Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

My daughter and DarkKnight are home! Yay!

It's amazing to me sometimes, how much I love both of my husbands. I was so happy to have DarkKnight home, and it was so nice to slide back into bed and have his warmth around me. We were both majorly bummed I was on my period, but we had some playtime and I can't lie - he is so freaking amazing. Afterwards, we had some good discussion about future plans and I just felt so connected with him. We decided that we are going to do more research about taking a trip to Japan in the next 5 years, and short term, we found an online list of tea shops in our state that we are going to try and visit. Like, one every two months.

I am kind of bummed because he just got home but he will have play practice every single night this week. So no fun dates for us this week. Probably not next week either, as his play opens up the following weekend, so that means next week is tech week. Which reminds me that PunkRock and I need to get tickets.

OMG though you guys, I woke up this morning feeling so very rosy and happy. I was thinking of PunkRock and the NRE flutters I had when we first met and I was just SQUEEEEE. I just came downstairs and slipped into his bed. He was half asleep but he rolled over and grabbed my legs and he's now got me pulled all up next to him, with his right arm wrapped around me. He's back to being zonked out again so I am on my phone typing this, but it feels so good to be so loved!

I hope today is a good day for everyone - so far, in spite of being on my period and having the carb flu yuckies, I am very, very upbeat and optimistic.

Oh, and I totally already ordered groceries on AmazonFresh and petted my Leonard-kitty when he came to say hello earlier!
 
OMG y'all I am soooo lightheaded from not eating yet today. I had some sexy fun with PunkRock and then popped in the shower. When i came upstairs, my son was here so I had to go sort laundry out so he could use the washer and dryer. (Normally he comes over on Sundays but this week was different.) By the time I was finished with that, we had a guy from the gas company at our door, with paperwork I had to look over. (Apparently our service is being shut off next week because they are replacing the outside meter due to age.) So, I finally got a change to drink down an Atkins shake and then I had to sit down because I was wobbly AF. Ugh. DarkKnight brought me my morning meds and now I am sitting here all shaky, waiting for these calories to kick in and I can put together a more substantial lunch.

I got a message this morning from my mom's cousin, who she hasn't seen since she was small. I sent my own message two years ago when I was working crazy on Ancestry stuff to a different cousin, and I guess it finally went through last night and that cousin contacted this cousin and now I am set to get some info! That is kind of exciting! I have a phone number to call later today to talk to her. It's pretty cool because I haven't spent any time at all on Ancestry in quite a while. Now might be the time to get wrapped up in that! I'd have to shell out some cash for a membership again, but it may be worth it.

One thing that I wanted to mention in my journal here is that I had a hiccup with my therapy stuff yesterday. It was kinda major but kinda low key at the same time. I have posted before about how I have really tried to work hard on gifts and acceptance because reasons? Well, I HAVE made amazing strides with this, so much so that I don't even stress anymore. So that's a big yay! The problem though is that I had built up a -what I think is reasonable - expectation that I will receive little gifts and trinkets when my guys are out of town. I mean, when I go on a trip, I always bring stuff back for them, you know? Well, DarkKnight didn't bring me anything from his weekend away at AwesomeCon. Like, nothing.

When my daughter and DarkKnight came home it was a flurry of activity, and my daughter was showing me the swag she had purchased, and DarkKnight showed me his new mug, and PunkRock got his cool tentacle kitty plush. And then things calmed down and there was nothing for me from DarkKnight. I had to kinda sit down and just think on that for a while. Because it hurt really hard in a sharp sort of way, because I hadn't even realized I had been expecting a little gift. I mean, expectation is not a feeling I have allowed to exist in such a very long time, and then to have nothing was just oooof. At first I really did feel marginalized and unimportant all over again - my brain went back to that ex-husband place and I could feel myself curling up and putting out pointy things inside my soul.

I didn't say anything at all and threw myself into work last night so I would have time to work things off physically and then give myself space to think about it mentally. That was actually a great thing because I decided to do all of DarkKnight's laundry from the trip as an act of service, as that is his love language. So that gave me room to think about loving him and helping him, and space for the reminder that we love each other to live. After that, I was able to go to him and hear about his fun experiences, and to tell him that not getting a gift had hurt me a little.

I think he was sort of flabbergasted at first that I had the ability to tell him this and then he was super great at reassuring me of his love.

So yeah, that happened.
 
So...this happened.

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That smug little fucker in front is named Tom, and he's proud of himself for securing the best lap spot on my leg, over his brothers Spike and Jerry. The plan was we weren't going to foster until my daughter Michigan moved out, but the shelter had 19 cages full of kittens who needed temporary homes. Now they have 18.

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That's a solo photo of little Tom. He loves me lots, but wow - he is every inch a kitten! He's very active and is jealous AF if I pet either of his brothers.

And this next one is of Jerry. We didn't name these guys, and more than likely we aren't going to change them because they're already 8 weeks. They're staying with us until they are 2 pounds each, at which point they will be fixed and go on to their permanent homes. Jerry is very still and quiet, a paitient panther. The other two will cuddle up to sleep with him, but so far they ignore him during playtime, because all he does is sit. I don't think he is feeling too well - though he may just be having trouble adjusting. When I grab him up, he immediately starts purring and will stay put for a long time.

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Doesn't he look a tad worried?! So cute! I don't have a singleton photo of Spike because he's so busy ignoring me and surveying the lay of the land. He constantly is exploring and searching for signs of trouble. He is feisty and fun, and he's also the reason why we picked this batch of babies - he's all gray with a tad touch of white under his chin. We were thinking he might be our "upstairs Stormy" but I am not feeling it yet. (Stormy is our 14 year old princess with resting bitch face that lives in the basement and hates all other animals but loves PunkRock more than anything on the planet.)

Instead, here's a pic of DarkKnight at AwesomeCon this past weekend. Don't Blink!

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Aww the grey kitties! I grew up with a striped grey named Misty and his solid grey mother Jaguar. His sister Stormy had a mishap since they were indoor outdoor cats and so she wasn't with us long. Gosh, Misty was a great cat though.

I am glad and proud of you for working through the gift and act of service love language conflict and were able to come to terms with it and share your feelings with DK with no rancour!
 
Poor little Jerry has a butt volcano going on right now. It's all puffy and red. He's getting an ass bath and Neosporin tonight. He puked up his worm medicine last night so he gets another dose tonight. The other two kitties are doing better and look great. Here's a photo of Spike, since I neglected him yesterday! ( Don't mind the bedding - it's actually old stuff leftover from WarMan. Many kittens have trod on it since he left. They seem to enjoy clawing it.)

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And now that we've gotten the gross sick kitten talk out of the way - how about some food pics? So far all of us are sticking to the low carb regimen, though I feel like PunkRock complains a lot. We are eating some pretty food though, I think!

Fajita roll ups with salsa and roasted Mexican zucchini
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Chili Lime Cream Grilled Chicken
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Green Beans with Bacon
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Chef Salad with Ranch Dressing and a side of Cottage Cheese
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Blink is one of the scariest episodes of Doctor Who. Great Pic!
 
I have never watched a single episode of Dr. Who. Lol

I am not feeling well at all today. Low level nausea is kicking my butt. I am just eating small meals and getting through the day.

One of our foster kittens needed to be taken to the clinic today. He vomited twice and his poops remained runny after medication. We were afraid of dehydration, so little Jerry got a shot of fluids, a Pan-Leuk test (negative) and some new meds that came home for all 3 baby cats. PunkRock went with me. When we got back home my Amazon order of iams dry and wet kitten food has arrived, so we will have them eating some decent stuff now. Initially they came home with generic dry food. The shelter can only feed them what is donated. I want them to have the best shot to start, so I buy better stuff as part of my donation to the shelter, in conjunction with my time caring for these sweet babies.

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Tom, Jerry & Spike:
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Oh, and here's a funny! Check out the difference between how Leonard and ColePorter feel about sharing a couch with me:

Leonard -

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ColePorter-

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How are your cats about tolerating the kittens? It's been a slow journey getting my cat to accept the new little one! I mean, it's been less than a week, but she LOVES most animals, so I'm surprised. (Yes, she even usually adjusts to adult cats after a day or two.)
 
Foster cats are kept entirely isolated from our permanent cats. They usually have no vaccinations yet, and can be sick. We don't want our cats passing along anything, or catching anything from the fosters. I mean, these 3 babies have worms. We can get free meds and vet visits for the fosters, but if the worms were passed to our permanent cats, we'd be on the hook for their vet bills! So the reasons for keeping them separate are not only to keep their emotions in check (cats distrust strangers and become agitated), but also medically necessary and financially prudent!

In our old house we had a basement bedroom dedicated to kitten fosters. There was an "airlock" between the main basement space where our permanent pets could be and this bedroom. The airlock was a pass-thru bathroom. So if we opened the door to the bathroom, and one of the permanent cats darted in, they still wouldn't encounter the babies, as the bedroom door would be closed. So we'd have time to wrangle them up and put them back into the main space before moving forward into the bedroom. Our permanent cats could smell the kittens, but they couldn't come in contact at all.

In our new house, this sort of airlock setup does not exist. At the moment, the 3 babies are in DarkKnight's bedroom, off the main hallway. So the cats and the kittens can sort of observe each other under the door. Both Milton and Leonard position themselves to hiss at the babies from time to time, but as Milton and Leonard are young themselves, they don't sit for long periods and they forget the kittens are there or don't care for long periods of time. The kittens don't challenge the door and are oblivious for the most part as well. The other cats just completely avoid the door to DarkKnight's room - at least they have so far.

We have been keeping an eye on if our permanent cats have become stressed or agitated. The result is usually vomiting or diarrhea and thankfully we haven't seen that yet. Leonard has been more clingy to me lately, but he usually is, so I can't say that it's a side effect.

If you are trying to acclimate an older cat to a new permanent kitten, I would recommend you give up and go get a second kitten. Older cats find a solitary kitten annoying and invasive. The kitten can't help it - they have endless energy and want to play constantly. Your older cat may be able to tolerate silliness for short periods, but all day will aggravate it and could cause aggression. A second kitten will allow both babies to exhaust each other in delight, and the older cat will tolerate them better, because it can now choose to play and be a mentor, or disengage without the kittens having no other option. The kittens will quickly learn what that limit is. It is MUCH easier to acclimate two older cats - they have he same energy levels and have the maturity to understand when to leave the other alone. For the most part. Some older cats, like PunkRockAwesomesauce's Stormy, don't tolerate any new cats. She hates them all.
 
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OMG guys - I was all alone yesterday evening. PunkRock went out with a friend and then played Infinity at the game store later, and DarkKnight had play practice. Plus my daughter was at work. So, what did I do with my alone time? I watched something called Circle on Netflix, and vacuumed out the cat room. I had to empty the smaller shop vac and ended up dumping a quarter of the nastiness all over my foot, but eventually things got cleaned up. Sigh.

Writing about the cat room (the sunporch) gets me excited about this weekend - my kitchen will hopefully be finished tomorrow! We keep having to reschedule with DarkKnight's cousin but he swears he will be showing up tomorrow bright and early, which means baseboards and trim will be nailed up, and my cabinet fronts will get hardware and be installed. I need another threshold installed as well, and if he has time, my daughter's bedroom door has an issue. Squeeeee! Just thinking about this stuff being completed has me happy.

PunkRock's left hand is doing better - he's almost 2 weeks past his surgery. He drove to the game store himself last night, actually. He can open doors and make smal grips with it. Stitches come out on Monday, but well, that's also the date of his second surgery, on his right wrist. So, he will be even more incapacitated then. I wish he wasn't, but this SO needed to happen. He has had zero numbness in the arm he had the surgery in, which is a welcome change from waking up every morning with issues!

Little Jerry kitten was miserable last night and had gotten even quieter, if that was even possible. I gave him a butt bath and he got Neosporin applied. We had taken him to the clinic and his poop consistency has improved, but he's still a mess himself. I wrapped him in a towel and made him into a purrito, and he tolerated that very well. When I let him out of it, he curled up on DarkKnight. I ended up sleeping downstairs off-schedule with PunkRock last night, so I have yet to get an update on how Jerry is doing this morning.

DarkKnight was super tired last night and I was wide awake, so I snuggled up with PunkRock instead. We watched the ARQ since it was a time travel movie and we had watched Primer the day before. OMG I love Primer. It's easily in my top 5 movies. It makes no sense. I mean, every time I watch it, I figure out the timelines better, but then struggle to understand others. PunkRock had never seen Primer, but he didn't have much to say about it after. I dunno, maybe he found it slow paced? I don't care though, whenever I see this movie, I immediately want to watch it again.

So yeah, last night was great. I was horny AF but still not 100% clean from my period ending so PunkRock & I had fun playtime. Damn he knows right where to touch me to make me squeal! To be fair though, that's pretty much everywhere. Lolol
 
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Thanks for the kitty info. My big one is getting more and more used to the little one. She goes over to sit closer to him now, and I haven't heard her hiss since I got back from my conference yesterday afternoon. I'll be home all weekend so will be able to observe the situation a little more closely. It's now been exactly a week!
 
If you can get the Feliway spray or plug-ins, a lot of people swear by them.

I am sooooo tired this morning, but I needed to get up so I can shower and prep before DarkKnight's cousin arrives. I wasn't up late last night though, since I was with DarkKnight and the kittens. Jerry is doing a little better - his poops have improved in consistency, but now they aren't staying in the box. He is going to find himself crates if that doesn't stop shortly!

Our cat Milton has been having hairball issues. He is our almost 2 year old with extra toes. The fact that he hacks stuff up is not surprising - he eats everything he can find that is made of cardboard. If we leave out a package from Amazon, it'll have teethmarks in it, in less than 5 minutes. By the next day, a huge chunk will be missing. Sigh. It's been suggested to us to add canned pumpkin into his diet, so we will probably do that.

Last night PunkRock and I watched the first Harry Potter. I think we are going to watch the movies through. Should be fun. I have the urge to read the books, but those are all still packed up. We played our first full game of Pandemic - Reign of Cthulhu yesterday too. The last time I tried to play, my son was in a car accident! Lol That time was with DarkKnight though. This time, PunkRock and I managed to finish and win! We did a good job. Though...thinking about it, I think we screwed up part of it. I will talk to him about that later. Anyway, it's a great quick jolt of the Cthulhu mythos without having to spend 6 hours with Arkham Horror, so I appreciate that, though I do love me some Arkham Horror! This game takes Pandemic and combines it really well with the theme. Areas of Arkham are "infected" with cultists, and instead of outbreaks when you get too many, Shoggoths appear. As the infection rate escalates, more Old Ones are uncovered and they seriously fuck it your gameplay. Give it a try if you haven't!

Ok enough chatter - I need to take my shower!
 
Gah! Nothing is ever easy - half the trim is up in my kitchen, but my cabinet doors are causing problems. Apparently all of the hinges I bought don't fit right because there's a lip on the door edge. So then we had to discuss sawing out a couple of sections of each door ON THE FRONT. Uh, no. The idea then became adding some wood blocks to each edge of the inside cabinet framework and screwing the hinges in to those, and having a completely hidden hinge. So PunkRock and I went to Lowes and bought the pieces we needed, but now it seems that idea doesn't work either. Some of the space inside the cabinet is too tight to make it happen. The new working solution is - I don't know. They're using a multi tool to affix the hinges somehow. I guess there was a reason the old hinges were attached as they were - it's the only solution that works! I will have a lot of the hinge showing now, but I bought them in a finish that matches all the other jewelry in the kitchen - sink faucet, drawer pulls, window sash hardware, etc. I honestly don't give a shit as long as I get doors that work now!

DarkKnight destroyed the bush in the front yard too, so that is now down to the bare stump. It really makes the house look sooooo much better! I still need to stake out the tarp we bought to kill all of the weeds in the front flower bed, but since the guys are using the porch to run the table saw, I am waiting on that at the moment.

I did some organizational work in the sunporch area - repacked the closet, vacuumed, took down the original curtains that were still there. It looks much more open now. I am motivated to rip out the carpet and reprint in there now, but I have to tell myself no, because I definitely don't have any money left to redo the floor in there yet! I actually think I have the paint already, though...
 
I have a lot to update on but my brain is asleep at the moment. I had a fitful night with kittens causing mischief in the middle of my prime dream time. Ugh. Then DarkKnight woke me accidentally by stepping on a kitten at 5:30 am. I came down to the basement bedroom to try and get some more sleep but it isn't happening.

PunkRock's second carpal tunnel surgery is today at 9:30 am. I am going to have to pop in the shower here in a minute but I will try to get all my updates in beforehand!

So, remodeling things. The kitchen remains unfinished. By the time the guys figured out how to get the cabinet doors hung, time was up. I have 3 sets of doors in working order at the moment, and that is it. Every single one of them required adjustment with a planer and so now every single door AND the frame work will require paint touchups. DarkKnight also only painted one side of the cabinet doors originally. Sigh. The plan right now is that his cousin is coming back over on Saturday to finish hanging everything, so at least stuff will be up. PunkRock says he is going to do some reading and discuss the paint job with experts because honestly I am unhappy with the finish anyway. Oh, and the trimwork didn't get finished because the nailer ran out of charge. Saturday can't come quick enough!

I am doing some redecorating in my living room and trying to figure out how best to lay out the wall art. Since this entire room is going to feature our cat highway, it only needs to work for about a year, but so don't want it looking unfinished for that long. I bought a snake plant and now I need a pot to hold it in. Actually, I think I might buy some more and line some up along the front patio. These have always been one of my favorites!

I am still waiting on a date to have our basement floor installed. We paid the deposit a short while ago but we are not in the contractor's schedule yet. I am still waiting for payment from over half my Chem class parents but Saturday is the deadline. It's weird - the entire second class has yet to pay but the first is pretty good though most of them have payment plans. I am eagerly awaiting this floor getting done! At this point it looks like it will be the second week in July.

The last few days PunkRock and I have been having a Harry Potter movie marathon. We watched Goblet of Fire last night, which has always been my favorite of the books. I can't say which one is my favorite movie - it's been a while since I saw them all.

Lately I have felt super connected to PunkRock. He's been just really affectionate and open - we have been having some amazing discussions about plans on the house, high school experiences (he got detention for writing graffiti in his school bathroom!) and yeah, some pretty great sex too. I think a big part of his happy mood lately is that he has finally been able to build some terrain for Infinity after 6+ months of no hobby stuff, which is pretty much his life. His left wrist has been strengthening and he has been able to drive again. However, with today being his right arm surgery, all that is going to go away again. Good news is that once that arm is better, we'll have a floor in the basement and he and DarkKnight's cousin will have a date set to work together to build all the tables for the art studio. Then he will be able to get back to painting! And I have to say, I am looking forward to be able to craft again myself!

Anyway, PunkRock and I have had this amazing connection lately.

DarkKnight and I are doing fine too, but he has been gone every night for his play practice, and will be again this week because his show opens on Friday night. I miss him. We haven't been able to connect Heart to heart because of this, and when he gets home it's after 10 pm and he's exhausted. Then the kittens need attention. Ugh! Next week will be better though!

Speaking of kittens, little Jerry is still not good. I let the foster care coordinator know and it looks like I will be taking him either to the clinic or to the vet today. Poor baby.

DarkKnight and I did have some time together yesterday - we went to the game store and met with a guy from Martinsburg to talk about a Call of Cthulhu campaign. We are supposed to build our characters this week (PunkRock is in the group too) and we've invited our Pandemic Legacy friend. We are all going to meet at our house next Monday afternoon to kick things off. The guy seems like he will be a decent GM. Our story is going to be set up in the 20s, during prohibition, in NYC. We're all going to be bad guys - low level gangsters whose bosses have told us to figure out what's messing up their bootlegging operation - little do we know that it will turn out to be MONSTERS! Heh. I think it sounds fun, and I haven't ever played COC during that time period!
 
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The surgery was a success and PunkRock is in more pain this time than the last one. That makes me sad. So far he seems to be doing ok with having two gimpy arms - the left hand got the stitches out today and it seems to still be healing well.

The sick kitten is going to clinic for observation tomorrow morning at 9 am. Jerry is just so miserable! I will be glad when they figure out what meds to get him on to make him better! They are going to keep him all day.

I had two payments come in today for my Chem class, so things are moving there. Sweetness was that one parent paid in full and she had told me previously she wanted the payment plan. So check that off. :) I need to sit and do some serious budgeting soon. Oh! PunkRock's first disability check came and it was garbage, but apparently he will be getting one every week. That's something, I guess? But it still ends up being like 50% total of his take home pay normally for the month. Ugh. Better than nothing I suppose and we will make it work somehow!

I am really tired tonight. PunkRock and I watched another Harry Potter movie - Order of the Phoenix. It's interesting because I never remember this one much at all when trying to rank them in my head, but I think it's a good one. Way better than #2 or #3. Feh! The look of the phoenix in #2 ruined that one for me.

Anyway, I like 5. :) Neville looks awkward AF in this one, like he's 23 and not 15. All of the kids look way too old, actually, but he's pretty bad. The Weasley twins are no way 17! Poor Draco Mafoy got like what, one line in the entire movie?! The giant is dumb. Heh. I should prolly stop or I will ruin my like of this movie.
 
Our Harry Potter marathon is complete!

All of the kittens ended up at the clinic yesterday. Jerry was already there overnight from before, but I had to take Spike in for being scary lethargic - at some points I thought he wasn't breathing - and Tom started runny poops. The vet ended up keeping them all overnight. They were able to come home today but they're not out of the danger zone yet. All three have an intestinal parasite, but they aren't being treated for that at the moment. Instead, what happened is that the vomiting and diarrhea had led to both Jerry and Spike becoming extremely dehydrated and needing fluids administered. Apparently Jerry ended up with an IV because he wouldn't perk up. He needed more every 3 hours. The vet tech told me that he is terrified of her and hides when he hears her voice, because she had to stick him with a needle so much! His front legs are shaved now - he looks as if he is wearing fur booties! Poor baby.

All three kittens are on a twice-a-day anti-diarrheal medication and will be until Monday. They are also on a special food and are now restricted to twice a day meals of this stuff. On Monday, I will call and if things are better on the litterbox front, they can start the Albon or Doxy to start killing the worms. Unfortuntey, all of them are now off their vaccination schedules - they had booster shots due today but there is no way their immune systems could have handled that. Sigh.

The good news is that Jerry is now playful! So cute!! Tom is still spastic too, so all that is awesome. Spike is still sleeping an AWFUL lot, but he has had some playtime as well. All 3 ate all of their dinner, and that makes us happy. Right now they're in a cuddle pile on my shirt.
 
Ok it looks like Photobucket is no longer letting me link to my photos, which is lame as hell, since that's the only reason I have ever had a Photobucket account. So, I guess all those pictures are gone, as far as making sense in my journal. 😕

I need to find another host - any ideas? I am not spending the $400 Photobucket wants per year. That's robbery.
 
Amazon has photo storage and sharing free for prime members.
 
Nice! I will check it out tomorrow then!
 
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