After the Great Kite Incident of ’10, Anya kept asking when we were going to go “choppin” to get a new one. I finally got her one (two actually, so we had a backup), a bit ago, and she was oh-so-very-excited. Turns out the kite I got this time is the super economy model and is about as big as a legal note pad. I also picked up a handle/extra string thing that is (a) purple and (b) heavier and hopefully won’t float away if she drops it. I love the laugh on her face in this picture.

(In the upper left of the picture, you can see one of the two plum trees we planted.)

After Anya was done, Andy flew for a while. He got the kite stuck in a big tree on the other side of the power line, but he managed to free it. I was very impressed and did a little cheer.

Saturday (or maybe it was Friday) it was windy outside, so we got out the kite Anya received from the Easter Bunny. Ok, it’s almost always windy here, but it was windier than normal. Anya thought it was the greatest thing in the world, especially once we finally got it to stay aloft for more than 15 seconds. She stood in the driveway holding on to the string with both hands, because she wanted to do it all by herself. Then she let go.

It ended its life with the string stuck to the telephone/power lines, and the kite flapping madly until it was consumed by a kite-eating tree in the woods on the other side.

I’m at home today, and every now and then I take a break from job-work to do a little house-work. One of the first things I did was grab an empty Easter basket and wander around the house in search of discarded plastic eggs. It was a bit surreal seeing the brightly-colored eggs split in half and lying empty on the floor, couch, counter, desk, table, toy shelf. The Easter Bunny hid nearly 60 eggs around the house, or so he told us, and I have no reason to doubt him. It took Anya a while to figure out what was going on, but once she did she was running around hollering for “CANDY!” When she found an egg, she’d squeal and do a little dance.

Saturday we went to the local nursing home for an egg hunt, where Anya found five or six eggs. It was hard to find eggs with all those other kids racing for them, but she had fun. It was a little weird because I felt a bit like we were on exhibition for the residents, which we were. I hope they enjoyed seeing the kids running around for a little while. I felt like we should stay a bit and read to some of the folks or something.

This weekend we bought two plum trees, which I hope we’ll plant tonight. I also got two rows done in the berry bed and planted the blueberries and one type of raspberries. I dug another row out this morning and plan to make it cozy this evening and get more raspberries planted. This is going to take a while. I also planted some onions and a few flowers to make the berry bed look a bit happier while the berries are still pretty much sticks. While I gardened and Andy painted more, more, more trim, Anya ran around and did Anya things. Like put a bunch of rocks to bed in a bucket of water. They were safe there from the monsters, and we were not to disturb them. I tried to teach her how to pee outside, but she wasn’t going for that, which sucks because the potty is a long way from pretty much everything.

We’ve all been busy as bees around here lately. (Except the bees, who are dead. We’ll try again in a year or two.) Here’s what we’ve been up to.

+ Moved all the furniture out of Anya’s room and the sun room and crammed everything into the kitchen and living room.
+ Sanded, stained, and polyed the floors in Anya’s room and the sun room and started putting up new new trim.
+ Painted the walls and trim in Anya’s room.

+ Found the rams a new home.
+ Planted a bunch of daffodil bulbs purchased last fall and ignored.
+ Moved the living room furniture into the sun room, now known as the living room.
+ Bought curtains for the new living room and flung them over the rods. Tonight we may actually hang them up!
+ Moved most of Anya’s stuff back into her room.
+ Got a quote to pull down the wall we want to pull down. Shrieked at the cost. Asked a friend to help us.
+ Picked out the materials / styles for the new kitchen cabinets and counter tops.

Also, last weekend I went to another scrapbook thing and got a lot done towards finishing Anya’s first year book. All the pictures are in, and I’ve finished up to month 8! Yay! I also discovered I really like ribbon. Go figure. I’m still working on the squares for my brother’s blanket. I finished the eighth one yesterday. Anya has informed me that after “Bubba’s Blankie” is done, we have to make one for her. I haven’t told my mom yet. Hi Mom!

Back in the day, Andy and I and some friends of ours (Kc, Josh, Ying) would get together every few weeks for cheesy dip, margaritas, and anime. One of our favorites was “Kodomo no Omocha,” and the main character was a wacky little girl named Sana. Another one of our favorites was “Fushigi Yûgi,” which had a character named Tamahome.

When we went to the humane society to pick out a new kitty in 2000, we already had one in mind. A little girl named Wheeza who had been dropped off when her people wanted to go on vacation. We’d seen her on the humane society’s website and gone in to see if she was still there. She was, and so was another really cute kitten named Shadow, who was one of a little dropped off. We couldn’t decide who to adopt, but luckily the humane society was having one of its BOGO sales. We took both kittens home. Wheeza became Sana, and Shadow became Tama.

We lost Tama after about two months to FIP, a disease he probably got from his mother.

Yesterday, ten years later, we lost Sana.

Around 2004, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, and I thought we would lose her then, but with special food and fluids, we kept her with us for six more years. I remember when I first found out she had kidney problems. I did all sorts of research and even pondered a kidney transplant for her. And then, when I called to ask how much a set of fluids would be and the vet tech said “nine ninety-nine” and I was terrified she meant $999 and I would have to come up with that every month. Thank goodness for decimal points.

So, I learned how to give a cat subcutaneous fluids. With a needle. Yikes. It took us a while, but we finally found that hanging the bag on a bent coat hanger hung on a hook on the bathroom door was the best set up. I’d put a towel or sweater or my flannel froggie nightie on the floor for her to sit on so she wouldn’t get cold. In the winter, I’d heat up the fluid bag in an old orange juice pitcher.

One of the fun things about Sana was her obsession with tissues. She loved to grab a tissue out of the trash and carry it around like a mouse. If I was in the bed reading, she’d bring one up to me and meow and meow and nudge my hand until I threw it for her to go fetch. Over and over and over. If she couldn’t find a tissue out and about, she’d just go grab one or two or eight right out of the box. She even taught Anya this trick. At night sometimes we’d be upstairs and hear Sana chirping and meowing. She was hunting. She’d eventually show up with something, usually a tissue, sometimes a sock or hairband, in her teeth.

Sana also liked to bury herself under the covers. I’d try to find her and look all over only to see just her nose peeking out from a pile of blanket or sweater. She’d make a little cave and crawl in. I think the other cats were jealous because they could never figure out how to create their own kitty igloo.

Even after she grew up, Sana was still like a kitten. Tiny and playful. Treefrog adopted her, and they often snuggled and napped. When Sana was sick, Treefrog gave Sana baths and kept her warm.

At night, Sana’s favorite place to sleep was on my tummy, staring at me. Goodnight my little Sanabear. I miss you.

There aren’t a lot of preschool choices here for kids who aren’t living in poverty or with special needs or for families that don’t believe bible verses should be on the syllabus. I’ve heard there are a few spots in a preschool class at the main elementary school without any strings attached…except kids have to be in class five days a week for a full school day. Plus? I’ve seen the rooms at that school, and they are cold and rundown and not any place I would want to spend my time. I definitely don’t want to send Anya there.

Luckily, there is one more option. Blue Mountain School.

Andy, Anya, and I went to BMS Wednesday for the morning, and we had a really good time. The environment was warm, and cozy, and loving and full of fun things to play with. There was a shelf holding wicker baskets full of pine cones, finger puppets, mardi gras beads, bits of fabric, and sea shells. There were lots of wooden puzzles, blocks, dress-up clothes, books, a wooden kitchen, a kid-sized table set with a tin tea set, and a cozy corner with fluffy pillows and a canopy. The wood floors had snuggly rugs in the play area, and one wall had a big sliding glass door looking out on the play area and woods. For snack time, the kids and teachers sat down to wooden bowls of fabulous-smelling oatmeal delivered in papa bear, mama bear, or baby bear portions. The teacher and aide seemed as at home in the classroom as the kids and were really interested and caring with the kids.

Anya didn’t want to leave. If not for the lure of the library, we’d probably still be there.