11-16-07

scoot on over to Donna’s site and help her Pay it Forward, won’t you?

* * * Not so much a question, but I think you should have a poll where we all vote for who our favorite kitty is. It’d be interesting to see who keeps the readers comin’ back! Your wish, my command!

Playing favorites.

Who’s your favorite And3rson kitteh? Spot Spanky Miz Poo Mister Boogers Sugarbutt Tom Cullen Stinkerbelle Maxi/ Momma Kitty Newt I could never choose just one favorite! Current Results

* * * Question for Friday, oh house cleaning queen: My husband exploded something in the microwave this weekend (chili?) and, of course, did not clean it up. There is now a disgusting dried gunk in my microwave. Any tips on cleaning (besided getting DH to do it, because that’ll never happen)? And thanks for reminding me to wash my Dyson filter. I was going to answer this, but I didn’t have to! Quick microwave cleaning tip: I put 1/2 a lemon in a big bowl of water and cook for 5 minutes. The steam will unstick all of the gunk and wipe right out. The lemon just gives it a fresh scent. I read this somewhere years ago. and Putting a bowl of vinegar in the microwave and heating it for a few minutes works wonders too for softening the gunk up enough to wipe it out. and Even just a cup or bowl filled with water in your microwave will work. Heat it long enough so that it boils and produces some steam. That will help moisten the dried up gunk so that it will come off with minimal work. and Shit, I just spray my microwave with whatever cleaner (usually Windex) I have in my hand and walk away for a few minutes. Come back and it wipes clean. Y’all actually get a bowl of water and turn the microwave on? Wow. Apparently I have y’all beat in the TOO LAZY to be bothered department. Hee! and Mr. Clean Erasers also work great for cleaning dried-on stuff. I usually just spray down the microwave with my favorite cleaning spray, wipe down counters and do dishes while it penetrates, then go back and wipe out the microwave. If it’s got a lot of dried-on crap, though, the microwaved bowl of water (I use water with a squirt of lemon juice) or vinegar does a really good job of softening it so it’s easy to wipe off. And speaking of the Mr. Clean Erasers, I actually used one to scrub the paint off my hands Tuesday, and it worked really well. I love me some Mr. Clean Erasers! (Except that some people react badly to Mr. Clean Erasers used on the skin! Don’t try this at home, kids.) (Thanks, Carrie!) * * * Whew you had me worried. I am seriously thinking about a Dyson for my next vacuum and mostly because of your reviews. How does it do on hardwood/linoleum type floors? I am thinking of putting little carpet in my house pretty soon. It does a really good job – especially when the filter is clean! I was all grumpy because it just wasn’t picking up the little pieces of litter the cats track all over the damn place, but once I cleaned the filter, it worked like a charm. I LOVE MY DYSON. * * * I would rather poke sharp things in my eyes than ever paint anything ever. My enthusiasm shows in my skill level. I will never be asked to participate in anything that requires painting again. I have made sure of that. I took a page from my childrens’ book and did such a crappy job that no one will ever ask again, and if they do, Pookie will simply show them my handiwork and they will backtrack quickly. Man, I hate painting. In case you couldn’t tell. Does anyone need some painting done? Because it appears that Contrary secretly very much enjoys painting and can’t wait to do some more! * * * Robyn, I was just reading a few of your older entries and see that you read Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. She is my favorite author and Coming Home is her best book IMHO. Anyway, have you read any of her son’s (Robin Pilcher) books? Also, have you read Jan Karon’s Mitford series? Jan has begun a new series and I couldn’t be happier! I read An Ocean Apart by Robin Pilcher and enjoyed it a lot (I don’t know why it isn’t listed on the reading page, I remember reading and enjoying it. Maybe I read it before I started the reading page?). I’ve seen Jan Karon’s books in the bookstores and Target, but haven’t tried reading any of them yet. I actually had one in my cart a few weeks ago, but I’m seriously trying to cut down on the amount of books I buy (at least until I make a serious dent in the ones I already have), so I ended up putting it back! * * * I think you should have a picture of each cat (including the two who aren’t yours) under the Cast link. Sorry, I’m getting senile, I can’t always keep them straight! Besides, you have E’gar the car’s picture there; surely the cats are just as important. That picture over there in the left sidebar that says “Our cats” on it? If you click on it, it will take you to this page, where there are pictures of all the cats (except Maxi and Newt, but only because I haven’t gotten around to it yet), and if you mouse over any of the pictures, their names will show up. Or if you prefer, you could go to the cast list and click on the link that says “The kitties” and that will bring you to the same page. I’d note that you had to scroll past the “The kitties” link to get to the part of the cast page where there’s a picture of the car, but I’m too nice to point that out. * * * Ummm.. I hate to point out the obvious, but when you can no longer tell the cats apart – you may have too many! I’m not arguing with that! I said to Fred the other night, “You know, I NEVER intended Maxi and Newt to be indoor cats!”, and he was all amazed and surprised and said “REALLY?” YES, really. Jesus christ – they have food and a warm house on the front porch and they made it through last winter JUST FINE without ever coming in the house – why does he suddenly feel the need to bring them into the house? I ASK YOU?! * * * Are you still stitching? i haven’t heard you mention it in a while.. I don’t even remember the last time I cross-stitched. I think about it, and I’m sure I could get quite a bit of cross-stitching done in front of the TV, especially now that I’m not canning all the time, but I haven’t bothered to get anything out just yet. I will, eventually – my M.O. is to cross-stitch like mad for months, then not stitch a single cross for months, then go back to madly stitching. It’s only a matter of time. * * * Would I be a whore too if I agreed he is the tiniest bit ratty looking? Hmmm. I can’t speak for Spot; I posed your question to him so that you could get the response right from the horse’s mouth. “I am NOT ‘ratty looking’ and YOU, M’dme, are a pure-d grade-a gutter slutting WHORE. Good day to you.” (flickr) * * * I have a cat question. About two weeks ago I adopted a little 3.5 yo female. Some history-before going into the rescue group she had been kept outside even in very very cold weather (such as -25 C or colder). Shortly after being taken in she gave birth to ten! kittens, not her first litter. She is now spayed and the kittens have homes. She is very affectionate to me but is uncertain about the environment, which is a very nice condo. She is now an inside cat. If I turn on the radio or tv she spooks, likewise if I slide open a closet door or whatever. Also, she is on a different body clock than me. I am a day person, she is a nightowl. This is very extreme. She comes out from under the bed when I am going to bed. I’m not forcing anything but are there some things I could do to ease this transition? Thank you. Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything you can do – it’s just going to take time. It’s only been a couple of weeks, so I’m sure that as time goes by, she’ll relax a little. That’s my take on it – readers, have any suggestions? * * * So I was thinking, since Dooce does her Chuck calendar, you should do a kitties one! Didn’t you used to have some things to buy that featured Spot? I would certainly buy a kitty calendar-I love the pictures you take of them. I had things to buy that featured Tubby, and I think there were some featuring this picture of Flossie, and I did actually sell a couple of And3rson Kitties calendars last year. I’m in the process of slogging through the last year’s worth of cat pictures I’ve taken, and hopefully right around Thanksgiving there’ll be two calendars available – one of just And3rson Kitties, and one of foster kitties. I’ll probably link them in the sidebar on the right until after the New Year. * * * I am giving my cat some wet cat food, about half a can a day or I may start giving him half in the morning and half at night. Anyway he won’t eat the kind that comes in the really small, I suppose you might call them single serving, cans so I end up opening a larger can, scooping out half and putting the opened can in a plastic sandwich baggie into the fridge as the can says it should be refrigerated after opening. The thing is that I don’t think my cat is overly crazy about wet, cold cat food and I can’t say as I blame him. Can I just leave the can on the counter in the baggie during the day, as long as it isn’t in the sun or getting really hot will it be okay for several hours? I wouldn’t leave it overnight though if I’m not going to give him the rest later on the same day. OR should I put the cat food in the fridge and microwave it a little to get the chill out when I give it to him the next time? Does anyone do this? Doesn’t it sound gross to put cat food in the microwave??? (I also give my cat dry food, don’t think I am starving him on half a can of cat food a day. He seems to need more moisture in his diet because his bowel movements have been really dry and constipated.) I’ve warmed up wet food for cats before – most cats don’t like their food cold, because they’re all picky bastards. Nah, it’s not gross to microwave cat food, just don’t do it for too long – start with five minutes seconds and work up from there, if you need to. Check the food temperature with your finger before “serving” it – you don’t want your baby getting a burned tongue. I wouldn’t recommend leaving the food out, because you just never know what’ll start growing in just a few short hours. On the other hand, another reader posted just a while ago: Jen: I feed my kitty half a can in the a.m. and half a can in the p.m. but I leave it out on the counter and it’s fine. Also you might want to pick up one of those plastic canned cat food covers they have at PetSmart or Petco. They are cheap and work well! So, there you go. * * * What, if anything, did you do for comfort/consolation after Tubby died and Fancypants disappeared? Our beloved kitty died this week, and I could use some ideas. Awww, I’m so sorry for your loss! I can’t think of anything specific that we did after Tubby died, although the entry I wrote about him was pretty cathartic. We talked about him a lot, looked at pictures of him, and I know I cried a lot – I actually went to the grocery store to do some shopping later the day he died, and while hiding in the frozen foods section had to call Fred to help me stop from bursting into tears. Everything I did for the first few days seemed like a milestone – the first time Tubby wasn’t sitting at the back door bitching to go out, the first time Mister Boogers had no one to snuggle with, the last bit of Tubby hair I vacuumed up from under the dresser in the bedroom, where he liked to hang out. The only thing that healed the loss of him was time. * * * 1.) Have you ever broken any bones? If so, what and when? I never have – and I kind of hope I never do! 2.) Our cat Daisy seems to be not eating as much and when she does eat, she barfs it back up. She has a vet appointment for later today but do you know of any reason why this could be occurring? I know you’re not a vet but you have had enough experience with cats that you might have had this happen before. I have no idea. The few times we’ve had to deal with that behavior, the reason ran the gamut from an internal blockage (Miz Poo) to absolutely nothing wrong at all (Spanky). It really could be anything – I hope Daisy turns out to be okay! * * * Hi Robyn! I have a question about WLS. I am considering getting the lap-band & I would love to know your opinion. When you were deciding about your surgery did you have the option of the lap-band? Why did you choose gastric bypass over lap-band? I am leaning towards the band for 2 reasons: 1) cost, I am self-pay & it will cost approx. $12,000 which is much less than gastric bypass surgery and 2)it can be adjusted if I ever want to have another child. I am sure you did extensive research on all the WLS options and I would love to hear your thoughts on the lap-band. Thanks! Honestly, if my insurance company had been willing to pay for it, I would have had the lapband. Not only is it safer, but I’ve also read that at the two-year (maybe three-year?) mark, lapband and RNY statistics are just about the same for weight loss – in fact, I think lapbanders go on to keep losing, whereas RNY’ers tend to stop at that point. So yeah, the only reason I went with RNY was because my insurance covered it. Had they opted not to cover RNY either, chances are good that I would have gone on to pay for lapband surgery privately. * * * Ok, here’s a question, have you written your giving-birth-experience on here? I’m due in 8 days and would love to read about it. It was super easy right? And not painful at all right? And just generally wonderful right? That river in Egypt is where I’m living right now. It was so super easy I went dancing the next night! Okay, maybe not. I don’t have a fun going-into-labor story, sadly. I went in for an appointment with my obstetrician three days after my due date. He had an ultrasound machine – not a common thing 19 years ago – and the nurse practitioner did an ultrasound and then measured to see how big the spud had gotten. When it was decided that she was going to weigh in the area of 10 pounds, 4 ounces, the nurse practitioner called the obstetrician, and he got on the phone with me, said “Looks like you’re pregnant with a moose. We’d like to do a c-section.” I agreed, they scheduled it, and the spud’s father and I went home and frantically cleaned, rearranged, and packed. I opted for general anesthesia – if I had to do it over again, I think I’d opt to stay awake for the procedure – and it went quickly and there were no problems. The problems didn’t come ’til later. First, I reacted to the general anesthesia by vomiting my brains out. Then I developed a high fever, and they couldn’t figure out why. I ended up staying in the hospital for a week after the spud was born. She was ready to go home after a couple of days, but since I stayed there, they kept her there as well. Thankyajesus for health insurance, that’s all I have to say. You will be FINE. You just have to get through a few not-very-fun hours, and as soon as you’re through them, you’ll have a BAYBEE! You’re going to name your baby after me, right? Uh… right? 🙂 * * * OK, you totally sold me on vistaprints! I am getting my xmas cards there too. How long do they take to receive? You can choose from different speeds of shipping. I think I opted to get mine in about a week, and I didn’t consider the shipping charges to be too exorbitant, personally. * * * Is the Miss Spud going to come home for Christmas? No, she won’t be visiting Alabama for Christmas. Her boyfriend will have just gotten home from Basic Training, and I expect she’ll be spending lots of time with him, along with working as much as she can. * * * I haven’t googled yet, but I want to know how you tell the difference between a vole and a mouse. Because if I found one of those, I’d say, “Oh! A mouse!” The snout looks a little short and the body looks a little stocky, but other than that, it looks like a field mouse to me. I always thought voles were bigger, like rat sized. The only reason I knew that that was a vole and not a mouse is because Fred told me so. I have NO idea how he knows that’s a vole – it looks exactly like an adorable little field mouse to me, too! * * * Ok, it is Kitty Survivor. You have to vote one cat off Crooked Acres. Which will it be? And why? I do not believe I care for this game, and this will piss Fred off, but if I absolutely had to vote one of them off, it would be Maxi. She’s a bitey little bitch and I just didn’t bond with her as much as the other cats, I guess. To tell the truth, she scares me a little, like she might take it into her mind to go NUTS and chew my face off in my sleep. If Fred got to vote one of the cats off Crooked Acres, he’d vote for either Spot or Miz Poo, because he’s a horrible, hateful man. * * * I’ve got it! I know that you’ve mentioned that Fred sort of acts like he wants to get some goats. Have you heard of the fainting goats? This if for real! Check out Wikipedia and the Fainting Goats Society. You HAVE to get some of these and then show us videos. Check out YouTube for videos, as well. They’re hilarious! Oh, Fred does NOT “sort of act” like he wants goats. Fred is harassing the motherfucking shit out of me because he SO DESPERATELY wants goats. I DO NOT WANT GOATS. DO NOT. Do I want goats? Why, no. No I do not. I’m okay with a cow or two, or maybe a couple of pigs, but goats? No. I don’t want them. Fred desperately wanted a cow or two until I said “We should get a cow or two”, and now? He doesn’t want any cows. He wants goats. Desperately. And he can get as many goddamn goats as he wants, and he can SHOVE THEM UP HIS ASS because I DO NOT WANT GOATS. And I can guarantee you that WHEN he goes and gets himself some goats, and it DOES NOT WORK OUT because goats are cute, but they’re a pain in the ass, I will say “I NEVER WANTED ANY GODDAMN GOATS” and he will say “You never said that!” and then I will KILL HIM. And when we first talked about the idea of having goats, last Fall, I said “We should get some fainting goats!”, and he was all appalled and indignant and said “We’re not going to get fainting goats just so you can run at them and watch them fall over!”, and what did he say to me not TWO DAYS AGO? He said “We should get some fainting goats!” AS IF HE’D NEVER HEARD THE IDEA OFFERED AT ANY POINT IN THE PAST. As if it were an idea that sprang directly from his own brow. I need to go lay down. * * * Do farm raised eggs, where the chickens are fed fresh veggies and strawberry pie, have less cholesterol than store bought eggs? Mother Earth News says that eggs from free range chickens have 1/3 less cholesterol. Alls I know is that they taste REALLY DAMN GOOD. * * * How would I go about getting on the christmas card list? I just love getting something in the mail that isn’t junk or a bill. I would also be happy to reciprocate if you are interested. I’ll put something up at the top of each entry, starting the day after Thanksgiving (I refuse to start any earlier than that!), and y’all can send your names and addresses at that point. I plan to start sending cards out on December 1st, and as always, I’ll happily send cards to all countries, not just the US. * * * what did you think of Eat, Pray, Love? I read the Eat part, just skimmed the Pray part and haven’t read further. Found it just too tiresome. I liked it, though there were certainly parts that dragged a lot. I didn’t LOVE it the way so many people do, but I thought it was worth a read. And now I want to visit Bali! * * * I know you’ve answered this question before to some degree, but in your experience, what is the best way to introduce a new cat to the household, particularly if the new cat is a a male and the current resident cat is a skittish female? Do your female cats get squicked out if the male cats use the same litter boxes that they do? Do the male cats gobble all the food? We’ve always just thrown the new cat into the situation and let them all work it out. Well, when we got Miz Poo she was pretty small, so I kept her around me as much as possible, but she was off exploring on her own pretty quickly, and was able to hold her own with the other cats. I do know that it’s widely recommended that you keep the new cat sequestered for a while and let the cats sniff at each other under the doorway for a few days before “introducing” them, but like I said, we’ve never done that. The female cats don’t seem to care about what the males do in the litter boxes – we have three litter boxes, and they all use them with no issues. It’s funny that you ask if the male cats gobble all the food, because the truth is that the females (especially Stinkerbelle) are the big pigs around here. No one goes hungry, of course, but if Princess Stinkerbelle thinks it’s time for her to eat, the boys better just get their asses away from the food bowls. Same with Miz Poo. * * * Say goodbye to the KATG2 kittens. They’re off to the pet store this afternoon. But fear not – I’ll be returning from the pet store with some girls you’ve seen before. More about them (and pictures!) tomorrow. Jesikat. Rhian. Peyton. The concerned “What is SHE doing?!” look on Deuce’s face is cracking me up. Malley. Such a pretty boy! Rhian. I love this girl! Spooky. Dancin’ Deuce, with Malley looking on. Jesikat is rather fond of straws. Spooky, also fond of straws! “So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night!” Happy travels, KATG2-ers. Get adopted quickly, please. * * * Previously 2006: He’s such a know-it-all motherfucker. 2005: Elizabeth Wurtzel strikes me as spectacularly self-absorbed (pot! kettle! black!) 2004: Stuff I’ve bought. 2003: No entry. 2002: No entry. 2001: No entry. 2000: “Hey!” I said, shaking the cage. “Stop that!” 1999: No entry.]]>