You Shall Above All Things Be Glad and Young

One of my favorite movie endings of all time.

Not sure why it has been on my mind a lot lately. I really should just buy this movie.

 

Do feelings belong in the workplace (or, I cried at work today)?

Crying at work is supposed to be taboo, unless you take the advice of Penelope Trunk and think that it's a myth that should be dispelled.

If you are me, crying at work seems to be unavoidable. No matter how hard I try to hold it in, my neck gets blotchy, my face turns red, and the tears spill over.

Work has been a little crazy the last few days. More for my old and new boss(es?) than for me, I'm sure. A few organizational changes caught me by surprise during an already busy week. I try to roll with the punches, I really do. The changes will probably add to my workload, and in a week where I'm out of the office half the time, thinking about that really stressed me out. Combine that with two cats who don't want to sleep a whole night through and a series of headaches that haven't gone away, and you're left with a tired me. When my boss looked at me in a meeting today and said, "Lindsay, you look overwhelmed," I cracked. I started to cry. I had been holding it in all day, and I couldn't stop it. It just happened. I am such a bad feeling hider! And then if people ask me a question or notice, it's all over and the tears flow.

I wonder if this is a bad thing. Does it show weakness? Usually I cry out of frustration, stress, or anger, which seems to be a typical response according to what I've read. I feel like I should be myself, tears or no tears. I am an ISFJ, after all!

Six Years Ago Today

We would have had Tater for six years too short today. Click here to read the post I wrote on the first day I got her.

Meet the Boys

 

I would like to introduce you to Finnegan and Thorin, our two new additions.

After Tater died, I realized that we needed to start at least interviewing breeders for when it was time to get a new kitten. Once you put a deposit on a kitten that's in a litter, you wait for it to be born and then weaned, which can take 12-16 weeks depending on the breeder. We thought that getting kittens around Christmastime would be perfect, since my job has a holiday shutdown.

I contacted Ciandor Cattery about her kittens, and I knew that Meaghan would be the breeder for us. She was friendly, informative, and wants to keep in contact with us over the course of our cats' lives. I liked that. She also had two kittens that would be ready to be adopted. Pete and I thought it over and decided that we should go for it. It might have been a little soon (my heart still hurts and I still break down once in awhile about Tater), but I definitely don't regret adding these two boys to our family.

The boys look alike, but couldn't be more different. Finn is afraid of everything, and Thorin walked right up to the vacuum cleaner when I turned it on. Thorin likes to sleep under the covers by your feet, and Finn likes to sleep in your arms. Finn loves feathers, and Thorin prefers the cat dancer. The list goes on. We're enjoying getting to know the boys, even if it does mean getting woken up at 4 am by Finn because he needs snuggles!