Today my sister and I have: |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.5 miles) My sister worked out with me today. I told you she would. I am a slave driver!!! |
We're making some decent progress on my sister's wedding dress. I've got all of the lace around the seams removed and most of the bodice taken apart. Tomorrow, I will finish up the actual alterations then start sewing all the lace bits and beads back on. Fortunately, that's something that my sister can help me with so I won't be going it alone. I should get my sorry self to bed now. I've got a long day of work ahead of me tomorrow. Goodnight, fishies. |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (13.0 miles) My sister copped out and didn't work out with me today, but she will tomorrow. I will make sure of it. Muh ha ha ha! |
Today, I am taking my sister to meet C, Mistress of Wax, at Helga's House of Pain and to get her first ever underarm wax. Can you smell the excitement? :-) I asked her if she was excited and she gave me that "What kind of crack are you smoking?" look. Heh. Gotta love that sisterly bonding. |
"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 059 I've been busy spending time with my sister and almost completely forgot about the movie contest. Oops! It's a day late and a dollar short, but at least it's here. Good luck! |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.4 miles) My sister worked out with me today. She walked on the treadmill while I rode the exercise bike. It was nice having a workout partner for a change. Since we finished, she has announced that she's on vacation and does not want to work out again. Lazy turd. :-) |
Amazingly, we all managed to make it through the day yesterday without taking naps. We were all dragging around like zombies for a while, but everyone stayed awake. After we made shrimp scampi for dinner last night, my sister and I started working on her wedding dress. We spent a couple hours carefully picking lace off the bodice ofher dress one tedious stitch at a time, and we still have quite a bit more to do before we can even think about starting to make the actual alterations. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? We were interrupted by Mr Moo, who took us to the movies to see X-3. LOVED it! I know some of the reviews were kind of hard on it, but I really enjoyed it. You have to remember it's a fluff action movie, not an Academy Award winner. Just enjoy it for what it is. Today, we're having Mr Moo's mom over for a BBQ in the afternoon. His dad is out of town on a fishing trip so he's missing out on the festivities. It was supposed to have cleared up today, but there's still quite a bit of cloud cover out there. Let's hope it doesn't rain. |
My sister is here! She made it in to Portland last night without incident. Her plane landed a few minutes early even. It was quite late by the time we got home so she pretty much just went straight to bed. Today, we had a nice big brekkie courtesy of Mr Moo then headed out to do some shopping. We're now debating whether or not to take naps or get started on fitting her wedding dress. I have a feeling the naps are going to win this one. |
We leave to pick up my sister from the airport in approximately 45 minutes. Woot! I've been a cleaning madwoman most of the day. My sister's allergy to animal dander is much worse than mine. This house is now as cat hair free as it ever will be. I've washed all the linens she'll be using, closed off her room and have the air purifier running in there, and have vacuumed/dusted just about every surface I can reach. I'm sure she'll be a total sneezing mess while she's here anyway, but, hopefully, I've made it a little less horrible for her. Can't wait to see my sister! Squeee! |
We're about to head out to see the vet yet again today. That makes three Saturdays in a row. Josie's eye just isn't getting any better. Time to step up the meds and see if we can take care of this thing. If we don't find away to control the virus, she could go blind in that eye and/or eventually lose it. Not what I want to happen. So, much to her dismay, we're going to see the doctor again. EDIT: You know it's bad when the doctor walks into the exam room, takes one look at your cat and says, "Ewww!" Fortunately, the infection still has not entered her eye. Unfortunately, she's got a raging case of conjunctivitis (pink eye). Since the virus has not invaded her eyeball, we're not putting her on the human herpes medication just yet. The doctor sent me home with a stronger antibiotic ointment for her eye (Erythromycin) and antibiotic pills (Doxycycline) to give her in addition to the Lysine I'm already giving her. He said we're going to attack this thing from the inside and the outside. He's confident we'll see some improvement with the new meds and I'm to call him again on Friday with a status report. Cross your fingers. |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.9 miles) Another tough but good workout today. I'm running out of things on our TiVo to watch though. I need to start recording some more shows. |
It is monsooning right now. Complete with an occasional bit of hail. It's coming down so hard on my skylights at the moment, it's drowning out the TV. I hope it doesn't kill everything in our vegetable garden. I'm afraid I'm going to find a bunch of broken and bent baby corn plants later. |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.0 miles) Three days in a row. Go, me! |
Did anyone else watch American Idol last night? My TiVo cut off the last few minutes of it. What happened right after Ryan announced the winner? Did the winner sing their awful song? Did Ryan ever say what the voting breakdown percentages were? Help a girl out here! |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (11.3 miles) I didn't go quite as far today as I did yesterday, but it was still a decent workout. We had dinner right after I finished. Watched American Idol. And now, I shower. |
Just spoke with our vet again. Josie's eye looked just awful when I got up this morning and does not appear to be getting better at all. He assured me that she isn't dying and we just have to give it some time. It can take up to three weeks for it to completely heal. It's only been about four days since we started treatment. He did say, while it may not be back to 100% for a few weeks, we should see at least a little improvement by day seven. If not, we need to bring her in again and get her on some heavier duty medication. So, for now, we continue to medicate and wait. |
Did I mention that my sister will be here on Saturday? No? My sister will be here on Saturday! Woot! She'll be here all of next week. Our mission for this visit is to fit her wedding dress and complete any alterations needed. Her wedding isn't until September, but this is the last time we'll be together before then. Hopefully, we'll be able to get the alterations done right away and have the rest of the week to just hang out together. I still can't believe my baby sister is getting married. ((sob)) |
For anyone who might be interested, but mostly for my own records, these are the plants I have in my yard this year. |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (12.0 miles) I didn't work out over the weekend because I spent so much time working in the yard. And, yesterday, I didn't feel like working out with my head all shot up full of Novocaine. No excuses today though. I upped my target heart range a bit and I definitely could feel the difference. Feel the burn! |
Efficiency. That's what it's all about. I went to the dentist, had my filling replaced, stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things, came home, made a sammich and sat back down in my chair all in approximately 50 minutes. I wish everything was that easy. I am now attempting to eat said sammich with a half-functioning face. Thank goodness for napkins. |
I'm off to see the dentist once again this arvo. I've got a chipped filling that needs to be repaired/replaced. I had an appointment to get this done a few weeks ago, but cancelled it at the last minute because I wasn't feeling well. I've got a million and one things to do today and could stand to cancel again, but I don't want my dentist hating on me so I'll suck it up and go. Let's just hope that I'm not too messed up from the Novocaine when I get home because I have a bunch of phone calls to make. "My apologies. I seem to be drooling on myself." isn't exactly the professional image I want to put forth when talking to clients. |
"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 058 Ooo! I actually posted a new movie contest round on time. Makes for a change, eh? Enjoy! |
Mr Moo and I went to the garden center yesterday and bought a whole bunch of plants. |
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Another exciting morning at the Moo House. Josie has been coming down with what we thought was a cold over the past couple days. She's been sneezing a lot and I noticed yesterday morning that her right eye was more weepy than usual. By late last night, her eye was so swollen she was having a hard time opening it. I got up early (well, for me anyway) today, noticed it hadn't gotten any better and decided to take her to the vet. Turns out my baby has the herpes. Oh yay. Apparently, all cats carry the herpes virus and from the age of about 5 onward, they can have flare ups such as this. The vet said that 70% of the eye inflammations that they treat are caused by herpes. Who knew? He's fairly certain that the cortisone (steroid) shot she received last weekend for her rash weakened her immune system and triggered the flare up. It certainly makes sense and also explains the cold and low grade fever she's running. Anyway, he put some stain in her eyes and numbed them up to look for lesions and swab for irritants. She has a small abrasion on the affected eye (and a whole bunch of dust in it. Where did that come from?), but he said, since we got her in right away, the virus hasn't had a chance to really infect it, which is a very good thing. Had we waited until later in the week, her eye would have been covered in the virus and it would have been much more diffcult (or impossible) to treat. For now, I get to put ointment in her eye three times per day for a week and pill her once per day for two weeks. If it's not cleared up by next weekend, we get to bring her back in and put her on human (read: expensive) herpes medication. I should look into getting her in one of those commercials. "My name is Josie and I have the herpes. Talk to your doctor. Valtrex may be right for you, too."TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (10.4 miles) I've worked out two days in a row. It's a miracle! I already need to up my target heart rate a bit to make these workouts more efficient. I rode for a solid hour today, wasn't out of breath and barely broke a sweat. I'll crank it up tomorrow. |
I attempted to take a photo of our neighbors' house being painted. We don't have a good view from any of our windows because of the trees and this is the best I could come up with. |
"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 057 This round of the contest is either really late or really early. Guess it depends if you're a glass half empty or half full kind of person. Either way, here it is. Guess away! |
Oh, boy. There is going to be some major fan-hitting crap in our neighborhood soon. Our neighbors across the street are having their house painted. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. However, they've decided to change the color of their house and they've chosen a bright mustard color, which is way far from the homeowners association's list of approved colors. All of the houses here are very muted colors like white, gray and any number of very light taupe colors. I spoke with a friend of mine who used to be very involved with the HOA about it and her response was, "Uh-oh. That's not good." She said that a representative from the community management company drives through the neighborhood roughly once per week looking for things like this. I asked about what will happen once it is discovered and she said their only option is to repaint their house back to one of the approved colors - no ifs, ands or buts about it. Sucks to be my neighbors right about now. I know a lot of people think homeowners associations are the work of the devil and that's their choice. However, we have one in this neighborhood and, when you buy a house here, you sign the paperwork and agree to abide by the rules and covenants set down by the HOA. If one doesn't like HOAs or doesn't like the rules, one should not buy a house in a planned community such as this. We pay them a lot of money every year to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood, which keeps our property values high and protects our investments. Yes, I realize that the rules can be strict (the limited house paint colors is a perfect example), but I don't think any of them are horribly unreasonable and they are worth it in the long run. |
TODAY'S WORKOUT: 60 minutes on the bike (10.2 miles) It's been forever and a day since I last worked out. However, with each and every passing day, my sister's wedding draws nearer and my arse remains large. Figured I'd better get off it and do something. I have managed to lose 14 pounds in the past few months with just changes in my diet, but I'm at a plateau and need to jump start things again. I don't expect to be anywhere near my ideal goal weight before the wedding arrives because that would involve becoming anorexic or something equally crazy. I'd be happy dropping another 14 pounds though. 14 pounds in just under 4 months. I think it's do-able. |
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Yesterday was buckets of fun. Not. I spent most of it in pain. I must have slept wrong the night before. The very top and entire left side of my back were in knots. I debated taking a heavy duty med for it, but I didn't want to spend the day zombified so I just suffered through it. When Mr Moo got home, he was kind enough to bring my
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We had a very nice time with Mr Moo's parents today. I know I, for one, ate way too much. We had grilled steaks and lobster tail, sauteed broccoli with carrots, roasted asparagus, and garlic mash. For dessert we had strawberry shortcake, fresh raspberries, and ice cream. I don't know if it was the bloat from overeating, the heat from sitting outside on the patio in the sun after dinner, or both, but Mr Moo and I just could not stay awake after his parents left. We ended up taking some serious naps. I swear, if they ever make sleeping an Olympic event, we'll be gold medal winners. |
My in-laws are coming over this arvo to celebrate Mother's Day with us. We've decided to keep it low key (when don't we do things low key?) and eat at home rather than go out to eat somewhere and have to fight the crowds. We're making steaks on the grill. Yummay! Mr Moo is on his way to the grocery store to pick up a few more things and I need to get to work cleaning up the house. Hope everyone has a wonderful day today! |
Mr Moo and I are going to see Mission: Impossible 3 tonight at 2150. Wheee! I'll report back in later, if I'm not too tired. Cyas! EDIT: Okay. Here's the deal. If you can manage to forget for two or so hours that Tom Cruise is a complete fruit loop and that the laws of physics don't work quite the same in the movies as they do in real life, M:I 3 is definitely worth seeing. The action was great. The story was engaging and moved right along. And the supporting cast was fantastic. If you like movies with car chases, gunfire and splodin' stuff, go see this one. Just remember to check your reality at the door. |
Everyone survived our trip to see the vet this afternoon. Not everyone was thrilled about it, but everyone survived. Since we returned home, we've all been outside. Mr Moo and I have been doing some yardwork and the cats have been lying around in the sun like corpses. It was a beautiful day outside today. Sunny and warm, but not too hot. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer and they're predicting Monday will be a total scorcher. Forecasted high temp: 90F/32C. Phew! I'll need to remember to get outside and water my plants again. |
It's that time of the year again. We're taking the see-ay-tees to the vee-eee-tee for their annual check-ups and shots today. They're being all loving at the moment, but that's about to change. Dramatically. There will be no mo' lovin' for the momma for the rest of today once they realize where we're going. However, I would trade one day of being hated for them being healthy anytime. Look for me when we get back. I'll be the one looking like a yeti from being covered in cat hair. |
Is anyone else dying from allergies these days? Or am I suffering alone? My nose is so red from blowing it all the time and my eyes from rubbing them, I look like a drunk. I seriously need to buy some stock in Kleenex. |
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I recently purchased an Air Wick Scented Oil X-Press air freshener. Between our two indoor kitties and Mr Moo's cooking, the house can get a little stankarific at times. Not exactly what you strive for when you have clients coming over. I have one of these here in my office with a Harvest Spice oil cartridge in it. It's a "warm blend of cinnamon, ginger and clove with a touch of vanilla and a hint of crisp red apple". I tend to stay away from heavy floral scents because, like many perfumes, they can give me a migraine. Cinnamon is always a safe bet. Well, to be honest, it's never worked all that well and I've never really been able to smell it very much unless I'm standing over it. I figured I was either too used to it or this room was just too large for it to work very well. When I decided to buy one for downstairs, I was actually pleased that it wasn't all that effective because I didn't want to overwhelm my clients with whatever the aroma du jour happened to be. I had intended to get another Harvest Spice cartridge, but the store was out of them. My next safe bet: Country Berries. I mean, who doesn't like the smell of berries? I plugged in the unit, clicked on the little fan to get it going and let it run. Let me tell you something. Either the unit I have here in the office is defective or the cinnamon scented oil is watered down or something because that little air freshening unit filled up my downstairs with aroma so thick I could almost see it. So much for my grand plan of having it not work very well. I've sinced learned that I only need to plug it in every once in a great while and just letting is sit out on the table keeps the aroma at non-seizure levels. It's a good thing I figured this out because, turns out, I'm not a big fan of Country Berries. Do you know what their "refreshing blend of raspberries and strawberries and warmed with hints of vanilla" smells like? Medicated cough drops. Yup. It's like living inside a giant I've had to re-do the polls on my website again. Sigh. Spambots had discovered the "leave a comment" area and were leaving hundreds snd hundreds of spam comments. How utterly annoying. I've found a new site to host my polls that requires registration before leaving a comment, which should take care of that problem. The new site also allows me to embed the polls on my site using javascript, which is very nice. Now, after you vote, it updates a small part of the page and displays the results right there. No more being sent off to a different website to see the results. It also allows me to insert images as part of the polls, which, I think, is a lot more fun. I have to admit that I'm rather impressed with the whole thing. I know it seems like I post about this every few months, but, if you have a few spare moments, please, feel free to take my polls (for the 8 billionth time, I know). I'm hoping to add some new ones very soon. Click here for polls! |
The new office chair I special ordered from Office Depot last week for Mr Moo arrived today. He's been using this tiny joke of a chair that is so old I can't even remember where we got it from. It's much too small, non-adjustable and on the verge of falling apart. He's quite the tightwad when it comes to buying stuff for the house though. He hasn't complained about it in the hopes that he wouldn't have to buy a new one. I know it's uncomfortable and has been bothering him for a while, so I went ahead, spent the money and ordered him a better chair. He'll probably gripe about the money, but he'll just have to learn to get over it. Anyhoo, the UPS truck pulled up in front of my house a little while ago. I watched the delivery lady (what happened to the cute delivery guy who used to wave at me all the time?) carry the box to my front door - and by "carry", I mean "kick it to the front of the truck, hurl it down the stairs and drag it across the driveway". Good grief! I'm amazed that the box is still in one piece. Granted, a couple of the corners are smooshed and there is a large dent and gash on the bottom of it, but it is in one piece. I haven't opened it yet for fear of seeing the state of things inside. I think I'll leave that pleasure for Mr Moo. |
For anyone who might possibly be concerned, I'm not dead. I've just been super duper pooper busy with some client website work. |
Crazy Mole Man update. We made hamburgers on the grill for dinner and ate out on the patio since the weather was so beautiful tonight. While we were eating, I noticed something moving in the grass on the hill right by the birdfeeders. Thinking it was just a bird hunting around for some spilled seed, I didn't say anything and let it go. A few seconds later, I saw it again only, this time, I noticed the "bird" had a little black nose and fur. It was the mole! And he was huge! I very calmly told Mr Moo to not freak out and pointed out that the mole was looking at us. He promptly stopped eating and got his crazy on. He stood at the top of the hill for a little while hoping the mole would appear again, which it did not. After we finished dinner, brought our dishes in and cleaned up a bit, Mr Moo headed back outside with a shovel, a book of matches and one of these: |
I'm attempting to do some serious spring cleaning this year. The room that used to be Mr Moo's office has turned into a giant storage dumping ground. If there is anything in the house that we're not sure what to do with, it ends up getting tossed in there. Since Mr Moo has a desk here in my office now, we can get away with it. However, it's getting to the point where it's difficult to just walk into that room because of all the boxes and stuff piled up on the floor. I am determined to bring some order to that room. First on the agenda, getting rid of the nearly 300 ancient cassette tapes that we haven't touched in years. |
Just arrived via FedEx: EDIT: Wow. I thought we were getting shafted paying 2.5 times the face value for these tickets. I looked up these same exact tickets for a game versus the NY Yankees. They're selling for EIGHT TIMES face value. Crikey! |
Some of you may remember my tales of the mole/gopher/whatever it is living behind our house in the pond area and the seven shades of crazy it was making Mr Moo. We had developed a peace treaty with the creature wherein, if the mole was to stay down in the pond area (and thus out of our lawn), he was free to live, play and do as he pleases. Well, sometime in the past couple days, the mole has developed weapons of mass destruction and invaded. |
I give you Cows in Shining Armor - May (click to see full size): |
I received a thank you postcard today for my hair donation to Locks of Love. |
I just bought Red Sox tickets for when Mr Moo and I will be in MA for my sister's wedding. We're going to Fenway! WOOT! August 31 versus the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:05pm. |
