Not starving

The other day we were out of cat food. With three cats, it can be difficult to stay ahead of their eating. My dear husband called me to aske me to pick up some on the way home. "I put out a couple of cans of tuna so they won't starve to death." As if any animal who lives here would ever worry about that. Spencer begins whining for his "dinner" of wet food every day at 5:30. Now, please remember that he has dry food out all day long. When Spencer's dinner is being prepared, the cats start mewling like little monsters. This is because when they were little, my husband was afraid that Spencer would "bite their heads off" when they got near his food....so the kitties started getting "dinner" as well.

When I got home with three jugs of food, there actually was still some (though the little bits they try to ignore) left in the bowls. But why should they eat the dregs when there is tuna around?

Here is how much the potentially starving kitties have grown since November. If anything, I think I should be worried about obesity.




I tease my husband about how much he spoils the animals, but it really is one of the things I love about him.

Questions from Wickedly Scarlett

Angela asked me a couple more questions. For those keeping score, Angela and I found each other's blogs via Blog Explosion more than two years ago. Does anyone still go to BE any more? I love her new tagline for commenting!

Have you always been a fan of finding music off the beaten path? How do you find the musicians you really love?

I always loved music, but I tended to listen to whatever anybody else was listening to. I didn't really have music I called mine. I had some CDs but not many. A friend of a friend told a guy I was dating at the time "You have to go see this guy Ellis Paul." We did, and I was hooked from the beginning--it simply spoke to me in a way I can't explain. I always find it hard to describe the music....people call it folk music or singer/songwriter, but there is wide variation within those labels. I never really sought out other musicians of his ilk, but I also never missed a show when he came to Atlanta. Then there was the fateful night when he brought this little bald guy named Don Conoscenti to accompany him. Don had lived in Atlanta, so he did several of his own songs. I had one of those "slap your head" moments when I realized there were many of these relative unknowns who I would love. Through this music (and the internets), I have made many wonderful friends (including my husband) and traveled to New York, California and many points in between to hear musicians whose names most people have never heard. I didn't date that boy very long, but the series of coincidences that brought us to that show literally changed my life.

What got you interested and started in blogging?

I stumbled across my first blog in 2004. I read some crappy ones, and I read some that were amazingly compelling both in content and in writing. I sent my sister a few links of the good ones. She then sent me a link--to her new blog. I started July 29, 2005, and have managed to keep with it far longer than I ever kept a paper journal. I'll never be famous or have a jagillion hits, but I still enjoy it, and as long as I do, I will continue.

Okay, if there are no more questions, I will be forced to come up with topics all by myself. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Answers to some questions....

Thank goodness Ms. Pants had some questions for me since the rest of you are obviously bored to tears.

What I want to know: How do you find your blogs that you read? And how did you find mine? (Obviously, I clicked through some comments to find you back.)

I was thinking the other day that I haven't had much time to find new blogs. I have read your blog off and on for three years or so. I think I initially found you through Helen. I remember when you used to talk about Tiara Tuesdays (or Thursdays), but that was before I moved to Houston.

Are you a crafty person at all?
I am crafty, but I don't really consider myself an artist. I have done everything from making candles, fabric painting, glass painting and cross stitch. My latest project is marble picture magnets, but I also want to make some glycerine soap projects with a fish in a plastic bag.

How long have you had the arthritis? Does anything relieve it? Would um... special brownies help? (what?! what???)
I had neck surgery about three years ago, and I had been on anti-inflammatory meds for a year and a half prior. After the surgery, I went off the meds because, hey, my neck was fixed, right? Well, it didn't take long for me to start feeling like the fucking Tin Man with rusted knees and hips. I went back on the meds which were working until a couple of weeks ago. I actually started feeling much better yesterday, so I think the new drug is a go. That's a good thing because I am too much of a control freak to enjoy any "special brownies." I get so stupid, and I know how stupid I am and it pisses me off.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
"We've Only Just Begun" Arrrrrrrgh!

How about the last song you heard that you loved so much you sang along unabashedly and completely off key?
Well, anything I sing is off key, so I would have to say "Alice's Champagne Palace" by an artist and friend who played at the Mucky Duck last night.

If you were a beer, what kind of beer would you be?
I'm not a big beer drinker, but there was a Pale Moon Ale on the menu last night which seems to fit for me.

Can you tell my adderall has kicked in? (That's rhetorical. The answer of course is "Yes. You freak.")
Why won't my doctor give me adderall? She is generous with other drugs, but I can't convince her I need adderall.

Okay, that's everything for now. Anything else anyone wants to know?? Anyone else care to answer the same questions??

Bullets for the New Blog

~~~~I saw a copy of this book not too long ago, and even though I haven't read a bit of it, and do not intend to read it, I certainly believe it to be true. I knew being a stepmother would be hard, but I didn't think I would feel so unsure of so many things. No disasters lately, but seeing that book made me think.

~~~~I got a summons for jury duty in April. It certainly didn't take very long for them to scoop up my name from the voter registration list. I have been to jury duty many times, and it has almost always been a boring day. I was once picked for a murder trial involving a gay lovers triangle, but they settled it before the trial started. We'll see how it goes this time.

~~~~I have been feeling pretty crappy lately, and have aching in most of my joints when I wake up. It seems to get a bit better during the day, and then worse again at night. I did go to the doctor and had labwork drawn to rule out any of the really crappy reasons to have joint pain. They changed my arthritis medicine, and I have decided I will just behave as if it isn't hurting. I've started eating better, I went to my class Monday even though I just wanted a hot bath after work, and I plan to get some exercise going soon. If this is my new baseline, I just have to live with it. However, it makes me feel very, very old.

~~~~My evil sister beat me to it, and I think we aren't supposed to tell, but my baby brother is pregnant with twins. Well, his lovely wife is pregnant with twins to put a finer point to it. There are no twins in either family, and no drugs to cause twinkies. Evidently, she just sent two little eggs down the chute this go 'round. They are reasonably anxious due to a miscarraige last fall, but we are approaching week 9. I can't wait until we can tell our twins that there will be another pair in November. Any and all good vibes and thoughts will be appreciated.

~~~~We have more live music tomorrow night. Another of our friends and favorites. A friend from Pennsylvania will be coming in town tomorrow to see the show in Houston and another in a nearby town.

~~~~I thought David Cook's performance of Billie Jean last night on Idol was phenomenal. It was a brilliant interpretation, and I thought it was even better than the original. However, since they all sang songs from the year of their birth, and all but one song was from after I was in high school. I feel old yet again.

I think that is all I know for now. I seem to be having trouble coming up with things to blog about. Anything you want to know about me??

Hoppy Easter!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

More hospital rules

I previously blogged about rules for being a patient, but it seems working with children has brought up a whole new crop. These are to be taken tongue in cheek because I can't imagine anything more stressful than your kid having surgery.

1. Wear comfortable clothes. Your child is having surgery. You will be sitting and holding your sick kid for a long time--not to mention all the wrangling of a hungry and somewhat anxious kid before hand. Sick kids cry, drool, and puke. I'm making a wild ass guess that as a parent you know this. Your best leather jacket and very stylish boots do not impress me. In fact, they make me think you have no sense, or at least that your priorities are mixed up.

2. I know this is a stressful day, but it is not my fault or your child's fault. When you cry, your child gets more upset. When you bark at me, he knows things are not good. Please suck it up and be calm for your child's sake if nothing else.

3. Please do not leave for a long lunch (an hour or more) when your child is in the recovery room. We are there to take care of your child's medical needs. When your child needs to be held and rocked, he wants mommy, not some stranger wearing scrubs. We will do it, but you really should be there.

4.Yes, we ask some questions more than once, particularly the important ones. Wouldn't you rather that 5 people ask about allergies than somehow end up with your child getting a drug he shouldn't get? We aren't perfect, we make mistakes. Multiple questions help us make sure the mistakes aren't big ones. Please don't get mad at us for this.

For the most part, the parents I have met have been wonderful and have humbled me greatly. These only apply to a small percentage. Again, I will tolerate almost anything short of outright abuse. I know you are stressed out. I know my job is to take care of your child, as well as make things as easy as possible for you as worried parents. Please help me do both of those things.

Information Anxiety

When I just googled the term "information anxiety," I didn't find what I wanted, and I am an impatient redhead. Mother had a million (okay, yes, as usual, I speak in hyperboles) magazines in her house, and she was afraid to throw them away unread. She knew she didn't need them all, but she was afraid that in one of them would be the article/recipe/reference that would change her life. She found (probably in one of those magazines) a definition for information anxiety that matched her disorder. According to google, that definition has changed a bit to mean the following: Human cost of information overload. In the words of Richard Saul Wurman (author of the book 'Information Anxiety'), it is “produced by the ever-widening gap between what we understand and what we think we should understand. It is the black hole between data and knowledge, and what happens when information doesn't tell us what we want or need to know.” Mother's definition predated the widespread use of the internets, so perhaps that is why the change.

In addition to my smile and my eyes, I inherited from her a bit of what she had in regards to information. The internet and my new blackberry have helped and hurt this malady.

I absolutely can't stand not knowing things. Thank goodness I don't have to wait for an idea to pop into my head, or get home to look it up in the encyclopedia or dictionary.

While in San Francisco, this problem came up many times. In a Peruvian restaurant and your husband says "all they serve in Peru is potatoes, yucca and guinea pig"? Mr. Google will not only confirm that "cuy" is the word for guinea pig, but it will give you a picture of one on a plate.



Learn that the recipe for fried olives (wonderful, by the way) includes buttermilk? A few clicks and you learn that it is the part of the milk leftover from churning butter--not buttery at all.

See "eggs a la russe" on a fifty year old menu and wonder if they are the same as deviled eggs? Why of course you can find out.



Perhaps not exactly the same, but very close.

I don't know if this is a completely good thing. Is it rude to reach for the blackberry at the dinner table? Does it detract from the conversation or add to it? Should I be put on restriction from using mine? If so, I'm blaming Mother. She would have thought it was rude (hell, she thought call waiting was rude), but she would have liked being able to keep one blackberry instead of a dusty pile of magazines.

Thanks for following me

Hey, everyone, thanks for following me over here. Just to clarify, it is fine (and encouraged) to link me with this new site. I just didn't want the little sensitive ones in the family to google my old blog name (which they had figured out). I need to use a bit more stealth when I am on the computer. Since they use the computer more, they pay more attention to what I am doing as well.

Sorry I ditched the first few comments when I remembered I had to install haloscan to get notified. Now I need to move my blogroll. I'm sure I'm forgetting something from the old place. I'll have to go take a look around a couple more times before I close it down.

Have a great week!

A day at the rodeo

Now that I have lived in Texas for two years, it seemed time to go to the rodeo. Wisecrow had work to do, so the girls and I headed out.
We first went to the birthing center where we were able to see some recently born calves, pigs and sheep.


We also watched a video about farm animals and birth, after which the kids both said that they were not going to have babies. I have to admit, after seeing the calf being pulled out by a chain wouldn’t have me terribly enthusiastic either.
The baby chicks were very cute, and watching the girls watch them was fun.
They both wanted to bring one home, but I reminded them that we have a dog and three cats. That and the fact that they grow into chickens seemed to work. They didn’t like it when I asked if we should name it “Nugget.”


It was then time for a lunch break, at the Rodeo, you can get pizza as big as your face…..

Sausage on a stick and cotton candy…….

And a whole host of other things that remind me why we are overweight.
Fried what?

And, just in case your arteries are too tough for fries alone??? Try adding some bacon and cheese to them.

We then went to see the pig races which included Swifty the swimming pig. I don't know how to edit video, so sorry you see my leg after the pigs go running by.



All in all, it was a pretty good day. And did I mention it was 90 degrees outside?? In the middle of March??

I hate moving

However, I think since I invited people over from the old place that I at least should have a chair to sit in and something to drink out of.

After so much griping about work in the past, I have to share some of the things that make my current job so wonderful. The precocious 4 year old who told me she was adopted (she wasn't), and that her dog had moved to Florida to live with his parents (he died--and no, this wasn't a version her parents made up for her).

The mother who spoke very little english, sitting saying her rosary after her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. The mother of three who adopted three neighborhood children after they were put into foster care, and then adopted one more when the mother got pregnant again during the process. The mother with grown children who brought her infant adopted daughter in for her first of many cleft palate repair surgeries. When I asked, she said, "I knew all my life I had a daughter in China."

Then, this week, I had an eight year old boy who had his trach (hole in the neck for breathing) removed. He left the hospital as an infant with a trach. He didn't know why his mother was so excited it was gone--for him it was just life. His grandmother nearly brought me to tears when she said, "He will figure out what a big deal it is when he can go swimming this summer. He has never been able to go underwater in his life."

Perhaps the change of scenery will help me be a better blogger. I'll move the rest of my things and tidy up a bit more in the upcoming days.