Got Gold!

I had the best news recently. This photograph of jellyfish was awarded 'gold' in a recent competition held by the photographic society I am a member of. This means I will be published in their magazine and entered into the annual competition with other images that were awarded gold. I'm chuffed to bits!

Of course this is a wonderful antidote to my everyday bill paying job where I continue to (barely) tolerate things. Sammy is wearing his cone again. After his leg nearly healed he chewed the scab off and so it started bleeding again. Back to square one. He's allowed to have the cone off when he is sat on the sofa with me where I can keep a close eye on him. He loves to have his ears and neck scratched when the cone comes off and closes he eyes with pleasure and purrs like a nutter. Bless.

Cone of Shame

Poor little Sammy has had the cone of shame on for a few days now and is not at all happy with his new look. The problem started around 3 weeks ago when a couple of small bare patches of skin on the back of his lower leg started to bleed. A lot. I'm not kidding when I say that it looked like small animals had been sacrificed on my lounge rug and landing carpet. One trip to the vets, a course of antibiotics and steroids and a cone and he seemed to get better. However, last weekend the bleeding started again. He had worked out how to get round his old cone and so that was useless in stopping him from licking his leg and so it was back to the vet. We have more antibiotics, more steroids and a bigger cone, much to Sammy's chagrin.

The cone is transparent so at least Max can't ambush him anymore, but poor Sam doesn't understand and often asks me to take it off. He can't wash and so Max has been helping (but then lost the plot and washed the cone) and I have some moist grooming wipes.I'm really hoping this works as his poor leg is a mess. On top of that my stair and landing carpet is ruined and I dare not replace it until he's better.

The photos are a couple of recent snaps (pre-back leg issues) of my boys. I am still working long hours at work for someone who doesn't know their derriere from their arm joint and thinks Leadership is doing what they want. It's demoralising and stressful. I hope life is treating you well though.

One Year Old!

Max and Sam - 4-5 weeks old

This week saw my boys turn one year old! Of course, I wasn't able to bring them home with me until they were 12 weeks old and they were 5 weeks old before I met them for the first time. Back then they were tiny balls of fluff that could sit in the palm of my hand!

Sam and Max - One year old

One year on and my boys have become big kitties! They have grown up so much and have become giant balls of fluff instead. Especially, Max who has become a big soft pudding of a cat with a mischievous streak a mile wide. He is also very stubborn at times but is a very loving soul too who loves his belly being rubbed.

Max

Sam, on the other hand was quite a handful as a kitten. He was always the more timid of the two and could be quite naughty but has grown into a sweet boy. He is always the one who meets me by the door and will come running when he is called. He is also the brighter of the two and has leant quite a few tricks. His latest trick is to give me a high five when asked. He gets up on his back paws and smacks my open pal with his little paw. No, really he does!

Sam

They had recently been bought a new activity centre / scratching post and so they just had some treats and small toy mice on their birthday. The treats went down very well, with much licking of chops and the mice, well they were promptly lost under the sofa. All six of them. Happy birthday boys!

Max

The Boys

Max and Sam are now nine months old and as you can see from the photos, they have grown somewhat. When they are fully grown (they grow up to two years in age) they will be between 12-20lbs in weight so they still have some growing to do.

Sam

The older they get, the more their personalities develop. Sammy is still the more reserved of the two, suspicious of visitors, sometimes moody and often tells me off when I stop him doing something or make him do something he doesn't want to. He is however, very sweet, loves his chin being tickled and the one more likely to keep a close eye on me. He loves being picked up for cuddles and nestles his head into my shoulder. When he plays with Max, he is the rougher of the too and when he plays with me he loves to jump in the air and catch things.

Max

Max is the bigger of the pair and a lovable rogue. He has a cheeky streak a mile wide and is a wide open book. He has the loudest purr and bestows it on me liberally. He loves having his tummy rubbed and likes to chase things across the ground. He will do anything for a treat and will shake paws, beg and sit on command (as will Sam) and also likes to give me 'kisses' which basically means I get a wet nose.

My boys are growing up, but they are growing into beautiful cats don't you think?

Of cats, shoe boxes and newspapers.

Can we have new beds please? These are not up to kitty standards!

Firstly thanks to everyone who left kind comments and encouraging words on my last post. I really appreciated them. I've been shooing my black dog away, though things remain trying. I decided to use some of my work skills and apply them to my personal life and so I made a list of everything that was bothering me, what the issue was and then looked at what I could actually change and what I might just have to accept and how I could go about this - a little like a very organised version of the serenity prayer. It helped organise my thoughts and so now I am working on resolving the things on the list. Curiously, the things that I can change are not necessarily the hardest ones to tackle. It's one thing knowing you have to accept something and quite another one actually learning to live with that.

I can see myself in that funny thing you're holding to your face!

Meanwhile life goes on and my kitties are growing up at such a rate! They are now the size of the average adult cat and are just coming up to 6 months old. They are still the pure embodiment of mischief and are into everything. Their personalities get more developed with each passing week and they have started to get very definite habits. It's wonderful watching these two cats develop from little balls of fur into what I hope will be lovely companions.

Watch the birdie? What birdie?

I have been putting together shoe boxes of gifts for Operation Christmas Child and my boys have been "helping me", hence the photo of Max in the shoe box. So far I have put together sixteen shoe boxes and I'm raising funds to do more through work. To do this I run a tuck shop and a trading post for CDs and DVDs where people bring in their old ones and can exchange them for something else for £1.

Very sleepy...

On a different note, I saw a familiar face in one of our national newspapers last week. It wasn't a shock really as I did consent to the interview. The interview was about my MBA and my experience of studying and how it has benefited me in my career and was used as a case study to support and article on MBAs. It's a silly piece of vanity I know, but I was quite pleased with the article and how it looked. I even sounded good to me and it was a good boost to my morale.

I also had the results of my MBTI assessment and my 360 degree feedback at work. This gave me such a boost on one hand and a little bit of a shock on the other. It was great as many ex line managers of mine completed it and had some really nice things to say about me and scored me quite high on many qualities. The shock came as my current line manager scored me very low on most attributes and his assessment was way out of line with colleagues and everyone else.

Best buddies

I discussed this at length with the consultant giving the feedback analysis as he voiced his concerns about the disparity between the scores. From discussion we felt that the culture and the team I am in are holding me back, even suppressing me and not letting me shine. My boss is also new to management (we are his first staff) and it was felt this was a major factor as within the team culture he probably felt he couldn't give high scores. It's a great concern as a report on the same lines will hold me back from promotion so I need to address this with him and explore why his scoring was so much lower than everyone else. The up side - I know it isn't me and that work and the negative energy there is affecting me. I am seriously looking for another job with another team in the organisation. Sometimes, information comes just at the right time, and this time it's helping me address something negative through giving me a positive boost. And just knowing this has made me feel so much better already.

Because you asked so nicely...

The Boys

Many people who stop by here have asked about Sam and Max and requested photos, so at the risk of boring all my non cat loving blog friends, here are a couple of recent pics. My boys are growing up, and fast!

Sam

Sam and Max came to live with me at the start of July and are now definitely part of the family. As time has gone on I have come two know two very different little characters. Sam is an intense and needy little fellow. If I turn around it's most likely to be Sam getting under my feet (though he does not have exclusive rights to this). He also has a temper on him and complains about things that won't co-operate with him and smacks things with his paw (like closing doors). He is also the one that catches onto things more quickly and sits on his hind quarters with his fore paws in the air when he wants something.

Max

Max is the slightly larger of the two and is very laid back. Very little fazes him and he is by far the more independent of the two. Max knows his own mind and is into everything. This can also lead him into naughtiness (but he doesn't hold the monopoly here) but he has a very loud and ready purr and a sweet nature.

Both of them are lovable rogues and are very playful. Their days are carefree and consist of playing, napping and chasing each other around the house at 100mph. They are indoor cast as their nature is too trusting and open and paired with curiosity means that Ragdoll cats often go missing or worse when left to their own devices in the outside world. However, I have bought them harness and lead sets and they love going out around the garden on a sunny day and sit very patiently while I put their harness on. They have also learnt to answer to their names (most of the time), and know words such as 'food', 'no', 'down', 'out' and 'up' though sometimes suffer from selective deafness! They are my pride and joy and drive me mad. Right now they are both sat on the sofa with me.

As for the rest of my life, well, I am acutely aware that I still haven't been visiting my blog friends much. I am busy but that is not the whole story. Work continues to be very stressful and I simply have very little energy for anything. The team culture is very reactive and rather than being lead, I feel like I am being yanked on a leash, not knowing which way to go next until I am jerked in that direction. On top of that, there is also much micro-management from above in the food chain and there is a disconnect between being able to manage your own work and responsibility for it. I do not thrive under such conditions I'm afraid and I am very tense as a result and am suffering from back and neck pain. I am hoping things will settle down in the long term but basically I am keeping my eyes open for another opportunity elsewhere in the organisation. Fingers crossed.

Having Kittens

Max & Sam, July 1st 2009

My home has been invaded by small furry creatures. Thankfully not the rapidly multiplying Tribbles of Star Trek fame, but rather two Ragdoll kittens which I have named Max and Sam. Max is the seal point (brown nose and brown paw pads) and Sam is the bi-colour (pink nose and paw pads). The brothers are my birthday present to myself and I must say I am thrilled at my choice of gift!

I have missed the presence of a kitty (or two) in my life ever since dear old Bob passed away a couple of months ago. Already, I am starting to see their individual characters. Max is the bolder of the two. He is always first into everything, and he wants to get into everything too.Where Max goes, Sam invariably follows.


But Sam is no sheep. The more timid of the two at first, Sam knows his own mind and once he settled in, seemed to be the more pliable of the two. Already he recognises his name and the word 'no'. Max plays much rougher than Sam and also hogs the toys. If Sam has a toy then Max wants it too. I ma looking forward to getting to know them both better.

Other news is that I had a wonderful weekend away to celebrate my birthday. Chester is a wonderful old town where the buildings are white with black timbers and the shops are double decker with one row built on top of the first complete with covered walkway. The sun shone and I had a lovely time. I was dined at the most wonderful little restaurant, called Upstairs at the Grill run by two people who used to work at the Savoy (in London). I had the best steak I have ever tasted, along with a lovely Stilton Souffle and Creme Brulee, all washed down with some nice Chablis.


I had some lovely gifts too although not all of my family bothered to mark the occasion by even sending a card. Happily many friends did though and quite frankly, that counts a whole lot more in my book. On Thursday I am going out for a late celebration of a few drinks and something to eat with some of those friends which should be a good evening. Meanwhile I have two kitties to keep me entertained : )

Double trouble or twice the fun?

Sam

Then there were two... I had been thinking of getting two cats for many years but held off as Bob was very set in his ways and I knew he would not take to sharing very well. He barely tolerated other humans in 'his' home. So, when I decided to adopt Max I always had the intention of having two cats...eventually...sometime in the future. I just didn't realise it would be so soon!

Max

Sam is the last of the litter to find a home and he found it with me and his brother. I decided that two litter mates that were best friends would be so much easier to adopt than trying to introduce another feline further down the line. Sam and Max would wear each other out and be company for each other while I am work and I avoid all potential future problems from introducing a new cat later. I am thrilled and can't wait until I can bring them home at the end of the month as a birthday present to myself. It's a milestone birthday too so the present had to be extra special!

On a different note I apologise for my lack of blog presence lately. Work has become busy beyond belief and I am barely coping with my thyroid condition. I work, I sleep and do very little else as I have no energy. Once I get the next week or so out of the way I hope normal service will be resumed. Just in time to prepare for the arrival of my kitties and my birthday, which I'm determined to enjoy. Thanks for popping by, I really appreciate it and I hope to repay your visit soon!