At Home Resting Today

Yesterday, I ran all sorts of errands---paid bills, typed and mailed letters, etc before going to visit Mom at the home. She was doing well, and she enjoyed a nice snack of chips and a diet drink while I was visiting with her. I soon had to leave since I had a doc's appointment due to having a bit of probs with my elbow. At the docs, I had an outpatient surgery done on my elbow. Apparently, it was a cyst growing bigger (even though many months earlier I had told the dr that that area was bugging me and he just said "Oh it's a mosquito bite." If it had been nipped in the bud, I wouldn't have gone through all of this discomfort--not to mention pain. I'm doing okay though. Some things are hard to do with the use of one arm, but I have been quite patient with doing things slowly--like getting dressed. (Don't ask me how skilled I was at the store when I had to get my prescription meds while trying to steer a shopping cart with wheels that veered off in the opposite direction of where I intended to go..lol!)

I spent most of today on lying on the couch, and I do find it quite coincidental that after all of yesterday's running about like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get things done and in order. I guess some sort of cosmic forces were telling me not to procrastinate yesterday since I'd be homebound today. Either way, I'm glad that I listened to my inner gut feeling.

Leigh's been a sweetheart as usual through all of this. And I've had takeout two days in a row. I'm still on my diet though and jotting down my meals in a food diary. And yesterday I did find out that I lost 7 1/2 pounds. Yayyyy!

Hope everyone has a fab weekend. I'm off for now to go rest some more.

More photos of Kitten....

I haven't been able to blog for these last two days since I was attending two workshops. Yesterday was very productive ,and we learnt a whole multitude of information. I missed furball immensely,and I was soooo excited to get home and see how this feline was faring. He was overjoyed to see me!!! I spent a few hours with him and Rocco until it was time for me to get ready for Belly Dance Class. Then that was an adventure because as I was applying my makeup, the kitten thought the swaying actions meant go-into-attack-mode so I had to constantly have him refocus on something else other than my eyeshadow applicator or powder brush! Then he discovered my makeup bag and toppled over the contents...lol. Oh goodness! It is so funny and cute to see him so inquisitive about his entire surroundings!!! Yet, that makes Leigh and I worry constantly about his whereabouts. When I was at Belly Dance class, Leigh said that the kitten exhausted him with his never-ending bundle of energy...lol. And then I got home and the high energy continued until it was bedtime. During this time, I enjoyed a lovely Thai meal that Leigh had bought for me. Woohooo! Then I showered while Leigh had Snuggles on his shoulder fast asleep. We decided to put him to bed. As we were getting the Kitten settled, we discovered that Rocco had devoured all of the cat's food and milk from the kitty's new dish bowls. I don't know why Rocco has been so food-hungry lately. We give him his two meals a day plus healthy treats. Maybe it's a jealousy thing. Maybe he's just anxious about having this new member in our household. Who knows?

Oooh, we will still continue with our belly dance classes, and I'm excited about that!!!! Plus, during the Fall session, we will be working on the Flamenco dance, which is supposed to be a very precise and rigorous type of dance. How interesting!!!!! To get prepped for this ,we will need to buy some flared skirts, a mantilla, and a top.

Today we had another workshop, and the day dragged on because I wasn't feeling too good. I hadn't been able to eat anything yesterday without feeling ill (so when I got home at 10 p.m. I was famished by then so I devoured the Thai food). But once again, I was feeling ill. Leigh says that it might just be nerves because of so many changes taking place at our school. And that may be true. I had been worried about being moved out of my classroom since the admin had told us that some of us were going to be switching classrooms. And today we found out who was going where. Fortunately, I am going to be staying in my same room. Whew! That's one less worry off of my mind.

Next week, we have another workshop to attend. This one will focus on the content areas that we will be teaching for the first six weeks.

leigh and kit

work in progress

And Kitten Makes Three....Pets, That is!

As I type, Leigh, Rocco, and this new little fella are all slumbering in the living room. Rocco is sprawled across the living room, and Leigh is asleep on the couch with Kitten on a pillow next to him. At the beginning of the day, we had no idea that we would end it with a new pet. It all started when Bobby came from next door to ask Leigh for some help in fixing a leak. Leigh went over and got the job done, and on his way back, he called for Shak, who had stubbornly remained outdoors despite the heat of the sun. Yet, this little fella meowed constantly, and that is when Leigh found him trapped near one of the enormous potted plants. He was extremely thirsty and hungry, so we believe that he must have lost his way during the windy storm that we had on Wednesday night. And the poor fella was stuck there for two and a half days!

Kitten has settled well into the household (as you can tell by these photos). He has also claimed my shoulder and neck area as a good spot to sleep and snuggled into. Rocco was stellar with him and has baptized him with his tongue yet Shakarma has been very aggressive and tried to take a bite out of this itty bitty lil' one!

I researched lots of websites to see how we can handle a better way of integrating the kitten into the household so that Shak doesn't feel like he's being replaced. Basically, most websites said to keep the kitten confined in a cage while the other cat is around. That way the cat can sniff out the kitten without feeling as though he's losing his territory. This should be done for an hour, and after that, one should open the cage door and see how the cat reacts. If the cat is aggressive, then the owner should place the kitten back away from harm's way (preferably into another room), and start the process all over again in a few hours. It is also imperative that during and after the time that they are introduced in the same room, one should give them both treats so that they can associate the meeting with "good" times---rather than negative. The sources I read state that it can actually take up to a MONTH for the male cat to adjust to the kitten!

For now, the newcomer has no name, but I'm searching for a name suitable for a kitten who is intelligent, moves with lightning speed, and is sooooooooo playful and lovable.

Chalupa and Burgers

Woke up just in time to see my soap opera "The Young & the Restless", and it ended dramatically---keeping me guessing as to what will happen on Monday. GAH! I won't find out until Wednesday since I have a workshop on Monday and Tuesday. It's made me realize that my holidays are coming close to an end. Nooooooooooo!

I met up with Mom and Linda, and we played Chalupa until Mom felt sleepy. Then somehow I managed to find myself going to the Stars Drive Inn to purchase a burger for one of the residents in a wheelchair who refused to eat lunch earlier that day , so she asked me to go get her one.(Apparently, she has done this loads of times before.) Smelling the aroma of a burger made me hungry so I quickly dropped it off before I decided to get one for myself. Lol!

French Fry Thief!

Our dog, Rocco, got into major trouble today when Leigh was getting the truck ready for our stay at a hotel. This canine decided to sneak up to the couch and gobble all of Leigh's fries that had remained uneaten. I caught the thief redhanded because his snout got stuck in the carton, causing the plastic bag to rustle. I truly believed that it was Shak because he's been known to get into the garbage bag once in awhile. However, I was shocked to see Rocco doing such a naughty deed. Needless to say, Leigh and I were both dismayed with his sneakiness!

Hurricane Dolly Leaves Its Mark

The rains and winds were strong and powerful last night, and the plants and trees took a beating! Throughout our town many trees were uprooted, and the local gym's roof is nonexistent now! Fortunately, everyone is safe and sound. Unfortunately, a few people's houses were damaged with the high winds. But we shouldn't complain---our town didn't suffer as much as the people down in South Padre Island, Harlingen, McAllen,etc. They experienced many power outages, flooding, and lots of damage.

At 9 a.m., I awoke, got dressed, and quickly went outdoors to do some yardwork (since we still had no electricity!) The weeds were not that much easier to uproot because the soil was TOO saturated! But, I did for a short time until I got a tad soaked with the constant pitter patter of rain against me.Then I went indoors and took a short nap---what else was there to do when you're in a house with no incoming light? At that time, Leigh arrived from the EOC. He brought us lunch, and we quickly ate. My sis, Sylvia, rang to tell me that the AEP worker told her that we might not get any power until tomorrow. YIKES! Fortunately, Leigh's boss reserved a room for us at the hotel (just in case we needed one), and so we planned on going on overthere after we packed a few things. After getting our overnight bag full of clothing and toiletries, we got Shak into his pet taxi and Rocco into his harness. We were just about to leave when the lights went on. Voila! And then there was light. THANK GOODNESS! It's a luxury we sometimes take for granted!

We cancelled the pets' boarding reservations (as well as our hotel room reservation) and we went out of town instead. Leigh had to go back to work so he went to the office while I visited Mom at the home. She had a few bruises on her shoulder (this is the second time she's had them during this month!) so I questioned it immediately. The nurse named Rey said that she must have gotten them because they told him that Mom was punching herself with her own fist. AS IF! Even if I did that, I wouldn't cause bruises in those angles. Yet, Rey rushed over to call the director of nursing, who came over to see Mom's bruises and she tried to smooth things over by saying that Mom bruises easily with Plavix. I told her that Mom has taken Plavix for years, and she never had many bruises. The director went on to say that the occurrence of bruises increases with the years. Hmmm....I don't believe her!

This gets me so angry and upset. But, I'm still documenting these incidents with photographs and a daily journal because there's no excuse for neglecting the residents at this facility!

Mom did eat well and seems so happy. Also, she enjoyed herself with the company of Leigh, Linda (my sis) and myself. After our visit, Leigh and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and we came home to rest. Leigh was exhausted with the day's events that had begun at 7 a.m.!