Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Two Saturdays ago my family went from Humane Society to Humane Society hunting for me a pet to keep me company here at the beach.  I fianlly selected a black/white “tuxedo” kitten that we named Onyx. According to the Humane Society, Onyx was a 4-6 month old kitten, and I rapidly took to her. We paid for her shots and brought her home, and then I put her in the car to bring to Myrtle Beach (the work-week home away from home for  now.)

I have 2 other cats in Rock Hill, and they were most unhappy with the addition. It didn’t matter though because Onyx would stay in Myrtle Beach for now.  Since the adoption we received a letter in the mail from the Humane Society, and the paperwork revealed that Onyx, who is very small, is in reality 4 years old. She has been raised at the Humane Society where I got her.  I tell this b/c the kitty (cat) is absolutely miserable. She hides 100% of the time. She has been hidden for a complete 15 hour span once. I’ve only seen her out and about by accident. If she realizes she has been seen, she cries, and runs. If I catch her she extends all her claws, and she trembles. I think I have TOTALLY disrupted and devastated this cat’s life!

At the YC Humane Society, I did think it odd that most of the cats were in cages, but three or four (including Onyx) were totally free to roam all over the office.  Now I suspect these cats were safe to roam b/c the office was their home, the ONLY home they have ever known.  All of them were probably raised as kittens there.

My husband is planning to take Onyx back this Friday.   He said the whole reason we got her was to offer me companionship, and if all she does is cry, scratch, tremble, and hide, AND she is  4 yers old instead of 4 months old, she is totally set in her ways and probably very homesick.  He has pretty much convinced me that it is cruel to keep her. The Humane Society does have a policy that will allow this.

I don’t know…I do have terrible pangs of guilt that she is so terribly afraid.  SAD in Myrtle Beach. Sorry for the personal post. Not much to be professional about here.

I have been tagged once again for a meme; Thanks Liz (you are driving me from the airport to the hotel in Philly, don’t forget! ) This one though is a meme for your goals. Ha! One step ahead, cuz i already did that. So I’ll just link to it here: 2008 Goals.

What? I was supposed to list 8, and that link only lists 4? Okay let’s recap and add to the list:

1. (Recap) Shorter blog posts
2. (Recap) Relocate my blog (still working on this)
3. (Recap) Add video to my blog mix
4. (Recap) Redesign my presentations –NO bullet points; more pictures and storytelling]
5. (Not on original post) Reduce caffeine intake (five diet mountain dews in one day is way too much)
6. (Not on original post) Eventually eliminate soft drinks from my diet–I actually drank MILK tonight instead of a diet mountain dew!! (Extra info–I had to put ice cubes in it, which my 17 yo son said was gross!)
7. (Not on original post) Increase physical activity (and hopefully shed a few pounds)
8. (Not on original post) Create screencasts –Liz, I love the screencasts on your blog, and aim to make some of my own, both for 2.0 tools AND for using the library’s online catalog! So tired of telling kids how to find the lexile level of a book.

Here are the guidelines, and here are the people Im tagging:

The Bucket List meme was started by Jeff Pulver and is based on the movie. It seems to have not evolved much and is still essentially a list of things you hope to accomplish in 2008.

Tag! Your it:

Ann, Allanah, and NZ Chrissy

Image Attributions:

Image: ‘Mistaken For Strangers‘
www.flickr.com/photos/17106526@N00/1160993551

Image: ‘Dew on table‘
www.flickr.com/photos/32834428@N00/816947760

Image: ‘cute little milk‘
www.flickr.com/photos/34427466731@N01/131012552