Before I get lost in the brilliance of LOST...

I thought I should update. I meant to yesterday, but I had some unexpected database work to do instead. I also spent a couple of hours trying to track down a problem with what I thought was our network. We store all our data on drives that are downstairs, hooked up to the office computers. Our mapped network drives to this storage kept mysteriously dropping and not allowing me to access them no matter what. It's been driving me crazy, because so many times I need to get at or save data/pictures, and I can't because of this issue. I finally tracked down that it's a problem with Vista, which is what we have on our laptops. Yet one more way Vista proves it's a piece of crap! I found a fairly simply registry hack that is supposed to fix it. It seems to be working so far, but we'll see if this holds up. I have NO faith in Vista, as it's really poorly designed and full of bugs. Damn Microsoft.

We had another beautiful day today, so L. and I were able to do much of our homeschooling work out on the patio. Once we finished up with today's work, we stayed outside until it was time for me to get ready for class. I can't believe my semester is almost over! L. rode her bike, and I got some weeding done. Our tulips are blooming (those that the critters didn't eat), so the yard is bright and cheerful. We enjoyed walking around the yard looking at the gardens and also checked on our mommy bird, who appears to have 3, maybe 4, eggs in the nest. They haven't hatched yet.

My baby wants leg warmers. Leg warmers! I will admit to participating in some hideous 1980’s fashion, but even then, I never wore or owned leg warmers. I had enough sense to see that they were not only stupid looking but just plain stupid! I plan to try to forget I ever heard this request. If she really wants them badly enough, she will find a way to make her own. She already asked me if she could cut the feet and the tops off some of her tights. I explained that they would unravel if they were cut. I’m hoping the new baseball obsession takes her mind off this awful trend.

She is now officially signed up for a baseball league. She talked her daddy into taking her to Target Tuesday night, while I was teaching class, to buy baseball gear. I came home from class to find them in the back yard with a pretty pink aluminum bat and several pink baseballs. She is happy to use her sister’s old glove (which has already been conditioned), so they didn’t purchase a new glove. She was hitting and throwing quite well, considering she’s never played baseball before. Her season doesn't start until June 2, so she has plenty of time to work on her skills before then.

I took Ivan and Oliver to the vet on Monday. As I suspected, they both have urinary tract infections. The joy of boy cats! So they’re back on Clavamox twice a day. Those two are not pleasant to pill. Both of them are able to somehow make it look like it’s swallowed—I hold their mouth, wait, check to see that they are opening it and licking their lips normally—then I still find their pill somewhere around the house later. The sour cream is all licked off it of course. Oliver is also really good at sensing when I’m going to pill him and running away and hiding. I have to go through these increasingly elaborate fake outs to even have a chance at him. I can’t repeat my fake outs either, because he remembers. This really forces my brain to be much more creative than it’s made to be prior to 7 am when I have to give the morning dose. The night dose goes a little easier for me, though.

Tica also went to the vet with us Monday, so she could meet her new doctors and to get her looked over. She’s healthy, other than her leg, and although she's definitely on the thin side, it's better for her to stay that small because of the stress on her good back leg. They shaved her stomach and looked very carefully for any signs of a spay scar but could not find one. She will go in for her spay on Thurs. 5/15. They will have a bit of a challenge trying to spay with her funky right leg, as it doesn't spread open and will impede their access somewhat. They promised that they would be able to make it work without causing her any physical trauma--I don't want her any more sore than she will be as a result of the spay. They felt her age to be around 2 yrs.

Her unusual leg really intrigued them, so I ended up with all three doctors examining it. They agreed that she seemed to be in no pain, and they also agreed that leaving it as it is would be best for her. They took X-rays and found the strangest thing: at some point, quite a while ago, someone tried to put pins in it to correct it. They said it was done badly and was wrong (which is why it didn't work) and the pins had been absorbed into the bone. The pins aren't bothering her--they do no harm and no good, as they are now. They were not 100% certain but felt that, based on the x-rays, it looked like it was an injury, rather than a birth defect. It was pulled out of socket and completely rotated around 180 degrees. We were all shocked by the pins and just blown away by the weirdness of the whole situation.

She is terrified of just about everything! She loves love, and she loves people, but everything else is very scary to her. I can understand why, the poor little bug! We are working VERY slowly on socialization. I am bringing Oliver into her room for 5-10 minutes each night. He is infallibly sweet and kind to all, no matter what, so he's perfect to help her learn that cats won't hurt her. She hisses and growls and is clearly scared beyond belief, and he continues to give her very sweet looks and never gets aggressive back. She has quite a fierce little growl for such a tiny girl! She's comfortable in Luciana's room now and has stopped being afraid of all the inanimate objects in there. I also bring her into our bed with us for a while in the evening, and she seems comfortable there, too. We're working on the rest of the house. For a portion of the evening, I carry her in a sling (like I did with my babies and Lila when she was little). She rides pretty calmly, looking around at everything with giant eyes. I know it will take a LONG time and a lot of work, but I am very excited for the day that she won't be afraid of anything or anyone in our house. She enjoys catnip but has no clue what to do with cat toys. I finally got her interested in one fishing-pole type toy with feathers on the end. She doesn't chase it yet or play with it as it's meant to be played with, but if I hold it still with the feathers right near her paws, she will quickly put her paws on top of the feather and look pretty satisfied with herself. It's a start and already an improvement, so I'm sure she'll be romping around, hoarding, hiding, and destroying toys (and the rest of the house) like the rest of the cats.




I discovered something HORRIBLE when I left work on Wednesday. My Flying Spaghetti Monster "jesus fish" type thing was stolen from off my car! I loved that. It made me very happy. Now it's gone, and I can't justify spending another $10 when it may just as easily get stolen again. What kind of beast steals a FSM fish?! May whoever did that be touched by his noodly appendage--and not in a good way! Ramen.