| Fading |
[May. 9th, 2012|06:54 pm] |
Work up this morning with 'Nichi curled up in my armpit, just like he's been every morning for the last 8 years, and started crying.
On Sunday, he didn't eat his breakfast or dinner. This is a big thing for this cat, as food is his #1 favorite thing and his ever present goal in life. We took him to our vet on Monday. She took and x-ray and promptly sent us off to Tufts. After four doctors and more money than I care to admit, we had to give up. Our Banichi-ji has terminal cancer. His entire chest cavity is filled with it, pushing his esophagus & lungs up against his spine, making it hard to breathe and eat. There was some fluid present, which the good doctors at Tufts drained off. Now he can breathe easier and eat again. But still, his time is limited to days or weeks if we're really lucky.
So now he's at home, eating everything his little kitty heart wants and smacking the puppy around. He doesn't know, doesn't understand why we're fussing but I do. Its all I can do to not huddle down in the house, spending every minute cuddling him and telling him what a good kitty he is. I just can't imagine our home with him gone. |
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| Bleach & taxes |
[Apr. 7th, 2012|08:34 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
It is spring and, as such, I'm well into my conditioning period with the pogo pony, preparing her (and myself) for the upcoming show season. I had a six mile trot/gallop planned today but it fell through when my riding partner came down sick. Pogo pony has just moved to a new barn and I don't know the trails, so I wasn't about to head out myself when only half her brain is intact and she's got no instincts to get us home.
Instead, I cleaned. I emptied and scrubbed the fridge, the freezer and all the kitchen cupboards. I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floor, getting months of caked grime up from under the edge of the fridge & stove. I drug the boy to Lowes and picked up a set of metal shelves to act as temporary storage until he gets around to finishing our walk in closet. I unpacked all the "not 100% necessary" boxes of clothes unto said selves and folded everything in the house. I did laundry. I cleaned the bedroom. Next, litter pans and vacuuming.
Of course, what I SHOULD be doing is my taxes. But there is still more dust in the house and I will win. Just see if it don't. |
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| Another Boskone, come and gone |
[Feb. 20th, 2012|08:48 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
Getting back into the convention swing of things after almost two years off Unfortunately, I had almost nothing new to show this year. I mean, sure, I painted a LOT last year, it just happened to be ceilings, walls, and molding. I spent most of the evenings on Wednesday and Thursday last week frantically trying to figure out where in storage I'd stuffed all my art. At least some of the little oils were cured enough to varnish and hang.
So here's to making time for art again. Sure, there is a ton more to do on the house but I've come to the conclusion that the maintenance will never be done and I need to make time for other things. |
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| Another loss |
[Nov. 29th, 2011|11:54 am] |
Folly died this morning. He was bouncing around playing with Fidget in our unpacked suitcase when we left to take Rocky for a walk. Normally they both meet us at the door when we get back but only Fidget was there to pounce the dog 40 minutes later. After a half hour hunt, we found him flopped out, listless, hiding under the bottom shelf of his cage. He lasted maybe 10 minutes while we frantically tried to find an open vet within quick driving distance during Boston rush hour.
He was active, healthy looking and in great weight without a mark on him when he died. He was only four years old. My poor, broken little rat. |
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| Loss of a friend |
[Nov. 23rd, 2011|08:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sad | ] |
Today I learned that the world lost a light. Anne McCaffrey has died. I never met actually had the pleasure of meeting her but if you lived & breathed her work like I used to, then the news comes as a blow. Anne taught me so much. She wrote the books that introduced me to fantasy & sci fi. Literally, her stuff was the first real genre work I read. She was my spring board into Dragon Lance, Robin McKinley, Foundation, you name it. It all started with her dragons. Dragon Song is still one of those books that I break out ever other year or so & re-read.
She wrote female leads that didn't need saving and male leads that I could relate too. She introduced me to the concept of homosexuality in a way that made total sense at the time and felt completely natural to the world*. She was THE absolute best author for years and years. Anytime I learned a new book had come out, I'd ask for it, in hard cover, at the next nearest holiday, even knowing that getting a hard cover most likely meant I was only getting the one gift**. Her books were responsible for me meeting the girl who would be my best friend for over a decade. We used to spend HOURS sitting around, talking about our dragons, pretending to fly on the swing set. Sure, as we got older, we moved on to Jane Yolen and her dark sisters, the Pinis and their elves but Anne still introduced us and gave us our first playground.
I wish she had written more.
I wish she'd lived long enough to see her dragons make it to the big screen.
I wish I was twelve years old again, on a swing set with my arms out flying.
I wish I hadn't had to eventually wake up to a world without Anne McCaffrey in it.
*Yes I'm choosing to ignore her later years pseudo-science of impression & gays here.
** Hey, we were dirt poor for most of my childhood. Wearing my cousin's multi-iteration hand me downs and eating poached game to survive poor. A hardcover was expensive. Sure, I always got socks & underwear but "real" gifts tended to be in short supply. |
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| People are crazy, the horse show edition |
[Sep. 2nd, 2011|04:13 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
This place has been bare for awhile but I need to vent and this is my place to do that. Avoid the rest of the post if you don't want to read a bunch of negativity. You've been warned.
Last week, we had a hurricane. Rolled in late Saturday night, pounded on us all of Sunday, headed north to plague Canada Sunday night. Pretty big deal but the powers that be were on the ball for once. Warnings posted DAYS in advance, governer issued a pre-emptive state of emergency, everyone had plenty of time prepare. Storm itself was impressive. Lots of wind, lots of rain. I saw my big maple tree get sqashed flat like someone had stomped on it, then spring back up leaving only a few branches behind but otherwise, we came through it okay.
So what's the problem, you ask?
The problem is that Bradford Equestrian Center (BEC) had a show scheduled for Sunday. No brainer, right? Horse show verses hurricane, which one is more important? According to BEC, their show.
On Thursday, they sent out a notice that the show was on rain or shine. Note, that's what the entry form states and it also states no refunds after the closing date. Standard issue clauses. Well, I objected privately to the organizer. You can't safely trailer a horse in 70+ mph winds, let alone ride. It wasn't like a chance of thunderstorms or something, we WERE going to get hit with a hurricane. Complete silence. I complained again. Still nothing. So I blasted my concerns out to the mailing list and lots of other people started making noise too. Still nothing. Other shows were cancling/ rescheduling left & right but from BEC, not a peep. Note, those other shows all have the rain or shine clause too but that didn't stop them from reacting appropriately.
Now today on my facebook page is a notice saying they held the show and they're so thankfull for the "great spirit and optimism" of everyone who showed up. WTF!!! Spirit & optimism? Don't you mean idiocy and lack of common sense? Who rides in a hurricane and why would you brag about it?
All I can figure is that the people who board at BEC rode in the indoor during a quiet spell and got their ribbons. It just completely blows my mind that people would put a ribbon (or entrance fee money, for that matter) above the safety of themselves or their animals. What supposedly professional facility allows strangers to ride during those conditions? If someone HAD gotten thrown or hurt, wouldn't that fall under gross neglicence for BEC? Who the FUCK holds a horse show in a hurricane?
So yeah, that's a rather expensive lession learned. There are lots of lovely schooling shows in New England and I will be attending the ones that offered alternatives to their riders when faced with a natural disaster. Its a shame, I liked the facilities and the people were always polite but apparently money is more important than safety to them and I just can't support that. |
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| Brighter than the last |
[Jan. 1st, 2011|10:37 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | relieved | ] |
Mom came through surgery and is doing well. She's still in the ICU but they're hoping to get her moved to a normal room sometime tonight. Her lung is re-inflating on its own and she's starting to feel better, wanting to eat & able to talk and stuff. She's going to be in the hospital for at least a week, possibly a few but things are looking up.
Thank you all for the well wishes. |
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| Pouring in PA |
[Dec. 30th, 2010|08:54 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  scared | ] |
My mother was diagnosed with pneumonia on Christmas eve. Being my mother and therefore stubborn as a mule, she insisted on going home with medication instead of staying put. Can't spend Christmas in the hospital, she has grandchildren.
Huntington doctors, idiots that they are, let her go home.
On the 26th, she was taken to the emergency room and promptly put on opiates and breather.
Yesterday, her lung collapsed. They took her by ambulance to State College last night and its expected that she'll be operated on sometime this morning.
Me, I'm sitting here both scared and angry and wondering just how fast I can make the drive home. Locals, if I disappear or bail on plans, its nothing personal. |
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| Jingle what? |
[Dec. 23rd, 2010|06:18 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | tired | ] |
Good lord, how did it get to be December already? In my mind, it's mid September at the latest! What's with all this white stuff and decorations? Despite that, the rest of the world insists it is Christmas and I am (grudgingly) going along with the delusion. Put up a (small) tree and everything.
Life has been hectic, more so than normal. The upstairs to our house is structurally unsound. The old owners had remodeled without worrying about the things like carry walls. Now our attic is slowly coming down to join us on the second floor. We're finally ready to address the issue.
In order to fix this, we're gutting the 2nd floor back to the roof and studs ... which means we have to move everything in the upstairs elsewhere. We've only been in this house for seven years, how in the world did we acquire so much STUFF? So yeah, we're basically living in the downstairs for the duration. We should have our home back in a few months.
If it wasn't obvious, this means no New Years Party this year.
Sorry, guys, there just isn't room. There's barely room in amongst the boxes for us and the critters. If you're one of the people who normally crash with us over the holidays, you'll probably want to make other plans. We have a free couch but that's about it.
On the up side, I'm getting to put in lovely rust colored tile in the bathroom and, when we're done, our ice dam problems should go away. Not ever having to climb on the roof to scrap snow again is something to look forward too! |
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flasher's journal