Quality Inspector Bellatrix was on duty to observe!
For me it works best to plan recharge time before a scheduled event, instead of planning something to look forward to after.
I'll plan ahead, but once the day for the event is set, on "x" day ahead of time I say I have stuff scheduled already, so I can only help get ready/plan for main event on other days before, not that one. Then I make sure I'm set up to have a nice relaxing quiet day (preferably 1-2 days before the event, 3 is pushing it).
Personally, it just makes me feel more confident knowing I have time to recharge and get my energy up before I have to go be in the middle of things. I'm less likely to be anxious or cranky or exhausted, my energy will be filled up and ready, and I'll be more likely to be prepared, even (slightly) looking forward to social times, because I had that day without.
I seem to have an early beta version for tablets - instead of just bracing the device, the paw pad extensions keep touching the screen - with unintended results! :)
Funny, just was coming here to 'tell on' my kitty :P
Getting ready for work this morning, and she grabs my shoe by the laces and starts pulling it away (thud....thud...thud....) Second cat goes to see what she's doing, and she starts running to hide her "prey" from him (thudthudthudthudthudthud). They run 2 rooms away, then the train comes back, cat followed by shoe, followed by cat (thudthudthudthudthud). She jumps up on the couch, shoe and all, and finally stops to hiss at him, which is when I finally get to snatch my poor shoe back! :P
I blame spring fever!
I love the series that starts with City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett. I just finished the third book, so it's fresh in my mind! :) He's good about wrapping up the book-length plot lines, while keeping the overall series arc going. It'd be quite a different feel from Harry Potter, but I'd suggest at least giving it a look!
Yay! Very nice! If your weather is as crazy as mine, you can maybe get a few wears in before it decides to stay too warm!
My favorite habit for crochet multi-tasking is listening to podcasts. I usually am both reading a transcript of it and listening to the audio, otherwise I can't focus on the voices. Crocheting adds another layer of doing to help keep me settled and listening, and glancing down occasionally slows my reading enough that I get less far ahead of the sound.
peeks out at snow Nope! Spring is not a thing yet. Not here, lol.
Just finished Wake of Vultures, which was really awesome. Think I'm going to start Ink Mage next. :)
Mostly, ceramic versus stainless can be your preference. The reason stainless was better for me is primarily because I'm clutzy, and I was worried about me dropping and breaking the ceramic one. :) Ceramic is prettier, I know a lot of people think stainless is ugly and don't want to look at it, and it's equally good as stainless, they just are both much better than plastic.
Once they're sure they can trust you they don't hold back, they trust you completely forever :) So sweet.
I've had this one about 4 months so far. The last one we had was I think a different brand, and not as big, but it was about about 8 to 10 years old and it finally had to be replaced. It was similar, but smaller. I think I had to replace the pump on that older one after about 5-6 years?
Mine are older now and experts at drinking from the streams, but a kitten may get a wet face a few times before they learn how to lap at it, and they should be lapping, if she starts gulping it, try to distract her and get her to go slow, or she may get a sick belly. She may also have to play with it at first, sticking in her paws until she gets comfortable with it.
I'm guessing you had one more like this? https://www.amazon.com/Catit-Fresh-Stainless-Drinking-Fountain/dp/B016DQU5NQ/ref%3Dsr_1_7?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1490574002&sr=1-7&keywords=catit That "bubbling" style is fine for dogs with longer snouts, but not for cats or smush face dogs. The water often splashes up their noses when they try to drink, and that can cause the chocking and sputtering. No matter which fountain you pick, I'd say absolutely go for one that has falling streams instead, it's much better for them.
I notice Jae's is also a Drinkwell, it's a pretty solid brand, I know several other pet owners with them. I went with stainless over ceramic because it's lighter to cart over to the sink, and I think it was also the model that was on a sale when I was making the final choice. Ceramic has it's benefits too though, and her smaller model might be easier if your kitten is still pretty small, the stainless has a really wide lower bowl. :)
We have a stainless steel Drinkwell 360, https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Drinkwell-Stainless-Multi-Pet-Fountain/dp/B002SB91QS/ref%3Dsr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490567166&sr=8-1&keywords=drinkwell%20360%20stainless%20steel%20pet%20fountain
Both our kitties love it and so do I. I've got the three stream ring on in the picture below, but you can have 1 to 5 streams. Well I can have 1 or 3 to 5, because the first thing Bellatrix did was jump up and start knocking the rings off the table, so we lost the 2 stream before it even got put together :P
For my use versus reviews I read before buying, I've found that it doesn't get as dirty as fast with the cats as some of the dog owner reviews said, and while some people were having trouble dissembling to clean, I think as long as you don't have anything like hand mobility issues or arthritis, it's fine. Takes me about 10 minutes tops to disassemble, clean and reassemble the whole thing, and I do that about once a month, with a "small" cleaning once a week of just the big areas. As I clearly need to do now, since I'm seeing food bits in the bowl, lol. Sometimes they get happy and bump and rub against the top, and the filter unit will come loose just enough to interupt the flow, but it's easy to pull it up a bit and re-seat it.
The falling streams are better than bubblers, especially for kittens just getting used to running water, for the same reason you found, they can drink at their own pace much more easily.
The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes. Enjoyed the first one, looking forward to more craziness. :)
Possibly also Boundary Lines by Melissa F. Olson, another that's second in series.
Awwww, so cute! :)
All of Juliet Marillier.
:)
Yeah, I admire your dedication to getting one that size done, that is huge. It'll be really nice though, to have that brightening up your home as a happy reminder of loved ones. :)
And for venting we're here for you! Us fellow introverts have been there, often to smaller degrees, but we get it! Best of luck to you!
For me a lot of it has been learning my limits, patience wise, for projects. If there's something I've got a lot of emotional meaning wrapped up in, I can finish a larger project. If I just want something fun to do, I stick with small ideas. Mug cozies, cat toys, finger-less mitts, things like that. Or I do projects like my puffs I'm on now, or flat hexes, or squares. That way when I feel like being done, I'm done. I make whatever I've made enough of them for when I hit that point, and move on. Sometimes it's a blanket, sometimes it's a hot-pot table square.
You both did a lovely job, it looks very pretty and comfy. :)
Yeah, I've struggled with getting through to people on the whole "it's nice you want to support me, but could you support me how I need, not how you want?" thing too. It got to the point where every time mom overshared "because they'd be hurt", I had to start responding with "So they mean more to you than I do."
This is why I deliberately live far enough from my mother that visiting is hard. When I do go back, I try to always bring my fellow or a friend - it naturally imposes a bit of distance so that she has to be busy being a good hostess part of the time, and I get a much needed buffer from someone who doesn't believe that respecting boundaries applies to family too. Last time I went without someone, I found her standing outside my bedroom door as I was trying to fall asleep, just hovering. I love her, but she makes my skin crawl when she does things like this. :P (Note: I'm -not- a youngster who's gone away for the first time, either, I'm a grown-up who's been living on my own for 20+ years!)
Also, reading your story mean I have a new preparedness plan! :P In case of ever needing surgery, I'm going to have a prepared list for the doctors of my wishes regarding who gets what level of information. It may not guarantee they respect them, but I also really don't want certain family informed of things just because they're family.
Self checkouts are awesome. Some days I can deal with a person at checkout, other times, while I won't be mean to them if I have to go to them, we're just both gonna be happier if I get to pay and go in silence. I've noticed people doing the earbud trick a lot lately, some even wearing the over ear kind in the stores. I think it's a great way to get around the way stores try to force the employees to chat with you constantly. (And trust me, it is a corporate trend these days to order them to make as much chit chat as possible). It says "I can't hear you and don't wish to engage" without having to say that to people who want to/have to talk to you otherwise. Fewer hurt feelings all around. If someone doesn't take the hint you can do the "one moment, please" motions and hold your hand to one like you're listening really hard to something important. Sometimes that gets through. :P
Back to the original question, I use introvert with people I already know well. With new people, especially if I think they might jump to wrong conclusions, I'll instead describe myself as being "reserved", "not talkative" or as a "very private person". If they start being aggressive with the "you never talk, you don't like us! what's wrong!" I just say that sometimes silence really is golden. The ones who don't like that will probably never be someone I want to be around anyway.
pokes put that tongue back in there! :P
Maybe a friend can have an urgent need for you for a short break? A friend with a car :P lol
Or get everyone out to the movies and sit on the far end of the string of people. No talking during movies (thank goodness), and being at the edge means minimal physical proximity while still appearing as if you're being social.
That's our most popular lost toy depository too.... the refrigerator is a close second though!
One more week to vote on the March poll! Will it be Written in Red? or Pets In Space? Come help decide!
Books, solo or multiplayer games (video or tabletop), also nature walks though, when it's nicer (bring on the summer!). Basically anything that involves either alone time, or time with my "comfortable" people. Instead of big long exhausting formal conversations where you have to say at least five things that mean nothing before you can even start really talking, there are scattered exclamations, questions, or remarks - sometimes with long pauses between. And we're all OK with that!
Figaro is sometimes the "Little Chairman" (Meow) or, if he's violated the airspace from the litter box lately, "Stink-Butt The Cruel"



Full of CraftOnce upon a time (last year)May 11 at 4:19 PM





