First things first- thank goodness spring is here. Popped out of bed at 6:30, the air was crisp, the sky is blue, and the sun is out and I feel like ten bucks.
Here are some pics of Lovey, and I just chatted with Geg6 and she is going to come by and comment on how things are going and I will then move the commentary to the main post.
I really, really miss that little girl. She has such a distinct energy, and really brings a swagger and some electricity to the environment. Steve, Lily, and Rosie are all laid back animals, and Thurston has really calmed down a lot since she left. She is just a special little lady.
the Conster
Yay Lovey! Sunny morning here in Boston, and boy, it just makes such a huge difference in one’s approach to the day. The grass is just starting to green up but we’re still quite far away from blooming bushes and trees leafing out. But, winter is finally in the rear view mirror.
ETA: Fell asleep last night with the Red Sox beating the O’s on TV – one of my favorite things evah, knowing there are many more of those evenings to come with the windows open. Sigh, we made it.
Elizabelle
You and geg have just made Pogonip’s weekend.
And FYI: it’s National Parks opening weekend. Free entry today and tomorrow (any other fees — like camping, etc. still apply). Get on out there, if you are so inclined. Offscreen life can be sweet, too.
geg6
Ha! Just the opposite at this house. Koda used to be laid back but has now regressed back to puppy energy with crazy Lovey around. And tugs of war over toys have been interesting. Koda always wins but Lovey is persistent! They each have their own rooms. Koda gets the living room and Lovey gets the bonus room, which is a disaster now. She loves sweet potato and bits of chicken and licking the ice cream bowl. She mostly pees and poops outside now. Today we are taking her for her first walk with Koda around campus. I expect to be carrying her most of the way but it should work off some of this puppy energy!
eric
I haven’t been here in over a year. Since I switched from GoogleReader to Feedly I get no Balloon-Juice. I’m gladdened to find upon returning the comfort of a pet-post, John.
Violet
Yay, Lovey! She’s so cute. Love the pic of her on the arm of the chair.
Keith G
@geg6: Very cool. Thanks for the update.
Aleta
It’s funny how even photos of her sleeping have a ‘distinct energy.’ And attitude.
Daffodil's Mom
What marvelous critters, all of them! Just. Plain. Heartwarming.
But John, you never, ever talk about Ginger. Is she alright? Or maybe just so scarred from her experiences that she can’t interact? I so feel for her (nope, six pets is enough, unfortunately!)
geg6
@Aleta:
Oh, girlfriend has ‘tude in spades! Takes Koda on, no problem! Koda just looks at me like, seriously?
Violet
@geg6: Thanks for the update! Sounds like everything is going well. I just love her crazy ears. Too cute.
Tommy
So this is happening. My Saturday project. Turn one of my two front, glass doors into a Tardis. I ordered the stuff to do it a year or so ago. People I know including my parents were like why would you do that? I was like because I can!
Poopyman
@Daffodil’s Mom: Read Paragraph One of Cole’s 1:12 AM Late Night post.
I was amazed at how well Cole’s pictures look up there, but then realized, of course they’re not his. Nice work, geg6!
Violet
@Daffodil’s Mom: See late night post below. She went to a new foster home.
Amir Khalid
@Daffodil’s Mom:
In another thread, John Cole said his sister had taken Ginger to another foster home. Cole also mentioned that Ginger has “personality issues” he didn’t want to go into, which may be why she hasn’t been offered to Mary G.
JPL
@geg6: Lovey seems to have brought new energy to the household.
Finch and I have a weekend guest. Nona is a Maltese and decided to scare away the ghosts and goblins last night by barking. Finally, I put on the TV in order to drown out whatever it was scaring her. Of course, both pups are sleeping now.
raven
We have to go to the tack and feed store to get their fish and sweet potato dog food. They have a big fiberglass horse out front and the Bohdi goes nuts when he see’s it!
Tommy
My brother has this amazing dog. Murphy. Labradoodle. He is a package of energy in a dog. My brother and his wife think just letting him tool around in their large fenced in yard is enough. I don’t have the pics I see on Flickr of me running him. Playing ball. Taken for an early morning run when I stay the night on a holiday. My profile pic in many areas is his head in my lap, he tired beyond words, me running 5 miles with him in a snow storm.
geg6
@Poopyman:
Heh. That’s the effect of our sunroom, the room of light in our house. Cole needs to do one of two or three things to get a decent photo. Open a damn curtain. Put in bigger windows. Or quit living vampire hours. Light changes everything.
JPL
@raven: There was a horse trail behind my house, before trees blocked it. Moxie did not like the horse.
geg6
@Tommy:
I have friends with a big ol’ Labradoodle named Murphy who runs around in a fenced suburban yard. But he lives in Cleveland.
Tommy
@geg6: Found the pics:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/webranding/5290983661/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/webranding/5290987755/
I recall my brother asking why I seemed to get along better with this dog. I just said I am no expert, never owned a dog, but thinking he likes to come with me and run. He isn’t a little puppy you want. He is a large dog that needs attention. Lots of it!
raven
@geg6: Bohdi has always gone nuts about cows and horses when we are driving. The year we got Lil Bit we were at aunt Emma’s cattle farm in Virginia and I let the both of them loose in the pasture. Bohdi cornered a cow down in a creek bed and was going back and forth all puffed up. When Bohdi went at the cow and the big critter dug in and snorted and the big bad woofer headed for the hills with his tail between his legs. I have this all on film!
SiubhanDuinne
@Tommy:
What a cool project! Post a photo when it’s installed.
geg6
@Tommy:
That Murphy looks a lot like the Murphy I know.
@raven:
Brave Sir Bohdi bravely ran away! LOL!
rikyrah
the pictures are wonderful.
Good Morning,Everyone :)
Off to swim and run errands.
rikyrah
@geg6:
Glad to hear the update.
Gin & Tonic
@the Conster: Scillas are blooming here, and a few daffodils have opened up.
germy shoemangler
Brief clip (20 seconds) of a rescue dog who hates eating alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkF4DJklhdU
Aleta
@geg6: ha
JPL
@germy shoemangler: lol
rikyrah
@germy shoemangler:
that was ADORABLE!
germy shoemangler
Our rescue cat is the same way.
Makes a point of being in whatever room we’re in. Very subtle about it. Just wants to hang with us all the time.
And when the wife and/or I come home, she’ll run and greet us. Lots of love.
WaterGirl
@germy shoemangler: That was very sweet!
WaterGirl
I am so happy to have these updates on all creatures great and small. I have a crush on ThurstonHowl, but I love Lily.
Cole, do you still start every day with Lily with who’s the best doggie, who’s the best doggie, until she gets the zooms?
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: Poor Ginger! It’s very possible living with other animals is a strain since she doesn’t associate them with anything good.
Basically, she has nothing to associate with anything good.
But I am very cheered by the happy Lovey news. She and Thurston were rescued from certain death. That’s a great thing.
And wait… Rosie is laid back? Since when?
TaMara (BHF)
@geg6: I’m so glad you have her and we can keep track of her adventures. Bixby needs a Lovey. Right now he’s like a 135 lb toddler on a sugar high. Can’t wait to get him neutered (another four months!).
But once we get settled in the new house, he gets a sister.
WereBear
@TaMara (BHF): Awesome news! Just like with cats; two puppies really can be less trouble than one puppy.
The solution to your cat problem is more cats
chopper
still cloudy in ATL but at least it stopped raining. had to put the heat on the last coupla nights.
Howard Beale IV
Today is Record Store day, for all you vinylphiles ot there…..
TaMara (BHF)
@WereBear: Here, here. We’ve had a situation here since Missy died, that Jake (her son) needs more attention than I have time for, and Zander-Kitteh has stepped up to the job. He spends nights splitting his time with Jake and with me. Jake is reluctantly bonding to him now.
Bixby needs a playmate, more than leaping on me hourly and the playdates I can set up.
TaMara (BHF)
@Howard Beale IV: Flexi Disks !! I stil have my Archies record from the back of the cereal box.
WereBear
@TaMara (BHF): Yep. Baby energy is black-star-massive.
dexwood
@Howard Beale IV:
I visit estate sales frequently and always seek Lps first. Man, the treasures to be found…
Zippity
I have an older yellow lab. When I started dating a guy that lives in the country, I took her out to spend weekends there. We’d go walking in the pasture, with both cows and horses. Lady (the dog) didn’t pay attention to them at all. However, there was a horse that must have had a bad experience with a dog like her, and she would put her head down, almost touching the dog, and follow her wherever she went-almost like a really funny game of Follow the Leader.
sherparick
Traveling and these pictures remind me how much I miss both my wife and my four-legged pals at home. John, per Bill McBride’s site Calculated Risk, the West Virginia Republican strategy of doubling down on fossil fuel extraction as resulted as your state is the only one in recession for the last year. http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2015/04/philly-fed-state-coincident-indexes.html
raven
@chopper: not for long
JPL
@chopper: When I was outside awhile ago, the sun peaked through. It’s gone now though. Tomorrow should be fun though, since the two dogs have to be dragged outside to go to the bathroom.
JPL
@sherparick: They’ll just blame Obama.
Bart
Dear Americans: “see’s” IS NOT A WORD. I cannot imagine any context in which “see’s” is a word. Since when is correct use of the frikking apostrophe become such an issue? It really isn’t hard: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sherparick: Yesterday I was reading an article, I think in Politico?, about whether Hillary can bring back the white vote in places like WVa, Arkansas and Kentucky, mostly KY (the fact that even Bubba was pretty much useless for Mark Pryor is somehow spun as Obama’s fault). Rand Paul made the I think fairly cromulent point that Clinton only won KY with Ross Perot’s help (which doesn’t take in to account two very weak rivals), but almost every KY Dem talked about “the war on coal”
@Tommy: I think that’s the best looking labradoodle I’ve ever seen
Seth
Ginger was fine. You just didn’t want to deal with a dog that makes demands on you.
Aleta
@WereBear:
I remember some time ago you had a kitten who was very thin. If she is still with you, what is she like now ?
Brachiator
Quite a menagerie you got there. I had been away from the blogs for a while, and find all the additions to be really interesting. Thurston kinda stands out among the names chosen. Very nice description of the various temperaments of the critters. Great pics.
Tommy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t mean to throw my brother under the bus but he can’t give that dog the love it needs, and it pains me. We never had a dog growing up, told we could not care for it. Dad laughed at us when we said we wanted a dog.
That second pic I posted with him just falling asleep on my lap. They were like how did that happen? I told them I took their dog for a long, long walk. Afterwards I played ball with him in the snow. If I had a dog that is kind of what I’d want to do with it. He needs attention, lots of it ……
Aleta
@WereBear:
Update: looking through your blog, I see my question could apply to more than one of your cats! And found lots of details about all of them. It’s a great blog, by the way, and I’ve used it in the past for behavioral information. Thanks.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t know if the pundits and the media realize the degree to which conservative demonizing of Obama may have poisoned political race relations. And there is something rancid about viewing Hillary as the Great White Hope who can bring white voters back in certain districts. I don’t know that Hillary will be able to overcome the fear and hostility that has been deliberately fostered in these areas. And great point about Bill needing an assist from Perot to do well in these areas. Is Rand Paul dumb enough to try to run independent of the GOP?
Tommy
I got a question for you all. Where do you get your music from?
When my father would head out on a date with mom and I was left with a babysitter I used to go to this study. He had three eight tracks. John Denver. Jim Croce. And the guy we still talk about even to this day, Johnny Cash.
I am a Jam band and ambient kind of music person. What are you?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Brachiator: I just saw that Mike Huckabee said young people should not join the military while Obama is in office because of Obama’s “open hostility to the Christian faith“. Beltway pundits would cluck and furrow their brows but this isn’t necessarily about race, because nothing is ever about race, and of course Mike Huckabee doesn’t represent mainstream Republicans.
Arm The Homeless
Its conferene season. Orlando has an interesting engineered wetlands used mainly as a way to polish reclaimed water. The park is a nice way to show the public how infrastructure investments can be both functional and enjoyable; but the most intriguing part were the failures, and the lessons learned.
We need a better language to speak about the benefits of basic scientific research.
Fun Fact: Orlando Wetlands Park houses one of the few natural Purple Martin nesting areas, east of the Mississippi River.
cckids
@germy shoemangler: One of our 3 cats is like that too. He’s very rarely a lap kitty, but he is always in the room, just hanging out. When the kids were here & pulling late nights on schoolwork or whatever project, Gryff would be there, never in the way, just keeping them company.
And this week, with our Pom being sick, Gryff just hangs by him; silent support system.
Amir Khalid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Huckabee said what!?
Upon further consideration, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Huckabee’s always been a Christianist bigot.
Tenar Darell
@Arm The Homeless: You mean they have something like this wetlands park that’s in PB County? (I have seen quite a few interesting things when visiting family in Florida; that was one of them).
cckids
@Bart:
This is an ENORMOUS pet peeve of mine, but I mostly stay quiet about it. And I can’t blame texting, because most misuse of the apostrophe is using it when not needed, which is more work, not less.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I recall that not too long ago some politician was mildly chastised (wink wink nudge nudge) for saying that he didn’t know if Obama was really a Christian. And Huckabee, like other conservatives, seems to believe that the military consists only of white Christian males.
Happily, I think that most people reject this nonsense. And I also think that Romney’s statements about the 47 percent caused some white people to reconsider whether the GOP really represents their interests. But there is a core of frightened people who have hated and feared Obama since he first ran for president. They simply cannot see him as anything other than their worst nightmare, and the GOP leadership and the Tea Party love catering to this fear.
Tommy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: They are fucking stupid. My father worked 30+ years in the military. Military brat here.Their DOD has been good to my family. My brother’s wife works for the DoD, TRANCSOM. She has flex work hours to spend more time with her child. Oh almost free day care. Benefits I bet most people would like.
karen marie
@germy shoemangler: “Look at meeee! I haz fuddddd!”
Mike E
@Seth:
I always preferred Mary Ann.
Mike J
NBC and Fox both showing premier league football on the broadcast channel, not the cable only sports network ghetto.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: if you read teh link, if you’re really having a slow day… you can see he remembers that he’s supposed to pretend to believe that Jews “and others”* are equal citizens. For some reason he singles out “Orthodox Jews” as sharing his feelings of persecution for not being able to treat gay people like criminals.
*kinda like on Gilligan’s Island, when the Professor and Mary Ann were dismissed as “and the rest” in the opening credits.
J R in WV
@Bart:
I know’s how to use apostrophe’s, but use’s them willy-nilly sometime’s just to upset pedant’s.
Other time’s I tell people’s how they work’s! Every word that end’s with an ‘s today right now.
;-) hope you don’t mind teasing some… it really bothers me too, some, but I try not to explode unless I have to.
Mike E
@Mike J: Reading level with Arse.
Mike J
@Mike E: And I was overly specific when I said Premier League. I should havejust said, “English football”. Either way, nice to see.
Sox on Fox in a few hours. Would be a great day for TV sports if I wasn’t going sailing when the Chelsea game is over.
WereBear
@Aleta: That might have been Reverend Jim, who was held by the police as evidence in an abuse case, or it might have been Olwyn, who was a failure to thrive case and arrived very underweight.
But you can see them all here, with pics!
New phase of Cat Civilization
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
Perfect description of Huckabee’s so called beliefs! I really hope he runs for President again, he’s my favorite Christianist bigot, and so stupid he reveals his bigotry almost every time he speaks at any length.
I was in the military, and in boot camp (1970) they lined everyone up and marched us into a giant hall for “church” services. It was old fashioned Baptist hellfire and brimstone. After the first couple exposures, I told the CO that I wasn’t going to go to that “church” service again, and there was nothing he could do to make me.
Wow did that light a fire! He screamed at me on inch from my face for at least half an hour… then passed me to an actual officer to yell at me some more. I didn’t say anything except in response to a direct question I had an answer for.
In the end, they made me go to an A/V learning center and watch videos about ethics and morality, as if they could teach someone morality. Really, they believed that fear of hell was the only way to keep order.
Obviously the Air Force is almost completely taken over in the chain of command by christainists, forcing officers (or at least trying to) to swear an oath to god, not legal, not constitutional, not Christian. And of course if you want to make a career of being a pilot of the hottest planes ever built, you would be stupid to rock the boat by fighting the chain of command.
It only takes a few bad eggs at the top of the power structure to spoil the chain of command, and the Air Force is there, as far as I can tell from here.
Go Huckabee!! Run for office!! Make the clown car more crowded!
WereBear
@Aleta: Oh, thanks, I see you probably already have the info.
Keith G
@Brachiator:
Oh this is just great. The enemies of all that is good and right with the world want progressives and liberals to lose the next presidential election, so they are busy concern trolling Hillary Clinton. And then, those words get repeated by putative progressives on blogs like this. As the saying goes this is why we could never have nice things.
I know it’s too much to ask just to see if Politico and folks like you can just hold off on the BS until we see what Hillary’s outreach is and how the various parts of the African American community react to that outreach.
geg6
Lovey is laying on my lap and just looked at me with that gaze the NYT article is talking about. Between her dark button eyes and those ridiculously endearing ears, the heart melts.
Mike E
@Mike J: Yep. NBA & NHL playoffs (x2), Futbol Mexicano,
human cockfightsUFC also. I’d druther go sailing, given the chance…it’s better to live the sporting life!WereBear
@geg6: She also has the adorable fuzz on top of her head. My favorite place to kiss a puppy.
Tenar Darell
@Brachiator: Don’t search for Air Force, religious freedom, coercion, Jewish on the interwebs. You’ll find stuff like this, about Marty Weinstein’s fight to keep commanders from proselytizing their subordinates.
J R in WV
It is obvious that Democrats need votes from the working class of all races and creeds. So it is important for Ms Clinton to work hard to reassure the working classes that she will be getting their back and protecting them from the thieves in Armani suits.
I found a link to a great, simple explanation of the two approaches to repairing Social Security, the Democratic position (Senator Warren’s plan) and the Republican position (Gov Christie’s plan).
Social Security salvage
There is a simple graph, using plain arithmetic, to show how one plan impacts the working class and the other impacts the nearly wealthy and up. Check it out, all!
Hoping I successfully used the Link command here!
Edit: Yes! It worked! That is one gnarly ugly hyper-link, too…
D58826
@Brachiator: I think it extends to our relations with foreign countries as well. The GOP keeps complaining that foreign governments don’t respect Obama (which very well may be just a fantasy in the reptilian brain of the GOOPERS) . Well, how can they given what the domestic GOP says about him This assumes that foreign leaders give a flying finger about what Mcnutts, Butters and Huckleberry are saying. Of course I’m sure Putin lives in fear of a Palin presidency:-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I found the article on Hillary and the white vote that I was thinking of earlier. I’d forgotten it was by Dave Weigel, which explains the trolly tone toward Obama. What made me go look for it was this quote, which I thought of when I saw that March was just declared the hottest month in recorded history, knocking I believe last October to No 2. This is the former governor of Kentucky speaking
I’m afraid he’s right about that last bit. On Bill Maher last week, Fareed Zakaria had the depressing statistic that even with the exponential strides we’ve made in solar power in the last few years, we get .4% of our power from solar, 40% from coal.
ETA: link for anyone interested
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-17/can-hillary-clinton-solve-the-democrats-white-voter-problem-
bin Lurkin'
Not to touch the Earth, that’s the way my mini long haired Dachshund thinks her feet should be treated, she wants to be in my lap or carried almost constantly. One of my neighbors says I’m disabled because I only have one usable arm since the dog is almost always in the other one.. :)
A couple of weeks ago I was waiting alongside my friend’s truck for him to stop yakking with someone outside the restaurant we had just left and unlock the door and my dog had her eyes riveted on me for the entire couple of minutes it took, I don’t think she ever even blinked..
http://s21.postimg.org/ovvcafgsn/quit_playing_phone.jpg
gogol's wife
So I believe that “Seth” is John’s brother, so we’re getting some family dissension here about Ginger?
Aleta
@WereBear: I love how you say filling what he sees as management gaps in describing how your cats are adjusting to the loss of James Bond. (Sorry for your loss.)
Mike J
@gogol’s wife: Even if he were correct (and I have no way of knowing), isn’t it better to let someone else care for a dog that you can’t care for properly?
WereBear
@Aleta: Thank you. Then again James Bond was 18, and a large cat — he was almost 100 in people years when we finally said goodbye.
His awesomeness, however, continues in his legacy :)
JPL
@gogol’s wife: That’s what i assumed. What’s interesting was Tommy’s comment below Seth’s that talked about his brother’s dog.
gogol's wife
@Mike J:
Sure.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mike J: @gogol’s wife: I took it as friendly snark. If Seth is Cole’s brother, as a brother, I can relate.
Aleta
@WereBear: The loss of my 19 year old cat was a deep deep one. I found that I felt happy caring for him as his abilities lessened. He had an unexpected glow in his old age, too.
WereBear
@Aleta: Oh, it is! I hope you found help on my site.
the Conster
@geg6:
I’m looking at your comment that same way. Love that you’re falling in love with Lovey. Nothing better than a happy ending.
Aleta
@geg6: Shine on, Lovey.
Germy Shoemangler
Stephen King on twitter discusses GOP presidential hopefuls:
https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/588785256498606083
Tommy
@JPL: I really wish he spent more time with this dog. It pains. I so want a dog but assume I need to take it to levels I don’t with my cat.
WereBear
@Tommy: How far away does he live? Can you borrow the dog? Do a time share?
Aleta
@Tommy:
I wonder if you would like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlkiK_q7shc
(Johnny Cash)
A good song for running maybe. Could it be called ambient?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I spent the morning in a freakin’ freezing conference room for my knitting class, and I’m going to have to spend the afternoon in the same room. I think I’m going to have to get an extra coat out of my car.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Sounds like you need to knit yourself some mittens :)
JPL
@Tommy: The son’s dog is visiting this weekend. She’s a couch potato so I’ll pick her up and drop her near my shed. I’m on almost an acre so it’s a nice walk back for a six pound dog.
jharp
How does 10 bucks feel?
Gotta be a hell of lot better than I feel today. I never get sick and this flu is kicking my ass.
I am such a pussy when I do get sick.
Keith G
Kevin Drum is on light blogging duty while he is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma. This Friday’s cat blogging guest post features amongst the pictures two excellent cat gifs.
Kay
@Keith G:
This is just my opinion based on what Republicans here say, but I think this is more about Republicans than Democrats. Republicans in Ohio think they lost in 2012 because they didn’t get white working class voters out. There’s a flip side to that, of course- they admit they also lost because Obama DID get AA voters out but they’re looking beyond Obama now, to Clinton.
So from their perspective the question becomes “can Hillary cut into “our” white working class vote, the ones we didn’t turn out in 2012 but have to get out in 2016?”
A lot of times when Republicans seem to be talking about Democrats they’re actually talking about fixing or planning for some perceived weakness among Republicans. They have their own concerns about their base turnout but they don’t admit those directly, unlike Democrats.
Suzanne
Love da Lovey-Loo! Dawwww.
Just got a call from my MIL saying that there is big time family drama going on. SHIT. We never just get a calm, eh?
Germy Shoemangler
Made the mistake of browsing the nytimes and stumbled upon this headline:
Latest Victims of Chinese Bubble: Mastiffs
During the heights of a Tibetan mastiff craze, the dogs fetched as much as $200,000 each. Now, some are being sold for slaughter for $5.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/world/asia/once-prized-tibetan-mastiffs-are-discarded-as-fad-ends-in-china.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: No one loves dogs more than I do but it’s a tough proposition to worry about what happens to them in Asia.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Oh no! I really don’t like to be cold which is why knitting is a good fit for me.
So we had a D&D game at the house this morning and the blueberry muffins were a big hit. The kids gave me some orders for wrist cuffs they want me to knit. I’ve got some old buttons that have warriors holding swords and shields on them so I’m going to add them to the wrist cuffs. I’ve got a huge box full of scrap yarn so this should work out well.
Germy Shoemangler
@raven: Sad but true
MomSense
@Suzanne:
Sorry to hear that. Have a joke with friends about what the “f” in family stands for.
I’ve been meaning to ask how your dog is doing. I hope she is on the mend.
raven
@Germy Shoemangler: That article was the first thing I saw this morning while I had coffee with my pups, wasn’t a happy start.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@WereBear:
I wish I could, but all of my extra needles are at home. No, seriously, I bought two new sets of needles yesterday and left them at home today.
@MomSense:
Fortunately, Amy brought a giant stack of sweaters for the class meant for all of us to try on, so people are keeping warm with those. I feel weird about using someone else’s handknits to keep my legs warm, so I went back for the extra jacket.
One of the vendors here makes some really cool “dragon scale” handwarmers — I’ll see if I can get her name today or tomorrow. She uses pointy beads, which may or may not be suitable for young boys (from a safety POV).
MomSense
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Those sound really cool. Is she on ravelry?
Suzanne
@MomSense: we have been limiting her movement, and it has helped, but I don’t think it has helped enough. So we’re going to do the surgery. Mr. Suzanne just accepted a new job for next school year, so he has been occupied with interviews, and due to the family drama, he may need to go out to AR to spend some time with the family. So we are looking at him going out there for some time, taking Luna, and having the surgery done out there, since he will have more time to nurse her. The school year is over in about five weeks, so it will probably have to wait until then. Oddly, the surgery is only about $1K out there, but we were quoted around $3K here, so it may work out better financially, too.
NotMax
@MomSense
Sounds as if you might have a use for that dragon cake pan someone mentioned the other day.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
Wow you have a lot on your plate. Family drama, husband taking new job, kids, pets, and all the regular demands. I hope you can get some breaks for you to catch your breath.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a successful surgery and recovery for Luna.
MomSense
@NotMax:
Oh that’s right. I’ll have to look for one although they seemed pretty content with blueberry muffins this morning. Maybe I’ll try and get one before his next birthday party.
Suzanne
@MomSense: Thanks. In the middle of all of that, I kicked off a huge project (will be the biggest project I have ever managed myself), and Spawn the Elder has moved into epic levels of teen angst….at age 11. I need a day, no, WEEK at the spa.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
I’ve got an 11 year old, too. I can even smell the hormones kicking in. Lots of angst and moodiness.
Suzanne
@MomSense: Holy balls. This kid is an emotional train wreck.
Aleta
@Suzanne:
You probably know the saying: Let’s put the fun back in dysfunctional.
Could also be a good campaign slogan for the right candidate.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
I get the random angry outbursts. Good times.
Suzanne
@MomSense: Yeah, it sucks. And mine is still somewhat disorganized and doesn’t like to put lots of extra effort into her schoolwork or instrument practice, and she is frustrated by those who are progressing faster than she is. I have tried to point out that “you get out what you put in”, but that is falling on deaf ears.
NotMax
@MomSense
Here’s the link for the pan which someone gave the other day.
Aleta
@WereBear:
Yes, it was Reverend Jim — the story about taking him to the vet early on. I had skipped right over him because he looks so bloomin’ healthy now.
rikyrah
@Tommy:
My music is in two places. I have about 300 CDs. And then, I have music on my Kindle. One of these days I am going to learn how to copy the 300 CDs so that I have it digitally.
Brachiator
@D58826: The idea that foreign leaders do not respect Obama is part of a weird racially tinged GOP disinformation campaign. When you go beyond Fox news and non Murdoch media, you always see foreign crowds and foreign leaders falling all over themselves to be near Obama. And even the comments areas of conservative UK news sites, for example, reveal readers tiring of Yank bigots bringing tired Obama hate.
True story. Talk radio station KFI is the most popular in the Los Angeles English speaking market. But when Obama went to India, there was no news coverage of this, nor any comments by any of the hosts, even though Obama had been warmly received and publically embraced by the Indian prime minister. No mentions at all until they could push the non story of Michelle Obama not wearing a headdress when she attended the funeral of the king of Saudi Arabia.
And along with all this is the occaisional noxious BS fantasy that an Anglo Saxon president would naturally get on better with European leaders and instill fear and awe in the hearts of our enemies.
it is all sad and stupid.
Tenar Darell
@rikyrah: It’s a huge PAIN, especially with the classical albums because then you have to find artwork, which may or may not match your performance, or take a picture yourself, and turn it into a 600X600 jpg (about the max that will copy onto most devices). And liner notes, even just getting track listings right, sigh. But it is worth it, eventually. I did mine in batches of anywhere from 10 to 25 albums.