I’m off work tomorrow, and will spend a portion of it at the fourth birthday party of my delectable niece. Upon arriving home, I imagine that I will attack my office with high abandon and perhaps even make room for all of the beads that are currently ensconced on our otherwise lovely dining room table. Most of my stash is living in the sturdy and quite lovely fabric-covered storage boxes from The Container Store. At present, I have seven different colors/patterns and am trying to keep some semblance of control over the stash by keeping all the purple in one box, all the red in another, neutrals, etc. However, after installing ten feet of birch and white elfa shelving on the far wall of my office (all by my ownself!), I deposited *quite* a lot of sock yarn into the sliding drawers, dk weight into another, bulky, yet another. WIPs found a home in another drawer. I added these Colibri sachets to fend off Der Stinkin Moths. I’d prefer something fragrance-free in deference to the asthma-stricken Princess Pyewacket, but the fragrance is what keeps the moths at bay, so I may as well have a scent that pleases me. They contain “100% pure natural botanical essences from tea tree, vetiver, peppermint, lemongrass, neem, and others in a fine sandalwood powder base.” Neem? I lined up my knitting books and pamphletted patterns above the leather dresser shelf workspace, am thinking about a binder for my page-protected patterns,  notions found a one-runner drawer to call home.

I’m feeling manic, more than a little. If I sound so to you, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

On to the good stuff! I have pictures to share of the babies, who are pretty much babies no more. Mojo and Teazyka turn eight months old tomorrow; it’s amazing to imagine that they used to fit in the palms of my hands.

Mojo, sitting where he knows he ought not be

Teazyka, pretending I can't see him in the kitchen

Mojo, *what* did you say you were faxing?

Teazyka, sleeping with his wubbie

Both boys were neutered a week ago, and once the area was shaved for surgery, the cause of Teazyka’s “leaking” was discovered. He has a congenital urogenital abnormality: his penis, normal-sized for an 8-month old kitten, had never descended due to the opening not being large enough to let it come out, so he was urinating in a tiny pinhole stream, but not all of it was coming out, and it would dribble out  later on, anointing our house with a lovely, lion’s den aroma. During the neutering, our wonderful vet, Dr. Andrea Jacobson of Country Cats in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, found urine beneath his skin, and took some for a urinalysis. She found bacteria in his urine, and he is on antibiotics. After consulting with a colleague, Dr. Green, in Manhattan, she decided that she and Dr. Pirotin of Main Street Cat Hospital in Elmsford, NY, would surgically enlarge the existing opening to accommodate his penis. They performed the surgery to the tune of a little over a thousand dollars, and Teazyka is recuperating, mostly hanging out in my office, where there are lots of snuggly spaces to accommodate his megaphone. He’ll get his sutures out on the 17th, and an ultrasound of his kidneys to see if/how badly they have been damaged. We’re on pins and needles about this, but it’s better knowing than not.

Yep, he’s stuck wearing an Elizabethan collar for another 13 days. Holy baby jeebus. And you would not believe where I have to put K-Y Jelly.

Teazyka, asking for his own Facebook account

Mojo & Teazyka enjoying their first bit of fresh air August 5, 2008

Mojo (left), and Teazyka (right), September 19, 2008

Enjoying the fresh air is a nice pastime for the brothers.

We need one of those covers for the roll. G says,

What’s been taking up all of my available time? These two, born June 7, 2008:

Yevgeny Mungojerrie (Mojo) 2008.07.14

Which one starts the car?

Our house is a very, very, very fine house...

Harry sniffing Ivan Rumpelteazer (Teazyka) 2008.07.22

Tigger is more than sixteen times Mojo's size (16.4).

Learning how to play

Welcome to our little family, Yevgeny Mungojerrie aka Mojo or Zhenyka (one pound, 3.5 ounces as of today), and Ivan Rumpelteazer aka Teazyka (pronounced “teeska,” one pound, 3.8 ounces). We went all the way out to Long Island City in Queens to get them. We had only planned on taking one, but when we got to our friend M’s house and I picked up Teazyka, G picked up several of the others, and Mojo fell asleep in his arms. The conversation went like this:

G: (with puppy dog eyes) Can we keep him?

Me: Are you sure?

G: Yes.

Me: Are you really sure?

G: Ask me again, and I’ll say no.

Me: M, I think we’re taking two.

M: Yay!!!1!!

They had adopted out nearly all of the eight, and our guy was close to last, if not the last. Our amazing vet (who makes housecalls) has already been to see them, and exclaimed, “Oh my god! They’re so intense! They’re so tiny!” Which leads us to believe that they were indeed premature. Also, there were eight kittens total in the litter (all of whom survived). G has taken some more pictures, the first of which are posted over at Cats, Sheep, & Penguins, along with the whole story. He’s shot and processed more pictures; they’ll be up soon.

If you’ve never seen a lolcat before (and I can’t imagine that being true), I suggest you check out Wiki’s lolcat page. Check it out even if you have seen them. It’s pretty funny. Here’s one I just made at I Can Has Cheezburger with a picture I shot of Pye crashing my laptop:

moar funny pictures

E2A:

I just saw this one on my Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry:

Since Pye was sunning herself in this cold winter light in the primo spot next to the window, and my office chair was turned facing away from said window, Harry chose the next available spot. Yeah, I gotta clean up my desk.

_____

On this day:

• new music player 2006

One ounce of Abby Franquemont’s 80/20 wool/mohair blend roving in the Country Stream colorway! Oh wait, what if you don’t spin? Okay, here’s something else for the non-spinner:

Four ounces of Fingerlakes Soft Wool in a dark blue! When you post your comment, please tell me if you are a spinner or non. This is all on the honor system, and the more squares you create, the more entries you get. Plus, you get the satisfaction of knowing that some very sad kitties will be made happier by your act of kindness.

Send your squares to: By Hand, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor ME 04402 by Tuesday, February 26.

I thank you, and the pussycats thank you.
Knit (or crochet) on!

Also more détante among the furry ones:

Next on the list: call the cat-sitter!