Project 365 - 01/09/10 (My silly cat)

This is my cat, Milo sleeping. There really isn't anything more I can say about it except...enjoy the picture!

I've attached a video link that demonstrates Mr. Milo in action...he really likes his catnip:
Milo and his catnip - a true love

Project 365 - 01/08/10 - (Game Night with the boys)

This will likely be a short post as we stayed up WAY too late last night and then I never managed to get comfortable until I moved to the couch around daybreak.


Last night was our game night with our friends, Myke, Tyr, and Steve (seen above with dice and character sheet). We play World of Darkness, an old school paper and dice role playing game. In case you haven't played RPGs before - the general concept is that you have one person running the game, in this case, the Story teller, Myke. He creates a storyline of oddness and weird and our characters try to solve it or recover a particular item, etc. My character in this game is a 26 year old Forensic Pathologist who has zero social skills, an exceptional education and is terrified of dying. In these games we encounter demons, vampires, magic workers and other assorted folk. She wants to harness their power to "live" forever.

So anyway, last night, Glen's character and my character were finally introduced to everyone else through a slightly convoluted process. The fact is, getting the characters to meet and form a group in RPG is probably the most challenging detail that a story teller faces. Everyone creates a character that suits their personality and lets us live out some facet of our own desires - to be someone else. Trying to get all of them together can be a real pain in the butt for the storyteller (in this case, Myke, pictured below on the right)!


Glen got me into RPGs and I have played them every since. We met our dearest friends through these games and spending a Friday night with friends chatting, sharing our week and getting to play out some fantasy is a hell of a way to have some fun! I don't think Glen and I will ever stop playing these games in some way, even if we have to do it online through a game like World of Warcraft (WoW). But for now, we have incredible friends and a really amazing time!

Looking forward to next week boys!!

Project 365 - 01/07/09 (Sherlock Holmes)

Today's picture is of our favorite movie theater. Glen and I went to see Sherlock Holmes today. After a week of agonizing pain from my hip and back, I was a bit nervous to see if I could actually sit through a movie. However, we found seats where I could stretch out my left leg when it was painful. I also made sure I had medication with me, just in case. It all worked out lovely and we were able to see the movie in relative comfort (those lovely new movie seats definitely helped as well)

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
Sherlock Holmes was an incredible movie. Now, mind you, I might be a little biased as I love Sherlock Holmes (the character and the book) and Robert Downey Jr.

I thoroughly enjoyed the romp that was the movie, there was hardly a moment to take a breath through the whole film. The addition of Rachel McAdams character was a stroke of genius and a fabulous foil/love interest for Sherlock. The introduction of magic had me a bit scared at first, fearing that they were veering too far off course but, as always, Holmes explains it all. Most of it was fairly easy to figure out but was amazing nonetheless. The action scenes were magnificent, all the acting was quite phenomenal, and Robert Downey Jr. shirtless was a lovely sight. Ahem, back to the movie...The plot was simple but yet complex as well, just as a good action film should be. Don't be fooled, this is not a cerebral movie, it is an action movie and should be enjoyed as such. What surprised me the most was the absolute beauty of the scenery. They didn't "Disney" it and make it all clean, the scenes were gritty and the people dirty (those that weren't rich, that is). Overall, it was just a really enjoyable film and they definitely set it up for future movies with the introduction of Moriarty...and I can't wait!

Project 365 - 01-06-09 (Millie's illness)

So today's picture illustrates the joy of having a sick pug! We have a lovely 8 year old pug named Mildred, unfortunately, pugs tend to have some health issues associated with the breed. These include eye problems (check) , breathing problems (check), and anal gland issues (BIG check).


Yesterday I noticed that Millie's anal gland was swelling. It was already late in the day and I knew the Vet's wouldn't be able to do anything until morning when they do surgeries. So I gave her a shot of penicillin in her butt muscle and watched her. Sure enough, by 10pm the gland had ruptured. We had already made an appointment with All Creatures Vets for 8:15am. I took care of the gland and filled it with Panalog and waited until morning. After the rupture, we had to cover the couches and her favorite napping spots with things that could be washed.


This morning the antibiotics had obviously done their job (her fever was gone and the gland was flattened) but it had upset her stomach. Since they had told us to stop food at 6pm the previous night and stop water at Midnight, her stomach became even more upset and she began throwing up...a lot.

After coming back from the vet - he said what we did was perfect and told us to continue the shots of penicillin for the next 4 days. When she came home she slept for a while and then ate like crazy....apparently too much. So she once again began throwing up, the picture below may just look like a carpet - but it's a carpet on which I've cleaned her regurgitation on at least 10 spots...yes, that's how I spent my evening.


Ahhhh, the joys of pet ownership. But you know what - even with all the medical treatments, a $175 vet bill (luckily we has ASPCA pet insurance), and the endless cleaning of the carpet - I wouldn't trade the joy of my little Millie for anything! Pets are the only things that will ever love you unconditionally and we should try to match that love to the best of our ability!!

Project 365 - 01/05/2010 (My Happy Home)

Today's picture of the day is of a wall in my home. For so many years I have moved from place to place, never staying in a place more than 2 years. This was my life from birth, my Mom and I are gypsies at heart and tend to feel stifled when we stay in place too long. However, I have lived here for 5 years now. When you move a lot, you tend to not 'settle' in and as an adult, I always made my house comfortable, but not 'homey'. Since Tony moved out of our home in October, we've been painting and moved in new furniture and finally put up a lot of the lovely items we received for our wedding. Tonight as I turned on the lights and lit the candles I realized how much I truly LOVE our home now. I'm happy to be here - a fact that may explain why I've resisted leaving it as much as I used to. For once, I feel settled and my home reflects not only my loves but the loves of my husband. I gazed upon my living room and just felt so amazingly happy.

Project 365 - 01/04/10 Milo in the Window

Today's picture is of our youngest cat Milo in the window. He's an indoor only cat (as all cats should be for their health) but loves sitting in the windows or in front of the security door to enjoy the fresh air and watch the birds, bugs and activity outside. I love watching him observing and can see the intelligence in him as he observes the world around him. He's about 8 months old now and there's a story behind why we decided to adopt him.


My mother was visiting a family friend who had 2 cats that had just given birth to litters of 9 kittens each. Then, while exploring his farm, he found 2 more cats in the woodpile whose mother had been killed by a neighbor's dog. So he suddenly had 20 kittens to find homes for. My Mom and I have always been foster parents to animals, finding better homes for animals that others had given up on. My Mom was a veterinarian tech when I was young and only left the field after a severe accident left her unable to continue in her position. We always took in animals and found loving families for them. It was just part of my life and my childhood. So when I heard of these kittens I asked around the district to see if anyone wanted any of them. I had one friend who was willing to take four. She owns a small farm area and has the cats around to control rats and other vermin. My Mom made a trip and the next thing I knew I had four lovely kittens running around my house. We had named them Pearl (she had a grey circular spot on her head), Pearl's sister (obvious), woodpile (he was one of the ones found in the woodpile) and midnight (who is now our Milo). We already have a lovely Bengal Siamese named Marina who is 12 years old and had no intentions of adding to our family.

But as I observed midnight, I saw his intelligence. The defining moment was when we were outside and he decided to climb up the security door. While I had seen cats do this before, he then backed his way down to the ground...something I had never seen any cat do. I started noticing that no matter what trouble he got into (and that was often), he knew how to get out of it. That intelligence amazed me. He also was cuddly and loving. Glen and I discussed it, and decided to adopt him ourselves. Though it took a while for our pug Millie and Marina to adjust, we have never regretted the decision. He has added such joy and love to our lives, when we needed it most. By the way, his original name was Maida (after one of the Crow Girls from Charles DeLint's books - my favorite author) because he appeared to be a girl (even to my Mom who is used to sexing animals), when he developed secondary sex characteristics (testicles), we decided to change the name to Milo!

Project 365 - 1/3/10 (Marriage and my Goose)

Today's picture has great and deep meaning to me. When I was young my Mom would tell me how few animals mate for life, and she focused on the Goose. She said she always hoped I found my goose in life. Shortly after I told her that Glen was the "one", she gave me a gift. Upon unwrapping the lovely box, I found this sculpture of a goose inside.


We are coming up on 5 years together and Glen is most definitely my Goose. In 2003, I was in a severe car accident that fractured my pelvis in 2 places and decimated the cartilage in both hips and my right knee. Some days the pain is worse than other days as the pelvic fractures never heal, they just suture over, sometimes they reopen and that is what I'm going through now apparently.

I tend to be one that pushes myself to the limits and so on Friday I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom and dusted the house, yesterday I deep cleaned our bathroom by cleaning all the walls with TSP and a Mr. Clean sponge (it makes it look like the room is freshly painted), I also cleaned the floor and rewaxed it. Well...that appears to have been too much. I awoke this morning to extreme pain. Let me explain that I have an exceptionally high pain tolerance (my doctor's hate it) but this pain left me on the couch sobbing. Glen immediately sprung into action by finding our heating pad, making my breakfast, retrieving the pills I needed (one of which required going to the pharmacy) and bringing back lunch. All while he didn't feel well either. And the thing is, I'd do the same (and have) in a heartbeat for him.

That's one of the things that makes a strong marriage...being willing to go the extra mile for your loved one. Being willing to put yourself second and your partner first. Marriage is never 50/50, it's often 70/30 but as long as the same person isn't burdened by the 70 all the time....it works.

So with great love - Glen is my Goose!

Project 365 - 1/2/10

So this is the picture for January 2nd. We were in countdown all day to watch the last David Tennant Dr. Who episode (yes, we're Whovians). So this picture is us watching The End of Time: Part 2.

It was sad and melancholy but I look forward to the new Doctor Who (Matt Smith) and the new writer (Steven Moffat) who not only wrote my 4 favorite Dr. episodes (The Empty Child, Blink, The Forest of the Dead and The Girl in the Fireplace) plus has written Jekyll, one of the best miniseries on BBCA. The new Doctor Who premieres in Spring 2010 - so we shall see...

Project 365, Day One

So I have joined Project 365 - the intent is to take a picture of something that interests you each day of 2010 and post it to your blog. I had difficulty choosing only one photo today. Forgive the blurriness of the sunset photos, I'm hoping this photo a day will increase my abilities as well. But for now, pictures:The sunset over the San Jacinto mountains

The sunset over the Little San Bernardino Mountains

The bouganvilla in my front yard

So I hope you enjoy my first pictures of the first day of 2010. I do so hope that you enjoyed them. I am quite looking forward to this year as I expect it to greatly exceed 2009.

May 2010 bring great joy and wonder to your life.

Happy New Year!!