Last Friday, the vet office sent me off with kits for collecting Kiki's urine and fecal matter. The instructions were to empty and clean the litter box, then add special pellet things that don’t absorb liquid. After Keeks did her business, I was supposed to use a suction thing to gather the urine and transfer it into a vial. The poop part of it involved a little scooper on a stick and another vial. The samples were to be refrigerated after collection and brought to the vet office ASAP.
There was no way I was prepared to play kitty scientist last
Friday, although dropping off the samples on Saturday morning and being done with it
would have been nice and I wouldn't have been thinking about it all through the week. I wasn’t around last Saturday night and by Sunday night, it
was bumping into weekday logistics with work and little desire to add pre-work vet excursions to the mix.
Suddenly, it was a full week past the vet visit. Friday night
I got busy. The special black non-absorbent crystals that looked like aquarium rocks barely covered the bottom of the litter
box, but the vet tech said there just needed to be some for scratching/burying.
At 2:00 am, I had awoken for the second time since going to
bed around 11:00. Kiki was meowing softly
downstairs and I popped down to check on her and the litter box excretion
collection project. Kiki was feeling affectionate and cozied up for head
skritches. The litter box appeared unused and I returned to bed.
When I got up for the day (7:00 am), Kiki was again seeking attention
in the form of head rubs. Her fur is soft, silky, and luxurious. The litter box
held what seemed like a lot of pee and plenty of poop for the sample. While the
materials were collected and the litter box cleaned and set up with the usual
pellet litter, Kiki hid behind the couch.
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| "Honk if you like crab rangoon." |
The mission for the thrift store trip was items with
the 99-cent tag color (green). The day’s score included a sleeveless tee shirt knit summer
dress (with pockets!), a blue floral Hawaiian shirt, cotton knit lounge pants,
and a bath wrap thing. There was also a full-price ($5) Irish wool knit sweater
with a tag declaring it was from Ireland. I am a fan of handknits and especially the Irish patterns.
There was a plan to attend an art show opening in the
afternoon, but in the several hours between the vet and thrift store and the art
reception, things happened. The super-hard puzzle was finished after a month of
labor. The thrift store items were laundered. And chills and fatigue, my two beastly
new friends made a call. They visit a little too often lately. Not nice, beasties. Maybe
all the morning veterinary science stuff wore me out.
Briefly, I snuggled on the couch under a blanket for a nap,
but about five seconds into the snuggle the dryer buzzed to signal the end of
the 30-minute Dryel in-home sweater dry cleaning cycle. Another 30-minutes
later, the rest of the regular laundry load was dry and folded.
Then I spaced out staring at the TV and thinking about the
artists I know with work in the show and how the receptions are always crowded
in the long, narrow gallery. The fine art of procrastination kicked in with deliberations about whether I should
change from what I was wearing to something else because I was cold, and then concern it would make me too warm in the gallery. There were calculations about drive time and where to park and then it was
too late to get to the gallery before the reception ended. This is not the
first time this has happened, it wasn’t a surprise, and the worst part was that
there was also no nap.
After a quick supper of leftover pizza, the sheets were washed
and then drying, which was the only thing that kept me from going to bed at
7:00 pm. And another day is done. They pass so quickly, even when there isn’t
much going on.
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