My Best Bud

I got this on my Facebook page from my best bud with the line 'A Nice Cheery Halloween Hello'.

Somebody help me get her back!!

Weekend Update

If only it was a funny SNL skit.

Sorry, run now before you get sucked in!

Basically you may remember my dad is in Malaysia working and while he's been gone on this stint my mother has decided to re-model the den without any input from my dad (in fact, he knows nothing about it and won't until he comes in the door).

Bob's only comment was 'I'm not painting his trim'. Like most men, my father loves stained wood. Period. I have painted white trim and I sure as hell wouldn't let Bob tell me something was 'not paintable'. Anyways, we're respecting his ways.

My mother, bless her heart is even trying to make the den something dad would like. I mean seriously, if Bob was gone for 8 weeks at a time I would be doing designer chic things everywhere just so he would get mad and not leave again. My mother must be trying the 'get more with honey' approach.

So, the 24 year old carpet was torn up (this room is 10 x 11) and Bob installed new hardwood floors.

Something you need to know before the rest of the story can be told. Buckle in!

Bob and I have sanded and stained a few floors in our time. The very first time we did it was in our own house and it was the really old kind of floor. It took us a solid week of sanding, staining and varathaning. (We also got extreme chest colds because we didn't wear masks!) We are at the finishing stages and Bob had to hammer something in and WHAM, he dropped the hammer on the floor and a dent appeared in our lovingly restored hardwood floors. Bob swore and I knew he was going to get all worked up and without a beat I said 'Oh, a character mark! Perfect!'

I must have shocked Bob because his reaction stopped. Then he kind of grumbled and I told him there was no point getting upset and the floors were 50 years old and they looked like brand new with some character added in.

After that, anything that got dented without meaning or slopped on you immediately heard 'character mark!'.

My father was floored on our first reno project when he did something that he thought was atrocious (he let the sander stand in one place and created a 12" long divet a golf ball would lean in to). He went pale in the face and I yelled out (cause the machine was still on) 'character mark!'. He looked at me like I was crazy. Bob wasn't there and I think dad was worried he was going to get blasted. So that night I tell Bob what happened but I told him not to try and joke with my dad about it like 'OMG, WTF!!'

Sure enough my dad goes to point it out to Bob expecting a 'carpet call' and Bob looks at it and says 'just a character mark, no problem'. My father fell in love with the term after that.

The next reno house my father yelled out 'character mark' with glee whenever Bob or I went to have a fit about something we did wrong.

Ho-kay, we're all caught up.

So, Bob goes last Saturday to install brand new floors at my mom's house. I'm sleeping and I heard my brother was going to show up so I didn't worry. When I get up Bob's home and all finished and just excited to have me go and see the floor.

We go over and I look. Gorgeous. Only, wait. What's that over there?

Bob and Mom continue to look at the threshold and wax poetic and I decide that maybe I shouldn't point out that one of the floor boards was not properly placed and that there was a 1/4" gap on the other side of the room.

I'm not sure what happened after that but Bob must have got my goat or something because I suddenly said 'What's up with this?' and pointed out the gap.

Bob sees it and gasps. 'Oh, I can fix that no problem'

Two crowbars later and lots of 'how did I miss that!?' and upset followed. My mother was glaring at me and telling Bob everything was fine but Bob's all 'this is a major deal!' followed by 'Cindy, why weren't you here earlier to supervise!!'

Seeing the hash about to be thrown my way I start saying 'what a wonderful character mark. I mean, really, the floor needed a little character.'

After much time Bob's feathers settle back down.

Then we start.

I swear my mother has a new impression of Bob's and my marriage.

Bob's in the room calling to me and I walk in.

Me: Where are you?
Bob: What?
Me: I can't see you.
Bob: *catching on* I'm down in the ginormous hole, come help me out!

While shopping for a sofa:

Me: I'm worried about the weight of this sofa.
Bob: You can suck it up for all of 10 feet.
Me: Yes I could but, it's the Grand Canyon in the middle of the floor I'm worried about, we may need to get some pack mules.
Bob: *glares*

While deciding on the depth of the sofa:

Bob: The deeper the better.
Mom: Meh, not into deep couches.
Bob: A deeper couch will cover the cliff in the floor while a smaller one might disappear.

Bob and I in the car with Mom:

Bob: You know, a big screen TV would be great in that room.
Me: Bob! Mom has a budget and you don't need to be egging her on to buy more stuff.
Mom: No, I was thinking about buying a new flat screen for in there.
Bob: Great idea, it'll draw Bill's eye and he won't notice the gaping hole in the floor.

The good news is we're having fun with it and my mother has been laughing. Bob said the other day that my mother seems happier whether it's because she's doing stuff to keep busy or because she's seeing her daughter more.

I laughed.

It's so not because of me!

I've definitely grown though. The other night Bob was talking about wiring and stuff he was going to do in the morning. And I said 'whatever, I'll be sleeping' and my mother pipes up 'useless as usual' to which she got a huge 'Excuse me!' And then I just laughed.

I do lots of stuff, it just so happens I do it while everyone is asleep and leaving me alone!

Trust me, it's best for everyone.

It's just everyone (my mother) doesn't realize it.

Okay, this is lengthy so I'll do this as part one of my new epic novel:

HOLY CRAP WHEN WILL IT END!? (I'm looking at mid November people! That kind of sustained energy and planning freaks me the hell out!)

Subtitled:

Cindy Loses Her Mind.

Course, that would be no biggie as I'm not really sane to begin with.

I'm Late, I'm Late!

With the week being woefully overbooked I haven't had a chance to post the covers of the gorgeous books I won over at C2s!

What did I win?

Glad you asked!I'm very excited. Must be kismet because I had just asked on Twitter if anyone could suggest a great series with at least 7 or 8 books in it already. I know there was a response but it wasn't the above series so I was tickled when I won this contest by C2!

Why?

1. Cause there are three more AFTER these.
2. C2 says the world building rocks - awesome!
3. Which means to me they are my favourite kind of series books - an otherworld with powers. Squeeeeeee!

And then, there is this:

Holm’s a fighter; Lark a Healer, their Families are at war. Holm knows one thing bone deep. Nothing will prevent him from claiming Lark. Not the feud. Not his Family’s condemnation. Not his own flaws. And not Lark herself.

Heart Duel

This is the blurb on Owen's site.

I love those 'feuding family' kind of stories! Would it be wrong if I read the third book first?

Thanks C2! I'm looking forward to Emma settling in, my work to be more routine, and then there will be that American Election and Thanksgiving thing that will probably mess with my TV viewing.

So maybe I have some free time coming up!

Really Quick

Just beeping in so you know I haven't disappeared.

Emma had an ultrasound today (yeah, I know) and she has pancreatitis (don't know), fatty liver (I understand that one) and *horns blare* diabetes.

Bob and I have to learn how to give shots.

Bob said to me just a minute ago that he can't do it. He gets squicked out when his brothers prepped their needles (yep, three of his brothers have diabetes and they have had it since childhood) - you would think that would make it easier for him.

So guess who's going to be the bad guy?

Me.

Did I not do enough with Cody and the open head wound? Do I have to be the one the cat runs from when the needle comes out twice a day?

Yep.

My vet loves me so I'm going to get her to give him crap and make him learn also.

I mean really, his friggin leg was torn open and he handled the 13 needle shots into the open wound to numb and the 13 stitches it took to close it. Hell, he fell asleep!!

Anyways, we're off to see our 'Arm & Leg' kitty in a bit so she knows she isn't abandoned.

Great Start

It's 8:30am and I'm just getting ready to wind down.

Tonight was tough in that I had to stay awake and transfer Emma from the Emerg vet to her regular vet. I went down there are 4:30am and picked her up. Hey, I was awake and wanted to avoid lines or traffic.

Emma is not quite as yellow and the Emerg vet said she did really well under their care. In the three hours she was home she tried and tried to eat. She got some down but I think her tooth or something is really bothering her.

I'm frustrated with the vets at this point. The E-vet didn't give me her appetite stimulants and only gave me a few pain pills.

Uh, hello!!

She's going to need more pain pills than what I got and if the appetite stimulant is helping then why take her off it when there is still just a small cast of yellow on her skin. Can we get her up to fighting power before we stop the successful treatment.

Then I pulled a stupid move.

I was exhausted - I have been going to bed around 4:30am and I wake up around 1 or 2pm. It's been working out great because I am spending more time with Bob and hey, Bobby time is precious.

They (E-vet) sent her home with her IV tap still in. I should have had them take it out but they did want Em to go to the reg vet.

For some reason the tape looked tight and I know it's been on since Friday so I cut it off. Em was thrilled. Then I thought maybe I could take the shunt out and not have to take Emma to the reg vet until the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Bob was up for work, got blasted for something (Lord knows because I was just bitchy and cranky and tired) and told me he would call in sick and take Emma in. I insisted he not do so because well, it wasn't a gracious offer by any means. It was more like 'just go to bed!! I'll call in sick'.

In our honeymoon period I would have had a gentle man by my side stroking my face and telling me I needed to go to bed and that he would take care of everything.

HONEYMOON IS OVER!!

We ended up sniping at each other for the next hour. Hey, if he really cared he would have called in sick period. He didn't which means he wasn't all that worried.

Crap. Whiny Cindy just showed up. I hate that bitch.

So he leaves the house all grumpy and grouching about how I should have just let him do what he wanted because my eyes were barely open. I managed to keep from saying 'BITE ME'.

Aren't I precious?

Side Trip!

Just in care you are wondering why I didn't just lay down for a few hours let me see if I can explain. Bob got it immediately when I, ahem, told him in a soft sweet voice (bitch please, I sounded like a friggin' bear) that it's the same thing as going to bed at your normal time. Would you want to wake up and drive 2 hours afterwards? Could you?

Yeah, he got it. Poor guy. I'm still not sure he can hear properly now, hours later.

So I fight to keep my eyes open for the next hour and finally scoop Emma back up with her torn up shunt and put her in the laundry hamper ( totally different story about why a hamper).

She begged me not to take her back. Why do I say this? She was stretched out and putting her toes through the slits of the laundry basket and also trying to show me her belly. Meanwhile, she purred her throat raw I'm sure. Poor monkey.

We get to the vet and I do the drop off.

I managed not to throttle the woman at the front desk
Her response to everything was 'I'm not a vet so I can't even begin to understand what you are telling me'.

I'm not a vet either but even I know what I'm talking about dumbass.

I said something about the pain meds from the emerg and again I got shut down so fast with 'the vet will have to make those decisions'.

I was such a good woman. Let me tell you, I at no point said to her 'Listen up, I just want you to know that she hasn't had her 8am pain pill and since it's 8:05 it might be one of those things you would like to take care of. Her IV bags are in there - I tampered with her shunt so you'll have to re-tape (OMG the 'tude I got for that one made me want to grab the woman by the hair) Furthermore I think she should be on appetite stimulants for a few more days.

But no.

Not allowed an opinion or a message to the vet.

Just drop your cat here please.

Damn, they should just have a drop in slot.

Okay, I think I'm done bitching.

End of story, Em is on the mend and as long as the vet stays on this course of treatment until she's strong enough to have a tooth removed, then I think all may be well. There was a note in the file about an ultra-sound of the liver. Waiting on a price for that puppy.

Oh, and great news, the Emerg bill was half exactly of what they quoted. 750 back in our pockets for now.

Must go to bed. Hopefully some of this makes sense.

Wait!

I started reading LK's Seduce Me and I'm loving it. I would try to stay up and continue reading but I don't think the world is ready for the results of such an endeavour.

Fork Me

I'm sorry I've been so absent.

I'm normally such a chatty Cathy I'm shocked but hey, I hope you are all well rested cause I'm back.

I think.

You're going to think I'm just a harbinger of bad news and I'm starting to wonder.

Emmy, my baby girl, whose video is down below is in the Kitty Emergency.

I'm on a high in the roller coaster road of life right now so if I sound flippant it's because I'm trying not to depress people.

Em went off her food the day, I'm talking THE DAY, Cody didn't come home. Me, being the dumb monkey I am thought she was upset or depressed. Bob mentioned (and seriously he just mentioned) that Em wasn't eating and that we should call the vet.

I should have called the vet.

I did today at 3pm thinking I would appease Bob. I'll mention here that when petting her last night I wondered why her skin was yellow.

Yeah. Jaundice.

Basically the vet (who was Cody's vet and knows we just put him down) was trying to be super positive and not tell me that my cat was dying.

She was.

After hours of negotiations (blood tests, x-rays, stay at reg vet where Em would be alone over night or at the emergency vet under 24 hr care?) we finally got her settled at the emergency vet.

400 bucks at regular vet.

1500 at emergency vet for now. Could be more or less but I don't care. I know. But remember we don't have kids and we don't go away on vacations and our pets are so very much a part of our lives.

Good news is I called and they had gotten Emma to eat without having to put a tube in through her nose and down her throat.

What's going on? The vet found a rotten tooth. WTF? I just didn't think to look in her mouth. So we're thinking the pain was too much for her to eat but why she couldn't eat her wet food is beyond me. I'm hoping that's not the bad news.

Both vets (my reg and the emerg) have said they think there is an underlying cause which means we're not out of the woods and Bob and I are on an emotional roller coaster that's making me crazy.

I will admit here that when the vet left the room Emma got a stern lecture on how she is strong and way too young (12yrs) to head into any white lights. I needed her and she needed to get better immediately. And then I smothered her in kisses - I swear the only cat in the world that will let you kiss and curl around her. Amber hates getting kisses.

Renee mentioned that she could hear Emma purring in the video. I swear she purrs like that the minute you look at her. She purrs and purrs and purrs. The vet couldn't hear her heart or lungs because she was purring so much. She does love the spot light.

My reg vet told me she's a happy cat. Yeah, I know. All my pets are happy so how am I supposed to know when they are sick!?

Bad Cindy.

I'm feeling a little paranoid. Losing Bob's Mom in August, Cody in Sept and now Em is sick. Meanwhile Amber is 15 years old.

You're right. Forget being a 'little' paranoid I'm in full mode paranoia.

I'm hopeful though. I really think she can pull through this and with the 24 hour care I'm hoping that it's a 'fatty liver' and not something completely different. Basically a cat can rebound from a fatty liver and it's quite common in cats. Who knew?

Okay, I'm going to see if I can wind down a bit.

I haven't been doing blog hopping but I'm hoping I'll find time this week. I think of you all and wonder how you guys are doing. I have to stop relying on Twitter to check on people because you aren't all on it!

Happy Gobble Day!

I'm thankful for so many things but everyone is about to show up so I leave you with this.

I *just* bought the throw to carry more 'light' across the room (room is entirely too dark but I haven't painted it yet - have to start at ceiling, yada, yada, yada.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Giveth and Receiveth

I WON AGAIN!!!

I am on some sort of winning streak I tell ya. First I won books over at C2's and now I won over at Nath's.

And there was some serious competition!

As soon as my books arrive from C2 I'll put the covers all up.

I'm thinking I might have to do a Thanksgiving Contest to keep all the good things comin'.

Thing is, I mentioned that whole paycheck problem right?

So maybe we'll have a 'MY MONEY IS HERE' contest.

I wish I could get ARCs to give away. Then more people would enter my contests. But then I would want everyone to win so maybe it's better this way.

And how you guys put up with me I'll never know. I was obviously feeling sorry for myself and thought everyone else had already received the 'I Love Your Blog' Award and when I looked over Nath's list I realized I had a few blog buddies who weren't on the list! And since I love all my blog buddies I need to send the love along!

The rules for this award are that you need to: 1) Add the logo of the award to your blog 2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs 4) Add links to those blogs on your blog 5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

So here is my nominations:

Renee at Renee Reads Romance - she is my book twin and I love her blog. Blog more says I. But I know she is busy, busy, busy, so go share some love and tell her I sent you.

Megan at Megan Frampton - I love all the different blog topics - you just never know what will be on her mind but it has me laughing or thinking either way. Blog more says I.

JMC at Very Occasional Book Reviews - Again, you never know what you'll get which is why I love this blog! Blog more says I - are you seeing a theme?

Kat O+ at Menage a Kat - love it! You know what I'm about to say but she has three beauties under the age of 3 so she gets a pass. Although there are a few new posts. Squeeee!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Biblioharlot's Bookshelf with Mollie is going good-bye. Mollie will still post at other blogs but, I has a sad.

C2 at Csquared's All Around Blog - totally crushin' and yes, Blog more!

Marg - Reading Adventures - believe it or not, I can't keep up with her blog! Award nominated books, reading challenges, I get panicky at just the thought but I love her blog!

Suisan - Suisan - back to my original refrain - blog more!

Okay, I'm done. I need a nap, I have to eat, I need to do some grocery shopping - okay, more like a major grocery shop and people are coming for dinner tomorrow night!

And you should see my desk! I do so love my label maker though, maybe I'll have this thing cleared off by tomorrow.

Or I could just shut the door to this room.

Pesky guests with opposible thumbs. They are so going to want on the computer.

Crap.

Feeling the LOVE!!

Nath, bless her heart, loves my blog!! And of course, I love both her blogs!

I'm just happy to be in the circle cause boy, I saw this around for a bit and thought 'uh-oh, not feeling the love!' but who could blame you? I've been having a rough go for the past few weeks and my blogging has become a dismal bore.

A bore!

I have books I want to read right away but I've been fighting with my health - oh, my CT scan came back normal, so a definite Phew! on that one.

I had a cold the last few weeks of August but I powered through it and made myself believe I was well again and it worked. Until it came roaring back about a week and a half ago. If you've been hanging with me for a while you know I have anxiety about the winter months and getting sick. Being sick so early in the fall has me scrambling to figure out how to make sure my health stays powerful through the winter.

I've also had such a problem with my sleep that I'm all over the map. I was up for 24 hours straight on Tuesday - my sleeping pill didn't even crack the wall. At the 24 hour mark I took night time cold meds (the sinuses and headache get worse as I get tired) and a sleeping pill. At least, I think that's what I did. Why? Cause I woke up 19 hours later, shaking and dehydrated to the point of not being sure I was going to be able to keep food down.

I'm still thinking that was all I took but hours after I woke up I started to wonder if maybe I had taken an extra pill by accident. I mean, how often do you wake up in such a state and have a cottony lined feeling on the brain for hours after waking up?

Scared myself with that one. You know how you have a habit that you just do without thinking about it? I started having a vision (just a picture) of my hand with two pills in them like normal and wondered if I had actually taken a double set of pills by accident the night before.

Bad Cindy.

I'm also watching so much TV that it's on all the hours I'm up. I even need it playing while I'm on the computer (laptop) which I never did before.

And work is going gangbusters so I spend more time on Excel and numbers. Ugh. It would be really great except I haven't received my last pay check because I'm a contract worker. I send in an invoice and then they pay it. I guess it just hasn't hit the pay cycle yet but I haven't had a pay check in over a month and thus, I'm feeling like slave labour.

I NEED MY MONEY!!

Even if I do squirrel it away I want it!

And in closing, Canadian Thanksgiving is this coming weekend. I'm so looking forward to my favourite meal of Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and well, those veggies and stuff and gravy!! Good thing I started cleaning on Monday this past week - I would clean for as long as I could (1/2 hour) and then have to sit and wait for my sinuses and lungs to settle back down. I was saturated in sweat on Monday and was so glad to jump in the shower when I was done. Might explain why I ended up not sleeping for 24 hours.

Hope everyone is reading a great book and that you have a great weekend. I hear the weather should be perfect for the weekend - YAY!!

Meme'd!

C2 tagged me and I was hoping someone would while I have this odd book I bought laying beside me. I saw it on a table at Chapters and being the intrigued monkey I am I bought it.

Here are the instructions:

Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.

Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.


Crap. The pages aren't numbered! I'll just guestimate:

"But it occurred to me that before I commit a felony, get arrested or have to spend the better half of a day in jail for defacing public property outside Working Class, I should at least take you out to dinner, 'a last meal' if you will."

- Other People's Love Letters 150 Letters You Were Never Meant To See
Edited by Bill Shapiro.

I've only read snippets and how some of these are love letters I'll never know.

Silly monkey.

Monkey tags Megan and Renee - I think everyone else has already done it, if not, you are IT!!

Quest, Dear Me!

The excitement over at Ramblings on Romance have me all a-twitter!

First, there is a new man giving Derek Craven a run for his money in Kristie's heart.

I admit to being a Sebastian woman but Kristie has never steered me wrong so hearing there is a new hero in a book written by no other than Lisa Kleypas, well, I'm in.

I finally packed up enough kleenex and cold meds to head off to the bookstore. I even had to ask someone to go find the book for me - 48 in stock but not on the shelf. What I couldn't remember for the life of me was whether or not I had bought the previous book Mine Till Midnight already. I left it there because there was something about the cover that had me thinking it's been in my house. *fingers crossed* I haven't found it yet.

But that's not the hero Kristie is excited about.

It's the hero from Seduce Me At Sunrise and his name is Kev. Here's where I admit I know basically next to nothing else about this book but I'm killer excited about reading it. And I have it in the house!!

I'd just like to feel better before busting it out.

Okay, but that's not where the excitement ends. Oh no. Kristie had to tell everyone about a book with a hero I was born to love. I'm a bit leery because I did read that there is a separation between the H/H and I never do well with those kind of things. But I'll have to 'woman up' and brave the drama for a close up look at a book that Kristie graded at 6 out of 5.

Six.

She ran out of grades on her own 5 point scale that she had to create a new one!

So I'm joining the Quest to let reader's know about a book hopefully coming to a store near you. It looks like it's out in the States but it's not available up here until November 8th. Booo!


Here's the book peeps.

Broken Wing by Judith James.

I have to be honest and tell ya that the cover alone would have had me moving away.

Want to know more?

Go see Kristie here.


Other than that, I need me some more cold meds. Bleck.

Things That Occur To Me

I watched the VP debates and found they both did well. I could have used less 'gosh-darn' kind of language from Palin's side but she went for it. Still, I preferred Biden because he seemed to have answers to the questions asked.

I lasted 4 minutes into the Canadian debate before wanting to kill someone. First question out of the gate - there are 5 leaders at the debate table (and up here debating is like a rapid fire 'you suck and here's why' explosion that leaves me wondering what anyone is talking about). The first two answer what they would do about the economic crisis and the third, the leader of our country does not answer the question but attacks the liberal guys policy.

Uh, yeah. How about answering the question put before you before jumping down your opponents throat.

I had to shut it off (I've DVRd it) and when I came back there was still over-talking but at least someone commented on the fact that our leader didn't answer the question because he doesn't have an answer.

Holy shit!!

I turned it off again.

I'm in trouble but I guess watching it in 4 minute increments is better than deleting the whole thing. I might just finish it before I have to actually vote!

As to other things:

Haven't heard about my side. In Canada this is normal so no worries. I also think if there were a serious problem I would have already heard. What with me sleeping during the day I haven't been able to call my doc's office which answers it's phone for that odd time slot that is no where near an 8 hour day.

Also, I think the old meds have left the system and I notice I am feeling blue. Not outright bawling but I'm feeling like the summer ended way too early and that I'm in no way ready for the weather that is out there now. I barely want to leave the house. I'll have to remember this so I can tell the doc.

Work. Yeah, I do work. It's kicking my arse but more because I can't sit long in my computer chair without having my whole body lock it's self up into a pretzel. Ow.

That said, there are things afoot at the place of business and I'm sure I'll be no longer needed at any given moment. In the end, it's all good news for hubby and his job but not so good for me. In the long run, I'd rather Bobby be working and I remain the 'kept' woman. Cause I couldn't keep Bob on what I make!!

And I'm sick again.

Makes me worry (aha, another anxiety thing to remember) about illness in general. Looks like my 'no veggies, no fruit' rule needs to be adjusted and actually implemented.

Bad Cindy.

Okay, off with my kleenex box and sleepy time cold pills to watch Lipstick Jungle on DVR. Just the kind of gooey mix that means I may be asleep in a few hours.

Oh! In case I've never mentioned, those nasal strips work wonders for keeping your nasal passages open while sleeping. For me, being sick and unable to breathe makes for on sleepy grumpy Cindy. At least with the strips I stay asleep longer and am able to get the rest my body obviously needs to get better.

And I wasn't ready to put on jeans but I had to yesterday.

Maybe I'm off to sulk then.