Lee, I've been walking Leifur on a leash for years now. The first time I put the harness on him, he freaked out. The second time he just glared at me. The third time I put it on, I added the leash and then picked him up and took him out to the porch. It's been pretty smooth ever since. Walking a cat is pretty different from walking a dog. Straight lines and destinations aren't the point. You're pretty much in it for the amble. But if you need to get somewhere immediately, cats are easier to pick up and carry than golden retrievers.

If you let them, a cat on a leash can catch and kill prey. I keep Leifur to moles and voles, neither of which are endangered. And I can usually tell by the butt wriggle when he's getting ready to pounce, so if you want to keep the food chain unillustrated you can always move your cat away.

After some trial and error I've been able set Leifur's harness so he doesn't wriggle free. But then he doesn't try to escape very hard. Other people use harness vests, which look like they might be more secure. [link]

Popsicle update: the Atkins Chocolate Mudslide recipe, which is chock full of artificial sweeteners, froze up just fine, came out of the mold no problem, and is okay texture-wise. I am provisionally going to not worry about replacing sugar with Splenda until and unless I encounter a problem.

Thanks Calli!

A month ago, or even a little less, when I first met Fella, he wouldn't let me touch him.

This afternoon when I got home, Charlie was so excited to see me he got his entire body about 6 inches off the ground.

Awww.

Of course, I know several people whose cats are thrilled when the harness and leash come out because it means walkies outside!

This is Loki. He runs to the door if I pick up the leash. Devi was always about the drunk puddle of sideways cat with rubber legs that didn't work. She'd have made a good mop? Pumpkin had managed to get half of it into the toilet?

Wine night. Why do these always end up on days where I know my stomach is going to be tetchy?

I did not get out of the office until it was so late it took under 20 minutes to get home.

A lot of it was nattering about...common obstacles, so not bad, but I did have a 4:30-5:00 meeting that ran late (because of me), which people should not do. New director is trying to work out how to get more of my time. It's good that he's asking--both because he likes what I've done so far, and because it's not assuming, and I have to pace myself and not create my own mortal landslide.

Such a vote of confidence. Slash potential for explosion.

When my boss was asked for an HTML 5 resource, he told the new director "train ita !, if she'll let you." That's scary for a number of reasons. Not least of all because I shouldn't be closest to the front of the line because I am not a developer. But I do have more HTML 5 / CSS coding experience than most of IT. And, shit, I almost agreed to be the IIS subject matter expert, because I'm only second or third in that line--but it's deeply frustrating when someone on my team will not listen to what I say because I'm not a developer. I might as well have my hand up the architect's butt at this point--not that he doesn't know the answers--he does, but he's busy with actual important work.

Did you all know that radiolab did a story on micropreemies and didn't tell me because you thought I had PTSD about it? [link] The article they link to could have been my life. Except it's a little worse and a little better.

Oh, hey, Kat--did you know immunisations caused Grace's health problems? God, I love my nurse. I know I told the stories the right way round, but somehow the extended impact of early delivery Grace and my cousin Julian is a vax issue.

And she did completely miss the point, which was that they are excellent lovable kids.

Whose immunizations? Grace's or mine? Either way, woo woo nurse is not science-based.

I must have been in shock when the kids were first in the hospital. I distinctly remember thinking "they aren't micro preemies! the doc thought they were bigger than he anticipated!"

There's a line in the article about waiting for the baby to declare itself. It's not something you hear outside a NICU but I do remember it.

I also love the fact that the ridiculous expense of my children is counterbalanced by the high NICU success rate. As opposed to an adult ICU which is equally expensive with more mortality thrown in.

I mainlined the articles at school and was deeply moved. The comments on the radiolab piece are maddening.

I just read the first article you linked to, Kat, and want now to read the rest. Whoa.