Top it with whipped cream

Neither one is healthier than the other. They both contain a lot of sugar and saturated fat. I prefer whipped cream because there is a more complex, interesting flavor to it and it's a bit closer to a source that actually occurs in nature that our bodies have been used to processing for a lot longer.

limping Doris

Doris Kat was limping around alot last night. Looks like she's injured one of her back legs somehow. I took her in to the vet this morning. Turns out she has a torn ligament on her back right knee. It may have been this way for a long time (kinda explains her wonky hind quarters) and has just gotten a bit worse recently from a new injury, age, etc.

They could possibly repair the joint surgically, but with her age and asthma, the vet does not recommend that option.

The vet is still very much concerned that we still give Doris steroids for her asthma and has suggested, if we can get her to take it, an apparatus that would enable her to be given her meds with an inhaler. This would send the steroids directly to her lungs and enable smaller, less harmful, doses. I don't know if we could really get her to hold still long enough to hold a mask to her face for around 8 breaths but it's under discussion.

taste of spring

The forecast today promises sun and slightly warmer weather. For me, that makes it a good afternoon to work on removing more of the rampant English ivy from trees around the house. Still to early to do much serious gardening but we're close... very close.

I think I need to plant more cosmos this year. Cosmos are good flowers for cutting because they have long stems and rabbits like to eat them before anything else. We enjoy seeing bunnies in the yard enough that it's worth allowing them a few things out of the garden. There are too many cats in the neighborhood for foraging rabbits to be a big problem.

Other flowers that have done well without being eaten by rabbits are blackeyed susans, zinias, and marigolds. The tea roses are always around, as are tiny fragrant gardenias. I need to find out what the long stemmed yellow flowers are that look like dandelion blooms but are not dandelions. They are very long stemmed and hardy and I picture keeping cobalt blue bottles holding a few around on the dining table or in the window(s).

Slowly, I am learning by experience what I can actually grow around here. I know I can keep some beans and flowers in the front yard and keep herbs happier in the shadier back yard. Dill died last year in front but thrived in back. Tomatoes, I still have a lot to learn about and I might not have enough sun here to grow them even in pots. Squash and pumpkins are easy to grow here but I will only be able to take advantage of the blossoms because borers get to the fruit long before it's ripe and I don't want to use insecticide dust on anything.

For me, the best part of the garden is having fresh herbs immediately outside - thyme, basil, peppers, dill, parsley, oregano, sage, and mint. I love cilantro too but that's another challenge for me. Also thinking about trying chives this year as well.

Paint It Black.

Eyedrum Gallery needs volunteers this Sunday.

From their newsletter:

Help us black out the gallery this Sunday March 9th! We need volunteer help applying some 20+ gallons of black paint to the entire gallery and the exterior of the Eyedrum space in preparation for the light-based art show OBSCURA opening on March 20th.

If you owe community service hours to some local municipality, here's where you want to do it. Or if you are just into community service in general, we'd love to have you.

They'll be snacks and assorted carbonated beverages.

Dress like the red dogs. Or wear paint clothes.

Email volunteer@eyedrum.org to confirm your participation.

email or call me if you want to

Work is non-existent this week. Boss is taking an impromptu vacation with his family and I will be there alone for the remainder of the week, probably with little or nothing to work on.

The good news is that Kisa Bastet, who I miss very much, comes into town from Germany this week. And there is a birthday party and a bachelor(ette) party I am invited to, so there will be much social activity with her and others this weekend.

tonight

Having a glass of vino. Trying to slow the mind. Time for reading in bed. Ms. Kat sleeping in front of vent, relishing the warmth.

Saturday mail delivery on chopping block | ajc.com

Saturday mail delivery on chopping block  | ajc.com

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time keeping

Got to the office to day and there were no new tickets on the time clock. All I could do was to write in my time on last week's ticket under the time for last Friday. Will be writing myself out for the day soon, since I'm here alone and no one is calling or emailing new jobs today.

more awkward moments with the folks next door

My next door neighbor needs to keep a closer watch on his dog.

There is a rouge pitbull in our neighborhood killing pet cats in people's yards. A couple of neighbors have found their cats, in their own yards, dead and saliva covered like chew toys. A few other neighbors have seen loose pitbulls in the neighborhood and these are probably the culprits in this case.

The young couple next door seems to have now clue about leash laws. Or he does not seem to know. When their half-grown puppy came bounding into my front yard, as it does occasionally, we always have these wonderfully awkward moments where she is chasing it frantically to get it back into their house or yard.

I know their dog lives in a peaceful household side-by-side with cats and ferrets and would never hurt another pet or person. But our neighbors are under loose dog alert and I fear that if it gets out again and goes beyond my yard, Animal Control will be called and their pup will end up at the pound, probably to be put down in a short amount of time.

So this morning while I'm still in my robe and slippers, when I saw her romping outside with no humans frantically chasing after her, I had to go outside and wrangle her back to their front door. Two guys were just lounging in the front room when I had to ring the doorbell twice. Neighbor guy opened the door to see the strange lady next door (me) hanging onto the dog's collar. One of the guys had been playing with the dog outside and had just left her out without thinking about things like the lack of an enclosed backyard or local leash laws.

What I Learned Today

It's one thing after another. Woke up this morning to an especially cold house and found the heat not working. Checked the heater for anything obvious that someone who knows nothing about heaters might be able to correct. Wiggled a loose switch and heard the pilot come on and decided that the problem must be a simple but potentially dangerous electrical problem. Went upstairs and the heat was off again. Housemate grumbled and emailed landlord before going to work. I fiddled with thermostat a bit later and the heat finally came on. Then the theory changed to "must be a bad thermostat... and potentially dangerous electrical problem with switch as well.

Fortunately, our landlord reacted very quickly and got their Heating/AC man out to the house ASAP. Because the heater was now working, I was imagining them seeing the heat on and leaving without taking a look. Another TV-repairman type moment.

John Austin, the technician got to the house and let me tell you, it was a pleasure to meet him. Very patient and knowledgeable about his work - and he looks like David Tennant.

He went over the entire system. Found the missing pocket for the never-used air filter, which I immediately bought and installed today, and gave me a lesson on heating units and their maintenance, most of which I'll probably forget by tomorrow morning.

He also took apart the thermostat and pointed out the presence of batteries that needed replacing. We've always had the little hard-wired round thermostats so we never heard of thermostats that needed batteries.

painting and waiting

The painter is finally here to repair and paint the two upstairs rooms. I'm stuck at home as long as he's here working.

In other news, there is a very unfortunate leak in the laundry room downstairs from a broken waste water pipe.

Also, my behind is so cold today that I think I will not lose this constant chill until Spring arrives.

Presidents Day 2010

This national holi-Monday has been exquisitely motionless. No work today. No packages could be mailed for MMD because the post office was closed. Banks were all closed today a well. No need to go to the grocery store, outside of looking for discount-priced Valentine chocolates, because we handled all of the grocery runs and other errands yesterday.

The Winter Storm 2010 that they were predicting for last night and today never materialized. The temperature was 40 degrees when I first stepped outside this morning and the forecast has been changed to warm(ish) and partly cloudy with no rain for a few days. The way things have been going here, they may change the forecast again by morning.

The mercurial forecast means that the house is in a state of chaotic limbo because the painter keeps rescheduling for the next day and then canceling again when he fears bad weather and icy roads. The furniture in my office is staying shoved into the center of the room. We've gotten tired of moving the bedroom furniture in preparation for the painter that never shows up.

The only lasting sign of the snow last week are the giant snowballs in two of my neighbors yards. Looks like they gathered every inch of snow in their respective front yards and rolled it into enormous stacks of snowballs, never adorned to be proper snowmen but at the proper 2 or 3 boulder height. Instead, there are big dirty globs of mud, dead leaves, and ice sitting in their front yards.

Tonight's plans include leftover greens and beans for dinner and watching No Reservations on the Travel Channel.

waiting for a little snow

Snow is coming. It's too warm to stick around but everyone is in a panic regardless. The only thing to fear really is the snow/slush refreezing into a nice slick sheet of ice overnight lows with forecast low temperatures in the 20's. I think today should be now worries. Not planning on a milk and bread run.

We are almost finished with repairs from water damage and clean up from the roof being replaced on the house. The last step is the painter coming in to remove stains from the walls. First, he was scheduled to come in Thursday. Then our landlord phoned to tell us the painter had moved our date to Friday. Last night and this morning we moved heavy furniture to the center of the upstairs rooms to be painted and moved smaller objects to the other office and basement. Painter was supposed to be here at 8:30 a.m. and our landlord phoned at 8:30 to say the painter is not coming today because it is already starting to snow/rain a bit where he lives, which is apparently a long distance out of town. So, I can go into work earlier than planned again today and we'll have to return the large furniture to their spots in the bedroom tonight and move them back in again on Monday morning, just in case.

Weeks like this only work because I am underemployed now and can be home whenever I need to. Perhaps the universe knows this and after next week the universe will allow me to have a new full time job.

I prefer to get up late and go to bed early

I need more sleep than the average person. When I had a get up early and stay up late schedule, I was always able to work in a long nap in between.