This weekend a kitten followed my mom home. She works next door to the house and had gone to check something at work. When she came out the cat was there waiting for her and followed her home, walking in between her feet the whole way. She called my cell phone when she was at the back door and told me to come see. She was adorable. And the perfect kitty type. I don't think any cat will ever stand up the the legacy that is Fred, but her perfect is completely different than his perfect was. She was clearly used to people and loved being petted and held. We have two cats, both special in their own ways but we have never had a cat that would willingly let you hold it for more than a couple minutes. The kind of cat we always wanted. So I announced we'd keep her. We couldn't very well ignore her and leave her to the elements. Last night was a record cold night and there are just too many other dangers for a little cat in our neighborhood. Mom was a little leary, she knows that we have two cats already and she would end up taking care of it. But she fell for it too and we decided before we made any plans we would take it to the vet. We kept her in the back garage and the on the porch, until we could get her to the vet, she had a terrible case of the fleas. Then we would check around to see if we could find it a home. If not we made a silent kind of agreement that we would keep it. It would be "mine". Every cat we've had has been "ours"--but belongs more to one person than the others. So I got up this morning and made an appointment at the vet and took her. We sat in the waiting room, where I talked to a couple old women and they thought she was adorable too, and so well behaved. Then it was our turn so we went in and did all the usual vet stuff. She purred while they tool a rectal temperature. I wanted a FIV and leukemia test since she had been outside, and our cats haven't been vaccinated against it. They took her out but I heard her yowl when they drew the blood. I hope she didn't hurt anyone. She seems so innocent, but that yowl was anything but. The test takes 10 minutes so they brought her back in and left again. She was so cute she walked around on the table and I had to constantly watch her so she wouldn't jump off. Every few minutes she would turn and look at me, then stand up on her back feet and boost herself up, asking to be held. She would purr and purr and then I'd put her down and it would start again. I had a feeling before they came back in. The tech came in a couple times looking for something and I could hear them talking about her outside though they didn't say anything, the tech didn't come in alone, she brought the vet. The vet was pregnant, and I wondered how she dealt with the possibility of toxoplasmosis. And she told me there was bad news. Lily has feline leukemia. I had already talked to my mom about this possiblity. We knew it was a possiblity. I knew we would end up putting her to sleep. So I called my mom, and her being one of the best people in the world, told me to bring her home. We knew what would have to be done, but she didn't want me to have to do it. And I didn't want to. So I brought her home, and I said goodbye, and I left to come back to school. I have class tomorrow. And tomorrow she will call the vet and make an appointment. And I have to wonder how it is I became so attached to this cat in a day and a half. We've had 4 cats that I can remember. 3 of them have been strays. So I also have to wonder at the cruel twist of fate that sent me the perfect cat, except that she is sick. Contagously so. And we have two cats already that we love dearly. I had already been thinking about next year. About making sure the apartment I get accepts pets. I was ready to take responsibility for it. I've been all through thoughts of keeping her seperate until next year when I will have an apartment and she can live happily without exposing other cats to it. But I would always be afraid when I came home that I would infect one of our cats. And I know it would be impossible to keep them seperate until August. And I know that it would be wrong to talk someone else to keeping her when she could get very very sick after they get attached. And I know it would be even harder on me if I did figure out how to keep her, and I would end up dragging out her pain because I didn't want to put her to sleep after having her for even another day. And I'm terrified that in two months the cats we do have will test positive for it. They shouldn't because it's really only transmitted by saliva. But I'm still worried.
And after all this I would still do it again. I can't stand the thought that someone would just leave a cat like that to fend for itself. Next time though I would be more careful to keep them seperate, and what are the odds that if there is a next time we would find it on a saturday night and have to wait until Monday to get to the vet. Maybe next time I can get there before I get so involved, though I'm not sure it's really a matter of time. I think most people would be upset with this outcome regardless of how well they know the kitten.
Hey, remember, not too long ago a girl was chased down and kidnapped in a parking garage? The kidnappers chased her through the parking garage caught her and put her in their trunk while bystanders stood around and watched but did nothing at all. The security guard said he saw it and went to stop it but he didn't get there in time. Authorities were asking those witnesses to come forward. But no one had. What ever happened about that? I can't find anything on it. Was it a hoax? Do the police just wish it didn't happen because they don't know where to start? What's up here?
I still need to finish this template. I will add all the links back, but I have to wait until I feel like I have some time to waste. I just wanted to leave a little bitty update so maybe people won't think I've completely abandoned.
I have a very good story to tell, but I'm afraid that it could make some people mad, so I'm going to wait to tell it. Of course that might dull my memory and make it not so good, but I'll wait anyway.
Yesterday when I was driving back to jax I heard this song. I wasn't even really paying attention because I didn't know the song but this line reached out and grabbed my attention. "...My give a damn's busted." By doing a quick search I found that it was probably Jo Dee Messina, but Joe Diffy has something to do with it too. In any case I think that line has to be like one of the greatest of all time. It should get an award. If it wasn't a new hit that will probably blow up like crazy, so it wouldn't be cool, I would totally use it in my every day life. I might anyway.
And I hate all virus (malware) maker people. While I was looking for those lyrics I ran into a lyric site that gave me a trojan. It's like the 3rd week in a row that I got one, luckily my virus scanner is on top of things.
Redecorating in progress.
Today (yesterday really) I came back to Jacksonville because I have a class tomorrow (today really). On the way I stopped at McDonald's to get a number 9. It's a chicken strip meal, for those of you who didn't go there today. Anyway, I usually get chicken strips because I can eat them while I drive, I can't eat a burger and drive, I'm just not that coordinated. I stopped in Starke. That city amazes me. Could they get any more exhaust in there? I mean, I had to put my window up because I was having trouble breathing. But you gotta love Starke. So I finally get to the window where they give you your food, and I didn't knock off my mirror or even bang up my door, I'm not quite sure what engineer put that big giant pole right there in the middle of the lane, but don't ever take your dually through there. The guy that's supposed to give me my food walks right passed my order and outside to take some other people there food. Then he walks back in, meanders around, looks at everything but me at the drive through window and then finally sees me. Oh yeah, Customers. So he sees the bag, looks inside, looks at the order screen and starts to hand me my food. Then...he pauses and turns around. He grabs 2 bags of croutons and asks me if I need them.
Me: "Um no, I didn't order a salad"
Him: "Do you need these"
Me: "No, I ordered Chicken strips"
Him: "Okay, do you need these"
Me: "No, I didn't order a salad"
Him: looks at me questioningly
Me: "I ordered a number 9, it's chicken strips"
Him: Still holding the croutons "Okay"
Me: "I didn't order a salad so I don't need croutons"
Him: Looks in the bag "Okay" still looking at me questioningly as he hands me my order sans the croutons. "Is the order correct"
Me: I look in the bag, yep chicken strips and fries. "Yes, Thanks" Drive away.
I think the exhaust may have messed up his head.
The Taste of Paprika
It's really not a big secret that my sister's boyfriend spends a good portion of his time living at our house. It's also not a secret that a good portion of that time he spends bothering me, though I know it is not intentional. Nearly everything that comes out of his mouth is a pretty blatant falsity. I may in the future start a catalog of these interesting tid-bits of wrongness, but for now I'm going to focus on something else entirely.
We keep paprika in our cabinet for one reason--it looks pretty on deviled eggs. I've also used it to pretty up the color on some shrimp that I sauteed with chili powder and cumin. The shrimp was very good, and even better because it was presented with a nice reddish brown coating. Within the last year or so we bought new paprika. Not because we were running out or even half-way through the last bottle. It was because we decided it was probably just a little too old. We bought new. The color is gorgeous.
He puts paprika on everything. Once he put it on ham slices and nuked it in the microwave. If he makes it, it has paprika in it. One day he said something to my sister about having us taste something he had made that was in some way special and made a point to tell us that he had used paprika. I, of course made comment about paprika having not flavor. And he said something like, "I'm Puerto Rican, don't tell me paprika has no flavor." I've tasted paprika before. I tasted the old paprika before we threw it out and the new when we got it. It doesn't really have a taste. I do understand that there are different varieties, and have heard that the Spanish variety has a much more pungent flavor, however, I doubt that comes in the bottle we got at publix. I can't quite understand his obsession with it. Or why he insists on hanging on to the notion that it is the best spice in the entire world and suitable for EVERYTHING. You can even tell that she is humoring him and perhaps hanging on to the idea that he just might be right. We were having squash the other day and she kept putting too much paprika on it because the bottle is difficult to shake, and you could see her look at him in a joking apology, knowing he thought it was too much, but she knew it didn't taste anyway.
There is a country song by Travis Tritt, I think, about a woman standing by her man even when he's wrong. For years I've said that I just couldn't do that. Maybe I wouldn't persecute him for the wrongness, but I wouldn't be able to hold back from telling him he had taken the wrong stand. So I guess my point is, if I couldn't do it for the man I love, I definitely can't stand it from someone else. I'm just not made that way.
The up-side is we'll never have to throw away a mostly full jar of paprika again because we think it might be too old.
Okay, so who doesn't want
this?
School has begun again. I feel a little cheated though because Nikky got home a week before I did and doesn't have to go back until next week. Being a distance campus student it means that I only have to be on campus one day a week for a couple weeks. Which is nice. I went up Monday for my Tuesday pharmacotherapy class. I would totally be excited about this class since it will give us actual pharmacy type knowledge except for the fact that they randomly call on people to answer crazy questions. I even made a bet that I would go the first day, and wouldn't you know I was right. The questions before mine were pretty simple questions. And so were mine really. Except they required lists. Like of the 8 questions a pharmacist will probably hear from a customer about OTC drugs what were 5 of them. 5? At about 2.5 I was forgetting the questions and after that I pretty much forgot everything I ever knew. I only got to 4 before I went completely and totally blank. So for the next one she says, that was a pretty involved questions so let me ask you an easier one, Of the 8 things listed in the reading...What were 4 of them. Of course I could only get 3. I guess my consolation prize is that they first one was easy. What is the only state that gives pharmacists prescribing power? FLORIDA ONLY. Yea!
So anyway, since I don't have to be IN class until Tuesday I came home. I can watch my lectures from here. So far I am completely caught up. Unless I'm just not seeing something.
I called fedex/kinkos and am having them send me a course packet, last time I tried to go I got lost in the ghetto and I'm not really into that and since I'm here I figured they could just ship it to me, they are a fedex afterall.
If I can remember, and I hope I do I am going to make an appointment for a pedicure tomorrow, I got a gift certificate for Christmas and I totally plan on making good use of it. French toes look so pretty.
Tomorrow, I plan on laying out in my hammock because the weather has been pretty nice recently. Now that I said that it will probably poor down rain all day and then snow.
I need to do a lot of cleaning of my template but right now I'm too lazy. I have to change several links and add some too.
That's all I can think of. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas Hanukkah Kwanza... And a happy New Year! I can eat beef and pork again!
