Toby Toes

Little Toby is doing quite well at home. He's taken to sleeping on my head each night and providing Olive a constant source of consternation as the subject of his sneak attacks. He is a chunk, but still small and easy to carry around. I forgot how sweet it is to hold snoozy kittens who love to curl up in your arms.

We've been praying for more fall-like temperatures, but I'm not too disappointed, because Saturday I finally was able to go out and lie by the pool for a few hours. It sounds crazy, but this Florida summer was just too hot and humid for me to spend poolside like I envisioned. Now, beachside might have been different, but contrary to popular belief, there are no beaches close to Tally Town, but we hope to swing by the Emerald Coast when Aaron's parents come through Florida next month.

Life around the Rog Mahal has been lovely - and quiet - lately. Aaron continues to further develop his thesis film idea, and is often home before I am on the weeknights, which means he is preparing dinner as I walk in the door. Expected? No. Appreciated? You bet. It's so nice of him to do that, and it really expedites the process because we don't have to go back-and-forth about what we are hungry for. I've also been decorating for fall and Halloween, and I'll post some pictures of what I've done soon. It's amazing what things we have sitting around the house can be repurposed as, and I had a lot of fun scheming up ideas before Saturday's Nebraska win over the Washington Huskies.

{photo: The University of Nebraska Alumni Association}

I kept telling Aaron how much I wanted to be in Seattle for that game - I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, and I. want. to. go. soon! Who knows, maybe Aaron will find a job in the Vancouver film industry and we'll be close enough to Oregon, Washington and Alaska to not only cross them from my states list, but to enjoy the natural beauty of the region. I looooved seeing the boats ferry Husker fans across the lake to the stadium... I think Aaron was pretty tired of me telling him how much I wanted to go one day. Just gotta make sure he knows that I really mean it, right?

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite images scoured around the web from Alaska, Washington and Oregon. If you've been, what have you loved about this area of our country? What would you recommend doing and seeing?

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An update on the pumpkin kitty

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{you can read the beginning of our Pumpkin Kitty story here}

Because several people have asked what's next in regards to the pumpkin kitty, I thought I'd share what we are going to do/doing.

Pumpkin kitty has an upper respiratory virus, which is contagious to (some) other cats. Olive has her shots, so she should be immune to this; however, if she is not, we do not want to deal with introducing a sick new kitten to her and then treating both of them. We are not sure if Pumpkin Kitty has passed the ten-day quarantine period after being on his treatments or not, and the animal shelter could not have been less helpful in this regard. The person we spoke with said the ten day mark could have began the day the initial "health disclosure" was filed or it could have been one week through the process or even later.

After speaking with several people who have dealt with the situation and our vet, we feel it would be OK to bring Pumpkin Kitty home. There is at least a two-day waiting period from the time you sign the adoption agreement to the time you can pick up the kitten, and we feel this is plenty of time for kitty to get well.

However, what throws a wrench into these plans is the family who followed us into the "cat nursery" yesterday and waited for us to finish playing with Pumpkin Kitty. The mother told me, as we walked out to begin the paperwork, "If you don't adopt him, we are going to," which was very awkward... fair warning, I guess? It made me upset.

To my knowledge, this family didn't adopt PK because he was listed on the animal shelter's website last night after the shelter closed. His listing is here (please don't go adopt him if you live in Tally!). The shelter is closed on Mondays, so we are waiting through the day.

My hope for tomorrow is that Aaron will be able to go to the shelter tomorrow morning when they open and see if PK is still there. If he is, I want to adopt him. If he is not, then we will go from there.