Waiting for Spring

Vante, Amelia, Callie Mae and I are just hanging out.  We're all ready for springtime (don't forget to move your clocks forward one hour).  Here are some recent photos of them around the house. 

 


 














Vante looking adorable and innocent - don't let her fool you.  She's plotting world domination ~ or at least house domination.  So far she's conquered her room and scared both her sisters...

 Callie Mae exploring the back yard.  She knew I was watching, so she didn't nom the ice plant... she wanted to though.

I had just woken Amelia up from a lovely cat-nap when I snapped this photo.  She was napping on the quilt I'm trying to finish ~ melting my heart.

The VANTENATOR

Vante is definitely living up to her nickname these days.  The integration process has it's good hours and it's incredibly terrible minutes.  I have two stories to tell and I would like some suggestions/feedback because this is all about the cats.

Let me set this up:
Vante - 8.4 pounds, 14-years old, only has her back claws, torbi (tortishell and tabby mix)

Amelia - 14 pounds, 6-years old, fully clawed, black shorthair

Callie Mae - 11 pounds, 6-years old, only has her back claws, dilute calico

TERROR #1-I was cooking, all 3 girls were out and about and had been doing fine for over an hour.  All of a sudden a banshee scream comes out of our living room.  I look over from the stove and there is literally (I'm not exaggerating) a tumbling ball of Vante and Amelia.  I run over and by now they're in the foyer and Amelia has accidentally backed into a crinkly tunnel, which I had just moved.  Amelia is trying to get out of the tunnel while Vante is smacking the tunnel for all she is worth.  At this point I arrive on the scene and break it up.  I put Amelia in her room and Vante in her room.  (Callie Mae was already in her room under the bed, she's quite scared of Vante.)
FYI--all three cats had their claws vigorously trimmed at this point in time.

TERROR #2-After several hours (at least 3 or 4) I am computing and hear the banshee scream once again.  I jump over my husband and make it out in time to see Amelia & Vante hitting each other.  Amelia is backed into a corner (sofa and just-placed there box) and Vante is about 6 inches away.  They're staring at each other so I figured I would let them stare it out.  It took about 3 minutes and Vante slowly walks away.  Amelia goes to her room and I notice that she has urinated on the tile floor where she was cornered.  We clean the area, check on both cats and put them both in their rooms.


What does the urinating mean?

I've been doing some reading and learned that I need to add vertical space to give them more territory.  So, I've ordered a cat tree and if it's good I will order another one.  I'm researching cat shelves too.  (The gentleman who makes and sells the ones they use at Best Friends is injured, so I need to find another source or build them myself.)

Any suggestions? 

Happy Valentine's Day

Vante helped me make some cookies last night for the guys at my husband's work.  When I was using the hand mixer she became very curious and every few minutes I had to pick her up and show her what I was doing.  At one point she got up on her hind legs and reached as high as she could with her front paws to get my attention.  She just loved me holding her and showing her the cooking.  Vante's my little sous chef!

We didn't do anything special to celebrate Valentine's Day - just hung out.  Vante got her normal dose of lap, pets, food and kisses.

The integration process is going well.  All three cats were out and about for 2 hours and there was mostly just a lot of staring and of course growling and a few hisses.  Overall it was quite tame compared to what I've seen in the past.  I'm pleased.  We'll continue with this process, working up to several hours at a time.  I still think that I will keep all 3 girls completely separated during feeding time.  With Vante's special dietary need I can't chance her eating the regular food.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Vante's Teeth Cleaning

Vante had her teeth cleaned yesterday and it went very well.  She didn't have any cavities or issues, so no extractions were necessary.  They checked her urine and the prescription diet is helping - no more crystals in her urine!

Now, Miss V threw around some not nice meows on her way to and from the doctor.  She's not a fan of car rides or cat carriers (or as she calls them Kitty Prisons).  I tried to calm her during the drive but I don't think she appreciated my singing or trying to explain that this was in her best interest.  I think she called me a liar. 

Oh well.  She's good for another 6 months.  :)

FYI--my article about the trip to Haiti, and a few photos, are up on the March ARB website.  Check it out!

Haiti Evacuees

Yesterday we flew into Haiti and spent several hours on the ground. 

We unloaded 38,000 tons of cargs (to include 10 shower units).  We, the media and another Public Affairs guru, met up with the Air Force PAs staying at the airport and arranged a few minutes outside the airport.  While we were there we saw a group of orphans being carried by aid workers to try to get on an airplane. We talked with one worker who was carrying what seemed to be an infant and turned out to be a 3-year-old. He was just so tiny (and adorable).

We also arranged an interview with an Aerial Porter.  This guy was on the first USAF jet that landed after the quake.  They have been working so hard to unload supplies and get airplanes out of there (space on the tarmac is limited).  When they landed they not only had to unload their own airplane, but they also had to set up their own tents - anything they needed, they had to make or set up themself.  Now that's intense.

Then we loaded 177 Haitians onto our plane.  This was quite a process because they first put the elderly or disabled folks in the seats that were on the side of the airplane.  Then the folks who didn't have physical problems had to sit on the floor of the aircraft and they were about 8 to a row with cargo straps across their laps.  I'm sure it wasn't comfortable but they were so happy to be getting back to the US.  They were all US citizens or legal aliens (meaning they had a visa).

Right now we're in Charleston, SC and waiting to get our marching orders as to when and where we're going.  We hope to get one more mission to Haiti.

At Pope bound for Haiti

We're at Pope AFB with all of our cargo and passengers.  (I'm blogging from inside the plane.)  We loaded 38,000 pounds of cargo on our C-17 and picked up two Army soldiers.  In our cargo is 10 decontamination untis that can be (or have already) been converted into showers.  The soldiers know how to work the units and are going to Haiti to set them up.  (It's cold here in NC.)

FYI--when we were in Haiti yesterday it was completely dark and we took off maybe a half hour after the sun rose.  That's why I didn't have any decent photos of Haiti to share with you.  Hopefully this trip I'll be able to share and show you more.

Off Topic - Haiti

I wasn't able to get to my computer to blog about this as it happened, so I've been taking blog notes.  Let me try to catch everybody up.  (Please remember this is my personal blog.  I'm not speaking on behalf of the US Air Force Reserve or any other gov't agency - I'm just passing along my experiences and what I see and do.)  I'm in the Air Force Reserve out of March Air Reserve Base, California and I work with the media... here goes:

Monday: I found out that I may be going to Haiti as a media escort.  (Neat!)  However, if one or two more media want to go - I'll get bumped off the flight.

I'm out here in California on my two weeks of Annual Tour and the gear and supplies I need are at home in Las Vegas.  If I drive home tonight and back tomorrow morning I could get them.  But that's a 5 hour drive and Murphy's Law always rules.  If I go home, I'll get bumped off the flight.  If I don't go home, then I'll go to Haiti.  I'm going to stay here and see how the cards fall.

Tuesday: The flight has been postponed until Wednesday morning.  We have 8 media going and I'm a solid member of the team.  See--I didn't go home so now I'm going to Haiti.

A girl in my office loned me her backpacking pack (she's awesome) so I just have to get a few things tonight and I'm set.  (BDU jacket liner, food and water for 5 days, sleeping bag, hand sanitizer, sunscreen and a BDU belt)  I'm getting pretty excited about this - what a neat opportunity.

Wednesday: The day started off well.  I packed up and checked out of my hotel room, ran by the office and had some espresso and did last minute errands.  At 8:30 I picked up the media at the gate - we had one guy cancel - so 7 members of the media.
8:30-picked up media
9-briefing with aircraft commander
9:30-passenger terminal to drop off bags & get on manifest
10:30-quickly move cars to long-term parking & go out to plane
11-take off!
3 p.m. West Coast or 6 p.m. East Coast time - land in Louisville, KY to get 70,000 pounds of cargo (mostly Army vehicles & supplies) and passengers bound for Haiti
9 p.m.-take off for Haiti
The Army vehicles on the plane were jiggling around on take-off (that is normal).  Thank-goodness we have good loadmasters, at the end of the flight the vehicles & pallets hadn't moved an inch.

Thursday: We landed just after midnight California time, so about 3 a.m. East Coast time in Haiti.  We anticipated picking up approximately 200 Haitian evacuees but it turns out we didn't.  We picked up 7 folks, some of which were aid workers who had been helping and working for the past week.  The airport used to operate 24/7 so that they could get supplies & equipment in, but as things have progressed they've made the airport a day-time operation.  Meaning that they send out evacuees during the day, when the State Department is open to help with Visa or Passport problems or questions.

One of the aid workers said that it's terrible.  Most of Port-au-Prince should/needs to be bulldozed to the ground because it's so unsafe.  He said that people are and will be dying of simple things like broken legs.  They just don't have the medical equipment, medicine, antibiotics or the things they need to save lives.  It's so sad, almost like we've stepped back several hundred years.

It looks like we may make another run to Haiti with supplies... more to come.