number 38

i'm lazy. there. i said it. i blog more often with crap on myspace and it just happens to be more convenient. but i love blogger so much more. and i feel like i'm cheating. so i'm here for the ubitquitous update on life since.... checking last blog date....oooh july 18. sorry.

so the news since july 18:
Kip likes to scrub his face with St Ives Apricot Scrub. It helps reduce ingrown hairs when he shaves. (or so he says; i really don't have a problem with the fact that my husband exfoliates more than i do...)
at the end of july, kip got some apricot scrub in his left eye by accident; rinsed it out; didn't think anything of it. next day, his eye looks like an atomic fireball. CHERRY red. he decides to get some "alternative" herbal homeopathic (read: WASTE OF MONEY) eye drops for pink eye relief. fake eye drops provide no relief.
fast forward 2 days: kip's eye starts to burn. we go to emergency room. emergency room PA looks at kip with blue light and fluorescent eye stain. i get to watch. (NEAT!) PA tells kip he has a corneal abrasion, go see the opthamologist.
we go see opthamologist. he gets eye drops. expensive $50.00 eye drops.
fast forward 3 days: kip's eye doesn't have improvement. dr thinks perhaps its bacterial AND viral. VIRAL? like HERPES? *sigh* 2 new sets of drops, cheap ones, but mildy effective. bacterial subsides. kip gets light sensitive, to the point where he has to wear those huge black glasses shields (like old lady eye shields) anytime he's outside.
fast forward one week: bacterial flares up, viral still going strong. kip gets THIRD set of different eye drops, bacterial subsides, abrasion is healing. viral is still strong.
Fast Forward to Tuesday (aug. 21): kip goes back to opthamologist, gets referred to Pitt Eye Clinic. We go. and sit. and wait. we wait for 2 hours.
Dr Christopoulous is amazed at how weird kip's eye is... she can't tell what's going on.
so we get a "bandage" contact lens and instruction to stop all drops, except for one. then kip gets a prescription for Prednisone (steroid) drops. he turns into the HULK. HAHAHAHA. not really.
5 weeks after all this eye business starts, Kip is finally having improvement. at the end, both he and i were so stressed out over the eyeball and his discomfort, we actually discussed having his eye removed. okay, okay... so we were a little drunk...
so i looks like my husband will live.. for another day... and we are CONVINCED that the homeopathic eye drops are the culprit for the viral infection, as they are not FDA approved or regulated...

other news:
maggie turned 3
i got a new cell phone
my mom had surgery on her ear and is recovering
my niece went off to Clarion for the first time *sniff sniff*

number 37

oh me, oh my. I try not to get on the soap box, but Maggie is coming up on her 3rd birthday and I'm TIRED of the discrimination and the staring and the ill attitudes towards my baby.

Breed Specific Legislation and Breed Banning is FREAKING STOOPID. If Chevrolet drivers had more accidents than drivers of any other car, would you ban Chevrolet? If you wanted to reduce youth violence, would you stop having kids? NO.

Any dog, any breed, raised INCORRECTLY, can be a bad dog. I can't understand why certain breeds are singled out unnecessarily when its PERFECTLY obvious who's to blame. Bad OWNERS make bad dogs. Dogs are not inherently violent. Dogs are loyal animals who strive to achieve affection and attention from their owners. If you show any dog mean and vicious behavior, and ALLOW vicious behavior, then the dog will (surprise!) be vicious and mean.

Unfortunately, the media wants to portray these dogs in a negative manner. Headlines you probably haven't seen:

Pit Bull Risks Life to Save Child (Chicago, Sebastian)

Pit Bull Saves 30 People During Flood (Weela, Ken-L Ration's Dog Hero of the Year, 1993)

Pit Bull Nabs Felon, Commended by Police Chief (Coco and Team)

Pit Bull Search and Rescue Dogs Find Lost Person (Tahoe, Cheyenne and Dakota)

Pit Bull Saves Army Regiment and Captures German Spy (Stubby, America's first War Dog, and inspiration of the K-9 Corps)

I support PACK (ourpack.org), Pit Bull Lovers (pitbulllovers.com), Understand A Bull (understand-a-bull.com), BAD RAP (badrap.org). Please review these sites at your leisure and help support your friends and family from becoming victims of Breed Specific Legislation.

And of course, famous dogs, owners (and supporters) of the American Pit Bull Terrier:

Petey (from the Little Rascals), Fred Astaire, Michael J Fox, Jon Stewart, Helen Keller, Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, Rachael Ray, Madonna, John Steinbeck, Steve Irwin, Thomas Edison.

Who can resist such an ADORABLE FACE?

number 36

for shame on me....

i would have blogged but:
internet connections for reasonable prices=far and few between ($10 per hour!!!)
too busy doing fun stuff
worried about getting sand in the laptop
drinking heavily
suntan lotion aroma caused hallucinations

oh lets face it. you didn't care anyway! HA!

so while i was out and about:
*the Spurs swept the finals. 1 year ago i lamented their loss in the western conference. amazing what can happen in a year. ( i get married, go to hawaii (twice!) and the spurs make an amazing comeback. must be good juju)
*the stinky kitty (emi) grew about 8 inches taller and 2 inches wider. the kennel she stays at must inject her with fgh (feline growth hormone). hee hee.
*the mama raccoon birthed her babies about 3 weeks ago in the woods behind our house. now the babies are getting mobile and creeping up the hill to our backyard-- just enough to be within chasing distance (and licking distance) of the dog. ICK. nothing like preventative rabies vaccines and parasite dewormers to make a pet owner feel safe. :)
*i got a hella tan and no sunburn.
*i ate so much delicious food, i gained 3 pounds in 1 week. but it was SO worth it.
*i learned that i have a natural ability to surf. and surf well. i caught every single wave.
*i threw up in the pacific. in my snorkel tube. more on that later. maybe. it's pretty gross.
*i got to watch the gays on parade at queen's beach (no pun intended) for my last suntan in hawaii. i love the gays. except when they hit on my husband. don't make me pee on him, bitches. i'll mark my territory if i have to!
*jeeps rock. i forecast a trade in on the old civic.

i'll blog some more when i feel like it. i'm still on hawaii time. :)

number 35

it is what it is.
c'est la vie.
que sera sera.
such is life.

i'm running to keep up, and life is passing by again.

kp and i are finding ourselves rendered indispensible by our jobs; the frustration of work piling up around me as I try to leave the city for a week is enough to make me just say F it. peace i'm out. this is freaking redonkulous.
at what point did i stop working to make money? work is life. why is it my life?

i'm running hard, heart pulsing, breath shallow. muscles burn, arches ache.

i think about tuesday like a heroin addict dreams about the ultimate fix.

c'est la vie. this too, shall pass.

* note * the next blog will be written from the sunny sands of waikiki. sayonara suckers. :)

number 34

well my blogiversary came and went with little fanfare.. was there much to have? ;)

okay i'm a little leery of posting this for fear that one of you may call the ASPCA... but we've had another animal sickness in the house.
Oscar (the grey kitty) is now the most expensive free cat i've ever owned. We took him to the vet last saturday (apr 30) because i noticed blood in the litter box. Now, this cat has cried wolf for Urinary Tract Infections EVERY YEAR between march and may since we've had him... I take him in for what I assume to be a routine urinalysis and prescription... then the vet tech says, we should take an X-Ray, his bladder seems "rigid."
butterflies. this is out of the ordinary. i hear the Vet talking to the Tech on the other side of the exam room door: "I've never seen film like this.." "How can there be so many?" "This is a serious case of..."
Dr Dutra brought the x-ray image in- Oscar's bladder had several (and it appeared to be 10) stones, all settled at the opening of his urethra. One or two more days without treatment and he could have had kidney failure. (i'll do you all the favor and skip the 30 minute hysterical drama that ensued when I realized how sick he was)
Emergency surgery. Dr Dutra found 40 (that's right 4-0, 4x what we saw in the film) fragments of bladder stones. 34 hours later, a bare bellied baby came home to recouperate and begin a new life with prescription cat food and weight loss regimen.

fast forward 10 days (today) and Oscar has his staples removed. he's lost (in 10 days) a whopping 0.7 lbs! Hooray for the Meatball!

Now, before I began blaming myself for how he even got to this state of health, the vet has safely ruled the following:
1. the stones are naturally occuring in male cats, who also tend to have higher risk of UTI's
2. there wasn't a problem stemming from his original diet (except for the fact that he was fat)
3. it was NOT related to tainted Wheat Gluten
4. he has a chronic health problem that I couldn't have prevented with the exception of having bi-monthly urinalysis checks and bloodwork done.

So, we'll chalk up the $1200 surgery as a pet-rescue fee from 5 years ago and enjoy our cuddly grey meatball for at least 8 more lives...

PS. the greatest writing professor at Pitt- Lee Gutkind, made his first appearance on THE DAILY SHOW with Jon Stewart last night!
PPS. THE SPURS KICK ASS!!!! 1-0 against the Suns and I predict the Spurs in 5.

number 33

I wanna have the same last dream again
the one where I wake up and I'm alive
Just as the four walls close me within
my eyes are opened up with pure sunlight
I'm the first to know my dearest friends
even if your hope has burned with time
anything that's dead shall be re-grown
and your vicious pain, your warning sign
you will be fine.
(angels and airwaves)

things that have irritated me over the past week:
1. don imus being a complete retard
2. howard k stern pretending to the the father of anna nicole's baby
3. caring that howard k stern pretended to be the father of anna nicole's baby
4. bad out-of-town drivers that are in town for the pens and pirates games
5. snow. in APRIL.
6. losing my tulips, daffodils and crocuses to snow. IN APRIL!!!!!
7. dealing with dumb people at work. the"how did you get hired here?" type of dumb.
8. the fug girls making fun of Sarah Jessica Parker (don't you go there, bitches!)
9. no new episodes of Grey's Anatomy
10. snow. IN APRIL. after a week of 80-degree spring deliciousness.

things that have excited me over the past week:
1. charges dropped against the duke lacrosse players
2. justin called britney
3. our mayor is forming a young adults council to better the 'Burgh
4. i lost weight
5. mandi lost weight
6. delicious red wine
7. the spurs are #3 in the nba
8. howard stern supporting Sanjaya in American Idol. haha.
9. the new (read: FREAKING HARD) gym routine with Denise
10. and i'm 1 week closer to hawai'i!!!

my yin has yang and the circle of happiness is complete.

number 32

Hold your glass up, hold it in
Never betray the way you've always known it is
One day i'll be wondering how I got so old
just wondering how I never got cold
wearing nothing in the snow
This is way beyond my remote concern
Of being condescending
(the shins)

my blogiversary is approaching!!! Its hard to wrap my head around all the crazy and wonderful things that have happened in the past 12 months; it just seems that life becomes so surreal when i think about it in the grand scheme of things.

perhaps what i really must strive for in the next few months is clarification and direction. all too often i am just living in the moment, in a haze of simple existence, without becoming fully aware of who I am and what I am doing. Where am I going? How did I get here? Where does that highway go? (okay I totally stole that from Once in a Lifetime by the Talking Heads)

perhaps a little vacation will put some more perspective in my head. however, right now i am required to put spend management thoughts in my head.

find it. get it. keep it. this IS spend management. (where do they come up with this shtuff??)