Cross your fingers...

...and toes, too if you're that flexible! Jen FINALLY got an appointment with an Immunologist and saw him this last Tuesday. He ordered a bunch of labs, and now we wait and see if there's any chance that she might be a candidate for IVIG therapy. We're seriously hoping that she will be!
She's been sick for so long, and she can't really go out anywhere because even a cold will knock her down for literally WEEKS at a time. A trip to the grocery store is a minefield of germs to her, and even her PCP tells her, when she sees him for a regular appt., "Now go HOME before you catch something!"
It takes about 7 to 10 days for the lab results to come back, so it'll be sometime next week before we know anything...and even then it may be a while before she can see him again, he's only at his OHSU clinic 2 days a week...his primary practice is outside the medical school.So now we wait...
In other news, I finally finished the photo frame for Kate that I was working on...it's not as ornate as the one I made for Sam, but there wasn't enough "real estate" on the frame to get too fancy. She said she likes it, though...and she didn't have any photos from the wedding so she was glad to get at least one.

This one's 4X6, Sam's was 5X7

And everyone should know...the Monsterpotamus is just FINE, Thank You Very Much! He's recovered from his butt bite quite nicely, and is back to his usual obnoxious self...

Mid-yawn...in my desk chair

 

 

 

Nice pink scar, fur starting to grow back.

Haven't started on the little birdhouse pendants yet...I've been playing with some 'paint chip' strips that I liberated from various home improvement stores and paint departments, LOL...

Bookmarks!

So, that's what's going on here...not much of anything! The change back to Standard Time has thrown us all off a bit, it's getting dark so EARLY now, LOL. But we'll get used to it eventually...
I've got a huge crockpot full of Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks going for dinner tonight and will make some Honey Cornbread to go with it later...then probably just 'lump' for the rest of the evening.
Oh! I did sign up for Netflix on the internet, so that's kinda cool...we don't have an HD TV or any kind of player, so we can just watch on the PC or laptop, but that's OK...we're still in our 'free' month so we'll see if it's worth $7.99 a month to keep it.
Alright, that's it for me this time... Have a great weekend...

Oh My...where to begin...

...it's been so long since I posted! My reasoning's sound, I assure you! One should probably NOT write blog posts while under the influence of depression...at least I shouldn't...too much opportunity for whining and other unpleasant behaviors. So I waited it out...mostly...
So here we are, almost at the end of October...pumpkins all over the place, stores full of Xmas crap...I've already decided to boycott Xmas again this year. I DO celebrate Yule, the turn of the year, in my own fashion - but this other insanity has just gone too far for me!
Life pretty much goes on as usual here...the weather's turned colder, the forecast La Nina seems to be shaping up pretty much the same as last years. So...wet, windy, cold, wet, cold, windy...oh, and wet is pretty much what we're expecting...yup.
So...a couple of weeks ago I stepped outside onto the back porch to have a cig, and was startled by a weird chirpy/growly noise... So I yelped, jumped back in the house and hollered for PB and Jen because I wasn't sure what I had seen. Momma raccoon and her 3 kits were on the porch cleaning up the kibble that was left from when we fed the feral kitty earlier that day. They all scurried down off the porch when I came back in and closed the door, but 2 of the kits came back up after we all went out to look...Jen got a couple of pretty blurry pics...

Yes, they spilled the kibble when they dashed off the porch.

My, what interesting fuzzy pink feet!

Uh-Oh! Mom's calling us...better git!

Then Tuesday, we realized Monster wasn't feeling very well. And then a huge abcess on his right flank opened up and drained...YUCK! We took him to the Vet, and it turned out he had 2 bites on his backside...the only thing we can figure out is that he may have gotten between Mama raccoon and the babies when they came around again looking for more kibble. He's OK, but has to have an antibiotic tablet once a day for 2 weeks.

What...?

'Potamus has a Boo-boo!

The Vet says that's how you tell the 'fighters' from the 'runners'...the fighters get wounds on their heads, the runners get wounds on their butts! Thankfully, he's very easy to pill, and doesn't fight having it cleaned. He has a follow-up appt. next Tuesday evening, but it's healing nicely, so I don't think there'll be any problem.

The only other thing going on is that I FINALLY got the "good" wedding photos from Sam and was able to get one printed up for the frame I altered for her. I gave it to her tonight, and she said she loves it!

Wood frame and sheet music found at Goodwill. I decoupaged it and prettified it!

I'm happy with the way it turned out.

I'm making a smaller one (4X6) for her Mom...but it's not done yet.
Then I have another project that I want to get to after that. It's little birdhouse pendants for necklaces...

These are just so cool and awesome! I bought a 'kit' of 6 blanks on etsy...the gal who makes them is just up the road from me in Olympia, WA. I'm excited to get started on them, and will try to post a couple of photos when I get some put together.

So that's it for now...I'll try to be better about posting, but sometimes it's a matter of deciding what NOT to talk about rather than t'other way round, ya know? Have a great week, all!

An explanation...sort of...

...you see...there's actually a story behind both our cats' names. We always wait to name any animal we get (unless they come already named) 'cause we believe they "grow" their own name. And they always do...
In the case of Turdle, she was a tiny kitten I got one summer from the proverbial "kid with a box in front of the grocery store". She was the last one left, and the kid was in tears...I didn't have permission to bring one home (I had recently moved back in with my Mom & Sis, also another story) but I stuffed her in my jacket and off we went.
Mom grumbled quite a bit, but PB (my sis) and I convinced her to let her stay. She was a tiny little thing, only about 10 or 12 weeks old, but she was a holy terror...into everything, and that game they love..."let's see how far we can get through the entire house without ever actually touching the floor!" Yeah, that one... Mom would sit in her recliner in the living room and kick her house slippers off and nap. On this particular day, she was in the house napping, PB & I were out front in the yard doing some weeding, edging, etc. The front door was open and suddenly we hear Mom yell "You little TURD!" The kitten had climbed into her slipper and peed...um, yeah...Mom wasn't happy...and we wouldn't stop laughing.
But it was a sort of natural progression...Tortie/Turtle/Turdle...it makes more sense if you have a warped mind, LOL.
In the case of Monster, again, nothing but a small handful of fluffy furball when he came to live with us...we got him from a friend whose cat had littered and had pretty much picked him as the one we wanted. We jokingly called him "our little porkchop". Turdle was an adult cat by that point, and had NO use whatsoever for this little extremely annoying bundle of energy! We found ourselves yelling elebenty times a day "Leave her alone, you little monster!" So that's how THAT happened...the 'Potamus part came about after he topped about 15 lbs. and just kept getting bigger! He's neutered, so he weighs more than he might otherwise...but that breed is very large, and some males can get up to 30 lbs. If you're interested, Wikipedia has pretty good info on them, plus some pretty cool photos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Forest_Cat
I've always had a love of black and white tuxedo kitties...and he certainly is MY kitty...ask him, he'll tell you!
And this has always been my favorite photo of him.

I was a Mountain Lion in my previous life!

My second favorite is this one...

So furry handsome!

Both of these photos are several years old, he's 9 yrs. old now...and still my big baby...
Turdle is 14 and starting to get grey in spots...plus it's obvious her joints ache, and she can't jump up on things like she used to, some days she has trouble getting on the couch...
So there you have it...the story of how our kitties got their names.
TL;DR?

By request...

Someone...we won't mention any names...said I needed to put up photos of our two kitty-butts on here. Be careful what you ask for, LOL...

This is Turdle (aka Turd)

And this would be Monster (aka 'Potamus)

Both very comfy on the couch on a cold, windy day...

Turdle is a cranky old Tortoiseshell lady, and the Monsterpotamus is a domestic long-hair with a LOT of Norwegian Forest Cat somewhere in his genes! He's nearly 25 lbs. of the biggest, neediest, paranoid baby you've ever seen!

THIS is actually a much more realistic photo of his sleeping habits...

basket case

...upside down, belly showing...out cold with his eyes open!

Poor underfed, unloved puddy-tat, BWAHAHAHAHA...