Change is in the Air

So I'm blogging from New Mexico. I've been busy. I've been ignoring my blog.


To be honest - tonight I wasn't planning on blogging so much as I was planning on catching up on blogs. There is one I really like by Laura over at thespectrum.org and so I was catching up on her goings ons when I caught wind of her really spiffy new blog design and I thought "I must have one for me!"


Even though I have been working for as long as she has been ALIVE and therefore I feel very, very (very very very) old - there is a sort of "old soul"ness about her that I love. And now I'm thinking that I need to hunt Gisele down and beg her to make me one!


But meanwhile I am in New Mexico and enjoying myself. So is my daughter. Here she is, dressed in the snowboarding gear she borrowed from the amazing Irene! I think she looks like Speed Racer. For a kid who hasn't seen "real" snow in several years I hear that Lil Miss did a pretty good job! Her ski instructor's name was George. He called her "cool" and I think I am going to have to embrace winter sports.







During all of this, for the record, I was in the Lodge -which was not as warm and comfy as I expected.



This is the ski valley is Taos. In case anyone still thinks New Mexico is always hot, it's not. Last week our highs were 40. This week things are warmer and it's ALL over the news.







Before heading back to Albuqueque we traipsed out to the Rio Grande Gorge. Paul (Chris's brother) was the only one of the bunch brave enough to walk to the bridge cut out with me. I'm still learning this camera (a third one - a Canon that falls between my Nikon D40X Digital SLR and my Nikon Coolpix S550) and I still haven't figured out how to get it to capture depth.











Tonight we made our way to Sandia Peak - again. We went last week and I liked it so much I wanted to share the experience with my daughter. Things are a bit high...but only 2.7 miles so!









And with that - a desire to shake things up a bit with my blog look and feel (and maybe a new site altogether, I'm looking at WordPress) - and some pictures of our adventures in New Mexico, I close tonight tired but happy.



NL

I'm in Love

You know the signs. Suddenly you are talking about him all the time. To your friends. To your family. To complete strangers. You are talking about him all the time because you are thinking about him.

It can't be helped.

Everything he does is so adorable it makes you melt. Even his bodily functions are of interest. You look for his favorite foods. You miss him when you are apart. You wonder what he's doing, if he's happy, how his day is going.

You feel like a fool and yet as soon as you get home you look for him. You can't wait for some cuddle time. You know that he will look at you with adoring brown eyes (eyup, BROWN) and you will grin and hold him close.


You will stay up too late. You will get up too early. Suddenly parts of your day and most of your night revolve around his needs.

You introduce him to your friends. To your family. You are deeply pleased when they agree that, yes, he really is a handsome fella.

It's a sad state of affairs and the only thing that sustains you is that you know you are not alone. Millions of others have fallen just as deeply in love and understand exactly what you are feeling.

Eyup - it's true - I admit it.

I am in LOVE with Beau.

Isn't he cute?



NL

Resolutions

My friend Jane says she doesn't make resolutions, she makes "intentions." This year one of her intentions is to spend 10 minutes, every day, working on her kitchen.

Sometimes she is unbelievably wise. Not because of the kitchen thing, although maybe that is wise as well, but because intentions aren't actions of failures - they are actions of desire. A way of saying to the universe "I'd like to make this change or do this thing" and do it with the understanding that you have to be an earnest participant but you aren't the only participant in the process.

I make resolutions every year. Except this year. I had a list at the beginning of the holiday season and that list included making my resolutions. It hasn't happened.

The addition of a third cat to our household has sent my cat allergies into overdrive. The cleaning I've been doing (sorting/purging is a better description perhaps) means that I'm also stirring up dust. So for two days I've been a watery eyed mess. Last night, desperate, I took a double dose of Claritin which I am able to report did little more (I think) that make me very drowsy. So this morning, as I was struggling to wake up, I spent some time reflecting further on what I want out of 2009.

First, and most importantly, I do not believe that some magical change will suddenly come over this country on the 20th of January. That's a bit like buying an 1800 square foot house for a million dollars and expecting it to double in value in six months. You can wish for it all you want. You can even speak your intention into the universe (or God, specifically, if that's your thing) but there is the possible and there is the probable. Anything is possible. Probable is a much more distant bet.

But I do believe that people can make changes in their lives, in their actions, in their behaviors and those changes can have a global impact. If those changes are positive, the impact globally can be positive.

Even simple things like Jane's intention for her kitchen has the potential to echo beyond her house and into the lives of others - those who want more of her time, friends who visit, her pets, the people she does business with.

But this early this afternoon I was still without any intentions of my own. I chased the new kitten out from under the bed, gave him his medicines, and cuddled with him a bit.

Then we decided to play RockBand 2. This was the first time we'd all played together (me, my daughter, and Chris) since buying the second guitar and getting the new RB version.

We had a blast. Several hours later, sweaty and exhausted, we finally all called it quits.

For a moment I thought "I need to finish cleaning this area and sorting through those files." I'm so glad I ignored that thought. Because yesterday and today I spent a significant amount of time and other resources doing two things that I think really get to the core of who I am, or how I like to see myself at least.

The cat "rescue" escapade involved several people, many hours and many dollars but at the end of the day we'd taken steps to preserve life, something I consider incredibly precious - regardless of whether animal or human. (I am, for the record, adamantly pro-choice.)

The family time over Rock Band was the most fun I'd had in more than a week (maybe longer - I can't remember that far back) and I don't think I was alone.

With these come my intentions for 2009 - live what I believe and invest in those I believe in - of which my family is my priority. I'd like 2009 to be a better year than 2008 - and by my reckoning, 2008 was a pretty good year.

NL

For the Love of Cats

It was during the family (extended) Christmas celebration that my sister brought us all up to her house to see the little family that had settled in on her porch. Three little kittens and a Momma Cat whose tail you can see just a little bit of as she moves in for a petting. Of course, we all "ooh'ed and aah'ed" and thought to ourselves "how very cute, too bad we can't take them home with us."


That evening, after a second visit which included a bit of wine, we crossed paths this this little bunch again. This time the kittens were all huddled up in a group and the Momma Cat was standing outside their home, ready to do battle with any threat. So very brave!

Oh the cold. Oh the risk of perishing at the hands of a wild animal. My heart clenched. What to do?

On Sunday I called my sister and said "post pictures - we have possible adoptive homes." Within an hour my friend Jane had signed up for two kittens and we were taking the Momma. Baby Gray was still up for grabs but would stay with one of us until he was old enough to move on.

Earliest vet appointment would be today (Wednesday) so at 7'ish in the morning Chris and I dashed to Sis's house (about 40 minutes away), helped my Brother-in-Law scoop up all of the cats, and we raced back to the vet for a 9 am appointment.




Momma and two kittens quickly settled in comfortably on the scale - altogether weighing a whopping 13 lbs.













While Abigail (the Siamese) decided to play with the air vent.








With all four sneezing, eyes running, and quite a bit of general stinky-ness, the vet pronounced them adorable but quite sick. Meds were prescribed.

We'd begun learning how to administer everything with very patient Vet Assistants taking us through the entire process when the kindly Doctor walked back through the door and gravely announced that Momma Cat had FILV (Cat Aids.) There was nothing else to do, they would all have to be tested. Blood was drawn, pathetic mews were heard, and then we settled in to wait.

Baby Gray was tired of the cold floor. So he climbed up Chris's pant leg and settled in for a nice nap.



And there we all waited.

When the vet came back the news was mixed.

Abigail and "Beau" (the grey striped kitten) were fine. But Baby Gray also had cat aids and was sick enough that possible recovery was slim to none. He would not be going home with anyone.

As we stood there holding him, he drifted to sleep curled in our warmth and we thought "how quickly a small cat can wriggle his way into your heart." We didn't leave him, even as he took his last struggling breath. Having an animal die in your arms, no matter the reason, is just as hard at 43 as it was at 16. But it was the right decision.

Momma Cat, who we were ready for back home, was also destined for a different road. Her FILV status meant that there was risk to Fluff & Snickers, the two grey tabbies we've had for 9 and 14 years respectively. A foster family had been found and the vet would care for her until she was well enough for the spaying surgery we gladly paid for. Fortunately, we also learned that she wasn't pregnant again, something we'd feared.



After all of this we decided to keep Beau - calling my daughter to announce the decision and having her laugh at us because, once again, we were adding a grey tabby to the household. But I suspect my niece will be thrilled to know she'll see her playmate again.

A thousand dollars later and three cats will have much better lives. Maybe a little good Karma for us.

On the other hand, I am unbelievably angry at the people responsible for failing to spay and neuter - and likely dumping the Momma in the first place. We don't think all the kittens were hers but at least one was. Had it not been for the warm hearts of my sister's family, and eventually our own cat love, it could have been a much different story.

So, if you are reading this and you have an un-neutered pet, get off your ass and fix the situation.

NL

Corporate Blogs: Srsly?

I can't tell you how many time I've heard the advice given to have "corporate blogs." And lately they seem to be EVERYWHERE. Weight Watchers has a couple their members are advised to follow - but I don't because they are inane. Every politician it seems has one and they are all written by, well, someone else. Dell has one but I couldn't find it, not that I looked all that hard. So do GM, Yahoo, and Google. Amazon has a few to include one for the Kindle.

This afternoon I was getting ready to install the Neat Works scanner when I noticed the instructions reminding me to go their website blog which I assume is their way of saying "hey, we're hip. we're cool. we don't capitalize or spell out words unnecessarily."

In fact what their blog was, as they all seem to be, was a news reel in text about their products.

Look. I have no problem with companies blogging. But I'd like them to actually "get" what blogs are. So instead of finding my way to a marketing page for some company masquerading as a CEO telling me what he's thinking and yawning through the drivel I find - why not actually have the guy SAY it?

If you go out to HP's website and do a search on the word 'Blog' you'll come up with some pretty good ones. They don't seem to be recent, maybe current economic events have the honest bloggers running to the hills corporately, I don't know.

But I do know that if, for instance, one of the major car makers - like GM maybe - had the guts to say on a blog post something like "hey guys, big lesson learned for me - when you make cars, drive, do not fly to Washington when you are begging. Wow do I feel stupid. I promise never to do that again!" I'd be the first one in line to help turn the company around.

Or how about one like this from maybe a senior manager of AIG "Yikes! Sorry about that. We totally screwed up but we're going to fix it and here's how. First, we're going to go for a little financial transparency. We're also going to clean house and we're going to start with the guys with the big bonus checks - this year the mailroom employees get one instead."

But no. Instead we take one of the most powerful things about blogs - the human voice connected to human brains - and completely water it down and feed to people like strained & processed peas. It tastes no better than it looks.

All the folks out there claiming to be PR and Social Media folks - knock it off. The readers can tell the difference between corporate message and a real blog. You ought to be able to as well.

NL