Quite a Day! (Part Two)

Hi All!

Do you see this little "angel kittie?" This is Miss Cleo - and no, she isn't too clairvoyant! This is the most gentle, loving kittie you could ask for. She loves to be petted and rubs against your legs wanting your attention. While she doesn't really enjoy being picked up, she loves attention.

Until . . . . she has to go to the vet.

Then, this little angel becomes a monster!

That is right - she grows about a million extra legs and horns and her eyes go all crazy! It is frightening! Not to mention annoying! Try getting a cat with about a million legs into a pet carrier for the trip! Not a pretty sight!

Well, yesterday Miss Cleo had to visit the vet for her shots and an allergy shot (so she doesn't lick and scratch herself bloody!). I thought I had this all figured out. I picked up the little "angel kitty" and walked to where the carrier was. The moment - and I mean the split second - she saw the carrier, she began to transform!

Knowing it is difficult to get her into the carrier, I tipped the carrier on end so the opening is on top planning to just drop her in. It almost worked.

I just hadn't anticipated the million extra legs. Getting the back legs into the carrier took a while - I had to get all 5,000 on them into the carrier opening. After the back, the front should be easy, right? NOT!

The front hundred legs kept clawing out the opening making it impossible to shut the little door. I kept scooping them into the carrier and by the time I attempted to close the door the quarter of an inch it was still open - another 50 paw were on the outside! Add to this mental image the sound of frantic crazy cat meowing and another cat sitting nearby watching this all happening and echoing the meows. Cat stereo!

Not being one to give up, I finally got all trillion legs and paws into the carrier and the door shut! Whew! I wiped my sweaty brow on my shirt sleeve, hefted the carrier - which was horribly unbalanced and awkward to carry because Miss Cleo, knowing she had been defeated, resorted to curling up in the back corner of the carrier. Those of you with cats know how much their weight can increase when they don't want to be carried!

After a brief trip - the vet's office is maybe five minutes from my house - I began an entirely different struggle - trying to get Miss Cleo OUT of the carrier! It is enough to make even the strongest person break down and sob!

Luckily I managed to dislodge the kittie from the carrier and everything went well at the vet. I am very happy to say that she is a very healthy, neurotic cat.

At the end of the visit I took her home and she bolted from the carrier like a cat from well - a carrier! Me - I just settled down with my lint roller to try to take the entire cat's worth of hair from the front of my shirt. Did I mention she sheds like crazy when she is nervous.

Lucky for me we own stock in lint rollers!

Trisha

Voice Update: Super. Okay - good. I am proud to say that I did my massage this morning while walking. AND - contrary to my mother's beliefs, you can still hear the crunching even with ear buds in and the volume turned up! I will be "warbling" out my exercises as I do laundry today. What fun!

Quite A Day! (part one)

Hi All!

Sorry this is being posted so late in the day - I normally get my blogging out of my system early but today was . . . well, today was quite a day!

First, I woke up to make Hubby's lunch (with the help of my feline alarm clock!) and found out that my face was rebelling against me. I had put some acne cream on a few select spots on my face which were in danger of a bad breakout. Apparently my face wanted nothing to do with that cream! It is red, dry, flaky and just ugly looking. If I am not mistaken, it looks like a multitude of little zits sprang up in those areas just to spite me! Of course they might be dry skin blisters - which I do get from products that are too strong. I have very sensitive skin.

After dealing carefully with my face and trying to figure out just what to put on it in terms of moisturizer, sunscreen, etc. I set out for my walk. I tied up my walking shoes and played with the cats - who seem really affectionate just before I walk. Could it be they want me out of the house? Maybe they DON'T want me out of the house. Who can figure with cats??

I popped my ipod into my pocket and locked the door behind me. I paused at the front steps to do a few calf stretches and to choose my music/podcast selection for the day's walk. I decided to listen to some music today and chose the soundtrack from the musical Bombay Dreams. Finishing my stretches, I hopped down the stair and began to walk off down the sidewalk but, something wasn't right.

The music I was listening to sounded like it had helicopters in it. What? I don't have the soundtrack from Miss Saigon and I don't think helicopters played a role in Bombay Dreams. Playing with the volume did nothing to change the helicopter sounds which began to increase dramatically in volume. Huh. After a few more seconds (remember it was morning!) I began to think that maybe a helicopter was flying overhead. I started looking up and then - it came roaring over the houses across the street practically low enough for me to touch it! AND - it was HUGE! This was no little news helicopter. Could it be a life flight? I caught a glimpse of the writing on the tail - it said something about 5 states. Hmmmmm.

Because the copter was making a turn towards the elementary school down the block, I followed it. Where else would one of these things have room to land. As I walked closer it sounded like that is just what the thing did - land. I walked up a nearby alley and to the fence surrounding the playground. There the helicopter sat in all its glory with the rotors still whirring. Men were scurrying back and forth unloading equipment from the bird and the workers who have been working at the school for the past week were standing around watching. Hmmmmmmm.

Nothing exciting seemed imminent so off I trotted for my walk. It was going to be a short one anyway because I had things to do. Towards the end of my walk I heard the roar of the helicopter again and saw people leaving their houses and flocking towards the sound. The sound echoed off of roof tops and at times seemed to be coming at me from all directions. Have I mentioned that this thing was loud? Have I mentioned that it was now about 8 in the morning?

Glimpses of the helicopter could be seen over trees and roofs and the nearer I got to the school - and the end of my walk - the more apparent it became that the helicopter was working as an air crane trollying the heavy air conditioning and heating units to the top of the school. Knowing that it would be working for a while, I headed home to get my camera.

Walking back to the school I took a couple shots of the thing.

This is the best one - and that isn't saying too much. The sky was heavily overcast and the sun was right behind the helicopter. You can't really see too much definition in this picture. This is a double decker machine. The pilot is in the top front of the "bubble" and the bottom section is all cargo space. The line trailing down is connected to a massive AC unit.

Hoping to get better shots at the school, I continued and, I had the PERFECT shot all framed up. Just as my camera decided to shut down because my rechargeable batteries were out of juice.!

No matter how I tried I couldn't squeeze even one more shot out of the camera. Oh well. I watched the air crane work for a few minutes and then moved on. Remember, I had things to do this morning!

I will have to tell you about the rest later because it is now supper time and Hubby would like to eat before midnight!

Trisha

Voice Update: Good! A little breaky when talking in a crowded restaurant but still pretty good. My throat hurt a bit last night - almost like a sore throat- but it seems fine today. I haven't done any massage yet today - I guess I had better get to it! I am talking quieter when I am able and that really helps the quality of my voice. I am also reading out loud a bit more. It is fun and sounding good!

Alarm Clock

Hi All!

I would like to introduce you to my alarm clock.

What's that? It looks like a kittie, you say? Well, that is what Hubby and I thought at first also. In fact, we thought he was a kittie for almost 8 years. Then, we found out the truth. He is an alarm clock.

I had inklings that something like this might be the truth a few years earlier when I would be home for the summer. Q-Tip - that is his name - would wander into the bedroom where I would be napping and he would start meowing. I would open my eyes, look at him and tell him that I wanted to sleep for another 30 minutes. He would blink at me and then walk out the room. Almost precisely 30 minutes later, in he would walk, jump up and the bed, and begin meowing right into my ear. Hmmmm. I wondered if he could tell time.

Time passed and I was no longer working. This confused the living daylights out of both of our cats. For about three weeks they didn't quite know what to do when Hubby got up first in the morning and I was still in bed. Oh my goodness! This had never - and I do mean never - happened before to their knowledge!

After the three week adjustment period, Q-Tip began to see that Hubby would walk into the bedroom and gently (well- sometimes it was gentle!) roust me to come to the kitchen to make his lunch. I don't mind getting up to make his lunch by the way - it is just the whole getting up thing that isn't my favorite!

Observing this for about a week or so - soon, Q-tip began to accompany Hubby into the bedroom to wake me up. This was done at pretty much the same time every day. The next thing Hubby and I know, Q-tip is wandering in to wake me up before Hubby. From that time on, he revealed his true nature - alarm clock.

Now, Hubby rarely has to come to wake me up. Q-Tip does that. He is never more than five minutes off of the "normal" time for waking me up. He saunters into the bedroom giving a few testing meows and then jumps up on the bed mere inches from my dozing face. He headbutts me and gives another meow. If I don't reach up and pet him at this point - proving that I am, in fact, awake, he gets much more aggressive. He will spread his glorious hair across my face so I can no longer breathe. He will start massaging my belly or rear with his claws - one of my personal favorites! He will park himself centimeters from my ear and begin a concert of meows like humans have never witnessed.

You may understand why he is such an effective alarm clock. It is actually quite convenient. The only problem - there is NO snooze button. I have tried bopping him on the head (gently, of course) but he doesn't go away and come back seven minutes later. He simply continues his wake up routine.

Everything is wonderful until the weekend comes and my "alarm" goes off. Try convincing a cat that you don't have to get up pre-dawn to make a lunch on Saturday or Sunday. It doesn't work.

Which is odd because he does get the whole - come back in half an hour thing.

Trisha

Voice Update: Good. Still working on those exercises and not really liking the massage. But - I AM doing it! I am reading more now - probably up to 45 minutes at a shot and then some more odds and ends during the day. I am also continuing to talk to myself - much to my Hubby's delight!

The Drowsy Chaperone

Hi All!
Hubby and I just got back from seeing The Drowsy Chaperone and I couldn't wait to share it with you! Let's just say that I really enjoyed this show.

The show was approximately 90 minutes long with no intermission (Hubby liked that part). I had never heard of this show before seeing it so I had absolutely no expectations. The lights went down and stayed down for a while. At first it was a bit confusing. Then a voice - belonging to the Man in Chair started talking to the audience. A rather unique way to start a musical - in the dark with a character talking directly to the audience.

Man in Chair is apparently feeling down and wants to share some music with the audience as his way to cheer himself up. In this case the music is from the totally fictitious 1920's musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." Then, the hilarity ensues.

The basic set is Man in Chair's apartment and the cast of the musical strolls through and puts on a show - which "Man" sometimes wanders through. This musical within a musical is really, really, really, corny and - in Hubby's words "Just too silly." The "Man's" comments make the entire show.

Despite Hubby's lack of enthusiasm for this show (he doesn't like musicals and said this one was just too silly for him to enjoy. This from a man who likes Monty Python and the Three Stooges!), I highly recommend that if you get a chance you get tickets!

You won't be sorry! I wasn't!

Trisha

P.S. If you purchase the soundtrack it tells the whole synopsis of the musical and then includes reviews of the "original" 1920's musical and the lyrics (which I always appreciate!).

Do You Know What These Are?

Hi All!

Do you know what these critters are?

If you guessed Llamas - you are close but - no cigar! These, my friends, are Alpacas. Originally native to mountainous countries in South America (like Peru?), these ruminous (meaning they can chew their cud like cows and can spit at you stuff from their stomach - sounds nice, doesn't it?) beasts are now spreading across our fine nation. Yes, that is true. There are even commercials on television promoting Alpaca farming.

You haven't seen the commercial yet? Maybe you don't watch enough television!

Anyway - these particular animals are owned by my sister-in-law. The younger sister-in-law. Not younger than me but younger than the OTHER sister-in-law who also owns Alpacas. Not to be confused with my brother-in-law, also older than me, who owns Alpacas. Are you getting the sense that the entire family owns Alpacas? I am not sure if my mother-in-law owns any but I wouldn't doubt it!

My husband and I have gotten some subtle pressure to purchase some of these animals but, we don't really have room for them and, while either sister-in-law would surely house them for us - what exactly do we need and Alpaca for?

That, my dear friends, is the entire question. What does anyone need an Alpaca for? Their fur can, and is in some places, used for knitted goods and is quite expensive to purchase in a finished product. However, the products are not really taking off in the US. Also, you can sell the offspring of these things to other people who farm Alpacas. And then they have more Alpacas and you have less but what do they do with more Alpacas? What do you do with fewer?

I am still not too clear about just how you earn money by farming these critters. Doesn't it all sound a bit weird to you? You don't get food stuff from them like milk and, from what I hear, they are not good to eat. So, what is the deal? Do you just make money selling Alpacas? Don't you ever have to buy Alpacas? Wouldn't that cancel out the selling of Alpacas you just did? Why Alpacas?

Do I even want to know?

Trisha
Voice Update: Still good. I was a bit ill yesterday so I ended up sleeping pretty much all day. Didn't use my voice too much but, it was sounding okay in the evening when Hubby came home. I did have a period of time where I was straining to be heard over ambient noise and then my voice was "breaking" a bit. When I backed off the volume it was much better.

Fancy and The Third Heiress

Hi All!

Time for another book report! I recently finished two books. The first is Fancy by Robert Krepps. This is another "golden oldie" from my grandmother's collection.

At first, I thought perhaps this book was the inspiration for Reba MacIntire's song "Fancy." While it still might be - I don't really think so . . .

This book was rather "interesting." The main character, a young girl named Fancy who is basically a "kept woman." Most of the action in the book takes place over the course of one night at a party given by a widow who - it turns out - has a "thing" for young girls and wanted to meet Fancy. Yes - the book goes THERE. Not that there is anything wrong with that. (Do you know what tv show that line is from?)

Anyway - I read the whole book. I don't know that I would recommend this book. It was "interesting" but a little confusing at the same time.

But, I am done with it!

My next book - which I finished reading last night at about 2:30 when I couldn't sleep because of nightmares - is The Third Heiress by Brenda Joyce.

I enjoyed this book. It was a mystery, suspense novel involving a woman who was "almost" engaged to an English man. The man is killed in a car crash - in which the woman, Jill, was driving - and when Jill takes his body back to England she meets his aristocratic family who lets her know in no uncertain terms that her "fiance" would have NEVER married her. She was "beneath" him, of course.

Don't you love these kinds of stories?? This is set in the late 1990's and the attitude is still there!

Anyway - Jill comes upon a mystery which might involve distant relatives of hers. She sticks around England to unravel the mystery and faces some "warnings" that would have had me running the other way really quickly!

This book I would recommend. It was a good, quick, exciting read!

Trisha

P.S. I guess I am destined to be a blog of few comments. I guess I can live with that! I do appreciate my loyal readers though! You make me feel loved!

Voice Update:
My voice is still good. Yesterday I started back into my exercises. I did a lot of inhale/exhale matching pitches while I was at the grocery store. I didn't get any strange looks but I tried to be really quiet around people. Those empty aisles though were my personal exercise studio! I also did some massage yesterday - not enough but I did some. I read out loud for about30 minutes. Doesn't that all sound like fun?

Are You Really Out There?

Hi All!

Are you really out there? I ask because I keep seeing people show up on my site's web tracker thing which tells me where the people who visit my blog come from. However, only two or three people ever comment. Coffee Bean - who I adore - and Ecolo - ditto - are my two regulars but, I just know that there are a lot of you just hanging out and reading.

Could you throw me a bone once in a while and comment? Nothing spectacular - just maybe say "Hi!" If you are feeling brave, you can tell me what you think about my posts. OR - you can even tell me why you don't normally comment and what you would like to hear about!

I would love to have some kind of contest like Coffee Bean but . . . I don't have a good prize in mind yet. I will work on it but, in the meantime, I will tell you what I will do - leave me a comment and I promise to read your comment and - if you ask me a question - I will even answer it!

I know I am feeling needy here but . . . I know you are out there - somewhere!

I hope!

Trisha

Voice Update:
Okay - yesterday I was being lazy! I didn't do much of my exercises but I did massage once. Not too good but . . . hey - I am human! My voice is still holding steady and I even talked on the phone yesterday! And not my beloved amplified phone either! I do have to say that I have noticed that if people ask me to repeat something I said - I suddenly can't say whatever I just said as plain as day! Frustrating! I have started reading out loud again - yeah!