What's new pussycat???

The Salt & Pepper Diner:  you will never think of Tom Jones the same again


I've been asked "What's new?" a lot lately so I thought I'd do an update of what I've been up to the lasts few months...Dog, House, & Butterflies

Dog:

Ernie has been so good. He hasn't had any accidents for ~6 weeks and currently has free reign of the house as I write this (his first time not being in his kennel when I am at work--hopefully I won't regret it). I am becoming incredibly attached to him even though I can get much more angry with him than I do the cats.
He may...
- lick my legs and feet when I'm trying to sleep and lick my face in the morning when I'm trying to continue sleeping
- chew up cat toys (leaving his own toys intact)
- eat anything & everything within his reach (including cat food, sticks, grass)
- harass poor Arthur
- pee when he gets too excited
- constantly get tangled in his tie-out cord, but he is my little buddy and I love him.

He stays in bed with me until I get up (whether it's 800 or 1200), he doesn't chew furniture or pretty much anything other than toys, he doesn't beg for food, he is now house-trained, he loves to go on walks, doesn't bark too much, allows me to dress him like a doll, and somehow always knows when I need him.

House:

Apparently I have cannabis plants growing out by the ravine in my backyard. I know I should pull them out or spray them or something, but my curiosity really just wants to see how big they could get. Probably have to discuss that with one of my village members...

I've been mowing, pulling weeds, using the blower, killing bugs & shit, putting out solar path lights that are awesome--I really do love being a home owner. AND, I've managed to keep 3 plants alive!!!

Butterflies:

I won't say too much, but I know that this guy makes me laugh, he makes me feel pretty, he laughs at my dirty & inappropriate jokes, he likes my pets, he cleaned my gutters for goodness sake! Let's just say I'm a very blessed girl to have found my perfect man.

I got a dog

So I have been thinking/rationalizing about getting a dog for a number of months now and this last week I went out and got me one! Because I've been asked so many times I figured I would put the basics here for anyone who is interested, but if you ask me in person I will surely tell you too because I love my little guy!

Where did you get him??? Sioux Falls Humane Society, he was a stray (meaning he was dropped off during the night or was found) so not much was known about him. I adopted him on 4/4 and he had been at the shelter since 3/24 I think.

What is his name??? Ernie--since he was a stray I don't know what his name was before. Ernie is the name they gave him at the Humane Society & if just seemed to fit. He is already pretty good with his name. I really like that all my pets' names start with a vowel, but this has proved to make things a little more difficult when I am calling one specific pet because Ernie will pretty much come either way.

How old is he??? The humane society had 2 years on all his papers, but the vet in Hartford said that he was likely in between 1 & 2. So his 2nd birthday I have decided will 7/4/2012 (which should be easy to remember since it's Independence Day and my sober birthday)

What kind of dog is he??? So initially I didn't know that "Dachshund" is pronounced "Doxen". I, with my 2 years of French class in high school, assumed it was pronounced "Duh-shawnd". I was on the phone with my mother at the time I made this blunder & I'm pretty sure she peed her pants laughing at me. So I may be college educated, but there was no dog breed pronunciation class in pharmacy school and we never had dogs growing up so I seriously had no clue. Do you need something to make fun of me for forever? Here you go. Anyways...

Ernie is a mini dachshund, black & tan, short hair bundle of joy.

What do the cats think??? Edie hissed when I first brought him in the house, but remarkably, the three of them have been getting along pretty darn good. Ernie likes to sleep in the cat beds, Arthur likes to sleep in Ernie's kennel, Ernie likes to sneak some cat food when he can & play with cat toys, Edie is totally the boss of the house, Arthur is OK as long as he gets some momma time & gets to drink out of the sink...I think it might take a little while, but one of these days I'm going to find them all 3 snuggling together. I took a nap this afternoon before work & had Ernie under the covers between my legs, Arthur leaned up against my right arm, & Edie leaned up against my left arm.

How has he been with you going back to work??? So I love the fact that every other week I get 7 days off...but that means that every other week I have to work 7 X 10 hr days. This is my 2nd day of my 7 on & Ernie has been in his kennel while I have been at work. It's not ideal (ideal would be having every day off from work) but he is doing really well. I still have taken him on a walk each day and play with him during the day before I go to work. He is not a morning dog (the first morning with him I was up at 6 am to let him out, he went outside, looked around & went back inside, then he crawled back up on to my bed & under the covers until I work up at 10:30) so he has been doing good sleeping when I sleep for the most part.

Ernie quirks:
- loves squeaky, stuffed toys
- does not like any kind of clothing even though I got him a cool "The Avengers" t-shirt
- farted on the couch the other day, and I had to think to myself if it was really him because I could have sworn it wasn't me
- 2 poops a day
- likes to poop inside establishments (Petsmart, my friend Linda's house)
- barked at his own reflection in some glass today, I actually laughed out loud

New addition to the Corbett clan-- Miss Kaylee Danielle!!

So a little over a week ago the planet Earth was lucky enough to gain the awesomeness that is my new baby niece.

The stats:
Birth date: Monday, March, 26th 2012
Time: 1910
Weight: 8 lb 6.2 oz
Length: 21 in
Gender: Female
Cuteness: infinity

I didn't get to see her the evening she was born (bummer I know, but I'm glad my bro & sister-in-law got some time to themselves with her before the madness erupted). Although I didn't get to see her that night, I did get hear her while talking on the phone with my bro.

I got to see her early on Tuesday morning, about 8 o'clock, which should tell you right there my level of excitement & dedication because I'm usually not up that early unless I'm having digestive issues. I got to hold her, and give her kisses, and tell her how beautiful she is, and stroke her full head of hair!, and just be the proudest aunt & sister ever. We got to go back later in the afternoon after my mom and I went a little wild at Target buying baby girl stuff. I was about ready to buy her a barbie car (the ones little kids can drive, with the phone, you know?) so I was getting just a tiny bit ahead of myself. We also got to skype with my other brother, sister-in-law, & nephew while at the hospital. Benson told my brother that he wanted to see the baby. I can't wait until May 6th when I can see both my nephew & niece together--it might cause some kind of natural disaster having that much cuteness in such close proximity.

When I found out my brother Jon & his wife Alicia were pregnant, I was so excited, but part of me was worried that by having another niece or nephew (we didn't find out the gender until she was born) it would make me love my nephew Benson less, or that I would love the baby less, basically I felt like I would have to pick one that I loved more because it wouldn't be possible to love them both as much as I loved Benson. As soon as I heard her little voice through the phone, before I even saw her, I understood that I had nothing to worry about. It's so hard to explain, but I don't even know this little girl yet and I already love her as much as I possibly can. I would do anything for her. And I still love my nephew in the exact same way. It's obviously a little different because I have a relationship with Benson. He is old enough to know who I am and we have already shared so many wonderful times together. With Kaylee, she is so little and brand new and I would just love to be able to hold her all the time.

Seriously though, I love those 2 kids more than I ever thought I would be capable of loving anything. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago to a friend, but it is so true. I would easily take a bullet, jump in front of a train, do whatever for those kids, it would honestly be one of the easiest decisions I would ever make. Considering it takes me 5 minutes to decide which loaf of bread to buy in the store, it helps put things into perspective.

"Optional" Health Screening--seriously?

So...found out about 1-2 months ago that all Avera employees would have to participate in a health screening, health risk assessment, and health advising session to avoid health insurance costs to go up by $50/month.

WTF?

So I went in and did this "optional" (optional if you don't want to pay an extra $600/year) health screening. The outside company that came in and did the process was like a well oiled machine. You went from station to station, very effecient, everyone very polite. I understand that checking blood pressure, cholesterol, ht/wt/BMI is a good idea (I though that is why I have a primary physician I see each year for my annual check-up and a psychiatrist that checks blood pressure & weight at each appointment too) but is it just me that feels this is overstepping boundaries? I'm not feeling all big brother, infringement of rights/privacy about this, but it just felt really weird, bordering on creepy. Who the hell are these people? Who is this lady "advising" me on my health. I didn't see any identification other than the company name & the employee's name. I understand that anyone can be educated on what cholesterol & blood pressure measurements mean to a person, but for all I know that lady graduated with a degree in communications or business and as a pharmacist I got a fair amount of college learnin' on these basic health assessments.

So what did I learn that I didn't already know. Nothing related to my health. All of my cholesterol levels were good except my HDL (which is because I smoke, I eat like a college student/toddler, and I don't really exercise) which I already knew because I've had it checked in a clinic & evaluated by a doctor. My blood pressure was labeled as "prehypertenson". Really? 120/79? Probably because I smoked a cigarette right before going in and I was in a room with like 50 people moving around and didn't know what the hell was going on. I also get my blood pressure checked regularly at appointments and it is evaluated by an RN or a physician. My weight? I am well aware that I am above my goal BMI, I do own a scale. Thanks for the newsflash.

For some people this might be beneficial, for example, people who don't have health insurance and are not familiar with the health risks they were measuring, but all the people they were screening have insurance! We were all doing this so our premium didn't go up! If people choose not to use the health insurance they are paying for by not going to a physician once or twice a year, I doubt they are going have an awakening in this screening conference room and decide to turn their lives around. If they cared about their heath, they would probably see a doctor! What a waste of time & money by Avera. They should have set this up down at Falls Community Health for all the people that really need it and could benefit from it.

Oh Avera, you require me to do this crap, but you won't cover birth control in my prescription insurance or not charge for condiments in the cafeteria. (I actually submitted a "Bright Idea" for this ridiculousness and was told it's because at fast food chains condiments are already factored into the price of what you get. I'm pretty sure that for the family of someone in the hospital, charging them for an f-ing ketchup packet isn't helping things. It might be a good idea to consider priorities...and FYI, in one of the parking ramp elevators, there was some gross stain that looked like jelly in the carpet for over a week and the elevator looked like it was used for filming an episode of CSI.

Okay, I'm done. At least I know that I'm likely not going to keel over today from health problems.

NC trip #3 recap

What I did during my stay in the great state of North Carolina:

- built lego sets (and rebuilt, and rebuilt...) made a jail with a sweet trap door for the prisoners to escape. The best part was Benson play talking with his "guys" and telling them all about the trap door. I also made a sweet pyramid out of duplos, it was just 2D, I'm thinking about going for the 3D next trip. It had some sweet base structuring around it too, and according to Benson was "perfect".
- got caught up on my disney channel with "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", "Curious George", "Phinneus & Pherb", and of course Benson's new favorite "Octonauts"
- marching around the kitchen table with Benson singing the new smash hit "Chicken & Rice" to the tune of the "Creature Report" song on "Octonauts" the night that we ordered Chinese food for supper
- my brother getting me hooked on the show "Sherlock"--which I'm not even sure I will get on TV since it is a BBC show, but at least I'm all caught up to the 3rd season
- the joys of EST and 0700 being 0600 in Sioux Falls--but it being great laying in bed in jammies with my mom & nephew hearing about the "Robot Cats" and playing with legos that aren't particularly sturdy on a bed surface (refer to the first item listed of "and rebuilt, and rebuilt") "Robot Cats" are the imperial walkers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back by the way. He loves that movie now, he truly is my brother's son
- Benson being able to say the real names of all his airplanes--seriously, this kid knows what all their names are...
- building a Lowe's racecar at "Build & Grow" at the Lowe's store in Mooresville. This is such a cool thing, it's free for kids and they do it every 2 weeks. Look into it if you have kids. The projects are all pretty simple and the kids get to take them home.
- harvesting corn on my "Farm Story" game, it was pretty funny when he woke up from one of his naps and one of the first things he said was, "your corn is ready?"
- reading books, especially Sunday night when I read my favorite with him "Pokey Little Puppy", which really has no real plot or valuable lesson but it is the cutest thing ever when he says "Pokey Little Puppy", also cute as crap when he reads "Bears on Wheels"..."One on one again." :)
- enjoying the awesomeness of the Keurig coffee maker--I'm going to stick with the Wal-Mart special Mr. Coffee coffee pot I have right now, but Keurigs are pretty sweet
- Me laying down the beat while Benson showed us his dancing skills

There was so much more, but the best part was being able to spend some quality time with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, & my mom. I am so blessed to have the great family I do and being able to go visit them. I love my famly!!!

Benson creations

I miss him already.

NC Bound...Delta Delta Delta can I help ya help ya help ya

I am at this moment in a plane headed to Charlotte, NC. It's kind of exciting to be typing on a computer in mid-air (it's actually a tablet, but same deal). I got my Mom sitting next to me playing on her Kindle Fire. She was not at all thrilled about the picture taking either, but that's too bad, haha.

So I get to see my little buddy today!!!!! (aka my nephew Benson). I can't wait to give him a big hug and for the next 5 days to give him a hug whenever--although my mom has commented on how he has become more "sassy" recently so maybe he won't be as willing to give hugs and kisses. That's ok, I am just so excited to be able to see him, listen to him talk & tell me about things, read him a story before bed, play with legos, and watch some Disney channel. I'm not sure if he is still as into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Jake & the Neverland Pirates & Special Agent Oso as much as last time I was there, but I'm sure I will find out pretty quick.

Oh, and by the way it's apparently around 63 degrees F in Charlotee when we took off from Minneapolis. I didn't bring any shorts, hopefully I won't regret that decision.

I already miss my baby kittens (They aren't actually baby kittens but that is what they are often called by me). I know Sarah and the girls will take good care of them though. Poor Arthur was just sitting in the front window with that sad look when my ride came to pick me up.

Well I think I am going to take a nap now, considering in the last 48 hrs I have gotten about 8 hrs of sleep total and for those of you familiar with my sleeping patterns, if I'm able to I will usually get more than 8 hrs in one night...and then take a nap in the afternoon, haha.

...and the title? We are flying Delta & that line has just been playing in my head over and over. But the flight attendants don't seem to be that willing to help, or smile, or not look like creepy robot people.

...and I love to do draw-rings!

I got a new app today from the Amazon app store (hooray for the daily free app). I had quite a bit of time today to sit on my butt and play with it since I am getting over what yesterday I thought was surely dysentary, but tday I'm pretty sure it is just a 24 hr flu or food poisoning (don't eat the turkey tetrazini from the Avera McKennan cafeteria, although I have no basis of this causing my illness, but better safe than sorry, it's just not worth it). So I'm sure there will be many more awesome creations to follow, but for today I was wondering when shark week is so logically my mind went to Jaws.
It brings me back a little to when I would make pictures with "Paint" at my dad's house. I am still pretty easy to entertain.
P.S. If you didn't catch the SNL Mike Myers' character "Simon" reference in the title, you suck.

Loneliness, faith, & a dog

So last week was a fairly down week for me even though I was off of work. Last Friday (1/27) I had the most awful dream. Every once in awhile (maybe once a month at the most) I will have a "drunk" dream. Usually they consist of me taking a sip of alcohol and then feeling horrible that I broke my sobriety. Sometimes they are worse where I will get super drunk, but this was the first time I woke up physically sickened from it & stayed in bed a good portion of the day. The details aren't so important, but it felt so real while I was dreaming it. Thinking about it now, what happened in the dream was pretty ridiculous, but it seemed so real! The worst part about it was that I physically felt the same feelings I did from when I was drinking, especially the "incomprehensible demoralization" and just curl-up-in-a-ball-icky feeling I would always have the next day after a blackout. What did I do? In the dream, one of the things I remember is watching a video of myself the next day trying to do some kind of line dance while shit-faced and falling all over the place. If anything, it reminded me of what I NEVER want to feel again. My life is better now and it's not any better "out there".
I think part of why my week went the way it did is because I was lonely. Considering I live alone in a large house & don't really have a social life (most of my human interaction is at work or at meetings) I rarely get sad-down-in-the-dumps lonely. For some reason recently I have been reminded that I am 26 years old and that when I was younger I would have been sure I'd be married with kids by now. I let myself sit on my pity pot for a little while...I am a good person, I'm not ugly, I have a good career, I own a house--why won't someone date me? wah wah! BUT, then I realize that along with the numerous things in my life that have changed in my life since I took my last drink, so has my taste in men & what I will put up with in a relationship. I think the biggest difference between now and a few years ago is that now I am genuinely happy and content without a romantic relationship. I definately think a healthy relationship would add to my happiness, but I am OK without it. Before, I was hoping that getting into a romantic relationship would make me happy and content--that I never could be truly happy without a family of my own.
My faith has definately helped me when I get to thinking of what I want and think that I deserve it. I know what I want, but God knows what I need. I would love to be married and have 2 or 3 little kids running around, changing diapers, helping with art & science projects, and God knows I would love this too. But I know that if I put my faith in God and every day try to do his will and not mine, my life will be more fulfilling no matter what happens. And for goodness sakes I'm only 26. Not everyone marries his soulmate at 23 like one of my brothers.
Oh, and about the dog thing. I've been thinking about getting a dog ever since I moved into my house. I asked my family about it last week when I was home and got an overwhelming NO. Still just thinking about it, but I think it would be good for me.

Heartburn Hump Day

It's day 4 today of my 7 days on & my second week on with my new schedule times. Since July I had been working 1:30 pm - midnight and now my shift has changed to 4 pm - 2:30 am. I feel a smidge less zombie-like than last time, but last night was pretty rough. I guess it will take some getting used to for my brain to perform high level functions after 1 o'clock in the morning.

For some reason I only seem to get heartburn when I'm at work. Is this a sign of stress? I'm not sure, but it feels like a made a peanut butter sandwich with way too much peanut butter and it is slowly moving down my esophagus and occasionally getting stuck on the sides...not pleasant. I seriously only get it when I'm at work. I did purchase some TUMS awhile back, and you would think since it's only a problem at work that I would just bring the whole bottle to work...well that would be the logical thing to do. But there it sits in my cupboard at home. The other day my co-worker was kind enough to give me some pepcid, gotta love pharmacists. We carry the most random stuff. Goal for tomorrow: Bring TUMS to work. I think this will be achievable.

Rainy Day South Carolina Primary Day, My GOP Candidate Summary.

Most of my life I have been pretty laid back on topics of politics. Part of that being I didn't really care--when you're in high school or even college you aren't too incredibly worried about the economy or other issues as long as you are able to get your basic needs met. I also didn't know much about anything that was going on. I rarely watched the news and just decided I was a democrat so I would vote accordingly when elections rolled around.

Some things haven't changed--I still consider myself a democrat and ultimately will vote accordingly unless there is a specific issue with the candidate. I am making an effort to be more informed now. Some would say that watching CNN is only giving me one perspective and infecting my mind with liberal poison. I had a co-worker tell me that Fox News is the most un-biased news network that presents both sides of an issue--"Fair & Balanced" right? No comment on that one, just shake my head with a smile and respectively disagree. Since you can't really watch any news network without some kind of slant, like most things in life, you need to take what you get with a grain of salt. I also read news online from multiple sources and discuss current issues with my co-workers who are overwhelmingly conservative. It's actually nice and refreshing to hear an opposing persepectives.

So to the topic of the day...the South Caroline Primary. I am honestly excited to see what the results are. I got to see a portion of the most recent GOP debate (and of course saw the beginning part featuring Newt Gingrich all over the news). Nothing incredible, but was interesting to watch. It helped reinforce some of my personal views on the candidates...

Ron Paul-- He is like the delirius old man who manages to have some lucid moments occasionally. There are a number of his ideas that I agree with and can see as benefiting our country. But just when you think he has got a point, he will throw out a comment or a story will come out that will snap us back to reality and remind us that although he is a cute old man with some good ideas, he is just not a viable candidate for the presidency.

Rick Santorum-- First I would just like to remind us of how Rick Santorum's name initially found its way into social media. Look up "Santorum" on wikipedia (if it's up again now). From what I understand, due to Santorum's anti-gay views, an urban-dictionary-like description was created for "Santorum". I won't write the whole definition here, but it includes the term "frothy". Good for him for officially winning Iowa, but you know why he won? Because he devoted pretty much all his time there!  He did everything but hand out dollar bills to anybody that would listen to him. I think he will soon be following Perry out of the race. He may win the contest for "most conservative" which was what he needed to win Iowa, but in a national election I don't think this label will be doing him any favors. I could never vote for him. I am not trying to spread rumors that he wants to take away birth control, but here is a quote from him..."One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country...It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." Thank you Rick Santorum for deciding how things are "supposed to be" in all our lives. Basically I think he is a douche hiding behind a bible and a sweater vest.

Newt Gingrich-- Appears to be a grouchy, aggressive, and outspoken man. Not necessarily bad things in a presidential candidate. He has by far performed the best in debates. I was especially impressed in the most recent debate how he actually gave specific answers, for example how to create jobs. He even answered the question specifically for the state of South Carolina. The other candidates just did the same old...Obama is bad, help small business, better the economy, blah blah blah. It was wrong of him to have affairs, but I can recognize that he has made changes in his life since that time. I also feel that if a president has some old skeletons in the closet, they won't really be able to judge me or anyone else as harshly as some of the squeaky-clean candidates. His interview with Piers Morgan did a good job of showing that he is indeed human. Gingrich also has in the past shown the ability to compromise--and considering our Congress is completely incapable of this, it's an important attribute. On the con side, Gingrich can be reckless, arrogant, and has some radical ideas on policy changes. He can come off as racist and sometimes just a total dick.

Mitt Romney--ZZzzzz...I'm sorry, just thinking of Romney makes me bored and tired. He knows the drill. His dad ran for president, he has personally tried to do it before. He has lots of money, nice hair, no scandals, he is incredibly vague, and people just love him. I personally don't think he would make much a difference in Washington, it would just end up with Democrats criticizing him for the same things Rebuplicans criticize Obama for now.
Nothing special, but a solid & viable candidate.

We will just have to wait and see what happens tonight :)

Shoveling & Cardinals

So I got home from my meeting today and actually shoveled my driveway. To say that I shoveled wrong seems silly, is it even possible to shovel wrong? Well, yes it is. It took me about an hour to do the driveway, sidewalk, & around my front door/porch thing. When I was just finishing, my neighbor came out and shoveled his driveway in about 5 minutes. I observed his tactics and next time I will be ready!

I thought I would share a picture of a couple cardinals out on my deck. I am so blessed to be able to see them almost everyday. They really are beautiful. One of these days I will get a picture of the blue jay too.

Arthur Post-op Day 3

I think we are getting closer to "normal" everyday.

Productivity=Sloth Day

Since I slept in until 2:30 PM yesterday, I was determined to not be an entire pile of crap today

Productivity
- Took down Christmas lights outside. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was much easier to pull the plastic holder things down than it was to put them in place. I'm pretty sure as my first winter as a homeowner I have been incredibly spoiled. I was wearing moccasins, a fleece jacket, and no socks. I'm pretty sure that is not the typcial garb to be wearing for Christmas light removal unless you are the kind of person that waits until April to take them down. It was such a beautiful day!
- Moved the snowblower from the corner of the garage to the front. No I did not get it started, but I am pleased with the progress of at least moving it from the place it has likely been since last winter when the previous owners used it.
- Took down all the Christmas decorations in my house. I actually did this last night, but we'll count it for today.
- Vacuumed the living room. You just never know how badly the carpet needs it until after you vacuum. Looks much better now!
- Went to a meeting

Sloth
- Watched enough CNN while sitting in my chair today that I saw a few things twice.
- Mastered raspberries in "Farm Story"--if you know anything about this game, you know this is a pretty time consuming and mindless feat.
- Finally took a shower not because it had been almost 2 days, but because I needed to go to the gas station and I didn't want to look like a total dirt ball.
- Played on my new toy. I downloaded "Spider Solitaire" and realized how awesome it is to play when you can just swipe the cards back and forth.

All in all I think my day evened itself out.

Arthur Post-op Day 1

Arthur has his surgery yesterday and I was able to bring him home around 6:30pm. Initially he seemed to be doing really well, but after about 1/2 hr I couldn't find him anywhere in the house (my mind immediately went to "oh my gosh! he must have collapsed somewhere in the basement). It turns out he was laying on my bed, which made me worry as well because he never sleeps on my bed without me in it. He also seemed to be in a lot of pain. So I did what any good person would do...I called my mother. I was reassured that I would probably be in pain too if someone was digging around in my bladder all morning.

Anyway, he seemed much better today. I'm still a little worried about his urine output. He will just sit in the cat box, a little bit will come out, he'll walk around for a little bit, and then go back in and try again. I talked to the vet & she said that it's more of an issue if in an extended period of time he isn't producing much urine. I guess I just need to give it a couple days and keep a close eye on him.

Also...the vet had to tell me how sweet of a cat Arthur is. There was another cat there just hissing & screaching away, and Arthur was just in his kennel purring and hanging out. Love my little buddy.

Office progress and grilled cheese

I finally hooked up my speakers :)

Computer desk area

My wall of licenses

I have been procrastinating on getting my office set up since I moved into my house in early September. Last night I finally got out the hammer and nails and got to work. I still have 3 large boxes filled with miscellaneous crap, but if feels good to have stuff on the walls finally. I think I had been putting it off because I wanted to make sure I put everything up "right"--and by "right" I mean "perfect". Since I am not an interior decorator I decided to just do my best because fortunately I didn't superglue things to the walls so they can actually be moved later if I want.

My first time making grilled cheese on the stove and not my usual way of 1) toasting bread 2) place cheese slices on bread & put bread pieces together 3) microwaving for ~30 sec.

Thanks Jon & Alicia for the awesome Christmas present!

Arthur Update

Couldn't get out of there fast enough!

Had Arthur's follow up appointment at the vet today. Here is a recap of the last time we were in to see the vet on 12/21/11:

              Arthur had been throwing up, not acting like his normal self. I figured I was being overly worried by taking him in, but I did anyway. Turns out he has kidney stones & bladder stones and was in a considerable amount of pain. His BUN & SCr were elevated. They started an IV, pain meds, & antibiotics. He spent the night at the 24 hr hospital & was able to come home the next day.

Today, his BUN was lower, but still in the high range. His SCr was back in the normal range. I scheduled his bladder stone removal for Thursday, January 12. What we are hoping for at this point is that with the bladder stone surgery & change in diet will be good enough to keep him healthy. What we are not hoping for is his kidney stones to pass & clog his ureter which would require removing the kidney or for the bladder stones to be a continual process because I am only going to put him through this once.

So we will hope for the best and just see what happens. I know either way he will be OK and so will I. Thank you all for your understanding of my crazy cat lady-ness and your kind thoughts for my and my little buddies.