Month: September 2006

United 93 Friday night. It was a good movie, but we agreed that during the entire movie, right up to the final seconds, we hoped it would have a different ending. How strange is that, to think “If the plane stays in line a little longer, all flights will be grounded, and all those people will be okay…”, or hoping that they could kill the terrorists and land the plane safely, when we knew perfectly well how it would end? I can’t believe it’s been five years. I remember exactly where I was sitting (right here), what I was wearing (my exercise outfit), what I was doing (putting off exercising) when the phone rang and Fred told me to turn on the TV. I remember seeing the second plane hit and saying to Fred “Are we at war? I think we’re at war.” because one plane was an accident, but two couldn’t possibly be. I remember sitting in front of the TV all day, interspersed with running out to take as much cash out of the bank as I could, going to the grocery store to buy water and dried beans, looking at the faces of the people around me, thinking “How can they look so normal?” All last week as I linked to entries from previous years at the bottoms of my entries, I’d see my entries from 2001, and I’d think “We didn’t know. We didn’t know what was coming, we had no idea.”, and feeling sorry for we pre-9/11 Americans who could never have believed what would be happening in a matter of days. Five years. It seems like we’ve lived with the spector of those towers falling for as long as I can remember. It seems like yesterday when I sat in this chair and watched the towers fell and said to Fred, “How many people are in those buildings?” Having no concept that so many people could have fit in those towers, because I’d never seen them up close. I had no idea they were so big. I had no frame of reference.

"These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." * * * Previously 2005: No entry. 2004: No entry. 2003 2002 2001 2000]]>

It’s been encouraging to see how you’ve progressed! Quick question, with all the weight loss are you having any trouble/issues with “extra” skin? Will you need to have some removed in the future? Oh yeah, there’s going to definitely be plastic surgery in my future, from a tummy tuck and boob lift (probably sometime in the fall of ’07) to (later on) loose skin removed from my upper arms and upper thighs. And I know some of you might be tempted to suggest that as time goes on the skin will “snap back”, but trust me. This skin ain’t snappin’.

* * * I heard some where not long ago that losing weight helps you to think more clearly. Have you found that to be the case with you? Have you noticed that maybe you aren’t as forgetful as you might have been before? I dearly, dearly, DEARLY wish that this were the case with me, that I’m suddenly all clear-minded and able to remember from one room to the next what I’d intended to do, but sadly, it’s not. I’m as fuzzy-headed and forgetful as I ever was, and at the very least, once a day I walk into a room and have to stand there for several minutes, trying to remember what I’d meant to do before getting irritated and stomping off. * * * Okay, here’s my burning question…I am wondering what brand of kitty litter you use and how often you change it. And how many litter boxes do you have for 6 cats? I prefer Arm & Hammer kitty litter because it clumps a lot faster and harder than most other litters I’ve tried. We’ve tried most every other litter out there, and so far I’m liking the Arm & Hammer the most. We only have one litter box for all six cats, but it’s a huge one (and it’s set in a larger container to contain the urine that Spankythebastard likes to send over the side of the litter box). It gets cleaned out once in the morning and once in the evening, and usually once a week the old litter gets tossed, the litter box gets scrubbed out with soap and water, and it’s refilled with fresh litter. So far, it’s working well for us. Actually, I just remembered that for the last couple of weeks we’ve been using Fresh Step Scoopable litter with carbon (for odor control). It’s working pretty well as far as the odor control goes, but I think that the Arm & Hammer litter still clumps harder. * * * Seeing the “yelling” pic of Mister Boogers made me think – you should have reader participation and ask for our best yawny pics of our kitties. Sounds good to me – send ’em in, folks, and I’ll post a few a day! (My email address can be found over there in the sidebar – click on “contact” to get to the “contact” page) * * * Since your surgery, I know you’ve been really active, even more so than you used to be. But how about your motivation? Are you finding it easier to get up and move now that you’re so much smaller? Or do you still have to talk to yourself just as sternly about hoisting it off the couch? Most of the time I still have to think about something I need to do (ie, vacuum the living room, go upstairs to do laundry, clean the bathroom) for a while until I drive myself crazy and finally haul my ass up off the couch to go do whatever it is. Really, at the bottom, if it’s not something that impacts another living thing (ie, cleaning out the litter box, filling the bird feeders, cleaning out the bird bath, making dinner), I’ll still put it off as long as I can. * * * When you guys make the big move, will you still have a fenced-in area for the kitties to enjoy? I’d be a paranoid furbaby mom and worry about them wandering free through acres of land. Also, if you have a pesticide company come out, will you be asking about pet-safe treatment sprays? Yep, we’re planning on fencing in an area in the back yard (Fred’s already done a rough drawing of how much of the back yard will be fenced in for the cats) and we’ll be letting them out during the day. Fred actually suggested installing an electric fence around the entire property and collaring all the cats until I pointed out that the fence isn’t just to contain the cats – it’s to keep them safe from predators as well. And of course it’ll only be pet-safe treatment sprays on our land. * * * You mentioned in the past buying some clothes from eBay as you’ve been losing weight. I’m losing weight now too, and I’m looking into cheaper ways to fill in the wardrobe as I drop sizes. Have you been pleased with the clothes you’ve bought off eBay so far? Did you only buy New With Tags stuff or used things too? Any other hints for inexpensive clothes? So far I’ve been mostly pleased with the clothes I’ve bought off eBay. Everything’s been in pretty good shape, and I’ve bought both New With Tags stuff as well as used clothes. My only gripe is that it’s hard to know if something’s going to fit you when you’re not able to try it on ahead of time. I bought a lot of several pairs of jeans a few months ago, all of them the same size, and some of them fit and some of them didn’t – which I guess is really just the chance you take when you buy clothes on eBay. My only suggestion (and this is something that was suggested to me, or I never would have thought of it) is to search on the size clothing you’re looking for, along with “lot”, so you’ll be looking at auctions for more than one piece of clothing. * * * i know you’ve probably said why before, but my parents are considering replacing the (old-ass) linoleum on their kitchen floor: why do you hate your stone floor? I hate our stone floor mostly because of the color – it’s lighter than I’d like – and because one of the tiles got cracked when we were moving in, and the crack has moved across the floor in the past five years, following the grout between the tiles. Also, it’s really hard to get the grout between the tiles really clean, so that in some parts of our kitchen/ eating area, the grout is a dark gray, and in other parts it’s a lighter gray. I would have liked to rip up the stone tiles and replace it with a decent (and easier-to-clean) linoleum, but at this point that would be a dumb move, since we’ll be putting the house up for sale in about six months. * * * when my cat has a bird and won’t let go just hold their scruff firmly get up close and blow hard right up their nose! Sounds weird but they let go right away… works every time! But… then the bird is free, and will fly directly into your face! * * * I am re-discovering my Maine roots (genealogically speaking) and discovered a whole bunch ‘o distant relatives in Aroostock County, in the Weston area. Have you ever been that far north in Maine? I guess since I do not hunt, nor fish, nor snowmobile, there is not much reason for me to visit, eh? I asked if there was a nice hotel anywhere nearby, and you could have heard the laughter all the way to Alabama, I swear! I’m 99.99% sure that when we lived in Loring AFB, it was located in Aroostock County. We lived there for two years – 1977 – 1978, I think – and in fact, the high school kids in the area would start school back in the middle of the summer, then get time off (a couple of weeks or a month) in early Fall so that they could work picking potatoes in Aroostock County. I know Tracy worked in the potato fields, and Randy might have, as well. But, yeah – there’s not a whole lot up there! * * * When you’re PMSing, do you cry over Century 21 commercials? When I’m PMSing, I cry over EVERYTHING, and I’m not exaggerating at all. I’m a great big crybaby, and sad commercials get to me, sad songs get to me, happy songs get to me, Sex and the City gets to me. It doesn’t take much to make the PMSing Bitchypoo get seriously teary-eyed. * * * That little cat had 8 kittens? Did I count right? It looks like there are 8. Really cute pic of the hungry baby. What kind of fish, other aquatic animals are you planning on putting into the pond? My ex-husband’s aunt had a koi fish pond w/ frogs and lillypads. It was really neat looking, with a little waterfall in the back of the pond to help w/ putting oxygen into the water for the fish. Yep, that little cat had 8 kittens. Hard to believe, isn’t it? As far as what exactly will be going into the pond, I’m not sure. I know there’ll be catfish and bass going into the pond, and according to Fred’s stepfather, we’ll be ending up with carp whether we want them or not. I hadn’t thought about frogs in the pond, but I wouldn’t be against having some frogs in the pond. There’ll definitely need to be some kind of aeration system (I’ve heard there are solar-run aeration systems you can put in the pond) so the water doesn’t get nasty. I’ve actually suggested to Fred that we put a koi pond in the back yard, because I think that would be kind of neat. Until Tommy went fishing and brought in a present for me, that is. * * * Have you thought about getting ducks if you’re going to have a pond? They’re so cute swimming about, and usually friendlier than chickens, or so I’ve heard! Oh, we’re definitely planning to have at least a few ducks. We’ve talked about raising ducks for their eggs (rumor has it that duck eggs are even better than chicken eggs, but I’ve never tried one myself), but even if we just had them as pets, that’d be okay, too. There’s nothing Fred likes more than to see a duck waddling around making bitchy little quacking sounds. * * * Who gets to clean the chicken coop? We’ll be taking turns with that, I think. Maybe we could switch weeks – one week I do the litter boxes and Fred cleans the chicken coop, the next we switch! * * * Robyn, I have to tell you – chickens are so damned GROSS. We had chickens for years growing up, and they STINK STINK STINK. Plus, they’re very ungrateful. Hee – the idea of expecting gratitude from chickens has me laughing my ass off. All animals are ugrateful, aren’t they? Mister Boogers never thanks me when I clean out the litter box or feed him, after all. Heh! * * * Quick question about the house. It looked like there were some vents in the celing in some of the hallways or rooms. Are the vents in the floor or ceilings? All the air and heating vents are in the floors. There is one vent in the ceiling of the dining room/ floor of the guest bedroom that appears to be there just to let the air flow between the rooms. If you stand in the dining room, you can see up into the guest bedroom, so once we get that made into the guest bedroom (at first, it’s going to be the foster kittens room, until we get the bonus room over the garage finished), we may need to cover it up so that no one accidentally catches sight of my parents wandering around the guest bedroom naked. * * * Putting up a fence and using the cats collars to keep them inside will take care of them. But have you considered that in the country you’ll also need to make sure animals such as raccoons and possums don’t climb over or dig under the fence to visit the new neighbors? Fred has mentioned perhaps putting up an electric fence outside the perimeter of the fence in the back yard, because I reallllly don’t want to see any possums in the house, and I ESPECIALLY don’t want to see a raccoon racing through the house. We are only planning on letting the cats out in the yard during the daytime, though, and if I recall correctly raccoons and possums are nocturnal animals. Maybe having the cats inside at night will cut down on the possibility of having raccoons and possums in the house – or am I being naive? * * * Those kittens are adorable. Do they convey? I actually had to ask Fred what “convey” might mean in this case. I learn something new every day! The kittens have gone to a new home with the people who are selling us the house, so in this case, they don’t convey. But the owner did say that if she couldn’t find homes for all the kittens, she’d give us a call (we mentioned that perhaps we could foster them for the shelter if she couldn’t find homes for them). * * * How do you choose the “previously” quotes at the bottom of your page? Do you keep the same ones year after year, or do you mix them up? They’re pretty random – I usually go to the old entry and scan down the page until I find a line that catches my eye. Often I end up using the same quotes from year to year, though it isn’t on purpose. * * * * Are Debbie and Tracy willing to have you share the links to their online journals? I doubt that they would, but even if they would, I wouldn’t want to share the links. Tracy’s journal is far more personal and private than mine is, and I’d hate to send an influx of strangers over there. * Which brother just moved back to Maine, and whose the brother whose wife had the WLS? Tracy just moved back to Maine, and it was Tracy’s wife who had weight loss surgery a few years ago. * How do you react when you come across people (like the ones whose house you just bought, for example), who do not spay and neuter their cats, let them have litters of kittens, get them declawed, etc.? I’m assuming you don’t agree with these practices (?), and I don’t either, but sometimes it’s hard for me to figure out whether I should speak up or just bite my tongue. For example, I catch, neuter, release and feed feral cats in my neighborhood, and recently I caught one that was obviously a pet–friendly and purring, let me pet him, etc., but very neglected (fleas, ear mites, long claws). I tracked down his owner who informed me that he “likes to live outside with the ferals and the raccoons.” She then informed me that they were moving soon and asked if I wanted a cat. We already have two cats and two dogs, so I don’t need or want another cat, but I had a difficult time deciding whether I should confront her about her cat’s condition, and whether I should offer to help her (through the local cat rescue that I work with) find a new owner for her cat. What do you do in situations like these? Do you feel a moral obligation to speak up on the animal’s behalf, or is it better to keep the peace? It’s really hard to know what to do in that case – because on the one hand I really want to say something like “Oh. Will you be having your cat – who has already had two litters of kittens – spayed? I notice you’re having a hard time finding homes for all those kittens. Wouldn’t you be happier if you didn’t have to find homes every year?”, but on the other hand, I think that most owners with unspayed/ unneutered cats KNOW that it would be the responsible thing to do, to have their cats fixed. I know that the owner of the house we’re buying said that she needed to have her cat spayed – and she clearly felt a bit guilty about the fact that she hadn’t. Once we’re in the house, should unspayed/ unneutered cats start showing up to hang around the house, I will have NO PROBLEM catching them, having them fixed, and releasing them. If it seems clear that their owners have abandoned them and they have no place to call home, I’d happily work with our no-kill shelter to find them a home. If I were in your place and a neighbor said they’d be moving soon and asked if I wanted another cat, chances are good I’d just tell them I’d take the cats, then work with the rescue to find the cat a new home. Clearly the neighbors don’t have that cat’s best interest at heart, and I think all cats deserve to have homes where they’re loved and appreciated. On a side note – y’all remember when I put up some pictures of the cats who lived in my sister’s apartment complex, and asked if anyone was interested in adopting them? Well, the jackasses who owned the cats moved – and left the cats behind. My sister belongs to a local Freecycle mailing list, and ended up sending out an email asking if anyone would be interested in adopting them – and it seems that she’s found a home for them. Yay! * * * I was reading MSN’s Emmy predictions today and saw this: “though it sometimes feels like the same-o, same-o two-step.” ARGH! Made me think of you. You’d think a professional news organization would have caught that one! * * * I was wondering what Spud is doing after you move? Is she going to college or traveling? Is her dad coming to her high school graduation? She’ll be moving with us – the college she’s planning on attending (at least, I think she’s planning on attending it – there was a point where she was thinking about attending college in Rhode Island and living with her father, but she hasn’t mentioned that recently) is less than ten minutes from the new house, which makes it kind of convenient. I don’t know if her father will be attending her high school graduation – nothing’s been mentioned about it at this point. * * * I am glad to hear that everything went well! Here’s hoping that your liver is okay and just biled up! Fortunately, you don’t seem to have any bad habits, except for Fred, anyway (and Fred has been proven to be be beneficial to livers, I am told.) I think that “Proven to be beneficial to livers” should be Fred’s new tagline. Hee! * * * Did they say that they found gallstones when they took the gallbladder out? They didn’t find gallstones, actually, but said that my gallbladder was “inflamed, sludgy and sandy.” Which doesn’t sound like a good thing! * * * Has anyone suggested that the gas and shoulder pain was due to helium, which they pump in you so that they can move organs around during laparoscopic procedures? The shoulder pain is quite intense as the gas is caught in your body. Several people mentioned this after I talked about the shoulder pain. The weird thing is that it was always the same shoulder that hurt – and the shoulder hurt more than anything – and it would hurt no matter what position I was in. I can’t say that I miss that shoulder pain at ALL, and if my shoulder never hurts like that again, I’ll be happy camper! * * * I read where 1/3 of all patients who have gastric bypass surgery develop gallstones and should take supplemental bile salts for the first 6 months after surgery. Did you hear about that? and if you did, did you take bile salts? I had heard that some number of gastric bypass patients end up needing to have their gallstones out, but I hadn’t heard of supplemental bile salts. I wish I had! * * * A potential new tagline: Bitchypoo: A sandy, sludgy and inflamed place since 1999 That tagline, along with an angry-looking cartoon gallbladder, would be perfect! * * * Have you guys considered getting a ride on lawnmower? We’re planning on getting a tractor with a mower attachment for the back part of the property, and a riding lawnmower for the area around the house. I’ll be responsible for the area around the house, so hopefully we’ll get a riding lawnmower that isn’t too hard to use! * * * How about pygmy goats? I’ve always wanted one as a pet, but I live inside the city limits. Ever since the day a few years ago when we visited the roadside petting zoo with bitty pygmy goats, I’ve wanted to have pygmy goats. I don’t appear to be having any luck convincing Fred though, unfortunately. * * * Warning: Possible Rescue Me spoilers in this section; skip to the next if you haven’t seen the Season 3 finale. So, do you think Tommy goes to the great ladder in the sky and makes his presence as a ghost next season? There is a next season, btw, starts filming in Jan. ’07. I bet Tommy’s going to end up dragged out of the burning house at the very last moment and Janet will end up nursing him back to health. That Sheila is a crazy-ass bitch. I can’t STAND her. I don’t see why Jimmy’s ghost is so damn devoted to the crazy bitch, personally. * * * do you really have stalkers? you have mentioned it a few times. i find it so odd if its true that because people read your on line journal that would want to stalk you. As far as I know, I don’t have any stalkers. When I mention leaving out details to thwart stalkers, I’m really just kidding. I mean, I wouldn’t go out of my way to advertise my home address or where I’ll be at a certain time on a certain day, but I don’t think I have the sort of journal that attracts stalkers. * * * I have to disagree with Deb about the hairstyle. You have very fine hair Robyn, if my memory serves me correct. With a cut like that, the hair is texturized to look choppy and spikey, but fine hair hasn’t got the strength to pull that off. It will either lay flat or stick out, and most styling products used to create this look are too heavy for fine hair to handle. Your hair looks cute the length you have it now. Have you ever considered a body perm? (not a tight or curly one) I have considered a body perm, but at this point I’m trying to do as little as possible to my hair, and coloring it comes first. Maybe when my hair starts growing back in (which will hopefully be in the next few months), I’ll think about a perm. I actually decided to leave my hair style the way it is. You’re right – I do have very fine hair, and I don’t think my hair would work very well with that hair style. I think the reason it looks so good on Fred’s cousin is because she has thick, straight hair. My hair is fine, kind of thin, and tends to curl. I re-discovered this past weekend that if I just blow-dry the top about halfway dry and leave the rest to air-dry, it ends up looking pretty good. Sadly, this is a lesson I need to re-discover every six months or so. * * * Any plans for a big vegetable garden? Oh, definitely! We’ll be planning a ton of vegetables next year, and we’re going to see what works for us, and what doesn’t. The funny thing is that a couple of weeks before we found the new house, Fred sent me an email that read, in part: When we move, I want: 1. 2 apple trees 2. 2 pear trees 3. 2 peach trees 4. 2 plum trees 5. 1 or 2 lemon trees (if possible to grow) Further, a 1/2-acre garden plot with: 1. irrigation 2. corn 3. green beans 4. tomatoes 5. okra 6. peas 7. squash (yellow+acorn) 8. watermelons 9. cantaloupes 10. peppers 11. sunflowers A small pond, maybe 1/3 acre, with: 1. catfish 2. bream 3. bass 4. ducks Add cucumbers, onions, and potatoes to that list. * * * How does your stomach like the corn? I know I can’t have too much, for very specific reasons, and while I haven’t had gastric bypass, I have issues that makes me have to eat like I have. Actually, the corn doesn’t go through me as fast as it did before I had weight loss surgery! I don’t eat a lot of corn, and when I do I’m careful to be sure to eat my protein first, which tends to kind of “buffer” my stomach against the carbs I eat later in the meal. The corn we got down the street from the new house last weekend ended up being a bit of a disappointment. It was mushy and just not that good. DAMN IT! The tomatoes were awesome, though. * * * Is your house one of the Sears Roebuck houses people used to order from the catalogue? All the material would come by rail. They are such classic styles and yours really looks like one. I actually had to ask Fred if it was a Sears Roebuck house, because I hadn’t heard of such a thing. He had, but he says that the new house isn’t one of those. I did a little Googling, and anyone interested in seeing pictures of the Sears Roebuck houses, you can see them here. Some of them are really pretty neat-looking. * * * As always, if you have a burning question, leave it in the comments and I’ll get around to it one of these days! * * * Instead of finding another cat bed (of which there are MANY scattered through the house), Mister Boogers opts for a precarious hanging-over-the-edge-of-the-table position. I bought a woodpecker seed cake at the store a few weeks ago, not to attract woodpeckers but because the package said that chickadees also are attracted to it. I haven’t seen any chickadees on it, but the squirrel certainly enjoys it. Sugarbutt on the left, Tommy on the right, squirrel in the middle. Neither Sugarbutt nor Tommy can get too close to the fence (or their collars will zap them), and I think the squirrel has figured that out. Sunset from our back yard. All of today’s uploaded pictures are hither. * * * Previously 2005: Give me some of that, Barbara Bush, you ignoramus. 2004: No entry. 2003: Because believe it or not, it never once occurred to me that the Walton family was comprised of hillbillies. 2002: Look, I drink a gallon of water a day. I need to know that I can pee when I need to, so stop rolling your eyes at me. 2001: No entry. 2000: Can I tell you how much I loathe Bret Easton Ellis?]]>

Bonkrood. 1. Do you say “Hi,” to people you don’t know? If they look like they might be friendly, I do. If they look like they might give me the “who the fuck are YOU?” look, I don’t bother. 2. What is the name of the first person you kissed? John Bowie. 3. Do you still talk to this person? Not in about 20 years, and I don’t miss him. 4. Recite a line from a movie? Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straightened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin’? 5. What movie was that from? O Brother, Where Art Thou? 6. Do you play by the rules? If I know what they are. 7. Name another word for penis. Dick Cheney. HAHAHA! 8. Do you complain a lot? Too much, sometimes. 9. Have you ever been to Canada? A couple of times as a kid when we were stationed at Loring AFB, and then when I was in my 20s – Debbie and I took a “cruise to nowhere”, a 24-hour cruise that went from Portland to Nova Scotia and back. Well – I never actually got off the ship, so I’m not sure if that counts. 10. Do you have an addictive personality? I lean in that direction, yes. 11. What size would you say your nose is? Medium? 12. What is someones name that begins with the letter, A? Aunt Annie’s Alligator, A A A. 13. Name someone whose plastic surgery turned out poorly? Farrah Fawcett. 14. Have you ever performed CPR on anyone? Nope, though I did learn how to perform it when I took Health class in high school. 15. Name something that falls from the sky? Bird poop. 16. Are you polite? Most of the time. 17. Name a TV show or movie, that impacted society? Er… my mind is blank. Oh, I know – Survivor, because it spawned all the reality shows that came along afterward. For that matter, I guess the original reality show was Real World. 18. Name a song that has the word “baby” in it? Ice Ice Baby. 19. Name your favorite Disney movie? The Fox and the Hound. The last lines from that movie (“And we’ll always be friends forever. Won’t we?” “Yeah, forever.” ) make me tear up, just thinking about it. 20. Have you ever been scuba diving? No. With my luck, I’d end up with a stingray barb through the heart. 21. Name a profession you would NOT like to have? Factory worker. 22. Name someone you know who has red hair. Coppertop! 23. Name a popular DJ. John Tesh! 24. Name something white. My ass. 25. Are you better at explaining things, or at performing them? Performing them. 26. Have you ever been to a boxing match? Nope. Boxing doesn’t interest me. 27. Did you ever stutter, or have a hard time pronouncing words? Luckily, no. Although recently I’ll go to say something and the words will come out all mixed up. I’m trying to decide if it’s something I should be concerned about. Like I’ll try to say “The cats are lucky I noticed they were out of food” and it’ll come out “The lucky cats are” etc. I realize right away it’s not coming out right and stop and sometimes start again the same way. It’s kind of bizarre. 28. Do you eat out, or buy groceries, more often? Buy groceries, but I’d eat out at EVERY meal if given the choice. 29. What month are many of your friends born in? Half my family is born in August. 30. If you could have been born a different ethnicity, which one? Oh, I don’t know. Latina, maybe. 31. Name something you think is disgusting? The smell of a dirty litter box. 32. What is your favorite type of soup? Chunky clam chowder. Ooh, no! Lobster stew is THE BEST. Unfortunately, I rarely get to eat it. 33. Name a fattening food. French fries. Which sound good right now, by the way. 34. Name something that you are just NOT good at. Anything that requires rhythm. Dancing, singing, any of that. 35. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? Two and a half to three liters of water a day. 36. Does your license plate say anything? Nothing interesting, though I should get an “Eggrr” license plate, dontchathink? 37. Name a type of dance. The Cabbage Patch. 38. Name a type of Martini. Dirty Martini? Is that a type of Martini, or did I make it up? I’m not a martini drinker, so I don’t know. 39. Would you rather do the dishes or fold laundry? I hate them about equally; I do dishes a lot more often than I do the laundry, though. 40. Did you have braces? If so, how long did you have to wear them? Yeah, I had them. Not for long though, I don’t think. Maybe nine months or a year? All I remember is that I had them tightened the DAY before Thanksgiving, which made my Thanksgiving SUCK ASS. 41. Name someone you were really good friends with, who you no longer speak to. Denise. She’s too good for the likes of me, I’m sure. 42. Name something blue. My bedroom walls. 43. What is something good, about getting older? You become less willing to put up with bullshit. 44. And something negative? The aches and pains. 45. Name a song you really enjoy. Dagger Through the Heart, Dolly Parton. I had this cranked up and was singing along to it loudly yesterday. Thank god no one (but the cats; sorry kitties) could hear me. 46. Name someone with the same middle name as you. I can’t think of a single person with “Leslie” as a middle name. 47. Name a bar or a restaurant that really impressed you. A Mexican restaurant Fred and I stopped at on the way home from Tigers for Tomorrow the last time we went. I don’t remember the name or where it was, but their quesadilla was to die for.

* * * Sorry that this is all you’re getting for an entry today, folks. I spent two hours cleaning the hell out of my upstairs bathroom and now I need to vacuum upstairs, get some laundry done, vacuum downstairs, clean the kitchen, and possibly clean the kitchen floors. I like to get all my housecleaning done on Thursday so I only have to do the minimal amount over the weekend, and now that I’m feeling really good again, I’m ready to get this damn house under control again! Also, Fred hurt his back this morning (FAKER) and I’m back to doing the litter box. It was fun while I didn’t have to… * * * Miz Poo ponders the eternal question – how much shit COULD a dipshit dip if a dipshit could dip shit? Something has disturbed the Sugs. * * * Previously 2005: I didn’t get any pictures of it, but last night the stank coming off Rambo’s hindquarters was so strong that we finally gave in to the inevitable and gave him a bath. 2004: No entry. 2003: No entry. 2002: No entry. 2001: IT’S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS WHO IT IS. 2000: Am I not an ass-kicking WalkAerobics diva?]]>

* * * My favorite thing ever is when people are assholes to each other, shit all over each other (figuratively speaking) and then defend themselves by protesting “I have a right to be happy!” Yes. You have a right to be happy (or at least the pursuit of happiness), but not at the expense of everyone around you, asshole. (No, this is not personal. No, I’m not talking about Fred or I or the spud or anyone you know. Stop reading something into it, y’all, or I’ll come box your ears for you. And by the way, this explanation of what “box(ing) someone’s ears” means made me laugh out loud, particularly the part that reads Think cymbals clashing together with a head in between.)

* * * I’m in a bad mood. I have been since midday yesterday. It might be because I inadvertently found my radio tuned to the Rick and Bubba Show and they were trying to explain to people that yes, they were making jokes about the death of Steve Irwin because really, we ALL thought the man was going to die in the jaws of a crocodile and to find that he died in a freak accident involving a stingray, in a way that only a handful of people have ever died before, is just too ironic for words. Apparently they made these jokes and people got all up in arms and offended because it never occurred to them that (a) Rick and Bubba are annoying, but they consider themselves to be a comedy duo, therefore they’re going to joke about offensive things and (b) Whenever ANYONE dies, there are invariably jokes. I mean for god’s sake, it was three hours after the Challenger exploded that I first heard Q: Where did Christa McAuliffe take her last vacation? A: All over Florida. (Rick and Bubba did say that if Steve Irwin’s wife or a close family member called and said they were offended by the jokes they were telling, they’d stop immediately. I’m thinking Terri, Bindi Sue and Bob have better things to think about.) (My hope is that if I die unexpectedly, it’s in a way that will make people laugh. Just yesterday, as we were looking at tractors, I said to Fred “It doesn’t matter, because I’m going to end up driving it into the pond and turning it over onto myself, and you’ll come home to find me bobbing in the pond, with the duck pecking at my ass.” I want to die fast and funny. Can we arrange that?) Maybe my bad mood is because the goddamn phone would NOT STOP RINGING yesterday. You know what I’d do if I found out tomorrow I had a year to live? I’d disconnect every phone in my life. No. I’d hire someone to answer the phone for me, only I’d transfer all the calls to an off-site (but kind of close) location, and I’d hire someone to answer the calls at the off-site (but kind of close) location, and at prearranged times (noon and six), she could come over, knock on the door, and say “Fred called. He wants to know if the goddamn floor guy showed up. Also, the spud will be home a little late, and can she borrow five dollars for gas? I told the AOL telemarketer to go fuck himself, and your mother says it MUST BE NICE to be able to hire someone to do your shit work.” I hate the goddamn phone, it horrifies me that it rings so often, and I have lately been so pissed off at how much it’s rung that I’ve been refusing to answer it. I’m also horrified that I even own a cell phone. I think we should just disconnect every goddam phone we have, and anyone who wants to get me can email me. IF I CAN BE BOTHERED TO ANSWER MY EMAIL. Which reminds me – someone asked if I have an email address. I do – click on the “contact” link in the sidebar (under “about) to get to it. I’m not terribly good at answering my email, though, as those people who emailed me in July and haven’t received a response yet can attest. I do read every email as soon as I get it, though. I promise! I think, though, that my bad mood started when the goddamn floor guy was supposed to show up at noon to look at the bathroom floor and give us a quote for replacing it. At 2:00, Fred called to see where he was, and the fucking asshole got kind of pissy with him, saying that we were next on his list. What time did the fucking fucker show up? 4:00. Luckily, Fred arrived home just as the floor guy showed up so HE could deal with the guy, because what I could hear from upstairs, the guy was amazingly chatty and had an annoying laugh. As far as I’m concerned, floor guys should show up WITHIN TWO HOURS OF THE PROMISED TIME, give the goddamn quote, and get the fuck out without being all CHATTY. And the best part? They’ll be doing the floor next Monday. And I am already SICK TO DEATH of having to go upstairs to use the bathroom. UGH. On the up side, the floor guys are going to install the toilet, so we don’t have to pay a plumber to come out and do it. * * * Okay. Now I’m in a better mood. It probably helps that I finally got off my ass and went for a walk this morning. I had to cut the walk short because I had to go to the bathroom (it’s too bad there aren’t random port-a-potties on my walking route, but I suspect the people whose subdivisions I walk through might have a problem with that). So I only walked 2 miles instead of 4, but at least I got up and got moving. That’s a good thing, right there. Now I’m going to go upstairs and sit in the corner of my bedroom and read, so I’ll be closer to the bathroom. Hey, at least I’m getting a lot of reading done. * * * Sugarbutt and Mister Boogers keep an eye on the squirrel, who’s running along the top of the fence. Over on the patio, Miz Poo and Tom Cullen sniff around. The aforementioned squirrel. “Behind you, Mom! A serial killer!” Is it just me, or does Sugarbutt seem awfully annoyed lately? Maybe he’s just annoyed at me and that damn camera. All of today’s uploaded pictures are hither. * * * Previously 2005: How do people, like, not curse? How is it possible? There are all these gaps in speech where you just have to put a “fuck.” 2004: No entry. 2003: No entry. 2002: I think that, much like dreams, the only person interested in hearing the myriad details of drug stories are the people involved. 2001: I don’t use the “c” word lightly, y’all. 2000: Nothing much is going on at Casa Bitchypoo.]]>

* * * I had a strange dream the other night. In the dream, the writer of one of the agrarian-type blogs I spent the weekend reading was trying to sell me a couple of acres of his land. He and I tromped all over the land as he pointed out the good parts of the land, and where a garden could go, and perhaps a couple of cows. This was a lovely piece of land, but I was unconvinced that I even needed two more acres of land. At one point I realized that I was accompanied not by Fred, but by Mister Boogers. Mister Boogers seemed to disapprove of the land, and at one point the seller of the land started having a discussion with Mister Boogers, only instead of “Mister Boogers”, he referred to him as “Curtis.” Mister Boogers seemed to take this name in stride, and we left the farmer with a promise to seriously consider buying the land. I woke up laughing because the only “Curtis” I know of* is Curtis from 24. For those of you who don’t watch 24, Curtis basically exists so that when Jack Bauer is in deep trouble and needs to be transported back to CTU headquarters, they tell Curtis to transport him back, and ALWAYS Jack Bauer knocks Curtis out or beats him up and escapes. In the most recent season of 24, when they told Curtis to transport Jack back to CTU headquarters, you could almost see Curtis flinch. *Well, my brother did have a friend named Curt (or possibly Kurt) in high school, upon whom I had a very brief crush. In fact, I had crushes on all of my brothers’ friends at one point or another. I was an equal-opportunity crush-er; the guy upon whom I had a crush didn’t have to be particularly smart, charming, or good-looking. Some of the guys I had crushes on were brutally beaten with an ugly stick at the moment of their birth while simultaneously undergoing a personalityectomy. I’d say that I had a crush on most every male who attended my school with only one exception that comes to mind, and he was some horrific mess. If he was a guy and the slightest bit cool**, I entertained a crush upon him for at least five minutes. I probably would have had crushes on all of Tracy’s friends, too, but he graduated from high school and left home before I really got old enough for crushes. **Let’s just say I had a weird idea of who was cool and who wasn’t.

* * * I was in Target one day last week, and as always, I was checking out the books to see what had been released recently (note to the interested: The new Jennifer Weiner book is out today!), and I discovered a fairly new, somewhat disturbing trend. All those authors who wrote romance novels back in the day to make ends meet and who are now non-romance-novel big-time authors (or at least fairly popular) are starting to re-release their romance novels. I don’t care for this trend because I find that, basically, the old romance novels aren’t nearly as good as their current stuff (Janet Evanovich has been re-releasing her old stuff for years now, and I don’t like any of the re-released stuff a tenth as much as I like the Stephanie Plum books), and it kind of pisses me off that someone might see the name of an author they like on a book, think it’s a new book, and end up with a cut-rate romance. Tami Hoag is doing it and so is Kay Hooper, and for that matter I’m sure there are other writers doing it as well. I’m just saying, be aware that they’re doing it when you’re looking at books. I’d hate for you to get all excited about a new Tami Hoag book, then get home to find that it was originally a Loveswept book, re-released to capitalize on her popularity. * * * I just got home from the gastroenterologist’s office. I made Fred go with me in case the doctor said something I didn’t understand, but I think I pretty much understood everything the doctor said. “Uh…. I dunno!” isn’t that difficult to interpret, after all. He doesn’t think any of the drugs I’m taking are the cause, he said there was no sign of cirrhosis in the liver sample they took and tested, nor signs of fatty liver disease. “It’s a very nonspecific diagnosis” is what he said. There’s just one more thing to test for – Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis – but he doesn’t think that’s it, because it tends to present in young white men. In any case, I’m scheduled for an MRCP (basically, an MRI applied to the hepatobiliary and pancreatic system) next Monday afternoon. It’ll take at least a week for the results to come back from that, and then he’ll give me a call. In other words, another two weeks of waiting. If I didn’t feel so damn good, I might be worried. As it is, I’m not. As always, I’ll let you know what’s going on when I know. * * * I stopped by Sam’s on the way home from my appointment after I dropped Fred off at work. On my way out, I stopped so that the guy standing by the “out” door could look over my receipt and make sure I wasn’t getting away with anything I hadn’t paid for. “How are you today?” he asked as he looked over my receipt. “Good!” I chirped. “How are you?” “I reckon I’m all right,” he said, and it was all I could do not to say “MmmHMMM” back to him. * * * Curtis and his patented “Is that a serial killer I see behind you?” look. Ya puts your left paw in, ya puts your left paw out… * * * Previously 2005: No entry. 2004: No entry. 2003: It’s a good day, indeed. 2002: FUCKING telemarketers. 2001: I turned to Fred and said “He looks all dilemmanated, doesn’t he?” 2000: Trip to Tennessee.]]>

* * * We had QUITE a weekend this past weekend – and the weekend, strictly speaking, ain’t even over yet. Saturday morning we got up bright and early and had a squabble about the fact that there is FOOD in the PANTRY, and Fred couldn’t figure out where to put all the groceries I’d put all willy-nilly on the grocery list for NO GOOD REASON. After transferring his bad mood to me, Fred went whistling off to sit in front of the computer and read while I stomped around and muttered mean things under my breath. We left the house a few minutes after 9 to head to the new house. Fred had emailed the owners and asked if we could stop by the house to show his mother and stepfather. His mother’s been very interested in the house ever since we told her about it, and since we were going to be in that general direction for Fred’s father’s family reunion, and since we could happily wander around the house and make plans for three days at a time, we decided to see if we could get into the house. The owner left a key for us, and while we waited for Fred’s mother and stepfather to show up, he measured the property at various points so that he could be the geek he is and use graph paper to plot out the house and the pond and stuff, and then we could plan what was going to go where. I think we spent more than an hour going through the house, showing them each and every room and talking about what we planned to do to the house. Both his mother and stepfather seemed to be in agreement that rather than refinish the floors, Fred should just leave them alone, because they have an awful lot of character. Fred’s mother really really liked the house – I know this because she said, several times, “I really like this house!”, I am excellent at reading between the lines – and it was nice to hear how enthused they were for us. Fred’s mother seemed a little disappointed that we weren’t going to keep the tin light fixtures, and did her best to convince us to keep them. We just don’t like them, though, and she finally gave up on trying to convince us. At one point we went out back, and went over to the pond to find that the duck we’d seen in the past was swimming around happily in the water. The water looked a little less nasty than the last time we were there, and as I stood and tried to take a picture of the duck, I found that I was standing on an ant pile, and the ants weren’t too happy about that. I had ants swarming up over my shoe and in my shoe, and furiously biting me. They did no serious damage to me, though. Ha! I laugh in the face of ant bites! The little fuckers. Fred’s mother suggested that we get some gasoline and burn their nest. Fred told her that after we buy the house (25 days!), he’s going to declare war on the ants. Does it make me strange that I can handle the thought of field mice in the house, but the idea of ants in the house just REALLY infuriates me?

BigbigBIG tree to the right (if you’re facing it) of the house. Also, our next-door neighbor. Interestingly, that house belongs to the father of the woman who owns the house we’re buying. He hasn’t decided yet, but apparently he’s leaning toward selling the house. We’re going to make sure that the owners know we might be interested in buying the house and the property, whether to sell the house off the property and reclaim that half-acre, or to rent the house out, we’re not sure. In the workshop section of the shed (which is as old as the house), greenery grows through the walls. Fred’s planning to insulate and drywall, to stop the creepery of greenery and creepy crawlies. We have pokeweed growing in several spots. According to Fred’s stepmother, you can eat the leaves. You have to do a lot of boiling and draining, though, and apparently Fred’s stepmother’s mother used to poison herself once a year or so on pokeweed, which happens if you don’t cook the leaves enough. I think we’ll be skipping the pokeweed greens. Camellia bush! I can’t wait to see it bloom. A cherry tree. I’d rather yank it down (I don’t like where it is, or the way it’s leaning) and put a dogwood in the same general area. Gardenia bush. I think we’re planning to move it out of the front yard – perhaps near the camellia bush? For a brief moment in time, I knew what this was, but I didn’t write it down, so I’ve forgotten. Anyone know? Fred LOVES this Coke bottle opener. I adore this old, heavy black phone. It’s like weight-lifting to lift up the receiver. The owner says that it works, so I’m hoping like hell they leave it for us. Some sort of clematis. I expect we’ll be seeing a LOT of these guys. When we went back to the house after the family reunion, this little cat was hanging out in the back yard with the duck. I don’t know where she came from, or who she belongs to, but she was very, very friendly, so probably she’s somebody’s pet. She’s also clearly had a litter of kittens recently, and I wonder where they are. I told Fred “If we were living here, and she showed up and hung around, I wouldn’t hesitate to snatch her up and have her fixed.” Once her kittens were weaned, that is. We’re going to make a name for ourselves as the evil cat-fixing neighbors, aren’t we? We didn’t have any cat food with us, but if we had, I would have poured her a bowl. She was a tiny, skinny thing. Another shot of the front of the house. I LOVE THIS HOUSE. The massive magnolia on the side (left side, if you’re facing the house) of the house. Fred likes to tell people that the tree is a “point of contention” because he hates magnolias and I love them. There’s no point of contention, though – that tree’s staying. We left the house not long after Fred’s mother and stepfather did, because we were supposed to be at the family reunion at noon. We were almost the last people to show up at the reunion, and this year there weren’t a lot of people there. In years past there’ve been more than three long tables of people, but this year we were all able to fit at one table with a few chairs left over. We had a pretty good time at the reunion, mostly sat and listened to everyone else talk. I ordered the grilled chicken, which wasn’t bad at all, and I stayed away from the hushpuppies until after I’d had my protein. One of Fred’s cousins – I don’t even know her name – showed up after we did, and she was talking about how short her hair was, and I nudged Fred and said “I should get my hair cut like that!” I don’t know. Maybe I will. What do y’all think? Anyway, after staying at the family reunion for a couple of hours, we were ready to go back to the house and gaze lovingly upon it some more. Fred suggested to his father a couple of times that he and Fred’s stepmother could stop over and take a look at the house, but Fred’s father acted uninterested. We get the distinct impression that he’s less than thrilled that we’re fleeing the suburbs for the country. So we said our goodbyes and headed back to the house. One of the towns we had to go through to and from the family reunion is this tiny little town with the ultimate small-town Alabama name of Belle Mina. It’s a VERY cute little town, and I ended up making Fred stop so I could get some pictures. Pretty little chapel in Belle Mina. Pretty little houses next to the pretty little chapel. Empress Paulownia tree. Apparently they’re very fast-growing and gorgeous when they bloom. I adore this pretty little building. I think it might have been the railroad station in the past, but it’s privately owned now. How much fun would it be to buy this building and restore it? Lots of cotton in and around Belle Mina. Dorks avec cotton. This is just to show that I do occasionally wear makeup. This is a lot of makeup for me, actually. (Yes, I know I need to have my eyebrows waxed. SHADDUP.) Letting my inner devil show. We got back to the house and Fred started taking pictures, and to our utter amazement, Fred’s father and stepmother pulled into the driveway. We spent an hour or so showing them the house and the property, and I took advantage of having Fred’s stepmother there to drag her around and ask what various trees and plants were. I felt like a two year-old, pointing and saying “What dat? What dat? What dat?” She is an awesome resource to have – the woman knows EVERYTHING about plants and trees and bushes. I was pleased to find that there’s a gardenia bush in the front yard and a winter honeysuckle on the side. Those of you who guessed that that one bush was a spirea were correct. She pointed out all the poison ivy we have (we have a LOT, yay) and checked out the pecan trees we have all over the place. Fred and his father trekked to the back of the property to get a branch of the tree we were unable to identify a few weeks ago, this one: Fred’s stepmother identified it as a black gum tree, which means that it’s going to be gorgeous when the weather gets colder and the leaves turn a brilliant pinkish-red. I look forward to seeing that. It was nice to have both sets of parents visit and give their approval to the house (Fred’s father and stepmother agreed that we should do nothing to the floors, until they saw the floors in the upstairs, then they changed it to, “You should just have professionals come in and redo all the floors at once!”). After Fred’s father and stepmother left, we hung around the house for a little while longer, and then headed out to drive into Athens and eat some Mexican food. And it was DAMNED GOOD. We got home almost 9 hours after we’d left in the morning, which is a damn long time to be away from home. We hung out in front of our computers for the rest of the afternoon, and then watched TV until I could barely keep my eyes open. Sunday morning we got up early-ish again (not that I wanted to, but I’ve been waking up earlier lately), and puttered around for a good part of the morning. We were supposed to leave around 10 to go to Scottsboro Trade Days, but when I used the downstairs bathroom, it was barely flushing, and I said to Fred, “You need to get this fixed NOW.” The downstairs bathroom is the bathroom I tend to use 90% of the time, because I spent most of my days downstairs. Thus began a morning of Fred making trips to Lowe’s for more and more items. You can read the details over at his site, but I think this bunch of pictures should explain it pretty clearly. Toilet, without tank. Tank in the sink, unbroken. I took advantage of the missing tank to dust behind where the tank goes. Sugarbutt is fascinated by the Swiffer Duster. This is James, our bathroom spider. James is in a tizzy because I dusted his web. I cannot abide a dusty web, and James knows that. James later disappeared, but whether he packed up his dusty web and headed for friendlier (ie, less strict) environs, or was drowned in a horrifying toilet experience, I cannot say. The toilet tank, broken. Don’t look at me – I didn’t break it! Once the toilet had been completely and irretrievably broken, and after Fred had spoken to a plumber about coming out and replacing the tank (we later decided to go for the whole new toilet) in a few days, he asked if I wanted to drive to Ardmore, TN and check out the Ardmore Dog Days Flea Market. I did, so we headed out there, figured out where it was, and spent about an hour and a half looking around. I would have liked to stay longer and look at more stuff, but SOMEONE (not me) was clearly uninterested in what there was to see (and it bothered us to see how many animals were in tiny cages, in direct sunlight. I’m pretty sure we saw a dead puppy in one of the cages, and the roosters and chickens we saw were panting for air. GRRRR.) and he was hungry (so was I, for that matter), so we headed out of Ardmore, hit the highway, and drove to Athens where we… ate Mexican food! Pig on a harness at the flea market. Could you just die from the cute? Can you tell we’re on a Mexican food kick? We didn’t end up getting home until late, because we drove around more than we’d expected to, and after watching some shows on the Discovery Home channel, we went to bed a little after 9. This morning, I intended to get up a little after 5 to go for a walk before I needed to be at the pet store to feed and clean out the cat cages, but I woke up at 4:45 and was so damn tired I couldn’t stand the thought of getting up to walk, so I turned off the alarm clocks, and went back to sleep until 6:30, when Fred woke me up to tell me that Steve Irwin had died. That SUCKS, especially that it was such a freak accident. As Fred said, “What’s the point in going to Australia NOW?” (He was kidding. I think.) I got dressed and puttered around for a while, then left the house a little after 7 to go to the pet store. While there, I fell in love with a feisty little black kitten named Lucyfer, and wished I had the camera with me. After the pet store, I ran to the grocery store ANNOUNCEMENT: If you shop at Publix, they’ve currently got 28 .5-liter bottles of Deer Park water on sale for $3.99. That’s 14 cents a bottle! I bought three cases, and then went back later with Fred and got five more! and home, where I started writing this ungodly-long entry and then took a shower while Fred painted the downstairs bathroom. A little before noon, he asked if I wanted to go look at tractors with him, so we headed off to Athens to stop and look at tractors, and found that the only tractor store in all of Athens that was open was the John D33re store. We looked at some tractors, went in and asked some questions, and came out with a pamphlet. The Kub0ta, Mass3y-Fergus0n, and Agc0 tractor stores were closed so we may hit them next weekend. (Don’t try to give me advice on tractors, by the way. I don’t care what we end up with; Fred’s the person to convince. Just so you know.) We got home a little while ago (it’s after 3 here) and ate lunch, and now I think I’m going to go upstairs and read (and snooze) for a while before I need to start dinner. And that, my friends, was our weekend. It was a busy one, and we weren’t home much, but that’s kind of the way I like it. I get to spend lots of time at home during the week, usually, so I’m okay with spending my weekends out and about. (Did I mention 25 days ’til we close on the house? Woot!) * * * “Whyyyyy, back in MY day, we had to walk 53 miles – up hill! Both ways! – to get cat food AND IT WASN’T canned! It was made of sawdust! And we were GLAD TO GET IT!” All of today’s uploaded pictures are hither. * * * Previously 2005: No entry. 2004: My Gram. 2003: If I had a brain I’d be dangerous. 2002: What I’ve been doing. 2001: I’m wise to your stalker ways, Margaret! 2000: No entry.]]>