Saturday Head Noise

i went and did it again
i wrote a journal entry .. got that dreaded "you've exceeded the 12 character limit" message so i've thrown my thoughts today over to my beta journal *again*
i broke down and finally got my thoughts down about the "clique" thread that has been circulating
if you're at all interested in my thoughts, feel free to click the link to take you over to my beta journal
~ cliques? say it ain't so ~
and if thats not exciting enough for ya .. when you get there, just scroll down to my first entry in my beta journal to see the picture of my belly button
::evil grin::

Thursdays Head Noise

rather than try to struggle with the current 2,500 character limit, i've decided to put my journal entry in my beta journal 
so g'head, if you're feeling brave, click below to jump over to my beta journal to read todays entry 
~ Quick Body Shots ~ [link does not work]

an update on Bubba

ahhh .. its sunday   since i got most of my household chores done

  yesterday morning before i ran off to the shelter for a few hours, today i get to concentrate on the 2 boxes of work i brought home from the office .. lucky me eh

my daughter is off spending the day with her Aunt so the distractions have been narrowed down from 6 to 5 (mocha, bubba, momma, sad eyes and sherbert)

    i brought bubba to his regular vet on wednesday to have the drain removed .. when i explained to dr williams that the antibiotics were really upsetting his tummy she recommended i change antibiotics .. at which point i cringed and asked how much they cost .. she excused herself from the exam room and brought me back enough samples to get him through the rest of the week .. at NO charge !!

i apologized and explained that i normally wasn't that cheap but the emergency visit on sunday had drained my account .. his temp was normal, his weight was just a few ounces shy of 14 pounds .. he still has to wear his lampshade since the stitches won't come out until this wednesday .. so other than being completely upset with me, he's recovering nicely

after his visit i handed over my atm card to the receptionist .. i wasn't even aware i was holding my breath waiting for the final tally until she gave me the total of our visit .. $25 !!
now THAT is a vet bill i can live with lol

my "permanent" introduction entry ~ my journal entries appear below

taking a bit of a vacation while i beta test

i'm going to play with the new enhanced beta journal for awhile .. be back soon !!
lol
so far the beta journal is great .. it even has right click copy/paste capabilities now but STILL no spell check or size 12 font

AOL Journals updates

an even more exciting update !! journals beta is scheduled to be released tomorrow at 2 pm EST !!! be still my heart lol
well it appears that the upcoming journal beta release first scheduled for feb 11th, then feb 16th just isn't cooperating and i guess has its own idea when it should be ready for release (which in itself confirms my belief that our journals are of the female persuasion lol)
you can read more about it here .. AOL JOURNALS by AOL HOMETOWN
even though i'm more than ready for the updates to AOL Journals, i'd rather have them keep it to themselves for as long as they need to make sure that the majority of the bugs in our current journals are worked out
with the current problems of AOL by phone and now with images disappearing in You've Got Pictures due to hardware problems, i'd say the staff has their work cut out for them
i've read that they're hoping for a March release on the finished New & Improved Journals .. i'm hoping beta testers will be able to get their hands on the beta version for more than a few days before the general release
in other news (hehe) i received a reply from AOLHometown on the font issue .. it appears that they are aware that a few of us still are unable to use the size 12 font and they're working on it and its now been added to the list of known issues
you can read more about that here .. AOL Journals ~ known issues

i'm learning

i’ve learned a lot in the past few days:
~ what it means when the vet says "these antibiotics will give bubba an upset stomach"

~ how quickly a small cottage becomes even smaller when 5 cats are forced (for the first times in their lives) to stay indoors

~ how to become a referee since momma has been scared out of her wits by bubbas new collar and now growls and hisses at everyone that comes near her

~ that a plastic collar rubbing against a wooden door in the middle of the night makes a LOT of noise .. i've learned why bubba felt the need to come into my room in the middle of the night .. it means "i've still got an upset tummy and you need to wipe me after I’m done"

i've learned that once bubba has filled up the litter box, its a call to the other cats .. THIS is where you poop .. they immediately lined up to take turns

i've learned how quickly an "upset tummy" can smell up a rather small cottage extremely quickly

i think it was a plan .. devised in the middle of the night by my 5 cats

"bubba .. you wake her up in the early hours of the morning .. we need to act quickly before she wakes up entirely .. once we have her attention, we'll all line up to poop .. after we're done, mom will want to put the litter box outside .. when she opens the back door, we all converge on her to make our escape .. if we're quick one or two of us might be able to gain our freedom"

they made a mistake deciding to let bubba ("our little lamp" as my daughter has so aptly renamed him) lead the way in their grand escape plan .. forgetting that he can't see to get through a doorway without it getting stuck on his collar effectively blocking them all from escaping

i can still move pretty damn quick even at 3 am .. yea, so i was forced to quickly toss the litterbox out the back door where it landed upside down on the patio while simultaneously herding cats back into the house with my feet .. but i succeeded in squashing their escape plan

i'm stopping by the pet supply store and getting bubba a leash and harness .. so tomorrow morning when he so rudely "knocks" on my bedroom door, i'm taking him outside

cause i've also learned that certain "things" have NO place in a small cottage .. not at 3 am .. not a 6 am .. not ever

bubba is home

i tried to get a picture of bubba's pathetic little face, but he's not happy & won't look at me

i got bubba home late last night .. wearing his silly little collar, he spent the night bumping into furniture and missing getting through doorways by mere inches .. i swear if my heart wasn't breaking for him i would have laughed  

sad eyes and sherbert accepted his new gadget immediately .. his momma freaked out, so i ended up keeping her in my room with me last night so bubba didn't have to worry about his momma jumping his ass

of course bubba isn't allowed outside .. which means none of the cats can go outside .. NONE of my cats are happy campers this morning

bubba had a scratch on his face that caused the infection .. had it been because of an abscessed tooth, he would have needed further treatment .. as it stands now, he needs to take antibiotics for a week and have the drain and stitches taken out in 3 days

all of my cats have had free roam since they were born .. and its costing me an arm and a leg keeping them healthy .. we still have 2 feral cats in the neighborhood .. both of them from one of mommas earlier litters .. although they come home to eat they have refused human contact

since bubba hasn't shown much interest in being an outdoor cat since he was neutered, i was a bit surprised that he ended up getting into a scrape with one of them .. until last night .. while i was waiting to hear from the vet to find out when bubba could be released, i walked out into our living room and startled Tails (one of the feral cats) .. i guess he's taken a liking to lounging in our living room and wasn't expecting to see me up so late

he hightailed it out the kitty door that momma made a few years ago and i quickly closed up the opening trapping all my cats indoors and keeping the ferals from making themselves at home

thankfully my daughter will be home from school all week so she can keep an eye on bubba while he recovers .. i have a feeling its going to be a long week

oh !! and i realized now why they do a "high/low" cost estimate at the vets .. so when the final price ends up being in the middle, people can go "oh good!! it wasn't as much as i had planned" lol

you pick the subject .. i can't decide

i don't know whether to caption this entry "i'm in the wrong business" or "this is how much love costs"

bubba .. our longhair sweetheart of a male cat woke up this morning with a swollen face and yet another fever .. i searched, but couldn't find any obvious wounds and he wouldn't let me inside his mouth to take a look

so after i got my daughter up and ready to spend a few hours at her girlfriends house, i ran bubba over to the emergency vet where we've sat waiting for the last 2 hours

finally we get to see a vet and in 10 minutes shes agreed .. yup  .. his face is swollen .. yup .. he has a fever

they're holding him for a few hours so they can shave his face to see if there is an obvious wound which would explain the abscess .. if not, then we move on to xrays to determine if its something like an abscessed tooth .. if it is, then the most they can do is treat the fever, treat the infection and then he needs to go to his regular vet to treat the cause

so this bill .. in all its fucking glory might just be the beginning

its feeling more and more like a second job is lurking in my very near future .. maybe i can go back to school and become a vet so i can rake in the big bucks

it drives me up the wall every single time i need to seek medical treatment for my beloved cats .. i don't believe for one moment that anyone there is concerned with whether or not people can actually afford the treatments .. if by chance they're broke .. they'll gladly put the animal down for a few more of your hard earned dollars

i can't count the number of times i've heard behind these peoples backs "if you can't afford it, you don't deserve to have a pet" .. and i agree .. i probably don't deserve to be surrounded by all these souls that love unconditionally .. but they picked me .. they showed up at my door uninvited and decided to stay .. who was i to argue

perhaps i'd feel a whole hell of a lot different towards vets if ONE accepted payments .. but no .. its a 100% cash or credit service .. no ifs ands or buts or sob stories

so i did the only thing i could do when presented with the bill .. i handed over my atm card and told her "go for it .. we really don't need to eat for the next 2 months anyway" .. and i bet she's thinking i don't deserve to own Bubba since i can't afford it

my valentines day part 1

my 4 hours at the humane society yesterday were the most rewarding so far .. not that there is anything i can put my finger on specifically, its more that i go home and know that i did my best and my efforts are appreciated

i pretty much know the routines .. i know what is needed and i can anticipate what needs to be done without having to be asked

sitting here writing about my day i realized that the gals that i work with get credit for making my day so rewarding .. Sara's comment that she wished i worked all day instead of 4 hours .. Cassandra's comment that she can tell that i'm having a great time as i'm running around trying to make things just a bit easier for the employees

i almost made it through the morning without realizing it was Valentines Day

when i got home my daughter and i rushed off to get color for our hair and found a nifty little facial kit .. we spent the afternoon doing girl stuff and feeling just a little bit more glamorous

the little darling then made me a valentines dinner which consisted of egg salad sandwiches and chocolate covered bananas for desert !!

to cap off a perfectly good day my son called us from hawaii to wish us happy valentines day .. it was probably one of the longest calls we shared since he headed off to college in august

he's was psyched about his date last night .. after his first and only girlfriend broke his heart at christmas he was never going to date again .. it was a relief knowing his heart has recovered enough to get back in the game

i told him that i was so proud of his grades last semester (he pulled off a 3.25 gpa) and i noticed that his classes are more difficult this semister .. since he's pursuing sports medicine, he's loading up advanced mathematics, psychology and physical science .. its no wonder i don't see him spending a lot of time online chatting !!