the second day the first post

In other words, I meant to write this yesterday.
Ah, yesterday. A MONDAY. A day of getting up early for class that you haven't been to in a week. A trial on any occasion.
Although, the Monday-ness was greatly increased for me. To start with, I woke up before my alarm went off because of a cramp. By the time I got to breakfast the cramp was so bad that I had to force myself to eat 3/4 of a muffin just so I could take some medicine. It hurt. It hurt so bad that I was getting nauseous. (That would be reason number 2 for my small breakfast).
I made it to my first class of the day, uncomfortably warm, with a stomach that was beginning to tie itself into nasty knots. By the time that the teacher came in, I was aware that I was not going to be able to sit through the class and had to ask to go to the health clinic.
I'm in college, so I'm aware that I didn't have to ask, but I happen to think its rude to just walk out of class- especially since I enjoy that class...
It took me longer than it should have to get to the clinic, there's construction blocking off the most direct route. I'd taken off my hoodie even though it was cold enough to see my breath at times- I was way too warm. I'd also caught a glimpse of my face.
If you know me, especially if you're my family, you probably know that my face is a pretty good indicator of how sick I feel. I'm not talking about expression, I'm talking about hue- I'm naturally pale, but my face tends to get nasty white when my stomach is doing its nausea bit.
I made it to the clinic without getting sick, showed my campus ID and sat down in their lobby- where I was sick in their trashcan. I figure that's what it was there for, since they have a lot of them in there.
They moved me to a back room until the Doctor could see me to tell me what I already knew- bad cramps were causing my nausea and the medicine that I'd taken earlier wasn't working at all. They gave me something else and had me lie down with a heating pad.
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up feeling much better, almost fine. I was also about 10 minutes late for my next class. Wheee.....
I'm fine today, and I was fine the rest of yesterday. It was just something different, so I figured that I'd talk about it.

Time that passes too tediously quick

If that title made sense to you, you may want to read it again.
This is a post about time, of which I have about twenty-four minutes to rant about until I leave for work.
So, I get to go home this weekend, but I leave Sunday morning. Today, and tomorrow, seem to be taking forever. Tomorrow twice as long as today, since it's not even here yet.
And yet- the time passed way too quickly this morning. I had two tests today- one of which I'm particularly upset about.
One of my English classes (I'm in two) had a test today. I spent much of last night studying. With the result being that when I took the test this morning, I'm fairly confident on my score on the multiple choice/ quotation identification section. The thing that has me twitchy was the essay. With thirty minutes left on the clock, I grabbed the essay prompt, selected one, and pulled quotes out of the books- yes, it would have gone much faster without the quotes, unfortunately they were required. Having pulled my quotes, I started to write.
I don't know if whoever is reading this has ever had to read my handwriting, so I'll just say it. My handwriting is pretty messy, especially if I'm in a hurry (this usually means taking notes or trying to capture a fleeting idea). But even my regular not-rushed writing can usually only be read by me without unreasonable difficulty. Anything I give to friends or family to read is usually rewritten with my taking express care to keep it legible.
This meant, since having an illegible essay would be worse than useless, I had to write a bit slower. I had finished my opening statement and was midway into the second paragraph when the teacher said we had five minutes. Nice writing flew out the window.
Even with the nice writing dying a silent death, I only managed to finish the paragraph I was working on and start the first half of the other. When the professor told us to finish our sentences, I abandoned all pretense of explaining my quotes and simply threw them out there.
So I had to turn in a paper that cuts off in the middle of the third/fourth paragraph, one which has no closing statement whatsoever.
I've never not finished an essay before.
I feel SO twitchy about it.

Captured!

It finally happened! It really ought to be Fruit Bat posting this, since she's the one who puts so much effort into the local cats, but she's got homework and I've got time.
Mama kitty, the feral cat we've known for about two years now has been caught!
I'm not sure I ever really thought it would happen- this is the cat who snuck into the trap, ate the bait, and got back out without tripping it. This is the cat who would run whenever she saw us when we first met her.
This is also the cat that Fruit Bat has been working tirelessly to build trust with.
And boy did it pay off.
FB's been feeding the cats all year, and recently she's been sitting outside with them while she fed them, and made good progress. Zant, Mama kitty's son, not only lets her pet him now, but wants her to pet him. Fine distinction, that, but one that anybody who's ever owned a cat will recognize. Recently, Mama's been acting more friendly toward FB- allowing herself to be petted and such. FB decided to pull out the old trick from Operation Cat-in-bag of last year, with which we caught Mama's three kittens Solstice, Saul and Midnight. She decided to train Mama/Zant to eat in the pet carrier.
Yesterday she set it out, only putting the food in it close to the door, since I do believe it was only the second consecutive day that she was working with it. Mama-kitty put her head in to eat- her body blocking Zant, who pouted.
Due to this interaction however, the can of food got pushed to the back of the carrier, and Mama stepped all the way in. FB slowly closed the door, so slowly that Mama didn't notice until it was latched, and freaked out.
Ordinarily, when we catch a cat, we take it to a local vet to get them neutered/spayed. And Mama will be getting spayed- but right now she's about a week away from having kittens. FB has a coworker who will be looking after Mama while we wait for the birth- cursed dorm and its no pet rules!
Its exciting to finally see that she's been caught, but its also bizarre. From day one, August 2008, we've seen Mama-kitty around campus. Now she's not here... At least she'll be returning here once she's spayed though. Zant misses his mom.
The father of this batch of kittens is a cat we've named Capricorn, after the villain from Corneilia Funkle's INKHEART book. This is because Capricorn is really NOT a pretty cat, or even a nice one. He was smacking Mama around when he was "flirting" with her. Jerk. FB's REAL interested in getting him neutered. Especially since she went to all the trouble of getting the males in this area neutered in hopes of preventing any more kittens.

So far the cat-colony over here consists of:
Mama-kitty: female (captured, pending spay). Mother of Midna, Zant, Solstice, Saul, Midnight, and four other kittens.
Abel: male, neutered. Father of Midna, Zant. Possible father of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Zant: male, neutered. Brother of Midna. At least half-brother of Solstice, Saul and Midnight.
Trowa: new male. Unneutered. Shy. No known relation to other cats.