Run right over to tastyjewelry.com! Diane is having a big sale. 40% off everything until the end of September. All you have to do is use the code: fallfling in the "discount coupon" box and hit recalculate to receive your savings. Tell everyone you know!!!
Disclosure: I copied and pasted the entire thing from Walt's blog, because I'm lazy like that, but Diane is awesome and I'd like to promote her. :)
I went to Austin for 5 days, and stayed with my friend Diane. I've been so stressed out over my job, the economy, etc for so long that I think I had forgotten how to have fun. My darling friends Diane, Walt, and Freddy reminded me. I can't remember the last time I laughed like that. (or drank like that) There were some moments I'm not terribly proud of....in fact I think AC/DC might actually sue Kicky LaRue and I for damages to their song. Drunk karaoke is a tragedy for everyone involved. Yikes.
We met a lot of people at the Salt Lick, and despite the food being strange, at best, I really enjoyed all the new fun friends I met. I was really happy that Mandie, Melanie, Joe, Jack, Kim, and Curt came out to see us. Several friends of Freddy's came, too, including Kay, his ex-wife that we've heard of for so long. I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone as much as I would have liked to, but I suppose that's what happens when there are so many people.
I'm really happy that Joe and Jack got a hotel and stayed in Austin so we could hang out with them a little more. They really are sweethearts, and so funny, too!
So, I know I've given the total Cliffs notes version, and maybe I'll revisit and write some more, but it's bedtime now. I was just smiling and thinking about how much fun I had, and had to write a little something.
As many of you may know, I've been kind of looking for a ragdoll cat. I think Trinket needs a companion of her own, and I've always liked the looks and personality of ragdolls. They are cats with puppy dog personalities, and that seems like something that would fit in with the rest of the menagerie.
Thursday I saw this guy on Petfinder.com and called about him. They had named him "Chatter" because he's a little bit of a talker, not bad, but he likes to tell you stories. Chatter had been found as a stray and picked up by a rural animal control. They kept him for whatever amount of time they do for their owners to claim them, but nobody ever did. Nor did anyone adopt him, which shocks me, because he's truly the most stunning cat I've ever seen. I guess it's "kitten season" so all the cute babies get adopted, and the adults are "throw away" animals. He was scheduled to be put down on Tuesday, May 26th, but lucky for him, and for me, a rescue came and got him out of the pound. Two days after his scheduled euthanasia I saw him on Petfinder, two more days after that, I made the 97 mile trip to Rochester MN to pick him up and now he's a member of our family.
I had filled out the adoption forms on Thursday night after I spoke with the person at Camp Companion who told me I was the first to inquire about him. I was told to try to be at the PetSmart at 10:00am because that's when he would be there and since he's so beautiful and a purebred ragdoll, they thought he would be adopted pretty quickly. So, I left my house at 8:15 Saturday morning to make the trip. I took Harvey's kennel so I had something to put him in if I did end up falling in love and adopting him. When I arrived at 9:57, I went over to the adoption area and saw a crowd of people around one of the little cages, and saw that inside that cage was Chatter. I went up to the adoption volunteer and asked to see Chatter. I was told that he was not up for adoption anymore, and that someone had finalized his adoption last night. In my mind I was thinking "Oh hell no! I didn't drive almost 100 miles to be told this...if I have to I'm snatching that cat and running for it!" I told her that I had put an application in on Chatter on Thursday, and was told I was first in line for him. She asked if I spoke with anyone on Friday. I said I hadn't. So told me that the adoption was finalized on Friday, so if I hadn't had any contact with them, that it was likely not going to be me adopting him, but she said she would call Michelle because she didn't know the name of the person they adopted him out to. So, of course they called Michelle and she didn't answer the phone. In the meantime I took Chatter into a visitation room to play with and pet him, only to find out that he's the biggest sweetie. One of the volunteers came up to me and said, "I still can't get a hold of Michelle, but I just remembered something she told me about the person who she is adopting him out to. Do you have dogs?" I told her I have two. She asked me what type I have, and I told her that I have a greyhound and a poodle/terrier mix. With that, I won the kitty lottery, because Michelle told her that he was going to a home with a greyhound! :) Yay me! So, I paid the $90.00 adoption fee for him, loaded him into his carrier, and headed out for my 1 1/2 hour drive home with him. He lived up to his name Chatter with the drive. He meowed constantly. After about an hour, I let him out of his carrier, and he rode in the car like a pro, and was nice and quiet.
We got home and I set him up with food and water, and a litter box in the basement, so he could settle in a little bit before being exposed to the whole gang.
Once he was set up, I went to make a phone call, and noticed our home phone had 3 messages on it. I'm terrible at checking my home messages. I figure most people who need me just call my cell phone. The second message was from Michelle from Camp Companion on Friday telling me she had called and spoken with my vet, and after a glowing report about how well I care for my pets, and Dr. Hedges telling her he couldn't think of a better home for a pet to live in, she was approving my adoption of Chatter. Guess I probably should have listened to this beforehand and I would have spared myself the anxiety of worrying about whether or not someone adopted him from underneath me.
I didn't like the name Chatter, so both Matty, and Diane recommended naming him after Anderson Cooper with his dreamy blue eyes. So I decided he was going to be Cooper.
So far he's really sweet and getting along well with everybody. Trinket isn't sure about him yet, but she's coming along pretty well. The dogs want to sniff him, and that's about it. He's handling it all like a champ, and is really easy going.
Remember me? Yeah, didn't think so. Well, here I am. Still doing my thing. Still working 4 days a week. I like the hours, but dislike the paycheck. However I am grateful to still have a job with so many people laid off.
Somehow I think the economy is improving. It seems like some things are starting to stabilize. Maybe that's wishful thinking, or maybe it's true. The stock market has been holding steady and going up, so that's good news. It seems like less jobs are being lost than before, and houses seem to be a little more stable...so let's cross our fingers. My company has been much busier the past week or two, so that seems like a really good sign! (Buy jewelry--makes a great gift!)
I really think Barack Obama is doing a pretty good job. I don't agree with every decision he's made, but I think he's got a handle on things. I really don't envy his job. How do you even start to sort out the mess he walked into less than 3 months ago? I wouldn't even know where to begin. I also don't understand the "tea baggers". First, maybe do a little Urban Dictionary search before you decide to call what you're doing "tea bagging"...unless you mean you want someone's balls in your mouth...if that's the case, then go for it, right wingers! But the thing is, they're protesting taxes? Obama cut taxes for 95% of them. In all honestly, it seems like a lot of people were protesting a lot of different things. Some of it was very thinly veiled racism, and just hate mongering. Comparing him to a Nazi? Saying he's not legally the President because he's "foreign born". His birth certificate is available to be seen for yourself. That's all just hate speech and fear mongering. It really saddens me, because he really isn't even being given a chance, and I don't think that's fair because I tried my best to give George W. Bush a chance. I wasn't critical of him for the first couple of years. I always try to withhold judgement until I've seen their leadership or lack there of. I think generally George W. Bush wasn't criticized until after he'd been President for 2 years. Anyway, I didn't intend to get political...and it's late, so I suspect I make little sense.
I've been recording WMBYS fairly regularly again. I have Larry Klye as my new co-host, and we've been having fun. We had a little technical difficulty the past 2 weeks. I loaded the newest version of skype and it chose not to allow Pretty May to record the podcast. So Episode 71 guest starring Kevin in Danbury went down the drain. Then tonight Larry and I recorded Episode 71.1 with special guest star Ricky from Foul Monkeys, and same thing. It didn't record, either. It gave the illusion of recording. It said it was and it counted the time you "recorded". It even gave you a file and pretended it had a show...until you click on it and it says "File not Found!" Sadzies. It was really funny, too. Guess we just amused ourselves. So hopefully soon we will record episode 71.2. Hopefully Larry is still talking to me after all the SNAFUs. :) (Love you, Larry)
So that's what's been going on in a nutshell. :) Thanks for reading my drivel. Later!
I'm sure this comes as no shock to many of you, but I have a problem with food. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but from Thursday-Sunday last weekend, I ate myself sick every single day. I consumed about 3x my daily allowance of calories. I binged on lots of chocolate, candy, cookies, movie theater popcorn, and literally anything I could get my hands on. I just kept stuffing it all into my big fat pie hole until I literally was to the point of almost throwing up. (if only I'd have eaten just a little more, and thrown it all up, I'd be better off right now, but that's a different eating disorder)
Every morning I woke up, weighed myself, saw the damage done on the scale and felt so ashamed and miserable. So full of self loathing. I promised that this would be a new day, and I'd take control again....only to binge eat another day. I've gained over 5lbs this weekend. I'm so angry with myself. I behaved all through the holidays, and since Jan 1st (including this weekend's binge) I'm up 9 lbs. I can't believe how out of control I feel. I even looked up Overeaters Anonymous, but feel too embarrassed and ashamed to go to a meeting. Partly I don't want to face a bunch of strangers with my problem (yet I'll blog about it, go figure) and part of it is, most people in Overeaters Anonymous are heavy and I worry they won't be very kind to the "skinny" girl at the meeting. In addition to my binge eating, I'm a compulsive exerciser, so I'm not heavy. (although I didn't touch my treadmill last weekend, and I'm furious with myself for that)
I think it's the stress of the lay offs at work, the economy, and a variety of personal things that just have me feeling like I'm spiraling out of control.
Today, I just found out my aunt is retiring on Friday, and decided to drive to Iowa to surprise her at her retirement party. I almost don't want anyone to see me because I feel so huge and gross. The funny thing is, I weigh 120 lbs. I'm ridiculous. In my head I know this isn't fat, but it feels so disgusting and awful. I hate myself so much right now.
I ate appropriately today. I guess that's all I can do. Take it one day at a time, and try to keep myself in line. Try to fight off the urge to stuff my face.
Run right over to tastyjewelry.com! Diane is having a big sale. 40% off everything until the end of September. All you have to do is use the code: fallfling in the "discount coupon" box and hit recalculate to receive your savings. Tell everyone you know!!!
