Category: Life

I finally got my new computer Friday (I don’t know why I thought it would be here Thursday – Amazon is amazing, but even they aren’t going to get my new computer to me in a day and a half, Prime membership or no), and I spent the weekend installing stuff I needed to install and beginning the long and arduous process of restoring stuff from my Carbonite backup.

It’s a pain to do all that, but my new computer runs a lot faster than the previous one, so it’s worth it.

You clean up real nice!

I know, right? Hee! Y’all are very good for my ego, you know that? Thank you!

Let us know how you like the Kindle Fire! I was thinking of getting one. Does it do everything a netbook does? I am assuming you get on line the same way in free wifi areas or your house wifi?

I’ve messed with the Kindle Fire a little bit, and while I like it a lot, I wouldn’t say that it’s a replacement for a netbook. For one, trying to type out an entry on that on-screen keyboard would drive me mad. For another, I find the games in the app store sadly lacking – no Snood, no Bookworm. I haven’t spent all that much time messing with it (the weekend was spent trying to get everything I needed installed on my desktop and getting all my documents and pictures restored), but so far I like it. I expect that I’ll use it mostly to watch TV shows (I’ve had a Prime Membership since about 10 seconds after they became available), catch up on my blog reading, and read books. I’ll try to remember to report back in a couple of weeks.

I will have to say that I really, really like the size. When I had the iPad, I felt like it was too big. I told Fred that what I really wanted was something bigger than my iPod Touch, but smaller than the iPad. The Kindle is the perfect size for me.

Was the kitten mentioned in “This date in 1999” Ms. Poo?

Yes, it was this time in 1999 when I first set eyes on Miz Poo, harassed Fred into agreeing to let me get her, decided I didn’t need to bring another kitten into the house (ha ha HA), then a couple of weeks later – the day before Thanksgiving – I took the spud out to lunch, and we decided to go visit the cats. To my utter shock, when I walked through the door Miz Poo (I think her name was “Tea”) was not only still there, she saw me and started howling at the top of her lungs. And that was all she wrote – she was ours. Well, mine.

Why didn’t you tell me that Plain-Jane started blogging again!

Because I like to keep all the good things to myself? I don’t know why I didn’t mention it – I think I just assume that y’all read blogs via Google Reader like I do, so when she started blogging again, it popped up in my (your) reader and you already knew about it.

In case you don’t, in fact, use Google Reader (or one of the 3,000 other readers out there) – Jane is blogging again! Yay!

By any chance at all is that sweater from Kohls? It looks EXACTLY like one I bought recently.

I do about 75% of my clothes shopping at Kohl’s (the other 25% is split between airport gift shops, Walmart, and shopping whilst on vacation), so yes – that sweater totally came from Kohl’s. (I am really very peeved at myself right now, though, because I HAD a large number of really nice sweaters, and I cannot find them anywhere. I’m guessing that I bagged them up to store them in the garage and accidentally thought they were to be donated at some point in the last year, and so donated them somewhere. I’m planning to check out the sweaters at the horribly-named Dress Barn later this week to find something to wear to Thanksgiving dinner.)

(I’ll admit I did not know who TERESA GIUDICE was. When you said she was your BFF I was like: “Why haven’t I heard of this woman before! I’ve read Bitchypoo since 2005 and even went back to the beginning and read every day since 1999. I thought I knew Bitchypoo!” Huff. But then I realized that your relationship with TERESA GIUDICE is like a delicate flower, that should be sheltered from the wind. Thank you for sharing it with us.)

Thank you for understanding. 😉

and

So, you have to tell me, is her hair real??? Her part looks to be an inch away from her scalp. We won’t bring up the lack of forehead.

I will tell you that to ME her hair looked real. I’m not a good judge of that sort of thing – it has to be really super over-the-top fake for me to even suspect that your hair isn’t real, and even then I might think that your hair is just weird rather than not being real. In person it looked real to me, and I didn’t actually notice the part, and as for the low hairline – it’s not as noticeable in person. Or maybe I was just too “OMG, (IN)FAMOUS PERSON, LOL!” to notice.

I feel like a dork – but it’s kind of weird seeing you out with other people. Like out and about IN PUBLIC. Your pics are usually just you. You like so much younger in these pictures than in any others. You should go out in public more often. 🙂

Are you trying to say that it’s almost like I’m a real person and not an imaginary figment of the internet and PhotoShop? 🙂

(I should totally go out in public more often!)

It’s AWESOME that you attended this event. Was it about cancer in general or breast cancer?

It was cancer in general.

My Kindle Fire shipped today!! Woooooo! But I have to wait ’til Christmas to get it *harumph* (I’m making my mom wait ’til Christmas to have her new Kindle, so I guess it’s only fair *pout*). And honestly? The ability to watch TV shows on it through Amazon Prime and Netflix is one of the #1 reasons I’m getting it. I *want* to be able to be lazy in bed and watch episode after episode of 30 Rock.

I have a piece of advice for you – the returns policy on Kindle Fire (as far as I can determine) is 30 days. When I realized that, I told the spud I was going to send hers out to her today, because what if she gets it, hates it, and then can’t return it? That would suck! So, sure, she won’t have it to open on Christmas day, but I’ve got a few other things to send her, so she’ll still have something (aside from what she gets from everyone else, of course).

Serious “climbing on my soapbox” moment here…

And if any wires get cracked, or the plug starts falling apart, or it’s damaged in any major way, please remove it from use. I’ve seen damage from “oh it’s just one crack in the heating wire, big deal”, too. SIGH.

Thank you, Foo – I had never considered the dangers of heating pads on older (ie, MIZ POO) cats. I have enough small cat-specific warming pads that I haven’t used heating pads in a couple of years, luckily.

So, would you recommend the cook books and if you only could get one, which would it be?

I’ve only leafed through them a few times, haven’t taken the time to seriously sit down and read them, but that said, if I could only get one, it would probably be Skinny Italian just because the recipes looked more appealing to me. That could change on a dime, though, so take that opinion with a grain of salt!

OMG, have you seen these? I love the Sand Box one!!!

LOVE it!!!

I used “fluff” instead of “fart” when TJ was little, mostly because he had an unstoppable need to yell at the top of his lungs, “MOMMY, I [whatever bodily function had just occurred] JUST NOW” in public, and he was a gassy little thing. A friend of mine said that her family had used “fluff” for as long as she could remember for exactly that purpose. Anyway, when he was about 3 we (me, him, and my parents) went out to breakfast one day and had a waitress who was trying to engage with TJ. He wanted pancakes, and she kept assuring him that he would really enjoy his delicious, fluffy pancakes. He wound up in tears, convinced that they were going to fart all over his food.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Elayne, have I perhaps mentioned that you make me laugh out loud at least once a week?

Being the crazy cat ladies that we are, we are interested in getting shelving like yours for the kitties. We currently have the tall cat condo (as opposed to the middle or short sized ones of course) next to the ledge we discovered the girls like to climb upon. As you can see in this picture, it’s an awkward setup, for us. Plus, this condo is on it’s way out (limbs won’t tighten). So, barring the cats crashing each time they want up, what shelving would you recommend and/or where did you get yours? We want to put it on that wall all the way to the left there.

Jenn, when I originally read this (and responded to your comment via email), I thought you meant you were looking for shelving like ours – the “steps” up to the platforms in the kitchen and front room (and the platforms themselves) were made by Fred. But now I’m thinking that maybe you just meant that you were wondering where we got our cat trees? So I’ll tell you where we got our cat trees, and then I’ll tell you what I think you should do, and then I’ll let everyone else give you advice, too. Sound like a plan?

We’ve ordered almost all of our cat trees off of eBay. They’re inexpensive and they work out for a while, generally a couple of years, but as you’ve probably noticed, they eventually get kind of loose and shaky and can’t be tightened. I think we could make our own cat tree fairly easily (I’ve looked at other homemade cat trees online), but I can’t seem to get Fred interested in my schemes. The cat trees you buy in the pet stores (well, I can really only say PetSmart for sure, but I suspect it’s the same at Petco and Pet Depot, etc) are sturdier and last longer – but are oh-so-expensive. It’s a trade-off, really, you pay less for a decent cat tree, but it doesn’t last as long – so then you buy another cheap one, etc etc.

I have to say that the ledge between the dining room and kitchen? I LOVE it. I think it would be neat if there were a set of “steps” up that wall on the left that the cats could go up, and then across the ledge, then a smaller set of steps down the other side. Of course, I’m not sure if you actually want to attach anything to your wall or not, but that’s one thought. There are a lot of cat shelf options out there. I really like the look of the Cat Clouds shelves, though they are raaather expensive. You can poke around on Moderncat, too, they always have neat stuff to look at (again, kind of expensive, though).

Okay, this is where I throw it out to the rest of you – give Jenn advice on what YOU think she should do, and where she can get decent-looking shelving and/ or cat trees/ condos that look good but won’t break the bank!

What do you do yourself or recommend another person doing in regards to keeping your cats teeth clean? Do you honestly brush every single cats teeth in your household daily (including fosters?) Because that is what my vet has recommended in the past that we do for our cat and I’m just thinking “shyah right lady, I’d like to keep my face intact thank-you very much!” Or do you just rely on having a yearly professional teeth cleaning done for each cat? (I know they offer a free one with some pet insurance plans) I’m just curious what tips you have if any about this because I know that a cats dental health has a huge effect on how long they live and their quality of life. I have two cats and I just lost my 14yo cat this past Tuesday from an illness that blossomed from poor dental health that we were unfortunately unable to remedy before it was too late (we adopted her as an adult cat and by then the damage had apparently already been done) I’m worried for my other cat Thanks for any suggestions you or your readers may have for me 🙂

We rely on the yearly cleaning by the vet, because honestly if we were to brush our cats’ teeth every night (assuming they’d let us do that, and I can guarantee that old man Spanky would lose his MIND if we tried to brush his teeth), we’d be doing nothing but brushing cats’ teeth from dinner time to bed time. I’ve never brushed a cat’s teeth, and I don’t plan to start.

However, I’m throwing this out there – anyone got advice for how to keep your cat’s teeth clean? Leave it in the comments, and thank you!

In case you missed it over at the Love & Hisses Facebook page, Molly got adopted this weekend! Yay!

She’s going to a home with two older Challenger’s House cats (neither of whom were my fosters), and a five year old boy who was apparently quite taken with sweet miss Molly Peppers. I am so glad to hear that she’s going to have her very own servant to love her and snuggle with her and obey her every demand!

This means that (I think – I haven’t heard back from the shelter manager yet to be sure) Everett will most likely be going to Petsmart tomorrow to take Molly’s place and be reacquainted with Harlan, Sally, and Lucy.

Adoptions have been slow lately, which I suspect is due to the upcoming holiday. Maybe once Thanksgiving is over adoptions will pick up.

Maybe this “Black Friday” will be a lucky Friday for the remaining Peppers!

Chuckles loves him some Tommy.

Luckily…

…the feeling…

… is mutual!

Charlie spent all day Friday snoozing on this grocery bag. He loves Publix as much as I do, clearly.

Everett (and in the background, Spanky), after snack time.

I note that that little stub of a white whisker on the left isn’t growing back in any too quickly.

Tandem slurping.

Alice was MINDING HER OWN BUSINESS in the cat bed (one of many) on the table, and Fred put Charlie in there with her. She fumed for a moment, then turned and gave him A LOOK.

“What’s HER problem?”

I’m pretty sure this picture is slated to be the October picture for next year’s Love & Hisses calendar.

I actually bought this bed/ basket to put in the foster room. Laurie‘s always posting pictures of her fosters in this type of basket, and I love seeing them. Also, I had one similar to this several years ago, but eventually the kittens ripped a hole in the bottom and I lacked the skills to sew it back together, so out it went.

However, before I could get it upstairs to the foster room, it had to sit on the table for a couple of days (everything does ’til I get around to putting it away.) and in that time our two biggest cats, Elwood and Tommy, took turns sleeping in it. (That’s Elwood above.)

I’m thinking maybe I need to just buy another basket.

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: So I am peeved at you, Australians, and the only way I can see forgiving you this breach of friendship is if you send me a year’s supply of Tim Tams, immediately.
2007: Go, Super Shopper, go!
2006: Right. Because six is perfectly normal, but SEVEN would be lunacy.
2005: Every time I contemplate reading those books, I get a “Good god, I DON’T WANNA!” sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, which to me is a sign that, y’know, I DON’T WANNA and YOU CAN’T MAKE ME.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: Fuck him, too.
2001: It don’t get any better than that, nosir.
2000: I see enough nasty stuff in my life.
1999: No entry.

Okay, we were out late last night, so instead of doing a full-blown entry today, I’m just going to toss up some pictures of the event we attended Sunday night (which I stole from the web site of the radio station that sponsored the event) with captions, and I’ll do a full-blown recap on Thursday. I’m headed home in a few hours (this was, obviously, a very quick trip), and my flight up here to Pennsylvania went so well and smoothly that I’m 93.8% sure that I’ll end up spending the night in Dulles tonight. Dulles loves me dearly and always wants me to spend the night.

The event, by the way, was Knock Out Cancer, sponsored by Pittsburgh’s KISS 96.1.

Yes, I am dressed up (for me) and yes, I am wearing makeup. Try not to fall over from the shock.

My thoughtful look.

Me and my BFF Teresa Giudice (oh yeah, and Nance’s Mom Shirley.)

“THAT IS AN EXCELLENT POINT, TERESA GIUDICE. I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY.”

Shirley and I were the only ones in the VIP room that thought to bring books with us for signing. The other VIPs were like “That’s so smart! We should have done that!”

Supervising the signing of the books.

“That is not how you spell my name, Teresa Giudice, but that is A-OK!” (Yes, I spelled it for her. We are now such close friends that she can call me Robin instead of the correct Robyn, and it’s FINE.)

“HA HA HA I AM JUST STANDING HERE WITH MY BFF TERESA GIUDICE, YOU STAY OVER THERE, PEONS.”

Giving my BFF Teresa Giudice a loving look.

“I KNOW, RIGHT, TERESA GIUDICE? HA HA HA!”

::BLINDED BY THE BLING OF TERESA GIUDICE’S RING::

“YOU ARE SO RIGHT, TERESA GIUDICE. RIGHT ON, SISTER.”

::considering::

“I WONDER IF TERESA GIUDICE IS GOING TO GIVE ME A HUG?” (Oh yes, she did.)

Listening attentively.

“HA HA HA HA HA YOU SAID IT, SISTER! HA! HA! HA!” (slightly maniacal Robyn is slightly maniacal.)

More supervising of the signing, whilst touching my chin.

“MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH ME, TERESA GIUDICE, I AM SMILING AT YOU!”

And that’s it – though of course I have plenty of pictures of my own (from Nance’s camera, but pictures she’s gonna let me share ’cause she’s nice like that) that I’ll post on Thursday, along with details of the whole trip.

Wish me happy travels! (Now wish me happy travels FOR REAL. I don’t want to spend the night in Dulles, damnit.)

For those who asked:

Everett did not go to Petsmart on Friday with the rest of the Peppers because there were only two cages available, and three kittens of the Peppers’ size cannot fit in one cage. When one of the other Peppers is adopted, Everett will go to Petsmart to fill the space they left behind.

Try to relax, Chuckles.

Seriously.

You make me so tense.

Bug watchin’.

Patty was following Jake down the hall, trying to rub against him, and he stopped and turned around and looked at me, like “Make her stop.”

SPANKY!

“What you want?”
Nevermind. Go back to sleep.
“::sigh::”

Previously
2010: I did not smack her.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Happy vacuuming!
2006: When I thought of how crappy the doors would look, he gave me a long-suffering look and said in his “Look how patient and long-suffering I am” voice, “I’ll paint them.”
2005: “Fascinating.”
2004: All your frog are belong to us.
2003: No entry.
2002: I am freezing to death.
2001: I think I need to get a life…
2000: In other words, Robyn is a total spaz about her eyes, comprende?
1999: On the way into work, and the whole time I worked today, I reconsidered that reconsideration.

PS: I might be in Pennsylvania with you-know-who at the moment. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow – hopefully, with pictures!

I’m so glad that 11/11/11 is done and over with. That was too goddamn many ones for me, and I found it confusing.

THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID IT.

I didn’t make a wish at 11:11 either, because, well. I forgot. Or I totally would have wished for world peace or more kittens or a million dollars or for Amazon to send me my new Kindle Fire earlier instead of making me wait another THREE FUCKING DAYS.

(The spud is also getting a Kindle Fire, but hers is a Christmas present; I get to play with mine right away, HA.)

I don’t think I ever mentioned that I got an iPad at the beginning of the summer, did I? I got an iPad and it was really neat and I liked it, but I had two issues with it: (1) Doesn’t play Flash, and (2) It was so big and expensive that I about shit a brick every time I used it because I was terrified – TERRIFIED – that I would drop it. And that’s one expensive-ass piece of electronics to drop, no matter what kind of sturdy-ass protective case it’s got on it.

Because I was so worried that I’d drop it or scratch it (yes, I had a screen cover on it. DIDN’T MATTER. I was secretly calling it my TerrorPad by the end.), I was using my iPod Touch more often than I was using the iPad (I’d intended to sell the Touch on eBay after I got the iPad, but never did get around to it), and so in the end I sold the iPad on eBay (only really lost about $50 on the whole thing, which I consider not bad at all despite the fact that starving children in Africa could eat for a year off that $50, I KNOW, SHUT UP ).

And now I’m going to get the Kindle Fire because I like shiny new things and I have stars in my eyes for tablets, even though when it comes down to it, all I REALLY used my iPad for was watching TV shows I’d downloaded from iTunes (which I can do on my iPod Touch) and caught up on my blog reading and used the Kindle app to read books (which I can also do on my iPod Touch)(I have done woefully little reading of books in the last few months. I really need to get back to it – I think it’s been more than a month since I finished reading a book; I’ve been “reading” Queen of Bedlam for at least six weeks, and I don’t think I’m even 50 pages in.) I can do all that with the Kindle Fire, and it’s a whole lot less expensive than the iPad – and hopefully I’ll be a whole lot less terrified of dropping the damn thing.

We shall see.

Over the weekend, I did something I hadn’t done in probably six (possibly more) years: I drank me some alcohol. Not just alcohol – I wasn’t doing 100-proof shots or anything, for god’s sake, I have some class (no I don’t) – this Raspberry Sparkletini stuff is what I drank.

I have to tell you, I am not and have never been a wine drinker, but although this stuff smells like wine, it tasted really good, and after the slight buzz from the first glass wore off, I had A SECOND GLASS.

As I told Fred, I very well may become a social drinker.

(Not really; as much as I liked that stuff – and I did – I still preferred Diet Coke.)

People of Huntsville, I am seriously disappointed in you. Not a single Pepper was adopted over the weekend, are you BLIND?

Hmph to you, I say.

Molly, Sally, Lucy, and Harlan were less than pleased about going to Petsmart. To my surprise, Harlan was the biggest chicken about it, and Molly was the least freaked out; I would have expected the opposite, really.

Everett was confused about his siblings being gone (though he was more than willing to play with Charlie and Patty), and spent a good part of Friday walking around letting out the occasional “What is going ON?!” meow. I had hoped that at least one of his sisters or his brother would be adopted over the weekend and that he could rejoin the rest of his siblings at Petsmart, but no. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day when one (or more) Peppers finds a home. Fingers crossed!

(I have some Peppers Gang pics left over that I’ll share with you today and tomorrow.)

Sally watchin’ bugs.

Molly and Sally, the bug-watchin’ posse.

Molly, throwin’ me some attitude.

::thlurrp::

Apparently Sally heard a realllllly good joke.

Sooooo… is it just me or is Miz Poo SPOONING with Everett here? Next thing you know, she’s going to be HUGGING him!

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Michael’s (crafty items with which to torture the cats)
2007: Amazing what a little maintenance will do, ain’t it?
2006: “I CUT THROUGH THE GODDAMN EXTENSION CORD AND THEN I MADE THE CHAIN COME OFF THE CHAINSAW!”
2005: Senator Stanley J. Boogerton.
2004: No entry.
2003: So I’m not reporting that. At all. Never happened!
2002: Riley’s response? “Nuh uh!”
2001: Dr. Phil looked at me judgmentally, and I began to babble.
2000: And I don’t even like cherry Poptarts!
1999: Fred has agreed to let me adopt the kitten!

2012 calendars. —————–>

After being lost in the AA baggage terminal for two months and finally found and taken to the vet, Jack the cat was unable to recover from his injuries and was euthanized on Sunday, poor guy. You can read more about him on the Facebook page that was started up soon after he was lost.

Please take a moment and go read and sign the petition over here, would you?

::CHOMP::

If you, by any chance, were ever concerned about what would happen if Harlan lost the use of his back legs – how would he get around?! – he would like to assure you that he’s got it figured out.

In case you missed it over on Facebook, the big Peppers will be going to Petsmart this weekend!

Well, most of the big Peppers will. Molly and Lucy will be sharing a cage, and Harlan and Sally will be sharing another. Everett will stay here for now, and when one of the others is adopted, he’ll go take their space. Depending on how adoptions go, I think Patty and Charlie might be going soon, too, I’m not sure. (Charlie and Patty are going for their neutering and spaying tomorrow and will pretty much be ready to go as soon as space opens up.)

The big Peppers have been here for three and a half months, can you believe that? They’ve come a long way, for sure.

Tommy looks pleased to have Charlie biting his tail, doesn’t he?

Charlie sure does like the big cats.

Molly, in one of the rare moments when she’s not rolling around on her back in front of me, demanding belly rubs.

Charlie is one happy boy.

Lucy shows off her pretty eyes. Couldn’t you just kiss her square on the mouth?

Smug Charlie, snuggled up with Sally.

‘Nother shot of the pretty, pretty Molly.

Harlan, doing his Corbie imitation.

Harlan and Patty.

In the evenings, when it gets dark, we call in the cats and shut the back door. Then everyone gets cat treats. The fosters have learned to partake of crunchy time. Note that four out of five big Peppers are present, both the little Peppers, Corbie, and Jake and Elwood. Sometimes Spanky comes in for a few crunchies, but this is the core group.

Note that Corbie and Harlan are practically nose-to-nose, for comparison purposes.

This makes me laugh, because Joe Bob’s all stretched out, chillin’, and Maxi’s out there acting like she wants to come in and is appalled that Joe Bob’s inside and she isn’t. But then OF COURSE I went over and opened the door and she gave me the Manson lamps and strolled away. I so hate it when cats do that.

Beautiful Miss Stinkerbelle from atop the kitchen cabinets.

Previously
2010: Links you should check out.
2009: We actually left the house after dark on Saturday AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW THE EARTH REMAINED ON ITS AXIS.
2008: No entry.
2007: Stupid bossy car.
2006: “Damn pansy-ass city folk.”
2005: as a customer and a HUMAN, I outrank the computer, and I’d like a little RESPECT, thank you.
2004: All this cleaning is making me lightheaded.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Little things make me happy.
1999: Guest entry by Fred.

2012 calendars. —————–>

After being lost in the AA baggage terminal for two months and finally found and taken to the vet, Jack the cat was unable to recover from his injuries and was euthanized on Sunday, poor guy. You can read more about him on the Facebook page that was started up soon after he was lost.

Please take a moment and go read and sign the petition over here, would you?

Is it just me, or does Kim Kardashian perpetually look stunned, like she’s been zapped in the ass by a cattle prod and she’s trying to determine whether she liked it or not?

I unfortunately exposed myself to a few hours of that Kardashian show (I truly don’t know the name of it. Growing Up Kardashian? Kicking it Kardashian Style? Where are the NBA Players, Here Come the Kardashians?) when I was recovering from surgery. It was oddly easy to snooze to (also very easy to snooze to: Nancy Grace. I’ve never watched a minute of her show, but I happened to stop on whatever channel she’s on for a moment, and the next thing I knew it was an hour later and I was waking up feeling rested and refreshed.)

As far as I can determine, there’s Kim (Porny Spice), Khloe (Amazon Spice), and Kourtney (Living with that Douchey Looking Guy Spice), Kris (Attention Whore Mama Spice), Rob (Boy Spice), and an assortment of younger girls who are not really Kardashians (Jenner Spices). They all seem really annoying, and now that I’m mostly recovered from surgery, I can’t believe I was able to sit through any of those shows, let alone like six of them AND the wedding.

(Fred walked in while I was snoozing through one of the shows and was HORRIFIED because he thought I had recorded it with the DVR. I am not THAT desperate, thank you, especially when I have like 40 episodes of Friends on the DVR. God, I still love that show.)

Speaking of recovering from surgery, I had Fred take the recliner upstairs on Sunday, and am back to the couch when I watch TV, and the living room looks a lot better. I’m able to lift more (though Fred’s still doing the heavy lifting for another week and a half), I’m doing the cooking, and I even drove to the grocery store yesterday. I’m still not supposed to – and don’t – turn my head all the way to one side or the other or all the way up or down, but that’s pretty much it as far as limitations go.

YES, I KNOW YOU WANT PICTURES. I’ll get on it soon. Maybe. Probably. Some day. I don’t expect that y’all will see the difference as much as I do, because I think that it’s not the sort of difference everyone else would immediately notice, but I notice it every time I look in the mirror, and I am really happy with how I’m looking in the under-chinnal area these days.

I’m still wearing the stupid head garment for a little while during the day and all night long, but I’m getting to the point where it’s making my ears hurt (because they rub against the material), so I told Fred that I’ll wear it during the day ’til tomorrow, and then I’m calling three weeks good enough, and will just wear it at night. I think I’ve healed enough that nothing will snap loose and re-jowl me.

Guess what I get to do tomorrow? VACUUM. Don’t mock me, I’m kind of excited about it. Fred does a good enough job, but he doesn’t do MY kind of vacuuming job and I don’t really expect him to.

Perhaps in another week or so, I’ll even clean the bathrooms. You know you want my exciting life.

Lisa’s comment yesterday made me laaaaaaaaugh:

I laughed my arse off at the video, because like others have mentioned, it sounds EXACTLY like hubby and I. This week-end, I was on the receiving end and it did *not* go well. I was clearing off my desk, occasionally shredding a sheet of paper. WHILE MY BACK WAS TURNED, Steve decided it was vitally important for him to call somebody he works with to discuss who-the-fuck-cares. Being unaware his very special ass was now on the phone, I ran a couple more things through the shredder. And then, THEN, he YELLED at me, “Hey, you want to hold it down over there? I’m on the phone!” Perhaps feeling his life wasn’t in *quite* enough danger at that point, he SNAPPED HIS FINGERS and POINTED at me! Yes, he did! I will leave you to imagine what I told him (after he got off the phone, because *I* have some manners!), but the gist of it was that he was going to end up with either a phone or his pointer finger jammed up his ass if he EVER pulled that shit again. He just kinda giggled weakly, because he knew I meant it!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up the phone and called someone while he was sitting behind me, and I always assume he hears me dialing the phone, but then I say “Hi.” and he says “Hey.” I say “What are you doing?” and he says “Sitting at my computer.” Then I have to turn and say “I’m on the phone” so he won’t continue responding to me.

(I have also snapped my fingers and pointed at Fred, but only when he’s being deliberately annoying.)

Lisa, by the way, is the same evil woman who directed me to Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings recipe. I halved it and made it over the weekend and OH MY GOD, that stuff is SO good. Also the easiest thing I’ve ever made!

I actually had a second can of croissants, and I used it to make this stuff which was basically sugar and butter sprinkled on the top and baked, then topped with a glaze, and we were both completely unimpressed. I was kicking myself and wishing that I’d just made a whole batch of Apple Dumplings – but probably it’s best that I didn’t.

In Friday’s comments, Paula mentioned that her friend works at the company that produces Cat’s Pride litter, and they’ve recently come out with a version called Fresh & Light and that I might want to give it a try. Since I am ALWAYS ready to try another litter in hopes of finding the perfect one (I’m a litter slut, I’ll go where the wind blows, I KNOW the perfect litter that isn’t dusty, clumps well, and holds down the stank is OUT THERE, I just need to find it!), I asked Fred to pick up a box of it when he went to Walmart Saturday morning. He did, and Saturday evening when we emptied, scrubbed out, and refilled the litter boxes in the upstairs bathroom and in the foster room, I filled one of them with the Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light.

I can tell you that it is possibly the least dusty litter I’ve used yet – Fred said that he thinks it’s even less dusty than the Cat Attract. It clumps well, but it just so happens that that litter box is one of the lesser-used ones, so I’m thinking of moving it either into the bathroom or switching it with one of the ones in the guest bedroom. I can’t speak to how it is with holding down the litter box stank, at least not yet, but probably by mid-week next week I’ll know whether it’s a litter worth sticking with or not. If I decide it’s worth switching over to, I’ll do it ever so slowly, so as not to set off the spraying bandits in the house.

I’ll try to remember to let y’all know how it holds up – if I forget to and you’re wondering, feel free to remind me. I tend to forget to follow up. Y’all know how I am.

“I HAVE YOU, feather teaser!”

Tiptoe through the tulips. Er, the foster room.

Lucy has the giggles.

“Dude. Your toenails are UP MY NOSE!”

Tasty, tasty feather teaser.

Would you look at the monster paw on that guy?

Harlan keeps an eye on Everett.

If you’re Facebook friends with Love & Hisses, you’ve already seen this picture. Corbie was in the big bed on the table, snoozing, when that little hussy Molly climbed right in with him.

He was like “Dude. You see what I have to put up with, here?”
Newt just kept sleeping.

That much beautiful stripey goodness in one cat bed? It’s unheard of. I’m surprised the bed didn’t have some sort of nuclear reaction and blow to bits.

Tom Cullen is a fine figure of a mancat.

And he knows it.

But he’s not such a manly mancat that he isn’t willing to help with the groceries!

Previously
2010: You know, I’m just never allowed to have anything nice ’round here.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: That is not “getting” someone a car, that is BULLYING SOMEONE INTO DRIVING THE KIND OF CAR YOU WANT THEM TO DRIVE.
2006: Y’all just shut UP. We do NOT have eight cats.
2005: It’s a fucking mystery.
2004: I seem to be a tad less fluttery today.
2003: No entry.
2002: Pictures.
2001: Fred in the dog house. Literally.
2000: I said “It’s a good thing you put your first AND last name, PLUS ‘your daughter’, otherwise I’d never have known!”
1999: Oddly, even though he’s had two doses of the antibiotic, he’s feeling worse instead of better.

2012 calendars. —————–>

Over the weekend, Fred dug up one of his old entries and posted it over at Goodreads.

Still makes me laugh!

I haven’t heard anything about who won the Greenies Healthy Smile contest (the one I harassed you guys to vote for for weeks, which you did because you are WONDERFUL, and thank you again!) I feel like I remember that today (the 7th) was the day the winner was to be announced, but I’m not seeing anything on the Greenies site and haven’t heard anything, so I don’t know. If I hear anything, I will definitely pass it along.

Sunday morning I woke up around the same time I’ve been waking up lately (6:30), only due to the time change, it was only 5:30, so I got up and let Tommy out of my room and went back to sleep. I finally rolled out of bed around 6:45, and was getting dressed in preparation for scooping the litter boxes and all that fun morning stuff, when Fred yelled up to me.

“What?” I yelled back.

“Are you up?”

“Yes.”

“Chickens are here!” he said. It was his plan to get up and process roosters first thing in the morning, something he’s been needing to do for a while now, but – understandably – he tends to procrastinate. This weekend, though, he decided it was time to get it done and over with, and so he set up his processing station Saturday night. I expected he’d be done with the processing by the time I got up, because he likes to do it as early as possible.

I didn’t know what he expected me to do – I was up and getting dressed, after all – so I just called down “Well, I’m up!” and continued getting dressed. I went around the house and scooped all the litter boxes, then opened the side door (he was cleaning up his processing station in the driveway) and said “What did you want me to do?”

“Huh?”

“You said the chickens are here, was there something special you wanted me to do?”

It turned out he was just letting me know that he was done with the chickens and it was my turn to take over and do my thing (bag them, put them in the fridge to age for a couple of days, and then put them all in the freezer).

I walked into the laundry room to fill the cats’ food bowls, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elwood run across the kitchen counter with what looked like a piece of ham in his mouth.

Where the hell did he get a piece of ham? I wondered, and went back into the kitchen for a closer look. It wasn’t a piece of ham – it was a piece of a chicken breast, and he hunkered down and started eating it, while Alice sat nearby and watched him closely.

After some investigation, I went to the side door and said “How about next time, instead of saying ‘The chickens are here,’ you say ‘The chicken pieces are in bowls in the sink in a perfect location for Elwood to steal a piece’? I assumed you’d put the chickens in the fridge.”

I went back into the kitchen and took the piece of chicken away from Elwood, then cut it up and put it on a plate for him. Sure, I could have rinsed it off and put it with the rest of the chicken but, um, no. I wasn’t going to eat chicken that had had cat slobber all over it, thank you very much. There wasn’t a lot of chicken there, maybe an ounce, so I gave it to Elwood. (In retrospect I’m sure that I just rewarded the food-stealing behavior and probably he’ll skulk around the kitchen counters constantly in hopes that he can “catch” some food and be rewarded by me allowing him to eat it.) Once he ate as much as he wanted, I put the plate on the floor.

Here’s where it got kind of interesting – all the big Peppers came through the kitchen and sniffed at the plate then kept moving, but Charlie and Patty both bellied right up to the plate and licked it clean.

“I guess you can tell who lived under a trailer and who was born into a home where they were fed regularly, can’t you?” said Fred.

Indeed.

I’m aware that I sound like a shrieking harpy in this video, but it has to be shared. It makes both of us laugh and laugh. (Warning: not safe for work or little ears or anyone who shouldn’t hear me saying “goddamn.”)

The video ended before he could complete his reasonable suggestion, but he was saying “Well, why don’t you TELL me when you’re recording?”

So, we finally got around to watching last week’s The Walking Dead.

First, I have to register a complaint – I’m sorry, but “herd” of zombies? Really? That is possibly the least imaginative, least creative descriptive they could have come up with. I’d like to submit for your consideration:

A shuffle of zombies.

Thankya. Thankyaverymuch.

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN LAST WEEK’S EPISODE OF THE WALKING DEAD (THE ONE WITH SHANE AND OTIS IN THE SCHOOL), SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION.

Okay, so we watched last week’s episodes of The Walking Dead.

Unfortunately, I had inadvertently read in a recap what happened at the end of that episode so I basically waited the entire episode for it to happen. Fred, on the other hand, had no idea at all what was coming down the pike, so his gasp of surprise was oddly gratifying to me.

I don’t like Shane at all, but I was still surprised that he’d pull a cowardly move like that. I mean, I guess I can KIND OF understand it – they’re surrounded by zombies, he’s got the supplies that can help save Carl, it’s the only way he can think of to get away – but, man. COLD.

I guess that’s all I really have to say ’bout that. Except that I don’t like Shane. AT ALL. I think he and Lori are the perfect pair because I also don’t much care for her. They should go off and be assholes together.

I read somewhere that Merle will be back, but a perusal of IMDB doesn’t show that he’s listen in any 2011/ 2012 episodes, so maybe not. I have loved the hell out of Michael Rooker since he was Earle in Bastard out of Carolina. Fred and I watched that together, and we spent the whole damn movie saying “Earle would not put up with this shit. Someone tell Earle what’s going on!” and when the time finally came that someone said “Go get Earle,” we cheered loudly. Ever since, every time we see his name, we get excited because WE LOVE US SOME EARLE.

Charlie and Patty are going on Thursday for their spaying and neutering!

“Say what?”

Um, nothing.

Poor Miz Poo. They just CLIMB right into the bed with her. As much a needy little lovemuffin as she is, you’d think she’d welcome the intrusion, but she has no use for other cats, she’s strictly human-only when it comes to giving the love. If she’s feeling sassy or if they get right up in her face, she’ll smack ’em. Otherwise, she just looks the other way and pretends they don’t exist.

I sure wish Charlie could relax.

He’s a ball of stress, is what he is.

Patty, too. Super stressed!

(Her eyes are not that blue, it’s just ’cause of the blanket she’s laying on.)

Molly’s wondering why I’m all the way over here, pointing that camera at her, when I could be over there, petting her.

Oh, this drives me crazy. Everett had a jaunty white whisker on either side of his face. And THEN one of his crazy whisker-eating sisters (I think Sally’s the culprit) chewed one of them off. He’s off-balance now!

Harlan noms on some tasty cardboard.

The table is where I put stuff when I’m too lazy to put it away. The cats and kittens find it endlessly fascinating (and okay, there ARE beds for them there, after all).

Sheriff Mama sees what you’re doing and thinks you’d better knock it off NOW before she gets serious on your behind.

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: This ‘n that.
2007: I nominate Fred to do all the slaughtering himself.
2006: Questions answered.
2005: This makes me want to wrap my child in bubble wrap and lock her in her room until she’s 35.
2004: No entry.
2003: Meme.
2002: “How fucking much is that goddamn bread? A dollar ninety-fucking-five? Okay, put a couple of the motherfuckers in my cart, would you, fuckwad?”
2001: I briefly considered making a citizen’s arrest.
2000: (ie, “It’s all the fault of that fat bitch you married!”)
1999: I woke this morning at 2:30ish, feeling something wasn’t quite right.