BiddiesInMyBrain

I'm Officially Insane

I've attended or taught eight classes, had five doctor or vet appointments, and five other appointments this week... it's been insane. It may sound like no biggie to some of you, but some of these appointments were three hours long - and the majority were between an hour and a half and two hours. Not counting travel time.

Lots to study. Am writing a biography of Rufus King for one class, mainly from primary sources, and doing dissertation research... and lots of work for the stats class. And it's a short week this week. Further, I am on three committees, and two of them met this week... and I filled in on another on Friday pending elections for someone to fill the spot. It's just been crazy. Next week's not much better - all my time keeps getting filled, and not with homework. I've got to call a stop to it. Now.

And, I was up until six this morning working on readying my new laptop for use today - I needed to be up and running first thing today since I have SO MUCH to get done today and tomorrow. Short night's sleep. But I got everything transferred from the old laptop to the new one just fine and am pretty well ready to back up everything to the backup drive and get the old laptop ready for Crash. But not today.

Hobbes-kitty had a low blood sugar ep yesterday - had to get Karo syrup on his paw for him to lick to stop him from shaking so much and reduce his insulin intake. He's fine now, but we watch him closely. We've finally found a variety of moist food he likes (thank goodness) and he mioauws when he wants food, so that helps, too. The flip side of this? Jen the greyhound is terribly, terribly jealous of all the attention his arch-enemy has been getting and is acting out with her toilet habits. If it's not one thing! Then, we had a trauma taking Hobbes' blood sugar last night... took TWELVE TRIES. His pads just don't want to bleed for us... and I think the styluses (stylii?) we have are too thin or not long enough - we just couldn't get a good sample. Need to ask the vet what she uses. However, the really heartbreaking part is that Hobbes was so terribly patient - just let us poke away at him without protest (unlike the hissing, spitting, clawing, biting hellion he is over at the clinic). And then when we let him go, he purred and rubbed up against us. All was forgiven. ::heart breaks:: Sweet boy. Oh, and his blood sugar was 140 after all that. Not the 364 at the clinic the day before. ::phew::

Made homemade from scratch split pea soup last night. Just had a hankering for it - and have ever since Crash bought the spiral smoked ham a couple months ago. It's been sitting in the freezer since then, just staring at me, and a couple weeks ago we glazed it and cut it up into manageble pieces, and froze it again. I pulled down three bage of it, including the hock, a couple of days ago and made a gallon and a half of soup last night. It's divine. I *love* split pea soup, even in the summertime. Yum.

There's not much else going on... will be reading until late into the night tonight - need to pick up an obscure book from the university library tonight, and then will really be off to the races. So much to do. And truly - so little time to do it.

Update on Hobbes the Cat

Hobbes-kitty still has very high blood sugar and is still passing blood clots in his urine (he's got a catheter since the clots are still pretty large and he's quite uncomfortable), so he is staying another night at the animal hospital.

We went over to snuggle him a little bit ago, and when we first got there he looked absolutely miserable - curled up in the very back of the roomy cage which they have all fixed up with a nice crocheted bankie and everything, just looking dejected and forgotten. They said he has been just horrible when they have had to handle him, trying to chew them and claw them to pieces, but that was expected - he's simply nasty when it comes to people other than the two of us - he's very, very insecure and very, very shy and doesn't do well outside of his own little world.

With us? He's just perfect and the best companion around. They couldn't believe what a sweetheart he was with us while we were there. Totally different cat. We got him purring and miaouwing and head-butting us... just loving on us like crazy (as we were on him). But still, very, very sick - clearly not himself.

Thank you so much for the e-mails and the comments - I appreciate them all. Hobbes is far from being out of the woods, but he is improving - and we are at least able to love on him as much as we are able at this point, and it clearly makes a difference when we are there. And you make a difference when we can't be there.

Thank you again.

Hobbes the Cat

I haven't blogged about this over the weekend because, well, I didn't want to make this a real worry. But.

We have a very, very dear kitty cat named Hobbes. He's clearly been sick over the weekend...and the latest news is that Hobbes has a horrible urinary tract infection ... and diabetes.

He is staying the night at the animal hospital - he is one very, very sick kitty - and we will see the doc tomorrow for a prognosis. I kinda get the impression he's a bit touch and go at this point.

::sigh:: For a 15-year-old cat he's been doing really, really well. But this is *not* good news.

Poor, sweet Hobbes. He sleeps on my body pillow, curled up against my tummy. I am wondering if his absence is part of the reason I haven't been sleeping very well the past three nights while he has been sequestered in the bathroom. It could very well be. He's a big part of my life... I held him for the very first time when he was 45 minutes old. I've never *not* been a part of his life.

I am going to have to break it to Crash when he comes home in the next forty-five minutes. He adores Hobbes and has always been his champion, no matter what. This is going to be really, really tough on him.

We're going to go over to the clinic to snuggle on Hobbes in a little while, after Crash gets home. I think we need to do that, and the clinic encouraged it a lot. A whole lot.

Sweet, sweet Hobbes.

Home Again Home Again

Jiggety Jig!

We got home yesterday, about 5:15 - easy traffic across the I-40 bridge coming into Memphis, though we were a little unnerved by all the huge fires in eastern Arkansas. No clue what they were doing, but we saw at least 10 HUGE fires start and then get put out as we were driving from Little Rock to the state line. So weird. Couldn't figure it out - and nothing on the radio, so it must have been something business-as-usual - but what?

Came home and found everything in order - except that one of the burners on the stove had been accidentally jiggled in the morning when our house sitter came over and gas had been seeping into the house all day - freaked us out, but no harm done, thankfully. Took a good airing out, but all is well, and the kitties are just fine.

Turned in someone for driving erratically in a company van in western Arkansas, too... they had a "How Am I Driving?" sticker on the back of the van, so we told the folks at the 800 number just how they were doing! We've never done that before, and it was a little unnerving - Crash actually called it in, but it just had to be done - this woman was nuts. Driving 69 in a 70 - then 80 - then right on our butt (within a car length or two) for a mile or two - then slamming on her brakes and swerving out into the passing lane to pass us doing 80 - and doing the same with semis and other cars. For 25 or 30 miles. We finally had a opportunity to get the number down just before she got off the interstate. Hope she gets the book thrown at her.

The earache has subsided a lot, but I still went to the doc today - and she is sending me to an ENT on Friday... this has become chronic and must be dealt with by a specialist (another one???) at this point. Sinus infections and ear infections for six weeks straight? No thank you. We'll see what the ENT says and go from there. Can't believe the number of specialists I am collecting.

ANYWAY... about the trip! It was INCREDIBLE!! Two train rides (yes, I will get the pics up tonight or tomorrow - I took more than 250 and it will take a while to get through all of them), fantastic food (True Grits AKA the Shrine to John Wayne... and the SLV Brewing Company, both in Alamosa, CO, serve terrific food, and the home-cooked meals at Dad's were FANTASTIC), unparalleled company (gotta love my dad and stepmom, and my uncle)... and the wildlife. Saw deer, elk, TWO BEARS (I only saw one - a yearling - and saw it within about 20 feet - YIKES - Crash saw the second, larger one, from about a 1/4 mile), bighorn sheep, antelope, golden hawks, eagles... just incredible. But I am very tired - drove all but three hours of the 19 home - and with the earache, I am just beat. As I said, it will take me some time to get all this up on the website - and I will not be posting anywhere near all of them - just some select few of them - but you will get the idea. This was perhaps the most incredible trip I have taken in the past decade... really amazing.

It's good to be home to the kitties and Jenny, though. And my own bed and soft, soft sheets. But I surely do miss the mountains something awful. Did you know it was in the 40s at night and in the 70s during the day where we were? ::poking at all y'all who've been suffering through the nineties::. Yeah. But I'm in the land of the double and triple digits now too, and am looking back wistfully on the weather, the scenery and the company. What a treat.

More later.

ADDENDUM: Forgot to mention the hummingbirds - probably between 18-23 at the feeders at the house, dining on a 2:1 sugar:water ratio. They were going through 8 cups of sugar/water mix every DAY AND A HALF when we left, and that wasn't even peak season. WOW. And so many different colors and varieties of hummingbirds up there. Just beautiful.

Hello!

Having an incredible time, but heading home tomorrow ::pout:: I will miss the mountains. Saw a bear today, and bighorn sheep yesterday. :::grin::: Love it.

Just haven't had a lot of time to blog, but have tons of pics and will post them when we get home. The train trip? Beyond wonderful... it really is the train trip to measure all steam train trips against. Fantastic! And lots of pics. LOTS AND LOTS. I think I took 200, so there are plenty to choose from.

Figured out the car trouble today - the (plastic) mounts holding the air filter in place are broken and will need to be replaced when we get home. Not happy. We can pop the thing in place but in the meantime, the sensor doesn't like it. The oil leak? A filter that needed tightening. Done.

Beyond that, I have had a relapse of the ear/sinus infection, but the doc gave me a round of antibiotics and antibiotic eardrops and painkillers before I left home three weeks ago thinking this might just happen again, so I will see her on Wednesday and figure out where to go from here. I'm feeling much better tonight than I was feeling last night.

We're planning on making it to Ok City tomorrow and Memphis on Monday. ::smile:: It's been a terrific trip.

Colorado Photoblogging

I've been remiss - we've been having a lovely time, but I haven't been taking the loads of pictures I had been planning on. We haven't gotten out a lot - the car is having issues and we need to get it into the shop, but tomorrow we will be heading deep into the mountains (in Dad's truck) and will have lots of opportunities to take lots of pics. We may be delaying the return home by a day just to get the car looked at, but we think it's an oil leak and nothing major - I had the oil changed just before we left home, and the stuff on the driveway appears to be oil... and is in the right place for a filter problem. Anyway, I hope that's all it is.

Back to the photos. The two random inside pics of a pretty day were taken on Sunday from the top of Dad's house looking over the western mountains... Crash and I had a quiet evening with wine, fruit and cheese up there and enjoyed the sunset and a young golden hawk with practically iridescent wings flying overhead - so beautiful. Almost made me cry it was so stunning. Lots of storms to the north of us, but a stunning sunset to the the southwest.

Yesterday was cold and very windy. I went into town (about 2500 feet lower in elevation) and hit a cloud bank you wouldn't believe. Could hardly see my hand before my face, but once I got up here, there were no problems seeing - clear skies; mostly sunny though very, very windy.

Today, however, we had a gentle, sweet picnic at the Rampart Reservoir in Teller El Paso County and took some pictures there, which are on the Colorado '08 photo album. It's been hazy and stormy here in the afternoons and the picture taking opportunities haven't been great even with good filters... but I did get some decent pics. I like the one of the thunderstorm building over the hills and the one of Crash in front of Pike's Peak.

The hummingbirds are going through a mix of 8 cups water/4 cups sugar every day and a half out of three feeders. No red dye, just pure sugar water and my, are they are greedy suckers - and it's not even peak season yet; at peak season Dad will be going through that amount of sugar water every day. These birds are beautiful, too - there are ruby throated ones, green ones, tan ones, ones with black bands around their necks and more... just a stunning array. I sit and watch them for half an hour or more at a time sometimes, and their communications are as complex as their pecking order - just amazing little creatures.

Crash has been taking long hikes every night - LONG hikes - sometimes we don't see him for hours, and it gets me to fussing, but he is enjoying playing out in the valley and into the crevasses and ravines. He has to be careful, though - the elk have very young ones and they are in the woods down in the valleys, and they will kill if anything inadvertently comes between them and their young.

Wildflowers are just now really coming out - hope to have some new pics of them soon. We'll see what's in the high country and further south. With the late Spring, things are terribly delayed. Usually we're here a little later in the year - early-to-mid-July - and everything is really in season or just past, but this year we're almost a half month too early and maybe more with the late snowstorms. The last snow here at Dad's was about two weeks ago and it has thrown things wildly out of whack. But, like I said, we'll see. The columbine and all may really be popping with the snow runoff just hitting in the high country. Will let you know when we return on Friday night or Saturday.

Speaking of... there will be radio silence for the next several days while we travel down to Antonito, CO / Chama, NM with the family - I am traveling very, very light and will not have the computer with me, but will have all the camera equipment, so never fear - there will be lots of pics. LOTS.

Anyway, all is well (except the car) and I am terribly, terrifically happy. Lots to do when we get home, but I am not thinking too much about it at the moment. Too much wonderful stuff happening.

::smile::

Sign me,

Delirious in Colorado

ADDENDUM: Added two sunset photos from tonight.

THIS is the Kind of Stuff I Put Up With... No, Really!

Thanks, Ann, for passing this gem along: Modern Humanist It's a "response" to a very poorly, yet creatively written, term paper. It might even outdo our President Henry from last semester...

Actually, Crash did the putting-up-with all day today.. I was crabby after chuch, at Costco, when we got home.... and until I went to bed for a nap. Got up and everything was fine, but dang... cranky is as cranky does.

Went through my entire closet, my tops drawer, my three drawers of slacks, shorts and capris (yes, I have an entire drawer of capris. How did that happen??) - and got rid of a LOT. GOODWILL! In the meantime, I discovered that some of my favorite clothes - clothes I really couldn't bear to be rid of (I bought a lot of them when I was up in Ohio taking care of my grandma when she broke her hip in 1999 and they fit for all of six months - some gorgeous stuff), but were too small the past several years - now fit beautifully. I have gotten rid of so many clothes the past two summers - all the 2x and 3x - including suits and dresses - lots of sweatshirts, slacks that are now oversize by five or six sizes.. the list goes on and on. Anyway we dropped off one bag yesterday, and have another bag for tomorrow. And if anything, these clothes are nicer than most of last summer's goodies; these are the ones I had saved for "just in case I gained the weight back," so they are in great shape and in materials I love. Ahhh, let someone have a go at them!

Suitcase is packed (mostly) and the miscellaneous loose ends I need to tie up in the next two days don't seem too onerous. Had to pack the suitcase to last me three weeks and three different climate zones. It's going to be interesting - and it's a lot more than I wanted to bring! But, I got all the clothes into one suitcase, and the toiletries into a bag I use just for that purpose... and have my black messenger bag filled and at the ready. All that remains is to put in the loose bathroom stuff I use every day into the toiletries bag on Wednesday morning. Am finally looking forward to getting up to Louisville, now that I have a couple days to think about it and rest a little before the chaos hits. Then it's scoot back here the following Wednesday (arriving early Thursday - early enough to catch a few hours' sleep, I hope) then head out for Colorado. Whee! Mustn't forget the fresh spearmint, peppermint and rosemary from our garden. They won't let me in the house in Colorado without them. LOL

Tomorrow? I have to go to the tire and service place to have the car checked to make sure all is well for the trip. Then I am going to vacuum, wash and wax it. Then come home and take a nap since I am up this late and need to be up early early tomorrow. Hope to help clean the house some, too - like mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, etc... - to help Crash while I am gone, and to help him leave the house neat when I come get him next week; all the way around this takes a lot of burden off him, as he already has a Honey-Do list that is quite lengthy.

Had a terrific time in services this morning - really terrific - great sermon (yay Rev Bill!) and the music? We were *ON* today. This was the second-to-last Sunday for our Director of Music and we went all out trying to show him what we have learned while we have been under his tutelage. He is incredible, as is his wife, and we will miss them dearly. FTR, it was after the postlude that I really started getting crabby. Hungry and tired - and coming down from an incredible musical high - was not a good combo.

I am afraid that Sophia the outdoor kitty appears to have met with an accident... that, or some kind soul has adopted her, for she is gone. She has been gone for several days now, and every morning we open the door, hoping against hope she will be there, but no luck. Such a sweet girl. My heart is just a little bit broken over this.

Not much else to report - I think this is enough for one sitting! Will start posting a travelogue when I get up and running with the trips (no pics for the first part of the trip, though; I am not taking camera equipment to Louisville).

I feel terrific tonight, and wish all my days were like this. ::smile::

Meet Sophia

I don't think I have introduced her before, but this is our "new" outdoor kitty, Sophia, who adopted us early in the Spring. A friend of ours, who is currently visiting Turkey and the Middle East, named her, and I'll bet at least some of you will get the reference if I tell you I greet her every day with a hearty "Hiya, Sophia!!" and a chuckle. ::grin::

This is the sweetest kitty... she helps with the gardening, the planting of new grass seed, the eating of kitty food, and with casual and kind greetings at the front door. I get *really* freaked out if she is not around when I come to the door and call her - but, as Ms Kitty says, I am learning to calm my fear and put it in a good place while Sophia goes about her own day, being independent and doing her own things. I'm sure I am not the only sucker, er, caretaker who gives her food and water and lots of loving... but she seems to spend most of her time at our house.

And, in honor of Ms Sophia, here is a redux of my favorite Cat Haiku...

You never feed me.
Perhaps I'll sleep on your face.
That will show you.

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.

I need a new toy.
Tail of black dog keeps good time.
Pounce! good dog! good dog!

The rule for today.
Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
New rule tomorrow.

In deep sleep hear sound
Cat vomit hairball somewhere.
Will find in morning.

Grace personified
I leap into the window
I meant to do that

Blur of motion, then-
Silence, me, a paper bag
What is so funny?

The mighty hunter
Returns with gifts of plump birds
Your foot just squashed one.

You're always typing
Well, let's see you ignore my
Sitting on your hands.

My small cardboard box
You cannot see me if I
Can just hide my head.

Terrible battle
I fought for hours. Come and see!
What's a "term paper"?

Kitty likes plastic
Confuses for litter box
Don't leave tarp around

Small brave carnivores
Kill pine cones and mosquitoes
Fear vacuum cleaner

Want to trim my claws
Don't even think about it!
My yelps will wake the dead

I want to be close
To you. Can I fit my head
inside your armpit?

Wanna go outside.
Oh, no! Help! I got outside!
Let me back inside!

Oh no! Big One
has been trapped by newspaper.
Cat to the rescue!

Humans are so strange.
Mine lies still in the bed, then screams!
My claws aren't that sharp....

Cats meow out of angst
"Thumbs! If only we had thumbs!
We could break so much"

Litter box not there
You must have moved it again
I'll crap in the sink

The Big Ones snore now
Every room is dark and cold
time for "Cup Hockey"

We're almost equals
I purr to show I love you
Want to smell my butt.

Gently Rocking Myself in Peace

I started out the day in kind of a furor, but right now I feel very much at peace and kind of zen-like, and while I am not gloriously happy, there is sort of a gentle calm around here that is keeping the world at bay.

Crash is sitting here reading for a few minutes in between school and teaching before he goes to book club tonight, and the kitties and dog are all softly shnuffling and asleep - including Boots who is warming my neck and purring quietly.

I've gotten a lot done today even though I was able to sleep in - the HVAC folks couldn't work in the pouring rain today, so I got a morning reprieve - and I went to a lovely lunch with friends of mine... but still, it was a lot of zoom zoom zoom there for a while...

Now? I am going to take a short nap when Crash leaves, then work my way into the homework I have sitting here in a nice neat pile. It shouldn't be too bad... but while I am feeling zen is probably a good time to look at it; when I am wound up is not.

It'll be nice to curl in with the kitties, though. They have the right idea about all that right now.

::languid smile::

New Photo Album

It's short, but I have put up a new photo album: April 2008 At Home Thought you might like to see it.