Twitter intermittently, if you want to keep an eye on me over there.
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We were laying in bed last night talking as we do every night for half an hour or so. We were discussing a couple y’all don’t know.
“I don’t EVEN know why he’s still with her,” I said in disgust. “They can barely even stand to be in the same room. She must have a magic pussy.”
There was a contemplative silence from Fred.
“Is it named Muff?” he asked.
We snickered companionably, and then Fred began to sing.
“Muff the magic pussy, lived by the cheeeeeeks!”
Is there really any question why I love that man?
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It’s been brutally hot around here lately. I think I heard on the radio yesterday that we’ve had 10 days in a row where the afternoon high temperature was at or over 100. I’ve been letting the chickens out of their yard into the back yard around mid-morning. They like to hang out over next to the air conditioning unit. Condensation pools next to the unit, and they take turns standing in the puddle of water.
Yesterday, Fred went and bought a bag of ice and dumped it in the back yard. They stood around it, occasionally pecking at the ice cubes, until it melted. When he got home from work, he said “Newt looks half dead on the front porch. I’m going to bring him inside and maybe put him in a bathroom. I said “Why not just put him in the foster kitten room? God knows it’s not getting used.” So he brought him inside, and we invited Maxi inside, and they spent the afternoon snoozing in the house, where it was quite a bit cooler than outside.
(We don’t let Newt wander freely through the house, because being inside freaks him out and he’ll sit at the door to the outside and howl to go out. He’s not an indoor cat at ALL.)
While Newt played in the foster kitty room…
Maxi found a toy to play with…
Was “discovered” by Maryanne, who LOVES black cats, and went running over to rub up against Maxi.
Until Maxi hissed to show her displeasure. Apparently Maxi doesn’t care for kittens – despite Maryanne’s many overtures, Maxi never made nice during her afternoon visit.
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It being Friday, here’s your Comment-Answering Extravaganza!
how is the Spud doing/adjusting? Is she enjoying her courses? Is she living w/her dad? How are you adjusting to an empty nest?
The spud appears to be settling in quite well in Rhode Island. She’s living with her dad (that’s why she went up there), and isn’t taking any courses right now – she’s planning to wait until next fall to attend the community college. She just got a job – possibly two – working retail, neither of them full-time, and one of them seasonal (which should last until January). She’s got a boyfriend who’ll be going away to boot camp in a few months. We email and text and talk fairly often, and I know she checks in here from time to time (Hi, Spud!). Hopefully (depending on her schedule) I’ll be seeing her next week!
I’m adjusting fairly well to the empty nest. Once we moved into the house here, she wasn’t around a lot, so I got used to not having her around. If I wasn’t able to reach her via text or email or cell phone pretty much whenever I wanted, I think I’d be feeling the loss a lot more than I am. It also helps, I think, that I’m keeping pretty busy, with the canning and freezing and cleaning and all that.
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i wish they would have a flashback prequel show to show how nicki came to be the second wife. that would be interesting to see what the attraction was.
(That’s regarding Big Love, for you non-watchers). I am hoping like hell that at some point they let us see what it was like, how Barb and Bill came to the decision to start living “The Principle”, how Nicki became the second wife – we know that Barb was ill and Nicki was her nurse (Barb had breast cancer, if I recall correctly) and that’s probably how she was introduced to the family, but how did they go from an LDS one-father, one-mother family, to a polygamist family? Inquiring minds want to know – and more, want to SEE.
Edited to add:
Meet the New Babysitter (Margene).
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Why is it that you think Ben Affleck’s head is so big, anyway?? I just checked him out again via Google, and I still wouldn’t throw him out of bed.
I think Ben Affleck’s head is so big… because Ben Affleck has a big damn head! Go
here, scroll down to the picture of Ben Affleck, next to the picture of Ellen Degeneres. His head is HUGE compared to hers. Now, I’m not saying Ben Affleck isn’t a good-looking man, because clearly he is quite fine. But when a man with a head the size of a Volkswagen comes toward you, wouldn’t you feel a little fear? What if he loses his balance and lands atop you, crushing you flat immediately with his big head?
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Last week you said that you feed the kitties Nutro, which is what we are feeding Lily and Milo. These two are the rootinest, tootinest, fartinest kitties EVAH! Not just little silent ones either–they let out rippers! And the burping–don’t even get me started on the burping (belching, really). They love the food and are very healthy kitties, but I wonder if any other kitties get gas from Nutro or if I’m just lucky to have 2 fluffy gasbags. Have you noticed the cats getting gas from any specific food?
I have not – THANK YOU LAWD! – noticed the cats getting gassy from the food we feed them. And given how much time they spend hanging out with us, if they were farting, we’d notice. Did you just switch them over recently? If so, it may take a little time for their digestive systems to adjust. If not, well, I’d invest in a gas mask!
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“Running around like a chicken with its head cut off” – Well, I hope your chickens can’t read – you’ll scare the crap out of them!!!!
Oh, the chickens can READ, they just can’t figure out how to work the mouse, so they’ve never gotten into the internet thing. When they make a mouse specifically for chickens, THEN there’ll be trouble, by god. They’ll be hogging my computer, posting to the chicken forums, and cackling at YouTube videos.
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I think I had glasses like your old ones, back in the day 🙂 How old were they? I just swapped out my glasses, too, because I am always afraid I will get disastrous eye infection and not be able to wear my contacts. And then how would I drive?
I think those glasses were only a few years old, though they might have been as old as five, I don’t remember. They certainly were BIG glasses, weren’t they?
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I’m a tad bit worried about Fred being there by himself with all of that produce. I hope he does bring it to work and give it away instead of saving it all for when you get back. I can just imagine you returning from a week with your mother, a long, difficult flight back, followed by a 2 hour drive in the heat from the airport. When you finally make it to Smallville, sometime around midnight, you go in the house just wanting a cold drink, you open the fridge, and it all tumbles out. A full weeks produce, stuffed into the fridge and now splattered on the floor – Fred behind you “Don’t open the….oops – too late!”
Oh, Fred KNOWS better. We had a discussion on how to preserve most of the produce, and whatever he doesn’t want to deal with he can take to work and give to his partner. He’s been informed in no uncertain terms that if I come home to find a refrigerator stuffed with produce, I’ll toss it all out to the chickens!
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How often do you wear glasses anyways, never seen a photo of them on you!
I wear them from the bedroom to the bathroom first thing in the morning, whereupon I immediately put my contacts in. Then I take my contacts out, put my glasses on, walk into the bedroom, turn off the light, and put my glasses in the drawer. Very occasionally I’ll get back up after Fred goes to bed, and read for a while. At the most, I wear my glasses for an hour a day unless I develop an issue with my eyes (which hasn’t happened in quite a while). I should probably take my contacts out earlier in the evening to let my eyeballs “breathe”, but I can’t stand wearing glasses when I’m so accustomed to contacts.
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Do your cats ever fall off of the cat tree? Darby was sleeping on the very top level on Sunday and he rolled too far to one side in his sleep and fell off. He bounced twice on the other levels before he finally hit the floor. Then, he just stood there for a second with all four feet spread out like an X and an expression of WTF?! on his face.
It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then one of the cats – usually Sugarbutt or Mister Boogers – will stretch in his sleep, roll over, and fall off the tree. Mister Boogers just shakes his head, jumps back up in the tree, and goes back to sleep. Sugarbutt sits there, looks confused, licks himself, and then wanders off.
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Eventually once you are up to your ears in excess eggs, I want to see a jar of Pickled Beet Eggs on your shelf! Those were always a treat when we went to Gramma’s house and I make them every summer. Have you ever had them? They really are fun and yummy! If not that, you’ll have to do a search on 7 egg cake recipes and such.
Not only have I never had Pickled Beet Eggs, I’ve never had beets. I don’t know that I want to try them, honestly – they’ve never appealed to me. We might try pickling some eggs if we get very overwhelmed, but more likely when we get a ton of eggs we’ll have a dinner of scrambled eggs with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms mixed in. That usually uses up quite a few eggs!
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Do you and Fred have pet insurance on your cats? Do you have an opinion on the matter? I wonder if it’s worth it. I am about to adopt a kitten and have limited funds, so I was thinking it may be a good idea. Maybe some of your readers have any comments?
To which another reader responded:
Pet insurance is like any other insurance, it’s a great thing to have when something bad happens, but then if it doesn’t was it a waste of money? I have intended to get insurance for my cats but I’m a procrastinating sloth and didn’t. There are some ok plans out there that give you a percentage back on routine vaccines but you pay a higher premium then.
We considered pet insurance for the cats, but Fred looked into it and decided it wasn’t worth the premium. I’d be interested to hear from y’all what your opinion is on the subject!
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I don’t know if you save up questions, but I was wondering if you have ever felt you didn’t do enough for your cats? Our beloved dog has a hurt leg and the vet said to just wait and see what happens (with just a phone conversation, no physical exam), and I am freaking out. I’m 90% sure I’m going to change vets. Have you had issues with vets before?
The thing with vets is that oftentimes you can tell how invested they are in their job. The vet we used to take all the cats to was just kind of going through the motions. I don’t know if he was burned out or just didn’t like cats – he wasn’t a bad vet and he saved Miz Poo’s life when she had a blockage, but you can tell when someone loves cats and when they can’t, and I honestly don’t think he liked cats very much. The vet who spays and neuters all the cats for the shelter I volunteer for, you just have to see her examining a cat, and you know that she LOVES cats. She impressed me so much that I started taking Miz Poo to her for the lip issues, and she’s Sugarbutt and Tommy’s vet as well. There are closer vets – it takes half an hour to get from our house to her clinic – but I am absolutely certain that she’s a good vet, and I like the way she talks to our cats when she’s examining them.
(The only reason Spot, Spanky, and Mister Boogers haven’t been seen by her is because they’ve only needed routine shots and exams these past few years, so we kept taking them to the same vet. Now that we’ve moved and that vet is no longer so convenient to us, we’ll either start taking them to a vet in the area or switch them so that all the cats have the same vet.)
It is possible that the vet was able to ascertain from the phone call that your dog’s hurt leg wasn’t an emergency, BUT if your vet’s attitude struck you as unconcerned and/ or uncaring and you want to switch vets, I’d encourage you to do so. You definitely should have a vet you (and your dog!) feel comfortable with.
And now that it’s been a while since you posted the question, let me know how your dog is doing!
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I was wondering where the chickens lay the eggs. Do they have nests?
They have several nesting boxes in the coop. Some of the girls prefer to dig out a nest on the floor of the coop and lay an egg there, which annoys me because then I have to climb into the coop with the chicken poop and flies, and get the egg. I’m told by Fred – who really does frequent a chicken forum – that they’ll learn to all lay their eggs in the nesting boxes.
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Are you still playing Snood?
Very rarely – usually when I’m on a long phone call. I did install it on my laptop, though, so I’m sure I’ll be playing a game or two on the plane to Maine, and while I’m in Maine next week!
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So when I saw the side-by-side pix of you & Alice I thought, ok, that would be pretty good casting. & then I remembered back in ’96 when I saw Alice in a Broadway show, & I thought, yeah, “Bitchypoo:the Musical.” Cause Alice sings & dances. So what do you say? Hugh Jackman as Fred? My cat BC as Mr. Fancypants, cause they’re twins, & he’s already gay, so broadway’s where he belongs. Can I direct?
But of COURSE. I’d like to hear more about the plot of the musical. Will the lead character be tone-deaf and unable to carry a tune?
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Your question and answer Fridays remind me of Smart and Sassy – do you miss it?
Not very much, to be honest. It used to stress me out a lot, trying to come up with decent answers to the questions, and I spent many a Sunday sweating over my answers and getting them sent to Nance. Some of those questions were HARD, and I swear to god, there were times I wanted to answer them all with “I don’t KNOWWWWWWWW!” I miss it sometimes in theory – I guess I miss its existence – but I don’t miss the trying desperately to come up with an answer at ALL.
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Where did you get your purple comforter? I seem to recall you mentioning it and I tried searching past entries, but I cant find it! Does it hold up well to washing?
It came from LinenSource.com – it’s
this one, in “aubergine”. I’ve washed it three or four times so far, and it’s holding up very, very well. I LOVE IT – who would have ever thought I’d end up with a purple bedroom and purple bedspread?
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My question, are your tomatoes “determinate” or “indeterminate” tomatoes. You may have said the variety, but I must have missed it.
I don’t have a clue, so I asked Fred. He said “I THINK most of them are indeterminate. If they’re determinate, they haven’t determined yet.” (Which was a joke, I’m told.) I have no idea what that even means.
(For those of you who are as clueless as me, the definitions are as follows, according to Fred: “Determinate tomatoes only produce a certain number of tomatoes. Indeterminate tomatoes put them out ’til first frost.” Interesting!)
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Question? Hmm.. how about..are you keeping Maryanne?
We are not. HOWEVER, there hasn’t been any room at the pet store for her (this time of year, there’s a huge amount of cats looking for homes, and the adoption rate slows, so there’s a bit of a bottleneck going on as far as room at the pet store), so I’ve informed the shelter manager that Maryanne will be staying here until I get back from Maine. Fred doesn’t want to be “the bad guy” who takes her to the store and leaves her in a little cage (can you see me rolling my eyes?), and she behaves herself pretty well, so she’ll be hanging out here for at least the next ten days.
Clearly she’s miserable.
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Do you ever feel like blowing off Maine some years and going someplace different?
Nope, never. I LOVE visiting Maine (I must – I keep going back twice a year most years!), but I’d certainly like to go someplace different
in addition to going to Maine!
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I do have one question. I know this is a question better asked at one fat bitchypoo, but I thought I’d take a chance and ask. How much do you eat at a meal now, over a year after your surgery? When you hear about the gastric bypass, it seems like you only can eat a couple of tablespoons of food at mealtime. But sometimes I see your pictures of what you’re eating (which looks great, BTW) and I wonder if you’ll eat it all. It’s not huge portions by any means, but more than a couple of bites. Been thinking about WLS, and just curious.
It really depends on what I’m eating. I can eat a lot more vegetables and carbs in one sitting than protein. If I were to sit down and eat nothing but protein, 3 or 4 ounces would fill me up. But I can eat a plate full of vegetables and still have room for more – vegetables and carbs chew down to almost nothing, whereas most protein doesn’t. If you and I were to go out to dinner, it very likely wouldn’t occur to you that I’ve had weight loss surgery. For dinner last night, I had half a
pizza pork hoagie, and a handful of cherry tomatoes with mozzarella cubes. That’s a pretty average-sized meal for me (breakfast these days usually consists of a couple of scrambled eggs and, if I’m hungry, a piece of toast or some blueberries – lunch has been a couple of scrambled eggs on a low-carb tortilla with a piece of cheese and some cherry tomatoes on the side. I’m loving the cherry tomatoes. Also, the eggs!). At more than eighteen months after surgery, I would say my meals consist of right around as much as I SHOULD have been eating before I had surgery.
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Do you dread and hate going to get your hair colored as much as I do? I hate the thought of sitting there and having to come up with conversation (I have one of those hairdressers that gets offended if you try to sit there and read a magazine and zone out and not talk to him. Aargh!)?
I dread it, but only because it’s SO BORING, and yeah – trying to make conversation with the stylist. She’s pretty good about going off and leaving me to my book when the color’s sitting on my hair, but the whole process from beginning to end takes an hour and a half or so, and like I said it SO FUCKING BORING that I hate going. I’m so un-girly that it amazes me that I keep going every six weeks. I always threaten to let my hair revert to its natural color and start cutting it myself, but I imagine I’d end up looking like I’d just been released from an asylum if I ever tried to cut my own hair.
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What happened to the links to other sites that you read? I used to go there all the time and check out other blogs (sorry–journals 🙂 that way…
Over there in the left column (under the picture of Tubby and the one of Sugarbutt) is a picture of Miz Poo that says “Blogs I Read.” Click on it!
(And let me know if those pictures aren’t showing up for you!)
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How do you cook your black-eyed peas? They are a new thing for this Yankee.
We either throw them in a pot of water with a cube or two of chicken bouillon and a chopped onion, bring the water to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for a couple of hours (and if we’re eating them as our main entree, we add a ham hock (warning: VERY fatty) or some chopped ham to the pot). The way we prepare it if we don’t have much time is to put it in the pressure cooker with some water and a chicken bouillon (sometimes a chopped onion, as well) and pressure cook it for about 15 minutes. Both ways will give you somewhat mushy peas, but we like ’em like that!
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Do you guys have to pay for your water or do you have your own well? I remember reading about watering the garden and know how big it is was thinking that you must pay an arm and a leg for water.
We have a well, but we haven’t gotten “the guy” out to get it running for us, so we have to pay for the water we use. And even though the garden’s big and Fred waters a row or two every day (he uses soaker hoses rather than sprinklers), and even though I feel like I am ALWAYS running the water in the kitchen and watering the plants on the front porch and in the front flower bed, our water bill last month was about one-third of what it was when we lived in Madison. In Madison, we got water from Huntsville. In Smallville, we get it from the county. I can guarantee we use more water in this house. I can only imagine how much the water bill will drop once we get the well running and use that water to water the garden!
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Late burning questions. When are you leaving? How long are you going to be gone? Will you post while you are in Maine? Have a great trip!
My flight leaves tomorrow at 6 am. I’ll be gone ’til the 28th, so 10 days (I wanted to be there for both my nephew’s birthday and my father’s, so ten days it is!). Unless there’s some sort of issue with both my laptop and my father’s computer, I’ll be posting at least once while I’m gone.
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Tommy, so very sad that his Momma is leaving.
Spot, prostrate with grief that his Momma is leaving.
Da Boog, unable to face a daily life without his Momma around…
Or not.
“PAR-TAY!!!!”
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Previously
2006: I also thought my brother made up the word “fart” when I was a kid, so apparently I think he’s a real trend-setter.
2005: You know who really just completely repulses me?
2004: The only way it’d be better is if we could call and vote on who’s the most annoying.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: Wouldn’t it have been ironic if I’d made assurances to the spud that we would probably all live for a long, long time, then promptly tripped over the cat, fallen down the stairs, broken my neck, and died?
2000: Man, I’m so unmotivated today (nothing new there). ]]>