A Few Quick Bullets
1. Nothing says "Summer" like chef's salad for lunch. It also says, "It's too hot to cook," and "Here's to the end of the heat wave tomorrow." Of course, chef's salad is dictated by what's in the fridge at the time: Boston lettuce, leftover tomato, a couple hard-boiled eggs, a piece of deli turkey (purchased to entice The Cat but sometimes she shares), light honey-mustard dressing. Yum.
2. The Cat is O.K. She was a bit weird over the weekend--fussy, crying, pullling the door mat back under the door (demanding to go out in the hallway). One suspected cause of the weirdness was that there were a lot of firecrackers and fireworks being set off, every night from Thursday through Independence Day. My community has a courtyard out front. . . right across from my apartment because I'm towards the middle.
The other thing I'm wondering about is the possible return of her hyperthyroid. She's been off the medication because she got the steroid shot, and that was a few weeks ago. Gotta call the vet about that; that might mean yet another road trip with kitty cries from the back of the car.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to pick up a catnip toy for her at the pet supply store near my summer job.
3. In my little summer job news, I covered two Tuesday classes for another teacher--little kids, kindergarteners and first graders. She planned the crafts already and had the supplies there for me. Because it was the day after July 4th, some kids didn't show. I had four kids in each group, and while the first group was fine, the second was kind of a disaster. The craft didn't exactly work (using markers to decorate wiffleballs--the marker didn't stick) and the kids were, well, kinda nutty. The other teacher had brought in a bat to play baseball, but there was no way I was handing these kids a bat. They'd beat me to a pulp and then take to the cars in the parking lot.
But hey, I made $90 (other teacher makes more than I do!), which is nice to have since I just got invitations to one cousin's baby shower and another cousin's fiancee's bridal shower. (Easy come, easy go.)
Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but between the goofy kids and and the heat (we meet outside), it was nice to get to trivia (albeit late) and talk to some sane people. And have a Guinness. Oh, and kick butt. We won!
4. My July 4th weekend was pretty O.K. Went to the casino with the parents on Friday to see fireworks. They were awesome. Even more awesome: I got carded! That's twice in about a month! This time, security ran my license through the machine and it came out legit. Good to know; it's fairly new because I renewed it at my last birthday.
Saturday, I had lunch with a friend and we ventured into a huge used bookstore. HUGE.
Sunday, I went to a picnic at the new house of a childhood friend I don't see all that often. First grilled hot dog of the summer! Oh, and the house is very nice, so I'm happy for her and her husband and their little boy. I also saw one of my sister's friends, and it turns out her husband went to the school where I work. He got a kick out of knowing which of his teachers are still there.
Monday, I went to the local parade and then to my cousin's house for the annual picnic. Not as many people came this time, but it was fun seeing my great-aunt and some cousins from out of town. My two second cousins who are siblings both graduated from high school. The brother has Down Syndrome and is a regular firecracker--he loved my red Phillies tee, and told me he has a girlfriend (cute!). The sister is very artsy and crazy about horses, so I told her about Sara's horse and she told me about her latest riding adventure. Oh, and I had another grilled hot dog, natch.
Well, I gotta go get ready to hit the road for my summer reading group. We're talking about Bad Kitty Gets a Bath today. They are going to design their own pet bubble bath, on a drawing page I modified from the Bad Kitty website. (Yes, you can click where you want Bad Kitty to scratch on the furniture! Try it!)
I can't wait to see what the girls in the group come up with.
I've been doing a bunch of reading, so I hope to get a books post up soon. Gather your books so you can share, too!
2. The Cat is O.K. She was a bit weird over the weekend--fussy, crying, pullling the door mat back under the door (demanding to go out in the hallway). One suspected cause of the weirdness was that there were a lot of firecrackers and fireworks being set off, every night from Thursday through Independence Day. My community has a courtyard out front. . . right across from my apartment because I'm towards the middle.
The other thing I'm wondering about is the possible return of her hyperthyroid. She's been off the medication because she got the steroid shot, and that was a few weeks ago. Gotta call the vet about that; that might mean yet another road trip with kitty cries from the back of the car.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to pick up a catnip toy for her at the pet supply store near my summer job.
3. In my little summer job news, I covered two Tuesday classes for another teacher--little kids, kindergarteners and first graders. She planned the crafts already and had the supplies there for me. Because it was the day after July 4th, some kids didn't show. I had four kids in each group, and while the first group was fine, the second was kind of a disaster. The craft didn't exactly work (using markers to decorate wiffleballs--the marker didn't stick) and the kids were, well, kinda nutty. The other teacher had brought in a bat to play baseball, but there was no way I was handing these kids a bat. They'd beat me to a pulp and then take to the cars in the parking lot.
But hey, I made $90 (other teacher makes more than I do!), which is nice to have since I just got invitations to one cousin's baby shower and another cousin's fiancee's bridal shower. (Easy come, easy go.)
Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but between the goofy kids and and the heat (we meet outside), it was nice to get to trivia (albeit late) and talk to some sane people. And have a Guinness. Oh, and kick butt. We won!
4. My July 4th weekend was pretty O.K. Went to the casino with the parents on Friday to see fireworks. They were awesome. Even more awesome: I got carded! That's twice in about a month! This time, security ran my license through the machine and it came out legit. Good to know; it's fairly new because I renewed it at my last birthday.
Saturday, I had lunch with a friend and we ventured into a huge used bookstore. HUGE.
Sunday, I went to a picnic at the new house of a childhood friend I don't see all that often. First grilled hot dog of the summer! Oh, and the house is very nice, so I'm happy for her and her husband and their little boy. I also saw one of my sister's friends, and it turns out her husband went to the school where I work. He got a kick out of knowing which of his teachers are still there.
Monday, I went to the local parade and then to my cousin's house for the annual picnic. Not as many people came this time, but it was fun seeing my great-aunt and some cousins from out of town. My two second cousins who are siblings both graduated from high school. The brother has Down Syndrome and is a regular firecracker--he loved my red Phillies tee, and told me he has a girlfriend (cute!). The sister is very artsy and crazy about horses, so I told her about Sara's horse and she told me about her latest riding adventure. Oh, and I had another grilled hot dog, natch.
Well, I gotta go get ready to hit the road for my summer reading group. We're talking about Bad Kitty Gets a Bath today. They are going to design their own pet bubble bath, on a drawing page I modified from the Bad Kitty website. (Yes, you can click where you want Bad Kitty to scratch on the furniture! Try it!)
I can't wait to see what the girls in the group come up with.
I've been doing a bunch of reading, so I hope to get a books post up soon. Gather your books so you can share, too!
Comments
Kitty definitely is hanging in there; I think a break in the weather tomorrow will help. But I'm still asking the vet about her thyroid tomorrow. She has been purring somewhat manic-ly (not maniacally) and swatting me at the same time. Something's up.
I almost wound up with the shortest keyboard time in use ever at the kids and the bat anecdote.
You didn't even get to see the top floors (it is split in twain) of the book store! So very, very much to see. So very, very much to drool over. So very, very many ways to have no money.
But oh no, a little girl who's into art and horses... we know where that ends up! ;)
If and when we get a pet after this one is gone, we will look into pet health insurance.
Those must have been some wild kids. :)
(BTW those kids really were thuggish. I fear for their 1st grade teacher.)
Sara--thanks; I really hope the vet just gives me the green light and I don't have to haul her in for tests. And of course I must go back to the bookstore to see the rest! And I fully support whatever the artistic, horse-crazy cousin aspires to. ;)
Angela--oh good, another grilled-hot-dog fan. Yay! (Poor kitty finally came out to eat after the thunder stopped. . . and went right back into the cabinet.)
Rob--well, the meds really tackled her hyperthyroidism, so in the end she was down to 1/4 of a 5mg pill once a day. She was not eating and impossible to pill a few weeks ago, so she had been off it for days with no reaction. When she got the steroid shot in mid-June, the vet said to keep an eye out for the hyperthyroid symptoms. . . but it really was not on my mind because she was doing so poorly, anyway.
The insurance helps. I didn't need it the first 12 years, but it's good to have it now because it is helping a bit with the bills.
And those kids were something else! It must be the proximity to Jersey or something.