Category Archives: Uncategorized

happiness is

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We took the last in-nest Spawn to Best Buy to pick out her new laptop. She’s been shopping online for months, and new exactly which one she wanted. Except when we got there, they were sold out. She carefully inspected every other offering in the store, most of which were also sold out. “I just don’t want to settle!” she cried in frustration.

And, since Mr Moth and I agreed she shouldn’t have to settle, we drove her to the next town, which has a bigger Best Buy (glorious, glorious geekery…provided you don’t actually expect their commission-based geeks to fix anything) and found her laptop. She was walking out with it clutched to her chest and a big goofy grin on her face, and she said, “Hey look!”

We looked. “What?”

“Pudding face.”

get your pudding face on 1get your pudding face on 2

Ok, so New Laptop Face isn’t as creepy as Pudding Face, but you get the idea.

thankful thursday

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I dreamed last night that Lita had more babies, and they escaped. I am thankful neither of those things is true, although I did come right in and wake them all up for a head count.

Still six.

I am thankful for Goodreads, because although I don’t use the social networking aspect of it, I’ve been keeping lists of books I’ve read since I was ten or so, and I love being able to keep track them in a place where I won’t lose the paper. I also love how simple it is to add the books I’d like to read. And if I get busy and ignore Goodreads for awhile, it’s still there waiting for me when I catch my breath.

Big Blue Berta, who just keeps zooming along.

T-Moth.

The opportunity to get a (mostly) free education. We normally don’t qualify for things, because we aren’t living at poverty level. But there’s no way I could afford to go back to school if not for help from the government, and neither could Zor.

Still on that same subject, today is Tolesday–Mr Toles being the instructor of my favorite class.

Fall. O, how I adore Fall, and we seem to actually be having one. The heat is over and the snow isn’t here yet. Yay!

And lastly, I’m thankful for an auxiliary character that popped into my head during Contemporary American Business. This guy suits Seldom’s story so much better than the cardboard guy I had planned for that job; he serves multiple functions. The Maasster would be proud.

it’s not thursday, but I’m still thankful

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Emphasis today on things:

1.) My printer.

2.) My three-hole punch. Thesefirst two have received a vigorous workout today.

3.) Big Blue Berta.

4.) MP3 player, which makes my less favorite tasks more tolerable.

5.) Sam-e.

Non-things: T-Moth, Zor, parents, friends, and critters.

hamcam

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This is Lita with two of her pups, who turned two weeks old early Friday, in the chow hall of their new tub house. That’s actually Oliver’s old cat dish. But I was thinking how hamsters like to sit in the dish while they eat, and I figured a big ol’ dish would keep that from being a problem in a mulitple rodent situation. Also, Lita’s not apt to get nervous about the food supply if she has a ton of it.

At last count, on Moving Day, there are six remaining pups, out of eight. Two are runty. One T-Moth has called Speedy, because it’s always zooming around, always on the wheel. The other I am calling Algernon, because honestly I believe it’s developmentally impaired. It can walk, and eat, and all that…but it rarely walks, and I rarely see it. I almost removed it from the cage a week ago because it was so lethargic, I thought it was dead. But when I petted it, it blinked. I hurried and put it back, sure it would die because I had touched it too soon, but when I moved them to the tub, Algernon was still with us.

If s/he lives, I’m keeping that one.

On hamster moving day, I sifted through the nursery bedding over and over and over and over. I didn’t want to risk missing anyone.

It feels wrong to have hamsters living in a tub, but I didn’t want the pups squeezing out through the bars, and I understand breeders often keep them in tubs. In fact, the woman from whom I got Zandy and Lita had them in a tub. I like the free-standing wheel, and that I can just reach in and remove it for cleaning. That’s only one day of hamster mess in the video!

The water tower is a combination of an idea I had, and T-Moth’s misunderstanding of that idea. I really like it, but the hole needs to be up about another ince to keep the bedding from wicking away water. I used one of those side-cut can openers, so there are no sharp edges.

I’m not wild about the brown bedding in combination with the brown-and-gray critters, but it came free with Zandy’s cage, so you know I’m not going to waste it.

They sure got big fast.

thankful thursday

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I am pooped. I was up half the night playing with the mp3 player Mr Moth bought cheap from a fellow at work. I finally have an mp3 player that can handle audio books.

I’m fairly certain Lita had babies last night. I can’t see them, because she built her nest high, but yesterday she was enormous and today she’s her skinny li’l self. Furthermore, I hear squeaking. Wee tiny squeaking.

I’m changing Zanny’s name to Zandy, which is what I wanted to name her/him in the first place, but Zor insisted that was a boy’s name. Since for Lita to have babies, Zanny has to be a boy…yeah. Zandy. I separated them over a week ago after Lita bit Zanny Zandy and made her him bleed. Haha, I guess I know why now.

A plus on another topic, it’s cool enough to wear long pants today. Which is good, considering that’s what’s clean!

Oh, and it’s my mommy’s birthday. She’s 71. She’s still teaching me things, and there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful for her.

calendars

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This back-to-school gig is a lot harder than I thought it would be…kinda like when you think you know what the exhaustion is going to be like, and then you have a baby. I’ve had my blogging client open for days but have been too tired to type anything coherent into it.

Housework? Exercise? Writing? Not happening. I’ve got to figure out a way to get on top of those things. One of my biggest challenges is figuring out what calendar/planner works best for me. I like google calendar, but when half the world insists I turn off my cell phone, how do I access my calendar?

I tried a regular monthly pocket calendar, but the blocks are too tiny for all the things (assignments) I need to write in them. I think a weekly planner is going to be better. Maybe. Switching it back and forth from my bookbag to my purse is just another thing I’m going to forget to do.

Can’t I please just leave my phone on? I promise not to answer it, talk on it, or text with it. I just need to see my calendar.

updates

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Critter Update:

Lita in her Cage-Cleaning Bucket

Zanny and Lita have grown.  They squeak and squabble a lot.  Zanny is heftier, and lets Lita have her way about all things.  Z also zooms the exercise wheel so vigorously, the cage scoots across the shelf where they live, imperceptibly, until I notice it’s moved half an inch and put it back.  Lita is less friendly, and less substantial in my hand.  Her soft gray fur makes holding her like holding a wisp of fog, although I think she may be picking up a little.  She doesn’t like having the cage cleaned out.  After cleaning, I won’t see her for a day.  Zanny runs upstairs to the dining room when she hears me, and no longer cringes when my hand is coming toward her.  She’ll sit on my bosom and be stroked.

Leta tries, but as soon as I pick her up, she freaks and tries to squirt out of my hand.  That’s why their last names are now Squirt, lol.  Also, they are squirts.

The rodent sisters kick out quite a few seeds, but not as many as Dmitri did.  I brush the kickouts onto the floor and Cobie and Kelly hoover them up for me.

Writing Update:

I stopped, for now, the pre-writing, and began…chapter one?  Except thinking in chapters doesn’t come naturally to me.  With godlight I added the chapter divisions after I started submitting things to my critique group, and I cheated a little by just dividing wherever the point of view changes.  So, let’s say I began the first scene.  Scenes make sense to me:  goal, obstacle, disaster.

I began the first scene and then fizzled.  I’m just not there, in the story world yet.  I want to be, and I will be.  I wish I were stronger about it, and could say, I am a writer, and I make no excuses!  I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow myself right into the story!

But yeah, no.  That’s not happening.

School Update:

Zor and I got our books.  Because the powers that be aren’t releasing our student loan funds until sometime after the quarter actually begins, we had to pay $20 each to get a “temporary loan,” which irritated me two-fold.  First because all loans are temporary, duh; if they were permanent they’d be grants.  Second because it feels like a racket to charge us again to borrow the money we already paid to borrow.

Anyhow, I shelled out $340 for three books, two of them used.  Zor’s books were over $600.  That whirring sound you hear is my Scot ancestors whirling in their graves like gyroscopes.

For now, I must fly.  I’m going to write something today even if someone dies in the attempt.  I hope not me.  That would put a major crimp in my plans.

 

kong stuffing

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Or, how I spent my morning instead of writing.

First, take two Kongs, one per dog.  Block up the small ends with little pieces of Slim Jims that I keep frozen for just such usage.  Then fill them with a layer of peanutbutter and a layer of not-the-usual kibble.  I’m presently using some Beneful I got on sale.  It’s easier to stsuff them with the Kongs propped upright.  I use coffee mugs.  They’re the perfect size.

Next, microwave them, still in the cups.  Cobie and Kelly watched this procedure anxiously.  Kelly got herself all in a blur.

I did the black Kongfor a minute, because black heats up faster, and the blue one for a minute and a half.  When they came out, they looked like this:

I topped them up with more peanut butter and popped them in the freezer.  They’ll last much longer when the melty peanut butter hardens, and I like them to last.  To stave off disappointment in the meanwhile, I offered up the spoon:

And since Cobie was being a greedo–surely not because I accidentally cut off the top of his head in the last shot–and was crowding out Kelly, I put the camera (my phone) down and gave her some peanut butter on my finger.

I did write later…or actually, outlined.  Outlining is not writing, but it has to be done, at least by me.  Between outlining and typing this, I’ve reached lunchtime, so I’m off to find some noms.