Ouch, I Said

Gravity, as has been noted previously, does not tend to be my friend. There must be something wrong with my gravitational pull or something -- which, come to think of it, could explain all the weight I've gained..... Hmmm..... Anyway.

The day after Thanksgiving dawned, and it was time for Fall to leave the house and Christmas to enter. My husband was being no help at all. Apparently he was still in a food coma from the day before and seemed unable to get out of the comfy chair in his lair. There was no help for it, I had to get down that darned Autumn garland above the front door. Now for 99.999% of the human population this wouldn't pose a problem. The rest of us, however, see just where this is going. I took out one of the tall, swiveling chairs from the dining room and clambered atop it, but as I reached for the garland, the swivel chair did what swiveling chairs do. It swiveled. I fell. I guess I twisted in the air (I bet I would have gotten straight 10's on my style) and landed on the top concrete step on my back. Ouch, I said. The end result has been a whole lot of discomfort, liberal use of Ben Gay (I kept hearing people at the craft show on Saturday remarking how something smelled just like their grandmother), and much time spent with a heating pad on my back. I haven't been to the doctor because all he's going to do is say not to stand on chairs that may swivel, then give me prescriptions for muscle relaxers and pain pills. I have those left from the unfortunate Litter Lifting Incident last spring. Besides, I'm fairly sure I heard him chuckle as I left his office. Harrumph.

Friendships.... When Is It Too Much?

Probably everyone at some time has had a friend who required A Whole Lot Of Effort. I know the old adage "To Have A Friend You Must Be A Friend" is true, but sometimes a friend requires you to put in a whole lot more work than said friend seems to be putting in. Sometimes I just wonder where the line is when you have to put your foot down and just say NO. There's got to be a demarcation between being a good friend, and being a doormat doesn't there? I struggle with this.

I Have Jeans!!

Okay, I've mentioned before that 1) I love to cook, 2) I love to eat, and 3) I'm a short, round woman. In the past if the jeans went around my waist, I could invite the defensive line of the Jacksonville Jaguars into the thigh area. If the thigh and hip area fit, there was a minimum of 4 inches lacking to close the waist. Not a pretty sight, and not comfy. The last time I tried to wear jeans my legs literally fell asleep. Thanks to a friend, I have finally found jeans that are made for people with no waist and a tummy (Thanks Faye!!). I am in no way affiliated with this lady, nor do I profit in any way from anyone buying her jeans, I'm just a fan of FINALLY getting to wear jeans like the rest of the world. Apparently she's on the shopping channel which I have never actually seen, but she also has a website here:
http://fashion.hsn.com/diane-gilman-jeans_c-fa0173_a-88_xc.aspx

I ended up ordering a size smaller than I would usually wear, which did wonders for my self esteem! Just a public service announcement from me!

I Wanted A Puppy?

We have added a Golden Retriever puppy to our family, his name is Winston, and he is very VERY cute..... Which is quite often the one and only reason I've not strangled him with his own ears. As I am standing in the backyard at 3 am in the pouring rain I sometimes question my sanity, but then he does something so heart-breakingly cute that I melt and hug the stuffing out of him. I've always wanted a Golden, but somehow ended up with rescue dogs instead. This time I wasn't going to get sidetracked. I'm getting too old for puppy training, and this seemed like my last shot at the adorability that is a Golden Retriever puppy.

Yes I have cats, and I love and adore my cats, but there is just something about the relationship that one can have with a dog that is special. Dogs are so present in one's life, they love you and only want to please you. I can't imagine not having a dog. Still, there are some challenges that you have to face en route to having that amazing grown up dog. Shall I mention a few? (Oh come on, you KNOW I'm going to mention a few -- why else would I be typing all this?)

The single most difficult problem we've had with Winston is his crate. He refuses to settle down in it, and will scream, yip, bark and howl for the entire time he is incarcerated. I've had well meaning friends, ones who really do know what they are talking about, tell me to just put him in there and let him scream. So I tried that. I put him in the crate and went outside the house. An hour later I couldn't stand it any more and came back in to let him out. Putting a dog into a crate and letting him scream, FOR ME, borders on animal cruelty. Sometimes he has to be crated, but I hate doing it, and really try to minimize the time I'll be gone. I can't let him run amok in the house, he'll chew something up, chase the cats and/or pee somewhere, but I can't wait until he's trained enough not to have to crate him.

Then there is the issue of the cats. There are few things fiercer than a female Scottish Fold. My girls have NEVER run into a dog they couldn't whap into submission with a well placed paw... until now. Winston just knows that they are playing, knows that this is some kind of fun game where they hiss and he chases happily after them. Ummm no. The cats started out with just a soft paw, then they added a hiss, now we are up to full claws out, hissing AND spitting. Winston is undeterred.

Winston starts puppy school on Saturday. I was sad to see that they do not cover issues such as 1) not eating cat poop, 2) not throwing a hissy fit if Mom isn't in your line of sight, or 3) not slithering under the love seat and eating the webbing. I suppose that sit and stay will be useful, and I know that having a reliable recall will stand us in good stead..... still..... don't you feel like these other concerns are equally worthy? I know that *I* do. Stay tuned.....

Doggie Pledge.

Oops.. kinda small. click on it and it should enlarge!

Food Glorious Food

I like to cook, Mike and I both like to eat. These are good things. I love to go through magazines and food sites to find new recipes to try, and I do that regularly. I keep them in file folders sorted by type (Beef/Pork, Chicken, Pasta, Soup, Salad etc) so that when they have a sale on, say, ground beef I can find recipes that might possibly include ground beef. Aren't I the organized one? Some of the things we try are a hit, some a dismal failure, some are just so-so. I only keep the recipes that we really liked, and these go into a 3-ring binder so I can find them again. That binder is a great thing - when I need to find something that I know we like I look in there.

Why is it that some recipes SOUND so good.... but don't TASTE so good? I made one last week that I really thought was going to be spectacular. Chicken, sun dried tomato pesto, and fettuccine. The first bite was amazing, but by the fourth bite it was far less successful. It would probably be a great appetizer, but as far as a main course? Not so good.

Last night's was a keeper. A crust of Bisquick and sharp chedder rolled out and then formed around a filling of ground beef, corn, hot salsa and more cheddar. YUM. A keeper. Tonight I'm trying out pasta with asparagus, parmesan, and pine nuts. We'll see.

The More Things Change.....

Things never stay the same do they? I guess that's a good thing. Nobody wants to go through life without different experiences do they? Our 21 year old son is in the process of moving home. His financial situation was just not making it feasible for him to live on his own. DH and I are thrilled, we love Rob, Rob is a lot of fun to be around, and we've missed him. Rob is depressed. He feels like moving home is a failure, and besides.... Mom and Dad? Oh ugh. I expect that all of us will have to make some accommodations. I'll be finding dirty plates and large shoes lying about, Rob will have to let us know when he isn't going to be returning home at night. I'll have to remember exactly which two things Rob will deign to eat for dinner. Rob will have to refrain from bitching when I make something he doesn't like. We'll manage, although I know it won't be without some snags.

We are going to be adding a puppy to our family. A Golden Retriever. It's been a long time since I've had to potty train anything, and I know that there's a lot of work involved in a puppy, but it is going to be SOOOOO worth it. I've always wanted a Golden, and this breeder has SUCH amazing dogs. It's all very exciting. But still, more change.

Static would be bad. New experiences are a good thing, but sometimes they are scary. It's hard not to fret about all the bad things that COULD happen, instead of looking forward to the wonderful things that WILL happen. Stay tuned. The next few months should be interesting.

Losing Harley

I'm finally starting to get to the point where I feel less like "I Killed My Dog", and more like" I Did The Right Thing". It's been a hard road, and it's been aided in large part by Flinders, the Golden Retriever next door. Flinders' family has been in Australia since 4 days after we let Harley go, and we are dog sitting for him. It is so very different. I don't have to live in terror that the maid and the yard guy will show up at the same time. I take Flinders for a walk and don't have to worry about seeing another dog, or a kid on a bike. Sometimes I think to myself, "oh! This is what it's supposed to be like with a dog." *light bulb goes on over head* Of course, then I feel guilty and disloyal to Harley. But...... I'm coming to realize that I shouldn't feel so guilty. We truly did explore every avenue open to us. We tried diet, medication, training and re-training, counseling...... if its out there, we tried it. While I still miss Harley and her funny, ear-flapping ways terribly, I'm at peace with what had to happen. She wasn't a happy dog, and in turn nobody else was happy either. But .... did I mention that I miss her?

Random Thursday Musings

They are having an estate sale down the street. I'm puzzled by this because, frankly, don't you always think of an estate sale as what happens when the nice old lady down the street finally dies, and nobody wants to sort thru her heaps of stuff and find homes for her cats? No? Really? Because I totally do. Anyway, the people that I saw coming and going out of this particular house weren't old, I don't recall ever even talking to them as they weren't into neighborhood fun and always skipped the block party. Really the only reason that I paid any attention to them at all is because of the color they chose to paint their house. Picture a cross between sea foam green and aqua. Yep. Hideous. I mean really? We can only hope that the next people to move in have better taste in exterior paint.

Vacation. Or Something LIke It

We are back from our second jaunt to our vacation house in the western North Carolina mountains. The only problem with a vacation house is that it is still your house. Which means that you are still cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and tidying up..... you are just doing it in a less convenient spot. Usually NC is worth it because we can escape the near paralyzing Florida heat and humidity. Mother Nature, however, was apparently PMSing, and decided that it could be hot and muggy up there too. So sitting out on the deck with a book became far less pleasurable. We cranked up the window unit a/c, but that truly has a limited ability to cool an entire house, not to mention that it was not unlike sleeping with a Boeing 747 revving its engine in the bedroom with us. That sucker is LOUD. I'm thankful that we have it..... I just hated that we needed to use it.

Still, even with all my grousing about it, there really isn't anywhere else quite like that. It's secluded, 30 minutes to the nearest grocery store or restaurant, and there is no need to get dressed up or wear makeup. Which, to me, is Heaven. We've had some people go up there who decided that it was closer to Hell however, since they had in mind shopping, going out to eat and whatnot. All of which you CAN do up there, you just have to drive a bit to accomplish it.

So I've gotten home, and the house has been cleaned up, the mail and newspapers sorted, the groceries bought and put away, the cats loved on and cuddled with. Life is good.

Ssssscat Device

Scccat is a motion sensitive device that sprays a stream of air when it senses something moving nearby. Somecat is peeing where somecat ought not pee here at Casa Wodrich. I haven't caught the culprit yet, but there are a couple of spots that get hit on a regular
basis, so I bought two of those Sssscat things. First time I set one
off it scared the beejeezus out of me let me tell ya!! It's quite ..... exuberant!

So far I have seen Worm, Taft and Goat fleeing after being Ssssscat-ed. Last night,
however, I had one placed in front of the door to the bathroom where
the foster kittens are. Apparently HRH Princess Lizzie wanted to enter
their room. The device sprayed at her. She flattened her ears, but
held her ground. She moved forward and it sprayed her again. That was
it. She lifted a Royal Paw and shot putted the Ssssscat clear across
the room! The, head held high, she fluffed in and hissed at the
kittens. I was howling with laughter. There is nothing quite as
fearless as a female Scottish Fold to begin with, but Lizzie takes the
cake!!!

I've Been Naked for Two Days

Okay, not really. Not TOTALLY. I have been doing the rounds of doctors and mammogram ladies so I really HAVE been mostly undressed. Tomorrow I refuse to take off any articles of my clothing for any reason at all. So there. I have a new gynecologist and I really like her. She was very gentle and understanding and really seems to take her time. Of course I immediately became less fond of her when she told me I need surgery and that they can't knock me out with a 2x4 before inserting that damnable IV. While I realize that it is totally insane to be more afraid of having the pre surgery blood work and the IV inserted than I am of the actual procedure that's just how I roll. I guess that everyone has something that they are terrified of. I have a couple (snakes and airplane travel come to mind), but the IV, blood test one tops the list. It actually has stopped me from going to the doctor at times when I knew I needed to, it's debilitating, it's embarrassing, and most people just don't "get" how I can be so scared of it. I had to have blood drawn for the recent round of What's Up With My Uterus, and I wasn't even able to sleep the night before.

Yesterday's fun events included a sonogram where they threaded a catheter thru my cervix and into my uterus in order to fill it with saline solution. It's not really as much fun as it sounds, and it does tend to the messy. Even *I* could see the polyp in there (they have thoughtfully provided a flat screen, HD full color screen for the patient's viewing pleasure), so I guess it must be a doozy. The polyp has joined forces with the fibroids that the last sonograms showed. I have the best filmed uterus in the South these days I swear. The insurance company must be scratching their heads and thinking, WTF?? Anyway, I am having a hysteroscopy with a D&C done -- minimally invasive out patient procedure with a short recovery period. Not sure just when, but it will be soon. We are supposed to go back up to NC next week, but Mike says the surgery takes precedence, and I guess it should. This will get rid of the polyps and the fibroids that likely have caused all the problems. I think it's pretty rotten of my uterus to act up like this. I mean you go along for 51 years taking care of your uterus as best one can, and then it goes all postal on ya. Internal organs. Can't shoot 'em, can't live without 'em.

Fun With Medicine

I hate having blood drawn, I'm about 300 miles past needle phobic if it involves a vein. I totally fall apart, shaking, crying, fainting... it's quite a show really. The two other people who wandered into the lab this morning certainly got THEIR money's worth. I've got some stuff going on, and while I can usually wheedle my way out of having bloodwork done, it really was necessary this time. So I girded my loins. I did NOT want to get there at a busy time, so I waited until 9:30 to leave the house, and was happy to see that there was nobody else there. The lady vampire had me fill out the forms, and found a safe place to put my Diet Coke (needed it for afterwards... the caffeine and sugar help). I could see her thinking WHY ME as she watched my entire body shake, but she was very gracious about the whole thing and let me get into the reclining chair where she could hoist my hind paws up over my head. I immediately burst into tears. You know, like you do. At this point another woman wandered into the lab and, looking at my shaking, sobbing, pathetic-ness, thought briefly about turning tail and leaving. Now I have a problem. If I look to my right I can see the vampiress taking blood, if I look to my left I can see the other woman having HER blood taken. Shit. While I was puzzling this out, the vampiress struck...... and..... I barely felt it. She was GOOD! Okay, I can do this I thought. I have no idea why I have such a hard time with such a simple procedure. I hoot every time I hear an ad on tv for some kind of medication that "requires simple blood tests". Simple my left foot! Not simple for everyone bucko. So, it's over for this time. I fully intend to wear my band-aid all day so people will know the trauma I have suffered and feel appropriate sorrow for me. Hand me a tissue would you?

Ha! Thought I'd Died Didn't You?

Jeez I haven't blogged in forever and three days -- I sincerely hope someone noticed. DID someone notice? I just haven't felt like I had anything to say that anyone cared about. I'm sitting here waiting for the maids. It is now 3:44:40. They are supposed to get here between 12:30 and 2:30. I'd say they are late. When they get here I'd ask 'em where the Sam hill they've been -- but since between the two of them they don't know more than about five words of English that would probably not work out. I find it disconcerting that I don't know what they are talking about. They chatter constantly, and I can (using my long dormant high school Spanish - thank you Mr. Midori) sometimes catch a word or two ..... sometimes there is mucho trabajo. Sometimes they talk about the gatos. Anyway... I'm waiting and I'm bored so here I am.

Who has had something with actual excitement value happen to them? Discuss.