I have no idea where I'm going with this.

[balivatn]

It's been a long week. Not, in most cases, a bad week exactly, but not a particularly good week. I've been doing a lot of stuff at the shelter, which is enjoyable if sometimes frustrating because I can't take all the cats and dogs home with me. I took a pet first aid/CPR class last Saturday, tried to do a hike on Sunday but failed due to miscommunication about addresses. Monday was my early morning in the cattery, Thursday was my medical shift. There's a sweet dog in quarantine until his foot heals up, but that seems to be going nicely. He loves to jump up and give hugs and kisses and rub against us when we come in to check on him. Also got to watch them take biopsies for a poodle with a pretty bad skin condition. Then I cleaned out the cages in the feline medical ward.

Work has been picking up, which is, again, mostly good - the money is good, and I like the critters. My boss is getting ready for surgery, and that's taking a toll on her organizational ablities. So I'm getting called on to fill in for things, and do some administrative work - Wednesday I spent about five hours going through files to put them back in order. Last week I did the books and the art supplies. She really needs more room for those things, but I'm going to draw the line at building her a garage extension :)

Today was my first day with her at one of the schools I'm going to take over. Today was chinchilla day. I did not get pictures, but I'll try to grab some snapshots of them when I go over to her place next. Apparently she's going to put me on a petting zoo detail in a couple of weeks, so that should be interesting. The classes and critters aren't bad, but some of the procedures for picking up students at one room and bringing them somewhere else on campus and signing them in and out and all the beareaucratic stuff is a bit mentally taxing. Met a cute little girl today, though. She apparently wants to be a vet when she gets older, and told me she's going to tell all of her patients "Pets need us" after every visit. I kind of hope she keeps that feeling going :)

Bulgarian choir is going well enough. We've had a couple of rehearsals. Lots of new people. so we're reviewing a lot of material. Which is good, since I did not sing as much over the summer as I should have. Good to see Director again, though. Lots of people also commented that they liked me with short hair, it was nice to be noticed. A girl that I was asked to look after when she came in to practice gave me a pouch with some Chinese figures on it, and told me she hoped I would keep things in it. One of the women who went to Bulgaria said she had something for me, although she had forgotten to bring it with her. It was still nice to know that someone on the trip had spared an extra thought for me.

Saw a good movie screening on Wednesday. If I hadn't signed an NDA, I'd post more about it. A lot of it was well done, though, and it's an interesting way of looking at a literary icon.

My legs have been bothering me quite a bit. For some reason, my calves won't relax, so walking is painful and I look kind of weird doing it. I've done some hot soaks and some massage, and they're looser, but still not relaxed. So doing shelter stuff was a bit rougher than usual, and lifting and lugging animals and kits for work wasn't great. But I survive, as I usually do. The plasma center mentioned my protein was low, so hopefully eating more protein will help with the muscle stuff. Tonight I made dinner with beef and wild rice and beans, just to bulk up some on the protein. Came out well. Worcesterire sauce is a useful condiment. I also got to eat mushrooms, which I don't get to do very often.

Other stuff is going not quite so well. Fiance is out of town for most of the week, so it's just me and the cats. The kitten has entered the bratty stage, today that manifested as curling up under my desk and biting at my ankles whenever they came in range. He's also been a lot more chasey with the older cat than usual.

Other than that, just feeling kind of down and lonely. This weekend is homecoming at my old undergrad, and a lot of people I know are going to be there. I always have mixed feelings about my undergrad experience. I met some great people who I care about deeply, but I also took a lot of punishment and abuse from my department - so a lot of the stuff my friends get nostalgic over I never experienced, and it's just kind of awkward when they get into heavy reminiscing mode.

I also haven't heard anything from someone I thought things were getting a little better with. I hope it's just because they're busy with work and school and such, but I'm afraid it's not. Haven't heard a response to any of the things I sent, so I'm not sure what I should do. I was pondering calling them, but... yeah. I'm not sure how that will be taken.

And I just miss people. I want to go places with them, help them plan weddings, hold their hands, curl up and watch movies, go out dancing..... just the normal sorts of things you do with people you love. But... yeah.

My heart hurts.