Sunday, December 31, 2006 , late at night

2006:  The year in review

In my first entry of 2006, I wrote this:

For 2006, my goals are to finish my online course and to finally get my green card (15 years in the making… it’s been a long wait).  I hope we’ll learn to make some money with our dye sublimation and sandblasting equipment (we’re taking classes for those in March), and I plan to kick the stock market’s butt with some good investments.  I hope that when 2006 draws to a close, Flippy’s back will be fixed, all our pets will still be with us, and that our bank account will be ample.  Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure can make life less stressful.

I did indeed finish my vet assistant course, and I even took a real estate course (I couldn’t have seen that one coming!).  I got my green card, and I took classes in sandblasting and dye sublimation.  Flippy’s back is much better (she’s replaced that with other problems, poor Flippy!), and the pets are more plentiful than ever.  Funny how that happens.  The one goal I didn’t meet was for money to be “plentiful”—it’s not quite as plentiful as I would like, especially with Flippy’s surgery bills and our vet bills.  I’ll just work on that goal again in 2007 and hope for a different outcome!

2006 was definitely the year of the cat, and caring for my first set of foster kittens a year ago changed my life.  I completed the vet assistant class this year, I took a couple of CEU classes, I had a “behind-the-scenes” job interview at the vet’s office, started a nonprofit, and adopted out some cats!  I feel that I’m on a path which makes me happy, and I want to continue to pursue it though education and work experiences.  It’s nice to feel on the path to something.  I’m working on the sidelines, doing some of the real estate stuff we learned in our night school class, but that’s just my effort to pay the bills.  My heart is in working with animals, and in writing about it.

My goals for 2007 shall be to sign up for a vet tech course, to try to get at least one donation for the nonprofit, to apply for federal nonprofit status, and to close at least one loan for my very patient real estate broker!  A definite goal is to just try to feel healthier, too, and to live with less stress.  I will continue to provide the very best care I can for all of our pets, and I will continue to love the Toronto Maple Leafs even if they don’t make it into the playoffs (although my love may have its ups and downs).  And one more thing—in 2007, I shall make chocolate bread pudding at least once.

I appreciate all my online friends and acquaintances—I’ve learned so much from all of you!  Thanks for your blogs and for your comments here—you teach me something every day.  Happy New Year!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/31 at 11:59 PM
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Last fiasco of the year

Flippy and I decided we’d spend New Year’s Eve watching the X-Men movie.  She’s wanted to see it for years, and I gave her a box set of X-Men 1 and 2 a couple of years ago, but we’ve never gotten around to watching them.  New Year’s Eve, we decided, would definitely be our X-Men movie night.

We bought sushi, watched the end of the football game, and then got ready for our movie. I retrieved the DVD box from the cabinet in the hallway—the DVD box had never even been opened, so I removed the cellophane wrapper.  I took out the folded disc holder, opened it, and… all the discs were missing.  There had been four discs total in the box, but they’d all been removed, and the box had been re-shrink-wrapped to look as it if was new.  From looking at the box, though, I could see where a couple of old stickers had been removed, but those spots weren’t visible when the box was wrapped.  I know I bought the set on eBay (far too long ago to try to get a refund!), and I don’t think the seller (who sold the set as “new") was to blame—I’m sure someone sold the seller the package.  I never buy from anyone with bad feedback if I can avoid it, and there’s no point in someone doing this intentionally to gain $15.  A thief would have just taken my money and not sent anything.

We were able to watch two episodes of Wonderfalls, instead, so the evening wasn’t entirely a bust.  Still, lesson learned:  when you buy a movie or DVD, open the package when it arrives, and not three years later!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/31 at 12:26 AM
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Saturday, December 30, 2006 , late evening

Thoughts of home

Since I arrived in the US 15 years ago, there have been two things which make me feel like I’m home again—hockey, and the comic strip, For Better or For Worse.  I was thrilled to find that I could watch Hockey Night in Canada on cable right here in Las Vegas, so on Saturday nights I relish the familiar accents, the outdoor shots of places I used to hang out (like Nathan Phillips Square), the commercials for Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, and Pizza, Pizza, and the general “hominess” of the show.  This is a nationally-televised show which takes the time out to recognize fans who may be in the hospital, soldiers who’ve been killed in Afghanistan, etc.—it’s like visiting with a close group of friends.

For Better or For Worse is a bit harder to explain, but it’s a comic strip which often mirrors life in my own family.  There are three kids, like in my family.  The only boy is named Michael, like in my family.  The oldest child is interested in writing and journalism, just like me, the oldest child as well.  The mother in the strip started to work in a gift shop after the kids left home, just like my mom did.  The oldest daughter moved far away from home to tackle her own adventures (like me), the youngest child wants to be a vet (sound familiar?).  The strip takes place in Toronto and in northern Ontario, so I recognize places and street names and events I attended when I grew up.  The strip’s creator, Lynn Johnston, has had the characters in the comic grow older, tackle challenges, get married, and even die, so after reading it for over 25 years, it’s hard to imagine them not being around.  Unfortunately, it’s been announced that Lynn Johnston will “stop aging” the characters as of September 2007, although she’ll occasionally draw new strips.  It almost feels like a death in the family to think that I won’t be able to watch Michael’s kids grow up, to see what April decides to do for a living when she finishes school, and to find out if Liz will marry Paul or Anthony (although that storyline may get wrapped up before September).  It’s a comic strip that’s often funny, sometimes thoughtful, and occasionally melancholy, and I look forward to reading it every day.  I really will miss the characters when they’re gone.

On a similar (but non-Canadian) note, the creator of the comic strip Foxtrot will now only draw his strip on the weekends.  Foxtrot is a brilliant comic strip, featuring puns I often don’t understand, and it’s the only things I’ve ever seen which can make math and physics amusing.  I’ll miss it as well.  The creator of Pearls Before Swine better not even think of retiring for another twenty years.

I’ll close this entry with a bit of Canadiana.  “I got the teapot!” Just like in the Tim Hortons Christmas TV commercial, I got the mug and the teapot for Christmas, so life is complete!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/30 at 10:55 PM
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Invasion of the sock creatures, finally

I got the neatest thing, and I want to blog about it, but I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to do this before Christmas.  I want to rave about the wonderful gift that is the Stupid Sock Creatures Book & Kit.  Now, if you’re in Mommy-blogger circles, the “sock toy” craze is old news to you, and forgive for being behind the times.  However if you’re in the crazy cat lady blogger circle, like me, this product will have just recently come to your attention.  This book/kit combo will let you make two “sock creatures” or “sock monsters”, the modern equivalent of the sock monkey.  You get two boldly coloured and striped socks in the kit, thread, needles, buttons, ribbons, and stuffing, as well as a great book which shows how to make a number of different creatures.  The guy who wrote the book maintains a website, Stupid Creatures, where he sells these things for up to $85 each!  It’s crazy!  You’re much further ahead if you just buy the book and kit for a measly $13.57 at Amazon.  Here’s a picture of the book you get:

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In the interests of full disclosure, Flippy bought this book about six months ago, and then we promptly lost it in our vast abyss of a library.  I searched and searched and couldn’t find it, and decided to just buy the kit and be done with it.  I used to make lots of very complicated teddy bears, so I’m sure socks are within my talents.  I hope to sock creature my way to serenity and peace.

Still on a bit of a “creature” note, I want to recommend a store called Online Science Mall if you want inexpensive but unique novelty items.  They sell fascinating stress balls, called “Rainbow Blob Balls”, for $2 each (I think I bought all their current stock, but they should have more soon), original Silly Putty for $1.99, and lots of weird items made of slime and polymers.  They have some classic toys, like Slinkys, and many science-related items.  If you’ve got a young scientist at home, you can purchase owl pellets for dissection for $1.25.  You can even purchase large things to dissect, like frogs, fetal pigs, and cats.  Now, I dissected frogs and fetal pigs, and even people, but I still can’t get comfortable with the idea of cat dissection.  I’m sure it’s species discrimination on my part, but I suggest you don’t look at the photo of the cat specimen.  Instead, go look at the cow eyes!  Just $2.50!

I know the holidays are over, but there are still birthdays and other gift-giving occasions coming up, so maybe you’ll find some of these items useful.  My birthday is next week, and fyi, I prefer Silly Putty to cow eyes.  No offense to the cows.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/30 at 03:15 AM
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Friday, December 29, 2006 , terribly early in the morning

TJ’s first Christmas

My last blog entry was so depressing that I don’t want it to be left on top of my blog all day.  So, here are two pictures of TJ enjoying his first Christmas.  He had a great time!

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And, here’s a picture of Bing investigating the gifts under our petite Christmas tree.  The tree has been fine so far—no ornaments to attract the cats’ attention.  This is our “tree warmup”, and next year, we’ll add an ornament or two and see how it goes smile.  The gifts were only under the tree for about 2 minutes so I could take a picture—we kept them hidden downstairs until Christmas day, because Scampi was determined to open tnem for us.

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Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/29 at 06:08 AM
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Re-Trial of Puppy Torture Case in Atlanta

In my email, I received a request for courtroom observers to attend the retrial of a puppy torture case in Atlanta.  The trial is expected to run Jan. 3 - 19, and at least 25 to 30 people are needed to attend the trial each day as supporters for the prosecution, and to show the jury that the public is taking the case seriously.  If you’re in the Atlanta area, you can find out more information about the trial by contacting Amanda at “gadove2003@juno.com”.  If you want to read about the trial, here’s a link to the story, but I warn that it’s really awful, and about the worst care of animal cruelty I’ve read about it, and the thought of it makes me simultaneously tearful/nauseous.

Another way you can help is to send an email thanking Fulton DA Paul Howard for his conviction that felony animal cruelty is a very serious crime, and his prompt re-trial.  His email address is . 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/29 at 05:16 AM
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Castor and Pollux cat kibble

I don’t feed our cats kibble on a regular basis, but they get it as a snack, like potato chips (I hope the kibble is healthier than potato chips, though).  I also always feed both kibble and wet food to all the foster kittens, because I think most owners feed predominently kibble and I want the kittens to be prepared.  It can sure be great to have a cat who eats both if you need to hide a pill or other medication in wet food.  I generally feed Innova Evo, but a couple of weeks ago I ran out of it and couldn’t get to the specialty store to stock-up.  My only shopping option was Petco, where I hoped I’d find something other than Meow Mix.  To my surprise, I came across Castor and Pollux Ultramix — Petco has recently added a lot of high-quality foods to their inventory, and apparently Castor and Pollux Ultramix is sold exclusively by Petco.

The Ultramix food is fascinating, to say the least.  The kitten kibble is a small kibble, and it’s mixed with dried pieces of banana, carrot, papaya, apples, and blueberries.  I figured there was absolutely no way my cats would eat dried fruit, but they love it!  They eat every last piece when it’s offered.  The Indoor Adult formula is also cool, because the kibble is a variety of shapes and colours—some of the pieces are even shaped like tiny bones.  The cats really seem to love it, and I’m happy with the price.  It’s not totally carb-free, but the carbs are far down the ingredient list, and they’re things like barley and oats.  If your cat is of the adventurous variety, you may want to give it a try; I think I may start to keep it on hand all the time, because the cost savings over Innova Evo are substantial.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/29 at 03:54 AM
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Thursday, December 28, 2006 , terribly early in the morning

Do your cats go freaky for bleach?

Our cat Jackson tends to pee over the side of the litterbox (sometimes deliberately), so I’m often cleaning up the linoleum floor.  I use a cleaner with a bit of bleach, as I figure it kills germs and neutralizes the ammonia in the urine.  As soon as I’ve finished cleaning (the floor is wiped, the smell has dissipated), our three sibling cats run into the bathroom and have a grand ol’ time playing in the bleachy spot.  They roll, they stretch out, the rub, and they act like cats on catnip.  I thought this was odd, but didn’t really do any research about it until this evening, when a discussion on the VSPN.org boards was started about cats who love bleach.  It turns out my cats aren’t the only ones who act the way they do.  The cats aren’t being attracted to the former urine smell, either—they’ll go wacky for bleach if I just clean the countertop with it.  Odd little kitties!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/28 at 03:19 AM
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By popular demand… Digital photo frames!

For those of you living in the dark ages (wink), here’s a little primer about digital photo frames.  A digital photo frame is a small monitor/display screen which looks like a picture frame, and which stores photos on a memory card.  You copy your photos onto a memory card, insert the card into the frame, and then the frame displays the pictures.  The frame is complete independent from your computer, but it does require electricity to power, so it needs to be plugged in.  Flippy and I bought frames for all our family members, and preloaded them with family pictures that we either already had on our computer or that we scanned, and it made our Moms really happy (Moms like photos).  The frames usually ship with small remote controls, and they can be set to display photo sequentially, randomly, or to just display a single picture for an indefinite period of time.  Most frames also will play video files and music files, so they’re really versatile.  Storage is just limited to the size of the memory card you use.  I bought a 512MB card for my parent’s frame, but because the image on the screen is tiny, the image files can be tiny as well.  I calculated that I could fit about 3600 photos onto my memory card!

Pros of the frames are things like a) they’re cool, b) Moms like them.  Cons of the frames are that each brand seems to have its own quirks, and right now, they’re expensive.  I gave my family the Digital Spectrum MemoryFrame MF-575 5.6-Inch Digital Picture Frame, and while it’s a nice frame, the image quality isn’t great.  It’s acceptable, but the resolution won’t knock your socks off.  The frame was really easy to use, however.

Amazon ran out of the frames I bought for my family members, so for Flippy’s family we bought the TAO 5.6-Inch Classic Digital Picture Frame.  It was substantially more expensive, but the image quality is better than that of the Digital Spectrum frames.  Also, the Tao frames can be easily swapped out for different styles and colours, so you’re not stuck with just one colour of frame.  Unfortunately, the Tao frame was a bit of a technological puzzle, and Flippy literally spent 10 hours trying to get it to work!  What the manual won’t tell you is that the frame will only display jpg images which are “baseline” quality (lossless), and it turns out that the best way to convert your photos to that format is to open them all in Windows Paint and then to save them.  It took Flippy hours and hours of searching and tinkering to get all her images to show up, so it was a big headache.  Like the Digital Spectrum manual, the Tao manual seems to have been written in Mandarin and then electronically translated into English, so parts of it make no sense whatsoever.

In summation, digital frames are great if you get one as a gift (easy for me to say).  I don’t think I’d buy one for myself right now, if only because I can’t afford it, but also because I think prices will come down quickly.  By next Christmas, these frames may be half the price they are now, and I’m sure the resolution will improve dramatically.  If you plan to buy one in the near future, buy the most expensive one you can afford, because you seem to get what you pay for.  Here’s a link to one of the best-rated frames for sale on Amazon right now, but it was out of our price-range (especially because we had to buy four of them):

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/28 at 01:36 AM
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006 , terribly early in the morning

Tales from the holidays

Well, it’s over for another year… no more Christmas, or prepping for Christmas, or staying up until 6am on the morning of the 24th trying to frantically get an electronic gift to work so we could wrap it.  No more paying hundreds of dollars to the post office, who didn’t get packages to arrive on time, anyway.  I’m slightly bitter at the post office, who lost one express overnight package completely (never to be seen again), and misplaced another for a week and still haven’t delivered it.  On a happy note, Flippy and I had a very nice Christmas eve with her family, and then a totally relaxing Christmas day and Boxing day.  On Christmas day I was going to cook a small turkey, but I was so exhausted (I hadn’t gotten to bed until 8am that day), that we went to a casino buffet instead.  It wasn’t too crowded, and it was fun to just eat a variety of food (and to drink free mimosas).  I did cook the turkey today, finally, but we have tons of leftovers and it will become pot pie and soup and sandwiches over the next few days.

We opened gifts at Flippy’s family’s house on Christmas eve, then opened the gifts from my family late on Christmas day (about 10pm or so).  I bought a ton of the “Christmas Classics” on DVD, so we saw “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on the 25th, and “Emmet Otter” this evening (we’re holding off on “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” until next weekend).  We received just the right number of gifts - enough that there are fun and exciting new things to enjoy but not so much that I have to worry about where to put stuff away!  We got clothes and books and DVDs and hockey stuff, and the cats had a wonderful time helping us open everything.  Unfortunately, almost all the cats are under the weather with URIs (Bing is very bad today, but still eating), so it was sad to hear them sniffling and to see their runny, gooey eyes.

The main gifts we gave out this year were digital photo frames.  I gave one to my parents and each of my siblings, and Nancy gave one to her parents.  We spent a lot of time scanning old photos to put on the frames, so it was a gift that was high-tech yet very personal.  Ironically, one of the gifts my Mother sent me was a small photo album full of old pictures of me, pictures I don’t ever recall seeing, and many of them were photos taken on Christmas day’s past.  They were lots of fun to look at smile

Please leave a comment about the gifts you received or the food you ate or both—food and gifts are both excellent things to discuss!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/27 at 03:47 AM
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