My computer is out of action for the moment. I am going to be stealing Bruce's off and on, whenever I can until mine gets fixed. But in the meantime, I might not have much blogging time. Hopefully it won't take too long to be back.
Jeanne, Calvin, and Delaney are up here for the weekend. Casey doesn't love me apparently, and stayed home with her friends. How sad. But we went out shopping today and had lunch at my favorite Chinese buffet. Its the place I always go to with Erica, so I was feeling a little nostalgic.
So, we are having a good weekend. I am hoping that Stephen is having a good time at his conference, too. I have been sending him happy vibes to get him through his presentation flawlessly...but honestly I know he will be fine.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Things and stuff...
A bunch of random stuff, because my brain is not in organized mode today:
1. Its Hannia's Birthday today. I hope she is having a happy one, too. Mordida!
Mordida! Mordida! (the Mexican birthday chant meaning "bite" as in bite into the cake. I think that at some point the birthday person gets their face shoved in the cake, too, but I may be wrong about that part.)
2. Its not that Omen is acting all that awful when I am trying to give her the medication. Its more that she looks at me like I am torturing her and being mean to her. And that breaks my heart. She struggles but doesn't really bite or scratch. She is such a sweetheart. The meds go on for another week though, and today I crushed it up and sprinkled it over her food. Girlfriend loves to eat, so I think she got the full dose without my having to make her unhappy. I will be so glad to be done with this.
3. Still no heat in this part of the house, but the motor came in today, so....hopefully tomorrow we will be back to normal again. ??? Thats assuming, of course, that we ever were really "normal", so...
4. The roof people from our insurance company came out to look and to measure things to get started on our roof dilemma. That was Tuesday. No word since. I have no idea when to expect to get that fixed. The good news is that we didn't appear to have any leaks during the snow this weekend.
5. I don't know if any of you really knew this, but Erica applied for a scholarship kind of thing with the Department of Defense in D.C. They would fund the rest of her time working on her Ph.D. and also guarantee her a job upon graduation. She heard back yesterday that she made the semi-finalist list, so....Congratulations Erica.
6. We might be seeing Calvin this weekend. He is coming up to go to a friend's father's funeral. Not a happy occasion, but we haven't seen him in a while, so the visiting part is good.
7. Stephen is giving a presentation at a linguistics conference this weekend. He works for the professor that organizes and coordinates the whole thing every year so he has been participating in this from the beginning. It was an honor to be chosen to present, and he has been so busy working on this that we have barely seen him (or Hannia). I wish him well, although I am sure he will do an excellent job. After this, more serious work on his thesis, so....I probably still won't see a whole lot of them. Sad, but necessary, I guess.
8. I am usually a winter-loving girl. I dislike heat, and humidity with a passion.
But this year? This year I am actually ready for spring. It probably has something to do with the fact that we have had rain, ice and snow (mainly rain) almost non-stop since December. It has been a cold, dreary and harsh winter and I am ready to put it behind me.
9. 6 weeks until sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!! Yay!!! Will I be able to hold out long enough to make it????????
10. A happy springtime picture to warm us up a little bit:
1. Its Hannia's Birthday today. I hope she is having a happy one, too. Mordida!
Mordida! Mordida! (the Mexican birthday chant meaning "bite" as in bite into the cake. I think that at some point the birthday person gets their face shoved in the cake, too, but I may be wrong about that part.)
2. Its not that Omen is acting all that awful when I am trying to give her the medication. Its more that she looks at me like I am torturing her and being mean to her. And that breaks my heart. She struggles but doesn't really bite or scratch. She is such a sweetheart. The meds go on for another week though, and today I crushed it up and sprinkled it over her food. Girlfriend loves to eat, so I think she got the full dose without my having to make her unhappy. I will be so glad to be done with this.
3. Still no heat in this part of the house, but the motor came in today, so....hopefully tomorrow we will be back to normal again. ??? Thats assuming, of course, that we ever were really "normal", so...
4. The roof people from our insurance company came out to look and to measure things to get started on our roof dilemma. That was Tuesday. No word since. I have no idea when to expect to get that fixed. The good news is that we didn't appear to have any leaks during the snow this weekend.
5. I don't know if any of you really knew this, but Erica applied for a scholarship kind of thing with the Department of Defense in D.C. They would fund the rest of her time working on her Ph.D. and also guarantee her a job upon graduation. She heard back yesterday that she made the semi-finalist list, so....Congratulations Erica.
6. We might be seeing Calvin this weekend. He is coming up to go to a friend's father's funeral. Not a happy occasion, but we haven't seen him in a while, so the visiting part is good.
7. Stephen is giving a presentation at a linguistics conference this weekend. He works for the professor that organizes and coordinates the whole thing every year so he has been participating in this from the beginning. It was an honor to be chosen to present, and he has been so busy working on this that we have barely seen him (or Hannia). I wish him well, although I am sure he will do an excellent job. After this, more serious work on his thesis, so....I probably still won't see a whole lot of them. Sad, but necessary, I guess.
8. I am usually a winter-loving girl. I dislike heat, and humidity with a passion.
But this year? This year I am actually ready for spring. It probably has something to do with the fact that we have had rain, ice and snow (mainly rain) almost non-stop since December. It has been a cold, dreary and harsh winter and I am ready to put it behind me.
9. 6 weeks until sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!! Yay!!! Will I be able to hold out long enough to make it????????
10. A happy springtime picture to warm us up a little bit:
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Here kitty kitty
I "borrowed" this from another website that I found while researching ways to get a cat to take a pill more easily. Apparently, there is NO easy way. In fact, I came across several sites that claim some cats can't be medicated with pills. In that case, you have to ask the vet for special liquids or pastes....So, we aren't having that much trouble, but its no easy task either. And she hates it more than ever, since she knows the warning signs that its med time.
How to Give a Cat a Pill (followed by How to Give a Dog a Pill)
1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm, as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop in the pill. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
2. Retrieve pill from floor, and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw away soggy pill.
4. Take new pill from foil wrapper. Cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force open the jaws and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl, and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees. Hold front and rear paws, ignoring low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand, while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, and get another pill from foil wrapper. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth, and set aside for gluing later.
8. Wrap cat in large towel, and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat’s mouth open with pencil, and blow down straw.
9. Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take away taste of pill. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10. Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with rubber band.
11. Fetch screwdriver from garage, and replace cupboard door on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot and drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check medical records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw away tee-shirt and fetch another one from bedroom.
12. Call fire department to retrieve ****ing cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrapper.
13. Tie the cat's front paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Fetch heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth, followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash down pill.
14. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm, and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop in at furniture shop on the way home, to order new dining table.
15. Place “Free Mutant Cat from Hell” ad in local newspaper and call local pet shop to see if they have any bunnies.
How to Give a Dog a Pill
1. Wrap it in bacon.
How to Give a Cat a Pill (followed by How to Give a Dog a Pill)
1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm, as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop in the pill. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
2. Retrieve pill from floor, and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw away soggy pill.
4. Take new pill from foil wrapper. Cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force open the jaws and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl, and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees. Hold front and rear paws, ignoring low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand, while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, and get another pill from foil wrapper. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth, and set aside for gluing later.
8. Wrap cat in large towel, and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat’s mouth open with pencil, and blow down straw.
9. Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take away taste of pill. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10. Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with rubber band.
11. Fetch screwdriver from garage, and replace cupboard door on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot and drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check medical records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw away tee-shirt and fetch another one from bedroom.
12. Call fire department to retrieve ****ing cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrapper.
13. Tie the cat's front paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Fetch heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth, followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash down pill.
14. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm, and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop in at furniture shop on the way home, to order new dining table.
15. Place “Free Mutant Cat from Hell” ad in local newspaper and call local pet shop to see if they have any bunnies.
How to Give a Dog a Pill
1. Wrap it in bacon.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Not Worth the Space
I am seriously not worth the space I have been taking up these past couple of days. Saturday was a lot of fun playing in the snow and going to the Chinese New Year Festival. But these past 2 days....yuck. I have felt really blah with some kind of cold/virus thing. I swear I have barely gotten off the couch. Today, I have alternated between dozing and watching the House Hunter's International marathon on HGTV. It kind of makes me slightly jealous that some of these people can run off to drop a million or so dollars on a vacation house in Cypress, or Paris or wherever. Only slightly jealous, because after the past few weeks that we have had there is NO way I would want yet another home to maintain. Travel...yes. But rental houses, apartments or hotels where I can enjoy my stay and then leave with no strings attached. One of the most beautiful properties I have seen all day was in Nicaragua. That house was incredible and had the most amazing view. It ended up going for about $700,000 but it was this couple's main home.
Oh well, hopefully I will feel better and a little more energetic tomorrow. The only thing of value that I did all day long was to drive up to our local car shop so Bruce could drop off one of our cars for an oil change. And even that made me feel weak, tired and a little bit dizzy. Geez. I hate being sick.
Oh well, hopefully I will feel better and a little more energetic tomorrow. The only thing of value that I did all day long was to drive up to our local car shop so Bruce could drop off one of our cars for an oil change. And even that made me feel weak, tired and a little bit dizzy. Geez. I hate being sick.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines Day
A very Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. I'm feeling a little bit under the weather (just a cold), so we are taking it easy. Honestly, a day of rest is the best gift anyone could give me right now. But we did go out and have some fun last night. We went to a Chinese New Year's Festival here in town. And while we really didn't understand very much (they did include a little bit of English, but mostly it was Chinese) we enjoyed it. Stephen's friend, Sun Yi invited us. We took some pictures, but most of them just didn't turn out. It was too dark. Oh well. Today is the first day of the Lunar calendar, and it is the year of the Tiger. Which is our birth year, both Bruce and myself.
Yesterday we took advantage of the snow day and built a gigantic 7 ft tall snowman.
The snow was perfect for snowman building, and we had a good time. I don't think Mr. Snowman will survive for very long. I can hear snow falling off the roof and the trees right now. The sun is out, and its melting fast. And for some reason, as much as I generally do love winter, I am officially ready now for spring. I got my snow, built my snowman, and now I am done with it. We start getting a touch of spring usually by the first part of March, so I don't think its too far off.
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