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      Sunday, December 01, 2002

02:54 PM - 12/01/2002 The topic: It’s COLD! ---------------------------------------------- Boy, it is really cold.  Well, for southern California, it’s really cold.  It’s only 56? right now and it’s after ten ayem.  Oh, look, an hour later and now it’s 63?.  Wow, this keeps up, I’ll be so hot I’ll have to go swimming later. I did something this morning that I’ve never done before in my life.  I went into a sit down restaurant and ordered food.  I was alone.  I’m close to fifty years old and this was a first.  I’ve sat down in fast food places, but this was IHOP.  I brought the morning paper and it was really kind of nice, sitting there next to the window, sun shining in, sipping coffee reading the Parade and eating my breakfast.  It wasn’t as horrifying as I always thought it would be. Some bad news yesterday.  Remember the Ranch Wagon? The one we got back in October 2000?  The man who sold it to us had been sick for a while, liver problems.  He passed away yesterday.  Mom had talked to him just two days previous and when the phone rang, she saw his name on the caller ID and she answered all cheery.  And it wasn’t him, it was his ex-wife, who has taken care of him through his sickness.  She gave mom the sad news.  Say a little farewell to Joe.  He was a really sweet man. I was up pretty late last night working on the Sunsets page.  The first thing I did was the new background.  I like it when I can get them to look seamless.  Then I uncluttered the page, removing the music.  For some reason, I’ve been removing music from my pages.  I’ll never remove it on the opening page, though.  I’ll probably never redo the opening page.  I like it too much. DeeJay is surprising the heck out of me.  He’s actually started putting on weight, the scales this morning almost hit eight pounds, but settled at 7/13.  That’s up over six ounces from last week.  And it would appear as if his appetite has returned.  I hope this keeps up, it’s nice to see him hungry.  I know he likes the turkey and it doesn’t have any additives that would upset his tummy. Maybe starting to eat more jump started his appetite as a whole.  I surely hope so. Boney does not want the kidney diet today.  He’ll eat a little, then start yowwing at me.  I gave DeeJay some of the food I feed the out fronts and he really liked it.  Well, Boney got some, too and now that’s all he wants.  *sigh* I’ve been trying to get a fire going for the past hour.  I’m no good at it.  I don’t have any kindling, I think is the problem.  I’m going to run out of newspaper before too long.  A fire would be so nice right now. I think Brian is really missing the old homestead right now.  He told me last night about a neighbor cat that he picked up and loved.  He said “I knew he wasn’t feral because he talked to me”.  Usually feral cats don’t talk.  You’ll only hear them when they’re fighting or having sex, or when a queen is calling to her kittens.  Feral cats interact the way nature intended, by body language.  Some moron sent me a message via the declaw story form, yapping about how she doesn’t care about the furniture, but she does about her children.  So, against my better judgement, I sent her a link to My Two Cents which addresses children, cats and claws, no commentary, just the link,  but the coward sent a bogus email address.  So, I searched, found her ISP number and if she comes back, her little butt will be redirected to the Bonsai Kitten site (which had many people outraged, but “Bonsai Kitten” isn’t real, it’s a hoax and a satire on people altering animals to fit their lifestyles).  Gawd, people can be such jerks. And I added the link to the form page, just in case somebody else gets the same urge she had. I finally got my letters to Disneyland done yesterday, but they didn’t get out in the mail.  It took me long enough.  I hope that some good comes of the one complaining about the men saving places (If you missed it, check out my 10-17-02 trip report).  That just ain’t right.  The only attraction that isn’t cleared after each cycle is the train.  Can you imagine refusing to get off of the Matterhorn or Space Mountain?  I’m sure security would be called toot sweet. :mickey Well, going in to the half, Chargers are ahead of Denver by seven.  I hope they can keep it up in the last half, I hope they don’t bend over like they did last week.  But Denver has a great on the road record.  This is going to be interesting. Well, I guess that’s it for today. It’s pretty quiet around here today.  Cats are all napping, some outside, some inside.  Dog is stretched out on the patio.  The sun is shining and my solar rainbow maker is slowly turning on the office window, sending rainbows around the room.  Have a great day! | Permalink

      Tuesday, December 03, 2002

01:09 PM - 12/03/2002 The topic: Ahh…one more day! ---------------------------------------------- One more day until hubby gets home.  And lets review what I’ve done since he left.  Hmmm….ran the dishwasher twice.  Threw out three items of clothing in my closet (about a hundred to go, then there’s the old pointy toed shoes on the floor that need to be introduced to the dumpster…), cleaned my bathroom a couple of times, which you can’t tell this morning (I found two places where the cats have sprayed the mirror, just last night), did a laundry, which is still in the dryer…paid bills.  That’s about it.  I’ve done very little on the afghan, didn’t do anything about cleaning out my drawers and closet.  And I had such big hopes.  Yeah, right.  I did finally get the fire going late Sunday afternoon.  I was so happy, it was wonderful.  Startled the cats with the popping of the bark, but the got used to it.  Chargers won in overtime.  They’re a half game in first place. Second place is the Raiders. And the Raiders are playing here next Sunday.  My mom called last night.  She also called every day this weekend.  I can’t get a break from the damned telephone.  I know she was just checking to make sure I was alright.  But still.  I hate the phone.  And I know if I hadn’t picked up, she would have become worried.  What can you do? She asked me Sunday if I wanted to go shopping Monday.  I think her feelings were hurt when my “No!” came so quickly.  I didn’t even have to think about it.  It wasn’t anything about her, I just hate going shopping, as I’m sure long time readers of this diary would know.  And it’s bad enough shopping alone, but to go with someone?  Ack!  I don’t like looking for clothes for me, I most certainly don’t like looking at clothes for someone else (except Brian and he’s really easy to shop for; flannel shirts and Levi’s).  And this time of the year?  I don’t think so.  Too many people, too much traffic, not for me.  I had asked her before Brian left if she’d like to go see a movie and she said that the theater is too loud for her liking (I took her to see A Beautiful Mind earlier this year). One of hubby’s cousin’s called yesterday, back in town, starting back up in business, the same business hubby is in.  They were partners years ago (something everybody who knew the two of them advised Brian against, it was a lesson learned) and split up in less than a year.  He asked me about one of Brian’s employees, this guy had put in his references that Brian was his current employer and mentioned a big hotel job they’d recently done.  That Brian had enough work for him through the end of the year.  Huh?  I told the cousin that somebody was lying to him.  Nobody by that name worked for Brian, just Mark, nobody has worked for Brian since he let his two employees go back in ‘93.  Mark is the only one who’s worked for him since.  And Dale knows darned well that Brian doesn’t work on hotels.  Only storefront (and none of that in years) and residential homes.  I bet the guy who was applying for the job had no idea that Brian and Dale are related.  Heh.  If you put down references, you should really make sure you don’t lie, especially about your “current employer”.  I told Brian about it last night and he didn’t recognize the guy’s name at all.  Mystie went after Angel Sunday night.  Poor little Angel.  She’s so quiet and spends her days in the rafters and nights in the bedroom window. I told Mystie I wasn’t happy with her.  It took me over fifteen minutes to get lil Angel calmed down.  There’s still fur in the bathroom, which I have to clean. Speaking of cleaning, I really should clean again today.  Dust, vacuum and wash the floors again.  It sure doesn’t take long, even when I think I’m keeping on top of it.  Little pieces of cat food, carpeting from the scratching posts, balls of fur, cat puke, if it’s cat related, you can bet it’s somewhere in this house right now needing to be cleaned.  I’ll probably get started this afternoon.  I have a couple of more pages to add to the declaw section, then I’ll start on the house. After I finish this entry, of course, and we all know how that can take almost the entire day. I had to get more fluids for Deej yesterday and the vet had raised the price from $20.00 to $28.00. That’s a pretty big jump. When I told hubby last night, he asked if there was any place else I could get them.  I don’t know, I’ll have to check around. I’ve started walking again.  Yesterday morning, when I went outside I saw the moon with either a star or a planet very close to it, very clear, even though the sun was coming up and I had to take a picture of it.    I’m really proud of myself for walking.  It’s good that I do this because, besides the bounce in my step, there’s a major bounce in my belly.  Who do I think I’m kidding that I don’t need to do something soon?  Nobody but me, I guess.  I sure wish, though, there was a quickfix.  Something to tell that munch center of my brain to shut up, quit bugging me.  Last night, I caught Opie and Daniece smurgling on the loveseat:     Ain’t that sweet? Well, I’ve got a load in the laundry and I’d best run the vacuum and Floormate before all the cats have to stay in.  I sure wish Autumn would catch on to the cat door, I feel so badly that she can’t go out.  But she’s got to learn.  If she’d let me hold her, I could show her how to do it, but she just runs from me.  The feral in her, I guess. I made a few changes with the diary.  Now, it only saves four entries before going to archive and I added the back, next and index buttons, which show up on the archived pages. They’re at the top of the page now, instead of the bottom.  I missed my buttons.  That’s all for now, folks | Permalink

      Wednesday, December 04, 2002

08:59 AM - 12/04/2002 The topic: Brian’s home! ---------------------------------------------- Brian’s home!  He called last night at 7:30 and said he’d be home in about four hours.  So, I left the patio light on and he was home right at 11:30.  I was in bed and he came in and we were asleep within fifteen minutes. Of course, I’m glad now, because the cats will have someone else to bother.  After the first few nights Brian was gone and they realized he wasn’t coming to bed, I’d have Boney on my pillow and Richie snuggled up against my neck and head.  Daniece would come over and snuggle, too.  Mickey would be behind my knees and I often woke up with Mystie laying on top of me.  Georgie would be at the foot of the bed and occasionally, there were other cats on the rest of the bed.  It was very difficult for me to get up if I had to pee.  There was a lot of complaining when I did. After the shock of the price increase in the lactated ringers, the fluids for DeeJay, out of curiosity I went over to Valley Vet, the same place I buy my Feliway, the cheapest place I’ve found it.  I found the ringers and they were much more affordable.  $3.49 for one,  $2.99 each if you buy a dozen.  Of course, you need a prescription.  I was a little nervous about calling the vet’s office this morning and asking for one.  Fortunately Becky answered the phone and said that she didn’t see why there would be a problem, so she’s going to have him write one up for fluids and the needles.  She was a little surprised that the prices had gone up again.  I’m afraid if he keeps raising his prices, he’ll start losing customers.  He’s a great vet and fortunately, we can afford him, but many won’t be able to.  If he hadn’t raised these prices so much, I’d never have shopped around.  I told Brian how much they sell for online and told him I bet the vet got them for less than that.  Brian did the math and said “that’s a thousand percent markup”. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Caller ID.  If you aren’t, this is what happens.  You have a little box hooked up to your phone.  The phone rings and the name and number of the caller (if they don’t have it blocked) shows up, so you know who’s calling.  Now, my dentist’s office calls a couple of days in advance of an appointment, to remind the patient of the upcoming visit.  So, I’m sitting here, wasting time on the internet again and the phone rings.  I see who the caller is, it’s the dentist, to remind me that I’ve got an appointment Thursday at 8:00.  I pick up the phone, say “yeah, yeah, I know, Thursday at 8, I’ll be there.”  Dead silence.  I start laughing.  The woman on the other end was a little thrown off, to say the least.  She’s got a list of numbers, her little script and things always go just so.  Hee hee…..  She obviously wasn’t familiar with Caller ID.  I explained how I knew it was her.  I bet I just made her whole day.  Georgie spent the night outside.  I’ve mentioned before how he gets all wound up at night, so I let him out, thinking that Brian would see him when he got home.  He didn’t and I forgot all about him.  So, this morning, when I let the cats out, Georgie came in.  He ate.  He’s happy.  He’s sleeping on a dining room chair. Yesterday I did get the floors vacuumed.  I found that the tool for the floor that came with the Shop Vac fits nicely on the Hoover and it was so much easier to use.  I need to get one for the Hoover.  Brian just told me he had one that he doesn’t use and I can have that one.  And when I mentioned our “WindTunnel” he started arguing with me, said “we don’t have a ‘WindTunnel’”.  Now, I use this machine.  I’m the one that empties the bag.  I’m the one who changes the attachments.  I’m the one who orders the accessories.  I would surely hope I would know if we have a ‘WindTunnel’ or not. He backed off when I had him look at the front of the machine.  And so it begins.  It was sure pleasant not arguing when he was gone.  He’s been out of bed for less than a half hour.  *sigh* I wish he would stop being so nitpicky.  And, you know, the fact that it’s a ‘WindTunnel’ isn’t even important to the point that the tool from the ShopVac fit. And after I vacuumed, I cleaned out all of the litter boxes.  I’m glad I didn’t put it off.  The only thing I did after he let me know he was on his way was to empty out the dishwasher. Have a great day, everyone! | Permalink

      Saturday, December 07, 2002

12:06 PM - 12/07/2002 The topic: It’s time… ---------------------------------------------- Well, it’s time.  What I put off until is finally here.  The bedroom remodel begins today.  We got up early, had breakfast at Denny’s in Santee, then went over to Home Depot and bought paint (heh heh, I just got yelled at because I’m ‘supposed to be cleaning stuff’), the color is “Spring Meadow”, the texture is “SandWash”, it’s by Behr.  So, if I’m not around much in the next few weeks, this is why. I dumped all of my clothes from the drawers onto the bed and started throwing out this, saving that.  Mickey came in and, too late, I noticed him squatting on the save pile.  *sigh*  I’ll be washing all of my clothes.  Not that there are all that many.  Brian watched me go through them and one he said “I can’t believe you ever wore that”.  I reminded him that before I met him I’d done drugs (crystal meth) and I was down to a size three (and I believe that my years of doing drugs majorly messed up my body’s metabolism and that’s why I’m fighting this weight now).  Anyway, it was really kind of depressing.  :cry Well, I’ve pulled out all of the yarn from under the bed. Gee, I didn’t know I had those colors.  Nice!  And some even kind of match the stuff we just bought.  I guess our tastes haven’t changed all that much over the years. The cats, of course, are wondering what the heck is going on.  The bed is apart and Brian is taking it piece by piece into the living room, where it will be reassembled (we gotta sleep somewhere, ya know?).  Well, not all of the current bedroom suite is going into the living room, part is going out to the dumpster.  So far, the mirror part of my drawers are out there and the headboard is soon to follow. That headboard is heavy!  As yet, Ciara is the only cat in the living room sniffing around.  And we certainly don’t want her peeing on things.  I went to the vet’s office yesterday to get more Advantage (I’ve got six cats left to do and I think I’ll give the ferals, Lonee, Red and Jackson Program in food) and I asked about the prescription for the fluids.  No prescription, but the vet will sell them to me at what I could buy them for online.  I guess he said it’s too big of a hassle to do the prescription.  That’s fine with me.  $2.99 is much nicer than $28.00. So, I’m off to help hubby.  Next for me to clean out is my closet.  So far, I’ve tossed out over fifty percent of my wardrobe.  The percentage will be higher when I’m done, I’m sure of that.  *sigh* | Permalink

      Monday, December 09, 2002

01:25 PM - 12/09/2002 The topic: I’m back! ---------------------------------------------- I’m sore, though, very sore.  Brian had the bed and dresser set up in the living room by mid afternoon Saturday.  Then we took a break and headed off to Boll Weevil for a late lunch, then back home.  On the way there, I told Brian that Boney had been in the window and I sure hoped that he didn’t try to jump down.  Afterall, there was no bed, the steps had been taken from the wall and there was no carpeting, just concrete.  And guess what?  When we got home, he was on the sofa in the family room.  I checked him out thoroughly and he seemed to be okay. No limping or tenderness anywhere.  I changed all of the bed clothes, putting clean stuff on, while making sure that the washing machine and dryer were always going.  Brian got all of the carpet in the bedroom pulled up and out of the house and I vaccumed the floor.  Then he started mudding the walls.  When he’d gotten as far as he could, he stopped for the night.  I was folding clothes and putting them away.  There were shirts I didn’t even remember I had.  I hung up many and put the others in the empty drawers.  Amazing how easily they open without being stuffed.  At one point I noticed that one of the cats was sniffing the duvet cover which I hadn’t put on the comforter yet and I checked it out.  Peed on.  All the way down to the mattress.  I grabbed some towels, got one pretty wet and some cleaner and sopped up as much of the urine as I could.  It wasn’t where any of our body parts hit and we were both so tired, that we didn’t really worry about it.  We got up early Sunday and decided on another breakfast out.  Brian hadn’t slept well because the blue flood light in the entry way outside the door was shining in the house and it really bothered him.  Last night he unscrewed it before going to sleep.  When we got back, he started back to work on the walls, cutting out the nasty drywall (from cat urine) and replacing it, then mudded that wall.  He asked what we planned on doing with the fish tank and I had to drain most of it, then he carried it outside.  I was able to reach in and get the fish and put them in a clean container, then I started work on the tank.  The only thing that didn’t need replacing was the rocks.  We had to go shopping anyway, so when he got to a good stopping place, we went to Michael’s Craft Store where their wax was selling for thirteen dollars for an eleven pound slab, marked down from twenty.  I got two.  Then we went to Wal Mart to look at fish stuff and we didn’t like the plants (which we didn’t like and they were too expensive) and went over to Petco.  We got a new powerhead for the undergravel filter, thermometer and plants.  Brian went back to work in the bedroom and I started cleaning the fish tank.  I had a little help.     Richie gets a good look at the inside of the tank he’s only seen from the outside.  You can see our three fish in the white bucket.     Aha! There are those fish!     Maybe there’s still something inside the tank (note how he’s balanced himself on the edge of the bucket)     Richie has decided to forego the tank and concentrate on the bucket   His paws just keep getting wetter and wetter, but he still can’t reach the fish         Amazing how he hasn’t taken a header into the bucket yet   Taking a timeout.  Notice how wet the ground is around him compared to the second picture. I covered the bucket after this picture because I had work to do and didn’t want fish or cat getting hurt.  It took a couple of hours to clean most of the grunge out of the tank itself.  We were missing parts for the old filter and Brian had to go get a new one.  While he was gone, I put the new plants in and started filling it with water.  To make it go more quickly, I put the hose in and when it was filled to a certain point I would fill the rest with hot water.  Well, the hose popped out.  Splashed on the bed, the floor, the dresser, the sliding glass door.  *sigh*  What a mess.  So, now it’s set up on my dresser in the living room and it looks pretty nice.  The plan is for Brian to make a glass top and we’ll set it on one of the end tables in the living room.  It’s too pretty to just not use anymore. One of the things we worried about was how was Annie going to do?  Annie has spent the majority of her nights behind the old bed.  And now, there’s no bed.  Since she likes the office, I reluctantly left the office door open all night and day, which I’ll be doing until the bedroom is completed.  The bad thing about that is that the office is the only room to which the cats have access that is carpeted.  And boy, they’re taking advantage of it.  This carpet in here really stinks now.  I’ll try shampooing it, I’ve used the little Green a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, but it didn’t seem to help for very long.  Maybe it would do better with the big machine. So today, I’m playing catchup.  I just got the final picture of Brian’s trip printed (he’s taking them over to his mom).  We got a notice from our insurance company that they no longer do contractor’s insurance and that our policy will lapse at the end of the policy period.  Funny this comes right after we cancel five of our six vehicles with them.  Jerks.  I don’t like Farmer’s at all. I guess that’s all for now. | Permalink

      Thursday, December 12, 2002

01:22 PM - 12/12/2002 The topic: Stupid, stupid, stupid people… ---------------------------------------------- By now I’m sure everyone knows how horrible I think declawing is.  I’ve been posting about it on various boards for years now.  Well, every once in a while somebody who sees nothing wrong with it says something really, really stupid, makes some really idiotic analogy.  Here’s the latest posted at the AcmePet Cat’s Window by some twit by the name of Shannon:   “Leah, I think these people maybe could be a little nicer…..to people who might have different opinions….than their own. You do what you feel is best….there is nothing wrong with declawing and there isn’t any thing wrong with NOT de-clawing….it is totally up to you. My advice would be .....ask your vet…if he/she thinks it will KILL or Harm then I think the vets in american WOULDNT DO IT. And also ...i know of a few vets that won’t but it’s not because of the danger….it is they just don’t do it. And for all of you that say IT IS DANGEROUS…HAVEING A BABY COULD KILL YOU TO ...SHOULD WE STOP HAVING THEM. Any time you are put under….there is a chance something could go wrong.” Comparing having a child with mutilating a cat?  I hope her head doesn’t explode from all of that knowledge she’s carrying around in there.  Man, what a deep thinker.  Gawd, I certainly hope she doesn’t have children, I don’t think she has much to add to the family gene pool. So, what’s new around here.  Hmm..  Well, I added cat pictures to the catcam page.  So that people will know which kitty is in the chair.  And I also added a new page, reprinted with permission.  Sharon Talbert’s Finding a Lost Cat.  It’s a very good article if your cat ever goes missing. When I get done with this entry, I’m going to vacuum and shampoo the carpet in here.  It’s absolutely unbearable. DeeJay had a couple of bad days earlier this week.  Tuesday night he puked big time in bed.  He rested yesterday and is doing a little better today.  It scares me so much when this happens.  His tummy has been gurgling like crazy, but I don’t think he has the runs.  At least, he’s leaving them in the dirt or the litter box and none has been on him. All the cats with the exception of Lonee, Red and Jackie, have been treated with Advantage.  I’m going to give those three Program in food.  And this past weekend, I brought the big feeder in to the house.  I want Lonee to be comfortable back inside.  Since we put the food out in the garage, she never comes in. (We moved it there when we tore down the old entertainment center.)  She’s getting really big, too.  She hasn’t ventured in that I know of, though.  She is getting food since I do their dinner out there.  And I share the chicken, too.  She’s very talky in the morning when I bring it out.  The smell’s too bad in here, I have to shampoo right now.  Maybe I’ll add more later. later…  I’m back!  I’m back! I’mbacki’mbacki’mback!  Did ya miss me?  Huh?  The carpet is done, smells more better.  Way more better.  The carpeting was absolutely soaked under Brian’s desk.  No wonder it smelled so bad and strong in here.  A few years back, I think it was 1999, I had to send a really cool Mickey Mouse watch back to the manufacturer because it didn’t work right.  Well, they no longer made the watch, so it couldn’t be replaced and they don’t fix them.  I was pretty disappointed, but they said since it was under warranty, that I could find one I liked and let them know the number.  Well, I never found anything that really grabbed me and just pushed it to the back of my mind.  Then mid November, I found the paper with the information on it and figured I’d give them a call and see if the offer was still there.  It was!  And since they don’t have watches for $75.00 any longer, I could go ahead and find two that I liked, give them the number and if they had them in stock, they’d ship them out.  I made a list and the one I liked the best, a two toned number wasn’t available, but I got a gold toned watch and a silver toned watch.  They got here today and they’re beautiful!        If you want to see them larger, go to Disney Watches.  How cool. And more great Disney news.  I got a response to my letter about the fools at Fantasmic. “As you know, it is our goal that all of our Guests leave the Resort with lasting memories. We strive to exceed the expectations of our Guests each and every time. We never take for granted that our Guests may visit the Resort many times throughout their lives, or perhaps, only once. We take a great deal of pride in the entertainment offerings and our Guest Show Operations Cast takes strides to ensure our Guests are accommodated. Your comments have already been routed to the necessary members of our Attractions and Entertainment Divisions so they will be aware of them.”   They went on to let us know that we also had six seats for the semi private reserved seating for a show of our choice.  That would be Fantasmic, I’m sure.  I think these usually go for forty dollars each.  Wow! I also changed the blankets and stuff for the cats here in the office.  They like clean things.  (Then why do the piss on them? huh?  can ya answer me that?) I noticed yesterday morning that the raccoons are back.  A big mess in the entry way next to the fountain.  I don’t mind these guys bathing out there, but I wish they’d clean up after themselves. Welp, that’s if for today, folks.  Hubby is home and it’s primetime Thursday, NBC all new!  Must see tv. | Permalink

      Sunday, December 15, 2002

07:40 AM - 12/15/2002 The topic: It might rain today ---------------------------------------------- There is a 20% chance of rain today.  Starting tomorrow evening/night, there is a 70% chance for three days of measurable rain.  The last rain my rain gauge didn’t work, so Brian tested the gauge outside and it dumped like it was supposed to.  He wiggled the wires at the box inside and still nothing.  Then I played with the weather station itself and the water he’d put into the gauge showed up.  I hope it keeps working, but now I know it’s probably the weather station itself.  :(  That’s not good. All of that carpet cleaning last week seems to have been for naught.  The cats are using the carpet even more than before, if that’s possible.  But yesterday Brian was taking the litterbox from the bedroom out to the garage and I said “why don’t you put that under your desk?”  Figuring they’re going there anyway.  Maybe if the box is there, they’ll use it instead.  I did see Mickey in it yesterday, but I don’t know if he’s one of the cats who was using the carpet. DeeJay has been really good about taking his fluids this past week.  And I don’t know why I’m having such a problem with the shot in his left shoulder, but last night the needle went all the way through again.  It didn’t seem to bother him, he just kept eating.  He sure seems to be getting thinner again, although he is eating regularly. Lisa, who is on the office cam right now, just started growling.  I believe she was having a nightmare.  She was breathing rapidly and her ears were twitching.  I petted her and got her to purr.  She’s sleeping again.  Brian sprayed the ceiling in the bedroom yesterday.  He masked everything off, took down the ceiling fan and sprayed.  He was working in there pretty late yesterday evening.  Today I think he’s going to do the primer, which has to dry for sixteen hours for bad stains.  Well, there’s a real bad stain on the wall where the fish tank had been, so he’s going to let it dry for as long as it says.  I think he wants to go up to the property today.  I don’t.  I want to work on my sofa covers.  I made a candle Friday and it’s horrible.  The sage scent I bought smells like lime, not sage.  I’ll have to find a different supplier.  I really like the sage scent from Susie’s Scents. I watched “The Others” last night, kind of.  Quite different than “The Sixth Sense”.  “I see live people.” OC is spending more of his days over here.  I hope that before too long, he spends all of his days here.  He’s gotten so that we can walk outside without him running and hiding.  Brian said that when OC is in the driveway, now OC will run to the yard when he sees someone coming, not back across the street.  He and KittyMeeze spend many afternoons curled up together on the bank.  I think they’d look fine curled up together on the bed. The past few mornings I haven’t been able to find Lonee in the garage when I feed the cats the chicken.  I have no idea where she’s been hiding her little butt.  I’m thinking maybe under the sofa or loveseat in the television room because when I go back to look for her again, she’s there.  I’ve looked in the rafters, under the tarp that covers the boxes of tile, behind stuff, over stuff and no Lonee.  Last night after I locked up and had all of the kitties in, I double checked to make sure she was inside and she was.  This morning, she wasn’t hiding.  I get so worried when I can’t find her. Looks like we’re both going up to the property.  Brian wants to buy a little water tank for the smaller animals.  They’ve not had a place to drink since he and Mark moved the big tank last month.  Gotta go get ready.  | Permalink

      Tuesday, December 17, 2002

05:07 PM - 12/17/2002 The topic: Woohoo! ---------------------------------------------- Woohoo!  Look!   Guess who that is?  It’s LONEE!  She’s in the house!  I guess bringing the food in the house did it.  It’s nice to have her inside.  Last time I looked, she was snoozing in one of the beds on the entertainment center. I was worried about OC.  I didn’t see him yesterday morning or last night.  I was really getting concerned.  I guess I was used to seeing him here during the afternoon.  Then when KittyMeeze was the only one who showed up this morning, I got really worried.  But when Brian and I got back from our walk, we saw him under the neighbor’s van.  Whew. I had a little adventure yesterday.  Me and the Bronco.  I had to go to Costco and about a quarter of a mile from the exit, the Bronco started sounding really bad.  I looked at the dashboard and the oil lamp was on.  I pulled off to the side and killed the motor.  I would have paged Brian, but I didn’t know the number of the cell phone in the Bronco.  So I called my mom and told her I was going to page him with her phone number, I told her where I was and for her to let him know.  As I sat there trying to find out how to get the phone to tell me what the number was, I thought “maybe he’s at his shop” and tried him there.  Luckily, he was.  I told him where I was and he and Mark came to help me out.  Brian told me to pop the hood and start the car and I did.  It sounded really bad, but it got better.  He told me to rev it up to 2000 rpm and hold it there.  As I did, the sound got better, no warning lights. We went back to the shop and I took the Ranger and got my shopping done.  The oil lamp on the Bronco never lit up again.  *sigh*  Brian will be driving the Bronco for a few days just to make sure it’s okay, though.  It was really strange.  I’m glad it was making that horrible noise for him, otherwise I’d think I was going crazy. DeeJay has been eating more.  And he’s been eating his kidney food.  AND he’s been extra special affectionate.  He wants to be held constantly.  It seems to be even worse when some other kitty is on the heating pad.  Right now, he’s on the office cam.  I already gave him his fluids, he had a little to eat and now he’s all content. Amazingly, most of the cats stayed indoors today.  I think Pete was the only one who stayed outside.  Even Benny slept in the bed all day, Opie and Richie curled up together on the side opposite Benny.  It was pretty nice to have them all in and sleeping.  Now that the sun’s gone down, they’re wanting back outside.  They had to come in early last night when the rain started. I didn’t want to be looking for them in the pouring rain. The weather station wasn’t working right, either.  It showed almost a half inch of rain, when the plain old plastic gauge that is hung on the fence showed .91 inches.  I changed the batteries in the weather station, hopefully that was the problem (you need both batteries and A/C to get it to work correctly, don’t ask me why) but since we’re expecting more storms, I’d really like it to be working properly. That’s it for today. | Permalink

      Thursday, December 19, 2002

04:35 PM - 12/19/2002 The topic: It’s cold! It’s cold! ---------------------------------------------- I can’t even believe how freaking cold it is.  It’s 74 in the office and my feet are like blocks of ice.  It’s only 60 outside.  Yeah, yeah, I know, many of you have it much worse than I.  But that’s why I don’t live there.  *grin*  Brian wanted to move to a state with snow years ago, but luckily (for me) he couldn’t find anything.  We went for our walk this morning and it wasn’t even 35.  Yesterday I went to WalMart and got some gloves for both of us.  We both wore our gloves and hats this morning.  Well, we walked down to the school and I thought we’d maybe walk up the street to the cul-de-sac and then home.  Nope.  He took us up Icky Hill.  For all that cold outside, I ended up taking off my gloves and hat.  I was sweating!  We walked two miles, at least, in less than thirty five minutes.  His justification was that if we had the rain in the morning as predicted, we wouldn’t be walking in the morning.  And we didn’t go walking yesterday.  So?  I was sure glad to get home. Mystie just came in and I stroked her and got something gross on my hand.  I sniffed it (hey, what normal concerned cat lover wouldn’t do the same?) and I’m pretty sure it was very runny stool.  And the scary part is there were little pieces of stuff that looked like coffee grounds.  This is so very, very not good.  That’s what intestinal bleeding can look like.  She doesn’t seem to be sick, so I’ll watch her closely.  She’s not losing weight and she has a decent appetite.  Maybe I should weigh her so that I can keep track, just in case. I cleaned out the litter boxes this morning and I’m doing it again and there’s no loose stool in any of them.  Maybe it was something from outside, not poop at all.  Oh, God, I can’t go through something horrible again.  I just can’t. I found out yesterday that many of my affiliates aren’t even around any longer.  I guess I should have paid more attention.  And some that I still have banners for, well, the place where they were affiliated through isn’t there.  It was taken over by another company and I lost my affiliations.  So, I’m starting over.  You’ll notice that I also changed the bar at the top of the page.  If you would like to help out the cathouse, here.  And check out the places where I have affiliations.  I’ve got a pretty diverse bunch, from clothes for plus sized women to cameras, to body jewelry.  And of course, there are pet supplies.  That’s how I noticed there was a problem.  My Petsmart and Petco links no longer worked.  *sigh* I’ve got more I have to add.  Jenny Craig rejected my application.  *lol* If it’s raining this weekend, we might go to Disneyland.  And if it’s not raining, maybe we’ll go to Disneyland.  According to the KTLA morning news this morning (a Los Angeles station), the mountains have snow in them. Well, there’s a certain spot at DCA that I tried to take a picture of the snow capped mountains last year that didn’t turn out because it was one of those disposable cameras, no zoom.  It would have been a great picture. The bedroom has its first coat of paint. It needs one more, then has to dry for a week before Brian puts on the top coat (to keep the cat pee from ruining it).  He figures he’ll put up the mural, then start on the floor.  He doesn’t want to have to wait a week, doing nothing.  Our furniture will be here by the end of the year!  Speaking of the furniture, I’ve got pictures of it, I just have to get around to putting them up on the remodel page. All that’s on television tonight are reruns.  Maybe there’s something good on a movie channel. Well, hubby’s home.  Gotta go. | Permalink

      Saturday, December 21, 2002

06:11 PM - 12/21/2002 The topic: Winter is here! ---------------------------------------------- Winter is here and boy, it’s cold!  It’s raining again, supposed to have snow in our local mountains.  I remember a long time ago when the snow would be hip deep, maybe deeper.  If we’ve had any in the past few years, it’s no more than a foot or so and it’s not around for very long.  Brian took off this morning for Ranchita.  He and Mark went up.  One of the things Brian wanted to do was to get the trailer door changed out.  I wonder if he’ll see any snow.   Yesterday most of the cats spent the day indoors.  And you know it’s cold when Benny is in and Sammy is in the house, not outside or in the garage.  That’s Daniece, Sammy and Richie on the sofa yesterday.  And the bed in the living room was full of cats.  Must have been six or seven and the cat beds on the entertainment center were pretty full, too.  We haven’t seen Angus for a while now, over a week.  I wonder what happened to him, I wonder if he’s okay.  Repete, KittyMeeze and OC stay in the entry way for a good deal of the evenings, on the blankets that are on the shelters that are up off of the ground.  It’s warmer there and not wet, like the ground.  Earlier this week on one of the boards I frequent, someone mentioned a self heating pad for cats.  They linked to it and I checked it out.  It looked just like something I could use for the out fronts, even for the guys in here and I could do away with the heating pad.  So, Wednesday, I went to both PETsMart and Petco and neither carried it, although both have it online.  It’s called a “self warming thermal cat cushion”.  They were $19.99 each and if you buy fifty dollars worth of stuff, there’s free shipping. Well, I found that shipping on forty dollars would be about seven dollars, so Brian said to go ahead and order three of them.  I’ll have one inside and two for the ferals in the entry way.  If you want to check them out, please go through my affiliate.  You can get there at that link in the header, the one that asks if you’ve enjoyed yourself here. Speaking of my affiliates, I’m really disappointed that more people haven’t checked them out.  I know there are lots more people reading this diary than have visited my affiliation page.  It doesn’t cost anything to at least look.  And I’ll soon make sections for clothing, food, pets, etc, so it will be easier to follow.  I’m just really sad that hardly anyone has even gone over there to check it out.  Welp, hubby’s home and he wants me to look something up for him.  Real fun. Always real fun.  | Permalink

      Tuesday, December 24, 2002

10:11 AM - 12/24/2002 The topic: Cookies, I want cookies… ---------------------------------------------- Geez, I’d really love a cookie right now.  Any kind of cookie.  Warm cookie, cold cookie, moist cookie, dry cookie…  *whine*  Good thing we don’t have any.  I’d probably eat every single one.  I wonder if I could pretend a rice cake was a cookie.  Nah, I don’t think so. Well, guess who was back Sunday night?  Yeppers!  Angus!  Whew.  I was really worried about him. So, all five of the ferals are still with us. And guess what else I saw last night?  A new cat.  Well, not a cat, really, a kitten.  Now, I have absolutely no idea where this kitten would be from, if it were a feral kitten.  I know of no females in the area.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there, but this guy looked fairly young.  Maybe about the same size as Petey was when he first showed up.  I can’t tell if it’s black or a tortie.  It scooted out the gate when I turned on the light.  I hope it gets used to me fairly quickly, because I’m going to try to catch it and bring it in. I started DeeJay on probiotics a couple of days ago.  Probiotics, as I understand it, introduce good bacteria into the intestinal tract, like yogurt does.  We got this stuff for Lola and she wasn’t around long enough for it to have been beneficial to her.  It’s a powder and I mix it with warm filtered water and DeeJay laps it up.  I’m also going to make sure he gets digestive enzymes.  I have noticed that his appetite seems to have picked up a little recently, but not much.  He’s certainly not gaining any weight, but I would think it takes longer than five days to show any improvement.  He does seem to be sleeping more comfortably.  And he’s also taken up sharing my pillow at night on a fairly consistent basis.  Only problem there is when he’s laying on my hair and I move.  We’ll be going to my mom’s tonight for dinner.  Yummy, turkey and stuffing.  And no bugs in the flour, either.  *heh heh heh*  I got her a tee shirt and a sweatshirt, both black and both say “Don’t Forget My Senior Citizen Discount” on the front of them.  I also got her an Ann Murray’s Greatist Hits CD.  Also waiting to be wrapped are two three packs of Spam.  She loves Spam.  And a gift card for Wal-Mart.  I’ll probably wrap a big bag of catnip for her kitties, too. I was at a loss as to what to get Brian’s mom.  We don’t do Christmas with her, not for a few years now.  But I always feel kind of bad not getting her anything, you know?  There was a time in the past we would get her something and wrap it and just leave it on her doorstep, without any “from”,  but she always knew.  Well, it dawned on me Sunday afternoon what would be a good thing for her.  She doesn’t need candy (one of the things we *have* been giving her the past few years) or knickknacks or flowers.  But one of the things I’ve read repeatedly is that postage stamps, envelopes, that kind of thing are always needed.  So, I got some legal envelopes, stamps of various denominations ($3.50, $2.00, $1.00, $.38, $.20, $.03), a couple of colorful post it pads, a gel pen, and I made her some labels with her name and address in blue color, cotillian font and on the left side I found a little clip art rose, which I printed on two seperate printers.  I did the stem in green on the color printer, then I printed the flower itself in black on the laser printer.  Then I got some special color foil paper and the little heat thing that I bought a while back and spent hours yesterday coloring the roses.  Some are red, some are fuschia.  They turned out nicely.  And on Sunday night I went over to my Office Depot affiliation and ordered a postage meter, I think the brand was “Royal”.  It’s the same kind I’ve got that I use (ha, used to use) when I was selling shirts (I haven’t sold any this year, but whenever I wear mine in public, people always like them) at lisaviolet designs.  It’s supposed to be here today.  We got some plastic storage containers earlier this year that Brian never used.  They were just sitting on his desk and I figured I might as well do something with them, so I’ll put all of the postage stuff in one and wrap it for her. I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning the office again. Shampooed under Brian’s desk and in front of the litter box by the window in hopes of helping to dilute the smell, but I’m just not having any luck.  And it’s been so cool and damp that the carpet isn’t drying and now, on top of the urine smell, there’s a moldy smell.  I liberally sprayed Lysol down there yesterday, fresh scent, and I’m still getting choked up from the smell.  Damn, I want this carpet out of here.  Before I did the shampooing, I cleaned off my desk, then Brian’s.  I through a bunch of stuff out, old phone books and catalogs, things that neither of us had any use for.  I cleaned up a lot of old cat urine.  I changed out the towels that protect his paperwork and am keeping a bottle of Feliway handy.  I’m hoping if I use it on a regular basis, the cats won’t pee up here anymore. I’d really like a cookie right now. I was going to do paperwork today, but I think I’ll do that Thursday.  Brian hasn’t been working too much lately, which means no money is coming in and I think it would be very depressing to know just how bad it is the day before Christmas.  He might be gone up to the property Thursday and Friday, anyway.  Today, I’ll do laundry and wrap presents. Tomorrow we’ll probably go up to Disneyland for the morning. Well, if I don’t make any additional entries before Thursday, I wish everybody a safe, healthy and happy holiday. | Permalink

      Thursday, December 26, 2002

disneystuff 09:57 AM - 12/26/2002 The topic: Well, it was a good day. ---------------------------------------------- We had a good couple of days.  Dinner at my mom’s was great and we did the gift exchange.  Well, actually, I gave mom her presents and she gave Brian and me envelopes with cards and cash inside.  Brian also got a package to unwrap.  Brian really likes hot dogs and sometimes he’ll put hot dog buns on top of the toaster to heat them up.  Well, back in August, at the website for The Lighter Side (one of my affiliations) I saw a machine that would cook two hot dogs and toast two buns at the same time.  It’s called a “Hot Diggety Dogger”.  So, I bought it and gave it to him at my mom’s.  I have to say that it was kind of sad this year when I didn’t have one thing to unwrap for myself.  It just doesn’t seem like Christmas, ya know?  Anyway, after we left my mom’s we went up a couple of streets and checked out the lights.  Surprisingly, there weren’t as many as we thought there would be (hey, we haven’t put up lights since we go the new roof; I don’t know why we expect other people to have them up when we don’t).  Now, there is one thing that people put up at Christmas that annoys me to no end.  I’m thinking “don’t they get what Christmas is all about?”  We saw one on our way home last night and I took a picture of it.     Yep.  A cross.  A cross on Christmas just drives me nuts!  Now, I’m not a highly religious person, I don’t do church, I don’t do any type of organized worship. But I was baptised and confirmed Catholic.  And I know a little about some of the religious holidays.  And I know that Christmas celebrates Christ’s birth, not Christ’s resurrection from the dead after being crucified on a CROSS.  That’s Easter.  Put your lit crosses up on Easter, people, and put up stars on Christmas.  Christ didn’t rise from the dead on Christmas.  That’s Easter!  It just really annoys me.  Now, if it’s just because people are to lazy to build a decent star, then don’t put up anything.  Anyway, it was a really good day yesterday, crosses aside.  We fed Junior, then went by Brian’s mom’s house and dropped off her gift and hung around while she opened it.  She was really pleased, even started to cry a little.  Sometimes I feel really bad for her, because of some of the family problems that are ongoing, things which she has absolutely no control over.  She should be having an easy time right now, but she’s not.  I jokingly asked her if she’d like to come with us and for a minute, I thought she was going to say “yes”.  We came back home and gave Junior his shot.  Then I gathered up some CDs for the trip and Brian uncovered the car.  On the way up, I found out the CD player isn’t working again.  The second time this year.  It’s not like we’re wearing it out, I don’t think the car has been driven in six months.  I was pretty ticked off about that.  On the way up, we had a discussion of why I don’t like going in the car anywhere.  My view is it’s a convertible.  Convertibles have tops that can be put down and unless it’s raining, that’s where they belong.  Brian doesn’t like to put the top down because his head gets too hot.  So, what’s the point in driving around in a convertible?  Huh?  There is none.  We got to Disneyland around eleven/eleven thirty.  First park we went to was DCA.  It was pretty nice, not too busy.  We went on the SunWheel, then I said I’d like to go over to Disneyland.  We’d parked in the lot by the parks and I kind of figured if we could park there, then the parks weren’t all that busy.  Boy, was I wrong.  Disneyland was a zoo!  We went into a couple of the stores, because with our passport renewal we’d each received a coupon for 20% off.  I saw a couple of things I liked, but nothing I really wanted to buy.  Now, we had discussed driving home with the top down and I wanted a hat to wear.  We went over to Fantasyland and the lines were really long.  We ended up back on Main Street, at the Emporium where I picked out a Tigger Santa hat, gloves for the ride home and a Tigger teeshirt.  I was looking at the sweatshirts but Brian pointed out I had plenty of those, I should get a teeshirt.  So, I did.  It’s embroidered.  I like it.  I told hubby maybe I’ll start collection Tigger clothing.  From there, we went back over to DCA and went over to Burrbank for the second time that day.  Brian got a sundae, I got a two scoop dipped waffle cone.  Then we sat at tables and watched people.  It was much more relaxed at DCA.  One of the things they had was a sand sculptor working.  This is so Southern California in December.     I took a couple of pictures and I’ll have them up on my latest Disney trip report.  I should have that done by the weekend. Anyway, from there we went on Soarin’ Over California, which we’d gotten fastpasses for earlier.  Then we headed out to the car.  We put the top down, got the little lap blankets from the trunk I’d crocheted when we first got the car, put the new little antenna knob on the antenna (the Mickey ears antenna with a little red ball for a nose and antlers by the ears) and started on home.        If you look very, very closely, you can kind of see the antenna knob.  In the background on the left, you can see the MaliBoomer and the SunWheel at DCA’s Paradise Pier.  Brian still had his hat on, but he put it behind my seat for the ride home and put on a baseball hat.  Once we got on the freeway, I was very glad I had the gloves, the hat and the lap blanket.  And before too long, Brian had the other blanket over his lap.  He drove using his left hand, his right hand was under the blanket, because it was downright cold.  The cold air came between the two seats, hitting my left arm and his right.  We’ll know to have jackets in the car for the next time.  We drove with the top down for about a hundred miles, then pulled over at the Escondido High School and put it up.  I took all of my stuff from the trunk so that I wouldn’t be futzing around when we got home, disturbing the ferals.  The fresh air felt good on the face, but our arms just got too darned cold.  When we got home, Brian fed the out fronts while I fed Junior, then I fed the insides.  They were pretty happy to see us home and getting them in wasn’t real tough, since we didn’t lock them in when we left.  They had all day to play.  It was nice to be home, but overall, it was a wonderful Christmas day. | Permalink

      Sunday, December 29, 2002

09:29 AM - 12/29/2002 The topic: A quick update ---------------------------------------------- I have much more to share, but right now, I’m painting the bedroom closet.  I just wanted to get this up early for my San Diego readers.  Friday, we went to the Home Depot in Santee and bought a new television.  It’s a Magnavox.  It’s 27 inches and it has a built in VCR and DVD player.  It was only $359.00!  We pooled our Christmas money from my mom to get it.  This television is a loss leader, which the guy at the store explained means that the store is selling them for less than they paid for them.  The reason was the televisions were supposed to have been delivered at the beginning of December and didn’t show up until a few days before Christmas.  Anyone who goes to Home Depot knows that they aren’t in the business of selling TVs.  I found a comparable television online.  Sylvania 6727DC 27” TV/DVD/VCR Combo; the one we got looks exactly like this Sylvania, except for the “Sylvania” logo, but it’s $110.00 less and no shipping.  I don’t know if they’re being carried at all local Home Depot stores, you might want to check, but this is a great price.  This morning’s paper’s Best Buy insert had a Toshiba 20 inch with DVD/VCR for $454.00.  If you signed up for 24 months of MSN internet, you get a $200.00 rebate.  So, this Magnavox is a great deal.  If you do go out there, the televisions can be found in the area of the store where they sell the electrical wiring.  When you walk in, go to your left.  When you get to the lighting and lamps, turn to your right.  The televisions are towards the back, on the left.  You can’t miss them. More about other stuff later. | Permalink

      Monday, December 30, 2002

09:39 AM - 12/30/2002 The topic: Did ya miss me? ---------------------------------------------- Well, let’s see how far I get with this today.  Yesterday I painted, then I worked on a scarf I’m crocheting for hubby to wear up at the property.  He requested two, one for him and one for his brother.  He said it’s cold around the neck.  I got one done Saturday night and am more than halfway through the one for Brian.  Nothing fancy, five rows of double crochet, then two rows of single crochet in a contrasting color, then five more rows of double crochet.  I’ll have the second one done by tonight.  I am watching a lot of movies. The walls, ceiling and closet have all been painted in the bedroom.  Brian started on the tile floor Saturday and got quite a bit of it done.  All of the square tiles are in, all that is left are the edges.  He has to cut those.  He put the tile down at an angle, it’s diagonal across the room.  It’s more work for him, but it looks so much nicer.  I was hoping that the room would be finished by the end of next weekend, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.  He really wants to get his truck finished, all that is left is for the motor to be put back in the truck.  And he’d also like to go up to Ranchita and do more trenching, seeing as how the recent rains have loosened the soil and he wants to take advantage of that.  I can’t blame him, but I’d really like to see the bedroom done.  The furniture is supposed to be here this week. This leg of the remodel seems to be stressing the cats out more than the previous one.  Annie, especially.  Last week, someone posted about a new Feliway Plug In.  I went over to Valley Vet, did a search and came up with this.  I ordered three of them (I was only going to get two, but Brian said we should get two for the big part of the house, one for the bedroom) and three refills.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to scale back once they’ve been working for a couple of months.  I’d really like to see a drop in fighting and marking.  And I know it will help ease the stress of the remodel.  I do wish that Valley Vet had an affiliate program.  I’d save a lot of money on my purchases there.  *lol* My domain host for lvdesigns.com put up a program for me on my email that I can have mail I don’t want bounce and get deleted before it ever reaches my mailbox.  I sure wish that my main provider, cox.net, offered something this good.  I’m seriously considering doing a series of filters and forwardings so that only mail sent from my website forms or from people on my okay list gets through.  Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?  Then I wouldn’t have to obsess with how I could enlarge my penis any longer.  And I wouldn’t wonder if CPS knows about those teenage sluts who are always inviting me to view them live on camera.  And I’d probably never know how many home refinancing or mortgage lenders I’d missed out on.  And let’s not forget the many opportunities gone to not become a millionaire at the online casinos.  Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I’m considering it.  Of course, I should probably have some sort of auto-responder, advising people that I probably didn’t see their email and to re-send message through the form.  Hmmm…this is sounding better each time I think about it.  I’ll have to check my options on my various websites to see what I can come up with.  Thinking of Annie….she’s doing well on her Elavil, but I think there’s another problem in the making.  You know how I’ve complained of the cat pee under hubby’s side of the desk, shampooing the carpet over and over and still not getting any long lasting results.  Well, I came up with another idea.  To put down newspaper and just remove it as it’s peed on.  It seems Annie doesn’t like the newspaper and she’s not happy about using the litterbox to poop.  Because this morning,  I saw her leaving the litter box and she was dropping little dry poops.  *sigh*  I think she’s been holding it because she doesn’t like the newspaper.  But it smells so much better in here now that I can just replace the used paper (and it is getting used).  What to do, what to do.  I wish what worked for one, worked for all.  Hopefully, the Feliway plug in will help with some of this. And DeeJay has been really, really hungry.  Crying for food, even reaching up and trying to grab stuff out of my hands.  It appears that yesterday, he ate something that didn’t set well with him, because he was very uncomfortable last night and this morning, I found loose stool in the laundry room and kitchen, right where he does it.  He also tossed up a small hairball.  I watched him outside when he pooped and there were about two drops of diarrhea.  I got the Immodium ready and gave it to him ten minutes after he came back inside.  Fortunately, he’s not dehydrated.  And right now, he’s resting comfortably.  I hope I caught the problem in time. Saturday night, we had a bunch of ferals out front.  We had Angus and KittyMeeze and OC and SpotTee and RePete.  And we had the little black kitten with the white spot on the chest.  And I think we also had his mama.  A tortie, looking pregnant.  I put out extra food for them, once what we had out there had been eaten.  Last night, Brian doubled up on food and very little of it was eaten this morning.  And I haven’t seen OC today.  I did see KittyMeeze and SpotTee, but no OC.  My mom said she heard the coyotes last night behind her place (one of the places we go for our walks in the morning, so it’s not that far away).  I hope the cats are alright.  Brian’s big flatbed truck is back in the driveway and the Bronco is parked behind the Mustang.  I hope no stinking coyote is using this to ambush cats.  Gah, I hate coyotes, I really, really do. Oh, here’s another plug, but not for something cat related, but website/image related.  I use Alchemy Mindworks GIF Construction Set for my animations.  I also have their calendar maker, the one I used for the calendar I made last week that turned out so nicely.  I have a couple more of their programs, one being The Graphic Workshop.  Well, they sent out an email alerting owners of that product about a new compression plugin.  I tried it out and was very happy with it. But it didn’t work on the internet because the technology is so new, that browsers don’t see the new extension.  Well, I’d already paid my $29.00 for it and I tried to get a refund.  No refund, but they sent me a different software and I love it! This is one of the images I redid using their software:   It’s only 28K!  Faster downloading!  And not so much of my alloted space will be used up.  I ended up upgrading to the software that allows batching, so I can redo all of the images on my website.  I did three directories and saved over 5megs of space.  The more I free up, the more images I can post.  If you’re interested in trying it out, go to pegasus imaging.  One thing, if you do decide to buy it, unless you’re only going to do one image at a time, get the full program.  If you upgrade at a later time, it costs $10 more than the full program, which has the batching option, to begin with. Lucky has been more vocal than normal the past few weeks.  And she seems to be eating more.  I wonder if the cooler weather is affecting some of the kitties.  I know they eat more in winter than summer, but these guys really seem to be wanting lots more.  But she isn’t acting sick or anything, her eyes look good, she’s very lovable. The other night Brian sat down on the loveseat next to Ciara.  He started petting her and she ended up biting him.  Not bad enough to break the skin, but bad enough that he yelled.  She got up and came over and laid next to me.  I kind of went over her body, pushing gently to see if I could get a similar reaction and there was none, she just rolled over and offered me her belly.  I asked him if he was petting her any place that she might be sore and he said he didn’t think he’d hit any sore spot.  Maybe she was just irritated with him for taking some of her space. Here’s another rant from our trip to Disneyland.  And it’s about clothing on women.  Now, look, when I was young and in shape, I could wear a certain type of clothing.  Little shorts.  Little tops that barely reached the tops of my shorts, that you could glimpse my tummy when I turned this way or that.  But nothing blatant or in your face.  And the thing was, I had the shape for it.  Well, I swear, I can’t even believe how some heavyweight young women dress.  I just can’t believe they look in a mirror before they walk out the door, thinking “yeah, I look GOOD!”.  Make no mistake, I know I’m heavy.  I’m at least eighty pounds overweight.  I’m short.  And I would NEVER walk out the door looking like some of these women.  I honestly don’t see what’s attractive about rolls of fat hanging over tight pants.  You can see the fat because the shirt only comes to right below the boobs.  It just doesn’t look good!  It looks stupid and silly.  Or the see through shirt.  It’s bad enough if it’s loose, but when it’s tight, look out!  Now, like I said, I’m fat myself.  And it’s been years since I tucked in a shirt with a belt because of that fat roll thing. It doesn’t look attractive covered, why on earth would someone flaunt it?  “Hey, come on, Honey, don’t you just want to pinch this between your fingers?”  :puke Get a clue ladies, it’s not a “good thing”.  There are plenty of nice clothes now for us larger size ladies.  And they’ve got stylish plus sized clothing for the younger women.  Dress for your body style.  Please.  And about the hip huggers.  That’s another one of those items of clothing that only looks good on a certain type of body.  We saw some really attractive young ladies, but that little belly hanging over the belt didn’t look good.  You’ve got to have the body type to wear the clothes.  And I’m just so surprised that so many don’t. *sigh*  Speaking of nice clothes for larger sizes, I was just accepted as an affiliate for Blair.com.  Now, I have three affiliations for clothing for large people.  Gotta go, we’re off to the chiropractor. | 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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