Charlie, the Miracle Cat

When I got Charlie in December of 2000, he was a shy, little, black and white, 6 month old kitten with a Hitler-like mustache. He was very timid because apparently his brief stay with his previous owner included other animals and children that were not so nice to him. Six and a half years later he is still pretty timid and will cower when I got to pet him. His previous owner must have really done a job on him, because I have never once laid a malicious finger on him or even thought about it. He is the nicest cat ever - doesn't scratch the furniture or whatever else bad cats do. A few years ago he started walking strangely - flat footed on his hind feet...very strange and hard to describe really. Then he started having these weird spasms when anyone would pet him. It was like he had some kind of nerve damage somewhere in his spine. He just seemed to age rapidly. He would still eat - boy could he still eat! And he wouldn't hesitate to let me or any guest sleeping on the couch know he wanted to be fed. I believe Donna sent me a text message once to get up because the cats were bugging her at about 7 am to eat.

Shortly before I moved out of the Teall Avenue house, Charlie's strange spinal/nerve spasms seemed to subside. And I actually haven't seen one since. Charlie has also never been one to go outside. I tried a couple times a few years ago to put a harness on him to take him out, but he wanted nothing to do with any string tied around his neck and body. I can't say that I blame him really. He has always been curious about what goes on outside - birds, squirrels, passing leaves - but has never attempted to escape. A couple weeks before I moved from my Manlius apartment, I was out on the front porch, and as I opened the door to go back in, Charlie was sitting right inside and started to make a move to the other side. I couldn't believe it. I don't ever recall him looking to explore new territory. He had seemed to show more activity - batting around the noisy cats toys and chasing an occasional shoe lace. I was seeing new life in him.

A couple weeks in my current place brought another new chapter in Charlie's upswing. One day I was lying on the couch and I heard Niner meowing but like he was annoyed (just trust me I can tell the difference ha ha). I looked towards the sound, and saw Charlie on top of Niner, biting at him! Niner escaped his half pint captor but Charlie pounced on him again! I couldn't believe it. The other day it happened again - Charlie started chasing Niner, who just ran away from him. Charlie also plays a lot more now with toys without any teasing from humans. Maybe the lack of stairs is helping. To some it seems stupid to write about a cat, but when they are your own and one has a problem that a vet can't figure out, it's encouraging to see him still have that kitten-like spunk once in a while.

I think Madison just fell off the back of the loveseat in her sleep. lol

They can be entertaining, and it's nice to have some company especially when I am sad like tonight. Well at least he doesn't sleep in the litter box anymore. ha ha

Leg up!!

CSI: Crazy Scene Investigation

I have rediscovered my afinity for CSI. Not Miami, not NYC. Vegas baby! Anyway, even the not so good episodes are still interesting and keep my attention for an hour, which can be hard to do. Although, I am writing this as I am watching so it doesn't have my complete focus. This episode features the girl who played the youngest sister on "Growing Pains" and she is playing a hooker. Weird.

The other thing about this show are the strange, yet funny, one liners.

In the beginning of an autopsy on a boxer, Warrick removes the guys trunks and the doc notes the marks on and size of his "twig and berries" and what the possibilities could be. Cathryn chimes in with "either that or he has the World's Ugliest Johnson." lol um okay.

In another scene, an investigator is just about to question one of the hookers (the girl from "Growing Pains"). For reasons we do not know about, she starts singing. When she stops, he says "Do I look like Paula Abdul to you?" ha ha nice reference.

The guy that played Brooks in "The Shawshank Redemption" plays a senile old man and who keeps saying somebody shot my wife, whom we find out has been dead for 10 years. Finally we see he wasn't really that out of it. He walks out of his trailer with a picture of his wife and an arrow is stuck in it right in her forehead. lol This show is bizarre tonight.

Now the guy who is playing the bartender at the "bunny" ranch was in the movie "Rat Race" (he was the character who just had tongue pierced so it was very swollen and couldn't talk clearly. It was hysterical! Probably the only funny thing about that movie if I remember correctly). In this episode, he has just been notified he killed a guy (he shot the boxer with an arrow but didn't know he died - duh), so he is sobbing but the investigator's phone starts ringing and he yells "are you gonna get that" and keeps sobbing. lol This is the strangest episode ever.

Another thing - never, ever under any circumstances, no matter how hungry you are, eat while watching this show. I found out the hard way.

Well I guess that is all for today. There are about 15 minutes left then I have to do some school work before trying to go to sleep.

Leg up!!

Satellite and AI

The two items in the title are not related but just the topics I'm tapping into this evening.

I love my satellite radio! I think Ethel is my favorite station. There is usually something on that I have never heard before. Hence the reason for having satellite to begin with; however I have forgotten about the comedy stations. I need to start visiting those more often.

I am watching American Idol and this evening it's Idol Gives Back night. I just saw a couple of representatives from Exxon Mobil. Ryan said they have been helpful...um unless they handed over at least 5% of their profit last year, they haven't done enough. Rat bastards.

The show has been pretty funny. As soon as I saw Kyle Glass and Jack Black in the audience I started cracking up. Good thing he's funny - his rough look...yikes! ha ha Although that's not so bad.

I'll be back - Kelly Clarkson is on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG Kelly Clarkson and Jeff Beck. That was ridiculous. I just rewound it to watch again! That was freakin' fantastic. But even though she sounds great, Kelly didn't look so hot. What is up with the moo moo? She preggers? Try singin' like that Sanjaya! That poor kid. So many jokes about him tonight and he has a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing. Maybe is just clueless. Who knows.

This not shaping up well at all. Ryan said something about the biggest surprise in the history of AI. Okay I do not agree with that. Biggest surprise this season? Probably. History of the show? No way. Nothing can be more shocking than when our beloved Chris Daughtry was voted off last year. Let's put this in perspective Ryan! Anyway, since Melinda, Blake, and Lakisha are safe, three that would be possible shockers, that leaves Jordin as the last possibility. It is only Jordin and Chris left; if he goes, no big shock so it must be Jordin.

Nope. Nobody goes home this week but two go next week. I had a brief thought that the shock would be nobody goes home. That was going to suck to send somebody home on a night of asking people to give for a good cause then put a damper on the evening by sending a contestant home. Damper on the evening - like it hasn't been depressing enough. Oy.

Now AI is over, and I should do some school work. However, I don't think I'll be able to concentrate. It has been one of those evenings in which has been one thing after another. My phone has been crapping out on me, and I got so fed up at one point I drove to the mall to get a new one. Then when I got there I happen to be on the phone with Donna and she said get one like mine. And I realized my old phone was still in really good shape. I should just activate that one! I have only had this one for a year, so I don't want to spend any more money on a new stupid phone! Argh! I won't have a camera any more but oh well. As long as I have text messaging I'm happy.

The Mets lost today to the stupid Rockies. Man what a long season. I'm worried about where they sit in the standings (sit, standings, what the...) and there is a LONG way to do. I wonder who the Bills will pick up in the draft this weekend? I wonder where my cousin Jamarcus Russell will end up. ha ha

Well I think I may head to bed. I'm drained. Good night all!

Leg up!!!

Square Peg, Round Hole

It's hard to make it fit, if at all. That's pretty much how I see it. And that saying opposites attract? That may be so but I always add "but it doesn't last." If you have more similarities and things in common than you do differences, those things that don't necessarily line up can be countered. Well at least that is my current theory.

I had a nice day though. It was a gorgeous, sunny mid to upper 70 degree day. I slept in like a bum but I had originally woken up at 6:15 so my mind took off for about an hour. I finally got it all my thoughts to subside and managed to fall back to sleep for a couple of hours. I watched the last 20 minutes or so of "Bridget Jones's Diary." Love that movie! I should really think about purchasing it. Anyway, I got ready including digging out a short sleeve shirt and khaki shorts! I chucked all my old flip flops so I had to go with my mock Tivas, which I wasn't thrilled about but they would have to do. I headed to Tully to see Mom and G'ma Millis, had lunch and did a load of laundry. We sat on the porch to chat and enjoy the sun. Then I headed to Otisco to see G'ma Russell who has been home just since Friday from the nursing home. Things could be better so hopefully they will get better soon. After that I headed north to drop off and hang up my wet laundry before I headed to Target! Yahoo! I had to grab a few things and it was still too nice to be inside. Granted I was inside a store but at least I was out driving around with my sun roof open...although I was just causing more pollution on Earth Day, no less! Well I grabbed a few things including a frozen, stuffed crust pizza! I was getting hungry, and I thought that would be a quick, easy dinner before I settle down to watch "The Sopranos" later. So as I was checking out what goes great with pizza? Beer! I headed next door to Price Chopper for some MILLER LITE! and more wheat pasta and diced tomatoes. This week I am going to try to start the Sonoma Diet for my quest to get below 150 and then some. I want to lose 13 pounds. But for tonight, it's pizza with lots of cheese and beer. Oink and cheers!

Leg up!!

Make him stop!

There have been times in my life in which I just get so irritated then mad at the fact the men think they run this freakin' world and they dominate so many facets of life. They still have the upper hand but women are closing the gap - slowly but surely. So one day I was thinking I can't believe that there are still battery issues - who the hell do these men think they are? OMG I get more worked up when I think about that. And I can't bring myself to even think about placing any smidge of blame on the women. I can't pass judgment because I can NOT imagine how she must feel, how insecure she must be, how low her self-esteem is, how broken her spirit is, how scared she is, and how brainwashed she must be by a worthless piece of shit that even though he causes her immense physical and emotional pain, she keeps going back and wants to be by his side. I always picture myself retaliating in a most violent manner if any guy attempted to push me around. I know I am pretty sensitive and I let things go, more so than ever, so people may think I let people take advantage of me or I don't stand up for myself, blah blah blah. However, I am more than willing to look out for other people especially those may not be that popular. I feel like I have always been an underdog and often root for the underdog. But men beating on women brings me to a whole new level.

It's odd that I had this thought recently. I found out today that the son of a bitch who lives above me is the exact kind of man I HATE. On a few occasions it has been rather loud upstairs in the apartment above me. One night I woke up to a bed creeking rhythmically, which was fine. Good for them! But then there was some heavy walking followed by the sound of the shower then a little bit of running. This occurred approximately 3am to 4am on Friday morning when I had to get up and go to work. On another occassion I heard more running around at 3am and it sounded like chasing then a girl sobbing. I was a bit concerned but nothing sounded too bad. I was pissed as I had a hard time falling asleep that night to begin with then I couldn't go back to sleep after that disturbance. So tonight I get home and one of my neighbors, whom I recognized as she briefly worked security in my building, and I started chatting. I think we had about one complete exchange of "hello, nice to meet you" and she asked if I had any problems with noise yet from upstairs. I was a little taken aback b/c I thought oh shit what did I just move into? She said there have been problems with him being loud, fighting with his girlfriend including one incident where he was going to throw her over the railing from the second to first floor, and the cops have been involved. She encouraged me to complain to the office and even call the emergency number to complain. There are 15 apartments in my building, mostly occupied by women (I think there are only 3 men here), so as scary as the situation could seem, I feel comfortable with my other neighbors. "Strength in numbers!" I don't even know what this guy looks like - even if he is a big bully or what. But regardless, as worked up as I get over men beating on women, I know I am not strong enough physically to kick a guys ass...not even with every drop adrenaline my body can muster. I would like to take a bat and play a little T-ball!!

One of the friendly and informative neighbors I chatted with this evening said she saw the girlfriend recently and she had numerous bruises all over her arms. I wonder what he thinks when he sees those bruises. A sense of accomplishment and domination? My God that makes me so angry! My feelings and thoughts aren't doing much good - they aren't affecting anybody. But this may be a topic I look more into in the near future.

Leg up!!! Right into that bastards nuts!!

He was better on Seinfeld

I don't care what his legacy is, I can't stand Keith Hernandez as a broadcaster for the Mets! He is so annoying. "Kids, say to yourself, when the ball comes to me, what am I going to do with it." Um are you giving a clinic? For some reason, I can't picture a future David Wright giving an interview on his defensive success saying "well I learned my skills by listening to Keith Hernandez broadcast games." And some things he says, are things that are blatantly obvious! He is the John Madden of baseball for me.

Well the Mets won again tonight, sweeping the Marlins. Tonight's score: 11 to 3. Only 500 games to go!

Leg up!

It's tax day!

It is now almost 12:30 am on April 15, 2007 - have you mailed your taxes? Who cares? Well the government does but I'm all set with mine so I don't.

I'm tired of always trying to do the right thing and the minute I step off that line and show and react to some anger or frustration, it bites me in the ass. I AM NOT PERFECT! I have grown up a lot and realized some things about myself and how I used to be. Sure I still have insecurities and my self-confidence still isn't up to par but it's better than it used to be. And my reactions to things are better (I think school has taught to think better although now I think I over analyze things - rats no happy medium ha ha). "Pick your battles." But dammit some things I shouldn't have to stop doing like getting upset if something someone says bothers me. To do that I'd have to have NO feelings at all and basically be a robot. And for those of you that know me, I have a TON of feelings...I'm too sensitive I know. I try to see things from other people's perspective and why the hell shouldn't I get the same in return?!?! And how is it if I feel something is being said to me in a negative tone, it's my fault for taking it wrong and then that person is upset with me for taking it wrong. Yeah really makes a lot of freakin' sense. I am losing either way. If you focus on the few times that I am negative, you're missing out on the positive and good things about me. And if that's the case I don't think you really want to hang with me to begin with. I feel like throwing out every swear word I can possible think of right now but I'll refrain because this is a family blog. ha ha no it's not but I'll refrain from swearing. Oh but I said ass and dammit earlier - shit! God if it wasn't so late and being dog tired, I'd go run about 100 miles to release this frustration.

Actually just typing this has helped and watching SNL. It's not even really that funny so far but just seeing Samberg in a thick mustache cracks me up. Although they did just do a skit about mustache rides with Alec Baldwin who is not even hosting (does he live in that studio?? lol). OMG next week Bjork is the musical guess. That should be interesting. OMG SOFA KING!! LOL I love it!

Leg up!!

30 minutes til the 13th

In a half an hour it will be Friday the 13th, so I need to get this posted then to bed! I don't know why - it was just an idea.

Anywho, tonight was my last indoor soccer game for a while. Great, now what is my lazy ass gonna do? Well considering the weather still isn't that great and I heard something about a Nor
'easter coming soon (um Easter was last Sunday! stupid weatherman. Take "weather" out of that statement and I'm being redundant. ha ha girls you get it!). I guess I better figure out where to put all my crap and get my treadmill situated. I love my apartment but it still has the "just moved in" look with boxes and stuff every place it isn't supposed to be. I have been here almost two weeks, and this past Tuesday night was the first night I just layed on my couch and watched tv all night so I definitely had any time to deal with my apartment. It's good to stay busy but it was nice not to be busy that night...even though I should have done school work. Oh well!

Rats I had something else on my mind and now I can't think of it. Sucks getting older by the minute!

Oh duh. My NYC trip. I headed to NYC Saturday late morning and got there around 3:30. I swear I hate New Jersey. I am 31, I can pump my own gas! Every time I go through NJ or actually go there as my final destination (yes, I love to see Bon Jovi that much) I get off some exit that is a huge pain or have some type of bad luck (flat tire avoiding the Holland Tunnel). It either leads me down another highway or it has those weird stay to the right to make a left or U turn. I went about 3 miles out of my way to get back to the interstate. I hate that state almost as much as I hate Pennsyltucky! So I get off this one exit that looks rather Otisco-ish...very woodsy. I see a deer crossing sign with the very graceful buck (he must be gay) in black on the yellow sign. Typical, right? Wrong. Below the diamond shaped portion of the sign with the buck is a square sign reading "Heavy Deer Area." What are you feeding the deer here?? Fat deer crossing!!!!! Lookout that Bambi's useless, couch potato, beer guzzling, belching brother doesn't plop his fat ass on your car. Heaven help NJ. Well at least it gave us Bon Jovi.

So the rest of the trip was pretty good. Saturday I caught up with Donna and Amber at the hotel then we headed back to the bar they had been hanging out at while waiting for me to tiptoe through fat deer country in NJ. Fortunately the bartender was a Mets fan so we got to watch the game on the nice big tv while the stupid Yankees game was on a 13 inch black and white in the corner. Their uniforms are gray anyway so what's the diff. Then we freshened up at the hotel, hit a bar where Amber's friends were hanging out then we met up with Donna's , Holly, at her usual hangout - Raccoon Lodge. Good place - been there a number of times. Bartender is like 8 feet tall. I played a game of pool, which I admit is not one of my better sports, but I did knock in 3 in a row! Record for Krussell - chalk it up! An intoxicated Amber left us around 2:00, Holly left shortly after that, then Donna and I closed the place at 4 am. Leave two sisters to bitch about work and get emotional over family - lookout! ha ha We grabbed a cab and headed for some pizza. Always good after closing. Plus I had a philly cheesesteak at the bar earlier in the night, so I wasn't too intoxicated. I certainly was tired at that hour. I checked the clock as I crawled into bed: 4:47am. Awesome.

The next morning I felt good. I was a little tired as I am not used to such bed times, but I didn't feel hungover at all. However as the day went on I proceeded to get a headache which transformed in the worst headache I have ever had in my life. We watched the Mets game at Scruffy Duffy's, where some of the patrons thought it would be nice if they could request the music to be turned off so they could listen to the Master's gold tournament. Are you kidding me?? Listen to golf?! I swear I could've fallen asleep right there. After we paid for our drinks and lunch we headed to the bar next door where we found more Mets fans and the game. That was when my headache was becoming less than tolerable. But we proceeded on to do a little shopping after that. We had last minute dinner plans and I had nothing to wear but Mets shirts and jeans. It wasn't the best attire for dining in the city. I bought a black shirt, news jeans, and a jacket at H&M. Very uneventful but it would do. We met up with the other half of our party at the Heartland Brewery. It looked like a place I would enjoy had I not felt like I had a knife in my head. I briefly thought about going into the bathroom there and hurling. But I saved that for the hotel room.

After the brewery we cabbed back to the hotel, I ran to the drug store for Excedrin, popped a couple in the room and puked them right back up. I had been on the phone with Paul, and I suddenly said I need to call you back. I hung up, started sobbing because of the pain, then headed to the bathroom. I got sick twice! It was very strange. I never did take any more Excedrin to replace the ones now in the NYC sewer system. I missed dinner, slept for an hour and felt much better. I watched "The Sopranos" and went back to bed. Rest was all I cared about then because I was NOT going to miss the Mets home opener the next day!

The game was great! It was chilly but our seats were in the sun for at least half of the game. I even got a tad sun burned on my face - mostly my schnozz (I have never spelled that before - is that right I wonder?). The Mets played the Phillies, who gained a short lead at one point, but then the Mets had a 7-run inning late in the game and won 11-5. We had a good crew of 4 Mets-lovin girls and the kid sitting next to me was a riot. He couldn't believe we'd drive 4 hours for a Mets game then said well maybe I would too. Yeah try living that distance from your favorite team - you'll do it!! I can't wait to see them again and that will be a 6 hour drive to Virginia!

Well kids, it is now 6 minutes after midnight on Friday the 13th of April. Good luck to all during normal functioning hours of the day!

Leg up!!

Aces and Boos

Aces for me, boos for American Idol.

I got my Week 2 paper back today, which is the third part of my final project. I got a 100!!! I am excited yet wonder how hard they are grading. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, spacey at times, but overall the wheels work pretty well up there. Well three out of seven parts of the project are done and so far I am sporting a 98. Unreal. Nine weeks, five days left.

I really can't take American Idol seriously with Sanjaya still in the running. Tonight there were nine contestants on the stage waiting to hear who would be booted: Melinda, Lakisha, Jordin, Phil, Gina, Haley, Blake, Chris, and the kid who should've been voted off weeks ago...if not months. They are all pretty good overall, and some are down right amazing and yet Sanjaya stays while Gina, much improved over the past few weeks, has to go home. I don't know what else to say. It's a joke and the show will totally lose credibility the longer he's on the show. I know it seems silly to get so upset over a show, but I invest my time into this so I hate the fact somebody else is screwing around and voting for someone they couldn't care less about just because it's fun to piss people off. I hate those people. Yes, HATE.

Well my computer needs another night of charging. Five days until Opening Day!!!!!!!!

Leg up!!

I'm Never Moving Again

ha ha I know that isn't true. I have given up saying "I'm not moving again until I buy a house" or "I'm not moving again until I get married." What the hell do I know what's going to happen in a year? A year ago I was happy in my cute apartment in Manlius that was full of character. It turns out it was also full of cold air, a bad landlord, and things I didn't realize I missed like water pressure. It served its purpose - it was my first bachelorette pad and a place to start the next chapter of life. And possibly the last place I have that has stairs. I fell down the last two steps a couple of weeks ago - sober. The last four times I have fallen down stairs only ONCE had I been drinking. I am a clutz yet very coordinated when it comes to athletics. I don't know - well this tangent needs a stopping point.

Anywho, so this past Saturday I moved to Liverpool. I absolutely love it! Will that love last for a year? Time will tell, but for now I can say that I am very happy, the cats are adapting well, and I haven't worn socks around the apartment since I have been here! That, to me, is a miracle. If I was still in Manlius, I would be bundled up in jeans, a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, socks and slippers. Now I am sporting half of those layers. I also need to shed a comforter - two comforters in the old place definitely makes my bed a sweatshop at night.

Okay so the perks: not only is it just generally warmer (probably because this place probably actually has insulation), the heat is included in the rent along with hot water. That and a dishwasher were a must while I was hunting for my next apartment. I also have an assigned garage space for parking along with a small storage unit in the garage/basement. The complex has a pool and tennis court; how worthy these things are remains to be seen. It is only April and I think there may still be some snow on the tennis courts. The apartment has two bedrooms with a good size spare room that will fit my desk, treadmill, and all the crap that I really need to sort through and throw away. The closet space is remarkable though I do have to realize I'm living in a two bedroom apartment by myself. Geez I am spoiling myself really. I have a patio that is accessible from the living room and the master bedroom. Off the patio is a large yard that actually leads to another complex, and overall it seems pretty quiet out there so far. I am glad they put me in a unit that has some privacy and no traffic! I can't to sit out there when the weather gets better. It will be a nice place to relax!

I feel like I am finally out of my transition that I started a little over a year ago. My next adjustment in life will be when school is over, but I am sure that adjustment will be easy and much quicker! Some things I'll probably never get over completely, but I am sure I'll be able to get over school in a hurry. :-)

Leg up!!