Thursday, December 20, 2012

Yep, 12/20/12 forever will be a sad day

So, not only did I get my braces this morning.  Sad but not tragic.

My grandma-in-law passed away as well.

We knew it was coming, it's actually a blessing.  She's been out of it, no response/talking, for at least a couple weeks now.  Last time she had anything to eat was Monday and then it was barely a 1/2 a can of ensure.  I'm surprised she lasted until this morning.

Yesterday my MIL had a harpist (through hospice) come in and play for her for awhile. 

Sad day.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Is it ok to not like a 12 year old girl? One I don't remember even?

So, I will forever hate Thursday December 20, 2012.  Well, at least for two years anyway.  HA!

And here's why.  Way back when I was 12 years old and in the 6th grade during gym glass one day we were playing floor hockey.  Some bitch girl high sticked and hit me square in the front of my mouth.  She knocked out, shattered really, one of my front bottom teeth.  There was just a little jagged piece left sticking out.

I went to an oral surgeon who did a root canal and put a crown on it.  I continued to see him for my dental needs for the next several years.  Until we moved to Louisiana and I got a new dentist that is.

That dentist took a whole new set of x-rays as the ones that were transferred to his office were outdated.  When he came back into the exam room (I'm 16 at this time by the way) he asked me if I had been having any pain in my chin/jaw area.  I told him no.  He asked me if I had any strange tastes in my mouth, that had nothing to do with food.  Again I told him no.  He then put my x-ray up into the light thingy and pointed at a large black spot.  He then told my mom and me that I have had an infection for who knows how long going on inside my gums that has been slowly eating it away.  That since I hadn't had any pain or tasted anything odd that it had been draining into my system internally.  And I was lucky I had no pain.

So, I had yet another root canal done along with a root canal for the teeth on either side of it.  A new crown, this time permanent (he was completely amazed that the crown I had on hadn't fallen off at any time because apparently it was a temporary one) was put on and that's what's been there ever since.

Now several years later I actually did start to feel pressure every now and then.  No pain, just pressure on the teeth.  And then a little puss pocket would show up on the outside of the gum under that tooth. I'd pop it like a pimple, soak up the puss and go about my way.  Because, as you all know, I'm the Queen of Procrastination.

This has gone off and on now for several years.  Last December during a routine cleaning my dentist says it's time, that tooth has got to go.  She gave me a referral to an oral surgeon and an orthodontist.  She says my bottom row of teeth are so close together that once the tooth is gone that she believes the spot will be small enough that I could do braces to slowly bring the remaining teeth together to fill the gap rather than put another crown in.  This should alleviate any lingering problems that are causing the infections to happen.

So, my husband puts aside money in a Flex account and we haven't used any of it fully planning on it going towards this whole tooth issue.  A year later and we're about to lose the money if I don't go in.  So the Queen of Procrastination has made her appointment for Thursday at 10:00am to have braces put in on her top row of teeth.

Top row?  What, wait, isn't it the bottom tooth I've been talking about this whole time you ask.  Yep, sure is.  But I have a major overbite.  I don't have buck teeth but I do have a major overbite when I close my mouth all the way.  Any braces the orthodontist would put on the bottom my top teeth would destroy. So I have to correct the overbite which means braces on the top to move my teeth back enough that he then could put braces on the bottom. 

That's going to take about four months.  Then once he's satisfied I'll make the appointment to have the tooth extracted and then get the braces on the bottom right away.  Over all I'll have to wear braces for up to two years.  TWO. YEARS.

Hence why I will forever hate December 20, 2012, or at least for two years anyway.

I'm going to be 43 in just over two months.  43 - 45 wearing braces!!!  UGH!!!!!

And I've heard it's going to hurt like hell.  That for adults to get them hurts worse than kids because our mouths are done growing/changing.  And I already am prone to getting mouth ulcers.  Now I'm guaranteed to have them all the fucking time.  Yep, so not looking forward to this.

Media quote of the day:  The Goonies.  Ah, I love this movie.

[Andy has accidentally kissed Mikey] OK, you kissed. Now tell. - Stef
There's something weird. - Andy
What? What is it? - Stef
Does Brand wear braces? - Andy
[Stef bursts into laughter] Why are you laughing? Stef, it was beautiful. - Andy
Next time you kiss him, do it with your eyes open. It's a whole different experience. - Stef

Friday, December 14, 2012

Merry is being not so Merry lately

So the latest....

We were going to be total geeks and see The Hobbit at 12:00 this am.  I even bought tickets for the 12:02 showing since the 12:01 was already sold out Wednesday when I went online.  I had told HDT that we shouldn't be going because I had to work the next day and our company end of year party (so called because one of our employees is a Jehovah's Witness and she couldn't attend if we called it a Christmas party) is tonight.  And then he ended up having two appointments today, one as early as 10:30am.  The movie is just under three hours long.

So yesterday around 5:00 he gets a call from his mom saying she thinks his grandma is about to pass.  She has labored breathing, she hadn't eaten anything all day and she was pretty much comatose all day.  His mom is watching her granddaughter so HDT left work right away to go pick her up because she doesn't need to be there for that.  By the time he got there she was sleeping peacefully and was breathing just fine.  He was able to wake her up and drink some water with some thickener in it.  Then she went back to sleep. He still took K though and told him mom to call if things got worse again.

Then we met up at his dad's house to celebrate his stepmom's birthday.  His sister was there with her two kids so K was excited to spend some time with them until they left. 

While there he starts to get really sleepy and says to me that maybe we shouldn't go to the movie after all.  He's tired, been up since 5 a.m. By the time we drop off K and then get home it'll be after 9:00 and then we have the things to do today.  Yeah, that's why I said we shouldn't go in the first place dude. 

So yeah, he called to find out what we can do about getting a refund.  Unless we went up to the theatre to state we wouldn't be able to make it we couldn't get a refund (which I also told him).  But we could use it as credit towards another showing of the same movie or another.  So we'll probably make it up there some time this weekend.  At least that's the plan.

And so far today he hasn't gotten a call from his mom about grandma so she must be doing ok today.  Fingers crossed. 
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Merry is being a terror towards Pogo way too much.  Twice that we know of he's chased Pogo up the stairs and around the living room.  In there Pogo gets away and runs into the bedroom closet to hide.  The first time it happened it was at 3 a.m. earlier this week.  He had a tuft of white fur in his mouth and we saw the spot that it was taken from on Pogo.  So we quickly clipped nails that we had been neglecting and gave Pogo lots of love to calm him down.

Then the other day he does it again around 5:30 p.m.  I'm sitting in the kitchen waiting for my mom to come pick me up to do some shopping.  It's nice and quiet, I'm playing Song Pop on the iphone and next thing I know I'm hearing hissing and spitting and running up the stairs.  Pogo goes flying past me with Merry close on his heals.  And as they're running around the coffee table Pogo gets ahead of Merry and makes it into the bedroom closet before Merry knows what happened. 

I pick Merry up by the scruff and sternly give him a talking to.  Then I go find Pogo and give him love and comfort. 

Who knows how many times he's done this when we haven't been home.  He and his brother really need to get neutered.  Because of different reasons we haven't been able to get it done.  But HDT is planning on taking them in for the initial exam next Wednesday and then from there he'll make their appointment.  So hopefully within the next two weeks it'll be done.

Damn kittens.

Media quote:

None right now, don't feel like researching.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Got my hair did and other stuff

So I got my hair trimmed last night.  I gotta say I have a love/hate thing with getting my hair cut.  I hate having to get it done.  Mainly because I never know what I want to do with it so I keep the same style forEVER.  It's fine and fairly thin and has the very slightest of body to it so there's not a whole lot I can do with it without having to use a curling iron and I don't really like using them. 

But, when I actually make myself get it done I'm happy I do.  It's usually got split ends for days and is looking fairly raggedy.  So the end result is always so much better.  But, that's not the main reason.  The main reason is the pampering.  I love having someone else wash and rinse it.  Then when they're fixing it and the blow dryer is going and the brush is going through it and I'm not the one doing it, yeah that's nice.  The guy (and by the way that's the very first time I've ever had a guy do my hair in my 42 almost 43 years of life) last night would stick his fingers and swish it around while blow drying then run them through every so often.  He then actually did use a curling iron on it, which I can't remember the last time a hair stylist did that, maybe for my wedding in '05.  And it came out all curly and fluffy and I looked nothing like my self.  Which is also nice.

I told HDT not to expect to ever see it that way again since I'd never be able to it myself.  Heh
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So I was looking forward to having several days to relax this holiday weekend.  I'm finally working for a company that takes Friday off.  Haven't had that for seven years or so.  So I figured we'd have three days to take it easy and recover from Thursday.  But since my FIL and StepMIL will be going to her families for Thursday they've decided to do Thanksgiving with us and HDT's sister and her family on Saturday. 

Friday we booked a movie marathon that starts 11:30ish and doesn't end until after 6:30ish.  Although it's still sitting on our asses it's still getting out of the house and not sitting on our asses there. 

So Sunday right now is looking like the only day that will truly be relaxing.  At least for now.  It is football day and the Saints are playing the 9ers.  So if they play like they did last night we're in for a fight which isn't relaxing.

Ah, but we'll still have to leave the house on Sunday anyway.  HDT's grandma is in a nursing home recovering from a fall in September.  And we need to go there in the evening to have her drink her protein shake and vitamin c drink that we're using to supplement her meals with to ensure she's getting all the vitamin's and protein she needs since she doesn't eat her meals very well.  Since HDT's mom is out of town through Sunday (at least) we're doing the evening drinks.  But that only takes about an hour or so since she drinks them so slowly and we do like to get some visiting time in while doing it.

Media quote of the day:  From Bones (2008) The Passenger in the Oven

[Seeing Bones wearing glasses] Right. What I want you to do is take off your glasses, shake out your hair and say "Mr. Booth, do you know what the penalty is for an overdue book?" - Booth
Why?- Brennan
Never mind. - Booth

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Playing catch up on goings on since the last post

So, yeah, it's been awhile again, just about 2 months.  A few things have happened since my last post.  We went to the Saints/Packers game at the end of September.  Then went on vacation for our anniversary in October.  HDiTty's grandma fell and fractured her pelvis bone in September.  She's been in the nursing home recovering ever since.  But we're hoping she'll be home by Thanksgiving.  If so that'll be the best thing to be thankful for. 

Hmmm, what else?  Oh yeah.

The Saints kicked the Falcons asses on Sunday!!!  Damn dirty birds couldn't hang on to an undefeated season, not against the Saints and the Saints Nation.  Woohoo!!

So, let's see, I'll back up to the Packers game.  I forgot to take pictures while there so none to share.  Unless of course you'd like to see one of Clay Matthews.  My niece and Jim's daughter loves him so I took several of him for them.  But other than that no pictures.  The fly over was awesome as always.  I did get video of the fly over though.  Hmm, I wonder if I can get it in here, I've never tried to do a video before.


Hey, looks like I did it.  Heee  By the way that deep voiced singer is NOT HDiTty, it was one of the guys right behind us.  The high pitched wooooo was me though.  As you can see we were in the end zone.  We were only 6 rows off the field, pretty nice actually since most of the scores were done on this side of the field.  Unfortunately the Saints lost but we still had a great time.  The first time that we've gone without having any assholes to deal with.  Normally we have drunk hecklers.  I don't mind some good hearted ribbing but it's usually pretty nasty.  I have to say, everyone we were sitting around were really cool. 

A week later we were on vacation.  We went to Niagara Falls for the 5th - 7th.  The 6th was our anniversary.  It was both our first times there.  We did the Maid of the Mist and the Sky Wheel (a large Ferris wheel).  I got a couple pictures from there.




The second one was when we were sitting at the top for a little bit looking pretty much straight down.  And as you can see the trees were turning quite nicely.  Unfortunately the glass wasn't a true glass and was all scratchy and dingy. 

We also went to the botanical gardens which were nice.  Gotta say I was glad we only paid $5.00 for parking because although it was nice it wasn't worth more than that.  When I was researching all the places to go it was always on the list of top places to see.  Maybe during the height of summer but in the beginning of October it wasn't all that great.  I was expecting these terrific fall colors but none of their trees had even begun to turn.  We're assuming they must water them which kept them greener for much longer than normal.  There were still a lot of flowers in bloom but it just wasn't what I was expecting after all the hype.

Saturday night we went to a comedy club for dinner and a show since that's what we did for first date.  They said there would be door prizes so we filled out our names and put them in the bucket.  Mine ended up being called but it wasn't just for a door prize, oh no, I actually had to get up on stage and be a contestant in the guy's "game show."  He had 3 questions about Thanksgiving.  I got the first two correct so I won.  I got his 20th anniversary DVD.  We watched the first 30 minutes or so of it but it wasn't that great and a lot of it we already saw that night.  He was pretty funny in person though and the food was good so we had a great time anyway.  The video is way too long otherwise I'd put it here as well.

Sunday the 7th we hit the road to head to Ottawa to visit our friends there for the rest of the week.  Sunday night we went to one of the couples houses to watch the Saints game and have dinner.  After it was over we headed over to the other couples house that we were staying with for the rest of the week.  We didn't do much other than hang out having good food, good conversations and good rest. 

We did go bowling one night though.  But not your normal bowling, oh no, it was Canadian bowling.  Instead of 10 pins there were only 5 pins.  And instead of a regular bowling ball you got much smaller balls that fit in your palm with no holes.  And instead of two turns you get three.  There are still strikes and spares but you only get a spare if you knock the remaining pins down on your second turn.  If you knock them all down in your third turn you just get the equivalent of whatever they add up to.  The five pins all total 15 points.  It. Was. Crazy.  Again the video of HDT is too long but suffice it to say it was a trip.  We went with both couples, so we asked them if any had gone "real" bowling and only one on them had and he didn't like it much.  Crazy.

So, what else.  Ah yes.  The kittens are growing up nicely.  They're causing issues just like they're namesakes.  Merry decided he wanted to go behind the tv and in doing so he knocked down a shadowbox that then hit a huge fleur-de-lis that then hit a little Saints gnome.  The fleur-de-lis and gnome both broke beyond repair.  Pippin has knocked things down as well but hasn't broken anything luckily and gotten into food items he shouldn't.  But we love 'em.

This is Pip in his best camouflage outfit. 

And although you can't really see him, that black mass is Merry going after Pip.

What, I'm innocent, innocent I say.....


Yep, I'm innocent too.  See, so innocent I can relax completely.

The two hooligans with Bander keeping watch

And this shows how much they've grown.  Pippin is just as big at 7 months as Pogo who's 12 years, actually he's bigger in the fact that he's a very solid cat.  Pogo is tiny really.

So that's it really.  Other than a UFC fight that the boys came over for and some other family get togethers here and there we really haven't done much. 

Media quotes of the day:

Fool of a Took. Throw yourself in next time, and rid us of your stupidity. - Gandalf to Pippin in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

And in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King:
Why did you look? Why do you always have to look? - Merry
I don't know. I can't help it. - Pippin
You never can. - Merry
I'm sorry, all right? I won't do it again. - Pippin

Thursday, September 20, 2012

I can't concentrate

So, we're going on vacation in two weeks.  From tonight actually.  I can't concentrate at work at all.  My mind is on vacation. 

We didn't go anywhere last year and I'm really looking forward to this.  Especially since our last trip in 2010 wasn't the best.  We went to New Orleans with his youngest sister and two of his coworkers.  We were there for a total of 3 days and other than the Saints opener which was also the opening night of football it wasn't that great.  Too much to go into as to why it wasn't that great of a trip so I won't.

Suffice to say we haven't had a real vacation in 3 years and I'm excited that we finally will be.  We're going to Niagara Falls first then to Ottawa.  Our anniversary is the 6th.  The plan is to head out Thursday night after we both get out of work and take Poydras to a friend's house for the week.  Jim will be taking care of the cats at the house.  We'll drive to Niagara and get there early Friday morning.  Have all day Friday and Saturday to sight see and then Sunday morning hit the road again to Ottawa to stay with friends for the rest of the week.

We haven't seen them since our wedding in 2005.  The following year within a day (can never remember if it's the 5th or 7th) they had their son.  They also built a house.  They of course haven't been able to come down and with me changing jobs a few times with several months out of work between them we definitely haven't been able to go up there. 

Finally, we have a little money and the time to be able to go. 

Neither of us has ever been to Niagara so we're really looking forward to it.  I've been doing a lot of research on places to go.  We both knew we wanted to do the Maid of the Mist for sure but that was about all we knew of things to do there.  With my research I've found a bunch of places to go to.  And HDiTty mentioned going to a comedy club on the 6th since that was our first official date.  I hadn't even thought of that.  Sure enough, there's one less than 2 miles from our B&B that also offers dinner.  Since we both agree that we don't need an expensive, fancy dinner we agreed doing dinner and a show at the club would be just fine.

Other than those two things we're just gonna wing it and whatever we do we do.  Although with everything I've read going to the Botanical Gardens sounds like a really good thing to see, especially with my love of fall foliage.  And they have a carriage ride for only 20 bucks.  So maybe if we go I'll be able to get a carriage ride too.  We shall see.

We're staying at a B&B which I didn't think I would ever do.  But with everything I've read about it it sounds really nice.  There were very few complaints and one of the biggest was that the towels were scratchy.  Hell, I can handle scratchy towels for a couple days.  Or we just bring our own, no biggy.  And I believe the female owner is German.  So HDT will be able to practice speaking.  He took 3 years in high school and still knows some.  And what I read she puts on a big spread at breakfast, including Belgian waffles sometimes so that sounds really good.

As far as what we'll do when we get to Mark and Manon's I have no idea.  No plans for then other than hanging out with good company.  I'd like to do a corn maze but again, we shall see.  We did one once when we were up there in '99 or 2000, and had a lot of fun.  I think their son, Tristan, would really like it.

TWO WEEKS!  CAN. NOT. WAIT.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Gandolf is gone, I'm sad

So we did actually take back the silver/grey kitty, took him back early last week. We did debate for several days on whether we'd keep him or not but in the end we took him back to my MIL.  She says she won't keep him either, that he'll go to the no kill shelter, which I then told HDT that if that's the case we should take him back. Don't think he'll agree to that though. But there's always the possibility she'll keep him.  She's getting pretty attached to him. 

My SIL still hasn't picked up the momma kitty yet, at least as far as I know.  As of last Friday she hadn't anyway.  She was given until yesterday to come pick her up.  I wonder if that happened.  I don't know what the outcome will be if she hasn't.

This is him nursing.  Ridiculous.  He's almost as big as she is.


When we first brought him over I told HDT that there will be hissing going on before they're ok with each other.  He didn't really think that would happen.  Told him it definitely would.  We had him for about 3 weeks, just long enough for the memory of each other to start to fade.  Also, even if she did remember him right away she'll let him know there won't be any nursing going on.  Ha!  So yeah, when we first brought him and I set him down near her she arched her back, fluffed her tail and hissed.  For the next 15-20 minutes she would hiss at him when he'd get too near.  But at the same time she was very curious.  As he started to roam around the house she'd follow him.  Within 30-40 minutes the hissing had stopped unless he came up on her without her realizing it.  But by the time we left, just over an hour later, they were already starting to chase each other around having fun.

The next day we went back, can't remember why now, but there they were all curled up together in the bed.  At some point he woke up and started to nurse.  There's no way she had any milk left, not after being fixed and not nursing for 3 weeks.  But she let him do it so he would.  Silly momma.

I don't think the brothers even realized he was gone.  They're still running around having fun with each other without a care in the world.  And getting big.  I keep telling them to quit growing but they're not listening to me.  And I just realized I haven't taken any pictures of them since before their brother was taken back.  I'll have to do that.

Poydras is finally getting better with 'em.  He's actually even tried playing with Pippin.  He'd hop around Pip and lower down in the front with his butt up in the air wagging his little stump of a tail.  But then as soon as Pip would actually reach for his muzzle he'd go under the couch and then whine/whimper.  As soon as Pip would back off he'd come back out and start all over again.  It was too funny.  I kept trying to get a video of it but every time I'd start the video he'd go under the couch.  Oh well.

And they've taken to Pogo.  Although they have no issues with Bander, nor he with them, they seem to like Pogo more.  At least for the sleeping together part.  Pogo likes to sleep on a corner of our bed and quite often I'll find a kitten or two (and three before) sleeping very near him if not right up against him.  Gandolf really liked to sleep with him there.  While Merry and Pippin will sleep up on my pillow with me, Gandolf would be at the foot of the bed with Pogo.  But yeah, when I'm not there they're sleeping with Pogo quite a bit. 

And Pogo is finally playing with them.  Seems to be more with Merry than Pippin, at least that I've seen anyway.  There are times that it seems Pogo is really biting down hard on Merry's back but he doesn't cry out at all so I guess it can't be that bad.  And he comes back for more so....

I haven't seen Bander playing, but then he was never a real big player anyway.  Once he and Pogo grew out of the kitten stage he pretty much quit playing unless it was chasing a laser or jumping up for a feather toy.

So that's the update since the last entry.  Nothing much has gone on really, pretty dull lives we lead. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Kitty Sitters

So, we got the 3rd brother.  But only for a week or so.  At least that's what's supposed to happen anyway.

Their momma got fixed and her front paws were declawed.  Which per HDT's sister's apartment manager's rules needed to be done before she could have her.  Now we shall see if she actually does take her or leaves her with their mom.  Anyway.

So while she's recovering we took the last kitten so she wouldn't be tempted to run, jump and play with him or let him try to nurse still.

At first he and the brothers didn't seem to remember each other, although there wasn't any hissing going on between them.  But now they're all running around playing and sleeping together.



The sliver/grey one is like a muted version of Pippin. 


Unfortunately I can't rotate the picture.  But I still thought it cute enough to include anyway.  This was shortly after the top picture was taken.  One of them moved and they all just rearranged themselves into this pile.

We have of course fallen in love with him as well.  So if things don't work out the way they're supposed to we probably will be keeping him. 

If that happens, HDT is lobbying to change their names to the Three Muskateers' names as I had mentioned would be good if we had taken all three the night we were trying to come up with names for just the two.  But we can't decide which one should get which name. 

But it's all a moot point if we don't keep him anyway.

Media quote of the day: The Three Musketeers (1993)

Champagne? - Porthos
We're in the middle of a chase, Porthos. - Athos
You're right - something red. - Porthos

As morning hues of sun swept fire caress your passion face. Alone with thee in pure desire, to worship your untold grace. My soul would cry in silent prayer, for hours spent apart. Your essence warms the evening air, as I dance into your heart. - Aramis

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

New family members

So, whirlyball was a lot of fun.  As mentioned in my last post my nephew was in town for a week and one of the things we did was play whirlyball.  Seems to me we were a lot more violent than what we were for work.  I broke my thumb nail.  It actually split down the middle and tore back from the side.  I kept playing with it until we got home and I was able to clip it.  But at least this time I didn't get a bruise on my inner thigh.  There were several injuries spread around the group.  My nephew got his hand all chewed up.  Wayne kept pushing the racket into Dean's side while Dean was trying to get the ball.  Dean kept trying to push the racket away and got his hand all chewed up for the effort.

HDT ended up not playing because he had a headache and the only people that offered to give up their car were me and Wayne.  He didn't want to take me away from playing because he wanted to play with me.  And Wayne is the dad of Dean (the nephew in town) and the one that planned the whole thing so it wouldn't be right to make him leave.  But he had a lot of fun watching and he did help out when the cars would get stuck near him (he'd go over and give a shove) or the ball ended up where no one could get it.

Then later that week on Saturday we all got together at mom's house for some good food and good company for several hours.  Then several of us headed over to my house for the UFC fights.  Good times.
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We've made two new additions to the household.  We debated for awhile, even decided that we weren't going to do it.  Then we both caved.  So now besides Banderling (always known as Cry Baby throughout the years here), his brother Pogo (always knows as Pretty Boy throughout the years) and Poydras we have Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuc and Peregrin "Pippin" Took.  For those who don't know they're two hobbits from The Lord of the Rings who were always getting into trouble.


Merry is the dark brown (so dark looks black) kitty and Pippin is the striped one, they're brothers.  There is a third brother but he'll either be staying with HDT's mom or going with his sister.  Don't think that's been decided as of yet.  The third is a silver tabby, looks a lot like their momma.

Bander and Pogo have accepted them already.  Didn't take long and only a little bit of hissing and swatting of heads took place.  Although sometimes they get a little over zealous with the playing with Bander and he has to take them down a notch.


This picture was right before Pip started in on Bander.  He at first was just smelling and licking on him, giving him love.  But then he decided he wanted to play and started biting Bander's ear so Bander reached up, pushed Pip's head down and gave a love bite to the neck.  Stopped the little pipsqueek in his tracks.

They haven't tried playing much with Pogo yet, at least not that I've seen.  But the little bit they've done has been met with about the same reaction.  Paw of doom with a well placed bite.  Mostly they just try to lie down next to him.


They were like this for a long time.  Pretty much until Pippin jumped up on Merry to have a play fighting session.

When we first brought them home we put them in Poydras' kennel so the residents could have access to them but no fighting could happen.  Poydras had already met them over at HDT's grandma's house where they've been since before they were born.  So we knew there wouldn't be anything to worry about with him.  In fact he's quite scared by them.  They come up where he is and he tries to get away, whining the whole way usually.

When the two older cats came up to them in the kennel the kittens would reach out trying to touch them.  But there was very little hissing, more curiosity than anything on all their parts.  So the next day we let them out and all was well.  We put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to keep them in the basement and also to allow Bander and Pogo a place to escape if they needed it. 

After just a couple days Pippin had already climbed over it.  I was at work and HDT had let them out of the kennel when he got up (they were put back in there at night) and they were having a good time in the basement.  But then HDT went upstairs to get some food and next thing he sees when he turns around is Pippin coming into the kitchen. 

At first he only climbed over when one or both of us would go upstairs but then after a day or so he started to do it all the time.  We decided that once Merry followed suit and went over we'd take the gate down.  Took a few days but he finally did it.  I was sitting on the stair right in front of the gate trying to prevent Pip from going over.  Bander was on the other side of it up a stair and they both were fascinated by him. 

Next thing I know as I'm trying to keep Pip from going up the steps I hear to my right the gate move.  I look and it's Merry climbing up.  By the time I got my camera up on the iphone he was already over it which chased Bander away.  But I got this shot, you can see that he's actually dark brown here.



He got up a couple steps and then sat there all "Hmmm, what did I just do?"  By the time I took the picture, got the gate down and took a step towards him he was all "Freeeeedommmm" and took off up to the top after Bander.

So we got them collars with bells so we'd know where they are.  That worked for a couple days until they learned how to get them off, they're breakaways.  Yesterday they both got them off and so far we've only found one of them.  Ah well.

And Sunday night HDT decided to let them loose overnight as well.  When he came to bed at 3:30am he decided to let them run free rather than put them in the kennel.  While he was up they hadn't come into the room at all, or if they did I was so out of it they didn't wake me up.  But when he came up he of course woke me up then they proceeded to keep me awake playing on the bed jingling away.  Took about 15-20 minutes until they finally settled down, on my pillows no less.  Merry curled up in the crook of my arm and Pippin lied on top of the back pillow leaning up against the headboard.

Soooo cute they are.

Media quote of the day:  From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

You're taller. - Merry
Who? - Pippin
You! - Merry
Than what? - Pippin
Than *me*! -Merry
I've always been taller than you. - Pippin
Pippin, everyone knows *I'm* the tall one. *You're* the short one. - Merry:
Please, Merry. You're what, three-foot-six? At the most? Whereas me, I'm pushing three-seven, three-eight. - Pippin
Three-foot-eight? You did something. - Merry

Now in our kitty world this is actually true.  Pippin is bigger than Merry.  Merry was the runt of the litter.  There's about 6oz difference between the two.  Pip is just over 4lbs as of yesterday.  It's time to get them to the vet for neutering.  Soon, very soon.

Monday, June 18, 2012

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

So let's see.  It's been awhile again since I've posted.  Not sure of everything that has happened since then but I do know there's been a few things.

One was that we went for a bike ride a couple weeks ago and crashed into each other.  I took a tumble and scraped up my elbow.


That's the night it happened right after it was washed up and neosporin was put on, hence all the shine. 


This is one week later after it had time to scab up.  This is right after a bath where I let it soak for awhile.  Which is why the scabs are light in color rather than scabby looking.  Hee  I peeled those off and put some neosporin on right after. 

It's looking really good now.  Just pink skin in a few spots.
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My brother who had married a woman from the Philippines back in 2004 who brought her two daughters with her has now divorced her.  It's been coming for a long time really so no one surprised when it finally happened but we're all very very sad because she's been working in New York city for the last year.  So now that they're divorced she took her daughters with her.  We were all tearing up pretty darn good when we were saying our goodbyes a few weeks ago. 

BUT, we just found out that she's letting them come back for a couple weeks vacation with him and his two kids from his first marriage.  They're going to go camping for a couple weeks at the end of July.  I'm hoping HDT and I can go as well during the weekend they'll be there.  We shall see.
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Mother's Day, my mom's birthday, and Father's Day have all happened since my last entry.  We took our moms out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for Mother's Day and then for some ice cream afterward for desert.  Went back to my mom's house to visit for a little while longer before finally heading out around 9ish. 

My mom's birthday was last Thursday and we and my brother Wayne and his family took her to a local pizza joint for dinner.  Afterward they left for home and Mom, HDT and I sat around the campfire for a little while.  HDT eventually left because he was so tired but I hung out until almost 11pm.  Scott showed up with his daughter for a few minutes before he had to take her home.  And the girls called from New York unexpectedly so that was really nice.

Turns out my Aunt Lori got married that day as well.  Not only did the sparks fly with her husband at my mom's house the year before but then they get married on her birthday.  Very happy for them all.

Yesterday for Father's Day we took his dad and stepmom to the same Chinese restaurant.  It was their first time there, they really enjoyed it.  Enough that they ordered a whole other dinner to take home for later.  Then we went to see Snow White and the Huntsman.  We all enjoyed it.  I liked how dark it was and thought Kristen Stewart did a good job.  We stood around talking in the parking lot for about an hour before we finally said our goodbyes for the night.
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Hmmm, what else?  Actually I think those were the most significant things.  We've been working hard as usual.  We've slacked on exercising but I fully plan on getting back into it this week.  Less than a month before my work's manager's meeting and I'd like to be down 10 lbs if at all possible before I meet all these people I've been talking on the phone with since January. 

My oldest nephew is in town for the week.  We all plan on getting together tomorrow to play some Whirlyball and have some fun.  Saturday we plan on a family gathering at my mom's house for more food and merriment.  Then later who ever wants to will go to our house to watch the UFC fights. 

So that's about it for now.  See ya.

Media quote of the day:  From Snow White and the Huntsman

I give you my word.  - Snow White
Yea, but I don't trust you. - The Huntsman

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

So we haven't been doing a whole heck of lot lately.  Hence the no posting.

But one thing we did do was go to HDT's partner's house last Friday to hang out with her and her husband.  And by partner I mean his partner at work.

They've got a 3 year old and a couple dogs.  So we brought Poydras over to meet their dogs.  He of course was so excited to go for the car ride but when we got there and the dogs were so excited to see him he got scared.  He's not used to dogs at all.  He hasn't been around them much and it's almost always been on his home turf.  So not only is he already nervous around other dogs he's also possessive of his place.  We were hoping meeting dogs on their home turf would be different. 

It was to an extent.  He was still scared of course but wasn't as growley unless they really got up in his face and he felt trapped.  They have a big back yard with a fence surrounding it that we were able to let him be free of his leash while meeting them.  They both wanted to play and even tried to get him to play with them but he was having none of it.  He would either come by me or HDT for protection.  Other than letting him sit or stand next to us we didn't give him any.

I was really nervous for their son though.  He also was excited to meet Poydras and was petting him and also going in for kisses a lot.  I was so scared Poydras would snap at him in fear, especially the times that he was surrounded by the dogs while the little guy was so close.  But I have to give props to Poydras.  He never once even growled at him. 

Now kids he has been around ever since we got him.  Not only our own nieces and nephews and Jim's two girls but our neighbors kids as well.  And their extended families kids.  When Poydras was just 1-2 he'd growl at them if they got too close or he felt trapped but these last couple of years he's been so much better.  There was one day last year the he and I were sitting on the back stoop enjoying the weather when 5 of the little ones come running over to see him. He was surrounded on all sides except for behind him.  They were all reaching in at once to pet him and talking away at him and me in their high pitched voices so I thought for sure he'd get over it quick enough and growl at them.  Especially at one boy who kept reaching in with both hands to rub his face.  But he didn't once make a noise or even show his teeth. 

So remembering that incident although I was nervous at their house I did have high hopes for Poydras that he'd do ok with the little guy and he lived up to those hopes. 

Now the dogs were a different matter.  Those he did curl his lip at and when that didn't work he growled at them.  And once he even nipped at one.  Didn't get her, but still.  And the little guy was too damn cute, several times while he was petting Poydras and one of his dogs would come up to try to sniff noses he would try to push them away and he'd point his fingers at them telling them to stay away.  Very cute.

So although Poydras was never fully comfortable he did settle down enough that he didn't run away from them the whole time.  He'd lie down on a couch very close to them, albeit on top of HDT or I, but still.  And once during the time we were at the kitchen table playing cards he even hopped up on a couch for a well deserved rest for a little while.

We'll continue taking him over there, even if it's just for an hour or so some days, to keep getting him used to them.  They offered to watch him for us when we go on vacation so we definitely got to get him acclimated.

No media quote today, can't think of anything and don't feel like searching for something.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Stooges and Pop Rocks

We finally got our taxes done!!  WOOHOO!!!!

Yep, the King and Queen of Procrastination struck again.  But at least we had one more day to do them since today is actually tax day.  Heh

So yeah, I completed them last night just after 10pm.  And the really bad thing about waiting so long to do them?  We always, I mean always, get a refund so there is no reason not to do them earlier.  Every year we say we're going to do them and every year we're doing them at the last minute.

Anyway....

On Saturday while we were just hanging out trying to catch up on the dvr'd stuff Jim sent a text to HDT asking if we'd like to go see The Three Stooges with him and Pat.  We knew we wanted to see it but the big question was, did we want to see it with those two.  Well, mainly Pat.  Pat is very hyper critical.  Especially about stuff that he really likes.  So we were both a little hesitant on seeing it with them.  But decided to go ahead anyway.

Very glad we did.  We all four enjoyed it very much.  All three guys nailed their parts perfectly.  HDT and I love Will Sasso in everything he does so were very happy that he did so well.  And we both agree that Sophia Vergara must be just about the most sexiest woman out there.  The only other woman that I can think of that still beats her is Halle Berry.  I don't know that any woman would ever beat her out for most sexy in my book.

After the movie we took Pat home and he invited us in so we went.  He cooked up some brats, HDT and I ran to the store to pick up some sides and soda and we had a good dinner while hanging out.

After dinner we watched a Sherlock Holmes show from the BBC on Netflix that Pat really likes.  He wanted us to see a more accurate depiction of what Holmes is really like compared to the Hollywood Robert Downey Jr movies.  No where near as flamboyant that's for sure.  But still enjoyable.

Sunday was his niece's birthday party.  We hadn't gotten her gift yet so we ran to Toys R Us before heading to the party.  Got her a couple of games and as we're entering the checkout lane I notice Pop Rocks and grab some for myself.  HDT asked if I was getting them for her. I said no because I wasn't sure about age limits.  So we looked, nothing is mentioned so we got her some as well.

Unfortunately Jess didn't leave enough time between the start of the party and the time she chose for swimming to allow presents to be opened while we were all there.  So she took them home to be opened.  But she did call us at least right after she opened our gift which she was very happy to see.  We got her a box of 5 Disney puzzles in 3D and a Happy Feet Ice block game.  She was trying the Pop Rocks when Jess called.  I can't remember now what she said her tongue was doing but I do recall it was funny.  She liked them though so that's good. 

I keep forgetting mine in the car.  Luckily it's been cool out these last few days so they're not spoiling at least.

Media quote of the day:

Those 3 idiots are here! - Lydia
The Kardashian sisters? - Mac  - The Three Stooges

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Lemon cake - good

So we had a nice weekend with his family.  At least most of the weekend was with his family.

Friday was his niece's birthday so we went over to grandma's for dinner and cake.  His sister provided the pizza and his mom made the cake.  The cake was a panda which is his sister's favorite animal.  I had the ears and they were yummy.

Saturday we hung out catching up on dvr'd shows while he also played Star Wars.  At some point Jim sent a text to HDT asking if we'd like to see a movie.  So he came over, they went out and picked up dinner and after eating we headed out to watch Wrath of the Titans in 3D.  I enjoyed it.  There were times the 3D was annoying but for the most part it was just part of the movie.

On the way home I decided to run by a grocery store that I can only get my caffeine free dew.  And while there we decided to also pick up a pizza for later.  And then while discussing what pizza to get HDT mentioned we had steaks that needed cooking so Jim bought himself one.  We got a few other groceries and then headed home. 

By the time we got the replacement kerosene tank and prepared the food it was almost midnight when we sat down to eat. 

No long after I was just too tired to stay up so went to bed.  Jim was planning on leaving then but apparently stuck around.  HDT finally crawled in to bed around 4:30-5:00 and said that Jim had left only about a half hour before.  Silly men.

Sunday morning I was up by 9:30 and decided to mow the lawn since it was needing it pretty badly. I was done by 11.  I heard HDT's alarm going off when I walked in the back door so figured he'd be getting up soon but he just kept hitting the snooze.  I decided to lay down on the bed while waiting for him to get up reading my twitter timeline.  He finally did around 11:30.

I made a turkey sandwich to eat along with a yogurt to tied me over until we went to his grandma's for Easter dinner.  As we were getting ready to leave he got a text from his mom asking if we were on the way since dinner was ready.  When we got there they were still preparing stuff - so - not quite ready.  But that was good since it takes about 15 minutes to get there from our house.

Dinner went well.  Desert was another cake his mom made.  A lemon one in the shape of a butterfly this time.  It was really good.  I just may have to make a lemon cake at some point.

HDT decided to fly his kite so we two, his niece and Poydras went to the field just down from the house.  We were out there for about 15-20 minutes.  Kylie was interested for the first few minutes but then decided whatever Poydras was wanting to get was way more interesting.  But that's ok, HDT and I had a good time.

After going back inside we visited for a little while longer then his sis and niece left.  We stuck around for another hour or so then finally headed home ourselves.

Watched some shows then headed to bed.  Over all a nice visiting weekend. 

Media quote of the day:

We may not be gods. But we do what people say can't be done, we hope when there isn't any... whatever odds we face, we prevail. - Andromeda - Wrath of the Titans

Thursday, March 29, 2012

How hard is to wipe a counter down? I mean Really!

So I don't get the women in my office building.  We have several businesses on our floor that all use the same bathroom.

I couldn't tell you how many times I go in there and the counter around the sink is all wet. 

Really?  You can't wipe down the excess water after you're done?  Really?

At least the rest of the bathroom is clean. 

Oh wait, not quite. 

They also can't get their paper towels into the wastebasket.  Which is really really sad considering it's an open trash can.  And it's a wide one at that.

UGH!

Although, admittedly, the paper towels in the garbage can isn't nearly as bad as the water.  They've gone whole weeks with getting them in there.  But still....

Media quote of the day:

Let me guess... it was in the garbage. -  Robin Scherbatsky - How I Met Your Mother

No, no it wasn't, that's the problem - me

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Little bit of this and a little bit of that

So we went ahead and upgraded our cell phones to the 4s.  We also got one for his mom (she paid us back) and added her to our plan.  HDiTty has been having fun playing with Siri.  I on the other hand keep forgetting she's there so haven't used her once.  Oh well, I'm sure I will one of these days. 

While we were at the Apple store I looked at the cases they had and didn't find anything I liked for myself but found a perfect one for his mom.  She loves all things Paris, France related.  They have a cover that's a black and white picture of the Eiffel Tower and then has a little green VW bug parked in front.  I showed it to HDT to see if he thought she'd like it since I wasn't so sure about it 'cause of the bug.  He thought she would so we bought it as well.

He went over to her place to help her set the phone up and she gave me a call to let me know she was excited that we got the phone (she thought it wouldn't be for a little while longer) and also to thank me for the cover.  She said she loved it and although it was a little green bug and not a little blue mini cooper she was just fine with it.  That it was close enough.  So that made me happy.
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We STILL haven't done anything more in the kitchen.  We have such good intentions but are just lazy about it.  One day we'll get there.  The good thing is is that we don't plan on moving any time soon, if ever, so there's no rush.
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My job is still going good.  I'm liking it a whole lot.  Totally different from what I used to do and every now and then I feel a little worried that I'm gonna screw something up but at least those thoughts are fleeting.

We'll be moving to a new building this summer and from the little bit I've heard it sounds like we're all going to have our own offices.  Which if that's the case, YIPPEE.  I don't mind too much being out in the middle of everything but there are days that it gets old. 

We shall see.
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We saw The Hunger Games on Saturday.  Went with Jim, his sister and her husband.  We both very much enjoyed it.  Now I feel compelled to go get the books and read 'em before the next one comes out.  The whole way home we're all asking Wendy questions since she's the only one who's read 'em.  My big question was was she disappointed with any of the changes.  She said no.  They of course left out some things that she would've liked to have seen but understands that it was for time and they weren't necessary for story to be understood.  Also that Rue was slightly bigger than expected since she's described as small like Prim.  But that didn't really bother her per se just that she didn't expect it.  Although, truthfully, I'd have to see the two girls standing side by side to see a difference because I didn't see where Rue was all that much bigger than Prim.  Ah well.

With all the hate that's being thrown out there about Rue and Thresh being black I was very happy that she didn't say anything at all about the color of her skin.  Not that I knew about any of the hateful stuff before we went.  But after reading the Jezebel site I recalled what she said and it was only about her size, nothing about her being black. 

Media quote of the day:

Thank you for your consideration. - Katniss Everdeen - The Hunger Games
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Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. - President Snow - The Hunger Games

Friday, March 16, 2012

Upgrades

So not much has been going on with us these last couple weeks.  We've been trying to eat better and exercise more.  That comes and goes, hasn't become a habit yet.  But I am doing it more than before so that's always good.

The weather has turned nice and we've been able to take Poydras for a walk that we all enjoy.  Need to do that way more than we ever have before as well.  We all could use it.

We still haven't done anything more in the kitchen.  Like I've said more than once we are the King and Queen of Procrastination.  I'm thinking I might do something with the walls this weekend.  He's working this weekend so it's not like I can do much more than scraping the peeling paint off the one wall and washing all the others.  But he should have an 8 hour day on Saturday, if so we're thinking of going to Home Depot or one of the other places and getting the wood necessary to do the shelves in the pantry. 
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Last Saturday we took Sarge and his family to Plum Garden, our favorite Chinese restaurant.  We talked it up so much that I started to worry we did it too much.  But luckily he and his whole family loved everything they got and were delighted with all the food they were taking home for leftovers.  HDT even got more than he expected because one of the boys doesn't like leftovers and since he got the same as HDT the leftovers went home with us.  They agreed that the 35-45 minute drive is completely worth it.  Which made us very happy.
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Let's see, anything else?  Oh yeah, we're upgrading our cell phones.  We're each getting the 4s iphones now.  I was originally going to get HDT's when he upgraded to the 4s but he really wants me to get one as well so he's going to push to sell his X-Box and then we'll also be selling one of our phones now and that'll pay for my upgrade and possibly even his.  His mom wants to get put on our plan and will either be buying my phone or his.  Although I think it'd be better for her to get his since mine is now having battery issues.  The battery has been draining very fast compared to before these last couple of days.  So the upgrades are coming at just the right time.

That's about it really, nothing special.

Media quote of the day:

I wish I was special
You're so fuckin' special

Just a couple little lines from Radiohead's Creep

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Birthday weekend

So it was my birthday on Sunday.  I'm an old 42 now.  Since it wasn't a milestone birthday and I really didn't care what we did we didn't do much.  Saturday evening we collected Jim and went to see a couple movies.  First was Chronicle, which was a fun movie over all, about as good as expected what with all the twitter love it was gettin.  Then we went to Chili's for dinner then headed up to a different theater to watch Safe House.  Which was actually better than I expected.  I do love me some Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.

After that we just headed home where we just hung out for little while before Jim went home.  Then HDT and I watched something, can't remember now, until I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and crawled into bed around 2:30.

Sunday I got up long enough to let the dog out to do his business, feed him and the cats and then I crawled back into bed for some more sleep/rest.  I woke up fully around 9:30ish or so but lazed in bed reading my twitter feed until just around 11:00 when I started to feel really hungry.

HDT got up while I was making blueberry muffins for brunch.  Then all we did was sit around doing a bunch of nothing all day.  Just started catching up on all our DVR'd shit that's been piling up.

I did get on the treadmill though for a quick walk/jog. Oh yeah, HDT and I are once again trying to be better with the food and exercise.  So far we've been pretty damn good.  It's only been a week but I think this time we'll do much better than other times.  We shall see.

So around 4 I went up to soak in the tub and then get ready to go out to dinner.  I decided on Outback for my steak dinner, mainly because it was the only place I could get garlic mashed potatoes.  Then he surprised me by going to Red Lobster for the worst best dessert ever:

It's their chocolate chip molten cake.  Full of huge calorie goodness.  But I don't care since it was for my birthday.

We went to Walmart afterward to pick up a few needed items and both of us were walking around groaning from our stomachs being so full.  It wasn't until close to 10 that I was finally back to feeling normal. 

A nice relaxing, well entertained and well fed birthday weekend.  Tonight we're supposed to be going over to his grandma's for his mom to make me a birthday dinner.  That'll be nice.


Media quotes of the day:

There's something wrong with Andrew - Matt Garetty - Chronicle
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Yes, it was the black guy this time... - Steve Montgomery - Chronicle
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I'm not your only enemy tonight. - Tobin Frost - Safe House
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How am I supposed to get more experience by staring at four walls all day? - Matt Weston

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I'm on a sandy beach every time I walk in my kitchen

So the kitchen floor is complete and it looks absolutely terrific.  HDT and Sarge did great.  HDT admits that Sarge did most of the actual laying of the tiles but he still did a lot himself.  He did just about all the cutting needed, of which there was plenty, and a lot of other stuff needed.  The grout is a little lighter than what the color sample on the bag looks but I still like it.  Very, very happy we didn't listen to everyone else and go with a dark color.  It blends in and I see the tiles not the lines.

It's like a sandy beach but without all the sand getting in places it doesn't need to be, love it.  Now we just have to get around to getting the walls prepped and painted.  With us being the King and Queen of Procrastination who knows how long that'll be.  But that's ok, the floor is done and that's the most important part.

They had to take the kitchen door off to do the work and we both agree that it looks better with it open.  It came in handy when we had to lock up Poydras in the kitchen but now that he doesn't chew on things and there's no worry about accidents we don't need it anymore.  And when we need to lock up the cats we can just do it in the bedroom.

Happy!!
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I've been wanting to see The Woman in Black ever since I first saw the trailer for it last year.  We finally saw it last night.  We took his mom and she had no idea it even existed.  We all three liked it.  It was a good little creepy movie.  I thought Daniel Radcliffe did very well in it.  I didn't once see Harry Potter which is a really good thing. 

HDT said as soon as it was over that he didn't like it but I think it was just because of the ending, which I of course won't disclose here.  But then as we talked he admitted he did like it.  I, for one, liked the ending.  His mom was making jokes about having to worry about dreaming about the creepy old lady face.  Which I find amusing since she takes care of her mother who has Alzheimer's and has gotten up in the middle of the night a few times.  The good thing is, even though she's an old lady, she's a tiny old lady and as sweet looking as can be.  Not scary in the least.

Media quote of the day: 

I will never forgive. - Jennet - The Woman in Black

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Birthday Surprise and Kitchen Floor

So, we've been hating our kitchen tile for a long time now.  It's really old and scratched up and even after washing it it still looks dirty because it's so stained.  So since HDT received a nice bonus check this year we decided to finally do something about it. 

He's been working on tearing up the old tile, three layers of old tile even.  The first layer (or bottom whichever you choose to call it) actually had nails in several of the squares.  Which made little to no sense since they were glued down.  So it's not like they needed to nail them in place.  So that just made his work that much harder. 

It's taken a couple weeks now to get it all done because of his work schedule and the friend that's helping him do it.  But last week they were finally able to get the stove out of the kitchen and the underlayment down.  The stove was a pain in the ass.  There isn't a cut-off valve anywhere between the floor and the stove.  The only cut-off was in the basement in the room directly below and the valve was frozen in place.  But they got some stuff, sprayed it on and they were able to loosen it up.  So now it, the fridge, a rolling cabinet that holds pet items amongst other stuff and all the contents from our pantry are in our living room. 

I believe today they were actually going to be putting the tile in, hope so.  We bought 18" porcelain ceramic tile.  It's a grayish/silverish marble.  I really like it.  We also plan on painting the walls as well.  They'll be some shade of yellow with a darker version on the ceiling and maybe around the top of the walls.  We shall see.

I asked him on the day that he and Jim (not the friend helping lay the tile) finally got the rest of the old tile up if he had taken any pictures from before.  He hadn't, he had forgotten.  Not sure if he's taken any since.  Kind of hope so.  But not a big deal if he hasn't.
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HDT's birthday was on the 11th.  He turned a big ole 41 this year.  I decided I wanted to try to surprise him.  Since it isn't a milestone year I wasn't worried about making sure any of his family would be there.  Issues and other stuff on why not. 

So I shot an email to Jim letting him know what I was thinking.  That I'd try to get HDT out the house by taking him somewhere for dinner and then have everyone there.  You know, the typical route.  But only because getting him out the house is very difficult.  He hates shopping and if I tried a movie he'd either flat out say no or try to do it another time.  Jim said he'd try to think of something else as well, as in him taking him somewhere. 

Through talking with him and Pat I then decided we'd just stay home and have everyone meet somewhere and then come to the house at once and just start filing in.  That'd be just as much a surprise as the other way.  Maybe even more so.  As I'm letting his friends (all from when he was in high school - they call themselves The Mutants - yep they're geeks) know and discussing the dinner plans one of them suggest meeting at a restaurant and surprising him there.

So that's what I finally decided on.  I made reservations for 6:00 but told HDT it was at 6:15 to allow everyone a good chance of making it there before us.  I also didn't tell him where we were going.  I started heading north like I was taking him to this steak place we both absolutely love but it's expensive so it's a treat.  He guessed that place but then decided it couldn't be since it takes about an hour to get there and we didn't leave the house until after 6.  Unless of course I fibbed about the time.  Heh  But before I actually got on the highway I turned off the road we were on and headed in another direction.

I then let him know that yes, I was heading back into town.  He guessed it after that but still didn't know people were going to be there.  Then, I'm driving around the damn lot looking for a place to park and the only one left is all the way in the back of the building.  As we're walking back to the front I notice all the windows along the way are wide open and you can see everyone in there.  He was on the window side.  And without thinking I grabbed him and pulled him to the other side of me and said, "You can't look in there!"  Then immediately said, "Damn, I just ruined it!"  He laughed and said I didn't ruin anything and I said I did, now he knows there are people waiting for us.  But he still didn't know if would be family, friends or some mix of them.  Not until we were being walked back to the tables and he saw two of his buddies.  Then of course he knew.

AND, AND, AND it turns out they had us in a backroom that I didn't even know existed and the only way you could see in was through a glass door (that we did pass) but it was so fogged up you wouldn't be able to distinguish anyone through it.  Man, that was frustrating.  But oh well.  He was surprised.  He thought as soon as he knew it was a place in town that it would just be us for dinner and when we got home there'd be people there.  So I'm glad I didn't go that route he wouldn't have been surprised at all.

Only a few of the people were able to show up.  Pat, because of his medical issues wasn't able to make it.  But Jim was there along with two of the other Mutants (Pat isn't one, they became friends with him at a hobby shop after high school) and their wives were there though.  So it was still a nice little gathering.  We had a good dinner and good conversation.  Then one of the couples had to go home, couldn't stay out late because of their sitter.  But the other couple, Jim and HDT & I headed back to our house for game night. 

Since it was his birthday he chose to play Star Wars Trivia Pursuit.  Jim's sister Wendy was on her way over from work so while waiting on her I started gathering the alcholol and cake and other things needed.  She made it there before I was done so as soon as she got there were able to start the game.  We of course had to have teams as we three girls knew little to nothing about the movies.  I knew more than the other two but still not a whole heckuva lot.  Although I was confident on a couple answers where HDT wasn't so that was a nice ego boost.  The teams, unfortunately for Howie, were Jim, Wendy and Andy on one team and HDT, me and Andy's wife on the other.  Andy's wife new nothing about the movies.  She's seen them but probably only once or twice at most and since they're not all that interesting to here didn't maintain much of anything. 

We modified the way to win though since the three boys know so much.  Each team had to answer every question on the card to win.  Because of that it allowed HDT's team to catch up and then compete to win.  But in the end the other team won.

By then it was close to midnight and Andy and his wife had to head home as they had to get up by 7:30 for church the next day.

Jim and Wendy stayed and we played the new game Logo.  Like that game a lot.  I think it's become my new favorite next to Apples to Apples.

After the game was done it was pretty late so those two went home, I cleaned up just enough to not be too bad and then went to bed.  HDT came up a little while after.

All in all it was a good night. 

Media quote of the day: 

The Mentalist: The Blood on His Hands (2010)  We both really like this show

Huh? Always nice to know, but that's not why I'm here. It seems your friend John, is planning a surprise party for you.  - Bret Stiles - the always impecible Malcolm McDowell

Monday, February 20, 2012

How wanting a couple cookies leads to shoulder surgery

So, let's see.  There were a few other things I thought about writing about when I did my last post.  Now I have to just remember what they were.  I think one was about HDT's birthday that just passed.  Another was about my mom.  Seems there was at least one more.  Oh yeah, our kitchen floor.

I'll start with mom, since what happened to her is the oldest of the three.  Back in September I believe it was, maybe October, she fell and dislocated her right shoulder.  Yeah, it was definitely October.  HDT, Jim, his exwife, their two kids and I were helping move Pat while he was in the hospital for some medical issues.  We had just finished for the night and were all heading to our respective homes when my brother Roy calls.  Now, normally I just ignore most phone calls.  But since he's never called me before (just texted) I figured I better answer.  Good thing I did as he says mom's fallen, the paramedics are there getting ready to take her to the ER and I'll need to go meet her there since he's had too much to drink to be able to drive.  Plus he's a mess anyway, I wouldn't want him to drive.

So, yeah, HDT and I meet her there.  X-rays show the shoulder way out of whack.  We have to leave the room while they put it back in.  Her hand and wrist are also hurting so they X-ray that but luckily nothings wrong with them.

After they clear her and provide several prescriptions that we take care of we take her home.  I stay the night (HDT doesn't as he has to work in the morning) so I'll be there if she needs any help overnight or the next morning.  But by 10/11ish in the morning she's feeling much better and can get around by herself so I leave.

Her follow up appointment with a joint doctor shows she has some tearage so there are two choices.  1st choice is therapy and after 6 weeks they look again and reevaluate how she is.  If therapy isn't doing what they want she'll need surgery and then more therapy.  Or choice two - just go with surgery now and then do therapy.  Because she's a very healthy 70 and is also very active normally she, me and the doc all agree to do surgery now. 

So we make the appointment and I take her in.  Turns out she had a massive tear and it took 5 sutures or whatever they're called when they're reconnecting the tissue inside the body.  According to the doc a normal procedure only takes 2 - 3.  7 holes in her shoulder altogether though.  Because when they went in they found her bicep was out of place as well so they had to fix that too. 

The surgery went very well.  She stayed overnight though because she went into A-Fib while on the table.  Everyone figures it was just the body's reaction to surgery since all tests after were very good.  But to be safe she stayed the night.  They taught her how to work the sling and we had her outta there the next evening.

Since then healing and therapy have gone very well.  Everyone was very surprised, happily though, that she's healing so quickly and she's had no pain at all except during therapy itself.  I believe she should be done with therapy this week, maybe next. In fact, I'm due for another chat with her soon so I'll find out.

Luckily I was out of work when I was so I was able to take her to all her appointments with no problems.  Which there were plenty.  By the time I got my job she was able to drive by herself and felt confident enough to do so.

This is a big enough post for today so I'll write about the next two things later.

Oh yeah, I completely forgot to say how she dislocated it.  Duh!  So she was watching tv in her loveseat which reclines.  She decided to get a couple cookies and when she got up she thought she had put the footrest all the way in but turns out it didn't stay down.  As they're not want to do.  When she went back to her seat she also decided to grab a bird book.  So she has the book in one hand and cookies in the other.  So rather than just sit and scootch herself back into place she lifts her right foot to push the rest down and proceeds to lose her balance and fall directly on her right shoulder.  Luckily she missed her coffee table as it's square with very sharp corners.  My brother who lives with her (in the basement) hears the big thud of her falling and knows that it's not a typical dropping of something.  Goes running upstairs and before he's made it all the way she's hollering for him. 

When he called me I could hear her moaning in the background, gotta say I really didn't like to hear that.

No media quote today either.  Mainly because I can't think of anything that would fit right now.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

New Job - Finally

So, yeah, it's been a pretty long time since I posted last. Him, 9/11 to be exact and then I only reposted my entries on Brendan Dolan and Douglas Ketchum.My last real post was in August stating that it sucks to be me since I was out of work again.  I, along with at least one other girl, was laid off on June 3, 2011.  I didn't get another job until Jan. 4, 2012.  Yep, that sucked big time.  But I had unemployment and that helped at least.

In all that time I only got 2 other interviews.  One came fairly quickly after loosing my job but I knew it wouldn't be the place for me so was actually happy I didn't get a call back.  The next place I had to work at getting interviews, won't go into all the boring details here but it was a hassle.  But even still I would've liked to have worked there I think.  It was a tiny office which I like.  Would've just been me, the girl I'd be working for/with and two project managers.  It was a satellite office.  Unfortunately the VP of the company decided that rather than hiring someone to help with the work load the corporate office would just take over running some of the projects for them.

It was another couple months before I got the interview for the place I'm at now.  And so far so good.  It's not in construction so that's a bit weird.  Well, not "true" construction anyway.  I work for a company that installs and dismantles the "booths" at trade shows.  Yep, never knew that kind of place existed either.  Always thought that the company of the product just did it themselves.  Who knew? 

But I'm liking the position.  I've gotten back into helping out with accounts payable and payroll while still working in receivables.  Although we have an outside company doing the payroll we still have to audit what they do to make sure it's all completed correctly and we also distribute the checks.  And the receivables is a bit weird for me as well.  I don't actually do the billings like I used to do.  I only enter them in Quickbooks after someone else does the actual preparing and sending out of the invoice.  I also don't do collections, someone else handles that as well.  Also, when the checks come in she collects them, works up a spreadsheet and then hands them over to me to make the deposit and enter the payments into Quickbooks.  I'm liking all this.  For once it's not on me if an invoice goes out incorrectly and it's not on me to have to hound the company for payment.  Yep, much nicer.

It's also a small office, which I like as mentioned before.  We're split into two floors but only because the office I'm in doesn't fit everyone.  There are 8 of us upstairs and 4.5 in the basement.  The .5 is a part timer, she's only there four hours a day.  So that's all the office people but there are a ton of guys out in the field throughout the US working at all these trade shows.  We also set up retail stores for companies if they'd like.  But we're looking to relocate, luckily still in the same town we're in.  Right now I only drive about 8 miles (one way) straight down the highway.  We live just off the highway and the office is just off the highway on the same side.  Nice shot.  Not as nice as the last place only being 1.2 miles from door to door but still really nice.  But the new place won't be quite as straight a shot but it'll at least be close still.

So other than the new job everything else is still going as normal.  My brothers are still coming over for each UFC fight night.  HDiTty is still at his 911/Communications Officer job.  19 years this January.  As a matter of fact my first day of work was his 19th anniversary there.  I find that kinda geeky cool really.  The two kitties are still around, going strong for getting up there in years.  11 1/2 now.  And the puppy will be four this April. 

There are a couple other items I'll be writing about but I'll save them for another update.  I'm going to try to go back to a daily post or at least multiple times a week posts.  I'm also going to get back on my other site  theseweightlossgames and get back to playing those damn games.  UGH! 

No media quote this time.