Life: Idiotropic

I'm sitting under the air conditioner now, tired and achy at 12:42, listening to the crick crick of the rocking chair as Elise rocks and watching the antics of our spastic puppy chasing ice cubes this way and that along our tile floor. This is my life. For now.

School starts in less than two weeks and though I don't wish for time away from my girls, I do wish for some sort of imposed schedule. Moving in the summer isn't fun. The stifling heat and our "weekend husband" schedule has slowed down the progress of our move. And then I got sick and somehow injured my neck and shoulder, so I've lost days of hard work and it's getting to me. I am not a sitter. It frustrates me that I've been here for almost 2 months and have seen/done next to nothing.

Today Tiara and I were going to go to the Tomatina festival in Bunol - a city sized tomato fight. We had places reserved on a bus. But then between the dog and the kittens... what sitter can handle three young children, a puppy, and a litter of kittens for an entire day in a house that isn't quite "done" yet?

Yes, kittens. 6 days ago, amid the unpacking of boxes and the craziness, I spend half a day watching our adopted stray give birth to 5 squirming, surprisingly cute kittens. All the girls saw at least one kitten emerge in its sack - an education in and of itself. They all saw the placentas and found out the stark reality of what exactly the mother cat does with those red gooey tissue bags. It's amazing how little done we got on those first days. I tried, but each time I walked by Alex, I stopped to see her kittens, watch Cuatro who is the smallest and was the weakest. He didn't latch on as well. I worried. I stayed up until 3am that night, reading about runts and how to get a kitten to latch on. I rubbed it vigorously as advised and kept redirecting it to an available teat. It finally latched on and I sat and watched it until it was full and dropped off.

Kittens:  Uno at 0915, then 0925, 1158, 1221, 1400.

That afternoon we'd gone to the beach for a birthday party - a nice time to play, meet some more people, and relax a bit. A nice 'forced playtime' out of the house. Tiara was left alone with the kittens just hours old and her puppy who was full of energy. 30 minutes there and my cell phone rang with Tiara hysterical on the other end of it. A kitten had crawled out of the box (we have a different box now) and was in the middle of the floor crying for its mommy. Alex walked by, hungry, and ignored the kitten. Tiara was terrified to pick up the kitten - a) because she was scared she would 'break it' and b) because Alex was 'glaring at her' and she was worried that Alex would attack her. A learning experience for my girl.

Other than pets, errands, a embarrassing puking experience at the vet yesterday (meds on an empty stomach), and dealing with paper and that last few items in each room that just don't seem to have a home. Complete randomness. There is nothing else to report.

I love living here, but I really need to get settled and start exploring. I haven't seen or done enough. Haven't tried enough new foods. It will happen, but I'm getting itchy feet. 12 days until school starts.