Hi friends. I’m currently battling a case of the hiccups, but I left my emotional support water bottle on my nightstand and Megan is still asleep so I don’t want to wake her up. I will power through. I realize I can just get up and get a cup of water from the kitchen, but that seems too easy and I apparently like making things harder than they need to be. Oh well. I’ll survive. Our new kitten is also attacking his older sister even though she is at least three times his size. I’ll give him points for persistence, but not for brain cells.
We got Mr. Shrimp Scampi a few weeks ago when he was just six weeks old. Megan’s coworker noticed that a stray cat had kittens near their office building and Shrimp was the only one they managed to catch. At first, I said no when Megan asked about him. At the time, he was four weeks old and I had absolutely no idea how to care for a kitten so small. Fast forward two weeks and Megan sent me an updated picture of the lil guy, and suddenly I didn’t care that he was only six weeks old. In my defense, just look at him.
We brought him home and kept him in the bathroom quarantined away from Mac and Cheese (our older cats) for a week and a half or so. We tried to ease the introduction between the three cats, but there’s only so long you can go when you have a little gremlin attacking you (with love) every time you enter the bathroom. I had so many scratches on my legs that first week because he would try to climb me like a tree and would claw through me. So like any millennial/gen-z (still have no idea where the ‘98 babies fall in that category) pet parent, we bought Shrimp a tent so he could socialize with Mac and Cheese without getting the shit beaten out of him (although that doesn’t seem to stop him even now).
During the first few days we had him, we also noticed that he had fleas. Trying to give a six-week-old kitten a bath was nearly my 13th reason. He was crying, I was crying, it was a mess. Thankfully, a dawn dish soap bath and a flea comb killed the nasty little bugs. There is something so creepy about holding your new kitten and seeing lil bugs crawling on him. It grossed me out, but it was kind of fun combing them out and putting them in soapy water to die.
We took him to the vet last week and they said he was just over 2 pounds and around 2 months/8 weeks old like we thought. They gave him some dewormer and shots and told us to come back in three weeks for his next round of shots. It’s been a week since the vet, and this man is so full of energy. I didn’t realize just how much energy kittens have since I’m used to having older, sleepier cats. Shrimp has two modes: attacking gremlin or sleeping angel.
Apart from raising a kitten, I’ve also finally started my balcony garden! I still have no idea what I’m doing and the fact that all of the plant identifying/care apps are behind a paywall is absolutely homophobic. But I started with plant starters that I bought at home depot, and so far, they all seem to still be alive. I also got a tomato plant from one of my coworkers, and she’s thriving and so tall. I need to figure out how to get a tomato cage or something for her. Do people name their plants? I have not named any of mine, but I do think they’re all women. The only plant I’ve for sure killed is a little mint cutting. I went to water everything yesterday and it was just a shriveled-up black stem with two crispy mint leaves hanging on for dear life. I will say that I am impatiently waiting for something to actually grow so I can harvest it already. I have a little lavender plant with three or four purple buds, but so far I can’t see any veggies growing. Gardening is still definitely way easier in Stardew Valley, but I always dreamed of having a garden of some sort, and at least now I can start working on that dream. Everyone, please manifest that I can harvest at least one tomato this year. And maybe a cucumber if my cucumber plant survives.
Work is still work. I’ve had some of the worst shifts of my life the last few weeks, but things are finally starting to look up again. To ensure that I don’t quit and walk out, I’ve started reviewing drinks on my Instagram stories for fun. I have entered my #Influencer #Era. Not really. It’s mostly silly and a way to try new drinks, but so many people have told me they love the videos, and my love language is words of affirmation so I’ll ride this high while it’s still fun. If you have a go-to drink you get at Starbucks, leave a comment and I’ll try to include it in my lil review series. If you want to watch along, make sure to follow my Instagram here.
I’m going back to Seattle in a few weeks, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of thoughts to share about that when the time comes. I’m nervous to go back, but mostly I’m excited to finally return to my favorite city. And this time, I can show Megan around the city since she’s coming for a few days for my grandfather’s memorial. Maybe I’ll do an updated post about things to see in Seattle. Or a “what I packed for ten days in Washington” type post. So many options, such a mystery level of motivation.
I’ve rambled long enough, so I’ll end today’s post here. I know like two minutes passed for you while you were reading this, but it has been at least three hours since I started writing (I get distracted easily) and I think you’ll be happy to know that my hiccups did in fact go away. I think it will be fun to add what I’m currently reading/watching/listening to each post as a small time capsule, so I’ll start that today. I hope you’re doing well.
Currently reading: The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar
Currently (re)watching: White Collar and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Currently listening to: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
~Maddison
