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      Sunday, June 04, 2017

otherstuff 07:44 AM - 06/04/2017 The topic: I’m alive! ---------------------------------------------- It was pretty hairy there for a while, but I made it. So, a month ago I was working on getting the store up and running after the new owner of the previous host of lvdesigns broke it. I worked with him for a week or so and he stopped responding to my emails, so I figured f*ck it and moved my site to another host.  The problem was he had so corrupted the database that the store did not work. At all. I contacted the developer, and $200 later, the store is up and running. Then there was the credit card program. It had been so long since I'd made a sale, the account was no longer active. It took almost two weeks for the site to be reviewed and accepted. But the store is once again up and running. Yay! Then, I know I've mentioned this in the past, that Mystie has a loose stool problem. And she gets it all over her backside. Tail, inside of her legs, it's just a mess. I finally started taking her into my bathroom and washing her in the sink. I figured one of those hoses that attaches to the faucet should help with rinsing her off. Well, the hose is a little long and there were contortions on my part to get her situated so that water didn't go all over the bathroom. And I felt the twinge in my back when I turned just right.... My sciatica. Damn it. The first time it went out was back in the 90s and I ended up crawling through the house to do things. I hope this wasn't as bad. That was on a Wednesday. By Friday, I was down. The pain was horrible. I took it easy over the weekend and the pain started to subside. By the following Wednesday, I was back up and around. And I overdid. Thursday, I hurt. Friday, I hurt worse. Way worse. I got out the blood pressure monitor and started checking it. By late Friday afternoon, it was sky high. My vision started to get blurry. I was scared. Really scared. I was in excruchiating pain and there was no end in sight and I was afraid I was going to have a stroke. Brian called an ambulance. I ended up in the emergency room at Kaiser. They monitored by blood pressure, took x-rays, and I had all sorts of sticky things holding wires down all up and down my body. (I was pulling them off days later.)  I got three kinds of medications, oxycodone, prednisone and ibuprofen. I slept on the sofa since the bed was too high for me. I slept less than an hour at a time because I had to pee at least once an hour. I had to walk down the hallway to the bathroom and to start with, Brian had to help me. It was hard to stand with the pain. By Tuesday, the pain was subsiding so that walking wasn't so horrible. Thursday I felt good enough to take a shower. It had been eleven days. I put a stool in the tub and sat on that to wash. My feet were so dirty, the crud just melted off of them (Brian's work makes for dirty floors, lots and lots of black powder floats in the air and ends up in the house and the cats don't help, either, bringing in the dirt they roll around in). I started to feel human again. My hair was incredibly gross and that was one of the worst parts of this whole episode. I didn't have the strength to keep on top of it and it was matted and nasty. Before I took the shower, I combed it and was pulling out huge mats. Disgusting. I took the last oxy Thursday morning at 3:30.  I took my last ibuprofen last night. I have more pills, but I'd like to not be taking them. They make me feel weird. A couple of thoughts. You know that ad for opiod constipation meds?  That opiod constipation is awful! OMG! Using the muscles you need to empty the bowels is almost impossible to do without passing out. They'd warned Brian at the hospital, told him I should take a stool softener.  I'd taken two Dulcolax earlier in the day and it took a long time to finally get things emptied out. Not fun. At all. Anyway, I'm on the road to recovery. I need to remember to take it easy and not to sit for long periods of time. Right now I'm feeling a little worn out and will probably go lay down for an hour or so. But at least I'm up!   sciatica    lvdesigns    | Permalink

otherstuff 10:09 AM - 06/04/2017 The topic: Random thoughts about my most recent adventure ---------------------------------------------- Friday, before he called the ambulance, Brian was working on getting packages labeled to ship out. He tried to print the UPS labels himself but his computer wouldn't do it. I need to fix this. Anyway, he ended up taking the packages to a UPS store and they "couldn't" use our account number for some reason. "It won't take!" I call B.S. We ended up paying forty dollars more than we would have if he'd been able to print them out here. This is the second time they did this to him. He wasn't happy. How do you explain your Xanax usage? Well, uh, we have .5mg pills and we quarter them and take as we need them. Yeah, we don't take much or very often. My blood oxygen was always pretty good. 98% on the way to the hospital. I kept looking for Brian out the back, but he was over at UPS. How tall are you? How much do you weigh?  I'm 5'1", I weighed this much last year at my annual physical. Haven't weighed since. Oh, and I did weigh myself this past week, I've lost ten pounds since the start of this episode. I just wasn't hungry. And besides, it's hard to swallow when you're on your back. And then there's the trips to the bathroom. I swear, I considered never eating or drinking again. The day of the E.R. trip, I actually told Brian that I couldn't live with this pain. I'd rather be dead. He didn't like that, it scared him a little. He told me "don't say that". Well, hey, if it feels like someone stuck an on-fire spear through your right butt cheek and it came out the other side and there was a searing white hot pain from one side to the other, you might reconsider. I think I'd pulled some front muscle trying to relieve pressure on the butt muscle. So, I had through and through pain. At the E.R., they told me to take off my bra and shirt. No bra. Bra is for shopping. Bra is not for house. And they were being very considerate in changing out my shirt to a hospital gown. Trying to protect my modesty. Hey, I don't give a rat's ass at this point who sees what. You guys are all professionals, there's nothing under this shirt that's gonna change anyone's life by viewing it. There's nothing new and exciting, just another overweight, senior citizen. You can play tic-tac-toe on my naked bosom, just take this damned pain away. Screw modesty. Speaking of pain, I asked the paramedic if the pain could cause the rise in blood pressure. He said it could. It did start to drop in the ambulance. (I kept thinking "somebody call a wahmbulance!") When they pulled up and took me away, the neighbors were all outside, watching. Yeah, I have a pain in the ass, nothing to see here, you can go back inside. (Remember, I was afraid I was stroking out, both parents had high blood pressure, both died from heart disease.) Brian was incredibly wonderful through this all. When I got up in the middle of the night to pee, even though I tried to be quiet, the "ow ow ow ow" would come spilling from my lips. He would get up to make sure I was okay. He fed me and watered me and medicated me. One time the cats had a dead bird in the dining room and they were growling at each other. I called him on the intercom and he came in and took care of it right away. He took care of the cats, making sure DaNiece got her meds in the morning and night and he fed them at night. And if they started bugging me, he'd take them off of me and cuddle with them until they got over it. My garden grew a lot in the past couple of weeks. I mean, a lot. The sunflowers are starting to flower. I watched little television. I couldn't follow a plotline. The hospital had Brian fill out some forms so hopefully, this will only cost us less than three hundred bucks. If we qualify.  Brian said don't worry about it. But that's what I do. Last night was the first time in weeks I've slept for more than two hours at a time! I got a call last week from Kaiser and my primary care doctor was supposed to call on Thursday for a phone appointment. He never did. Anyway, it's nice to be up. | Permalink

      Wednesday, June 07, 2017

otherstuff 07:27 AM - 06/07/2017 The topic: I feel almost human this morning ---------------------------------------------- This is the best I've felt in over a month. I'm taking one of those 800mg Ibuprofens in the morning with food. Yesterday, my Advil PM got here from Amazon and I took two of those last night. My sleep cycle has been all messed up. For some reason, I was only sleeping about an hour at a time, then I'd wake up, needing to urinate. Drag myself down to my bathroom and I didn't full on urinate at all, it was, as my mother would call it, a piddle. Like, why even bother? But the urge was there. So, I didn't get much decent sleep for the past month. Monday night I slept in bed for the first time in two and a half weeks, I was under the covers. I had nightmares, one being my legs were paralyzed. I tried moving them and I couldn't and I almost woke Brian up it was so scary. What the problem was, what the problem has been for years is Mario and Rory. They get so close to either side of my legs that I cannot move them. And with how iffy my back is right now, I couldn't just start kicking them off of me. Which I've done in the past. My fix is not to get between the sheets, but sleep on top of the spread with a couple of lightweight fleece blankets on top of me. For some reason, moving a cat away from me is easier this way. But it was a truly scary feeling. So, last night, around 8:30, I took the two Advil PMs, we went to bed at nine and I actually slept for three hours before I woke up. To the bathroom, back to bed, back to sleep for another couple of hours. Sleeping more than an hour at a time is awesome. I have a bunch to catch up on, but this is a start. My right butt cheek is still sore, but each day it's a little less. Looking forward to being pain free. And catching up on housework. I have lots of laundry to fold and put away. There was a load of shirts that need to be folded (Brian did his, bless his heart) and there are towels and blankets that need folding. I ran the Botvac yesterday, the floor is absolutely nasty. But I need to run an actual, full sized vacuum and get under furniture. So much to do. But Brian will stop me before I overdo it. He's my hero. sciatica    | Permalink

craftstuff 07:43 AM - 06/07/2017 The topic: Moar stuff I’m excited about ---------------------------------------------- Printing my own paper! Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been printing my own cardstock for a couple of years, but I was never overly excited about the vibrance of the colors. The paper is inkjet, but the brightness just isn't there. Earlier this year, I found We R Memory Keepers punchboards. I bought a couple of them, one for making envelopes. Playing with them, I realized regular paper will work nicely with them for regular envelopes. I have some paperpads that I've gotten in the past, and I can use those, the pattern side in and the blank side on the outside. But, you know me. I like things to match. So, I went in search of paper that I can print myself to better match whatever cardstock I use. I ended up on B&H Photo and bought a roll of Epson enhanced matte paper. It's twenty-four inches wide and one hundred feet long. This would make two hundred 12" x 12" sheets. Well, it got here and unfortunately, it's heavier than I expected. So, I ordered a roll of Epson single weight matte paper. This one is 24" x 131'.  That will make lots of paper for envelopes. The problem now is that I don't think I'll want to pull out my big paper cutter every time I want to trim down a sheet (remember, these rolls are two feet wide). So, I checked out Amazon and found a nice trimmer. (Geez everything I got has sure gone up in price in just a few months!) It got here and I was thrilled, until I went to use it. It's for quilting! I can't just slide the paper in and trim it, this sets on top of the media and slides. It needs a base! Fortunately, I had purchased a huge cutting mat back when I started doing shirts. I was sure I had one, it was just a matter of finding it. Brian drilled a couple of holes in it for me and now it's neatly hung up with my other stuff in the garage.  I cut a couple of sheets of the heavier paper and printed out a couple of digital paper designs I'd gotten on Etsy. And they're perfect!  Yeah, I can hardly wait to be back up to speed. So many ideas! So many options! making my own    craftstuff    | Permalink

      Monday, June 12, 2017

otherstuff 10:15 AM - 06/12/2017 The topic: A short update ---------------------------------------------- Feeling better, I'm not taking so many pills as I had been. When the right side gets too sore I'll take an Advil, depending on how bad it is, I may take two, but that's only 400mg total. The prescription pills were 800mg each. I was still having problems sleeping, after waking up every hour for weeks having to pee (which i don't understand, I wasn't drinking or eating much at all, have no idea where the fluid was coming from unless osmosis from the nasty humid cloudy weather we'd been having). I bought some Advil PM, thinking that was keep the pain at bay during the night as well as help me sleep. It didn't. I'd sleep for a couple of hours, then wake up and not be able to get back to sleep. Then I'd take a melatonin. It would work for a couple of hours, but once I woke up sleep was hard to find. So, I pushed the Advil PM to the side and just took a regular Advil along with an OTC sleep aid from Kirkland (CostCo brand). Success! I figure I'll do this for a few nights trying to get my sleep schedule back on track. We actually went to a movie yesterday morning, we really wanted to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 before it left the theaters. I was disappointed that it's no longer in 3D, but them's the breaks. We might go see the new Pirates this week one afternoon. It's supposed to be hot. The first 3D showings are in the afternoon, none in the morning. And if it's hot, Brian would be okay with that, I think, since he only has fans in his shop. We're taking DaNiece to the vet tomorrow, she's not doing well. She's the one with thyroid problems. She's been on meds for years and I've never taken her in for a recheck. Well, the past few months she seems to be going downhill. She cries a lot and eats a lot, but has diarrhea. Don't know if that's the medication she's on or what. A full blood panel is in order to find out what's going on and how we can help make her more comfortable. I'm really looking forward to not hurting. There's so much that needs to be done. I need to reweed the part of the garden where I planted the pepper plants. I'm pretty sure the original two sets of seeds washed away and now all that's there are weeds. I ordered more seeds from Amazon, now I need to plant them. And since it's supposed to finally start warming up, this would be the ideal time. Stupid back. I have to be cautious what I do because I want to get better. And I found out last month that just because I feel better, doesn't mean I can do whatever I want. I tried that and two days later it was so bad I couldn't stand it. Getting old ain't for sissies. sciatica    daniece    | Permalink

otherstuff 01:11 PM - 06/12/2017 The topic: Brian gets questions ---------------------------------------------- Potential customers ask him questions. There's one that pops up on a regular basis. Him: So, this guy asks me why my product is better than others'. Me: What did you tell him? Him: Go ask my competitors. See what they have to say. Me: You should tell him that yours are "made with love". Him: Busts out laughing. conversations    | Permalink

      Tuesday, June 13, 2017

entertainmentstuff 10:27 AM - 06/13/2017 The topic: Previews ---------------------------------------------- I gotta say I love the music in Marvel Studio movies. Turn up your speakers. I want to see this movie just for the soundtrack!   video    | Permalink

otherstuff 01:13 PM - 06/13/2017 The topic: So, I speak of my garden. ---------------------------------------------- Here are some photos of my garden. Clicking on a picture will take you to a bigger photo in my family album; clicking on that picture will open a larger photo. The alyssum. The first photo was after the seeds started coming up. This was the first flower. The second picture was taken this morning. Then we have catnip. Taken when the seeds started to break ground at the end of April. The second one was this morning. Spotty was having a little morning treat. Then there's the corn. And, last but not least, the tomatoes. The tomatoes surprise me. The ones on the left are Indigo, the second row is beefsteak and the ones on the right are cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomato plants are huge! All three varieties have blossoms on them. I will be planting more peppers. I pulled a bunch of weeds yesterday and watered thoroughly. I will probably plant seeds tomorrow since the weather has warmed up. This is the same side of the yard where there's a birdfeeder hanging from the house. There are also a few sunflowers in the garden. I was watching the birds with interest. I've seen a couple of them on the ground, in the plants and they come out with worms. I think this is pretty cool because the birds can take care of the worm problem and the plants should do better without getting eaten by bugs. the yard    photos    garden    | Permalink

catstuff 05:52 PM - 06/13/2017 The topic: DaNiece update ---------------------------------------------- She's lost over four pounds since her last visit. Which was over five years ago. She's sixteen years old now. The vet was very happy with her bloodwork. Very happy. There were a few values that were a little high, like her liver values, but at sixteen years of age, the vet isn't overly concerned. She does have bacteria in her ears, got medication for that. And to help with her diarrhea, she's getting immodium for two days and metronidazole for two weeks. The vet gave her fluids today and I'm supposed to give her fluids each day. Hopefully, this will help her get over this diarrhea bump she's on. Oh, and her thyroid level is up, I have to up her meds for that. I can do this. And she should start feeling better tomorrow, when the fluids she got today kick in. The vet said if these meds don't help, it could be IBD or cancer. If it's one of the two, my money is on the IBD. But the news wasn't horrible/awful. It was actually good. daniece    catstuff    | Permalink

      Thursday, June 15, 2017

entertainmentstuff 08:02 PM - 06/15/2017 The topic: Hit another movie today! ---------------------------------------------- I'd really wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales in 3D. When we got home from Guardians on Sunday, I checked the listings to see when the last day it would be shown in 3D. That was today. I told Brian and he wasn't sure if we could or not, it depended on how much work he got done. Last night, he asked what time was it showing today. We went to the 4:40 showing. We went early, got our tickets, what was pretty cool about that is about twenty years ago I bought some value tickets online for six bucks each, no expiration date. I had some left and we used two of those. Without those tickets, it would have cost us $28.00.  It cost us $10.00. Nice, huh? Then we hit the food court, got a very early dinner (neither one of us wanted to fill up on popcorn and candy) and headed over to the theater. We took our seats, no one else there. About ten minutes before the movie started one other couple showed up. That was it. Four people in the theater. The movie was great. And that's probably it for our summertime theater movie viewing. | Permalink

      Friday, June 16, 2017

craftstuff 09:47 AM - 06/16/2017 The topic: It’s going to be a hot one ---------------------------------------------- Supposed to be getting record heat. Mid-ninties. Oh, that's not as hot as it will get this summer, but for right now, it's supposed to be a high for this day in history. So, what to do? Craft. What to craft? I have absolutely no idea. I updated the firmware in the Cameo 3s this morning. All three machines are in place, ready to be run. But what do I want to make? Gah. This is the hard part of crafting. Getting started. I'd like to make a lantern to try out the new realistic flameless candles I got a few months back. But I have so many to choose from. I could make some cards, just to have them on hand. Oh, and I need to make things to sell in the store, now that it's up and running. I think a nap is in order. | Permalink

mrs. crankypants 09:51 AM - 06/16/2017 The topic: Got the pepper seeds in the ground ---------------------------------------------- I did that Tuesday. I planted three sweet varieties (Golden California, Big Red and Yolo Wonder) and four hot varieties (Anaheim, Cayenne, Jalapeno and Habanero - these are for Brian). They've been watered every morning. I check to make sure they haven't been scratched over by cats. They haven't.  I figured with this heat and keeping them moist, they should pop up in no time. I pull out the seed packets. Check the germination time. Fourteen to twenty-one days. What? Two to three weeks?  NOOOOOO!!! garden    | Permalink

otherstuff 05:40 PM - 06/16/2017 The topic: The avocado trees ---------------------------------------------- Here are a couple of pictures I've taken of the trees this year. The first two were taken in April, when the buds had been pollinated and the fruits were starting to grow. We knew that the majority of them would fall off, which they have. The last three were taken two days ago. In less than two months, they've grown considerably. And you can see a lot fell off. One of the nice things I found out doing research on the fruits ripening on the tree, is that they don't. They have to be taken from the tree to finish ripening. So, as long as they are on the tree, they'll be good! They should last us through next growing season. How cool is that? Clicking on a picture will take you to a bigger photo in my family album; clicking on that picture will open a larger photo. During the first three years, we only got about fifteen avocados between the two trees, this year is a bonanza. I did read that some avocado trees have a lot of fruit one year, then not so much the next year. I'll be kind of sad if both trees are loaded this year with nothing next year. But we'll survive. Save the yard    avocado trees    | Permalink

      Saturday, June 17, 2017

otherstuff 12:17 PM - 06/17/2017 The topic: Guess what? ---------------------------------------------- WE HAVE CORN!!!! garden    | Permalink

craftstuff 04:22 PM - 06/17/2017 The topic: St Patrick’s Day ---------------------------------------------- This is one of the cute things I made for St Paddy's Day. I gave it to the kids at the vet's office. The file name is the "Gold Coin Inn" over on SVGCuts.com. It was designed for Martha Stewart by request after SVGCuts won the American Made contest that the Martha Stewart company runs each year. They'd asked for something for their viewers to make. You don't need a cutting machine to make this, you can use scissors. Cool, huh? It's a "leprechaun trap". The leprechaun walks by the little house, sees the gold coin in the doorway and climbs up the ladder to get the coin. Once through the door, the thief falls into the bottom of the building. Cute story. I made this little card from a file I got over at the Silhouette Design Store. I love pop out cards. But wait! I'm not done yet! I've got more to say! svgcuts    st. patrick's    silhouette    craftstuff    | Permalink

      Sunday, June 18, 2017

mrs. crankypants 07:40 AM - 06/18/2017 The topic: Did you see the movie “Failure to Launch” ---------------------------------------------- It's an older movie about parents (Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw) trying to get their adult son (Matthew McConaughey) to move out of the house. Sarah Jessica Parker is the person who is going to get him to move out (it's her job, she's paid to do this). She has a roommate, Zooey Deschanel. Zooey's character is having a hard time sleeping. Because of a mockingbird that won't shut up. That's me. In front of the house, there is a mockingbird that sings all night long. All. Night. Long. Every night. It doesn't start singing until I'm fast asleep. I go to bed, blissful silence. I wake up in the middle of the night to pee (I've done this since I was a young child and got spanked for bedwetting). I get back in bed and that damned bird is singing the song of his people. And I can't get back to sleep. Earlier in the week, I'd taken a sleep aid. That worked, but it got to the point that I was dragging all day long, so I decided to forgo the pill. And I'm dragging today. I ended up on the sofa because I couldn't hear the bird in the family room. The bed is way more comfortable. I sure hope he finds himself a lady friend, and quick. | Permalink

craftstuff 10:26 AM - 06/18/2017 The topic: This year’s Springtime cards ---------------------------------------------- And this will catch me up. Here are all of the cards I made to send out for spring. All cards are from SVGCuts.com. The first one is from the Springtime Box Cards SVG Kit. I really had fun with this one. If you look at the bigger picture (clicking on a picture will take you to a bigger photo in my family album; clicking on that picture will open a larger photo.), you might be able to see that some of the pieces are flocked. Part of the branches and the eggs. I got this paper over on Scrapbook.com. This was the best price I could find for it. I also used this paper on the stocking cards that were in last year's Christmas cards.  I brushed an ink pad along the sides of the eggs to give them a little depth of color. The stamps I used were from Kaisercraft, Rubbernecker Stamps, Inkadinkado and Inky Antics. The following three cards are from the Easter Box Cards Kit. Bunny ears and noses are flocked paper. The eyes are tiny round halfback beads I got on eBay. I have tons of these things, different colors and sizes. I buy the ones from China. They take a while to get here, but they're really cheap and nice to have on hand. The "celebrate spring!" sentiment was written on cardstock and cut out using the Cameo 3. That's a little white pom pom for his tail. Keeeyoot! The flowers and nose are flocked paper. The eyes are tiny black beads. And that's it!  All of the cards I've made so far this year. I need to make more. I have the ones picked out I want to make, now I have to pick out the paper. The toughest part. Save svgcuts    spring    silhouette    photos    | Permalink

      Monday, June 19, 2017

otherstuff 08:44 AM - 06/19/2017 The topic: I’m bored ---------------------------------------------- Bird was quiet at 10:30 last night. Not so much at 11:21. I shut my window, didn't help. It's hot, don't really want to shut windows. Ended up on the sofa again. At 3:30, I walked down the hallway to the bedroom and listened. No bird. Back to bed. I'm tired as well as bored. I have dishes to do. Brian wants me to do a load of laundry, his jeans. I have five cards I want to make, I'll make multiples of each. I need to pick out the paper. DaNiece is sleeping on the sofa. She looks so peaceful. She's eating more. A couple of nights ago, she fought her meds. I took this as a good sign. She feels a little heavier when I pick her up. I'm not sure how her poo is doing. She's not going in the litterboxes (or hanging her backside out of the litterbox so it squirts all over the floor) and I haven't seen anything new in the garden for a couple of days. I hope it's getting better. It's supposed to be hot today. Hotter tomorrow. I took a couple of Advil, maybe my legs won't be so stiff and I'll be more excited about standing out in the garage for a few hours, going through paper stacks. Until then...I'm bored. daniece    | Permalink

      Wednesday, June 21, 2017

mrs. crankypants 02:52 PM - 06/21/2017 The topic: Stupid commercials ---------------------------------------------- Any commercial with Flo. The drug commercial with the guy dancing to everything he does. Like pushing the lawn mower. Viagra commericals where the women all look like high priced rent a dates. | Permalink

      Thursday, June 22, 2017

otherstuff 08:43 AM - 06/22/2017 The topic: Conversations around the house ---------------------------------------------- Brian usually does the shopping at Smart & Final. For stuff like produce, bagged salad, deli meat, bread, ice cream, and milk. Things that either Costco doesn't carry, or in smaller, more manageable amounts. Occasionally, I like chocolate milk. The last quart of milk he bought didn't get used (I wasn't moving around much), it was dumped down the drain and he bought more the last time he went shopping. Last night he asked me a question. "Did you have milk?" I looked at him. Thought about my answer. "Oh, no! You must have bought the milk like that!" Yeah, okay, it was kind of mean. But really? He gave me a look and walked out of the room. conversations    | Permalink

catstuff 12:05 PM - 06/22/2017 The topic: DaNiece update ---------------------------------------------- So, she's officially been on her meds seven days yesterday. And, she's showing improvement. Her poops aren't wonderful and they aren't consistent, but at least there are some solids in them. Before, it was just brown watery stuff. Now, it's a mixed bag. The really watery stuff isn't happening as often. And she's making it outside to do her business, no more foot long splats outside of the litterboxes. Those are no fun to clean up - no fun at all. I had to call to get more metronidazole. She's supposed to be getting two doses a day, .6ml each time. I doubt there's enough to take her through the weekend. I don't understand this, why didn't I get enough to start with? Her appetite has picked up and yesterday, she actually purred a little. It's been a while since I've heard a purr from her. And she's started grooming herself again. Not a lot, but each day she goes a little farther in her cleaning. First her face, then her face and paws and ears and a little on the back. Small steps. Her ribs aren't looking so prominent now that her belly is starting to fill in. She still is pretty bony, but she is putting on a little weight. The past couple of days, she's in the kitchen in the morning when I'm fixing breakfast, crying to be fed. This is a good sign. Anyway, another week on the meds, then discuss her progress with the doctor. If she's not doing better, I think she'll want to treat her for inflammatory bowel. Save diarrhea    daniece    catstuff    | Permalink

otherstuff 03:19 PM - 06/22/2017 The topic: So tired of being tired ---------------------------------------------- A trip to CostCo was badly needed. Brian was going to go yesterday and I mentioned that maybe I could go with him. Just to see how it went. We went later in the day and were lucky to find a spot close to a cart area and in the shade. We walked slowly to the front of the warehouse, since my legs are pretty stiff. Did the shopping, I held on to the cart. Finished with our shopping, got the car loaded up and headed home, stopping at Jack in the Box for a cheap dinner. Six tacos and one child's cheeseburger for under seven dollars. Dinner eaten, car unloaded, groceries put away, we watched a little television. I medicated Neesy, we watched some Big Bang Theory on TBS and both fell asleep. Woke up around 9:30 and got DaNiece's fluids ready, Brian held her and I gave them to her. A cat had puked in the hallway, I cleaned most of it up and Brian did the final cleanup. He gathered up his stuff, shut off the television and we went to bed. Sleep came quickly and left just as quickly. You know the articulated dolls, like Barbies? How you can make them sit? Well, that area in the front, where the legs bend, on me, last night in bed, started to get pretty painful. I'm laying there, wondering .  I got up, went into the kitchen, took a couple of Advil and sat down on the sofa (hello, old friend). It was 11:30. Marty Mockingbird had started his nightly caterwauling. A friend had suggested earplugs over on Facebook and Brian had brought in a pair. I put them in and it was heaven. I heard no bird singing. Since I couldn't get comfortable in bed and was worried that my tossing and turning might bother Brian, I stayed in the sofa. I ended up taking a melatonin and didn't fall asleep until after 1:30. I'd really like a good night's sleep. A nice, long, restful sleep. I think my legs hurt because of all of the walking I'd done earlier. I need to be more active, but it's so hard when I'm so tired.... | Permalink

      Saturday, June 24, 2017

otherstuff 07:19 PM - 06/24/2017 The topic: What a day ---------------------------------------------- I woke up before five this morning and took out the earplugs. Marty Mockingbird was still yammering on. I didn't feel really tired any longer, but I lay there, petting cats and trying to get back to sleep. It was getting lighter and I just figured the heck with it and got up. One of the first things I did was go outside and check the pepper seeds. Five varieties had sprouted! Yay! I fed DaNiece (I have to sit with her while she eats because of vultures). Checked my email and facebook page, nothing going on. After DaNiece finished eating, I went back to the office and booted up the computer. I had purchased some svg files from Dreaming Tree , downloaded those as well as some free files that he has and proceeded to print them out. While I was waiting for them to print out, I got a load of laundry going. Once the files were all printed, I shut down the PC and started breakfast. After we'd eaten, I did the dishes, then went out to the garden and raked the area where the peppers would be. I pulled a bunch of weeds and pulled tomato branches up into the wire baskets. The cherry tomato plants are almost as tall as me! Brian mowed and watered the lawn and when he was finished with that, the laundry was ready to be hung out. Instead of using a basket, I carried shirts out, about ten at a time and put them on the line. I brought them all out and started to hang them up. When I was part way finished, I noticed I'd dropped a shirt on the ground. I picked it up and wouldn't you know, I'd stepped on it. And there was cat poop under it. Nice. Real nice. Just great. Got everything hung up, hosed the nasty shirt, but it back in the laundry room to dry and go back into the basket. It was pretty quiet for the rest of the day. An Amazon order got here, I got some egg storage thingies. They hold twenty-one eggs each. Three eggs wide, seven eggs deep. CostCo no longer sells the eighteen eggs, but five dozen. The container isn't really practical for the refrigerator, it's five eggs by six eggs, two deep. This morning when I made breakfast, when I took the carton out of the frig, I wasn't aware it was upside down. When I took the top part off, the eggs started rolling around and one hit the floor. Egg is so hard to clean up. It keeps sliding out of the paper towel and it's just gross. The cats had no interest in helping me clean it up.  But these new containers will make egg storage much better. I made mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. That was it. Brian ate a lot. I washed most of the dishes, and Brian started cleaning litter boxes. I went out into the garage and put away seven cases of cat food. I had sit down at one point because my legs and back were starting to hurt. After I was finished with that and Brian had thrown away all of the cardboard, I kicked back on the sofa. I was hot and sweaty from the garage and decided I would go skinny dipping. Man, that was so relaxing. The water was a little on the cool side when I got in, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I hung out by the wall and I think Sagwa was pretty worried about me. He kept talking to me and he would head butt me and rub my face. I have to say, being in the pool was the most relaxed I've been all day. I should do that more often. Anyway, the day is almost done, I'm tired and about ready to call it a day. Watching alien shit on television (that's what we call it, all the UFOs and Area 51 and the ancients). It's not loud and screamy, which is pretty nice. I'm going to go hang up the shirts (I brought them in before dinner and just put them on the bed). That should take about fifteen minutes or less. Then maybe give DaNiece her fluids and medications, feed the cats and just be done with this day. My legs hurt. They are not used to working. | Permalink

      Tuesday, June 27, 2017

otherstuff 08:24 AM - 06/27/2017 The topic: Conversations around the house ---------------------------------------------- I hear Brian's phone ring. He walks into the room a few minutes later, saying he has to go to the machinist. He likes the machinist and the machinist has helped him out and done things that make Brian's link production easier and less time consuming. Unfortunately, the machinist has cancer and was recently given notice that the landlord is raising his rent to an unacceptably high amount. Since this is the machinist's retirement job, something to do, he already has a decent retirement coming in, he said he's closing shop. Leaving the business. He and his wife bought a big RV and will live on a relative's land here in San Diego county. Brian is bummed because he's got a decent business relationship with this guy. Him: This will probably be my last time going to his shop. I'm bummed. Me: Maybe you should bring him something. Maybe a hot dog. (WTF?? A hot dog? Did I just say "bring him a hot dog"? Where the hell did that come from? Why did I say hot dog? My God, I'm losing my mind! I'm going senile!) Him: ~laughter~ A hot dog? I'm gonna tell him my wife said I should bring him a hot dog. Maybe I should grab a bun. Me: Just shoot me now. conversations    | Permalink

otherstuff 01:23 PM - 06/27/2017 The topic: I have hobbies ---------------------------------------------- Like my crafting. And computer stuff. And photography. I've been thinking about getting back into my beading and incorporating it into my paper crafting. And selling it. Cool, custom boxes, or cards made to hold jewelry. Always thinking. I llke making little movies. Back when we had the Disney meets (last one was 2013), I'd get photos from everyone and make movies of the meet. The last few years, the amount of group shots kind of died down because everyone was off on their own and I was getting fewer and fewer photos from everyone and I kind of lost the joy of putting the video together. I still haven't done the last one. Just don't seem to have the heart to do it. But I think about it. My go to video program is Corel VideoStudio. And something it does is 3D. Not the kind of 3D you see at the theater, but the kind where you put on the funky glasses that have red cellophane for one lens, blue on the other. I'd planned on trying my hand at a little funky 3D movie with my Corel software, using video from a Disney meet. I even bought a bunch of those 3D glasses to send along with the finished DVD. They're branded, I don't remember with what. They were obviously left over from some promotion, but I don't care. So, I'm thinking about making my funky little 3D video. I Google 3D movies and found a little youtube video. I went into the garage to find my funky little red and blue glasses and my paper crafting stuff is in front of it. I could open one side of the storage area and I looked inside. I've got sweatshirts stuffed inside and what looks to be one of those foot massager things that you put water in. Another "what the hell?" moment.. Yeah....it's hot out there, I'm not gonna start moving things around to get to my funky little 3D glasses.  Not today. I bet I could make a really cool 3D video. I have lots of little cat videos. But I'm back in the house, making a journal entry about how I have all of these great ideas. All I need is some energy and less heat.   to do list    hobbies    | 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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