Okay folks. Enough with the Michael Jackson crap. He’s dead. It is not news any longer. If he comes back to life, I’ll want to hear about it, but in the meantime I do not want to go on cnn.com and find he is the lead story over everything else going on in the world. Yes, he was talented – in the 80s. Yes, he was an icon – in the 80s. Yes, he made a lot of money – in the 80s. In the 90s he was just weird. In the 00s he was weirder. Now he’s gone so let’s just shut up about it!
I really hope that there aren’t aliens watching our TV and thinking this is actually what we want to hear about. How screwed up are our priorities that his death is a bigger deal than that of a Pope?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Q
We've named the work fishy. Sarah said we should call him "Q" short for "Curly-que" because he has this cute little curl on his top fin. I'll get a picture of it soon and post it. I think it's a great name.
So, how do you think we should spell it?
Q
Que
Cue
Kew
Now we just need a name for Zingy's fish. I noticed the other day that his front fins are two different colors. One fin is all black and clear and the other one is blue and green and black, just like his body. Cute, huh?
Oh, and Percy is doing just fine. He seems to be back to normal for the most part. He is out of his rock a lot more, not hanging around at the bottom of the tank, and is eating heartily. Yay!
I think I might keep him at home since I don't want to stress him by moving him around a bunch. Besides, Zingy likes to have a choice. Truth be told, he's much more into Percy than to his fishy.
So, how do you think we should spell it?
Q
Que
Cue
Kew
Now we just need a name for Zingy's fish. I noticed the other day that his front fins are two different colors. One fin is all black and clear and the other one is blue and green and black, just like his body. Cute, huh?
Oh, and Percy is doing just fine. He seems to be back to normal for the most part. He is out of his rock a lot more, not hanging around at the bottom of the tank, and is eating heartily. Yay!
I think I might keep him at home since I don't want to stress him by moving him around a bunch. Besides, Zingy likes to have a choice. Truth be told, he's much more into Percy than to his fishy.
Rescue
Greg and I were driving to Sonic on Saturday for lunch when we saw a blue heeler dog running around in the middle of the street on Mill Plain. Luckily, she was at the area north of 162nd so it isn’t the really busy part, but the speed limit is still 40 through there. It was obvious that she was lost from the way she’d run on the sidewalk then veer into the street, so we pulled over and tried to get her to come to us. She didn’t want anything to do with us and kept running. Soon a guy in a truck stopped and tried to help, then a guy in a delivery truck tried to head her off. The people that were trying to catch her came along and it turned out they were dog sitting for a friend and she had gotten away from them about 3 hours before and they’d been trying to catch her the whole time. Greg hopped out and trailed her on foot along with some boys who were working at a fund raising sale nearby. I stayed in the car and tried to keep her in sight and be in position to head her off if she started heading for the busy streets.
It’s amazing how quickly a dog can move even at a trot. She covered a lot of ground in a very short period of time. And she kept cutting through areas where we couldn’t drive so we had to keep speeding around on the roads. Luckily, Greg and the boys were able to stay close to her and the dog sitter and I were there to try and head her towards them. After about 15 minutes, the dog finally ran out of steam and dropped down under a tree. One of the boys was able to grab her collar and she was safe. She was really, really tired, poor thing.
I joined the group with an offering of a bottle of water and the bowl I keep in the car for our dogs. The dog just drank and drank.
So that was our Random Act of Kindness for the week.
It’s amazing how quickly a dog can move even at a trot. She covered a lot of ground in a very short period of time. And she kept cutting through areas where we couldn’t drive so we had to keep speeding around on the roads. Luckily, Greg and the boys were able to stay close to her and the dog sitter and I were there to try and head her towards them. After about 15 minutes, the dog finally ran out of steam and dropped down under a tree. One of the boys was able to grab her collar and she was safe. She was really, really tired, poor thing.
I joined the group with an offering of a bottle of water and the bowl I keep in the car for our dogs. The dog just drank and drank.
So that was our Random Act of Kindness for the week.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Pictures of Fishies
New work fishy - as yet unnamed.
Doing his Dr. Seuss fish impression.
Isn't he pretty?
Zing watching his fish.
I know this is blurry, but it is such a cute picture I couldn't resist putting it up here. He was trying to sniff the camera.
Zingy's as yet unnamed fish.
He'll probably be named Zingy's Fish. Wow. How original.
Doing his Dr. Seuss fish impression.
Isn't he pretty?
Zing watching his fish.
I know this is blurry, but it is such a cute picture I couldn't resist putting it up here. He was trying to sniff the camera.
Zingy's as yet unnamed fish.
He'll probably be named Zingy's Fish. Wow. How original.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Fish Update
I think Percy is starting to get better. He's still spending a lot of time at the bottom of the tank and he has his fins clamped down pretty tight (both are signs a Betta isn't feeling well), but I did see him come out to eat today and he is a little more active than he has been for the last couple of weeks.
I went to get a heater for his tank in the hopes that warmer water might help him feel better. I've read that it's a good idea to heat their water up when they aren't feeling well, but the fish lady at Petco said that Betta's really don't need their water that warm and it should be fine around if the temperature is in the mid 70s. So I didn't spend the $15 for a heater, and instead got some stuff that is supposed to help them feel better if they are just generally blah. It turns the water blue, which is weird. We'll give that a few days to work and see how he does and then give him a clean tank. Hopefully he'll be back to his normal feisty self soon.
I also got two new Bettas; one for work that is all blue and one for Zinger that is a lovely blue/green mix. Neither of them has names yet. I really like the blue fishy at work. He seems to have a lot of personality. I didn't actually plan on getting two, but this guy was really alert and watched me the whole time I was fish shopping, and I couldn't resist him. He spends a lot of time hanging around the bubbles in his tank. There is a fish in Finding Nemo called Bubbles that goes wild in the Bubbles, but that doesn't seem like a very creative name. You know me. I have to have interesting and creative names for my fish. I'd love to hear if you have any suggestions.
I have to tell you that it is very difficult to care for your fish when you have two cats "helping." For some reason both cats view the fish tanks as gigantic water bowls, so I have to keep an eye on them when I have the lids off. They also want to look down into the water at the fish. It would probably help a lot if I moved the fish tanks off the table next to their food dish.
I took pictures of the fish, but now I can't find them. You'll have to check back for the visuals!
I went to get a heater for his tank in the hopes that warmer water might help him feel better. I've read that it's a good idea to heat their water up when they aren't feeling well, but the fish lady at Petco said that Betta's really don't need their water that warm and it should be fine around if the temperature is in the mid 70s. So I didn't spend the $15 for a heater, and instead got some stuff that is supposed to help them feel better if they are just generally blah. It turns the water blue, which is weird. We'll give that a few days to work and see how he does and then give him a clean tank. Hopefully he'll be back to his normal feisty self soon.
I also got two new Bettas; one for work that is all blue and one for Zinger that is a lovely blue/green mix. Neither of them has names yet. I really like the blue fishy at work. He seems to have a lot of personality. I didn't actually plan on getting two, but this guy was really alert and watched me the whole time I was fish shopping, and I couldn't resist him. He spends a lot of time hanging around the bubbles in his tank. There is a fish in Finding Nemo called Bubbles that goes wild in the Bubbles, but that doesn't seem like a very creative name. You know me. I have to have interesting and creative names for my fish. I'd love to hear if you have any suggestions.
I have to tell you that it is very difficult to care for your fish when you have two cats "helping." For some reason both cats view the fish tanks as gigantic water bowls, so I have to keep an eye on them when I have the lids off. They also want to look down into the water at the fish. It would probably help a lot if I moved the fish tanks off the table next to their food dish.
I took pictures of the fish, but now I can't find them. You'll have to check back for the visuals!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Missing Out – Again
Things I am not doing this weekend:
~Going to see the B-52’s - I just found out that the B-52’s are going to be performing at the Oregon Zoo tonight. I immediately went to the web to find out more info and found out that the concert is sold out. I guess I’ll just have to go home and listen to my CDs really loudly and pretend I am at the concert. Or I guess I could go sit in the parking lot at the zoo with my windows open and hope the sound carries.
~Going to a craft day with my work buddies – A group of ladies I work with are having a craft day on Saturday to work on some quilts and other projects. I can’t go to this either.
~Going to a letterboxing gathering - Yes, it seems like there is a gathering every weekend right now. I’d go to every one of them if I could, but I have to be a grown up and chores and work on the floor and other exciting stuff like that.
Things I am going to do this weekend:
~Finish caulking the baseboards in the spare room downstairs.
~Put together my shelving rack.
~Catch up on the dishes.
~Catch up on the laundry.
~Clean Percy’s tank.
~Start moving the junk out of the living room and back into the spare room.
~Clean the bathroom.
Don’t get all excited about my weekend plans, now. I know you would all like to have a weekend packed full of fun things like mine is, but we can’t all have those kinds of weekends.
Okay, just a little sarcasm there. I need a vacation. BAD.
~Going to see the B-52’s - I just found out that the B-52’s are going to be performing at the Oregon Zoo tonight. I immediately went to the web to find out more info and found out that the concert is sold out. I guess I’ll just have to go home and listen to my CDs really loudly and pretend I am at the concert. Or I guess I could go sit in the parking lot at the zoo with my windows open and hope the sound carries.
~Going to a craft day with my work buddies – A group of ladies I work with are having a craft day on Saturday to work on some quilts and other projects. I can’t go to this either.
~Going to a letterboxing gathering - Yes, it seems like there is a gathering every weekend right now. I’d go to every one of them if I could, but I have to be a grown up and chores and work on the floor and other exciting stuff like that.
Things I am going to do this weekend:
~Finish caulking the baseboards in the spare room downstairs.
~Put together my shelving rack.
~Catch up on the dishes.
~Catch up on the laundry.
~Clean Percy’s tank.
~Start moving the junk out of the living room and back into the spare room.
~Clean the bathroom.
Don’t get all excited about my weekend plans, now. I know you would all like to have a weekend packed full of fun things like mine is, but we can’t all have those kinds of weekends.
Okay, just a little sarcasm there. I need a vacation. BAD.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Letterboxing: The Musician's Series
I took the whole day off on Friday and went boxing with some of my bestest letterboxing friends. Camp Fire Lady, Marmalade and I spent most of the day out in Forest Park hunting for the boxes in the Musician's Series. It was awesome! We had such a wonderful time. I ended up with 22 stamps and even planted a box.
I took a bunch of pictures to share with you, my loyal blog readers. Enjoy!
We started the day off at the Cannon Trail. It's a short hike with two boxes on it (now that I planted mine).
A really cool tree. Doesn't it look like a map of the digestive system?
Here's me planing my B-52's Box. I rarely ever plant boxes, so we decided to memorialize this plant.
Yes, this is a MAJOR clue for any of you that might want to go and find the box.
Here's Camp Fire Lady and Marmalade at the begining of the day.
You know how I like to take pictures of plants and stuff. Here is some cool fungus.
And here is some different fungus...mushrooms.
And some more mushrooms. Unfortunately, this picture turned out kind of blurry, but they were really cool mushroooms.
Here's Marm looking for a box. I wish I had a video of us retreiving and returning this one box. It must have been hilarious to watch. Marm slipped and slid her way down this hill to get the box out of a stump, I stood on the trail and caught the box when she tossed it so CFL & I could stamp in. Then I tossed it back to Marm. We were clever enough to toss it up the hill so that it wouldn't roll down to the bottom, but the box was more clever than us and rolled down a good ways. I climbed down and tossed it back to Marm who was finally able to get it with a stick and return it to the hiding place.
I love this picture.
Here's Scout's Clearing, nearly at the end of the trail. We took a nice long break here. Thank goodness Marm came prepared with apples and string cheese or we would have starved! She also had all the good first aid stuff for the mosquito bites and the stinging nettle I found with my wrist.
At the end of the day. We're pooped. We ended up hiking about 8 miles on Friday. My butt and hips still hurt!
A good time was had by all. Thank you two my bestest letterboxing buddies for going with me and feeding me and inking all the stamps and keeping me company. Let's do it again soon!
I took a bunch of pictures to share with you, my loyal blog readers. Enjoy!
We started the day off at the Cannon Trail. It's a short hike with two boxes on it (now that I planted mine).
A really cool tree. Doesn't it look like a map of the digestive system?
Here's me planing my B-52's Box. I rarely ever plant boxes, so we decided to memorialize this plant.
Yes, this is a MAJOR clue for any of you that might want to go and find the box.
Here's Camp Fire Lady and Marmalade at the begining of the day.
You know how I like to take pictures of plants and stuff. Here is some cool fungus.
And here is some different fungus...mushrooms.
And some more mushrooms. Unfortunately, this picture turned out kind of blurry, but they were really cool mushroooms.
Here's Marm looking for a box. I wish I had a video of us retreiving and returning this one box. It must have been hilarious to watch. Marm slipped and slid her way down this hill to get the box out of a stump, I stood on the trail and caught the box when she tossed it so CFL & I could stamp in. Then I tossed it back to Marm. We were clever enough to toss it up the hill so that it wouldn't roll down to the bottom, but the box was more clever than us and rolled down a good ways. I climbed down and tossed it back to Marm who was finally able to get it with a stick and return it to the hiding place.
I love this picture.
Here's Scout's Clearing, nearly at the end of the trail. We took a nice long break here. Thank goodness Marm came prepared with apples and string cheese or we would have starved! She also had all the good first aid stuff for the mosquito bites and the stinging nettle I found with my wrist.
At the end of the day. We're pooped. We ended up hiking about 8 miles on Friday. My butt and hips still hurt!
A good time was had by all. Thank you two my bestest letterboxing buddies for going with me and feeding me and inking all the stamps and keeping me company. Let's do it again soon!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Just Stuff
Not much has been going on around here lately. Same old, same old. So, let's do some updates on the family, shall we?
Greg is having more trouble with his back. Poor guy, I just don't know what I can do to help him. He's been miserable for the last couple of weeks because of the pain. He can't sit for long or stand for long and is having trouble finding a comfortable way to lay down. He couldn't even go to his uncle's funeral in Tacoma last weekend because he can't sit in the car that long. Despite all these challenges, he's still going to his pool class three times a week and takes the dogs to the park when the weather permits. I'm so proud of him for staying on track and doing these things. It would be so easy to just give up and stay at home.
Percy's eyes are better, but he isn't doing well. He spends a lot of time on the bottom of his tank looking miserable with his fins tucked in tight. He's also been floating kind of crookedly. I'm afraid he won't be with us much longer. I don't know what else to do for him. If any of you Betta vets out there reading this want to give me a free consult, I'll be happy to give you more details.
Sophie has something going on with her little girl parts. I'll spare you the details and just say that putting ointment on your dog's bajingo is really hard. And weird. And I feel like a perv.
Carmen seems to be fine. She loves her ball and Frisbee and is annoying in the extreme until you play with her. She is under the impression that Sophie is getting some really awesome treat three times a day that she is missing out on, though. If she only knew...
Cleo has been a pain in the butt. She has cabin fever or Spring fever or something. She's been getting in to everything. She's been trying to get into the blinds and broke a couple of the slats in my room, she chewed on my brand new CPAP hose and put a bunch of little holes in it, and she's been sneaking out the door every time it is opened. She might need a kitty psychiatrist, I don't know. I love her anyway.
Zinger is fat and lazy and completely fascinated with my fish. He also needs his nails cut (I know this because he just jumped up on my leg with call his claws out - yowch!) His arbitrary birthday is Saturday, so I'm going to get him his very own fishy for his present. To watch, not eat. Hmm, maybe I should feed Percy to Zingy and put him out his misery (Percy, not Zingy).
As for me, I'm just glad I finally got caught up on all the laundry. Okay, seriously, I'm doing okay. I'm still tired a lot of the time even with the new bipap and all the extra iron for my anemia. I go to the doctor next week for another blood draw and check on those levels. I really need a vacation. On the plus side, I am going letterboxing on Friday with my bestest friends in the whole world! That will make me one happy Bookworm. Oh, and I'm going to plant a letterbox, too!
That reminds me. I'd better go find the stamp I carved. I'm sure it's here. Somewhere...
So there you have it. You are up to date.
Greg is having more trouble with his back. Poor guy, I just don't know what I can do to help him. He's been miserable for the last couple of weeks because of the pain. He can't sit for long or stand for long and is having trouble finding a comfortable way to lay down. He couldn't even go to his uncle's funeral in Tacoma last weekend because he can't sit in the car that long. Despite all these challenges, he's still going to his pool class three times a week and takes the dogs to the park when the weather permits. I'm so proud of him for staying on track and doing these things. It would be so easy to just give up and stay at home.
Percy's eyes are better, but he isn't doing well. He spends a lot of time on the bottom of his tank looking miserable with his fins tucked in tight. He's also been floating kind of crookedly. I'm afraid he won't be with us much longer. I don't know what else to do for him. If any of you Betta vets out there reading this want to give me a free consult, I'll be happy to give you more details.
Sophie has something going on with her little girl parts. I'll spare you the details and just say that putting ointment on your dog's bajingo is really hard. And weird. And I feel like a perv.
Carmen seems to be fine. She loves her ball and Frisbee and is annoying in the extreme until you play with her. She is under the impression that Sophie is getting some really awesome treat three times a day that she is missing out on, though. If she only knew...
Cleo has been a pain in the butt. She has cabin fever or Spring fever or something. She's been getting in to everything. She's been trying to get into the blinds and broke a couple of the slats in my room, she chewed on my brand new CPAP hose and put a bunch of little holes in it, and she's been sneaking out the door every time it is opened. She might need a kitty psychiatrist, I don't know. I love her anyway.
Zinger is fat and lazy and completely fascinated with my fish. He also needs his nails cut (I know this because he just jumped up on my leg with call his claws out - yowch!) His arbitrary birthday is Saturday, so I'm going to get him his very own fishy for his present. To watch, not eat. Hmm, maybe I should feed Percy to Zingy and put him out his misery (Percy, not Zingy).
As for me, I'm just glad I finally got caught up on all the laundry. Okay, seriously, I'm doing okay. I'm still tired a lot of the time even with the new bipap and all the extra iron for my anemia. I go to the doctor next week for another blood draw and check on those levels. I really need a vacation. On the plus side, I am going letterboxing on Friday with my bestest friends in the whole world! That will make me one happy Bookworm. Oh, and I'm going to plant a letterbox, too!
That reminds me. I'd better go find the stamp I carved. I'm sure it's here. Somewhere...
So there you have it. You are up to date.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Breathing is Good
Got a new machine to help with my sleep apnea yesterday.
Isn’t is sleek looking? It is a BIPAP instead of a CPAP. I’m sure you couldn’t care less what it is, but I’ll tell you anyway. With a CPAPthe air is at a constant pressure (which is probably why CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure). With BIPAP it is one pressure when you inhale and another when you exhale. It is supposed to help me get into a deeper sleep. I had a sleep study a couple of months ago and from the results (which I won't bore you with...be grateful)the doctor decided to try me on this instead of the old CPAP.
I also got a new mask. The Swift LT for her. Cute, huh?
I had a hard time getting used to the weird pressure thing last night when I was trying to go to sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about my breathing and let it just regulate itself. You know how when you think about breathing you can't do it right? That was my trouble last night. We'll see how I do tonight.
Wow. I have the most exciting things to talk about on my blog, don't I?
Anyway, I finally did get to sleep and I think I slept pretty well.
Isn’t is sleek looking? It is a BIPAP instead of a CPAP. I’m sure you couldn’t care less what it is, but I’ll tell you anyway. With a CPAPthe air is at a constant pressure (which is probably why CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure). With BIPAP it is one pressure when you inhale and another when you exhale. It is supposed to help me get into a deeper sleep. I had a sleep study a couple of months ago and from the results (which I won't bore you with...be grateful)the doctor decided to try me on this instead of the old CPAP.
I also got a new mask. The Swift LT for her. Cute, huh?
I had a hard time getting used to the weird pressure thing last night when I was trying to go to sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about my breathing and let it just regulate itself. You know how when you think about breathing you can't do it right? That was my trouble last night. We'll see how I do tonight.
Wow. I have the most exciting things to talk about on my blog, don't I?
Anyway, I finally did get to sleep and I think I slept pretty well.
International Towel Day
Oh, man! I missed International Towel Day on May 25th! I’m so bummed. For those of you that don’t know what International Towel day is, it is a day where you carry your towel with you to celebrate Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books. Sound weird? It probably is. I have marked myself as a nerd for all time by knowing about this.
For those of you that aren’t as froopy as some, here is an excerpt that explains the whole towel thing…
From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
For those of you that aren’t as froopy as some, here is an excerpt that explains the whole towel thing…
From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value -- you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-tohand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you -- daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
Hence a phrase which has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is." (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
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