Meandering Maunderings

So I posted awhile back about Kyle helping me to truly understand the notion of 'follows me around like a little puppy dog.' Today said puppy dog isn't content to just follow me, he needs to be attached to me. As I type he's sleeping on my foot, betwixt me and the coffee table. If I move/get up he will be right there with me. He's been doing this all day. *grins* He's my silly boy. :)

Warning if you do not like cute kitty stories then... well, wait, why are you reading MY journal again? I mean, it's not ALL kitty stories, but check out the username... I am the person who WILL point out every kitty I see, even stopping mid-sentence to point and exclaim "Kitty!"


Anywho, so Her Royal Majesty Sasha was perusing her domain via the open sliding glass door. A safety screen kept nature from actually impinging on Her Person. I'm not sure what precipitated what follows, but it must have been Quite Significant. Her Majesty felt it necessary to give the world a most thorough dressing down. She berated it up one side and down the other, listing ALL of it's myriad failings (rain, heat, bugs that don't listen when she tells them to leave, etc.). Generally speaking, Her Majesty only lectures the Husband and myself, informing us of her hunger, or impending starvation depending on how 'late' the meal was served, or letting us know that her water bowl had gone tepid, and so on. We are used to her mannerisms, and don't take her complaints to heart... much.

After her lecture was over, she turned her back and headed off to let my Husband know that dinner could now be served. Unfortunately for him, Kyle decided that he wanted to go to the screen door to see how the world reacted to Her Majesty's lecture. He got slightly too close to Her Person, and Sasha reacted quite strongly. Kyle got hissed at and whacked across the muzzle. After whining, and jumping away, Kyle looked up at his adored daddy, his eyes seeming to say "But I didn't do nuthin'!!" To which Her Majesty hissed again, speaking in cat something that roughly translates to "You're Breathing!" Because we all know, that's reason enough.


Meanwhile, Leo was trying to simply stay out of her way. Via hanging out on the counter top, being most helpful in showing my Husband where the food lives. Obviously, if Leo did not show us EVERY time, we would forget where it was, and they would starve.

The couch/sofa that hubby and I have is over 10 years old... I actually bought it from a friend back in 1998 when I was moving back to Ypsi. She'd had it for a few years at that point- though it wasn't getting used. Over the years it has been a good couch! Very comfy, good to sleep on when needed, and I've liked it. However, it had gotten tattered and the threads in the fabric are coming apart. It was looking like it needed to be replaced- but we didn't really want to do that because we're still planning to leave the country in a year or so.

Kyle intervened, helping us make the decision... Apparently, he suddenly took exception to the couch. He displayed this, when we were out, by attacking the cushions, and throwing them off the couch. This wasn't really a problem, until he actually went for ripping holes in the cushions, oh and removing some of the stuffing... We repaired as best we were able. I'm pretty sure there's some smell there that he's all gaga over... Especially as we've had him almost 3 years, he's been uncrated for almost 1, and this is a new things for him. Also, it has begun to smell faintly of cat pee in that area. So yeah.

The time had come. This meant shopping, checking out Criagslist, etc. We checked out one store that was going out of business, but didn't fall in love with anything. Art Van has pretty good prices, so we went there last night. We had few qualifications- it had to be long enough to lay down on, wide enough for cuddling, and I preferred microfiber. We found a couple we liked in the main area, but then I found one I really liked in their Clearance section. I think our salesperson was disappointed. ;) After much dithering- we bought it! *laughs* So next week we will be taking possession of a new sofa/couch/thing. :) Clearance center = good prices. In total (tax, delivery, etc) it came to about half of the other one we liked. I think we did good! It will be interesting to see how the animals react. (oh, and Kyle has gone back to being crated when we're not home, no more couch rearranging for him!)


In other news- finally got around to seeing some movies: Wall-E and Mamma Mia. Loved both of them! We got them both from Netflix, but I have since gone out and bought Mamma Mia. I grew up with Abba, so knew that I would have to see Mamma Mia eventually. With Wall-E I just loved how they managed to make all the robots so expressive while only really using sounds. I think Mo was my favorite. *grins*

Hmm, there was something else... But I'm forgetting. Ah well, I've been working on this post in bits and pieces all morning, I should get around to actually posting it!

Oh, I remember- locals, I'm sorry for the rain. It's hubby's fault- he washed my car yesterday. ;)

The weekend started off a little strange. See, Hubby was supposed to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. However, as he had the same cold I did, and a fever, Thursday night he called in. Then Friday he got what they call an 'AA' (Administrative Absence) which essentially means the patient/nurse ratio was skewed in the wrong direction. So he got to stay home. Saturday night he did work, but then Sunday he was offered an AA, took it, and then five minutes later they called back and said that no, he needed to come in. Boo on them!

Anyway, I got up earlier than he did on Saturday- because he wasn't feeling well (migraine + cold = not fair). Then I discovered a Kyle accident... Cleaned that up and took the boy for a walk. This however inspired a day of mad cleaning. Hubby was given a free pass because he really was miserable. We got him ensconced on the couch and I cleaned around him. One of those pick up one thing, put it away, notice something there that needs to be moved, and one and on, while removing everything that I could- temporarily- from the living room... Which in this case actually made for an efficient method, strangely enough. After a dose or so of meds, and another nap- hubby was ready to help. :) At this point that meant moving the couch to the dining area (I had already moved most everything else out of the living room). And good Lord there was a TON of cat fur under the couch! (note to self- vacuum under the couch more often!) Got all that cleaned up, took a break for lunch, and I wandered around

Then the aminals were locked up so I could put 'Zorb' (Dyson brand carpet cleaner) down, hubby helped 'groom' it in to the carpet... We waited the requisite half hour and vacuumed it up. Carpet looks SO much better now! So much so that I just had to make sure the two 'easy' style chairs, and the couch, got thoroughly vacuumed, and washed the afghan we drape over the back of the couch, and the blanket on Sasha's chair, so they wouldn't feel left out. All in all, I lost track of just how many hours I spent cleaning... I'm pretty sure I emptied the vacuum canister 4 times- now, lest you think we're slobs, we keep up with general vacuuming pretty well, it's the 'moving the furniture, vacuuming EVERYTHING' type job we don't get too all that often. The place looks pretty good now. :)

Hubby had to go to work, and I spent most the evening trying to relax, but kept picking up things. *laughs* Did manage to get some of my Netflix DVDs watched, and played around on the computer. Then it was Sunday. Kyle did NOT have an accident, but I still got up relatively early with him to take him for a walk. After that, it was time for Teh Shopping Trip of DOOM!

I had to go to PetSmart, get gas, Meijer, (brief pause at McDonalds for a McChicken sammich) Target, and finally Kroger. Took longer at Kroger than I had expected, but a shorter time everywhere else. Spent much money, but finally restocked up on foodstuffs. We've just been kind of lazy about shopping recently. Brought it all home, and managed to get most of everything upstairs before the Energy-Enhance! mode started to wear off. Luckily, Hubby woke up and was able to help with the last bit. He had to go back to sleep though, and I puttered around some more.

I was just waking him up for work, when work called. He accepted the AA, I did a happy booty dance... *grins* We were just deciding where to go for dinner (Okay, yes, I had gone grocery shopping, but we prefer to get out meat stuffs somewhere other than Kroger or Meijer, and I didn't make it there) when work called back. I was disappointed. :( So he went off to work, and I walked Kyle- at this point I should note that my legs were *quite* upset with all the work I had them do the past couple days... (this is why I need to get into better, healthier shape!) The evening was spent stitching, web playing and tv watching. Oh, and a trip to L&L to get meat stuffs. :) One more Kyle walk, then it was bedtime. (Oh, Leo and I played 'Spot' too- Spot is the official name for the laser pointer game.)

That Energy-Enhance mode that hit Saturday was quite impressive. Mainly it seems to be that actually getting restful sleep at night is a big deal- who knew!? ;) Seriously though, since I've been able to use the CPAP (first few nights of my cold were impossible), I've been sleeping better- less restless behaviors, but I still wake up at least once-twice a night. That's always been the case for me though. This increase in energy? I'll take it! Though I may eventually run out of things to 'Autumn Clean.' *laughs*

Today has been somewhat lower key- I stayed up a bit too late trying to get things done. But I still feel pretty good. The cold is relenting in it's grasp, and the CPAP seems to be doing some good. Yay! Oh, and Mint + Dark Chocolate Three Musketeers' bars = GOOD! Nice treat to have every blue moon or so. :)

Now, it's off to lunch with the hubby!

Local writer types- Internets Cafe tomorrow evening?

Well, like that's any surprise given who his people are...

Anyway, hubby and I have taken to leaving him out of his crate at night- kind of as a test. So far he's been doing beautifully! No trouble at all. Though it was weird that first night when I got up to go to the bathroom and discovered I had a shadow. Followed me from the bedroom, into the bathroom, and back. *laughs*

Now the 'he's weird' part. The past two nights he hasn't slept in the bedroom, and last night when I got up (I only very rarely sleep the whole night without getting up) he wasn't around. Then I heard him getting up- from his crate.

Yup, he had chosen to sleep in his crate. My dog is weird.

Further proof: http://www.classy-canine.com/ This is the website of his groomer- he's the doggins on the far right (duh). Wet, in the bath, and smiling... Did I mention he doesn't like swimming, or sitting in wet grass? When *I* give him a bath his ears are back in the 'poor, pathetic me' posture... when Karina bathes him he's all smiles and happy silly dog. This is why we take him there. Plus she does his nails so I don't have to. ;)

A few days ago I posted this detailing Peter Parker's story.

and here is an update from bluesgirly

"Dear Kind and Generous Readers:

I have great news for you today as I was advised that the Paws for Love rescue organization was so impressed with the money we raised for Peter Parker's surgery - they've decided to kick down the rest of the money. This means Mary can make an appointment for his ear surgery and it means that we came together to right a wrong and got it done in less than 4 days time. Thank you to every single one of you! I have an appointment to meet Peter Parker next Thursday when I will show up to interview him ...and of course post the video. Here he is giving you a "WOOT!" shout out."

Thank goodness! *laughs* I'm very much looking forward to a weekend of... *thinks* no plans... All right! There will be sleeping, and DH cuddling, and possibly crafty stuff. Oh, and must start actually working on the plans for the parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Yeah, my parents have managed almost 40 years together. That's longer than I've been alive!! *laughs* Okay, that amuses me... Probably not anyone else.

In other news... Night before last (I didn't say it was really RECENT news...) DH was in the process of putting the fur-kids to bed. For Kyle this means playing a game of keep-away with his Greenie. Finally Kyle is allowed to have it and races off to his crate! DH (or I, if I'm putting him to bed) run after him and shut the crate door. It's a game, as Kyle will go into his crate without the inducement of a treat. However, on this occasion there was a slight problem... Namely, one Sasha the Grey sitting right in front of the crate door. So when Kyle went racing to the crate- she was in the way.

He actually skidded to a stop, dropped his treat in front of her, and backed up! He laid down and just looked mournfully up at DH, who was laughing and told me what happened. DH had to move Sasha, as asking her to move resulted in no movement... Then re-offer the Greenie to Kyle, who was relieved to be able to get into his house. *laughs* I feel compelled to point out again- Kyle=45lbs, Sasha=12lbs. And yet she wins... That's Cat-itude for you.






________________________________________________________
And now for dragons... feel free to ignore

Ah morning… now if I could only WAKE up! Had the full dose of my new nighttime med last night- though I stayed up too late, which means I took it late, which means waking up was interesting this morning. Mainly in the head foggy, balance off kind of way. Sasha almost ended up getting showered in kibble. Not that she really would have objected… Usually I’m able to cope with her meandering walking pattern, this morning, not so much. I did, however, manage to get the dog walked so Hubby didn’t have to do that when he got home. The walk helped clear my head a bit. But now I’m at work, and not moving, and really wanting to go back to sleep. But this is frowned upon at work…

So last night. Was actually kind of fun. I saw hubby off to work (packed him a bizarre lunch- banana, fruit cup, Fiber One bar, pudding, and a cookie. *grins* He might eat half of it...) had leftovers for my dinner, and sat down to watch TV. Then my cell phone went off- and I actually heard it! This led to an hour long conversation with Elder Brother M. Apparently his wife and son were off for the evening, so he needed the company. *grins* It was nice to catch up, hear how the nephew was doing. Hear how the nephew was doing with the dogs. Little lad loves his doggies! and the puppy they have now is really good with E, puts up with his 'grabbing' pet. See, E will walk over and sit himself down next to a dog. With Fischer he can grab his fur, getting some extra puppy skin, and puppy doesn't care! E is learning to pet, but he's only 17 months old. Funny- Fischer is exactly one year and a day younger than E. E's b-day is 12-30-06, Fischer's is 12-31-07.

It was very good to talk to the brother, but Kyle was giving me the ‘momma PLEASE’ look, so after hanging up with the Bro, I had to get ready to take him out. It wasn’t supposed to be a long walk, but I was feeling pretty good, so it was an hour later when we stumbled back into the apartment. Note- when I walk Kyle I keep a pretty good clip going, especially if we’re doing a ‘structured’ walk and not a loose lead wander. By ‘structured’ I mean that I keep him at my side in a near heel (he’s learning) and we walk quickly and there’s no stopping wherever he wants. I will stop from time to time and let him sniff a particular area- of my choosing, but in general we’re walking to walk!

Did pretty good until we got into the park and some people were walking their dog Anna off leash. I made Kyle stop, as I saw Anna lumbering towards us. I called out to her people that Kyle isn’t really friendly. (Point of fact- that isn’t quite true, he’s better off leash, but when on leash and he’s with another dog he gets really weird when the other dog has to leave. For whatever reason that part makes him go nuts and he bark/growls, and seems to snap, though not really. It’s hard to describe, but like most dog issues- it sounds a LOT worse than it is.) So Anna's people called her, and like a cat she ignored them completely. It was okay when Anna came over to give Kyle a quick sniff, because then her male person passed us and she went to him- This was FINE with Kyle. Then her female person said something to Kyle, so Anna came back- because male person hadn’t been able to get her leash on her… *rolls eyes* At which point male person inserted himself in between the dogs to get Anna away. At which point Kyle lost his mind. The people did move quickly, must say that. Being a prepared Anne, I had a firm grip on his shortened leash so there was no actual danger beyond him sounding fierce. They apologized and I apologized and we went our separate ways.

But still- getting between the dogs? Not good! Even *I* know that!

Other than that, the walk was good for both of us. Than it was home, playing on the computer and time for bed. New med taken (note to self: take it earlier in the evening!), and dreamland found.

I hope the rest of you had good evenings. :) (and good mornings seeing as how it’s afternoon where I am.)

Yesterday I came home and Kyle's crate was clean! Yay!! We went for a walk, and everybody had their dinner. Then it was off to the vet's. He got all worked up at the vet's, but it was all that 'OMG must say hi to EVERYONE!!!' and licked the vet tech when she was trying to get him to sit... We laughed.

Vet thinks he has a mild infection/colitis type thing and gave us some antibiotics for him. We also talked about his general umm, state of being and she had some suggestions about that as well. In part trying the whole probiotics sort of thing rather than trying human stuff (too often, I asked about Immodium and she said that would be okay if not given too often and wrote out a dosage scale for him). She's a good vet, and Kyle likes her. *grins* I was trying to get a sample to bring in- but of course he didn't cooperate- but during his exam she, well, got some on her glove and said it was enough to test. I didn't hear back from them last night- so no parasites in him poop. This is good.

They were also selling catnip pillows. I bought one. Should have bought two... I threw it on the floor and there almost became a battle royale between Sasha and Leo. Now I know I cannot leave it out, and that when it is out they must be supervised. But the reason I bought it is for grooming purposes. See, I was reading this npr site- and they have an animal show with Patricia McConnell on it (I didn't know this until recently, but she's an amazing animal behaviorist- wrote some REALLY good books on dogs- Other End of the Leash, For the Love of a Dog, etc.) and one of the things they recommended for grooming cats that hate it- is to distract them with a catnip pillow. Give them the pillow and usually they're too busy with it to object to you brushing. I don't know if this will really work or not- but given Sasha's behavior- it's worth a try.

Also, Whiska's Temptation hairball treats seems to have ipecac in it. *grins* We've given them to the cats a few times, and it seems like after every time we give them some we get hairballs! Yes, better out than causing obstructions, but still! Ipecac, I'm tellin' ya.

Wow, this journal is just gross lately!

In non-gross. My day did kind of suck until about 7:20 or so. At that point I was leaving the vet's, had a good notion of how to make my dog feel better, I had picked up chicken for dinner with my sweetie, and said sweetie called to let me know that he was leaving work! :) So we were able to have a very nice Valentine's Day dinner together. Then because he had to be back at 7pm tonight, we had an early night... And no, it was just for sleeping. *grins*

However, now it's FRIDAY!!!! And tomorrow will be good, I'm determined, and then Sunday is some shopping (da hubby needs new scrubs). Then next week he has orientation (for the hospital in general I guess) so will probably be only working 8a-5p. :) After that starts nights, but I'm not thinking about that today. :)

We got to the dog park rather late yesterday (later than planned...) and walked around the oval twice, talking to people. The group we were with was going to make another pass, hubby and I decided to just leave as it was getting too dark and seeing was an issue. On the way out we stopped to talk to a really nice couple with a Great Dane that Kyle wanted to play with. We chatted for awhile until we heard a police siren and laughed about how it was apparently time to leave. We knew that the park closed half an hour after sunset- but weren’t all that concerned about. This apparently is where we made our mistake.

As we walked out of the park to our car, chatting with the people- who were on their first visit, so we were talking up the place- the deputy stopped us to ask if we were parked there. We said yes. He informed us that the park closed half an hour after sunset, which we did know. Then he wanted to see the id of one of us (per car).

So yup, we got a ticket from the Ingham County Sheriff Department for being in the park after hours (has a fine of $75)... The Deputy, I might add, was not terribly nice about the whole thing- and couldn't even tell us when sunset officially happened. So if he didn’t know when sunset was- how did he know we were there too late? His smart ass answer, “Sunset’s when the sun goes down.” Duh. However, without being able to see the horizon, are we really expected to know the minute the sun has slipped over it? Or are we supposed to check either a newspaper or website every day so that we know to the minute when the park closes? I also feel bad that the couple we walked out with got a ticket- so the first time they go they end up getting a ticket for staying too long. Would make me want to go back…

I wrote about this (stealing many of the phrases in this post) on a Yahoo! Community I’m on and found out something else. Apparently deputies (because it’s a county park) have been patrolling inside the park and can’t tell the difference between playing dogs and those that are fighting. They’ve actually threatened to SHOOT dogs that are playing, telling the owners to ‘break up the fight or the dogs will be shot.’ Um WTF?! Granted that there was a time when I didn’t really see the difference between play noises and fight noises- but after a few times at the dog park I learned! Kyle makes noise when he plays and sometimes looks like he’s baring his teeth, then he moves, his lips go back to normal and it’s clear that it’s a play thing. The deputies don’t listen to the owners explanation that ‘they’re playing’ and insists the dogs get separated.

A deputy a few days ago was intimidating a woman, who had just arrived, because her Boston Terrier was occasionally humping other dogs. Now this can be a problem, but she was working on training him- and the people there with their dogs were understanding and NOT complaining about it. The dogs getting humped didn’t care either. As an aside- humping dogs are a problem, and they should be stopped as some dogs react badly to it. However, when you can see someone is trying to train their dog you cut them some slack. This guy was telling the woman that she would have to go as her dog was breaking the rules. A lie, as the official posted rules say nothing about humping.

When the park first opened there were a few comments about deputies checking licenses- which I’m good with. In our county in order to get a license you have to have proof that your dog has been vaccinated for rabies. Checking for licenses is fine, we’ve been asked a few times and have shown the licenses on Kyle’s harness, I have no objection to that. However, a deputy stopped a woman and claimed her license was out of date as it said 2006. Her license expires in December, when her dog’s rabies vaccination expires. So every December she renews both. The deputy wasn’t going to believe her, but finally checked in with the office (who had someone check that her story was plausible) and she was allowed in.

I just don't see why the Sheriff's Department is being so awful about this park. I get the checking for licenses- that's fine. But threatening to shoot playing dogs? Writing tickets for leaving the park ten minutes past closing- when the time of closing really is subjective? I'm wondering if a letter should be sent to the Sheriff going over these details. Someone has said they'll let the organization responsible for the park- they're paying for upkeep and so on- know, and has suggested that they need to sit down with the Sheriff's office. I'd love to be in on that meeting. *smirks*

With the after-hours thing, I know that technically we were there too late (the deputy said sunset was 6:45- though he didn't know that off the top of his head and had to check something in his car after being pressed on the issue. He was wrong since according to a Navy astronomy website sunset was 6:44pm. ;) ), however many of us who go to the park are new to the county park thing. Is there no leniency possible? We left just a few minutes after the park closed- it's not like we were trying to stay for another hour. We misjudged when exactly sunset was- if they don't post an exact time do they really expect people to just know? We asked Deputy Stump and his response was 'Well when it's pitch black like this...' Uh yeah, but it wasn't pitch black when we left, it got that way while we were waiting for him to write the ticket! Does the Sheriff's office just not like the idea of the dog park and want to discourage its use?

Just a little frustrated about this. I love going to the park- seeing everyone and giving Kyle a chance to run- but the Sheriff’s deputies seem to be doing their best to ruin it. At least there’s another dog park opening this weekend in East Lansing. I just really liked the space the other one is in, with the trees and the pond.

On a personal whine- Hubby is still out of work. While we're doing okay we certainly do NOT have an extra $75 to pay the fine.