Not the best week ever

This week was really difficult. It turned out that one of the kittens had a parasite, and I had to fight with the rescue to get them to pay for the trip to the vet. They were like "we will just send you the meds," but they didn't know what was wrong with him, and they also didn't send me any meds. Finally I just took him to the vet because he clearly needed to go. The vet gave me some meds that cleared up what turned out to be giardia, but then he caught a cold from the other kitty, and his eye was swollen half shut and oozing puss. So, I just took him back to the vet, because I had waited too long the first time and I wasn't going to do that again. They refused to pay for it because "if every foster went to the vet for anything, we wouldn't exist"! I was so annoyed, because he had a fever and was really sick. I demanded then that they find him a new place right away, which thankfully they did. So last night I decided it was time for the kittens to go, and I went on a mini road trip to drop them off. 

Joey went to his forever home in NH, where he has a new kitty sibling, mom, dad and boy who looked like he was about 10 or so and was super excited about him. Their house was full of books and pictures of their family - it looked like they maybe had a daughter as well, who wasn't home. They seemed like they were going to be a nice family for him.

Then I took Patch to another foster in Fitchburg. I felt really bad about sending him away when he was so sick, but I just couldn't take care of him any more without the help of the rescue. It turned out it was the best place for him! The woman there was so nice! She has 3 dogs and two other cats, and a son who it sounds like was about 8-9 who loves cats. So, Patch was going to stay in the sons room until he was on the mend. She also has a really good friend who's a vet and can take care of Patch. I cried when I dropped him off, and for the entire drive home. Maybe I'm not really the fostering kind, but it was so intense when Patch was sick.

The reason that I wanted to have them leave was that my cat Tigger was hiding under the bed and not eating. I started noticing that her food dish still had food in it earlier in the week, and just thought the Cats were upset, but then last night there was clearly something wrong. And I felt so bad for spending so much attention on Patch and ignoring my kitties. So, today I had to take Tigger to the vet. I thought she had giardia (which probably she does, the vet gave me meds for her). But also he said that she was skinny and dehydrated, and he did some blood tests that found that her sugar levels were high. She may have diabetes. When he told me about the symptoms of diabetes it made sense to me - she gets really hangry during the day and hisses at Rufus and me until I feed her. The vet said that Tigger was his best patient today - I was like "wow, she must really be feeling sick, because she's usually a pretty fiesty gal at the vet." Anyhow, they did some more expensive blood work and we will see what happens. In the meantime I have to rub a cream on her ear to stimulate her appetite. So weird. They gave me a bag labeled "Tigger (they go bounce)" with her meds; so cute!

On Thursday this week I woke with the worst migraine I've had in a few of years. It was like 7 am and the urgent cares don't open for another hour or so. I called my sister, but she didn't answer, and then I didn't think I could wait for her to come anyhow, so I called an ambulance.  They took me to Cambridge Hospital, which I haven't been to before. I have to say they were so nice there - everyone from the doctor to the PA, nurses, even the janitor was nice! And, they gave me three warm blankets when I was cold. Their equipment looks ancient, and the toilet in the bathroom looked like it was from the 1950's, but I'm still thinking of switching to a doctor there. They were super fast, kind, and my headache was gone in like 45 minutes. Anyhow, that added to the week, with me feeling like crap all day on Thursday. Thursday afternoon Patch and I took a nap together on the couch. He was so cuddly! I miss the kittens, but it's so nice to be back cuddling with my cats.

I would foster again, but not while I have Tigger and Rufus, and definitely not with that Rescue!

Below 60

Today I had a big swim day, with the Y in the morning, and the lake in the evening. I was working from home today, so I was able to go to hit the Y and get home and only get up about 45 minutes earlier. I had the whole pool to myself! It was nice - I swam for about 20 minutes, according to my fitbit, a 2'45" pace for a total of 1025 meters. I feel like I'm swimming a little slower lately, but that's because I have been focused on my breathing, and looking straight down. Hopefully I will get the hang of it, and it will help me go faster.

After work I met a friend at the lake - we decided to jump in off the dock and swim over to the club and use their slide and dive platform again. The water was 59.2 degrees, which is getting kind of brisk - I didn't really want to put my face in the water for the entire swim, and swimming breast stroke over there felt like forever. It was really fun to go down the slide, and scary to jump off the platform. Swimming back was actually easier; the water was starting to feel not too cold. After we had chocolate and some candy corn, and I headed home to the cats + kittens. 

I've had the kittens for 17 days now. The cats aren't happy about it. They are the cutest things, and I wish I could keep them, but I can't. One of the kitties has had an upset stomach and diarrhea for about a week. I asked the woman at the place that coordinates the fosters what I should do, but she's ignoring me. I tried a kitty anti-diarrheal which didn't seem to work, and now I'm feeding him chicken and rice for his meals. I hope this will help. It seems to be related to when he eats - I imagine that the food changes haven't been so great for him. 

Water slide

Saturday and Monday nights I went for an evening swim with a few of the merfolk. The air was in the mid-60's and the water around 61-62, which is chilly but becomes mearly "crisp" once you are in. We decided to run down the dock and jump in together, which is fun, but also a little startling. I kind of prefer it, because it gets the hardest part over with, though you can't do it when it's totally freezing because you can have that gasp reflex and drown.

On Saturday we swam out to the first bouy from the sailing club, and then decide to swim a little further. There's a club that's pretty close, and so we decided to swim there. Once we got there, we got out of the water and when down their slide! It was really fun. Then we decided to jump of this platform that they have - I think it's about 12 feet, into the water. When each of us got up there, we were like "that's actually kind of high."  I thought about not jumping, but then was like "just take a step and gravity will take care of it for you." And it was super fun!

Monday night we came back, and did the same thing again! The platform was still a little scary to jump from, but then it was fine.

Today I'm hopefully getting a lyme vaccine! I'm participating in a clinical trial, phase 3, and I have a 50% chance of getting the shot, and 50% of getting placebo. I hope I get the real thing!

Swim Updates

My swimming in the pool now is much like my initial running. It's a bit choppy and needs work, but for the most part improving. Today I did a swim at the Y that was a little slower, but I worked on practicing looking down and breathing without lifting my whole face out of the water. I also tried to practice turning my head both ways, as a prep to breathing on both sides. According to my fitbit I swam 1275 meters in 35 minutes, which is a pace of 2'45"/100 m. I went at 12:30 and had to share a lane the entire time. I realized that it's better to be the faster swimmer in the lane, because once you pass the other person you can move a little more to the center for the rest of the lap, since they won't be in front of you (as opposed to when you are slower and the other person can pass at any time).

I've been swimming 6 times since I last posted about it on Sept 30:

Oct 2    1559 yards    34 min         2'24"/100 m

Oct 6    1778 yards    47 min        2'53"/100 m

Oct 8    930 yards      26.30 min   3'07"/100 m 

Oct 8    739 yards      26.28 min    3'55"/100 m 

Oct 9    711 yards      18 min         2'46"/100 m 

Oct 10   820 yards     18.46 min    2'30"/100 m

Some of these are outside, some inside - I need to keep better track of which was which. I think the really slow ones are outside for sure. 

October 9 was definitely the full moon swim - it's interesting that this one seems reasonably fast, because there was a lot of hanging around chit-chatting in the water. I did try to swim faster, though, because the other people I was with were faster.

The water is starting to get colder. It's been down to about 62 degrees, at which point it definitely feels cold. But, so much colder to come!

Kittens!

A friend of mine has been fostering puppies for several months now. They drive them up from Texas in a big van, and they have to be picked up outside of MA, because for some reason it's illegal to bring animals here. She doesn't have a car, so I drive on puppy runs. This time they were short on fosters, and there was a woman who has 6 kids who was taking 7 kittens. For some stupid reason I decided that I would like to help, and foster 2 kitties.

The kittens are adorable. But, my cats do not like them. I knew they wouldn't when I offered to foster them, and for sure they didn't. They had to go in the bathroom to start. The first night I had 3 hissing cats/kittens, and one that was just curious. But, I only have 3 rooms, so they couldn't all be separated. In a fit of desperation, I messaged a friend, who wound up fostering one of the kittens for 3 days, which was a huge help!

I've got a system now, where the kitten's home base is the bathroom, but I have it set up nice for them, with a kitty bed and some blankets for them to sleep on. The cat's home base is my bedroom. During the day I let the kittens into the main room so they can explore, play, watch birds, etc. At night, I let the cats into the main room - they seem to check out their territory and feel stressed about the intruders. The two groups of two get along, with the kittens playing together and the cats sitting in the bed and mostly ignoring each other (as they do in normal times). But the cats and kittens don't intersect or meet, except when one accidentally gets out. 

I have to say that it is kind of fun having the kittens. They are both cuddlebugs, love to play, and provide a lot of entertainment for me. They are going to have to go, because my place is way too small for so many cats. On the days when I only had one cat (Joey), I snuck him into work so that he wouldn't be lonely all day - most of my coworkers discovered he was there, and loved coming to say hi. One even snuck her kids into work, and they played with him all afternoon. I don't think I can get away with that again, so they will be staying home.

One of the kittens is white with patches of color, and I realized yesterday that when he stands a certain way it looks like he has a heart on his bum. He's shy about it, though, and it was hard to get a good pic. I hope they find a nice place to go, and they need to be gone soon!

 

Pumpelly Cave aka Megalithia

Today I did a hike that I've always wanted to do! I've known for a long time about the Pumpelly Cave on Mt. Monadnock, but I've never known enough details to figure out how to get there. Last night I decided it was time to get into it, and figure out the secret. It took a lot of reading blogs and searching on Google Earth, but I finally found it! Once I found it, I stuck a pin in it on Google Maps, downloaded it so it would be accessible offline, and went to sleep.

I was so excited for the hike, because it was going to be a real adventure! The bottom of Monadnock is pretty gentle, so I was able to make good time for the first bit until I hit the point of bushwhacking. After I turned off the trail, I headed up, keeping my phone out so I could make sure I was getting closer to the dot. Mostly it was just trees and such to get through, but there were a few rock faces to climb - I was glad that I climb (or, did climb) because there were some points that I needed that skill. From my splits, it's clear that the bushwhacking was slow going. One rock really didn't have any holds and was covered in moss, so I went up a tree. 

As I got close the the point I found a bunch of logs lying on the ground, covered with a tarp. Ready for repairs? I knew I must be close. I walked around a corner and there it was! I was so excited to make it!! The front door is super heavy, I wouldn't want to have to open it from inside. I threw it back and went in. It's such a man-cave - there's a fireplace, stone shelves and a chair, several windows. The Park Services have cleaned it out, so all that was inside was a sign that said "Congratulations, you've found Pumpelly Cave" and told you not to leave graffiti, food, or have a fire in the fireplace. There was no log to sign or read. I walked around and felt satisfied with myself, and a lot of admiration for the guys who made the man-cave - it must have been hard to haul all the stuff up!

It was a beautiful day, so I went outside and sat next to the roof and ate a cheese sandwich on challah, grapes, and a stoofenwaffle (my newest trail treat, which I really enjoy). I spent about a half hour there, just enjoying the view and feeling triumphant. I heard some voices approaching, and decided it was time for me to hit the road anyhow, so I got up and pulled out my phone to figure out how to bushwhack further up. I passed two guys in the woods - one of them said that he had spent like 12 years looking for the cave with a buddy, and had finally found it with his son. He was bringing some of his hiking friend's ashes there. 

After, I went up to the top, because I had already done much of the elevation gain and figured I might as well summit (picture of the view is from the summit). It was a beautiful day and so the top was covered with people. It was also cold and windy, and so I just tagged it and when down lower to eat a second cheese sandwich. It's peak foliage season, and the view was beautiful. I could also see that it was really stormy in the White Mountains -I had been thinking about going there, but after reading the weather report I made the smart choice not to. 

The way down was uneventful - steep for the first half and then a walk in the woods for the second half. I was so glad to get to my car, and that it was only one and a half hours to get home. All and all, a good hike, and super exciting to finally find the cave.