I am done traveling for the year now. At least, I should say I don’t have any further travel plans for the year! Came home from Portugal very late Friday night/ early Saturday morning and was so glad to be home. I loved Lisbon, such a beautiful city and I would very much like to see more of Portugal. Of course, you know how nuts I am about Schiphol. All the same, it was good to know that I am home now for the forseeable future.

I know that I would like to visit Iceland and Portugal again. I have also realized that next year, I will make a big jump and take two weeks of vacation at a time. One week or less isn’t really long enough to escape and three weeks (the norm) might just be too much for me to handle without some more taking a vacation experience.

This morning, Lientje was bundled off to the vet for her shots, senior blood panel and they also did some heart monitoring. She’s got a murmur but they are not sure if it is accelerated because she gets so wound up leaving the house. They even put a little blood pressure cuff on her. She had good levels. In a couple of weeks, we’ll look at an EKG for her.

A week ago, Moortje went to the vet because he needed his shots and because I have been concerned that he suddenly seems to be very old. His blood tests came back okay, kidney values are in need of watching so he’s had to make the transition to kidney support food. And he is very firmly in the 16-20 year category. He’s lost a kilo of weight over the year, which is a lot of a cat. For now, I am giving him the attention he wants and all the canned food he wants to eat.

The boys go on Friday for their checkup. After this, I am wondering if I can just get my physical at the vet too! We have a great vet so I have no complaints. When I was sitting in the waiting room, while they were running Moortje’s tests, I just couldn’t stop crying – thinking about him dying. Totally did this to myself. To the point that the receptionist came out to tell me that the delay was due to the centrifuge warming up, not the results.

I’ve caught a small cold with all my travelling. Hope to shed it in the next few days because it is annoying.