One of these days, I’m going to get better at updating regularly. Things have been rather crazy here at Chez Slater, and the crazy’s not over just yet. But the coming of summer is much welcomed, and I’m looking forward to generally nicer weather for the foreseeable future. There’s little I enjoy quite as much as reading in the evenings with the windows open and a cool breeze spilling into the room around me. Mmm, simple pleasures. :)
But, as for the update:
Twin Bullets
So we’ve been having cat trouble lately. Our 18 year old darling Mei started throwing up constantly on Friday, and I took her to the emergency vet that night. They ruled out any blockage or foreign object, but we’re still waiting on some blood tests to see if it might be hyperthyroidism. We’re kind of hoping that’s what it is, because at least that’s treatable and we can *do* something about it. As it is, she’s still nauseated, won’t eat, and is generally sluggish and sad. We’re doing what we can, and we can get her to take the nausea meds and antibiotic the vet prescribed, but otherwise, we’re worried. Obviously, she’s a pretty old lady, and something will eventually get her, but we were kind of caught off-guard by the abrupt change from the Healthy Cat to the very sick one. Poor girl.
As it turns out, in freakish trivia, when the vets took x-rays of her to look for blockages, they discovered that Mei has TWO BULLETS in her body. Just there. Under the skin. Hanging out. WTF?! We adopted her when she was about twelve out when we lived in Oregon, and in the past six years nobody’s ever noticed/mentioned it before, no vets, not the adoption agency. We’re floored, to say the least. And they’re not buckshot or BB gun pellets or anything, either. They’re like .22 bullets. The vet said they don’t appear to be causing her any problems, and that the scar tissue around them is really old, so it probably happened when she was a young cat. We had suspicions that her brother had been adopted off the street (he’s got a clean notch in his ear), but had assumed from the adoption center that Mei had pretty much been an indoor cat her whole life. Apparently not! Poor darling! She’s a warrior princess. The vet pulled up the x-rays to show us, and it’s really one of the weirdest things I’ve ever witnessed. It makes me want to see her pull through even more. :(
Whole Lotta Green
In trivial, less exciting news, we’ve been battling our dirt-hole front yard, and as of this past week we’re starting to see some baby grass coming up at last! It’s been so embarrassing living in a duplex with our half of the lawn looking like total garbage, and every single other neighbor’s house having lovely lawns. I’ve never been one for pesticides/fertilizers, so we’re just doing seeding and watering. I don’t even care if it’s all crabgrass, just so long as there’s something sorta grass-like to mow occasionally. At least then maybe the lawn companies will stop leaving advertisements in our door… >.O
Tearin’ Up the Pages
Not literally, but I was super excited to see that I’ve kept up with (and surpassed!) the general reading goal to tackle five books a month so far this year (since Feb). I’m already over half as many books as I read last year, so I’m stoked. Upping the number of books I read a year has been a major personal goal for me, so I’m thrilled to be making progress on that front. It certainly helps that it plays in well to my tendency to poly-read 8+ books at a time, *and* encourages me to finish them, too! Right now, I think I’ve got six on the docket, but I will say I’ve been eyeing some crime books lately, so who knows. I’ll probably start one of them soon, too. (Though if I was smart, I’d pick something off my own bookshelf which is loaded with “to read” books!) Hmmmm…decisions, decisions…
Also managed to get a start on the YA/fantasy novel WiP extended outline this past week and made some great progress. It feels fantastic to work this way, so I’m going with it full-throttle. Not sure how long it’ll take to get through it, but I’m highly motivated to work on it, which is a delightful change from the more typical slog.
Free Fiction!
SF Crowsnest did a nice review of Apex Magazine #84, and my story, “The Behemoth Beaches,” will be released for free reading at Apex Magazine this coming week (May 19th), so if you haven’t read it yet via mobi/epub subscription, definitely check it out! :D
Maggie Slater 