Saturday, December 29, 2007
see ya on the flip side!
The library will be closed for the next three days so, just in case I can't get to a computer in the next couple of days.......................
pack leader
Cesar would be so proud! I am staying at a house with 4 cats, 3 dogs and 1 beta fish. If you add in Big'un from the Mouse House, that's nine animals in my tender care for another week. These new pups and kitties are very low maintenance considering how badly they outnumber me :) I stayed at the new place last night and finally got a decent night's sleep AND the use of a microwave!
All my coworkers gave me a hard time about my oven-use complaint but I don't care. That's just one of the multitudinous harmless neuroses that I live with on a daily basis. There's worse in the world, let me assure you. We see most of them here on a daily basis.
Let me reveal the extent of nerdiness and tell you about the HE-larious book I read yesterday (and I read 3 books yesterday!). Don Borchert's Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library is going to have to be one of my favorite books of the year! This man has put some serious time in on the floor and lived to tell about it. Go find this book ASAP because what they found in the book drop one day alone makes the book worth reading! Mr. Borchert does have a potty mouth on him so if your grandmother, elderly aunt or other similarly fragile sensibilitied person was once a librarian or worked in one and you think this would make the perfect gift...think again! Think wicked funny, not warm funny.
All my coworkers gave me a hard time about my oven-use complaint but I don't care. That's just one of the multitudinous harmless neuroses that I live with on a daily basis. There's worse in the world, let me assure you. We see most of them here on a daily basis.
Let me reveal the extent of nerdiness and tell you about the HE-larious book I read yesterday (and I read 3 books yesterday!). Don Borchert's Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library is going to have to be one of my favorite books of the year! This man has put some serious time in on the floor and lived to tell about it. Go find this book ASAP because what they found in the book drop one day alone makes the book worth reading! Mr. Borchert does have a potty mouth on him so if your grandmother, elderly aunt or other similarly fragile sensibilitied person was once a librarian or worked in one and you think this would make the perfect gift...think again! Think wicked funny, not warm funny.
! ! ! this just in ! ! !
PATRON (with scrap of note paper in hand): I want this book, but I don't want it right now.ME & CARRIE: *blink, blink*....um....
PATRON: I want to check it out the first week in February because that is when I plan on reading it.
Carrie turns to me, "Well, Holley?"
ME: *blink, blink*.....well, there is not a way for us to do that really. The easiest thing to do would be to give us a call mid-January and we'll pull it for you if it's here or reserve it if it's checked out. (there is a "Not Wanted Before" field on the hold form, but it doesn't work and never has. Don't ask, because I don't know.)
He took the book with him while grumbling about the possibility of it accruing overdue fines if the first week in February rolled around and he wasn't finished yet.
Ummmmm, you are not allowed to MAKE AN APPOINTMENT to check your book out, you big DA. If you don't want the book right now, hey!...don't come in for it until you are ready to read it. If you are concerned about it not being here, call ahead. It's not rocket science. Better yet, send your telepathic brainwaves over here around January 20th or so and I'll wear a foil hat and try to receive them!
finally! an interesting barbie.....
.......and it gets recalled :)
but don't despair! If you're just dying to clean up after a fake animal, try this:
but don't despair! If you're just dying to clean up after a fake animal, try this:
Thursday, December 27, 2007
beasties reloaded
so the Pig didn't carry the spiffy new no-view-no-touch mouse trap that I wanted, only the bait pellets and glue traps. I wasn't willing to risk Coriander getting into either one of those so I just picked up some frozen dinners and went on my merry way. This lady has nothing in her house except weird pastas and organic milk so I was liberal in my choices. I got back to the house and discovered this lady also has no microwave. I have to cook something in the oven which takes 4-EVER! Most of the things I bought are microwave only and I begin to see my profits for this job, when combined with the thin, uncomfortable mattress, the rodent, the grumpy cat, and the pitiful mist that passes for a shower, steadily declining.
This morning, the rodent started up at 12:57. I turned the light on hoping the little bastard would run for cover and it seemed to work at first, at least long enough for me to doze off again. Alas, sleep was not meant to be. I ended up in her daughter's room on a bunk bed, a decent one too as far as that goes, where I tossed and turned fitfully until about 6:20. It was cold in there, but at least it was quiet. A better pillow and a fan for some white noise to drown out the rodent and I may get a decent night's sleep tonight.
Somedays I really feel like retiring from petsitting all together....then I remember my fun clients and smile to think of the next time I'll see them. I'm such a pushover.
Luckily for me, an emergency job (another new client from a referral!) has come up starting tomorrow night and lasting for the same amount of time so Cori is moving to visitation and I'll be staying at the other house. They have cats AND dogs so my presence will be more of a requirement there and I'll just have to hope that it will be perfect and quiet and have a microwave and good water pressure.
afternoon ya'll!
htw
This morning, the rodent started up at 12:57. I turned the light on hoping the little bastard would run for cover and it seemed to work at first, at least long enough for me to doze off again. Alas, sleep was not meant to be. I ended up in her daughter's room on a bunk bed, a decent one too as far as that goes, where I tossed and turned fitfully until about 6:20. It was cold in there, but at least it was quiet. A better pillow and a fan for some white noise to drown out the rodent and I may get a decent night's sleep tonight.
Somedays I really feel like retiring from petsitting all together....then I remember my fun clients and smile to think of the next time I'll see them. I'm such a pushover.
Luckily for me, an emergency job (another new client from a referral!) has come up starting tomorrow night and lasting for the same amount of time so Cori is moving to visitation and I'll be staying at the other house. They have cats AND dogs so my presence will be more of a requirement there and I'll just have to hope that it will be perfect and quiet and have a microwave and good water pressure.
afternoon ya'll!
htw
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
barbers, belle chevre, and beasties
Saturday the 22nd was the paternal side of the family Christmas extravaganza and it was just delightful as usual. If there ever comes a year when my brother doesn't show up, I may just throw myself in traffic to have a good excuse not to go...I love my dad, but that side of my family just doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies, you know? Now after that, my sister-in-law invited me to go with them to my brother's mother's house (technically, he's my half-brother with dad being the shared parent). I go to alot of their family functions anyway 'cause his mom's family is nicer than our dad's...if you follow all that. I had a great time hanging out with the niece and nephew as I rarely see them. I seriously need to change that.
Sunday, I hung out at the maternal family for a while then met my friend E for a movie...that's right people! I saw Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(if you click through for the review, it is in-depth so here's your official spoiler alert if you aren't already familiar with the storyline)! It was beautiful in a very horrible way. It was just as bloody as I'd heard it would be and, if nothing else, go see Sacha Baron Cohen's performance as the rival barber :) It's dark, sad, and leaves you with a very faint taste of iron in your mouth.
Monday I was back out at my mom's house. She had to work a half-day (yay for working at the bank!) but I had a few hours to hang out with her. Neither one of us really had the money to do any kind of big gift thing so I told her all I wanted was a decent picture of her as I don't have one. All the one's she'd given me to that point could have been mug shots and I told her so. I wanted a picture of her smiling and happy whether she was or not! I got a good one too! :) In return, I framed a picture of us that I took when we were strolling the gardens of the Anniston Natural History Museum in October. We were both well pleased with our selections and our gifts. Late afternoon, I headed over to Mrs Roomie's family Christmas at her grandmother's house like I do every year. It was a good, rollicking time as usual since she has, what is to me, a huge family. She and DH arrived late, stayed long enough to eat and watch the kids open gifts, then they left. She didn't talk much and gave me a candle for Christmas. I'll leave it at that. I left about an hour later and as I was leaving her dad gave me an extra squeeze (not in a creepy fashion, mind you, but fatherly-like) and said, "I want to thank you for being such a good friend all these years." I admit, I teared up a little and said, "Well, I'm not going anywhere. You make it sound like I'm moving away." He replied, "Well, I didn't want to let you go without saying that. We've kinda taken you for granted all these years, that you're just always going to be there. I thought you needed to hear it." It was very sweet and just what I needed to hear, but I couldn't help thinking, "Shouldn't Mrs Roomie be the one to say that?" I have spoken to her maybe 3-4 times this month and only because I call. I don't want to chase somebody down but why do I always seem to get dropped like a hot rock? There was the weasel, Mrs Roomie, and another close (I thought) friend who had no problem cutting the strings when newer pastures rolled past. Why is that, I philosophically ponder? Ah well, enough of that. On to the belle chevre and the beasties!
Tuesday was the big day! Let me tell you, if you're feeling kinda down and just blah in general, go spend Christmas with some little kids! I'd forgotten, I really had, but KT's little girls reminded me of what Christmas used to feel like when I was a kid. They don't have credit cards, budgets, vacation requests, suitcase packing, driving concerns, nothing....it's just Santa and the swag. It's magic and fun and cookies and hot chocolate and staying up just five more minutes. It made me feel like a new person, let me tell you! I don't normally enjoy alcohol infused desserts but KT made some bourbon brownies that were to die for. If the bourbon didn't do it, the bacon crazies would. A Club cracker sprinkled with parmesan cheese and wrapped in a slice of bacon, baked at 250 for 2 1/2 hours. OMG! I want some right now. KT's husband fried a turkey, we had THREE KINDS of creamy, fatty casseroles....and the Belle Chevre goat cheese! KT rolled it in olive oil and garlic pepper seasoning and we ate it on scrumptious sesame crackers. A hot guy fanning me with a palm branch could possibly have been the only thing to make this day better...and I'm not even sure about that, he may have wanted some of the goat cheese.
After I left KT's house, it was on to my new petsitting job for Coriander the geriatric cat or, as I like to call her, Big'un. I finally found the house, tired and full of goat cheese and hot cocoa as I was, and got all my crap into the house. I unpacked, watched a bit of tv, then hit the sack since I had to get up early to got to PT this morning. At 1:25am, I woke up to the sound of the cat scratching like hell on something. I tried to go back to sleep, but it was SO loud. She's old, I thought to myself, and she doesn't know me. She's probably just nervous and anxious so I'm going to be magnanimous about this. Okay, this constant scratching went ooonnnnn and ooonnnn until I couldn't stand it. Just about the time I was turning over and heading for my glasses to dispense swift justice, Big'un lumbered in from the other side of the room.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay.
.
.
.
.
.
.
If that's not Coriander in the corner building a dam,......who is?
I had a feverish 5-10 minute talk with myself where I was firmly reminded that I am afraid of spiders, not rodents. Other kinds of jointy-legged bugs, but not rodents. My stuff was not on the floor. I was fine. I just didn't feel very fine. I did manage to doze back off, but the dam building continued through the night periodically. Construction halted whenever Big'un investigated but Big'un is about 17 years old so her mousing days are very definitely over. At 6am I gave up and started my day, bleary-eyed and severely irritated. I will be going by the store on the way back and purchasing some sort of trap 2-nite! I can't deal with this for the next 10 days or Big'un will be spending some of it with visitation instead of sleepovers. That's a little unethical, but my sanity may start to be at stake here.
As for today, sssssslllllllloooooooowwwwwwww! I was a little late getting in from PT, BUT for about 5 minutes after PT, while my arm was still frozen from the icepacks and tingling from the e-stim, I had a little feeling in my index finger. I could have turned a page, tried to read Braille, anything! I was just touching random things in the car, enjoying the moment. As soon as my arm warmed back up the sensations faded away again. So sad :(
I did KT's Brown Bag program since she's still on vacay. We watched a film on the history of the number "1". Even though it was math oriented, I followed along and was entertained. I feel smarter this evening than I did this morning :)
Now, it is almost time to head back over to Big'un. As I said before, there will be some mouse traps purchased on the way and I'll hope it is simply a mouse. It sounded too big to be a mouse, but hope springs eternal. More on the mouse mania on the morrow!
evenin' ya'll!
htw
Sunday, I hung out at the maternal family for a while then met my friend E for a movie...that's right people! I saw Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(if you click through for the review, it is in-depth so here's your official spoiler alert if you aren't already familiar with the storyline)! It was beautiful in a very horrible way. It was just as bloody as I'd heard it would be and, if nothing else, go see Sacha Baron Cohen's performance as the rival barber :) It's dark, sad, and leaves you with a very faint taste of iron in your mouth.
Monday I was back out at my mom's house. She had to work a half-day (yay for working at the bank!) but I had a few hours to hang out with her. Neither one of us really had the money to do any kind of big gift thing so I told her all I wanted was a decent picture of her as I don't have one. All the one's she'd given me to that point could have been mug shots and I told her so. I wanted a picture of her smiling and happy whether she was or not! I got a good one too! :) In return, I framed a picture of us that I took when we were strolling the gardens of the Anniston Natural History Museum in October. We were both well pleased with our selections and our gifts. Late afternoon, I headed over to Mrs Roomie's family Christmas at her grandmother's house like I do every year. It was a good, rollicking time as usual since she has, what is to me, a huge family. She and DH arrived late, stayed long enough to eat and watch the kids open gifts, then they left. She didn't talk much and gave me a candle for Christmas. I'll leave it at that. I left about an hour later and as I was leaving her dad gave me an extra squeeze (not in a creepy fashion, mind you, but fatherly-like) and said, "I want to thank you for being such a good friend all these years." I admit, I teared up a little and said, "Well, I'm not going anywhere. You make it sound like I'm moving away." He replied, "Well, I didn't want to let you go without saying that. We've kinda taken you for granted all these years, that you're just always going to be there. I thought you needed to hear it." It was very sweet and just what I needed to hear, but I couldn't help thinking, "Shouldn't Mrs Roomie be the one to say that?" I have spoken to her maybe 3-4 times this month and only because I call. I don't want to chase somebody down but why do I always seem to get dropped like a hot rock? There was the weasel, Mrs Roomie, and another close (I thought) friend who had no problem cutting the strings when newer pastures rolled past. Why is that, I philosophically ponder? Ah well, enough of that. On to the belle chevre and the beasties!
Tuesday was the big day! Let me tell you, if you're feeling kinda down and just blah in general, go spend Christmas with some little kids! I'd forgotten, I really had, but KT's little girls reminded me of what Christmas used to feel like when I was a kid. They don't have credit cards, budgets, vacation requests, suitcase packing, driving concerns, nothing....it's just Santa and the swag. It's magic and fun and cookies and hot chocolate and staying up just five more minutes. It made me feel like a new person, let me tell you! I don't normally enjoy alcohol infused desserts but KT made some bourbon brownies that were to die for. If the bourbon didn't do it, the bacon crazies would. A Club cracker sprinkled with parmesan cheese and wrapped in a slice of bacon, baked at 250 for 2 1/2 hours. OMG! I want some right now. KT's husband fried a turkey, we had THREE KINDS of creamy, fatty casseroles....and the Belle Chevre goat cheese! KT rolled it in olive oil and garlic pepper seasoning and we ate it on scrumptious sesame crackers. A hot guy fanning me with a palm branch could possibly have been the only thing to make this day better...and I'm not even sure about that, he may have wanted some of the goat cheese.
After I left KT's house, it was on to my new petsitting job for Coriander the geriatric cat or, as I like to call her, Big'un. I finally found the house, tired and full of goat cheese and hot cocoa as I was, and got all my crap into the house. I unpacked, watched a bit of tv, then hit the sack since I had to get up early to got to PT this morning. At 1:25am, I woke up to the sound of the cat scratching like hell on something. I tried to go back to sleep, but it was SO loud. She's old, I thought to myself, and she doesn't know me. She's probably just nervous and anxious so I'm going to be magnanimous about this. Okay, this constant scratching went ooonnnnn and ooonnnn until I couldn't stand it. Just about the time I was turning over and heading for my glasses to dispense swift justice, Big'un lumbered in from the other side of the room.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay.
.
.
.
.
.
.
If that's not Coriander in the corner building a dam,......who is?
I had a feverish 5-10 minute talk with myself where I was firmly reminded that I am afraid of spiders, not rodents. Other kinds of jointy-legged bugs, but not rodents. My stuff was not on the floor. I was fine. I just didn't feel very fine. I did manage to doze back off, but the dam building continued through the night periodically. Construction halted whenever Big'un investigated but Big'un is about 17 years old so her mousing days are very definitely over. At 6am I gave up and started my day, bleary-eyed and severely irritated. I will be going by the store on the way back and purchasing some sort of trap 2-nite! I can't deal with this for the next 10 days or Big'un will be spending some of it with visitation instead of sleepovers. That's a little unethical, but my sanity may start to be at stake here.
As for today, sssssslllllllloooooooowwwwwwww! I was a little late getting in from PT, BUT for about 5 minutes after PT, while my arm was still frozen from the icepacks and tingling from the e-stim, I had a little feeling in my index finger. I could have turned a page, tried to read Braille, anything! I was just touching random things in the car, enjoying the moment. As soon as my arm warmed back up the sensations faded away again. So sad :(
I did KT's Brown Bag program since she's still on vacay. We watched a film on the history of the number "1". Even though it was math oriented, I followed along and was entertained. I feel smarter this evening than I did this morning :)
Now, it is almost time to head back over to Big'un. As I said before, there will be some mouse traps purchased on the way and I'll hope it is simply a mouse. It sounded too big to be a mouse, but hope springs eternal. More on the mouse mania on the morrow!
evenin' ya'll!
htw
Friday, December 21, 2007
hhhhhhheeeeellllllooooooooo! ! ! ! !
If this day goes any slower it could qualify for a part as a zombie extra in the next Resident Evil flick. I can't think of a time when Daxx and I have been more bored.
paging list - done!
books shelved -mostly done!
content patrons typing away and not needing our help today - plenty!
no emails, no voice mails, no reserve cards, no new books to process...........the bareness of the work landscape today stretches on and on to the horizon. I can hardly imagine what it will be like for KT and Daxx on the morrow.
Polly asked me today what my party was like as she hadn't had a chance to read my blog and that reminded me that I forgot to mention the Christmas party I had on the 15th! I personally thought it was fantabulous! KT came with her three cute girls AND her mom and our coworker Mrs. D. My coworker Mrs. Y, beleaguered head of the circulation dept, and her husband dropped by. My dad and stepmom came over as well as my friend T and her mom and MK came with them and brought her nephew. There was an additional T as well but only one of them answers to the letter "T"! So, 15 people more or less? T, the other T, MK and T's mom brought tons of food and my kitchen was maxed out with grazing areas. I had several kinds of wine available for everyone's sipping pleasure and some yummy, warm rosemary/olive oil bread I found at wl-mrt.
My favorite new purchase this Christmas season has been the Yuletide Fire DVD. I have my choice of crackling fire, Christmas music or both right on my tv screen. No ashes, no soot, no potential tragedy like burning the house down (not from this anyway!). I sit with the Christmas tree lights as the only illumination, a glass of wine, the fake tv fire crackling and Miss Binky purring away on my lap and life doesn't get much better than that, let me tell you folks! This is really the first chance I've had to start settling in to my house as a by-myself-kinda-girl. I really thought I'd have some what-was-that-noise moments at night but I haven't! I've opened all the doors to the rooms so Bink can have her run of the place. I was sure she'd keep me up at night for a while as she got used to all the space again but nope....when bedtime comes, she cuddles up and sleeps too despite the fact that I'm SURE quite a bit of napping goes on while I'm at work :)
On the subject of getting creeped out at night, the other night I was in the kitchen making myself some dinner when a commercial came on the radio (again, I don't have cable tv and have no plans to get it in the near future) advertising this show:
The radio spot was along the lines of, "Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Do you ever see things moving out of the corner of your eyes." It then went on to talk about the show, then at the end of the segment, the creepy voice comes back on again and says something like, "Do you get the feeling you aren't alone?......you aren't."
I just stood there, my overactive imagination filling in every blank those market research people ever thought existed. I had to pick out an especially funny movie to counteract my predisposition to be creeped out! I guess that means it was a pretty good commercial as far as that goes then :)
afternoon ya'll!
htw
paging list - done!
books shelved -mostly done!
content patrons typing away and not needing our help today - plenty!
no emails, no voice mails, no reserve cards, no new books to process...........the bareness of the work landscape today stretches on and on to the horizon. I can hardly imagine what it will be like for KT and Daxx on the morrow.
Polly asked me today what my party was like as she hadn't had a chance to read my blog and that reminded me that I forgot to mention the Christmas party I had on the 15th! I personally thought it was fantabulous! KT came with her three cute girls AND her mom and our coworker Mrs. D. My coworker Mrs. Y, beleaguered head of the circulation dept, and her husband dropped by. My dad and stepmom came over as well as my friend T and her mom and MK came with them and brought her nephew. There was an additional T as well but only one of them answers to the letter "T"! So, 15 people more or less? T, the other T, MK and T's mom brought tons of food and my kitchen was maxed out with grazing areas. I had several kinds of wine available for everyone's sipping pleasure and some yummy, warm rosemary/olive oil bread I found at wl-mrt.
My favorite new purchase this Christmas season has been the Yuletide Fire DVD. I have my choice of crackling fire, Christmas music or both right on my tv screen. No ashes, no soot, no potential tragedy like burning the house down (not from this anyway!). I sit with the Christmas tree lights as the only illumination, a glass of wine, the fake tv fire crackling and Miss Binky purring away on my lap and life doesn't get much better than that, let me tell you folks! This is really the first chance I've had to start settling in to my house as a by-myself-kinda-girl. I really thought I'd have some what-was-that-noise moments at night but I haven't! I've opened all the doors to the rooms so Bink can have her run of the place. I was sure she'd keep me up at night for a while as she got used to all the space again but nope....when bedtime comes, she cuddles up and sleeps too despite the fact that I'm SURE quite a bit of napping goes on while I'm at work :)
On the subject of getting creeped out at night, the other night I was in the kitchen making myself some dinner when a commercial came on the radio (again, I don't have cable tv and have no plans to get it in the near future) advertising this show:
The radio spot was along the lines of, "Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Do you ever see things moving out of the corner of your eyes." It then went on to talk about the show, then at the end of the segment, the creepy voice comes back on again and says something like, "Do you get the feeling you aren't alone?......you aren't."
I just stood there, my overactive imagination filling in every blank those market research people ever thought existed. I had to pick out an especially funny movie to counteract my predisposition to be creeped out! I guess that means it was a pretty good commercial as far as that goes then :)
afternoon ya'll!
htw
New Year's Eve excitement
look what I'm going to see!!!!
a christmas present from my brother...I'll be going with them to the TSO concert on New Year's Eve! I am überEXCITED!
a christmas present from my brother...I'll be going with them to the TSO concert on New Year's Eve! I am überEXCITED!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
i'm not sure....
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....i can handle Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the same film but I will be giving it a good college try because this movie, The Forbidden Kingdom, looks great to me! It's due out mid-April.
a hilarious random compilation of information
I just found St. Martin's/Minotaur's (for those not in the know, St.M's/M is a book publisher) newish blog, Moments In Crime. They have guest bloggers and this was Thomas Lakeman's last post. I giggled and snickered over several of them, especially the "rejection letter" entry.
htw
htw
truth...usually stranger than fiction....yep, still is!
(via Zooillogix)
I'm not too sure why exactly this cracked me up so much, but thank goodness I don't frequent this establishment anyway :) Beware Long John Silver's Buttered Lobster Bites with real langostino lobster!
I'm not too sure why exactly this cracked me up so much, but thank goodness I don't frequent this establishment anyway :) Beware Long John Silver's Buttered Lobster Bites with real langostino lobster!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
if it ain't broke....
(via In Cold Blog)
....why does someone always feel the need to fix it? I just want to be able to watch Cops, Scariest police chases/shootouts, and various other caught-on-tape fun! WHYYYYYY?!?
Or maybe all that stuff will still be on CourtTV when it becomes TruTV, who knows? I'll try to remain optimistic. I just feel bad for all those people who will soon be back on the job market. It seems to be a cold and ugly place to be right now.
htw
....why does someone always feel the need to fix it? I just want to be able to watch Cops, Scariest police chases/shootouts, and various other caught-on-tape fun! WHYYYYYY?!?
Or maybe all that stuff will still be on CourtTV when it becomes TruTV, who knows? I'll try to remain optimistic. I just feel bad for all those people who will soon be back on the job market. It seems to be a cold and ugly place to be right now.
htw
broken wing
okay, so it isn't broken but I wish it was...that way we could slap a cast on it and go.
I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand resulting in (what to me are) massive doses of steroids and anti-inflammatory medications. We won't talk too much about the pain pill rx the doctor gave me so I can start sleeping through the night without having to get up every two hours to walk my hand like a restless infant. I felt really stupid telling him I couldn't sleep 'cause my hand was hurting. We'll see how it goes tonight.
I had PT for the first time (for my CTS anyway) this afternoon and I have two more appt's this week. If it doesn't improve I'll be headed for the knife...either a professional can do it or I will. All of my fingers are numb except my pinkie. I want to shave my head. Getting my hair washed and in a towel nearly did me in this morning, not to mention trying to get some of it in a hair doodad to get it out of my face!
anyway, pity party is over for today. Typing with one hand is tiring. We have plenty of patrons who do it and now I'll never understand why.
night ya'll!
htw
I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand resulting in (what to me are) massive doses of steroids and anti-inflammatory medications. We won't talk too much about the pain pill rx the doctor gave me so I can start sleeping through the night without having to get up every two hours to walk my hand like a restless infant. I felt really stupid telling him I couldn't sleep 'cause my hand was hurting. We'll see how it goes tonight.
I had PT for the first time (for my CTS anyway) this afternoon and I have two more appt's this week. If it doesn't improve I'll be headed for the knife...either a professional can do it or I will. All of my fingers are numb except my pinkie. I want to shave my head. Getting my hair washed and in a towel nearly did me in this morning, not to mention trying to get some of it in a hair doodad to get it out of my face!
anyway, pity party is over for today. Typing with one hand is tiring. We have plenty of patrons who do it and now I'll never understand why.
night ya'll!
htw
good Google-y moogly
my latest Google bait...someone in Kuala Lumpur arrived here by googling "dream of attacked by monkeys". with the monkey situation over there, I'm not surprised.
I bet that person was surprised that this 'bama girl had blogged twice about the monkey problem in that part of the world!
htw
I bet that person was surprised that this 'bama girl had blogged twice about the monkey problem in that part of the world!
htw
Monday, December 17, 2007
v.v. interesting....
I had two people (one from Colorado, the other from Michigan) arrive at my blog after googling "bumpuses", as in the redneck neighbors from A Christmas Story! Imagine that!
WTF?
How many of you have heard about this story??? I don't know how to say anything about it without running the risk of being labeled intolerant. Have any of you read Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy? Or Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale?
I don't like fundamentalism in any flavor.
htw
I don't like fundamentalism in any flavor.
htw
del Torro dirt
by now everyone should know about my fascination with and admiration of Guillermo del Torro. Here's some dirt on his current and upcoming projects...
For instant gratification,
- El Orfanato (producer) (due out December 28th!!!)
- directing an adaptation of David Moody's novel, Hater. The movie will be called Haters.
- an adaptation of 60's spy television show The Champions (directing)
- wrote an adaptation to H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness (which I blogged about here)
- interested in doing another adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- Hellboy II (I'm kinda ambivalent about this one)
- 3993, a Spanish Civil War ghost story!!!
he did not inhale...um, eat
....you may or may not remember a post I put up back in October about a man named Jose Luis Calva. Please, feel free to refresh your memory completely here. For instant gratification, he was arrested after police found seasoned and cooked pieces of his girlfriend on a fork and plate in his house. He admitted to cooking her, but insisted that he did not actually eat any of a fellow human's flesh. Well, last Tuesday little mister innocent hung himself in his jail cell. Feeling a bit guilty I imagine....
htw
htw
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Christmas meme
(via Lesa's Book Critiques)What is your most enduring Christmas memory?
One year, after all the Santa excitement and gift opening, my Dad casually mentions that he'd like me to drive him to the store to get a newspaper. Now, being the 14 or 15 year old glazed-over-with-Christmas-goodies kid I was, it never occurred to me that 1)it was MAYBE 6:30am (I never let them sleep, even when I was too old for it to make sense otherwise) and 2)the store wasn't open. I said sure, bounded off to change out of my pj's and went outside to get the car started. There in the driveway, with a big red bow on it, was a bobcat.
One of these:
Unbeknownst to me, my parents were videotaping me out of the window. I don't remember if I said anything embarrassing, but you know all those kids pushing cars and trains around their living room floors? I was out in the yard with the real thing pushing dirt and gravel around. There may have also been some minor tree carnage on a very small scale. It was great! I loved that little machine!
Do you have a favorite piece of Christmas music?
I must admit I like most of the old stuff better. The highlights: Nat King Cole/The Christmas Song, Andy Williams/The Holiday Season, Sandra Lee/Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Gayla Peevey/I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas, Boston Pops/Sleigh Ride, more of the same with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, the Carpenters.....I could go on and on!Do you stick to the old family traditions?
What family traditions? :) My aunt was an emergency room nurse before she retired a few months ago so holidays were always scheduled around her off days and very rarely celebrated on the actual calendar day. We never had any traditions to follow. My father's side of the family was usually a little more on track with "traditional" activities but we didn't always figure into those. Now, I'm usually petsitting on holidays which gives me the perfect excuse to avoid some functions I'd rather not go to and attend the ones I like. I usually go over to KT's for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, T and her mom invite me over for both AND New Year's, I hang out with my Mom hither and thither and fit the paternal side in if/when I can. That's a big paragraph just to say "no" to the question, sorry.What makes your mouth water at Christmas time?
Mrs Roomie's mom makes a scrumptious red velvet cake. I usually buy a smoked turkey and heat it up in the oven...another of my favs. If I can get another helping of stuffing at Christmas, the world is great place. I make excellent spiced pecan halves, which are coated with a yummy, crunchy mixture of evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.How soon do you put the Christmas tree up and when do you take it down?
The tree goes up while I'm off for Thanksgiving and I take it down on or a little after New Year's. This year I'll be petsitting til' the 3rd so who knows? I love to look at it. I'd leave it up and decorate it for every holiday throughout the year if I wouldn't be labeled crazy. Besides, I've never seen MLK or Christopher Columbus decorations :)
Tag! You're it!
htw
Thursday, December 13, 2007
! ! ! this just in ! ! !
A semi-regular patron just came in with her daughter to get a book for the daughter's school assignment and I was recommending a grown-up book for her since she was so slogged down with kids-in-school syndrome. The book I recommended by the way was Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, L0ve....ya'll should read it too if you haven't heard of it! I asked her if she'd seen the Oprah interview, she mentioned their tv went out and they haven't gotten a new one yet, I mentioned I didn't watch tv unless I was petsitting, and her eyes lit up. "You petsit?!" I admitted that I did and she told me that she'd just had a petsitter stay over that she didn't know. While the fam was gone the petsitter had her dredded-out boyfriend over and they proceeded to "christen" the house, including the patron's family heirloom 200-year old bed which they
B
R
O
K
E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She mentioned finding dredlock hair in the shower as well.
I was speechless. I had to shoo her away as she kept sharing details about the horrible-ness visited upon her by the errant petsitter.
ick.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
I will survive....maybe
I can hardly express to you what has been going on since I got home on 12/8 from petsitting. There has been some HaRd LaBoR going on at Holley's (actual) House! I have scrubbed, swept, bagged, hauled and cursed more accumulated crap than any one person should have to in one week. I'm surviving on a variety of energy drinks and quite a bit of Aleve.
I'll just start with Saturday. I asked my dad if I could borrow his "little white truck" to finish moving the big stuff that Mrs Roomie had yet to get. Now, I've seen my dad's little toy before but never really looked at it. I get over to his house to pickup the truck and it is the tiniest, itty-bittiest thing you've ever seen! The steering wheel is on the right-hand side, all the stickers and labels where in either Chinese or Japanese, and did I mention it was tiny? I'm talking about the Daihatsu Hijet, people! The next big problem.....I am WAY TOO fat to be driving this little tin can. I had to roll the window down in order to have a modicum of comfort. Everytime I squirmed I turned the windshield wipers and the blinkers on with my knees. There was an AM radio, but it didn't work so I was alone with my thoughts....and my thoughts and I had a top speed of 25 mph, excuse me, 40 kmh on the
little Hijetj's speedometer. It was a long, arduous and humiliating experience. Based on the criteria above, the amount of staring I was getting could have been based on any number of factors.
I feel compelled to mention something I witnessed on the way to my dad's house to pickup the iron maiden. I passed a house and two kids were running around outside. They must have had a Christmas program of some kind to participate in because the boy was dressed as Santa and the girl had something festive as well. I'll describe it instead of telling you since I'm sure you'll guess it along the way. She had on an obviously (hopefully) home-made full length skirt that was green down to her knees, then red with gold embroidery down to her feet. The young lady also had on a green turtleneck with a green bath towel worn poncho-style and belted with garland. She had a star on her head and gift packages attached to her shoes. That's right! She was dressed as a Christmas tree! I am SO doing that for Halloween next year!
The only time during the day that the fat girl in the little truck was not the center of attention occurred late in the afternoon. I had just dropped off a load of belongings at Mrs Roomie's new abode and got in a bit of a traffic snarl. People were out in their yards and leaning out of their cars and I figured someone had had a fenderbender or someone's dog had bit the dust. A lady with blond mall hair and a very pretty pink sweater was marching purposefully down the road past 4 or 5 guys who were conferring about something. She walked out into the road and I lost sight of her because of the cars in front of me. She appeared quite quickly on the other side of the road pulling a dead goat by the horn. Someone had run over it and it took a blond in a pink sweater to just grab it and drag it out of the road. The men looked on admiringly, as if they wished they'd thought of that.
On the philosophical/esoteric side of that day's happenings, I was driving back to the petsitting gig so the dogs could have a last potty break before their mom got home. It was very nearly dark and I could see something small running down the side of the interstate. With visions of sweaters and goats running through my head, I began to honk my horn to scare the creature into the trees (and hopefully not into traffic). The little beast paid me no heed but continued pellmell down the shoulder. When I got close enough to identify the species of creature so enjoying the taunting of death, I discovered it was a witches' hat blowing down the road. New glasses, perhaps?
Yesterday I wrote a note to myself to blog about something a patron had done that annoyed me then promptly forgot about it...like I do. I found the note when I got to work today and it reminded me of the situation but I was no longer annoyed at the patron. They had asked me where Philip Margolin's books would be. I said they would be in the fiction in the "M" section (seemed pretty straightforward to me) under Margolin. The patron pointed at the aisle which is designated "K-M" on one side and "M-R" on the other and said, "So M will be down that aisle there?" That annoyed me, because I'd just showed him where the M's were not to mention the fact that he was in his 40's and should damn well know where M falls in the alphabet. In my note however, this is what I wrote,"...in the M's, down that I'll there..." I'm just as ignorant as the next person I suppose. Speaking of suppose, one of my regular freak brigade came in and wanted to know about the teen who was "supposively" killed in a car accident over the weekend. She knows I don't live around here. I live 47 miles away. How am I supposed to know what goes on here during the weekend, especially one I haven't worked?
Today's endeavors were legion. I made two trips with stuff over to Mrs Roomie's new abode, she and her nephew are supposed to come pick up the VERY LAST bit of her stuff tonight while I'm a work, I put my new coffee table and end tables together, cleaned the laundry room, put up hardware and a new shower curtain in the (now) guest bathroom.....All that's left to do before the big party on Saturday is just windowdressing. I'm in the homestretch and the house looks great! Not to mention I finally let Binky out and she has been having the best time rediscovering the rest of the house. She has systematically napped on all of the new furniture and I am thrilled with that!
I have usually been getting home from work and cleaning until midnight or 1am but my mom has to have some tests done tomorrow and we have to be at the doctors at 7:30am. If you imagine the doctor, my mom, and me as the points on an equilateral triangle, I have to leave my house at 5:30 to pick her up at 6:30 to get to the hospital at 7:30...but I like watching the sun come up with a cup of coffee in my hand and the sound of the road beneath my tires.
Okay, that bit of corniness signals that it is late, we still have 30 minutes til closing, and that I have obviously run out of things to share :) Thanks for hanging in there (if you did!)
evenin' ya'll!
htw
I'll just start with Saturday. I asked my dad if I could borrow his "little white truck" to finish moving the big stuff that Mrs Roomie had yet to get. Now, I've seen my dad's little toy before but never really looked at it. I get over to his house to pickup the truck and it is the tiniest, itty-bittiest thing you've ever seen! The steering wheel is on the right-hand side, all the stickers and labels where in either Chinese or Japanese, and did I mention it was tiny? I'm talking about the Daihatsu Hijet, people! The next big problem.....I am WAY TOO fat to be driving this little tin can. I had to roll the window down in order to have a modicum of comfort. Everytime I squirmed I turned the windshield wipers and the blinkers on with my knees. There was an AM radio, but it didn't work so I was alone with my thoughts....and my thoughts and I had a top speed of 25 mph, excuse me, 40 kmh on the
little Hijetj's speedometer. It was a long, arduous and humiliating experience. Based on the criteria above, the amount of staring I was getting could have been based on any number of factors.I feel compelled to mention something I witnessed on the way to my dad's house to pickup the iron maiden. I passed a house and two kids were running around outside. They must have had a Christmas program of some kind to participate in because the boy was dressed as Santa and the girl had something festive as well. I'll describe it instead of telling you since I'm sure you'll guess it along the way. She had on an obviously (hopefully) home-made full length skirt that was green down to her knees, then red with gold embroidery down to her feet. The young lady also had on a green turtleneck with a green bath towel worn poncho-style and belted with garland. She had a star on her head and gift packages attached to her shoes. That's right! She was dressed as a Christmas tree! I am SO doing that for Halloween next year!
The only time during the day that the fat girl in the little truck was not the center of attention occurred late in the afternoon. I had just dropped off a load of belongings at Mrs Roomie's new abode and got in a bit of a traffic snarl. People were out in their yards and leaning out of their cars and I figured someone had had a fenderbender or someone's dog had bit the dust. A lady with blond mall hair and a very pretty pink sweater was marching purposefully down the road past 4 or 5 guys who were conferring about something. She walked out into the road and I lost sight of her because of the cars in front of me. She appeared quite quickly on the other side of the road pulling a dead goat by the horn. Someone had run over it and it took a blond in a pink sweater to just grab it and drag it out of the road. The men looked on admiringly, as if they wished they'd thought of that.
On the philosophical/esoteric side of that day's happenings, I was driving back to the petsitting gig so the dogs could have a last potty break before their mom got home. It was very nearly dark and I could see something small running down the side of the interstate. With visions of sweaters and goats running through my head, I began to honk my horn to scare the creature into the trees (and hopefully not into traffic). The little beast paid me no heed but continued pellmell down the shoulder. When I got close enough to identify the species of creature so enjoying the taunting of death, I discovered it was a witches' hat blowing down the road. New glasses, perhaps?
Yesterday I wrote a note to myself to blog about something a patron had done that annoyed me then promptly forgot about it...like I do. I found the note when I got to work today and it reminded me of the situation but I was no longer annoyed at the patron. They had asked me where Philip Margolin's books would be. I said they would be in the fiction in the "M" section (seemed pretty straightforward to me) under Margolin. The patron pointed at the aisle which is designated "K-M" on one side and "M-R" on the other and said, "So M will be down that aisle there?" That annoyed me, because I'd just showed him where the M's were not to mention the fact that he was in his 40's and should damn well know where M falls in the alphabet. In my note however, this is what I wrote,"...in the M's, down that I'll there..." I'm just as ignorant as the next person I suppose. Speaking of suppose, one of my regular freak brigade came in and wanted to know about the teen who was "supposively" killed in a car accident over the weekend. She knows I don't live around here. I live 47 miles away. How am I supposed to know what goes on here during the weekend, especially one I haven't worked?
Today's endeavors were legion. I made two trips with stuff over to Mrs Roomie's new abode, she and her nephew are supposed to come pick up the VERY LAST bit of her stuff tonight while I'm a work, I put my new coffee table and end tables together, cleaned the laundry room, put up hardware and a new shower curtain in the (now) guest bathroom.....All that's left to do before the big party on Saturday is just windowdressing. I'm in the homestretch and the house looks great! Not to mention I finally let Binky out and she has been having the best time rediscovering the rest of the house. She has systematically napped on all of the new furniture and I am thrilled with that!
I have usually been getting home from work and cleaning until midnight or 1am but my mom has to have some tests done tomorrow and we have to be at the doctors at 7:30am. If you imagine the doctor, my mom, and me as the points on an equilateral triangle, I have to leave my house at 5:30 to pick her up at 6:30 to get to the hospital at 7:30...but I like watching the sun come up with a cup of coffee in my hand and the sound of the road beneath my tires.
Okay, that bit of corniness signals that it is late, we still have 30 minutes til closing, and that I have obviously run out of things to share :) Thanks for hanging in there (if you did!)
evenin' ya'll!
htw
an accent on quizzes
hardy har har :)
Where do they come up with that? I most assuredly don't call carbonated drinks "pop". Like any good southerner, I'd ask if you wanted a Coke. If you say yes, I'll ask you what kind.
:)
That's the way it is, live with it.
Where do they come up with that? I most assuredly don't call carbonated drinks "pop". Like any good southerner, I'd ask if you wanted a Coke. If you say yes, I'll ask you what kind.
:)
That's the way it is, live with it.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop." | |
| The South | |
| The Midland | |
| The Northeast | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Friday, December 7, 2007
WTF?
(via Zooillogix)
so some wanker vet in Ohio couldn't diagnose an ear infection and a rare Siberian tiger cub almost goes night-night because they think she has a tumor/brain infection.....
fortunately for little Simba, former SPCA officer and all-around rich guy Larry Wallach swoops in, gets a CAT scan for little Simba and the tiger version of a Z-pack clears up the problem.
sheesh....
I too care about needy apples...
;-D
htw
so some wanker vet in Ohio couldn't diagnose an ear infection and a rare Siberian tiger cub almost goes night-night because they think she has a tumor/brain infection.....
fortunately for little Simba, former SPCA officer and all-around rich guy Larry Wallach swoops in, gets a CAT scan for little Simba and the tiger version of a Z-pack clears up the problem.
sheesh....
I too care about needy apples...
;-D
htw
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
tired...sleepy....feet hurting....
After work (6pm for today) I made the 47 mile trek back to the house and muscled 2 recliners and a queen mattress and boxsprings out into the yard for Hannah Home to pick up tomorrow. I put them on plastic and did my best to cover them with plastic and copious amounts of tape but it's awfully windy tonight so who knows what it will look like when they get there tomorrow. I tried to find some service to come and pick them up while I was home but it didn't happen. The recliners weren't as difficult to get out as I had imagined them to be. I just turned them onto their sides and slid them across the carpet and down the stairs into the yard. Same for the mattress and boxsprings. People were slowing down as they passed the house so it must have been quite a spectacle indeed.
I spoke to my dad on the way home and he was concerned that I had no help but that is single/only child-life for you...I didn't have any help so I did it as best I could and made every effort not to hurt myself. I believe I was successful but I'll know for sure in the morning :) It must have been a pretty good workout at least because I'm quite sleepy right now. Oh yeah, that could be because these two sweet puppies try to get me up at 4:30-5am.....I shut 'em down this morning and told them to go back to bed, I wasn't getting up to feed them at dark thirty in the morning. They can eat in the daylight with the rest of us.
My first full day back at work, since the waspy wedding and the plague, was JUMPIN'! The phone rang off the hook and there was a couple of hours there where I had the phones going and 2 or 3 people in line at all times. Somebody must have put up a sign outside the library.
I tried to get the school Assignment Alert displays updated and the new fiction display out but just couldn't get the time in edgewise to do it. I'm veering away from the holiday book display this year and putting out mysteries...Sue Grafton read-a-likes actually. I don't care for her books but plenty of people do and I figure these will go like hotcakes while everyone is waiting their turn for T is for Trespass. I've said it before and I'll say it again: At least her reign of terror will end at Z. They are pretty easy to shelve, I guess.
I mentioned to my coworker CC today that I have been overdosing on HGTV this petsitting stint. I can't seem to locate Animal Planet or The Discovery Channel with any regularity but I can watch enough redecorating and flipping shows to reeducate myself as a realtor if I so chose. I keep hoping I'll see something I might be able to apply to my own abode but so far it hasn't happened. Ah well, hope springs eternal!
I have Saturday planned as the mass exodus for everything in the house that isn't staying. I'll have to remember to contact Mrs Roomie on the morrow to let her know she needs to come get anything else she wants to keep because Hannah Home is getting the rest on S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, no exceptions (I say that now, she'll probably cow me into holding on to some of it). I want to have a Christmas party next weekend so I've got to get the house as spotless as possible so I can do all the holiday decorating I want to do with my bachelorette pad! Yeah, right.
anyway, evenin' ya'll!
htw
I spoke to my dad on the way home and he was concerned that I had no help but that is single/only child-life for you...I didn't have any help so I did it as best I could and made every effort not to hurt myself. I believe I was successful but I'll know for sure in the morning :) It must have been a pretty good workout at least because I'm quite sleepy right now. Oh yeah, that could be because these two sweet puppies try to get me up at 4:30-5am.....I shut 'em down this morning and told them to go back to bed, I wasn't getting up to feed them at dark thirty in the morning. They can eat in the daylight with the rest of us.
My first full day back at work, since the waspy wedding and the plague, was JUMPIN'! The phone rang off the hook and there was a couple of hours there where I had the phones going and 2 or 3 people in line at all times. Somebody must have put up a sign outside the library.
I tried to get the school Assignment Alert displays updated and the new fiction display out but just couldn't get the time in edgewise to do it. I'm veering away from the holiday book display this year and putting out mysteries...Sue Grafton read-a-likes actually. I don't care for her books but plenty of people do and I figure these will go like hotcakes while everyone is waiting their turn for T is for Trespass. I've said it before and I'll say it again: At least her reign of terror will end at Z. They are pretty easy to shelve, I guess.
I mentioned to my coworker CC today that I have been overdosing on HGTV this petsitting stint. I can't seem to locate Animal Planet or The Discovery Channel with any regularity but I can watch enough redecorating and flipping shows to reeducate myself as a realtor if I so chose. I keep hoping I'll see something I might be able to apply to my own abode but so far it hasn't happened. Ah well, hope springs eternal!
I have Saturday planned as the mass exodus for everything in the house that isn't staying. I'll have to remember to contact Mrs Roomie on the morrow to let her know she needs to come get anything else she wants to keep because Hannah Home is getting the rest on S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y, no exceptions (I say that now, she'll probably cow me into holding on to some of it). I want to have a Christmas party next weekend so I've got to get the house as spotless as possible so I can do all the holiday decorating I want to do with my bachelorette pad! Yeah, right.
anyway, evenin' ya'll!
htw
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
yay!
Folks, today my front door was up to the task! I have a new living room! I had to scurry out to work right after the delivery men left so I didn't get to push and shove everything to where I wanted it PLUS they did not assemble my end tables and cocktail table so they are just in boxes in the middle of the floor. I get through with this petsitting job Sat night so I'll get it all put together then. I can hardly wait to see what it looks like all set out and arranged.
I still have SO much cleaning to do! Everything I've kept from the first round of clearing out is shoved into one corner of the living room and it looks terrible. I'm waiting until Mrs Roomie can collect the rest of her things because there are some big furniture items that I plan on using in the extra rooms. I hate being away from home right now when I could be getting so much done!
Mrs Roomie got a bunch of her stuff last night, plus her kitties so the house was strangely quiet and empty when I got there this morning to begin preparing for the furniture. I've complained about her kitties' horrible litter box habits before and I feel duly vindicated when I say that the horrible odor that usually greets me at the front door was no where in evidence this morning! It's Mrs Roomie's DH's problem now....bwwahahahahaha! I just can't stand litter box odor! If the whole world would use Feline Pine, no one would have to endure it ever again! I discovered this wonderful product during my stint as a kennel tech at Riverview Animal Clinic. What a sanity saver when a vet clinic is boarding about 20 cats at a time :)
I've decided not to let Binky out into the rest of the house until I can get all the piles of belongings squared away. I don't know where/what the other two have used as a toilet and don't want her marking anything in a fit of temper so I'll just wait until I've gotten all that cleaned up. I don't think she would do that anyway, but why tempt fate?
I've had people ask before about what I do with Bink while I'm away petsitting and I'll tell you that she's a pretty self-sufficient girl. I have a feeder that holds about 4lbs of food and and a bubbling water bowl that holds about a gallon of water. I throw some extra toys (read: balled up paper...her fav!) in the floor and she's good to go. I try to get by at least once if I'm going to be gone longer than a week, but other than that I have to trust her on her own. I admit that she likes my absences less and less as she gets older (and she's quite vocal about it too!) and I'm dealing with that as I can by coming by more often during my longer jobs. I foresee a time when I won't be able to leave her by herself for very long at all but I figure I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.
I still have SO much cleaning to do! Everything I've kept from the first round of clearing out is shoved into one corner of the living room and it looks terrible. I'm waiting until Mrs Roomie can collect the rest of her things because there are some big furniture items that I plan on using in the extra rooms. I hate being away from home right now when I could be getting so much done!
Mrs Roomie got a bunch of her stuff last night, plus her kitties so the house was strangely quiet and empty when I got there this morning to begin preparing for the furniture. I've complained about her kitties' horrible litter box habits before and I feel duly vindicated when I say that the horrible odor that usually greets me at the front door was no where in evidence this morning! It's Mrs Roomie's DH's problem now....bwwahahahahaha! I just can't stand litter box odor! If the whole world would use Feline Pine, no one would have to endure it ever again! I discovered this wonderful product during my stint as a kennel tech at Riverview Animal Clinic. What a sanity saver when a vet clinic is boarding about 20 cats at a time :)
I've decided not to let Binky out into the rest of the house until I can get all the piles of belongings squared away. I don't know where/what the other two have used as a toilet and don't want her marking anything in a fit of temper so I'll just wait until I've gotten all that cleaned up. I don't think she would do that anyway, but why tempt fate?
I've had people ask before about what I do with Bink while I'm away petsitting and I'll tell you that she's a pretty self-sufficient girl. I have a feeder that holds about 4lbs of food and and a bubbling water bowl that holds about a gallon of water. I throw some extra toys (read: balled up paper...her fav!) in the floor and she's good to go. I try to get by at least once if I'm going to be gone longer than a week, but other than that I have to trust her on her own. I admit that she likes my absences less and less as she gets older (and she's quite vocal about it too!) and I'm dealing with that as I can by coming by more often during my longer jobs. I foresee a time when I won't be able to leave her by herself for very long at all but I figure I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.
Monday, December 3, 2007
the year in review
I stole this meme from the Book Diva, who stole it in turn from her friend Angela. You make a post of the 1st sentence of the first post of every month from the year and it is a sort of geological strata, if you will, of your blog's year. Without further ado.....
JANUARY--I hope the New Year finds all of my friends and family hearty and hale!
FEBRUARY--I'm back!
MARCH--Thanks to everyone who made my birthday great!
APRIL--So my young friend WV came in to the library tonight and worked on his math homework.
MAY--check out these photos of some of the crazy things living in our oceans.
JUNE--That's what I thought too!
JULY--I cruised in to work today, sipping my coffee, munching on my Nutri-grain waffle PB sandwich, tapping my fingers and nodding my head to the oh-so gentle notes of Rammstein issuing from my car speakers, thinking there's no school today....................................or tomorrow.........................................or next week.......................................or next month
AUGUST--Someone rants about the postumous and co-authoring publication trend...Robert Ludlum has been publishing like mad despite the fact that he died about 6 years ago.
SEPTEMBER--.....and I will shortly be taking my sick @$$ to the doctor, hopefully this afternoon.
OCTOBER--the spend no $ mantra falls dead in the face of selfishness
NOVEMBER--. . . . that Katie has now been tapped into the Anita Blake fan club!
DECEMBER--I had such high hopes for going to bed early.
Have you learned anything about me other than I whine and complain quite a bit???? I think my opening sentences need some work. That will be one of my New Year's Resolutions....better opening sentences on my blog posts :)
evenin' ya'll!
htw
JANUARY--I hope the New Year finds all of my friends and family hearty and hale!
FEBRUARY--I'm back!
MARCH--Thanks to everyone who made my birthday great!
APRIL--So my young friend WV came in to the library tonight and worked on his math homework.
MAY--check out these photos of some of the crazy things living in our oceans.
JUNE--That's what I thought too!
JULY--I cruised in to work today, sipping my coffee, munching on my Nutri-grain waffle PB sandwich, tapping my fingers and nodding my head to the oh-so gentle notes of Rammstein issuing from my car speakers, thinking there's no school today....................................or tomorrow.........................................or next week.......................................or next month
AUGUST--Someone rants about the postumous and co-authoring publication trend...Robert Ludlum has been publishing like mad despite the fact that he died about 6 years ago.
SEPTEMBER--.....and I will shortly be taking my sick @$$ to the doctor, hopefully this afternoon.
OCTOBER--the spend no $ mantra falls dead in the face of selfishness
NOVEMBER--. . . . that Katie has now been tapped into the Anita Blake fan club!
DECEMBER--I had such high hopes for going to bed early.
Have you learned anything about me other than I whine and complain quite a bit???? I think my opening sentences need some work. That will be one of my New Year's Resolutions....better opening sentences on my blog posts :)
evenin' ya'll!
htw
definitely on the mend!
the plague is abating! I have the use of most of both my nostrils now and am not constantly expelling stuff (sorry for the gross factor!). I have some fevery-type moments at night but am feeling pretty strong during the day. Tomorrow is Furniture Attempt #2 and I am on tenterhooks wondering if the stupid couch will fit through the door this time. But enough of that! It will fit, I measured!
I was reading KT's blog and she is having some holiday harried-ness :(
I feel somewhat responsible for that as I have been off work since last Tuesday, but I start back tomorrow at 5 so I can pickup up my slack and help take some of the pressure off of her hopefully.
Finally talked to Mrs Roomie today and she seems in pretty good spirits. We crossed paths at the house as I was leaving to come back over here to the pet sitting gig and she was picking up her pets to take them to her house as well as move another couple of loads of her stuff over there. I'm not putting any pressure on her at this point to have her stuff out by any certain time. Hey, I'm not there right now anyway and won't be back til Sat night so she's got plenty of time.
I'm going to have to rent a carpet cleaner of some kind and shampoo the carpets in her rooms as her cats have done a real number with their sloppy litter box habits. Not everyone can be as neat and clean as my Binky I suppose but I don't think a simple vacuuming will do the job. I want that smell O-U-T of the house.
Speaking of stinky pets, every time I come over here Tucker has the most horrible gas! I don't know how J stands it. Whew! ......ah, the glamour pet sitting life!
evenin' ya'll!
htw
I was reading KT's blog and she is having some holiday harried-ness :(
I feel somewhat responsible for that as I have been off work since last Tuesday, but I start back tomorrow at 5 so I can pickup up my slack and help take some of the pressure off of her hopefully.
Finally talked to Mrs Roomie today and she seems in pretty good spirits. We crossed paths at the house as I was leaving to come back over here to the pet sitting gig and she was picking up her pets to take them to her house as well as move another couple of loads of her stuff over there. I'm not putting any pressure on her at this point to have her stuff out by any certain time. Hey, I'm not there right now anyway and won't be back til Sat night so she's got plenty of time.
I'm going to have to rent a carpet cleaner of some kind and shampoo the carpets in her rooms as her cats have done a real number with their sloppy litter box habits. Not everyone can be as neat and clean as my Binky I suppose but I don't think a simple vacuuming will do the job. I want that smell O-U-T of the house.
Speaking of stinky pets, every time I come over here Tucker has the most horrible gas! I don't know how J stands it. Whew! ......ah, the glamour pet sitting life!
evenin' ya'll!
htw
Saturday, December 1, 2007
holley, the near-zombie
I had such high hopes for going to bed early. I had a nice invite from KT for butterscotch schnapps's, conversation and Christmas tree observation and I turned it down because I am exhausted. But here I am, unable to get to sleep....
Well, Roomie is a Mrs now and is spending the night with her new DH at the Tutwiller Hotel in Bham. She was a beautiful bride and a massive bridezilla today. Snapping and occasionally yelling at me or completely ignoring me. Now, I am trying to keep in mind that this was her day and it had nothing to do with me but I still got my feelings hurt. As KT told me earlier when I was sniffling at her on the phone, Roomie does have a tendency toward being somewhat selfish on occasion. I helped her into her dress and then her feet got cold so I sat down in the floor to put her slippers on. All that poofy stuff in the slip prevented her from even seeing her feet much less getting shoes on. Well, while I was doing that she turned to look at herself in the mirror and her dress brushed up against my somewhat heavily tarted up face. Instant crisis! There is now a light makeup mark on the dress. "Put some water on that! That has to come out! Put some soap on it! Will it leave a mark!" So while I'm already in the floor, I then begin to spot wash her dress. Someone brought me a hair dryer and the crisis was narrowly avoided. She got finished getting dressed and then everyone one disappeared.
I am still in my pajama top and lounging pants, the bathroom is a wreck, Roomie left all her clothes all over the place and now I have to get dressed. No help, no assistance, nothing. Everyone was gone. Strapless bras are not the most easily accessible little bastards either let me tell you. I couldn't find anyone to zip me up so I just walked around the church with my bra and fat rolls hanging out until I could find someone to do me the honor.
I learned yesterday that I was among the "family and friends" nominated to clean up. Now, I've been sick for a week. I've practically been freebasing Sudafed so I would hopefully (and I was successful I might add) not be sniffling and sneezing through her wedding. I have had a fever all day. We had to be at the hairdressers at 8:30am, pictures at 10:30 (didn't happen), wedding at 2pm, by 4:30 I'm clearing tables, wiping counters and putting up food in my dress and my feet are about to fall off screaming in pain. I finally got to change then mopped and loaded cars until 5pm.
I love my friend. I'm am thrilled that she looked so pretty and her DH was so excited by the wedding. I was miserable and I don't think she treated me very well today. Is this the normal maid-of-honor/bridesmaid experience? Am I whining for nothing? I know I need to get over it and I will, but it's early yet and I can't guarantee that ya'll won't have to endure more complaining over this from me in the future but I do promise to try...really I do.
Okay, I'm going to have another go at sleep now.
htw
Well, Roomie is a Mrs now and is spending the night with her new DH at the Tutwiller Hotel in Bham. She was a beautiful bride and a massive bridezilla today. Snapping and occasionally yelling at me or completely ignoring me. Now, I am trying to keep in mind that this was her day and it had nothing to do with me but I still got my feelings hurt. As KT told me earlier when I was sniffling at her on the phone, Roomie does have a tendency toward being somewhat selfish on occasion. I helped her into her dress and then her feet got cold so I sat down in the floor to put her slippers on. All that poofy stuff in the slip prevented her from even seeing her feet much less getting shoes on. Well, while I was doing that she turned to look at herself in the mirror and her dress brushed up against my somewhat heavily tarted up face. Instant crisis! There is now a light makeup mark on the dress. "Put some water on that! That has to come out! Put some soap on it! Will it leave a mark!" So while I'm already in the floor, I then begin to spot wash her dress. Someone brought me a hair dryer and the crisis was narrowly avoided. She got finished getting dressed and then everyone one disappeared.
I am still in my pajama top and lounging pants, the bathroom is a wreck, Roomie left all her clothes all over the place and now I have to get dressed. No help, no assistance, nothing. Everyone was gone. Strapless bras are not the most easily accessible little bastards either let me tell you. I couldn't find anyone to zip me up so I just walked around the church with my bra and fat rolls hanging out until I could find someone to do me the honor.
I learned yesterday that I was among the "family and friends" nominated to clean up. Now, I've been sick for a week. I've practically been freebasing Sudafed so I would hopefully (and I was successful I might add) not be sniffling and sneezing through her wedding. I have had a fever all day. We had to be at the hairdressers at 8:30am, pictures at 10:30 (didn't happen), wedding at 2pm, by 4:30 I'm clearing tables, wiping counters and putting up food in my dress and my feet are about to fall off screaming in pain. I finally got to change then mopped and loaded cars until 5pm.
I love my friend. I'm am thrilled that she looked so pretty and her DH was so excited by the wedding. I was miserable and I don't think she treated me very well today. Is this the normal maid-of-honor/bridesmaid experience? Am I whining for nothing? I know I need to get over it and I will, but it's early yet and I can't guarantee that ya'll won't have to endure more complaining over this from me in the future but I do promise to try...really I do.
Okay, I'm going to have another go at sleep now.
htw
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