On this day in history…
1942- The animated film Bambi had its theatrical release in the United States, and it became a classic in the Disney canon, noted for its lush hand-drawn animation and sensitive affective narrative.
Spotlight Photo
Quote of the Week
“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you.”
-Joyce Meyer
Mira’s Photo of the Week
https://www.everafterphotographypnw.com/
Rachel’s friend, Mira, shares her art each week to help beautify the My Monday Memo.
A Few Good Facts
This section is an add-on from Britannica.com. Each day there is a new fun fact in their All Good Facts section. These are a few that Rachel found interesting.
Working for Great Britain during World War II, inventor Robert Watson-Watt dramatically improved radar technology. After the war, he moved to Canada and was reportedly caught speeding by a police officer with a radar gun. He quipped, “Had I known what you were going to do with it, I would never have invented it!”
Irving Berlin set up a trust so that all the royalties from his song “God Bless America” would be donated to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. So far the song has earned the Scouts over $10 million and is not due to enter public domain until 2034.
In 2011 NASA launched the Juno probe with three LEGO Minifigures aboard to orbit the planet Jupiter. Made of space-grade aluminum, they depicted: the Roman god Jupiter, the goddess Juno, and Galileo, whose observations of Jupiter’s moons helped prove that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Forest Therapy
N48 08.481 W123 11.433
Kitty Korner
15 weeks old
This week seems to have a theme. The sink. The bathroom sink to be specific. We have two sinks in our human’s bathroom. Sometimes we share, as seen above, and sometimes we prefer our own space. This is our new favorite spot for the week. I have been more and more active and am finally learning to jump, sort of. I am trying to catch up with Brady but if his skills were at a fifth grade level, I would be considered at a 1st grade level.
– Belichick (Beli)
In addition to our sink adventures, while Beli tries to catch up to my skill level, I continue to shock my human. What can I say, I enjoy being over-the-top with my energy level. My human says it’s a good thing I enjoy sitting in her lap and giving her love when I am not running in circles and attacking every toy I own, including my brother.
– Brady
Bathroom Stall Wisdom
Word of the Day
Will you find it?
As a fun challenge each week, Rachel visits Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day when she sits down to write her weekly story. Whatever the word of that particular day happens to be, she must find a way to fit it into her story. Will you find it?
BALMY
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day on Sunday, August 21, 2023
Meaning
Balmy is an adjective that is often used to describe weather that is warm, calm, and pleasant. It can also be used to describe someone or something (such as an idea) that is foolish or irrational.
Story of the Week
Show Him The Way
Last week, Rachel’s youngest son, Alec, was in town from North Carolina. Alec spent a full seven days with his mom to help her celebrate her 50th birthday. The adventures of the week will be featured in next week’s issue. This week, we share Brady and Belichick’s Monday visit to Soundview Veterinary Hospital.
Monday’s visit was a scheduled wellness check and would be their very first visit to meet the team at Soundview. During this visit they would have a full wellness check, a blood draw, and immunizations. It would be a long day for the two little guys.
Back in 2018 when Rachel adopted the now late Honey, she had taken her to a different clinic for care and was less than impressed. It didn’t take long before she voiced her concerns to her friend, Mira, and was given the name of Soundview Veterinary Hospital. Rachel has been very impressed with this clinic. It was a no-brainer to bring the new kittens there for care.
The staff at Soundview is fantastic from start to finish. Olivia assisted Rachel in making the initial appointment and was there to greet them upon their arrival. Isabela, a Licensed Vet Technician, handled the intake and assisted the doctor. Speaking of the doctor… Dr. Jackie Shiue was wonderful. She was thorough, kind, and all about preventative medicine. She told Rachel that she would rather teach her things to do at home to keep the kittens healthy than to have them in the office for issues. “I would prefer to only see you back for wellness checks,” she said. Rachel was impressed with this thought process.
Rachel was relieved to have Alec along for the visit. Alec has worked in the veterinary field from the time he was 15-year-old and has worked as a Vet Technician. He now works for a mobile Vet, traveling to different hospitals to assist as the scrub nurse for surgical procedures. His knowledge of the lingo would be beneficial to Rachel during this visit, as she had some concerns when it came to Belichick (Beli).
From the time the kittens came home, Beli has been a bit behind Brady on a few things. Well, to say a few things would be generous, Beli has been very behind. He is much smaller in size, much more withdrawn from interaction with Rachel, less active, unable to navigate jumps, there have been bathroom issues to include diarrhea and even a bit of blood in his stool. He tries but just can’t figure out how to cover his mess in the litter box, he steps in said mess, which requires Rachel to clean him afterwards, and Rachel had found a lump in his neck that she was concerned about. It has been a bit of a challenge for Rachel over the past several weeks. It’s a good thing he is so darn cute. With all of that said, Rachel is happy to report that improvements are being seen on all fronts.
As far as that lump in the neck, the day before the visit when Alec was examining Beli to locate the lump, he identified it to be Beli’s microchip. Nothing to be concerned about, as the microchip can something move around in a cat’s body. This was both gross and a relief to Rachel. Dr. Shiue did confirm this at the visit and reassured Rachel not to be concerned.
Dr. Shiue gave both kittens a passing grade for their first visit. Beli’s stool was tested and came back negative for any issues, their ears were mite free, and they are both growing at an appropriate rate. Brady weighed in at 2.5 lbs when adopted and now weighs 4.6 lbs while Beli weighed 2.0 lbs at adoption and now weighs 3.5 lbs.
It was suggested to change Beli’s diet to solidify his stool. Rather than alternating between two different types of proteins, Beli will stick with one for a couple of weeks to see if his stool improves from what is now soft serve in appearance to normal logs.
Both Brady and Beli did great during their examinations. They were taken away for a few minutes for their bloodwork and immunizations and Rachel was sent home with their flea and tick prevention kits, which Alec showed her how to administer. They were spent from the long morning.
Thank goodness for the balmy weather on the day of their appointment. They were able to sleep soundly through much of the day and evening. This would not be the case for the few following day of extreme heat.
All in all, it was a successful trip to the doctor. Dr. Shiue reassured Rachel that Beli’s lack of ability compared to Brady would be a learning process. As the runt of his litter, it is not unusual for him to be a bit behind. “Brady will show him the way.” She explained.
Rachel is thankful to Dr. Shiue for her kindness and care during the visit and looks forward to seeing her again when Brady and Beli have their follow up appointment in a month. Until next time, be well.
