I would just like to wish Kat the happiest of birthdays - and not only because I take great joy in knowing that she turns 42 a full month and 11 days before I do.

But also because she is the bestest ex-stepsister I could ever have. And she knows that the “ex” and the “step” part mean absolutely nothing. She is my sister and she is my longest long-term friend, for the last 33 years.

Holy hell are we old….

Love ya, Kat! (And Laurel too!)

P.S.  -  Remember, Kat, that my dad reads this too. So as old as we feel, he’s feeling even older. Hehe… (Love ya too, Dad!)

Share This

So, our little diva escaped the other day. The Boyfriend was getting ready to leave for work and when he opened up the front door, she was out like a shot. He immediately went into panic mode and started to chase her. BAD IDEA.

It was a nice day and because of that, Princess, TOTO and I had decided to walk somewhere off campus for lunch. We were having a great time, right up until the moment where I returned to my office to find two frantic messages from The Boyfriend. I started to FREAK OUT because all I could think about was that I just spent $165 on tests and vaccinations and now she’d escaped. According to The Boyfriend, she’d headed straight for her old house. I had visions of the asshats coming back to suddenly reclaim their abandoned cats and me needing to fight them for custody of Zola.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. I got home, grabbed the bag of kitty treats and started calling for her. And then I waited. She finally showed up next to the asshats’ house, right by their next door neighbor’s car. I calmly approached her and asked her if she wanted treats. She sauntered in my direction, but just before I could snatch her up, a UPS truck rolled by and scared her off again. But the treats brought her back and before she even knew what was happening, she was back in the living room of her NEW house, munching happily away.

When JM got home from work a short time later, we ran up to Pet Supplies Plus and bought, among other things, a hot pink collar with a bell on it. She looks so adorable with it on! Not only that, it gives us an idea where she’s at if we can’t see her and we’re headed toward a door. But she hasn’t even tried to get out since The Great Escape. Perhaps she realized once and for all that being here is living the good life?

Today, Alex and Zola touched noses for the first time since they’ve met. The protesting still takes place, but it has lessened considerably. I think they’re doing really well considering it hasn’t even been a week since they were introduced. The Boyfriend thinks that Alex will end up adoring her. He might be right. She’s kinda hard not to love.

Especially when she does things like earlier this evening: JM had taken her collar off to put on a tag that we registered. When he had it attached, he held up the collar to see how it looked and she ran over to him, as if to say, “Hey! That’s MINE!” And then she offered no resistance at all when we put it back on her. I think she knows how good a look it is for her.

Diva might not be far from the truth with this one…

Share This

Zola went to the vet for the very first time today. It was with great trepidation that I awaited the results of her feline leukemia test. After just a few days with this sweet girl, I have become attached to her. It also didn’t help that we were in the same exam room where I said goodbye to my beautiful Mickey. I only almost cried once, though.

Feline leukemia was negative, though she did test positive for a tapeworm parasite. She was treated for that in the office and will have a follow up in a few weeks. While we were there, they clipped her nails and she received her first vaccination for distemper.

The car ride there wasn’t horrible, because she was in the carrier. But she definitely did NOT care for the carrier at all. She scratched and clawed and dug the at the floor and the sides - to no avail of course. But at the vet’s office itself, she was a total trooper. Not one complaint except for a sore claw spot that they figure she got caught on something. She didn’t flinch at the shot and while she didn’t really enjoy the de-worming pill, she took it like an old pro. Not bad for a cat who had never seen a vet before.

He estimates that she is about seven or eight months old, which would put her at about twice the age Mickey was when we got her. But Zola is about the same size as Mickey was. I expect she’ll be rather petite.

So, today was a good day for her. She’s adapting to her new home quite well. Just now, a guy strolled down the street with two dogs that were barking loudly and constantly. And Miss Zola, crashed out on the floor next to my chair, never even moved. She knows she’s safe at home.

Mickey would be pleased.

Share This

This is Zola.

Pending the outcome of her visit to the vet (hopefully early tomorrow morning), she’s going to be Alex’s new little sister.

He hasn’t met her yet. Well, not officially. I’m sure he’s encountered her outside once or twice. You see, Zola is one of the four cats abandoned by the asshat neighbors across the street. I was convinced none of them would make good pets because I couldn’t get her to come near me. But H, my neighbor next door to the asshats, had somehow coaxed her up on the front porch and it turns out she’s quite the affectionate little lady.

So, hopefully she’ll get a clean bill of health. If she does, we’ll have cats from A:

to Z:

Share This

The following is an email exchange between The Boyfriend and me:

Subject: Scenic drive
From: The Boyfriend

Do we want to plan a scenic covered bridge drive sometime soon? Woodsfield, OH. Down 26. Hotel room, two days of a nice drive.

Subject: Re: Scenic drive
From: Me

Who are you and what are you doing accessing my boyfriend’s email account???

I then sent a text message to my dear friend W:

“The Boyfriend just asked me if I want to go on a scenic drive for two days to see covered bridges. Abducted by aliens?”

Her response:

“Maybe.”

(FYI, I’m all for the trip.)

Share This

Not long before I left work today, TOTO came to me with a copy of our local paper’s Letters to the Editor and pointed out one written by someone who is “done” with our university. The letter writer ended it by saying she would do her master’s degree at our rival university, which is probably one of the reasons TOTO enjoyed it so much, seeing as she’s a graduate from that same university.

And that’s all well and good. TOTO is more than entitled to rub it in our faces that her football team is better than ours and all sorts of other things. But quite frankly, the things that the letter writer complained about kind of pissed me off. And the more I thought about it, the more angry I became.

Make no mistake about it; I wholeheartedly believe that things could be much better where I went to school and now work. But I hardly think the reasons listed were reasons to declare yourself “done” with your alma mater. For starters, she complained about paying an exorbitant amount for parking, while not being able to find a spot to park. This is such a bullshit complaint. There is plenty of parking on campus. What the real complaint is “I don’t want to have to walk far.” Usually said while whining. I have a friend (Hi Mon, if you’re reading!) who went to MSU and every morning for a while, we’d drop each other emails and complain about how long it was taking for spring to arrive. Mon had to walk a hell of a long way from her car to her building and frequently complained of frozen things, but never about the walking itself. Because that is a fact of life at universities and people need to get over the whole “woe is me” aspect of actually using their feet to transport themselves from one location to another.

The letter writer complained of her husband’s poor advising. I sympathize. As a non-traditional student myself, I also had a terrible adviser. Fortunately, I knew how to read a degree audit and I talked to one of my professors who made sure I was on the right track. In other words, *gasp* I took responsibility for my own education. I understand there are bad advisers. One of my colleagues who wants to attend classes right now just experienced a frustrating time finding the answers he needed. It often takes more than one phone call to more than one person. This is a legitimate issue, but from what I’ve heard from others at different universities, this is not a problem exclusive to our university. TOTO’s experience at our rival university was a good one. I’m glad for that. But that doesn’t mean other problems don’t exist. I was cautioned to hold off on looking into a particular program offered at that rival university because they’ve lost some of their better faculty members in the department. Hopefully, the letter writer’s experience will be similar to TOTO’s, but guess what? Nothing is guaranteed.

I think the thing that ticked me off the most was the biggest reason our letter writer listed for being “done” with our university: ticket limits on commencement. A couple of different issues led to these ticket limits. Fall commencement was canceled due to inclement weather and all those students were invited back to participate in the spring ceremony. But since our campus arena is undergoing renovation, individual colleges had to have their commencements in other locations. Hence the ticket limits. The letter writer was upset that there weren’t enough tickets for four parents and a spouse to attend.

We had a student working for us who is from Poland. She found out very late that both her grandfather and her father would be able to come to the U.S. to attend her graduation and this was going to result in a problem with the ticket limit. She talked to us for ideas and TOTO put her in touch with someone who might have been able to help. We told her to talk to her adviser to see if perhaps he was aware of anyone who wasn’t using a ticket. TOTO suggested asking other students in her classes. We don’t know for certain if she was able to get them all in, because when we saw her last, she only said that graduation was “perfect.” But through it all, even while she was trying to find that extra ticket, she never once complained.

We should all be so gracious.

Share This

Must have been a rough game

JM and I were at the grocery store tonight, standing in line behind someone in a familiar looking uniform: a high school baseball umpire. His only two items of purchase? A box of Keebler Club Crackers and a 40 oz. Bud Light. Crackers and beer. The solution to all that ails you.

Speaking of baseball

My friend Rob told me a few weeks ago about how his mom, also a Cubs fan, once skipped school to see a game. It ended up being the first no-hitter thrown by an African-American pitcher, Sam Jones. Imagine being her, seeing that take place and being unable to share it with anyone because you skipped school! I’d totally face up to whatever punishment I had coming. Anyway, today is the anniversary of that game. If I heard Len and Bob correctly, there were only 2900 people in the stands. And my friend’s mom was one of them. Awesome!

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to camp he goes

JL left for Pennsylvania early Saturday morning, kicking off his fourth summer of working at a YMCA camp there. This time, I’ve suggested to him that perhaps he try to find something full time and establish residency, so that he can go to school there. JL is at his best when he’s away from home, much as it pains me to say it.

Fasting sucks

I have to have blood work done first thing tomorrow morning, and I have to fast in the meantime. So, of course EVERYTHING sounds good right now. Oh who the hell am I kidding? Everything always sounds good.

My biggest peeve surfaces yet again

Today was the first day of summer semester. At about 8:30 a.m., I walked over to the student union with two colleagues so that they could get coffee from Starbucks and I could get something for breakfast. Much to our surprise, Starbucks was locked up tight. TOTO went up to the office that runs all of the food services on campus and they didn’t seem to know anything, but we happened to bump into an employee of Starbucks who said that they were closed down for the summer. We also found out Subway is closed, but they were reopening the Scoreboard Grill in its place. Except that they had no register and no food. We heard they were going through all of the other restaurants’ freezers, trying to find things to prepare for any potential customers. That’s a little scary. Oh, and they’re serving non-Starbucks coffee in Starbucks cups.

Here’s the peeve part, though. Someone made a decision to change things and neglected to give any word that a change was taking place. I don’t care what the reason is for shutting both places down. I just think it’s wrong to not let your customers know. The only signs in the union stated both would be open all summer. The website says both places will be open all summer. The employees reportedly only found out over the weekend. One thing we’ve heard is they’re remodeling. My son came home and told me the organization with the food services contract is out the door. I know a bazillion people who would be OVERJOYED if that rumor is true, because that organization sucks. We have the most expensive Starbucks prices in the city. I kid you not. There’s a Starbucks in the grocery store I was at tonight and I compared prices. Some things were up to a dollar less than what they are on campus.

But whatever they’re trying to do, someone needs to COMMUNICATE with the campus community. Putting up a sign or two just isn’t that difficult.

In conclusion…

That’s really about it. Excuse the crankiness. It’s the fasting. It’s certainly NOT the Cubs who are currently leading the Padres 12-2. Maybe it’s safe to go to bed early.

** ETA: The decision to shut down Starbucks and Subway was reversed today, due to a large number of complaints. For what it’s worth, I had emailed the people in charge of food services and copied our president on it. I was pleased to see that he had forwarded it to someone in his office, asking them to investigate the situation and get back to me. It’s nice to know that someone is listening.

Share This

Here’s a thought:

If a certain colleague spent even just half as much time visiting other people throughout the day, going from one cubicle to the next, chatting about godknowswhat, maybe… just maybe… that colleague could, oh I don’t know… do his or her own job instead of trying to pawn it off on our newest employee?

As a bonus, it would also virtually ELIMINATE any “despair” over how swamped said colleague is. The solution to staying caught up is to actually DO YOUR WORK!

Share This

1) Every single baseball announcer comparing Kosuke Fukodome to Icharo and Matsui. I get it - they’re all from Japan. But every. single. game. with a new announcer… they throw up the photo of Fukudome next to a shot of Icharo… it’s getting old. Wake up, baseball announcers! You’re not saying ANYTHING new - especially you ESPN guys.

2) Every single baseball announcer commenting on the fact that it’s strange for Alfonso Soriano to be hitting in the lead off spot. Does it really freaking matter? After the first inning, there’s no guarantee he’ll be up first again. Again, old news. Quit rehashing what others have already stated. You all make me want to turn my volume down! Except Len and Bob, of course.

3) The three men currently residing in my home. Hellooooo… doctor’s orders state I’m not supposed to be doing dishes. Pick up some slack, you slackers. And do NOT point out to me that my cereal bowl is still sitting on the counter, unless you’d like a rundown of how many things you currently have strewn about the rest of the house. When everyone else living here is working 40 hours a week, we’ll talk about the unfair distribution of housework. Until then, do my bidding - you bastards!

4) Tendinitis. It hurts. ‘Nuff said.

5) Crying over the fate of animals. After watching the Kentucky Derby yesterday, I ecstatically rooted for Eight Belles and was thrilled to see her come in second, beating out all those boys except the favorite. And then I was devastated only moments later when they announced that she’d broken both of her front ankles and had to be euthanized right there on the track. I looked at The Boyfriend in absolute horror and pleaded with him to change the channel immediately. And then I burst into tears. I know it was the humane thing for them to do, but the bizarre timing of the two events just rattled me. I’m tearing up again just thinking about it.

6) Being abandoned by The Boyfriend on a gorgeous spring day. He met friends for disc golf at noon. At 4:30, he finally called me to say he was at JoJo’s. And then he went back to the park for more golf, finally sauntering in at 7 p.m. So, I hung out here alone all day, frustrated over the fact that I couldn’t do any yardwork because of the tendinitis. And now? He’s sound asleep, oblivious to how pissed off I really am. Dork.

Share This