Home Again
Dec. 7th, 2023 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
1. I got home yesterday and slept in my own bed on clean sheets, and it was glorious.
I had been very anxious about this conference; I know many of you travel frequently, but I don't, and I was worried about basically every step of the process. LOL But it all worked out fine, and I think I will be more confident the next time this sort of opportunity arises.
2. Fiona got second place in the poetry competition at the Beta Convention, which qualifies her to go the National Beta Convention competition! It's being held in Savannah this year, so she'll definitely get to go; she didn't go last year despite qualifying because it was too far away. We are very proud of her. :)
3. I think we have finally found a regimen of meds that is working for Sammy's asthma. He takes an antiviral pill twice a day followed by an OTC supplement that is also an antiviral. He is such a good kitty. I shake the pill bottle, and he comes running and lets me pick him up. I put him on his back in my lap with his head against my chest and pop open his mouth, and he swallows down his pill with no fighting. Then he runs to go get his next med which is in paste form. Originally, we bought this med as a chew, and he would have nothing to do with it. We mixed it in his food, ground it up and mixed it with water, whatever--he would not eat it. So, I bought it as a paste with the intention of just holding him down and squirting it down his throat if necessary. Indeed, he would not eat it at first, but after a week of squirting it down his throat, Sammy decided his paste is the bomb, and now he begs for it.
We also have acquired a kitty inhaler but not had to use it yet. We've been getting him used to the mask, and he doesn't seem to mind it. We'll see.
4. When A. S. Byatt died, I didn't have the chance to make a proper post acknowledging how much her writing has meant to me since I encountered it decades ago. I'll link my Byatt reading tag here because I talk at much greater length in each of those posts about her novels and short story collections than I will here, especially Possession. That book was a game changer for me when I first encountered it as a college freshman and remains very special to me. It encapsulates like nothing else I have ever read the joys and frustrations of literary scholarship. The Potter Quartet is a structural masterpiece; I remember the moment when I was reading the final book and I realized what Byatt had done structurally with the way each book is introduced and the chronology and the awe I felt at that realization. And then, always, the words--such beautiful, beautiful words--sentences to read over and over again because they're too lovely to be done with quickly. I'm sad there will be no new words but glad the ones she gave us are words I want to visit again and again.
5. And last not but least,
amejisuto sent me a wonderful early Christmas present--Brent Spiner's Fan-Fiction and a beautiful bookmark that says, "I have been and always shall be your friend." <3
I also got my first Christmas card of the season from
troisoiseaux!
I had been very anxious about this conference; I know many of you travel frequently, but I don't, and I was worried about basically every step of the process. LOL But it all worked out fine, and I think I will be more confident the next time this sort of opportunity arises.
2. Fiona got second place in the poetry competition at the Beta Convention, which qualifies her to go the National Beta Convention competition! It's being held in Savannah this year, so she'll definitely get to go; she didn't go last year despite qualifying because it was too far away. We are very proud of her. :)
3. I think we have finally found a regimen of meds that is working for Sammy's asthma. He takes an antiviral pill twice a day followed by an OTC supplement that is also an antiviral. He is such a good kitty. I shake the pill bottle, and he comes running and lets me pick him up. I put him on his back in my lap with his head against my chest and pop open his mouth, and he swallows down his pill with no fighting. Then he runs to go get his next med which is in paste form. Originally, we bought this med as a chew, and he would have nothing to do with it. We mixed it in his food, ground it up and mixed it with water, whatever--he would not eat it. So, I bought it as a paste with the intention of just holding him down and squirting it down his throat if necessary. Indeed, he would not eat it at first, but after a week of squirting it down his throat, Sammy decided his paste is the bomb, and now he begs for it.
We also have acquired a kitty inhaler but not had to use it yet. We've been getting him used to the mask, and he doesn't seem to mind it. We'll see.
4. When A. S. Byatt died, I didn't have the chance to make a proper post acknowledging how much her writing has meant to me since I encountered it decades ago. I'll link my Byatt reading tag here because I talk at much greater length in each of those posts about her novels and short story collections than I will here, especially Possession. That book was a game changer for me when I first encountered it as a college freshman and remains very special to me. It encapsulates like nothing else I have ever read the joys and frustrations of literary scholarship. The Potter Quartet is a structural masterpiece; I remember the moment when I was reading the final book and I realized what Byatt had done structurally with the way each book is introduced and the chronology and the awe I felt at that realization. And then, always, the words--such beautiful, beautiful words--sentences to read over and over again because they're too lovely to be done with quickly. I'm sad there will be no new words but glad the ones she gave us are words I want to visit again and again.
5. And last not but least,
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I also got my first Christmas card of the season from
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 12:42 am (UTC):)
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Date: 2023-12-07 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 02:55 pm (UTC)I'm glad it arrived!
(And YAY, FIONA!!)
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Date: 2023-12-08 12:43 am (UTC)Fiona is quite delighted with herself.
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Date: 2023-12-07 03:25 pm (UTC)Congratulations to Fiona and great work with Sammy! He sounds like a real sweetheart ♥
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Date: 2023-12-08 12:45 am (UTC)Fiona is quite delighted with herself. :)
The conference was exactly the right balance--not too boring, just the right amount of work gossip. LOL
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Date: 2023-12-07 03:42 pm (UTC)Congratulations to Fiona!\o/
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Date: 2023-12-08 12:46 am (UTC)I completely agree; I am very glad that Teams has replaced a lot of the time-sucking inter-campus travel I used to have to do, but online meetings will never replace being able to meet in person from time to time.
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Date: 2023-12-07 03:59 pm (UTC)I'm glad Sammy is doing better though! and glad the conference went well.
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Date: 2023-12-08 12:48 am (UTC)Fiona is quit delighted with herself.
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Date: 2023-12-07 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 04:46 pm (UTC)Congrats to Fiona and also to Sammy, who's being such a good sport! <333
I love what you've written about Byatt here, and I'm so grateful to you for getting these thoughts down.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-09 01:28 pm (UTC)Fiona is quite delighted with herself. :)
Byatt has been so influential on my own writing; Byatt, Atwood, and Ouida--I can see traces of the three of them in everything I write. And soon all of them will be gone, and all we'll have left are the words.
Here it comes again
From:Re: Here it comes again
From:no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 04:53 pm (UTC)I'm also so glad to hear about all your other good news. What a much-needed burst of loveliness on my timeline!
no subject
Date: 2023-12-09 01:30 pm (UTC)I don't know why I have grown more timid as I've gotten older. I think it's supposed to go the other way around. I was absolutely fearless about traveling when I was younger, but now I'm just a ball of anxiety about it. It's weird. I'm not anxious about the job part of it, just the traveling part. The where is the parking garage and will they have my reservation and will I get lost driving and all that jazz part.
But I realize the more I do it, the more confident I will become. Just like anything else. LOL
(no subject)
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Date: 2023-12-07 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-09 01:31 pm (UTC)*nods nods*
It's all the time to worry beforehand. And then it all turns out fine. LOL
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Date: 2023-12-07 06:36 pm (UTC)cheers delightedly
no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 08:03 pm (UTC)Congrats to Fiona, omg to your so-good kitty, and I love your peon to AS Byatt.
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Date: 2023-12-09 01:32 pm (UTC)Sammy is such a good kitty. I am so glad we don't have to fight with him twice a day over taking this pill.
Fiona is quite delighted with herself.
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Date: 2023-12-07 08:03 pm (UTC)All cavils aside, though, hurrah!
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Date: 2023-12-09 01:35 pm (UTC)I am snuggled up in the red sweater you sent me because it has been very cold here feeling super grateful the semester is over and I can relax for a bit before I have to start working on next semester's classes.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 08:29 pm (UTC)I read it a bit later in my life -- I was struggling in grad school -- and it really spoke to me about scholarship too, and what I actually wanted, and how smothered to death I felt by the literary theory in the 1990s. (I wound up dropping out.) It felt like a friendly support in a time when I badly needed one. And her writing is of course so beautiful.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-09 01:38 pm (UTC)There's a lot in that book about how stifling the academy can be, not only for women but especially for women. At the very core of it, the two protagonists go off an adventure to find something that they're not finding from the usual way of doing things.
I'm glad this book was a friendly support to you when you were struggling and smothered.
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2023-12-07 08:50 pm (UTC)I know many of you travel frequently, but I don't, and I was worried about basically every step of the process.
I know this feeling. *hugs* We're going away for a few nights over the holidays, and I'm trying very hard not to think about it yet. ;-p
no subject
Date: 2023-12-09 01:44 pm (UTC)We didn't train our previous cats at all because we were very stupid. I guess we thought we'd always be living in dumps with people's garbage furniture and so it didn't matter if they were destructive LOL but lo and behold we eventually started making some money and acquired belongings that shouldn't be set on fire. So we immediately began training Sammy about not scratching and not messing with stuff. And he is so so good as a consequence. Some of it is temperament. He is not a jumper and doesn't get on top of stuff, which is wonderful. But a lot of it is that we took the time to train him.
(no subject)
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Date: 2023-12-07 11:36 pm (UTC)Yay for Fiona! I never qualified for the Beta club, that's a big deal.
I'm glad Sammy is so good about taking his pills.
I am glad you liked the gifts, my love! It seems like that bookmark was made to go with that book. Merry Christmas!
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Date: 2023-12-11 10:43 am (UTC)Fiona is super into extracurriculars in a way Dylan never was; she loves 4H and Beta and she's in this other club that her school made up that I forget the name of.
That bookmark was definitely made with that book in mind. I can't wait to snuggle up under some blankets and get to reading!
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-11 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 04:31 am (UTC)and glad the cat is ok with the meds.
i didn't know brent spiner wrote a book. i'll have to be on the lookout for that.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-11 10:44 am (UTC)Spiner's book is called Fan Fiction, and I believe it's a mixture of fiction and memoir. It sounds like a wild read.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-11 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 09:04 am (UTC)Didn't know cats did inhalers.
You are doing well in your profession the confidence comes with familiarity so you've got this. Keep reaching for the heavens.
"HUGS"
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Date: 2023-12-11 10:46 am (UTC)I didn't know cats did inhalers until very recently myself. He hasn't had to use it yet, so hopefully he'll do well with it when he does. *crosses fingers*
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-12-08 12:58 pm (UTC)Congrats to Fiona! That's wonderful!
I don't think any of our animals have been good about taking pills. I love that Sammy is so excited about the paste. *g*
That bookmark sounds very cool.
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Date: 2023-12-11 10:47 am (UTC)Our previous cats were not good about doing anything, ha! I shudder to imagine trying to give Tweek a pill, much less give her a pill twice a day for the rest of her life. We'd have to wear welding gloves and a welding apron to accomplish the task. Sammy is a special little man.
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Date: 2023-12-09 02:36 am (UTC)We keep meaning to get one of those asthma inhaler/chamber devices for Sinha. His asthma is currently so minor that we're not doing anything but keeping an eye on it (I think he's due for another lung check next year), but want to ideally have him used to the thing before it's ever actually needed.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-11 10:50 am (UTC)Is Sinha's asthma because he has the feline herpes (asthma) virus? If so, you should look into giving him the lysine supplement we're giving Sammy (if you're not already). It inhibits the virus from replicating, and it's available in a variety of forms and flavors. Sammy's asthma is pretty bad, and I really think it's helping him. If Sinha's is minor, it might just wipe it out entirely.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-12-23 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-23 01:29 pm (UTC)*hugs*
I hope you have a lovely Christmas as well.
<3