‘Imagine my surprise when I came in this morning to find Stumpy at the computer. I mean, here I thought she was a normal kitty. I backtracked her URLs and found out that she has a blog! www.stumpykitty.com
Okay, so.. no.. I didn’t find her at the computer. Yes, I’m one of those lame people who write blogs for their pets. I got a free domain with the server move, and Meggie didn’t want it, so I registered it for a kitty blog, because I thought it’d be funny. There are already other kitty blogs out there, so I don’t feel so bad about it. I even found an awesome photo-blogging device called Hello that works with Google’s Picassa. It pretty much lets me blog with pictures without transfers and such, for free! It’s so cool I almost wish I were still using Blogger for crickie.com. Almost. Meggie, you should put some damn batteries in your camera and check it out too. I even went to the trouble of getting a RSS feed for the damn page so I could get a Stumpy block here. Now I just need to get one of my LJ friends with a paid account to put it in syndication so people on LJ can friend her. For XML or RSS, the feed is here.
My poor Stumpy is sick today. 
When she first adopted us, she would cough during the day. I thought it was some nasty hairballs, but she never actually coughed any of them up. I just figured she swallowed them and passed them later on. She comes to the back door in the morning and we chuck her out every night. She seems to have no issues using the litter box for peeing, but she holds her poop all day until we chuck her out. Since she holds it all day, there’s no stools in the box for me to examine for hairballs or anything else. I thought she was fine until today. I heard this horrible yowl from the bathroom, and went in to investigate. She’d thrown up twice on the floor, and was in the middle of barfing a third time. Poor thing! I can’t handle the sound of cats yacking, so I left her to do her thing, thinking it was hairballs. She finished and I went to go clean it up with some paper towels. As I looked at the barf, it moved. I knelt down to get a better look at it, and the moving thing was a worm! (EEW EEW EEW!) Doing some quick research on the internet, I found out that it was a roundworm. They infest the lungs first, then are coughed up and swallowed. (EEW!) She hasn’t eaten a thing since she was sick, not even the extra tuna I left for her. Tuna is her favorite. I will call around to vet’s offices tomorrow to see if I can find a good de-wormer to get her better.
BTW: Larken and Trinny - You’re on not-allowed-over status for a bit until this gets cleared up, as roundworms are human transferable. It’s not likely, but still possible. I’ll be washing my hands like crazy over here too.
Meet Stumpy. She’s been an in-and-out guest at our place for the past two weeks or so. She comes to the back door in the morning and spends the day playing around with us, then we throw her out at night. Rinse, repeat. She’s a Manx, a breed that Meggie and I have a lot of love for. Meggie’s baby, Gabriel is also a Manx. We have found out from Larken’s mom (who lives 3 doors away from us) that she likes to tease poor deaf dogs. Apparently, she sits outside of the glass door and waits for poor Peaches to crash into it. She follows John and I around the apartment, talking to us. She purrs, she trills, she climbs up your leg. She head butts your chin when you pick her up.. etc. Great cat.
Taken from the website: “The Manx is a mellow, even-tempered cat, friendly and affectionate. Many people call the Manx the “dog cat” because of its strong desire to be with its people. Manx cats will follow you about the house, “helping” with whatever you happen to be doing at the moment. Manx cats are not prone to restive movement, and even kittens like to curl up in a lap for a nap. Manx do like to get on things, and if you’re looking for your cat, look about the room at eye-level (yours, not the cat’s) on tables and the backs of chairs and on bookcases. Chances are, you’ll spot your cat pretty quickly. The Manx voice is usually very quiet for its size. Even a female in full-blown heat doesn’t make very much noise at all. The Manx has a distinct “trill” which you most often hear from females talking to the kits, but with which they will reply to their people’s verbalizations as well. Your Manx *will* talk to you. Manx are clever cats, and do seem to have great understanding. Some Manx have learned how to open doors, and not just by pulling at the bottom, but by somehow turning the handles. They seem to understand very well what door knobs are for.”
Well, this whole weekend is JapanFest down in Stone Mountain. It’s only about 45-60 minutes away from Athens, so I’ve badgered John into going with me for both Saturday and Sunday. I’ve prepared already by wiping my camera of photos and buying more batteries. There will be Sumo, archery (with 7 foot bows!), and lots of pretty girls in Kimonos. So, everyone knows how excited I am. I’m such an egg, it’s pretty pathetic. I just love anything Asian. I told Wesley “If I were a man, I’d be dating an Asian woman.” So, expect a fuckton of photos of all things Japanese.
Larry is taking Meggie’s cats for 6 months. She has to get blood tests done before they’re allowed into Scotland, and they take 6 months to do. So, the girl that has her cats right now has kept them for 2 months longer than she was supposed to. She’ll kill them if she has to keep them for any longer than two more weeks, so Larry has agreed to keep them with his two for the time she needs the get that done. So, all 4 of my very favorite kitties will be in one place! I’m giving him my cat tree, and Meggie is including her litter box and etc. I should be driving them both down on Saturday or Sunday of next week. This all in contingent on me getting my tag paid for and such. I can’t drive 80 miles on an illegal tag and not expect to get pulled over.
I’ve been practicing putting on my white Geisha makeup at home for the past few nights. I tried some white canvas primer I had last night, but that was a disaster. Not only does it crack when dry, but it dries into plastic, so taking it off involves basically peeling it off your face. It was bad. I’ve got the wig mostly fixed, but I need some extra black hair to put into it. It had a bun, but I wanted to make a loop of hair in front of it, to put the Kanzashi into. John still has yet to decide what he wants to do for Halloween. He always leaves it to the last minute, then complains that his costume looks like hell next to mine. He just doesn’t care that much about costumes, I suppose. Maybe we can find him a Sumo costume at JapanFest this year.
Weird Al has a brand new CD out. Has since May. I have no idea how I did not hear of this. I’m so angry I have missed this. Normally I go buy the new CD’s of his the very day they come out, and have all of the songs memorized within a week. I got an email from his mailing list this morning letting me know that I can pre-order the The Ultimate Video Collection DVD for only $13.98. I went and saw that the CD had been out for 5 months, so I was forced to order that one as well. It’s a good thing his merchandise is so inexpensive. The CD should be here soon, but the DVD won’t be released until November. Poop.
WARNING: The post that follows will be very girly!
Well, first off, I have new kitten photos! They’re all in the Kitten Gallery, and boy are they cute! I am so falling in love with the little calico girl and the orange tabby boy. The girl because she’s very very sweet, and the boy because he’s so wild. ::sigh:: I just love kitties, no matter what. I am going to have suck a hard time NOT taking one when they’re ready to go. Well, the $800 Power Properties would charge me if they found another animal in here sure is a good incentive not to. But I want one! They’re so sweet and snuggly and cuddly and soft and.. and.. yeah. 
Meggie says they have their eyes open already, since these photos were taken, but she has yet to add any pictures of her own. Grr to her! Grrr!
As far as owies, I’m pretty damn sure that this past 10 days has been the most painful (and cost me the most money in painkillers) than any combined all year. As I wrote previously, I fell down the stairs and bruised my ass, which really hurt. I tell you, it’s sure not something I’d want to do again. Well, five days ago, I snipped the tip (maybe a millimeter of skin, but it hurt like HELL) off of the top of my left index finger while cutting fresh grass for Quigley. The day after that, I fell down the damn stairs AGAIN! Yes, I promise, I’m not that stupid. It’s the slippery shoes I was wearing. Two bruises on my ass now. I was all sore the next day. The next day after being all sore, I started my period! So, we have:
1. Fall down the stairs.
2. Cut the top off of finger.
3. Fall down stairs again.
4. Cramps!
To add to that, I was PMSing like hell for two days, and had a really shitty day at work. Now, add all of that to the normal pain that happens to me everyday (things like paper cuts, banged knees, bunny scratches, headaches, bite my tongue, etc..) and I’ve taken more Aleve this month than all of last year! Before you ask, NO, i did not take photos of my ass.
This also begins the 5 months that I live in fear when I go outside. Why? Bugs that buzz. My patented ‘Flying stingy things’. Bees, wasps, yellow jackets, hornets.. etc. Flies scare the crap out of me, because the buzz too, and even the random butterfly shadow that passes over me before I know what it is will make me flinch and run. It’s totally pathetic. I walk out of the door and scan the ground to pick out my route. I have to plan my route. Otherwise, I might run right into something that flies and has a thorn in it’s ass. I have been stung far too many times to take this lightly. It HURTS! If the unthinkable happens and one of these vile insects gets into my house, I’m reduced to a blathering puddle of girly goo and tears until someone comes and kills it for me. I cannot kill it myself, because I can’t get that close to them without pissing my pants. So I call someone, practically in tears, and plead with them to come over and save me. Until they get here, I crawl around on the floor and watch the thing like an old woman watching a mouse. It’s really sad, and it makes me feel like a total idiot. I hate bugs.
On to better subjects: Owls! John and I went to Memorial Park a while ago, and I got to touch a Screech Owl!! Now, for those of you that know me, you know that I go gaa-gaa over birds of prey. I can sit for hours in front of a show on The Discovery Channel if it’s on eagles, and I can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about birds that eat meat. I love the way they look, I love how wild they are, and it’s been a lifelong dream to work with them. I wanted to become a falconer, but that involves trapping your own birds. The thought of catching such a majestic creature and penning it just kills me. It breaks my heart to think of such a beauty caught and caged, kept from it’s home and kept from the air. It brings me to tears to think of doing that to something that wonderful. It’s a lot like how I feel about myself. I wake at night from a dream where I’ve been flying, and I just cry, because I can’t really do it, and it’s so close.. It’s almost an injustice. I should have had wings.. ::sigh:: Getting off track here. So, yeah. doing that to something else would kill me. But, I got to touch that screech owl! I was beside myself. I could only babble at the woman holding it that I didn’t care about being bitten. It’s not often that one of your life’s dreams comes true. I almost burst into tears in front of her. I seriously have to get myself together and go back to accost her for a job. Even something that doesn’t pay. Even if I clean the shit out of the cages, I don’t care.. I have to be close to them again.
Well, first and foremost, Mommy Kitty over at Megan’s had her kittens two nights ago. There are three, and I only got to see the last one being born. Meggie called me up at 6:15pm at work and said “Hey! We’re in labor over here! I expect a kitten within the hour!” So I hurry and close up shop, but I need Diet Coke (and so will Megan), so I stop off at Kroger on the way there. She calls me again, at 6:30 and says “You missed the first one! Hurry up!”. I hop in the car drive over. Arrive at 6:40, and she leans out the window and says “You just missed the second one. Get up here!” ::sigh:: Damn damn damn. I wanted to be there for all of them. As is, I got to see the last one being born. It’s awesome. I watch Emergency Vets every damn night, but it still never ceases to be a wonder. It also never ceases to be gross, with all of the placenta eating going on. Ick. The first kitten is a little girl, a calico. The seconds is a boy, black with a white chest. The third (I saw being born) is a little boy, orange marmalade tabby. The orange baby is a fighter. He’s the most active of the three so far. Many more photos sure to come soon, but most of the ones I took were too dark to tell what’s in them.
Secondly, I would have posted all of this earlier, but I’ve been in too much pain. The night they were born, I was too tired to post right away. Yesterday, a friend of mine came up to visit me and Quigley (she loves bunnies). As she was leaving, I was helping her carry a few things out to her car. I was coming back in and I dropped a hair tie on the stairs. As I turned around, my foot slipped and I fell. I slammed down right on my ass, and then slammed down a few more steps before I could grab anything to stop myself. It hurt so badly. I just sat there, tears running down my face. I haven’t had a fall that bad in some years. I jarred myself pretty badly, but nothing is hurt but my butt and my pride a bit. I collected my shoes (they’d flown off of my feet and down the rest of the stairs) and my damn hair tie, and limped back up to my apartment. The very first thing I did was take some damn painkiller. The second was to take down my pants and look at my ass in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a nice purple bruise already forming. I slept on my tummy last night, and my right ass cheek is still quite purple and green this morning. Ow.
Well, to a litter of kittens, that is. She’s taking care of a Mommy kitty from her work, and the mom is very huge with a belly of babies. Meg’s excited, and me too. Mommy kitty is a Manx, (no tail) the breed of cat she and I both love to death. I wish I could have a kitty, but.. ::sigh:: alas, I cannot. Only one pet per apartment in my place, and I have my oh-so-sweet baby Quigley. I’m anticipating a call in the middle of the night to drive over to Meggie’s place to come watch kittens being born. I’m all jazzed about that, let me tell you. No, really. I’m sure I’ll have photos of them at some point soon. I’ll have new photos of everything soon! Spring has sprung around here, and I’ll be getting loads of nice pics of everything around town. I need more bunny pictures too! Everyone wish Megan good luck being a kitty mommy!
Elmer Sep. 2002 - Jan. 2003
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….
I’m sorry for the cheesy as shit poem, but it means a lot to me. Elmer passed away yesterday morning. I drove down in the rain late, and helped bury him. When I say helped, I mean I stood there and cried while dirt was put over his tiny box. Larry has better photos of him, and spent more time with him, but I still cried. He called me at 12:09 pm and I went out in the parking lot and cried all over my phone. The drive down was terrible, because I kept tearing up. I got lost on my way back and drove 20 miles the wrong way because I was too upset to notice the signs said west instead of east.
Larry gave him all the love in the world, and it’s important for me to share with you how happy he was, and how much he’ll be missed.
Damn. It’s 5am. I should be asleep right now, but I’m not because of Megan’s cats. That’s right. Not mine (I don’t have any), but Megan’s. She’s gone to New Orleans for the weekend and I’m baby sitting the cats over at my place. All fine and good except for one small little teeny-weenie thing: GABRIEL IS A CRACKHEAD! He’s taken it into his head to call for Meggie at 5am every night so far (this will be the second night, only one more to go). This combined with other Gabriel psychoses like going to the litter box EVERY 10 MINUTES (no, I’m really not kidding. it really is every 10-15 minutes.) and his wonky habit of jumping up in the bed to rub his wet nose all over my face has kept me awake from about 5am to about 6am every night for the past two nights. I called Meggie and left her a phone message saying “Just thought you’d like to know that I’m going to kill Gabriel. You’ll come back to one kitty, because Gabriel will pay!” So, yeah. I’m awake laughing my butt off at the crack head cat of hers, but Larry’s not online to talk to right now, so it’s not as cool as waking up in the middle of the night usually is.
Well, Morla is gone. No more kitty in my bed, no more purrs in my lap. Of course, there’s also no more howling in the bathroom, and no more pee on my floor. Last night was my first full night of sleep in about a week, which was nice. The lack of her really hits me hardest when I come home to nothing, and when I wake to nothing. The night I took her back, it was dark here, so I got lost.. twice, and almost ran over a barred owl. She pooped in her carrier, so I had to empty it out on the way there. Yes, somewhere in the parking lot of a small rent-a-center is a small pile of cat turds. I’m sure it’s not the first. She seemed intrigued when I took her back, and spent the time that I was there chasing around the other cats. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but I’m still sad.
So, Larry came to visit yesterday. It was a really great day. We spent the day around Athens, talking about the graphic novel / online comic that we’re going to do together. He’s writing it, and I’m drawing, but we’re both working together on what we want, which is turning out to be really awesome. So far we’ve got the main backbone to the plot, and a few ideas for characters. It’s going to take a long time, and I don’t plan on giving away much right now. More will surface as we have more, but it’ll go slowly for now. It’ll be a long book though, because there’s a lot to tell. I’m quite excited. So, yeah, the day was great. It was a nice, comfortable day.
My forays into ebay selling have been so successful that I find myself looking around for more things I have that I can sell. I even want to go to garage sales and the local flea market to scout for sale items. Though I also want to scout for Pixietails too, which isn’t too bad. I also need a new motherboard, and I wanted to get some more art supplies, like some pastels and charcoal. I’m also working on the four seasons soon, after I re-do the mask woman’s web page. She wants it to look less fluffy and frilly, which I can understand. I think I’ll do midnight blues, purples and blacks with some star-like twinkles. There are also a few other site changes that i have to make before it goes live, but other than that it’s mostly graphic color changes, which is easy, but time consuming.
