Yesterday I restocked my fridge with food. I was out of everything...
In the process I got some kale. I think maybe I've had small amounts in a fall beef stew my mom used to make when we were kids, but I don't remember for sure. I don't think I have ever had it as an adult. I have a good recipe for pasta with sauteed greens, garlic, lemon zest, green olives, and feta cheese. We made this last week with spinach which was very good, but I also read a bunch of reviews where folks had used arugula and kale in it for the extra flavor. I love arugula...and kale is supposed to be really, really good for you. So...thought I'd give it a shot! We did chicken with it last time. I might do that or I might do it with the salmon instead.
The fish department had wild caught Alaskan salmon on sale...so I bought two nice chunks of that. Usually all I see there is the nasty farmed Atlantic stuff, so I told the butcher/fish guy how happy I was to see the Alaskan stuff there and that I hope they continue to keep it in stock.
Wednesday is going to be stir-fry night. Chicken with veggies and rice. Nothing too exciting, but hopefully tasty!
Thursday I am thinking kabobs... probably steak, maybe chicken. I am not sure yet.
Beyond that, I have no idea. I figure planning out three days is pretty good for me. Tonight I am going to make some chicken soft tacos. Mmmmm.
I never did complete the cleaning rampage. I didn't even get the vacuuming done. I managed to drag myself to the grocery store to get some shopping done and that was about it.
Neil took me to go see the Drive-By Truckers on Friday...unfortunately, it has been ages since I have been to a venue that allowed smoking and did not fare well. Starting with a migraine-esque headache which progressed into some severe nausea. We ended up leaving early which was too bad, because aside from a sound guy who didn't seem to have a clue as to what he was doing, the show was really fun.
The night before (Thursday night), we went out to see our friend's band, South 85, play at a local BBQ eatery that has weekly bike nights. That was tons of fun...they played out on the patio area and although rain threatened, it held off for the night. It was great getting to see Kathy and the bunch. I wish we could do it more often!
Those were really the highlights of the weekend...yesterday I spent most of the day napping and trying to rid myself of the ill smoke effects from the night before. Dinner at Neil's with friends was lots of fun too - Neil is a fabulous chef and we all ate like kings and queens.
Today was spent with more sleeping. I have been in a funk again for awhile now and have been fighting off it getting worse, but I feel like I am losing the battle. I am struggling with some personal stuff that I am not really ready to spill out here, but I can summarize it by saying I feel stuck between a huge rock and a really, really hard place. Most days I feel like my life is an afterthought...it is what happens when there is nothing else better to do. The trip home will do me good, just to get away from things for a little while and focus on something else. Though, it will have its own challenges too. As excited as I am for my sister (and as cute and sweet as my new nephew is) I am also having a hard time knowing how I will handle things when I am face to face with them.
Right now I should go to bed...though, my sleep cycles are all sorts of screwed up. I will probably sleep for a couple hours and then be up again. Who knows, maybe I will get lucky and sleep through 'til morning.
Well, either the trip to the vet itself, or the fact that he is feeling better, or some combination of things has let OP decide that this isn't such a bad place to live and that it is indeed his home.
Last night I woke up around 3am (not unusual for me these days) to find OP snuggled up between Moo and me. Apparently Moo is not so scary when she is sleeping. LOL Then later this morning I woke to find him snuggled up under my arm with his head under my chin.
He still retreats to safety when the dogs are rough housing, but I can't blame him...I usually do the same! But other than that, it seems that we have finally settled out of being scared all the time. YAY!
Today I should continue with my house cleaning rampage...maybe later. At the very least I need to get the rest of the house vacuumed. Right now I need some coffee and some Excedrin.
Brand new little smushy faced Caleb. His official weight was 9 pounds even and 20 inches long. He must come from our gene pool - just look at that serious scowl on his face! None of us like our rest time interrupted. LOL
Unrelated news - OP is doing wonderfully. The anti-inflammatory drugs worked like magic. He has been out and about like he owns the house. He even slept with us last night! Apparently Neil's CPAP machine doesn't scare him. I am hoping he will come visit me again tonight...Neil won't be here which means Moo will probably be on the bed. That might keep him away - we'll see!
Caleb Drago Kalafatich was born this morning...weighing in at over 9 pounds and around 21" long. (I will get an exact weight later.)
My sister ended up having a c-section after discovering yesterday that she had still not even begun to dilate. Rather than wait over the weekend, they decided to try to get scheduled for today. Her appointment was for 8am Pacific, but due to some issues getting the epidural to work, the surgery was delayed almost an hour. I don't know what his official birth time is yet.
Mom and baby are both doing fine. Mom was a little sick from the anesthetics (I remembering her having similar problems after her knee surgery back in high school) and was being kept for observation for a few hours before they would allow visitors.
I get to go home the week after next to meet him and see my family - I can't wait!!! There will be lots of photos to come...
Also - I think it is darn cool that Caleb's birthday is the day after his momma's...Aug 27th and 28th...just like my birthday is the day after my momma's (Feb 27th and 28th). Just different months!
I ended up taking OP to the vet this morning...I was so worried by his 'gimping' and old cat walk. I was afraid he might have hurt his back. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case. The vet says his right knee is a little swollen and his paws may be somewhat bruised - it was hard to tell if he was complaining because they hurt or just because the vet was playing with his feet and he was scared. (He has never complained before when I have played with his feet.)
We got some anti-inflammatory stuff to give him over the next couple days that should help ease some of his discomfort and the vet says he should heal up fine. If for some reason he doesn't seem to be getting any better in another week or so, to bring him back in and they will x-ray his back to make sure he didn't slip a disc. Gah! He WILL be better before then.
He also got his rabies and distemper vaccinations today so he is a little miffed at me over the whole vet trip. He is currently residing under the guest bed and refuses to come out. I think he will later, though, when it is time for dinner/canned food. :)
Well, I am partially done reorganizing the office and guest room closets...which has lead to needing to reorganize the living room linen and coat closets. Eventually I will tackle the master bedroom closets which is why I needed to clean out the guest room closet - I need room for out of season and/or "skinny Anne" clothes storage. And really, Neil needs more room to put things away here. After three years here, I figure I ought to make him some. :)
Speaking of...I have owned/lived in my house just over three years now...August 12th or 13th. I can't remember! LOL I need to go take a 3 year photo of the front of the place. I am trying to chronicle how it changes over the years I am here.
I also finished painting the master bath today (the ceiling still hadn't been done). Once it dries overnight, I can get the bath put back together and the master suite will be done! OK, I would really classify it as a suite, but it sounds cooler that way. Unfortunately, in the process of painting, I forgot to pull up the fabric blinds over the bathtub and ended up dropping the paint roller on them. They are white (of course) and the paint is a nice, dark golden brown. For now we will just have to live with the 'modern art' in there...but it has gotten the wheels in my head turning. The frugal thing to do (and what I will do for now) is to simply get some new blinds (they were from Costco and incredibly inexpensive)...I will go for a darker color because I wasn't digging the stark white in there now that everything is painted dark. However, eventually, I would like to replace that window with some cool privacy glass - if and when I ever do this, I also want to do the sidelights on either side of the front door...and maybe the transom over the top too. The curtains at the front door are getting pretty ragged looking - snagged from kitty claws and dirty from kitty and dog noses pushing them aside to see out. I'd love to have the light come in but still have privacy without them and have the whole area be easier to clean. So, that will be something to research in the coming months to see if it is even feasible in the somewhat near future, or if I am simply out of my skull.
Now it is time for me to try to wash the paint spatter out of my hair and off my face and arms (I hate painting ceilings)...and then think about starting dinner. Tomorrow's cleanup is going to suck. I have paint spatter all over the bathtub and linoleum. It comes right up, but will take forever to pick/scrape off.
Last weekend Neil and I spent in Charleston, SC. Mostly we just wandered around, took some photos, and ate some fabulous food. Friday we went to the SC Aquarium -
I want to start by saying, I can't imagine what the costs and time and effort must be to run a place like an aquarium or zoo, but being that this aquarium is fairly new (opened May 2000), I was surprised at how small most of the tanks and habitats were. Especially the brand new penguin exhibit. There were 4 penguins in a tank that would have fit in my living room. Now maybe it extended back into an area not viewable by the public, but I don't actually think so. They had a bald eagle on exhibit...by itself, inside, in a netted in area that was no longer than the main hallway that runs the length of my house...and ceilings of about 15 feet, maybe 20. The part the bothered me the most, was that this eagle was still young. It didn't even have a fully white head yet. I understand the need to find spaces for birds and other animals that cannot be released back into the wild for whatever reason, but to me, this was close to being utterly unacceptable.
These alligators were in a habitat that in my estimation, would not hold even one full sized one. If memory serves, there were 3-5 young ones, all about the size of the guy pictured above. Granted, I don't think alligators are extremely active, but still...the room was small.
Overall, I was not impressed with the place - one of the largest areas in the entire building was the gift shop. I left there feeling like all the animals were living in conditions that would be the equivalent of having Moo live in a 5'x8' dog run her entire life. Maybe I was just having a bad day, but regardless, those were my impressions of the place.
Last night while I was cooking dinner (at the most inopportune moment, of course) the dogs started going berserk at the back window. It freaked me out because it was the scary barking and growling they do when strangers come to the door (they bark at anyone who comes to the door, but seem to recognize some people now).
I dropped what I was doing and came to see this:
This pretty young deer and a couple adult deer had come right up into the yard to check things out. The one adult female seemed to be this ones mother and stayed close and was acting very protective. The other adult (I think it was also female) seemed to be more of just a general look-out.
After they headed back down the hill I went outside to check them out in the clearing and found that there was actually another adult with them who had not come all the way up into the yard. I never did get a good look though - I am wondering if it was the young buck I had seen a few nights ago down there.
Later in the evening Neil took Moo out for her potty walk and she was all sorts of agitated looking for them (I think she might think they are big dogs...I don't really know, but what I do know is that she does NOT want them in her yard. LOL) When the neighbor dog started barking at her, she took of running toward him. When she hit the end of her leash, she took a major tumble across the yard. I heard her yelping and went out to see what was up. She held her back leg up for awhile, did a lot of whining and yipping, but today she seems to be just fine. Mostly I think she scared herself and probable bruised her leg in the process. (She is know for being a big baby...if Sadie or even one of the cats plays too rough she yips and cries.)
In other news - OP has also been limping around a bit, though it doesn't seem to be slowing him down at all. I think maybe he missed the shelf where I put Bonnie's soft food one evening. I only think this because I saw him almost miss the other evening and managed to catch him. I am going to have to start putting Bonnie's canned food in the cat room too, it seems, in order to keep the silly guy from hurting himself. I did poke around at him and nothing seems to be broken. I will give him a few days and if it doesn't improve, I guess he will get to meet the vet.
Yesterday, my disabled finch friend hung out with me while I refilled all the bird feeders. She is deaf, blind in one eye (I think), and cannot fly well - she can barely make it up to the roof of my house and has to take several attempts in order to land on any of the feeders...though I think the latter has to do with depth perception.
She wasn't too sure about me being right there at first and flitted off into the maple tree a few feet away. But then she decided I was OK and came right back...almost landing on me during her first attempt to make it back to the feeder. I feel somewhat guilty, I think this is a bird I saved from Bonnie earlier this Spring. However, she seems to be getting along just fine, so I will continue to make sure the feeders are full for her, there is clean water in the bird bath and she has a safe-as-possible roost in the maple tree.
This pretty lady is my other new backyard friend:
I am pretty sure it is a 'she' - according to this website article, the female Eastern Box Turtles have brown eyes whereas the males have red. They can live to be 80 in the wild, but usually only 30-50 years in captivity. It also stated that the colors tend to be more vibrant in the young...I wonder how old this one is? It is hard to tell how 'vibrant' the colors actually are, since it was raining and the shell was wet.
I moved her over to the hill area since the lawn guys are due to come today - I didn't want her to get mowed!!! When I picked her up, she pulled in and closed her shell tight! There is a hinged area under the front part that pulls up to completely close up the shell.
When I went back out later, she had moved on...I am wondering if it was the same one I saw earlier in the year near the top of the hill munching on some weeds.
