The Blog Pound

Sunday, July 16, 2006 , evening

The 5 week mugshots

Here are this week’s kitten pics:

As a special bonus, here are this week’s rejected mugshot images:

Sometimes it’s like trying to get your kids to sit still at the Sears Portrait Studio.

I think the kittens are almost weaned. They all eat solid food (Liam is the only one who will eat dry kibble, the others eat canned), but two of them still ask for the bottle. They don’t want the bottle exclusively, just as a “side order”. Our last set of kittens were all weaned completely by this age, but I know I can’t rush it, and I’m trying to be patient with them. I hope their new family might be able to pick them up next Saturday, but I want to make sure they’re eating really well and consistently first. In the meantime, we’re enjoying watching them running and hopping, and being happy.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/16 at 08:30 PM
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Saturday, July 15, 2006 , late evening

Our new gate

When Flippy’s back got bad last autumn, we swore it was time to get a walk-through dog gate for the master bedroom. We keep a baby gate on the door so that Eli doesn’t eat Phoenix (we’re funny that way), and our usual technique is to walk over the gate ourselves, and to lift the small dogs over it when they want in or out. I permanently wedged the baby gate into the doorway with screws so it couldn’t be jostled or removed in any way, and we told ourselves that all that climbing over and lifting would keep us limber. It may have done that, but it definitely didn’t help Flippy’s back, and after her surgery it was “no more lifting” for her. I then took over all the lifting, always swearing, “We need a walk-through gate, we need a walk-through gate”, as my back also started to be discontent. Finally, we found the gate of our dreams: the Orvis tall wooden dog containment gate. It was pricey, but we bit the bullet and ordered it and wow, do we love it. We LOVE it. It’s beautiful to look at, it’s sturdy, and the gate swings open with just a squeeze of the handle. It’s also taller than our old gate (all the better to keep the big bad wolf’s teeth from coming to visit), so we just swing it open to walk in and out. I think I’m in love… never have I so adored a containment device.

It’s taken the cats some getting used to, and for the first half-day we’d find them hanging helplessly from the top of the gate, having mis-negotiated the height and not being able to jump over. They’re doing fine now, and have figured out that they should jump over the flat sides for the best traction. I’m sure the gate will soon be covered with scratches and dog spit, but my back will love it forever. I’ll also never trip over the gate again while trying to climb it while holding a cup of Starbucks iced tea in my hand, and I’ll never get my shoes caught on the top when I try to step over it while wearing jeans. I see a future full of great things.

The below image is from the catalogue, not from our house:

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/15 at 10:19 PM
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Leslie’s Swimming Pool Supplies

This post is in my “consumer rant” category.

Dear people at Leslie’s Swimming Pool Supplies: You can’t seriously advertise, “Always free shipping and handling” in big letters on the front of your catalogue, and then have the fine print say, “Selected items only”. You also can’t advertise “Free shipping” all over your website, and then charge a “handling fee” instead. I generally like you people, so stop sucking. Thank you.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/15 at 10:12 PM
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Do-it-yourself desk? Anyone?

I have an idea, but I don’t know if anyone out there has a company to help me realize my idea.

We have a lovely office nook in our master bedroom, just perfect for a desk, storage cabinets, etc. I want to have a custom-built desk put in there, but am willing to design and install it myself. I just want someone else to send me the pieces to assemble, kind of like “customized Ikea”. Does that make sense? I don’t mind assembling furniture, � la “Sauder” or “O’Sullivan”, but I want a desk for our office which fits the exact space we have. I have tools in the garage, like a table saw, yet the thought of buying wood and building completely from scratch is daunting (and would be time-consuming). I’m instead envisioning some sort of online store where I choose from some basic desk models, and then customize the sizes to fit my needs, and then the company sends me the pieces all ready to assemble. My other option to to start calling local “closet organizing” companies, to have them build it, but they’d insist on installing too, and that would end up eating a few hundred dollars.

If you know of any place online which has semi-custom furniture, please leave me a note about it. I would be a really good customer.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/15 at 11:21 AM
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Friday, July 14, 2006 , late at night

Off with his toe, Pt. 2

Following the incredible success of, “Off with his toe” (the original), we’re less than excited to announce the upcoming “Off with his toe, Part 2: A lump always rings twice”. The original “toe follies” involved our cat Frank having two toes amputated because of badly ingrown toenails. The new version will star Dante, our Anatolian, who is going to have a lump between his toes removed next Thursday. I’d imagine the vet will just remove the lump completely, as opposed to the entire toe, but I embellished to make the title of this entry more interesting :P

Dante’s had this lump off and on since February, when it appeared as a bleeding, inflamed mass between two of his toes. We took him to the vet, but by the time we got him there the lump had practically vanished just with the use of hydrocortisone cream. Dante was put on prednisone to clear it up completely, but every time I think the lump is gone, it flares up again a few weeks later. We’re now on the fourth manifestation of it, and it’s time to remove it. The vet hasn’t been too concerned about the lump, perhaps because Dante had a benign histiocytoma removed from his ear last year, and this lump seems similar in origin (i.e., an allergic reaction of some sort). I think it might be an interdigital furuncle, but I’m no expert—it just fits the symptoms. Still, no lump is a good lump, so I hope it turns out to be nothing serious (or expensive).

I ordered an elbow wrap for Dante’s bleeding elbows, but it hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll post photos when it gets here. The ordering process was odd… I placed the order online, and the next day I received a phone call from the company, asking if I really wanted to order, or if I was just “testing the system”. I guess they don’t get many orders.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/14 at 11:54 PM
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Wednesday, July 12, 2006 , late at night

Book coupons… you know you want ‘em

In my email today was a note from BookCloseouts.com, advertising their current coupon specials. I love and despise Book Closeouts, if only because whenever I go to their site I spend too much money on stuff I didn’t know I needed. It’s hard to resist books which have been reduced to $1.99, so a couple of times a year I end up with a big box of new books on my doorstep. In case you’re interested, here are the current coupon codes, valid until July 31st:

Coupon Code: Summer5
Coupon Password: Bookcloseouts.com
Value: Get $5 off an order of $25 or more

Coupon Code: Summer10
Coupon Password: Bookcloseouts.com
Value: Get $10 off an order of $50 or more

Coupon Code: Summer20
Coupon Password: Bookcloseouts.com
Value: Get $20 off an order of $100 or more

I just checked out the “Pets” category on their site, and they’ve got 1542 books listed, including 43 titles in the “less than $1” category. C’mon, I’ll race ya there.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/12 at 11:44 PM
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I like television

I do, I do like television, and one of my favourite shows is “The Soup”. It gives me all the trash and drama of talkshows and entertainment shows, packed into just half an hour. I’d never be able to keep up with the Spanish novellas if not for “The Soup”. Here’s a video of our current favourite Soup clip—it’s caused us to say “PT Cwuiser” a dozen times a day to each other, and I’m threatening to make a “My other car is a PT Cwuiser” license plate frame.

Here’s a movie trailer The Soup people made, advertising a fake M. Night Shyamalan movie which is based on a Disneyland ride:

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/12 at 09:57 PM
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006 , late evening

Support magnetic ribbons

Thanks to a post by Emilin at Name that Mama, we now have our very first car magnet ribbon. We’re so middle class! Our ribbon comes from Justafad, and it says, “Support Magnetic Ribbons”. Just $3! Join the “support magnetic ribbons” revolution!

The magnetic ribbon comes with a free alien head magnet as well. I’m counting the days until someone steals it off our car.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/11 at 10:13 PM
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Sunday, July 09, 2006 , evening

4 weeks old

Here’s this week’s “kitten photo update”. Notice how one of them is yelling, and another one is biting me? These were taken just before I fed them.

I also thought this was cute… Dante decides whether or not the thing on the other side of the gate is friend or foe. The way the kittens crowded around him last night, it was like a scene from “Gulliver’s Travels”.