Summer visitors and other items

Yesterday and today I found out when family will be visiting me here in New York. If you are thinking about coming up, do let me know as weekends are filling up fast at Casa BKLYN.

Not really. There are still plenty of weekends. Mom and Dad are visiting so we can also go to the US Open tennis tournament. Mom will arrive early as Dad is coming in from a work trip. I know we'll go to at least one night session and probably one day session.

David and Allison told me this morning that they are thinking about coming up at the end of July. Their schedules are somewhat liquid so we'll see if they actually can come up or not. Hope so as I know there are things we want to do such as Governor's Island, which is now open to the public.

Steve's birthday (and Dad's coincidentally) is at the beginning of August, and I invited his Boston friends Mike & Cindy to come down to celebrate his 30th. All four of us are going to go to the new Yankee Stadium to cheer on not the Yankees, but the Red Sox. Yes, there is a four-game Red Sox-Yankees series during Steve's birthday weekend. This made it very easy for me to figure out what present to get him. I already have the tickets for the game on Saturday. They cost twice the face value, but hey, it's his birthday.

The summer has been mild so far. We lucked out that June was one of the coolest Junes on record. However, we did order our air conditioners and we did it just in time. The past week has been warmer and more humid so having the cool air is nice. The cats like it.

I am also hoping to score some tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. The show running until July 12 is Twelfth Night. Anne Hathaway is playing Viola. It's getting good reviews and tickets are free. They have a virtual line that I can join every day there is a performance and hope that my name gets drawn as a winner. The catch is, if I get tickets, they are for the show that day which means scrambling to change dinner plans and convincing Steve he might like it. Twelfth Night is a comedy and for non-Shakespeare fans, his comedies are the most friendly.

In cat news, Cleo has been a bit under the weather. I took her to the vet yesterday. After two blood tests, subcutaneous fluids, and an exam, the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. Sent me home with a paste-like mixture that contains active cultures - like the ones in yogurt - and B vitamins to reset her GI tract. Cleo seems to be doing better today and is eating more than she has been. She naps and then gets up to nibble. She seems a bit more herself today but still not back to normal. Kitty is fine, so whatever is wrong with her is not affecting him. Thank goodness. Two sick cats would be bad. He's been looking at her this morning with his big eyes and wonders why I won't let him have her food. (It's because I mixed the supposedly tasteless paste into her food.)

We were at the vet for two hours yesterday morning. Most of the time was waiting for the blood work - which they did there in the office - and with the doctor while she was examining Cleo. I liked the doctor a lot. On our way home, an old man stopped me and said that he hoped she was going home and that she was okay. I assured him she was going home and she will be okay. Sweet. Whenever we are out with the cats, people always look at them or actually talk to us about them. I was stopped once by a group of kids who wanted to see Cleo. People like cats.