3/4/11 – Crooked Acres Friday

Thanks, y’all, for your good wishes. The crankiness appears to be subsiding, slowwwwwwly, helped by a good night’s sleep. Part of the issue is and what has me so cranky – a little panicked, really – is that although my neck looks much better than it did before surgery, there’s still some sagging under my … Continue reading “3/4/11 – Crooked Acres Friday”

Thanks, y’all, for your good wishes. The crankiness appears to be subsiding, slowwwwwwly, helped by a good night’s sleep.

Part of the issue is and what has me so cranky – a little panicked, really – is that although my neck looks much better than it did before surgery, there’s still some sagging under my chin, and I think that it’s really sagging skin rather than swelling. While I know that final results from a neck lift aren’t generally seen for 3 – 6 months after surgery, I don’t think I should be seeing sagging skin.

Yes, I’ll be addressing that with the surgeon when I see him, but I’m not scheduled to see him again ’til the end of April.

I know that, worst case scenario, I’ll need a “touch up” (or whatever they call it. Revision?), but UGH. You know? I wanted this to be done and over with!

When I took my head compression garment off to take a shower Tuesday, I found what feels very much like a swollen lymph node under my left jawline. After discussion with Fred, I left the garment off all day Wednesday, which made no difference in the swollen spot. I finally called my surgeon’s office and talked to a nurse, who told me it could be a swollen lymph node or a pocket of swelling, and in either case it should go away. I’m to continuing wearing the head garment, and keep an eye on the lump, and she’ll call on Monday and check on me – at which point I’m going to ask about the loose skin under my chin and see what she has to say.

(I very well may be a looking-for-trouble drama queen, but I don’t think so.)

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Sights from around Crooked Acres.

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While I was recovering from surgery, Spring done sprung.

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Jake and Elwood, through the window.

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Due to the longer days, the hens are laying eggs like crazy. We’re getting close to 2 dozen eggs a day!

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George (right) and Gracie.

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Silly pup.

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Pretty boy.

2011-03-04-09
“Hallo, you has snack for me?”

2011-03-04-10
Tufted Titmouse.

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I was sitting at my computer Wednesday afternoon, and something out under the big pecan tree caught my eye.

“JOE BOB,” I grumbled to myself. “What are you doing out of the back yard?” I got up to go out to yell at him to get his butt back inside the back yard (he’s a pro at slipping out of his collar from time to time, and goes wandering. Luckily, he’s never gone too far.)

Only, on my way to the door, Joe Bob said “Were you talkin’ to me?” I looked down, and there he was, curled up on the cardboard scratcher by my desk. I looked back out under the big pecan tree, and realized that I wasn’t looking at a gray and white cat, I was looking at a BLACK and white cat I’d never seen before.

I stepped on the side porch and called “Kitty kitty kitty!” to him, and he ran right over to me.

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There’s something going on with his right eye, but other than that he was in really good shape. I showed him the food bowl (on the porch), and he ate a little to be polite. He let me pet him, and talked to me a little. He hung out on the side porch for a few hours, then wandered off and I haven’t seen him since.

I’m hoping that he (and yes, I checked – he’s a he, but I honestly am unsure whether he’s been neutered or not.) belongs to someone around here, but I’m sure if he doesn’t, he’ll be back around. I’ve temporarily dubbed him Newman.

For comparison purposes, here’s Joe Bob – I think you can see why, when I first saw Newman at a distance, I thought he was Joe Bob.

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And THEN, yesterday morning when he woke me up for his morning kiss before he headed off to work, Fred announced “There were two new cats out on the side stoop this morning.” He told me that he’d only gotten a good look at one of them, that it then ran around to the front porch, and when he followed it, it was sitting there with a black cat, not one of ours. The black cat ran off, but Fred emailed me from work to tell me that when he’d left the house, the other cat was sitting on the side stoop.

When I got downstairs a couple of hours later, there was no strange cat to be seen, but a little while later I glanced out and saw a cat running after a bird in the side yard, and there he was, the new guy. Or girl.

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S/he has a rounder face and smaller ears, but good LORD is that cat a dead ringer for Reacher!

Reacher, for comparison purposes:

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The one thing I can tell you about this cat (who Fred has dubbed “Rufus”, despite the fact that we don’t know whether it’s male or female just yet) is that s/he really likes our cats. Elwood and Corbie were in the back yard watching the birds, and Rufus was rubbing up against the fence trying to make friends.

Rufus did NOT act like a cat in heat, but that’s my concern, that Rufus is a she, and either pregnant or about to go into heat. So Fred’s shifted into high gear to try to charm Rufus into believing that we’re A-OK. If s/he keeps coming around, we’ll assume s/he has no home, and if we can get our hands on him or her, off to the vet we’ll go.

(Obviously, if Newman keeps coming around, he’ll also get a visit to the vet, but given how friendly he was, I very much suspect he’s got a home.)

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2011-03-04-18
Sheriff Kara says “Obviously they didn’t come into the back yard, because then I would have kicked some SERIOUS tail. Sheriff Mama keeps the back yard SAFE.”

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Previously
2010: Meet his brother, Mr. “THE FUCK YOU SAY!”
2009: Hail Stinky/ Full of Hate/ The Tom is with thee.
2008: The pigs reported that he tasted “Too humany.”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Dumbass things I did yesterday.
2004: I think I need to go back to high school.
2003: “Well, good luck to Daddy on that,” I said.
2002: (You just shut up)
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

3/3/11 – Cranky Thursday

Am too cranky to sit in front of the computer today. I’ll be back tomorrow with some Crooked Acres pics. For today, I sit on my ass in front of the TV and sulk. Good times. In the meantime, here’s some Corbs for you to admire. Like I say to Fred, every single day, how … Continue reading “3/3/11 – Cranky Thursday”

Am too cranky to sit in front of the computer today.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some Crooked Acres pics. For today, I sit on my ass in front of the TV and sulk. Good times.

In the meantime, here’s some Corbs for you to admire.

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Like I say to Fred, every single day, how could you possibly see that face and not think he’s the MOST gorgeous boy in all the land?

3/2/11 – Alice Wednesday

We have hit the part of my recovery where I am cranky as fuck and ready to get this shit over with. I hate the way EVERY damn part of my body that was operated on looks, I think I look horrible and I am positive I will look and feel like this FOREVER. (Knowing … Continue reading “3/2/11 – Alice Wednesday”

We have hit the part of my recovery where I am cranky as fuck and ready to get this shit over with. I hate the way EVERY damn part of my body that was operated on looks, I think I look horrible and I am positive I will look and feel like this FOREVER.

(Knowing that I’m being ridiculous somehow doesn’t make me feel any less that way, for the record.)

So I’m making today Alice Wednesday, and am forcing you to look at a million pictures of her little monkey face. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be less cranky.

(Don’t count on it, though!)

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2011-03-02-01
Alice (who is most often called “The Princess” these days) was just hanging out on my desk with her tongue sticking out. Juuuust sitting there with it sticking out. We laughed and we snapped pictures, and she just sat there, all “Yes, my tongue is sticking out. What of it?” for the longest time.

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Then, the very next day I was checking my email and looked over at her to find that she was sleeping with her tongue sticking out.

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I particularly like the fangs.

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Such a funny little monkey, this one.

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Note how little room she’s taking up in that bed. Plenty of room for another cat, don’t you think?

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I love the tiny beauty mark near her mouth.

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I still can’t believe she can get on top of the dryer. Reacher, twice her size, had a hard time getting up there! She’s got springs on the bottoms of her feet, I think.

2011-03-02-08
She was watching Fred fill the bird feeders. She spends a lot of time watching the birds, too. See that black spot in the middle of her orange tabby patch on her head? I tell her that’s where an angel kissed her.

Yeah, that Alice. I SUPPOSE we like her just a little bit. Good thing Fred twisted my arm and forced me to adopt her, isn’t it?

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Looky looky what I found on the memory stick of my point-and-shoot camera – a short video of Miz Poo and (most of) the Brady Bunch.

(Really, I discover new things on the memory sticks in my computers pretty regularly. I need to get a little more organized. One of these days.)

I like how, aside from Jan Brady, none of the cats are excited enough to actually get up and JUMP for the teaser toy.

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Previously
2010: Have you ever seen such miserable cats in your entire life?
2009: (reCOOPerating, HA HA!)
2008: Shea Butters would be an excellent stripper name.
2007: No entry.
2006: It was so friggin’ cute I made Fred listen to it, too.
2005: I have my finger on the pulse of pop culture, apparently.
2004: A day in the life.
2003: What makes me crazy.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Okay, enough of the wallowing.

3/1/11 – Tuesday

New month, new banner! Christine – who’s done a LOT of banners for me lately – created this one, too. Just seeing those sweet little faces is making me itchy to have more wee fosters! Hey, I’m practically halfway through my six-week recovery period, aren’t I? Yay! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ … Continue reading “3/1/11 – Tuesday”

New month, new banner!

MarchBanner

Christine – who’s done a LOT of banners for me lately – created this one, too. Just seeing those sweet little faces is making me itchy to have more wee fosters! Hey, I’m practically halfway through my six-week recovery period, aren’t I? Yay!

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I don’t have a whole lot to write about, as you can imagine. I can tell you that I’m feeling pretty good these days, although yesterday I tried to put on sports bra that was tighter than the cheap ones I’ve been wearing from Walmart, and I made it maybe five minutes before I was ripping that damn bra off and getting another cheap bra out of the drawer.

I’m sleeping okay lately, with the help of painkillers. Fred is being absolutely spoiled, because more often than not lately, we’re off to bed by 8:30. I lay in bed and surf the internet on my netbook (LOVE that thing), and he’s probably sound asleep well before 9:00. I sleep propped up on pillows with a pillow on either side of me where I rest my arms. I’ve never been much of a back sleeper, but the couple of times I’ve attempted laying on my side, it hasn’t gone so well, so I’m a back sleeper for now.

Arizona Robin (who is not the same person as Arizona Robbins, if you were wondering) asked yesterday how difficult it is to brush my hair what with the scalp scabs. It’s not a problem, really – I’m careful not to brush too hard after my shower, and I don’t bother to spend much time styling my hair, because this is how it looks 23 1/2 hours of the day:

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(Note the inside-out white t-shirt.)

The high point of my day is at 3:30, when I get to take that thing off my head, the Ace bandages off my arms, all my clothes off, and take a shower. Fred gets home just about the time I get out of the shower, and he wraps my arms for me and then puts the head garment back on me. (If pressed, I could probably do the Ace bandages on my arms, but I don’t think I could get that head thing back on.) That fifteen minutes or half hour of freedom is kind of glorious, and I look forward to the time when I won’t have to wear all that shit.

I’m watching a LOT of TV these days. I set up to tape episodes of House, and I’ve probably watched 15 – 20 episodes and have another 20-something on the DVR. Watching TV wasn’t an easy thing for me in the week and a half after surgery, because I kept falling asleep. It took me three tries to watch one particular episode of House because I slept through the entire thing the first try through, and then most of the way in the second attempt.

Yesterday, I watched an episode of Confessions of Animal Hoarders (or whatever the hell it’s called) and was so disturbed by the fact that these people with 80 cats were washing their dirty litter boxes IN THE KITCHEN SINK that I had to pause the show and go upstairs and take a nap. I mean, GAH. SHITTY LITTER BOXES DO NOT GET WASHED IN THE KITCHEN SINK, FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST, PEOPLE. Wash them outside with the hose, or in the utility sink (if you have one), or if you MUST, wash them in the shower and then sanitize the FUCK out of the shower.

I myself, actually, do not wash the litter boxes in any of those places. I prefer to spray down empty litter boxes with my favorite cleaning spray, then once they’re scrubbed cleaned I finish them with the spray bottle of 50/50 white vinegar and water. When they’re completely dry, I wipe down the lower third of the litter boxes with olive oil, let that soak in and dry, and then refill them with clean litter.

(I’m currently using 50% Precious Cat and 50% Fresh Step. The Precious Cat is good litter (and as dust-free as any I’ve seen), but doesn’t quite do the job of keeping down the smell that I’d hope for.)

The olive oil helps keep clumps from sticking to the litter box. If you were wondering.

Well. Wasn’t THAT a fascinating tangent?

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2011-03-01-01
Have I ever mentioned that I can hardly stand how gorgeous Corbie is?

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SO gorgeous. He knows it, too.

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Corbie ear floof.

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2011-03-01-03
Kara, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had lately (NOT complaining!)

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Miz Poo, doing the same.

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Previously
2010: I guess it’s March’s plan to come in like a lion
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Natalie Maines could use some wardrobe advice, though, and I hope I’m not trampling all over her Right to Freely Dress Like a Bag Lady when I say that.
2006: It was so friggin’ cute I made Fred listen to it, too.
2005: I have my finger on the pulse of pop culture, apparently.
2004: A day in the life.
2003: What makes me crazy.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Okay, enough of the wallowing.