Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

I can has hope??

I told myself yesterday "Self, you are not going to stay up late to watch the election coverage. What ever will be will be and staying up will not change anything." Well, Self ended up staying up until nearly 1 a.m. So needless to say, I was dragging said Self out of bed this morning. But, I woke up with a new sense of hope. Change is coming!!

I was so proud to be an American last night. I have never been ashamed of it, per se`. But, actual pride? That hasn't happened in a very long time. Watching the faces of the folks in the crowds in Chicago and New York. The tears, the absolute joy, the astonishment and even the looks of disbelief. The close ups were heart warming, but I was really observing the wide shots. There was one man that struck me. Middle aged, white, thin and tallish, balding with glasses on. He was in the forefront of a crowd shot, when the announcement was made that Obama was now President Elect, his hand went up to his face, and covering his mouth with the tips of his fingers on his right hand, his eyes wide in astonishemnt, then he squeezed his eyes shut and cried. Another crowd shot (several actually) of people just ...hugging, dancing. Total strangers black, white, brown you name it, hugging dancing, laughing, crying. It was beautiful. I wanted to be there. I wanted to hug them all!!!!

I'm happy.

BTW. The image you see above is the newest member of our family. He has not been named yet. Next to him is my size 9 shoe, so you can see how small he is. That's 5, count em' 5 cats.

Kicked in the gut

Beau went to work this morning, like he does every Monday. After he had been there for a couple of hours, he recieved an IM from his supervisor.

They closed his office.

Once again, he is without employment.

4th of the 4th

Steph over at The Incurable Insomniac tagged me for this fun little meme. Go to your 4th photo file and choose the 4th picture, post it and explain what it is. Well, I don't really have photo files, so I went to the 4th page of my mySpace page and found the 4th photo there.

This is a picture of one of my dearest friends Cteev. I believe this is his senior High School pic. Circa 1986. Cteev was one of the original "Bohemites" back in good old Ventura County California. I met Cteev in the summer of 87, "pimping" alcohol outside of a liquor store in Ventura (for those of you unfamilar with the term "pimping"..in this context, it means trying to get someone to buy alcohol for you because you are under 21) Anyway, a couple of weeks later, another friend of mine took me to the house his boyfriend was living in at the time. He was living with a family of 6, plus a few other "street urchins" Lo and behold, there was Cteev, living in the house as well. We became the tightest of friends from there on out. Even going so far as to become engaged. After we broke up, we stayed close, actually I do believe we became even closer. He was one of the loves of my life. Cteev contracted HIV in the late 90's and on October 23rd 2001, a blood clot found its way to his heart, and he lost his battle.

OMG..... it seriously just occured to me.

He died 7 years ago today.

Wow.

A case of the Ruttles

I go to work, I come home, I feed the cats, have dinner,I play video games or I watch T.V. Blather, rinse, repeat.

Then the weekend comes. I feed the cats, do laundry , dishes etc... Have dinner, feed the cats again, Play video games or watch T.V.

I think about weekends while at work, and think about work on the weekends.

Stuck in a serious rut and don't know how to get out of it. I know there are other things I could be, SHOULD be doing. I'm just so drained that I cannot seem to get motivated. I want to come back as a pampered and well loved house cat. Sleep, play, eat, repeat. Yeah, that's the life.

The perils of being a crazy cat lady

So, I have this "pride" of cats that live in the neighborhood. They are here much of the time, because being the crazy cat lady that I am, I feed them, regularly. Every morning, and in the evening when I get home from work, they are there, waiting for me. I don't want to go into how many there are, because I really don't want to see the number myself.

Anyway, last weekend, one of the mother cats (she has 4 kittens) was injured badly.(She is in the picture here, near the center of the photo, the patchwork Calico) We think the back half of her body was run over by a car. She lost the use of her back half entirely. She has been dragging herself around with her front legs only. We called the police, and an officer came to the house, he was going to help us catch her so we could take her to OSU animal hospital. Well, who knew a 2 legged cat could run so damn fast!!! Our neighbor, who feeds them on occasion as well, called Animal Control on Tuesday. Well, even they couldn't catch her. So, she has been dragging herself around like that for an entire week.

My husband, Beau, saw her this morning and called me to let me know she was in the front, dragging herself to bathe in the sunshine. I went out side about 2 hours later, and saw her lying in the grass. Upon closer inspection, I discovered the inevitability that we knew was coming. The poor little mama kitty had died. Heart broken, I found a plastic bag and a small box and lifted her from her happy sunny final resting place and put her empty vessel in the box. Now, she is happy and whole once again and chasing blue-jays under the trees in our backyard. At least, that's what I am telling myself. She was a tough little cat. Over the summer she had been attacked by a hawk and had a big chunk of the front of her neck torn out. I didn't think she would survive that. But she did, and she had 4 cute fluffy mouths to feed shortly thereafter. Her kittens, while not fully weaned, are big enough to eat dry cat food on their own. Thank goodness for that, or I would be nursing kittens around the clock. ( Oh, no, seriously, I would have done it too.) It is emotionally draining to have to clean up the debris left behind by the circle of life, but I had to be strong and take care of it. Then, I had to break the sad news to my neighbor. With tears in his 80 year old eyes, he said "Thank you , friend" I just smiled and told him to take a nap and think about her chasing those damned blue-jays." He smiled and nodded and closed his door, and I walked off with the box and came home. That was about 30 minutes ago.

It's Johnny's birthday.....

Happy Birthday Johnny L. We still miss you.

Slightly disjointed thoughts and ramblings

Exactly when did this government lose it's way? When did our elected officials forget that they work for the taxpayer? When did "Position of Power take the place of "Position of responsibility"? The governmental leaders of this country have a responsibilty to serve it's people. Not the other way around.

The masses have been slowely brainwashed to reveal their necks to the government. "For the good of the people" they spout, while all the while going for the jugular to take every last right, every last shred of freedom and every last penny away from us. For. Our. Own. Good.

They have kept us just on the edge of panic. Dangling "Death is only a finger away" since the 50's. "Listen to US! We are the only ones that can save you!!" McCarthy said that free thinkers were communists, George W. calls us terrorists. I grew up with such messages screaming from every corner of the country. "America, Love it or Leave it." "You are either for us, or against us."

G.W. was caught on film saying "This isn't a dictatership, but it would be easier if it were."(insert familiar condescending smirk here) Am I the only one that was truly enraged and mortified by this Freudian slip? Keeping the American people, frightened and on the verge of poverty. Only granting us what the government thinks we need. Isn't that the definition of communism? "Don't question, just do as we tell you and everything will be OK."

This unbelievable joke of a presidency has never taken it's role seriously. Like a bratty child, "Well I got away with that...lets go one step further." Oppression in small doses. Like a slow acting drug, hoping we won't notice the effect until it's too late. Privacy violations are now in place For.Our. Own.Good. Criticizm of our president in considered a terrorist act. Helmet laws, seatbelt laws, smoking bans......For. Our. Own.Good. Right? More like conditioning the American people. Conditioning us to get used to being told how to live our lives.

Too many of us are content to shrug it off "Well, that's just how it is."

Changes have to be made....or is it already too late?

Lol Shat #1

Why I like animals better than people

A trial has begun in the case of a baseball player-turned-actor accused of brutally killing a cat in a jealous rage after complaining that his ex-girlfriend cared more for the feline than she did for him.
Assistant District Attorney Leila Kermani said the cat named Norman died with broken teeth, broken ribs, a broken leg, a torn tongue, massive internal injuries including bruised lungs and a bruised liver and a chest cavity filled with blood.
"The defendant, in a fit of anger and rage, beat a defenceless animal to death," Kermani told the jury in her opening remarks Wednesday. "The defendant killed Norman simply because he was an angry, jealous and drunken bully."
Former New York Mets baseball minor leaguer Joseph Petcka, 37, is on trial on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals for killing Norman on March 27, 2007, after a night of heavy drinking. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted.
Petcka's lawyer, Charles Hochbaum, admitted his client kicked the eight-year-old tabby and "swatted him really hard" after the cat bit him, but he said his client did not mean to kill him.
"This was a tragic accident," Hochbaum said. "It was not intentional."
Hochbaum complained the district attorney's office never offered his client a plea deal. He said outside court he believes that was because of the publicity the case attracted and the urgings of cat fanciers.
Norman's owner, Lisa Altobelli, testified she had dated Petcka about six weeks before he killed her cat. She said one night they quarrelled and he began drinking heavily. She said she went to bed to avoid him but he woke her around 3am by putting his knee in her ribs and complaining that Norman had attacked him.
Altobelli, a Sports Illustrated reporter, said she left the apartment after Petcka refused to calm down.
She said Petcka had complained, "You love that cat more than you love me," but she had no idea Norman would be in danger. When she returned home Norman did not meet her at the door as usual. She found his body under her bedside table.
Petcka, a pitcher briefly in the Mets' minor league system in 1992, later appeared in a paper towel commercial and had small roles in Sex and the City and other television shows. Hochbaum said his client had more recently worked as a bartender and waiter.

Did I tell you?

We kept the little dude. We renamed him though, well the husband did. He called him "Buddy". He pretty much wriggled his way into our hearts, and found a way to stay. Even I think 4 cats is too many!! But oh well. He is a warm and welcome addition to the family and we love him very much.

Insomniac

• Eine
• Zwei
• Drei

Over medicated and under the weather

It's freaking nuts how many meds I take in one day now. And still, I feel like crap on a cracker.

Here's the run down

Morning

Metformin 2 tablets

Glimiperide 1 tablet

Avapro 1 tablet

Lyrica 1 tablet

Januvia 1 tablet

Prevacid 1 tablet

Fexofenadine 1 tablet

Noon

Lyrica 1 tablet

8 p.m.

Lyrica 1 tablet

Metformin 2 tablets

Crestor 1 tablet

65 u Lantus injection

***sigh***

I looked in the mirror....

.... and I'm not happy. I am bigger than I have ever been in my whole life, and I am not going to take it anymore. I put my foot down on myself. It wasn't easy. I didn't even think I could get my foot that high.

But I did.

I got apples, carrot chips, banana's and other healthy options to keep here at work.

Ever since I quit smoking, I have been filling the void with all the wrong things. Now, I have better options.

I am also planning on joining a gym that is just about 1/2 block from my home. As soon as I can afford the fee. Hopefully at the end of the month. Anyway, I have already lost about 12 lbs in the past month. Not going to say how much I need to lose. Nor will I say how much I weigh now. I will however, try to keep some kind of log as to how much I am losing. Wish me luck.

Georgestein update

The little schmoops is doing really well. He had his bandages finally removed yesterday (Thursday) and has gotten a good bill of health. Dr. Cowell wants to keep him on his antibiotics for 2 more weeks. Just to err on the side of caution. Other than that,his leg looks a bazillion times better. He is scheduled to get his butter beans removed next week, and to get all his vaccinations.

I have to admit, the little sombitch has worked his way into my heart. Damnit!! I can't have 4 cats!! ***sigh***

Our Redheaded Step Child

Meet Georgestein. This little guy showed up in our back yard about 2 months ago.

He had a collar on then,

with a little bell on it. So, he was either abandoned or somehow lost his way.

Either way, he became a fixture on our back porch eating right along side the numerous feral cats that I keep an eye on. We noticed he began limping about 2 weeks ago. We thought maybe he had gotten into a fight, or had been bitten by a dog, or something like that.


It happens, he's out side.

Well, last Saturday some neighborhood dogs got loose and were wandering the neighborhood. Georgestein decided to hike up the neighbors tree to get away from them. I did the Turkish rebel yell "kitty kitty kitty", which prompted him to come down and run to me. (He is very sweet and cuddly and loving you see, he WAS someones house cat) He ran to me and I immediately noticed that his sore paw was now dripping with blood. I called Beau to come look, and then I went to find the phone book, hoping to find some vet clinic open.

It's 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night, chances aren't good. But then, a glimmer of hope. On the outgoing message for the Perkins Vet Clinic is a message "If this is an emergency, call the OSU Vet Med teaching hospital". I called, we went.

3 hours later we brought the lucky little dude home. They didn't really do anything. I mean NOTHING!!! They looked, they gave us some pain meds and antibiotics and told us to follow up with our own vet. Follow up?? Follow up on what???

Well, now we know the Vet Emergency room in Stillwater is equally as shitty as the people Emergency Room in Stillwater.

The nurse and the vet were very nice ladies, and seemed to be genuinely concerned, but he didn't receive any treatment. The more time passes, and the more I get to thinking about it, the more pissed off I become. Anyway... I called and set up an appointment with The Cat Clinic of Stillwater. I have taken all of my cats to them. They are wonderful!!!

Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. I kept the appointment and was greeted by Dr Peakhearts always caring smile. She took his vitals and we chatted a bit about his condition and the fact that he was never supposed to have been an outside cat. Anywhoo, I left him in her capable hands and went back to work.

Dr. Cowell (The owner of the clinic) along with Jacye (Who happens to be a friend as well as a nurse who has been working for the Cat Clinic for the last 10 years) put him under heavy sedation and took a good look at his wounds. Cleaned him up well, and took some cultures.

I went back to pick him up after work and talked to Dr. Cowell. She was concerned because the culture came back with nothing to report. I mean, NO bacteria, NO organisms. Nothing.

His tissues were not necrotic as they should be with a typical wound and there were no pathogens living in the wound at all. Organisms and bacteria are everywhere. Even a healthy sample shows SOME bacteria and organisms. Strange. She also had bandaged him up and wanted me to bring him back this morning the have the bandage changed. I took him in the morning and dropped him off, chatted with Jacye for a bit and headed to work with the plan to pick him up at lunch and take him home. About 10 minutes later after I got back to work, I get a call from the desk nurse. "We have a group of kids coming today at lunch, and Dr.Cowell wants to talk to you in person, can you pick him up later?" Ummmm sure. "How about 5:00?" ok...

So I am getting ready to head back to talk to the vet now, and hopefully I will be bringing the little guy home. He is a sick little kitty and I really want to see him thrive, and then find him a good home. Sooooooo.....anyone wanna kitty???

Out of touch, out of time

You Belong in 1962

You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatyeardoyoubelonginquiz/">What Year Do You Belong In?

Not a harmless religion

http://www.xenu.net/


These people have to be stopped.

I lost it all

OK, so I will admit I don't know how this blog thingy works. I went to change my template, and all the customizations have vanished. No links, no blinkies, no counter....all of it "poof". *sigh* I suppose it isn't a big deal, since I don't have a huge reader base anyway.

Happy Valentines day

Beau, Steph, Lashell, Lynette, Heather, Shandi, Nathan, Lauren, Asher, Nathan, Joel, Jayce, Allen, Jaeson, Micah, James, Jan, Joshua, Robert, Rhonda, David, Lisa, Kari-Anne, Jackie, Paul, Karma, Terry, Morgan, Alvin, Megan, Quinn, Eric, George, Cteev, Dan, Debbie, Bob SK, Steve, Sharon, Kathy, Emerald..... and so many others. The way I see it, once love is put out there, it's out there forever.

Hope today and everyday is filled with love of every kind.

Farewell Roy Scheider

Good bye Roy. Thanks for scaring me out of the water when I was a kid. Thanks for letting the whole world know the meaning of "Jazz Hands". Thanks for letting us know what it's like to be the rainmaker. Thanks for making 7-up yours.

Sonofamotherfuckingshitpisshell

So... I get home from work today. Feed the out door cats, change into my PJs, turn on oven to preheat for dinner, unload dishwasher, get chicken out of fridge and arrange on a sheet pan for baking, begin to load dishwasher... when I hear a loud, strange noise coming from the utility room. It sounds sort of like pouring cold water into a very hot pan. I run to investigate. Thinking it may be the furnace, I rush to turn the furnace off. No, still making the noise, and worse. Now I smell gas. It's the water heater. Literally, this is what is coming out of my mouth,

"Oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck" as I am running around like a crazy person trying to figure out where the fucking emergency shut off is for the gas.

OK, I don't know how to shut it off, so, realizing that this is REALLY happening, and could turn out really badly, I started scooping up cats. I got Einstein and threw him in the car, then went after Figaro (who was none too happy about this) and I get him in the car too. I go after Cosmo, but she is not about to get near me, as she can see I am clearly not with it at the moment. She ran inot the bedroom, so I shut the bedroom door. OK, this won't help her if the house blows up, but she won't die of gas poisoning.

(In my head):
"Now what, now what?"
"OHHH... call 911." So I call 911.
"911. What is your emergency?"
"MY WATER HEATER JUST DID A WEIRD. IT'S LEAKING AND I SMELL GAS. I CANNOT FIND THE SHUT OFF AND I AM FREAKING OUT!"
"Are you the only one in the house?"
"YES, WELL NO, I MEAN I AM THE ONLY HUMAN."
"Ok, I am sending the fire department out to you ok? You need to get out of the house ok?"
"OK, OK. Yeah, I will get out of the house."

So I grab my purse, my keys and a jacket and go outside. I hear the sirens, they are getting closer. Then they pull in. I was impressed, less than 3 minutes. Anyway, they go in, shut off the gas and the water to the water heater and tell me that the water heater needs replacing.

So, at the moment we are without hot water, but think what could have happened had this occured while I was at work today.

Jesus fucking whipped garbanzo beans
It was a rush!!

9 Things that piss me right the *&%$ off and just wear me out

In no particular order.

1. People that apply for a job because they "Really need a job, because I have a family to feed and bills to pay..." and then don't fucking go to work when I find them a job.

2. People that bitch about money, but have a housekeeper and have their car professionally detailed once a week. Hey, Fuck you buddy, yeah, fuck you very much.

3. Asshats that park their cars sideways, taking up 3 spaces. Selfish inconsiderate pricks.

4. 2 hour parking at the DMV, the Walk in Clinic and the Social Security office. I mean really, we all know I will be here longer than that.

5. "Feed the Children" ads. Am I an uncaring biotch because I believe we should feed OUR children first????

6. People that abandon their pets when they are tired of them. These are the same people that have been raised, or are currently raising their children to be careless with what they have, as it can be replaced anyway right??

7. Hearing about Brittney Spears every 5 minutes, and calling it NEWS!!!

8. Onions on my Whopper, when I clearly asked for none.

9. Soy Milk. (What? Soy beans have tits now?)

*siiighhhh*

Better now, thanks!!

Big relief

It's finally happened. The hubby found a steady job. He will be opening an office here in Stillwater OK, for an insurance agency based out of Arkansas.

Advantage One was a competitor when Beau was working for ABIA in Tulsa and OKC. Long story short, the owner of Advantage One always had a great respect for Beau and how he ran his offices. He and Beau, through happenstance, ran into one another via a message board on Yahoo. When He (the owner of A1) found out that Beau was a free agent, he nearly pissed himself with glee, because he wanted him to work for his company.

Not only that, but A1's new office was to be located in Stillwater. SO, when A1 found out Beau was a resident, he practically crawled through the phone lines to get Beau to sign on. After all the legalities and scouting for a location, the new office will be open on Feb 1. Beau will actually start his first day Jan 29, to set up shop and make sure the new office is ready for business.

I have not said anything to anyone about this, because for the last 10 months we have been through a roller coaster of "great opportunities" that never seemed to come to fruition.

Insert WHEW here.

Its that time of year again! The Darwin Awards

Oh my GOD. They live among us!!!!!!

1. When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the Honorable Mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of their men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered every one waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious Head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received The injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15.

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER:

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.