Saturday Before Dawn.......

We were up early this morning..... as I'm typing, it's not even first light yet. ShadowBaby woke me up at 5:00 by kneading his little paws into the side of my face. (Soft little paws, being that he is de-clawed, as are the other cats.)

The new little kitten is doing just fine. He spent yesterday at the vet's office, getting all of his shots and a thorough exam. Except for the usual kitten-worms which he's taking medication for now, he's just as healthy as can be. He weighs just a few ounces over two pounds, so we'll have to wait a few more weeks to have him neutered and have his front claws removed. (I'm sorry if that offends any cat-lovers out there, but that's the rule in this house for our cats, and it's a small price to pay for the spoiled, pampered, and safe life that we give them here.)

The other cats are getting used to this tiny one, a little at a time each day. My husband named him Mickey, and somehow the name just suits him. Tiny as a little mouse, he is. Our young friend C is thrilled that we have a "new baby" in the house.

We brought C home late last night...... she spent Thursday and Friday with us. Another rainy day yesterday, but we (C, my friend A and me) went downtown to Reliant Center to the International Gem and Jewelry Show. I didn't tell C where we going, and she was very surprised and happy when she found out what was going on at the Center yesterday. She had never been to a Jewelry Show before and she had a blast looking at all of the tables and booths (about 400 individual vendors).

Zillions of beads to make your own jewelry, loose stones, gorgeous fine gems, fun costume jewelry, hats and scarves and purses, sunglasses and watches. If you're into accessorizing, then a Jewelry Show is the place to be. And they have everything there, items priced from $1.00 up to $100,000.00 and more.

I told C that she could have anything she wanted at the show, within reason. Being that I can get into the "wholesale" section of the show, most of the prices are totally within reason. C picked out some very trendy pieces (handmade metal & glass pendants), interesting carved jewelry made of bone (an elephant's head pendant which she matched with a leather cord-necklace), and she found some "way cool" sunglasses. She also found bracelets made of shells, and handpainted ceramic beads from Portugal shaped like tiny animals.

C is 14 years old now, and she is definitely discovering a style of her own. Her mom has been getting after her to become "more feminine" in her choice of clothes and accessories, but C has her own sense of who she is and what she wants to look like. She is going for comfort rather than style, and dressing for fun rather than fashion. In all these years of knowing C, I've learned that she's a little girl who knows what she wants and knows what works for her. She has found her own style of the moment, which could change at any time.

I suggested to C that she enjoy her own comfortably-fun clothes, but compromise with her mom so she's dressed appropriately for wherever they happen to be going. C asked me to take her mom shopping and get her to buy "cooler" clothes. I told C that I wouldn't want to change her mom's style for the same reason that C doesn't want her mom to change her 14-yr-old style. "Everyone has their own definition of what's cool." That's how I explained it to C and she understood.

What a glorious little girl she is. 14 going on 15, not 14 going on 47. More than once at the jewelry show, vendors asked me if C were my daughter. As the saying goes: "I should be so lucky........"