Good friends, bad haircuts and punch drunk kittens

I'm feeling very fortunate and grateful tonight. This has just been a day when I've been loved, and for once I'm alert enough to recognize it.

It really started yesterday when my mother-in-law offered to treat me to a new hairstyle at the salon of my choice. The stylist who had done my hair for almost 15 years died a couple of years ago, and I just haven't found anybody else since who's satisfied me. Tony spoiled me. I could just sit down in his chair and let him do whatever he wanted with my hair, and it was always wonderful. He was one of the people who helped me develop some confidence about my appearance regardless of my size, and he helped me both see my own beauty and refine it so others could see it more easily. With his nearly peerless level of skill combined with his open mind and loving heart as a comparison, it's been no wonder I haven't found another stylist. This has also meant that my once sharp as Tony's razors hair grew into quite a long and messy mane. Today, my hair got bobbed by a new stylist at a familiar salon. I asked for collar bone length. Instead, it barely brushes my shoulders, and I do feel rather shorn. However, it's hair. It will grow back. In the mean time, it looks much neater and bouncier, and I swear, I think my head is two pounds lighter. I had so much cut off that I wish I'd gone even shorter so I could have donated it to Locks of Love.

Then, this morning, Jodi of Looking Beyond The Cracked Window redid my header and sidebar for me after I screwed it up yesterday. She had already done this once, and now a second time. Online friends are incredible.

So are offline friends. It's strange to say that my boss is one of my closest friends. She was my employer before she was my friend, but we've become extremely close over the years. Heck, she's a sister of my heart, and despite the challenges of working for and managing friends, we've managed somehow. Today, basically she gave a big chunk of her day to helping me handle some personal issues that needed some specific expertise I lack but to which she had resources. This may not sound like much between friends, but we are both commission dependent for our income. Every minute of a work day not working on a goal oriented project is money out of our pockets. Now the time she gave me today will help me be more productive because there will be less bother in my life. When I'm calmer, I'm better at my job, and this will eventually help her as well. However, it was more than anybody could hope for from their boss and a lot to receive from a friend.

No day is perfect however. I came home to a note from the womanchild saying that she had gone to the vet's office to have a kitten put down. Soon after, she came home with a very much alive kitten wrapped in a towel in a cardboard box. C. had been at the fridge and shut the door without noticing that Bartleby was trying to crawl in. He took a huge knock in the head. His eyes glazed over and other than diarrhea, he seemed paralyzed. She feared the worst, and her great-aunt came over and took them to the vet's office. It seems that the kitty is concussed, but that may be it. The intestinal distress is over. His eyes are looking just a little loopy, but they're reacting to light and focused. He's running all over the place with a prancing pony gait qute unlike his usual feline elegance. He's staggering and stumbling occasionally, but able to jump moderate distances, and he has an appetite. We're keeping a close eye on him tonight, but this could be much, much worse.

This summer, my doctor advised me to get rid of all of my cats. My allergic reaction to cats, which has been very mild as an adult, had worsened. I basically had bronchitis all the time. We found a home where my herd could become barn cats. Our friends would feed them and provide veterinary care, but it hurt to give my fur babies away. A couple of weeks after I had taken them all to the country, one of them made her way home. Despite the allergies, I figured that any cat that determined to be with us needed to be here. She came home expecting though, and though I didn't want to, I fell hook, line and sinker for her kittens. I'm really hoping that Bartleby has just been knocked for a loop. I'm not sure I could handle losing another kitten now.

So, it's been a good day. I'm peaceful and smiling, and whatever tomorrow holds, I know that I've been loved by family, by friends, by the universe and by God today.

haircuts, friendship, kittens, gratitude