Wizard of Ows

So Eric and I had a big day yesterday even though Eric has a bad case of the crud, and we finished the day off by going to see the local high school in their final performance of "The Wizard of Oz". Because the play was double-cast, Eric also saw it last weekend while I was attending a school board meeting.

Our timing was a bit poor, and we rushed through dinner before heading to the play. Inkwell hardly had time to complain that we weren't feeding him off our plates before we left.

The play itself was very well done. Good performances, decent music. The only problem I had with it was the volume of the music was often too loud for the singers, a common problem in high school productions of anything, I've noticed. The music has to be loud enough for the performers to hear, but ends up being too loud for the audience.

After the intermission, I felt a headache coming on. Really bad. I mean, one of those headaches that makes you want to curl up and die. Not quite a migraine strength, but enough to make you completely miserable. I found myself wanting nothing so much as to just go home, despite wanting to see the rest of the play.

I stuck it out, barely, and Eric hustled me out as soon as the bowing and cheering was over. I don't actually remember much after that. I got to bed, the kitten came and curled up against my head and purred away some of the pain, then I was asleep. I had the vague notion that Eric came to bed really really late, or really really early in the morning.

I woke up about 6 a.m. and wondered why the kitten wasn't crying for breakfast. I still felt horrible, so I stayed in bed for another half-hour, waiting to be attacked by a hungry kitten. I started to worry when he didn't appear, so I got up and dizzily walked out to see if he was ok. He wasn't anywhere in the bedroom, nor on the landing or in the upstairs bathroom. I looked down the stairs. No kitten scrambling up to meow at moving human. Eric's room had the door closed, so I opened it and peeked in...

...and the kitten jumped up from Eric's laptop, crying and stretching. Eric had accidentally locked the kitten in his room overnight. Inky raced to me, and I picked him up to carry him down the stairs because I was certain he would trip me if I let him walk. He struggled out of my hands anyway, and sure enough, tried to trip his dizzy mommy as she stumbled down the stairs. Fed the cat, then I went back to bed. Inkwell joined me a bit later, after finishing his breakfast and using the litter box. I found it too difficult to get back to sleep, and went to get my morning pills.

A bit later, I went to get some hot cider and the kitten tripped me. I fell, but against the couch so I didn't do any damage. This time. I'm now moving about very slowly, trying not to break anything.

I did enjoy the play, but I seem to have a sinus issue and I am going to take it easy today.

Inkwell is much better today. Hyper cat again. I checked his incision and he doesn't seem to be pulling on it too much, so I think he's healing. I'll try to get more pictures, but I'm non-mobile at the moment so I'm notaswqs *GET OFF THE KEYBOARD, INKY* ahem. So I'm not going to be able to get good action shots of him.

Anyway, that's life at the Gjovaag house today.

I have an "itten" on my lap

So yesterday was the big day. Thursday night at about 8 p.m. we locked poor Inkwell in the upstairs bathroom, making sure there was nothing to eat there. I put some toys in with him, and the little cat condo I bought for him so he had somewhere to curl up. Then I left him there, meowing in confusion, to spend the night in isolation from any possible scraps of food he might find.

Friday morning he was up and meowing early, especially when he heard us moving about. I only went in long enough to make sure he had water in his dish, then left him there. Poor thing was probably pretty angry with me at that point.

Just before 8 a.m. I went in and got him in his travel box. He only meowed a few times, clearly perplexed and clearly disturbed, but apparently resigned to his fate. I brought him into the vet's office and, admittedly, had a bit of a hard time letting go. I was told I could call around 10:30 a.m. to find out how he'd done.

Work held little interest for me. I've clearly bonded with Inky enough that I was deeply worried for him. I called at 10:30 only to learn he hadn't gone under the knife yet. Eep.

Just after noon I got a call. There was a problem. They were working on him, but one of his... er... kitten balls had not descended, meaning the neutering process might require putting him out completely and opening him up like a spay. Yikes. $40 more for the process, would I approve it? Sighing deeply, I agreed, then I waited to hear.

The next call went to my Google Voice, and I'm still amused by Google's transcription of it:

"I just want to let you know some good news that the doctor was able to reach that test to call through the regular incision and Let's grow dumb. So it was just the regular cat and we didn't have to do anything in the afternoon."

I think 'test to call' should be obvious, 'and Let's grow dumb' is 'in the scrotum'. It also missed a word in the second sentence after 'cat'... 'neuter' and 'anything in the afternoon' was 'anything in the abdomen'.

Relieved, I went about my day... which involved a UFO report, mystery donuts, peanut butter fudge, a phone call I'd been anticipating for three weeks and baby goats with senior citizens.

I got to the vet late in the afternoon, and was shown how to clip a cat's claws without harming the cat. I just need to get the clippers that I put on Inkwell's Wishlist. Then I took the little guy home to see how he reacted.

When I lifted him out of the carrier and put him on the floor of his own home, he stumbled a little, walked in a circle to make sure the sight was real, then walked (a little bow-legged in the back legs) over to his food dish and looked up at me. As I hadn't been told not to feed him, I went ahead and gave him a portion of food. Certainly no loss of appetite!

He then stumbled over to the litter box to do some business, then over to the sliding glass door. He spent some time gazing out into the back yard while making the tiniest sounds imaginable. Almost squeaks, but more mournful.

He got bored of the sight after a bit and found his way to mommy's lap, where he curled up to sleep. He stayed near mommy for some time after that, not leaving except to get food. For once he didn't eat everything in his dish at once, which was good to see and worrying at the same time. He played a little, attacking his feather toy, and seemed close to normal.

After consulting with hubby-Eric, we decided to let him in the bedroom for the night so he could have comfort. He mostly behaved. Apparently he farted in Eric's face at some point, but he didn't wake mommy up until it was breakfast time. He has spent most of the morning in my lap, purring when he wakes up. He completely immobilized my left arm for nearly an hour while I watched TV and played on the internet.

He spent an hour curled up against my left arm, in various positions, this morning.

He's definitely not feeling 100%, but he's also not showing any significant signs of distress. He isn't licking his incision much, and while he's active, he hasn't gone completely nuts (so to speak). We'll just be paying attention to him as we go about our day, and hope he settles back into routine soon enough.

Inkwell's Page - Inkwell's Wishlist

Inkwell Pictures

Just some pictures of the kitten for you to view if you want.

Exhaustion and Kitten Claws

I have to admit, I'm handling the job way better than I expected to when I first got hired. I still don't feel like a reporter, but I am usually making it through the day, which is nice.

Last week I was off-kilter for the entire week. I just feel like I've finally got back on track, and I hope I can keep that going. It's really uncomfortable to feel like you are out of sync with what you are doing. Despite the discomfort, I think I managed to get through the week ok. I still felt slightly off yesterday, but began to feel my stride again toward the end of the day.

It's fascinating to realize how much writing I do each morning. On Monday I had three articles to write, one of which was mostly written and two with blank pages. I also had a couple of briefs to write, one expected and one completely unexpected. Churning everything out was hard, but I figured out how to prioritize (not one of my strengths) and got it all in. Then only the briefs got published yesterday. Go figure.

I still have a terror of interviewing people. I really suck at it. This morning there was a media call with the local legislators, and by some quirk of fate I was the only person to call in. I had exactly two questions ready since I was hoping for other journalists to ask all the questions. I somehow still made a decent little article out of it.

Kitten Update

As of tonight, Inkwell will be exiled from the bedroom at night. He pulled his usual playfulness early this morning, jumping on me and trying to get me to play with him at 4 am. Unfortunately, when I went to brush him away from my face, he took it as a sign I was ready to play and swatted me back with an open claw... right across my nose.

I was shocked by a cat scratch across my face this morning, but not as shocked as Inkwell when I gave him a flying lesson as a result.

I woke up pretty quick at the slash and recall picking up the kitten, who is getting hefty, and tossing him across the bed and to the floor on the other side. A little flying lesson for Inkwell. I didn't realize the cut was bleeding and I was still mostly asleep, so I rolled back over and fell asleep again. The kitten jumped back up on the bed and decided not to mess with my face for the rest of the morning.

When I got up to use the bathroom I saw the damage for the first time and cleaned off my injury. It was considerably more gory-looking than it was actually gory. I took the picture to show why Inky is exiled. I also had a little tale to tell my co-workers.

Inkwell is getting his surgery on Friday. He'll be dropped off early and picked up late and when I get him in the afternoon he'll be an it. Hopefully the result will be some good behavior changes.

Inkwell's Page - Inkwell's Wishlist

Word Nerd

My latest column has already resulted in a "private" response from one of the "gentlemen" I was writing about. I was really amused by it. It was both funny and pathetic, partly because he couldn't seem to make up his mind whether I was a victim or one of the bad guys in his rather limited worldview.

My Feb 17th column (yes, I know the byline is wrong) also got a response from the subject of the column, but it was a positive "thank you."

My Feb 15th Column got LOTS of responses, including my first ever actual paper letter. It really hit a chord for a lot of people. I got a rather long note in e-mail as well.

I also wrote a column on Feb 3rd about Inkwell. Yeah, kitten on the brain.

I should probably do a quick page that lists all my columns that have been put online, just for those two or three folks interested in it. For the record, I already have my next column written, it just needs some serious polishing before it's published. It's about the woman who was my best friend growing up.

Inky...

Hey, if you aren't interested in the kitten, just don't click for more!

Inkwell Update

Inkwell loves the dishwasher, and will jump up on the door if we let him.

The kitten is adjusting to life with two nerds, and seems to be surviving our odd habits. He has continued to sleep in our bed, with mixed results. But he's so cute, it's hard to deny him a place in the bed when he clearly just wants to curl up with us.

Inkwell's Page

Hey, I'm a nerd, of course I set up a website for my cat pictures. Click the kitty to visit it.

Good Grief

I've been talking about nothing but the cat for several weeks now. Perhaps I ought to update you on the rest of my life?

First off, I'm still a reporter, somehow. I'm constantly terrified of being laid off, but I'm apparently slightly decent at the job. I need to improve more. There's a lot of room for improvement. So it goes.

I haven't read much of my comics for the last few weeks, meaning that I'm essentially two months behind. I'll catch up, but it'll be awhile with my concern about keeping the kitten alive and happy trumping the comics. I'm getting one or two read each night, haven't even started my little reviews yet.

I got my media credentials from Emerald City Comicon, but was unable to get the interviews I wanted. I will not get to interview George Takei. *sigh* Probably for the best. I would have a lot of work to do to work out the set of questions I wanted, and then I'd have to practice not gushing like the fangirl I am when I met him. I also didn't get the Chris Lloyd interview, which I had hoped to ask some Wizard of Oz questions in. So those were busts.

Beyond that, my life is as predictable as a reporter's life can be. I took pictures at a wrestling tournament yesterday, go to regular meetings each week and the occasional irregular meeting. I just got a terrifying glance at the seamy underside of local politics this past week and am worse off for the experience as far as my faith in humanity goes, but a bit better off in terms of knowing what I'm dealing with around me.

I had to replace the front tires on my car. I was driving around a corner and felt the wheel jerk under my hands, and then it felt like my car was driving through molasses. I stopped at the Les Schwab, and sure enough, flat. It hadn't quite blown out, but close enough to worry me. We had known the tire needed replacing, just didn't think it was quite that bad. So that's another thing we have to pay for. Money is getting tight again.

Weather has been good. Cool, but not too much freezing. We've had some fog and some rain, but I find them refreshing (unlike natives to this side of the mountains).

My new alarm clock woke me up at 5:34 a.m. this morning with a kitten paw up the nose. I'm never going to get to sleep in again, am I?

Wake up Call

My alarm is set for 5:30 a.m. to give me time to get online and wake up before getting to work. That means that for the last week I've gotten up at 5:30 and fed the kitten before doing much else.

Weekends I can sleep in. Well. Until now.

This morning as I slept I felt a *thump* against my head. It was soft but sudden, and I woke a little at it. Then it happened again. *thump*

Now moderately awake, I looked in the dim light of morning at the bed. There was a black shadow wiggling in a familiar manner. Then... *thump* I woke up a little more. The kitten was getting into a hunting pounce, then "attacking" my head by bumping me, then running in a circle and getting back into his hunting mode. Once more, *thump*!

I looked at the clock. 5:32 a.m.

I got up and fed the little alarm clock.

---

Here are a few fuzzy pictures of the fuzzy kitten having fun around us:

Inkwell discovers Eric's yogurt cup.

Inkwell blurs as he attacks a toy mouse.

Inky displays his hunting success, carrying the kill around the house.

Inkwell gnaws on his furry victim.

Inkwell displays his laser eyes while protecting his kill.

Inkwell's Feeling Better

He's getting a lot healthier, to the point of causing me distress because I don't know what he'll get into next. He's discovered the joys of a computer mouse. If you knock it off the table it'll dangle, and shoot out a neat red light that you can chase.

This evening he found his way inside my chair. I wasn't certain he was in there until I manage to entice him out with a cat tease, but yup... inside the chair.

He's now playing with all his toys, including the ones that made him terrified when we first brought him home. He is incredibly cute carrying around a little red toy mouse in his mouth. And he's got Beckham-like moves with the little toy balls.

We've let him roam the house while we are at work the last couple of days. Nothing was destroyed, but I can tell he's investigated the house thoroughly. I have been keeping certain doors closed, which protects what little we own that's of any value while protecting the kitten from some danger. But if there's something to get into, he's done it by now.

We're going to have to take him in for vaccines and neutering soon. I'm worried about paying for it. I may try to talk the gal who talked *me* into bringing Inky home to help us out with the expense.

Still looking for permanent litter boxes that are the right size for Inkwell. I have two borrowed ones at the moment. I also need to invest in some bleach for cleaning them. So much to think about!

So far my work schedule has allowed me to come home and feed the kitten during the day. I worry that won't last, so I've looked into getting one of those rotating tray timed feeders. They aren't *too* expensive, but all of them have such nasty reviews on Amazon, even the higher rated ones. If I could get one that works, that would allow me to set up exact feeding times instead of Inky relying on the whims of his feckless humans.

Well, we're at least settling into a routine now. Hopefully we can keep the kitten happy and safe.

Update

All is well... except for whatever that big crash in the other room was...

More about Inkwell

I promise I won't turn into a full-time cat blogger. But we're still getting used to our new friend, so it's hard. I wrote about Inkwell in the paper today.

This afternoon when I got home I found Inkwell had claimed my chair in the living room, but seemed surprisingly happy to see me. He followed me upstairs, where I found Eric had forgotten to feed him. Not a surprise, this is new to Eric as well. Eric said Inky had been VERY active, getting in his way, running around his feet, jumping on the kitchen counter and generally making himself a proper nuisance like a proper kitten.

After I fed him, he played a little, then settled down in the crook of my arm...

His absolute favorite spot, if he can get it, is the crook of someone's elbow. He gets heavy after a bit.

At work I told my co-worker, M, who talked me into taking care of Inkwell in the first place that I really needed to get a scratching post, so she took me over into the pressroom and cut up a cardboard box, explaining that she was making a redneck scratching pad. She stacked the sheets of cardboard into a little pile, then used the machine that straps the bundles of newspapers together to strap the pile into a block.

While we were doing this, the pressman came over and mentioned there was scrap material over along the wall. M went over and found a roll that is the remains of a huge roll of paper. The paper for the press comes on these rolls that are larger than most people, and the cardboard center is really very strong. M handed me one of those, and then found a plug of wood that would fit in one end. She had me hold the roll while she used a board to whack the plug into the roll. Then she took the board over to the pressman, who found some nails and made a base for the redneck scratching post.

The roll is one that newsprint comes on, the base was nailed to the bottom by the pressman. The remaining paper is still on the roll.

Right after I got off work, M told me to go to the local flooring place and ask for scrap carpet. I headed out, asked, and they suggested I check the dumpster. I found three clean and likely pieces out there and took them home. Two are kind of odd-shaped and I've put them along the couch, but the third was a strip. I found some nails and nailed the sucker to the post in a spiral.

The scrap of carpet goes around the post successfully, with a bit of extra lumpiness at the bottom.

Happy with my handiwork, I tried to get Inkwell interested in it. He was unimpressed, even when Eric showed him the trick of it.

Eric confuses a cat by trying to show him how to use a scratching post.

I went and snagged one of the bags of kitten treats, and put one on the base. Inky gobbled it up. I put another up on the top of the "lump". Inky found it and gobbled. I stuck one along the edge of the carpet a little higher up. Inky reached up with his claws and found the piece by pulling himself up, then did a bit of comfy scratching on the post. I suspect it won't take long to train him to use it, if we want to.

As I write this, this is where Inkwell is, right on my lap curled up enjoying my presence.

I still can't believe we have a kitten.

More cat pictures

Because I just can't resist.

About nine hours after his first dose of medicine, he was feeling considerably better. This morning he woke me at five a.m. in the Simon's Cat manner, minus the baseball bat. He's clearly feeling MUCH better.

I was watching him play, tried to get a picture, and he immediately calmed down.

This morning I gave him his medicine and had a less difficult time than last night, my first try. I have to syringe-feed him the medicine, and getting the stuff down him the first time was a bit... messy. But this morning I got the knack of the "scruff" method, and he took the medicine without even wiggling. Hopefully the rest can go as easily (two down, 11 to go).

He just finished killing the evil quilt monster, and is settling in for a relaxing evening.

He has been playing much more since last night. He's actually running around the house, attacking doors, feet and random bits of floor. He's still terrified of the toy mice and kitten bell balls, but maybe he'll eventually mellow enough to play with them.

Update

Sorry, I've been busy with a sick kitten and work. The kitten is going to the vet this morning after I get through deadlines. He's a little better, but still sniffling and sneezing all over the house. It does appear that we've been adopted. The last three nights the kitten has been loose at night and has slept/played on the bed with us while sniffling. His eye is considerably better.

I'll update this later today once we know a little more, but I predict we'll get some medicine and advice and not much else will change.

Inkwell enjoys the sink.

UPDATE: So, Inkwell probably has cat herpes, which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. In fact, the doctor said he'd never seen a stray cat brought in that *didn't* have it. I'll be giving him antibiotics for a week to try to get rid of the nasal infection, and hopefully he'll start feeling better in a few days.

Right now he's on my chest, looking beautiful. He seems to be adjusting to us pretty well, although he's been clawing and nipping me still, while apparently trying to nurse.

Inkwell discovers a new toy in the living room. He enjoys cardboard and doors.

UPDATE, UPDATE: I think a hyper Inkwell is going to be much more difficult to handle than a sick, tired and depressed kitten.

Kitten update

So. Let's see. We took Inkwell the kitten to the vet on Wednesday afternoon and he got medicated and such. Wednesday night he was clearly not feeling well, few meows and no purring. Thursday morning, just about nothing. He didn't want to get up, didn't eat, and when I checked the bathroom I discovered that he'd barfed all over behind the toilet. He also had diarrhea. He was very lethargic all day, and just didn't eat much of anything.

About 11 am I called the vet again to report on his worsened condition, and she said that a kitten should not be vomiting like that. The diarrhea and lethargy were also very bad signs. So she prepped me for the worst, telling me about the feline version of parvo, which is nearly always fatal. She explained that the big problem, since he had diarrhea, would be dehydration. She suggested getting some Pedialyte to try to get him back up to normal hydration levels.

So we got some Pedialyte, and tried to feed him again. But he really wasn't eating much of anything. And he wasn't moving much. And he wasn't purring at all. I had him laying on my stomach for a time, and was afraid at least a couple of times that he had died right there.

In addition, he developed a drool. Massive drool. Big blobs of it coming out of his mouth. And I took to wiping it up constantly, which annoyed him a bit. Add in the eyedrops, and I think the poor guy probably hates Eric and me now.


Well, I left him some kibble in Pedialyte last night, and it was gone this morning, he'd eaten the lot. I gave him some more, and he showed no interest in it, but when I came home for lunch he was up and meowing and he clearly wanted more.

So I gave him more, then a little more. And watched him eat and drink while I was home. I was elated.

After covering an event, I decided I wanted to check on the cat and rushed home. He was curled up in his box, refusing to move. Back to sad kitten again. I left him some more food in the bowl and went back to work a little worried.

When I got home this afternoon, Eric had fed him again and he'd eaten it all. However, he hasn't pooped since this morning, so I'm a little worried that he overdid it and is likely to throw up again.

So Inkwell is now curled up on my left arm. He seems happier today, he's eaten a lot. I'm still worried about him, but I no longer think he's about to die.

Inkwell isn't so well

I have learned a number of unexpected lessons since ... acquiring... a kitten the other day.

Kitten farts smell really, really foul.

Black cats are dust-bunny attractors.

When cats eat too fast, they tend to vomit.

It's hard to sleep when you are worried about a cat.

Anyway. Inkwell the kitten settled into the spare bathroom without too much fuss, and we let him out to roam the house whenever we were home. On Tuesday that meant in the morning when we were getting ready for work, at lunchtime when I came home to check on him and eat and in the evening.

In the morning he was ok, seemed happy enough. At lunchtime I noticed his left eye was a little wonky, kind of winking. Other than the eye he seemed pretty happy, running around and trying to keep my hands from eating lunch, since hands are supposed to feed him. He also tried to get milk out of every part of my body he could reach. Including, at one point, my nose.

Dinnertime his eye was looking a little worse, but the vet is only open during the day, so I tried not to worry. I figured if it didn't get better overnight, I'd call the vet and take him out there. Then he threw up. Lots of barely digested dry cat food all over the floor. I swear the pile he made was bigger than he was. We cleaned it up, put him in the bathroom to rest, and then when I went to let him out he wouldn't come out. He seemed really uncomfortable and sad, and didn't leave his box inside the bathroom at all. I was worried. I didn't sleep well last night.

Breakfast this morning his eye was completely shut and there was a gross little discharge in it, but otherwise he seemed much better. He was purring again, and meowing. And he came right out of the bathroom when I opened the door. I wiped away what I could from his eye, and gave him a small portion of food.

I wasn't able to get him to the vet until this afternoon, and they immediately put a lotion in his eye to help clear it up. We have the lotion and will have to attempt to apply it to his eye again tonight. The vet said something like, "he might lose that eye," which made me panic a little. I hope not, because Winkwell isn't nearly as good a name.

After I described the throwing up and other stuff, they agreed with me that he was probably eating too fast, but gave him something that was applied to his neck that would deal with roundworms and earmites, which they noticed he had.

Looking a little bedraggled and unhappy with his treatment at the vet, he's now somewhere in the house, probably with Eric.

At work today, the man who found Inkwell in his car came back with a bag of catfood and some cat treats and toys, and thanked me again for taking the kitten in. The ad for "FOUND CAT" has now run for two days and we've gotten no response. *sigh* Eric may end up killing me yet.

Inkwell the Cat

As Eric posted, we've been adopted by a cat, sort of.

At work today, I heard Marnie say something about how cute the cat was, and so I wandered out to see what was up. On the counter was the cutest little black kitten, with four muddy paws, shivering.

Turns out the kitten had just been discovered under a car in the parking lot. It apparently hitched a ride in the undercarriage of a car, because the mud was definitely not something it picked up in our parking lot. I petted it for a bit, and Marnie and a customer started discussing how much I needed a cat in my life. I could tell that the guy who had found the kitten really didn't want to deal with it, so I agreed to take the kitten to the vet.

Besides the mud on all four paws, the kitten was coated in motor oil from being in/under the car. When you petted it, oil ran onto your fingers.

So we found a box and put the cat into it, and I popped it into my car and drove out through the snowy roads to the vet. At the vet I quickly learned that the kitten was a he, about 3 or 4 months old, in pretty good health. Certainly well fed, and very socialized. He needed a bath, and the vet suggested an exam. So I went back to work to finish the day's writing, and the cat stayed with the vet to get cleaned and checked out.

After work I picked up the little guy, now dubbed Inkwell, and took him home, since somebody has to take care of him while we try to find out if he's already somebody's pet. Eric and I installed him in the guest bathroom for the time being, and after I finished taking photos at the basketball game today I let the cat out to wander the house.


He seems to rather like Eric's lap. He also doesn't like to be picked up, at all.

We have a cat!!!

Eric, here, giving a Gjovaag household update. We seem to have been adopted by a cat! I don't know all of the details, but this little black kitten was found at the newspaper, all covered in oil, so that when you petted him, he left inky black spots on your fingers. That, and where he was found, led to him being dubbed Inkwell. Laura took him to the vets and got him cleaned up and trimmed, and Inkwell is now in our guest bathroom with all of the proper cat fixtures. We're currently planning for this to be a temporary stay, and the paper is running an ad to find him a home. But he is a cute little fellow, and very personable... (although I think I hear him scattering kitty litter around right now...)

Best explanation of SOPA/PIPA argument I've seen

This video has the most straightforward explanation of why SOPA and PIPA are so hated by the majority of internet users. I can only hope that my article can make this problem with the way these things are written clear enough without coming across as biased.

CYMB #14

Blessing #14 - My Husband

Happy birthday, dear hubby! I met him online a couple of decades ago, and now we've been together quite some time, enjoying each other for the most part.

I love his strong support and his kindness through my toughest times. Anyone who can put up with me for long deserves a great deal of praise. I love when he makes us breakfast, and adore him for doing most of the cooking.

I'm proud of how he just manages to get along, despite all the difficulties in life and despite all the disappointments. He's my joy and happiness.

I'm very blessed to have Eric as my husband.

CYMB #13

Blessing #13 - I made it to 40

So here I am, 40 years old. Who would've thunk it?

Happy Birthday to me

Yup, today is my birthday. I've finally reached the big four-oh. I counted twice to make sure. Yup. Still happening.

It's melting, melting!

But not fast enough, sadly...

Today Eric had a day off school, though I headed to work. I came home a little early because the research I was doing could be done at home. We know the local district will be two hours late tomorrow, and there's a decent chance it'll be canceled again if the freeze tonight is solid.

And hey, tomorrow is my birthday. I'm hitting a millstone. Or is that a milestone? Whatever, I'm hitting 40 tomorrow. Wow. I'll post something about that tomorrow.

Hey, Who Turned Out The Lights?

Gone Dark?

If many of your favorite websites are dark today, they've done it to show you how the internet will be if Congress has its way and tries to stop piracy with a scorched earth policy. Today, at least, the 'net will be useless. If the anti-piracy legislation is passed, that's how the 'net will always be.

Snow?

I was at church, sitting in the foyer, when I glanced out the window and saw a few snowflakes straggling down from the sky. I said the word aloud, "Snow?" and a little child went running to the doors, and then back to her parents, yelling, "It's snowing!" For the next five minutes various little children ran around the foyer, pointing out the glass doors. Others ran out into the snow, which fell a little harder for a bit. Some of them were jumping up and down with glee. Then the snow slowly started to weaken, less and less, until there was finally nothing again. The excitement died with the lack of snow, and I think I even heard a little one complain about the sun breaking through the clouds.

We're under a winter storm watch now. The watch is, as I recall, less serious than a warning while it has more potential for chaos than an advisory. We're two days out from what might become a serious winter storm. First one since I've become a reporter. We'll just have to see if it actually happens.

CYMB #12

Blessing #12 - Automobiles

Wow am I glad I don't have to walk everywhere. Admittedly, I probably could use more walking in my life, but there are a lot of places I wouldn't be able to get to in a day without a car. Especially here, where everything is spread out.

Offside Coin

A very cool new set of coins has been released in the UK to celebrate the Olympics. The best of the lot is probably the Soccer Coin, which tries to explain the offside rule.

Despite my love of coins, I think it's fairly unlikely that any of these will end up in my hands. All of them are very cool, though.

CYMB #11

Blessing #11 - Blankets

They are warm, sometimes fuzzy, they wrap around you, and you can snuggle in one with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book and rest. I really am blessed to have blankets to curl up in.

As an aside, I know I'm not going to keep up this daily pace forever, so don't be surprised when I miss a day.