Sandwich into our lives. Meanwhile, the cashier, who has been listening to our conversation, offers, "I think they can make that sandwich. They have chocolate sauce back there."

Face relaxes, and a small smile starts to form, first in the corners of her mouth.

"Okay, if you can do it, she'd like a chocolate and peanut butter sandwich."

"And chips," says Grace.

Dinner was good.  She reached across the table and held my hand.  We were on a date, a mommy-daughter date.  

Finally, our third installment: Changing Rooms.  After dinner, we went to Target.  I had to buy some CDRs and other Target stuff.  As we wandered through the aisles, Grace commented, "I have to wear orange tomorrow.  I don't have anything orange."  Well, okay, so we'll find something small and orange.  

I have many titles in my life, including laundry lady, dinner lady, grouchy-don't-bother-your-mother-it's-called-PMS-lady, and finally clothes-shopping lady, to name a few.  I can't help but peruse the baby-toddler section whenever I'm in Target (or any other store), but those days are numbered.  Grace is growing.  Depending on the store, I find her clothes in two sections.  She's a 4T in the baby-toddler section and an extra-small in the Little Girl section.  This distinction is simultaneously small and enormous.  It makes me want to cry.  

Last night, in search of her orange item, we ended up in the Little Girl section, where everything, according to Grace, was "very cute."  She is so finely tuned to my responses that she only latched onto a few items: a sweater, a shirt, and a pair of jeans, size 4 not 4T.  She knows that I don't buy things without consideration.  She's never thrown a fit in order to get something because she's always known it wouldn't work.

In reference to the jeans, "These are good, mommy."

"Well, your pants are getting a little high.  Why don't you try these on."  

We march back to the changing room.  She's been present for many shopping trips where I tried items on, but this, Grace trying on clothes in a changing room, is a first.  

"Do you know you can be naked in a changing room, and no one can see you."

"Oh really."  And I wonder, where did she get that idea from?

Once in the room I help her undress down to her Curious George undies.  Her belly, stuffed with dinner, is round.  In that moment it looks like the belly of a toddler.  She pulls on the pants, turns around, and waggles her butt in the mirror.  Next comes the shirt and sweater.  

"This is so great, mommy."

Yes, it is.  And it isn't, but only because it makes me want to wrap her up in my arms and hold her forever.  As I write this, my eyes are tearing up.  She's taken to reminding me that she will always be my baby:  "I don't want to get any older.  I like me right now. I'm always going to be your baby, right mommy?"  There are times when I know she says that more for me than for herself.    

fish tales

Three adults, three girls, thousands of fish and a few marine mammals. Other pictures from the 2nd Annual Byron-Moore trip to the Georgia Aquarium here.

Do you think

Tiny will survive this week?

Tiny Update: there are predators out there

Hoping to make Tiny a little more comfortable, we purchased a little mouse condo today, complete with wheel and tube. Unfortunately this condo is open-air, and a feline caught wind of our new housemate. On two occasions Ollie tried to overturn Tiny's new condo. Thankfully, we were around to hear the shenanigans. Tiny has since been moved to a safer location. Does anyone want to place bets on Tiny's life expectancy in a house with three cats?

Top Five (Extant) Mammals of All Time

Greetings blog readers, long time no write. Writing from the dad perspective I would like to get on board the list trolley. Since we visited the zoo today, I felt inspired to list my top five mammals of all time. Really, all time is a bit of an overstatement since I am not including fossil critters. I have debated internally long and hard on this one, and decided this list will be extant mammals and another list will be for extinct mammals. Remember, these are my personal choices and you are always free to disagree. Here we go:

5) Small-Clawed Otter (Aonyx cinerea)


This aquatic mammal swims the swamps and wetlands of Asia and is exceptional for its hands. The claws on the forepaws do not extend beyond the fleshy part of the digit thus giving them a very primate-like hand that is good at grasping and manipulation.

4) Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys deserti)


This little rodent inhabits the desert Southwest of North America and is on this list because of its amazing kidneys. They are four times more efficient at retaining water and excreting salts than a human's. This means they could literally drink seawater all day long and never get dehydrated. However, since seawater is never on the menu they just never drink water for their whole lives! For those biochemists reading the blog their trick is to conserve water produced during the oxidative phosphorylation (metabolism) of carbohydrates.

3) Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)


This largest mammalian carnivore on the island nation of Madagascar is actually most closely related to the mongoose. Through convergent evolutionary processes, this weasel-like mammal looks very much like a large predatory cat. This critter makes the list because it is such a great example of how geographic isolation leads to organisms filling unlikely nichespace within an ecosystem. The adaptive significance of a cat-like body plan in this mongoose-like mammal is evident when it is observed catching a leaping lemur in midair.

2) Colugo, or flying lemur (Cynocephalus variegatus)


This cool mammal is found in the Indomalayan region of the world and it is really the only living representative of an entire order of mammals that is thought to be closely related to our order Primates. This means that the earliest primates may have shared a similar adaptive profile with these gliding lemur-like mammals found in Southeast Asian forest refugia.

1) Dolphin (family Delphinidae)


Rather than choose one species, I include all dolphins in the family Delphinidae. This is because they all share the incredibly well-engineered body plan that we recognize when we see these fully aquatic mammals. For starters, they live in highly sophisticated social groupings and have demonstrated individual self-conciousness. They are capable of communicating, navigating, hunting, and otherwise detecting their surroundings through echolocation. Their outward appearance is like a torpedo (fusiform) and so they are capable of incredible feats of strength and acrobatics within a highly viscous aqueous medium.

Dolphins make this list because they provide a great comparative mammalian model for understanding the evolution of higher primate intelligence. If we can understand the social and ecological significance of dolphin intelligence, we may begin to shed light on why apes and humans also evolved into highly cerebral animals.

meet tiny

Name: Tiny aka Hercules

Age: four weeks

Sex: male

Weight: 5 grams (most mice this age weigh 15 grams; hence the name Tiny)

Why he came to our house: Tiny is in the witness protection program. He is so small that he was at risk for being consumed by other members of his colony.

Where he came from: He was liberated from a vivarium at an unknown university.

Why the heck would you bring a mouse into your house; don't people trap those things?: The matriarch of the house has a strange affection for mice. She acquired her first pet mice at age eleven. They were named Darren and Dale. She has felt a hole in her life since their departure; a hole filled by Tiny.

What do Ollie and Zuzu think?: Those lazy felines haven't even noticed him.

Grace's reaction to Tiny: "I will call him Tiny, and I will lub him."

nine months old

Dear little bug,

Today you are nine months old. This last month has seen a great deal of change for you. You are crawling with speed and agility. You are working hard to stand up and reach for objects beyond your grasp. You are quite interested in everything about your older sister. This causes problems on occasion, and both you and your darling sister let me know about it with loud voices. You are falling in love with your daddy (and becoming less of a mommy's girl). You give him the biggest smiles and the loudest laughs. You are still quite timid around other people, especially those with loud, staccato voices. People like Mrs. Jordan and Uncle Matt soothe you with their calm demeanors. You would love to hold Ollie and pull his hair. He would love for you to sit still. You enjoy eating a variety of foods, and you become fussy when mommy and daddy don't get it to your mouth in a timely fashion. You are still a voracious nurser, and while this exhausts mommy, she is very happy to know you are eating well.

The hardest part about your ninth month has been teething. You have seven teeth and are waiting for the eighth to come through. We hope you will take a break once that tooth erupts. Your discomfort causes mommy and daddy to feel discomfort as well.

We are quite sure that your tenth month will have as much, if not more, change for you. As you become more independent and opinionated, you and your sister will have many more disagreements. Daddy and I can only hope that you and she will learn to interact in healthy, playful ways as well. We anticipate that you will master standing up and edging around the furniture. We also anticipate that you will discover the stairs. We know that you will continue to develop your speech and enlarge your vocabulary. We are certain that each of these developments will give us pause. We will feel pride for your achievements (and perhaps some worry about things like the stairs) and some sadness that you are no longer quite so helpless. Regardless of how much you mature, you will always be our little bug.

With love for you as deep as the ocean and wide as the sky,

Mommy & Daddy


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
This video was actually taken yesterday, and yes, Grace is wearing a swimming suit (her favorite attire). The temperature in the house was 65 degrees.

Them's good eatin'

We are in the midst of a record breaking drought. Our spring was exceptionally dry, and the fall is proving to be just as parched. There are few benefits to being this dehydrated. The most notable of which is a bumper pecan crop. Growers are expecting a banner harvest.

Uncultivated pecan trees grow all around Macon, including one in our back yard. Thanks to some recent tree pruning, we have been able to collect a three gallon bucket full of nuts (pictured above). They are smaller than cultivated varierties, but the flavor is just as good. Craig and I plan to spend a lot of time this weekend shelling the nuts and stocking our freezer. Given the amount we have collected, I may also need to roast some of the whole nuts to preserve them without refrigeration.

We aren't the only ones to benefit from the pecans. We have a pair of squirrels who have stocked their larder with nuts from our tree. Unfortunately, said larder was in our attic. For the last two months, we have been battling this couple. And they are formidable. The tree pruning I mentioned above was done to prevent them from accessing the house. It took the squirrels three days to find an alternate route to the roof; a route that required them to leap over seven feet from a mulberry tree at the back of the house.

My mild mannered husband was nearly apoplectic over the squirrels. I wasn't too thrilled either; their incessant gnawing was annoying and frustrating (all I could think about was the damage being done to the roofline). We tried driving them out with a combination of critter ridder and loud music in the attic (turns out they like NPR at full blast). We then resorted to having eight limbs trimmed from our trees (not the cheapest option, but we thought it would be effective). Finally, when Craig observed squirrels making the leap from the mulberry, he took out a hack saw and went to work. I was ready for him to cut the mulberry down completely, but each spring it fills with Cedar Waxwings on their migration north.

We have spent a total of 420 dollars doing battle with them, and up until last night, the squirrels were winnning. What they hadn't counted on was the lengths to which Craig will go when he's a little mad. After trimming the mulberry, it was clear that we had trapped one of the squirrels in the house. Given Craig's vocation he has access to things like live animal traps, and this is where the squirrels met their downfall.

Last night as I prepared dinner, I heard a thud; it was the trap falling from the roof onto our back porch. I looked out the window onto the porch, and there inside the trap was a very scared squirrel. She should have been scared. Back porch kitty was already circling. I yelled to Craig "we have a live one!" He was THRILLED, absolutely thrilled. I'm not sure what this says about him, but I think I should post a warning to all other nuisance animals: beware! anatomist on premises.

As Craig retrieved the trap, our back yard neighbor, Amanda, yelled to him: "Whatchya gonna do with that squirrel?"

Craig: "I'm going to take it into work and deal with it there."
[again, he's an anatomist, I'm sure you know what he means by that.]

Amanda: "Well, them's good eatin."

They may be good eatin', but I'm going to stick to pecans.

Rest In Peace...a good dog is gone

I just learned today that one of the sweetest, most loving dogs I have ever known died last month. I knew Murray when he was only a puppy, and I shared a house with his owner, Heather. He was an exceptionally energetic pup and remained so for much of his life. I had the good fortune to see him one last time when Craig and I traveled to Minnesota for Heather's wedding last August. While he was confined to a wheelchair, his Murray essence remained: ever loving, ever loyal. He truly was a great companion, better than many humans I know. Rest in peace, buddy, you will always be loved.