*

10 pounds down 32 pounds to go!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

" Look, you're angry again."

Because this is all I do anymore, pictures of things I want for the house that I probably can't afford.

These are a few of the big and small items we want to put in the house.  It strikes me I'm missing the claw foot tub, I'm shocked I don't have that bookmarked but it's probably the one thing we won't be using the interwebs to get, in some way or form.  The fridge and range are 50's models.  The woodstove is the vermont bun baker...a cooking woodstove I'm really looking forward to trying.

The faucets are things I'm looking for similar items, the door handle I really like and since we aren't going to need that many doors I'm going to spring for the real deal.  The pill box toilet is awesome and REALLY pricey so that might be a pipe dream, I also found kits to make any toilet a high tank water closet type toilet...you should've seen the MIL's face.

The porcelain shower head is cool but probably not what we'll go with...shower massage is not an heirloom technology.  The claw foot shower is seriously awesome and probably something we'll spring for because it's so unique and beautiful.  Next to the shower is a drawer and cabinet pull we saw on Burn Notice and loved, we're definitely going to find those!




Tate: Rolled Edge Door Set: Solid Brass, 7 FinishesColumbia Lavatory Bridge Faucet Set, 4-inch centersThames Widespread Lavatory Faucet, Brass Cross-Point Handles
Porcelain Pillbox ToiletPorcelain Shower Head Boomerang Drawer Pull: 3" Center-to-Center, Die-cast ZincClawfoot Package - 42-inch Cast Iron Shower Pan, Faucet, Shower enclosure - Strom Plumbing

Monday, January 24, 2011

"Darn your sinister attraction"

We have been fostering a very cute kitty named Leo for the weekend.  He's staying at the bank during the week looking for a new home and at the weekend he's all ours.  The dogs think he's the best present they ever got.  They have a lot of fun sniffing each other and napping.  Chairman Meow seems not to care all that much except when she looks at new kitty you can tell she wishes she had a gun.  The dogs are too busy to notice old kitty and new kitty who runs and plays is a lot more fun.  Matt keeps saying what a cool cat he is but won't actually admit to wanting to keep him.  I swear I didn't mention anything about keeping him first, I absolutely swear.

It's a bad time financially as we come to terms with December's Discover card bill.  Car insurance and Christmas, even though we didn't spend that much, was a huge bill even before all the vet visits.  So I'm on cheap skate mode.  I made a lot of red beans and rice for lunches and matt's got a freezer full of stews and chili's.  I'm trying to buy nothing except the necessities for as long as possible to get through the pinch and then we have a house to save for so it's probably a good habit to practice the cheap.

I've been looking at all kinds of house stuff recently and the numbers are just insane.  How in the world do cabinet pulls cost that much, seriously?  Hardware and door handles and windows and sinks, dude.  Expensive.  We're trying to choose quality things so we won't have to do it again but the urge to pick something cheap when you see the prices is so strong.  How much does a toilet have to cost, seriously.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

"Going to the doctor is your answer for everything"

Today's quote comes from my co-worker who was actually bleeding from the ears when we told her to go to the doctor.  In all seriousness this woman should be married to a doctor with the medical emergencies that she's had to live with.  Her birthing stories should be included in every health ed. class on earth...but probably it would cause an apocalyptic population decline even without the one where she needed reconstructive surgery.  She is kind of famous for not going to the doctor until she's on the very brink of death (once with grave's disease and once with appendicitis) which I guess since she's not actually dead must have worked out for her.

I have kind of the same attitude too.  Unless there is copious blood or unconsciousness I usually follow the "give it some time" theory of medical action.  The actionless action.  The sans action method of healing.  I blame my mother, who allowed me to suffer with more than one chronic condition before being shamed into action by my siblings, for instilling in me the belief that going to the doctor isn't important.  I think probably she just didn't think we were important and that it had nothing to do with doctors at all but who knows.

The point is that medical attention is just never my first thought and I don't know how to fix that because that impulse to not go to the doctor is totally wrong.  Especially when it isn't me that is sick.  Yesterday (exactly 24 hours after seeing the vet for routine dog maintenance) Jolie's eye started to look a little red.  It started to look red after a walk where there was much wrestling, which there always is, but Matt noticed Jo made an ouchy noise at one point.  It happens on occasion that Knox will accidentally hurt her and she'll let him know, and then proceed to pound him even harder, but yesterday she just came inside and slept.  When she woke up she was a little teary and noticeably swollen and we thought "uh oh, he must have got her eye".  So we trimmed his claws and made her a cold compress and it didn't look any worse when we left to do errands.*

When we came back it was not cool and we felt like assholes.  Did you ever see Cannonball Run?  Do you remember the doctor?



What about now?   This is what she looked like, but redder and pussier and furrier.  It's really that bad.  So of course I googled it while I was looking up the emergency vet number and of course it said your dog will go blind unless you go to the vet before the redness appears so we packed everyone up and dug out the credit cards and went to the emergency vet.

We were all nervous and worried and it was snowing and we were forced to drive 30 miles an hour in half an inch of snow which will make anyone consider violence even without a slowly blinding dog in the back seat.  So we get there and the first person we see used to work at our vet.  So yay.  They were all really nice and the word that a collie was in the building spread like fire and everyone came out to see Knox.  Probably they don't get to cuddle that many healthy dogs and he loves showing off his belly and poking people with his nose so they all had a good time while Jolie hid under our legs.

The doctor was really sweet and gave her numbing drops to look at the eye but whenever they touched her head to get a closer look she freaked out.  In the end we had to sedate her and I watched while she was muzzled and sedated and the doctor checked out all over her eye...and then in her mouth.  She had her tongue all pulled out like a cartoon and would you believe her eye was popping out of her head because of something she ate?  She got something wedge over her gum that caused an injury at some point and caused a puss filled trauma so huge that it was bubbling up through her eye tissue and pushing her eye out.  Yes, it's that gross.

She won't eat or take her pills because her mouth hurts and she can't take walks for a week but she's enjoying resting on the bed and getting petted.  We're full of guilt, half for letting it go when there was no way that was going to get better on it's own and half for blaming Knox who was as innocent as he always is.  We're going to have to buy them both a pony if we survive the emergency vet bill.

* I hate us right now, you don't even know.  

Monday, January 03, 2011

"catholicism, the faith may fade but the guilt lasts forever"

'Bout time to blog eh?  It's a new year and all.  I should have at least one post a year.  That would be good right.  The purging continues and christmas is a good time to do that.  Who bought me a shower cap and why?  And what do I do with it?  I'm not keeping a shower cap because it was a christmas present, seriously.  A lot of our other christmas presents were consumable or wearable or appliances so I have to make room for them.  The fryer in particular is important to store...so we can make donuts and french fries and donuts.  We also got a grill and thank god that doesn't go in the house because dude, no room.

It's nice to have the cooking and baking part of christmas over.  I'm done with creaming butter and sugar for awhile.  Well, probably a week when matt will need cookies again but I'm enjoying the break.  It's also nice to have the mindless eating of baked goods part over too.  We got a ton of cookies and what not at work and dude when it's slow those stupid awful cookies look great and I have eaten a ton because I'm just not on my game.  Normally I'm pretty good at not eating crappy things I don't really like just because they're there but boredom at work is hard for me.

Another start to a new year and another quest to lose twenty pounds.  I mean officially it would be wrong to start the year without at least saying i want to lose weight.  In real life I'm not sure that's a real goal for the new year.  I might be over saying I want to lose weight every year and then not.  A real goal would be to eat more fruit and vegetables and that I can work on.  It's a smoothie for breakfast and apple for snack week which is a relief after all those cookies.  It's also a cook for yourself week which means that I'm making myself meals instead of eating matt's side dishes.  It's all easier in a clean, organized house and I have high hopes for a good week.