This will serve to confuse everyone who reads this except for one person.










CUBS WIN CUBS WIN CUBS WIN CUBS WIN CUBS WIN

You are a Social Liberal (80% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (6% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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A couple of weeks ago we spent an afternoon with some new friends, including their 7 yr old son and his little sister and their baby brother. Emerson, the 7 yr old, and the girls got along like old friends. We had a nice afternoon with a meal and s'mores around the fire.

Tonight at dinner, as we're eating homemade Lemon Meringue pie, homemade by a church lady who really really knows how to make pie, Sofie says, "this is just like when Emerson played Frog Prince and said I could kiss him for more s'mores!" and we're like, huh? And the girls both say oh yeah, he wanted us to kiss him for more s'mores. Ha! Then we ask, well DID you? And Sofie's all "NO WAY! THAT'S ICKY!" Mander says, why icky? and Sofie thinks about it a minute and says, definitively,

"I like cake."

Dear hair dye manufacturers,

While I whole heartedly agree, the idea of selling hair dye to the masses in any conceivable colour they could wish for is a simply genius idea, there are however a few things I feel could make your product even better.

Extra long latex gloves. Sure its handy having those gloves that you peel off from the paper instructions but I wonder whose hands they actually fit? I know I have tiny hands but I doubt any womens hands are that big! What I propose is extra long stretchy latex/rubber gloves. I'm thinking of the length of ballgown gloves. Most women wear short sleeved tshirts or vests while dying their hair. However if you have long hair there is a very strong likelyhood you will stain your arm as a strand of hair escapes. These extra long gloves could prevent such mishaps. Better yet a plastic poncho!

Dye removal. Its a tricky one, no matter how much petroleum jelly you slap on your ears when you dye your hair a dark colour, your ears will always have a slightly singed look afterwards. There are little bottles of product you mix into the big bottle to activate the colour, why not develop some removal product and dedicate a bottle to it? You could even have a sponge top applicator for more accurate dye removal!

Those little extras. So you've managed to get the colour onto your head. Now you have to wait between 30-45 minutes for the colour to develop. What does one do for this time? If you are brave you venture out of your bathroom and potter around. At the back of your mind though there is the fear that dye will get onto furniture/clothes and the effort of trying to clean up the accident. If you are like me though where your decor seems to be based on the cream pallette combined with a clumsy by nature personality you dare not step foot outside the bathroom. The reprecussions would be dire. Instead you stare at the wall cursing yourself for not thinking to bring in some reading material. Or you clean the bathroom if you feel up to it. However you then risk dislodging your dye laden hair and risking more accidents and effort of dye removal from various parts of your body. I therefore propose it would be a fabulous idea to include a magazine/nail file and polish with the dye kit. Think of the kudos you would get among your customers.

I hope these suggestions will be taken under consideration.

Your loyal (and slight stained) customer
Baasheep


(p.s do you really believe people do those patch tests or is that just to cover your asses?)

Mmmmm I love me some weekends. I slept in late today (probably too late seeing as its after 2pm here and I'm only up an hour)and am now deciding what to do first, walk or shower. There is also clothes washing, hair dying and food shopping to fit in today. Tommorow is my cousins kids christening. Also if I have time I'm going over to boypal tommorow for some GTA and takeout. Its his birthday today and we were MSN'ing til the wee hours last night. I still see him as friends only in my head so I'm not overly concerned about that. Will be fun to play GTA though and he is sarcastically funny so am looking forward to that.

In acne watch there are a few zit's appearing. I'm not overly concerned at the moment seeing as aunt flo is due to gatecrash soon. I'm giving it another month and if it gets worse I'll see about going back on the pill. Sigh.

I feel so lucky that these are the only things that are bothering me at the moment :-)

You are a Social Moderate (50% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (36% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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Rarely have I been so, so glad that it is the weekend.
Students were acting up all week, ugh.
Daughter was acting up all week, ugh (is it in the water?)
Doctor crap/waiting continues (but will talk about it all in a locked post)
Awfully rainy outside, boo.

BUT:
Tonight E comes home. Yay! I have my husband back, and Ani has her daddy back, even if it is just for 2 days.
Going for a pedicure tomorrow with old best friend who I've grown apart from.
Saturday night date with husband. Actually looking forward to it, since I've missed him, so don't feel guilty that I'm leaving Ani. I get to choose, so I'm thinking PF Chang's and then "Made of Honor".
Bridal shower on Sunday with old high school friends. Not really looking forward to that, but it'll be nice to see them and catch up, maybe. 

25 more minutes................
 

This weekend Oscar got into an altercation with a mother squirrel intent on leading her babies to the water bucket. Oscar was peripherally in the way, and she was NOT PLEASED.



There was an insane amount of chattering going on, with some intimidating tail flicks thrown in for good measure.



It was enough. Oscar surrendered. Surprise.



Big Mama took her triplets to the water bucket and gave them a bath. They're not SMALL babies - nearly big enough to be on their own. This morning I saw Mama on her own, perched on the fence post, getting a little alone time. There's a large round bump on her neck, on one side, like a tumor, or abscess. I hope she's not sick. Not that I trust the Squirrel Mafia, or any of their brethren, but I feel bad for her. She was just sitting there staring into space, looking like any mother of triplets might look when she finally got a minute to herself.

 

Things that please me exceedingly, episode today!

-Having a student at work. Specifically, tag-team teasing the student with Other Pharmacist. Whee!

-COLA FLAVOURED ASPIRIN CRYSTALS!!!! You dissolve them in your mouth, and they TASTE GOOD, and they deliver an adult dose of an analgesic/antipyretic, and you can buy them in packages with MORE THAN FIVE DOSES, and they take up less space that chew-tabs, not to mention are four times less expensive per adult dose, and they are available in Canada! OMG my purse just gained so much real estate. I cannot accurately convey how much joy this brings me. I am getting a divorce so I can MARRY THEM.

-I have stepped on to a landMOOn! It's like a landmine, only you end up MOOing all night, barely remembering to eat. Hrm!

-OH HELL YES.

-Cola. Flavoured. ASA. Crystals. Did I mention?

Must go to bed new rule is bed by 11. It seems to make me less cranky during the day when I get enough sleep. Shocking. So its 22.54

In brief:

Dinner with boy tonight. It's funny I appear to have made the shift in my head to friends. He was late as usual and as we were eating I as thinking ugh, you have no table manners. Other things came to my attention as well but that was the main one. More later.

Flirting with another boy on MSN. Fun! I'm quite out of practise at teh flirtz.

Have excercised for 30 mins everyday this week so far. I'm not pressuring myself to excercise more just easing in gradually at a pace I feel comfortable with. Screw my cult leader saying one hour minimum this works for me now. Also got an electronic tracker doodad for keeping track of my points. Very cute.

Angie having twins. Eeeee!

Christening on Sunday, gah much as I love my extended family I do wish there weren't as many social do's we had to go to. Still to will be nice to see Mam's sisters.

Odd question. Can anyone tell me what flowers/plants I can plant on my Mams grave (in baskets). Its a really wide open windy space with no protection from rain/sun etc. Is there any relatively nice looking plant that is pretty much weather proof? Gah, have black fingers me.

22.59, bed! Toodles lovelies x

Neka always begs to go outside on nice days, whirring and chirping in circles at my feet until I open the front door, and THIS is where I always find her if I left my car windows open.



You want to go outside so you can sleep in the car? REALLY? There's no understanding that cat.

Despite her behavioral irregularities she is my precious little princess, always ready to sit or sleep or cuddle. For ten years she's been living with pain in her front feet. It went undiagnosed for a while; she was subjected to lots of poking and prodding and radiographs and biopsies (one report simply declared her neurotic while the other mentioned unusual but unknown plasma cell activity) but it was all in vain. A few years ago a vet thought he might know what it was and gave her high doses of steroids, which didn't help.

She was a perplexing case.

The pads on Neka's front feet are deflated, not firm like they should be, and they periodically swell until they are painfully engorged, at which time they either burst open or deflate again. Neka is a small cat, so she typically limps only if she jumps down from too high, whereas a larger cat might be lame all the time. She also limps if she's done something wrong, or wants sympathy. But there's no doubt she's always in pain, whether she's limping or not. She often sleeps with her feet turned UP so they don't touch anything, or alternates holding up one foot while sitting so that neither foot gets too sore. Sometimes she gets stuck up high, like on the fridge. The impact from the jumping UP causes her feet to hurt so she can't jump DOWN, and she cries until someone comes to get her. Similarly, during a bad flare up, cat litter is painful on her feet, and she minimizes her time in the box, and sometimes has accidents.

It was Megan, my neighbor, who came up with a diagnosis while sitting in a lecture about rare feline diseases. Yesterday the vet confirmed it - Neka has Plasma Cell Pododermatitis and will be treated experimentally with an antibiotic with immuno-modulation properties that has been successful in 80% of clinical trials. The underlying hypothesis of this method is that the increase in plasma cells is related to immune function - the body is attacking itself. It seems the condition is so rare in cats that there are no formal research papers on the subject. So, Neka gets to be another case study.

Her prescription was filled by a real pharmacy (for people!) and they called to ask if Neka would prefer beef, liver, chicken or fish flavored suspension. I asked if they offered garbage, house plant, or cat butt flavors. They don't. I chose chicken. I hope she likes it, because I'll be squeezing it in her mouth twice a day for the next four weeks.

I hope it works. Our girl turns eleven this July, and it would be a wonderful thing for her to live the rest of her life without this limitation. No more limping, no more crying, no more pain...

I just received this email from our office manager:

Hi All,

In addition to health insurance changes, you can also make changes to AFLAC (add, change or drop coverage). Please let me know if you are interested in having an AFLAC rep come into the office in the next week or two to give a presentation on the benefit.

This rep will most likely not be a duck.

- E

Last night I accidentally read a document regarding investigation into USDA regulation of animal cruelty in processing plants. Specifically, the lack of aforementioned regulation.

Okay, I'm a carnivore, and processing animals is messy. It's a horrible way to go, but it's no picnic to be run down and eaten alive by lions, either. Life as prey is tough. And there are people like CSU's Temple Grandin who are committed to making slaughter safer and less stressful for all parties involved. And let's face it, if the only job you can get is at a slaughter house, that's what you do.

The safety of that blissful ignorance was shattered when I read account after account of behavior so appalling that it made me sick to my stomach. One report in particular - which I won't repeat because I wish I hadn't read it - was so unimaginably cruel, so disgustingly evil, that I burst into tears. The premeditated, prolonged torture of an animal out of boredom and curiosity is inexcusable, and to brag about it... I don't know what was worse, the mental image of the pig in severe pain or the knowledge that someone could be that cruel to an animal that has been shown to be as intelligent and complex as a three year old child.

I sobbed the entire way home. Oscar and Neka were concerned, I don't usually come through the door in tears and throw myself on the bed. They tended to me: nuzzling my ears, licking my cheeks, purring ferociously... and in a way, it worsened the dilemma. Cats are not nearly as intelligent as pigs, and there they were, comforting me without even knowing what had happened, without the ability to ask, simply because in ten years together they understand me enough to know when I need help.

I'm a tender hearted individual, I don't deny that. But I'm also a scientist, and I'm capable of rational, objective analysis of the bigger picture. The bigger picture, for me, is that at least until I can erase that image from my brain, I will not be eating meat if I don't know where it came from. Turkey at Andria and Amanda's? Bring it on. I know how much thought, care and kindness they put into raising and processing their livestock. Bacon at the restaurant? No thank you.

I'm feeling better! Yay! Which is good because I rate my chances of completing this round of antibiotics as low. I threw up this morning's dose and I'm thinking seriously of saying "Fuck you anyway!" to the remaining 5 doses.

I'm feeling RIDICULOUSLY good actually.

-The mortgage paperwork is all on rails! Just waiting for the bank to call us in to sign things so our notary can start working her notorious magic. She's already getting the title ready - the title will say Brooke Lunderville, Pharmacist on it! Because I'm a pharmacist for real now! Although I could have said "archaeologist" or "phlebotomist" or "necromancer" or whatever and they wouldn't have actually checked my story.
-A friend got some SUPER AWESOME NEWS that I was very, very happy to hear about.
-It's raining! It's been summery and sunny all week and it was making me deeply uneasy. Summer starts /next month/, sky.
-I got to wear socks! ...yeah it's the kind of day where EVERYTHING makes me happy. Except clarithromycin.

Now I am going out on PANTS QUEST 3000 because all my pants want to fall apart at the same time because they hate my freedom. But you too can benefit from my current mania! Because to steal an idea from cadhla and peteralway, it's time for...

MOLYBDENUM COMPOSER! (I hate ironing.)

1. You give me three words in a comment.
2. I write a song! The song is about the three words and is not guaranteed to contain them.
3. If you give me EVIL DIFFICULT WORDS, it will take me forever. Give me words you actually would like a song about.
3.1 On the other hand, if you look over the topics I have previously written songs about, you may find it difficult to discern what I think is a difficult word.
4. I might take forever anyway. I reserve the right.
5. Offer limited to the first ten respondents. Plus slantiness (if she wants to) even if she is not in the first ten, because I say so.

la la la!

listy:
1. ladyaraia - marked, cause, lightning
2. solomons_pond - friendship, felines, forgetfulness
3. patoadam - moon or other celestial body visible from earth, green, waves.
3.1 patoadam - necromancer, archaologist, phlebotomist. Heh.
4. dormouse_in_tea - pharmacists, ceramic science, ray-guns.
5. phillip2637 - evil, difficult, words
6. thehula - scorpion, in, pants
7. peteralway superevolved, squirrels, dominate
8. bigbumble molybdenum is so cool! (close enough. :) )
9. geojlc pony, squid, socks
10. maverick_weirdo painting, thinking, kilt
Bonus. slantiness thermometer, waiting, occlumency

CLOSED! FULL UP! BRAIN OCCUPIED!

Our trip to Texas was quite a whirlwind. We arrived Friday and went directly to the town where the wedding was located. It was a very, very small town and not what I expected it to be, but we managed just fine. I am not such a snob that I can't appreciate a nice country wedding!

The wedding service was very nice. The dinner and reception was interesting to say the least! We got a chance to see a few cousins that I haven't seen in 15 years! Their children are now grown and married and having their own children. Jeez, that makes me feel real old (not to mention a failure in that whole baby department).

We spent most of the day Sunday in Austin. We got a nice flavor of 6th Street and downtown Austin. There was a family fair going on so there were a TON of people out and about. We also watched for the bats, but they came out pretty late so it was too dark to get cool pics.

Speaking of pics, I used all MANUAL settings on my camera on a our trip. Unfortunately, some pictures aren't so great. I need to practice a lot more. Oh well, I will post more pics later in the week.

Monday, we went to San Antonio which we all really liked. I wish we would have had more time to explore the River Walk and the ancient missions. We did get to visit the Alamo in-depth and we got to see the San Jose Mission but just from the outside. We were too late to get inside for a tour. If I ever have a chance, I will go back there.

Things in life have been busy since we got back last week. We had out of town visitors, my niece's 4th birthday party and Mother's Day.

Work is super slow which is so not cool. We are in the process of being sold and I am afraid it might not go through with the economy being so bad right now. I am doing my best to keep/look busy.

Feeling a bit melancholy this week, but I think coming off a vacation and following it up with Mother's day has gotten me a bit down. The cool weather isn't helping matters either. I ready to plant my garden, but Mother Nature needs to cooperate first.