Watching the Up with Chris Hayes panel featuring Rich Lucibella

They flashed a bar graph on screen briefly of school homicides. I could not help noticing that the school homicide rate was much higher when a democrat has been in the White House. Coincidence, or psychic phenomenon?

A toss-up

Wednesday is 3rd week post op appointment. It's difficult to say which I will miss least: the jaw bra or the resin plate wired to my upper teeth. I'm hoping for clearance Wednesday to travel home and finish my recovery at my house with my puppies. Yay!

Some stitches came out a few days ago and more came out today. Progress!

Shawl #2 completed

This one is finished and now I'm on to the next project, but I'll probably start tomorrow. The pattern for this shawl includes a kind of fringe trim, but I made mine without. I don't know why, but I like the edge unadorned. On the first one, I accidentally used the wrong size hook to begin with, and I also started with a stitch that was too tight, and these factors made for edges that kind of curl up. I just need to block and stretch it. I'm enjoying crocheting, and the activity level is about perfect for my present energy.

Feeling better every day. :)

Music for going over cliffs, and such.

I showed some Tom Waits to Mom earlier on YouTube and we got some laughs out of it. Then tonight, oddly enough, a 1979 Austin City Limits with Tom Waits came on at 10:00 PM, and Dad and I watched that, and laughed some more. Dad said "whatever he is on must be really good."

Heh.

Slept very late, with strange, vivid dreams. Danger leapt all around me, but I was not afeared. Sleeping pill again tonight. Yes, I think so, yesh. Yesh.

Returning to the right again

Got to Knox/Henderson early for my appointment with my surgeon (more on that later) and popped by a favorite boutique, Emeralds To Coconuts, where I picked up this pair and 2 other coolie cheapie slippers. Friend Lin opined in a missive that the world is returning to right again when I am in shoe acquisition mode.

La!

Lost 5 pounds since last week. Bite not closing as preferred, Dr snapped some hellacious elastics on from top to bottom to better guide the settling of my bite , and hopefully spare me some time in the orthodontic correction stage. My choppers are fairly screaming, so I just took a pain pill which I hope will afford me the oblivion of sleep.

Stopped at Costco and picked up super-rich lobster bisque and the makings of a cheese soup. Going to try to stem the weight loss, since I need to be a bone building factory, just now. Still, the bands and the resin plate make eating so very tiresome. The lobster bisque is yum, though, and hopefully it will satisfy on many levels.

This evening, the first of several zones of oral sutures has sprung itself, to my relief. Even well-tucked, the free ends are pokey. This is all going well and I feel fortunate, even with these wicked new elastics. I will not be a baby. But I will make free with the pain meds.

On my way to 2 week post op visit with surgeon.

Driving myself, navigating downtown Dallas traffic.

Pretty day. Wish my tires had more tread on 'em!

Merry Christmas from the family

http://youtu.be/P37xPiRz1sg

Merry Christmas to all

Here's wishing happy warm times to all of you this Christmas.

Myself, I'm thankful to be in the company of my family, and so looking forward to getting home to my furballs, hopefully before the new year.

XOXO

This will have to be quick, having popped my painkiller/sleep aid combo, but something's been stick in my craw and I've finally hit upon it.

Jean-Baptiste Emanuel zorg.

In luc besson's 1997 dystopian Sci-Fi romp, bad guy zorg is masterfully portrayed by Gary Oldman who says the characterization is a composite drawn from such sources as bugs Bunny and Ross Perot.

What excited me was that I've seen articles in recent times declaring the twilight of the redneck. It was therefore slow to seep in, but at least some folk speculate that not only will rednecks be with us in centuries to come, but that may well be Running a lot of shit, too.

Oldman gobbles up several dimensions of scenery with a wink, and all those times it didn't occurr to me just how that accent/farm aesthetic really stuck out in that context. Now that I've noticed it, I love it even more.
Tee hee.

This one always fills me with delight- LED Sheep art

Crocheting again

Slept like a log last night.

Sitting with a lap blanket on and working on a shawl I started a few weeks ago for my niece. Feeling okay. Feeling better. Sleep did me a lot of good. I hope to complete this project in the next day. Will show you when it is done. :)

Reflections one week post operation

Wow. I suppose it does not seem a week ago because I was foggy the first few days after. Overall, I think I'm doing quite well. I've tapered way off the pain meds to a whole one at bedtime and half one with breakfast. I don't have much discomfort now, but the dizziness of pain meds was getting to me. I've not managed a full night of sleep, so in a short while I'm taking a sleep aid. I've also mostly slept in Mom's electric recliner, but I'm trying to make it through the night in bed this time.

I was surprised that as Andie predicted, I've not felt like crocheting. Maybe tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

Mouth cleanup after eating is a major pain, but a necessary evil. Can't afford to let nastiness breakout so close to ground zero. Or in general.

Sensation is returning rather quickly in most spots. I still have the sensation of rubber extensions on my lips and nose. Sometimes my nose itches and scratching does not satisfy.

Drove to CvS today and shuffled through the store in houseshoes and with my jaw-bra tastefully concealed in a lovely silk scarf. Schnoobie has declared me a zombie fashionista. La! I know I look startling to people because I look like a monchichi. Remember those? Just don't expect to see me with thumbs buried knuckle-deep in my nose-holes.

Everything is SUCH a production. I tire quite quickly. The heart is willing but the rest of me is wimpy in the extreme.

The swelling is going down, by and by, but one nice by-product has been the plumping effect on wrinkles. I could be 20! Matter of fact, later on I'll dig up the teenager on YouTube who had this surgery and could be my twin.

Weather is getting cold which will keep me further cooped up, but I'll settle for not getting sick. Glad I did this and I think recovery is coming at a nice pace. Looking forward to seeing my pups, though, hopefully at the end of next week.

SO FLUFFY!

GIFSoup

Mind over... mutter

Life has taken on a weird sort of routine orbiting the care and maintenance of my new oral ball of wax. I have a resin plate wired to the underside of my upper teeth, so my teeth don't have actual contact yet. All the extra wires/apparatus means that this rich diet I'm eating gets mucked up in there with remarkable efficiency, so cleanup is a big job. I seem to be spending about an hour a day cleaning my mouth.

This morning i weighed myself and saw the needle 3# lower than yesterday. This is not good. I drove (yes!) to Sonic for a chili cheese Tater tots. Took a fork and mooshed them up. After nomming them for about 30 minutes, I felt I had to give up on them. Then the cleanup began. Unfortunately, a hunk of tater lodged itself between the resin plate and the roof of my mouth. No amount of brushing or swishing would serve to dislodge the offending particle. Using my recently acquired knowledge of anatomy, I told myself that the amylase in my saliva would work on the potato and it would dislodge. It stayed snugly in place all day. I considered naming it.

After dinner, I got out the water pik(lowest setting) and determined to get out the offending article however long it should take. Turns out, it was a hunk of meat from the chili. But it came out, by golly. And amylase would have had no effect on the meat hunk.

Found a good white noise app and got some great sleep this morning. 2nd week post op appointment is one week from today. Feeling dramatically better today, but I still have monkey face. I actually put on clothes today. Yes, I wore pajamas to the dr yesterday. I feel entitled.

Ramping down on the hydrocodone. Hoping tonight will be the first night to sleep all the way through.

I would sport with your intelligence if I did not admit that focusing narrowly on my own la di da has been a huge relief given the recent news. There's nothing to be done beyond grieving in the face of such an evil act, and to grieve in turn at the outrageous compromising of our liberties by self-seeking "leaders" who politicize the deaths of children to make political hay. Enforce the laws on the books. We can't guarantee a crazy person won't go on a murderous rampage. Full stop.

How about addressing from the mental health angle? I suppose that would be relevant and make sense, so that angle will be ignored.

Defying groovity.

One thing that got me through the first several nights home from hospital was Pandora's Harold Budd channel. It's got some similarly minimalistic piano artists and the like of Sigur Ros to give texture, but is bordering enough on ambient in general to be soothing and not jarring. Love this station!

I miss my babies

Mochi is one of the sweetest puppies ever. In your arms , she feels so safe and secure that she goes as limp as an old rag. My baby girl.

Fixie!!!

Dr visit went well. He is pleased withy progress. I've lost 6 lbs and he doesn't want me to lose more-- need energy for mending bone. I can eat soft foods. Stopping at Panera for Mac n cheese. Yay!!!

Have you ever felt sorry for a toilet?

I'm happy to report myself fully functional in the bathroom department, but that poor porcelain! Fortunately, I've had some Nursie friends coaching me from afar (and a safe distance) so the whole mess seems to have been sorted out.

Slept very well last night. Face is pretty swollen today. I love Mom's electric recliner. Dr visit this afternoon and ill let you know what he says.

Zomg!

I made a B in A&P II. Can't believe it. I thought I did pretty well on the final, but I must have hit it out of the park.

Now if I could poop, this day will be a winner!

Yawning.

An unexpectedly painful experience.

...and something just came out of my nose. I think 'twas an extra from the filming of The Hobbit and looks to be the harbinger of the drainage stage of the proceedings. I'll take it. The swelling stage has been kind of awful.


Puppyless Sunday was sad but necessary. Last thing I need is them bouncing around my head and dislodging things.

I think I am doing quite well generally, but I believe I underestimated how miserable this would be.

Viva hydrocodone. Looking forward to no longer feeing like there are rubber extensions on my nose and lips.

And why did the ear worm I'm stuck with have to be "never trust a big butt and a smile."?

I can close my lips.

I can drink from a cup.

Granny squares, however, are unpossible.

Phlegm limbo

Nose surrealistically swollen. The stuffiness therein is strange because I can't blow my nose, so congestion will dribble from one end or the other, and which end is a crap shoot.

Thank goodness for hydrocodone. Suspect I'd be in spectacular discomfort if not for the painkiller. Excited about feeling better and recovering and getting on with my life. For now, though, sleep. And phlegm.

Wow!

36 hours post-op and I can breathe better than ever through my nose, this despite swelling and congestion. While he was up under the hood, Dr. Bates fixed my deviated septum.

Yay!

Home to mom and pop's.

Surg went well, but very tired. More soon

WHEEEEEe!

GIFSoup

here i go.

XOX
:)

On my way to the hospital

Thirsty and tired. Didn't sleep a wink excited to get it over with

JAWS: We're gonna need a bigger bite.

 Here's the panoramic image of my bite.  You can see that it is open.  (Look, Ma: no cavities!)  Weird, huh? 

Then there's the picture of the ball/socket joint on my left side.  Pretty normal with smooth surfaces and, ya know, cartilage and stuff.



And then there's my right side where you can see the evidence of rheumatoid arthritis, bone-on-bone action and no cartilage.  Is that a CORNER on the bone? Yup.  Bone spurs in there too.  This is because of the bite that does not give good contact and the weird way I have to chew.  This is why I pretty much constantly have the sensation of a mild earache. 

The surgery will not undo the damage, but will hopefully at least stop its progression and ideally will lessen the pain. Also, it will be nice to eat stuff you have to bite off.  Things that hurt to eat: bagels, pizza, chewy bready type stuff, some meat, hard fruit and veg.  I learned early on not to take lettuce on my burgers because the unbroken piece would slide out and flop down onto my chin after I tore the bread and meat away.  This stuff is a nuisance, but you work around it and don't think of it that much.  Yeah, I've eaten pizza when that is served all these years, but it's an unpleasant association.  That said, there are some really good pizzas in the world that I'd like to enjoy, and soon I'll be able to.

Surgery is in the morning, set to start at 7:30.  Eek!

Today I'm meeting aepilot_jim and Matt G in Dallas for dim sum - one of my favorite food types that I can't get out here in Elsewhere. 

I'm nervous and anxious.  I've got a lot to do to finish packing my suitcase but I'll get it all done.  Going to load my crochet and knitting supplies in the car after this post, and my laptop.  Finish a load of laundry and I'm off. 

I'll be so sad to be away from my puppies for a couple of weeks, but this is a necessary evil, and will only be a brief while in the grand scheme of things.

Tonight I'll pre-load some posts, of favorite music and stuff.

This is the right thing to do.  I dread it, but I was thinking about Mom getting both her knees replaced last year, and my dear friend FarmMom having a knee replaced about 2 years ago-- what they did was incredibly scary and daunting, and they were very brave about it, so I can learn from them and try to be brave, too.  To top that off, I got an email from gunsmith Wally that his girlfriend Miss A had this self-same surgery 5 weeks ago!  She very generously talked to me on the phone for about an hour last week and told me what to expect, so it seems less scary. 

I was supposed to have this surgery about 7 years ago, but my then-husband was unsupportive and didn't think I needed the surgery and shouldn't have it. Then again, he thought it would be cheaper to pay for a funeral than to pay for my hospital visit for the pneumonia that almost killed me. (Final hospital bill was less than $2000 with our insurance.  This event precipitated le divorce. If that sounds like a ringing indictment, well... Nuff said.) So here I am in my much-reduced financial circumstance, scrambling a credit card to pay and this is all going to be worth it.  In contrast, when I told Himself about the problem, he immediately said "Sweetie, we've gotta get that fixed for you."  I'm so looking forward to having this over with.  And I appreciate being surrounded by loving, supportive people who care about my well-being.

I love my friends and family.  Thank you to Himself for being so sweetly supportive and for taking such good care of my sweet puppy dogs.  They will probably be out of sorts with me gone, so I know they'll be needy, but they'll be in protective and gentle hands and they love him, too. :)  Thank you to Mom and Dad.  I know it's going to be painful to see me all banged-up and swollen and stuff, but that phase will quickly pass and I feel like this is the doorway to a whole new chapter, and one that's going to be better than everything that came before.

I will likely be home from the hospital Friday or Saturday, and I've got enough yarn to stretch to the moon.  Or maybe Texarkana.  I'm going to be a crocheting fool for the next month.  I thought it might be fun to do a daily granny square and see how the pain killer is affecting my motor skills.  Maybe that will be the barometer.  I'm going to try not to get hooked on painkillers, but I won't spare the horses, either.  I'll likely be out of it for most of the next week.  So. I'll try to let you know when a post is NOT pre-loaded.  I'm hoping I bounce back quickly, but it takes as long as it takes.

La!

Guns & Roses necklace nearly complete

In addition to wrapping up school, I really wanted to get this completed and mailed before my surgery. Made it just under the wire. I have a sterling musket charm that is Wonderful but i can't find it nd will have to send it along. I hope the raffle winner will enjoy this or will give it to someone who will enjoy wearing it. :)

I'm really proud of everyone who contributed to the raffle.

Thai one on!

Out having probably my last meal out at home before the end of the year. Thai food. Yum. I'll recover from surgery at Mom and Dad's because I can't be around jumpy puppies while the bones in my face mend.

Couldn't find a dining companion so I'm flying solo and reading a crochet book I just got. Planning a lot of crochet while I recover.

Test went well this morning. I feel much more confident than of previous tests. unlikely I'll pull a B, but much better off than I thought I was.
I think.

Furry barnacles and competitive snuggling

We got snow in the region Sunday night and it was actually cold enough to bust out the electric blanket. I had the heat on in the house, but pretty low. Monday I turned the heat up a bit. Bedtime came and I cranked up the heat on the blankie about an hour before bed.

Now it's 3:15 in the AM and the furnacles just did a leap-froggish swapping of positions. When I got in bed, I was freezing and thought I'd never be warm this night. Now I'm burning up. Oh, look: there goes the furnace. I'd better turn the blanket down some more.

I think I could heat the house with the BTUs the varmints are giving off. Especially Mochi. She's a hot little dog.

Here's some sweater puppies photos for your viewing pleasure.

I made a 78 on my Macroeconomics final and only needed a 60 to keep my A, so YAY!!!

I scored an 80 on my A&PLAB final, and I'm ecstatic about that. If I ace the written portion later this morning, a B will still be within my grasp. Yay again. Wish me luck!

Technicolor yawns. Or burps. Or...

For what few gifts I'm giving this year, it's a home-spun Christmas. Making this rainbow scarf for a very colorful creature, I foolishly left the project on the coffee table. The next day, Miss Mochi came gaily sashaying through trailing a wake of tangled yarn and scarf-to-be. I had to liberate the yarn and scarf, and a couple feet of yarn had to be pulled from Mochi's guttiwuts. Back on task, I am crocheting and erred on the side of good taste and cut out the yarn wot she swallered. If the scarf was for myself, though, I woulda left in the nommed bit.

Questions raised by "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"

If the chickens are in the bread pan, wouldn't they be picking out bread, not dough?

Should I worry that I preferred the devil's version in the duel?

Does anyone really think the Devil would have honored the agreement not to hasten young Johnny to the fiery inferno anyhoo?

That is all.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: shouldn't we be asleep already?

If it's dark, the puppies are ready for bed. Thought this was particularly persuasive.

...or just punch him in the gooch

That's what Himself said when his fortune cookie held the wisdom from the photo.

Teehee!

Dearest Darling Asshole,

Although in your realm of lawyerdom you are a big wheel and rilly, rilly important, you should learn than you don't know everything about everything. I work in a field so very beneath your exalted self that it is inconceivable to you that there may be minutiae to which I am privy of which you are -- Shock! Horror!-- ignorant. But it is true. I know stuff about which you know nothing. You probably think you could operate a backhoe or a helicopter or catch the biggest fish because all the people who do those jobs are so obviously stupider than your bad self. You know what the frightening reality is, Mr. Raspberry? You NEED your garbage men. You NEED that lowly grunt who reads your meter. You need the guy who cleans the backed up shit from your plumbing so you don't have to sully your lily-white collar with the putrescence of real life that "incompetent" (read lower economic classes) people like myself tidy up for you because you do, indeed, poop and it does, indeed, stink. And you NEED me.

It's rather delicious that you called my colleague one desk over to complain that "some idiot in Texas" called you, because we are nowhere near the border. Unlike myself, she was BORN here in Texas and took profound umbrage.

Myself, I admit I cried when I got off the phone with you a couple of hours ago, but I am over it. I have bigger fish to fry and an actual life. You, otoh, are saddled with the unimaginable burden of going through life as yourself. I feel sorry for the lonely Hell that must be for you, but you deserve it.
Signed,
An idiot in Texas who is thankful for the brevity of our relationship

P.S.: You have a very distinctive name. My boyfriend promised me if he ever meets you, he'll punch you in the gooch. I advise you to steer broadly clear of Texas.

A brave, new, kinda stoned world...

Oh, the irony.

In this article, a Seattle spokesman sums Washington's nascent legalization of marijuana thusly:

On the city's police website, spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee said: "The department's going to give you a generous grace period to help you adjust to this brave, new, and maybe kinda stoned world we live in."

I don't mind going on record saying that I think pot should be legal, but I can't help noting the irony of the invocation of Huxley's dystopian cautionary tale, which was named for the ironic moment in The Tempest when Prospero's daughter, seeing non-staff humans for the first time declares this a "brave, new world" as the drunken travelers slither off their ship onto the remote island.

In Brave New World, people are kept docile by the steady administration of Soma, a contentment inducing drug.

Again, I do not criticize Washington for the legalization of pot. I think our legal system and detention facilities would be better served not to prosecute/incarcerate people who enjoy recreational weed. I just think that someone in so lofty a position as to be a city's spokesperson should be more aware of the implication of their words, and should be more careful about which words they choose to state.

One down, two to go.

A&PLAB final was today. I think I made a decent showing of it. I have two big review sessions planned with a classmate, and I may pull this off yet.

Macroeconomics is more cut and dried, but it's solid.

I (mis)calculated and thought I'd have to make a 16 on that final for a B or an 86 for an A. Turns out I was wrong. I need to earn a 60 to land an A. Just when I was going to blow it off! Professor sent an announcement today that the final is open book, no time limit and may take as many times as we like online. Wow. I guess I will try, after all.

New phone

My new iPhone arrived Tuesday. I was pleased to see how small the literature was this time, because who really rtfm? Not me, apparently.

Going to be more selective on apps this time. Probably no ocarina or glow sticks or scritchin kitty.

Surgery is a week from tomorrow. A&P lab final is tomorrow and macroeconomics final opens Friday. I have a good solid B there, so I'm putting all my study energy into anatomy. The end of this semester will be a huge relief.

Feeling a little wistful.

This is the start of the final week of me working from home. Next week starts my time off for my surgery, so I'll be out for at least a month, but I'm pretty bummed about working away from home after this. I do better and more focused work from home. And I find it easier to have a good attitude about the surly, navel-gazing 20-somethings at work when I don't have to, you know, see them. le sigh. Oh well.

For my lunch today, I went out back and picked up a few pounds of pecans because: free food! I can't eat nuts because of my braces, but I can gift them, and I can also freeze the shelled ones. Thing is that I'm a little weary of shelling pecans. I can suck it up and deal with it, though, because, again: free food!

Then when my braces come off next year, I can celebrate with a pecan pie or something.

Nice to look forward to that.

In the meantime, though, I'll hate being away from my pups for work, but needs must. Onward and upward.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: I help mommy crochet

Mochi is a very nice little helper, keeping my leg warm and all. :)
Thank goodness for recliners, though. The whole pack would never fit on a rocking chair.



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...and glad hosannas erupted from chez Phlegm.

The apocalyptic white trash is moving out of the house next door.

Yee haw!


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Praline is snuggled to my foot.

Mochi is on her back next to my shoulder, feet up like a little possum. Chuy's tail is sticking out from under the covers. Everyone is asleep and so soft and peaceful and safe. Having spent Wednesday night at Mom and Dad's, these moments are especially sweet for me on the first night back home. Through the stress and the pressure, my pups remain a constant joy to me and moments like this are among the greatest pleasures of my life. :)
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Yummy. Gouda sausage souffle at Panera

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Um, I, uh...

...think I want a cob house.

The making of a pair of Fluevog Miracles

It's really something to see the shoe going together. This will be a pair of Miracles from John Fluevog, he of My Favorite Shoes EVAR. Amazing to see the craftsman's facility with a very wicked razor, and just fun to watch, in general. I mean, if you like that sort of thing, which I do.

Slowly going insane here. Surgery is two weeks away. I can't believe I'm about to do that. It's grisly and magnificent all at the same time. Trying to focus on studies, and not really doing well. Manic, mostly, and not using that energy productively, either. Except for the million or so pecans I've picked up. Only having shelled a few hundred or so, I am weary of the task.

Love love love this shoe, btw. This style is such a sweet throwback to the shoes my Great Granny Smith used to wear in the early 70s. Very old-school and sensible. Maybe a slightly lower heel on her, but the tone was the same. A good, classic, serviceable style tha would have been quite at home in the 1930s or 1940s. Good enough for me.

Was just thinking about this today - I think I bought my first Fluevogs about 25 years ago. They had a platform creeper sole, huge buckle and a quilted glow-in-the-dark panel on the top of the shoe. They were ever so slightly flamboyant. I know: surprise, right? Anyway, I'll never forget wearing those shoes out, and being whirled around in a two-step on the dancefloor at a country/western gay bar in Dallas by a guy I went to school with whose last name was Strange. True story.

For a guy, I love these shoes, too. If I were a man, I'd wear a seersucker suit with these in every Jordan almond color available. Candy colored suede is its own reward, I say, and I'd aspire to be the dandy who could pull it off.

Uh, where was I?
Oh, I can't remember.

I think I'll go sniff my shoe cabinet for a second. Nothing going on here, and absolutely nothing strange. I promise.

;)

sad news.

I am greatly saddened to learn that one of my dearest friends has lost her youngest brother quite suddenly. Today I am holding her and her family close in my heart.

Toofies!!!

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Hymn to St Cecilia

This is one of the finest recordings I've found of this, among my most treasured choral pieces.

November 22 - Feast of Saint Cecilia


Saint Cecilia - Patron saint of musicians and church music

Cruddy.

I am sicky. Aching all over and aggravated because this has derailed plans for
Visiting dear friends for thanksgiving. :( I am definitely not up for what would've been a long drive, but CRAP!

Grump.



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Strange comfort.

Living in a house with no closets is not conducive to orderliness, but I find that my slovenliness has reached an absolute nadir.  Oh, sure, there are the occasional cursory efforts, the teeny stabs and quick lunges at cleaning, but mostly the stuff piles up around here like so many trappings of the unravelings of an unquiet mind.

So it was with abject glee that I regarded a recent post on Retronaut of this picture of Pablo Picasso in a bedroom.  See the hats and accessories and clothing piled higgledy-piggledy with books?  See the arty scribblings and half-executed projects strewn about? 

Anyway, it struck me: I'm a creative genius! That's what this means!

Great googly moogly, it's like someone time-warped my bedroom back to prime era Picasso.  Mostly I don't gad about in boxer shorts and popeye gear, though.  Mostly.

Twisty bendy psychological side-trip-- Picasso always identified with the bull, and a bull in a painting by him was a representation of self.  So what's up with the matador jacket?  Did he have his wife wear the jacket?  Or did he wear it in a fit of self-loathing?

Yes, I'm near demented with fatigue and anxiety. At least I can still laugh at something.

*********************

I dug up the superb documentary on The Donner Party by Ric Burns, and it finally hit me: those few people at work being shitty to everyone else, trying to point out the flaws of others to draw attention away from their own?  We're the Donner party.  Rats on a sinking ship.  Eat the others and maybe you can use the stiffs for a life raft.

*********************

Did I mention I have stress?

*********************

It sucked to go back to Dallas for an unplanned visit to the orthodontist, but it was a tonic to see Mom and Dad. 

I got to visit with Mom for a bit and Dad came home from an errand and told us he ran a coyote off from the front yard.  Big one.  Drove it around the neighborhood with the car.  Mom went to bed and I sat up watching tv with Dad for a bit.  The Ken Burns documentary on The Dust Bowl was on, and we watched that until it spooled out.  Gripping show, if you like that sort of thing. 

The people in the documentary are quite old, but they were small children at the time of the dust bowl.  One lady choked back tears as she talked about the government paying ranchers to kill their herds that were starving and were too poorly to sell.  Mom said "I remember Dad talking about that" and Dad said "Dad talked about that too!"  Heartbreaking bit of history, that. 

Anyway, Mom went to bed and Dad dialed around, landing the tv on a show about the mayan calendar/apocalypse/december 21/yada yada yada.  We exchanged quips.  After a very few minutes, Dad announced he was going to bed and I said i was, too.  Then he asked when my surgery is coming up.  Told him the 13th.  He said "you're gonna be all messed up for the end of the world, aren't you?"

:P

We laughed and laughed.

music for a Tuesday

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: swab and debonair

Isn't he a dashing little brute?


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Another poor showing on a test

I reviewed my test results and found some needless errors. My anxiety level is through the roof. I'm despairing that I might not even make a C. In that case, nursing school would be put off by another year. I'm feeling pretty low.

Work is stressful and the looming surgery is a constant distraction.
*angst*
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How I spent my lunch today.

Went out back with puppies and picked up lovely pecans which my braces prevent me from eating, alas!

I think I'll invent the pecan smoothie.  I have to go to Dallas Monday to see the orthodontist to unwonk my braces, as a rubbery piece of ham in an omelet undid my arch wire. *le sigh*

I may be having omelet smoothies from here on out. I can't afford to miss work and I can't afford spontaneous gas tanks squandered on needless tasks. 

The pecans are beautiful, though.   I'll probably shell some and bag them up to eat when my braces come off in about 7 months.  YAY!

Yay, urinary tract/ bonus puppehage

I never thought the urinary tract would be cause for celebration, but it is. We've hit one of the shortest chapters in the book in A&P II. YAYS!  I lurves me some short chapters.

This semester has been brutal in many ways. I'm hoping I can eke out a B. Still holding breath on that one.

The pupscape photo is from bed this morning, where we've come up with a new puppeh theme song. Wanna read it? Good. I thought you would. It goes:

Wild puppehs!

Wild puppehs!

WILD PUPPEHS GONE WIIIIIIIILD!

rinse, lather, repeat.  Sung to the tune of Wild Puppies Gone Wild™

Anyway, it ratchets them up to a high frenzy which is a wonderful way to start the day. The Mochi-in-hoodie photo is from yesterday. Poppa Dawg found the monkey hoodie and said it fairly screamed MOCHI so he had to get it. I have to giggle at the thought of his manly self moseying up to the register with this purchase.  Cute!  We put one of Praline's Skull sweaters on her and it was just all wrong. Mochi is a bouncy, flouncy, flopsy puppy and the monkey girl thing fits her better. Praline has skulls because she am fierce. Chuy is swab (TYPO! - meant to write suave but didn't have the heart to change it! laughing at myself here) and debonair, so he goes for classics like is brown and orange houndstooth he was wearing yesterday.  He is a dashing hound.

Speaking of warmness, I am utterly besotted with the electric blanket my mom gave me last year. About an hour before bed, I get it cranked up to 11, and then I lower it to 2 or 3 when I get in bed. It's got the most soporific effect on the pups, too. They normally tussle for 5 or 10 minutes at bedtime, because they love bedtime and it excites them. Seems contradictory, doesn't it? but with the bed pre-warmed, they squirt right under the covers and settle in for a yummy night's sleep.  I love the abject joy with which they greet every occasion - life lessons there. I stay cozy all night, and this despite a spate of 30-ish degree nights. I haven't had the house heater on once yet this year. I've got it set to come on if the mercury in the house dips below 60, but it hasn't happened yet. (Thanks to new windows and friends helping with insulating the attic-- I'm talking to Himself, MattG and aepilot_jim.)

Trying to get my ducks in a row for the coming semester, the end of this semester and the upcoming surgery. It's 4 weeks from tomorrow. yeesh.

Oh, and a chunk of ham dislodged a wire on my braces and I need to go to Dallas tomorrow night to be at the orthodontist first thing on Friday morning, and then it's hippity hop back home to work a full day. Remind me again why I have no down time?

It's good, though. Things are good, and I'm doing well. Life is always good if you have puppies. :)

Um. Wow.

 The Anointed One gets his place in a Nativity scene.  Wow.  I'm wondering if they cast him as one of the three wise guys.

What I have is a particular set of skills...

I don't know who you are.
I don't know what you want.
If you're looking for filthy lucre, I can tell you
I don't have money...
but what I do have are a very particular set of skills.
Skills that make me a dream come true for people like you.
If you don't give to Tam's tip jar now, that will be the end of it.
But if you do, I will look for you, I will find you...
...and I will adorn you.



My dear friend Tam has a problem and has no health insurance.  I've dropped a little money in her TipJar, but I'm limited in the financial arena.  What I DO have is a particular set of skills. Jewelry making skills.  For all my adult life I have railed against the insanity of having my money confiscated by the gubmint to pay for stuff for other people of which I don't approve.  I see here a chance to help out someone of whom I wholeheartedly approve and love dearly in the most expedient way possible.   That's what family does, and Tam felt like family the very first time I happened across her blog.  Then I met her in the paint and found I love her even more than I thought.  Anyway, I'm sort of thinking of what little cash I can pony up as the equivalent of all the beers I would have bought her over the years had she lived down the street.

This is my guns and roses necklace.  There are none like it.  This one is mine.  But if you'll contribute at least $25 to her tip jar, then you will have your name put into a raffle for lots of fabulous stuff among which will be a Guns And Roses necklace I'll try to get to you by Christmas, if your name is drawn and you choose this lot.  There will be a drawing and the first name drawn will be able to choose from among the array of fabulous prizes, among which mine will likely be the least, but will be as heartfelt as any.  The Guns and Roses necklace I make for the person who chooses that option will not be identical to the one below, but it will be very similar, will be one of a kind, and would be an item I'd retail for in the range of $150 to $250, depending on what components I'll include.  Some components will be sterling silver, but others will be plastic, glass, crystal and possibly pot metal, so metal allergies need not apply. There will be new and vintage, and hopefully some vintage Cracker Jack charms, of which I am particularly fond.  For every $25 you give, your name will be put in the pot once, for the drawing to take place on Thanksgiving.

Go to Old NFO's blog for details on how you can register your donation to get your name in the kitty for all the fabulous prizes.  There will be at least 2 pistols and one fabulous holster made by Mike.  I've got one of his holsters and believe me-- you WANT one.  Anyway, scrape up $25 or more and contribute.  It's for a good cause and you could walk away with something pretty valuable, but most of all, you'll be helping one of the finest women I've ever met, and the good feeling that should give you is something you can take to the bank.

Here is what I would do:

If my husband were on the line for an organization I found to be corrupt and on the hotseat to, oh, say, testify regarding something illegal/immoral/treasonous the administration did or failed to do, and if it would not help my country in any case, I would insist my husband claim publicly to be unfit to testify because he'd had an affair. I'd hold my head high. I'd wAnt my man as far from that shitstain of an organization as possible. But that's just me.

When one finds oneself with a coyote career, may as well go on and gnaw one's leg off to get out from under it.

But that's just me. Call me crazy.


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***updated, 14 November***

So, turns out that Petraeus really did have an affair, and it was probably not wife-approved.

*le sigh*

I'm disappointed, and I knew what I wrote above was from the Pollyanna school of human behavior, but, shoot. It's just ugly, is all. 

So, the administration knew about the affair(s) and held this over his head to ensure favorable testimony, and needed to keep him quiet at least through the election.  At this point, I really hope he goes in and I hope he tells the truth.  What's the worst that could happen to him?  It already has.

3am post from bed

Just did a post and now I'm doing another. Typing bleary-eyed on an iPhone yields mixed results. Autocorrect "fixes" some spelling I don't want it to, and doesnt correct some it should. Meh. So sometimes an "of" comes out as an "if" so I'm counting on you to read it as I meant it, and not what the phone actually wrote.
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My house smells like dogs live here. This does not fill me with joy, but having dogs in the house fills me with joy, so I'll take the smell, tyvm.
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Speaking of dogs, Praline is such a tart. I suspect she is why I'm awake now. Aepilot_jim is on the sofa and she has to bed-hop every hour or so. She apparently nudges him with her cold wet nose to check if he is sleeping, and I'm sure you can guess how that wakes him up.

Chuy pesters Jim for scritchins and generally tries to brain-squeegee/nasal lavage everyone foolish enough to make a lap in his vicinity. He is still incredibly cute, though.

Old NFO made the most wonderful dinner Thursday night and he is now cemented in Miss Mochi's affections for the sheer volume of fewds that hit the kitchen floor, requiring her to clean up same.

Grand time being had by all.


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Ambling shamblers: the state of attire on college campi.

I admit I graduated high school in 1984, which pretty much ensconces me in Grumpy Old Fart territory when it comes to campus fashion, but I take umbrage, nonetheless.

The era of my high school included a post-hippie generation of preppy folks who were by-golly not bloody hippies. In high school I had aspirations to stylishness and I generally wore dresses, which continues a preference for me. I often lamented how some classmates wore sweats to school, because it just looked woefully slovenly. After all, they were not abed sick, but out in public. A little self pride did not seem too much to ask, but perhaps I am a silly woman. No matter: my blog, my rules. I must bitch forthwith.

The campus at my university is littered with young adults who shuffle through the hallways in flip-flops, some of those festooned with sequins and crystals-- ya know-- for dressy days. The shuffle-slap shuffle-slap ostinato is a drab cadence for the walking dread. the lack of energy in their gait speaks volumes. I look at these kids and wonder how many are mortgaging their futures for degrees that will not yield them the careers to which they aspire, and the shuffling seems more apt. I would hire few, if any of them.

I actually respect the ones who come to class in pajamas for some modicum of honesty: the chicks in sweats who obviously spent loads of time on hair/makeup rate a hypocritical Boo/Hiss, to say the least. Pull yourself together, bitches! If you are going to that effort, at least invest the additional 3 minutes to yank something less slobbish from the closet. It won't kill you, I promise.

Skinny jeans on males? Run! Run screaming from anyone who advises you thus. There may be a guy on the planet who looks good in them, but you are not he. They make the make the torso look freakishly long and the legs as short as, well, mine. Ixnay the ookingfay skinny jeans.

And now we turn to the subject of sweatpants in general. Ladies, I'm talking to you. No female in any state if physical fitness should ever ever EVAR go out in public with any type of text across her arse. Trust me when I say that a luscious ass need not announce to the world that it is, in fact, JUICY, and to do so is to paint the lily. Worse still is the proclamation of teh hawtness on a back forty wot am decidedly NOT, and that's just sad. Further, even a nicely fit bum can look eye-bendingly wrong with 4" text swagged thereupon. Don't do it. Want to raise breast cancer awareness? Fine. Just leave off with the PINK-assed sweats, mkay? To recap, is stupid, pathetic and not pretty.

I'm all for living in the age in which the fates plopped oneself, so by all means, trend away. I'm just saying that everyone should have a bit more self awareness of what actually looks good on them, regardless if what the current craze may be or what the shop clerks tell them.

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

DeForest Kelley played a crooked news man in an episode of Bonanza.




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Ballad of a Politician - Regina Spektor

So glad this election season is almost over. 

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: chimenea Chooch!

Its not cold but it is a little cool, so I gathered up a bunch of dry twigs and burned them with some piñon. Sat down to study and Chuy jumped in my lap immediately. Which made me spill my beer. Drat.


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longer post to follow

Thursday I had anatomy lecture in the morning, worked most of the day and then went to anatomy lab for more squickful cat dissection. My ear (jaw) was hurting and I didn't feel up to the drive to Dallas so I blew off the PiL show.  Left home about 5:30 Friday morning for the drive to Dallas to meet with my surgeon, then lunch at an Indian place with aepilot_jim and then to the orthodontist for my adjustment.  Then to the Apple store to order (yes, order) my new iPhone 5. I was going to get the 4S, but I succumbed to Jim's peer pressure and ordered the 5.  He reasons that I change phones so infrequently that even the 5 will be obsolete by the time I change next time, so I might as well go whole-hog now.  Then, of course,  I proceeded to buy about $100 of accessories, including a heavy-duty Otter box to protect my investment. 

Went to Nordstrom Rack and got some mittens with a phone-screen-friendly patch on the index fingers so you can use your phone without de-mittening.

Had  a very nice visit with my parents Friday night/Saturday morning, then my niece and nephew and brother-in-law came over and the nice visit continued.  Headed home about Noon and ended up home before dark to reunite with the wee furballs.  Worked quite a bit on my Macroeconomics and a fair bit on anatomy.  More anatomy studying to be done today and a test to take.  I was a bit wobbly on my grades there for a bit, but I think I'm trending in a good direction. 

Sorry for spotty blogging of late, but work/school/sleep seems to be my entire existence much of the time, lately.  Happily so.  It's all for the cause.

Let's try that again, in blue this time.

Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!!!!


-
Hot pink elastics faded with shocking rapidity. I like these better already. New, heavier gauge stainless steel wire is super- ouchy. Whimper. Much pitiful squeaking.

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I love that some grandpa is playing Public Image, Ltd for his granddaughters

Going to see PiL in Dallas Thursday night.  A couple of ladies from my old posse are going to be there.  WHEEEEE!  Which wild shoes to wear?  I must wear wild shoes.  Is the law, after all.



I keep thinking what a hideously impractical thing this is.  After anatomy lab tonight, I'll go quick like a bunny to Dallas and straight to the show.  The fact that it's so impractical is probably the best argument for doing so.  If someone will keep the emergency phone for me, I'll stay in Dallas through Saturday night to go see Latonia in Aida.  I'm thinking I won't get lucky on the emergency phone, though. Alas. :(

Friday I see my orthodontist and my surgeon.  My hot pink elastics have faded to pale pink and I'm wondering what I ate that made them fade so dramatically?


Hmph.  Maybe I'll get black elastics this time. 
CHeers.

Latonia Moore on getting started in opera

This is from a panel last week at The Dallas Opera where Latonia Moore is cast as the lead in Aida.  We were in Pattye's studio together and we were in that opera chorus of Pagliacci together.  It was a grand time.  Richard Burke (playing the killer clown) kicked a metal bucket across the stage once and we thought it would decapitate someone in the audience.  Good times.



Good on Latonia for getting the recognition for her spectacular instrument and for being such a wonderful performer and musician.  I'm hopeful I can make it out to Dallas in the next week or so for one of the three remaining performances.





You can buy tickets to see Latonia in Aida here.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love and chicken-fried bacon.

Amen.



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Breathtaking handiwork from a Russian artisan

Pretty lady with beautiful hands.  No idea what she's saying or even what her name is, but it's a great representation of what looks like the Irish lace method to me.  I'm besotted with this type of handiwork.  Dunno if I'll ever have time to take a crack at it, but I appreciate the art and the skill this takes.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: all better

My happy, sassy, flouncy puppy is back on form. Matter of fact, all 3 of my lovelies are in fine fettle. But they dislike the sudden cold. Poor lambs!


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An actual three-dog night.

First cold night of the year and right now it's 33 degrees. I busted out the electric blanket ( thanks, Mom and Dad!) and set it at 80% for about an hour before bed. At bed time, I turned it down to 40% so I'd have some heat but not have to turn on the house heater. Saturday will be in the 70s, after all. The pups darted under cover and did Nary a whit of their usual bedtime tussle. I awakened at 4am with all three pups on top of the covers, pinning me under, and I was hot. Turned the blankie down to 2 and they are back under it. Nice to have the warmth boost at first, but one hates to go overboard. Plus, I sleep better when it's not uncomfortable to have my little furballs snuggled up.

Life is sweet. Winter is a favorite, because it's happy time for cuddling with my little pack.

Wheeeee!


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Glad (if expensive) hosannas.

4th time in 2 months, Miss Mochi is at the vet's office. Caught her chewing on the wire from a champagne bottle top, but half was missing. One xray later, no metal inside my little goober girl. Whew, and oucher$.

Still. Worth it.


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crocheting my balls off

Did I mention I'm crocheting some?  I'm using the time while I listen to audio recordings of my professor to do some pretty simple crochet.  This is just repetitive expanding rows, so it's easy-peasey, but this particular floss works up beautifully.  It's a variegated color by Yarn Bee and I've been getting it at Hobby Lobby.  This color is Kathmandu.  Plus: sequins!

Ooooh!  Sparkly!

This is going to be a shawl and I think I'm making it for myself, because I really messed a part of it up and I couldn't expect someone else to wear that on their back, now, could I?

...and miles to go before I spiel.

Sorry for the light posting/content of recent times.  In truth my schedule is woefully overpacked.  You might think I could have carved out an hour for bringing my blog up to speed during a 2 week vacation, but to do so would be to have a wrong idea: my vacation was packed with doing things like studying and trying to put my house in order prior to my big surgery, and no small amount of stress.

Work has been a bit rodeo these 6 days I've been back.  I'm hopeful that this is just a temporary thing-- it's been the most stressful ever.  A few hours back on the clock last Monday and I suddenly noticed the reappearance of a knot between my shoulder blades that I didn't miss during my two week vacation.  *le sigh*

A week ago I had a major exam in A&P II, but prior to the test, I got up early and took all 3 pups to the vet with the assistance of a rather under-the-weather Himself. [His turn with the vet the following day revealed he was more sick than the furballs. :( ]  I had to run off from the vet's office to class to take my test and to say I performed poorly grade-wise would be an understatement.  I am hopeful I can still pull a B in the class, but I've utterly revamped my study methods, including now meeting at least once a week with a study partner.   I'd love to blame my poor test performance on the very real concern for all my sick puppies, including the two-footed version, but I can't afford to give myself a pass.  Oh, and I will will will take at least 15 minutes every day for my guitar.  I'm progressing well on that score, but have missed more days than I've hit recently.

No belly dance this month, but hopefully for a few classes in November.  Or maybe not.  I have some wonderful plans to see dear friends at home and out of state in November, so that will no doubt set me aright. :)

Keep in mind the fact that I watch NO television-- my TV doesn't even get a channel, as far as I know.   I feel like I'm rushing from one thing to the other, and that there is little down time.  On a happy note, Sunday I had family mewvie night and Himself and the pups all curled up with me on the sofa to watch Dark Shadows (LOVE!) and the Fifth Element.  It was nice to just veg for a change. 

7 weeks from my surgery.  I'd like to get the beadboard up on the ceiling in the second bedroom before then.  And. And.  And.

I obviously enjoy (on some level) being overly-busy and rushing about quick like a bunny, but I'd like to feel that I'm in a state of choice about being an agent of chaos. More soon.

Monumentally bummed about the demise of Big Tex.

Apparently, he is toast.

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Cool, moist nose report.

Puppies slept well and Chuy didn't do the zombie thing and waking up today there are no dry, warm noses, so I'm relieved. I'm also happy I didn't have any veterinarian of Dr. Moreau dreams, which is a relief. That lobster/kitten from Tuesday night will haunt me. Longtime. Ew.
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Sick puppies

All three have kennel cough. Chuy is by far the worst. I took them to the vet before class yesterday and got them on prednisone and antibiotic. Just woke up and Chuy is laying there like a zombie, eyes open. I hope he doesn't have pneumonia. I'm scared. :(
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Update: All pups are much improved this morning. :)

Heeeeeere's SPLODEY!

Here's the prototype as dispatched by Ambulance Driver at the first Blogorado in November of 2009, and here's my monstrous creation to commemorate that strangely delightful occurrence.  Well, delightful for everyone except AD and his poor Dodge pickup, but if you're gonna make an omelet, and all that...  Call me Frankenphlegm.  For some strange reason, that chilly night on a dark country roadside in Colorado was a unifying experience, and something unexpected that really drew us together in an enduring and surprising way.  I really think the group is all the more close for that.  Ambulance Driver bore up manfully, considering his truck had just been ganked by the poor beast, and we stood around cracking jokes and huddling for warmth in a show of solidarity as he set to collecting the meat with aid of a sawzall and about a dozen large knives proffered by the helpful bystanders.  Jokes were cracked.  2001: A space odyssey was referenced in movement and music, and lewd discusson of tracheae was undertaken.  Good times. 

Spitting image, right?  you would swear these bucks were twins as the resemblance was uncanny.  The antlers on mine went a bit wobbly/wonky, but I forgive them.  I am particularly proud of the craftsmanship of the cigarette.  Next time I make something to explode at Blogorado, I'm going to not start on it 4 days before I hit the road for seekrit location and maybe it will be a little less wobblesome and a little better-hewn.  At the end of the shooting day on Sunday, we put a little rubbermaid container with about a pound of tannerite in a hatch at the back of Splodey's mount.  Fittingly, it was Ambulance Driver that made Splodey go splodey.  Poetic, that. :)

As I was making Splodey, I sent Mom and a few friends photos of my progress.  Mom kept saying he was so cute that it was a shame to blow him up. The way I see it, the fact that Splodey was temporal and marked for death really took the pressure off.  Every angle and curve didn't have to be refined or strainings at perfection.  This was basically a growed-up, high velocity pinata and not something to be hung in the Louvre or the Smithsonian.  Yes, it's goofy.  Yes, I should have spent that energy studying instead of this, but I'm glad I did it. I think he was really cute, and he made a lot of people laugh. I call that a good time investment.

Now what will I make next year?  Thanks to lovely but shy spokesmodel Mrs. Sci-FI for holding up the doomed beastie for the photo. 

I hope to get my after report on Blogorado up on or before the coming weekend.  For now, school is a whirl and work continues apace. I do hope to be back on track with my daily posts quite soon. 

I LOVE this woman!

My vote is on the plump sassy lady from Dallas.  I grinned the whole way through this video.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: the cutening!!!

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Jaw surgery blathery

So here's a video of a version of what needs doing on me choppers.  I don't think they'll remove any teeth but there will be the segmentation and repositioning of the bones above my upper teeth.  Yes, it's gruesome to ponder, but totally amazing, too.  There are videos of the actual procedure on YouTube if you are curious and would enjoy seeing that sort of thing, or if you would enjoy torturing yourself with that sort of thing.

I have to say that the anxiety over the surgery has been a major distraction in recent times.  It's really difficult for me to hunker down and study as I should, but I've been making progress on that score in the past handful of days.  Macroeconomics is going well, and Anatomy could be better, but I'm on a production schedule with studies to ramp up in anticipation of the test coming up on Tuesday.  Wish me luck.

I've never had a big surgery other than wisdom tooth extraction, and that's relatively minor in comparison.  I'll be in hospital overnight, which is probably a good thing.  I'm toying with the idea of doing some before/after videos, because I couldn't find many open bite surgery vids from people who had the experience, and they were all from very young people.  As for physical appearance, there will be very little change in how the area around my mouth and jaw look, and it will probably not be at all noticeable to people even who are acquainted with me.

As to the survey of testimonials I viewed tonight, there are varying degrees of discomfort and food-through-a-strawishness.  I don't think my lower jaw will be cut & spliced at all, so that's one less thing.  I do expect a severe amount of bruising, even up to around my eyes.  My mouth-- well, that will be a mess afterward.

In the weeks leading up to the surgery I'm going to make up some good pork and chicken bone stocks and I'll eat that while I'm recovering to help knit the bone tissue.  It's pretty gross, but this will save my teeth hopefully for the rest of my life, as well as prevent the rheumatoid arthritis in my right jaw from advancing further due to misaligned bite.

My heart is buoyed by the fact that I googled my surgeon online and one search engine listed him as 5th top surgeon in the country for TMJ surgery and ranked first for jaw surgery.  It does help that I have confidence in him.  Yay.  More on this to follow.

Much to tell, and not much time to tell it.

Yes, I've lolled about a bit with wild puppehs the last couple of days, but seeing as I have so few days with no deadlines, I've not succumbed to the blogging urge.

I actually completely cleared 3 horizontal table-type surfaces Wednesday, which is a major accomplishment. I've got 1.5 left of those and then I can feel better again, and perhaps almost civilized.  Almost.

Ambulance Driver came through on his way home from blogorado Wednesday night, and I nearly passed out from laughing so hard.  Long story short - on Saturday he was denuded of much of his hair due to a pledge related to Kilted To Kick Cancer.  Saturday night I crocheted each him and Stingray a scrotal cozy to keep their defoliated parts warm.  I had to guess on the sizing, but one does what one can.  One misfortunate soul festooned his head with AD's (used) scrotal cozy, to his deep and abiding chagrin.   My time in Colorado was so filled with good feeling that the extra visit from AD was total bonus round.  With discussions regarding anatomy class, he told a story I'd never heard before and it was simultaneously awful and one of the funniest things ever, but not for the faint of heart. 

Good times with good friends.  Here's to many happy returns.

A very nice birthday

Had a wonderful brekky with all my dear blogorado fambly who sang happy birthday to me which made me happy-cry. Had a nice drive down to the Texas panhandle with Himself and aepilot_Jim where we are having a delish lunch at El Patron in Amarillo. Soon we pick up the freshly bathed pups. Oh, happy day!!!


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Splodey!

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Sunday, Puppy Sunday: pups of others, Butcher edition

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Blogorado update

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I took off from Texas with no sensible shoes. I planned to wear some vibrams on the range, but it's wet and the vibrams are a no-go. Went to a local store and got some cheapie boots and I'm good to go.

Having very good times with the best of friends.

Puppies are reported to be having a grand time at a puppy day care place in Amarillo.

All is well. :)


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Remember this guy? I can rebuild him. Better. Faster. Stranger.

Best corn tortillas eVar.

La Tejavan in Amarillo. Yum.

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Antlers are done.

I made two cakes Wednesday night, studied several hours and I finished the antlers, which will be installed on the beast when we get to Colorado.  They are too long and fragile to stick on here.  He looks quite silly, which is as I expected.  Looking forward to showing you the whole thing in all his goofy splendor.

Antlers: check.

Splodey is coming along nicely.  Antlers and cigarette were the last bits to go together.  The main piece has its base coat of white on to cover the news print and today I'll be painting the rascal.  The antlers/cigarette will be dry enough for painting this afternoon.
Leaving for Blogorado after Anatomy class in the morning. WOO HOO!  I'm so excited.  But miles to go before I sleep.

IF I sleep.

A tiny taste of Splodey

Splodey was born to die.  He is marked for death.  He will be revealed and undone at Blogorado.  But for now, here's a little smidge of a photo from Sunday.   Poor lil feller.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: Mochi is back!

Woke up this morning and followed the pups into the kitchen where Mochi proceeded to do the kibble dance. She bounced and twisted excitedly as only a little fur tube can do, then she tucked into her bowl with undiluted pleasure. I think she's feeling no pain now. :)


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A good start to a much-neede vacation.

I will not belabor the point, but Friday at work was monumentally bad. The past week and a half have seen some of the most high-pressure conversations I've encountered in many years. I actually cried after one call. It was depressing. So, enough about that. Someone remind me why I needed a vacation?


Day 1 of vacation was wonderful. I slept fitfully last night because Mochi was awake and I was aware of it and worried that she was hurting. I finally drifted well off to sleep about 5 or 6, and slept blissfully until 10:52. I got up and studied Macroeconomics for a few hours, during which Himself gallantly took Praline and Chuy for nail trims. Then we went into town for Chinese food and errands. Bought some supplies for Blogorado (Topo Chico, anyone?) and got stuff to make some cakes. I'm sending 2 cakes out priority mail from the 24 hour postal facility at the DFW airport Sunday morning. One to a vendor and one to a dispatcher, all really good guys who make things go well for my customers, and that had to be recognized. Then I'll be able to fully relax. I'm also taking a couple of my cakes to Blogorado, as well.
Also, got supplies for a something I'm making to blow up at Blogorado. Pictures and details will follow. Suffice to say it will be rather strange, but will hopefully delight as much as befuddle.

I have a cake in the oven and I'm going to get up to antics with chicken wire now. I hope I win-- that mess is scratchy!!!

TTFN.

Mochi is out of surgery and resting.

She is so subdued. I'll be glad when she gets her frisk back, but for now it's good just to have her home. <3


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Miss Mochi is getting noodered today. :(

I'm nervous, even though I know she'll be alright.

She doesn't like the vet's office.  The funny thing was that when she was very young and in those less-than-cozy homes, she was pretty matter-of-fact about being taken away to the vet.  In fact, at her previous place, her owners let me take her and her sibling to the vet for their first shots and all that, because they were actually overdue.  She wasn't stressed out about these strange people (me, Himself and aepilot_jim) taking her and her brother to the vet-- it was just another day in paradise.  These days, though, she is part of a loving and fun-loving pack, and she is actively abhorrent of being anywhere away from Chuy and Praline, and they take a dim view of her being parted from them, too.  Mochi will whimper pathetically, which will strum my heart strings in a most violent manner. *le sigh*   When administering shots, my vet squirts shaving cheese (what Himself calls cans of squirty cheese) on the table, and Mochi doesn't fall for that these days-- she will not be distracted when she knows they are up to no good.  At least she'll be back by the end of the day.

Speaking of heart strings, did you know there are actually stringy things in your heart???  I did not, but I learned that recenty in anatomy class.  They are called chordae tendinae and they are anchored to the base of each ventricle by papillary muscles and they attach to the tricuspid and bicuspid valves at the headward end of the right and left ventricles of the heart.  Isn't that interesting?  You're full of fascinating stuff!

Anyway, mine are thrumming right now.  Off to the vet will Little Bit.  Will give an update this afternoon. 

Hot dogs.

Here at Chez Phlegm, I take as given that whatever I do, one or more pups will insist upon being close at hand, but at no time moreso than when I sleep. With the arrival of Mochi, now every night is a three dog night. If I lived in a cooler clime, this would be a feature. As it is, the temp yesterday was about 97. It stormed last night and the pups snuggled in tight and for dear life. I sleep on my right side. Praline insists upon curling up against my shins. She wants to be under the covers, but she likes having a peep space so she can watch in case she needs to spring into action to defend the pack, what with her running the universe, and all. Chuy is an inveterate burrower. He snuggles up as close to my back as he can. Sometimes he'll be farther Under the covers when I wake up, but I suspect he wants to be nearby in case of any petting opportunities. Mochi is more freestyle and she moves around in her sleep quite a bit. Sometimes I wake up and she is beside me on the pillow on her back. She then looks at me very matter of factly and waits for tummy rubbins. She is always ready to SPRING into her day. I know some of that is just the puppyhood talking, but I truly hope she never loses that energy. :)

So, anyhoo, they make me too hot at night. But it's a good hot. I think I'll keep them. :)


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Kilted to Kick Cancer

In this age of awareness ribbons and the like, it seems we've been for years awash in a sea of pink so it's easy to get issue-fatigue, but a bunch of my friends actively participate in a very worthy cause in conjunction with the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and I think it could use a little more attention.

As a manner of enticement, the participants are shamelessly offering to do outlandish things if they come out on the top of the contributions pile.   Among other things, Evyl_Robot's comely wife Jennifer has promised PVC Catsuit antics.  ROWR!   Ambulance Driver vowed to shave off half his moustache for the entirety of Blogorado.  JayG has-- I believe-- vowed to remove the entirety of his moustache.  All are noble vows, no doubt.  However, to my view, Stingray really trumps them here.

The big, bulging bonus for the rest of us is that these guys get kitted up in kilts for the month of September.  I'm calling this a monster win.  These guys look hands-down dashing in their kilts, even the Sicilian.

You can contribute to KTKC campaign by doing the clicky-clicky on the names of any (or all) of these guys.  Seriously, I don't often flog a cause to any degree, but this one is worthy.  All credit to the breast cancer awareness and all that, but guys are people too, and prostate cancer is something you don't want touching yours or the innards of anyone you love.  Srsly.