What's Happening

What's been going on around here? Well, I'm trying the puppy thing again. I got a chihuahua puppy tonight after work. Mom and Dad are puppysitting for me until Friday evening. Friday after work I'm going to get my puppy, named Phoebe, and bring her home. I hope Fritz and Steffi get along well with her. Fritz is a very jealous dog. Tonight I rubbed a towel all over Phoebe and brought it home. Then I sat on the floor with the towel and rubbed the towel up against Fritz and Steffi and told them that Phoebe loves them. I petted Steffi and Fritz a lot while letting them sniff the towel. I'm hoping they will associate Phoebe's smell with all the attention I'm giving them. That might make them more accepting of Phoebe. I'm also thinking that if Phoebe works out, I might have her have a litter of puppies before I get her fixed. She wasn't cheap (being AKC registered and all) and puppies would be a way to recoup some of my money. I have Mom and Dad puppysitting because I want to do the House Train Your Dog in Seven Days method and I won't be home all day until Saturday. At first I was thinking I would take all next week off from work. But I am really concerned that I will not want to go back to work if I have 9 straight days off, so I think on Thursday and Friday I might go into work and work from 8am to Noon for those two days. It won't interfere with the training as I have already worked out a schedule for Phoebe to follow.

Mom has plenty of time to puppysit since she can't get on the internet. Her computer is still broken and she still doesn't have her recovery disk. I was at Walmart this morning buying a baby gate for the puppy and I checked out the computers they had. The cheapest one was over $450.00. That's a lot of money. One month of Mom's medical insurance is probably that much.

I got to Mom and Dad's house with Phoebe tonight around 6pm. Mom and Dad had the door open waiting for me and they started grinning and cooing over Phoebe. Phoebe looks a lot like Susie, Mom's chihuahua who died a few years ago. Susie is also Steffi's mom. Phoebe looks gray in real life, but in pictures she looks red. I took Phoebe to the vet tonight for a physical since I got her from a pet store and the Vet says she is a healthy and good dog. She weighs 4.1 pounds, which surprised me. My ASPCA Guidebook of Dogs book says a chihuahua would only be between 2 and 6 pounds. I think Phoebe is going to be bigger than that. She's only 14 weeks old.

If Phoebe works out, I'll post a picture or two of her. I really hope Fritz and Steffi make up with her.

Nashville Star

Well, I taped Nashville Star Tuesday night. But, I thought it was only on for an hour so I apparently missed a half an hour of it. Luckily, USA showed the episode this morning so I got to see the whole thing and didn't have to watch the tape. I did tape the Dr. Who episode that aired last night. I was busy watching the Golf channel and didn't get to see most of the episode, just the last few minutes.

Another weekend - Yay!!! I baked a cake tonight. It's a low fat cake. I got in the floor and played with the dogs a bit. Called Mom and talked to her for a bit. She asked me about Dell computers. Since hers won't work, I guess she's thinking of buying one. It's a shame she would have to. I was planning to make the recovery disks for my computer - I have to burn the info onto cds. Well, I didn't know I needed 10 of them to burn a copy of the recovery disks. So, I have to go back to Walmart and get some more - I only have 5.

I watched Martha Stewart's show tonight. I think she really, really likes country singer Josh Turner. She gushed over him the way she does that soap opera guy who's always on her show.

Attack Dog Fritz

Tonight, I took the dogs out when I went to turn the outside light on. I looked out into the yard and saw the black and white stray cat staring at Curly, the gray cat. So, I said, "Go get the cat Fritz. The black one, not the gray one." And Fritz went after the stray cat. In fact, he pinned the cat into a hole in the hay shed. I had a hard time getting him and Steffi away from the cat. I heard the cat screeching and I figured Fritz was going to get scratched. But eventually I got them away and the cat ran off. If I'm lucky, the stray cat will stay gone. She eats my catfood. The gray cat, in the meantime, had caught a mole and was munching away. I really am shocked that Curly hunts. While the dogs were out, I took the digital camera outside and took a few pictures. They didn't turn out too well because it was getting dark outside. Oh well. It's still neat to have the camera.

Snow

We had snow and sleet overnight. I had parked my car at the road again so I wouldn't have to worry about driving it down the hill. Well, I should have left it up here at the house. Once I got down to my car this morning I had to brush off all the snow, then pry the car doors open (they were frozen shut) and then I had to scrape the ice off the windshields. I was frozen good. Luckily I had some of those hand warmer things you put inside gloves. They warmed up my hands some. My feet, however, stayed cold for a long while.

TV

I actually watched some of American Idol last night. I didn't think I was going to watch it this time, but there wasn't anything else on. Barry Manilow was on there last night. I can't believe he had never heard of Patsy Cline and Walkin' After Midnight. Hopefully he will take a closer look at country music now that he's been exposed to it. I still think Nashville Star contestants are better singers than American Idol contestants. I taped Nashville Star last night. I can't stay up until 11pm during the week. I'm thinking of taping the new NBC show Heist tonight. It looks interesting. The only problem is that I never watch what I tape. I'm bad about that.

PC Update

Mom still can't get online. Her computer is still in safe mode. And since we've had snow and it's been cold, Mom can't come up to my house to use my computer. The cold is hard on her as she is on oxygen. Tonight she had me look on ebay to see if we could buy a recovery disk since she no longer has one. I found some boot/recovery disks but I don't know if they are what we need. What we need is what we don't have. I told her she might have to take it to a local computer repair shop but that could cost who knows how much. And with her and dad on a fixed income with a lot of prescriptions to buy every month, she doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend. It's a shame that she is paying for internet access that she can't use.

Monday Recap

I weighed myself this morning and apparently, a pound of peanut butter easter egg, biscuits and butter, and nearly a whole loaf of pepperoni rolls all adds up to 2.4 pounds. That's what I ate extra last week. Not too bad considering the two easter eggs were a big indulgence. I finished up my laundry today, found some recipes on the internet that I may never use because of this diet. I took my car down to the main road tonight to park it in case we get the one to two slushy inches of snow the weatherman is calling for. I worked out today too.

Food Channel Faux Pas

Today, both Giada and Paula Deen had a recipe for fried cheese ravioli. Probably not good tv programming etiquette there.

Dr. Who

Dr. Who is now on the Sci Fi Channel. My sister was always the big Dr. Who fan, but I thought I would check it out today and I got to see the first two episodes. It's prety good. I could really like the ninth doctor, Christopher Eccleston. Unfortunately, he leaves after one season as pretty much all the doctors do. That sucks. I just know I'm going to really, really like him by the end of the season, if I watch the rest of the episodes.

A Good Day Off

Today I made some chicken noodle soup. I also sprinkled some borax into the carpet to start the war against the fleas that I'm going to be fighting this year. People on the internet say that borax kills fleas and flea eggs. It must do something because the dogs won't lay anywhere near it. I worked out and watched some golf on tv. And I bathed the dogs. Fritz caught onto me and took off into the pasture. I couldn't get him. Eventually he did get his bath. And I got one too thanks to him. But mine didn't really get me clean. I am protected for the next 5 to 10 days against fleas though. And I've also had a chance to see some of the movie, 13 Going on 30. It's playing on one of the channels I get. It's a funny movie. I had to turn the channel though when the bad girl tries to ruin the good girl's life. I hate that part in movies.

Shopping

I went shopping today and bought some clothes. I need new clothes now that I'm skinny. I hope to add some things as the year progresses.

I bought some photo albums to store the pictures I'm going to take with my new digital camera. I already have some pictures in there.

I also bought a couple of necklaces that were on clearance.

Before I got to shop I went by mom and dad's. Mom's computer is on the blink. It won't exit out of safe mode and it says something about using the original windows disk that came with the computer. Well, that disk was sent to my sister in Florida. It'd be a shame if my parents, who are on a fixed income now, would have to buy a new computer because theirs can't be fixed. I told mom she can come here and use my internet access anytime she wants.

And I got a surprise today when I went to cash in my winning lottery ticket from Wednesday's drawing. I thought I had only won $1.00 but in fact I won $2.00. That's good. I got two more lottery tickets with the winnings. I have a feeling I won't be winning any more for a while.

Got 'Em

I got the camera, the memory card for the camera and worm medicine for Steffi today. Mom called me at work to tell me that it had all been delivered today and I picked everything up after work. The camera's charging up right now.

I'm making biscuits right now. I'm on a bread kick right now.

I'm glad this week is almost over. I have Monday off. I need a break.

Cake

I made a cake tonight. I had an urge to cook. The cake is lowfat. It has egg beaters in place of eggs and applesauce in place of the oil and powdered milk in place of regular milk.

Impulse Buy

I just ordered the first season of I Dream of Jeannie on dvd from walmart.com. It was completely impulsive because I had just seen an interview with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman on CNN. Unfortunately, the show ran for 5 seasons, which means I will be buying dvds for a while. I would like to get Dr. Quinn or McGyver but I'd be in the poor house if I bought those two complete sets.

Weight Check

I weighed myself this morning. 121.8 pounds. That's excellent considering I haven't worked out in two weeks and I was eating biscuits and butter and pepperoni rolls. This chicken noodle soup diet seems to work wonders. I worked out tonight but didn't do 300 calories.

Some Weekend

This is supposed to be time off from work - unfortunately, I've just substituted home work for work work. I worked out today. I made chicken noodle soup last night (and washed those dishes), I cooked a turkey breast for Steffi, bagged it up and washed those dishes today, I fried hamburger for Steffi and Fritz so they could get their worm medicine and washed those dishes, I did laundry today and folded and put away those clothes, cleaned the bathtub. But at least I wasn't at work. And I've done a few things that were definitely not work related. I took a nap yesterday. Today I found some recipes on the foodtv website and put them in my recipe book, watched some golf. I got to watch Nero Wolfe last night on the Biography channel. I wish the weather could have been better so I could have taken the dogs out, but we got rain instead of snow so I can't complain much about the weather.

Oh, and I won $5.00 in the lottery last night. That was a nice surprise.

It's About Time

I am finally getting back on the treadmill after the last two weeks of being sick and having a sick dog to take care of. I worked out today and did over 3 miles and over 400 calories on the treadmill. I hope to stick to it for a while.

Picture This

I bought a digital camera. I went to walmart this morning before work and they had a bunch of boxes blocking my path to the digital cameras. So, I thought they had gotten some in. I went back this evening and checked the case, and didn't see any. I then decided that I'd had enough of people and just got a gift card and put some money on it. Went home and used the gift card to order a camera from walmart.com. I did buy a purse while at Walmart tonight. I wanted something a little more springlike than what I have now. My new purse is blue denim. I like it.

A New Blog

I've added a new blog to the Blogs of Note section. Check out Mountaineer's Musings.

Paying for Local Channels

Finally, it's paid off. There is a Barry Manilow concert on one of the local pbs channels that I can't get with my broadcast antenna. The satellite dish has come in handy this time.

I came home right after work today. It was nice and warm and I wanted to take the dogs out. They don't get out enough when I have to work all day.

I made biscuits tonight. They turned out really well.

Shopping

I went to walmart tonight to finally buy the digital camera. Guess what happened. The only one they had in stock was the display model. There is one that's supposed to be shipped to them in the next few days so I have to check back then. So, I bought some other things while I was there. A water dish for the dogs and cats, a couple of packets of seeds for the summer garden, a pair of workout shorts and a traders' guide (newspaper of things want or want to sell).

I wore my new fleece jacket after work today. It was too cold this morning, but I carried the jacket with me.

His Girl Friday

I'm sure this is a great movie. A classic. It's on tv right now and I watched the first few minutes of it. Cary Grant got on my nerves so badly that I couldn't watch more than those first few minutes.

I'm watching the Tennis Channel tonight since the Golf channel was sucking up to Tiger Woods. There's a player being interviewed on the Tennis Channel named Max Mirnyi. This man has to be very tall. They have him sitting in a chair that is way too small for him. His knees are sticking out and he has to be uncomfortable. I feel bad for him.

I got to work out tonight. I did about a half an hour on the treadmill. I thought I'd better take it slow my first time back in over a week. I'm still coughing some.

At some point I do plan to get back to Walmart to possibly buy a digital camera. I've been seriously thinking of buying one for a while and I actually looked at them Monday night. Maybe I'll stop in tomorrow night after work.

It's supposed to warm up some this week and get up to 70. I can't wait. I bought a fleece jacket on clearance at Walmart Monday night. It needs to warm up so I can wear it.

Steffi is doing ok. She still has pills to take. I think she's got about a day's worth of the white pills to take, but maybe 4 or 5 more days of the yellow pills.

Feeling Better

I think I'm getting over the cold. I should be able to get back on the treadmill tomorrow. I took the dogs out for a bit today. The neighbor's german shepherd was once again out there. If I didn't throw like a girl, I'd be trying to throw things at him to run him off.

I made some biscuits this afternoon. I really want to make a cake or brownies or something, but I chose biscuits instead - less dirty dishes and there's no sugar in biscuits. I also made some chicken noodle soup to eat this week. I got a pack of Mom and Dad's hamburger from the freezer to fry up for Steffi since she has about three or four more days of pills to go. That hamburger came from a cow I knew personally, so I don't eat it. But Steffi doesn't care.

I'm feeling like I should be making a conscious effort to do something. I don't know what. But with the nice sunny early spring weather we've had today and with some news I had this past week, I'm thinking I should start something new; make some kind of commitment. I'm sure this will pass as I get back to work and all this pleasantness is replaced with the suckiness of work.

2nd Success

The mashed potatoes turned out pretty good. I didn't get enough salt in them, but you can always add salt. I gave some of them to Mom and Dad.

Steffi's paw doesn't appear to be hurt that badly. She took off after a German Shepherd this evening.

I took a bit of a nap today after lunch, trying to get back some of the sleep that I've been missing out on because of this cold. As usual, night-time means the cold gets worse than it's been during the day. I hope I get over this soon.

Dad got my old 13 inch tv to work. The sound had stopped working on it so I went and bought a new one. He's now tinkering with an old dvd player I had. I forget now what was wrong with it.

First Success With the Ricer

I haven't made the mashed potatoes yet. I had some apples that were going to go bad so I made homemade applesauce. The ricer worked great. I can't wait to try the potatoes. The applesauce is pretty good. I plan to give some of it to my parents.

Somehow Steffi managed to hurt her left front paw. I don't know what's wrong with it, but she's limping. I'm going to watch her the next few days and see if it gets better or worse.

Last night wasn't the best of nights. I went to bed around 9pm. About 12:30am I woke up and didn't get back to sleep until after 3am. Around 3am I got up and took some cold pills and ate a Special K cereal bar. Sat up about 15 minutes looking at the Lakeside Collection catalog I got in the mail yesterday. Then I went back to bed. I actually fell asleep and got about three good hours of sleep after that. I'm feeling a little better. I think the coughing is helping.

Well, I think if I keep coughing, no matter how uncomfortable it is, I might get over this cold. I've been coughing deliberately today and I think it's helping. It's not doing my throat a bit of good, but I guess that's a small price to pay.

I went shopping today. This morning I went to walmart and I had every intention to return this evening after I went to the bank, but I just decided to skip it and go grocery shopping instead. I bought some potatoes for my first use of the potato ricer. I can't wait to use it. The store had turkey breast on sale for $0.99 a pound so I got one. I also bought more hamburger so I can sneak Steffi her pills.

Speaking of Steffi, I let her out when I got home today and she was in the yard for a while but it only took a second for her to disappear. Where did she go? Into the pasture, probably on her way to find the dreaded rotten bones that made her sick on Sunday. I had to change out of my dress shoes and chase after her, calling her name with my pitiful cold-plagued throat and voice. I finally got her to come back to the house.

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman......

I got my potato ricer in the mail today! I picked it out and Mom ordered it for me from Target.com. I paid her back. The picture of the ricer made it look small, but when I got it out of the box, I discovered it was pretty big. I'm glad I didn't get one of the expensive ones. What was weird though was that the ricer was in a box that fit it pretty well, then that box was put inside a really big box. They must own stock in box companies.

I still have this stupid cold. I'm better than I was Monday, but I don't feel like I'm better than yesterday. I hope I get over it soon.

Steffi is doing better. The pills aren't sticking in the hamburger that well, but she's still getting her medicine.

Update on Steffi

Steffi is doing a lot better. Monday night, Tuesday and this morning I had to wrestle her down to give her the medicine, but tonight I fried up some hamburger and hid the pills inside and fed Steffi the hamburger. I didn't fry the pills, I added the pills after the cooking was done.

I am still sick, but I'm getting better little by little.