A Tale of Two Kitties

We've settled in nicely to our parent's basement apartment; our cat, however, has been a different story. Despite my mother and my fervent prayers that Whiskey and Sammy would get along, they continue to regard each other as mortal enemies. That translates into a lot of hissing, stalking, and general silent glaring whenever they encounter each other. So much for my image of them sleeping curled up together and stalking field-mice side by side. Oh well.

A few morning's ago Joel and I found Whiskey in a fair bit of pain and flinching whenever we touched her left side. A visit to the doctor and one very expensive radiograph later found no internal bleeding or broken bones (which would have suggested an encounter with a car), but they did discover a small puncture wound on her left side. It looks like she got into a fight. We're all trying to be very open-minded about this and give Sammy the benefit of the doubt (she's still refusing to confess, although I do remember her looking particularly smug the morning of the accident). Anyway, Whiskey's healing up just fine, and has even discovered a new favorite place to sleep.

It's Here!

I forgot to mention that another thing I've been doing since I last posted in July is getting the third issue of our magazine published! So, if you would like a copy, hop on over to the Thought Meadow Blog and sign up!

Lame-o

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged. I'm sure any interested followers we might have had have abandoned us long ago, but I'm still going to pretend like we have an audience. Since I last wrote we've moved into my parent's guest bedroom, helped kate and davey move to South Bend, visited them in South Bend (and Chicago), and then moved into my parent's basement apartment. It's been a busy month, and I finally feel like I have my feet underneath me again.

One reason I've been so bad about blogging is because I have no new pictures to show you. Why? Because somehow in the move I lost my camera, and I have not found it again. I suppose until I find it again I will have to learn to write interesting posts without pictures.

Speaking of interesting, one major bonus of living in my parent's basement is that they have cable tv. Which means we now have unlimited access to many channels, our favorites being Sports (Joel), Food Network (me) and the Discovery channel (both of us). Right now I'm learning all about animal mummies. And Coptic Cairo, which sounds like one of those places I will always dream about visiting but never actually go to.

I'm also learning in this show about Saint Rose of Lima (Santa Rosa de Lima), the Catholic saint of Lima. She was a severe ascetic who disfigured her face with lye, wore a crown of iron thorns, and had many ecstatic trances. She died at the age of 31, having prophesied her death to the day. I have a hard time understanding these Saints who came before me. On the one hand, she spent her days helping the poor and the sick, working with her hands to sell things and giving the money to those in need. But on the other hand I don't understand or agree with the ascetic movements. Near the end of her life she became a total recluse, she constructed a cell-like chamber that she stayed in all the time, only leaving for communion. When saints like Rose submitted themselves to these types of self-denial, they are telling only half the story. They are stuck in Christ's Passion, without participating in any of His resurrection life.

Another interesting saint to check out is Saint Cecilia, an early Christian martyr. Her story of martyrdom is not for the queasy of stomach (mother), but it's fascinating nonetheless.

Fun times with the Eiferts

Two weekends ago we visited Wenatchee and spent time with our friends Hope and Ellis. We did some fairly urban camping as well as boating, s'more roasting, talking, and sight-seeing. Wenatcheee is a beautiful area; built around the Columbia River, the Wenatchee area has acres of cherry trees, apple trees, vineyards, and more.





Here are the Eiferts at Farmer's market



And here we are:



This is one of those fabulous cherry stands located all throughout Wenatchee. Best cherries we've ever eaten.


Even Hope agrees:



We took the two youngest Eifert kids (Ellis' siblings, there are 11 of them) boating with us. Here I am with Margaret:



And here we are, the very scary Cohens:




Joel and Ellis were the most intense about their tubing:


Joel had a good time


And so did Margaret



Here we all are on Sunday before church:

The Cohen Zoo

Yesterday was an exciting day at the Cohen petting zoo. It began around 1 when I received a call from Joel.
"Umm, Christine?"
"Yes, dear?"
"There is a bird in our house."
"Is it alive?"
"Oh yes, it's hopping around shedding feathers left and right."
"Where is Whiskey?"
"Well, she's chasing it."

After advising Joel to lock Whiskey outside, I came home to survey the damage. Joel hadn't lied, a torrent of feathers lay strewed around our house. In the midst of the carnage a very scared looking Robin crouched under our piano stool. I did the eco-friendly thing and rescued the poor bird. Elissa, you would be proud. While I didn't attempt to set its broken leg myself, I did stick it in a shoebox and transport it to the nearest wildlife rehabilitation center. We were fast friends by the end of the trip, I'd even considered naming him.

Whiskey has a habit of bringing her trophies inside and depositing them in her food-bowl. This would explain how the Robin found itself unhappily trapped in our house. It would also explain the appearance of our second guest of the day. While I was making dinner, Joel's voice came from the other room.

"Umm, babe?"
"Yeah?"
"There's a mouse in the house."
"Is it alive?"
"Well, yeah..."

And so the story repeated itself. Me chasing the little furry rodent around and finally managing to trap it under a teacup. Unlike the robin, the mouse didn't get to go to a comfy animal hospital. In fact it met a somewhat more depressing end (children, leave the room now). Despite my pleas to let it go free, Joel remained firm. He wanted Whiskey to learn how to kill mice. So we marched the poor rodent outside and stuck it in the grass next to our cat. Whiskey, however, while she makes a charming house-pet, is a failure as a mouser. She stared in fascination at the mouse, following it around and occasionally knocking it off its feet. The claws never came out, the teeth remained firmly shut. In fact, she was so un-intimidating that the mouse soon considered her a friend, and tried several times to snuggle up against her. This was too much for Whiskey, who was able to maintain at least some shred of dignity and backed away from her admirer in confusion. After several hours of inaction on the part of our cat, Joel took matters into his own hand and sent the mouse sailing into the next life with the help of a mouse-trap. I voted pro-life, but my husband, ever the practical one, voted anti-hantavirus. And that was the end of the Cohen zoo.

What are we doing, you ask?

We've been keeping busy. And here I naively thought that summer would slow things down... it's really only changed what it is that keeps us so busy. Joel, in addition to working two jobs, has been fixing up our house for the renters who are going to move in in either late July or early August. We were so thrilled to find friends who wanted to rent the house for a year. Wonderful. He has now painted all our interior doors white, our front door red, and is working on building trim for the windows. He is also playing softball for a city league (Go Whammers! No, the name hasn't changed...).
I'm working 25 hours at Hall Closet, also doing work around the house, and finding my time very filled up with being the new senior editor for Thought Meadow magazine. Thought Meadow is a Christian women's magazine that was started last year by friends of mine for the "edification of souls and sharpening of minds." We're working on our third issue now, and I just love doing all the administrative chores that go into making each issue come out. You can check it out at: thoughtmeadow.com/blog.
Whiskey, the most productive member of our family, has been doing her favorite summer activity: sleeping.

Yard Sale Finds

I love yard sales. Here in Moscow there are usually 5-10 every Saturday that are within 5 minutes driving distance from us (then again, everything in Moscow is 5 minutes driving from us). A few weeks ago we had our own garage sale with several other couples. It was a blast, and in addition to selling things, I also found this fabulous picture.




Now it is hanging in our bedroom. I have visions of it in a little boy's room someday. Oh how I love the nautical theme.