Do you realize that I have had at least 13 phone numbers in my life? I found this out today when Shawn was filling out an application for his HSA at a credit union. He had decided to set up a regular savings account at the same time and opted to make it a joint account.
Apparently they do a quick and dirty history check or credit check or something because they give you like 4 multiple choice questions that you have to answer correctly before they'll let you open the account. One of those questions is "which of the following was your phone number?" and then give you 4 options. I went with "none of the above" because none of the numbers looked familiar. That was apparently the wrong answer.
Now Shawn has to wait until (likely) Tuesday when they will call me/email me to ask me God knows what to figure out that I am who I say I am. All because I didn't remember a phone number that I had at some point in my life.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Voting
This year, I may do something I've never done before. I may actually vote in the republican primary in Texas. You see, Texas is different than other states - you can easily switch parties back and forth every 2 years. (mostly because they send you a new voter registration card which has political affiliation blank). Since I am a firm believer in "one shall not complain when one did not participate", I have decided that I can only complain about those up for election if I at least made a decision on who should be there.
As Obama will be running for re-election, and there really isn't any choice that can be made for third parties (no primary elections); ipso facto, the republican primary is the only point where 'decision' comes in prior to the big November election.
As I usually don't keep track of who wants to run while they're all switching around all the time - "is he running, is he not" type stuff, I have decided that I should research each of the (still running) candidates and create a comparison. I'll try to do 1 a week...which should keep me busy until primary day...which I think is in March.
As Obama will be running for re-election, and there really isn't any choice that can be made for third parties (no primary elections); ipso facto, the republican primary is the only point where 'decision' comes in prior to the big November election.
As I usually don't keep track of who wants to run while they're all switching around all the time - "is he running, is he not" type stuff, I have decided that I should research each of the (still running) candidates and create a comparison. I'll try to do 1 a week...which should keep me busy until primary day...which I think is in March.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
2011: Meme version
1. What did you do in 2011 that you had never done before?
I participated in an organized biking event (the Austin Livestrong Challenge). We rode 65 miles through the rolling hill country of Texas.
2. Do you keep New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I stopped making New Year's resolutions because you have to want to change, you can't just say "ah it's a new year, I need to change". well, I mean I guess you could, but it just seems odd. As Yoda said, "Do or do not, there is no try."
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes - my sister-in-law had her third child in late October. Shawn's cousin, Heather, gave birth to her first kid around the same time. AND Shawn's other cousin, Val, gave birth to her second kid in June, I think... Also, my friend's wife had a baby at the end of May.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no
5. What countries did you visit?
None. We be boring.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn't get in 2011?
a calm year, cat-wise. So perhaps no trips to the e-vet?
7. What dates from 2011 will be etched in your memory and why?
May 29, June 13 and December 15 - Mah boobs. The 29th being when I found the lump, the 13th being when I got the biopsy proving that it was benign, and the 15th because it was my 6-month follow-up (in which the lump has doubled in size, thus meaning I get to have surgery in early 2012. yay).
8. What is your biggest achievement of the year?
Not being bitten by a rattlesnake while in Washington State.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not realizing I was walking over a rattlesnake while in Washington.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes - I'm going to consider the lump as an illness.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My cat's life...well, both of them, really...
12. Whose behavior merited recognition?
My bosses, my husband.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Those involved with the Penn State Scandal.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The money that I actually spent? It was spent on the cats. sigh...
15. What did you get really excited about?
Going to an Indian wedding in Washington.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
I don't know...Phoenix's Listomania?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you a) happier or sadder, b) thinner or fatter, c) richer or poorer?
Same, fatter by 2 pounds, and probably richer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
vacations, and exercising.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
it's probably tied between less internet surfing and less watching TV.
20. How will you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve will be with my family (they're currently on their way here - Yay!!), and Christmas day will be with Shawn's family. Boxing Day will be with Shawn's extended family.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
I've been in love for a while now, so other than falling in love with TV shows, no.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
I do like Once Upon a Time, But Misfits will probably the one I remember as being in 2011.
23. What was the best book you read?
Altar of Eden by James Rollins, probably... Especially since I re-read a bunch of my other books.
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
"Where soul meets body" by Death Cab for Cutie. Even though, of course, that song came out in 2005...
25. What did you want and get?
To travel to a new state (Washington)
26. What did you want and not get?
To go to Olympic National Park. Also, to go to Vancouver with the husband for his conference (which was over our anniversary), but alas, I was at my own conference in Maryland. That's right, we spent our anniversary in different countries and couldn't even call each other.
27. What was your favorite film of 2011?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 I would surmise...we don't get out much...
28. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I had a party for the first time in many, many years. I turned 30.
29. What one thing would have made your year immensely more satisfying?
Not having a lump...
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011?
plain tee shirts and jeans.
31. What kept you sane?
my family and my friends.
32. What political issues stirred you the most?
Bachmann just scares the shit out of me...
33. Who did you miss?
my family and friends who don't live close by.
34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?
Feel your ta-tas.
35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Not really a song, but I love the HEB commercial where the little kids are all dressed for the thanksgiving pageant and there's a line in there about the cousin's bringing the tamales, "a delicioso treat" as the third tamale kid trips and takes a header into the stage. It's awesome.
I participated in an organized biking event (the Austin Livestrong Challenge). We rode 65 miles through the rolling hill country of Texas.
2. Do you keep New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I stopped making New Year's resolutions because you have to want to change, you can't just say "ah it's a new year, I need to change". well, I mean I guess you could, but it just seems odd. As Yoda said, "Do or do not, there is no try."
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes - my sister-in-law had her third child in late October. Shawn's cousin, Heather, gave birth to her first kid around the same time. AND Shawn's other cousin, Val, gave birth to her second kid in June, I think... Also, my friend's wife had a baby at the end of May.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no
5. What countries did you visit?
None. We be boring.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn't get in 2011?
a calm year, cat-wise. So perhaps no trips to the e-vet?
7. What dates from 2011 will be etched in your memory and why?
May 29, June 13 and December 15 - Mah boobs. The 29th being when I found the lump, the 13th being when I got the biopsy proving that it was benign, and the 15th because it was my 6-month follow-up (in which the lump has doubled in size, thus meaning I get to have surgery in early 2012. yay).
8. What is your biggest achievement of the year?
Not being bitten by a rattlesnake while in Washington State.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not realizing I was walking over a rattlesnake while in Washington.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes - I'm going to consider the lump as an illness.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My cat's life...well, both of them, really...
12. Whose behavior merited recognition?
My bosses, my husband.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Those involved with the Penn State Scandal.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The money that I actually spent? It was spent on the cats. sigh...
15. What did you get really excited about?
Going to an Indian wedding in Washington.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
I don't know...Phoenix's Listomania?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you a) happier or sadder, b) thinner or fatter, c) richer or poorer?
Same, fatter by 2 pounds, and probably richer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
vacations, and exercising.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
it's probably tied between less internet surfing and less watching TV.
20. How will you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve will be with my family (they're currently on their way here - Yay!!), and Christmas day will be with Shawn's family. Boxing Day will be with Shawn's extended family.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
I've been in love for a while now, so other than falling in love with TV shows, no.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
I do like Once Upon a Time, But Misfits will probably the one I remember as being in 2011.
23. What was the best book you read?
Altar of Eden by James Rollins, probably... Especially since I re-read a bunch of my other books.
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
"Where soul meets body" by Death Cab for Cutie. Even though, of course, that song came out in 2005...
25. What did you want and get?
To travel to a new state (Washington)
26. What did you want and not get?
To go to Olympic National Park. Also, to go to Vancouver with the husband for his conference (which was over our anniversary), but alas, I was at my own conference in Maryland. That's right, we spent our anniversary in different countries and couldn't even call each other.
27. What was your favorite film of 2011?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 I would surmise...we don't get out much...
28. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I had a party for the first time in many, many years. I turned 30.
29. What one thing would have made your year immensely more satisfying?
Not having a lump...
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011?
plain tee shirts and jeans.
31. What kept you sane?
my family and my friends.
32. What political issues stirred you the most?
Bachmann just scares the shit out of me...
33. Who did you miss?
my family and friends who don't live close by.
34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?
Feel your ta-tas.
35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Not really a song, but I love the HEB commercial where the little kids are all dressed for the thanksgiving pageant and there's a line in there about the cousin's bringing the tamales, "a delicioso treat" as the third tamale kid trips and takes a header into the stage. It's awesome.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
CATZ!
1) When your previously heretofore cat with the feeding tube decides to hork up said feeding tube and chew off the end of it, try not to freak out. This is more stressful to the human than the cat. But when that cat opts to re-swallow the still attached feeding tube only to somehow sneeze it into her nasal passages thus causing her to breathe funny (i.e. horribly and stutteringly), it probably really is as stressful to the cat as it is to the humans who have been awake for approximately 3.2 seconds.
2) When you finally make the call that you will take the possibly not breathing and gasping for air cat to the emergency vet, be prepared to wait for a while because the cat will act normal and breathe normally as soon as you get to the vet. You will then question if you just happened to dream it all up.
3) The emergency vet will recommend taking some x-rays to check on the tube placement. These x-rays will indicate that the tube is behind the soft palette instead of in the esophagus as expected. The vet will try to get the tube in the correct orientation. You are welcome to wait in the front lobby watching reruns of Victoria Stilwell's "It's me or the dog" while talking to the receptionist with whom you are on a first name basis because your cat used to be at the e-vet all the time 2 months ago.
4) After the surgery, the cat in question will sneeze upon waking up, thus causing the tube to go into her nasal passages again.
5) The vet will just take the damn tube out.
6) Now you can go home and pray that your cat will eat and drink enough to not need any more feed tube nonsense.
7) Be relieved that the cat does indeed eat and drink.
8) A few days later, take the other cat to the vet because he's got the runs (to make sure it's not worms or other nasties).
9) Try not to be surprised when the vet calls later to state that they think the cat may have a touch of the diabetes (This is much more tolerable if you can pretend that the pronunciation is 'die-uh-bet-us' instead of 'die-us-beet-ees').
10) Do not get worried when the vet also says they will be sending blood to the lab to test for both the diabetes and FELV. Especially since you have been vaccinating your cat against said FELV disease since before birth. It does not help that the tech tells you that the FELV vaccine is not 100% and that her cat, in fact, did get FELV despite being fully vaccinated. Try not to freak out too much when you realize that your possibly FELV+ cat donated blood to your kidney problems cat a month ago.
11) Talk to the vet post blood results to find out that, indeed, your cat has the diabetes. It is expected that you will have to give said cat insulin shots. Do not be alarmed that the insulin recommended for cats costs $100 for a 100-unit vial.
12) Go to the vet to go over how to give your cat the insulin. Try to come up with a way to feed your kidney-issues cat a high carb, low protein diet throughout the day while giving your diabetes cat a high protein, low carb diet with only 2 feedings per day. Keep in mind that never the twain shall meet (i.e. they must eat their own food. bad things happen when they eat the other food).
13) Pay $50 for a bag of low-carb dry food (jeebus christ, cat!) Also, the food has quite a bit of "by-product". Not even the cheap cat food at the pet store has this much by-product in the first 5 ingredients.
14) Read online that you really can feed cats high-protein wet food on a non-prescription diet that is damn close to the prescription diet, and a mite-bit cheaper.
15) Go to PetSmart and spend the better part of an hour in the wet cat food isle reading ingredient lists trying to figure out which ones are low-carb and which ones are not (hint: generally the 'gravy' varieties are higher carb). Seriously think about finding out if you can cook meals for cheaper.
16) Go get a blood glucose meter to track your diabetes cat.
17) Go buy a second blood glucose meter and strips because you didn't realize that glucose meters don't come with test strips and it will take a week for the test strips to come in from Amazon. NOTE: The reason you will buy a secondary glucose meter and test strips is because it will be $40 cheaper than buying just the strips for your first meter.
18) Go home and spend an hour or so trying to get a drop of blood from your cat. Do not get frustrated that every time you manage to get a drop of blood on his ear, he will shake his head thus leaving you to start from square one.
19) Eventually give up on finding out his 'pre' blood sugar. Feed him some food and give him his insulin shot (which he doesn't even realize you're doing. JUST GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY EARS, EVIL WOMAN!
20) Wait almost 2 hours and finally get a good blood drop and test.
2) When you finally make the call that you will take the possibly not breathing and gasping for air cat to the emergency vet, be prepared to wait for a while because the cat will act normal and breathe normally as soon as you get to the vet. You will then question if you just happened to dream it all up.
3) The emergency vet will recommend taking some x-rays to check on the tube placement. These x-rays will indicate that the tube is behind the soft palette instead of in the esophagus as expected. The vet will try to get the tube in the correct orientation. You are welcome to wait in the front lobby watching reruns of Victoria Stilwell's "It's me or the dog" while talking to the receptionist with whom you are on a first name basis because your cat used to be at the e-vet all the time 2 months ago.
4) After the surgery, the cat in question will sneeze upon waking up, thus causing the tube to go into her nasal passages again.
5) The vet will just take the damn tube out.
6) Now you can go home and pray that your cat will eat and drink enough to not need any more feed tube nonsense.
7) Be relieved that the cat does indeed eat and drink.
8) A few days later, take the other cat to the vet because he's got the runs (to make sure it's not worms or other nasties).
9) Try not to be surprised when the vet calls later to state that they think the cat may have a touch of the diabetes (This is much more tolerable if you can pretend that the pronunciation is 'die-uh-bet-us' instead of 'die-us-beet-ees').
10) Do not get worried when the vet also says they will be sending blood to the lab to test for both the diabetes and FELV. Especially since you have been vaccinating your cat against said FELV disease since before birth. It does not help that the tech tells you that the FELV vaccine is not 100% and that her cat, in fact, did get FELV despite being fully vaccinated. Try not to freak out too much when you realize that your possibly FELV+ cat donated blood to your kidney problems cat a month ago.
11) Talk to the vet post blood results to find out that, indeed, your cat has the diabetes. It is expected that you will have to give said cat insulin shots. Do not be alarmed that the insulin recommended for cats costs $100 for a 100-unit vial.
12) Go to the vet to go over how to give your cat the insulin. Try to come up with a way to feed your kidney-issues cat a high carb, low protein diet throughout the day while giving your diabetes cat a high protein, low carb diet with only 2 feedings per day. Keep in mind that never the twain shall meet (i.e. they must eat their own food. bad things happen when they eat the other food).
13) Pay $50 for a bag of low-carb dry food (jeebus christ, cat!) Also, the food has quite a bit of "by-product". Not even the cheap cat food at the pet store has this much by-product in the first 5 ingredients.
14) Read online that you really can feed cats high-protein wet food on a non-prescription diet that is damn close to the prescription diet, and a mite-bit cheaper.
15) Go to PetSmart and spend the better part of an hour in the wet cat food isle reading ingredient lists trying to figure out which ones are low-carb and which ones are not (hint: generally the 'gravy' varieties are higher carb). Seriously think about finding out if you can cook meals for cheaper.
16) Go get a blood glucose meter to track your diabetes cat.
17) Go buy a second blood glucose meter and strips because you didn't realize that glucose meters don't come with test strips and it will take a week for the test strips to come in from Amazon. NOTE: The reason you will buy a secondary glucose meter and test strips is because it will be $40 cheaper than buying just the strips for your first meter.
18) Go home and spend an hour or so trying to get a drop of blood from your cat. Do not get frustrated that every time you manage to get a drop of blood on his ear, he will shake his head thus leaving you to start from square one.
19) Eventually give up on finding out his 'pre' blood sugar. Feed him some food and give him his insulin shot (which he doesn't even realize you're doing. JUST GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY EARS, EVIL WOMAN!
20) Wait almost 2 hours and finally get a good blood drop and test.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Pickles
"Yeah, I guess I'll take a few mason jars. I can make my own pickles...I love pickled foods."
"well, be careful. Back in the early days they figure people died from stomach cancer way more than other cancers because pickling was the most common form of food preservation. Just so you know."
"No offense, Katina, but if I die from stomach cancer, I think that will come as a surprise to just about everyone."
"well, be careful. Back in the early days they figure people died from stomach cancer way more than other cancers because pickling was the most common form of food preservation. Just so you know."
"No offense, Katina, but if I die from stomach cancer, I think that will come as a surprise to just about everyone."
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