Monday, April 21, 2003 So, what’s new? Well, Brian had a pretty suck Friday. He got home fairly early, then wanted to take his truck down to CostCo to get the tires balanced. It’s pretty cheap. While he was there, he was going to do the little bit of shopping on our list. Anyway, he also wanted to swing by Sears, because they had the Levi’s he wears on sale. Usually the sale price is close to forty dollars, but their most recent sale they were thirty-one and change. He got three pair earlier in the week and he got them with longer legs. After washing them, they fit nicely, so he wanted to get three more pair (Levi’s are all he wears and he’s pretty hard on them). I’m sitting here waiting, waiting, waiting for him to get home and I hear his brother’s truck out front. Odd. Then Brian comes around the side of the house (it was dark outside and he didn’t want to startle the cats in the entryway) and in the side door. He was carrying a bag from Sears. He didn’t have anything from CostCo.
Apparantly, when he left Sears, on the freeway to get to Santee where CostCo is, the transmission went out on his truck. This is the truck that was down for so long when he was rebuilding the motor. *sigh* A California Highway Patrolman pulled up behind him and asked if all was okay. I guess he believed Brian and left him there. Brian called his brother and they got the truck towed back to the shop (which is close to where he broke down).
Now, the timing on this really sucks. Because the Bronco still isn’t back. The engine is getting rebuilt, though, it should be done this week. Then he and Mark will have to put the engine back in. So, we’re down to the Ranger and the Mustang. But Mark will pick Brian up for work, so I’ll still have the Ranger in case I need to haul a cat to the vet or something. But at least it didn’t happen Saturday on the way to Ranchita. And he said that this is the longest he’s gone without having tranny troubles on this truck. So, that’s good. It was time, I guess.
We finally got the tortie back yesterday. I called Friday and was told Saturday, but call first. I called and was told that it would be Sunday before they could release her. Easter? You’ll be open on Easter? Yes, we will. Come down between eight and noon. We went down and got her. She was really calmed down from the last time I’d seen her. The bill was only sixty three dollars, which was wrong, it should have been thirty six dollars more. Somehow, instead of getting a fifty percent discount on the boarding, we got a seventy-five percent discount. I’ll call them about it later today. When we got home, Brian got the trap out of the back of the truck, took it over to the lawn and opened up the back door. He said “you can go now, go on!” And she did. She ran across the street next to Chuck’s house. I bet she was glad to be back home. And now, no more kittens for her and no more boys bugging the snot out of her.
Well, I’m still holding strong to the Weight Watchers diet. I mean, lifestyle change. I’d only lost a pound at last week’s weigh in (Friday) but this morning I weighed and I’ve lost an additional two pounds. I’ve lost a total of ten pounds now. One of the things I’ve noticed is how very hungry I get in the afternoon. But I drink more water or a diet soda. And I tell myself that if I’m hungry, there’s a good chance to fill that hunger my body will burn some of my existing fat to fuel itself. It’s not like I’m starving. I’m eating plenty of food. I think my system is just in shock. *grin* So far, that hungry feeling is the only bad thing about not eating as much. And invisioning myself in those smaller sizes comes in pretty handy until that hunger passes. There are many more positive feelings. I’m sleeping so much better. Sure, there are a couple of nights that sleep isn’t good, but that happens. I’ve got more energy, which I’m sure is because of the type of food I’m eating (or not eating, as the case may be). My stomach isn’t as upset. Every night, I used to take acid reducers or antacid pills. My stomach was always upset. My use of those has greatly tapered off.
My mom took Screamer to the vet last week. Screamer is the cat she thought was attacked by a coyote. The vet couldn’t find any physical damage, but said that Screamer was extremely traumatized. He also told her that she should keep the cats in at night. Mom was always reluctant to keep Screamer in because she wasn’t trained. The vet kept Screamer for the day and mom took her home that evening. Mom is pretty concerned because it looks like Screamer has passed out a couple of times…..well, I just got back from Mom’s. I called her this morning and she was convinced that Screamer was under the bed, dying. She wouldn’t come out, she hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink. Of course, having been in situations where cats wouldn’t eat or drink (Lola, for one), I asked her if she wanted me to come over. “What can you do?” was her reply. Well, I can look at her for one thing and get a better idea of how she’s feeling. And if my head voice tells me she should see a vet, then we can both work to get her from under the bed. Before I left, I grabbed a couple of cans of Fancy Feast, chicken and turkey and giblets. I got over there and mom lets me know what side of the bed the kitty is on. I lay down on the floor and put my hand under and start to gently rub her head. She’s not laying flat on her side, like I’d kind of expected. There was a dish full of food and a bowl of water. An unused litterbox was nearby. As I rubbed her head, she leaned into my hand and she started to purr. As far as I could tell, her eyes looked okay. I talked with her, telling her I understood and what a brave girl she was. Did she want to tell me about her ordeal? No? Too traumatic? Well, that’s okay, I told her, I was in a car accident when I was sixteen that almost took my life and I don’t remember any of it. I understand. “What a pretty courageous girl you are”, I told her as I stroked her cheek. She talked back a little to me. Mom asked how she looked and I told her she was talking to me. Mom said if I got up and Screamer followed me out of the room, that she (mom) would fall over dead. I started talking to Screamer again, telling her how very important it was for her to eat. That she was in a safe place now, a good place. I opened the can of turkey and put it down in front of her. She sniffed and started to eat. I asked mom to get me a small plate and a fork. I dumped all of the food onto the plate and put it back in front of her. She started to take huge bites of food, as if she were starving. The plate was close to the edge of the bed and I motioned mom over to watch. Within ten minutes, Screamer had eaten it all. I opened the can of chicken and dished that up. She started eating that. I got up and laughingly told my mom that Screamer didn’t like the food mom was serving. Mom kind of laughed, but she was still pretty emotional. Most of her friends were gone this past weekend and she had the entire time to herself to think and sometimes, she thinks too much. I told her that she should get this exact type of food, to make sure she didn’t pick up something else, not grilled, not julienned or any of that type of crap, because the cats don’t eat the food, they just like the gravy. She washed out the cans and will take them with her when she goes to the store. She’s probably already gone by now. I put my arms around my mother and held her while she cried. She’d probably spent all weekend on the edge, worried about this poor cat. I think Screamer was probably still eating when I left. I think, with the appetite she displayed, that she’s in no immediate danger of dying.
No cat has gone near the trap since we caught the tortie. I told Brian the other night that I sure hope Little Bit doesn’t have too many kittens. Because, you know, they won’t be left outside, we’ll most likely bring them in like the last litter. Surprisingly, the ferals are starting to be less afraid of us, not nearly so ready to run off when they see us. Sure, they often do run, but not far. Maybe under the bushes in front of the house or up onto the bank. There was a time they’d run across the street, which is why we’re very cautious leaving the house. Even if we don’t see a cat, if we hear a car coming from either direction, we’ll stop until it’s passed, then go on about our business. Repete has been sleeping in the entry way, along with KittyMeeze, OC and Little Bit. I’ve even seen SpoTee there at night.
I had a pleasant surprise last Thursday. Brian came home early mid morning and said “let’s go to Disneyland”. I took a shower, he fertilized the lawn, we went up, grabbed a burger on the way, took two and a half hours to get there (I mentioned “spring break” which he’d totally forgot about) and had to park in the structure. What a nightmare. No one to tell you where to park, we went forward and found that it was handicapped parking there, we had to go to the other end of the building and all the signs said “no entry”, but we entered anyway. And we weren’t alone. We finally got to the parks and the lines for DCA were lots longer than Disneyland, so we went to Disneyland. We rode the Matterhorn, got lunch, then came home. It took us under two hours to get back to Lakeside. It was a nice interlude.
I don’t know what’s going on in the laundry room, I do know I had all of those laundry baskets emptied less than a week ago. Now, they’re once again overflowing. And I still haven’t gotten caught up on my paperwork. At least I’m keeping it sorted. My plan for the day is laundry and finally finish this paperwork, so I know where we stand. And I really want to go to Sears because the Sunday flier had the most adorable quilt in it, a cat quilt on sale for about forty dollars. It would match the spreads I’ve got.
That’s it for now.
Oh, wait, I almost forgot! Lucky! She’s doing better. She’s not 100%, but she’s much better than she was. She’s eating more and looks lots better. Sometimes she looks better than others, though. I can tell that her ears are still bothering her, but not as much as they were. She takes fluids well and that’s a good thing. I take her back for a recheck on Wednesday.
