At home, I always think Junior is hard to handle when he gets hyper and does his “race around all parts of the house, try to knock over all coffee cups, people and grab the curtains and yank those down too.” Then I visit the ranch. First evening–and this is after driving 3 plus hours home from the airport, I find that dad has decided we must take the sheep to the butcher shop. “Uh dad, it’s 5. It’s going to be dark soon.”

“Yup, better hurry.”

Sigh. So off he goes to load the sheep in the horse trailer. I’m not that practiced at driving the truck pulling a trailer, but I suppose it is past time to get good at it. See, when you’re a teenager and you do it once or twice, you don’t know or think about having to slam on the brakes. You don’t really think about fishtailing trailers, people pulling in front of you, wide turns, having to back the thing up to a pen with a ditch on one side…

After I changed my clothes, I went down to see if my help was needed. The neighbor and dad were trying to entice the sheep to put his head into the lasso. Dad suggested I feed the horse. “Sure,” I said.

“And take Smurf with you. He’s being a pest.”

Kobo, the older dog, can round the sheep into a pen and then knows to sit quiet so as to not disturb the sheep catching operation. Smurf, the new lab, well, he thinks it’s all a game, so he keeps jumping, hopping and generally making a spectacle of everything. I ordered Smurf to my side. I got hay, gave it to the horse, got Smurf out of the horse’s pen, did the horse training steps (you don’t want the horse to ignore you–so you make him come over and say hello politely before eating.) Then it was back to the barn to get some grain. Dad had the bucket. I went and got the bucket from the sheep’s pen. The sheep was now lassoed, and being coerced into the trailer.

I got the bucket and ordered Smurf with me. Halfway back, some dogs from another neighbor appear. Three of them, looking for trouble.

Smurf barked, ran around, and the dogs all started their growling. Smurf and big dog start a little argument, but luckily it’s all talk. The neighbor ran over and yelled at her three dogs–a corgi, a mutt and…a large dog that might have been part hound of some sort. Smurf was caught between listening to my orders and fighting with the biggest dog. Oh joy. Luckily Smurf is fairly well trained. I made him sit next to me, while I ordered the other dogs away. They were not trained. They did not listen.

I commanded Smurf away with me, while the neighbor picked up one dog, yelled at the others and began the trek across the road with the corgi under one arm and sort of rounding up the other two.

Meanwhile, dad is now ready to go and I haven’t grained the horse or ordered Smurf back to the house so that he doesn’t follow the truck out…

Getting older isn’t that much different than being young. Young and old alike still worry about what to wear:

When I was 20, I worried about which heels to wear.
When I hit 35, I changed from my favorite sweatpants to the ones that looked best to go to the grocery.
When I hit 40, I made sure the sweatpants were clean.

When I was 20, I thought it quite daring when I wore a miniskirt.
When I was 35, I put on dress pants to go out.
When I hit 40, I wore at least jeans to go to the neighbor’s Christmas or New Year’s party–instead of sweatpants.

When I was 20, I’d spend days agonizing over whether to spend “that much” on a dress.
When I was 35, I’d only shop for clothes that had multi-uses, could be worn to work or play.
At 40, I’ve spent days agonizing over whether to spend “that much” on things like expensive walking shoes, wool socks or long underwear because comfort trumps all.

Wheeee!  Guess what arrived this very week in my mailbox?????  SIGNED copies of Dog Days and New Tricks by John Levitt.  SIGNED copies.  For ME.  Very, very pleased.  Both of these books made my favorites list.  If you like urban fantasy, check them out. Here’s a brief description from Amazon’s site:

Mason used to be an enforcer, ensuring that suspect magic practitioners stayed in line. But now he scrapes out a living playing guitar. Good thing he has Louie, his magical…well, let’s call him a dog. But there are some kinds of evil that even Louie can’t sniff out. And when Mason is attacked by a supernatural assailant, he’ll have to fall back on the one skill he’s mastered in music and magic-improvisation.

Now then, there’s that trip coming up.  What will I take to read on the plane?  I have a pretty large pile to choose from.  I KNOW I’m taking Ilona Andrews’ Magic Burns.  I loved the first in the series, Magic Bites and even though I’m not much of a series reader, I’m certainly not tired of this series yet!  The protag, Kate Daniels, is a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong–if the second book is like the first, it’ll be another great urban fantasy read.

On the mystery front, I’m waffling between The Sudoku Murder: A Katie McDonald Mystery by Shelley Freydont and The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion by Alice Kimberly.   I’ve actually started the latter, but it may not be fast-paced enough for plane travel.  I like something that doesn’t require a lot of concentration, but it has to be compelling enough to keep me from hearing other conversation and distractions.  Since I’ve only read about 10 pages, it’s too soon to really know.  With baggage restrictions being what they are, the mass market Ghost and Haunted has a leg up.  The Sudoku Murder is Trade so it’s a larger book and heavier.

I posted last year about writers/authors and how little they make (okay, the very successful ones make quite a bit, but most writers have a day job for real income.)   Several published authors are doing the favor again of putting out information on the topic.  Jim Hines started the thread, and he linked to others that are offering info on the subject of how much writers make:

Jim Hines’ Post on Money and Writing

Keep in mind that Jim Hines is a fairly successful writer (4 books out) and you’ll want to see his original post where he talks about some of the previous years.  You’ll also note if you follow some of the other links that some authors spend more of their earnings on websites, cons or other promotion.   It also seems that the more successful an author is, the less promo they have to do themselves.  There appears to be a snowball effect that helps them keep growing with less input from the author.  I found Jennifer Estep’s post interesting–and the comment’s trail has a comment from another author concerning his earnings.  Paul S. Kemp’s original post on the subject last year is also worth reading.

I suppose in fairness, since I had two short stories come out this year, I could post about my “earnings” but until I start making more than 150 dollars a year on my writing, I’m guessing that info doesn’t need to be broken down too much…

If I weren’t going out of town next week, I’d be trying an early start on the cucumbers…cantaloupe…and any other seeds I still have!!  It’s another beautiful day out there.  Junior is doing very well these days–he’s off all medications and is starting to act a lot like a real cat.   He “helps” in the garden by digging arbitrary holes.  He likes to dig a LOT.  He also likes to roll around in the dirt for no apparent reason.  That’s okay, I like to play in the dirt too, so I sort of understand.  (I’m not into rolling in it, but by the time I get done out there, sometimes it looks as though I’ve been rolling in it!)

Scamp still comes around.  She and Junior tolerate each other and are mostly polite.  No sign that they will play, but they have to adjust all over again.  Scamp hasn’t been as interested in the garden, but she did come over to say hello when we were sitting on the porch.

As I mentioned–I’ll be out of town for a week and a half or so.  Next week, starting Sunday, I won’t post for about a week and a half.  Don’t worry about Junior and Scamp.  BMHusband will be here and I’ll either leave him or Junior in charge.  Probably BMHusband.   Junior tends to overeat when he is given too many responsibilities, such as monitoring how much goes into the food bowl.  

Cleaning rain barrels is the least fun thing about owning rain barrels.  I would really like to speak to the engineer who designed the things because you can’t dump water out the top (there’s a  two inch lip curled inward to accept the screen–quite a bit of water gets trapped in this ring, preventing easy cleaning.)   Why is it that people that design these things don’t actually use them?

It’s the only explanation.

I’d like to talk to the guy (and it could be a gal, but I don’t think so) that designed my rice cooker.  It’s not a cheap rice cooker either, mind you.  It’s one of those with a pressure lid–that does not detach from the rice maker.  This lack of detachment makes cleaning the lid a real pain.  For one, you can’t run it under water (not easily anyway).   For two, there’s a metal plate that “floats” on the lid.  I don’t know what it is for, but gunk can collect behind it.  Gunk also gets in the rubber seal, so that has to be cleaned each time too, and it also does not detach.  Then there’s this nifty little plastic piece that is made to catch run-off when you open the steaming hot lid.   Works great–until the tiny edge that holds it on, breaks off.   And guess what?  The manufacturer does not make a replacement for this part.  This rice cooker SERIOUSLY needed a cook–one that has to clean her own kitchen–to give some insight into the design.

No electronic displays should be allowed that aren’t backlit.  We have a wonderful DeLonghi heater–with a nice display so long as it is facing the light.  When it is in shadow, you can’t tell whether it is on, off or maybe somewhere along the medium setting.   To make sure it is off, it’s best to just unplug it–but then when you plug it back in, the clock flashes and you have to reset the temperature.  I wish it would remember the temperature setting even when unplugged, at least for a few days.  Yes, I know this would require a battery.  I suppose they really just need to re-design the face so that I can see it decent and while they are at it, have the default temperature setting something like 70–not 95.  Does anyone really run their little radiator heater at 95????

I could go on, and at some point, I probably will. 

What are your favorite redesign requests???

What a gorgeous day outside!  It’s 60 now and it’s on the way to 70 or so.  Of course I gardened!  The cilantro is wonderful–I’m able to harvest enough for whenever I need it.  Some of those plants that didn’t come up are coming up so I’m going to have plenty!  Same with the parsley.   Good stuff!

The spring crop of Snap and Snow Peas are also coming up nicely.  The winter crop of snaps had to be sprayed for spider mites again.  The neem oil does work, but it has no lasting affect.  I’ve heard that if I can get the population under control that I’ll have a lot less of a problem, but this isn’t even the time of the year when mites are rampant so we’ll see.  It’s been over a week since I’ve seen them–two weeks since I sprayed last.  There are less of them.  It’s hard to spray the whole plant because they are mostly on the ground.  When I have to cover them twice a week, I can’t have them trellised properly.  I do enjoy the beans though and I’ve been getting handfuls here and there.

The latest onion starters I just planted are looking particularly healthy.  They took very quickly.

Junior went out with me and “helped” in the garden.  Today was a lazy day for him–he didn’t do much digging.  Mostly he sunbathed and watched.  He was a little stressed because the neighbors came to visit and he wasn’t too sure about that.  I think it got his heartburn going a little, but all in all, he handled it well.  He’s currently getting in his afternoon nap.

Scamp is looking incredibly healthy these days.  She’s glad to be back on her old food too.  She likes it better than the special diet (we were planning on switching them both to it because we figured they’d eventually be eating the same stuff.)   Once Junior couldn’t eat it, we took it away from her too.  She seemed quite pleased.  Figures.  No one wants “special diet.”

Tomorrow should be a nice day again.  I guess I’ll have to clean out that other rain barrel.  They need hosing down/washing out at least once a year.  I did one, one to go!!!

Have a great weekend!

Italy has the calzone, Mexican food has the empanada, and Japan has Nikumans.  There are, no doubt, other Asian names for this type of meal and no doubt, middle eastern versions.   I think the Czech call their version kolaches.

They are all versions of meat buns.  Like the empanada and kolache, nikumans are sometimes filled with sweet fillings, but most often, nikumans are meant as a meal–they are filled with various stuffings of minced meat and napa cabbage (think pork sausage, cabbage, onions, maybe mushrooms).  I know there is a Chinese meat bun, but I don’t know the name.   My friend tells me that there are meat buns in Jamaica too.  I’ve had meat buns that I think were a Chinese version that had meat and egg and some that appeared to be filled with various vegetable filling, kind of like a Chinese egg roll.

In Japan, nikumans are most often steamed.  They are often sold in warmers that are similar to the ones we have in the US only ours are filled with hotdogs and are found at quick stop gas stations.

I only bring all this up because I have a recipe for nikumans on my website and it gets more hits over time than probably any other recipe or any other post.  Recipes for nikumans are hard to come by (especially ones in English.)   My version cheats.  It uses frozen bread dough from the store.  The real nikumans are usually a bit less dense, possibly because rice flour is used or possibly because they just use fresh dough.

I love meat and bean empanadas–another version of this meal is a fried version, usually called a stuffed sopapilla–same sort of thing, a bread stuffed with meat/beans/cheese, but instead of baking it, it’s fried to a crisp golden brown.  Yum.

I find it interesting that I get so many search/hits on nikumans.  Every culture has their version though–maybe because it’s just an excellent food, no matter what you call it!  Here’s a link to my nikuman recipe–it was as close as I could get to the ones I ate in Japan.  I’d like a nicely translated recipe from a native, but in a pinch, mine do just fine!!!  If anyone else has meat bun recipes, I’d love to have them posted!!!

Nikuman Recipe

So it turns out the problem (probably all along with the weird actions and drooling) was the FOOD.  Kittens cannot have urinary tract diet.  We did not know this.  It does not say so on the bags of food or the general area of the website pages.  When the vet had us put him on canned, expensive urinary food, we noticed on the research page on the web that it was contraindicated in kittens.  We asked why.  The vet called them and from what we gather there was something about “nutritional needs, extra calcium, etc.”   No one mentioned acid reflux or farts that would register on the richter scale in Yellowstone.  Yes, the scientists there think there is renewed volcanic activity, but it’s just Junior’s farts.

Apparently kittens have very acidic urine already.  This acidity should have kept him from getting the crystals that caused him to plug way back when we were on his first illness.  NO wait, it was his second illness.  Anyway, giving them acidic food doesn’t agree with them.  The vet did tell us to go back to kitten food after a week of the urinary diet, but when the kitten food seemed to be giving him diarrhea (which was probably tapeworms) we decided to be extra careful with him and switch him to an over the counter urinary diet, one the vet recommended when he reached age one.  We just decided to be proactive and early.  And it gave poor little Junior such violent heartburn he was in enough pain that he fritzed and drooled.  Then he went to the vet.  The vet just fed him whatever they had on hand after treating him for the panic.  Good move–it was normal acidity and agreed with Junior’s system.

We got him home and he went back on the urinary diet.  Soft stool arrived and those farts I told you about.  They weren’t just showing up on the richter scale either. There was enough sulphur and rot in them to send the scientists running for gas masks.

We finally arrived at this conclusion because we had eliminated EVERYTHING else in Junior’s environment except the food.  We were sitting around two nights ago when the drool started.  There was nothing he had gotten into except he had just eaten.   That was it.  We’d tried two brands of urinary diet, so we didn’t think it was the manufacturer.  We went to the store and got some other stuff.  We had to try SOMETHING.

We trolled the internet.  We began to come across articles that discussed farts and acidity of foods.  We then found another food manufacturer site that mentioned that if you had a multi-cat household, not to let kittens eat the urinary diet.  Hmm.  Why???  They didn’t say, just like the original site we saw.  But I bet they know why.  And we are pretty sure we know why.

It’s been two days on regular food for Junior and 1/4 tablet of pepcid ac every 12 hours for the last 36 hours.  The drool has dried up.  Thank God the farts have too.  He is a much happier cat.  We are much happier people.   Thank God that one of the vets at Premier Animal Hospital mentioned he might have damage due to the first drooling session, and we should give him Pepcid in case the drooling was heartburn.  Cats can’t have most medicines so we never would have guessed.  We didn’t even know that he might be having heartburn.  We didn’t even know that cats could GET heartburn.  But we know how painful it can be.  And now, thankfully, he is eating right and doing well.   We’ll know that his insides are better when his meow returns to normal–right now he sounds a little hoarse.

So the moral of the story is that if you have really bad farts, try changing the acidity of your diet.  Or something like that.

Unbelievably, on Thursday Junior had another episode where he was drooling.  This time we knew to try and calm him, and watch him.  It wasn’t that bad–Friday morning, he was much more normal, but by Friday afternoon, the cat was seriously freaking out.  We gave him a remaining dose of the pain medication we had leftover from the surgery.  It did seem to help–the drooling stopped and he seemed calmer, but it was pretty obvious he was still distressed over something.   The vet was close to closing and we did not want to freak the cat out by taking him in and leaving him overnight for observation. The last time they gave him valium and watched him, but we felt that we did more harm by making him go than by trying to keep him calm at home.

At…midnight or so, we gave him sub-q fluids.  He didn’t seem as nervous and was resting.  He wasn’t all great and good and we didn’t know whether he’d make it to morning, but he didn’t appear to be in any pain and he wasn’t scared anymore.

In the morning, he was shaky, but he ate!  I swear this kitten is part piglet.  He was able to walk here and there, but did keep stopping and sitting because he didn’t have much strength (it was more of an oozing to the ground as he walked).  We called the vet to discuss.  Basically the vet repeated the same thing as before:  He had to be getting in something.  We went over various possibilities based on symptoms:  Could have been that he managed to lick some of the Revolution flea medication we put on him on Tues.  He could be allergic to it.  We had introduced a new dry food a couple of weeks back; he had just started to eat that over the last few days.  I keep tomato seedlings inside; it was possible that fertilizer or insecticide had leaked through the pots into the standing water in the bottom.  Junior had put his feet in there on Tues and Wed–he then might have licked this stuff off.   I didn’t realize I had even bought the kind of dirt that contains fertilizer pellets; I normally do not, but had gotten it by mistake.

I did some research on the web.  His symptoms match insecticide much more closely than fertilizer–AND, here is an important key:  It can get through his skin–doesn’t have to be licked off.   Of course there is the problem that the first time this happened…we don’t think he got his feet or any other body parts in the plants.  He had the hood on so he couldn’t really get to the ledge well.   Not to say it couldn’t have happened.  There’s also the problem that I have only used the insecticide one time…and I don’t remember when it was.  It would likely have already broken down, but there is no real way to know.  I had picked that insecticide to begin with because I thought it was safe for pets–turns out it is safe for DOGS, but not cats.  Pyrethrin is toxic to cats.  It’s used in dog flea powders and baths and is often labeled as very benign.  I remember reading about it being very safe for dogs–in my head that became, safe for pets.

We took away all his toys, the new food, the tomato plants.  We gave him a bath with dawn to get rid of any suspect remaining oils on the back of his neck from Revolution.  In case he is allergic to it, we can’t give it to him again (but keep in mind the first episode happened BEFORE the revolution.)

It remains a mystery, but the good news is Junior is doing quite well.  Again.  Lord, let’s keep it that way for a while, Please?

I know a lot of people won’t read books on their computers.  But I also know that ebooks are gaining popularity, partially because many are offered for free or very low prices.   I have read several ebooks on my computer and really, if the book is good and I’m into it, I barely notice that it’s not a book. Perhaps the biggest difference is that I have to move the laptop to three different positions to keep my legs from falling asleep when the laptop is resting on my actual lap!

The First Hal Spacejock book by Simon Haynes has been offered as a free download for a while.  I’ve been meaning to read it because it sounds like my kind of book.  Today I downloaded it.   We’ll see how it works out.  Here’s what the book is about:

Hal glanced round at the fugitives, then jerked his thumb at the taller, bronze robot. ‘You can be Clyde, and he can be Albion.’
‘I think that’s Bonnie,’ said the shorter robot, in a deep voice.
Hal looked pleased. ‘I’m glad you like it. My name’s Hal, by the way. Hal Spacejock.’

An incompetent, accident-prone pilot is given one last chance to save his ship. An ageing robot is trusted with a midnight landing in a deserted field. And a desperate businessman is prepared to sacrifice both of them to get what he wants…

Combining relentless action with non-stop laughs, Hal Spacejock explodes onto the science fiction scene with the subtlety of a meteor strike and the hushed reverence of a used car salesman.

If you’re interested in a free download of this book for yourself click here for the link.

Update

It was a good little read.  Oh sure it’s amazingly silly in parts and there are some parts that could be tighter, but in the end, I enjoyed the book.  Remember the TV show, “Get Smart?”  It’s sort of like that.  Hal Spacejock is Maxwell Smart as a space pilot.  Agent 99 would be Hal’s accidental sidekick, Clunk the robot.  They get in a lot of tight spots, there’s a lot of stupidity, but there’s also times when I laughed out loud at the stupidity or the descriptions.  This is the kind of book you take on a plane where not much concentration is required and there’s nothing serious about it.   Halfway through, while I was enjoying it okay, I didn’t think I’d read another one.  After finishing, I can say I wouldn’t mind reading another one–especially on an upcoming plane trip!

We have a LOT of corruption in politics.  I could go on a serious rant about the wheeling and dealing, but if you care, you already know about it.  Bad as it is here, I guess it is still better than other countries.  I was talking to one of the ladies that cuts my hair (I go to a walk-in place) .  She’s a lovely lady from Vietnam originally.   Her father worked in America on some official business or other years and years ago and was able to get her proper paperwork so she could move here.   That was eons ago when she was probably a teenager or just out of her teens.   She went to hair dressing school in California and has worked ever since.  She sounds happily married.   She works hard and she talked about how wonderful it is to be in a country with opportunity.  She is probably in her late thirties or early forties now.

Recently she went back to her homeland.  I asked her if it had changed because from articles I read, it seems like it has gotten better.  “Not much.  It is still very corrupt.  There is no opportunity.”   Her sister and sister’s husband were still fighting to leave the country.  Their recent attempt to get permission to move to France had failed.   No one seemed to know why.  In general, my hairdresser said, “The corruption is so widespread, it is just a way of doing business.  Who do you report it to when it is those in government that run things that way on purpose?”   It sounded like an entire system of greasing the right palms, paying hush money, paying to play, extortion, blackmail–paying, paying, paying.   And for a few lucky ones, trying to work your way into a position where you could get the right VISAs and paperwork to leave the country.

If you are born in a rice field, your luck means you’ll likely stay in a rice field.

Someone asked on another blog what was so great about America, and said that people should stop saying it was so much better than other nations.  The thought seemed to be that we were no better and no different than any other place, but we had a worse attitude and we were arrogant on top of it.  Hmm.

America has a lot of problems.  It may not be on the way up anymore, it may stagnate–hell, it may be on the way down.  Our politicians are quite arrogant, uninterested in anything save being re-elected and holding a majority in Congress.   But their petty games keep them in their ivory towers.   Meanwhile, down on the ground, if a person wants to excel, get an education–or just stay lost in the trenches doing whatever their dream is–it is mostly still possible.   Sure, some other nations have that same opportunity.  Some countries are safer than others.  Some countries may even have more opportunity than we have here in America.  But I think we are still one of the best places to live.   Why?   Because we have dreams.  They may not all come true, and we may not be the only place in the world where it is true, but we can have dreams and we can try to follow them.

It’s far from perfect.  I know there are street corners where you pay to play.  I know there are organizations where you might think you were lost inside a country that requires you to know the right people–and pay the right people.  There are people that will take advantage of you and sadly, many of them are in government.  Yes, there are people that will buy your vote, sell your children, your house, your dog.

But.  There are dreams.  There are jobs.  There is hope.

There aren’t too many people I know of that are trying to get paperwork to leave this country.  Maybe that says best of all why it is okay to say, America really is great.  We have great people.  We have great dreams–even if we don’t achieve every single one.

Do you think Junior misses the outdoors????   He found my plants yesterday and about caved in his ribs sniffing away at the dirt.  We decided on a short jaunt outside to see how he handled the stress…

All morning, we wondered if Scamp had been by.  The food had been picked at, but it was hard to say whether it was Scamp or birds.  Junior headed right for the food bowl when we opened the back door.  With a few sniffs, he knew whether Scamp had been by.  He didn’t tell US whether Scamp was there, but you just know he knows.  It’s amazing really that cats and dogs can discern so much.  For us, it’s just a bowl of food, no matter how hard I look–or sniff.  For Junior–I’d be willing to bet he knows whether blue jays, starlings or mom was by–or all three.

Junior did try to find mom Scamp, but we got just enough rain that the below ground drainage had too much water for a little guy like him.  We actually would not have let him out had we checked the drainage system first–we know all the cats use the tunnels as their personal highway system, but we didn’t really want to lose Junior to drowning in the first 15 minutes of freedom!

He tried several ways around the standing water and even went in up to his knees, but eventually, he gave up and came back into the yard.  We were pretty relieved.  The whole experience was a bit like watching a toddler try to ride a tricycle…with us overworried and the kitten supremely confident.

You’ll also notice he now is the proud owner of a collar.  He’s taking to it quite well actually because anything beats the satellite dish that was around his head.  He’ll be having more outdoor adventures soon.  He loves it out there, and I can always use the help chasing birds out of the garden.

As you can see from this bonus picture, he is not having any trouble relaxing.  This seems an odd position for a cat, but apparently no one told him, so he just lounges about sleeping and watching football with us.

It’s cold here. 33 to be exact (the weatherman said it would only get down to high 30s. Perhaps he doesn’t really understand “high” and “low.”) Two days ago it was 80+. Suddenly we’re plunged into an ice age.

I’ll have to put on warm clothes to get my walk in today, that’s for sure. And I won’t be gardening…

Okay, we’ll start with the big news. Junior needs a spanking! The cat went feral on us yesterday after acting a bit strange all day. Was it the fireworks over the last 3 days? The kids yelling next door yesterday? Just the general, “I can’t take it anymore?” We rushed him to the vet (I either need to get a job there or at least a cot, we’re there so often.) The vet agreed something was drastically wrong…but had no idea what. The cat drooled, wouldn’t settle down–he was in a complete panic attack. With no sign or reason. We had to leave him overnight. This morning, the little angel was eating and playing with the vet, the techs, anyone that came near him. The vet said he must have gotten into something toxic. Yes, well, we looked everywhere last night and can’t find anything he might have gotten into. He had the lampshade on, which makes it pretty hard for him to get into anything. Seriously.

So the vet thinks we’re bad parents because we let Junior find trouble. We think we’re bad owners because we somehow allowed that poor cat to be terrified out of his wits.

When he gets home, he’s getting a spanking, I tell you.

Gardening
There is probably something else going on in my life besides daily trips to the vet. I have to think hard, but I remember being a gardener once upon a time. Of course when I went to Wal-Mart they were still busy getting rid of Christmas–no onion starters yet. Not that I *need* more onions. It’s just warm out and I feel the need to plant something.

Since there were no onions, I planted some snap peas. And then some green onions. I’m thinking about expanding a section of my garden. No, I can’t keep up with a larger garden. Yes, I do this to myself every year. It’s out of control.

Reading

The Town Drunk has a new issue out. I’ve read the first story and I really liked it. It’s bizarre. It’s called Super Hero, Uncensored by Kabza. I’m pretty sure I had this job once, only no one referred to me as a superhero. I guess the only difference is that after Junior, I have no desire to work in a pet store…

Jim Hines’ new series comes out on Tuesday: The Stepsister Scheme. I started reading it and it’s good. Quite good so far.

The paperback version of The Vacant Throne comes out on Tuesday as well. It’s the third in the throne series by Joshua Palmatier. I haven’t started on the second one yet, but the first was a very good read–an orphan girl surviving on medieval streets. What made her stand out wasn’t actually her “talent” it was her sheer guts.

I keep reading other blogs that are talking about New Year’s resolutions. I’ve never been much for these sorts of things. That is to say, if I have a resolution or something that needs doing, I don’t wait for New Year’s to decide I’m going to do it. I’m either going to get it done, or I’m not. I know our neighbor has a NY Resolution–he’s going to quit smoking (again.) I know a few people that are going to lose weight–I’m all on board for that one, but I didn’t wait until NY. I’ve been working on that since…well, at least October. It went well. Then it didn’t. Then it went well. Then it didn’t. Seems related to stress. Well, yeah and food.

I’ve already started on the garden work, so I can’t resolve to do that.

I’ve also already started on getting the kitten better–and he’s an ongoing project. He got his stitches out yesterday. Boy was he MAD. It’s the first time he’s actively hidden from us since the beginning. Of course, as far as he is concerned, half his butt got ripped off (there was a scab on there before the episode of the stitches coming out…somehow…it is now missing. We figure that was the HUGE rebel-scream we heard while we were sitting in the waiting room.) He’s resting peacefully at the moment, but we get the eye-peering thing where he peeks at us from under the table–ready to run if we look suspicious. It’s very hard to look innocent and harmless even though we had nothing to do with the scab or stitches unless you count putting him in the carrier and taking him there. I assume he will forget (or forgive) in a day or so.

There’s probably some other things I could resolve. I could resolve to dust more (and cart the current dust out to the garden to be composted) but I know I won’t really do it. I’m not a duster. Those wheelbarrow’s full of dust are quite heavy. Seems like a job for a professional.

I think I’ll leave the resolving to those with more determination. I’ll just keep wandering around holding the dust rag and looking busy.

For any that missed it, I posted my top reads for 2008 a bit early this year, but you can find the post here: If you’re looking for some excellent reading suggestions, check it out!!!!