2 hour waits for 3 minute consults are pretty much gaurenteed to put me in a pissy mood.

However, it was all good news, so I'll forgive the hematologist. This time. ;-)

After taking 12 vials of blood last time, they did all their magic on it and determined that either my faulty heart beat or something left over from my multiple abdominal surgeries last year was the cause of the clots, and I can get off the Coumadin in June.

*would dance if I wasn't so tired*

THEY'VE FOUND AN EARTH-LIKE PLANET!!!

*bounces*

As an unapologetic space geek, this is awesome, incredible news. I can't tell you or make you understand how happy this makes me. :-)

Shortcake takes a well-deserved break from the kittens. I've managed to comb most of the tangles out of her fut, and her coat is really improving.













Yang and Yin practice getting into the perfect shape for their names. ;-)














Is there anything as cute and comfortable looking as a pile of sleeping kittens?

Some more pics from this weekend...



Shortcake was never too far away, and even grabbed a hold of Tao from time to time. ;-)











Here is Tao... you can see the smudge between the eyes and the pattern on her chest pretty clearly.
















Yang, chewing on his paw.










And here's Yin. She really, REALLY doesn't like to be away from her siblings or mom. She cried the whole time I had her out, so I didn't get a lot of good pictures.









Yin is the biggest at just over 13 ounces, Yang comes in second at 12 1/2 ounces, and Tao weighs a hair over 12 ounces. We think Yang may be albino, considering how pink his body is and how redly his eyes reflect the light.

Here's the gang... they're really exploring their cage a lot, except for Tao, who still likes to sleep. ;-)








This one is posted only because Tao is in the background going, "HEY!! GETOFFOFMEEEE!!!"










This morning I pulled Yang out, since he was the only one awake, and let him crawl around on a clean sheet on the floor. Shortcake was never too far away, and this picture shows just how small he still is... that's her back foot.














Sorry for the red-eye, but Microsoft's Picture Editor is as complicated a graphics program as I can manage. :-p Anyways, here he is on wobbly legs.












A shot showing that he hasn't quite got walking down yet... one back leg or another never quite does the same as the rest. ;-)

I swear, if one of my co-workers says, "Oh, it doesn't matter," or "I don't care," or "You decide for us," one more time, I'm going to scream. I'm not getting paid to be their manager, and right now I'm really tired of being leaned on like one. Am I really so old and out of touch that I can't comprehend why people won't make a decision and take responsibility for it?

Here's all three of them snoozing together. Yang is practicing his camouflage.







Tao still has her eyes completely closed. She all about the sleeping. ;-) But, not to worry, she does wriggle about a good bit, and she's the first one I've heard purr.















Yang's eyes are partially open, hence the pitiful look here.














Yin's eyes were open last night. Figured that the fraidy-cat would want to be able to see the monsters coming after her. ;-)








The sisters snoozing together.












In other animal news, I heard an owl on my property for the first time last night.

I have KITTENS!!!



This is Shortcake, the young mother of three kittens born April 5th. She's medium hairred, incredibly sweet and affectionate, with a great purr.











This is Tao, a girl. You can't see much of it in this picture, but she has a white smudge on her face along with white paws. She's not a morning kitty. ;-) She's also the smallest of the three.












This is Yang, the boy, and the biggest by far. He's very curious and has already tried to climb out of the cage, even with his eyes still closed! He's going to be a huge white puffball when he grows up. ;-)









This is Yin, the other girl. She's quite a whiner, crying at everything, which makes Shortcake a bit frantic at times. She's also very long haired already.

I got this note yesterday morning...

Dear person I have been given to:

Please do not put your portable phone on your left ear. It makes me jumpy.

Love,

Your pacemaker

If you think you are free,
You are free.

If you think you are bound,
You are bound.

For the saying is true:
You are what you think.

-Ashtavakra Gita 1:11

Attention is living; inattention is dying.
The attentive never stop; the inattentive are dead already.

-Dhammapada 21, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu