11/18/05

reading: Rituals of the Season, by Margaret Maron. If my sister had any idea how long I’ve had this book and am just now getting around to reading it, she’d be horribly distressed. So, uh, I just got it! And I’ll be done with it in another day, Deb, so it’ll be on the way soon! Finished last night: Marrying Up, by Jackie Rose. Eh. I think I need to take a little time away from the Red Dress Ink books. I like most of them, but I’ve been bored by the last few I’ve read, so I’m thinking I’m burned out on them.

* * * Yesterday was a serious errand-running day. I got out of bed as soon as Fred left for work – well, okay, I snoozed for ten minutes longer and THEN rolled out of bed – because I had a 9:30 appointment and had some stuff I wanted to get done before I needed to leave for my appointment. I did laundry, cleaned the litter box, vacuumed in front of the laundry room (where the litter box is kept; the carpet in front of the laundry room gets a ton of litter tracked onto it in the course of a day), played with the kitties, took a shower, read for a little while, got dressed, blow-dried my hair, ran to the grocery store (we were in desperate need of toilet paper, Tide, AND contact solution), and posted yesterday’s entry before it was time to leave for my appointment. My appointment was at the dentists’ office, because remember that bite plate I got 10 months ago to wear at night so I wouldn’t grind my teeth down into little bitty nubs? Yeah, I chewed a couple of small holes in it, and then the side cracked almost all the way off. Apparently I’ve got the Jaws of Doom. Anyway, I called the dentist’s office and said “I chewed a couple of holes through my bite plate and then the side cracked almost all the way off. Please tell me it’s under warranty or something.” The woman I spoke to suggested that I come in so they could take a look at it and decide what needed to be done. Probably they thought they’d be able to just patch it, but when I went in this morning, the hygienist took one look at it and said “Yeah, I think you’re going to need another one.” She wandered off and came back about 15 minutes later to tell me that she was going to take impressions of my upper and lower teeth, and that they were going to have another bite plate made of stronger material (I didn’t ask if it was titanium, but you KNOW no mere plastic is going to hold back the Jaws of Doom). Aaaaanyway, the new bite plate should be back in a week or two and there was no mention made of money owed, so I’m assuming they’re doing it for free, since they always require payment up front for that sort of thing. I ended up being in the dentist’s office for about half an hour, and when I left there I headed directly for the gas station, because the air in my tires was low, and after I harassed Fred to get me a tire pressure gauge and then call the dealership to see what the PSI in my tires was supposed to be (32 – 34 PSI, and all tires were in the mid-20s), I’d decided it was time to actually get my ass in gear, be a grownup, and put air in my tires. I had to go to three different gas stations to find a working air compressor, and when I finally found one that worked, I had to stand out in the extremely breezy 40-degree COLD and fill all four of the tires. But now they’re at the correct pressure, and I can actually tell the difference when I’m driving the car. I ran home to grab a couple of packages I needed to mail, went to the grocery store to pick up a prescription, and headed out to the cat shelter so I could fill out the paperwork to officially adopt Sugarbutt (and it amuses me, for some reason, that six years ago this week I was dithering over whether to adopt Miz Poo). I hung out there for 20 minutes or so, petting little kittens and making conversation with the shelter manager, then headed back for Madison. Once back in Madison, I went to the post office, dropped off the packages, checked the PO Box (nothin’!), and finally went home, settled down in front of the computer, and had lunch. It wasn’t until 2:30ish that I realized I hadn’t seen either Sugarbutt or Tom Cullen since early that morning. I figured they were just hanging out upstairs because it’s warmer up there (did I mention 40 degrees yesterday? Brrrr!), but when I actually got upstairs to check, I found that they’d managed to shut themselves in the kitten room. I have no idea how long they were in there, but when I let them out, Sugarbutt almost fell over, he was so happy to be free. And then they both headed directly for the food and water, and shortly after for the litter box. So then I went downstairs and watched Lost (I swear, half that show goes directly over my head, but I love it anyway), and that was about all the excitement I could stand for the day. Today, I think I’ll do… NOTHIN’. Just ’cause I can. * * * Confession: When I’m holding one of the kittens and they fart on me, I have a tendency to sing “Farty farty had a party and no one came but farty farty.” And those little brats fart a LOT. “How YOU doin’?” I think Mister Boogers thinks he’s Sugarbutt’s Momma. He’s always grooming him like crazy. “Okay, someone distract her and I’ll break the window and set us all free!” I don’t know which kills me more – the happy look on his face, or the little pink toes. “Rawwwwwwwwwwwr!” If only we could find a happy cat, instead of this terribly sad one… “Charles in charge of our DAYS and our NIGHTS! Charles in charge of our WRONGS and our RIGHTS! And I sing, I want, I waaaaaaaant Charles in Chaaaaaaaaaaarge of meeeeeeeeee!” All of today’s uploaded pictures (there are a ton today) are here. * * * Previously 2004: Reader questions. 2003: Of course, my immediate response is “Are you on drugs???” 2002: I think that everyone there had a little cartoon question mark over their head, ’cause I sure as shit did. 2001: No entry. 2000: No entry. 1999: No entry.]]>