What's New, Pussycat?

There she is, my "new" stray kitty. That is how she rode the entire way home from the vet's office this morning, halfway in & halfway out of the box I had her in... Here's the skinny:

This adorable little black kitten started showing up at my front door a little over a week ago, mewing up a storm (even jumps in my car with me!). She is absolutely the sweetest, friendliest little thing ever! Jon had warned me not to go outside when I told him about her (though, of course, I didn't listen!). Then, the other day, he came in & admitted that he had fallen for it, too, and had been outside petting her. I am in love with this kitten, I swear!!!

Anyway, her little nose was runny & yucky, and I asked my aunt what that could be a sign of (she & my uncle used to own a vet clinic). Well, I was heartbroken to learn that the snotty little nose could be a sign of feline distemper. NOT what I wanted to hear... (Shhh, do you hear that? It's the sound of my heart breaking!)

Jon & I agreed that we needed to take her to the vet as we just could not let her go on without being checked out. No matter what, I'm keeping a close watch on this sweetheart... If I can fix it, I will!!! :)

Update: AFTER the Visit to the Vet's Office:

Kitty & I trucked our happy selves to the vet this morning and got a diagnosis & some meds. Jon dropped by in the middle of the exam (she broke both of our hearts, so we're splitting her bill). You'd have thought we were at the hospital with a sick relative, I swear!!!

Since there can be 140+ different types of feline respiratory disorders, it could be any of them. But we now have eye drops and oral antibiotics to give her, and the vet said if she was eating, that was a good sign. Soooooo, when I got her home, I put out some wet cat food & she dug right in!!! *fingers crossed* Just have to keep her away from Miss Dixie, my inside kitty.... though that shouldn't be hard because she was not amused by the arrival of this kitten on HER porch!!

As kitty & I were leaving the vet's office this morning, I had her inside a box -- taped shut, mind you -- only to have her little head pop out despite all of my attempts to keep her shut in it while I was driving (see photo above left).

Well, I finally gave up and that was how we rode home. She sat like that the entire ride back to my house, half in the box & half out (and it wasn't because she was stuck, I promise!)... So cute, so sweet, so adorable... (just gotta excuse the funky eyes & nose -- she had to have some medicine put in them!)

Gotta give the girl some credit, she just wanted to see the sights!!! Wish us luck...

South Beach, here we come!

Today, I started the South Beach Diet along with 2 of my co-workers. Okay, so it's not really as exciting as going to South Beach like the post title implies (actually, it's not exciting at all), but it's time. I let my holiday pigging-out go on for a/b 2 months too long & now I'm paying for heftily (no pun intended)!!!

The diet itself is not that bad (I say this only 7 hours into it, of course!), except I do have one caveat: we are not supposed to drink alcohol for 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS!!! Not even red wine!!! That's just tough... I can do it, but I will not like it. Dammit.

I have also been drinking mass amounts of water all day (about 4 fluid lbs. worth, or 60+ fluid oz.), which means that I spend half my day running to the bathroom to PEE. It's like punishment, I hate it. I love water, but seriously, after having to pee no less than 10 times already at work today, it's getting a little old.

Anyone got any weight loss tips for my fat ass? ;)

Eye Can't Wait!

Not the greatest picture, but you try taking a picture of yourself when your pupils are dilated to the point that your eye color is almost indistinguishable (mine are green, btw)!!! Why? I had just been through a consultation for my upcoming LASIK eye surgery and they had put lots & lots & lots of dilating and numbing drops in my eyes. Needless to say, my pupils are still as big as saucers today. I swear, I look like a damn speed freak!!!

But hopefully, come March 7th, I will be able to see halfway around the world again -- with no glasses or contacts!!! Yea!!! Wish me luck.......

Time to take the bull by the tail & face the situation: I'M OLD.

As of 2/19/2007 5:43:24 PM EST:

You are 30 years old.
You are 360 months old.
You are 1,567 weeks old.
You are 10,969 days old.
You are 263,273 hours old.
You are 15,796,423 minutes old.
You are 947,785,404 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.29315068493151 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

There are 353 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 31 candles. Those 31 candles produce 31 BTUs,or 7,812 calories of heat (that's only 7.8120 food calories!). You can boil 3.54 US ounces of water with that many candles.

(click to do your own Birthday Calendar)

weekend, weekend, weekend!!! oh, sweet weekend, you have arrived...

"Aaaaaarghhhh," agrees Dixie (she almost always agrees with me, you know). Thank goodness this week is over and the weekend is finally here. I'm gonna make this a short one because I need to be jumpstarting my weekend already (read: drinks should already be being consumed), not writing on my blog. But here I am, dutiful blogger that I am! Hee, hee... Just didn't want anyone to think I'd forgotten all about The New Black. I'm still here for you, blog.

I'm going to see Lyle Lovett here in town tonight & then trucking my happy ass over to Jackson tomorrow night to see Old Crow Medicine Show at Hal & Mal's -- a music-filled weekend with friends!!! Can't beat that with a stick...

Here is one nice little shocker to put a really disgusting image in your head for the weekend... you can thank me later: PORTLAND, Ore. — An 84-year-old woman confessed to having sex with an 11-year-old boy

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

"When Valentine's Day rolls around, zoos around the U.S. have become an unlikely locale for adult-oriented entertainment with risque tours that couple champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and candlelight dining with impressive facts about how animals mate...."

Click on the post's title for the full story...

Tales From The Meridian Gumbo Cook-Off: Part Quatre

Renee: "Matt, seriously, the roux is good. It doesn't just taste like gravy, it tastes like Salisbury steak." [Note: Renee is from Ohio & had never tried gumbo]
[laughter all around, Matt hangs head in shame]
Renee: "What? I like Salisbury steak."
[more laughter]
Matt: "Thanks, but you're not helping."

Tales From The Meridian Gumbo Cook-Off: Part Trois

Jon: "The reason I'm saying we need to get all this stuff together is because I know I'M the one who's going to have to carry all this shit in the morning."
Matt: "Yeah.... uh.............. I like wine."

Tales From The Meridian Gumbo Cook-Off: Part Deux

Allen: "Man, if you bring nothing but fucking brown gravy again tomorrow [as a roux for the gumbo], I'm gonna whip your ass."
Matt: "I know, man. I'm sorry..."
Jon: "Did you even read the fucking ingredients?" [presenting the completely unfollowed directions to Matt]
Matt: "Yeah, uh, no."

Tales From The Meridian Gumbo Cook-Off: Part One

Allen: "Hey, how much does this bitch weigh?" [holding the frozen bag of okra above his head & looking closely]
Kelly: "Wait, did you just call the okra, 'bitch'?"
Matt: "Yeah, he did... because that's how we roll... 84 grams, bitch! Nuh..."

Poor child...

The above is an actual screen capture from the Fox News website... "Who ISN'T the Daddy?" That's pretty rough...

Then again, I guess it's better to have too many people claiming to be your father than none, huh? If I were poor little Dannielynn, I think I would hope that the George W. Bush look-alike prince was my real daddy. Or the photog -- he seems like a pretty decent guy. But Howard K. Stern? Yeah, that would be my last choice. (Where is his neck anyway? Am I the only one who thinks you can never see a neck on the guy? Just a head on a pair of shoulders... I guess if the baby also lacks in the neck department, it might really be his...)

my rainy & royal pod addiction.

Song I randomly have chosen to keep playing on my iPod over & over tonight: "Rain King" by Counting Crows...

You ever have a song where you know the words, but then you realize that you've never really knew the words? This song's like that for me right now. Got it in my head, can't get it out. Must repeat song... over & over & over & over & over... Seriously. While folding clothes, while drinking wine, while checking email, while knocking the dogs out of the way (because we all know they are always in the way), I've been playing that song.

I actually do dig the lyrics, though. Take a gander at 'em if you want... Very interesting [& perhaps a bit subconsciously appropos?] meaning, Dr. Freud... very interesting, indeed.

{Henderson the Rain King may make be next up in the reading queue now...}

The End Is Near.

See that counter there to the left? Yeah, that's the countdown to the end of my 20's. It hurts my old heart to see that. 30 YEARS OLD tomorrow!!! I'm absolutely dreading it. I just never really thought about actually turning 30 & what it would feel like, or that it would bother me so damn much. (Go ahead, say something about me needing to hurry up & get married & have kids, I dare you.)

I've tried to bring others down with me (am I sweet or what?), but it's just not working... Said stuff to my mom about it being 30 years ago tomorrow since she had me... Said things to my boyfriend about him being older than me... Said stuff to friends who have already turned 30 to try to rile them up... NO ONE SEEMS FAZED BY THIS BUT ME!!! [then again, perhaps that should tell me something!] I did have one wise friend say that, "It's all fun & games until it happens to you." Katie, honey, you were so right. Even the odometer on my car appears to be taunting me (2.7.77 is my birthday). There is no escape!!! Aaaargh!!! "It's all just a state of mind." "It's just another day." "Age is just a number." Yeah, yeah, yeah... spare me and let me wallow in my misery, thank you.

Anyway... so there you have it. I'm officially [about to be] old. Sometimes, I start telling stories & realize halfway into them that they happened more than a decade ago or worse -- 2-1/2 decades ago!!! As of tomorrow, I will have had my driver's license for 15 years -- the same amount of time I spent NOT having one! I am 4 years older than my mom was when I was born & crying children still give me the willies (there's a maternal instinct in here somewhere, I'm just sure of it). As my friend Mary Catherine used to say, "How can I BE the baby if I HAVE a baby?" [Mind you, she's about to have a little girl literally any day now, so that one doesn't hold much water anymore!]... I woke up the other morning & sat up to the tune of about 50 some odd joints in my body popping. And popping LOUDLY... I'm about to have Lasik surgery because I have to squint just to see the guide on the TV screen! I'm a blind, old bat... I could go on & on... but despite all of that, I'M STILL HERE. There's something to be said for that, right?

Just going by the one moment that seems to decide whether you are old or not: Yes, I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded. So there it is, I'm old. CHEERS!