out with the old

I know blogging is not a competition, but if it were, I'd have to admit my blogging buddy, MerryMe, is kicking my butt. We had both fallen into the predictable post-NaBloPoMo slump (causing me to wonder if 30 posts in November is really worth 5 posts in December. Wouldn't a nice steady every other day for two months be nicer?) and then suddenly, wham, she makes three posts since Christmas. If it counts for anything, I've revisited this post at least 3 times in the interim. I just never got it done.

So anyway, I'm home now (no thanks to United Airlines - I had to drive myself home from San Francisco or be stranded AGAIN just as I was the last time I trusted them...) so I am out of excuses. My life is back to normal and thus my posting should resume its regular snail's pace. My niecelets are coming to visit tomorrow night (fun, fun), so that could count as an excuse. Today I bought party favors - silly string, feathered fans, googly eyes, candy rats, and a great number of graham crackers for making gingerbread houses - and tonight I clean. Perhaps that is my inspiration for finally blogging? Just a way to avoid doing something else. Either way...

I guess we should start with the good news. All of my sister's cats are still alive. Nobody ever got sick (though Ringo pulled his IV catheter and made quite a bloody mess in his pen) and the lily loving roommate is gone for good (on her own accord, of course, nothing to do with the accidental poisoning...). Better still, my sister is still talking to me even after reading the family Christmas letter. Apparently she's got some favor to ask of me in the future (didn't ask the other night cuz I was a wee bit grumpy on the phone about other stuff...), so I am sure I will pay in the long run, but what is family for if not for getting even?

Anyway, other good news is that Costco took back Mom's confusing new coffee maker. We realized that machine was all wrong for her the night she announced that she'd like a cup of coffee but didn't feel like making one... Kevin has since ordered her a more expensive machine off the internets. Can't wait to hear all about it.

And then the not so good news. Mom spent Saturday night in the hospital after having an arrhythmia in the morning. Blood tests revealed low potassium levels (Dad blames her diuretic) which is way preferable to any sort of structural damage. I think we were all a bit freaked by the event but dealt with it in the classic family ways. Dad complained about the $15 he had to spend buying her a second copy of her book club book (cuz she'd left hers at home). Kevin quipped that Mom might not have to worry about her impending Alzheimer's after all, as she might just drop dead. Mom realized for the first time ever that Dad just might out live her (what a sad widower Dad would be) but otherwise took things in stride, mocking Dad for having difficulty finding her pulse and lamenting that the event had ruined her first true day off in weeks. As for me, well, I had a drink and called my sister...

And I can't really say that my last bit of seal action really counts as good news either. A sad 71kg sea lion was brought in Saturday night (a few hours before my shift started, so I opted not to help with intake especially due to the aforementioned drinking...). Courtney had a horrible double prolapse, as bad as this summer's "Prolapse Girl". Apparently she was a bloody handful fresh off the beach, but she was a regular sweetheart for her 7 am pain meds. By 8 am we had gotten hold of one of our veterinarians (in town on vacation, the real life girlfriend of my Fish & Game boyfriend...) and she was able to come down and perform the euthanasia on site. (One of only a few euthanasias we've been able to do down here and one of only two I've ever helped with...) I'm so glad we didn't make the poor girl drive 5 hours before she got to cross the rainbow bridge. Unfortunately, my camera died, too, so no pictures of Courtney for you.


Anyway, my other excuse for taking so long to post is that I wanted to be able to scan in the hilarious graph paper diagrams my brother and I made to convince our mom to rearrange her living room. Sadly, much of the detail is lost in translation (like the four distinctly different kitties - two snuggling Dad on the couch), but this is the room before. We have no pictures of the actual arrangement, but those who have been there can testify to the suckiness of the teeny tiny TV, the penned in recliner that was unable to recline, and the avalanches of unread magazines.


Anyway, here is the diagram after. Perhaps you have noticed we added a new piece (the very square "Mom" sitting in her chair)? This was to ensure that Mom would be able to walk around the new tight corner (from kitchen to living room)... And a couple pieces are missing (we banished two chairs and a whole bunch of clutter). I think my favorite part of the whole project (besides knowing my mom loves it) was overhearing my mom tell my dad that he had to "be tough" with his clutter. From then on we would call every item we threw out a "tough decision." Sadly, I have a lot of "tough decisions" at home. Why is it so much easier to toss someone else's crap?


Anyway, Wendy insisted that I ought to have real live pictures to go along with the diagrams. So here's the new TV. Doesn't it look fancy? Notice how Kevin is in Mom's chair? It's the new hot spot now that it can fully recline.

Here's the view of the kitchen. Sadly I didn't capture the newly uncluttered window - formerly obscured by the butcher block thingy (aka "Pee Island") in the top right corner. Just another benefit of the new arrangement - many additional bird sightings (my mom has great feeders)...

Finally, here's a slightly better angle featuring the horrible cloth door that used to be the focus of the room. If you look closely, you can also make out Missy Moo (in her basket by the fire). This may be the last picture ever taken of old Missy. She's like 18 now (just a kitten when I adopted Fabe - in fact, she was supposed to be mine but she was too young for a college student... whew, dodged that ugly cat bullet...) and she rarely moves. Every time she sneaks up to the third floor (what a trek that must be), Mom is convinced she's gone off to die... This could be true, really, or it might just be that it is warmer up there when no one is home to light the pellet stove.

Anyway, for MerryMe's benefit, here is my mom's version of the Christmas pig. Not sure where the Santa hat came from, but it's pretty cute.

Fun as all the visiting was, I'm glad to be back in my normal world. My kitties and my husband missed me. My hummingbirds were hungry. And my bed is just so comfy...

As for new year's resolutions, I'm not sure I'm actually making any. Last year's didn't go so well. Sure, I stole a couple notable pens (Levitra is my favorite as it becomes erect) but I can't exactly say I was a "better vegetarian" (especially since I let myself eat Lil smokies with Wendy. What can I say? I think they really went with Mac n Cheese and Maker's and Coke...). I pretty much find resolutions intimidating and self defeating. Still, I intend to work towards shedding the weight and the clutter, I just won't "resolve" to do it. And, of course, this will be the year I am obsessed with my law school apps. (Next steps - approach my would-be recommenders and finish my personal statement...) I'd also like to be more grateful, so on that note, the top 3 things I am grateful for right now:

1. My mom is okay.
2. OC hasn't been to the vet in more than three months. (Normally, I'm not fond of exclamation points, but, Yay!!!) and
3. Was going to be my chiropractor but really, it's got to be my hubby. This whole law school idea hasn't been easy on him, but he's been really supportive (sometimes in super cute ways - like the good luck clover mosaic he made for me out of jade. Seriously, he never does arts and crafts...). Now he wants me to promise I'll practice in Florida or Texas after I graduate (since we will surely be cold cold cold during school...). Sounds reasonable, I guess, though I'm rooting for Florida...

Oh, and I am grateful that I am done with this blog. For now. Though that just means it's time to clean my bathroom.