So! The temperature's been in the upper sixties, and dropping down to the lower forties at night. I am
overjoyed. Sweater season! Jacket season! Boot season! Scarf season! (I would add "Chai season!" except that I'll drink hot chai in the middle of the Texas summer. At
night, of course--I'm not crazy--but Texas summer nonetheless.) (That said, I've been drinking twice the chai now that autumn's settling in.)
I'm trying to make it to City Park three to four times a week. Failed completely this weekend, but after I've digested this delicious baked potato soup I plan to get out there. Last time I went was Thursday morning. It was gorgeous, of course, and I managed to make two laps around the walking trail, though my hips were pretty sore toward the end there. It was a six-mile walk, so I think the soreness is understandable. Nonetheless, I'll probably only do three miles today.
Anyway, I have a bunch of photos to share. Starting off with a few from my Labor Day trip down to Texas! I took hundreds of photos, but most of them involve my family, and I don't want to post those without permission. I do mean to send the whole lot over to my parents, but it's several gigs and . . . I need to get some blank discs to burn them on to. Who's been super lazy these last few weeks? That'd be me.
As always, click an image to see it at full size!
Here's a lovely view of the landscape. The greenest things around are the mesquite.
Spunky is a camera hog.
Nana decidedly is not. But she made for several quite excellent still life shots.
I have no idea who this dude is, but he appears to have a lion's mane.
The Texas trip was amazing, and I was glad that the kitties and Andrew were waiting for me when I got back home--otherwise leaving Texas would have been much more depressing. But who could be depressed with these around?
Sophie took to sleeping in Andrew's sock drawer, by the way.
Probably because whenever she sleeps on the bed, Augustine jumps up, streeeetches, and settles down to nap in positions specially designed to annoy her.
They've worked out a good system for sharing me when I'm in bed with them, though.
Andrew and I went to Water Fire again recently! I won't bore you with more shots of the bonfires themselves, but here. Have some more building pictures.
In preparation for our trip to New York in October, we went suit-hunting for Andrew. Found one! Let me show you Andrew's hotness.
The blazer is a little too wide in the shoulders, but they didn't carry a smaller size in store; he's going to order one from the website to see how that fits. But oh my goodness he looks amazing. =D
His classes started last Wednesday, by the way, and they're going really well. He even managed to get both a desk and a drawer in one of the studios! Desks and drawers are given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, by seniority. Andrew was in the last group to have access, so it's wonderful that he managed to get them. They aren't strictly necessary for underclassmen, but it'll be helpful for Andrew when he has stuff to work on that Sophie and Augustine shouldn't, ah, help out with. They like to help.
Here's another random photo for you; it's some graffiti on the wall of the CVS down the street. Andrew and I grabbed some sandwiches at the creamery next door and were headed home when we walked right by it. I stopped several yards away, then backtracked to actually read it.
In other news Sophie peed on my chair early last week, then spent the rest of the day sleeping under the bed. It was all red flags: she never has litter box problems, she never hides, and although she is even lazier than I am, she's never been lethargic like this. So, being the kitty parent I am, I dragged her to the vet asap. She'd rather hide until the vet leaves, thanks.
Poor kitten got her blood and urine tested, but was (of course!) very well behaved. When the vet and vet tech carried her back to me in the private room, both of them were grinning. "This is the best cat in the world," the vet said. I replied with: "I know." The vet tech added that she'd always thought that
her cat was the best in the world, but she was wrong. Sophie's the best. Do you know, every single vet she has ever been to has said that? Who's surprised.
Anyway, the vet called yesterday afternoon to give me the lab results. Sophie has a bladder infection. No wonder she hasn't been feeling well. She's on antibiotics for the next two weeks, and lets me know that she hates her liquid medicine by curling up next to me and purring when I've finished washing the syringe. It's a very unhappy purr, of course.
The infection doesn't prevent Sophie from enjoying her daily nap by the window.
Oh, in other news, I almost got skunked while leaving the apartment the other night. Looked up just in time to see the skunk--a measly two yards in front of me--turn around and lift its tail at me. There must be something wrong with my reflexes, because all I did was freeze. Took me a while to register that
getting out of there was the smarter idea. Maybe only a second or two, but still. That was a very kind skunk.
