Happy Beltane to everyone, today has been a day for getting rid of the old, which is always nice. Sparky and I tossed a full recycling bin plus two grocery bags of old magazines today. Somehow I still have an entire shelf full of ones I haven't even opened. Plus tons of Oprah magazines that I'm debating whether to keep or cannibalize. I got rid of like half a dozen issues of Allure, it's so cheap I haven't been able to discontinue my subscription but since I never go anywhere anymore that requires makeup it does seem like a bit of a waste... I tossed most of my 2001 and older Mac magazines, a few were relevant to the time I bought my G4, though, so I felt obliged to keep them for awhile longer. I've installed OS X but I'm still using Sytem 9, I really dislike the entire OS X interface.

I went cat shopping the other day (without Sparky who's a party pooper) and bought Phoebe new ceramic bowls (in case the plastic ones are what's causing the rash on her neck), new food (Science Diet for Sensitive skin instead of the Iams Hairball she's been eating, she doesn't shed!), one of those feather toys on a stick, some medicated wipes for her neck, cat shampoo (more on that below) and something that seemed totally whimsical at the time but has proven to be incredibly useful - a battery powered vibrating "Power Scoop" for the litter box! I was afraid to show it to Sparky until I tried it, and it makes cleaning the box like twice as fast, which is great because bending over for too long is tough on me. I was looking for a longer handled metal scoop like they have online at Petsmart.com, but this works even better.

We gave Phoebe her first bath the other night, we figured since she was a foster kitty and young she'd probably never had one before. She's also been itching some and has some raw spots around her neck that come and go and I'm afraid are going to require another vet visit. She didn't have any last time we went. She's fascinated by water and figured she'd do pretty well, which she did, no real hysterics, just some loud meows. But after we finished she lay wrapped in the towel like she was in shock, poor baby, shivering and shaking. We were both really worried, but then she snapped out of it. I think it was just that she'd never been bathed before. But she's nice and clean and fluffy now, still a little itchy, though. If you want a cat that doesn't shed, get a Burmese. We towel dried her and there was hardly any hair on the towel afterwards. She's been really easy on my allergies too :-)

More kitty photos to come!