Last Day in Iowa

Today was one of those days that reminds me why I love springtime in Iowa. Beautiful weather. Birds chirping. Green everywhere. If only it would just stay like this year round.

Giant Sloth

Over coffee this morning, Danielle informed me that I was not allowed to leave Iowa City without first paying a visit to the Giant Sloth. Both of us have very fond memories of the UI Museum of Natural History, and that particular animal is a favorite. Because he is giant. And kind of funny looking. So we decided that trip would make for a good lunchtime adventure.

The Giant Sloth did not disappoint. Although neither of us remembered it being barricaded by a large metal railing. Pictures were limited to sitting on the edge of said railing rather than being able to stand next to the animal.

For future reference, should one decide to ignore the metal barrier in an attempt to get a better picture, please take a moment to ponder the fact that there are probably other security measures in place. There will be sensors. Alarms will sound. You will then have to acrobatically jump over the railing (hoping not to fall and/or kill yourself in the process) and hurry out the nearest exit before anyone can figure out what just happened. And the person holding the camera (who thought this was a great idea) will be too distracted to take any pictures to document the incident. Hypothetically, of course. Thirty-year-old women with graduate degrees would never engage in this type of behavior.

All I can say is that had Danielle and I known each other in college, it would have meant trouble. And probably injuries.


In other accomplishments for the day... my Peugeot found a new home with Haylie. I had originally planned on donating it to the bike library, but in the end I'm glad it went to someone I know. She'll take good care of it. Pink chain and all.


The rest of the day will be spent running errands and organizing the car to make sure I can fit everything in there tomorrow morning. Then it's off to California. I don't know what internet access will be like at the hotels along the way, so I may not be able to post until the internet people set up my apartment next week. But I have a feeling this trip will give me a lot to write about...

Drug Testing

Operation Drug the Cat. Attempt one.

The vet recommended that Tomo could have up to one full anti-anxiety pill at a time, but that I should start out with half and see how that went. Clearly I should have learned by now to go for the less conservative estimate, but decided to go with the half-pill option just see if it worked.

Getting a cat to swallow a pill is usually quite the battle. Fortunately (in a way), I've had practice with this sort of thing. When I left for college, my cat at the time had something of a mental break... and we learned that there is such a thing as kitty prozac. Tomo's been a very healthy cat thus far and has never actually seen or experienced pills. I caught him mid-snooze, and by the time he realized what was going on, he was already drugged. (cartwheels) Next time may not go so smoothly.

About an hour post-drugging, Tomo was looking groggy and kind of swaying side to side when he tried to walk. Perfect. Time for the cage.

Sedated yowls and scuffling ensued. And he peed before I even got the car started.

Sigh.

So I had to give him a bath. Again. Epic hissing and spitting. I think he was even more mad because he couldn't physically fight as much due to the drugs.

He's now wobbling around the house, occasionally falling over (or off of things) and stopping to clean obsessively every few minutes. Poor guy. His brain is still running a mile a minute, but his body just can't keep up.

New plan: A whole pill.... and strategic dehydration.

Health Iowa and other tidbits

Per reader request, the title of the previously mentioned obscure bicycle film is Triplets of Belleville (or Les Triplettes de Belleville if you're French).

Find it. Watch it. It will make you smile.



In other news, today was my last day at Health Iowa.... because I can't just leave on a Friday like everyone else (and a certain co-worker would have been none too happy had I scheduled my last day while she was out of the office last week).

last day in the office

Overall, the day was a surprisingly productive few hours of meetings, filling out paperwork, and attempting to make my office presentable for whoever gets to live there next. I had no idea one could fit so many papers into such a small space. Hello, recycling bin.

At the end of the day, my co-workers threw a little party and surprised me with a giant bag-o-treats for the drive west. Complete with my favorite gummi frogs. They know me (and my sugar addiction) so well...

Walking out of Student Health without my keys or ID badge felt very, very odd, and it hasn't quite sunk in that I won't be going back there (at least in a professional sense- I'm sure I'll visit before leaving). But I'm looking forward to working with a new student population, and seeing just what a campus with a 24% binge drinking rate looks like. Iowa's 70% seems so normal...


And in keeping with the cat theme of this blog- Can you find Tomo?

Catching Up

As I mentioned in my last post, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Even though I seem to have found a new threshold of stress tolerance and sleep deprivation (and a select few people have gotten to see what happens when I go past that threshold), things have been falling into place surprisingly well. I still feel a little bit like a zombie, so I apologize if the writing isn't quite up to par.

Tomo "helped" pack

Moving Companies A & B were a lesson in lack of customer service... with a little bit of just not being able to show up for appointments. However, the representative from Moving Company C was a rockstar. He showed up on time, and has a great appreciation for bicycles (and an understanding of the risks inherent in moving them across the country on a large truck). I know, I know... bicycle appreciation does not necessarily translate to company quality, but in this case it worked out. The best part though? My stuff will be delivered the day after I get to Sacramento. I have no idea how he worked that out, but it made my week. Seriously. Rockstar.

Priorities...

They picked up all my stuff (with a few necessary exceptions) this past Friday, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed everything makes it out there in one piece.

The kittens have been slightly less dramatic lately, at least in comparison to prior weeks. Mostly they're just confused about all the packing and current lack of items in the apartment. Their vet visit was delayed a few days by a fun little medical emergency I will explain shortly... But the vet was visited (resulting in the video posted of Tomo), the kittens are up to date on their shots, and I now have a small bottle of anti-anxiety pills for Tomo.

ostrich cat

Their biggest challenge lately has been adjusting to wearing harnesses for a few hours a day. I had to get Tomo a dog harness because, at a solid 18+ pounds, he is too large for the ones made for cats. He's not super happy about wearing it, and likes to occasionally imitate an ostrich in attempts to avoid it, but at least he remains calm. And it's ridiculously cute.

Sophie hates the harness, and spends most of her time trying to back out of it or army crawling around the house when it's on. I'm not sure she appreciates the laughter this inspires.


I'll bet you're wondering about that little medical emergency I mentioned earlier. (If not, you can just skip to the end of the post)...

I had to go to the doc last Thursday (well, two Thursdays ago now) to make sure all my prescriptions are up to date and get paper copies for when I find a new pharmacy. Somewhere in there, the resident got the timeline for tetanus shots mixed up and decided that I needed one. Even though I just had one five years ago. And he ordered the shot that includes a pertussis vaccine. Which I am allergic to. Oops.

Starting sometime Thursday night, I pretty much felt like I was going to die. So I did the logical thing and went to work Friday morning... because being surrounded by highly trained medical professionals seemed a whole lot safer than staying home by myself. I made it through my two morning appointments (in which I'm sure I was just a sharp ball of coherent conversation) before my temp hit 102.5 and I had to go home and nap.

Friday afternoon doc informed me that I should not have been given that shot (for several reasons), that there was nothing they could do about the fun combo of immune response and allergic reaction I was currently experiencing, and that I should call them if I started having problems breathing. So comforting. I hope he had that resident in tears after I left.

All of this put a big kink in my packing plan, forced me to eat like a tiny mouse for a few days, and seriously threatened my trip to Chicago last weekend. Luckily, I woke up sans fever Saturday morning and felt ok enough to drive over for what ended up being a fabulous and memorable couple of days full of museum visits, great conversation, and obscure bicycle films. Which was kind of a perfect ending to a very hectic week.


Next up: Testing out those anti-anxiety meds on Tomo. I'll make sure to take pictures.

Could be a long drive...

Things have been crazy with all the moving prep, and I'm hoping to have a post or two up by the end of the weekend. For now, I leave you with a brief glimpse of Tomo's car-induced anxiety:

This was the calmest portion of the drive... I really hope the drugs work.

*Driver safety note: This was recorded during a traffic light stop. Not while driving.

The Scary Cage of Doom

In the few days since the trauma of Test Drive One, the cage has resumed its location near a favorite kitten napping spot. My hope is (was) that they will become accustomed to its presence, and maybe even go back to thinking of it as a cozy fort. Clearly, I should have known better.

Earlier this evening, Tomo was having a moment of ridiculous cuteness, which I did not electronically document because he does that all the time and I did not sense the impending blog-worthy drama. The following photo should suffice as an accurate representation of cute factor. Just picture it minus the little stuffed mouse.

representation of ridiculous cuteness

For some reason, I decided at this moment that the cage had been sitting there locked long enough and that it was time to open the door. Because the cats will want to nap there. Obviously. Somehow completely discounting the possibility that recent events may have caused the cozy fort to morph into the Scary Cage of Doom.

It went about like this:

I reach for the cage, Tomo warily opens one eye.

The door makes a tiny rattling noise, Tomo is up! Eyes wide in panic. (cue ominous music)

safely in hiding

One more rattle as the lock clicks open, and he is gone like a little flash of furry, orange lightning... quickly nestled as far under the bed as he can fit.

He emerged briefly for dinner, which put him in terrifyingly close proximity to the Cage of Doom. Because of this, he ate far too quickly (between furtive glances back at the cage), and promptly vomited before fleeing back to his hiding spot under the bed.

*sigh*


In non-cat related news, a moving company representative stopped by yesterday to give an estimate for moving costs and time frame. We'll call this one Moving Company A. The representative was an unfortunately gruff and grumpy man. Who was late. And who quoted a 7-18 day delivery window after pickup, that could not be narrowed down until mere days before departure. He also wouldn't define what "narrowed down" actually meant.

Now, I am fully aware that I do not have all that much stuff, so my small apartment might not be the top priority in a world of moving houses and families. But that does not mean that I am willing to hang out in an empty apartment for 11 days waiting for my belongings to eventually arrive. There's something to be said about minimalism, but that just seems a bit extreme.

I allowed a brief moment of panic about the moving process before rationally firing up Google to research more moving companies. Companies B and C will be visiting later this week, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a more positive experience.

Happy Easter!

May your day be filled with chocolate and other sugary treats!