Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

My kid on the porch in the snow

Wake up time:  7:30-ish. I'm getting pretty standard with going to bed around ten, reading until 11pm or so, sleeping until 7-something. I've cut my ambien in half for the past two nights and have slept well. I'm waking more during the night but going back to sleep with no trouble and I feel less doped up first thing in the morning. The first night I tried no ambien, cold turkey and the next day was bad, real bad. I woke up feeling really weepy and depressed and seriously didn't want to move. I've had a lot of low points over the course of my life but this was the first time I truly felt immobile. It got better as the day went on. That night I took my regular dose and slept well. Sunday night and last night I went with half an ambien plus sleepy-time tea and that seems to do the trick. I'm aiming for being off ambien except for the worst pain days, using it as rarely as I use the strong pain meds. Sleep training a baby ain't easy but sleep training an adult is no joke either. 

How I'm feeling:  Congested. Having more hip/back pain.  Had two bad days of evil gut pain and it seems to have eased today. Still there but not bad enough to need drugs.

Brrrrr!

How's the weather?  We had an exciting snowfall today that unfortunately did not result in any accumulation. I know, I know... those of you with real inconvenient snow issues would gladly give yours away. I don't want a deadly snow. I just want a day or so of beautiful. Is that too much to ask? I'm certain it's not going to happen this Winter. That's my attempt at reverse psychology. Do you think the weather is buying it? 

What I wore today: It's time to do laundry. Today I'm in the favorite new sweater/hoodie with my brown flowy-gypsy skirt, brown leggings, pink/purple/white striped fuzzy socks. Yesterday I wore jeans for half the day but ended up in my oldest, most wornout pair of pajama pants. 

Hairstyle of the day: the Katniss braid

Makeup: no but I did wear some yesterday. It's over rated. 

Bethy on the laptop in the kitchen

What I watched today:  been watching stuff from the DVR today. Having a mini-How I Met Your Mother marathon and then one episode of Grey's Anatomy. My nieces came over this afternoon and we watched most of Ramona and Beezus - super cute movie. Actually Jamie and I watched it while Sarabeth played games on the laptop - she's such a pre-teen!  Please note that she is wearing shorts. She always wears shorts. She said that tomorrow she will probably have to wear jeans and she is not happy about it. 

What I'm reading: I've downloaded a few new (free) biographies from Barnes and Noble's website. I'm still reading the Steven Tyler biography. I read fast, I really do but I am only reading about an hour a day. I need to have a day where I do nothing but read but... then who would tend to my Farmville2 farm?  

What I ate today:  I had... three fig newtons and a handful of goldfish crackers this morning. Austin made mac and cheese for lunch. For dinner last night I had chicken salad on homemade cheese bread. My dad is getting into baking bread. It's too cold for golf. My appetite is kind of wonky. For dinner tonight I had leftover beef stew that I made on Sunday. It turned out really bad. Pop had me try this old recipe for it that included allspice and cloves and it was just too weird. So we have leftover stew. I had it with homemade bread. 

What I drank today: I'm hooked on Simply Orange Orange and Mango juice. It's addictive. It's cold enough outside for me to use the "downstairs refrigerator" (the shed) so I've got it handy. I've been alternating with green tea to loosen the congestion in my chest. 

Where I went today:  I was all over the porch taking snow pictures. Yesterday me and mom went to town. Today I drove over to Leaf Grocery with Austin. Leaf Grocery is a gas station that also has some groceries and hot food. It's the closest store to us and it's probably... I don't know... four or five miles. Too far to walk.  

Jamie having an afterschool burger

What I did today:  Got super giddy about the snow. Watched tv. Played a lot of Farmville2. Visited with my nieces. 

Visitors to the Hollow:  Sarbeth and Jamie. Old Man Winter. 

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  It seems like it was just weekend and it's already halfway through this week. It goes so fast.  

Thought for the day:  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. 

Working on homework with James

Some more pictures... 

Happy Tuesday, y'all. 

Admiring the snow

It came down steady but didn't stick

Austin + Oscar + snow

See the little white dots? It's all I've got. 

Friday the 17th

new pictures on my wall

Wake up time:  Not sure what time it was but at some point last night Little Trouble Kitty stuck his paw into a mug of tea beside my bed and flung tea on me. I woke up thinking the bathtub upstairs had sprung a leak. When I reacted he repeated it... splash, splash, "wake up mommy!".  I went back to sleep. Later, I got up and took a shower, made my bed, dried my hair, etc before glancing at the clock and it was near 8:30 then. I'm trying to cut back on my use of ambien - using it only on the worst days - so my sleeping schedule may get screwed up for a bit. I figure at this point I have more time than money so if I have to sleep late to catch up on sleep... so be it.     

Stubby the 3legged Wondercat

How I'm feeling:  Bad. I did more than I should have today. I'm in sort of a blue mood which always makes pain worse. I just feel... stuck. Like my choices in life are broke or in pain. If I do anything to earn money at this point it will mess up my disability case. And hurt. If I don't do anything I remain broke. It's really discouraging.

How's the weather?  It's been cold and windy today. 

 

Barbie shelf in my bedroom now

What I wore today: long grey skirt, black long sleeved shirt, blacknd grey striped cardigan, purple and black fuzzy socks

Hairstyle of the day: clean and blow-dried but not really straight

Makeup: none 

What I watched today:  a documentary on Pioneers of Aviation, How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy, The Five... the usual suspects.... 

What I'm reading:  Been camped out at sweeten.com checking out remodeling projects. Read another REALLY GOOD chapter in Beth Moore's "To Live Is Christ". Still working on Steven Tyler's biography.  

What I ate today:  breakfast was biscuits (2) with butter and blackberry jam, a smoked sausage link. lunch was peanut butter and banana sandwich on homemade cinnamon raisin bread, dinner was rotisserie chicken, jasmine rice and roasted asparagus

Utility shelf in it's place 

What I drank today: green tea with honey & lemon. I've been using this sleepytime tea and it seems to help

Where I went today:  Nowhere 

What I did today:  emptied litter boxes, moved one bookshelf into my bedroom and tried to organize some stuff and spent a long time trying to coax Little Kitty out from under the bed. Little Kitty got choked on something or for some reason was throwing up/foaming at the mouth. It was really scary. He was hiding under the bed so Austin and I had to lure him out to make sure he was ok. Eventually he returned to normal and he seems to be fine now. He's been eating and drinking and exploring as usual. If anything, he's enjoying the new placement of shelves and has been trying to climb as high as he can. He even offered up a rare "meow" to get me to help him up to the top of the bookshelf and another "meow" to help him down. He's the kind of cat that the firemen would have to rescue from a tree if firemen still did that. He loves to climb and then can't figure out how to get down. 

Visitors to the Hollow:  Austin went to hang out with Fat Pat

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  mmmm.... nope. 

Thought for the day:  Every time God delivers us, the point is ultimately to draw us closer to Himself. Whether we get to avoid pain and suffering or we must persevere in the midst of it, our deliverance comes when we're dragged from the enemy of our souls to the heart of God. - Beth Moore, To Live Is Christ

Turning Pro

Wake up time: 7:45 or so. I didn't glance at the time until I had gone to the bathroom, made the bed, gotten dressed, fed the cats, put some hot water on for hot cider and then it was 8am. 

How I'm feeling:  The back is worse today than it's been in awhile. The headache went away and came back. My hip is out of whack. It's. Always. Something.

How's the weather?  Today was deceptively sunny.  The sun was bright enough that you thought it would be really warm and then on the way to the bank the temperature in the car was 37 - that was at noon. That's colder than normal for us, even for January. I've convinced myself that we aren't going to have my *one big snow* event this Winter so for me the cold is just an inconvenience. However, it is handy for keeping things cold without a refrigerator. I stored my orange juice in the shed overnight... spared me a few trips upstairs for refills. 

 

What I wore today: black fleece yoga pants, State Farm long sleeve tshirt, thick fleece hoodie, leopard print fuzzy socks and SUNGLASSES

Hairstyle of the day: dirty high bun. Tomorrow will probably be a glam day for me. 

Makeup: none

What I watched today:  This morning I watched a documentary on whether or not Elizabeth I was a killer. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and was known as "the Virgin Queen". It seemed to me there was a lot of crooked stuff in the kingdom back then. I watched a show once about whether or not she was really a man. Apparently there are a lot of theories about her. Then I watched a little Downton Abbey, then my back to backs of How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy.  And of course, The Five. Not sure what's on tonight. Last night I turned off the tv early and spent more time reading. That may happen again tonight.   

I'm STILL counting down the days until the Olympics. 

What I'm reading:  Steven Tyler biography still. I've downloaded a lot of books into my Nook so I really need to go on a reading binge. I debated about going to the library today and just honestly didn't feel like walking around or carrying anything heavy. I can't go to the library without picking up a heavy load.  

What I ate today:  I had cinnamon toast for breakfast. I forgot about lunch until after 3pm and then I cooked a frozen pizza for lunch/dinner/whatever. I forgot to eat dinner last night. It's a wonder that I can maintain my weight the way I eat. And then I eat two packages of Little Debbies. 

What I drank today:  hot cider, orange juice and then V8 fusion

Where I went today:  I went to the bank. 

What I did today:  I got a new low score on the hard level of sudoku! Six minutes and thirty-two seconds! My previous low time was nine minutes and something.  Too bad there's not a way I could go pro with it. I kick sudoku's butt. 

Visitors to the Hollow:  Sarabeth and Jamie came over after school. Pop picked them up and took them to Chick-fil-a and they came back here to hang out and do homework before going home to get ready for their basketball games tonight. Jamie cracked me up... she licked all of her nuggets so her sister wouldn't take any. Then Sarabeth licked all of hers so that the dogs wouldn't eat them. I had to break the news to her.... those dogs eat poop. They don't care if you put a little spit on something.  By the time they got here my headache was back and my back was out of whack so I didn't visit with them much.  

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  Going to the bank had been on my to-do list for a month so that felt like a big accomplishment.

Thought for the day:  For every situation there's a suitable line from a song.

Whiny Wednesday

I started my day with a cat gagging... about to throw up on my bed. I think that should be an alarm instead of a beep or a gong or music or whatever else people use to wake themselves. Nothing brings you to an alert status faster than the thought of cat vomit soaking through to your mattress. I successfully evicted him before any spewage occurred.

It was 4:45.

I had planned to spend the night with my sister-in-law and nieces last night. I was scheduled for an early morning babysitting shift and it seemed easier to stay there rather than have to leave the house in the freezing darkness of pre-5am. My sister-in-law has a job in Atlanta (about 80-90 miles south of us) and although she doesn't commute EVERY day, she does commute several times a week. My brother is an amazing dad and handles the before school stuff every day.... however... he is now in graduate school in New Orleans and although he won't be there EVERY day, he will be there occasionally. Last night was one of those nights. Fortunately Sarabeth and Jamie have myself, my parents and Angie's mom all living nearby and able to help. And we all love being a part of the girls' lives so it's never a chore for any of us, even those early mornings.

At any rate... I started with a nasty headache yesterday and it got worse as the day went by. It turned out that Angie had a dentist appointment this morning and wasn't going to have to leave until 6:30 instead of her usual pre-5am departure so I decided to spend the night in my own bed and make the cold morning drive. Pop's car has heated seats so the suffering is minimized. As it turned out I was able to get to sleep earlier than usual and was WIDE awake before time to leave so it was all good. There's a bible verse that says "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose". Even cat vomit as it served the purpose of making more alert than I would normally be at that time of morning.

The girls are extremely cooperative and know what's expected in the morning so it's a breeze to watch them before school. The drive to school is short and traffic free. It's easy. I also had that Starbucks gift card so I rewarded myself for my early morning efforts by picking up an iced green tea and a piece of banana nut bread.

The headache from yesterday has lingered, though, and that's been frustrating. It hurts to open my eyes. I have had the dizziness/nausea that usually mean my headaches are more than just a sinus or stress thing. I don't like to use the word "migraine" casually because I know someone who has such horrible migraines. Mine are a bother. They don't incapacitate me.

Last Summer I made a connection between drinking orange juice and having fewer headaches. I haven't been drinking as much juice lately because of the high sugar content. I picked up some juice today and am hoping that will help. I don't think there's a food connection because I haven't had any of the foods that are typical headache inducers. My diet this week has been - not bland but mild: chicken pot pie, oatmeal and so forth. The only really weird/different thing about this headache is that I have an odd feeling of numbness over the bridge of my nose.

So that answers the questions of what time I got up, what I've been eating and drinking today and how I feel. I'm reading Steven Tyler's biography, "Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?". He has a very unique writing style and I'm enjoying the book.

I haven't made a decision about the life insurance policies but the coverage ends at midnight. I can reinstate it within the next couple of weeks without any problem so I just have to NOT DIE before then.

I also got a lab bill in the mail today for $199 for a drug screening from October - the one I complained about having to pay the doctor $50 for instead of the usual $25 - apparently they sent it to a lab? I don't know. Tomorrow I have to sort that out. This really frustrates me because I would have declined the lab test if I had been advised that the cost was going to be ten times what it had been in the past, even if that meant declining the medication. I have this sinking feeling that I'm about to have to learn how to live without any medication at all because I can't pay these kind of exorbitant prices every other month. This takes the cost of those doctor visits to $365 every other month. I can't even wrap my head around it. You can buy a urine drug test at the drug store for $15. I've never shown any trace of anything - not even nicotine - so to be treated like a felon just because I have legitimate, clearly documented pain is an insult. Pain sufferers truly are second-class citizens.

Here's what has happened with this doctor's office: Obamacare. This doctor's compensation with Medicare and Medicaid was reduced to the extent that he can no longer see patients on those plans. This doctor, like many others in my area, including the only major hospital in a 50 mile radius and my general practitioner, are not willing to accept the small amount that the insurance providers under Obamacare are willing to pay, namely Blue Cross/Blue Shield and I believe (but am not certain) Humana. My doctor that has been providing care for me for three years has now become a "boutique medical provider". They don't have to and don't want to accept patients for a budget/bargain/reasonable price. They only accept insurance providers who are willing to pay the amount they want for the services they provide. For those of us who - for whatever reason - are paying out of pocket - we are unprotected. I'm being billed an extra $199 for services provided three months ago and today is the first I've heard of it even though I called and complained when I was billed for the extra money from the doctor's office in November. They didn't mention then that there would be additional billing from a lab. I do remember being presented with a form in October where I consented to the lab test and that was the first time I had to sign for that. I asked then if that meant that the cost was changing and reminded the nurse that I was "self-pay" and asked if the cost was changing. She said no.

I'll call them tomorrow and see if we can negotiate a reasonable amount for that bill. If not... I mean, I don't have anything to give them. So that really added to my headache.

January is rough for everybody. You don't have as much sunshine, you're in a post-holiday let down, it's still a long time until Spring and all that. My pain started three years ago this week. The past three years have had that extra downer of suffering on top of the normal January blues. This year I am so grateful for how God has provided a way for me to survive without working. It's stressful in a different way now... but I'm able to better manage pain. It's discouraging to face life from this position of being a second class citizen, to wonder how I'll continue to receive treatment as healthcare for people like me becomes LESS affordable. I couldn't have imagined three years ago that I would be living here and not working. I couldn't even fathom life taking the turns that it has. We never know what tomorrow holds.

My Aunt Claire, my dad's sister has been diagnosed with cancer. It's not my story so I'll be discreet about the details but there is concern that the cancer may have spread. She's facing a difficult path of treatment ahead. It's hard for Grandma, it's hard for my dad and it's hard for all of us to know that she is suffering and it's hard not to know the outcome.

My goal for tomorrow is to take care of business. Often when things feel out of control if I TAKE control of the things I can - little things even, like cleaning out my closet - makes it better. I need to eliminate the variables that I can and trust God for the rest. I think I'd also like to go to the library. That's free and always makes me happy.

We're going to wish this headache away and have a better day tomorrow. Sorry for having a Whiny Wednesday. Love and hugs, y'all.

Monday

Wake up time: 6:30 after being awake until past midnight. Fortunately my demanding career as a tv watcher/Farmville2 Fanatic doesn't require me to be alert. 

How I'm feeling:  Today the lung crud was much less pronounced and I was breathing easier except for the fact that the Evil Gut Pain returned with a vengeance.  It's like... I get far enough away from it to think I might be over dramatizing and then it comes back and I realize, it's more real than I want it to be.  Woke me out of a sound sleep at 6:30 and had me fumbling in the dresser drawer for the good drugs. I still haven't discovered a pattern with this pain but it's legit.

How's the weather?  I couldn't tell you. I think the sun came out today but I'm not sure. 

 

What I wore today: back in my new favorite outfit the grey maxi skirt and blue sweater with leggings and fuzzy socks. It may not be IN style but it's my style and I'm sticking with it. This is why there is always that one couple in every church who dresses from two decades ago - they find a style that they feel comfortable with and they never let it go. You didn't have that couple in your church?  The lady with the beehive married to the guy with the slicked back hair? If you didn't have that couple maybe you were that couple. Just kidding.

Hairstyle of the day: Straight and not as clean as yesterday but cleaner than tomorrow. 

Makeup: rockin' the chapstick like your average five year old! 

What I watched today:  Today has been THE WORST day in tv watching history. I seriously gave up and just watched Fox News all morning. After my blessed double episode marathon of Grey's Anatomy I gave up and watched Katie (who, lets face it, is just as annoying at 3pm as she was at 7am). Tonight I'm planning to watch the new episode of How I Met Your Mother (because I'm sucker enough to still be tied into the story) and then a rousing, exciting documentary on Nancy Reagan on C-Span OR Fashion Police. I haven't decided. The First Ladies series has been really interesting on C-Span but ironically, one of the people who tweet in a question EVERY SINGLE WEEK is named Sheldon Cooper. I'm wondering if it's really a person named Sheldon Cooper or if it's someone (like me) who enjoys both First Lady history AND The Big Bang Theory.  And by the way... you have to be more than just a passive tv watcher to catch on to a nuance like the Sheldon Cooper tweet of the week so maybe my tv watching career DOES require me to be more alert than I thought....  

I'm counting down the days until the Olympics. 
What I'm reading: Today I binge read a blog called Carolina Charm. Binge reading is when you go back and read large portions of a blog in one sitting. I end up doing this at least once a week. It's like reading a biography and I love biographies.  This is how I started stalk-reading Camp Patton about a year ago.  Today I got an email response from Grace about a comment I made on her blog and it seriously made me smile. I don't know why YOU read blogs but for me, being able to connect with people who live in different parts of the country/world from me, being able to see how "the other half" lives, being able to see how very alike we all are at the end of the day is very entertaining to me. It also really makes my day when you guys comment/email/send facebook messages. I know this is a monologue but I really do enjoy feedback. 

What I ate today:  breakfast was oatmeal with apples, raisins and walnuts, lunch was carrots with hummus, dinner was Pop's homemade chicken pot pie and seriously, I could have eaten an entire pie by myself. I've been trying to eat smaller meals today because if you have Evil Gut Pain and you get a full belly, it makes things worse. But seriously. I can see myself having a midnight snack of chicken pot pie if I'm still awake at midnight, although every time I go into the kitchen the dogs get all excited because they know I'm a sucker and always give them scraps. 

What I drank today: I started with those folgers coffee singles - you know, the ones that are like tea bags. Yuck. I moved on to hot tea

Where I went today:  I opened the front door once and let the dogs out. That's about it. 

What I did today:  I survived. Some days that's the best I've got. 

Visitors to the Hollow:  Austin's girlfriend Charity then later Austin's friend and his girlfriend. I am apparently running some kind of Xbox/Hookah Lounge in the Whine Cellar. I should charge admission.  This is where all the cool kids hang out and I get to LIVE here! They're all decent enough to make polite conversation with me on their way past so at least I talk to someone other than my cat. 

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  I've got to figure out what to do with our life insurance this week. I've kept mine because honestly, it would be nigh to impossible for me to qualify for a policy at this point. I could, however, convert it to a smaller policy because I don't need as much as I did when I was a single supporter of three kids. I've kept life insurance on Austin because... well, he's Austin... but his actually has accrued some cash value so I could cash out his and pay for mine for a few months and then... who knows. I'm a long way from resolution on the disability thing and insurance is my only true "bill". I pay for medication and I pay for doctors visits but if I couldn't pay, I just wouldn't go and/or would just do without medication. Life would SUCK but I wouldn't owe anybody. I'm eager to file my taxes but am still waiting for documents. I have no idea what my return will be but it will at least be something. My car insurance is very, very cheap and worst case scenario, if I had to, I could suspend the registration but I'm anxious about letting the life insurance go.  Anyways... so I've got to figure out what to do with that. Tomorrow. And then I'm spending the night with my nieces and am on before school babysitting/driving to school duty for Wednesday morning. Otherwise, nothing really on the agenda until my cousin's wedding on the 25th. 

Thought for the day:  There are 923 words that break the "i before e" rule, only 44 that follow it. Is it more of a rule or a guideline? 

Happy Monday. 

My Weekend

My lungs are stuffed with crud and I can't breathe which makes me anxious and exhausted. I would declare it pneumaticfluitis but the way these things go with me I could wake up tomorrow with nary a symptom. Or I could be sick for six months. One never knows. I'm also sneezing and feeling chilled and took a long nap this afternoon which is really unusual for me.

The kitty cat is doing his best to make me feel better by sitting between me and the computer. He also entertained for quite some time with a roll of painters tape that Austin hung from the ceiling for him. And then he pulled it down and was really confused.

I got up this morning. I ate food. Yada, yada. Nothing exciting. Not using my format because I'm too lazy to cut and paste. Although I actually just cut and pasted that very sentence from later in this blog entry. True story.

TV wise it was Mad Men episodes all morning until Downton Abbey came on and since then it's been Golden Globe Red Carpet. I only watch the E! Red Carpet because Matt Lauer on the Red Carpet, NBC? I don't think so.

Tonight will be Golden Globes/Downton Abbey dual watching. It's a little harder to double up with something on PBS because there are no commercials.
Downton Abbey will be shown a dozen times in the next week and the key moments of the Globes will be replayed in the media a dozen times tomorrow. Win/win.

Austin's best bud and his new girlfriend spent the afternoon over here. He introduced the girlfriend to me by saying, "hey mom, here's the new girl". You gotta love it.
I think one of the bonus parts of raising kids is getting to watch their friends grow up too.

Last night I read the November 4, 2013 edition of Time magazine. My grandma sent it to me because she knows I love British stuff. Prince Charles was the cover story. She also sent me a shortbread tin that had the Royals on it. I adore it but you KNOW what a disappointment it is to get a big tin of something and the something is gone.
However I think it's incredibly adorable that my little grandma saves little treasures for me.

Austin adjusted my Christmas Valentines lights for me yesterday but we didn't take them down.
And... I guess that's about it. My hair is clean. My clothes are tacky. I have no plans for the upcoming week. And that's it.
Have a good week. Love and hugs, y'all.

Cats In The Ceiling And Other Adventures

Wake up time: 7:30 or so. This picture was from yesterday morning. It was raining and foggy when I got up today.  I wasn't awake long before I realized that Little Kitty was in the ceiling. Again. More on that later. 

How I'm feeling:  Sore from trying to get my cat out of the ceiling. Twice. More on that later.

How's the weather?  Rainy/foggy and cool but not cold. It was the kind of damp that gets in your bones. 

 

What I wore today: my favorite old faded State Farm sweatshirt that I've had for more than ten years with blue jeans while I was out in public and my fuzzy grinch pjs once I got back home. fuzzy green socks over pink betty boop socks. I wore the betty boop socks with my tennis shoes in town and I didn't feel like taking them off when I got home but my toes were too cold without the fuzzy ones on top. 

Hairstyle of the day: It started out straight but got curlier frizzier as the day went on. 

Makeup: a little. didn't help much. need my brows done. 

What I watched today:  We have a "free preview" of HBO and Les Miserables was on today so I watched that. I will forever love the musical but Hugh Jackman's performance was too nasally if you ask me. There was only one episode of Grey's Anatomy on (it's usually two) but it was the one where McSteamy came to town. Austin wants me to watch Life of Pi in a little while but I typically don't like movies he likes and he says this one is GREAT. We'll see. 

What I'm reading: Still Beth Moore's "To Live Is Christ". I do a lot of surfing during the day and typically only read in bed. I need to expand my non-internet reading time. 

What I ate today:  Breakfast was a morning bun and hazelnut latte from Starbucks. The sweet girl working the cash register said, "we still have one cheese danish if you want it". No, I really prefer the morning bun. I used to eat those on my way into work last year in Fayetteville and it's a nice flavor memory for me. I may have done that old woman overshare thing in Starbucks when I told the story of the cat in the ceiling to the barrista. More on that later. Lunch was a granola parfait - granola with strawberries, yogurt and whipped cream. Dinner was skillet potatoes and smoked sausage with cabbage, peppers and squash. Glad that Pop is here to cook for us. This might have been one of those weeks that I would have survived on leftovers or cereal. 

What I drank today: Pomegranate tea, the aforementioned hazelnut latte

Where I went today:  I made a run into town to pick up a prescription and *since I was right across the street from the Starbucks* I had to stop in and make good use of my gift card. I just realized that I still haven't deposited a check and I definitely need to do that to make sure my checking account doesn't end up in the negative. I've done good to stretch as far as I have considering I haven't worked since April.  Looks like I'll have to go to town again tomorrow so I may have to go to Starbucks again. *sigh* 

What I did today:  Little Rotten Kitty figured out a new passageway into the ceiling of the Whine Cellar. Once he gets up there he doesn't know how to get back down. We think his breed is Norwegian Forest Cat - if you look at the wikipedia page on them, there are a lot of characteristics that LK has - specifically the quiet voice. He has the sweetest, softest little meow and hardly ever gets vocal.  

At any rate... he loves being just as high as he can be and he loves exploring the ceiling. We closed off both entrances to the storage space under the stairs. We tied the doors closed under the sink because there was *just enough* space beside the pipes for him to squeeze through. Now he's learned that if he pushes open the door to the storage space with the hot water heater, he can gain access to the ceiling that way. The door doesn't latch well. He got up there this morning. 

Austin was not awake yet and honestly, Little Kitty doesn't like for anyone to hold him except me. If  he sees Austin, he's just going to retreat further into the ceiling.  Last time Austin stood on the ladder so he could reach far into the ceiling and pull him out. It wasn't pretty or gentle. I knew I could do it better. I figured out that if I stand on one of the dining room chairs and push up the ceiling tile and rattle his treat bag, he will come to me. If I move the tile right above the china hutch he can easily step down from the ceiling onto the hutch and I can reach him to take him down easily. It was so easy and non-traumatic for him that he went back up there a second time. Climbing up on anything is not easy or painless for me. I think we have that room blocked off now. 

Visitors to the Hollow: Austin's friend Sean

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  Going to the store was my big adventure for the week, I'm afraid. 

Thought for the day:  When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes within us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. - Russell M. Nelson

Bonus kitty photos... he's such a nosy little booger... if he wasn't so scared of strangers we could turn him into a little pick-pocket monkey. 

Happy Weekend, y'all!