It’s the day after Robin’s birthday and we are all (including Robin) recuperating. It’s after 11:00 am and he’s still asleep in bed. Yesterday was a massive overload of the senses for that little guy! We had planned to go to the park, but drizzly weather changed our plans. Instead we stayed home in the morning and let him enjoy one of his favorite pastimes–drawing on the porch with chalk. He likes to draw letters and flowers mostly, with occasional scribbles.

Kevin came home early and he and I went shopping for the last minute birthday items–balloons, wrapping paper, sand and sandbox toys. We set up the sandbox when we got home since the drizzle had stopped and the sun was out. Robin loved playing in the sand! He and I spent about an hour out there while his Mom and Dad wrapped his presents. After a quick bath to rid his hair and body of all the excess sand, it was time to open the birthday presents…and what a wide array of gifts this little guy received. I got him two puzzles and two books in addition to the sandbox. His Mom and Dad got him a set of gear blocks that spin when assembled as well as a Lego Duplo Zoo. Uncle Raymond got him his own personal keyboard for the computer that has big giant colorful keys, and it really works when connected to the computer!

Then it was off to dinner at Red Robin’s where he enjoyed french fries, macaroni and cheese, some of Dad’s milkshake and a big sundae with ice cream, chocolate fudge and whipped cream! And, of course, there was still a birthday cake to enjoy when we got home! I was totally exhausted by the end of the day and think everyone else was, too.

Today I’m not doing too much since I’ve come down with a cold that I think I caught from Robin. Have been taking ZiCam, but that’s not doing too much other than keeping it from getting too much worse. I finally got fed up with all the sneezing and blowing of my nose and took a Benedryl that I found in my purse. If that helps (which it should), I’ll pick some up at the grocery or drug store this evening. We’ll be taking Robin to a zoo in Tacoma on Saturday and I’m hopeful both he and I will be feeling lots better by then.

Yes, I do have other things going on in my life other than rodent problems! On Saturday I am heading up to Seattle for 10 days to visit with Kevin, Soula and Robin and to help celebrate Robin’s second birthday. I can’t believe he’s two already! I got him a sandbox for the backyard as one of his gifts. It’s already built and ready to set up and fill with sand. Hopefully it won’t be raining on his birthday and he’ll get to play in it.

Haven’t even begun packing yet, but don’t think it will take too long. Since I went shopping for new clothes last week, I have plenty of clothes and will just have to do a bit of laundry and sorting tomorrow night. Patrick and Veronica will be stopping by to care for the cats and do some watering. I’d like to clean the house a bit before leaving, but won’t be doing lots of cleaning since no one will be staying here while I’m gone. And, I’ll still have 3 days of vacation time (plus a full weekend) when I get home from Seattle. I’m planning to do lots around the house for those 5 days.

Work has been totally crazy! We’ve had another case of identity fraud with our checking account. Someone got one of our checks and electronically reproduced the signature onto a facsimile check. It wasn’t an exact duplicate and the numbering was completely out of sequence. The bank caught it and called me to validate it. After getting a copy of it, I had to go to the Pasadena Police Dept today to file a police report. And when I get back from vacation we will have to implement something called Positive Pay where we report every check written to the bank. It’s all a pain in the butt because some asshole thinks he can get something for nothing. In addition to all that, I’m trying to get 3 weeks worth of work completed in one week! I sometimes feel like I’m being punished for taking a vacation.

A stage 1 drought emergency has been declared in Pasadena. As a result, we are only permitted to use our lawn sprinklers three days out of the week (T,Th,Sat) before 9 am and after 6 pm. I can water with the hose at any time but cannot hose down my driveway or sidewalk. We are charged a premium rate for water usage over a certain amount, and I always have to pay this because of refilling the pool due to evaporation. Oh well.

The cats are doing ok. Baby is fine and Loki is doing a bit better since I started feeding him wet food. He was extremely dehydrated and seems to be putting on a small amount of weight due to the liquid in the food. No other side effects from the food so far. Also Loki seems to have gotten over his upper respiratory infection finally! No more sneezing or snotty nose after being on antibiotics for about 2 weeks.

I’m pooped and need to get to bed. Since I have a laptop now, I’ll be taking it with me to Seattle so may be able to find some time to write a blog or two…or at least post a few updates on Facebook.

Well, sort of.

More tomatoes were devoured this morning and I am totally fed up. I believe it is either some really determined rats or a possum or a raccoon. Nothing I have used so far has gotten rid of it/them. I came close to buying rat poison tonight, but it specifically said not to use it around vegetables. So I got the next closest thing which is something that looks like black pepper but is a bit denser. It was expensive ($18/container), but is supposed to last for 30 days. It smells awful and is supposed to repel rats, possums, raccoons, skunks, etc. It is not safe for pets, but is only a problem if they walk through it and somehow ingest it. The cats don’t go out all that much any more, and I can keep the screen shut so that they don’t get out when I’m not looking. So I decided to take the chance.

I sprinkled it all along the back of the bed and in the corner where I believe they are coming into the bed. I noticed some kind of droppings on top of the wall but couldn’t tell whether it was from an animal–and didn’t want to do too thorough an exam! So far tonight I haven’t heard anything out there, so I’m hoping the smell is deterring them.

I think this is the same principal as the cayenne pepper but stronger. I’ve spent over $20 on the cayenne so far. If this other stuff lasts for 30 days, then it’s worth the price. We’ll see what happens.

I got some sticky traps at OSH tonight. They are sheets of heavy paper with an extremely sticky surface. Supposedly any animal that walks over them gets stuck and can’t get loose. Also, the sticky surface contains some kind of stuff that tranquilizes the critter so they don’t try to get loose. I put out two of them earlier tonight near the tomato plants where it/they have been feasting for the past two nights.

Just went out with a flashlight to see if anything had been caught and saw one of the sticky papers attached to a small bush next to the tomatoes. So whatever animal is doing this seems to be strong enough to shake off the paper. The sticky goo is really gummy and sticky and I wouldn’t want to have to pull it off my skin, ’cause it’s that sticky. Obviously it’s not another mouse. Now I’m wondering if it’s a possum. Or maybe a really strong rat.

Still don’t understand why the old fashioned rat traps didn’t catch anything. The one trap was sprung and the bait was eaten. The other trap was still set but the bait had also been eaten. What the hell kind of critter is this that is smart enough to get the bait without getting caught in the trap? And how did it get loose from the sticky paper?

So tomorrow night I’ll put out lots more papers as well as both mouse traps and rat traps. Sooner or later something has to work. I’m reluctant to use poison, but I may be forced to use it as a last resort. This critter is not going to win!

Rats, that is. I got rid of the mouse a few days ago and all seemed good. The tomatoes remained untouched for two days. This morning I found half a large green tomato hanging on one of the plants. Seems the cayenne pepper I sprinkled everywhere isn’t deterring them. Or maybe enough of it washes away when I water the plants to make it ineffective when diluted. So I resorted to setting the traps.

For the mouse I was able to use the little trap. I set another small one for a few nights after catching the first mouse, but it only seemed to attract ants. Tonight I set two of the big rat traps. Not sure if that’s what’s eating the tomatoes, but figured I’d try those since they seem to be feasting on the plants closest to the back fence near the bushes in my neighbor’s yard. I’ve noticed both rats and possums in those bushes before, so we’ll see what happens come morning.

While I’m not looking forward to disposing of these critters, I am definitely looking forward to allowing my tomatoes to ripen so I can enjoy the fruits of my labors.

The vet called this morning to give me the results of Loki’s blood work that I had done on Thursday. Loki has kidney failure, with only about 15% of his kidney function remaining. The vet wanted to do all kinds of procedures including hospitalizing him for ~3 days to inject him with fluids and meds. Then she wants me to do under-the-skin injections at home and put him on a diet of some kind of prescription canned food specifically for kidney problems.

Cost of the procedure will be $400-$500. Cost of monthly maintenance will be $125. She anticipates all this will give him a few more months to live depending on how well he does with the treatments…and how well I do with administering them.

I discussed all this with Patrick, Sally and Kelly and have decided not to treat him. I know this means his kidneys will give out and he will die soon…just like Puto. I just don’t see the point in spending all that money when it will only give him a few more months. He’s still probably going to die yet this year no matter what I do or do not do.

I’m becoming numb to the deaths of my pets.

Something is eating my tomatoes! I suspect it is either a small mouse that we saw at the side of the house on the 4th of July or some neighborhood rats. Others that I know are having the same problem with rats in their gardens, so it could be either.

I went to OSH and picked up some rat and mouse traps. They sell all kinds of rat poison, but all say bad stuff about keeping pets away, so I decided not to take a chance since Loki and Baby still wander around the backyard. I tried setting one of the traps, but couldn’t make it work on the first try…and I’m afraid I’ll snap it on my hand if I don’t get it set right. So, I’ll wait till tomorrow when I’m hoping Patrick will come by and show me how to do it without breaking my fingers!

I read online about cayenne pepper deterring rodents from tomatoes, so I stopped at Smart & Final and picked up some giant containers of it. Sprinkled it liberally around the tomato plants with the hope this will keep the nasty little fuckers away until I can get the traps set tomorrow.

This is out and out war!!! I am not giving up without a fight! I want my tomatoes!

Got a 30% off coupon from Kohl’s, so decided to go shopping tonight before the coupon expired. Mostly I wanted to get some clothes for Robin, but also had to pick up a few things for myself since I had the coupon and couldn’t allow all those savings to go to waste!

Got 3 shorts outfits (shirts and shorts), 4 pairs of pants and 4 shirts for Robin. Could have bought more, but that would mean taking up lots of space (and weight) in my luggage. And I can always buy more for him in Seattle. Got myself a pair of jeans, 4 tops, 2 t-shirts, 3 bras, 10 prs. of socks, 2 belts and some earrings. I mean it was all on sale and I had that coupon…

Only bad part was that I didn’t get home until 8 pm. Heated up some leftovers from our BBQ yesterday since I was starving! Now gotta sort out all my purchases and get stuff put away. I’m pooped and don’t expect I’ll get much else done.

I got up this morning and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. That’s when I heard a cat howling. It sounded like Baby. I guess she didn’t come in last night. I went to the front door to let her in but she wasn’t there. I checked the kitchen door. She wasn’t there, but the howling was louder. I looked up and saw her—-hanging from the wood fence! She apparently ran up the fence from my neighbor’s yard and was climbing over the top when she caught her back leg between two of the slats. She was hanging there by her back leg! I tried to pull her loose and she began biting my hand and continuing to howl. I grabbed her head and held her mouth shut and slid her leg up to pull it loose. She flipped up in the air, jumped down and took off running. I opened the sliding doors at the back of the house and she came in and hid under my bed before I could check her out.

Eventually she came out and she seems to be walking okay. I checked her leg and, while it seems to be a bit swollen, I don’t think there’s anything too serious wrong. I’ll watch her for a few days, but I think she’s going to be alright.

It never rains, it pours.

Weep not for me though I am gone
Into that gentle night.
Grieve if you will, but not for long
Upon my soul’s sweet flight.
I am at peace, my soul’s at rest,
There is no need for tears.
For with your love I was so blessed
For all those many years.
There is no pain, I suffer not,
The fear now all is gone.
Put now these things out of your thoughts,
In your memory I live on.
Remember not my fight for breath,
Remember not the strife.
Please do not dwell upon my death,
But celebrate my life.
-Constance Jenkins

Just got back from the vet. Murphy has an enlarged heart, an enlarged liver and a sunken trachea. All this was visible from the x-rays, before any blood work was done. The best the vet feels they can do is to treat the symptoms. He won’t get better, in fact his health will probably continue to decline. She believes he is experiencing some amount of pain right now and that’s why he whimpers after a coughing spell.

She gave him an injection for pain and sent us home with orders to treat Murphy royally for the next few days. We have an appointment on Thursday at 5 pm when I will see him off to join Darwin and Puto.

Meanwhile, I’ll be cooking him some fabulous meals for the next two evenings and pampering him lots. The vet said she wished she could have done this for a dog that she lost.

It’s really hell having to deal with old pets. I had to say goodbye to Puto last weekend and now it looks like it’s time for Murphy to leave. He’s been sick with something that no one could definitively diagnose for about 6 months and went blind about 3-4 months ago. Now he’s unable to hold his urine. I put him in my bedroom tonight since it’s so hot and I’ve got A/C in there. I found him asleep on the floor a few minutes ago…laying in a pool of urine. I slid him out of it and it just kept coming out. He’s also coughing and wheezing a lot and his whole body shakes when he coughs. I don’t think he’s going to make it through the night.

I feel like I’m waiting for him to die and it’s just not pleasant for either of us.

I said goodbye to Puto, our 19-year-old black cat, today. His health had been failing for at least six months to a year, and today was the day I finally had to make the decision to say goodbye. I knew there was a problem yesterday when he spent the entire day on the floor in the bathroom. He was still there this morning and had an accident overnight and was unable to clean himself up when he stepped in it. Not a pleasant way for a cat to spend his days and nights. His kidneys were on the verge of shutting down if they hadn’t done so already, so I made the decision after talking with my sister, Sally. She’s been through this with two of her cats and the symptoms were almost identical.

I took him to our local animal emergency clinic and they were wonderful, treating him with kindness and care. His final moments were spent with me consoling and petting him as he stopped breathing. I cried a lot at the time and am still having periods of tears when I remember all the good times with Puto. He was probably the best cat we’ve ever had and I’ll miss him lots.

His ashes will go to Patrick since he was Patrick’s cat from the start. When Patrick moved out, Puto permitted me to be his adoptive owner. But he always was and always will be Patrick’s cat.

My plans for vacation projects have gone totally off track. Causes include the heat (in the 90’s every day!) and having to go to work yesterday. Seems there was a problem with issuing a check that was discovered late on Tuesday. I could probably have stayed home, but wanted to be sure this got completed. So I got up early (yuk!) and went in. After taking care of things in the office, I headed off to AAA to renew my car registration and then went to the mall. Don’t usually go to the mall, but there’s a big semi-annual sale going on right now at both Bath & Body Works and Yankee Candle…and both stores are practically across the aisle from one another. So I stocked up on soaps, spritzers, etc at Bath & Body Works (I won’t need to go again for years!) and got lots of great candles at Yankee Candle including a new one for Fall and a new one for Christmas. Took a nap yesterday after getting home and took it easy the rest of the day. Not a good plan for getting projects completed.

Staying home today, but mostly doing cleaning and laundry. Reorganized a few bathroom cupboards and am working on my bedroom, the family room and kitchen. The sofa slipcovers are in the washer right now and in a bit I’ll be starting in on steamcleaning the carpets and furniture. Would like to wash the family room curtains as well. We’ll see.

I cleaned about half of the outdoor furniture a few days ago and would like to finish that up before Saturday since we’re having a few friends over for a BBQ on the 4th. Patrick is going to take me down to Sears tomorrow morning to get a new grill. I got rid of my old one last year when we did the unlimited trash pickup and haven’t yet replaced it. Since I have a gift card for Sears I can get a new one for not lots of $$$. I’m anxious to have a grill again.

Break time over–back to work.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not going to get everything done this week. Part of it has to do with the hot weather, making it difficult to work outdoors. Part of it has to do with lots of stuff still needing to be done inside. Part of it has to do with lack of motivation to get started on the big stuff. So I’m finding myself doing lots of “small” projects instead of one or two biggies.

Am keeping my garden watered and weeded mostly because I really like doing this. Have to wait until 6-7 pm though when the temperature begins to cool down. Thinking of cleaning the leaves and other residue out of the bed alongside the driveway tonight since the weeding out back is done for the week.

Heading out to the garage soon to do an inventory of paint on hand–what’s still good, what needs to be disposed of. Think I’ll start in on the family room ceiling later today or tomorrow. While I had hoped to do the outside house trim, think I’ll have to put that off until the weather cools down. I can always do that in stages over a few weekends provided I’m caught up on the inside stuff.

*sigh*

Guess it’s time to get off the computer and get started.

My time with the auditors is complete and I finished everything on my “to-do list” today at work. And so the first week of my vacation begins! And boy am I ready!!! Had a couple of last minute crises to deal with before I could finally leave (1/2 hour late), but am happy that I left no messes for someone else to clean up while I am gone.

Took it easy tonight before I get started on anything heavy duty around the house. Not sure what I’m going to start on first. It’s going to be extremely hot this weekend, so I’ll probably do a minimal amount of yard work–mostly watering to keep everything alive! My plants are doing unbelievably well. The tomatoes are now about 3 ft. tall with lots of blooms and small tomatoes. I still need to make new planting boxes/barriers around my rose bushes in the front yard. The old wood has rotted and needs to be replaced. I also want to tear out the iceplant along the side wall and replace it with brick toppers to match the ones I used in the backyard. But that can wait for cooler weather!

Other than yard work, I’m planning to repaint all the dark green trim on the house. Not really that big a job since the trim is only around the edge of the roof, 3 doors, and the front garage window. I plant on doing it in stages, depending on where the sun is shining. When that’s done, I have a few small painting projects inside the house–closet doors, small part of the ceiling in the family room, and a bit of trim in my bedroom.

In between all that, I’ll be doing a major cleaning job on the house. Even though I know this doesn’t sound like much of a vacation, it will make me feel really good to have the time to get all this done. And I won’t have to think about numbers or spreadsheets the entire time!

First it was Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett and finally number three–Michael Jackson?!?!

We all expected Ed McMahon (he was in his late 80’s and not in good health), and Farrah Fawcett was playing a waiting game with her cancer. But Michael Jackson? As it turns out he, too, was playing a waiting game with his health. He was anorexic, on all kinds of painkillers for various problems, and still was preparing for a comeback world tour. He was said to be stressing his body to the max, doing numerous rehearsals every day at Staples Center. But we didn’t know all these details. Or at least most of us didn’t know.

And so tonight the death of Farrah Fawcett is being overshadowed by Michael Jackson’s death. Kinda sad for her family.

…and then I’m off work for a week! Yay!!!

This week has been rough at work since we’re once again in the midst of our annual audit. I know, it seems that we’re *always* in the midst of the audit. In the past, though, it has taken months and months to finish it up due in part to never having had an audit previously…like in 125 years never! How it happened that I got to participate in this groundbreaking activity is beyond me! Anyhow, this is the third audit since the first one for the year 2006. It is getting easier, but there’s always some unexpected item that I have to dig through old records to find. Sooner or later I will have found it all and will only have to worry about the current year. I expect most of my audit work will be completed next week and then I can take a week off knowing I only have *regular* stuff to come back to. Let’s hope.

Not sure what I’m going to do while off work, but am hoping to get ALL yard work finished (except, of course, regular maintenance type things). Don’t have too much left to do outside, so may even get it finished up this weekend. Then can just enjoy the fruits of my labors–literally, since I already have tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers starting to grow!

Other than outside stuff, I want to get the house cleaned really well and then finish up a bunch of small projects. Painting some trim and closet doors are at the top of the list. Possibly I may even do some garage cleaning. We’ll see how everything else goes.

Tonight I’m going to relax after watering some plants and the yard. Tomorrow is soon enough to get started.

Today was Laker Championship Day in LA. It started at 10 am this morning and continued on every local newscast tonight. They had a huge parade and then a ceremony/party/rally at the Coliseum. The crowd estimate was approximately half a million people total, with about 100,000 in the Coliseum. I watched it live on my computer at work and then watched the version I TiVo’d tonight. The TiVo one was much better since I kept getting interrupted at work. Thought about actually going to the parade, but am just as glad I didn’t try to battle that crowd. I would have spent hours and hours getting there and getting home for a few minutes of fun. They shut the gates to the Coliseum at about 10:15, so if you weren’t in line really early, you didn’t get in. Just as happy to watch it on TV.

And now I’m kind of glad to have it all over. It was great fun, but I’m ready to take a break from basketball, turn off the TV and begin to enjoy summer.

I am still shaking! How exciting is this…and what a great game! And Kobe is the MVP!!! Oh yeah!