diet a dog, kill a cat

so i took our vet's advice and have cut down on gordon's daily rations--2 cups of dry food twice a day. he now eagerly awaits each meal and devours them voraciously, whereas before parts of his meals would sit uneaten all day. he is no longer consistently pooping twice a day and the loads tend to be lighter than his norm.

not likely related but i think gordon killed another cat a week into his diet. it was later in the evening. when i took him out to pee, he lingered and didn't want to come in...so i went inside and readied for bed. 10minutes later i went out to retrieve him and he came in grudgingly. i hopped in bed, but gordon did not follow and seemed to want to go back outside. i let the spoiled brat outside and turned on the tv. 15 minutes later as i was drifting in and out of sleep, i went to the door. he was there, panting as usual. we went into the bedroom, and i got in bed. as he stood panting next to the bed and i peered over at him and noticed his head and neck were covered in blood and his left ear was dripping blood all over the bedroom floor. we went outside to look for a carcass but found none. my neighbors who were entertaining outside said they heard a scuffle and some chains jingling, but hadn't seen anything. i brought the killer back inside and cleansed his wounds in the tub and got his ear to stop bleeding. there was no need to clean the floor--the very next morning gordon mopped it up himself. he figures he better do his share.

incredibly, gordon and i have seen other stray cats in the yard since then--i think they're taunting him. gordon keeps a steadfast lookout in his bay window for them and gets excitable whenever he spots one. being the ultimate spectator, i obviously let him loose in the yard immediately, but they're always one step ahead of him. i've spotted a mother and her kitten a few times, and i think gordon's chances with the kitten are slightly higher. let's hope he succeeds in his quest.

my days have not been as exciting as gordon's since leslie's departure...mostly filled with work, exercise, cooking, and eating. the australian open occupied most of my evenings. i guess i'm fortunate to have a job...i can't imagine being in this place spouseless AND jobless. the job market here is so bad that many navy spouses that were previously well-employed stateside find it virtually impossible to find 1) a job, 2) a job that utilizes their skillset, 3) a job that pays reasonably well, etc.
at least i have gordon to come home to. like eric idle says, "always look on the bright side of life".

leslie is currently living in a wooden, heatless hut somewhere on camp pendleton for her deployment training. i guess she's already learned how to fire a pistol. even though her training unit is all medical officers, they have to take orders from, get yelled at and drilled by enlisted kids...the military is un-fucking-believable. i heard from her the 1st time in a week yesterday via email...no phone access. fortunately her folks drove out to california from new mexico and were able to meet up with her every evening the 1st week of her training up in ventura.