nekosensei

* I got a crappy night's sleep last night. Today is going to be interesting....

* Last night, doomsey and I were pulling out of our house to go to a birthday party at a friend's house when I saw a dead bird-- it looked like a robin-- lying in the street not far from our house. I couldn't get a very good look at it and I feared that it might have been the juvenile robin that's been hopping around our front yard. This morning, I looked out the window, anxious to see any sign of him. When I saw both him and the adult robin, I did a small cheer.

* doomsey and I have a lot of trees on our property, which make for great bird homes. This season, I've seen one baby sparrow, one baby robin, and two baby black birds in our front and back yards.

* Not long ago, a friend of mine suggested I should get a field guide to identify what kinds of birds are coming into our backyard. Hmmm...might not be a bad idea. I've had one little guy who used to visit our bird feeder in the fall and I have no idea what kind of bird it was. He was a dark blue on top and a lighter gray on the bottom.

* I'm such an animal lover. When I was a kid, I used to sit and watch the birds and other critters in our backyard. It got the point where I was able to not only identify birds, but also recognize their songs to some extent. To this day, it amazes me that doomsey can't distinguish between a cardinal or a robin based on its song. Maybe I should start teaching him?

* Last year, the rosebush in our garden wasn't looking very good because it had black spot, a fungus caused by too much humidity. This year, doomsey and I have been spraying it like mad. In the early spring, I picked off all the old leaves to try to keep it from getting re-infected this year. It looks like it worked because it's currently blooming like mad. doomsey took some pictures yesterday and posted them to his journal today. By the way, anybody know what kind of rosebush that is?

Blargh. Sick again. I started coming down with this particular bug while I was visiting my sister and her two girls yesterday. J. is going to shoot me if any of her girls come down with this. Her kids have been sick a lot these past few months, and her littlest was in the hospital with pneumonia for four days back in early April. And...since this cold is just starting, it probably means that I was contagious yesterday. Beautiful. :(

I didn't go on my walk yesterday or today because I haven't been feeling well. I hope to get back on schedule with that on Wednesday. Oh...and while we're on the topic of exercise, last week I determined that exercise is a major trigger for my heart palpitations, much more so than stress or caffeine because I got a lot of palpitations after some of my walks. I'm going to have to mention that to my doctor that the next time I see her, which is going to be soon because .

On the way to work this morning, I was turning right and so happened to glance at an animal sitting in a car window. I ended up doing a double take because said animal was a cat, which was not what I was expecting at all. Usually cats cower in their carrier during car rides. This particular kitty must have been very laid-back.

Well, I have good news guys! Cosette has a heart murmur, but it's very minor and it's caused by a slight thickening of the heart wall. The cardiologist says this is an age related change only and that it's something that's just starting. If there was a valve involved, it would be a different story because that means that she's leaking blood, but that's not the case. So...since this is such a slight problem, she doesn't need any heart medication at this point. She is going to have to be re-tested next year though.

Whew! I guess this means I can relax now....

* It's called a turn signal. Use it. If I clip you because you couldn't be arsed to use your turn signal when you change lanes, I will tear it out and shove it up your ass. Really...what's with people not using turn signals today? I had two people do that to me in a thirty second interval.

* Saw a "New Driver" sign on a Lexus. You're really going to let your kid learn how to drive on your nice Lexus? Well okay then....

* Amazing Video Shows Shockwaves Explode From Volcano -- I know it's Faux News, but the video is kind of cool. Go watch it.

* I am greatly amused that the German word for jewelry is der Schmuck.

* The vet called. This time, Cosette's blood work turned out almost completely normal. Thank God! I asked whether the Pepcid AC could cause a weird heart beat, and it turns out that that's very unlikely. In fact, they're finding that people and animals benefit from Pepcid because it controls acid. Still taking her in to get her heart checked on Monday though.

* You know, I usually don't read much fanfic, let alone recommend it, but you've got to read this Buffy / Farmville crossover. Hilarious! It's also not very long... (Via sl_podcast)

* Looks like doomsey and I will be going to that party tonight...

I know, I'm posting a lot. Sorry! I just had a brain storm while I was giving Cosette her medication. The last time I went into the vet's office, she told me that I should give her 10mg a day of Pepcid AC to help control her nausea. What happens in many animals with kidney disease is that they get a build up of acid in their stomachs, which in turn, thickens the lining. She was certain that that was happening in Cosette's case.

Well, after I gave Cosette her pill for the day, I thought, "what if the Pepcid is causing her problem?" So...I hopped online and starting reading. I saw that two side effects for Pepcid AC in humans are arrhythmia and tachycardia. Hmm. I do more reading about dosages. It said that the normal dosage for most casts is one-quarter of a 10mg pill every two days. If the cat is still not better, you can up the dose to 5mg a day. Hmm. Maybe she was getting too much? I also read that Pepcid AC is not good for cats with heart problems. I'm not worrying too much over here though, because I also read that overdosage is not very common and you have to give them A LOT to kill them. For dogs, that's 2000mg per kg. One thing that it said was that you can give cats a very high dosage without them showing any adverse effects.

So...I'm wondering if I may have just solved the problem. I'm going to be bring this up with my vet when she calls me with the blood test results tomorrow.

* I shouldn't kill spiders in my house, but I do because I am terrified of them. If they're outside, I have no problems. If I find them inside though? SPLAT they go! The same goes for centipedes. If I catch them crawling on a wall, they end up on the bottom of my shoe in no time flat. I hate centipedes the most of all, and I don't even want to get close enough to them to catch them with a wadded up piece of tissue or toilet paper!!! So...under the shoe they go.

Any critter with more than six legs gives me the creeps, and the more legs they have, the worse I hate them.

* Dan wasn't too happy with me earlier this afternoon. I stretched while reading a book and knocked over a lamp. The lamp itself is fine, but the bulb inside it broke. Worse, I didn't realize that the bulb contained mercury until after I picked up the broken pieces with my bare hands. So...if I start acting a little nutty, you'll know why. (Me being nutty is a little par for the course, so in reality, nothing will really change much).

Oh...I also have to replace a cat bed and some cat toys because the lamp fell on them. I could have probably gotten away with cleaning the cat bed really well, but I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, Cosette already has random kidney issues. The last thing we need is for her to come down with any more problems.

* Weeded and turned over my vegetable garden today. I'm planning on growing eggplant, pepper, and squash so I probably won't plant anything until May. I was thinking about growing tomatoes as well, but now I'm not so sure. According to the farmer's almanac, it's supposed to be rainy and cool again this summer. Last year, my tomato plants didn't do so well because it didn't get hot enough.

* After I cleared my veggie garden, I rested for a bit and then started working on weeding and clearing one of my flower beds. I still have to work on the bed next to the garage though, but I think I'll leave that until tomorrow. I also want to do some weeding in the way back. As for big projects, I'd like to put some more cedar chips out in the beds out front and in the way back. I think I'll leave that for when I have a little bit more time, probably in late May. I'm also going to need to borrow a wheelbarrow and a bigger shovel. Lastly, I'd also like to buy a Japanese maple for that one spot I've been meaning to fill for ages. I take it that I should probably wait until May to plant a tree though, huh?

* Man Receives Ticket While Walking From Car To Parking Meter -- Ninja police officer! (Swiped from popfiend)

* Watched Episode 2 of Doctor Who with doomsey and judygs. ( Click here for minor spoilers )

* Wow did I have a bad dream last night. A group of tea-baggers were holding a demonstration so liberals in support of health care reform decided to hold a counter-demonstration. What the liberals did not know was that some of the tea baggers came armed. A couple of nut jobs pulled out their guns and started shooting at the liberals. Before you knew it, everybody was shooting, and the end result was a blood bath with the liberals getting the worst of it because so few of them were armed. This eventually touched off a coup d'état with a far right wing group taking over the government by force. Once they had control of the country, the first thing they did was repeal the health care reform bill. At that point, I told doomsey to pick a country; we were leaving.

* It's been a gorgeous day today. It went up to 81 degrees! In April! doomsey and I celebrated it by going to the zoo, which was very crowded as a lot of other people had the same idea. It was so packed that we had a hard time even finding a parking spot! I've never seen it that bad! And not enough employees were out directing traffic either. One person told us they were talking about opening up other lots by the children's zoo, but they weren't very helpful about where exactly those lots were. She told us to head closer to the zoo itself, which we did. By sheer chance, we ran into someone else who helped fanagle us a spot on a small patch of grass. She told us that they had so many visitors today that they "had to get creative." Wild! doomsey and I went to Tropic World-- the exhibit where they keep the monkeys-- first and it was packed. Afterwards, I steered us to more of the exhibits that were outside where we would have more room.

* I took a lot of pictures today. I'm going to have to post some once I get a chance to go through them.

* My zoo membership is expiring at the end of this month, and I'm planning on renewing it when it does. I spent about fifteen dollars extra in order to get the version that lets me take a guest with; usually, I drag doomsey with me. This year, we've used it enough that we've more than recouped the money we spent on it.

* ( Cut for disgusting )

* Another amusing April Fool's joke from Think Geek. And hey! Here's a second product I want to see made: the LOST alarm clock. God I love Think Geek! (Via hellziggy)

* If You Voted for Obama, Seek Urologic Care Elsewhere’ -- There are no words. I've gotten into political debates with my doctor before-- she's close friends with my husband's family-- and I know that we don't see eye to eye on politics. I'm a liberal Democrat while she is more of a Libertarian, and she *definitely* doesn't support the health care reform bill. On the other hand, she's a smart lady and an incredible doctor so I continue to see her. I could never in a million years see her pulling something like this though. (Via doomsey)

* And we're off again. doomsey and I are going to Rock Band Night at a friend's house tonight. We're leaving a little bit late because we're going to get dinner on the way there. I think they normally serve pizza at this shindig, but doomsey can't eat it because it's Passover. We're probably going to get Mexican instead.

The server holding my email is down, so I probably won't be able to read any of my emails until tomorrow morning at the earliest. What a pain in the ass! Let's hope that the computer it's on just needs re-started and that it doesn't need any other work. Otherwise, I will be email-less for a couple of days.

This morning I studied for German class. Then, in the afternoon fuzzyscribble and samcallahan showed up so that doomsey could help fuzzyscribble with her computer. It turned out that the poor computer died a horrible death. Fortunately, doomsey was able to pull off all the data that she needed. fuzzyscribble and samcallahan also brought their dog, Re-run, who is a Beagle Coon Hound mix. He's an adorable dog. Anyhow, they put him on a tie-down in the backyard so he wouldn't traumatize my cats too much. Don't worry! He wasn't neglected for too long. samcallahan and I sat outside with him for a while while doomsey and fuzzyscribble worked on the computer.

I also got some time today to do some reading, go for a walk with doomsey, and knit. I am four rows from being finished with the hat I'm making for doomsey! Aside from the computer server blowing up, it was a pleasant day.

* Arwen is a dumb ass. She just sat in Lysol. Imagine her surprise when I picked her up and hosed her off in the sink. Now she hates me. God, that cat is stupid. Reminds me of the time she sat in cream bleach and bleached her butt.

* The house is now clean. I'm sitting in the living room with my socks and shoes off and my feet up. Arwen is alternating between grooming her wet fur and giving me dirty looks. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. God, what a stupid cat.

* Today I found out that another one of my classmates from high school died. This is the second classmate in a month! Classmate #1 died from a heart attack at 33 and Classmate #2 died from liver failure. What the hell? I'm too young to have classmates dying from heart attacks and liver failure.

* This joke thread on the blog, Making Light, is amusing. (Blame almeda)

* Okay...I admit it. I was singing in the shower this morning. And the cats...well...they were fighting outside the shower door. Damn cats.

* Hmmm...They don't have a karaoke version of The Secret Garden's "Fine White Horse" do they?

* Hey...if I try out for Lombard Idol this year, they won't let me get away with singing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" will they? Maybe I can do "All That Jazz?" "White Rabbit" is another possibility. And that's all assuming that they're still going to have a Taste of Lombard this year. The Village of Lombard is short on cash and talking about pulling funding for it.

* It's still really a shame that I can't find "Fine White Horse." I can sing it with the Welsh accent. That would have been kind of impressive.

* And my computer crashed. Thankfully it didn't take my LJ post with it because it autosaved it.

* It's definitely spring. The daffodils are coming up at my in-laws's house. I'm going to have to get pictures when they start blooming.

* Where are my crocuses? They haven't sprouted yet. :(

* (giggles)