Well, so much for updates about the kittens. They’ve been keeping me busy—that’s for sure. I’ve really enjoyed having them around and they’ve truly made my summer so much better.
I think it’s better to just get the sad news out of the way first. A few days after my first post about the kittens, they had to put Lily to sleep. She had what’s called FIP and is a disease she was born with that causes fluid to collect in the cavities in her body. The treatment is very painful and the vet said it was more humane to put her down. We were not expecting this at all but we took solace in the fact that she had a loving family for her last days.
Little Lily sleeping with me.
Anyway, on to happier times. Jackson and Dexter have grown so much over the past month. They’ve doubled in size and have grown so close to each other. They think they’re brothers, it’s very adorable. They wrestle together until they wear themselves out, and then fall asleep with each other. I’ll catch them cleaning each other too.
My little boy!
They both got fixed yesterday and that marks the time they are ready to get adopted! Well one of them got adopted sooner then the other as I officially am keeping Dexter. It was exciting to sign my name as the “Adopter” and call him my own little kitty. We’ll bring in Jackson tomorrow and we’re pretty sure he’ll get adopted right away. It’s weird to think he won’t be around, but I’ll be so happy he finds a good family. We might even get a few more kittens to foster before I have to go back to school.
Last year we had to put down our very sweet kitty Ginger. We’ve had her since I was a little girl and I don’t remember life without a cat running around the house. Since then, being home has felt so empty. I miss the feeling of a warm little furball purring in my lap while watching TV. Since my mom won’t let me get another cat…I’ve come up with the next best solution: fostering.
I toyed with the idea for a few days and finally mentioned it to my mom. I did a little research before and realized it was kitten season. To my absolute delight, she agreed! I tried going through the SPCA, but in order to foster you have to go through one of their classes and the next one wasn’t until June something. Lord knows I couldn’t wait that long! So I kept looking and found an organization’s post on Craigslist. It’s called Cats About Town Society (or CATS) and they have a little adoption center set up in one of the local PetSmarts. I emailed them and within 10 minutes I got word that there were kittens waiting to be fostered! Yay!
Bringing them home as they stare up at me as if I'm an alien!
"Sleeping" in their little box we set up
Two days later we were on our way to pick up our bundles of joy. The tiniest kittens I’ve ever seen were handed to us. The smallest weighed 1 lb!! The three of them were 8 weeks old (2 from the same litter). We picked up food and some litter and were on our way. Before we left, we were told the most important job for us was to give them great names—it helps them give a good first impression when they’re being adopted.
So for this post, I want you all to the meet the kittens!
Dexter
Starting with Dexter. This tiny little boy coming in at 1.2 lbs is the sweetest little cuddler you’ll find. Within an hour of bringing them home he already fell asleep in my mom’s arms. When he was just a bay, he had an eye infection and now his left eye has a blueish film over it from scarring. I think it just gives him more of a personality. He loves to sleep—especially if it’s close to someone. He perches himself on my shoulder or chest when I’m laying down and can stay like that for hours if I’d let him. Dexter will play a bit with the other two, but he’s more of people cat. Guaranteed to melt your heart in seconds!
Lilly
Next up is Lilly. Affectionately referred to as Lilliput from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travelers because she’s so darn tiny! But the fact that she’s only one pound doesn’t stop her one bit. She’s a little ball of energy and tries to keep up with her big brother. Yesterday she started to limp on one of her legs and breath heavy. The vet said it was from the pain, so we’re keeping an eye on her.
Jackson
And finally there’s Jackson. He is like the Energizer Bunny and is always getting into trouble. As the biggest one (1.5 lbs haha) he pounces around proudly, sneaking up on Lilly or trying to get Dexter to play. He’s the most adventurous out of all three and I feel like I’m always pulling him away from something he shouldn’t be doing. Despite this, he has the cutest little meow that greets me whenever I haven’t seen him in a while and when he’s playing by himself he coos like a little birdie. I hope he goes to a great big family with lots of kids to keep him busy.
I’m hoping that I will post more regularly about these little guys and keep you all updated on how they’re doing! Time to go snuggle with one of them!
As the semester starts to come to an end, I’ve found out where I will be living next year. Thankfully I will be the Freshmen Wellness RA again in the same building I’m in now. I love the Wellness program and I love this building as well. But it’s weird to think that even though I’ll be doing the same thing, it’s going to be completely different.
I have grown so close to my residents and it’s so weird to think that I won’t see them on a daily basis—sometimes multiple times a day. My residents have exceeded my expectations ten fold. They are so amazing and each one of them is great. I’m so happy and lucky to be their RA. We’ve had a great year, and I hope that the next month or so is just as great. And it will be cool to see them next year and be their peer—no longer their RA. Although I’m sure they’ll always think of me as their RA.
And my staff. My staff is absolutely amazing this year. What a great first staff to be on. There is 12 of us and our Hall Director makes 13. The chemistry between us all and the way we interact is truly amazing. I hope that our connections will remain as strong next year, even though we won’t be together. Yay Irma/Dana!!
So then I can’t help but think ahead to the future. It’s going to be so different to have a new hall full of residents. Getting to know an entirely new group of people and figuring out the dynamic will be fun and nerve racking at the same time. I think it's going to be especially weird to be in the same area and building I'm in now with completely different. But meeting my new staff members the other day was a weight off my shoulders. I’m excited to get to know them better, and it will be fun to go through training as a returning RA with them.
I feel like when you’re in college, you have to constantly be thinking of your next step. It’s hard to enjoy the present when you have to think of where you’re living next year, how you’re going to move out all of your furniture and things, and what classes you need to be taking. Sometimes I need to remind myself that this is truly the best time I’ve had and I need to enjoy every second of it!
One of my last blog posts from February was about Weight Watchers. I am absolutely hooked. I have changed my entire lifestyle and love myself for it.
I’ve found that I’m skipping my usual afternoon nap to get to the gym. I actually want to go even after all these weeks. I’ve slowly increased my cardio workout from 30 minutes to as much as an hour. And I’ve figured out the best inspiration to go: reading. I am able to read on the elliptical, which means all those books I’ve wanted to get to can finally be got. I’ve read two books and am on my third. I only read them at the gym, so it’s my reward for going.
In addition to exercising 4 or 5 times a week, I’ve learned all the tricks to eat good in our cafeteria. This was not easy. Weight Watchers is all about planning out your meals and when and what you’re going to eat. The night before, I think of what I will have for breakfast. And during breakfast I try to plan out lunch. If I’m not prepared, I’ll overeat and make bad decisions. I’ve slowly learned the point value for my favorite foods in the café and I know what’s a best options. I enjoy perusing the salad bar and have even tried broccoli as well for the first time!
I’ve also found that over these few weeks, my appetite has decreased. I can eat less and still be full. And I can go longer in between meals because I know the right snacks to eat. When I did this at home before freshman year, I found it almost impossible to continue at school. But now it’s almost harder to be home now and keep up with it. Funny how things change. Either way, I’ve lost 13 lbs in about 8 weeks. I’m so pumped for the summer to look good and feel great!
Sometimes I feel that I’m missing out on a huge part of college by not going to parties and clubs every weekend. I’ve made a choice to not drink based on a number of different reasons. Of course I’ve had a few drinks in my life—at a wedding, a summer party at our house—but it just doesn’t interest me to get drunk every weekend.
When I interviewed to be a Resident Assistant, I told them that I would like to be the Wellness RA. I explained that it is my choice to live the Wellness lifestyle anyway, and that I think I could help my residents understand their choices to be substance free. Here I am now a year later, and I still stick true to what I believe. But there’s a part in the back of my head that questions whether or not I’m missing out. I see so many pictures of “last night” and all the smiles on everyone’s faces. Most of my weekends include staying in, playing games, or just hanging out with my residents.
It’s not because I don’t want to drink because I’m underage—living at college, I feel like age doesn’t even matter when it comes to alcohol. Everyone can get it if they want to. I think it’s more of the degree that college students do drink. Not many people are satisfied with having one drink in a social situation. One drink turns into three or four and that’s when things get out of hand.
While the sororities here don’t promote drinking and parties, it’s an inevitable part of Greek life. Obviously where there is a large group of college students bored on a Friday or Saturday night, there will be partying. Sometimes I think that I didn’t get to bond properly with my sisters because most of the bonding was done at parties that I didn’t care to attend.
One of the major reasons I don’t really drink is because I want to REMEMBER the things I do. The scariest thing to hear about is people that don’t remember what they did the night before. I can’t imagine losing that much control. But I do understand that you can be safe and still have a great time. Just as an RA and living on this specific campus, it’s sometimes hard to remember that.
However, a weekend like I just had has proved to me that it’s possible to have fun without facing it in a drunken stupor. My staff is full of awesome people, and we know how to have a great time without getting wasted. Singing karaoke and hosting spontaneous talent shows are just a couple ways we entertain ourselves. Weekends like this reaffirm my decision to be substance free. I’m sure most of the people that go to my school will probably read this and look at me funny, but I’m glad I’m able to be firm in what I believe in. I hope my residents can see this in me, and I hope that I make it easier for them to stay true to their values as well.
