Another weekend is over.

Well, here we are. It's Sunday night again. It seems like just a minute ago that it was Friday, and the weekend held such promise. :) I'm not sure where it went, but it's over. Sadzies!

Yesterday I recorded my first podcast with Walt and Nessa. It wasn't nearly the trainwreck that I had feared it might be. Sure there were some awkward pauses, but all in all, it wasn't awful...and that's more than I could have hoped for! Go check it out. (if you want to) www.weremeanbecauseyourestupid.blogspot.com

After that I had to meet my cousin, who lives in Iowa at an outlet mall. I had done some work to her wedding ring, and would rather drive and meet her, than mail it. While at the outlet mall, I bought myself a new Columbia jacket. It was only $39.90, so I got a good deal. Then we went out to Famous Dave's for dinner. It was pretty good, although not on my diet. (what diet??) Tomorrow, I really have to gain control of myself. I've gained a few pounds, and am filled with self-loathing over it. Seriously, I just can't seem to control myself. I'm like a junkie with food.

Today, I had a leisurely day and just hung out and surfed the net. Then we went to see "Untraceable." It was mediocre. The popcorn and M&Ms were fabulous...so at least something was good, right?

That was about it for today. As busy as I was yesterday, I more than made up for it by doing nothing today!

Vote Coati!

Ok we must stop this nonsense about vote goat and vote for the emu...that's crap and you know it! Vote for the coati!! They are adorable, and cuddly and I saw one in the wild while in Costa Rica. Look at the pictures...you know the coati is the only way to go! Now go right now to digital meatloaf and vote COATI!!! www.digitalmeatloaf.com

Blah blah blah...

Trinket is doing really well. She came home from her declaw and spay on Wednesday. When the vet tech handed her to me, Trinket was immediately purring, and the vet tech told me how sweet she had been. They gave us lots of pain meds for her, and she's been a bit high the whole week. I think it's managed her pain quite well, and this morning Nick was 2 hours late in her pain meds dose, and she was playing and seemed pretty good. All in all, I think it went well for her. It may have helped that she was a stray that has dealt with some pretty crummy circumstances. If she had been a pampered kitten, maybe it would have bothered her more. She's pretty much back to her adorable sweet self.

I'm happy it's Friday. I didn't sleep well this week starting Tuesday. Trinket spent Tuesday overnight at the vet, and I'm a worrier, so I didn't sleep well. The rest of the week I've slept light because I've been trying to listen just in case Trinket licks at any of her incisions. I'm a light sleeper anyway, so this hasn't been good for me. I'm hoping I can get a bit of rest this weekend.

Saturday is going to be busy. I have to get on part put on my car that was backordered from the accident. Then, I'm going to be recording 2 podcast debuts. The first episodes of "Two Peas In A Podcast" a podcast I'm doing with my friend JT, and "We're Mean Because You're Stupid" a podcast I'm doing with my friends Walt and Nessa. It should be fun. Hopefully they all go well. After that I have to meet my cousin Liz in Medford MN to give her back her wedding ring. She had it cut off, and needed it repaired and sized. She also had my friend Dave custom make a matching wed band for the other side of her ring. I didn't want to risk it being lost in the mail, so I'm driving and meeting her at an Outlet Mall half way between our houses. It's about an hour drive.

So Sunday I'll rest up from Saturday, I guess. I really want to see the new movie Untraceable. It looks really good, and I'm excited to see it. So maybe that's my plan for Sunday. We'll see.

Ok, so I had no point...just blah blah blah. :) It's my blog, and I'm entitled.

Trinket

Well, tomorrow we have an appointment to have Trinket spayed and declawed. I feel bad about the declaw, but I have to protect River. Maybe nothing would ever happen, but maybe isn't good enough. I have to do everything in my power to make sure he is safe. As the day grows closer, I feel worse and worse about it, but the vet assured me that they will send her home with lots of pain meds. (I wonder if I can have some too?)

Trinket also went into heat for the first time today. I'm glad I already had an appointment for her to be spayed because she is being quite obnoxious. Lots of meowing and rolling on her back. Poor girl.

Otherwise not much going on...gearing up for the new podcast. The podcast blog is in full swing, and the first show should be recorded on Saturday. (maybe)

Finally

There is a name for the podcast that I'm doing with Walt and Nessa. It's going to be called: "We're Mean Because You're Stupid!" Go check out our blog www.weremeanbecauseyourestupid.blogspot.com or email us at weremeanbecauseyourestupid@gmail.com Yay for us!

Holly's videos....and nobody's wearing any clothes!!!

Okay, so the headline might be a tiny bit misleading...but it got you here, didn't it??

This is a video of Trinket playing with her new toy. You can hear River in the background talking in both videos. The rest of the family joined in on the fun for the second video...but it seems to not want to upload, so here you go. Bear with me, as it's my first attempt at a video blog. :) Thanks!

xoxo~ The crazy animal lady

Moral Dilemma

I'm having a moral dilemma about Trinket. I've always believed it's inhumane to declaw a cat. I understand it's an amputation at the first knuckle, and am sure it would be quite painful. In most scenarios there are other alternatives such as teaching the cat to use a scratching post or even those little plastic nail caps to prevent scratching. Trinket has scratched a couple of chairs, but that is not a big deal. We have been squirting her with a water bottle, and she is getting better, so I think she would learn not to in time.

My main concern is one of instinct. Trinket was a feral cat for the first 5 months of her life, and she had to hunt for food. We have a parrot, River who is very near and dear to me. He is a larger parrot, about 12" tall weighing around a pound. He could defend himself against a cat for the most part since his beak can apply about 3000 lbs of pressure per square inch. He could snap off a human finger if he ever felt like it, but I worry about him with Trinket since she was a hunter. I don't think I'd worry so much if she were a kitten that never lived outdoors, and had to catch and eat prey. I've caught her eating his feathers that he's molted, and she also jumped up on an end table near where he was out of his cage on his ringstand and got in a crouching position like she was about to pounce.

Trinket fits in great with everybody in the family, and once River gives her a little nip, I'm sure she will be just as respectful of him as our dogs are. So here is my question, is it horrible to declaw her for peace of mind? (Trinket will be an exclusively indoor cat) I don't take this decision lightly and would appreciate any feedback. I have an appointment for her to be spayed this Tuesday, and would do them both at the same time to minimize risk with anesthesia.

Juno

We went to see Juno today. Run, don't walk to go see this movie. I absolutely loved it. It's smart and funny, all the things that make a great movie. I will most likely even buy it when it comes out on DVD. I also bought the sound track for it on iTunes this afternoon. (Thanks to a certain someone for the $60 in iTunes gift cards...you know who you are--love ya, mean it!) :)

We also had a play date today with Nick's aunt Bonnie's dog Markie. (Did that even make sense?) Markie is her new beagle puppy that she got after her dog Murphy died of kidney failure in that pet food fiasco last February. Markie and Harvey played really well together. Trinket, however was having none of it. She hated Markie. A lot. With a passion. I think he was a bit too high energy for her. Our dogs move slow enough that she can give them a swipe with her claws if they don't have proper manners with her. Markie was going 100 mph towards her, and she ran for it. She was really scared and hid on the window sill behind closed blinds. You could only see 4 white feet just below the blinds. It was funny, although Trinket didn't think so!

I can't believe it's already Sunday night. :( Can it be Friday again?? I'm not ready for another Monday so soon. Wasn't it just Monday a minute ago??

Because I'm a lemming...

Ok, I thought it was really fun on Walt and Nessa's blogs, let's play the iTunes game! Also, I'm a bit of a voyeur...I wanna know! What are the next 10 songs in your shuffle?

"Wonderful" Everclear
"You're Beautiful" James Blunt
"Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" Patty Smyth & Don Henley
"Gold Digger" Kanye West
"Dirty Little Secret" The All-American Rejects
"Since U Been Gone" Kelly Clarkson
"Another One Bites the Dust" Queen
"Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" R.E.M. (I love Michael Stipe!)
"Always On Your Side" Sheryl Crow & Sting
"Somebody to Shove" Soul Asylum

C'mon people, I wanna know what's next in your iTunes!

Ten years.

Today is River's 10th birthday, or rather hatchday. We met him the day he hatched. He was this tiny white down-covered chick. My friend Dave brought him down from his incubator in a tiny dixie cup to show him to me. River was about 12 hours old, and it was love at first sight. I can't even put into words how much he means to me. Those of you who aren't animal people wouldn't understand, and even those who are animal people, if you've never been around an African Grey parrot, there is a good chance you wouldn't understand either. Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs and cat, but the relationship with a parrot, especially this breed, is much different. It's deeper, and more on a human level. (I already hear Chef Mark lecturing about anthropomorphizing my animals) River and I have been described as "joined at the hip."

River is extremely intuitive and sensitive. He is always the first one to notice if I'm off, or something is bothering me, and he is always the first one to say, "Are you okay?" He always is coming up with new phrases, and uses them in context. (African Greys have been tested to be as smart as a 6 year old human being.) He is a combination of a very old soul and yet he has this wide eyed sense of wonder. He is constantly learning things, and amazing me. He has such a gentle spirit, and I truly consider him one of my very best friends. I'm blessed to have him in my life.

He also has a great sense of humor. He likes to play tricks on people, and then he will laugh hysterically at his own joke. Jeremy the supervisor for our builder would come over to repair things, and River would make the noise for Nextel phones. Jeremy would without fail grab his phone and answer it, only to have the office tell him they didn't call him. Then River would make the noise like our smoke detector's battery was dying. Jeremy would ask if we had a 9 volt battery, and River would laugh. River always outsmarted Jeremy, and had a nice laugh at his expense.

River calls all the other pets by their names, and isn't shy about tattling on them if they are misbehaving. In fact, often rather than rat them out to me, River will just yell at them himself. The dogs mostly ignore him and he gets quite exasperated. River also calls both Nick and I by our names, and will also make up nicknames for himself and others.

Happy Birthday to my dear baby. May you have many, many more!

xoxo~Holly

(I know I sound like a crazy animal lady, and maybe I am)

I'm so Techno!!

Okay, so maybe I'm not very techno. However I did add a frappr map to my blog! (and I have Mr. Bee singing the Frappr song in my head) So, do me a favor and add yourself to my map. It would make me oh so happy! :) Thanks!

Open letter to River

Dear River,
While I absolutely adore you, please don't regurgitate for me. I understand in your world it's a sign of affection. I know you are trying to show me you would be a good provider by trying to feed me, but you aren't a good provider. You are just regurgitating the food I bought for you. If anything it means I'm a good provider, and you are a mooch. Thanks for letting me state the obvious.

Love ya, mean it.
~Holly

Christmas is finally over! Woot!

Yesterday my grandpa came down from Nevis MN to spend the night for our family Christmas party today. He's fabulous, and I always love to spend time with him!

I was the bigger person and invited my crazy mother out to dinner with us last night. She wouldn't do the same for me because she likes to pretend I don't exist. She accepted my invitation, and we went out for Italian. I had fettuccini alfredo, which is a weakness of mine. Oh well. Bring on the heart attack--it's practically inevitable with my genetic condition anyway. My mother behaved in an acceptable manner. She treated my like I was a person and interacted with me and everything. Weird.

Today all the relatives (27 of them) came over to celebrate Christmas. We had a million different appetizers, and I'm stuffed. We had bbq chicken wings, buffalo wings, chicken tenders, shrimp, a crab ball, spinach dip, artichoke dip, fruit, veggie tray, (don't worry, I saved some for Archerr), tons of cookies, candies, nacho cheese dip....tons more that I can't think of. We could have invited 50 more people and been fine--that's not even an exaggeration. I got lots of nice gifts. My aunt Mary Kay usually gets me something extra nice because with my mother the way she is, my aunt kind of adopted me. My mother sometimes doesn't even give me anything. (I always give her something...that whole bigger person thing and all) This year my mother gave me a Karen Neuberger nightie. Those are my favorite kind of jammies, super soft and comfy for winter. I was shocked.

Trinket was the big hit of the party. The little kids carried her around like a baby all day, and she tolerated it like a champ. Amazing. She didn't hide or run away at all. I'm pretty sure she is either a dog or an alien. She doesn't do normal cat stuff. Here are the things she does that I think are weird. She comes to her name, always without fail. She likes to ride in the car, and will just sit on my lap and purr while I drive. Then if I get out, she sits on the dash and just hangs out. She likes to go shopping at PetSmart, which by the way gets you a LOT of attention...I guess most cats aren't great shoppers! I had someone ask if my cat was sedated because she was just hanging out while I carried her in the store. I bought her a collar, and put it on her. I thought she would hate it, and she didn't care at all. I am amazed that a cat that has only known living outside and foraging for food just accepts whatever happens and is so mellow.

On Trinket's health, she is doing great! I weighed her yesterday, and after less than 8 days at our house she managed to put on 1.5lbs. You can't feel her ribs poking out anymore, and she isn't scrawny or sickly anymore at all. Her coat is even looking prettier every day. She is really doing great! I can't believe how quickly she improved!

Today drained my will to live...

I was in my 4th car accident since July 2006 today. It was totally my fault. I didn't see her and changed lanes into her car. I suck. I was afraid the insurance agency was going to cancel me, but spoke to the owner of my branch, and she told me I have an excellent driving record except the last 1 1/2 years, and not to worry about it. Also that several of the accidents weren't my fault. She told me to worry about my car getting fixed, and it was just an accident. No big deal. I wonder how much they are going to rape me on the premiums I pay next year. I bet a lot.

On other fronts, I hate everything in my life. I don't even have the energy to write about it. I just want to lay in bed and cry, but I can't because my relatives are coming over this weekend for Christmas...the holiday that won't end. I still need to buy something for my mother. What do you get the paranoid schizophrenic who has everything? Oh well, by Sunday it will all be over, finally.

If someone wouldn't mind terribly, just shoot me and put me out of my misery. Ok? Thanks.

Open Letter to the inventor of heated seats...

Dear inventor of heated seats,

I love you! I want to marry you and have lots of your babies.

Yours truly,
Holly

Where is the global warming dammit??

For the last several winters it's been pretty mild, not too horribly cold or snowy. Well this is an old fashioned brutal winter and it's currently 4 degrees. I hope Nessa and Derek don't mind terribly, but I'm moving in until Spring. I hope they got a nice big condo that will fit us all! I'll be bringing 2 dogs a parrot and a cat. I plan on coming back to Minnesota around April or May at the very latest. It's not asking too much is it? Okay, good. I'll go pack.

I'm the crazy cat lady....

Here is Trinket. I love how fat she looks in these pictures. Luckily she is furry, and it hides how bony she really is. She is doing really well. Her eyes have cleared up, and there is no more green goo. She isn't limping on her leg at all anymore. Her wheezing is getting a lot better, and she eats like a horse. She is so amazingly friendly, and just wants to sit with you or if you get up and go somewhere in the house, she will follow you. She comes when you call her, which I didn't know cats would do. She also likes to ride in the car. I took her for a ride through the drive through tonight just so she doesn't equate car rides with going to the vet.

I called and got her a health insurance policy today. It will take effect January 14th (there is a 2 week wait until the coverage starts) so I made an appointment for January 22nd to get her spayed. If any of you are like me and will go broke trying to save your pets, an insurance policy might be something of interest to you. I use VPI, and have been really happy with them. I have policies on all 4 of my pets, and it relieves me the burden of worrying about how much a vet bill is. Nick and I got insurance after our greyhound Hannah ended up at the U of MN vet hospital in intensive care to the tune of $5,000. It's really come in handy because 10 months after we got Hannah insurance, she got cancer. She unfortunately died from it, but the insurance covered about $1300 of the $1800 vet bill we had. It even covered euthanasia. Ok, I sound like a commercial, but I really am a fan of the product. :)

So, tonight Nick and I went to our friends Bree and Rob's house. We ate junk food, and played games. Sadly we are apparently old now, and I wanted to go home and go to bed at about 12:30. Of course here I am an hour later, dog tired, and writing in my blog...most likely incoherently. (And I didn't even drink, I'm just tired)

Anyway, Happy New Year to all! Hope 2008 brings us all nothing but good things....and a shiny new Democratic President!! ;)

Love you all!
FPH