Cats Bite

So I have learned my lesson. Do not try to introduce a new cat to my dogs while holding her anwhere near my face. I of course did not anticipate the results of such a blunder.

We took our dogs to my mom's house for the weekend. They will be staying there while we are away. Mom has 3 cats. Upon arrival, it was very clear that Mom's newest addition was not fond of the canine invasion. (The kitchen counter was turned upside down as the cat frantically tore across it as we entered the house with the dogs.)
After we had been there about an hour, I got the brilliant idea of "introducing" the new cat to the dogs. My intentions were to just hold her while in the room with the dogs. HA! I did not have a clue what I was in for when I concocted this little plan.
Basically story goes: I hold cat. Cat gets startled at sight of dogs. I am still holding cat. Cat grabs my ear with her teeth. I am still holding cat. I now have 6-7 new holes in my ear.

Now two doctor's visits later, I am well aware of my mistake. I have had two days of serious pain, swollen ear, swollen lymph nodes, and ....yeah, did I mention pain? Apparently, ears are not a good injury location in general due to all of the small capillaries and cartilage. There is a high risk of infection. If the injury does not stop swelling and hurting and becomes more inflamed, I may be on my way to a hospital visit for IV anti-biotics. (Just when I thought the tetnus shot and oral meds were not fun!)

Keep your fingers crossed that I do not go the hospital route. We are supposed to leave for Vegas this week.

my top ten...

reasons why I now appreciate my mustang:
10. Stopping distance... I love my brakes!
9. Sound system... need I say more?
8. Respect from other drivers... do you have any clue just how shitty people will be to a pick up truck for no good reason?
7. Agility... yup I do miss being able to navigate traffic effortlessly.
6. Parking... Yeah, trucks are a pain in the ass to park.
5. which leads me to turning radius... see above.
4. Convertible top... not that the weather has been nice since I went and got the truck... but the first warm day is gonna be hell.
3. Comfort... yup, there is a reason I had my seats set up in my car so fool. When driving a truck I sit high and tight. I was trying to do this in the 'stang until it was pointed out to me. Now I am like really wtf was I thinking...lol
2. Sheer speed... ever try to drive a truck like a sports car... yeah not exactly the desired effect if you know what I mean.
1. The 'fun' factor.

So it really is a no brainer.... however I do have a new appreciation for my car. The daily commute alone has opened my eyes to all of the small things I never really noticed about not having a truck anymore. Looking forward to the month being over so I can get my car back.

Dont' get me wrong, I still love my truck. It is functional and a decent ride. But really it is not a good city vehicle at all.

Another post another day.

the week - in review

So lets start out with a short story about how I saved Cupid for one florist in DC. Yes me... Miss 'for the most part I could really give a shit less about Valentines Day' actually did something nice for the sake of commercialism of the heart holiday.

We all know I work with the business of trees. Trees on city streets. Trees that when they need to be pruned, no parking signs are installed along the street for crews to complete work. So the week previous, I had helped put up these No Parking signs along a street. I did not really pay much attention to the surrounding businesses or much else. I was focused at the task at hand. Put the signs up so people will not be parked there when the work was to be done. I had to revisit the site to replace signs that had been ripped down over the weekend. So there I am reposting, when a lady approaches. She is upset and points to her business. She had a florist and the work I was posting No Parking for was on the dates of Valentines week. I understood exactly why she was upset. My mom works in that business and Valentines is THE holiday for that particular profession. I do not schedule the work and I explained to her that very fact. So that was that. As I walked back to my truck, the heart strings began to pull and I really could feel her pain. So I did what anybody with half a heart would have done... called someone who COULD reschedule the work. Lucky for us all I got the go ahead to change the work to after the holiday! Cupid was saved!

If you keep up with the weather here you will know that rest of the week was not so super as far as work was concerned. On Call + Snow+ Ice. The storm was not as bad as expected. Work was light and mostly uneventful. It was just super cold and nasty out for routine work.

Someone made me smile on Valentines which did brighten the week though. He is also the greatest guy in the world... he cleaned my car of ice and snow during the day despite the fact I had my keys at work! Soooooo thoughtful!

Tomorrow I go off of on call.

Oh yeah and I found money in the street today!

And taxi cabs are awful in the city.

All for now...

on call again

so again comes that time of 24/7 on-call for work. the theory is no leaves on the trees no real issues. so i hear snow for tuesday. lets hope it is mild and all of my trees remain standing. nothing can be as crazy as the first time i was on call. it was nothing short of a miracle that i made it to monday in one piece!

aside from the on-call stuff -life is quite good. i am spending my friday night being lazy and just surfing the net and watching tv. i am quite the party animal... i know :)

my only real excitement this weekend will be getting to see hanibal rising... yeah!

yeah big fan of silence of the lambs and any of the works (books or films) related to the story. yeah i even named my cat after one of the characters.... hehe.

short post. being lazy i tell you... yup... lazy.
seriously too lazy to hit the shift key.
hmmm... maybe coffee. soon.
really going now.
byes

cha...cha...cha... changes

So... I have over the past half a year of so been making alot changes. I have been eating better. I have been trying to control my spending. I have been trying to just be content. I had to find a real job. Granted getting the real job was a major change, it has not been the most drastic. The most major change has been changing my eating lifestyle. This has been paying off in a big way... I have lost over 40lbs and I am very aware of what I am eating and how much.

So now I want to make more changes. I want to become more active. I want to learn new things. I also want to become more organized.

I tried something new yesterday. Ice skating. It was alot of fun. It really kicked my ass today. But it was well worth it. So I guess that is a start of something even if I did fall often.

Another big change is I have started dating someone who is quite wonderful. This is a major change since I have not seriously dated anyone in many years. I don't think I have been this happy in a while.

So there have been all of these changes. The one thing I cannot figure out is why despite all of this I cannot shake the sadness I feel this time of year. As of tomorrow my brother will have been gone 6 years. I guess no matter how much things change... I cannot change the impact my brother had on my life.

Now all I have to do is get through tomorrow and just focus my attention on all of the positive changes in my life. I definately do not have a shortage of positive things going on for me nowadays.

I spent today at home, sick(cold) and sore(ice skating). So I have had alot of time to do alot of thinking. I think tomorrow will be ok since I did have this time to just mull over my memories and sort my thoughts. Maybe after all of this time I have finally learned how to deal with it all. Or maybe time just lessens the pain.

Nonetheless, I just need to focus on all of the good around me. Changes are good.

VA Beach

Ok so here I am traveling again. No ...not out of state... however since my last post it was very quickly pointed out to me that I leave Virginia daily to go to work. And apparently that someone who pointed this out to me also likes being featured in blog posts so I guess this little tidbit will make him smile. So back to my point... I am in Virginia Beach for the Horticulture Short Course. The classes have been relatively intresting. I have learned a few things. Met a few fellow 'lumberjacks'.

Now for the most intresting part of this trip. For the last 3 of 4 meals, I have had sushi/japanese. I have tried a volcano roll, and a christmas tree roll. I have eaten lots of shashimi. Some Miso. Even a little green tea icecream. All of which has been super yummy. Apparently this has been the only thing that I have had a real desire to eat all week so far. Very strange. Not complaining... just think it is odd. I don't know if other sushi places do this christmas tree roll thing... it is a roll with crab, shrimp, cream cheese, and avocado (on the outside of the roll!). The roll was soooo cute.... looked kinda like a small row of christmas trees! I was not even sure I would be able to eat it without making a mess. I managed to make it happen mess-free. Yay me! If you are in Va Beach, gotta try Sakura!

I have been quite lonely the entire trip though. I think I like having people around. Kinda wish some folks from work had decided to come with. Don't get me wrong I have met people, talked to people, sat in seminars with people. But it just isn't the same as having someone I know to pal around with. I have had to fight the urge to call anyone I know 'just to chat'. I really have no clue how I did all of the traveling during the past few years without going stir crazy.

Here one more day. Then back to the real world. No more claseses. No more bad tv in hotel rooms. No more sushi. *well maybe I'll still have some sushi*

people are strange

So I have decided that people are strange. Ever really sit back and really watch people? Their day in day out routines? Their mannerisms? Their quirks? Now I know anyone who does do this ... certainly gets a kick out of me and my unusal way of doing things. So I am not trying to just point the finger and not realize that I am just as vulnerable as everyone else. I am also not saying I am a stalker (BTW it is apparently Stalker Awareness month... who knew?) I am just saying sometimes it is very intresting to just watch and see how people handle the normal day to day.

I have also decided that drivers are the most fun to watch. People in cars get some sort of freedom. They feel that a car entitles some sort of privacy and individualism. This pretty much is exerted as selfishness by most. Then again I do drive in NOVA/DC daily so the 'me first' attitude is loud and proud.

So that is all for tonight. Not much to update or tell. My life has been pretty low key and I like it that way for now. My goal for the year is to not travel out of state this year. So I am sure my intresting stories and fun adventures will be no where near as entertaining as they once were.