I finished the Miranda socks last night.



Here they are on. I know some knitters have said the funny calf shaping makes them fit oddly, but they seem to fit me pretty well. Maybe my ribbing is stretchier (and so, they go up to the right point on my legs), or my calves are, ahem, more "shapely."



I'm happy with these - now, now that I have them finished. Once I got the heel turned on the second sock, they went pretty fast. (Part of it was I knew exactly how many rows I needed to knit).

Next up is going to be the "Child's French Sock with Diaper Knitting and Citron Pattern." Which I will have to find a shorter name for.

Today is packing and errand-day (cancel newspaper, have mail held, get cash especially cash in small enough denominations to be used as tips, pick up a refill of a regularly-taken prescription). I'm pretty excited to have the break coming up. I really need it; I found my patience sorely tried by a student yesterday (but I did remain patient, but just by the edges of my fingernails).

Tomorrow is Last Day of Teaching Before Break but in one class, we're going to be in the computer lab, and in another it's "gee whiz look at all the different animal phyla" day, so it should be a fun day.

Thursday is Thanksgiving Feast With My Colleagues Day, and Leave at 2 PM to Catch The Train Day. (I believe on occasion, I've facetiously referred to the day I leave for break as "SYG, IGH"* day)


(*"Screw you guys, I'm goin' home" Weak South Park reference, back from when I used to watch it. The "guys" I am referencing are the occasional demanding people I have in my life. )

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And for the cat people, a health-update on my parents' cats.

The cat with the hyperthyroid problems (I've referred to her as "Thyroid Cat" before) has had some other health issues. She hadn't been eating, so the vet suggested giving her another pill that increased hunger and supposedly settled the stomach. Well, turns out that that didn't set well with her and did the opposite (and more) of what it was supposed to do. (And it turns out the pill isn't that well-tested on cats; it's a human drug given to humans taking chemotherapy.) So she's off that pill. But she also had some kind of low-level infection - so my mom is injecting her (I can't believe my mom giving the cat an injection) with antibiotic.

Which actually turned out to be a good thing - apparently in addition to the low-level infection the vet found, the cat's "allergies" may have been some kind of respiratory infection, because her respiratory problems have cleared up and she's eating a lot better than she was - even without the stomach pill.

She also had to change thyroid meds. She was taking a pill (and pilling this cat is no picnic) but apparently that was causing some of her tummy problems. So now she's on a new, transdermal treatment - it gets rubbed inside the ear once a day. Which actually seems like a smarter way to deliver medication to a cat if it works with the particular med - my mom reports that the cat just seems to think they are scratching her ears, which is a lot more pleasant than having a pill stuffed down her throat (Well, I'd feel the same way). So far, the transdermal meds seem to be working.

So, just like when people get old, old cats have a litany of medical complaints. It's just they can't talk about them.

I do hope that the cat stabilizes and has good health for a while longer. I do know that with 19 year old cats, they're sort of on borrowed time, but the vet's opinion is that as long as they continue to eat* and groom and come seeking laps and petting that it's worth doing things to prolong life.

"Kidney cat" (the sister of the cat with the thyroid problems) is still plugging along. My mom has the opposite problem with her - she has to be careful or she will eat her sister's food if her sister doesn't finish it, and this cat is like a little tank.

(*Yes, and poop. That's sometimes an issue in older cats too).