Uncle Steve visits

It's now the Ides of March, although still cold. Today was sunny and in the 30s and today Veeka finally got to go to soccer practice. Either it's been rained out or we couldn't get there but finally she got to dash off in her blue jersey and socks and red shorts. It tired her out, as she went to sleep easily tonight.And then last weekend, there was the Southeast Journalism Conference, a gathering of lots of universities in several states that Union hosted this year. Two of the speakers were my brother Steve and friend Kim Lawton. It was so nice to see people who I've known for more than six months and Veeka was delighted to have someone work with her on her homework other than me. And then they cuddled together watching TV, Steve with his right hand on our addle-brained tortoiseshell kitty who, as of today, is the oldest kitty I've ever had. Felicity died a year ago yesterday at 20 1/2 but this one is now the same age and still kicking, although with a case of kitty dementia. So she never knows quite where she is but she did appreciate getting all sorts of extra TLC from Veeka's uncle.As for me, I was sleeping in on Saturday morning when the person who is painting my living room rang the doorbell. Jumping out of bed, I tried to answer it but instead stepped the wrong way on my left foot, ending up screaming on the ground. Six hours later after a stint at the doctor's office, I have cracked my fifth metatarsal. I mainly need to take painkillers and keep the foot in a heavy boot for awhile. Fortunately I didn't have any skiing vacation planned as this injury would have ditched that. So I am in a grumpy mood at present and back on crutches. Sigh.