Kick some, well, you know

I'm sitting here looking over my checking account and I notice that the pizza I bought yesterday magically cost ten dollars more than I paid.  Um, no.  I always get super pissed if I think someone is trying to screw me out of money.  My husband tries to remain calm.  I don't have a lot of money to begin with so when you overcharge me by ten dollars, I get pissed.  What I think happen, it was pouring rain and I had to walk down the street from my car to get to the place.  (which my husband recommended and it was AWFUL... if I had seen the place before I placed my order, I would've passed on it all together)  The guys that worked there kept trying to joke with me about the rain but I was already pissed because the address on their flier, was WRONG so I drove around the WRONG block for twenty minutes before my husband called them to find that they were on Miami and not Main.  I wasn't in the mood to chit chat with them let's just say.  It took forever for my debit card to go through on their stone age machine.  I signed the paper for my payment but don't remember marking out the part for a tip.  I mean come on, I don't think they deserve a tip when I already paid an arm and a leg for pizza that took a half hour longer to make than they said, tasted awful and the place looked like a hellhole.  I took MY copy (THANK GOD) which is what I used to compare my bill with online to today.  I swear if they don't take the extra amount off, I will have a fit.  I mean like going up there and threatening lawyers pissed.  I don't think this was an innocent mistake.  I don't care what your reasoning you don't take money from someone else.  What they did was outright stealing from my bank account.  I want to SEE the receipt that I signed.  I will KNOW if anything on there isn't my handwriting.  It really sucks that my day had to end like this because up until now, it was going alright after I stopped glaring at my husband for not getting home till 4AM.  Yes, 4 in the morning.  And Marty, they fish at night for the catfish. 

We went and got some dinner.  Afterwards I suggested we go down to the river and we ended up at Battal Park that runs parrel to the St. Joe river.  We walked half mile and Jasmine got to look at the water.  When we got back to our car, we let Jasmine play on the playground for not one but two hours.  It's actually fun to watch how your child interacts with others when you're not right next to them, guiding them.  Especially when your kid is one of the "good" ones that isn't pushing, shoving and being outright rude to other kids.  And now I'm watching Ultimate Fighting.  My favorite part is on, the women.  You wouldn't think so but the women kick far more ass than the men.  They seem to have more stamina and just beat the holy hell out of eachother.  They also seem a lot nicer to the loser when it's over than the men.  And shockingly enough, these women are actually good looking.  They don't look like something that crawled out of some cave in the desert.  You just don't expect to see pretty women out there willingly getting the face kicked in. 

And then there's that

Omigod!  AOL finally got with it and gave us more than five moods to choose from.  I almost feel intimidated by the fact that I finally have some choices.

I went to the doctor Thursday and he basically laughed at my concerns of dizziness and sent me for a blood test.  I really like my doctor but don't laugh at a pregnant woman.  Really.  I've been extremely emotional now and I literally started tearing up at the thought of going through this for the next nine months.  It's very easy for a MAN (yes I'm man hating right now... back off and let me ;) ) to say you just have to suck it up and do what's best for the baby for the next nine months.  It's a bit difficult to even think of said child when you can stand for any amount of time without feeling like you're going to fall over, pass out or puke.  It's been so much worse than I can even put into words and I think I've done a damn fine job of resisting taking medication that could interfere with the developing satan spawn... er... baby.  *wink*  The only thing I've taken that is even mildly questionable is the bonine/dramamine that I take when I can't handle the dizziness/nausea any longer.  (yes, Lisa, I was aware of those little miracles... I took them during my last pregnancy as well, although they don't help much, if at all with the dizziness)  At any rate, my doctor was one more grin away from a swift muscle reaction to the nuts.  I went downstairs to have my blood drawn.  Do I need to remind anyone of my fear of needles?  Every single time I've had a shot or blood drawn and my husband has been with me, I've passed out or come close enough that I might as well have passed out.  It's only when I go with my mom that it seems to help.  She talks to me while it's happening while my husband just waits to see how long it will take before my eyes roll up into my head and the nurse has to freak out.  I was really concerned about the possibility of passing out or puking already without the needle so once we got into the room I was near panic.  I always tell my nurses so they don't fight me on letting me use the recliner and it's a nice way to hint that if you don't know what the hell you're doing, get another nurse... NOW.  She was nice and had been drawing blood for 22 years.  Unfortunately for me, she talked about acupuncture, needles and finding a "juicy" vein the entire time before she stuck me.  I was basically all ready to be awoken any minute from smelling salts.  Once she was ready to stick me however, common sense must have kicked in and she started asking questions about (directed at me) how old Jasmine was, etc.  The best way to keep me from passing out is make me talk about something, otherwise I'm quietly freaking out.  At any rate, I didn't pass out but still left feeling like crap.  I checked my messages as soon as I got home from the kittens vet appointment and saw my doctor had called.  They only call if there's something wrong with your results.  I was happy to hear this.  To me, this signaled a possibility that they could give me something and make all the nasty go away.  However, the nurse told me my protein was low and I needed to eat more.  Oooookay and how am I supposed to do that when I'm puking?  If I keep feeling awful, I'll just call my regular OB-GYN and he will do everything in his power to fix it.  Any problems I've had in the past, he's done his best to make them go bye-bye.  And it helps that he seems to walk on egg shells around the pregnant.  ;)

Onto the kitties.  I spent the evening trying to keep from finding ways to get out of taking them today.  I hadn't had much sleep at all and knew I wouldn't get much before I had to get up.  I was there early although, I wish I would've just arrived on time since it seemed to take forever to get to a room.  And of course, it was one of those days where every other client wants to strike up a conversation with you, no matter the death rays you're shooting from your blood shot eyes.  They gave me an astounding amount of medication for four small kittens.  (none of them weigh over 2.4 lbs and that's the biggest one of the bunch) Jasmine tried to help me dose everyone today but she ended up getting scratched so I think she'll leave it to me next time.  I really hope this takes care of everything with them so I can have them fixed and up for a adoption.  Right now they aren't even picture worthy so we can't put them on the website.  (they have the goopy eyes and noses)  What I'd really like to be rid of however is one of these foster dogs.  I really dislike having two at a time.  You wouldn't think that two extra dogs would add that much stress but it does when you already have seven of your own.  I think Doodle should wear the money vest next weekend at our adoption event.  Maybe it will get her some more interest.  Although, I dislike Monty way more than Doodle.  I have no idea why but most of the time I feel like footballing the dog across the yard.  Maybe it's the male hating thing again.  ;)

And you're gonna do what now?

Here it is 1:33 in the morning and my husband decides it's a good time to go frickin fishing.  Guess who is at home with Jasmine who will NOT go to sleep and has been screaming and whining for the last two hours?  Oh yeah that'd be me, the responsible parent, aka the ONLY parent.  I eventually called him and asked where he was in a very cool, controlled voice.  (my if-you-don't-get-your-ass-home-your-f'ing-dead voice)  I'm on the river is his best response and doesn't know when the friend he came with plans on going home.  Well, guess what he plans on going home NOW.  Because if it was HIS wife calling bitching HIM out... he would've been gone so fast his ass would've caught fire.  If it gets to 2:15 and he's not home, I will LOSE it.  I may only be a little pregnant but I have full on raging hormones that want to castrate and then kill just about any man I come into contact with.  He seems to think that his life will be made easier if he avoids me as much as possible till the happy, glowing pregnant person comes home.  All it's doing is make me want to castrate him MUCH slower than nesscary and then do all kinds of unspeakable horrible torture.  I'm hungry, I'm tired and I'm pregnant, how much more trouble could he be asking for by going out fishing?  S.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y.  And now I think Jasmine may be going to sleep which will piss me off more because he is going to come home and go to sleep.  Which he probably would've done even if she was awake because as I said before, I'm the responsible parent.  Most of the time I'm the only parent.  When my husband parents, it's a constant bitchfest directed at our daughter.  Don't do that, put that down, etc.  Which I do too but not all the time.  Once and a while, leave her alone and let the kid, be a kid.  I'm going to end this now because if I don't, I will bitch about my husband till my fingers won't move any longer.

Doodle Doodle Doctor Visits

I received an adoption application today for Doodle.  I really like this family.  I'm not sure how the application will do however due to the fact that they don't have a fenced yard and they also have a toddler.  We have to be careful due to her past with the one time biting.  I honestly think it was just a one time thing but the final say does not rest with me.  As of right now, I just want to be back down to one foster.  I'm pushed to the max now and my husband strongly dislikes having two fosters at once but is willing to comprimise because one of them is Doodle. 

I know I said I would try to curb the whining but I have been feeling awful.  I'm going to the doctor tomorrow for the dizziness.  I swear if he says there's nothing he can do for it, I may just break down and cry in his office.  It's just not an option right now.  I think I might actually start to lose weight if I'm unable to eat anything for much longer.  I can have small amounts of food at a time before I feel sick.  And then I'm still hungry.  The morning sickness I can deal with but the dizziness must go.  I have been feeling awful pretty much every minute of every day so my house has gone to hell.  I got the living room pretty much clean tonight.  (the end table still has stuff on it and some of her toys need to be put in an arrangement that looks more... arranged *grin*)  I had to do a load of laundry for me and Jasmine.  She was out of pants and I was on the verge of being without pants.  Ok, I'm lying I have clean jeans but they feel tight as hell on me.  I need to pull out some of my larger sized jeans from when I was working on losing the weight from Jasmine.  (I have everything from 11's to 5's in juniors sizes)  And then I have two pairs of maternity jeans for when regular jeans just won't do anymore.  I never bought maternity jeans when I had Jasmine.  I pretty much wore sweat pants in the later months.  I had trouble finding pants in the maternity sections that didn't make me look like an old school teacher.  My brother actually said to me that I had teacher butt in one pair of kahkis. 

Jasmine's ankle seems to be healing well.  She was lucky that the way it was cut was at an angle so the skin went back together neatly.  It's only broken back open once and I think she had hit it on something.  She was unaware that she was ever bleeding again. 

The kittens have a vet's appointment on Friday.  I knew they were too healthy to be true.  In the last few days, everyone's eyes have started getting goopy and their noses have a discharge.  It's such a pain to take animals to the vet for me.  The vet's office we use is almost 40 minutes from my house.  At least all my dogs have been neutered so I don't have to make a trip for them.  I may see about trying to get one of the closer vets to work with us.  (I have one literally a minute from my door that is a great vet's office)

I am wolf

I have decided participate in the Judith Heartsong essay contest this month.  This month's Artsy Essay Topic is If you could be any animal, which one would you be... and why?

 

My ears prick as I smell danger.  I position my body between my tiny pup and the entrance to the den.  Anyone that dares threaten my offspring will have to fight me to the death before touch a hair on her fluffy head.  Once the danger passes, I wrap my tail around my warm sleeping puppy.  I am ever aware of any threats that pass by.  The small rabbit that sniffs the entrance to the den, causes me to once again feel protective.  I feel as if all the creatures of the wild possess the ability to somehow harm my delicate baby.  I use my sensitive nose to smell out the perils that could entrap the two of us.  The forest finally seems to be quiet.  I tentatively sleep, ever aware of the noises of the deep.  I'm awakened by the stirring of my little one.  She is hungry.  I must make the choice to take her for her first hunt or leave her without my constant protection.  The choice is obvious, she will be coming with me.  She's ever the comedian, chasing down grasshoppers and even taking her hand at a small mouse.  Her bounding was much too loud and the mouse scurried into a snake hole.  Even the mere mice of the forest must make tough choices regarding their safety.  She hasn't learned the stealth that I must teach her to survive.  I feel as if pulled in two directions as I see a large hare in the brush.  Do I leave her in pursuit of our lunch?  She has to eat to survive and without a second thought I take off in chase.  My little fur ball pounces after me.  I can smell her excitement.  She has no idea what she's supposed to be doing but she's enjoying doing it.  Once the hare has been caught, I allow her to snack for a few minutes before we head back to the den.  It's already been a full day for her and my senses are on overkill trying to keep her safe.  We nap just outside the den under a ray of sunlight.  I am, however, on alert.  I am always aware of those hiding in the bushes.  I am a wolf, noble and fiercely protective. 

Aw, hell

Today pretty much sucked.  I was up on and off all night.  Jasmine kept waking up (briefly) telling me her ankle her.  She also insisted on sleeping with her head on my tummy.  I had to get up six times to pee.  (thanks to her big head pushing on my bladder)  I also woke up and called to make an appointment with my doctor for the dizziness, only to find that I can't get in to see him till Thursday.  (I don't usually have to wait that long)  Eventually we were up for the day and I just didn't feel right but things still have to get done.  Me and my mom made plans to go get some dinner so I began to get ready.  I was almost ready to go when all of the sudden I just started throwing up.  I barely made it to the kitchen sink.  The entire time I was pregnant with Jasmine, I never threw up.  My mom didn't throw up when she was pregnant with me or my brother.  I really wasn't expecting it, no matter how awful I've been feeling lately.  My least favorite thing to do is to throw up and while it's happening, I'm very... vocal about it.  Jasmine says I have a bear on my back because it sounds as if I'm being attacked by a wild animal.  It was one of the reasons I very quickly figured out the "correct" (slow) way to drink when I was younger.  I took a phenegren and headed out the door to my moms.  I was able to eat dinner but had to stop frequently and hope that my stomach stayed down.  Once we got back to my mom's house, I started to feel really sleepy from the phenegren that I had taken earlier but I was also having the WORST restless leg syndrome that I've ever experienced.  It took me forever to get to sleep and then as soon as I fell asleep, I was woken back up.  It wasn't till I'd been back home for two hours till my legs started to feel somewhat normal.  I still feel like crap in general but at least I'm one day closer to my doctor's appointment.  I had the option of seeing the nurse practioner but honestly, I don't feel like she listens to any of my concerns so I'd rather just wait to see my regular md.  I just hope the throwing up was a one time thing.  I just want to get past this morning sickness.  I told my mom today that if I'd known how awful I was going to feel this pregnancy, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant. 

Husband fixed the toilet today so now it flushes without any help from us.  At least that's one thing down.  Only a thousand more to go. 

Shakes, Scrapes and beautiful shapes

Yesterday, we had a cookout at my mom's.  My mom had been talking about a small female cat that had been hanging around her in the field lately.  I've been trying to catch a glimpse of her ever since but haven't had much luck.  I had been out talking to her neighbor about all the strays that seem to be showing up and talking about his two orange cats.  (the female is orange as well and wanted to make sure it wasn't one of his)  I walked out of the paddock after petting the horses a few times and I was on my way back up to the house when my husband yelled at me, 'I guess you found her huh?'  I looked at him like he was crazy, spun around and then looked again like he was crazy.  I didn't see a cat and I hadn't found a cat so what was he talking about.  He tells me she's been following me for about five minutes.  She walks like a ghost and I never knew she was there.  I eventually got her to come out of the paddock after one of the horses moved away from the gate.  (she's afraid of all animals)  She immediately went in search for food.  I felt bad for her so I went inside to look for a can of cat food.  I didn't look very hard before I decided I'd just take a can of tuna out instead.  She ate the entire can.  A weird thing about her, she growls the entire time she's eating but you pet her and she purrs.  She finished off the tuna in no time but wouldn't let any of the other barn cats eat with her so my grandma went in to get them some cat food.  She managed to eat that can too as she gulped down the little bit she was given and then went to everyone else's plate and batted at them till they gave up on eating it.  She's on the skinny side but after that meal, I thought her stomach would explode.  She spent the rest of the day lounging around on the nearest lap.  She growls and purrs at the same time if you pet her roughly.  I don't think she's been fixed so if an owner isn't located (and I don't think she has one anymore) then she'll need a trip to the neuter scooter.  Once the bugs really started coming out we headed back indoors.  I went to trim the dogs nails and did Molly, my mom's border collie/spaniel mix.  After I was done, she went to my grandma's bedroom.  I then started on Snoopy who is usually a real pain in the butt about doing his nails but wasn't too bad this time.  We had the video camera out and I was trying to get him to sing when my grandma called my mom's name from her bedroom.  I think I was to her bedroom before my mom even got the camera turned off.  Molly was having a seizure.  It's her fourth one this year.  It took her quite a while to fully recover enough to get up and come into the kitchen.  I told my mom I don't know if I can cut her nails again.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the seizure but it completely freaked me out about doing it again.  The last thing I want to do is inflict harm on an animal, even unintentionally. 

Today, we went to a cookout at my husband's best friend's house.  I knew as soon as I woke up it wouldn't be a good day for me.  I was already dizzy before I even made it to the bathroom.  I was ok once we got there but still didn't feel fantastic.  After we ate, I began to feel a lot worse.  I wasn't sure if I was going to need to run to the bathroom or not.  Needless to say I was fairly anti-social after that.  I tried sitting outside, hoping fresh air would help but I still felt the same.  Soon after, we went home. 

I laid around for a little while but just hate not being able to do anything.  I decided to force myself to get up and go outside and do a little planting.  I got all my carrots in the ground with my husband's help and finished getting my cucumber's planted.  When I got home, the bunny was out there eating my flowers again.  Anytime I left the front yard, he was back at it.  I need to find something that he'll find more yummy than my plants.  I also got what was left of my sunflowers in the ground.  For whatever reason, they all suddenly started to die so I had to get them into the ground fast in hopes of saving a few.  Once that was all done, I knew if I stopped I wasn't going to be able to do anything else the rest of the evening so I also went out in the backyard and planted about twenty morning glories around the cat house.  I have quite a few more that need planting so I'm going to need to get creative finding places to stick them.  All while I'm doing this, Jasmine has managed to fall several times.  She just couldn't seem to stay upright for anything today.  She has scrapes on her knees and even one on she shoulder from doing a face plant on the cement.  (well I guess it was more of a shoulder plant since her face didn't get much damage)  By this time it was getting close to ten so we went in the house for the night.  She fell asleep on the couch for about a half hour.  She has a canker sore in her mouth and I think that's what woke her up.  It's really been bothering her but if I try to do anything to help her, she screams.  By the time she woke up, I was again feeling like I was going to be sick.  I made us a couple ham sandwiches hoping that a little food would help.  (it didn't)  Afterwards we went and took a shower.  I took Mia with us, my husband's border collie because she was in a bad need of a bath and I figured if I was already going to be soaking wet, it would be a pretty good time to wash a dog.  She couldn't have agreed less but I'm bigger.  Afterwards, Jasmine wanted to stay in the bathtub and play with her dinosaur so I let her.  There wasn't any water in the tub, just a little in a cup so she could "wash" her dino.  I took Mia in the other room to brush her out real good.  I was planning on grooming her a little to clean her up.  I had just started the clippers when Jasmine appeared in the living room.  She first asked what I was doing and then said 'My Owie!  Mommy I need go to the doctor.'  She was crying pretty badly so I knew something was really wrong.  Plus, she never wants to go to the doctor.  When I got closer to her, I saw a small puddle of blood next to her foot.  (I cringe even now as I think about it)  I have seen a lot of nasty things and have taken care of a lot of nasty wounds without so much as flinching but when my kid is hurt, I just lose it.  I got her to the love seat and saw she had a pretty good gouge in her ankle.  I knew immediately what it was from.  Since our toilet has been broken, the lid has been off to make it easier to flush and whatnot.  The lid is also broken from when Princess (a previous foster) knocked it off the back of the toilet.  Jasmine must have stepped on it as she was getting out of the tub and cut herself on the porcelain.  I went and woke up Shawn.  Again, I feel like crap and I don't do well when my kid is really hurting, especially when I don't know what to do.  She's screaming and shaking and he's being completely indifferent to the whole situation.  He said we were both freaking out over nothing and it wasn't like she was going to die.  Keep in mind, he has even LOOKED at her ankle.  There are times I really hate dealing with him, particularly when he's just been woken up.  He just went back to bed, despite the fact that I was upset.  Although, it didn't help matters that I said something about him acting like an asshole.  I was so pissed.  I was sitting there crying, trying to decide if she needed a stitch or two.  I STILL think she could've used one but it's hard to know for sure what to do.  And the last thing I want to do is put a two year old through several hours of waiting in the ER only to be told it needs a band-aid.  Lately, it just seems like all the major decisions with her are left solely up to me.  I get no input from him whatsoever.  It makes for a lot of pressure on one person.  If I make the wrong decision, it's going to be completely my fault.  And let's face it, I don't think anyone ever really knows what their doing in this world so it's nice to get some input once and a while.  She wouldn't let me leave her side for almost an hour.  We just sat there on the couch, both soaked still from the shower until she was calm enough to let me get up.  It was quite a while before she would let me put a diaper on her.  (YESSSSS, she is still not potty trained and NOOOOO I have no plans of pushing the issue... she's doing just fine on her own... in other words, I've had all the "input" on that subject that I can handle at the moment)  While she watched cartoons, I went back to grooming Mia.  I only did a little on her before I moved onto a more willing volunteer, Molly.  Molly will let you do anything to her as long as it means she's getting attention.  A lot of people don't like her but she's fine with us.  She let me shave up her legs and under her tail.  She even let me do her ears.  She actually looks really good.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out considering most of my "groom" jobs that haven't been a full shave end up looking a bit... odd.  She looks very smooth and clean cut now.  After winter, the longer haired dogs always look a bit ratty.  I went back to finish up Mia.  I'm sure she was hoping that I was done with her completely.  I shaved around her rear end really well but not to the point that she looks weirdly shaped.  I also did her legs and cleaned up her chest and stomach.  She looks good but not quite as good as Molly.  It's much easier to do a good job when you have a willing participant.  I had to shave Mia's rear well because she's the type of dog that would rather pee herself than bother you.  At least this way, when she does it, she'll be easier to clean up.  It's not that we don't let her out often.  She's just a weird dog.  I really wanted to do all the dogs but the aussie's may have been a challenge so I decided to wait till another day.  By this time, Jasmine finally decided that it was ok to leave the couch and she wanted to use the sweeper to clean up the mounds of hair.  She actually did really good with it until she caught a piece of paper and then she just dropped the hose and held her ears.  After I retrieved the paper, she went back to cleaning.  I'll have to wait till she's good and asleep till I can really take a look at her ankle.