How to Make a Momma Proud...

 I do NOT ...

 ... know why I am soo proud of my kitties right now! 

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Sunday Snippets

I missed the Nascar race last night, thanks to Comcast's messing up my account and me losing my temper and cancelling my Preferred channels, down to Basic.  Who knew that would leave me with only 30 channels??? Sheesh.  I hate those promotional deals they get to suck you in, and when the promotion is over, it's waaaayyy more expensive then what it was supposed to be.  I remember specifically that it was spose to be under 75 bucks, and I missed the notice (if there actually was one) that said the promotion was over.  $139.00 a month, here it was! 

My neighbor is singing along with his music.  I find it amusing and comforting.  I love happiness.  And hahaha, just as I typed that - another neighbor is screaming at somebody.  Something about "good" people don't live in filth.  The neighbor below me must be smoking pot.  Secondary high, anyone? 

Annie and I went down to the courtyard to do her bizness this morning cause I didn't want to get distracted by taking her out in the world, which tends to happen every time I go out.  I was in the rare mood to clean up my apartment.  When we were down there, my suspicions were confirmed.  It IS my cat who is meowing his fool head off.  Evidently, he can hear me and Annie playing ball in the courtyard.


My hands are hurting today.  I finally got my Lyrica prescription sorted out correctly.  It took my Neurologist a couple times to rewrite the script from 60 pills to 90, so that the pharmacy could get Medicare to pay for it.  The one "complaint" I have with the medical care here is that I have to deal with doctors in training.  My Neuro is a resident and so, moved on to something else.  The doctor taking her place says there's no notes in my chart regarding another MRI on my spine.  I have the prescription for the Ativan for it, cause I get just a little freaked out.  He was going to get in touch with her, but I haven't heard anything for a month.  I'm spose to have another appointment for the spinal tap results, but again, the ball has been dropped because of the switch in doctors.  I'm not really complaining - it just requires my having to make follow-up phone calls, which I HATE to do. 

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A word from the wise, learned hard.  I used to leave dry food out all the time for my cats.  Barf seemed to be eating the majority of it, cause he was gaining weight, and I never saw Hiney at the dish.  I read something online about feeding them only twice a day, and stop the free-feeding.  So they've been getting canned wet food, (and I add water, cause most cats don't drink enough water) in the morning, and a quarter of a cup of dry food in the evening.

By doing this, much to my happiness, it stopped Barf's incessant meowing all day.  Now he only meows twice a day - when it's morning feed and evening feed.  They have their own spot in the apartment and their own dish.  Now I know who's eating what and how much, and rarely do I see either at the other's dish. 

Why having constant dry food in their dish made Barf meow all freaking day long, but now, NOT having it except in the evening, he's NOT meowing all day long... I have no idea.  I guess I'm not that wise after all.

TTFN
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Busy busy busy

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Wow.  My life just got complicated.

The results of my brain, neck, and spine MRI did not show any plaques.  The last neurologist in Idaho Falls was not convinced it was MS.  My current one feels the same.  I'm atypical because I have the numbness on both sides of my body, and the pain is constant, on both sides.  We've decided no more of the big gun meds (shots) until more tests are done.   Another nerve conduction study will be done in June.  I gave blood yesterday for more extensive lab tests.  Do another one tomorrow after fasting.  Then no more doctors until June.  Except for trying to get the wheelchair, which is proving difficult.  No one seems to know HOW to get one!  I may resort to the Scooter Store after all.

One good thing - she upped my Lyrica, which was the main painkiller.  In Idaho, my dose had reached it's maximum, but down here, I'll allowed another 200mg's, so I am so happy not to have to add something new, when I know more Lyrica will help.

I've been reminded how much stress affects me, cause I've been going thru a friendship gone Mean Girl, and for a couple of days, I could barely make it halfway thru the dog park.  Who am I kidding - I only was able to do half of it.  Thank goodness Annie loves to chase the ball and that I have a Chuckit, otherwise she wouldn't get enough exercise.  

I've got a baby shower to go to in Idaho Falls on March 24th, and house-dog sitting to do in Idaho Falls on March 30th thru April 4th, so I'll just stay in IF that whole week and a half to avoid flying back and forth.

Then on April 10th, there is a parole hearing for the guy who murdered my brother, Dan, in Soledad, which in near Los Angelos, I think.  I've never gone to one before.  His daughter, Heather, has gone to two of them.  His sentence was 19 years to life, and this is the 19th year, so it's an important one to get him to have to stay longer.  I'll be taking the bus or the train, and will get to see my niece, whom I haven't seen since she was just a wee one. 

If you knew Dan/Danny, and would like to write something for the parole hearing, email it to me, and I'll make sure it gets there. 

It would be really nice to get the wheelchair in time for all this traveling.

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NaBloPoMo, can I have a pass please?

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Dear NaBloPoMo,

Can I just say that real life gets in the way of blogging every day?

Today's plan was simple really.  I thought it even justified wearing earrings.  Kitty Cat earrings.

Hmmm....Hiney seems to be interested in something, doesn't he?  Oh, and it's very, very bright.

This is what Hiney's looking at.  He's doing the math in his head.  If Annie wears a large, and these look much smaller, and the two little dogs aren't here anymore... 

Crap, he says.  Wow, I say, the red one fits on the first try!  He then zoomed across the room to the cat tree.

Up to the second platform.

And then the third.

Finally, he slows down.  Only to glare at me.

Perhaps he can rub it off?  I'd feel bad for him except for the part where I can't stop laughing. 

Suddenly, he notices his brother, in the same fix, only his harness is black and hard to see. I have to say, this is one of the best pictures I've taken of Hiney.  The yellow sunflowers, the red harness finally give him some definition and shape instead of the black blob that I could never get to show up.

.












Somehow I managed to tape during the commercial I hate the most.




And this is where it gets a bit ... tiring.  My knees... the shaking... the weakness.  Damn MS.

Hiney seems to have completely forgotten about his harness.  He's mesmerized by Barf and his...

intensity.

"Seriously?" he says.  He'd never go all Linda Blair Exorcist on me. 

Linda Blair Exorcist on you".

Once he got down from the cat tree, he stopped moving.  He may not have gone Linda Blair on me, but he certainly did a good impression of dead weight.

When playing with the Photoshop, when I came across these "bars", it suddenly seemed appropriate. I felt oddly safer.

I woke up at 8am in order to get to Pet Express by 10am.  At the point of getting Barf into his crate, it was 9:30am, and someone was sweaty.  It was 55 degrees and the windows were wide open, yet, someone was over-heated.  Damn Cats.

At last, ready to head out the door, at 9:50am.  Pretty darn pleased with myself, I might add, cause now I wouldn't have to go twice, taking one cat at a time.

Hmmmm... there seems to be a black shapeless blob that wasn't there before...

Houston, we have a problem.

Finally, we're out the door.  Over one block, with one yowling cat, and the other scratching the hell out of the cardboard box. Up two more blocks and I'm finally cooling down. 

The lady there in the distance said she heard me coming a block away and thought I had a very upset child on the bike behind me. 

For 6 1/2 months, the poor darlings have been sequestered in a tiny, 2 room studio apartment, with a foot-wide balcony shelf outside.  Today, I tied them up in harnesses, shoved them into boxes, and took them outside.  Exposed them to cars honking, street cars screeching, and sparking above our heads, strange dogs walking by and people spouting religious dogma on two of the corners. 

It's for their own good!  But what in the world did I think Annie needed to come along?  Turns out she thinks the cats are her responsibility and to say she was in a bit of a concerned tizzy would be an understatement. 

Standing in line.  The dog with the shiny eyes had just peed 2 quarts, starting with the corner of Barf's crate.  Fun times!

I don't have a picture of Barf getting his shots, because my hands were needed to hold him down.  The vet tech said most cats were sharp and quick with their claws.  Barf was more like an octopus, using all his limbs to PUSH her hands off him, without his claws, but it seemed like he had 8 feet instead of just four.

It poured down rain on the way home.  That's all I have to say about that.  

This is what I'm going to do for the rest of the day. 

That is all. 

Updated:  Four hours later, I woke up from a nap to find all is forgiven.  Or maybe it's just that they love Annie more than me now.
~

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Brotherly Love in San Francisco

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Why do I feel the need for a cigarette?

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