Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Close to Perfect, Far from Ordinary

Our summer vacation is underway!

I booked our flight to Key West today!!!

Got the itinerary for my mom, so she can join us for a couple/few days, too!

Just need to review our accommodation options and get something reserved!

Ahhhhhh....sun, sand and alcohol ~~ here we come!

"You can't drink all day, if you don't start in the morning!"

Monday, April 15, 2013

Surprise!

I am leaving on a jetplane next Monday for a surprise and quick trip. 

I get to meet a new little person...
I get to see a couple of my favorite little girls...
I get to see some of my favorite "old" people...

It will be good for my soul!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Good Reads

As usual, I have been reading books from the library.  I have been forgetting to write my recommendations here, however.

So, three that I have consumed recently are:

"The Truth About Love & Lightning" by Susan McBride
"How I Got My Sparkle Back" by Kaya McLaren
"When Autumn Leaves" by Amy Foster

Of the three, my favorite is Amy Foster's.  It is set around magickal women, so...no brainer, right?  ;)

I am now reading Susan McBride's "Little Black Dress" and while I am only 1/4 into it, I think I will like it and am just going to recommend it here, too.

When finished with "LBD", I will start on "The Book of Lost Fragrances" by MJ Rose.

My reading list contains:
"The Love Goddess' Cooking School" by Melissa Senate
"The Cougar Club" by Susan McBride
"The Queen of Bedlam" by Robert McCammon

I previously read McCammon's "Speaks the Nightbird", which is amazing!  It is long, for those of you who may like quick reads, but I guarantee it is worth the timel!!!  "The Queen of Bedlam" is the 2nd of 3 books for the series.  I am a bit behind, as I now see "Queen" came out in 2007 and the third installment, "Mister Slaughter" in 2010!!!

I like to jump all over with my readings, tho.  By looking for one of the two books I currently have on hand, I stumbled upon McCammon's "Queen" and remembered how much I loved the first book!  Serendipitous, I think.

Sisterly Love?

To my utmost surprise, Luna did not take well to Isis upon her return. 

She would hiss at her!  What?!?

She wanted nothing to do with Isis!!  Huh???

Fortunately, things are getting better. 

I have caught sight of Luna sniffing Isis.  I suspect Isis had scents on her from Purdue that Luna didn't know or like and they were masking Isis' personal scent.  

Chris & I aren't getting a full nite's sleep, however.  We are sleeping in the loft, so that both girls can have free run of the house to access the litter box and their food and, most importantly, for Isis to not sneak into bed and lay on us.  We can't have much contact with her until April 19th (a full 2 weeks), which is hard on all of us.  I KNOW she wants to be cuddled and I do my best to show her affection-from-afar...or sometimes, not so far.

Anyway, Isis begins to roam & whine about 1:30AM, giving us about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Chris and I are taking turns who gets up with her.  I didn't sleep from 1:30-3:30 the other nite b/c she would only lay with me a short-time before roaming and whining again.  (I am suspecting she wants Chris and I both...like it should be...like she remembers...like SHE wants!!!)  Chris can sleep thru the whining, so last nite, he shut the bedroom door and just let her do her thing while he slept.  Luna and I remained in the loft!! 

This 2 weeks of precautions is actually tougher than the almost 2 weeks she was away from us. 

Now, who is going to mainline me some caffeine??!!

Friday, April 5, 2013

New Ink

I almost forgot.

Chris and I got new tattoos last Saturday!!

That's #2 for him and #6 for me...in case anyone was keeping count! 

Chris got a very small nautical star on the top of his right foot.  He said it hurt pretty badly. 

I got an almost 6" tall seahorse wearing a crown on my right side.  While I will never say tattoos don't hurt and there were times that were more difficult than others, this one didn't hurt near as much as I had feared!  It is all black and Juli, my tattooist, was very particular about making sure she got it all filled in.  Additionally, I asked her to touch up part of the lotus flower that is part of my left foot tattoo she did May 2011.  Well, she saw other areas she felt could be improved and almost redid the entire thing!  That was unexpected and really awesome!!! 

My tattoos took far longer than Chris's, so he had some waiting.  He watched Juli do my side and I caught him cringing sometimes!  Most of the time, tho, I just laid there with my eyes closed and tried to think about anything other than the tattooing process.

I am thrilled with mine, as is Chris.  I'm in the peeling stage right now, so it won't be super super black for much longer. 

Now...work extra hard on my abs!! 

Bringing Us Back to 4

As the sun rises tomorrow morning, we will hit the road, headed to Purdue to pick up Isis!!!

She had a tough start when she arrived because she didn't want to eat, which is very typical for her.  Plus, she had been off her thyroid medication for a week and that messes with her appetite, too.

Fortunately for her and us, we got an amazing 4th-year vet student, Josh.  He took an instant liking to Isis and gave her extra attention, pre-injection.  Initially, he thought she wanted to be left alone (she is rather shy and most skittish around strangers), so he didn't get to hands-on with her.  But when she didn't seem to be doing better, and she had to be eating on her own before they would inject her with the I131, he started to be more attentive, which Isis apparently loved!!! 

So, from Monday afternoon, when we dropped her off, to Thursday afternoon, when she got her injection, she could be handled, cuddled, etc. all the time.  After the injection, it's a different story.  She is then placed in isolation for the radioactivity levels to dissipate.  She was visited by techs and a doctor (maybe 2), all suited up in precautionary attire.  And, Josh informed me that he would go in there, too, AND he would pet her, even tho it was forbidden!  (He just couldn't help himself!  She's quite the bewitcher, our girl!!)

She kept up her appetite and eating habits pretty well while in isolation.  She has seemed to be eating a bit less the past day, tho, which Josh says is expected with the isolation.

She was scanned this morning and her levels are low enough to bring her home!!  I wish we could have jumped right in the car and gone down this morning after receiving the call.  Unfortunately, Chris had a lunch meeting, followed by a late afternoon meeting.  Yes, wouldn't you know it?!?  Chris had nothing all week long...but meetings are scheduled for a Friday...THIS particular Friday! 

It will be an early nite for us (ok..really, pretty much every nite is an early one for us...HA!), so we can be up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to hit the road for our hour and a half drive each way to get our baby!

During this almost 2 weeks, we enjoyed Easter at Aunt Nita's.  It was a rather subdued holiday gathering as we were missing some people.  I tried a couple new recipes:  Hummingbird Cake and a cheesy-topped cucumber.  (One of the cukes must have gone bad b/c it tasted chemically...I guess it's a good thing that not many were eaten while there b/c we sat down for the meal almost immediately!)

We have continued to go to the gym.  Altho, I haven't made circuit class twice a week either week!  UGH!  The gym is closed tonite for weigh-ins for HFC 15 and we intended to get a class in tomorrow morning, but looks as if I will only end up with 3 days at the gym this week, too, since I missed Tuesday.  I'll get 4 next week...even with Kara's fight on Thursday!

Still working on plane tickets to Key West (please, oh, please, have them come back to the cheap $655 for 2 I saw once!!). 

Sending my sister, Kelley, ideas for her wedding. 

Got to see Casey Isaac playing with Kennedy Harper (Kelley sent a pic to my phone, so it was small, but I was included, nonetheless). 

Waiting for the warm and dry weather, so we can do some outdoor stuff. 

Reading library books & catching some movies.  I recommend "The Truth about Love & Lightning" to read and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Magic Mike" to see!  

Tomorrow will be busy with our long drive, but this time we get to come home with Isis, & our long nite at the fights.  Sunday, we will do our usual cleaning & laundry and, I hope, get outside to remove stuff from all the planters and boxes, perhaps have a small bonfire.  It will be very low-key to get Isis re-familiarized with her surroundings and her crazy little sister, who is going to be soooo soooo happy to have her playmate back!


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