Ends and Beginnings

Last week was my year-in-review post, which means I have two weeks to blog about now. Fitting with a new year, there were things that ended, and things that began. So let's start with . . .

Ends

Jimmy. Most of you readers probably know already that we had to put down my beloved cat, Jimmy, whom we had since October 2017. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with arthritis and diabetes, and we watched him lose a lot of weight, and it became difficult for him to walk and jump.

Several days before Christmas, I noticed a strange smell in my room, but I didn't think much of it. My mom thought it smelled like tuna. On the evening of December 23, I decided to investigate under my bed, and I began by brushing the fur from the carpet. And that's when I noticed that the carpet was wet.

Uh oh.

Months ago, we had discussed when it would be time to put Jimmy down, and I suggested it would be when he no longer reliably used his litter box. It appeared that that time had come. Obviously, him not using his litter box is a problem in and of itself, but it's also a symptom of bigger things, because that has never been an issue for him. So that night I used my phone to Google when it was time to put a cat down. He came and sat on me even as I was deciding to end his life, and a single tear rolled from my eye.

In the morning of December 24, I talked about it with my mom, and she agreed (sadly) that the time had come. But since Christmas Eve was a Friday, we decided to wait until the weekend was over. 

On the morning of December 27, we called vet offices to see where we could take him. As sad as it was, we didn't want to prolong his life any longer. They examined him, and the vet verified that he wasn't looking good, which confirmed to me that we were making the right decision. They let me hold him on my lap as they administered the shot. We brought him home in his crate, and I buried him next to our shed.

It certainly was sad. But honestly, I was less sad than I expected to be. And I was definitely less sad than I was when we put Jenny down in 2017, even though I liked Jimmy better. I think there are two key differences:

1. We had Jenny for nearly fifteen years, which was more than half my life at the time, whereas we only had Jimmy for four years.
2. Jenny's death was much more sudden. She was still going outside and catching rodents up until that weekend when she suddenly lost all her energy. But with Jimmy, we watched him deteriorate all year, and we knew the day was coming. And once we made our final decision, we still had a few days with him, so there was more time to process.

Once he was buried, my real work started. I moved out all my shoes and my bed from my room so we could clean the carpet. I have been sleeping in another room ever since. We have cleaned it with carpet cleaner, cat cleaner, and vinegar. The baking soda seems to have taken most of the smell out, but we have yet to vacuum it up. It is inconvenient, but Jimmy brought us so much joy over the years. He was such a sweet cat.

This Is the Place. I continued to work at This Is the Place's Candlelight Christmas in the evenings before Christmas, and my last day was December 23. It was so busy—busier than it ever was in the summer! And of course, most people weren't wearing masks. Jerks. The last night, it started raining, so I hoped that would make the crowds go home, but instead it just made them want to linger inside. But once I was done on December 23, I was probably done with the Place forever. I will be doing my internship all this year, and hopefully I can get a "real" job once it's over. After Christmas, I dropped off my uniform for the last time.

 

This Is the Place has been a fun place to work. But one night during Candlelight Christmas, I watched a family walk in front of the print shop, without coming in, and I realized that what I liked most about working there was when I didn't have to do anything. Like, I loved the spring and fall, when I just sat in a building all day, reading or cleaning or whatever, and then occasionally doing my actual job of talking to someone when they came in. So it will be nice to have a job that pays better and is full time, to say nothing of being more mentally stimulating. 

Christmas. I really hate this time of year (early January), because all the holidays are over but all the trails are covered in snow. I did kind of find it sad I had to work every night before Christmas. For Christmas Eve, my mom's extended family went to a buffet. Then we gathered at our home for dessert. I made ice cream, and we still had leftover mincemeat from Thanksgiving, so I put it in the ice cream, which was not overly well received by most people. Even I must admit that while I like mincemeat pie, mincemeat doesn't work as well in ice cream as it does in a crust.

 

 On Christmas Day, we gathered as a family (my parents and my siblings' families) to open our gifts. I got an automatic litter box (I was skeptical, but it works pretty nicely), some generous gift cards, a solar Santa Snoopy bobblehead, and a pillow of Jimmy.

I loved playing my personal Christmas playlist of 1,738 songs, and we had an enjoyable Christmas dinner. We ate all together at the table, which is something my brother's family doesn't do much, so my thirteen-year-old nephew, Franklin, made it a point to stick out his pinky when he drank, since it was "fancy."

 

Brother's Family. Speaking of them, I enjoyed spending some time with my nephews. I went sledding twice, which is a fun diversion when I'm not otherwise getting much cardio.

But they left in the evening of Christmas Day. My nephews spend a great deal of time playing video games, which isn't really our thing, so we savor other moments we spend with them. I probably won't see them again until the summer.

 

New Year. New Year's was pretty boring, and I guess that's OK during another COVID surge. On New Year's Eve, I just spent the evening with my parents. We watched His Name Is Green Flake, which I got for my dad for Christmas. I really liked the idea of the movie, but I didn't like the execution at all. It was dull and confusing, with some surprising language for a Deseret Book movie. We also watched the brand-new Peanuts special, For Auld Lang Syne, which was better than most of the Peanuts shows from the 80s and 90s. After midnight, I took some hot cocoa outside, played New Year songs from my phone (my playlist is up to 47 songs), and watched neighborhood fireworks.

New Year's Day was boring. My mom's family usually goes out to eat every January 1, but because of COVID cases, we didn't again this year. I made a New Year's Day soup with black-eyed peas, ham, and spinach, with a side of cornbread, which are traditional New Year's Day foods in the South. (Since nowhere else in the country has New Year food traditions, I have to use the South's!) The only place I went was to the carwash.

It does puzzle me that New Year's Day is a day off of work, yet it really is a pretty boring day. There are lots of New Year's Eve traditions, but not so much for New Year's Day.

And now that I've discussed things that ended, time to move into . . .

 

Beginnings

Reggie. You probably also know that I got a new cat! Even before we put Jimmy down, we looked for new cats. I think my mom was more eager for a new one than I was. Now, my dad will only let us have a cat that is declawed, but I think that is unethical. So the solution is to adopt a cat that is already declawed. That limits the available cats quite a bit. It seems that declawing is (rightfully) getting less common, so most of the declawed cats are old, which means we wouldn't have them as long.

But my mom's friend alerted her to a one-year-old declawed cat on KSL classifieds. The owner had someone give the cat to her, then she learned she was allergic, so she had to give it away. So my mom and I headed to Murray on December 29 to pick up this cat. He appears to be partly Maine coon or something like that, because he is huge! And beautiful. We have never had a longhair cat before, so hopefully that works out fine, but Jimmy shed a ton even though he was shorthair. 

The previous owner said his name was Felix. I don't dislike that name, but it just seems so cliché. I feel bad renaming a cat, but I also don't want to be stuck with a name I don't like for the life of a young cat. So I have renamed him Reginald, or Reggie, which seems like a properly majestic name for a majestic cat. 

We brought him home, but he spends most of his time hiding from us. When I do see him, it appears that he likes to be petted. He makes a weird growling noise, but I think it's a contented growl. He purrs when I pet him, and he walks back and forth while I pet him. If I put my hand a little above him, he will sit on his hind legs so his head will reach my hand. But it does feel like I don't really have a cat, since I haven't gotten to see him much. I'm hoping he will start to feel more comfortable spending time with us!

 

Portfolio. I spent several hours working on my portfolio for grad school, since it is due this semester. It will be more work than I expected, but I did make a good start on it. It means I won't have much free time for the next few months. But I am confident in my own scheduling abilities to get it done.

Happy New Year!