Family Update

I am inspired by my mother's regular emails from home that keep us up to date on what's going on there. I will return the favor in my blog. So, here goes. If there is no news, I won't be bringing up the person. When there is, I will.
Allan is still working hard as ever and does a great job at work and as the Ward Mission Leader. He is also taking a writing course, and working on projects for children. He has learned a lot and will be submitting some of his work soon. Business taxes are taking up plenty of his time, too.
I, Lorraine, still hope for chickens in the near future, but rain and other projects are getting in the way. My hen pen is almost finished. Today I took a trip to Snohomish County Court to submit the first of the paperwork to obtain official custody of Silas; I am scheduled to appear on Thursday, wish me luck on having the paperwork in order. Mom-in-law Jeanie, who's visiting, came with me, along with Ginger, and it was nice to have company.
Tim's girlfriend Britt, in Madagascar for a long-term service project was evacuated, and is with Tim in Shoreline. She will be shipping out to another country to complete her service in the next little while.
David will be graduating from BYU this spring in Microbiology. Way to go, David! He is looking ahead to working and getting into medical school.
Britta should be moving into a 2-bedroom apt this weekend with friends. We are storing her belongings until the big day.
Cecilie is serving food to the elderly in a retirement home at Northgate. As someone who appreciates food, she is compassionate and humane to her residents, and enjoys it most of the time. She has the best stories.
Justin finished swim team at Olympic High and is back at the community swim team. He is dreading the difficult practice today. Oh, and he received his driver's license this past week--Yay, Justin!
Silas is doing well and has made friends here. He has the ability to carry off the most wonderful outfits!! I will start taking pix for this segment of the blog so you can see just how his creativity in dress is manifesting itself.
No big news, really, but what the heck.
There's no big news on Chloe, but she is generally a joy to have around and I love playing Skip-Bo with her.
Oh, and Clyde the kitty is adjusting to our house. I discovered him playing with a hair scrunchy. I came in and told him it was nice to see him playing, and he looked down (in embarassment?) like a little kid caught singing. Only after I left the room did he go back to batting the scrunchie; I know because I peeked. It was funny.

More next week.

Fostering a Feline

Well, I am not sure I ever posted anything about this on my blog, but I vowed after putting my kitty Nirvana to sleep at Thanksgiving time I was going to swear off cats. So much for that! Silas came to me a few weeks ago and asked if we could take in his friend Sean's cat.

It's sad what's happening with Sean; his mother is suffering from liver failure and needs a transplant. They are "giving up" their home of 15 years, their car, and Ma is now living in a nursing home. Imagine, a nursing home at 58! Sean has moved in with his older sister, and there is nowhere for their kitty-cat, Clyde. How could I say no to that?

Clyde is living at our house now, and he is quite the foster feline. He has some issues! He's needy. He suffers from separation anxiety, even when it's just separation from Allan or Silas or me. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, so he comes and goes kind of as he pleases. He's used to hanging out in the house and wandering at will, like haunting the counters of the kitchen and getting drinks out of the sink or faucet. The most surprising thing he does, though, is suck his arm! (I know a cat's front leg is not an arm, but it acts like one and that's how we all describe it.) Now, I am the mother of a few long-term thumb-suckers, but a 6-year-old cat who sucks his arm for hours each day is another thing completely. And when Clyde is doing his self-comforting behavior, he likes to be right next to someone (me, usually in this case, though he prefers Allan), and is his happiest when you are petting his head at the same time. If you dare to stop, he looks up, somewhat outraged, and meows in protest.

He is the most beautiful cat I have ever had, next to Nirvana, of course. He is actually sweet, now that I am used to having a cat in the house again. Sean and his mom have made it clear that when her health improves (she's hoping for a transplant), Clyde will be going back to their house, wherever that may be. In the meantime, I have a new child!

My Re-Usable Net Bags

One of my goals for this year is to not collect an entire closet full of plastic bags. It's not that I am the greenest person in the world, though I sometimes consider how my activities impact our environment. Mainly, in an effort to simplify my life, I realize that digging all the plastic bags that get shoved in our little broom closet, and hauling them to the recycle bin at my local Safeway or WalMart is a ridiculous use of my time.

I have a number of reusable cotton (or other) bags, which I am not reliable at bringing to the market when I shop. They have been in good use so far this year since they are now hanging by the front door, an easy grab on the way to wherever. An even better idea is to have a few stored in the car for those times I decide to shop without consulting my front entryway. Oh, well.

My biggest pet peeve since adopting the no-more-baggies-in-the-house attitude is what to put the produce in at the grocery. I saw some lovely homemade bags like these on a blog (down-to-earth) and wondered how they would work. Since I didn't have netting in the house, I simply made a mental note.

A couple weeks later I stumbled upon a baggie (ouch!) of netting scraps at St. Vinnie's for 75 cents. They made 9 of these great net baggies, and they were totally easy to whip together. They hold plenty of weight, including tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, and oranges. I stuffed those not in use into my purse, and found that I did not have to accept a bag from Lowe's when I purchased a bunch of hardware--and it was pretty heavy for the little bag I used.

I am tickled with this latest project. Cheap, recycled, reusable. What more could I ask?