Skor's A Lucky Kitty!

Hi All!

First, let me tell you that Skor is one lucky kitty. He must have figured out that I wasn't too happy with the early morning play call. Last night he slept on his night stand (it is no longer mine!) and didn't move until about 6:00 A.M. this morning. Okay - he might have moved all night long but - he didn't bother me so, that is good!

Since he didn't bother me last night and left me sleep, he gets to survive another day! Lucky kitty!

Mental Mamma wanted to know why we got Skor. Here is the scoop. When Hubby and I first discussed getting a cat I had no prior experience with cats except for the ones that scratch and bite. Hubby convinced me to try cats by agreeing to find a cat that was very docile. To ensure that trait, he did some searching online and found the Ragamuffin breed. Ragamuffins are bred to be big fluffy wimps. They are docile and have great personalities. So - we decided to get one.

After some more searching online, Hubby came across a Ragamuffin breeder who had an ADORABLE little kitty for sale named Q-Tip. This little guy was so darn cute that we just had to get him. From Florida. He flew cargo to Texas and Hubby picked him up at the airport.

We later found out that Q-Tip wasn't pure Ragamuffin. He was part Maine Coon also. Q-Tip was a great cat. He had a wonderful personality and was very fluffy and generally docile. However, Q-Tip was lacking some of the Ragamuffin traits like loving to cuddle and to be held. Hubby and I loved Q-Tip but always wondered what a "real" Ragamuffin would be like.

After Q-Tip's very untimely death and our period of grieving, we decided to start looking at Ragamuffins again. After several weeks of searching (pretty much by Hubby) we found Skor. The rest - as they say - is history (well, history in the making!).

Now if only he gets past this phase of waking me up at all hours Skor will survive and be a great part of our family!

Trisha

Voice Update: My voice is pretty good. I still need to work on the massage and exercises a bit more. I did massage a lot during class last night. It kept my mind off of my headache (which blessedly didn't become a migraine!).

Why Did We Want a New Kitten?

Hi All!

I am tired. No - exhausted. Wait . . . is there anything more tired than exhausted? If so - I am that. Why, you may ask? Well, let me tell you.

SKOR!

Now, don't get me wrong, Skor is a wonderful little guy. He is soft and likes to cuddle and only tried to bite my toes in a loving, gentle manner if I mistakenly leave them out of my shoes (which I do ALL the time!). Skor is a kitten - the cat equivalent to a toddler - so he acts appropriately. I guess.

Most nights Skor settles down to sleep about 15 minutes after we do. He likes to explore us as we lie in bed and then likes to be petted for a bit before toddling off to his night stand. Yes, he has adopted my night stand as his night time sleeping place. I have never seen him on it any other time of the day but that is where he sleeps at night. Probably not ALL night but . . . for a while anyway. The fact that I have now had to remove pretty much everything from said stand so he doesn't knock it onto the ground in the middle of the night is a whole different story.

Skor has gotten used to our routine - sort of. He sleeps pretty well and doesn't normally jump on us during the night. However, if one of us has to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom (hey - we are getting older!) it is all over. That nocturnal trip means play time to Skor. He immediately jumps on the bed and bothers me (notice I didn't say he bothered Hubby!). Sometimes he simply nestles up next to my head and purrs himself (and me) back to sleep. Other times . . . .

Last night was one of those "other times." Skor decided that 2:00 A.M. was a great time to wake me up. He started with the nestle and purr. When that didn't' result in play time he moved on to the "stick my cold, wet nose in Momma's face several times." Still no play time. Skor moved on to the "stick my butt in Momma's nose" and the "drape my body directly over Momma's nose and mouth cutting off her supply of oxygen" maneuvers. Neither worked. It was 2:00 in the morning and I was resisting.

Unfortunately, Skor brought out the big guns next. He burrowed under the covers and licked the back of my knees (quite a sensation, let me tell you!), he wedged himself beside me with his favorite string and then rabbit kicked the string and my side, and finally, he chased poor, long suffering Miss Cleo up and down the length of the bed.

That got me. I couldn't play possum any longer. Unfortunately, I found myself having to go to the bathroom. Rats!!!

Skor was delighted! He immediately took up his position under my feet for the short walk to the bathroom. He even circled the toilet purring loudly while I took care of business (talk about a weird feeling!). Then, he hopped up on the bathroom counter as I washed my hands. After winding through my sleep clumsy feet on the return trip to the bed, Skor popped up on the bed and began licking my nose. Again - a very strange sensation to have sandpaper rasping on your nose so early in the morning.

I think I managed to doze a few times for the rest of the "night" until Hubby's alarm went off and distracted Skor. When Hubby gets up, Skor trots into the bathroom to supervise Hubby's morning routine. I got about 15 minutes of sleep during that whole time period and then it was time to get up and feed the cats.

This, while it sounds simple, is an interesting problem in logic. Both cats would rather eat the other's food them their own food which means that Hubby and/or I need to play interference to keep them at the appropriate bowls. If we weren't worried that Miss Cleo would gain too much weight from eating kitten food and that Skor would set new records with "adult cat food farts" we wouldn't mind too much but . . .

Today, surprisingly, Skor and Miss Cleo ate pretty calmly as I stood guard between the two bowls and Hubby ate his breakfast. After they were done eating I plopped down at the kitchen table and read the police blotter in our free copy of the local newspaper. This totally blew my normal routine and I forgot to make Hubby's lunch (which I normally do each and every morning). Poor man! He had to go lunchless today. I am sure he will go to Wendy's or Whataburger but still . . . I feel horrible that I forgot. I was tired.

C didn't walk today and I contemplated going back to bed until it was time to IM with Mom. However, I didn't. I walked and then came home to IM only to find that Mom won't be on IM this fine morning! I could have slept for another hour or two at least!

Darn Skor and his nocturnal urges to play! Darn my inability to ignore kitty claws rabbit kicking my side. Darn my tendency to sleep lightly which allows Skor to keep me up all night! Darn Hubby's tendency to sleep like a rock which Skor has figured out means "Don't bother trying to wake up Daddy - concentrate on Momma!" Darn, darn, darn!

Who wanted a new kitten anyway?

Trisha

Voice Update: I am doing a bang up job on the inhale part of my exercises. Unfortunately, the whole massage section is getting slighted. I will concentrate on getting that worked out - after I get in a nap!

Sign Language Tests

Hi All!

Midterms are coming up in my sign language class. That means I will actually have to show what I have learned! I always get nervous about tests but I always do well on them. I am a good test taker and even like tests (see one of my earlier posts). Sign language test are a bit different. They have three parts.

Part One: the traditional test format with questions about Deaf culture, grammar rules, and that kind of stuff. Not too bad.

Part Two: receptive language. This one gets a bit hairier! In this section of the test, the teacher signs several sentences and the students write down what the sentences mean. In a lot of ways this is like doing dictation sentences on a spelling test but - in sign language the same sign might mean any of three or four (or sometimes more) things and there are often many different signs which mean the same thing so you have to know them all!

Part Three: the dreaded expressive language section! For this part of the test the students must prepare a short story to sign in front of the VIDEO CAMERA for the teacher to grade later. You are expected to use vocabulary from all of the lessons covered along with proper ASL grammar and sentence structure. Not only is there the stress of trying to remember all of the proper signs and order and that good stuff - you also have the stress of the camera. I HATE this part of the test even though it isn't too hard for me. Just the idea of being taped . . . ugh!

Last night in class we took a quiz pretty much in the same format as the midterm will be. Of course, it was much shorter than the midterm will be. I told the story of Skor in the piano (which - knock on pressed fiber board- hasn't been repeated this morning) and got a good grade on that section. The written section wasn't too bad - I know I missed one question because I couldn't remember the name of one "theory." I came close but I am sure it isn't worth a cigar - or full points! The receptive part was pretty easy also. I guess we will see on Thursday just how I did. Then next Tuesday is the first section of the real test (parts one and two).

Being in school again - I like it but I really didn't miss preparing for tests!

Trisha

Voice Update: I was good yesterday and did my exercises. Skor thinks I am going crazy when he hears me do my inhale e's! He just looks at me like I am going to jump on him or something! It is hard to do the massage while keeping him at bay but, on the way to class it is much easier at the stop lights!

Bloodwork, Bagels, and a Book

Hi All!

I just got back from my Endocrinologist's appointment and everything is looking good (except for the fact that I need to lose weight - big surprise - but I am ignoring that for a minute). My blood pressure, which used to be sky high when I was working with Psycho Boss and dealing with SD in the classroom (think teaching with NO voice!), is LOW. That is right - LOW. I can't remember the numbers now but the doctor was starting to look at it maybe being a bit too low. I didn't know that could happen. What would I have to do if it did become too low? Gorge myself on salty snacks? Interesting thought, isn't it?

Anyway - they drew blood as always. I must say that I have MUCH better luck with this than poor Hubby. I have easy veins to hit and almost never bruise AT ALL. Hubby's veins roll and he ALWAYS bruises - usually horribly. Did I tell you about his most recent experience having blood drawn? A real, Trisha-class bruise which covered pretty much all of his inside elbow area and lasted for two weeks! Poor guy!

I am just glad that my appointment is over. Now all I have to do is wait to get the blood work results in the mail. Hopefully nothing will be wrong!

For my appointment, which was at 8:30, I had to fast. That isn't too bad since I get to drink water. In fact, I don't even feel hungry on the drive to the doctor's or while I am there in the office. On the way home . . . that is another matter. I start thinking about food. What will I eat? I drive by McDonald's and Chic-fil-A . . . .

Sorry about the break in my train of thought but I just heard very, very weird sounds coming from the other room. I went out to investigate and found Miss Cleo looking towards my piano. Skor was nowhere in sight. Then - the sounds began again. They sounded oddly like a harp. Then I figured it out - Skor was INSIDE my piano! BAD kitty!

You should know that I have a baby grand piano and that the top is always down. The only way into the area where the strings are is a small - maybe 7 inch gap between the music stand and the top of the piano. Guess who squeezed himself into that gap and then took his own sweet time getting out? I was ready to throw the top up to grab him when he emerged to stand on the piano like nothing was wrong. Boy, was he in for a surprise!

Okay - back to my previous thoughts . . .where was I? Oh yes - driving home from the doctor's while trying to avoid the temptation of quick food at a fast food restaurant. It is a tough thing to resist. I could just drive in and get some good, hot food quickly and then I wouldn't be hungry any more. I resist though because, after all, I was just at the doctor's and I know fast food probably (!) isn't the best thing for me to eat. That is why I came home and had two Pepperidge Farm mini Bagels. Plain. Pre-sliced. Without waiting to toast them or spread cream cheese (low fat of course) on them.

Did I mention I was hungry?

I just hear another weird noise from the other room. Skor was on top of the piano again. He got yelled at - did I tell you how excited I am that I can now yell? I got the squirt bottle and brought it into the office with me just in case he needs stronger negative reinforcement.

Let's see . . . I did the Blood work and the Bagels - all that is left now is the book.

Here it is.

I just finished reading this book, the last of the books from my Aunt Donna. It is The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen.

The title freaked me out a little before I started reading. I am not a person who likes reading really gory things and the title sounded a bit . . . well, gory. I did start reading though and by the end of the first chapter, was hooked.

This book takes place in two completely different ages - the modern time and the 1880's. Chapters alternate between the two times to tell the story of a young woman, Rose Connolley, an Irish immigrant to Boston who watches her older sister die after giving birth to a little girl.

*****Another Skor interruption. He is really being annoying today! This time he was on my antique washstand playing with the book marks I have hanging on it. I decided that he might need a little play time once I found the kitchen throw rugs about 10 feet from where they normally rest. I got out the "fishing pole" toy and gave Skor a good workout. Right now he is resting and guarding the leather "bird" at the end of the toy.

The book. A rich cast of characters is introduced in this book including a young Oliver Wendall Holmes and several other young medical students. A dark side of the story is revealed when Norris, one of the medical students, reveals that he helps rob graves to get medical cadavers to earn part of his tuition. The book shows that getting cadavers to study is a big problem for all of the medical schools in America and grave robbing is quite common. Also, executed criminals are also given to the medical schools after they are dead. Nice, huh? That is the nasty part of the story.

In modern times, a woman named Julia purchases an old, run-down home and when digging in the garden, discovers the skeleton of a woman. After getting in touch with the home's previous owner's family, the mystery of just who this woman was begins to unravel.

I found this book to be quite entertaining and only a little gory at times - like when they described dissections in the medical school. Overall, I enjoyed the book and just might read some more of Tess Gerritsen's work.

If you like mysteries with a little gore thrown in (nothing gratuitous), I would say to keep your eyes open for Tess Gerritsen's The Bone Garden. I think it would be worth your time.

**** Another Skor note. I never knew that kittens could make such horrible smells when they fart! Yikes!

Trisha

Voice Update: I have done exercises! I have done massage! YEAH! I did exercises and massage while waiting for the doctor. I also did them both while driving home from my appointment. I will certainly continue now that I am home!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Hi All!

This morning my walk was . . . well, all wet! That is hard to believe but it was really, honestly raining this morning when I woke up (actually, Skor woke me up - he hasn't quite figured out the whole "wait until the alarm goes off" thing yet.).

As the weather people have been saying . . . this was the driest September in eight years for Texas so we can really use the rain. I hope it keeps raining today but - looking out the window, it doesn't appear that rain is continuing to fall. *sigh* Oh well! Maybe it will start up again a bit later in the day!

On Saturday I got to have a LONG lunch with my friend, Donna. I haven't seen her too much since school started - she is a teacher. We try to do lunch once in a while on a weekend just to stay in touch. It seems like our lunches are always long ones. Of course, we usually finish lunch and then wander around a store or two so we can keep talking without sitting in the restaurant for hours on end. This time we hit Best Buy to pick up a birthday gift (a CD) for Donna's daughter. I picked up a comedy CD to add to my collection.

My new CD is by Jeff Dunham. He is a ventriloquist and has a really interesting set of puppets. He has a grumpy old man named Walter, a weird purple thing named Peanut, a Jalapeno (on a stick), and couple others. I saw him in person once somewhere - a cruise perhaps - and think he is hilarious. The CD - titled "Spark of insanity" is a nice addition to my diverse musical collection. I am going to put it on my ipod also (which is still working perfectly, thank you very much!).

I guess that is all the boring stuff I can make you read - for now! I am off to get ready for ASL lab and grocery shopping (don't get too excited! I know that you are jealous of my day of "fun!"). Have a fantabulous day!

Trisha

Voice Update: Okay - I have been "caught." Hubby cornered me last night about not doing my exercises so I guess I will have to get going. It is just so very easy to not do your exercises when your voice is doing well. It seems redundant but I guess if I want to continue doing well I need to keep up the program which got me to this point. One of these days I am going to have to get a new podcast recorded also. Such busy stuff to do.

The Eyre Affair

Hi All!

About a week ago Hubby and I went to Sam's Club to order his contacts (which are much cheaper through Sam's than the eye doctor!) and I, of course, had to browse the book aisle. It seems like there are always good books at Sam's and for a good price. Some of my favorites I have picked up for less than five dollars.

I know, that isn't as good as my Half-Price Books clearance deals but, the books I get at Sam's are usually more recently published.

Anyway, my most recent trip to Sam's resulted in me buying this book:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I must admit that prior to picking up the book at Sam's, I had never heard of the book or the author. I picked up the second book in the series (I think it is second), Lost in a Good Book and then realized it was a part of a series. Luckily for me the other books in the series were also on the shelf.

Wanting to do things properly, I purchased the first book in the series and resisted my urge to purchase all of the books in the series. After all, the book might have been seriously horrible and then I would have the entire series on my hands. I didn't want to do that!

I am happy to report that the first book in the series ISN'T horrible. In fact, it was quite enjoyable and even edged into the "I couldn't put it down" category.

The premise of the book is that history went a "different way" somewhere along the line and, in the 1980's, England is at War with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula and weird things can happen. The government has Special Operative units to deal with all kinds of things including time abnormalities (and time travel), cloned animals (the Dodo is the most popular), and literary issues. The literary issues unit - called Literatec - is the center of the book with its main character being Thursday Next, a SpecOp agent in SO-27 (Literary Detective Unit).

Thursday ( a charming woman who is very serious about her work), begins the book by attempting to help another Special Ops department (SO-5) capture a master criminal, Acheron Hades. Things go horribly wrong and Thursday ends up being blamed, indirectly, for the deaths of two of her colleagues. She goes back to her hometown to join the Literatec division there. This should be a much quieter assignment and, while Thursday is in the hospital after the botched capture, she tells herself via a time traveling, older self, to take the job.

Sound intriguing? There is more!

This book throws all kinds of literary references into the mix and Jane Eyre becomes endangered when Hades threatens Jane's life.

I won't go much further or I will spoil the book for those of you who might want to read it.

This book was very enjoyable for me. It is supposedly a young adult book but, with the sheer number of literary references, it was perfect for me with my adult knowledge base of literature. There were times when I literally laughed out loud and shared sections with Hubby (who, not being an avid reader, didn't really "get" most of what I read him).

If you have the time, pick up this little book and, possibly, the entire series. As for myself, I will be hunting down the rest of the series as soon as possible.

Trisha

Voice Update: I haven't been talking too much so I am not too positive about how things are going. I know it is still there (my voice) but as to its fitness . . .??? I am having lunch with a friend so I will get in a good voice workout this afternoon!

Did You Get A Haircut?

Hi All!

I slept in a bit today (actually Skor wasn't so keen on that idea so I didn't sleep in nearly as much as I had hoped!) so I didn't post at my normal time. Sorry about that! If it makes you feel any better, I got a pretty respectable scratch from Skor as he was clawing me through the covers this morning (and action which was very highly discouraged very promptly!).

Okay - I have to say that one of the things that always makes me think of my father is when someone asks if I have had a haircut. You will understand why in just a bit.

Today I had my hair cut (gee - I'll bet you never guessed!) and because of my short "do" I tend to get it cut pretty darn short. It is blatantly obvious that my hair has been cut. This doesn't stop Hubby from coming in from work and asking "Did you get your hair cut?" each and every time. Don't get me wrong - I am THRILLED that Hubby notices but . . . really? Does he need to ask? I always have to hold myself back from giving my dad's much used response . . .

"No, I got them all cut!" Think about it for a minute . . .

I also have another one that Dad likes to say . . ."No, it shrunk when I washed it this morning."

Maybe I should just tell Hubby that he could tell me the shorter hair looks nice or something like that and we could avoid the whole question altogether. Wouldn't that be nice?

Of course, then I wouldn't get the chuckle from picturing my dad responding to the questions . . .

Trisha
Voice Update: It is doing good. I did notice that I was "cutting out" when I was talking on the phone this evening. Never a good sign. I guess I need more exercises!