Big Brother is Back

The summer fun has begun! The new season of BB is back and we have loads of new people to love and hate. The whole "back to high school clique" thing could be good or just blow up in their faces. I for one, would HATE it if I went in planning to play my individual game and got hit with that! What on earth could be worse than having to re-live h.s.? Good Lord!

I'll tell you what's worse than re-living high school. Re-living high school on camera, locked in a house with 11 other people . . . . . .



and JESSIE!!! o. m. g.

I wish I could relate how much I can't stand him. What a complete tool he is! Aaaaauuuggghh. Another whole summer with Jessie. Can I just say o. m. g. one more time? I feel like coughing up a fur ball. Blech.

Right off the bat I have to say I kind of like the cute gay graphic design guy, the scientist girl and Lydia the tattooed lady. Anyone who comes on and knows that great song that Groucho Marx sang gets to move right to the top of my list! Go Lydia! I am not sure about the rest of them.

And how much does it suck that in real life the damn jocks run around high school like they own the place and now they get to do the same thing on BB this week? Please, please, please let some other clique win HOH next week.

Thoughts on the clique twist? Thoughts on the new hamsters?

Random thoughts

When I last posted it was Saturday and I know you have been anxiously waiting with baited breath to find out how my a/c saga turned out. Can you even believe that Mr. Big Ed called the a/c guys to see if there was anything they could do or recommend? Me neither, but he did. And can you further believe that they sent someone over to fix my a/c? At 8 p.m. on Saturday night! On the 4th of July! He was here during prime fireworks shooting time! Now that is some job dedication, people!

He got it up and running and I was so grateful. Now I have to figure out how to fix the ceiling in the laundry room that has huge gross rusty water stains on it and replace the light fixture that had water running in it. I am really leary of that fixture now because after it dried I turned it on and a weird smell and some smoke came out from around one of the bulbs. That does not seem to be normal behavior for a light fixture. I think the ceiling needs to be replaced but Mr. Big Ed thinks we just need to scrape the cottage cheese crap off and re-paint it. I don't think that's right. But I will do some research to find out what really needs to happen.

Oh, I need to post some photos of the new lovely chain link fence too! Nothing like going in the backyard early in the a.m. in my nightgown to let the dogs go pee and look over and there's the Colonel! Hey Colonel! It's just me in my gown. Me and squatting dogs.

Speaking of The Colonel, yesterday me and Sparky were sitting on the front steps enjoying the morning view and he says to me, "Mama, look over there" pointing in the direction of TC & MB's house. So I did. And what do you think we spy? THREE GIANT TURKEY BUZZARDS!! That's what. These ginormous turkey buzzards were roosting on a big tree branch that runs parallel to the ground. They were all facing north (away from us). Odd buzzard behavior. So I called TC & MB and no answer. That meant I had to go over there and scope out their yard for dead critters and such to see why the turkey buzzards were there. Actually there was a 4th buzzard on a different branch acting as a lookout. Nothing dead there. All we could figure is they were en route to some other place and just stopped for a breather.

The whole time watching the turkey buzzards I kept thinking about the scene in the Jungle Book where the buzzard/vulture guys are talking in their British accents "Whatcha want to do today?" "Oh I dunno, what YOU want to do?" "Oh, I dunno, what YOU want to do?" Back and forth like that. Ha!

My Gato Pato has perked right up with all his drugs and seems to be very happy and alert. The kids are saying he's "on the juice" what with all the steroids and such. Poor Gato! To be old and sick and now he is being libeled!

I have 2 clients who are due in the next couple of weeks so that is exciting! Looking forward to their births. Both babies will be welcomed into very loving families. Woo Hoo!!

And now I am off to do laundry. Oh the joy of weekly chores. Be still my heart.

Big Brother Countdown!

It is officially that time of year! The time of No Sleep, and Big Brother all the time. Big Brother on live feeds. Big Brother after dark on Showtime. Big Brother twice a week on network t.v. Have I mentioned that it is time for Big Brother??? ;)

Woo Hoo!!! I have already been scoping out different sites that have the new decor of the house and all the rooms and the new twists and turns to the game. We will have to wait till next Thursday to see who the players are and who we like and who we can't stand! OMG! Just too excited over here.

Anyone else excited about this besides me and my friend Richard? I am thinking we might need to do a Big Brother watching party.

However, I can't plan anything yet because . . . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . my stupid A/C decided to do something stupid last night. Last night. A major "holiday eve". No A/C repairman till Monday. Nice.

Sleeping in the heat. Double Nice.

Living in the heat. Really Nice.

Today is shaping up to be a going to the movies kind of day, don't you think? In spite of the sarcasm above I am in a pretty good mood and not too concerned about the A/C. I am adopting a laissez-faire attitude about it. Zen-like. I would say calm, cool and collected, but to be accurate it would calm-ish, warm, and semi-collected. ; )

Enjoy your 4th whatever you are doing, grilling hot dogs, eating watermelon, watching fireworks displays, whatever! I will be staying in a dark, cool movie theater till the sun goes down.

I love being a Birth Doula

I just had to get away from the recent negative and sad posts, and what better way than to talk about births! I really do love being a birth doula. It is honestly the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Not monetarily, that's not what I am talking about.

I can't even imagine doing anything that is more awe-inspiring than witnessing a woman go through the process of bring life into the world and creating a family. I really try to be of service and hope that my contribution makes that transition a bit easier.

One of my clients from last year and I had lunch with her most awesome and precious little boy today. And I have started the "busy season" with lots of pre-natals and impending births. Two July babies, 2 August and 2 Septembers coming right up. Woo Hoo!!

Off to go meet with a client right now as a matter of fact. ; )

Follow up

I didn't expect to hear from the vet till late this afternoon, but he called me at 9:30 this morning. My poor little Gato Pato does in fact have lymphosarcoma of the intestinal area. The only course of treatment recommended is chemotherapy and steroids. It either works really well and keeps them in remission for a good long time or it doesn't do much and it's all over fairly quickly.

We are starting all this on Wednesday morning. I am not happy with the options of 1. chemo and steroids or 2. nothing. Nothing is not an option I can live with. Nothing is not what my Gato deserves. I have always said that if faced with the options of having to take chemo I didn't think I would be able to do it. But that is for me. That's not for my cat who can't voice his opinion. I just can't imagine that he would choose "let's do nothing and watch me die".

My plan is to take it week by week and see how he is doing. If he is going to respond well to this it will be noticeable right away in the first few weeks. I am hoping and praying for the best.

If you are so inclined I would really appreciate any prayers, good wishes and positive vibes. And I promise to get back to other topics.

Really Sad

My oldest and best pet, Gato Pato, is sick. He has been sickly for a while now. I took all the cats in for their yearly checkups and shots and such and asked the vet to please do some extra tests on Gato to find out what is going on with him. He had been at 11 lbs. at last year's check up and was down to 8 lbs. and change this year. In addition to losing weight, he had a few bald patches showing up and he was puking more than usual.

After running all the usual blood work they did x-rays, and skin scrapings from the bald spots. Everything came back normal. But it wasn't normal. So I persisted and asked for more tests, possibly an endoscopy, something. Monday we took him back in to see what the vet thought, either more blood work or the endoscopy or an ultrasound. They ended up doing a needle biopsy of the lymph glands of his abdomen.

Friday I got the call that it is definitely a tumor. One of two possible types. Both are bad. Both require steroid and chemotherapy as treatment. There are more in depth tests being run on those biopsy samples over the weekend and the vet will call me Monday to let me know the results and the course of treatment recommended.

This is terrible news. I wish I could explain how special my little Gato Pato is. My kids found him when he was a tiny kitten in a ditch on the side of the road by our house in Argentina. As near as we could pinpoint a birthdate, he was born right around when my Dad died. And in a weird way I have always considered Gato a link to my Dad. Gato is also the only one of my pets who was around and lived with my old dog Sam (r.i.p.) and he is the last link to my Sammy. He is just a really special cat. He lived with us in Argentina, moved to Chile and lived there for 3 years, then moved to Mexico City, then up to Minnesota, and finally here to Texas. I would call him a "well-traveled" cat. He hardly ever makes a sound yet you always know what he wants. He keeps the younger cats in line with a stern look. That's all it takes.

I love my Gato Pato and will do everything possible to help him to live a long, full, happy and pain-free life. I will look for some good photos of him and post them. My wish would be that everyone have an animal live with them that is like Gato Pato. He really is the best.

Follow Up Photos

First photo is bamboo and part of T.C. & M.B.'s house. See the dead grass in front? This is taken from my patio looking over the area of my yard that nothing will grow in because of the Water Hogging Bamboo.

This is more straight on of the side of T.C. & M.B.'s house and the huge pile of the former fence. R.I.P.

Close up of the pile of former fence.

This is way up at the complete back end of the property where we have the 3 brand new shiny metal poles. What you should notice is that there is MORE bamboo perpendicular to the other. I have bamboo growing on 2 sides of my property. It does offer some shelter from wind and I am sure even more homes to all sorts of woodland creatures. This bamboo has been there for 35 years and is approx. 3 stories high.

This is an aerial view of the top of one section of the bamboo.

This is the bottom half of the bamboo above.

This is looking down from the top of the backyard property line towards the house. That's a lot of frigging bamboo, isn't it? You should see how deep into T.C. & M.B.'s property it goes.

This is me trying to look into the bamboo and see out the other side. Not possible. Are you with me when I say "Why the hell does The Colonel care what the fence looks like?" He can't see the fence except for the part closest towards his house.

Here is a sprout of bamboo growing in my yard next to a terraced retaining wall about 12 to 14 feet away from the source. This shoot was not there yesterday.

What have we here? OMG!!! It's a FENCE BUILDER GUY! Guess what? 3 of them showed up today and brought tons and tons of heavy, manly equipment. Some of the manly equipment has generators and augers and all sorts of testosterone-laded metal stuff. Guess what else? There doesn't seem to be any progress. All the manly men and manly equipment are standing around idle. I see no end in sight to the No Fence Debacle. My poor dogs are most unhappy with the current state of affairs.

Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do with my side of the cursed CHAIN LINK FENCE. The trouble is I don't know if I can get anything to grow there due to . . . . .

wait for it . . . . . . . .

THE DAMNED BAMBOO. That's what.

Guess what else? I promise this is the last thing you have to guess! Guess who doesn't really care for bamboo?