All's Well?

Got the call tonight that Dad went through surgery fine and now stays in the hospital for the next few days. My mom is the one who is talking to him so I can't play the 'Spanish Inquisition' on the guy. So I'm taking things as good news until I hear otherwise.

The living room has now been re-painted to an earthier shade - much better. I'm thinking the dining room is next but I learned all my mistakes on the L/R so hopefully there won't be buckets of trauma.

Today is my Aunt's B-day so I'm going to my Mom's tonight for dinner. I was exhausted last night when I got up so went back to bed at 9:30pm and got up at 3:30am. Have no clue what that is going to do to the ol' sleep clock.

Other than that, I'm hanging on my by toes.

So, you know, situation normal

Not Well Over All

Got a call from my mom tonight.

My father, who is working a half a world away has to go in for surgery. My mom called it Dad's waterworks. Apparently hasn't been doing well for a year (first we hear of it) and his prostrate is huge.

I tried for calm while talking to my mom but inside I'm flailing all over. Stones and urinary tracts I can handle with a steel fortitude. Sure I'd be worried but I'd also know that after the operation every thing would be fine.

It's the word Prostrate that's giving me nightmares (tried to sleep with Bob and had nightmares for 4 hours). I don't imagine the prostrate just swells when irritated but it's what I'm hoping for.

So any extra thoughts or prayers would be so greatly appreciated.

My dad is just a pup yet.

Half Way?

The ceiling is finished in the living room! We didn't have to tear the damn thing down so all is fine.

Tonight I filled holes in the wall - plaster walls don't get tiny holes, they get gaping wounds that make you want to cry. You pull a nail out of the wall and a 3 inch round crater is staring you in the face.

So I filled holes, did my 'paid' job (I forget so many things when I have a project and I remember last night that I should get my spread sheets for work up to date! And I forgot my Doc's appointment. That's going to cost me.) and just finished putting up the first coat of primer. Since the walls were a burgundy colour the coat of primer has a halo of red peeking through.

This will come as a shock but I have a pristine view of paint and I'm fighting the urge to put up another coat of primer so that the walls will be pure white before finishing with my two coats of grey paint.

You all know I'm lazy so even I'm flummoxed by my odd behaviour.

And fumes?

Holy stinky headache ville!!

So I cranked a few windows open on this -3 degree night. Brrr. All the same, I don't think we should be closing the house up with this kind of stench. I don't remember paint fumes being so bad!

What else? *drums fingers on keyboard*

Oh! So just before I go to bed (in the early dawn) and when I first get up (it gets dark early now!) my first thought is Emma.

Ah, Emma. My hard done by kitty. I shove a pill down her throat twice a day (I think it's over in a few days) and then the needle.

Now, you would think with all this medicine stuff I would remember I have things I need to take also.

Dumb Cindy. Might explain some of the headaches I've been getting.

And finally!

I got THE book today.

I called Chapters to ask if the book had arrived at their store (whole schmaz about shipping fees to home and crap so I had them sent to the store) and no, it hadn't arrived. I was told they were very good at calling people when books arrive in their store. That it's a daily event.

So I head off to my BF's house and the phone rings.

It's Bob, Chapters called to tell me the book arrived.

10 minutes people!

Oh, well. At least I have the book. Problem is I started Nalini Singh's short story in between painting and all the other stuff so it'll be a bit yet.

Wow, That's Leaving Lots Of Marks!!!

I pride myself on my painting skills (seriously, just go with it, I don't have much) but tonight I may have just created a nightmare that I can't fix by myself.

This means Bob will have to get involved.

This means there may be some serious grumbling when Bob gets up in the morning. Since I will super anxious and sleepy I'm bound to unleash a bitchy C-Rex.

In the spirit of the holidays I wanted to get my living room painted top to bottom.

I moved all the furniture last night (except for the 2 large sofas and a hutch because I had nowhere to put them) and put all my plastic down, found the tools and in general had everything ready to go for when I started tonight.

Except tonight I wanted to buy an extra gallon of that ceiling paint that goes on pink and goes to white. I didn't think my 3 partial gallons were enough. Bob remembered that we should have had another couple buckets so I went without. Turns out we didn't but he did find a 5 gallon pail of Zinzer primer - this stuff can cover nuclear waste it's so friggin' tough.

Blah, blah, blah - I'm getting there!

Tonight I mix the three partial gallons together and decide that it should be plenty to cover my 25' by 15' plastered ceiling.

Perfect.

I start only the pink is going white so fast I can't keep track of where I am. So I end up over doing some areas which immediately brings my attention to the fact that the ceiling is now bubbling and peeling.

Okay, it's not a huge problem. It's only doing it in one spot.

But my brain is already working (Yeah, not a minute too late) and I have a vision of the previous owner of the home painting the ceiling say 40 years ago. What kind of paint would that person have been using?

OIL!!

Holy friggin' ------

I've finished the entire ceiling because I figure, why get nailed for a little mistake when I can get in trouble for a GI-NORMOUS mistake.


more animals

Ugh.

I went back in and noticed more spots bubbling. I'm trying to remember if this happened once before and Bob said not to worry that once the paint dried the bubbles would recede. I mean, I've done a few reno houses and I'm pretty sure this came up before.

So I'm kicking myself because if I had only used that damn Super Primer I would have been in the clear.

Now I'm just hoping it all dries out cause if not, poor Bob will have to put up a whole new ceiling. And he doesn't have that kind of time before Christmas and hell, who needs to spend a whack of cash on drywall and mouldings right now.

I suck.

Wish me well.

UPDATE!! Hooray!! Those bubbles are starting to dry and flatten out. Oh Happy Day!!!

No seriously, I was a wee bit scared of the morning.

I'll leave it tonight and put on the second coat tomorrow instead of doing it again tonight. I normally have rooms painted in a day or two but I'm going to let this paint cure completely before I put on the next coat. The good news is the next coat will go on smoother.

LOL Cat to celebrate!


more animals

This Was Way Too Hard!!

As you can see, the spirit found me!

I don't know what is different about this year from the previous 3 but I'm so ready to decorate and go shopping and find neat-o gifts and stuff.

Of course, the odds of 'neat-o' gifts is slim because we all shop in the same hemisphere so, not sure how we can surprise each other.

But screw it, I'm feeling the spirit. Even wanted to put up our tree (we have a fake blue spruce with snow on it) but then remembered I really, really, really want to paint the living room before I spend another Christmas in an off burgundy room. It's hideous and I've been living with it for 3 years.

Thing is, Bob wants me to remove all trim since one day (ONE DAY) we'll be replacing it all.

Did I mention the house has been trimless in areas for 3 years?

Like I said, screw it. I'll take the damn trim off as long as I don't have to have bing cherry walls anymore.

On another note, this template was a bitch to put on. Would I love to have my widgets back? Yeah. But then I can't really make out how the template is created and changes are terrifically bad.

Why are there not more clean line Christmas Layouts (that's the new term)?

Anyways, let's just say doing this template almost sucked the spirit right out of me!

I wanted to put up a countdown ticker like C2 does but I'm not sure I'm up to fiddling with the damn template again.

You know, I swear a lot for a person donning the Christmas Spirit.

But then, you all wouldn't recognize me if I was all pussified.

It's a word.

Update on Emma - she's huge, her fur is glorious and she's one happy kitty. Bad news is she has to go to the vet for the day tomorrow so they can create a baseline on her diabetes. (then she comes home for another week and then back in for a day and so on)

She's so going to hate me tomorrow.

Course, I think the vet may have to create a stress baseline for me. I'm not willing to lose another limb just before Christmas!

I'm figuring 200 bucks just for tomorrow.

Ow.

Ow.

*deep breath in*

Feeling the Spirit dangit!

Yay!!!

After an hour of fuming I've decided to let Bob live.

Luckily it's 1am and he's sound asleep so when I discovered some mail under stacks of crap and came across a package that looked like a book, I didn't holler or scream.

I'm a great wife!

I have no clue when it showed up but I'm betting Bob's response will be 'I told you!'

Lately Bob has been telling me things either as I'm going to bed, at noon if he comes home (seriously, I wake up hours later and wonder if I dreamed it) or as I'm waking up.

Things don't compute during those times people!

All the same, I swear he said not a word cause I would have torn that package open and danced with glee.

Instead I wiggled with glee because I was still working on not pounding up the stairs and giving Bob a good shove off the bed.

Like I said. I'm a great wife.

So HUGE THANK YOU TO NATH!!!!

I had no idea it was a trade size book so I lucked out huge!

Also, I haven't seen a copy of it at either of the local bookstores cause I might have bought it if I had and another contest would have ensued.

But I'm lucky.

Phew!

I'm very excited to read the Singh short story but I think I'll wait until Monday.

This weekend is busy. Bob's family having dinner at their place on Saturday and then my best bud is coming for dinner on Sunday.

So Monday sounds perfect!

Seduce Me At Sunrise Lisa Kleypas

The good news, I liked it.

The bad news, I had me some problems.

Cindy Blurb:

Oh, wait! Pet Peeves or Silly Cindy Thingies

1. I'm not much on books where the H/H have known each other most of their lives.
2. Especially if they grew up like siblings.
3. Ages of the H/H would have been helpful in the beginning of the story so I didn't have to do awkward math to figure out just how long these two people lived in the same house *like* siblings. I never really figured it out.

Maybe I should have saved those for the 'awkward review' section of this post.

Oh, well. You've been here and seen worse with my brain.

Cindy Blurb (for real this time) :

Dammit, wait.

I have no writing steam, so this will be morbidly more awkward than normal.

Fun.

Cindy Blurb (shut up) : We have Kev Merripen, a gypsy boy that was raised by a brutal Uncle who used him as a fighting machine. His childhood isn't played out long in this book which is nice because I'm not much for flashbacks but it was enough to know Merripen never had it easy. His tribe was attacked at some point and he was left for dead.

Win Hathaway's father found the boy near death and brought him home to his family. The boy was almost feral and wouldn't let anyone near him until the day Win came into his room. An immediate connection was made.

Lord knows how old there were cause I sure don't. Maybe it was revealed in the previous book which I haven't read. Bad Cindy.

So, there is some growing up where Kev stays on the outer lining of the family, learning about trust and what it's like to be cared for. Then Win's father dies and her mother shortly follows. While reeling from this the Scarlet fever hits the family and Leo Hathaway, Win's brother and Win are close to death. Kev remembers an herb that could cure or kill and both are given the dose.

Win and her brother survive but Win is not the same and lives the life of an invalid unable to do normal tasks without being winded. She decides she must go away to get better because she wants a life with Kev (even though he wouldn't think of touching her).

Years later - again, can't remember and still don't know how old anyone is - Win comes back stronger and with a fresh need to get on with her life. She also comes back with a suitor but it's Kev she wants.

Kev wants Win to have everything but him and believes she must be kept in a glass case to be safe.

Romance ensues.

Well, romance to a point.

There is a scene where I didn't think much of Kev Merripen and I didn't think he was acting at all like a hero. The scene made me cranky and if I had been Win I'm not sure I would have forgiven it as fast as she did but then, she knew what she wanted and that was Kev.

All the same, I liked Kev because he was extremely rough around the edges. Even at the end of the book I got the impression that he wouldn't become this huggy lovey dovey kind of person with his family. With his kids and wife sure but not with the rest of the people he had grown up with.

I liked that Win's family knew about her love for Kev and always supported it even when Kev was being an ass.

Yeah, that's right, I said ass.

But I do so love men who can be asses.

Just sayin.

There is a mystery to be solved about the origins of Kev that the new Brother in
Law Cam goes after with vigor even though Kev could care less about his past. There's the suitor issue. There's tension between Win's need of a normal life and Kev's need to protect her life at all costs.

Oh, I should mention that I found the family quite fresh. I liked the intelligence of the siblings, that no matter how the older kids try and protect the younger ones, they know exactly what's going on.

Though once again, I found confusion in what the house was like that they lived in. For some reason as kids I thought it was like a small cottage but when it's mentioned that Kev is re-building it after a fire (from the first book in the series I would imagine), it sounds like a much bigger and regal home.

All the same I'm keeping this book because I do love the way that Kleypas does sexual tension.

That said, I'm going with a straight B for those things I found confusing and for that one scene that got me a bit riled up.

Okay, that's it.

Not sure if this helps you or makes it more confusing for you.

Glad I could help.

I'm So Behind!

I haven't been able to do my blog rounds for like 2 weeks!

I blame my mom.

Tomorrow night I have some work to do and a call in to the best bud and then I plan to plant my butt in the chair and read all your blogs. If not tomorrow then Monday. Expect comments on posts from weeks ago.

Bad Cindy.

And since I've been up since 6am - yes, you read that right - I was able to get to the bookstore near our home. (We had my family over for a turkey dinner so that my Dad could enjoy it before heading back across the world). They didn't have Demon Bound by Meljean Brook (even though the computer said they had 3) or Broken Wings by, uh, crap.

Anyways, I was talking about how the brand new store had these awesome futuristic computers and tada! my old store has them too!! So all I did was order the two books at their kiosk and they will ship to the store for free. (I've been worried I'll get nailed for shipping since they changed their policy)

If I had had more time I would have placed a huge order but Bob was waiting in the car and I had to get to the LCBO before heading home and cleaning the main floor of the house. Stress was the order of the day.

But it's over and tomorrow we go to see my Dad off.

Monday I plan on the beginnings of my yearly hibernation ritual.

Sleep, sleep, sleep!

Tuggin' on my Too Funny Bone

1.) I went to the bookstore tonight to track down 'The Book' that Kristie (J) is so excited about.

I got there and stood staring at the books.

Uhmmmmmm, huh.

I head over to the computer thinking something will shake loose but see if you can figure out my problem.

I stood over that damn computer and all I could think of was THE QUEST.

*shakes fist at Kristie for naming these events!!*

I figured it out when I got home and went to Kristie's blog. I'll be honest and tell ya I figured the horrible cover would have drawn my eye. Course, it's not out till November 8th so that would be one, two, ah-ha, a triple UGH!

2.) I have made myself 3 (baked) chicken fingers with sweet and sour sauce and fresh boiled potatoes with butter, salt and pepper 6 out of the last 7 nights for my nightly dinner (that's between 2 and 3am for those of you wondering). I'm not obsessive compulsive although I'm sure I could have the tendency if I let it get out of control (hand sanitizer anyone?) but I get into food phases that can last months to years on end. I have taught myself to break out of them but it's usually to do with laziness. This year it was discovering a local potato grower and I'm telling you, I have never had such wonderful potatoes in my life! They are even great mashed up which I was worried about but I have them with Thanksgiving turkey and about rolled on the floor in complete ecstasy (yes, I know it's sad)

Aside: I wrote the above 2 about a week or two ago and I have eaten all the chicken fingers in the house. My jeans all feel too tight now. Back to WW for me!

3.) This isn't funny as much as sublime. A new Indigo store opened up (the grand opening isn't until next weekend) and Bob took me there tonight even though his back is out. Poor guy. But OMG!! What a beautiful store. There is an aisle that is a room unto itself that is brightly lit and its where all the magazines are - it's so pretty. The journal section almost made me weep. Romance section didn't knock my socks off because they didn't have Meljean Brook's Demon Bound out, of course, The Quest book wasn't there or the newest Nalini Singh Christmas Cat book.

OH! The computers were fancy, futuristic bright white orbs that had touch screens.

I spent 108 bucks on books. I bought their 25 dollar card even though it chapped my behind. So I've decided to keep track of the money I save over the next year and we'll see if it pays to buy the card. So that will be on the sidebar under the books read.

4.) My sleep is so messed up that I can't think straight. It's funny in a way but I'm shocked at how lost I am. And Bob has been underfoot for the past few weeks because of a project he's on. I know I mentioned it before but I'm missing my routine.

5.) My dad is home and on Saturday I'm doing up a nice turkey dinner with all the fixings. My favourite dinner. I know. It's very funny.

I'll end on that note. I hope you are doing well and reading lots. I will hopefully had a review up of a book in the next week.

You know I mean one of my 'Cindy' reviews.

Just warning ya.

Woohoo - Yikes!!

Love the change I woke up to today!

Congrats to my American Friends with their new President - I hope he will help us all find our way!

And Bob's off and we're going to go to Toronto.

Hence the YIKES in the title.

I'm taking my anxiety meds with us but I'm silly excited. I just hope I'm awake enough when we get there. We went to an appliance store yesterday and by the time we got there I didn't care cause I was so tired. I went to bed at 8pm last night and got up at 4am.

Time change, general enui, I just don't know. I can't figure myself out so I've decided 'Fuck it' and I'm going to go shopping with my hubby in Toronto.

I'll take positive vibes if you have any left after all the energy from yesterday.

With that all in mind, this is the song that keeps playing through my head:

100 Bucks? Yes, Please!

The Book Binge ladies have done it again!

Another awesome contest where you not only get to buy a great book by an extraordinary author, you get the chance to win 100 dollars to spend in a bookstore of your choice!!

Excited?

I am!

What's the deal?

If you buy Demon Bound sometime in the next two weeks and send us proof of your purchase - either a picture of you with the book or a copy of your receipt - we'll enter you to win a $100 gift certificate to the book store of your choice.

That's all you have to do: Buy one book and you'll be entered to win $100!!

If you want to double your chances of winning, announce this contest on your own website and/or blog and after you send us your proof of purchase we'll throw your name in the hat twice.




Remember, you have until Sunday, November 15th to enter!! Don't delay, buy your copy today!!!

To read more go here and see how you can enter to win and get an extra chance of winning by posting on your blog!

They've managed to bring together two of my favourite things. Money and Books.

Perfection.

Swinging In

Father is home for the next week.

Check.

The next week will be family 24/7.

Chee-e-e-eck.

I will need lots of naps afterwords.

F*ck Yeah!

Oh and it's month end for work. Good news is I've been keeping pace better and not getting behind.

Also, things are afoot.

This has Bob underfoot and messing with my routine.

Finally called Best Friend last night and she was all upset and wondering what she had done to make me mad. She had been leaving messages but it's been 2 weeks since we talked.

1. My mom - enough said. (have I told you all about the reno of her den and the two straight weeks of mom time? Just checking)
2. My sleep and BF's new work schedule.
3. Bob's underfoot.

Went to see the Godkids for 1/2 hour tonight - two gloomier gusses I have yet to see. Where is the Halloween Spirit?

Wasn't here. I had to go back to bed when we got home. Bob answered the door and maybe 12 kids. Boo!

Finally - I have no 'ME' time.

OH, Best Bud moving back home so more time with her also.

Bye-bye 'ME' time.

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.