That Hobbit Lady

Mary and Joey were here for about a week during Christmas, and we had a great time. Here’s a pic of them decorating cookies which we brought to Russ’ sister’s house on Christmas Eve.

I’ll write more about their visit later, but right now I’ve got some things to do around the house!

Here’s a note to wish anyone who might be reading this a very happy new year! One of my New Year’s Resolutions (along with the standard “eat better and exercise more”) is to spend more time on my computer, keeping up with this journal. Let’s see if I can do it. My goal is that every single day I should come to this LJ to write SOMETHING, even if it is only one sentence.

Here is my one sentence for today: It’s New Year’s Day, and we are watching football and eating way too much. Well, that’s one sentence. Here’s something else that is also on my mind:

My kitty Boogins, who has been off and on sick for the past few months, seems to be having a slight relapse today. The last time he was to the vet, they suggested a “T3” test, which is a further test to see if he has hyperthyroidism, which is apparently quite common in older cats. I almost hope he does have it, because it would be so much better to know WHAT is going on with him, rather than to keep going on trying to find out why he is sick. If it turns out that he does have hyperthyroidism, the treatment is either:

a. Surgery, which is out of the question, as it is too expensive, could be dangerous, and the success rate is not so high.

b. Medication, which means giving him a pill twice a day, which would likely be extremely stressful for both him AND us, and one of the side effects could be vomiting—which is part of the problem, so I don’t see why we would want to go this route, it would seem like we’re not making that much progress.

or

c. Radiation therapy. Which again can be somewhat expensive (around $1,000, depending on which website you visit) but it’s supposed to be 90-99% effective, so I’m starting to think I wouldn’t really mind so much, if we could just get him to feel better. He would also have to go stay in a facility for 3-5 days, and then there would be two weeks at home when there would be special instructions about how to take care of him until all the radiation completely passes out of his system. But with those good odds of reversing the problem, I’m starting to think this one time pain-in-the-neck treatment might be the best way to go.

Of course, first we have to get a conclusive diagnosis on whether or not this is actually his problem. If it’s not, don’t know where to go from here. I’m starting to think maybe we should go to a different vet, who might have a new take on his situation. I just don’t want to keep going back and being given antibiotics to force down his throat, when they don’t really seem to be doing anything.

Sigh…

This is so frustrating. I will keep you updated on how this issue goes.

In the meantime, aside from this, we are having a good new year so far. The Auburn/Northwest game this morning was just about the craziest thing I have seen since I started following football, and now we are waiting for Florida/Cincinnati, which should prove to be quite interesting, considering all the hoopla that is going on behind the scenes.

Hoopla. Isn’t that a great word?

Enough for now. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise…

Take a good look at these two pictures…

Believe it or not, these two pictures are of the same person. This is Peter Jackson, famed director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, before and after losing 70 pounds. O…M…G….what a difference, huh?? He looks like a whole different person. Of course,in the “after” pic he’s lost the goofy glasses as well, which helps, but mainly, mainly it’a all about the weight. I mean, this is just a head shot, and you can see how much difference the weight loss makes, in his face alone. He looks about 20 years younger, and so SO much healthier.

Quite inspirational, don’t you think, for anyone who knows they need to lose weight? (Like me…)

And by the way, how I stumbled upon this amazing piece of information, this morning I was watching this documentary about Star Wars on the History Channel (I know…I know…could I possibly BE a bigger nerd than this???) and Peter Jackson was one of the commentators, but when I saw him, I couldn’t believe it was him, I thought it must be some other Peter Jackson, so I came to my computer and looked him up, and there he was!

And by the way, it seems there is not yet a Blu-Ray set of all the Star Wars movies, and there really ought to be. What kind of oversight is this? What are they waiting for, Christmas? Christmas is just around the corner and this would make a MARVELOUS gift for a geek like me. Well, maybe next Christmas.

I’m also waiting for the Daria series to come out on DVD, but that’s another story completely…

Buster was part of our family for a long time. He first came to us when Joe, my ex, decided to get a bird as a present for Mary’s sixth birthday. Of course a six year old cannot take care of a bird, so guess who had to assume that responsibility? And with two kids, a few cats and maybe even a dog at that time, poor Buster simply did not get the attention he deserved.

So somehow it was decided that he would go live with Grandma and Dzydzyie. And that is where he flourished. What a life! You know how they say “It’s a dog’s life!” Well, never mind dogs! Buster had the life! He got to go everywhere on my dad’s shoulder, for car rides, to the store, even to Tampa. He was the ruler of the roost. He sat at the table for almost every meal, and drank soda from a bottle cap. He ate almost everything the people ate, and after mashed potaotes, he would wipe his face on my dad’s sleeve. No bird has ever had a better life.

It’s sad that Buster has died, but no one can say that he didn’t live. And very well.

We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year. Everyone is bringing a dessert, and in addition to us baking a cake, Russ got the idea that he would like to have pecan pie, and he feels that Edwards makes the best pecan pie, so we’ve begun going about looking for it. Tonight we saw the Edwards pecan pie in Winn Dixie, but…

We saw the boxes which are clearly marked “Keep Frozen” sitting on a display OUTSIDE the freezer case. Not frozen, not even close to being cold. We questioned one of the employees, who went to ask the manager, and the employee (not the manager) came back and pointed out that there was a little paper date sticker on the front, and claimed that this made it okay. We continued to point out that the manufacturer felt compelled to include the instructions “Keep Frozen” and that once the product is no longer frozen, it doesn’t matter WHAT some little sticker Winn Dixie employees put on the front might say about the freshness. It’s no longer fresh, it might not even be safe.

In the end, we did not buy the pie. In fact, at this point, I would feel reluctant to buy anything cold from a store where instructions like “Keep Frozen” are so blatantly ignored. What’s next? Bologna in the bread aisle, right next to the Wonder Bread?

First, my thanks to John for this photo. He put a link in his comment on one of my past entries, but I couldn’t get it to show, so I just image-shacked it here, hope that’s okay!

Now, as for remembering The Swamp, the only memory I have is that when I came for a visit a year and half ago, I took Mary and Sammie out to eat there, and afterwards we had ice cream at the Ben and Jerry’s right next door. But that location was not “The Swamp” when I was going to school at UF. I don’t exactly remember what it was, but I have a vague memory of a trendy boutique. Also an ice cream place.

But I’m glad to see the kiddos wearing their colors, the orange and blue of the Gator Nation! Especially love Gabriela’s cheerleading outfit!

When I went to school in Gainesville I never lived any more than five blocks from the campus, in the area known as the “Student Ghetto.” On a Saturday afternoon in the Fall, you could step outside the door and hear the roar of the crowd from the stadium. I never liked football when I was in college, and now to some degree I regret that. I was in such a prime location! I probably missed out on a lot of fun.

But I’m certainly enjoying it now. Of course now I’m not sure if I’m really a Gator anymore. I mean, I am, whenever Florida is playing any team…any OTHER team, that is, except Alabama! That matchup is going to happen December 5 in the SEC Championship, and I’ve got to admit, I’ll be rooting for the Crimson Tide.

But other than that, I guess I’m usually still a Gator. One thing I know for sure: as much as I’m enjoying living in Tuscaloosa, Gainesville will always have a very special place in my heart. I wouldn’t mind at all retiring in Gainesville (if I could possibly talk Russ into it!) There is something very magical and special about that town.