Happy New Year!!!

I hope all of you have a happy, fun, and safe time!

I’m annoyed with myself that my last post (and the last one before Christmas) was bitchy. I’m sorry about that. Very shortly after I made that post, I cheered up again, but I didn’t get back online until tonight.

Overall, my Christmas was nice. Dale and I spent it in Virginia with my family. I didn’t get to see as many family (in-law’s in MD) or friends (Kathie) as I would have liked, but it was nice to be with my mother, father, and sister again. I’ll post more details later, because it’s too late now, and I am looking forward to crawling into my own bed for the first time in a week.

Night!

I swear that if, next year, I don’t have all my shopping done by Dec 15th, people just aren’t getting presents. Or they’re getting stuff from Amazon shipped right to them. This running around at the last minute really sucks and is the fastest way possible to ruin my mood.

Sometimes, I really really hate people. People in general. Everyone.

Bah, humbug!

We’re alive and in Virginia.

I hope all of you have a great Christmas or Kwanzaa or Chanukah or whatever it is you celebrate! Enjoy yourselves, be happy, and love.

I’ll leave you with this image:

Dale’s first visit with Santa Claus.

Dale and I will be heading to Houston later today, leaving our kitties and fish in the caring hands of Aaron. We’ll be back by the 29th. We are taking our laptops and my parents have DSL, but I probably won’t be online much at all.

Well, after being delayed for over a week, Aaron and I were finally able to meet with Ron to buy a load of live rock from him. The rock was Dale’s Christmas gift from me, Aaron, Steve, and Phaedra. Dale was pleased, and most of Tuesday evening was spent rearranging Dale’s aquarium to flush out the starfish-attacking crab and accomodate all the new rock.

I still haven’t seen Harry Potter, but I did go to a late showing of Lord of the Rings last night.

Visually, it was stunning. More than I’d even expected. And the actors’ performances were incredible. Alas, I just wasn’t in the right mood for it. I was tired, had a headache, and the theater was hot. I was on the verge of falling asleep several times. Not that the movie was boring, just that I had a hard time maintaining interest.

My leather shoes crease across the base of my toes, and the pressure they’ve applied there have caused some nasty purple bruising. The blue has spread almost all the way across the top of my foot. It hardly hurts, but it looks horrible.

Sorry I haven’t posted lately. I haven’t been online much. And when I have been able to get to my computer, late at night, Roadrunner’s farked our connection. The last three nights in a row. Bastards.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

I went to the gym tonight with Aaron. After my first set of leg presses, I was moving some of the weights from the holding post to the machine for Aaron’s set, and I managed to drop one of them on my left foot.

A 45 pound metal disk landed on its 1″ thick edge. Fortunately, most of it hit the floor but just enough of it landed on the bone at the base of my big toe to scare the shit out of me. I kept from screaming, but my version of the fight/flight reaction kicked in, which is freeze like a deer in headlights. I guess Aaron saw my face and realized what had happened, because he came to my aid, which was good because I couldn’t talk or move for about 30 seconds.

Once speech returned, I quickly assured Aaron that nothing was broken. “I didn’t hear anything snap, pop, or break.” Then I slowly and carefully moved my foot and wiggled my toes. Everything moved without causing pain of its own, which I found very reassuring. “But it sure is gonna leave a bruise.”

Aaron asked, “Can you put weight on it?” I tried and found out that I could, with only minimal limping, which was caused more by my fear than by any pain. After a little more discussion and toe-wriggling, I decided to continue the workout since none of the remaining exercises would stress my foot.

By the time I got home, there was only a low dull ache in my foot. I took off my shoes, walked upstairs, sat next to Dale, and said, “I hurt myself at the gym.” Dale asked what had happened, so I told him then pulled off my sock.

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!” Dale yelled as he recoiled. “Go put some ice on that! I mean it! Now!”

I knew I’d have a bruise, but I was pretty surprised by what I saw. There was a lump on my foot that looked like a golf ball had been inserted under my skin. It’s blue with a red spot in the middle. And it really looks much worse than it hurts. Just to make freak out Aaron, I took a couple of pictures.

Aaron: cool

Take a look if you like, but I warn you, they’re not pretty.

Top view, complete with sock texture pattern.

Side view, with my other foot for comparison.

Even when it’s 70° outside and raining (as it is right now), you can still build your own snowman!

This is almost as much fun as the time Phaedra and I built a snowman at the end of our cul-de-sac. We put his back to the road, poured beer onto the ground in front of him, put the empty beer can in one of his gloved hands, and the other glove was holding a second carrot stick that was embedded in his bottom half and aimed at the yellow snow.

Mom didn’t appreciate our creativity very much, but the neighbors got a kick out of it.

A couple of weeks ago I advertised that I had several kittens available for adoption. I’ve had them for about six months and tried before to get them adopted, without luck. Unfortunately, this time I was successful.

I had six kittens. I received several inquiries right away and exchanged emails with several people. One woman wanted Bailey. I was working out a time for her to visit, until Dale decided he just couldn’t part with the little grey girl. That meant that our permanent cat population was now five. Dale also didn’t want to give up Little Bitcher. So that meant six cats.

I didn’t think he’d be willing to stretch things for any more cats, so on Wednesday night, I let a family walk out the door with Shiner. As soon as the door closed behind them, I burst into tears. Shocked, Dale asked me if I wanted him to rush out to stop the family before they left. I told him no, and now I so badly wish that I had said yes.

I had no idea I would miss that kitten as badly as I have. My heart’s been broken since he left. I cried again that night when Dale and I went to bed. I cried the next night. And the next. And here I am tonight, wondering desperately if there’s any way I can find that man again.

You see, I was stupid. The man, JJ, called me. But I never got his number. Or his full name. And when he was here, after I decided I trusted that this man and his family would treat the kitten well, I accepted his adoption fee in cash. It didn’t even occur to me then that I should have gotten more info from the man, just to be able to check up on Shiner later.

So now, even though I so desperately want Shiner back, I have no way to accomplish that. And I can’t stop missing him and hating myself for letting him go.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

It looks like the Ladies of Rylestone are going to have competition from the First Men’s Garden Club of Dallas in the pin-up calendar arena.

“Pamela Anderson, eat your heart out,” said Peter Schaar, aka Mr. July.

OoOh, I’d love to have this. Too bad the seller’s asking way too much for it, though.

More than you think, if you participate in the bobupndown.com “Think Small. Act Big.” penny drive for charity.

The concept is pretty simple. Take all that loose change that you’d normally feed to a vending machine, find a local charity with a cause you support, and donate that money directly to the charity. The idea is to help out the smaller and local charities that have been overlooked in the wake of 911.

I’m going to clean under my sofa cushions and send my donation to the Animal Trustees of Austin.

I wish I wish I wish that we had lots of money. That we were rich. It’s an old wish, and not uncommon, but right now the source of my desire isn’t possessions; I wish that I could afford to keep all the kittens that we rescued last spring.

But, we can’t. 10 cats is too much for our house. The kittens are growing so fast, that we’re going through almost 40 lbs of dry cat food and 60 lbs of cat litter every two weeks. Plus, vet visits, vaccinations, registering them with the city, etc.

It’s also not very fair to the cats themselves, when we have to divide our attention amongst so many cats. And our older cats don’t like the kittens much at all, though Styn and Pumpkin are finally warming up to them.

Being in homes with only one or two cats will be good for the kittens. They’ll get more attention that way. They’ll be loved just as much as they are here.

I keep telling myself that, but it doesn’t hurt any less each time one of the kittens is adopted by someone else.

In the last two days, Kahlua and Shiner have both gone to new homes. I’ve been careful to screen the adopters, and I feel confident that the kittens will be happy in their new homes, but oh, how I miss them already! After Shiner left this evening, I closed the front door and burst into tears immediately.

I don’t think I’ll be through with tears for a while. We still have two more kittens to place.