forgotten_aria

Dressed as Catra, posing with Mira, I realized I needed a plant.

I didn't finish Karlach, which was expected, but I got a lot more done than I thought I would. I got the undershirt done, both arm bands, knee armor, and the gauntlets. The tail just needs an adjustment on how it is mounted and some shadow painting. The wig is almost done, just needs a little more styling and the braids and bits glued in. The top needs a fair amount of work still, but it seems at least possible now. I didn't even start on the pants other than finding out I could not draw with chalk on either the outside or inside of the pants. One boot cover is almost done, the other not started. And everything would need some heavy weathering. Partly having the roof done basically killed a week where I could have worked on it.

I will likely wear Catra this year. I need to fish it out and find out if it needs any repairs and see if the compression suit I got makes me happier with the silhouette.

If I go to the TKD Halloween party, I think I'll wear the Nightshoud in whatever state of finishedness it is. The armor bits need some elastic and I might try to get part of the arm decorations done, but that will be next week.

I'm not sure what I'll wear for giving out candy.

( some WIP pictures )

They worked another 13 hour day both Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a bunch of stuff unfinished and a lot of trash still in the yard. I have a feeling they've had a lot of issues with maintaining crew members since this experience is much different from my mothers.

They dropped the packages of shingles so hard it shook the house. They did this over and over. I hope nothing was harmed doing that.

They didn't do the second bathroom vent because they claimed it went into our heating system. They of course didn't mention this when they decided this. I've taken a photo showing it goes UNDER the heating vent and does, in fact, go to the soffit.

I really hope the work is quality, especially the stuff they did in the dark, because the management hasn't been.

They came about 4pm today, Thursday, to finish up some work, including a roof that doesn't even have waterproofing, but I think there is a good chance they're going to miss that roof again.

There is a number of screens damaged, which they'll say they'll repair. They dropped a ladder on my front bush.

I had a long discussion with the account manager that he should have warned me this would be more than one day. One of the highlights was him saying "did I ever imply it would be?" At the time, I said, well you should have said "Is Monday ok to start work? It will be more than one day." Then I went and looked up what he said: "would Monday work for install day?" So yes, yes you did imply one day with that statement.

He says the roof will be less wrinkly once it gets a chance to heat up and settle. I hope that is true.

I feel bad for the workers, since they have worked very hard, long days, but I'm not happy with the management at all.

The mounts for the panels are almost all on, the inverters are being added. We still need our ridge vents installed. I doubt they will finish today, even working late into the night again. At least they didn't come at 7am and we got some sleep, all of us, since I think the cats were even getting sleep deprived.

This is also only step 1 of 3 or 4. Next an electrician has to wire all the inverters and install all the new meters and control boxes. That likely won't be for a while since the permit hasn't gone through yet. Then after that is inspected, they'll put on the panels and hook it up to the main system.

It's been a good summer that actually felt like summer.

I had the least social anxiety I've had in a while on the Purity weekend. I had a lot of good conversations and lovely moments. Even learned some games, which is a rarity for me.

I got the worst calf cramp I've had in a decade during the last few hours of the trip. I'm guessing a combination of a different diet, different drinking habits (though I was not dehydrated) and probably the most I've used my legs (walking and swimming) since getting planter faciitis over a year ago. The cold water may have been the final trigger. I will say it felt really good to be able to walk between the buildings.

The cats continue to be pretty darn good. It's always a dice roll getting an 18 year commitment like that, but so far they are great and getting big so fast. We overheated echo by playing too long with her. She started to cough and then pant a lot. We're trying to avoid that in the future.

I've been making slow work on the Karlach costume. Likely I'll wear Catra, since I don't think I'll finish in time, but it's been fun to make progress on it. I am having a bit of body self-consciousness issues with both. I think for the TKD Halloween party, I'll try to finish the Nightshroud costume, or at lease close to finished.

They've healed all nicely and are mostly doing well. I had a bit of a problem with echo yesterday because she wouldn't get out of my closet even when I sprayed her. It was unpleasant for me and her.

Today I found out they are deathly afraid of the ceiling fan when it is running. Hopefully they'll be ok with the bedroom with it stopped, but that is the weirdest thing.

Last night was rough. We set up the dog pens, put them as close to each other as we could, but they both started clawing and freaking out. We moved them to respective bathrooms, and they cried horrible cries of anger, fear, betrayal. I cried because I was sleep deprived and hated what my cats were going through. We got a little sleep before we all woke up at 5ish am and the cries had not calmed, so we went to see them, and Whisper had slipped her cone and jumped on to the counter. She was frantic. Echo still had her cone, but wasn't much better.

We decided that we had to supervise them. We also decided to try the onesies, since that would give the site protection from the other cat. Because I had been sleep deprived because of the day before (not that G was much better) G took the first shift. They did much better in the onesies, though they struggle to walk correctly We still have to make sure they are getting their needs met and that the onesies aren't interfering with that, but at least the cats, and we, are a lot happier and calmer now.

We've ordered some more so we can wash them as they get dirty. Here's hoping they continue to be the right answer and I will feel ok leaving for the weekend.



All told, we got three cones, four onesies, and two dog pens trying to make them happy and safe after surgery.

The kittens continue to be awesome. They mostly let us sleep at night, though if one of them detects that we are awake, Whisper will come and eat my hair. It's her most annoying habit and I'm not sure how to train her out of it without yelling at her almost every time she's in my lap or being carried.

I wanted to document something they've already grown out of. When they were just barely big enough for the cat tree, Whisper would be on the top shelf and Echo would using the scratching post to go in circles, trying to get a good angle on here sister.

They have their appointment to be spayed on Wednesday and I'm anxious because of both logistics (dropping them off at 6am) and the idea that they are getting surgery with a large number of other kittens. I'm also nervous about their recovery, since I'm going away for the weekend and I don't see how these little energy balls are going to deal well with cones of shame.

We did some supervised exploration yesterday and they got relaxed and comfortable in the whole house. They're mostly very good about string, plastic, cords, and their claws.

We locked them in the bathroom, which we've been using as safe room overnight.

Today we let them out. They were uninterested in coming down stairs at first, but eventually wanted to be with us.

They don't really know their names yet, so I'm trying to associate their names with treats. They are very squirmy about getting their claws clipped, but we'll work on that. I haven't gotten a full set of clipping with their one.

They are such good kittens. Whisper continues to be the bold, exploring one, but even though echo is more cautious, she can be assertive.

They have both purred for us. They us their voices sparingly, but can be loud enough if want to be. Mostly their loud when they can't find the other one.

Biggest problem is being under the reclining couch. we've unplugged it so I don't forget and use it without checking until we're sure they don't like doing in under.

I want to write down some happy memories of Kaylee. I'll likely return to this post to add more as I think of them.

I called her Bird because when she was young she didn't like being picked up and would climb out of my arms onto my shoulder to escape. When she was much older, she would enjoy being held for a little bit as long as I put her head and paws on my shoulder.

She was crazy for grass. If I went out the back door, she'd cry hoping I'd bring her grass. If I did, I had to be careful to not get bit because she was so desperate to eat it. A few days before her passing we took her out and let her sit in the grass. She did try to eat some, even though she was having trouble walking.

Her zoomies usually involve jumping up and running across the pass through and grabbing the pillar.

If we were playing with the feather toy and she caught it, she insisted on just having it in her mouth for a bit, usually walking away with it.

She had a very itchy face and loved her ears being cleaned.

In the last few months, she got in the habit of sitting on my hand and mouse while playing games. I don't know if she just wanted me out of my chair so she could have it. There were some days when I would stand up and she'd be in my chair seconds after I had vacated it.

She didn't like being held or being on a lap on the couch, but she did enjoy sitting on the back of the couch when we watched TV. We called this a purr hat.

When she was very young she'd play fetch when I was on the toilet. After she stopped being a kitten, she stopped playing fetch, but her whole life she was always excited to go in the bathroom with me. I think she forgot why.

She really thought the basement, which was off limits, must be the most wonderful place in the world and tried to get in.

She preferred to chase her treats, rather than just eat them. She would pick a direction she was sure you'd throw the treat in and if you didn't throw it that direction, she was lost.

She had a bubble under her tongue all her life. This is my theory on why she was a messy eater and would often spit out one out of 3 pieces of food.

While not dumb, she wasn't smart. The only way she knew how to open doors was to force her head into the crack of it being open. If the crack was too small, she couldn't open it. there was no teaching her to pull the door with her paw.

She was silly and sweet and had almost no bad habits. She would gently object to her claws being clipped by pulling her paw away, but would otherwise be calm. She even had a warning meow for hairballs so that we could come move her off the carpet.

The last few months, after she mostly stopped coming up stairs, I'd say good night to her. She started to climb up on the chair that I had put for her to be near me. As she grew weaker, she still tried to get up on that chair. I made sure to say good night to her every night.

When we would do a puzzle, she'd insist on having a chair so she could see the table. She'd never knock down any pieces, she just needed her own chair.

She occasionally liked closet adventures where she could climb deep into my closet and then meow loudly.

She was scared of the door bell and didn't like strangers. As she got older, she could tolerate a few people in the house and be friendly to them. The first stranger she was able to do this with was someone using a laptop.

In her prime she could jump for toys, even doing almost flips.

There is a post with the full story, but I still remember how gently she put her paw down on the poor scared mouse.

She loved sitting in an open window enjoying the fresh air.

As she got older, she would sit over the heat vent, drying out her nose. I eventually got her a pet heating pad which helped some, but sometimes she'd still do it.

She had no problem with tummy rubs.

She would love to play with toys in the bathtub, since they would rebound off the walls and be a lot more fun.

I'll add more as I think of them.

I hit my back squat PR from 3 years ago, 190lbs, again tonight. Given the weird abdominal thing and my plantar faciitis, peri-menopause and other issues for the last 2 years, this is great news.