More Bad, More Good

Posted on 01/16/2010 by chick

I’m in a bad mood tonight. It’s a combination of things.

First, my piano doesn’t sound right. I had convinced myself that it would be OK once the store’s technician came out to do the tuning and voicing. But if anything, it sounds worse now. I’m not looking forward to resolving this problem, but believe me, it will be resolved. I don’t pay that kind of money for something I can’t use.

Second, as you know, my cats are sick. It just sucks that this is happening again and I’m worried for them. I wish I could feel confident that they’ll be cured soon.

Third, one of my old friends has cancer and it has metastasized. He has a wife and child and lots of people who love him and it’s horrible that they all have to go through this. And it’s scary to me personally because he was born in the same year as I was. He’s only 37. People our age should not have cancer.

Fourth, it occurred to me yesterday that I may have made some financial mistakes, and they’re not going to be fun to fix.

Last but not least, I have to take the Christmas tree down this weekend. I hate doing that. It’s a lot of work putting all the ornaments away and it’s depressing.

But, just to state for the record what has always been sort of an unspoken rule here, I’m not allowed to bitch and moan incessantly. There has to be some positive statement at the end of my bitchfest as proof that it isn’t all bad. Because it’s not all bad. It’s never all bad.

Positive: I played the piano again today, listening very carefully, and I’m convinced that there’s something mechanically wrong with it. That makes my next course of action very clear. Call the store tomorrow and demand that they fix it or replace it. Period amen.

More positive: I called my Faithful Reader to ask that he bring me home some deliciously naughty food. I was only looking for comfort food, but the sound of his voice gave me comfort, too. Just talking to him for a few minutes cheered me up.

More more positive: My son is so close to crawling and it’s so much fun watching him learn. I fed him pureed carrot today and he smeared it all over his face. He’s precious, funny, beautiful, and everything else that’s good in the world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

No Comparison

Posted on 01/16/2010 by chick

I am reminded today that comparisons are dangerous. You can go along being perfectly happy with something in your life until you find out that someone else has something better. “That’s not fair,” you say. “I should have that!” Whether it’s your house or your salary, your looks or your child’s accomplishments, there are going to be people out there who have it better than you do. So if you’re going to play the game of comparisons, you had better remember to consider the people who have less than you do, too. Chances are, if you live in the US, there are millions (maybe even billions) of people who have cause to envy you.

I’m only preaching to myself here, folks, not pointing any fingers, but I figure it can’t hurt to share.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It’s Not All Bad

Posted on 01/15/2010 by chick

We learned for sure today what we have suspected for a while, that Mojo is not the only sick cat in the house. Peeps and Zoulie are also showing symptoms. When they were all sick before, we were almost certain the culprit was coccidia. Peeps had come from “the kitty farm,” and it’s not unusual for pound kittens to catch parasites or for them to have trouble fighting the parasites off. The treatment for coccidia seemed to cure them. But it is very unlikely that coccidia would strike them again now. They’re all adults and they all live indoors, away from other potentially infected cats. It also seems unlikely that all of the cats would have a food allergy or cancer. It’s probably not the water, because we were on city water then and we’re on well water now.

But it’s theoretically possible that the food is to blame, since it’s the same brand we were feeding them back then. Maybe there’s melamine (or worse) in there. Who knows? Take a moment to look up “cat food problems” on the Internet, and you’ll soon be disgusted by the ingredients that some people claim are in there—chicken heads, rancid oil, intestines, moldy grains, not to mention parts from dead cats and dogs. Yuck. How much of it is true? Based on my personal experience and understanding of the world, it could all be true. It probably isn’t. I shouldn’t be. But it could be.

The problem could even be caused by something not in the food. One brand of dry cat food was recently recalled because it lacked sufficient levels of thiamine to keep cats healthy.

It could be almost anything, really. I just hope that if it’s a disease, it’s not something that our son could catch.

Now I need to stop worrying so much. Contrary to common opinion, venting doesn’t make you feel better. By focusing on your negative emotions, you become consumed by them. It is best just to deal with the matter—talk to the vets again, give the cats any medicines they need, buy a different brand of food—and turn my thoughts to the positive things.

Positives: Separating Mojo from the other cats helped us be sure that he wasn’t the only sick cat. It also forced me to clean out my office, and overall it’s much nicer in here, even if it does smell like cat food. And I’m happy to report that Mojo seems to be a little better today. He’s been moving around more, eating more, and using his litter box.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Zippity Quick

Posted on 01/14/2010 by chick

I doubt that “zippity” is a word, but when I thought about doing a quick post, “zippity quick” is what came to mind.

This post needs to be zippity quick because it’s already past my bedtime. Sure, I could wait until tomorrow, but I keep doing that and what does it get me? A lot of lame blog posts that say, “I’ll write tomorrow!”

Well, enough of that nonsense. I’m going to write now and hope that I can catch up on my sleep this weekend.

The most obvious topic for today is our beloved cat, Mojo, who is locked in my office because he’s sick. We have to separate him from the other cats so that we can monitor him and feed him special food. He’s perfectly happy sitting on his pillow, but the fact that he hardly moves off the pillow has me really worried. And he hasn’t used the litterbox since we locked him in here earlier today.

Though he’s been sick for a few weeks, it only just occurred to me today that he could die. Mojo, dead. How could we stand that?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Good Night!

Posted on 01/13/2010 by chick

So here I am, ready to do some writing, but it’s after 11:00 p.m., which means I have to go to bed. Really, I have to. You have no idea how bad I’ll feel in the morning if I don’t. Good night!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

See You Then

Posted on 01/12/2010 by chick

I need to do some writing here. And I will. Really! It’s late, though, and time for sleep. I’ll be back tomorrow with my writing shoes on.

Um, I don’t actually have writing shoes, because feet have little to do with writing, so what would be the point? How about a writing hat? That would make more sense. Yes, I must get a writing hat.

I’ll be back tomorrow without my shoes on.

That’s probably true. I often don’t wear shoes when I’m hanging out in my office.

See you then.

Posted in Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Protected: Tacky?

Posted on 01/10/2010 by chick

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Posted in Uncategorized | Enter your password to view comments.

The Small Things

Posted on 01/09/2010 by chick

Small, but good.

Smell

  • A nicely scented soap that does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is to clean your hands while providing a pleasant olfactory experience.
  • The smell of winter clinging to my hubby when he comes in from the outside.

Sound

  • The satisfying sizzle of scrambled eggs meeting hot, buttered pan.
  • Wind chimes—possibly the nicest thing left behind by the previous owners of the house.
  • The delightfully creepy rasp of dead leaves on a tree when you’re alone in the woods.
  • The crunch of snow underfoot.

Taste

  • Leftover Christmas cookies. They should have been stale and gross, but were somehow moist and yummy. I don’t want to know how that was accomplished.
  • Lemony gunpowder tea—best morning pick-me-up in the world.
  • Avocado on a hamburger. Mmm.

Sight

  • Snow falling in the woods.
  • Icicles hanging on rocks.
  • Joyfully erratic animal tracks in the snow.
  • My son’s wet, toothy, adorable smile.

Touch

  • Soft, warm slippers on chilled feet.
  • A hot shower.
  • A backrub from my hubby.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Bed Bugs”

Posted on 01/07/2010 by chick

My Faithful Reader should be very thankful that I made the bed today, because when I pulled up the sheet on his side, a big spider popped out and ran across the bed. Eek!

It’s dead now, of course. Spiders who invade our sleeping space deserve no mercy. Plus, if I had let it go, Faithful Reader probably would have sued for divorce. He still hasn’t forgiven me for the huge spider that I captured in the Tupperware…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

I’m Lichen It

Posted on 01/05/2010 by chick

Many of the trees in our yard and in the neighboring state park have alarmingly large patches of lichen on them. I was beginning to wonder if the patches were indicative of some underlying weakness or disease in the trees, so I looked up lichens on the Internet. I was surprised to find out that they’re not bad at all. In fact, they’re good. Lichens don’t grow well in polluted areas, so their presence means the air here is fairly clean. That’s good to know!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment