im calling it

i thought of this last night and am making claim to it.

sarah palin = harriet meyers.

you heard it here first. ill flush it out later. back to pancakes.

my house is cool!

the folks came to do the attic. for the first time this summer, the AC wasnt running all day long. at 4:30pm the house was 80 degrees, not 84. woot!! they sprayed the radiant barrier and blew in more insulation. lets hope we see a big difference the the electricity bill.

and to be more confusing, im doing a name change. buddytwo has always had ears that stick out. it's really cute. octavian augustus had jug handle ears. suetonius said his ears were of "moderate size" but colleen mccollough made a big deal of them.

as for buddyone, maybe sulla. just forget the mental break-down at the end and proscription.

speaking of, sulla's birthday is soon. we want to hold the party at the house. one, i hope it doesnt rain, cause the house is not big enough. two, ive got tons of stuff to work to do in the backyard. and speaking of the backyard, i want a wood chipper and a sod ripper cause im sick of the big pile of random wood by the "garage" and i want to put down buffalo grass. the stickers are driving me fucking insane.

and i want to put texas sage and rosemary on the south side of the house. i wouldnt have to mow and both can be neglected and still come out fine. id like to make it a raised bed, too. but i dont think ill have the money for that.

someone at abcnews.com reads my blog

thats not me, but thats exactly what im doing.

and i promise ill update soon.

cars, cats, and the cashless control grid

ive discovered my 97 mitsubishi montero can get 21 miles to the gallon if i stick to lots of highway miles and drive under 60 mph. and sometimes it's better to waste gas. the other day i had to take a cat to get fixed (more about that later). the closest vet who will do feral cats for feral friends is 15 miles away and you have to drop off by 9am and pick up is some time in the late afternoon. with a 16mo and an almost 4yo, that makes for a very long day. naps are missed, lunch, snacks and random shopping is done. like the other day i spent over $20 - granted some of it was planned but we got some lunch and "ice cream" at mcdonald's while waiting. plus i made up some of the mileage driving around to get the boys to sleep and looking for some place to go. or i could have just put 30 miles (roughly $6 in gas), eaten at home and gone to the library. live and learn.

and after i complain about not catching any cats, i caught 3. one was dash, the little tuxedo i got fixed a while ago. she was in the trap with jack jack laying right there watching. the next day, i got this picture:


there he is. right outside my kitchen window. the trap is full of food.

here he is telling me where to shove that trap and food. he's big and well fed. for all i know, he could be someone's pet, but he's really skiddish around me.

and then i caught this little guy. his name is octavian. he might have been one of the kittens i saw way back before i caught antonia. it was cute because he had violet, and two other cats watching over him.

i was very happy i caught him because i wanted to get antonia a friend. assuming he is the same age as antonia, he was a month older (and probably out of the good range for socialising feral kittens) and still took wonderfully to taming. by day 3 he was roaming the house. i named him octavian because in those first days he was so quiet. when i was holding him, he wouldnt purr and every now and then would slowly turn his head around and just stare at me. it was quite unnerving. since then he's gotten really chatty though usually it's when he's hungry and now that his comfortable and playing, it's mostly stopped.

then i caught helios

he was not happy about getting caught. i was taking buddyone to mother's day out and thought, what the hell, let's see if i got anything. good thing i did because the trap was placed in a spot that would be in the sun and i was planning to stay out all day running errands. i did see a completely grey kitten in the batch, but he seemed much older than antonia or octavian. he got fixed on thursday, and then i got him again today. he was pretty pissed off at me about that.

and i saw dash again with three different kittens eating out of the compost bin. at least im pretty sure it was her - they were various black and white which could make them her's, but she was fixed. i dont know enough about extended cat families to know if non-mothers would babysit a litter. and she was sitting facing the back door while the kittens played. like she knew i might come out. that was wednesday night, i think, and i havent seen them since. there's also an adult tom that looks like octavian. if only i could get him, jack jack and octavia fixed, i might be able to keep the colony under control. the vet does ear tip the cat's that get fixed, but it's very subtle and it can be hard to tell when they are bouncing all around the trap. i wish they would punch the ear like they do with livestock. there would be no mistaking that.

back when husband stayed home with buddyone, he got really into alex jones. for the most part i think he's complete bullshit. im just too skeptical to accept conspiracy theories, but i think he got it right during his screed of the cashless control grid. while driving to get helios fixed i heard a story about gas stations charging more for gas to cover the costs of credit card purchases. like those fuckers (the credit card companies, that is) havent been making money hand over fist and all those commercials about what a loser you are for using cash or checks. be a happy brainless consume-bot and use plastic for everything!!!

so in the spirit of dissent, ive decided to use paper over plastic. and i think it will help me stay on budget, too. i remember seeing something in tightwad gazette about the envelope system of budgeting and thats what im doing. ive allotted certain amounts for the main things i spend money on during the week - groceries, gas, household, dining, entertainment. this money has to last me during the pay period. when it's gone, it's gone. i will be forced to make smarter purchases - no brainless shopping sprees at thrift town, nor will i buy more because i cant justify debiting a buck o' five. any money i have left over will go to making some of the bigger, household need purchases - like im on the hunt for a good end table or chest for all our afghans and blankets and more bookshelves. i will keep the debit card for emergencies purchases - like tomorrow the kitties have to go to the vet, but it's not those things that make us go over budget, it's trips to the mall and sonic and "im bored, let's go to home depot." im hoping it works.

and i told husband i wanted an h2o steam mop for christmas.

my updating-fu sucks

im going to do another bulleted post because theres two weeks worth of crud to talk about. lets see. breaking down by topic

chillins

• agrippa had a nasty ear and sinus infection last week. i really need to talk to the ped about getting stronger ABXs or something. giving him 10 days, twice a day is just too much work. he screams and pukes it all back up.
• we went to the zoo yesterday because it was a "cool" 93 degrees and the train and carosel rides were free. i try to stay away from parenting drive-bys but im always amazed at the number of parents who take their kids somewhere really exciting and fun and then expect perfect behaviour. we go to the zoo, ride the train, look at the tree frogs and play in the sand box. thats about it. oh, and play in the kid barn. but the number of parents who wont let their kids play in the sandbox or keep asking "dont you want to see the animals/get something to eat?" when they want to keep playing. or parents who make their kids stay in the stroller went they want to get out and walk. honestly, isnt the whole point to hang out and have a good time with your kids? it cant be that fun when you are dragging your kid kicking and screaming around so you can get your money's worth of animal viewing and "fun family time?"

aminals

• murphy's law of feral cat trapping - "if you set it, they will not come." i went through my quota of gas and could not justify the 40mile round trip to take any cats to the vet so i didnt set the traps. and suddenly they are everywhere. cats i havent seen before or in a really long time. jack-jack has made an appearance the last few nights but i think he's "too smart" for it. last night when i was putting faramir to sleep i saw him hanging out on the patio. and then tonight i went walking around and he was behind the big tree. saw dash too.
• antonia's doing good. i need to start treatment for ear mites though. i dont know why it took me so long to figure it out, especially with the inlaw's dog, roxie, and her chronic ear problems. that should have been the first thing i looked at.

thrifty

• sam's puppy robeez are getting worn out so i used up my credit at kid 2 kid and got some knock-offs with trains on them for 1.99. also got the complete curious george.

thats all i can thhink of for now.

this week proves why i dont want to homeschool

back when i was pregnant with buddyone and was thinking about how superawesomecrunchy i was going to be, homeschooling was high on the list. this has been seriously reassessed.

ive fallen into a "im going to read all the kid psych books and be a k-rad el33t parent" kick and i found a few that really helped. it's nice when you read a book and think "holy shit they are talking about my kid(s)." that book would be raising your spirited child.

so lets do a break down.

frodo puts the extra in extrovert. he's intense, though not easily frustrated. extremely persistant (i think this insulates him from frustration to a degree. if at first you dont succeed, try try again.) - just today we were at thrift town and he wanted a bubble blowing machine - we werent getting it and he just kept saying "but it only needs batteries (the boy is OBSESSED with batteries), mom." a lady told me she was getting a good laugh out of his insistence. we need to start saving for law school, me thinks. hes not very sensitive - just the usual toddler quirks - salsa is too spicy but he loves frank's red hot sauce but pretty perceptive - he once got "woken up" from a nap because he noticed a string hanging off a ratty towel that was hanging on our bed. he's fairly regular - wakes up and sleeps almost the same time every day.

and for the bonuses - energy. haha! he broke the mold when it comes to energy. jumps right in to most activities - i still get the "i dont like..." when it comes to dinner and then two seconds later he's licking the plate clean. and he's a positive kid. easy to smile (which is great cause i can show off his dimples like i had something to do with them.)

sam - take everything i said and flip it. look up introvert in the dictionary and there he is. ok well dont flip everything. sam is also extremely intense. when he cries he WAILS. at nine months old, he was having full-blown-throw-down-on-the-floor-heaving-shoulders cry-fests if the fridge closed without him being allowed to play in it first. easily frustrated. very tender-hearted. where frodo might cry (though very infrequently) if he fell because he hurt himself or surprised by the fall, sam will cry simply because he fell. and he's persistent - again with the fridge incident. unlike frodo, sam will go into a room and play with a toy. it's refreshing to watch him play with something the way it was "meant to" instead of just carrying a toy car around.

here's where they are different. sam is sensitive. it actually bothered me i couldnt just nurse him where ever and whenever. we did need to find a quiet place to nurse. he is a picky eater - presentation is very important. and i would assume he feeds off others' emotions - ill find out a bit more once he's gets more language skills. perceptive - he stays "on task" a lot more than frodo. so less "perception."

adaptive - not so much. this might fall in the "sensitivity" column but activities like changing diapers, getting dressed, getting in the car are all very very very hard for him. these activities are hard on frodo, but it seems more like he hates getting dressed (and before diapers) because he has to stop what he's doing or stand still for a certain amount of time and follow directions - but he's laughing and smiling. sam, you would think you were physically harming him the way he screams and screams. though he does like putting his shoes on.

regularity - nope. frodo was an attached to the boob baby. sam was more lackadaisical about nursing as a baby. i never know what he is going to nap and then getting to sleep is a struggle. eats when he's hungry, but i never know when that will be.

energy - no where near as much as frodo. sam is currently sick and mopey. frodo, on the other hand, never loses energy when he's sick. actually, the one time i knew he was really really sick was when he actually sat in one place all day - a trip to the ER confirmed pneumonia - the next day, though, he was bouncing around again.

first reaction - very very very slow to warm up. waves good-bye only after they are in their car. back to food presentation - often time he wont take the first spoonful if i try to feed him. he's got to do it himself.

mood - he smiles and laughs enough, but is mellower and more melancholy. emo is a good word.

so here we go. ive got two very high-maintenance, spirited kids. for different reasons. frodo needs people. he needs to run around. staying home, not a good option. sam, needs me and thats about it. half the time, if we go out, sam wants to leave, frodo doesnt. or frodo is getting a bit overstimulated and boisterous and we need to go, but sam is good and wants to stay. sam needs a nap and a hug. frodo wants me to build some big ass thousand plus lego thing. again, this is why church with them sucks. im tugged in 8o gazillion emotional/physical directions everyday right now without trying to give them book learnin'. of course, i knew all this stuff before reading this book. but now it's all laid out so nicely and i can write a tl;dr blog post about it.

this is another reason why "two and im through!"

"kitty at my foot and i wanna touch it"

ok. i thought and still think the above song was dumb but it's fitting. caught yet another opossum last night - quite possibly the same one from the other day. later this morning i was changing sam's butt and happened to look outside, and lo' and behold - there's octavia with three kittens. i rush outside to reset the trap and saw another juvenile cat with similar colouring to octavia.




i go and check a little bit later and looky who i got! dammit, she's cute.

i think im going to name her antonia. hopefully i can tame her.

and i need to start keeping a price book. i regularly shop at 4 different stores (5 if you count the bread outlet) and food prices are change so often i cant remember what's a good deal anymore.

and i really like my car. i had a coupon for 50cents off per gallon of gas and was about to fill the tank for less than fourty (my planned expenditure). if the trip meter was right, the gas mileage was about what my old car was so that encouraging.

and i ditched church yesterday. it was nice to spend a lazy day at home and watch meet the press. church is just so far away and ends up taking much of the day - plus im never "in" church. im negotiating potty breaks, diaper changes, melancholy attitudes, and boundless energy. it's just not that fun anymore. id still like to find people or something to do, but closer or if i could just go alone. i started going when husband was working weekends so it was nice to go be with people. also, he had four days off. now weve got only two to spend as a family and do things im otherwise unable to do by myself with the boys around.