It’s freaking cold this morning. Right now, it’s 6:50 am and it’s 41.5° outside the office. It’s 65.5° in the office. I got up a little after four to let the cats out, went back to bed. It didn’t seem so cold then. I got up a little before six to feed the outfront(s) and turn on the computers and cameras. While the computers were booting up, I fed the cats, gave the inside cats some of the Kirkland food they love for a morning treat (as usual). Came back and got the cameras going (damn, I forgot the sticky part of the Velcro that was holding the officecam in place over the food bowl bit the schnitzel yesterday; got some fabric glue, glued it back on, now just waiting for it to dry, I hope it does the trick), checked my email, only one new piece of mail and it was some sort of spam, hit the trash bin without opening it up.
Brian’s up at the property this weekend, finally putting up the fence (I think he’s been finding too many tire tracks when he goes up there) and I bet his poor skinny ass is freezing. It was 39° when he called last night, around 6:30. He misses me. I sure missed him this morning when I got back into bed after feeding the cats and booting up the computer, my feet and hands were like blocks of ice. His warm back is a perfect place to thaw them out. He doesn’t think so. I beg to differ.
Anyway, we had a quiet Thanksgiving. We ended up buying a meal from Sprouts Farmers Market, a health food kind of place. Organic fruits, natural foods, vitamins, supplements, that type of store. It was less than $20.00 for a meal for two, which was really a great price. The other local health food place started at $49.95 for meals. There was a small turkey breast, mixed veggies with garlic butter, a half dozen dinner rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, gravy and an eight inch pumpkin pie. A good price for all that food. When I told my mom about it yesterday, she said she wouldn’t mind that for Christmas this year. (Earlier, she’d told me she didn’t want to do Christmas, it was too much work.) That’s okay with me. Now I have to start doing some shopping for her. We’ll be going up to Disneyland on the 8th and 9th of December. Staying at the Anabella Hotel again (we really like that place). I’ll be bringing the laptop and we’ll pay the extra ten dollars a day for internet service. Earlier this year, I signed up for this thing called Ridemax, which gives you a plan to maximize the amount of rides you go on and minimizes your wait time. We’ve not used it yet, so this will be interesting. We’ll be taking Brian’s mom up to stay with Brian’s aunt. (I finally got her necklace and earrings done, but still need to do the notecards.) The new petsitter will be coming by on Tuesday evening to meet the cats. She’ll be spending the nights when we’re gone.
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a little over a month since we lost Wally and Lisa. Wally was gone a month Monday, Lisa a month on Wednesday. I took down the link to the post about her demise on the catcam page on Wednesday since it had been a month. Her picture at the bottom of that page still links to that post.
I tweaked the catcam software so that the picture looks okay no matter what color cat was on the chair. I noticed that when Cappy was on it, the blanket was very washed out and when Mystie was on it, she was really washed out. I think it’s a lot better now.
The week after we got back from Disneyland last month was just horrible. Brian was sick and we had two very ill cats. The week after that, the bowel thing I get hit me hard (I’ve mentioned this in the past). This time I wondered how it would be if I just let nature take its course. Bad idea. Three weeks later, I’m still having effects from it (I didn’t take laxatives this time). The pain is hard to describe, but I’ll try. You know when you’ve got the flu or have eaten something that’s bad, how diarrhea hits? And you know that pain that you get, the cramping in the bowels? Well, that’s the pain I get. I don’t have diarrhea or anything like that, but I get the pain and there’s lots of gas. I think the thing about taking the laxatives is they keep the track clear and there’s not a chance of a gassy buildup. I think my system just gets stretched and that’s what hurts.
We’ve tried to figure out what brings it on. Right now, I’m leaning towards stress as a major factor. And not eating mass quantities of food. I was doing much better until I made a pan of brownies this past week (8 x 8). For some reason, I’d really been wanting to just eat. Maybe because there’s nothing in the house to eat, no crackers, no cheese, nothing to take the edge off. Brian and I ate three quarters of that pan in one day. I was in major pain the next morning. I had some pain Thursday night, too, but nothing like that since. Hard to tell, but I feel almost normal right now.
It’s amazing how chronic pain can just zap your energy. I’ve not felt like doing anything and there’s so much to do.
Anyway, I’ve gotten started on some holiday earrings and I found some other neat things online that I got a couple of that I’ll be putting up in the store. Years ago I bought some earrings that are light weight and they twinkle. They’re shaped like stars and the the little star shaped cutouts twinkle independently. They’re very nice. Well, I was trying to find the battery size and found a place with a good deal on these earrings, so I got a couple sets. And if they sell, I’ll buy some more and sell those.
I’ll be wearing mine at Disneyland next month.
We haven’t been walking much since we got back from Disneyland. Amazingly, I’ve only put on one pound. Well, since pre-Disney. The week we got back, I was down another three, but I’m putting that off on stress. But from my weight the Friday before the Disney trip, I’m only up one. All thing considered, I think that’s pretty damned good. We haven’t been walking, I haven’t been riding the bike (too much pain) and I’ve not been eating properly. But this is a new day and I’m feeling human again so I’m back on the horse. Got another twenty-two pounds to go to reach my (first) goal. It’s doable.