can you hear me

I don't know how I've kept this blog for four years and never dedicated a full post to the white fluffball that occupies so much of our attention at home, but due to a recent occurrence, I think it's finally time.

We just realized that our 14-year-old cat is deaf.

Actually the more precise statement would be: I just realized that our 14-year-old cat seems to be almost (or maybe totally?) deaf.

Apparently Brian thought this might be the case for a while and seemed completely baffled when I said he was insane. Then I shared my back-pocket stat that 8 out of 10 blue-eyed, white cats are deaf and he nearly died. As if that proved his point!

Then he launched into an unofficial hearing test, which consisted of making a series ridiculous sounds, snapping behind her ears, banging on the floor, etc. The only thing she responded to in the whole mix was a very specific clucking-tsssk noise, which is what is keeping me from proclaiming her 100% deaf. But maybe it was just a vibration that the sound makes...? AH!

It had never crossed my mind at all that Powder might be deaf. I have now embarrassingly many times proclaimed that she was one of the 10 that wasn't deaf, how special was she?!?!

So naturally you're probably wondering how the F could I miss something like this, well don't you worry I've been asking myself that too. And every time I come up with a good explanation, then I think of an equally compelling counterargument.

No way: She meows all the time.

Well maybe: She wanders through the house meowing and only stops if we're in the same room as her.

No way: We talk back and forth all the time! Except sometimes she ignores me.

Well maybe: Sometime she "ignores" me.

No way: That seems like the kind of thing her previous owner would've told me, since she raised her for 8 years before I got her.

Well maybe: On the other hand, that same woman told me she had to get rid of her two old cats because her new fiance was allergic and she was afraid they'd get put down if no one took them. About six months later, the fiance-now-husband told Jackie that he just hated cats. So I'm guessing deafness might've slipped her mind.

Well maybe: She loves going outside but she's SUPER skittish, which would make sense if she can't hear anything approaching.

Well maybe: She isn't bothered by really scary thunder.

Well maybe: She sleeps through parties at home, including a lot of sporadic yelling during games.

Well maybe: She meows every time I walk by her in the morning when I'm getting ready and she's dozing...I'm pretty sure I startle her and that's why.

Well maybe: She's equally scared of a broom and a vacuum cleaner.

Well maybe: She won't come when called unless I pat the chair or stare at her (don't ask).

Well maybe: I read from a website, "Deaf cats are more people-loving cats than those who can hear. However, these cats may have louder voices, presumably because they can't hear how loudly they meow!" Powder loves me and Brian HARD, and she is one loud m-f-er.

Now, a few years ago she seemed to really hate guys just from hearing their voices (cue Brian London), so it's quite possible that if she IS deaf, it's sort of come on in the past few years. But then again, as I re-think everything, maybe there's a good explanation for why she was reacting that way back then. Who knows. But the whole white-cat-deafness-thing is genetic so that would mean she was one of the lucky ones and has since gone deaf with old age...and that doesn't seem very likely now does it.

The one thing that's a little funny is how I've started accommodating her "disability" (if it exists). She'll be meowing in the hall and I'll move to where she can see me, when who knows if she was even crying for me in the first place. I've been petting her extra so she knows I love her LOTS since she can't hear the tone of my voice that means I LOVE YOU LOTS. And I think I gave her extra food. Because she's deaf okay! It's the least I can do!

Maybe we should just have the vet put an end to our wondering? If they can even test that sort of thing?

sleeping soundly...shocker

spending the days

January has been a funkified month around these parts lately. The weather, although not miserable, is still not super outdoor-conducive. Work has not been particularly taxing. Brian has been gearing up for his show to open. All these things combined = a lot of downtime at home for me. Busy hands make for a happy heart (I made that up I think?) so I've been focusing on the 3 Cs to keep things moving...cleaning, cooking, and crafting.

Cleaning

The Office Overhaul has been my main undertaking. I was inspired after seeing how Jackie transformed their office into a totally different space, and then became angry at how disgusting our junkroom mailroom cat litter infested office had become. But hey, it's nothing a Friday night, some wine, and an Alanis Morrisette Pandora station can't handle, right?! If only I were kidding. If only that wasn't Brian's station.

The OO project is now a week underway with a decent stretch to go but I've tried to keep doing something everyday so as not to lose momentum (which is exactly how this room turned into this disaster in the first place). I had to do so much cleaning, then organizing, and now I'm in the "put stacks in the dining room so we're forced to get rid of them" phase. I've managed to get the majority of crap out, and after multiple trips to Home Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Michael's, I'm starting to get somewhere. Still on the to-do list (aside from purging all the dining room crap...) is: custom framing; find 2 lampshades; buy rug; get a little more storage. Unfortunately I fell in love with some decorative storage at HG but they didn't have enough so I asked when I should come back and they said every day. Because that's totally healthy.

Cooking

I've been trying a couple of simple recipes lately to get myself eating some new veggies and fruits. This is mostly uninteresting to the reader but is good for my belly and has translated to some delicious lunches at work. I'm also trying to coach myself to be less intimidated by cooking. For example, I made some key lime bars last weekend (box recipe) and then realized we didn't have powdered sugar for garnishing, but instead of blowing it off, I thought, "Maybe I could whip up some frosting from scratch?" And I did. And it was totally goopy and weird and I mis-read an ingredient (my specialty), but the point is - I actually thought that I could take a few extra steps and make the dish better instead of letting it stay as-is. This is a great feat for me.

a little chicken, brussel sprouts, and sweet potato goodness

Also, we got this badass - and I mean badass - little blender thingamabobbie for Christmas from Brian's parents. THE NINJA is so awesome because you can blend things in the normal container OR you can blend in a cup. This is perfect for making a smoothie for one! Plus it came with a colorful cookbook, and that never hurt anything.

Crafting

My main ongoing project is to print our honeymoon blog into a book. I thought this would literally be a 5-click process on print2blog.com but I hated how unprofessional it looked so now I've gone and gotten myself addicted to Blurb. This program lets you custom design every aspect of the blog, although it populates with suggested layouts and whatnot. Perfecto. Unperfecto that I'm only on page 11 of 90 though.

I also spent one night burning my fingers making the same cute fabric flowers that Patti made for Jackie's shower! I've only worn 1 so far...no wait that's a lie. I wore one and it fell out before I even made it to the train. So you might say I haven't found the perfect hairclip for them yet. But I love them - I only wish you could wear them more often!

My last craft was making notecards for Brian to give the cast on opening night (a theatre tradition). Since the play is about Houdini, I thought these would fit the bill! I had all these materials on-hand, which is even more gratifying. I knew I'd saved all those buttons for years for something!

see it's like a card hidden in a sleeve...

and then you can write on the back!

I'm accepting any and all Pinterest suggestions if you see anything that could keep me buys in one of the Cs :)

words on marriage

Can we talk for a minute about how much I love my husband?

He listens to each and every one of my endless diatribes about work. We have giggly stupid joking funny-voices tickling ridiculous laughs...at home...on the couch...on a Tuesday. He is legitimately the most thoughtful person I know (or at least he is to me...keep that up!). If we have to cook & clean, he lets me choose which I want to do, and then offers to do both. He is so funny. And creative. And genuinely intelligent. I haven't gotten to his hair yet!

Don't get me wrong, it's not like we're living in a Beach Boys song. There are plenty of annoyance, frustrations, a few tears, yada yada. But nothing that makes me feel anything less than crazy lucky.

oh and he's super cute