Our Family Beginnings

This has been the summer of travel.  I went to Florida to see my person, then I went to Schlubfest with other awesome bloggers, and next, in theory, we are going to Hilton Head to stay with my In-laws for a week and half.  That’s if Mr. Badger’s trial ever ends, this trial that should have ended weeks ago, and now may go another day. We were supposed to leave this past Saturday…then today…then tomorrow.  Now we may not leave until Thursday.  Do I have any takers for leaving by Christmas?  Thank goodness he’s being such a good sport about it all.  We’ve been looking forward to going down there since before Easter, and I just can’t wait to get down there…

I had the always wonderful N & Calliope over the other day for some kiddo-time, but sadly for the first time in over a year, the parking patrol was out.  N got a $50 ticket (which I will be paying, because, hello, it was my house and I feel bad when people get tickets visiting me), but Calliope got this put on her car (blurring out relevant details):

Of note, Calliope was parked at the very end of the block, so was not taking up more than her allotted space AND she has handicap tags on her plates.  In theory, one needs a permit to park on the block between 9-5 on weekdays, but there were MORE than ample spaces for residents to park there today, as there always are. The real ticket was totally warranted, and I just forgot to give N a parking pass to put in her window – that’s why I wouldn’t even think of letting N pay it. But the “ticket”? What kind of jerk puts that on someone’s car?  A total coward, that’s who.

The “ticket” was issued about 15 minutes off of N’s actual ticket, so it could have been put there by a parking official, but I really hope it wasn’t a neighbor of mine. I really like my neighborhood and shudder at the idea of someone within two doors of my house doing that to people.
Anyhow, I put it out on the neighborhood listserv, in hopes that someone cops to knowledge about it, or that my neighbors are as annoyed as I am.

eta: Apparently you can buy these things online, which means someone was dumb enough to pay money to do this – or they just printed them out at home.

I’m a cat person, I always have been.  I’m not anti-dog, but I adore cats.  I love their personalities, they’re more people like.  You have to work for their love, but once you have it, you have it forever.  If we’re out and about, and a random cat passes by, Mr. Badger knows I’m gonna try to go pet it. I can’t help myself.

This was my first cat, we got her when I was maybe 11 or so. I had to convince my dad to let us have one, since he was anti-pet.  We named her Paw McCartney, so my dad would even look at her, but we called her Bej.  Don’t ask, it’s a random story.  She was big, I mean, like BIG, and was mean to everyone but me and my mom. Here she is as a kitten:

Then there was Moe, who I got in college.  He was, arguably the best cat ever.  Even dog people loved Moe.  My dad loved Moe, which says a lot.  I brought him home as an older cat, since I was busy all day, and felt it’d be mean to a kitten to not have space to run around and what not.  Three years later, he had gotten a ginormous tumor & started having seizures. The doctor had even said that he must have loved being around me so much that he lived well past when he should have.  Plus, he was a ginger, which is my favorite type of cat.  I don’t have a lot of pictures of him, at least not scanned in, so you can see his rump.

After Moe passed on, it was too lonely being in a quiet apartment, so I got not one but two cats.  I ideally wanted an adult pair that needed a home, but when I went to the shelter, there was a pair of one year olds that called out to me.  The woman took them both out, and the boy cat started cleaning his sister.  How could I say no?  My friends and I were in Atlantic City for a weekend and worked on naming them.  The rule was that they had to be a non-incestuous naming pair – so no Sonny & Cher, since was a brother and sister.  One was mouthy and the other was quiet, so my brother voted for Jay & Silent Bob.  Mr. Badger wanted Arlo & Alice.  My friend S was amazingly not drunk when she cracked herself up with the idea of Almond Joy & Mounds (you know, because Almond Joy has nuts…).  In the end, it was Roper & Furley, named for the landlords on Three’s Company.  If you don’t know who they are, you are too young to read my blog.

While Furley passed on this January, Roper has more than stepped up as V’s big brother.  He’s very tolerant of his wanting to snuggle and play, and at the end of the day, just wants to snuggle with us .  Can’t ask for better than that!

Want to see more cute pets?  Check Calliope’s blog!

I’ll admit, I’ve always been a sleepy person.  If I had to choose between being a morning person or a night person, I’d be a morning person.  More accurately, I’m a sleepy person.  I still remember my grandfather sweetly mocking me saying how tired I was. In college, if a paper or studying wasn’t totally done by the time I faded, I shrugged and figured that’s as good as it would get and turned in.  All nighters? Not for me. I need my (at least) 8 hours.  Fighting it is futile, and I’m okay with that.

With swimming twice a week for 90 minutes and running about 25 miles a week, I have been using V’s naptime as a nap for myself as well. And as Calliope, E’s Mama, Mel, and N can tell you, I have been REALLY tired.  I’ve since cut out the swimming for a few weeks, but I’m still pretty snoozy.  Of note, both my folks are hypothyroid.  I didn’t even realize, but apparently my mom even was taking thyroid supplements in her twenties! Having a slow thyroid can definitely do a number on one’s energy level.

One of the great things about the steps we take for adoption is that they require a full physical, and my doc always checks my thyroid levels.  As anyone who dealt with fertility issues know, having unexplained fertility sucks so much worse than having something you can treat.  So with that knowledge, I was almost hoping for a medical explanation for my fatigue.

Well, the doc’s nurse called me yesterday, and it seems that my thyroid is indeed sluggish!  I’m going in for more tests today, but hopefully, relief is on the way.  Otherwise, I might have been sleep running on my long slow runs!