3/18/11 – Friday

Good lord, I’ve been so lazy this week. I did go to the grocery store on Tuesday to pick up a few things, and apparently that was just too much for my delicate self to handle, because I’ve hardly done a single thing since. Lots of TV-watching, and I’ve been cross-stitching again for the first … Continue reading “3/18/11 – Friday”

Good lord, I’ve been so lazy this week. I did go to the grocery store on Tuesday to pick up a few things, and apparently that was just too much for my delicate self to handle, because I’ve hardly done a single thing since. Lots of TV-watching, and I’ve been cross-stitching again for the first time in about a year and a half, visiting with Maggie and Rufus in their respective rooms several times a day, but other than that? Nada.

I think when a show like Extreme Couponing sounds like a show I want to check out, I might be watching too much TV.

I’m feeling lots better these days, but the end of the day swelling is more than a little annoying. I’m still putting the compression garment (the one that compresses my arms and chest) on at night and then taking it off in the morning, and wearing a sports bra during the day. My neck is still saggy and bothers me to look at in the mirror but I found this page so soothing that I bookmarked it and am going back to re-read it several times a day because I’m a dork.

The waiting is the motherfucking hardest part, yo.

I have been cooking dinner all this week, I guess that’s something. I made a New England Boiled Dinner for dinner yesterday because it was St. Patrick’s Day, of course. (The recipe is like this one, but the one I actually follow is in a Marjorie Standish cookbook that my mother gave me, oh, 20+ years ago. It’s the best cookbook ever, is what it is. I use way more veggies in my New England Boiled Dinner, and the one linked above doesn’t include onions. In fact, I’ll probably still be eating the veggies long after the corned beef is gone.)

So, that’s the state of me. Watching too much TV, doing some cross-stitching, and waiting for those damn baby kittens to be born!

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I don’t mind snakes so much as spiders. Had you had a picture of a huge, black spider on your tree, I would have freaked out. Brrrrr……. Even seeing a picture of a spider makes me itch. 🙂

Oh, just you wait. Spring is here, there’ll be plenty of pictures of creepy crawlies in the months ahead to keep you shuddering!

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SHITSHITSHIT!!!! I didn’t realize the fuckers CLIMB TREES!!! Oh, God…that is HORRIFYING. If I came across that while going about my business, it wouldn’t matter if it was poisonous or not (and really…who stops to actually check??) because I’d shit, then die.

This made me LOL. The only reason I mentioned that it wasn’t poisonous is because I knew SOMEONE out there would want to know. And Newt was spending so much time staring up at the damn thing that I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to get annoyed and turn around and bite and kill him.

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1) the snake is creepy, even if he is non-venomous. 2) have you seen this? 17 things about cats? Pretty interesting post from our local humane society – http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cat_know 3) you have some namesakes. My foster cats, who I refused to name lest they become permanent residents, well I started calling the girl kitty Bessie for some reason and then once I realized what I was doing, I had to name her brother Fred. They are both very cute, but Bessie definitely prefers to stay in her bedroom/my office and away from any strange people or dogs. Fred is more adventuresome, and luckily for him – very quick. And I guess they are now permanents.

The snake was WAY creepy – it was like that scene they cut from The Exorcist where she spiderwalks down the stairs. (Warning: CREEPY LINK HERE.) Just all kinds of wrong.

I had seen that link at The Oatmeal and think it’s pretty interesting.

And awwww, we have kittens named after us! Pictures, please?

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When my cat Misty had her babies, she was all over the place the day before and morning of labor. She was jumping from one place to the next and was very restless. I had to report for jury duty the morning she had them so I missed the action but I knew it was coming because she lost her mucus plug (which I found on my pillow!!!), when I came home she met me at the door (very unusual) and gave me a “I’m a proud mama come look at what I did” look. She led me to the birthing box and hopped in and got on top of them. I was only gone for about 4 hours, so she must have started popping them out right after I left.

Truly, the only two things I remember about Kara giving birth is that I knew it was happening because I found the mucus plug on the floor. And then she pursed her lips at me (I kid you not, every time she had a contraction, she pursed her lips at me. I wish like hell I’d gotten a picture of that, because I’d never known a cat could do that). So far, Maggie has done nothing but greet me at the door every time I go into her room, talks to me until I sit down, gets some petting, and then goes over to the food bowl to eat. I hope she’s not getting bored in there! I can occasionally hear her playing, so she’s amusing herself somewhat.

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Maggie sounds like AFLAC MAGGIE!

Indeed she does! She’s getting more talkative, too, I need to make another movie. She cracks me UP.

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I’ve been jonesing to start seeds but the news says that atomic dust particles will be coming our way (to the northwest coast) from the four Japanese reactors. It’s killed my enthusiasm to plant!

Aww, come on. Don’t you want to see what kind of mutant shit you’ll grow? (I’m keeping it light, obviously, but that all kinds of sucks.)

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Robyn, you really need to link to Nance in tomorrow’s post, just to make sure nobody misses out on the hilarity of the HoHo cake. I’m still dabbing my eyes and trying to catch my breath!

Here ’tis. I have to say, it might look like crap, but I bet you anything it was very tasty!

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The iPad is basically an oversized iPod Touch. In fact, we refer to our touches as iPad Nanos 😉

That is actually what I want an iPad for, to replace my iPod Touch! I’d like something with a larger screen to watch TV shows and videos on, and to catch up on blog reading. It’d certainly never replace my netbook, I love that thing too much!

I don’t use my iPod to listen to songs or podcasts on, because it was so expensive I’m scared I’ll break it. Instead, when I’m doing housework or working in the garden, I listen to podcasts on a Sansa SanDisk I bought at Woot. They had them for a pretty good price at one point, so I bought one and a backup just in case. It’s so small and light that I can just clip it to the front of my shirt and not worry about dropping it on the ground.

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All I could think of when seeing these pictures was, “Do chickens swim?”

They don’t swim, but they wade! I’m sure they were wishing they were ducks last week, though.

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Happy Virtual Anniversary (this would be year 15, right?)

That’s right, it’s been 15 years since Fred and I met online. And the day went by with neither of us remembering it. In fact when I said the next day “You didn’t even wish me a happy 15th anniversary!”, he had NO idea I was talking about the anniversary of the day we met. He thought I was referring to our wedding anniversary, and he thought we hadn’t been married that long (he was right, it’ll be 13 years this Halloween), but he shrugged and wished me a happy 15th anyway. Heh.

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Since you’ve been talking about the LG Optimus V from Virgin Mobile, you’ve got me interested. Can you tell me what’s great about this particular phone and using Virgin mobile? We have Sprint. I mainly use my phone for emergencies and hardly ever make calls. I like the fact that Virgin offers unlimited text, data, etc with little talk minutes. I currently pay $15/mo for my basic no text phone (yep that old). But my husband got it at a great deal years and years ago. I’m ready to upgrade, I think!

What mostly put me over the edge about the phone was looking at the reviews on the Virgin Mobile website – you can check them out here. It’s rated much higher by users than any of their other phones, and the reviews are pretty much glowing. I’m a little iffy about the fact that it doesn’t have a pull-out QWERTY keyboard (which is my favorite feature about the phone I have now), but I’m certainly willing to give it a try. Since I’ve been dying for a smartphone since the iPhone came out, but have always balked at the monthly fees for those things, I am VERY excited at the idea of having one.

And mine will be here later today! CANNOT WAIT!

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Just put his name on the permanent residents list and when Fred notices say “this old thing? He’s been there forever!”

I’ll make no bones about it – I do want to adopt Corbie and keep him here forever and ever. I’m having a hard time convincing Fred of that, though, which I ask you: is that fair? I think NOT. I’m sure Fred will cave sooner or later if he knows what’s good for him, but hell – I certainly don’t have to tell him every-damn-thing that goes on around here, do I? I could always shrug and say “I dunno! I guess no one wants him!”

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I am betting you Maggie holds out for a good long time. As much as I love little teeny tiny baby kitties, I think she has figured out that *this* is THE LIFE. Food, personal servants, more food, tummy scritches, her own private guest room and bath… I mean really, why mess that up with kids? 🙂

She’s no dummy, that’s for sure! She’s already figured out that sometimes when I go into the closet of the foster room (I keep that door closed, because I don’t want her to go in there to give birth, I want her to do it in the foster room itself!), sometimes I come out with a can of food that I then open and put onto a plate for her. When I have to go into the closet for any reason, she stands right there and quacks at me ’til I come back out. If I’m not carrying a can of cat food, she sits down on the floor and glares at me. She’s such a character.

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2011-03-18-04
“I shall ignore you until you bring me the canned food. You bring me the canned food, I’ll think about possibly finding you a kitten or six.”

I think I haven’t mentioned this, but Maggie is foster number 144 (I’m assuming I counted right and haven’t forgotten anyone, which is entirely possible). If she has six babies, that will put us at a grand total of 150!

(But, y’know, no pressure or anything, Maggie!)

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2011-03-18-01
Rufus, snuggling with my dirty sock and giving me the attitude.

2011-03-18-02
Thinkin’ deep thoughts.

2011-03-18-03
“WHAT?”

Rufus has finally felt comfortable enough around me that yesterday when I went in to hang out with him, instead of running under the bed to hide and then slowly coming out to flop against me like he usually does, he kept playing. He did eventually come over to me for snuggles, but I like that he finished playing first.

Now we need to work on getting him a little more relaxed. I’d like to let him out into the house because I think he gets bored in that room alone. Corbie did go in to say hi for a while yesterday, but I think having lots of cats and toys to play with is just what he needs. He’s still enough of a scaredy cat that I don’t want to let him loose in the house, though – he’d probably just hide under the couch and never come out. Maybe by the middle of the week next week we can let him out for a short roam and see how it goes.

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2011-03-18-05
Joe Bob say, “Hel-LO laydeez! How YOU doin’?!”

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2010: Cat questions, answered.
2009: I don’t know what on earth ever made him think that my desire for plastic surgery has anything at all to do with the level of love he might feel for me, silly man, but bless his big bald pointed head for giving it the ol’ college try.
2008: Sadie’s like the older, tolerant sister who puts up with the brat.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No doubt she wishes I’d leave her the hell alone and just let her SLEEP, GODDAMNIT.
2004: I’m known for my dumbassery, though.
2003: Get your cart OVER TO THE SIDE SO I CAN GET PAST YOUR STUPID ASS.
2002: Good riddance to boring characters, I say.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

29 thoughts on “3/18/11 – Friday”

  1. Argh! I meant to ask this question yesterday. Hopefully it can be answered next week. But first, context:

    Yesterday I was talking with my husband on the phone, he laughs and tells me “Squiggy is licking Lenny’s ass.” I say “Are they on your lap?” “Yes” My question to you is, do any of your kitties lick each others butts? Lenny and Squiggy are litter-mates, would that have anything to do with it? Or are our kitties especially disgusting?

    Regarding Extreme Couponing, I have a friend (from Maine even) who will be on the show this season, so I will probably be watching at least that episode.

    1. I’m going to save this question for next week, but the short answer is: I think I’ve seen it happen before, but I need to check with Fred to make sure I’m not just making that up. 🙂

  2. Poor Joe Bob. Can you please get him a bigger box? He is making me uncomfortable. That has to hurt with corners and creases all up in his pits. Cats are such curious creatures.

    Speaking of, one of my dogs is such a princess that she Always has to lie her head on Something. Be it the wire doorway to her kennel or a stack of books making it look like her neck is broken. I really need to get a picture of her sleeping. She always looks like she is squinting her eyes shut… leftover from when the Wee One was more “wee” and he was always prying her eyes open.

    Oh! I got a new phone yesterday… HTC Droid Incredible. My first smartphone. So exciting. That thing even has a LED flashlight on it. Who knew? Let the kids check it out and they found all kinds of cool stuff. So exciting! I just had to share. Now back to our regulararararly scheduled kitty antics.

    1. Oh, I can’t WAIT ’til my phone gets here! Every time I hear a loud truck go by, I run to check to see if it’s Fed Ex! 🙂

      And I need to run an experiment with Joe Bob and the boxes, obviously. I’m pretty sure that when I snapped that picture, there was a bigger (more Joe Bob-sized) box just a few feet away!

  3. Rufus reminds me of my sister’s cat Louis Arnold (she always gave her cats two names). He was so gorgeous and would actually come running from the other side of the house if we called him. Like all boy kitties, he was very affectionate.

    Now I want to adopt Rufus. I’d have to name him Rufus Windsor or George Pompidou or something silly like that.

    C’mon Maggie…give ’em up already!!

    1. I just love it when cats have two names. I tend to add “McGee” to the end of most of our cats’ names (Corbie McGee, especially) 🙂

      1. One of Oliver’s new names is Sgt. Sniffy McGee, Head of the South Edmonton Anti-Rabbit Investigative Unit. Is big job- he takes it very seriously.

  4. Last night I dreamed that hubby and I had tickets to the Grand Ole Opry, but all shows at the Opry House were postponed indefinitely because of a snake infestation! Thanks for that…;-)

  5. Oh, Looking at your links of the frugal sites eventually led me to the extreme couponing sites. I bet that show is fascinating. It is so addictive and I am just starting. It is a game at this point. First trip out, bill was $150 and I got it down to under $50. It is amazing! Who knew you could get so much for free. You can even get the bill upside down where they give you back register receipts for $$ off your next trip. This is very common at the drug stores. You can even use a coupon sent out by the store along with a manufacturer coupon. I have links to many on my FB page but would be happy to email some info to anyone who is interested. I should send you all my kitty food and supply coupons.

    I have to go to an appointment now and will check back later. Robyn, you have so many awesome readers, you should think about maybe some forums making it easier for us to connect.

    1. I’ve thought of that, Kristina, but I’m not sure how good I’d be at running a forum. Actually, I ought to check and see if my web host company provides something to make that easier!

  6. Does Joe Bob only like boxes that are too small? He’s like those slutty big girls who swear they are size 8’s.

    Your phone love reminds me of my trip to Verizon to find my mom a phone. She salesgirl was all excited – oh come see the latest and greatest….blah blah and I had to interrupt and ask for a non-touch screen with a big clock. 🙂 Um, and my mom isn’t old. hehe

    1. oh and I had lots of questions. It seems like your group can adopt the heck out of cats! I mean – you’re not the only foster mom and there seems to be space opening up fairly often. Do you know about how many adoptions your group does? And how many they take in?
      My other question is kind of icky – but I’m asking anyway. You don’t have to answer. But, I know that vets will spay pregnant females – is that something that you guys are against doing or is it a timing thing? Not that I hate kittens – I’m just curious.

      1. I’ll mostly save your questions for next Friday, but the short story is that the shelter isn’t against spaying pregnant cats – I mean, obviously in the best-case scenario world every pregnant cat would be allowed to birth her kittens and raise them, but that’s just not possible. Right now we’re at the beginning of kitten season, and since there was a place willing to take Maggie and help raise her kittens ’til they’re old enough to be adopted (ie, here), she’ll be allowed to have them. I’ll have to ask the shelter manager roughly how many adoptions Challenger’s House has done lately.

    2. He does – when I snapped that picture, there was a bigger box nearby, but he opted for the smaller one!

      I’m a little nervous about this phone because it doesn’t have a flip-down keyboard for typing on like my current phone, it’s got the on-screen keyboard and some fancy “Swype text entry” program, and I’m skeered I might be too old and set in my ways to use it correctly. 🙂

  7. OMG I’m sure you don’t remember me at all, I used to read and comment here years ago. Life overtook me for a long time and then I got a new life and started my own blog when I started training for a trithlon but that is BESIDES the point. SOOOO I was reading another blog today and the guy wrote “yeah I like pickles, just not on a hamburger” (can you tell where I’m going with this) and then I remembered you and Fred and “yes I like cheese, just not on a salad”. It was at that point I spit up coffee all over my monitor. So I typed in your URL and you’re still here and I am looking forward to catching up on things around here this weekend.

    Hope you and Fred are doing great, I’m going to giggle off into the sunset now..
    Ha, I like cheese, just not on a salad.. hahahahahaha

  8. re: “he’s been there forever” – this is my father’s technique for acquiring new electronic equipment. I kid you not. It’s not so bad now that he’s not working at Sears anymore but for YEARS he would bring things home, HIDE THEM (usually in the crawl space that passes for an attic), then wait for at least three or four months before bringing them down and setting them up.

    He’d always do the setup when my mother was tied up with other things, ideally away from the house for a day or two, but that almost never happens – as long as she was so busy she couldn’t think straight that was fine. Instead of helping her with whatever her stuff was, he’d claim a headache or fatigue, then stay home and set up his “new” toy. When my mom would notice it, usually a week or so later (she’ll notice a speck of dust from 50 yards but pays little to no attention to electronics of any sort), he’d look injured and innocent, and say – truthfully if not entirely honestly – “What are you talking about? I’ve had that for MONTHS!” If she’d challenge him, he’d bring out the receipt, proving that he had, indeed bought it four/five/six months ago. It was years before she finally thought to ask, “And where was it up until now?” and it came out that she wasn’t as crazy, absent-minded, and blind as he’d been trying to make her feel.

      1. My mother used that technique with clothes — way back in the ’70s. She would buy something new, leave it in her car trunk for a while, and then eventually get it out and start wearing it. When dad would notice and comment her answer was that it “was NOT new….she’d had it for a while”.

        1. Must admit, I’m surprised that all y’all seem so enthusiastic about it – I think it’s underhanded, dishonest, and manipulative, as well as a little bit cruel in that he went years letting her believe she was developing early Alzheimer’s because she didn’t remember seeing things before but he’d insist he’d had it for “ages.” (Not to mention the hits to their finances, where she was working her butt off, despite illnesses, at a grueling labor-intensive job to try to save money – AND doing 100% of everything at home, even when he was on unemployment and disability – while he kept running up the credit card bills behind her back.) I might feel differently if circumstances were different, but in their particular situation, relationship, and the way he executed it – plus my relationship with him anyway – it pretty much turns my stomach.

          I have turned it on him a time or two, not in identical circumstances but similar, and man alive, does he ever get PISSED when someone does it to him. He gets all lathered up, yelling about how “You explain to me how that’s not LYING, plain and simple.” And I shrug and say, “Then it’s lying, plain and simple, when you do it to mom,” and then he usually starts yelling at me about my politics and calling me names.

          Heh. TMI? Sorry. Bad week.

          Anyway, I guess it wouldn’t strike me as so devious and distasteful in different circumstances or different people, but when I was writing it I really had more of a “what a jerk” face on, lol.

  9. I’ve been jonesing to start seeds but the news says that atomic dust particles will be coming our way (to the northwest coast) from the four Japanese reactors. It’s killed my enthusiasm to plant!

    Aww, come on. Don’t you want to see what kind of mutant shit you’ll grow? (I’m keeping it light, obviously, but that all kinds of sucks.)

    Well,I have decided hell or highwater and dust particles too,that I AM going to plant!
    What with these disasters affecting our area(on a small scale),it’s just a matter of time before we get a big’un quake that will affect our ability to get store bought food.

  10. I got one of the first generation iPads on ebay after the price drop and saved another hundred beyond that. It is a 32gb wifi only. Didn’t bother with 3g. Love it. Love it. Love it.

  11. My frugal hubby is itching to see the coupon saving show..

    I believe his comment on seeing the ads was ‘now that is a good wife!’ Yeah, then I killed him.

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