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      Thursday, April 02, 2009

catstuff 08:27 AM - 04/02/2009 The topic: A couple of nights ago ---------------------------------------------- I went into the bedroom and imagine my surprise to see Skippy on the bed.  He ran, probably thought he was being naughty.  It only took three more nights, but now he’s lsleeping with us. He’s come so far in such a short time. I’m wondering if he really wasn’t on his own that long, maybe just six months or so. | Permalink

      Saturday, April 04, 2009

entertainmentstuff 04:29 PM - 04/04/2009 The topic: Review: Bolt on Blu-Ray ----------------------------------------------     Hi Mittens! How are you doing today? Hold on a moment… Are you talking to me? Did I give you permission to speak? Erm, no… Well then, shut up! I don’t yabber to everyone, you know. Unless you’ve got some food you want to give me, I’m not purring anything to you. We just wanted to chat to you about Bolt… You know Bolt? That dog is crazy, man! He jumps out of trucks doing 80 on the freeway, but he doesn’t have a clue what blood is. It’s so weird! That does sound a little strange… It sure is. He’s the only dog in the world who doesn’t know how to beg, too. All you have to do is tilt your head, but he had never done it before. He didn’t have a clue! What’s that all about? I had to teach him to drop his ears and ever-so- slightly look up. He soon got the hang of it, though. Did it work? Of course it did! We ate very well that day. Soup was definitely up – and there was lots of it. I remember enjoying my fair share of hot dogs with mustard. I hadn’t eaten like that in ages. It was wonderful. It was amazing. What a day! Was he looking for Penny? That’s right. I spotted his dog collar was from Hollywood and thankfully I knew where I could find a map. He had a big journey ahead of him because Penny was on the other side of America. Did you help him on his way? Wait a minute… What’s with all these questions? You’re starting to annoy me, buddy. I’ve got some pretty evil claws under these mitts and I’m not afraid to use them if you don’t stop your whining. You wouldn’t hurt us, would you? I’m holding these bad boys back as much as I can, but it’s not me you need to talk to. My stomach has a direct line to the claws – and my stomach is very hungry. (Mittens’ stomach starts to growl) Unless you’ve got some food to offer me, I’m outta here. But we’ve heard a rumor you’ve been de-clawed… What?! Who told you that? Tell me. Tell me now! I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous… So it’s not true? I’m not talking to you anymore. You’re stressing me out. I don’t find your questions very funny – and I don’t like what you’re suggesting. Do you really think I haven’t got claws under these mitts? Wanna test me, buddy? I’ll take you on… No, no… It’s alright. We’ll leave you – but can you please answer one more question before we go? Oh, go on then. What is it? We just want to know why cats hate dogs so much? Why do we hate dogs? Because we want to be dogs. We have dog complexes. Really? Sure. Dogs slobber, they sleep, they chase their tails and chew shoes. They do things like drink out of toilet bowls and stick their heads out of car windows. Cats are envious of dogs, but they won’t admit it. (Mittens’ stomach growls again) And with that, I’m off. If you tell anyone what I’ve admitted here today, I’ll come and find you – and the claws won’t be happy. You’ve been warned! (Mittens scampers)     But wait! I'm not done yet! I've got more to say! | Permalink

      Sunday, April 05, 2009

otherstuff 04:57 PM - 04/05/2009 The topic: Did you ever have one of those weekends ---------------------------------------------- Where just about anything you did turned to crap? I’m having one. I was going to start the taxes yesterday. Got TurboTax all loaded up, figured I’d start with mom’s stuff. Input what I had and something was missing. I knew she got at least four checks a month. I only had 1099s for two. None from the Social Security Administration. I know they have my information, because I gave it to the last year for her taxes. And her retirement benefits from dad’s Air Force account. He paid in for survivor’s benefits after he retired and she got a monthly check from them. Another place I have to call. [tearhair] Brian was supposed to leave yesterday and spend the weekend at the property. This makes it easier for me to do what I have to do without interruption. But he didn’t go in the morning, he went over and worked on his little tractor over at his brother’s house. When he came home, he was tired, it was mid afternoon, so I said “just stay, go tomorrow”. He said “maybe we can watch “Marley and Me” tonight”. Sounded good to me. I shut down the computer, go into the family room, and start up the Blu-Ray player and put the disk in. It’s probably around seven thirty. It wouldn’t play. The firmware needed to be upgraded. I finally figured out how to get it burned onto a CD-R (only, no other disk would have worked, thank goodness I had one) and then I had to figure out how to get the firmware to upgrade. My mind doesn’t seem to be as quick as it used to be. Anyway, I had it done by nine. Brian says “it will be too late by the time the movie is done, I don’t want to watch it tonight. Let’s watch it tomorrow night.” So, it’s this morning. I decide I don’t want cereal for breakfast, I need nutrition because I’m going to do the taxes. Right? I think a breakfast burrito sounds pretty darned good. I ask him if he wants one. “Sure.” I made them, turned out yummy (just the frozen OreIda southern style hash browns, butter, onion, eggs and cheese, wrapped in a warmed tortilla). He said “I don’t think we should have the roast for dinner tonight, I don’t know when I’ll be home.” I was so looking forward to roast tonight, I took it out of the freezer Friday and put it in the fridge to defrost. Now I’d have to come up with something else. He leaves. I piddle around. I ended up riding my exercise bicycle for about an hour since I missed last Monday. The console doesn’t work. I can’t tell what my heart rate is and it’s not showing me how long I’ve been on and I can’t set the resistance. I know how long I was on, because I was watching an episode of the Sopranos on DVD and the time is on that. When I was done, I figured I’d try to fix this damned thing once and for all. (With the knowledge that the taxes were waiting was hanging over my head.) I took it apart. After an hour or so of sweating and pushing it around so I could look at the bottom, it turned out that the problem is with the connection at the console. And I have no idea how to fix that. When I pulled the bike back down to flat, I lost control of it and it came down so quickly I couldn’t stabilize it and it ended up pushing me into the table. I’m going to have a humongous bruise on my hip/buttock this coming week. But I did get the console working so I could see the time and my heart rate, but the resistance no longer works. Then I played with the cats a little bit, had some yogurt, then took a shower. After I’d dried my hair in the sun, I came back to seriously work on the taxes. I opened up TurboTax and found my edition of Quick Books wouldn’t import because it’s the 2006 model. I’d have to manually input the information. Okay, no big whoop, there wasn’t much work done last year, it shouldn’t take me long to get that done. Then I started inputting the information from the 1099s that came with my cashing out all of mom’s investments and IRAs. Got that done, then couldn’t find my TD 1099. I’m thinking I shredded it. So, I go online to log in, can’t stinking get in. I try and I try and my password isn’t working. Then, my computer froze. I rebooted and all of the icons on the desktop were gone. I rebooted again. They were still gone and the computer was running very slowly. I was on the phone with the Ameritrade guy, got my password reset, then shut down the computer completely. Restarted it, same thing. I was able to get into the help screen from the “start” button and I did a system restore to yesterday. And when it was restored, all of my icons were back. I opened up TurboTax and all that information I’d input for us? It never existed. And I was sure I’d saved it. I don’t think I want to work on the taxes anymore. . | Permalink

      Monday, April 06, 2009

otherstuff 09:41 AM - 04/06/2009 The topic: Damn! ---------------------------------------------- I'm gonna have a bruise on my left butt cheek as big as my left butt cheek. That sucker hurts! I wonder what percentage of injuries happen to people who are trying to get healthy. | Permalink

      Tuesday, April 07, 2009

catstuff 09:24 AM - 04/07/2009 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #133! ---------------------------------------------- Today, we have a twofer Tuesday. First, we have the substantial stomach of none other that Marco. click for a larger pic And the belly of the new beast, Skippy. He really likes laying on wooden slats. He likes the bench by the pool and he really likes the cedar swing when the sun is shining down on him and there's a breeze gently rocking the swing. He sleeps on this a lot during the afternoon. click for a larger pic ================================================ If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!   | Permalink

      Wednesday, April 08, 2009

entertainmentstuff 08:42 AM - 04/08/2009 The topic: Review:  Marley and Me ---------------------------------------------- CENTURY CITY, CALIF. – From the director of the Devil Wears Prada and based on the New York Times best-selling novel from John Grogan, Marley & Me leaps onto three-disc Blu-ray, two-disc Special Edition and Single Disc DVD March 31 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  Featuring an incredible A-list cast, Oscar®-nominee* Owen Wilson (Night at the Museum) and Emmy® winner** Jennifer Aniston (The Break-Up) star in a hilarious tail about a family who learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.  When newlyweds John and Jenny Grogan (Wilson and Aniston) leave the snow of Michigan for the beaches of Miami, they decide to adopt a yellow Labrador retriever named Marley, in order to give them a taste of parenthood.  However, things get ruff when the adorable 12-pound puppy transforms into a highly-strung, boisterous and uncontrollable 100-pound steamroller of unbridled energy that always finds trouble.  From flunking obedience school, chewing off dry wall, taking a bite out of the sofa, stealing a Thanksgiving turkey and chasing the UPS guy, Marley causes absolute chaos.  Despite the mayhem he generates over the years, Marley sees the Grogans through the ups and downs of life and the countless challenges that come with it.  The family soon discovers that Marley, “the world’s worst dog,” somehow brings out the best in them. The delightful comedy adventure features an ensemble supporting cast including Eric Dane (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Golden Globe®-winner Kathleen Turner (Best Actress, Prizzi’s Honor) and Oscar®-winner Alan Arkin (Best Supporting Actor, Little Miss Sunshine). Featuring love and fun for the whole family, Marley & Me will be available in three DVD configurations including Fox’s first ever three-disc Blu-ray release. The Marley & Me “Bad Boy” Three-Disc Blu-ray offers families the opportunity to enjoy the film on three different formats: high definition Blu-ray Disc featuring an exclusive Dog Training Trivia Track and 101 tutorial with BonusView, Digital Copy for playback on portable devices and a single-disc DVD for use on existing standard DVD players.  The Marley & Me “Bad Boy” Three-Disc Blu-ray will be sold for the suggested retail price of $39.99 U.S./$49.98 Canada. The “Bad Boy” Two-Disc Special Edition DVD comes fully-loaded with Digital Copy, 19 deleted scenes, a gag reel, featurettes and much more, and will be available for $34.98 U.S. / $45.98 Canada. Synopsis: Packed with playful special features, including tons of deleted scenes and irresistible featurettes, Marley & Me is a satisfying treat for the whole family!   Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson unleash huge laughs as John and Jenny Grogan, a young couple contemplating the decision to have a baby. Then came Marley…an adorable Labrador pup who flunks obedience school and quickly turns his new home into a disaster area. But as mischievous Marley sees the Grogans through the ups and downs of life and love, they ultimately realize that “the world’s worst dog” truly brings out the best in them. Three Disc Blu-Ray Disc (BD) Specs: The Marley & Me Three Disc BD release will be presented in widescreen format (2.35:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio (Lossless), Spanish, French and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, and Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean subtitles. English subtitles will also be available for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  Bonus features include: ·        Dog Training Trivia Track ·        Dog Training 101 featuring BonusView Video ·        19 Deleted Scenes With Director, David Frankel Commentary ·        Finding Marley featurette ·        Breaking the Golden Rule featurette ·        On Set with Marley: Dog of All Trades featurette ·        Animal Adoption featurette ·        Purina Dog Chow Marley & Me Video Contest Finalists ·        Purina Dog Chow Video Hall of Fame ·        Gag Reel ·        When Not to Pee featurette ·        Digital Copy ·        Marley & Me Single DVD Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Specs: The Marley & Me Special Edition DVD will be presented in widescreen format (2.35:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and Spanish and French Dolby Surround Sound with English and Spanish subtitles.  Bonus features include: ·        19 Deleted Scenes With Director, David Frankel Commentary ·        Finding Marley featurette ·        Breaking the Golden Rule featurette ·        On Set with Marley: Dog of All Trades featurette ·        Animal Adoption featurette ·        Purina Dog Chow Marley & Me Video Contest Finalists ·        Purina Dog Chow Video Hall of Fame ·        Gag Reel ·        When Not to Pee featurette ·        Digital Copy Single-Disc DVD Specs: The Marley & Me single-disc DVD will be presented in widescreen format (2.35:1 aspect ratio) with English, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Surround plus English, Spanish and French subtitles. Bonus features include: ·        Deleted Scenes ·        Gag Reel But wait! I'm not done yet! I've got more to say! | Permalink

otherstuff 03:03 PM - 04/08/2009 The topic: Way to suck up a day ---------------------------------------------- I got all the information I needed to finish mom’s taxes.  Got her federal e-filed (free on TurboTax) and didn’t to the state, because it would cost $19.99 and she’s getting $60.00 back.  I’ll mail it.  But as I was sitting there scratching my head over “am I supposed to sign as the filer or does the attached federal form take care of the filer signature?” the mail came.  And in it was a package from USBank. It had copies of forms that needed to be filled out and notarized.  Now, I got this same stuff last week and figured since I’d actually gone down to the bank to do it properly it was all taken care of. But this second set got me on the phone. I wasn’t happy.  I was frustrated.  I found out that each withdrawal slip needs it’s own notarized affidavit.  Last week, the branch manager did it all on one sheet.  Lovely.  “So, I have to fill all this stuff out, take copies (again) of all the withdrawal slips, take it all back to the bank and get it all notarized?  This is just wrong, this should have never happened, there were lots of red flags that were just ignored, why do I have to do all this work when I didn’t do anything wrong?” “I’m sorry, we can fill out the paperwork and have it faxed to the bank so all you have to do is sign for it…”  I was pissed.  I told her that I’d do it and she says “is there anything else I can help you with?”  Seriously?  You really expect me to answer that? I got all the stuff done, called and warned them I would be down and I didn’t want to have to wait for anybody to go home and get their notary stuff like we did last week. Once there, I had to wait and I find out I didn’t bring one of the forms, it was the last one and I guess I put it in the wrong pile. But I had all of the information and we got the cover sheet done, I have to fax the forged withdrawal form.  I thought the account was closed out, but it isn’t, it’s on hold. It can’t be closed out until all the money is out of it.  Well, there’s a little in it because of the reserve. So, that has to be withdrawn and a new account set up. But guess what?  We couldn’t do that this afternoon, their computers were down. And their fax/copy machine isn’t working. As soon as their back up and fixed, they’ll give me a call and I’ll fax what needs to be faxed and we can (finally) be on our way to getting this done. | Permalink

      Monday, April 13, 2009

otherstuff 07:33 AM - 04/13/2009 The topic: I felt this ---------------------------------------------- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/events/ci/14443984/us/index.html http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/ci14443984.htm (I live in Lakeside.) I was in bed (Brian left early this morning).  Heard the rumble, a little house shake, more in the family room than in the bedroom/office side of the house, then it went away. Second one in less than a week. And this one was closer. | Permalink

otherstuff 10:06 AM - 04/13/2009 The topic: My little Meowser ---------------------------------------------- is looking so dapper today. The gaucho hats just went on sale last night. He looks cool with his shades and white shoes. He’s standing in the living room (room 1). Here he plays a little song on his guitar, in his den (room 6). I'm finding Pet Society a lot of fun. | Permalink

      Saturday, April 18, 2009

otherstuff 10:03 AM - 04/18/2009 The topic: I admit it. ---------------------------------------------- FaceBook is fun. I started off with Pet Society, then tried my hand at farming, and now, I’m into Fish Wrangler.  Now, I still do Pet Society, I’m trying to build up coin to furnish my next new rooms. I made another pet, Bart and send the furniture over to him for storage as I get it.  *lol*  I find the farming boring.  Because after you’ve plowed and planted, you have to wait for the stuff to grow. Yeah, you can go work on your neighbor’s farms, but that takes less than five minutes each time. The Fish Wrangler?  Oh, if anyone had ever told me I’d have so much fun playing a fishing game, I’d have laughed long and loudly in his or her face. But I’m really having fun with it. I’m always looking for new friends over there, so if you are a member or are thinking of joining, my FB email is lisaviolet at lisaviolet dot com. It’s different than what I imagined it would be and at times I feel like I’m eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, but it’s really a hoot.  If you haven’t joined because you’re afraid of whatever, don’t be. | Permalink

      Sunday, April 19, 2009

foodstuff 08:01 AM - 04/19/2009 The topic: I was in the mood to cook yesterday… ---------------------------------------------- I made a loaf of quick sourdough bread in my bread maker and since we were having steak for dinner, I thought toasting the bread with garlic butter would be nice. So, I peeled some garlic gloves, rubbed them in olive oil, wrapped that up in aluminum foil and roasted them in the oven.  I had a stick of butter softening and when the garlic was done, I mashed the cloves with the butter.   I washed a sweet potato, put that on a baking sheet and cooked that for a couple of hours.  I wanted to make sure it was cooked all the way through, I’ve never done a sweet potato before.  I thought they only came in cans. *laughing* Then I started on a blueberry lemon bundt cake, the recipe was on the frozen blueberry bag.  The batter was heavenly, I licked the beaters all by myself.  I like blueberries a lot.   I had to move the sweet potato to a lower rack and I put the cake on the top rack. I cut the cooled bread into thick slices and liberally spread the garlic butter over it, followed by some paprika for color.  The cake was done after dinner and I let it sit for the hour or so, then made the lemon drizzle, which was pretty darned sweet. Tasted better this morning than last night.  I’m sending half of the cake over to Brian’s mom, since she gave us the lemons I used. Brian cooked the steaks a little too fast and they were a little tough.  And he forgot about the potatoes he’d put on the grill, the ones he planned on using when he made breakfast, so those got thrown out this morning. I really like cooking.   | Permalink

      Monday, April 20, 2009

otherstuff 07:19 AM - 04/20/2009 The topic: Fear not, I haven’t be swallowed by FaceBook…. ---------------------------------------------- Although I do spend a disproportionate amount of time there. Brian left yesterday morning to go install the timers for his irrigation system up at the property.  He had some digging to do and when he called last night, he wasn’t finished yet, so he’ll be home later today. It was hot yesterday.  High nineties.  Today is supposed to be hotter.  Earlier I started the sprinklers, so the back yard should be good to go for the rest of the day.  I’ve got the attic fans on, too, to help keep the place cool.  All doors and windows are open to take advantage of the cooler air.  As it warms up, I’ll start dropping shades and closing blinds. One of the attic fans is set to start at 80°, the one over the garage.  Tired of listening to it, I finally flipped the switch to turn it off last night at 10:30. It’s 63° outside right now, at 7:30 in the morning.  Yes, I believe we’re going to have a hot one today. I know I’ve mentioned my hypnotherapy for weight loss before.  Well, I’m not losing lots of weight, but I didn’t expect to.  I didn’t plan on dieting at all and I’m not.  As I said before, I want to change my relationship with food.  To eat because I need to, not because I’m bored, sad, happy, depressed, or just because I’m not even thinking about it.  I want the weight loss to be slow because I figure I’ve done the fast stuff before, lost the weight, but it came back on.  So, if I’m able to move food from the friend category, I think it will help. You know how you can get pants from the same designer, the same size, but different colors and they fit differently from color to color? I’ve got some like that.  The one size fit, so I got multiples of other colors.  Well, the other colors, even though the same size, are cut a little smaller.  Last week, I was able to get into the next one down and I was so excited! Because I’m not counting calories, points or whatever, I’m just eating better, healthier (no urges for fast food at all) and getting on that bike five days a week.  (I know that having something to watch helps there.  I just finished the third season of the Sopranos. When I’m done with the Sopranos, I think I’ll start Lost. Right now, I can hardly wait to see if Janice gets her clock cleaned by the Russian and the only time I’ll watch is when I’m on the bike.) Anyway, I believe the hypnotherapy is working for me.  I’ve got more energy, I’m not taking naps, I’m not falling asleep on the sofa at night in front of the television. I’ve been staying up until 11:00 or later, because I’m just not tired.  It’s amazing. So, if you’re interested, I know Priscilla has some CDs you can buy online.  The thing is you have to be good about listening to them every day, usually at bedtime and go to sleep to her voice.  Now it’s her little voice undoing all those years of my little voice saying “what the hell, you only live once, eat it….eat it….”  *lol* The website is Hypnoworks, if you're interested. | Permalink

foodstuff 07:56 AM - 04/20/2009 The topic: Breakfast ---------------------------------------------- Usually when Brian’s gone I’ll just have cereal or maybe make an egg burrito.  But this morning I’m going to make an omelet. It’s been years since I’ve done one, I hope it turns out all right.  I’m going to put green peppers, onions and tomatoes in it.  I’m going to put cheese in it.  I’m going to put avocado in it.  I’m going to sprinkle sunflower seeds in it.  Then I’ll fold it over, cook a little while, flip it, cook on the other side until the cheese start to melt out, then put it on a plate and put a little dollop of sour cream on top. Yum! Last night, I went to sleep thinking about this…. But wait! I'm not done yet! I've got more to say! | Permalink

foodstuff 01:07 PM - 04/20/2009 The topic: One of the things about eating healthier ---------------------------------------------- One of the things I believe helps, is having good food here at home.  The nights we eat badly are the nights I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to make.  So, instead of making something, I’ll tell him “maybe we can have Mexican tonight…” What I want to get into the habit of (and once I do, who knows how long it will last) is to make a weekly menu.  To plan meals ahead of time. And to plan them so that the leftobers from Sunday can go into a meal I’d make later in the week.  If it’s not a complete meal by itself, that is. Like make a roast on Sunday, use the leftover meat (and to make sure I have leftover meat, because the roasts I’ve been making are pretty small, I find it helps to not overeat if the food isn’t there…  .....I just make sure there’s lots of veggies, like mashed potatoes and the side veggie, he can fill up on those instead of meat) to make tacos or burritos.  Shred the beef, cook it with onions and different peppers, red/green/yellow, that stretches the meat quite a ways, I’ve actually been able to get three meals out of one tiny roast.  Well, maybe two and a half.  So, last Friday I made Beefy Spanish Rice and had at least half of it leftover.   I had planned this,  because I figured I’d stuff bell peppers with it this week. And that’s what we’re having tonight.  Stuffed bell peppers.  Since it’s so miserably hot here today, 95.5° in the shade right now, I figured I’d use the crockpot.  I found a recipe in one of my many, many crockpot books.  I took three small bell peppers (I’m using a small crockpot, not one of the big ones), washed and cut the tops off, emptied them of seeds and the membranes, shredded some cheddar cheese (the recipe called for Jack, but we don’t really use it enough to keep it on hand), mixed half of the cheese with the rice mixture and stuffed the peppers with this.  I poured a can of tomato sauce into the crockpot and placed the peppers in the crockpot.  It’s set on low and dinner should be ready in about six hours.  Before serving, put the rest of the cheese on the peppers and spoon the tomato sauce over them.  I’ll serve this with a side of corn, because sometimes it’s fun to play with your food and I can mix it all together on my plate.  One of the things that comes in really handy is having the ingredients you’ll need on hand.  I finally broke down last month and ordered some of those green bags, the ones that keep veggies fresh longer and so far, I’m pleased with how they work. Now that dinner is cooking for tonight, what am I going to do the rest of the week…. | Permalink

      Tuesday, April 21, 2009

catstuff 08:26 AM - 04/21/2009 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #134! ---------------------------------------------- Well, thanks to leaving taxes until the last minute, I missed last week’s TT entry.  I had the photo, I just didn’t have the time. So, today, I will have last week’s image as well as a couple more I took this past week. Last week’s picture was Richie, it seems like it’s always Richie.  Just like I used to be able to depend on Wally, the dependable crown has been passed to Richie. click for a larger pic Here we have Daniece: click for a larger pic And this week's Richie entry: click for a larger pic I guess just like humans have their favorite sleeping positions, so do kitty cats.  ================================================ If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies! | Permalink

      Wednesday, April 22, 2009

catstuff 07:16 AM - 04/22/2009 The topic: I’m a little worried about Spot ---------------------------------------------- He hasn’t been as bouncy the past few days.  I couldn’t find him yesterday anywhere in the house and I finally found him outside in the weeds by the pool.  Daniece was close by. Granted it was hot, but the other cats showed a lot more energy than he did, and this is totally out of character for him.  And sometime this morning, he went into the pool.  Last weekend, Ron Howard did the same thing.  Between the time I let them out and the time I got out of bed.  Anyway, I helped him dry off with a nice big towel and he started purring for me.  I’d put some kibble on the bed earlier for Bart and he didn’t finish is.  Spot started to eat it but had a hard time swallowing. Thinking that Spot has a sore throat, I was able to get an amoxicillan into him. I opened a jar of baby food and he almost finished that.  I took his temperature (I use an ear thermometer similar to the one my vet uses) and his temperature is elevated, it’s 102.2°.  Not incredibly high, but about a half a degree to a degree above normal. I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.  We’re supposed to go to Disneyland this weekend for Brian’s birthday and I want to make sure all kitties are well before we leave or I’ll be worried about them the whole time we’re gone. | Permalink

otherstuff 08:45 AM - 04/22/2009 The topic: For the second time in my married life ---------------------------------------------- I canceled our newspaper subscription this morning.  Why? Because they raised the price.  The invoice was for $135.00.  My mother-in-law was given a rate of $109.00 a couple of weeks ago.  She canceled anyway, still too rich for her blood. I found out this morning, if I had renewed before the renewal date (March 8), I ‘d have gotten it for $104.00. Well, sorry, it wasn’t on the top of my to do list and I just set it aside. And now it’s gone up $31.00 a year?  No, thank you. He says “well, you can get delivery for less days a week.”  What?  Three days a week so it won’t cost as much?  Excuse me, I have internet access, I can get all the news I want, with any type of bias I would prefer.  *lol* So, I canceled. He said “well, you owe for the past month” I said “send me a bill.”  “You don’t want to pay with a credit card right now?”  No, I don’t. Send me a bill. The last time I canceled, they’d increased the price to almost $150.00.  Within the next week, the phone rings, they want me back. And the price was greatly reduced, down to $101.00.  Brian said “good, now I won’t have to worry about getting rid of the newspapers that pile up.” | Permalink

otherstuff 09:56 AM - 04/22/2009 The topic: Why do I do this? ---------------------------------------------- Is my thinker on the blink? When I ride my exercise bike, I wear some slip on shoes I got at Wal*Mart.  Slip on shoes are best, I just leave them in there by the bike with a pair of socks so I don’t use the (lazy) excuse of not wanting to bother with putting shoes on to exercise. Because when I was done, then I’d have to take them off and take off the socks and I just don’t feel like it….those of you with exercise issues know where I’m coming from. Those of you who don’t, well, you’d probably never understand this mindset. Anyway, I did it again this morning.  I sit on the floor to put on the shoes and I start with my right foot, which I cross over my left leg.  This puts my right foot in the left position. And for the (at least) third time this morning, I put my left shoe on that foot.  Well, I tried.  Just like the other times I’ve done this, it didn’t work. You’d think I’d learn. | Permalink

      Friday, April 24, 2009

otherstuff 09:53 AM - 04/24/2009 The topic: We got our money back! ---------------------------------------------- After some pretty scary “we’re broke!” moments, the money is in the new account.  I called this morning to make sure the $1200 that had been taken from the reserve was put back into reserve and that we were credited for all fees and finance charges due because of the reserve leaving the account. I was assured all would be as it should within 48 hours.  Whew! This is something I hope never, ever happens again.  It was a wake up call, though, Brian’s back to work after taking the (so far) year off of work on his tractor and to help his brother with his various projects.  Not having an emergency fund to rely on, well, it can sure hit you like a bucket of ice water. | Permalink

      Thursday, April 30, 2009

disneystuff 06:48 AM - 04/30/2009 The topic: If you’re curious ---------------------------------------------- Why the cameras weren’t on Sunday afternoon and most of Monday, it’s because we went up to Disneyland for Brian’s birthday, which was Monday. We’d tossed which days to go, Sunday and Monday or Monday and Tuesday last month and decided on the Sunday/Monday combination, since I’ve got hypnotherapy on Tuesdays. As usual, we didn’t get out of the house when we planned because the cats weren’t all in.  I couldn’t find Little Bit anywhere, so we left food for her outside.  We figured we wouldn’t be gone much more than twenty-four hours and she should be okay.  If it had been one of the younger cats, I don’t think I’d have done this, but she isn’t really active outside, she doesn’t hunt, she just mostly naps. When we got up to Anaheim, in the Disney Resort area, we were surprised to find how much traffic there was.  There were police all over directing traffic.  We made it up to the hotel and got checked in.  Brian got birthday balloons, he got a birthday button with his name on it and he got a little birthday song.  Sung to the tune of “Ta ra ra Boom de ay”, “this is your birthday song, it isn’t very long”.  We asked about upgrading the room, but found out that the hotels were sold out! Good deal for Di$ney. This was our first overnight trip up to the parks for Brian’s birthday and it was because we wanted to see what type of special thing they have for passholders on their birthday.  There were three choices.  A free pass to one park for that one AP holder anytime during the following year, not transferrable, or a rewards card for the cost of a one day pass, which can be used for select merchandise.  This card is good for a year.  Third, fast passes for six members of the birthday kid’s party, for that one day. Brian chose the merchandise card. We went over to the parks, had dinner at the French Market Restaurant, kicked around a little and it started to cool off. We went back to the hotel to get jackets and I took my shoes off.  We didn’t leave the room until Monday morning. We had breakfast at Carnation Cafe, went on some rides, Space Mountain, the Monorail, It’s a Small World, then went over to Disney’s California Adventure, where there’re big refurb doings. We had ice cream at Bur-r-bank in DCA.  Brian had a sundae with cookies, I had a sundae without.  His was a “menu” item, mine was not, mine was made to order.  He had more stuff on his, whipped cream, cherry, two chocolate chip cookies.  His was two cents more than mine.  How sad is that? Then we came home.  Made good time.  The cats were happy to see us and happy to get outside.  I checked the feeder asked Brian how much food he’d put in it.  He told me he’d filled it about half way.  It was down from there, so Little Bit had been left outside.  I found her up in the doghouse and she went back into the house.  I haven’t had a problem getting her in at all since then.  That probably won’t last long.  *lol*   But wait! I'm not done yet! I've got more to say! | Permalink

catstuff 08:11 AM - 04/30/2009 The topic: I’m taking Spot in for ---------------------------------------------- a drop off this morning.  There’s something going on in his mouth or throat.  Last week, the amoxi helped, but this morning, he’s back having a hard time chewing or swallowing.  Poor little guy. When I gave him the amoxi this morning in the pill pocket, I think it got caught on one of his back molars and it distressed him. Keep your fingers crossed he’ll be quickly feeling better. UPDATE: I’m home, Spot is not.  I was able to get in to see the vet (cancellation?), this was a good thing, since I could answer his questions. Spot has a problem around his left jaw.  The vet thinks it’s most likely an abscess from a slapped paw that got caught. There are some other possibilities, not good, like a broken jaw.  The vet thinks Spot is too young for tooth problems, so he’s not leaning towards stomatitis or the like (I surely hope it’s not that).  But, since Spot was reluctant to have his mouth opened fully, the vet felt it would be best for me to leave Spot there so he can be masked down and the vet get a better look at the problem.  Spot had a fever of 104°. The fact that he did get better last week with antibiotics is a good sign. So, now I wait. UPDATE II: Spot has a very, very bad URI. Vet threw out possibilities like calici and herpes viruses.  There’s one of five it might be, he sent out a mouth swab for testing and should get the results back tomorrow.  Spot is happy to be home.  For now. But I’ve got some metacam (for the pain) to give him later and he’s also going to be getting Doxycycline twice a day until the bottle is empty. I’m thinking he’s had this since he came to live here, his ears have always been very, very warm/hot to the touch (I think mentioning this to the vet this morning is why Spot got a rectal temperature reading this morning) and his eyes have always looked a little glassy to me.  According to the vet, a good part of his head is affected by this thing and that his poor little throat is raw from whatever is hitting it.  So, with any luck he’ll be feeling much better in a week, a whole lot better in two weeks. | Permalink

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities. In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

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