The Family

Penelope wanted out this morning so bad….. Then she seemed to settle down. I hoped. Tonight we went to the store and the front door was not closed securely. When we got home she was gone. I can’t find her. Zoeie was still inside, content to just look out. Maybe i should have just had her as my only cat. I have had that thought before, especially when the kittens were small and she first hated me. She turned from my cat to Luke’s cat when i brought those usurpers in and she has never given me the time of day since.

Not that i don’t love Penelope. I love her so blasted much. She is a little fairy cat…. slender, curious, delicate in her ways. I feel like i have raised a sheltered child, not prepared for the real world, and she is bursting with the desire for new experiences. I am afraid for her. I am not afraid for Bruce. He is very well prepared for most anything. Penelope is a wide-eyed innocent.

And she is out there delighting in the cool dark of the night, where the cars zip past and stray dogs roam… not to mention the stray cats. I can’t sleep….. and there is no point in hunting for her. I can’t see and she could be anywhere.

I think their scale is wrong. I know how i ate this week. Actually i did not keep track of points, except mentally, because i lost my point keeper and after a few days it seemed pointless to when i did find it. But i know that i ate a whole bag of reeces peanut butter cups, more hard candy than i should have, and more bubble gum.

Yesterday i was weighing my clothes to decide what to wear. I knew that i had gained and hoped that if i could reduce my clothes weight, i could stay the same or, at least, minimize the gain. Unfortunately clothes only made a half pound difference. I did wear the lightest outfit, though. A half a pound is enough to count.

I stepped on the scale ready to take the bad news. I had lost 6 pounds. Even considering the clothes, i lost 5. I told the woman at the table that the scale must be wrong because i knew how i ate this week, but that i would take the star anyway.

I am still confused. I stepped on the scale here at home and i have lost, 4 pounds here, but still…. how does one lose eating candy?

I am so frustrated. First Bruce wanted out so bad… actually Bruce needed out so bad that we ended up letting him go out. He was much calmer for it. Penelope and Zoeie notice that he goes and are curious and interested in the way he smells when he comes back inside, but outside is a big scary place and they are not darters like Bruce. They will venture out if the doors is left open long enough, but once outside they want back in.

Fall comes. With fall comes nice open-the-window weather. Bruce goes out; Penny hangs out at the open window; Bruce sees her and sits under the window calling to her in all these cat tones. I know he is saying “come out and play with me/be with me.” When he does this Penelope really wants out.

The door is sometimes open. When Luke steps outside to get the mail or clip something to the mailbox, for example, he does not close the door because he is only out there for a second. Sometimes the door is pushed shut and the carpet grabs it and it does not shut all the way. This is especially true if we have something in our arms. Sometimes, when something interesting is going on out front or when the weather is fine and Luke wants to look out on the day with his cup of coffee, he will stand in the open doorway looking out. His being there, standing still, does not stop a cat, but he does not register this as leaving the door open, nor does he appreciate it when i tell him he is letting the cats out. You get a good feeling when you stand in your doorway looking out at the world that you do not get stepping outside and closing the door behind you.

Bruce used to get out when the door was open like this, but Bruce would also dart thru your legs the moment the door was cracked. Penelope and Zoeie are more cautious and polite. They do not dart anywhere, especially thru legs, and when it comes to outside, it takes a while for them to work up courage. They will sit in the open doorway and look out for quite a while before actually going out. With Bruce out there calling, though, Penelope has become a little bolder.

Well, last night it happened…. Penelope got out and nobody noticed. I know she was at the door wanting in within moments, but nobody was there to notice her because nobody saw her go out. (When Penelope is outside wanting in she does not meow – perhaps because it is scary out there.) Last night the weather was fine and she spent the whole night out. In the morning she was ready to come back in, but she was out long enough to get over her fear and enjoy herself. Now she wants out in a big way. She is still not a darter. It would be possible for me to keep her in, though it hurts to do so because she wants out so bad and when she wants something she wants it with all her being, and she is very vocal and persistent. And, of course, she does not understand why Bruce gets to go out and she doesn’t. That was never a real issue till now.

I could keep her in…. but usually Luke is not even aware that he has the door open. She has plenty of opportunity to go out now that she does not hesitate.

Ramona, i know you are thinking i should walk the cats so they can have their outside adventure safely. I have not walked Penelope and Zoeie because i did not want them to learn that outside is not big and scary after all. And even if i did give them outside time, they would go outside alone if the door was open.

I am frustrated. I do not know what to do. I have thought maybe a screen or a glass door would help because we could have the door closed and still see out, and it would be set up with a thing to make it close automatically, but a glass door, especially a double, and especially a pretty one like you would put in front, would cost quite a bit and have to be installed and it would make going out a little akward. When we have talked about it before we have decided against it. Even if we did rethink it and get one, it would be a while before it was put up. We bought new doors and they have been in the garage for a couple of months.

I have had the thought that if we did not have Bruce out there setting an example, and, trying to persuade the others to come out, Penelope would get over it…… but he is a grown cat (harder to place) and he and Luke love eachother.

Well i made it to the first goal, 25 pounds. I have my star refrigerator magnet with a big 25 on it.

It has not been an easy time this week, though. Partly it is because i reached 25. I have a bad tendency to get overconfident and let my guard down. I also feel like a little reward is deserved. And partly it is because of the Halloween candy. Luke picked it and bought it, which I appreciated. He picked a mixed bag of small candy, some hard and some chewy. That was not to tempting till i saw the imitation Worthers… Hard candy is not too bad. 5 pieces were 2 points. Unfortunately he also bought a bag of peanut butter cups. I stayed out of those darn things for a whole week. Then i reached 25, opened the bag, and ate 2. 2 cost 5 points. They were worth it. If we had only had 2 in the house it would have been better for me.

Now Halloween is over and Luke is taking what is left to work and out of temptations way. I should eat vegies for the rest of the week.

hey guys…
ok i know chris and nelia have heard my coffee schpell…and luke too (“fourbuxs” does not make “flavored coffee”)

so now it is mostly ramona and kevin’s turn… 1lb a week free from “fourbuxs” as long as i am working. i will ship whole beans to you. but i need a little help… what is your pallette after? i can’t get kona or that coffee that the monkeys eat and poop and people think is mah-vel-ous

flavor: light, burnt (i.e. French Roast), acidy, floral
body: light, medium, bold (this is how it sits on your tongue…i.e. i want water v. a little weight)
acidity level
food paring: some coffees just really go good with a blueberry pastry, etc.

you can also look at
the official listing and descriptions.

if you are interested let me know. if nothing else you know one thing you will be getting for christmas if you let me know what you are after.
i can’t drink my allotment, it’s use it or lose it, and i would honestly rather share and give others the opportunity to try different stuff out.

Sigh…. this time not so good…. which i don’t (and do) understand. I had good and bad days up till Tuesday so i figured they balanced out. Tuesday i ate something that disagreed with me big time… turned my bowels to caustic liquid and gave me the most massive painful gas i have ever had. Wednesday i ate very little; I still hurt. Thurdsay i took myself to the doctor because i still hurt, though not as much (She is sending me for the colonostomy she has tried to send me for before… said I’m probably just sore from distention, but i need a colonostomy anyway.) Today i had a half cup of ceriel and milk in the morning (she also told me no dairy for a few days) and a little left-over squash for lunch.

So I figured i would have lost something. I lost nothing!! Not an ounce!!! (not that they count ounces). What is the point of being sick, I would like to know, if you don’t lose weight?!?!?!?

The reason i do understand not losing it is that i am bloated…. that time of the (every 3 or 4 now) month(s).

Maybe next week i will have lost another 5.

I WANT MY 25 POUND STAR REFRIGERATOR MAGNET!

—

I like that diet Chris… another way of giving yourself permission to have the foods you should avoid so you don’t obsess over them.

Another meeting, and another 5 pounds!! Woopeee!! I have undereaten a little this week. I wanted this 5 pounds for some reason. I need to back off though and take 2 weeks for the next 5.

There was one thing i found humorous at this meeting. We were talking about making goals and how to reach them. One woman said that she was gong to keep track of her points all 6 1/2 days. The leader corrected her, 7 days. No, several replied, 6 1/2, then gleefully added, “if you come to the meeting Thursday night is FREEEEE!” (which is about what i decided last week. I decided to give myself one evening off, Thursday after the meeting. I am eating what i usually eat, not pigging out on goodies, but i am not measuring and counting up the points. I will start again on Friday morning.)

Yesterday i had to go into houston and got caught in some bad bad rush hour traffic coming home. I was near the Sams, so i decided to go in and check on their televisions and ride one of their excellent little carts around the store for a while. It was fun. I am so seldom in the mood to shop and did not realize i was in the mood then, but i found myself enjoying looking at almost everything in the store. Funny thing is that i kept thinking to myself as i looked at the food, “I don’t eat that any more,” and being pleased with myself about it. I did not even bother with the candy isle and i always look at the candy, especially right before halloween. When i looked at the clothes, i would think, “one day soon i will be able to buy my clothes here.”

But tonight I am going nuts. I want something sweet. I want cookies. Last week i had a bag if gingersnaps because they are a low point cookie. Perhaps i should keep them around for times like this. But if i had them tonight… i don’t know…. Maybe it is better than i don’t.

My goldfish was sick – had been laying on the bottom of the tank without moving for days (3 days?). Upon changing the water I looked at him closely, and found that he was all puffed out on one side, it was really scary looking.

I was going to euthanize him.

Looked online. Webpages said goldfish often get constipated, especially when eating protein heavy flakes and nothing else. They said to add epsom salts to the water.

Weirdest remedy for a fish. But since I thought he was dead anyway, I spent the 60 cents – or whatever it was – for epsom salts. Added just a few grains.

Within a few hours he was moving. Today, 24 hours into treatment, he’s swimming around and happy, swelling almost gone.

I am putting my goldfish in salt water. And it is making him happy.

Weirdest, cheapest, most effective fish treatment I’ve ever, ever used.

We went to the store again and found a great price again and did not buy again. Sigh….. I do not know whether to be glad we did not buy or not. There was only one of the less expensive one and i know it will not be there when we go back.

The dilemma is this: Soon, from 6 months to 6 years, depending on who is predicting, all television signals will be digital. If i got an analog television new, which is what i can afford, i would be buying old technology right before the shift to the new. The television i was looking at has HDMI input, but i am not sure if it is for DVD’s and the like or if it would also change the digital television signal to analog. If it did not, i would have to buy a box to do that. I do not want another thing to plug wires into and if you consider the $100 or so that i would be spending on the box, the analog tv price goes up. Do i really want to spend $400 plus a possible $100 for old technology? or should we just get the digital tv and be done with it. There was a well rated Sony digital tv, flat screen, tube type (not thin) on sale for $625. It’s regular price is close to $800. Of course by the time we’ll go back to buy it, it will not be on sale.

Add, also, the price of updating our antenna, no matter which television we get, and the cable to go from antenna to tv. I think an antenna will run us about $130 and the cable, who knows.

So give me input. I cannot easily buy the higher priced one and would have to have to wait till it is on a good sale again anyway, so guess i have time to think. I do not actually need a television. I am moving my little sewing room tv in the living room tomorrow. The big television rolls and jerks around so much i can’t watch it. Even catching it out of the corner of my eye is not good. I need to replace my little one too. The VCR no longer works and it will not accept the signal from an exterior VCR or DVD. When i am sewing during the day I need to be able to watch something besides what is in tv. Maybe i will use the little one somewhere else.