one trip down, twofer to go....

both kitties are scheduled to go to the vet in the morning. check-ups for everyone!!!! that and they have fleas. blech. the vet today said the fleas here seem to be armor plated after i told her we'd tried a couple different things on everyone. anyhoo, roxie got a clean bill of health, vaccinations and flea stuff. kitties may not fare as well. i mean, carlos is probably fine, but i'll probably have to break down and get maggie's teeth cleaned (or at least schedule it, it's complicated) that and i think someone is not doing well, but it's hard to tell who. they're leaving little specks of what looks like blood on the bathroom counter (they eat up there) but we don't see them anywhere else, sooo maybe it's maggie's teeths. or there's just something weird going on in the bathroom, maybe it's haunted.

for those who were wondering...


roxie's gained about ten pounds since october. so yeah, she's getting bigger (though not fatter)

update: my math skillz are sorely lacking.... puppy weighed 37 lbs in october and now weighs 43. i was thinking she weighed 33 or 34 last time. oh well.

robin and mathais 

this is Mathias, we met last weekend.


his mom has started a live journal you can read here.

no news 

oh THAT memorial day weekend....

i'm sorry mom.

i've known for a while my parents would be in this part of the country this weekend, but for some reason also completely forgot. talking to mom last night and she asked when we'd be going to OKC. and i said "why would i be going to OKC?" DUH! i'm a terrible daughter among other things. maybe we'll bring the puppy!? need to talk to laura first.

something else i bought weeks ago on the duncan trip.


i have another mug from this same company, their stuff is so cute.

another stupid rto camera picture 

rto finds rift in space-time continuum.....

MK: so what time did you get home?

RTO: oh, sometime around six

MK: you mean seven?

RTO: no, six

MK: funny, cause i didn't leave here til almost seven and you weren't home

RTO:

MK:

RTO:

MK: did you remember to set the clock forward in your car?

RTO: what, you mean for daylight savings time? of course i did,months ago!!!! besides, i got the time from right there! (points at vcr)

MK: well, okay, i just wondered since your times have been off lately.

RTO: so why ask what time i got home if you aren't going to believe me?

i hate banks....

Chase bank in particular. we've been using bankone, but they were bought a few months ago, so everything is in the process of changing. so we're in the process of moving everything to a credit union. anyway i'm a bit worked up because i HATE,HATE,HATE chase bank's stinky bill payment center. they are the only bank i've dealt with that can't make a same day payment (let me clarify, i can't make a payment to my accounts with them, i generally prefer to write checks for things, i'm old fashioned that way) without charging 13 bucks. can't even set up a payment account and use it the same day, they need two business days at least to set it up. again ONLY bank i've run into that does that. that and the system said i'd never enrolled before which is a crock, but it had been so long since i used it i couldn't remember my login (i tried all the usual ones and it didn't recognize any of the combos i tried, but then i also couldn't use any of them to set up a new login cause they were taken. yeah, that happens a lot, NOT!) anyway, i wasted some bill paying time filling out their online survey to let them know what i thought. makes me so mad. i mean lightheaded cause i can't punch anyone mad. idiots.

whoa! they just showed some video of a truck exploding on the highway here on the news. shoosh! big fire ball. much like my rage for stupid banks.

curse you james robinson!!!!

i didn't get to bed til about 4 lsat night. rto conked out shortly after 11. i stayed up and knitted til about 1:30 still wasn't real sleepy so i thought, i'll just read an issue of starman(picked up the latest trade paper back the other day that collects the last five issues) but i couldn't put it down. so i wound up being up really late. man i love that comic. robinson wrote the whole run (oh there may have been some guest writing things, but for the most part robinson controlled the story line) he had a story to tell and when it was done the comic ended(at issue number 80), no changing writing teams and extending the comic on until it got stupid. so probably in the next few weeks i'll reread the whole series.

Jesus, dark lord of the sith?

Mat 12:30 — He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

i keep seeing stories comparing anakin/darth vader using this phrase in episode 3 and president bush paraphrasing the same with something like "if you're not with us, then you are with the terrorists" so logically "W" is evil.

something i've been meaning to post....

one of rto's newsgroup friends sent this. we met her and her son this weekend.

Even my own child has an opinion on the war...and it comes from achild's eyes.

Earlier today, as I was going through myYahoo front page, I scrolleddown to the most e-mailed pics. There was a picture of an Armysoldier holding a child who was fatally wounded in a car bomb. It absolutely devastated me to see that and when Mathias asked me what that Army guy was doing, I told him that he was holding a child.Very quietly, he asked me why. I was honest and told him that he'd been hurt very badly and that the soldier was trying to comfort him. Mathias got tears in his eyes and asked if that kid died. Again, I was honest and told him that, yes, the little kid died. Mathias asked me if the Army guy did it or if it was the bad guys. I told him that the caption said it was from a car bomb, so that generally meant it was the bad guys.

That's when Mathias got angry (and he hasn't been angry since I quit smoking). He went off on a tangent about the stupid bad guys and that the reason he couldn't have his daddy was because of the stupid bad guys killing the kids and that his daddy was there to help those kids. This lasted a little while (and where I usually don't allow the use of "stupid", I let this one slide) and he finally stopped and looked at me. I asked him if he felt a little better and he said, "No. I will feel better when my daddy is back and no more daddies have to go to the desert. But those stupid bad guys have to stop killing kids first."

And this came from a five year old.

Robin

she told us saturday that he had been talking in his sleep the night before and was still angry about this, apparently yelling at someone in his dream. i'll post some pics of him later.

space opera

i can't bring myself to watch the whole thing. only a few of the highlights, it's best in small doses.

for mom

Framingos!

why i hate rto's camera....

focus? what is this focus you speak of?


as far as i know, it's just a point and click thing, but a lot of the pictures i've taken come out blurry.

well, i finally dropped my camera off at a repair shop, will probably be a couple weeks before i get it back. ^_^

yeah, yeah, i get it

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. -PaulDudley White, physician (1886-1973)

i subscribe to a word a day shows up in the email, there's usually a quote at the end of it. this is the quote for today. is God trying to tell me something?

stupid tivo....

normally i love the thing but there have been a couple times it cuts things off. i guess really it isn't the tivo's fault, it's the stations or whoever sets the times i'll have to start asking the tivo to keep recording a little longer. so tonight it cut off the end of the man who knew too much i don't think it cut more than a couple minutes but still, it was like "yay! they're okay!" but no happy reunion for everyone. did the bad people pay for their crimes? ugh.

also watched Macario last night. interesting. but part of the story sounded really familiar and i can't think of where i've heard it. something about death telling someone he'll let him know if someone is going to die or not by where he stands by their sick bed (foot-they'll get better, head- they won't). in the version i remember the man tricks death in one instance by turning the person around in the bed. hopefully, sometime when i'm not thinking about it, it will come to me.

#@$(^*# knitting

i've decided that nobody has ever actually done this by hand, it's all some conspiracy to waste my time. will probably just set the yarn on fire.

update: five rows in and no problems so far, it's looking a little better.

movies, movies, movies....

i got a little carried away with the tivo last weekend. so we've seen lots o' stuff so far. oh, and two things we rented.

Tokyo Godfathers- i liked it, even rto eventually got sucked in to watching it.

next we watched Millenium Actress which i found out had the same director/writer as tokyo godfathers, but it was a very different movie. this is one i could watch over and over. watching how her life and movies mix, from WWII to the sixties. it was very emotional and well executed.

Laura, i'd seen this before, but couldn't really remember it. then it all started coming back to me, and i find it's not so interesting when you know what's going to happen.

um, today, payment deferred uh, can't say too much about it. a little "crime doesn't pay" lesson. i kept thinking, if this movie had been made today, he would have done much worse things. probably have a few more dead people.

and a day at the races, still funny. (i so want to learn that glissando thing. looks like shooting the keys.)

anyhoo, there's more left on the tivo, but i'm kinda wiped out for now.

knitting update....

okay, it's only taken me all week, but i am finally making progress on the worlds ugliest baby blanket. twelve rows in, i've managed to pick up four extra stitches,and have only one hole in the middle of the thing a few rows down. why i don't see them when they happen, i don't know. takin' a break now.

update: tried fixing the extra stitch thing and wound up with even more extra ones. soooooo, unraveled it and will start over soon.

rto....supernerd

he's been quite giddy about this:


UIT MVP - Most Valued PosterPosted by: ryan.little1 on Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 04:04 PM
From time to time, we have members on the UIT Portal site who go above and beyond to assist their fellow soldiers. We (The UIT Site Admins) have decided that we would like to recognize those people, and have designed a new "rank" to honor their contributions. Members who receive this honor will have a second avatar displayed next to their posts that denote their rank as an "MVP", or "Most Valued Poster". We would like to congratulate and thank SGT Bill White, who has been chosen as our first MVP. SGT White has been a member since April 2003, and has made and responded to over 130 posts in that time. His expertise in the area of tactical communications, specifically tactical radios, has helped numerous other Soldiers and Site Members.

another soldiergrrrrl article

and she takes pictures too.

checking the referals

I'm number 10 if you google "stupidness"

i also rate for "bad singing"

killing time...

so i had a little time between therapy and when the allergy office opened, stopped in at goodwill. bought some records. the lady in line ahead of me at the checkout seemed to find everything that didn't have a price on it. so i had to wait for her to conclude negotiations with the clerk. the interesting thing about this goodwill store is it gets things from target. apparently noone liked the little invitations in the shape of a martini glass or the monogram 'U' . come to think of it, i can't think of a last name that starts with 'u' off the top of my head. hmmmmmm.

ambush kitty

here's maggie on the suitcase waiting for someone to come through the door so she can yell at them. she's also started this thing where she doesn't want to touch the floor in the bedroom. she'll go from the suitcase to the nightstand to the bed. from the bed she can jump onto the window sill or the top of roxie's crate. and if she's feeling really adventurous she'll hop from the crate to the top of the dresser. i swear when we first brought her home, we thought she didn't know anything existed more than a couple feet off the ground, she was not a climber. then carlos came in and taught her all kinds of stupid tricks.

soldiergrrrrl makes good

she's had an article published. you can read it here.

FWO sends letter....

hey, maggie, i think we should just be friends. maybe we could still go out sometime? i mean, if my date for this weekend falls through or something, sometime. you were really nice and all, but i only have so much space. we'll keep in touch.

i think maybe they don't realize I'M OLD!!!!! i should have stayed in retirement.

i suppose it's better than the dallas opera.
MK: why won't you return my calls?

RTO made it home last night

RTO: i think i've lost my phone again.

MK: wha? what is it about the national guard that makes you lose them?

RTO: i know, i've tried calling it, but i don't hear it anywhere. they'll probably permanently tether the next one to me.

MK: that, or they'll give you some really old bag phone. lose that will you!

fortunately someone found it and called this morning. so we're going to durant today. yippee!!!!

guess i'm cool, cause i post more pictures.

not so lucky cat.
and an old recording of mine.

how about

this? for sparky? if you look at the free patterns linked on my sidebar there are a few other dog sweater patterns, including a dogkini and the lamest (in my opinion) serape (uh, just tie a blanket onto the dog)

funny thing is....

my dad does this kind of thing for fun. not in dallas, mind you, but maybe he could branch out.

(someone who used this search visited my blog, and i don't see me listed anymore in the top 200 results. oh well.)

and finally, one i had framed.


sooooo, if you would like any of these, email me. i still have the patterns so i can make more if need be, could also put them on shirts or bags.

funny story about this. when i went to get it framed i had to do some talking to convince the framer i didn't want it perfectly centered (by measuring the bottom) some people have no sense of balance.

apparently, i play poorly. 

since i had the camera out


i have a few finished things i found in the closet, this is an embellished cross-stitch thing (that means, there's some stitching over a printed canvas, i generally hate these, there's too much improvisation involved.) the roses and leaves are stitched as well as few lines on the shoes and scroll.

finished polar bears

camera strap makes an appearance on the right.

in case you missed it....

living opera has some items left from saturday. you go buy now!

what day is it?

my internal clock is getting wonky without RTO here to make me keep "normal" hours. i think if left to my own clock i would sleep most of the day and stay up at night, at least that's what's happening now. didn't go to my chorus re-audition. figured this year was such a trial why bother?

oh well, i should clean the place up today. or i could wait til tomorrow, rto won't be back until late tomorrow, maybe watch movies and cross-stitch. get the stupid polar bears done. i still can't figure out what i did to mess up the baby bear so badly, he's like five or six stitches too low, i'll have to improvise some of the shading on the ground. and then it's back to knitting and crocheting for a while. i bought some pattern books this weekend and a pound o' no.10 thread. something about doilies sounds really fun. not that i'll use them for anything, i'll probably give them away, for me it's the doing that's nice. when i look at other's crafts that are being sold and figure in the time it takes (or at least that it would take me), they really don't get paid enough, really you're lucky to recoup the cost of the materials. it's something you just have to enjoy doing, and you sell things because, really, how many doilies or pictures does one person need?

i'm forming a theory about why halloween snoopy still lives. he's been outside. we tried to keep easter snoopy all nice and clean and he paid for it with his stuffins. 

for those of you keeping score at home

Paper reading-2
not reading -0

the final two episodes of Enterprise ran last night. For most in the central time zone they started at seven. Thanks to the DMN i found out they started at six here, to avoid the maverik's game. even the tivo missed that one.

one down, one to go....

auditions that is, have to re-audition for symphony chorus tomorrow, and i can't bring myself to look at the music. blech. anyhoo, already got a couple of questions about this morning. let's just say, not my best, or worst. it was 11 o'clock on a saturday morning, what did i expect? yesterday's lesson went very well, so i was all psyched about this morning. oh well. soooo RTO is out of town til tuesday. i don't have anything planned until tuesday night (after tomorrow afternoon, that is) should be fun.

ft. worth opera chorus audition reveiw....

meh. :P

carlos in the window


RTO took this picture, usually this is a good place to hide from the puppy cause the curtains are closed.

i heart bad singing

it gives me hope. course most of these are by famous people.

god and revenge....

This post at schadenfreud reminded me of one of my favorite phrases.

long ago in a music store, far, far away... there was this one piano tuner that was in the store fairly regularly, he would come in and cover for the sales guys on occasion. anyway, we were all standing around carping about someone and he said, rather seriously, "well, just remember, vengance is mine sayeth the lord", then he broke into a smile and added, "and i LOVE doing the lord's work!"

we all starve while RTO chats!!!!

grrrrrrrr, i don't know exactly what's going on, looks like he'll be leaving for a few days for some army thing, but he's been on the phone non-stop since eight. i keel him..... after he feeds me.

what is this "motivation" that you speak of?

um, yeah, i've got a couple of auditions this weekend and so far things aren't looking good. had a rough voice lesson last week. (having trouble with b flats for goodness sake!) still having trouble this week vocalising/practicing. and i have an intense desire to stay in my house. i usually try to plan things to make sure i get out every couple of days, had things planned this week, but have mainly put them off. (i'll get my allergy shot tomorrow, flea stuff for the carpet? it can wait, mailing bills? i got plenty of time. i have no students so why bother going to the gmta meeting.) i mean how crazy is it to have a goal of getting up at a reasonable time and not taking a nap all day? (and may i just say i'm failing miserably at it) i know i should do something about it, but after years and years of dealing with this i just don't care. i always seem to end up back where i started.

i've seen a few kitty teapots like this, but almost always in solid colors. i have a smaller celedon one already, this one was too interesting to pass up. 

found this in Jenks, America. 

if you'd like to perform some really strange stuff.

Dallas Symphony Chorus
David R. Davidson, Director
Auditions
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Sunday, June 26, 2005

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
CALL Donna Krauss @ 214-871-4084
Or Email: donnak1@airmail.net

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
2 Accompanied Solos - One in a foreign language.
(Accompanist provided.)
Theory Test, and Sightreading

CONCERTS FOR 2005-2006 SEASON
Andrew Litton conducts all Subscription Concerts

September 22, 23, 24 & 25: Tippett A Child of Our Times

December 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17 matinee & evening, 18 matinee & evening
Christmas Celebration David R. Davidson, conductor

January 19, 20, 21 & 22: Ives General William Boothe Enters Into Heaven

January 26, 27 & 28: Janacek Glagolitic Mass

March 30, 31 & April 1: Holst The Planets (women only)

April 8: Walton Belshazzar’s Feast
With the Richardson Symphony

May 11, 12 & 13: Andrew Litton Farewell Concert
Bernstein Chichester Psalms and Mahler Symphony No. 2, Resurrection

June 13 – 24: South American Tour performing Brahms’ Requiem

GENERAL INFORMATION
You must agree to participate in the entire season.
No one is eligible for a Leave of Absence for 12 months.
You must purchase the required dress or tuxedo for all concerts.
Rehearsals are Monday evenings from 7:30 - 9:45 p.m. in the Choral Rehearsal Hall at the Meyerson.

another angle. 

so here's what's great about the kitty i got from goodwill. the painting. gold accents, they just don't show up in the photo though. trust me, he's supercute. 

sorry i'm so lazy

the carnival of cats is being hosted by the conservative cat this week. i heart ferdy.

in case you're free Saturday night

and you have more money than you know what to do with. There's a wine tasting and silent auction to benefit the living opera. there is some neat stuff and each package has an opera theme. some examples:


Il Giocatore" (The Player) Package

Backyard putting green from Southwest Greens
Painting of the "#8 bunker at Emerald Greens" by Sambataso
2 rounds of golf at Los Rios Country Club...
Other rounds of golf being added...
This package has an approximate fair market value of $4,000
Starting Bid: $2,000


"Lucia di Lammermoor" Package

A week long stay at Craigsanquhar House, Fife, in Scotland, including daily breakfast
Roundtrip airfare to Scotland for two on Northwest Airlines
This package has an approximate fair market value of $6,200
Starting Bid: $3,000

there's more at the site and not all of them start so high. it's free if you RSVP ahead of time, or $10.00 at the door. you can also bid online. soooo, go! go!

paper peeve

I read the paper. not the online version. i get ink on my hands. (though not as much, they've really cleaned up their act) RTO tells me i'm the only one. and in talking to my friends he may be right. but i can't give it up. things like this weekend's election helped make my point. i find out about things going on that don't always make it online, or are so buried in the online version you'd have to know what you're looking for to find it. i also think part of it has to do with personal editing online, you might not realize it, but it's easy to miss a lot of things because they aren't filed under an area you checked as interesting. i suppose you could do that with the paper too, but i tend to skim the whole thing (except sports, unless it's about the Cowboys! and they hide Tank McNamara in the sports section) so that's my argument for the 'paper' paper, everything is there in a familiar format, particularly local news.

found a better picture. :D 

happy mother's day! 

sarahk's evil twin is at it again.

i guess they're like potato chips, you can't have just one.

bookmark this....

i'll just say that not ALL automated systems are bad, but yes, i generally do my darndest to talk to a human. particularly if there's some complaining involved.

we @#$^&%$ voted today

MK: oh yeah! it's votin day! you wanna go vote?

RTO: who the #$$T^%^% votes on $%&^% SATURDAY????

MK: um, Texas.

RTO: well how $^&*&^%# stupid is that $%^%&&* idea?

MK: i thought you liked saturday voting.

RTO: what the $^&*#! gave you that idea?

MK: um, cause it's saturday!

RTO: yeah, great idea have voting while people are out of town. there's a reason elections everywhere else are on tuesday. i didn't even know there was #$^(!* voting today.

MK: well, i knew, cause i read the paper.

(in the car)

RTO: where are we going?

MK: downtown

RTO: isn't there a (*#$(@ polling place closer to our house?

MK: yeah, but for the municipal things they don't expect much turn out, so fewer polls are open.

RTO: oh great, how the @#(%^*! is anyone supposed to know that?

MK: uh, it's in the paper. see again, the paper proves useful.

RTO: @$*(%*$^!&) well, that must be the place, the one with all the @!#(%*^ signs right outside the (%*#!$ limit.

MK:

walking into building....

RTO: those @#$(%* people better not try to (!*%()@# talk to me or else i'll *%&#@(! give them what for!

MK: (shakes head)

"days" getting a little too preachy for my taste

this week on days there have been lots of "support our troops" speeches. you've got the guys going to rescue phillip talking about how brave the real soldiers are, putting their lives on the line, sooooo honorable.

belle and mimi ran into a soldier's wife in the chapel and talked about how brave, what a sacrifice they were all making. the wife was like, i understand him though because i used to be a soldier too, but my family needs me more. ((sniff, sniff))

sami trying to convince tony to not hurt phillip because he was fighting for his country, he should be shown respect, not used for revenge.

i know, i know, soap opera's aren't known for their subtlety, but COME ON!!!! i guess i can't really blame them for trying.

white house theater, may 6th

(credits for punch drunk love are running)

MK: well, it was no extreme prejudice. bwah ha ha ha haaaaaa.

RTO: oh, you're so funny

rto and i have very different tastes in movies. we've hit a run of things i picked on netflix, so last night was punch drunk love and about schmidt (which i think sarahk should see just to take notes from the wedding. ;D) got sucked into watching the double life of veronique the other night too, which he hated. it was kinda like a train wreck, one of those movies i keep watching because i know, any minute now, it's going to make sense. still have monsoon wedding (RTO: you're gonna watch that when i'm not here, right?) waiting on the tivo.

so getting back to last night, i liked both movies, but then i have weird tastes.

what are these? 

it's always fun to catch the cats looking stupid. 

even when he's not here i can't compete

several times now i signal to the cat that i will pet her she starts heading my way and then gets sidetracked. "ooooooh, RTO's stuff, i love it! boots! his duffle! i loooooove RTO!" silly cat, wait till he's gone for a year again, then we'll see whose attention you beg for!

it's Max! this picture can't be that old, though i couldn't tell you when it was taken, sometime this year. 

exercise, exercise....

even the allergist suggested i get out more. but that would require getting out of bed right? met with the therapist today. can't decide if i'm tired because i'm depressed or depressed because i'm always tired and don't get anything done. still haven't caught up from this weekend, i'm only up to the saturday paper. (rto always tells me to forget it and chuck them,but i just can't do that! i'll miss the comics) oh well, he's home sick today. :(

puppy with broom. she dragged it out there herself. 

seems we're all having allergy problems today...

i'm waiting for my head to clear and carlos has been having fits this morning. i may go join him and curl up under the blankets. need to go out today, get prescriptions filled, boxes mailed. ugh. on a fun note my goodwill purchases showed up yesterday. the pics from the auction don't do it justice. the similar kitty on ebay went for 74.99. it's a few inches taller than mine though. i'll post pics later.

the bebe.