AWOL Monday

Yes, I know I missed posting on Monday. I was just too exhausted to care. I was up until 1:30 a.m. Sunday night finishing my Economics paper and after I fed Panda it was more like 2 a.m. So Monday morning I was just a wee bit tired.

The weekend was every bit as busy as I feared . . . in fact, it was even busier. Saturday was divided between shopping in Peterborough and supper at the cottage, and Sunday was pretty much a blur of writing my Economics paper. I’m pretty sure I passed my exam, but I can use all the help I can get when it comes to extra marks and the paper was worth 30 per cent of my mark.

You know, I think of all kinds of things to say in my blog when I’m away from my lap top, but right now I’m drawing a blank. I had the same problem with my writing blog yesterday.

I think we’ve reached an impasse with Panda. Last time the vet saw her he stressed the importance of her eating her cat chow and drinking lots of water. She’s not a big cat, she weighs all of six pounds, and he had me force-feeding her a can of food every day, most of which she was starting to throw up. So I . . . stopped. Force-feeding her that is. I left some of her cat chow up and a dish of water on my dresser upstairs (it’s a tall dresser and she likes sitting on it) and she’s been chowing down, especially at night. She’s also been drinking the water.

She goes back to the vet today so we’ll see what he has to say about it. I’m still giving her the pills every day, but she isn’t getting the powder in the canned food. But she’s a lot happier this way and for me, that’s the main thing.

What a Week!

It's really been one of those weeks. I seem to get a lot of those, don't I? I'm just grateful that this one is almost over.

This morning seems to be pretty typical of the mornings I've had lately - rush, rush, rush! In fact, this post is going to be a little rushed because I've also got to track down Panda (who's hiding on me) to give the ungrateful wretch her food and medicine, and go over my economics notes for my exam this morning.

My weekend's not looking much better either.

Sometime this afternoon I have to take Panda to the vet for her water treatment, we have to grocery shop tonight because we won't have time tomorrow; Saturday I have to go to Peterborough for the lining for my mother-of-the-bride outfit and hopefully get it sewn up, later we're expected out at the family cottage for a family barbeque; Sunday I have to finish the sewing I didn't get done on Saturday, get going on the remaining centerpiece cloths for the daughter's wedding, and I know there's something else, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is.

Remind me why I thought going back to school was a good idea? Next week we start Marketing. Let's hope it goes better than Economics. For your sake as well as mine! :-)

To wrap up the week, I have a quiz for you. Why not check to see if your outcome is as accurate as mine.


What be your nerd type?

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd   Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Drama Nerd
Anime Nerd
Social Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Musician
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Politics

I have a confession to make. When it comes to politics, I’m pretty apathetic. I’m the one who will go to the polls and choose not to vote because I really couldn’t care less. One politician is pretty much the same as another, right?

Well, my economics class is starting to have a bad influence on me. The instructor keeps bringing in these videos for us to watch, of shows she’s taped off the television in which current economic events are discussed. That, combined with what I’m learning in class, is making me more interested in the world around me.

For instance, there’s talk about a summer election here in Canada and if that happens I just might have to take a good look at the candidates and their platforms and make an informed decision. What is the world coming to?

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Panda is still home, although she has to go to the vet three times a week to get hydrated and I still have to force feed her. However, we have come to an understanding. If I wrap her firmly in a towel, she will stay still for her feedings, although she is still free to growl at me. :-)

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If you get a chance, nip on over to my writing blog and check out Tuesday’s post. I’m having trouble deciding which project to work on next so I put a poll up. The description of the titles are listed in the Tuesday post.

I can’t believe I’m actually getting some writing (besides economic notes) done. I had my poetry group last night and had two new poems to read, both written pretty much yesterday afternoon. Each month someone picks a poetry prompt from a “bouquet” and it’s our ‘poemwork’ for the next meeting.

We meet once a month in a private meeting upstairs in a local pub where we drink and read each other our poems. Then a couple of days later we meet in a local coffee shop where we have an evening of public readings. It’s a lot of fun and it keeps the creative juices flowing.

Announcement

Until further notice, I’m only going to update this blog Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. My brain is starting to feel the strain of all the stuff I have going on right now.

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So, Panda is home. At least she’s home as of this post. The husband has to take her to the vet this morning to get hydrated and re-assessed by the vet.

If you’re squeamish, skip this paragraph ‘cause I’m going to describe how they hydrate her. They slip a needle under her skin and hook her up to an I.V. Panda gets to move around on the examining table while she’s pumped full of water and she’s amazingly well-behaved for it. I know because I got to witness it first hand Saturday morning. She has a bald patch on her throat as well as one of her legs from all the blood tests.

She came home with a whole bag of goodies. First, there was a bag of special cat chow that she won’t eat, then there’s cans of special cat food that she won’t eat. Next there’s capsules that she has to take twice a day and there’s a powder that gets mixed into the canned food. I get the pleasant job of mixing the powder into the canned food and then force-feeding it to her. She’s supposed to get an entire can a day.

But, for all that she’s a lot perkier and I think she’s happy to be home. She’s decided the chair in my office is “her” chair, and she has taken her rightful place as queen of the castle. And it’s probably just my imagination, but she seems to understand that I’m not force-feeding her to be mean, that I’m trying to help. I think she’s hungry, she just doesn’t like the food that she’s allowed to have.

Check the dictionary under finicky, you'll see her picture.

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Economics is the bane of my existence. It really didn’t help that I started the class a chapter behind everyone else. But after making some notes for review (ten whole pages!) of the first three chapters, I think I’m starting to understand what it’s all about. God help me!

I don't think it's the material, just the pace at which we're expected to learn. A chapter a day, plus a quiz this morning, the exam on Friday, and a project due next Monday.

I'm starting to think that the Intro to Tech segment was to lull us into a false sense of security about how hard this course really is!

Off to Timmies for a coffee before school. Hopefully the bleeding (from wrestling with Panda to take her pill and food this morning) will stop before I have to write my quiz.

Of Cats and . . . Cat Toys

First of all, I talked with the vet yesterday and Panda’s coming home today on a weekend pass. They’re still having to force-feed her but they’re hoping that she’ll eat on her own at home. She’ll have to go back on Monday to have another blood test, but as long as we can get her to eat she should be able to stay home.

Meanwhile, her boys are driving me crazy. Normally they’re pretty much spread all over the house but the last couple of days they seem to be congregating in my office. I don’t know if they’re just feeling a little needier or if they’re just taking advantage of the fact I have the windows open finally, but all four of them have been hanging out in here.

Yesterday I’m in here, quietly working away, and Taz, the oldest, starts digging under the long bookcase. After a few minutes I break down and fetch my long ruler so I can fish out whatever it was he lost under there. I thought it was the cat nip ball they had in here, but it turned out to be a spring, which is his favorite toy.

A few minutes later, he’s at it again. So back I go with the ruler and this time I fish out another spring, only this one is a different colour. I also found a small purple mouse and a mink mouse.

The mink mouse is made of real mink and is filled with cat nip. They’re hard to find so last time I found them I bought two of them and they promptly ripped apart one (they still play with the remains) and lost the other. It’s been so long that I’d forgotten about it.

This all took place before school. After school I came in here and they were at it again. I managed to dig out a spring and a ball, but they were sure there was something else in there that I was missing.

There was only one solution. I got a pair of tongs and a flashlight from the kitchen and laid flat on the floor so I could see under the bookcase (it’s only about two inches up off the floor). Sure enough, the mink mouse was under there too, so I used the tongs to rescue it.

I gave the boys a lecture about taking better care of their toys and they appeared to be listening.

But this morning I come into my office to check my e-mail and type this post before school and they’re all milling around the bookcase again. So I grab my trusty ruler and start fishing again. I found two springs, a mouse (not the cat nip one) and a ball.

I have got to find something to block access to under that bookcase!

I think it’s interesting that while they’ll all play with pretty much anything, they each have a favorite toy as well, and just like their personalities, they’re all different.

I’ve spoken before about Panda’s attachment to pink and red, she also really loves string. Especially red string. I have a piece of red cord I bought at the dollar store - best dollar I ever spent as far as she’s concerned.

Taz is all about the springs. In fact, his nick name is Lord of the Springs. These aren’t easy to find any more, especially the large ones. They’re basically a coloured, plastic spring with a pom pom glued on each end. Simple, yet ingenious. He can bat it around or carry it around in his mouth whilst yowling for someone to throw it for him.

Romi is all about the cat nip. If there’s cat nip involved in a toy, he’s all over it. Dante, on the other hand, loves balls, cat nip or otherwise. He really loves the pom poms on the end of the springs, especially the larger ones.

Julius is a little weird when it comes to toys. He has a foam fetish. You know those foam forms you get in pedicure kits that go between your toes? That’s how it started. He would steal them and have them chewed up before I could figure out where he’d hidden them. Now he’s graduated to a foam stamp I’d bought with the idea of painting a border on the kitchen cupboards. The stamp was a little large for what I wanted, but Julius thinks it’s perfect for him.

Ah, cats. A constant source of amusement.

Wednesday? Really?

I feel like I’m running a day late and a dollar short this week. Perhaps by the end of the week I’ll have caught up, but don’t count on it.

Monday was the first day of my change to morning classes at school, and also my first day of Economics. Or it would have been if I’d been here Monday morning.

So Tuesday I was already behind in school and operating on a sleep deficit. It’s hard to retain anything when your brain just wants to sleep. And I’m finding Economics takes a lot of concentration. The loud whooshing sound in the classroom was pretty much everything going right over my head.

We do get class time to work on stuff, but there’s three women who sit behind me who tend to talk amongst themselves (loudly) and I find it really hard to concentrate. What ever happened to my ability to tune everything else out when I was reading? I remember the days when you literally had to hit me with something to get my attention when I was reading. It didn’t seem like it was that long ago . . .

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For those of you who’ve been asking, Panda is still at the vet’s, but she’s doing better. Her toxicity levels are lower, but they’re still having to force feed her. Until she’s willing to eat on her own, they’re keeping her there. She is getting feistier though, Monday she apparently tried to bite the assistance who was trying to feed her.

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Okay, now your reward for putting up with this whiney post.

I was totally looking for something else on YouTube, but I found this. If you’re a Dr. Who fan, you’ll like this. You may even like it if you’re not a Dr. Who fan, who knows? Enjoy!

Missed It By That Much

I had a plan. My plan was to write my Monday posts on Sunday, and then schedule them to appear on Monday morning. Only I got so busy with other things, I forgot. And what other things occupied me? *sigh* Believe it or not, it was housework. Yes, you heard me. Me, the anti-cleaner, got bogged down in cleaning up the house.

We were only going to be gone for 24 hours, but I really hate to leave the house in a mess. Call me crazy, but that’s just the way I am.

The husband, daughter and I made a pilgrimage to London (Ontario) so the daughter could convocate from Western University. The reason we went up Sunday night, is that convocation took place at 10 a.m. and she had to be there no later than 8:30 a.m. It’s about a 4 hour drive from here to there, hence the overnight stay.

The hotel we stayed at was a little on the cheesy side (I will not bore you with the whys and wherefores of how we ended up there, you may thank me later), the mattresses were lumpy and there was a shortage of pillows. The Continental breakfast was really sad, although they had a nice room in which to sit for it.

Western University is about the size of our town. Maybe bigger. It’s really beautiful though. Of course we didn't get to see much of it because it pretty much rained the whole time we were there. We got to sit in a real auditorium (unlike Queens where we got to sit on folding chairs in a hockey arena)and I even managed to get a couple of decent pictures of the kid.

This was a great day, especially for us, as parents. Our daughter has reached a higher level of education than anyone in either side of the family has ever achieved. Hopefully she'll provide an inspiration to future generations. Next up, a PhD. Right after she finishes paying off her massive OSAP debt. :-)

But I'm still left with one question. Now that she has her MILS, does this mean we have to call her Master?

Checks and Balances

I don't know about anyone else, but for me this has been a long week.

The family has suffered an incredible run of bad luck this week, and I'm not just talking about Panda getting sick (she's doing better, by the way, we're keeping our fingers crossed that she can come home today). If it's true that "that which does not kill you makes you stronger" then we should come out of this with the powers of superman!

Life is a series of checks and balances, good versus bad. Perhaps sometimes it's not easy to see the good in life, but trust me, it's there. Maybe it's just the little things, and stacked up against the bad they seem insignificant, but I think that's because it's easier to dwell on the bad instead of looking for the good.

When I lost my job, all I could focus on was the loss of income. But I doubt I could have stayed in that job much longer because of the stress. By being laid off it opened up opportunities that wouldn't have been available if I'd quit.

When my unemployment ran out and my income dropped by $200 a month, it co-incided with buying out the lease on my car, which dropped my car payments by $150 a month.

Most of the time it's not that easy to see the good in the bad that life throws at us, but if there's one thing I learned in therapy, it's that you can't dwell on the bad stuff. It only leads to a downward spiral that gets harder to recover from each time it happens.

The good in life happens randomly, when you least expect it, which makes it all the better for having happened. The bad, however, seems to wait until an opportune moment and then slams you hard. The more you dwell on it, the more it happens. It seems to be drawn by your expectation.

So take my advice, my friends. When the bad stuff happens, accept it, then let it go. How can the bad be balanced by the good if you're so filled up with the negative that there's no room for the positive?

Checks and balances, my friends. Checks and balances.

New Update

We spoke to the vet today and he's pleased, but surprised, at Panda's progress. If she keeps improving she should be able to come home tomorrow. I don't know that she's out of the woods yet, but at least there's hope.

The vet said yesterdy that what's happening to Panda is very much like what happened to all those cats and dogs who ate the tainted food a while back. Only that couldn't be what it was in this case because the cats all eat the same food and the others are fine.

The only thing that worries me now is, if we don't know what caused it in the first place, how can we prevent it from happening again?

Update

Things aren't looking good for poor Panda.

When the vet initially saw her, he said her temperature was fine and her heart rate was good. She seemed a little dehydrated but otherwise okay.

Just after I posted yesterday the vet's office called and asked that we bring her back in. Turns out that her kidneys have shut down. They've kept her overnight to try and get her to re-hydrate to get the kidneys working again. If they're unsuccessful then they'll have to put her down.

I'll update when I know more. Right now all I can think about is our poor girl, who's already not feeling well, in a strange place with strange people doing terrible things to her. Yes, they're only trying to help, but from her perspective it must seem like they're only tormenting her.

Point of Power

Yesterday in school we started off with a quiz (that I forgot to study for but I think I did okay on) and then moved on to Power Point. We’re going to have two whole weeks of Power Point later on in the course, but she wanted to familiarize us with it now.

Power Point is fun! I did a four slide show and then a six slide show. It’s just as well that I don’t have it at home, otherwise I’d have spent the whole night creating slide shows.

After school I had to rush home and take Panda to the vet. She’s been losing weight for a few months now, but we didn’t think anything of it because we’ve switched the cats to a diet control cat food. Only now she’s really losing weight, and she’s been pretty lethargic. We’re having trouble getting her to eat too, she won’t even touch her treats.

$180 later the vet couldn’t find anything wrong, but he took some blood to do some testing. I just got a call a little while ago that they want to see her back today. This does not bode well.

Not much else to say, other than if we don’t get some sunshine soon there’s going to be serious consequences. I don’t know how much more of this grey weather I can handle. And what’s with the cold front? This is June, for crying out loud. I want to open my windows without freezing to death!

I don’t know where my instructor lives, but she was saying they had frost Sunday night. Frost! For the first day in June!

As a related side note, I watched The Day After Tomorrow on the weekend (even though I have a copy on DVD) and I caught something interesting I hadn’t caught before. They were talking about global warming . . . I, like most people, assumed that global warming is causing the earth to warm up. However, that’s not the way it works. Global warming is causing the polar caps to melt, true, but this in turn is causing our over all temperature to go down, not up.

And on that happy note, I’m going to go make myself something hot to drink to try and warm up a bit.

Another Weekend, Come and Gone

Hmm.

As I was typing the title for this post my finger slipped and I had ‘coma’ instead of ‘come’. I wonder what Freud would have to say about that? I kinda feel like I’m in a coma today, another grey, miserable day.

Oh joy.

This weekend I probably spent more time looking for things than doing things.

As I have mentioned before, the daughter is getting married. In a month. Ack! Where did the time go?

Saturday I sat down with my list of things to be done before the wedding and started to prioritize.

First up, the veil. I had the pattern, I had the material, I just needed to wait for the cats to take their naps so they weren’t tempted to “help” me cut it out. Okay, that was easy enough, you had to piece the pattern together, but it ends up pretty much in one big piece. That was the easy part. Then I had to pin the satin ribbon around the edge.

I sat in the living room and watched American Graffiti while I pinned. Fifteen feet of ribbon and I was short about one foot. So I had to re-pin the whole damn thing to redistribute the ribbon evenly. Argh! Sewing the ribbon in place was another adventure, as was ironing the ribbon. The iron had to be hot enough to work on the ribbon, but not so hot that it melted the tulle. But it's done and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Next up were the centerpiece cloths. These are black squares of cloth that will be going on the middle of the white table cloths for the reception. One corner will have a red poppy embroidered, the opposite corner will have a white silhouette of a cowboy and bride (the other two corners will have tea lights sitting on them and there’ll be flowers in a vase in the center).

Earlier in the week (last week maybe?) I transferred the pictures to the cloth. Now it was time to start embroidering them. But first I needed to find my embroidery needles. This meant going into the dreaded craft closet.

A few months ago (a couple of years ago?) in a fit of organizational madness, I cleaned out my craft closet to organize things so I could find stuff easier. That was the theory, anyway.

I found the bag my embroidery stuff used to be in.
I found a robe I’d bought one of my sisters two years ago (I knew I’d bought it, I just couldn’t find it).
I thought I found my stitchery stuff in a box on one of the shelves, but it turned out to have quilting stuff and embroidery transfers.
At last I found it in one of two small, clear plastic bins I bought when I organized the closet so I could see my beading stuff and my embroidery stuff easier. These bins are at eye level.

Sigh.

My embroidery stuff has been re-organized and is now back in its straw bag, where it belongs. The plastic bin is now holding the overflow of beading stuff that was scattered hither and yon.

So how was your weekend?