Saturday, March 11, 2000 Welp, it's Saturday. Poor Brian. He was so frustrated last night when he got home. He had a bad day. And he had to pick Mark up this morning at six thirty for a job. That was icing on the cake. It seems some people had moved and needed a window removed on the second floor of their new home so that they could get furniture in. Well, Brian quoted a price of $300.00, not having been told that they needed him on a weekend. He doesn't like working weekends. He's busy enough as it is during the week. It takes a half hour to get to the job, he said then it will take forty five minutes to do the job. So, we're talking an hour and forty five minutes. That's this morning. Then, they have to go back this afternoon and put the glass back in. That's another hour and forty-five minutes. It would break up the day anyway, but to have to do it on a weekend? Oh, man, he's not happy. He called the contractor when he found out that it was to be done today and asked if he had already quoted the customer the price. Yep, why? Brian said he should have charged alot more. And if they need the same thing done next week, he's going to say no. Doesn't matter how much he would charge, he doesn't need the money that badly, but he does need his days off.
And I guess the windmills were delivered yesterday. They were supposed to show up at three. So, Brian and Mark wait at Mark's house. The truck didn't show up until four. And Brian's windmill wasn't all there, and part of what was delivered was broken. And the shipping charge was twice what they had been quoted. I said "well, maybe it was $400-$500 per windmill." He said that could be. He got home a little bit ago, ate some cold cereal, and then was on the phone. "The customer wants to know when the glass guy will be out" the contractor said. Brian told him he's already been there, took the glass out and left. Boy, those people are right on the ball, aren't they? Didn't even check to see if he'd be out.
Here it is, 10:30 and we have a beautiful day. The doors are opened, the cats outside. Jackie is doing fine. No limping, no residual effects from the sting. But he's not in the flowers where the bees are today. That's for sure. Bart was rolling in the dirt at the side of the shop and Benny jumped down from his perch to roll along with him. There was a little bit of slapping going on, not much. Then Jackie went over and laid down and started to roll, too. It looks like he's finally trying to fit in, to do what the other cats do. Last night, he was on the sofa behind the pillows and I sat down next to him. He started to get up, but decided to not, but to just lay there to see what I would do. I did nothing. At one point I did reach over and pet his paw. His claws came out and he grabbed my fingers, but I just tried to gently stroke the paw pads. He didn't know what to think. When I would take my hand away, he would reach for it. I love this guy. He's so darned special.
The weather station is having problems in the sun. The outdoor temperature goes flatline. At first, we thought it was because the thermometer was in the sun, so it was moved to where it never will get direct sun. Then, it did it again yesterday afternoon. There was no sun hitting the thermometer. I check out some of the forums and find out there's a problem with the product. So, Monday morning, I'll be on the phone with them to see about getting a new part. Zero degrees at five in the afternoon in Southern California? I don't think so.
Well, it's getting later, the morning is almost gone. I should really do something besides sitting here in front of the monitor.
Monday, March 13, 2000 Oh, man, am I feeling older than my years this morning. I'm beat. Yesterday had good points and bad points. And I'm gonna tell you about them right now.
We got up nice and early, Brian asking what the plan was. I told him I knew what he wanted the plan to be, to get dressed and go have breakfast up in Julian, then cruise on over to the property. I had said something earlier in the week about taking more pictures for the panorama java, but this time using a tripod so the pictures would be even. But, that's not how the day turned out. Not at all.
After his shower, he went outside to clean the pool area. He didn't want to leave too early, because he figured I would want the midday sun for the photographs. Then, he put up the weathercam outside. That took quite a while. He tested how far something could be on the sides and top before it interfered with the camera's view. Once he had the box made, he hung it up outside of the office. Then, he had to drill another hole in through the wall, which he wasn't happy about, to get the cord inside the house. Then, came the positioning of the camera, which seemed to take longer than anything else he did. He wanted it perfect. No eaves and no box. He finally had it perfect and put the ladder away. I happened to look at the picture and I guess he bumped something while taking down the ladder, because it was out of position again. He brought the ladder back out and repositioned the camera. He closed the big shop door, leaving the small door open. There were some cats in there and Buddy had gone back and was laying in his bed.
Once he was satisfied with that, he had to go to the shop. It seems that there's an electrical problem with the work truck and the brake lights and rear lighting isn't working. He came home after about an hour, no luck. He couldn't find the problem, so he'll have to take it into an electrical shop.
Then, he wanted to go to the sticks. I got my stuff together, putting some CDs in my new case. I recently started looking for one of my favorite CDs, Confederate Railroad singing Trashy Women. That song cracks me up. I've given up on finding it. I went into the exercise room to grab a couple of my other favorites. I couldn't find Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms". Geez, what's the deal? Two gone? And two that I haul with me? What did I do? Where did I lose them? The only thing I could figure is that they had slid down behind something. So, I get some CDs together and Brian says "we're not taking your truck". We're not? I can't listen to CDs? He said that we needed to take his truck because I would need to stand on the bed of his truck to set the camera up. Damn. I dejectedly took the CD case back to the exercise room. I asked him when he was going to put in his CD player. (Remember last year we bought two new ones at CostCo. One for the car, one for his truck.) He said "right now". So, he went and got the box with the CD player in it, out to his truck and started installing it. The day had gotten hazy and I wasn't too excited about taking pictures with the big spider web clouds overhead, the kind that just blanket the sky. It dulls everything. I hate these kinds of clouds, they are depressing and take away the clarity of the day. And it was getting too hazy for good clear pictures. While he was working on installing the new stereo, I took his GPS that he got last year and set it so that it was at our level. I still don't know quite how to work it. I couldn't understand how the altitude number kept changing when the thing was just sitting still. I went out and talked with Brian a couple of times and he wasn't very happy about putting in the CD player, seems he was having problems. He got the old one out, but said that some of the parts were missing in the box. I left him and went back into the backyard to play with the GPS again. Then, satisfied, I went back out front and he says "all done". :-0 That didn't take long!! He said it was easy since his old system was also a Blaupunkt. Same connections in the back. He was ready to go. :-( We went inside and I changed clothes and got everything together. He started loading the truck. It was almost two and I was reluctant to go so late. And to be honest, I wasn't feeling real good. I was lightheaded and my stomach was a little upset. I didn't say anything, though. I figured getting something to eat would help.
It didn't. As we were driving, I looked at the sky. I told Brian that I wasn't going to take any pictures. It would be a waste. The sky was all wrong. We were more than half the way there, when I told Brian I didn't feel well. I didn't really plan on saying anything, I figured it would pass. He turned around at the first place we could and we came home. This surprised me. I found out that Brian had the same thing I had yesterday on Saturday. Except he also had diarrhea. He figured we should go home instead of to the sticks. He can be very considerate. On the way back, on a two lane extremely winding road, a road where you couldn't see what was coming, with traffic ahead of us, at least four or five vehicles, a double yellow line on the road, we were passed by at least four motorcycles. They were passing two and three vehicles at a time. What on earth are they thinking? Are they in such a hurry that it's worth risking their lives? And what if they ran head on into an oncoming car? I mean, what about the people in the oncoming car? Is this fair to them? Maybe these daredevils on motorcycles don't care about their lives, but what about the lives of others? I was glad when we got off of that stretch of road, because I certainly didn't want to see any really bad accidents. The kicker is, when we got closer to Ramona, these same jerks were all pulled off to the side of the road, talking and joking around. Arrgh!! I really had to pee and Brian pulled into the gas station. I went into the restroom, locking the door behind me. Now, keep in mind, I don't feel good. My stomach is upset, I feel like I'm going to throw up and I don't feel too good at the other end, either. I'm lightheaded. While I'm sitting on the toilet, somebody comes up and tries the door. Repeatedly. At least ten times. I'm thinking "is this person stupid or what? How many times do you need to try a door before you figure out the door is locked, which means somebody is on the other side?" So, I yell out "there's someone in here!!" I finish peeing (I really had to go), washed my hands and walked out. This woman says "You didn't have to screech at me." :-0 I said to her "well, I didn't know how long you were gonna try the door before you figured out there was someone inside." In hindsight I should have yelled out "do you mind if I finish or do you want me to let you in right now?"
Anyway, once we got home, I had to pee again, then I laid down on the couch. I got the Sunday paper and started reading it. The smell of it really bothered me. And I couldn't stop thinking about the CDs I couldn't find. I kept getting up and looking for them. Thinking I had put them in the wrong spot, I checked all of the ones I have. Nope. But I noticed there was another one missing. Donald Fagan. IGY. Man, what's the deal? What did I do with all of these? I kept thinking about it, turning it over and over in my head. Brian had even looked for them with no luck. Finally, not being able to rest because of thinking about those damned CDs, I went back into the exercise room. I looked under the table with the heat press on it. I looked in the very back, moving blankets. I saw a CD carrier. I knew we had two, it just wasn't computing this entire time, since we don't use it very often. I saw what looked to be a black case. I reached back there and pulled it out. Yay!! All of the CDs were in it. Trashy women, the one I've been looking for for weeks was here!! Cool. Feeling better, I went and laid back down on the couch. Brian ate an ice cream sandwich and it looked good. I asked him did he think I could handle one? He said I shouldn't try. We watched the X-Files at six (nice thing about the satellite). I fed the cats at the first commercial. It was a good show, like the old ones. During one commmercial, I asked Brian if he had seen Lonee. He said no. I looked around for her, then went out back and clapped my hands calling "kitties in". Which usually gets Lonee in. And it did. I blocked the garage door for the night, which keeps the cats (Benny) from going back out. Georgie wasn't ready to settle down for the night and Brian asked if he could go out. Sure, I said. So, Brian let both Georgie and Maggie out.
The neighbor dogs were locked up in their house, but had been barking non-stop since we got home. Beagle barks. Every once in a while, Buddy and Junior would start up. Brian said "they're going up tonight". I fed the outfront cats (there's a new one; an orange and white cat, reminded me of Bart, a little, but the orange wasn't as dark as his) then figured I'd get the dogs up and the cats in. Then kick back for the night. I got up to get our barking dogs and got a couple of biscuits (a bribe, if you will) and went out back. Georgie came running into the house. Maggie was up on the bank and I didn't see Benny. Buddy saw me coming out and knew that there was a problem and high tailed it into his doghouse. Junior got half of his biscuit and when Buddy heard the chewing, he came out of the doghouse to get his biscuit. I grabbed both of their collars and walked them to the shop. Except Junior was having none of it. He stopped. The grass was wet. I slipped. Fell. Hurt my arm and my back, which I didn't realize until this morning. My lower back is aching pretty badly. Anyway, I did get both of them in the shop. And Benny also ran in. So, now, I had to get Benny. It took about five minutes before he came to me. Then I carried him into the house. Once in the house, I took a head count. No Maggie. *sigh* I call her, ask Brian if he's seen her since he let her out. Nope. I climb the ladder in the garage and check the rafters. No Maggie. Spit. I go outside, calling her. I go back inside, grab the flashlight and back out I go. The neighbor dogs are still barking. The dogs behind us started to bark. I'm worried, where's Maggie? I open the shop, look in. "Maggie, are you in here?" No answer, but Buddy and Junior say "we want out!!" "NO," I tell them. I just know they'll keep barking. And both of them were limping earlier in the day. There's not much they can do in the shop but lay down. It gives them a chance to rest. With the people behind us letting the puppies out now, Buddy and Junior spend a lot of time down at the back fence, sniffing and running the length of it. Even though they can't see what's on the other side, they can smell and hear what's on the other side. I go back into the house, check Maggie's favorite spots. Don't see her. It's about 8:30 now. I've already shut down the computer, I was so ready to get my blanket and go to sleep. But I know sleep won't come until I find Maggie Xuxa. Brian puts his shoes on. He comes outside, also armed with a flashlight. We check all of the vegetation around the pool. Look in all of the cathouses. Under the pool pump. In the tube. No Maggie. I ask Brian "was the shop door opened?" not remembering if it had been or not. "Yes, I didn't close it when I was done this morning." I knew right then that Maggie was in the shop. We both went in, Brian got the ladder and climbed up into the rafters. I told him I doubted she was up there, there's no way for her to have gotten up there, but he checked anyway. While he was up there, I looked under the Bronco again. And there she was. And she wasn't gonna come to me. So, what we decided to do was to leave the shop door open (I would put the dogs up again) and let her come out when she was ready.
We both went back into the house and Brian went to bed. I watched out the sliding door and saw Maggie walk out of the shop. I went back outside and called her. She ran down by the pool and waited for me. I picked her up and took her back into the house. Then I went back outside and got Buddy and didn't get Junior. But he followed us. Once I was in the shop, I called Junior to me and he came right in. Whew. I went back into the house, turned off lights, grabbed my blanket and took my sweats off and laid back on the couch. It felt good.
When I got out of bed this morning, my back!! Oh, my back hurts. And I know it's from the fall last night. Ah, animals. I wouldn't give them up for anything.
I've decided to put up an email page. With different links for the different types of email I'm sent. I figure that way, it will be much easier for me to handle.
Thursday, March 16, 2000 I started working on the taxes yesterday. The cats are driving me nuts. They just have to be up here on the desk. And Rusty and DeeJay just have to be on my lap. Right now, Rusty is outside. I just couldn't handle it. I would put him down, he'd be right back up. I told him to stay away, even shot him with the water to keep him off of the desk. Didn't bother him. He just came right back up. And the thing is, he won't lay down. He wants to be on me, in my arms, his face in mine. And he still won't lay down, even then. It's really irritating when I'm trying to work. Does he do it when I don't have things that are really important to do? No. Just when I'm really, really busy.
DeeJay ate almost an entire can of Fancy Feast by himself yesterday. He doesn't mind being shut in the bathroom anymore. He likes the peace he gets and the opportunity to eat as slowly as he wants without interference. Of course, Peter is no help. If he sees any opportunity to dash into the bathroom, he's in there. So, I have to pick him up and put him outside the door. He's very quick when he comes in and I have to be careful shutting the door, because I don't want to shut it on him. It's really annoying, but it's hard to be angry with him, because when I pick him up, he just starts purring up a storm...foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood.... He's disappointed when he isn't allowed in.
The other day there was a spot on the weathercam. Brian said it was a bug, because it was moving. We looked at it, watched it and it didn't look like it was moving at all. What a thing to happen. I think I mentioned how long it took to get the camera pointed just right. Anyway, Brian had to leave for a late appointment and I watched that spot. It did move! I watched it until it went behind the hill in the image. It was the sun!! I was watching the sun move down in the sky. Wow!! Pretty cool. I'm worried that it might hurt the camera, but I don't think anything is overheated and when it does get hotter outside, the sun will be in a different position and it will be behind the trees. Yesterday, I could see the sun's reflection in the streambed. This was a bonus. Brian was pretty surprised to hear what it was. And he was glad he didn't have to climb up there and clean off the camera.
I called Oregon Scientific Monday morning about the flat line problem with the weather station. It seems there's a "known issue" with the thermometer/hygro sensor. So, as soon as they get more in stock, they'll be sending me out a new one. Sunday, our low temperature was -3º at 7:33 in the morning. I don't think so.
Well, I thought I had Rusty out of here and I didn't. He came back. I put him down. He started to come back up onto the desk. I picked him up, carried him to the bedroom and put him on the bed. I started down the hallway, him right at my side. I came into the office ahead of him and shut the door. I wish I didn't have to. But he just won't leave me alone. I just went and checked on him and he's in the bathroom waiting for water. Maybe this will be enough for him. I surely hope so.
I guess I should get started with paperwork. First, I'll pay personal bills. Then I'll input business invoices and make copies for Brian. Then, I start on the hated income taxes.
Monday, March 20, 2000 Well, I didn't get much of a start on the taxes. I did find out things wouldn't be as bad as I thought. I really do need to get busy on them, though. It took all day Thursday to do the personal and business bills, but at least those are out of the way. Friday, I did laundry and did a preliminary print out of the profit and loss for last year.
Saturday, I did some work in my little garden out back. I pulled a ton of weeds from around the catnip. I realized that not much else will grow back there. It doesn't really get enough sun to grow alot of things. But the catnip is doing well. I thought that maybe all of the work I did, the bending and stretching would help my back, which still hurts in the morning. Wrong. Yesterday, it was extremely painful to stand up straight after getting out of bed. I took some Exedrin and the pain got better. Brian and I went to Ranchita and I got into the bed of his truck and, using the tripod, took pictures all around me. Then I changed the lens and did it again. When we got home, as usual, we were beat from the drive. We both took naps and then off we went, shopping. I got a little whirling sunflower for my garden, we bought a new bench for it, and I also got some little plastic Cape Cod fence at K-Mart. I'm going to let the grass grow in a little five foot square area and that's where the bench will be. I put the fencing around it. The catnip is to the left of that and I'm going to try my hand a peppers again. I'll put them against the fence that keeps the dogs out of the garden. Hot peppers, jalapeno peppers and bell peppers. I'll also plant a tomato plant there, out of reach of the dogs. And unlike last year, this year I know it will get watered on a regular schedule. Thanks to the timer I got last autumn. I really would like to get a pink flamingo to put in the grassy area. I think it would be cute. I can't put too much stuff in there, though, because it isn't a very big area.
We went to CostCo and their refrigeration units were down. Spit. Most of the stuff on our list was in that section. So, we did see some cute little bunny statues, a three pack and we bought that. I think I might put them in my garden. But, we'll have to see. The catnip will get big and bushy and there's no reason to put something in there that won't be seen.
Last night, after getting the cats in and fed, I kept hearing a cat fight. I walked out of the office and yelled in the general direction of the growling to knock it off. I kept hearing it. I walked into the tv room and said something about it to Brian. He said it was coming from the garage. I went out there and what do I see? Kirby, licking himself, growling. Oh, this isn't good, this isn't good at all. He's blocking again. It hasn't even been a month. He runs up into the rafters when he sees me coming. I got the ladder and tried to follow him as he moved around. Finally, I just gave up and figured he'd come down when he felt like it. I saw him cleaning himself a few times, but not as much as I would have expected. He finally came down and I got him to play "stick" with me. I felt his abdomen at one point and it didn't feel like he had a full bladder. But this happened the last time, too. I watched him pretty closely and played with him quite a bit. It was 8:30 and I wasn't looking forward to taking him to emergency. But he didn't seem to be doing the cleaning thing so much. Could I hope, could I pray (and believe me, I certainly did that, to St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals) that he wasn't blocking again, that he certainly didn't deserve to have to go through this again. This morning, he ate the chicken I put out and when I went into the garage to throw out last night's dishes and open up the blinds, he went outside. I thought Lonee also wanted to go, so I stood by the door, trying to talk her out. She wasn't ready yet. I looked outside the door and saw Kirby squatting. And there was a good sized puddle of urine under him. Now, last year sometime, I know I mentioned that Kirby sprayed and peed one of those plug things out. I think that's what happened last night. He got it out by himself. Not something I would leave up to chance, believe me. But he had quite a urine flow this morning. I started him back on amoxicillan and ammonil. I used the pill popper I ordered after his last bought with blocking. It worked. It worked well. I didn't get bit and the pill went where it was supposed to. An hour later, he ate grass outside and puked everything up, but I'm sure by then the pills had dissolved enough to already be in his system. I did call the vet's this morning to tell them what had happened. I'm waiting for them to call back, to see if there's anything else I should be doing. In the meantime, thank you, St. Francis.
Okay. Now,an update on my mom. She had her last chemotherapy treatment on February 25. We kept waiting for the radiation people to call. When we had seen the doctor back in January, she said that once mom's chemo was through, her doctor would notify the radiation group. And we understood it that they would call mom. Well, last week, they still hadn't called. So, I called them. It seems that mom was supposed to have called them after her treatment was done. Well, that's not how I understood it and I was there. I can see how mom wouldn't have known to call them. I was told that they had to call her doctor, then her doctor should call mom. I didn't mention this to my mom last week, because she was under alot of stress (more about that later), but she asked me this morning if I had heard from them. I told her no, but that I called them last week and suggested that she call her doctor. She did and found out he's gone for the week. Great. So, now back to the waiting mode.
Okay, about mom's stress. I wrote about it in a rant on my "let it out" forum. Here's the link: inconsiderate people. The woman in the post left Saturday and mom has her life and home back. One thing the ten days with a roommate brought home to mom was that she can't live with someone else. It would just be too hard. I kind of think there will be problems in the new home for this woman because she's in so much denial about the problems that tobacco can cause and there's no way you can tell her. Her daughter doesn't allow smoking in her home. And that's where Grandma is going to live. Grandma is a three pack a day smoker. Daughter lives in Minnesota with her husband and two sons. Grandma paid for the house. Now, tell me there aren't going to be some fireworks over smoking. Mom said if Grandma decides to move back here, mom isn't going to allow her in her home with a cigarette. Mom was thoroughly disgusted with this woman by the time she left. She kept telling my mom "cigarettes didn't cause your breast cancer". That's not the point, damnit. The point is it is my mom's house and she doesn't want people smoking in it. The reason mom doesn't want smoke around her isn't the point. It's her home, her rules. But this woman didn't care. All she cared about was herself. And mom doesn't need someone like that around her. *sigh* I'm glad this woman is out of my mom's life.
The vet's office just called. I'm doing the right thing with Kirby. That's good to know.
Wednesday, March 22, 2000 Well, I got a good start on the taxes yesterday. It looks like we're gonna have to pay quite a bit of money. If I hadn't listened to Brian last year and made our estimated payments like I should have, we'd be getting money back. As it is, for federal alone, it looks like we have a penalty of almost $800.00. Because the property was purchased in the last month of the year, there's not a darn thing it does to help offset the taxes we owe. *sigh* Oh, well. My mom said this year to not listen to him and pay like I should. And she's right. This is a sample of a discussion we had in previous years and he started it up again this morning. It's really frustrating because he honestly and truly doesn't understand why it doesn't work the way he thinks it should. Okay. The company needs money. We write a check to the company from our home equity loan. Then, we get money in and pay off the loan, along with the interest. The interest is a deduction. The principal payment is not. He doesn't understand why the principal is not deductable. Because, honey, we didn't pay taxes on that as "income". And we took the deductions for the materials it bought. Say we borrow $10,000.00. We aren't taxed on that as income. We spend that $10,000.00 on job materials so that you can finish the job. You finish the job and you get $20,000.00, which is taxable income. Of that $20,000.00, we take $10,000.00 and pay back the loan. Why should we be able to deduct $10,000.00 twice? Once for the materials and once for loan repayment? Uncle Sam doesn't see it that way. I finally got him to understand this. When he explains how he thinks it is, it makes sense. That's why it's so hard to explain why it's wrong. Anyway, I should be done with them by Friday. Yay.
Kirby is feeling lots better. And believe me, that pill popper is one of the best investments I've made. All I have to do is get his mouth open and push the pill popper in and it's right down his throat. It doesn't hang on his tongue to dissolve and get nasty, so that he starts drooling. We've been playing stick a whole bunch. And he slept on me last night. I worry so much about him. I just watched him poop outside. Seems that part of him is working okay.
When we were at CostCo the other day, Brian picked up some applesauce. I had some last night and let the cats check out what was leftover. Benny likes it. He had a spoonful. Yum!! He's so cool.
I planted the pepper seeds and the tomato seeds yesterday. And I know this year, they'll get watered. *grin* Bet the crop is better than last year. I planted the mint this morning.
My mom just called. The radiation people called and she's to start next Thursday, the 30th. Good. She was happy they called.
Sunday, March 26, 2000 This will be a short entry to explain my continuing absence. Remember a couple of weeks ago, I slipped and hurt my back putting up the dogs to get them to stop barking at the possom? Well, Thursday morning, when I got up, I couldn't walk. The pain started at my right butt cheek and radiated down my right leg. Looking at my book, it seems I have sciatica. It hurts to sit and to stand. I thought it was getting better, but the damn dog Junior wouldn't shut his yap last night and I got up to tell him to stop barking and it seems that all of my laying flat was lost. Tomorrow, I'm going to a doctor to see what we can do about this. I'm bored, I'm lonely, since Brian has been working on a big job in San Diego and has to have part of it finished today. He found a trailer and was gone until almost ten Friday night and didn't get home until almost eight last night. He's trying to do my work as well as his. This isn't fun and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. It hurts, bad.
Thursday, March 30, 2000 Well, it's been a week today since my back went out. It's getting better, slowly. I can at least sleep better, more comfortably. It was so frustrating the first couple of nights, the tossing and turning, trying to find a position where I didn't put weight on my right leg and buttock. It wasn't doable. I actually was laying there and crying because it was so frustrating. And it did hurt alot. Monday morning, Brian called the chiropractor and I've been twice. I have many more trips to go. It seems to be helping. I'm supposed to use an icepack for twenty minutes, then forty minutes off. Right now, I'm feeling a little lightheaded, so I guess it would be a good idea to lie down again. It's amazing what pain can do. I was using my mom's pain killers from her breast surgery, but stopped. They worked at first, but now, they also make me woozy. I don't like that at all. I'm still angry with the dogs because of the barking. Yesterday, I ordered training collars for both of them. These are remote control and when the dogs bark, we can send a little reminder to not. Hopefully, this will help us from having to get out of bed in the middle of the night to shut them up when they are barking at a cat fight or possom.
My mom is taking me to the appointments. I was supposed to be taking her to her radiation therapy, which actually starts next Monday. But I don't dare drive because it's my right leg that is messed up. I've gotten very strong cramps in my calf and that's not a good thing to happen when you have to step on the brake or gas. So, for right now, I'm not driving. I'm not doing much of anything. It's been a week since I've surfed the net and I'm about ready to call it quits this morning because the damned thing is so slow. Most likely connection problems someplace on the backbone, but it's taking sites forever to load. Makes me crazy.
I've been sleeping on the couch. Brian put a board under the cushions to give me more support. The doctor said to not sit on couches and chairs that I sink into. I guess nobody should, because it's not good support for the back. Last night, I got up in the middle of the night to pee and when I came back, Pepper was laying in the middle of my "bed". When I went to move her, I found out by stepping on his head, that Benny had moved to a position on the floor in front of the couch. I moved Pepper and then I had to find Benny and make sure he was okay. Luckily, I didn't put my full weight down when I felt that fur, I barely stepped down, but I was really scared he was hurt. And then I got really angry at the cats for bugging me on the couch and laying in my spot. I laid there with the squirt bottle next to me, shooting any cat who dared come near. I hate this. I want to go back to bed, but the bed is too high and the mattress too soft. We've been talking about getting a new mattress for years now. We'll be doing just that come Saturday.
Yesterday, I got an email to fill out a survey and I would be entered to win a robotic thingy for a camera. This thing would allow me to adjust the camera's view. I told Brian about it this morning. I went to the website and he was jazzed about it. He told me to order one, along with the power adaptor and a twenty foot cable. Surprised the heck out of me.
And he got his trailer. It's not new, it's a used one. But it's nice. And it was a good price. It even has a room that goes out to make more room. The dining room and living room. I like it and Brian is happy.
Poor Brian has been having to do all of the stuff I can't. Like cleaning the litter boxes. I know he doesn't like doing it. He said the other night "that's your job". I said "don't you think I'd love to be doing that right now instead of having to remind you?" He's been doing laundry and feeding the cats and the dogs, doing the dishes, just being a great help.
When I fed the outfront cats last night, I noticed that Meezer was having a really bad time walking on one of his front paws. Monday morning, when Brian took me to the doctor, I noticed a bunch of blood on the walkway in front of the house. I hope Meezer is okay. He was really reluctant to walk up to me to eat last night. Totally unlike him. Poor guy. It looks like Cleo had her kittens or miscarried. She has no noticible teats and no belly bulge. I mentioned that maybe she had been trapped and spayed. It's possible that we just can't see it if she was. We don't really get a good look at her belly. And I know the neighbor was talking about it a couple of weeks ago.
Well, I guess I'll go do a little icing on the back, then start catching up on paperwork. Never did finish the taxes.
lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.
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