Robyn, I have a question for ya! At your highest weight did you ever have sleep apnea? The reason I ask is that I have it, and I asked the doctor why I have it while others with similar weights don’t seem to have the problem. His reply was that they did have it (probably just as bad as me) but weren’t aware that they had it. Sorry for rambling, just curious. Btw I don’t necessarily believe the doctor. I think he can’t tell me why me and not someone else, so he’s just claiming all overweight people have it. Thanks in advance.
As far as I’m aware, I never had sleep apnea, though it’s possible that I had it and didn’t know it. Obesity, according to this page, is the biggest risk factor for sleep apnea, but it doesn’t say anywhere that all overweight people have it. I think you might be right about your doctor claiming all overweight people have it because he doesn’t know why you have it and someone else doesn’t.
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write about how much you totally LOVE me, and how long you’ve KNOWN me, and how much you LOVE me . . .
This one’s from Mo, whose
blog I stalk 63,000 times a day, even though I hardly ever leave comments.
I have no idea how long I’ve known you, Mo – four years, maybe? I know that the first time I emailed you, it was to ask you where the hell Blue Collar Diva (remember her?) had gone, and you were like “How the fuck would I know?” Man. I wish I knew how BCD was doing…
Anyway, I love the Mo. LOVE HER. Because she’s funny and gaseous and always cracks me up. Also, she is the mother of
Frankie, who is Miz Poo’s love interest, though he’s not-so-secretly gay. Come out of the closet, Frankie!
Also, Mo occasionally puts up kitty movies, and that right there makes her a gal after my very own heart.
Mwah!
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I’m curious about your change of heart for Walmart. You used to love it, now you hate it-what gives?
I did love Walmart. In fact, I’d visit Walmart a minimum of three times a week and go into withdrawals if it had been more than a few days since my last visit. But then Target came along, and here’s the thing – I began to notice that the freakin’ aisles at Walmart were always, always, always blocked by big piles of boxes that Walmart employees were supposed to be stocking the shelves with, only there were never any Walmart employees to be found. And I’d have to figure out a way to get my cart around the pile of boxes, when there’d invariably be someone blocking the way with their cart as they stood slack-jawed and drooling as they tried to decide which brand of marshmallow fluff would best suit their palate.
At Target, on the other hand, the aisles are wide and never blocked with huge piles of boxes. If someone’s staring slack-jawed and drooling, I can always get my cart around them, and that makes me happy.
Also, I can get sushi in the deli section.
Occasionally I still need to visit Walmart if I need something Target doesn’t carry – for instance, there’s no craft section at Target – and every time I go to Walmart I find what I need and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
I think I’m probably turning into a yuppie snob.
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A question that is tearing my heart out- I have 3 new cats,9mons., 2 that are 6mons. (all adopted since June), they are horribly destroying our new home and furniture! Today I ordered a product called Soft Paws, claw covers. I am really struggling with the idea of de-clawing. As a fellow cat lover I would appreciate your thoughts.
I hesitate to say this, because I know I’m inviting a shitstorm, but I am not anti declawing. I’ve known many cats who were declawed and didn’t appear to feel
maimed or deformed (but then, who the hell knows what goes on in the mind of a cat?).
Your cats are still young enough that you can train them to be comfortable with having you clip their claws every week or so. It’s fairly simple to cut their claws – similar to cutting fingernails, you just need to avoid cutting them too short. There are instructions
here. I also highly recommend using a can of compressed air to let the cats know when they’re doing something they shouldn’t be. If you spray a blast of air at them every time they scratch the couch, it shouldn’t take but a few times for them to get the point.
In the end, you really have to decide yourself whether you want to go the declawing route – like I said, I’m not anti-declawing, but it can cause
problems with your cats and it can also be pretty expensive.
I hope that helps.
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Also — have you ever forgotten to empty the tank on your Floormate? If yuo haven’t, I don’t advise it… Something DIES in there, I swear. I left it for a month once (the time it takes me between moppins, ‘cuz I am lazy) and I literally GAGGED emptying it. If I could have justified throwing it away I would have.
I actually have never forgotten to empty the tank, thank god. I’m a weirdo who likes to see all the crap the Floormate sucked up, because it makes me feel like I did an excellent job of cleaning, and won’t need to do it again for weeks and weeks.
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But if you’re looking for topics, what’s going on with the spud lately? Does she plan on getting her drivers license? Who’s going to be the lucky one to take her out in the car?
The spud is doing just fine – she’s enjoying school (some classes more than others – she just finished making a pillow in Family Dynamics) and enjoying being around her friends at school. She went to a Halloween party at a friend’s house and had a good time, and she’s going to be going to a Christmas party (I guess it’s a Christmas party) in December at another friend’s house.
She does plan on getting her driver’s license, though not until she takes Driver’s Ed. at school next term, so maybe she’ll have her license by spring or early summer. Fred took her out driving several times earlier this year and she seemed to be getting the hang of it, though Fred had a hard time getting her to go anywhere near the speed limit. That’s good, though – better too slow than too fast! We decided to stop taking her out driving until after she’s taken Driver’s Ed., because we were worried that she’d pick up bad driving habits; I’d prefer her to learn all the basics from someone who teaches Driver’s Ed. for a living, and then practice everything she’s learned.
Fred will be the one taking her out driving because I don’t think my nerves can handle it.
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You should write all about Fred’s car. LOL
Fred’s car is a [censored] and he thought about getting it in [censored] or [censored], but ended up deciding that [censored] was the prettiest color. He got it at [censored] and got a really good deal on it. I had to drive it last weekend because my Jeep was being worked on, and it’s certainly got a lot more pep than the Jeep does. I enjoyed driving it. He’s had it for eight or nine months now and still loves it as much as he did when he first got it.
In summary, I think he would definitely recommend the [censored] and if you’re in the market for a new vehicle, you should give a [censored] a test drive!
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Is that your kitty’s tongue sticking out or part of his lip? He looks so in love.
That is actually NOT Spanky’s tongue sticking out in the picture from yesterday’s entry, it’s his lower lip!
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You can always write about the wonder that is your husband. Except, you know, for those things he doesn’t want you to write about.
(Fred left that comment, by the way)
Okay, here’s a Fred story. A few weeks ago he was trying to chase Spot down, because it was time for his (Spot’s) medicine. Spot ran under the bed, and Fred got down on the floor to try to sweet-talk him out from under the bed.
“Oh my god!” Fred said. “There’s a dead mole under there!”
“Whaaaaat?” I said.
“I think it’s dead,” Fred said. He grabbed the can of compressed air and shot a brief blast of air under the bed. “Yeah, it’s not moving.”
“Well, GROSS! How long has it been under there?” I said.
“I don’t know…” Fred’s attention went back to getting Spot out from under the bed. He finally coaxed Spot out and picked him up to give him his medicine. I got down on the floor and looked under the bed.
“Where is the mole?” I asked, looking around.
“Uh…” Fred got back down on the floor on the other side of the bed. “Right there!” he said. “It’s right in front of you, don’t you see it?”
“That?” I said.
“Yeah, that.”
“Babe,” I said, already grinning. “That’s a toy mouse.”
“Oh,” he said, shrugging. “It looked just like a dead mole to me…”
Heh.
Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll address more questions tomorrow – if you have a question or a suggestion for something you want me to write about, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can oblige.
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A muscle by my right eye is very twitchy today, and it’s really annoying the hell out of me, especially since I’m trying to, y’know, SEE out of that eye damnit.
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This is the look Spanky gets when you rub his back; it’s a look of intense pleasure. But it kind of looks like he’s thinking about something and Dr. Phil is in a thought bubble over his head, doesn’t it?
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I’ve been meaning to ask … How’s the diet / exercise thing going these days? You haven’t updated OFB since 8/31 and I’m always so inspired with how you keep going. I’ve jumped off the diet / exercise bandwagon so many times that I think I’ve injured myself!
Why of why Robyn must you torment us with not letting us know what car Fred drives? Can u give us even a clue? just a little clue? PUH-LEASE!! *said in the most pathetic voice possible*
Hey, Robyn, do you have enough smiley face stuff? Sometimes, I come accross a giveaway smiley face thing, and think, “hey! I’ll send this to Robyn!” But then I think, “ah, she probably already has so much of this stuff, she doesn’t want it.” Clearly, I think of you everytime I see a happy face and probably always will!
Its a Hummer, isn’t it?!?!? LOL
I LOVE Spanky. What a cutie. Do you read Velcrometer? He just lost a kitty and wrote the saddest entry about it. I thought of you guys and Tubby. Do you think you will be getting another cat any time soon?
Oh yeah, did you get my gum’o’gram?
I wanted to comment about declawing. I have 2 cats and they are declawed. I would have it no other way since I have very nice furniture and have enough trouble training Aidan as it is. There are a few things you should know: Only get the front claws removed, the back claws do not destroy furniture 2. if you declaw your cats they absolutely cannot go outside ever. They will have no way to defend themselves. My cats are not “deformed” and walk normally and are quite agile. Aidan is still quite a jumper and can jump just as high and far as any cat I’ve ever owned. He has compensated by using his back feet to help support himself. They have no trouble grooming and I never bath them or brush them and they are clean and smell very nice.
OK, I have a question. I know you’ve already told us, but I’ll be damned if I’d know where to start looking, but….what kind of digital camera do you guys use. I know you upgraded a little while back, and I’m thinking it’s a Sony Cybershot. Do you love it? What bells and whistles do you love/could do without? I’m looking to upgrade mine, if you hadn’t guessed!
Thanks, Robyn…
Chris
Yeah, what ever became of the Blue Collar Diva. I miss her too.
And as for the cat thing, if you can’t bring yourself to declaw them — we taught our cats to leave the furniture along by spraying them with a plant mister whenever they scratched the wrong thing. Is that cruel? I don’t think so, myself.
RE: DECLAWING cats.
I had that done to a couple of previous cats (they live in kitty-heaven now). The last one had them done…not too much trouble, when she was fairly young. She lived indoors her whole life. But later in life her claws started growing back! The vet said it was the fault of the vet-doc who removed them, he didn’t get them all out, and that hurt Isabelle a lot as they were growing back under her pads and pushing thru…so as a somewhat older cat, she had to undergo another declawing surgery, and was NOT pleased. She didn’t speak to me for 2 weeks…and had to wear little paw bandages which she kept pulling off every day… I say try the training that was suggested first before fiddling with the claws…it’s just very stressful as you can imagine if someone removed all YOUR fingernails!
bex
I missed the whole thing about Fred’s car. Why is it a secret? Is he being stalked? Are there Married White Males all over the US losing weight, going from fat to phat, taking up hiking, working on computers and all the need to complete the transformation is THE SAME CAR?!?!?!?!
Sorry, got carried away. I just think it is funny that (seemingly) everything else about him is posted on the internet, why not that?
I could not wait to tell you how much I love your journal. I only check it 56,000 times a day. I think I got the link to it from jane or Nance. I can’t remember, since I am an oldie but goodie. BTW Whatever happened to that (pile)of money that was cluttering up your corner. Surely you did not spend it ALL on the freaking car. Just wondering!
Nanamama 😉
haha — lvoe Beth;s comment about Fred’s car!
Also — have we been extra good to get such Spanky lovin? I love the Spanky pics! Keep ’em coming.
Robyn, I need your help!! Sometime in the past (please don’t ask me when – it’s all a big blur to me) you mention a product that Fred had bought to get rid of the cat piss smell in your carpet. What was the name of the product and where did he get it from? I know that you said it worked wonders, and at the rate my Tyson is peeing around my house (or should I say WAS as he is now banned outdoors) I am going to need a jumbo size container of the stuff. So if you could find I would be eternally grateful!
I ♥ Spanky!
For the reader who mention Soft Paws claw covers? My brothers cat “wears” those because the Humane Society in California forbids declawing of adopted cats. He says they work wonders and if he says that, they must because he doesn’t like anything!
April
Ah, finally the mystery is solved; Fred drives a [censored]. That must be one of those fancy high-performance German cars that only computer/software guys can afford. Thanks for satisfying all of our curiosity Robyn, we can now sleep the contented sleep of the just.
In my opinion, not that anyone else should be influenced by this, I am against declawing. I feel like its saying that rather than take the time to train my cats, I would rather have the ends of their little toes whacked off. I have had a couple declawed and not had good experiences. We currently have 2 declawed and 5 not, and although it definitely took al lot of time and much effort to train them, I think they are worth it.
P.S. Calicos Rule!
Hi Robyn,
you could brag about having icelandic readers. We just love your blog!
p.s. cat’s rule!!!
Hey Robyn – I wanted to know what you think of Dr. Phil this season, specifically the Cheating Husband Doctor with the Pregnant Mistress. Why on earth does his wife not leave that man??? He seems to have the emotional maturity of a 12 year old.
You have to get a sleep study done to see if you have sleep apnea and it will show exactly how bad it is.
All my life (even at a nomal weight) I was the world’s loudest snorer. I mean it was horrible. On family vacations, no one wanted to sleep near me, etc.
When I got older, quit smoking and packed on an extra 25-30 pounds I started to turn into a zombie. I had trouble driving (scary) and staying awake. This was in the early 90’s so sleep apnea was pretty new to most people.
Anyway, I had a sleep study done and the guy said it was the worst case he has ever seen. He said he didn’t know how I was even standing up.
I asked if only overweight people had sleep apnea. He said that the day before he tested a young skinny four year old girl who had it.
The extra weight doesn’t help, but a lot of it is the way you’re insides are constructed.
If it weren’t for the C-Pap machine, I’d probably be dead by now.
When you hear about people dying in their sleep in the old days–I’ll bet that this had a lot to do with it.
This stuff is bad news. Get checked out if a loved one tells you that you stop-and-start breathing/snoring during the night.
Robert
There are things I buy at Target because they are cheaper than Wal-Mart and / or because Target has the item and Wal-Mart doesn’t.
We got a new “Super Target” store here and it is nice 🙂 It’s basically a huge Target replete with groceries and the works. Wal-Mart’s food section is larger though.
SoftPaws are da bomb! Both my cats wear them and my furniture is just fine. In fact, with the SoftPaws on, they lose interest in certain textures and find the coarser texture of their kitty scratching post MUCH more attractive. I was hoping this meant they would change their habits permanently, but no, once the SoftPaws fall off it’s back to the sofa again. But five minutes of shoeing the cats every 4-6 months is all it takes.
Thank you to all the readers who left comments about declawing. After reading the comments I am hopeful the soft paws will solve my problem.
I want to marry Target. I occasionally cheat on it at WalMart(but, only in certain circumstances) but it’s nothing we can’t work through.
Busy Mom, are you stalking me? I am on your site RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT. Creepy.
Weird, karma stuff, man!