Projects: Welcome Soba - October 24th, 2013

October 24th, 2013

If I was a professional baseball player I would find the expression 'Life throws you curve balls sometimes' all too ironic, particularly if the curve ball was one of the easier pitches to hit. I'm almost positive that it stays just as chaotic and ridiculous as always, it is just how many constant pieces you wish to hold desperately onto. As I find myself a little less desperate in this attitude, I can look back at this last month and write down all of the differences, not necessarily curve balls, I worked through and experienced from all the previous months of my life. I feel the difference and I'll always strive for this because I sense if there is not a noticable amount of unpredictable results at the end of the month, it's a good sign that I'm not living to the correct potential.

To start off I can take credit for completing a couple of small projects which included fixing my favorite mug and re-potting my plants. As far as my mug, I spent a good amount of time trying to fit the pieces together. It was quite easy as I used superglue to connect the larger upper pieces, however, the largest force of the impact on the floor must have been the lower bend of the handle since it shattered into much smaller pieces. There were 10 pieces total I glued back together, and only 3 pieces completed the top part along with the side of the handle; therefore 7 pieces were connected in the lower bend and the bottom of the handle. As you can see from this picture, I didn't find all of the pieces to completely refurbish everything into its original shape.

I did just a little amount of research about what to do with a rotting cactus plant to try to fix the 2 foot tall, very thin cactus plant. The best advice I read was to cut the plant about 2 inches from the rotted part, let the cut dry up and harden for two days and then to replant the cactus. Well, I followed every step of the directions and have now inserted it back into the pot. It's been over two weeks since I repotted the cactus and he seems to be doing just fine. I also planted a cactus bud from another plant that is transforming into a plump, dark green baby cactus.

My exercise petition hasn't really followed through completely, however, I am in the middle of this stalemate battle with a sickness I can't quite put my finger on. Ironically, I believe my sickness was a result of exercising too intensely. One day I decided to swim at a pool 10 stories up from the disgustingly chaotic city. Unfortunately it was a bit chilly that night and storming (lightning included). I believe the perfect combination of the chill, the rain, the overly chlorinated water, the overexertion (1,300m) of my swim, inhaling a slight amount of water, and my asthma created some sort of asthma related breathing problem in combination with a slight infection in my lungs. I wasn't really coughing that much so I didn't feel an urgent need to go to the doctor. It shifted into the slightly sore throat along with a very slight amount of difficulty breathing that I have currently. This along with the 37 teaching hours I've been working  per week since the 14th has completely prevented me to exercise. I still have managed to complete 11 out of 24 days. I don't think this is the worst results under such circumstances.

There is a lot I still need to share, but the most important is the fact that Hannah has picked up yet another kitten which is actually comfortably snoozing on my lap at this moment. This kitten was found outside of Hannah's school on October 17th, 2013  in fairly poor condition with inner infections escaping out of her eyes and her anus. Hannah decided to bring her to the vet and take care of her for a while. We recently named her Soba. Even though my instinct was to reject any food related names for a cat, this one seemed to fit and so it has stuck. At first, we thought that maybe we would just foster the kitten for a while until it can join the cat house, but I am not sure how smoothly that will work out. Even though her introduction into the house of two rather established males hasn't been the most welcoming, with many hisses all around (including Soba....she's a very brave one), truly she is making her place in our little home (this could be the sentiment speaking since she is coiled up on my lap right now). In any case, I welcome her.