Pamela discovers new journal toy

You guys are going to so love this!!!  Pamela over at Just One Girls Head Noise has found a great thing for our journaling.  A sort of search engine for your journal.  Yep, you register your journal grab the code, paste it in your journal. and then you can just key in a word and it will bring up all the entires that has that word!

Pamela explains it better so go to her entry by clicking right here.  You can play around with the one I put here in my journal also.  I have it in my about me section under the first graphic. 

I am so thrilled with this.  Now if I want to find an old entry I can just key in a word or two instead of pulling up all my old entries.  Check it out yourself.  Let me know what you think.

PS  If you sign up for this cool toy you will get an email from them.  Mine came right to my in box, but Pamela's went to her spam folder.  Watch for it.  It will be from siteLevel.support

Monday, August 30th

Sadie is eating -- finally. Took talking about surgeries and worse to get the point across to her.  Dr B and I agreed to try a few things before any surgery stuff.  And guess what?  My idea worked.  Even though the steriods she was on should have caused her to eat more --- well, we stopped them and she started eating!  Go figure!  Dr B thinks she heard us talking surgery and it freaked her out! 

 So it looks like what was to help her was hurting her.  Stopped the steroids and went back to an anti-acid to help with her acid reflux (I can see some of you shaking your heads on that one, but trust me the cat has acid reflux just like humans do.).  She is a happier kitty.  And is back to sleeping beside me again.


Sadie loves riding in the car.  I went and bought a doggie booster seat to see if she would use it.  She doesn't like it and I can't figure out why.  She would rather sit/lay on my shoulder while I am driving.  Today we went for a short ride -- no trip to the vet this time -- and she loved it.  I really wish she would use the booster seat though.  Maybe after a few more trips she will decide that she can still look out and not have to hang all over "mom" while we are out.

Haven't been writing much in my journals lately.  I just haven't really cared to.  All I have wanted to do is sleep and get  Sadie to eat.  And that is about all I have done for the past week.
  

        

My Float for the Anniversary Parade

          
                My float is pulled by this little lady

                                :


          The banner on the front of the float is:



                   This kitty is carrying the cup cake


                    

        A speaker tells you my AOL J-land story:

           In the time I have been here in J-land
             I have lost pets, and become      
          a proud mom to another kitty.  
          When my little Ashely (cat) was so   
          sick and died it was the AOL J-land
          Community that helped me through the
           pain.  When I found little Sadie
           (kitten) it was the same community
            that helped me through the time
            thought I would lose her and they
            also helped to pick her name.  This is
            her in January at 1.5 poiunds and in
            May at a whooping 5 pounds.

                       

          And it was J-lander's that helped me 
          handle Dallas when she wasn't so sure
          she wanted a little sister:


                      

      AOL J-land has always been a place
     where I could come and share good news
     and cry over bad news and the people that
      heard me cared.  Whic only makes me
       want to party even more:

                  

       Ballons bringing up the rear of the float:

   
 

            And the float's escort at the rear:

                          

         One the back of his car is this sign:

         

           So this is me:

                 

                signing off.
            Oh, and before any asks:

                                     

         Because she is just so dog gone cute    
      someone runs up to the rear and carries 
      this poster of Sadie.

          

 

Different Day, Different Outlook

 

I want to thank everyone for all their kind words.  I have been down lately and you all have helped me to feel better.

(I used to think that little bug above was cute, but now it's body looks weird to me.)

Woke up feeling so-so, but as the day has progressed I got to feeling better.  My mood is no where near as bad as it was yesterday.

Got good news today.  My car was fixed early!  I told the guy "you said Tuesday".  Well things got slow Saturday afternoon and was slow this morning so he had 2 or 3 guys working on it at a time.  WOO HOO  And they didn't charge for putting in the new starter (which my dad bought and took in).  Said they would charge $60, but they deducted it from the bill.  Of course they still made some money off the thingambob they replaced.

Sadie.  My little baby.  Took her to the vet this morning.  He took x-rays and examed her.  The x-rays look better than they did last time.  Good news.  Why isn't she eating?  After I told him that I finally got some tuna in her and then she ate some of her old food Dr B said maybe she is just tired of her food.  (what she is on is kind of bland but she needs it for the calories)  So he suggested I try to add some 9Lives flaked tuna to her food and see if it helps.  So far she has had only one meal with it and she seemed to like it (Dallas, hog that she is, loved it)  Guess we will have to wait and see how it goes with her.

 

The Day After

Last night was J-land's Crystal Ball.  It was great.  I am not much of a chat room person but I still had a good time.  That was until my depression -- which has been back in rare form lately -- kicked into high gear.

  You know how people say you can be in a room full of people but still feel alone?  All of the sudden I got a huge pang of that.  And then the tears came.   Then I started having my own little pity party.  And let me tell you I throw great pity parties.

  Slept in this morning.  I have been missing church because of the depression.  And at my pity party last night I was wondering if I could just disappear would anyone miss me?  Slept in this morning.  I have been missing church because of the depression.  To my surprise my pastor called me this morning -- between Sunday School and the morning service.  Not much time there if you are the pastor.

  He is the only one from church that I have heard from -- even though I have missed a lot of church lately -- and naturally I started crying while on the phone.  But I did feel better.  I told him he had no idea how much his call meant to me.


  My car.  The one place replaced the starter.  Then it started making a noise.  Took it to another place, they said it was a bad starter.  So they took it off and my took and exchanged it at the Auto Zone.  Get the starter on there and crank it up. 

  Noise is still there, only worse.  Great.

  Think it is the flywheel.  The whowhatwheel?  Yeah, look here there is the flywheel. Oh the whatcamacallit, yeah I see that.  Well, it is supposed to be blah, blah, blah, (that's not what he said but is pretty much what I heard).  Understand?  Gotcha.  The whatizit is supposed to dabingdabang and it isn't.  Now what?  Replace it.  OK.  Replace it.  When can I get my car back? At the earliest Tuesday but could be Wednesday.  Say what?  Well, to replace the thingamabob you have to pull the transmission.


  Sadie felt tons better after her little stay with the vet Friday morning.  But by the evening she still wouldn't eat.  Called Dr B Saturday morning -- before taking my car to get fixed -- he didn't like the sound of her not eating.  They only work 1/2 on Saturday so he couldn't do much.  Wait and bring her in Monday and we will do more x-rays on her esophagus maybe something else is going on or we missed something.  If she gets really worse call and have them beep him.

  Went to the store and got some baby food, thought maybe she would eat that.  She tried it, I put her regular food in front of her and she walks away.  Mixed the baby food into cat food and she will eat enough that I can get her meds into her.  But that's about it.

  Sadie doesn't really act sick, but she isn't eating so I don't know what is going on.

  I do know that my car and Sadie aren't doing much for my depression right now.   
  I am lucky enough to be able to borrow my mom's car until I get mine back.  I was lucky to go to the Ball last night.  Between Gregg losing the handcuffs and putting flamingo's in John Scalzi's yard.......well, you had to have been there.

Friday? Feels more like Monday to me.

This is going to be a short entry.  I think.  

 

 Today I was going to take Sadie to see Dr B because she had almost quit eating.  Then I was going to support group meeting, and just hang out the rest of the day.  

The vet opens at 7:30 and that is about the time Sadie and I leave the house.  About a block away from the vet she throws up on the back seat and in the floor.  I make a fast call to my dad (waking him up) to ask if he would come clean it up while we see the vet.  I was afraid to let it dry because then it would never clean up and the odor....  

 

Poor Sadie.  Dr B said she was constipated really bad.  The best thing to do is to give her......I shudder ever time I think of this--- an enema.  Oh yeah.  She is gonna love that!  Tells me to leave her for a few hours for everything to -- well work itself out --.   I go by my parents house to kill some time before going back after Sadie. 

 

I get ready to leave and my car won't start.  Nothing.  Nada.  Dad trys to jump it off, again nothing.  I borrow mom's car to get Sadie.  And Sadie is feeling LOTS better.  

 

 My car, support group....ok, borrow mom's car to go to meeting.  Go back to my parents house to see what my dad thinks I should do.  We make a plan.   I call for a tow truck --so happy I paid my AAA this year -- when the guy gets there he looks under the hood, does this and that and says it ismy starter.   Tells my dad if he (dad) goes and buys the part and then brings it to where the tow truckguy is from he will put it on for $40.  Tons cheaper than the place I was going to have it towed to.  

 

Now I am just waiting on a call to go pick my car up. 

 

   

Me and the kids

I really haven't been "visiting" much or keeping up my journals lately.  Sorry.  Just haven't felt good.  Oh, I am healthy - physically - nothing to worry about there.  Just fighting off depression.  Last month the doctor upped one of my meds.  Didn't do a thing.  So when I saw him this past Monday he decided to add a new med to what I was taking.  So far nothing.  But what can you expect in just a few days?

The mood disorder support group I go to is a small group.  We talk about all the things we would like to do but no one has any money.  I have been working on a list of things to do -- here in town -- that costs $10 or less -- and free is really good.  I am amazed at all the things that go on here in town.  Sure most are more than the $10 limit I set but I am still amazed.  There is quite a few things under $10 also.  You just have to hunt for them.  Too bad no one just takes a full page ad out in the paper and tell you all the things in one place.

Got pictures for you.  Just had them developed today. 

 

This is Dallas.  Not a great one but she is still my baby.  I read once that if you don't want to have a depressing pet around all the time you need to look at their mouths before you adopt them. Some seem to have a permanet smile or frown. Dallas has that frown thing going for her.  Even when she is really happy she has the front. 

This is Sadie.  Cats look so evil when they are in the middle of a yawn or a meow.  I think this was a yawn.  Look how long her tail is.

 

And last but certainly not least.  This is a picture I managed to get of the two of them together.  Turned out pretty good.  Thanks to Gregg's encouragement I have been playing around with the MircorSoft Picture It! that came with my computer.  That is how I did the border and their names.

 

and this is me "warming up" for the ball this weekend. who is that cool cat I am with?

Dallas and Sadie

This isn't the best picture of Dallas and Sadie but it is the only one I have right now of the two of them together.  Have taken a few more but the film is still in the camera.  And this is one of my first attempts to frame a picture using some of the software that came with my computer.   When I first introduced Sadie to Dallas I was so scared that Dallas would never accept Sadie.  And Dallas didn't let me down.  She wanted NOTHING to do with this poor little kitten.  But somehow Sadie kept after Dallas and while I thought Dallas may kill her I tried to let them work things out.  And Sadie kept on.  Until now not only do they get along, I have noticed Dallas grooming Sadie some!  I am so proud of Dallas finally coming around.   Sadie loves Dallas.  In fact she is now Dallas' shadow.  Yep, you see Dallas walking into a room and Sadie is right behind her.  Dallas jumps on the couch, Sadie is right there.  It is sweet really.  

Sadie was having more problems with her esophagus so I had to take her back to the doctor this past week.  He had to change her meds again.  Now that she is a little older and weighs a little more (a whopping 5.5 pounds) he chose from more things to give her.  Sadie got a shot and meds to take twice a day (bummer).  While she still makes these weird noises at times she is not having the problems she was having.  I hope this med will be what does the trick for her.    I know she will be on meds for life (Dr B hasn't said that but I feel it) so I want the best result possible for her.  I know that what she is going through is all she knows so she isn't as freaked out when she has these bad spells, but they freak me out and I want better for her.

     

AOL J-land's poster

I love the poster that Mrs L put together for our anniversary.  You had to open it with your adobe reader.  But I kept thinking there must be a way to get it into a journal entry for everyone to see (in case some didn't want to bother with the adobe reader). 

I tried everything I could think of and got no where.  Then I tried one last thing and by george I think I got it!

 

You don't have to look too close to see where I had to do the copy thing in two separate parts.  And the poster looks tons better the way Mrs L has it in the adobe reader thing.  But if you haven't checked it out yet this should get you motivated.

I still have no idea who most of these people are, so if you see yourself let me know which is you.  Me?  Oh, well I did send in a picture for the project.  Not my picture, but my little Sadie.  You should be able to find her with no problem.

Don't forget to go over to Mrs L to let her now how much you appreciate all her hard work in putting this together.

 

Crystal Ball

Ok.  Thanks to some of the comments left at my last entry I decided that since it is all virtual that my virtual feet can handle high heels.  So here are the shoes that I will wear with the dress I have choosen:

  

and the purse I will carry: 

 

Of course the shoes and purse will all be of a color matching the dress. 

I don't have a picture but I believe my hair will be worn up in a french twist with a beautiful antique comb helping to hold it in place.

Oh, yeah.  Think I am about ready.  All that is left is what perfume to wear.  Got any ideas?

 

Cyberspace Ball

I know it is coming -- my invitation to the Starland Grand Cyber-space Ball -- so I had to hurry and do some shopping.  Virtual shopping of course.

But to give credit where credit is due I hadn't even thought about what to wear until I read Barb's latest entry about her on getting ready thoughts.

So I have gone on my "shopping" trip. Found tons of dresses.  What's a girl to do?

Since my "virtual" diet worked and I "lost" some of those pesky extra pounds I am able to fit in this beautiful dress. I wasn't sure about the color at first but I think it will work out perfectly.
 
Don't want to over do it with too much jewerly so I think I will skip the ear rings and necklace.  I will be wearing a beautiful gold charm bracelet with a (what else) gold torch charm. Because the charm has yet to be virtually made I don't have a picture for you.   For some weird reason no one stocks torch charms.  Crazy ain't it?

Shoes?  Haven't gotten those yet.  I am one of those people that has to wear "sensible" shoes because of foot problems.  So instead of being miserable, and since the dress is long, I think I will be able to get away with some brown tennis shoes.  What do you think?  Besides, we will be on our feet until the wee hours of the morning won't we?  Gotta be comforable and I think Vivian will look the other way when I come in the door.

Can hardly wait.  Hope everyone will be there.

What is family for?

When dad got back this week from Uncle's funeral it took several days for him to remember everything to tell us.  The main thing that stuck with him is how my cousins were acting.

That Uncle has 8 living children. 4 boys, 4 girls.  BEFORE my uncle was buried 2 of the boys almost came to blows, would have probably if others weren't there to break it up.  The problem?  Uncle had always had a little side buisness where he worked on cars and stuff.  Had tons of tools and other "manly" things.  Cousin 1 was like "we got to call and set up an auction to get rid of this stuff.".  Cousin 2 is all like "first, it ain't yours to sell -- it's moms -- and secondly now isn't the time to take care of that.  we got to bury dad and take care of all kinds of paperwork, etc..."  I so feel sorry for that family when their mom dies.  I can just imagne what the kids will argue about.

My dad's cat acted weird the whole time he was gone.  Sara -- the cat -- always misses him when he is away.  It is such a sad thing to see.

Anyway, dad thought she was sick before he left town, so as soon as he got back he took her to the vet.  Sure enought she has a slight infection.  Needs meds.  Liquid meds twice a day.  Mom and dad have never had to give her anything like that.  I offered to come and help but no, dad could do it. 

He has all these marks on his arm.  What happened?  Sara scratched me.  Didn't you wrap her up in a towel?  Guess I didn't do a good job of it. I will be glad to help you.  I CAN DO IT. LOL.

Mom's cat -- Patches -- hadn't been eating right in almost a week.  She would nibble at the dry that is kept down but wouldn't eat the canned food at all.  Mom was all like I guess I will have to take her to the vet.  Well, mom I can tell you why she isn't eatting.  She is mad.  Mad?  Yep.  You re-arranged the furniture and now she can't lay in that one window she likes.  That can't be it.  Ok.  I'll move everything  back the way it was.  Guess what?  Patches is eatting now.

Oh, no, don't, please don't.

I was playing some last night with Sadie and discovered that she HAD to get a nail trim.  Being the big bad cat that she is she won't let me do it.  Do we were off to see Dr B this morning. 

I had also noticed that her acid reflux seemed worse so we asked Dr B about that.

Sadie got her nails trimed -- and she was NOT a happy camper about it -- and some new meds for her reflux problem.

Instead of going in a carrier Sadie wears a harness and a lease when we go to the vet.  So since she is "loose" in the car she usually sits on my shoulder/arm and looks out while I drive. Sadie is well behaved in the car.  But today she got a little restless.  I thought maybe she was trying to tell me something.  Once I got on the street that I live on I told her we would soon be home and just hang in there.  Then I knew.  She new.  She meowed to let me know.  I had no idea what to do.  I am driving.  (I had taken the lease off her so she could roam the car if she wanted to, so if I stopped I would have to get it on her before I could open the car door.)

Sadie and I both knew it was coming and neither of us could do anything.  Well.  There is something that Sadie could do.  In fact she couldn't help herself.

She threw up.  On my leg, on the seat, on the door......I never knew so much stuff could come out of a cat that small.

I floored the car, pulled in the driveway, grabbed Sadie and ran for the house.  Set her down and stripped off my jeans.  Called my dad because I was supposed to meet him to say I would be late.  He offered to come help clean up my car.  I ain't crazy so I said sure.

By the time I was clean and the car was clean Sadie was feeling way better. 
In fact before I left the house she was curled up getting ready for a nap.  Yep, a good throw up did wonders for how she felt.  Bythe time I got back home she was feeling so much better you have never known what had happened.