Chilly pictures

OK, so I collected a bunch of them in one place, uploaded and created a slideshow. Only the freaking html for the slideshow has an error in it somewhere. Fucking image shack! GGRRRR!!!!!!

So here's the link in case you want to see what it looked like when, as my daughter's best friend says, "the apocalypse occured."

Warning, they're pretty fucking depressing pictures.

Ice Storm, December, 2007

So.....about cleaning up all that debris

There's a buttload of downed wood in both my front and back yards. The front yard is filled with the remains of the pecan tree. Breaks my heart to look out there. It's always been one of my favorite places to sit, out in the front yard under the pecan tree on a soft summer day. It was so beautiful. Sunshine chasing shadow all around my home. All the downed wood has been cut into lengths that can be hauled to the curb.

In the backyard are the downed remains of a peach tree, a baby pecan tree, and an apple tree. Because they grew along the fence line, and because the fence line between mine and my neighbor's land follows the line of the electrical connections, the tree trimmers and linemen came into my backyard and cut down all my trees. I guess they figure they don't have to worry about them growing into the electrical lines ever now. They also cut down all the weeping willow that was hanging over my backyard from my neighbor's tree. They were literally laying on the electrical lines, frozen in ice. So there's all that debris to haul. It all just makes me so sad. It's like this all over the city. Thousands of trees broken. I've never seen anything like this. Not ever. I hate it.

I walked into the backyard to begin the process of hauling all that shit out of there. My yard looks naked. :o( I walked into the front yard. The pecan tree looks like a wounded warrior, spearing the sky with broken and splintered arms. No more sunshine chasing shadow. I think I'm going to lose the whole tree. There's not enough left to salvage it, I'm told.

This sucks.

Christmas fun!

OK, so I went to Tucson for Thanksgiving with my brother and his family. I have to post more about that because it was really fun and we had a blast. But first, this. My brother's best friend is a DJ at one of the radio stations there. He took my brother and his girlfriend to this show in Phoenix this year. Jonas (the DJ friend) knows the guy who does advance ticketing for this group. He arranged to have tickets waiting at the box office for us in OKC tonight. So we're driving over this afternoon. I've loved their music for years. I can't believe I get to go see them. :o)

Short list

1. Sicker than snot

2. Hospitalized w/pneumonia

3. Daughter drove to Tucson for Thanksgiving since I couldn't hold my head up very well. 19 1/2 hours straight through. Never again.

4. It was totally worth it. They tucked me into bed and took care of me like no one has in nearly 20 years.

5. I like my brother a lot. I love him too. Both very good things.

5. Came home thinking I feel better, I can get caught up on life.

6. The next day there was a major computer crash at work.

7. Spent the next 10 days living in the office.

8. Then the ice storm hit.

9. That was December 9th/10th.

10. We got electricity back today.

11. I don't ever want to do any of that again.

12. I am alive.

13. I think.

14. More later.

Love,

The one whose life is a walking disaster sometimes

#$@#$%$#^%#$@^(

In case you can't translate, that's me swearing because I'm sick again.

Fever, sore throat, congestion, ears hurting. Funny. Two women at work had the exact same thing last week. You think that's where I got it?

Totally pisses me off when people don't stay the fuck home when they're contagious.

Inconsiderate assholes! They had sick/vacation time left. They didn't want to "waste it."

GGGRRRR!!!!!!

OK, I'm done. I'm going back to bed where I belong. Because every time I stand up I fall down. I think it's because my ears are clogged.

Instructions to medicate your cat

This is a list. For the future. Lest I forget.

How to put meds into Puff Ringo:

Required:

1. Three adult sized humans

2. A bowl of shredded beef cat food, and a couple of blobs of cheese

3. A syringe

4. A bowl of water

5. Two bath sheet size extra thick towels

6. One heavy duty, extra thick, super duper pair of work gloves

7. An evening to waste

Puff Ringo acquired her third case of tapeworms recently. I noticed yesterday. Picked up the meds today on my way home from work. I've done this with her before. It is never fun. For either of us. She ends of up extremely pissed. I end up extremely bloody. Why this stuff doesn't come in liquid form, I have no idea. Probably because it was invented by a dog person who has not the slightest clue what the hell it takes to shove meds down a cat's throat. But, hey! The last two times I had to do it alone. This time, I have help! It'll be easier!

It takes one and a half pills to dose her. The pills are large. Puff is not. So I break them into quarters. Yes, I know. I am an ass. That means I have to put my fingers in her mouth six - yes, I said six - times. She's pretty pissed after the first time. The other five I'm just asking for trouble.

I start off hoping I can fool her. I put 1/4 of a pill into a couple of tablespoons of cat food. She eats all the way around it. Of course. I try molding some cheese around the 1/4 of a pill hoping she'll scarf it down and not notice. She spits the meds out. Swallows the cheese. This cat is smart. I forgot. This is the one who plays fetch with pipe cleaners rolled up in a ball, like a damn retriever!

OK, time to get determined. I wrap her in a bath towel, holding the closed part under her chin. The idea is to a) hold her still and b) keep her from ripping me to shreds with her claws. I tell Andy hold her gently, but firmly and no matter what, DO NOT LET GO! I pry her jaw open, drop 1/4 of a pill down the back of her throat, hold her jaw closed, and gently stroke her neck while encouraging her to swallow. She is growling in the back of her throat. I hold her like that for a good 2 to 3 minutes. When I let go, she spits the pill out. And hisses at me. Andy gets scared and lets go. The cat escapes. Of course.

I crawl my rather rotund ass under the bed to pull her out and try again. And again. And again. By now, her back legs are shredding the towel, so we get a second one. She is trying to bite me so I put on gloves. I finally hit on the idea of using a small syringe of water, squirted into the side of her mouth while I'm holding her jaw closed, to make her swallow.

Worked like a charm. I got the first 3 down. Now she's REALLY pissed off. Andy loses his courage and bails. Katie takes his place. She offers to put the pill in the cat's mouth, but has second thoughts once she sees those lovely sharp fangs. Still, she's a more faithful assistant. She doesn't let go when Puff hisses and growls.

When we were finished we carried her outside and let her go. No way I'm letting a cat that is THAT pissed off loose in my house to terrorize the rest of them. She came back a couple of hours later, walked by my desk, swiped at my shin with a claw, curled up on my bed, and is sleeping. She'll probably bite me in the middle of the night.

But she won't have tapeworms anymore!

An award has been bestowed upon me

By sweet Nina over at Closer To Fine. It's a lovely award, but I think this means Nina thinks I'm nice, as opposed to the bitch I really am. Nina? How could you???? *smile*

Seriously, thank you, sweetie. It was very thoughtful of you. I get to pass it on too, yes? I can think of no more deserving person than Deborah at Middle Girl. She was one of the first bloggers I communicated with, is one of the gentlest souls I've met out here in internetland, and is someone very special to me. Go check her out! Oh yeah, and she's got this amazing lip thing going on over at her blog too! *smile*

More real posting later. There's a pot of coffee with my name on it in the kitchen.