A Missed Calling

About an hour ago, I was able to resurrect one of my childhood hobbies: rescuing kitties.  When I was little, neighborhood kitties were always attracted to our house.  Perhaps it was because they knew we were kitty lovers, maybe they saw Phoebe or, later, Pete and Ernie in the window and wanted to play, or possibly it was because my mom fed them nonstop.  (Just teasing: I don't think that last one happened...too often.)  Regardless of the reason, we constantly had stray (or missing...lost...exploring) kitties on our front porch, and I felt the need to "save" them.  Clearly they couldn't find "home" on their own and needed an eight-year-old girl to do it for them.

Well, that happened again tonight.

My friend C and I had a lovely dinner and chat session at Sakari, one of my favorite sushi restaurants in town.  It is located on Ingersoll, which is a relatively busy street.  As we were leaving, this adorable tiger kitty was wandering around the door - and then weaving in and out of my gait.  

Kitty liked moving around (not posing for pictures)...a lot.

I bent down to pet the kitty and noticed it was wearing a collar.  I picked the kitty up (it was so sweet!) but couldn't find a tag - only a bell.  So, as all 27-year-olds would do, I called my mom and asked how to handle the situation.  We decided calling Animal Rescue was the best option.  I called the police department, and the dispatcher told me that she would "let them know."  So, I sat down and waited for the real rescuers to arrive.  Soon enough, Kitty joined me.

I'm not kidding: if I said, "Kitty, come here!" she would've come trotting right over.  (Yes, she is a "she" because her collar was pink.  Duh.)  And as we were sitting there waiting, Animal Rescue drove right on past.

Right.

On.

Past.

Apparently they did not deem our situation as important as I.  After much deliberation (and convincing by my mom, C, and BFF), I decided that Kitty most likely lived in the neighborhood behind the restaurant, that she would make her way home, and that she would be fine without me.  So, we diverted Kitty's attention and ran across the street to our cars.

And Kitty followed.  Across two lanes of traffic.

I decided I would put my purse in the car and then figure out what to do with Kitty.  So, I opened the passenger door, and in hopped Kitty.  Evidently she thought coming home with me was the best option.  I disagreed and coaxed her out of the car and back onto the sidewalk.  After several minutes of persuading Kitty to stay - yes, this did involve actual talking to the feline - I hopped in my car and turned it on.  I believe Kitty then understood that I was serious and frolicked back over to Sakari.  I slowly drove away, noticing that Kitty had found others - the smoking section - to befriend.

It was hard to leave Kitty to her own devices.  I hope she's okay.

Clearly that was the highlight of my day.  Other than that, it was school, an errand to the bookstore, a trip to the eye doctor, my first-ever visit to Trader Joe's, and the aforementioned dinner with C.

I stayed at school longer than normal...again.  Grades are due on Friday, and I wanted to grade all of my students' journals prior to submitting their 12-week grades.  However, as they journal everyday, reading, commenting, and grading this writing takes FOREVER - and it's not easily transportable, so I do it all at school.  I was able to finish four classes in the past couple of days, and I have two more to go prior to grade submission.

I went to the bookstore on a mission for one of my students.  Without revealing too much information, a colleague and I are helping out one of our kids tomorrow.  As a 14-year-old, she has numerous issues going on at home and was left entirely in charge of her nine-year-old brother's birthday, money and everything; all of these troubles have been causing her a great deal of stress.  So, my colleague ordered a birthday cake to help out, and I went to the bookstore to purchase a gift for the brother, from the student. Picking out a book for a soon-to-be nine-year-old was difficult, as I'm not sure what they read!  I chose Where the Wild Things Are, thinking that is a good book for kids of any age.  To show my appreciation for what my student is doing, I also bought her a book: Tyrell - while I haven't read this one yet, it is one that many of my students have mentioned as being one of their favorites.  I really wanted Student to come with me to the store (when I took other kids last year, they were amazed and could not even fathom that Barnes and Noble was a place to buy books), but we do not have time tomorrow before she has to be home.  Bummer.

The eye doctor appointment was okay - my prescription changed a bit, he gave me a few free supplies like two types of contacts and solution, and he advised I check into Lasik.  I wish.

I quickly ventured over to Trader Joe's, as it just opened this past Friday, and I was in the area.  It was jam-packed.  I think I will like the store much better when it is less new, but it was also much different than what I was expecting - a lot smaller, a lot fewer items than I thought.  I escaped with a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck (or, more accurately, $2.99 Chuck), a bag of PB-filled pretzels (that I have been reading about nonstop on other blogs), and a few slices of naan (for the Indian meal I was going to prepare prior to being invited for sushi).

Finally, the day ended with a fabulous dinner of sushi.  We ordered four rolls to split between the two of us, and needless to say, we have lunch for tomorrow!  Because we went to dinner later than normal (and are both teachers who eat super freakin' early), our eyes ended up being bigger than our stomachs.  Oh well!

Like last night, I'm going to hobble over to the freezer to grab a bag of ice, and then I'm going to hit the sack with a frozen ankle!

Peace out, Girl Scouts!