feline transitions

On Friday, two events happened that effected the cat population at The Greenhouse (the name for where psyche7772, C, and I live).

The first was the much anticipated naming of the kitten. Yes, the kitten now has a name. For some reason, the name Tabitha popped into my head, and I realized it fit well. Not only is the kitten a tabby, but it seems like a good transition from Lil'Bit, which she still gets called at times. I am not sure if there are any literary or other references, aside from Bewiched, so if anyone has ones I should know, please comment.

Later that night, while eating dinner with psyche7772 and mercator_7, our neighbor came by to let us know that roommate C's cat did not look good. Winchester, a cranky, lovable old ginger tomcat C has had for 16 years, was laying in the sun, but not looking too present. Sure enough, he seemed to have just passed on as dusk approached.

C she was out celebrating katiis' birthday at the Santa Cruz boardwalk at the time, so psyche7772 called her to let her know. C drove home, and with the help of her mother, got paw prints for the tattoo she is going to get on her ankle of his paws. Although not unexpected, it did seem rather sudden. However, as far as kitty passings are concerned, he fell asleep in a ray of the setting sun, so it was both peaceful and poetic.

It is one more answer as to why a kitten came into our lives when she did.

In other news...

I have had many posts in mind that seem to slip past because I am busy doing the things I think are post worthy. Meanwhile, here is a quick list of what is keeping me busy.

Gearing-up for Lark Camp: This is the second year I am the Quartermaster and I am taking the opportunity to actually try to get some process in place before camp starts to make things run more smoothly during. I am also helping out with the admin stuff that the other two admins usually handle to help lighten the load. Mainly I have taken a list of names to call to confirm attendance of those working and answer any questions they have.

If you are attending Lark Camp and working in a kitchen or coffeehouse, please let me know.

Family vacation: I am joining my dad et al for a Yosemite trip. Actually, I am only staying for the pre-hike portion as I am too busy to go for the big hike. We are staying at the Evergreen Lodge.

Work: I have been juggling enough freelance work between all of that to feel productive, including working some on the weekends. I am going to be working for Arup for most of August, which is a good thing. It is mostly part-time, so I will still have some flexibility, although I have committed to at least some time each workday once I get back from Lark.

Henna: One of the projects I want to work on before Northern Renaissance Faire is the redesign of the henna design book (yes, it is that time again). I am tapping emberleo to spend some time on the pages she has the most input on (please contact me to plan a good time to get together on this).

Home: I am mostly settled, although there is still some things that need to find places to live. I have been slowly unpacking, so there is some progress on the (now much smaller) pile of boxes in the studio. My desktop computer is mostly set-up and I have actually made some time to play WoW to balance all the work I have been doing.

Housemate C dragged me with her lap swimming yesterday, and my typically unused muscles are now complaining about the workout. Lap swimming tends to be uninteresting for me, but I think it is a good source of exercise, so I might try to do this more in the future. I then dragged her to the Plough, which was a much more fun source of exercise. Before the Plough, josh_summit came by to take away some of my empty boxes (thanks!) and meet Tabitha. There is no question that man is a sucker for cats.

OK, I hope that gets me caught-up for the time being. Back to the grind. Somewhere in all of that I need to find time to pack!