It's A Shiny New MMP!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

@ThelmaLou, here’s a website one of the therapists I’ve been seeing recommended:
https://www.nowmattersnow.org/skills
and some of it is cheesy and some is stuff I’ve tried a million times before and I admit I sort of wanted to just nope-fuck-this it as soon as I saw the word “mindfulness” and a thing somewhere on there about fixing all your problems through breathing. But there were also a few little things I’ve found helpful and some of the videos were worth watching just because hearing someone else put things into words makes it just a bit less lonely.

In Dorothy news… I’m having dog fantasies. I have them on and off. I’ve been fostering dogs or working in rescue since I was 18 and had a family dog pretty close to my entire childhood. Since my roommate moved out with her dog, I hadn’t physically seen or touched a dog. Which seems like such a small thing, but just adds to the loneliness.
So I browse Petfinder and inevitably decide it’s just not practical. Between the cats, my physical limitations, the fact that I can’t actually afford to take care of myself, much less a dog, and the fact that I don’t have a fenced yard… I mean, it’s just a bad idea.

Anyway, so I went over to my friend’s house this evening and got to meet a foster dog I had been hearing about for a while. He’s eight years old, blind, and was rescued from an abusive home. Physically, he’s pretty much healed, but he’s still fairly anxious. I was told he can get nippy when handled, but he and I were pretty much instantly friends and there was no nippiness (I do know a thing or two about both anxious dogs and blind dogs). He’s good with cats and supposed to be “pretty well housebroken.”
And he’s so freaking cute. The way he would walk toward me tilting his head from side to side when I whistled to let him know where I was and the way he leaned his face into my hand when I scratched him and the way he wagged his tail when I talked to him… I mean, I guess I was already a little vulnerable to having my heart captured, but. I love him. Weird thing is, though- he’s a miniature poodle. Not that I have anything against poodles (except for having to take coat upkeep and grooming costs into account). I’m just not really a poodle person. Also, I know from experience that frufru dogs get adopted even when they have issues (aaalthough I also know that “blind” is actually a bigger hurdle than “nippy” for small dogs, soooo…), so chances are very good he will find a better home than mine before too long.

But still and all… I mean, just in case he doesn’t… maybe if the meeting with voc rehab results in employment? Maybe if I can get to the point where I can navigate the front stairs? If, by then (assuming it ever happens), he’s still waiting… ugh, it’s still a bad idea. But I can dream.

42

No one else for Napier’s Bones? Or is that too obvious?
Napier's bones - Wikipedia.

I really wasn’t putting 2 and 2 together, and just realized Nellie went to the place where my dad’s friend retired from last year. Math is hard.

Hugs for everybody who needs them. Which is probably just about everybody. We should have sun today, but last week’s fog didin’t help the negative feelings.

Time to go to work. Have a good Tuesday and STAY SAFE!

43

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to sort. Will the screw up fairie(N.O.F.) show up? Will people wander off? Will Gloria from Charlotte send 500 cubes to the wrong hub? Stay tuned!

44

I scrolled back and didn’t see this mentioned, so pardon me if I repeat…

My nephew will be joining us for Thanksgiving. We’re quite nervous because the lad is somewhat pigheaded and susceptible to BS claims, so we’re pretty sure he isn’t diligent about masking. But my MIL was too nice to pursue the issue and we certainly can’t uninvite him. So, yeah, nervous.

Not that it matters, but FCD’s brother adopted him from Russia when he was about 5. He’s a smart kid, but he had also been mistreated and/or abused in the orphanage, and he never talks about those days. For whatever reason, he decided he was a good ol’ boy and he’s linked himself with confederate flag-wavin’ rednecks. He’s also legally blind, so he can’t drive, tho he has (on private property.) He’s 26 and he’s had a job for close to 10 years - I’m guessing he lives with someone but I don’t know for sure - haven’t seen him in years. Anyway, it promises to be an interesting Thanksgiving. I’m glad we got our flu shots at least, and I hope he doesn’t bring in anything to infect the inlaws, because neither one would survive it.

Meanwhile, FCD is having his car detailed today. Yesterday, he used some sort of pad for his grinder to remove the pinstriping, which he calls “pimp-striping.” When I get back with Roxy, I have to park next to the truck so the mobile detailer can use the whole garage. I just hope I don’t have to go anywhere today. Probably don’t but we shall see.

Other than that, just another boring day of toddler wrangling. It’s in the mid-30s right now. Looks like we might see 50° early, then temps drop rapidly, so probably an indoor day again. Joy. Happy Tuesday!!

45

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 42 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 72 and N.O.S. for the day. Another for real Fall day! Laundry shall be laundered today. Other stuff may or may not happen. When one is retired willy-nilly is a way of life. Sup shall be baked chikin boobs and some kind of vegetation TBD.

{{{Thel}}} hang in there. We’re the place to come to to talk stuff out.

Dot if not this doggie, another will be available when you’re up to takin’ care of one.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.

Happy Tuesday Y’all!

46

Afternoon, mumpers! Another grey and somewhat gloomy day here, I am at irk at home, and it is irksome.

{{{{{everyone}}}}} because I think we could all do with a hug, whatever’s going on in our lives.

Welcome, Napier, I’m sure the crowd will soon settle on a nickname for you, they just throw them out there and eventually something will stick.

Nowt exciting in my world today, I will be doing various bits of irk all day, then going grocery shopping later. Got to add a couple of thousand words to my NaNo thing, and it’s my turn to do dinner. Since it’s already a busy evening, I’ve pulled the last two tubs of whatever out of the freezer. Smells chickeny and creamy, so I think it’s something with pasta tonight.

47

Morning all. Weird dreams of being chased through and around a Cracker Barrel restaurant by someone I couldn’t identify got me up early (I did eat at a CB on Sunday, but how in got into my dreams…). Anyway, book-hunting is on the agenda later today, it’s 40F now and staying inside for the morning seems like a good idea.

Dice had to look up Napier’s bones in your reference (us Americans aren’t really up on 17th century stuff…), but it’s a charming idea and Bones is a unique nickname, so I vote for it.

FCM, hope nephew has improved over the years, and be nice but insistent about the masking. And FCD seems to be most taken with that car, doesn’t he?

Dot, sounds like a cute dog, but you know your limitations and like swampy says, if not this dog, they’ll always be others needing a home someday.

OK, need to get some sustenance into me, all y’all take care.

48

I vote for Bones too. Plus, Dice caused me to learn something new and interesting. Now to see if Napier gets attached to being Bones. The Kathy Reich’s forensic anthropologist protagonist sure is a likable Bones.

49

I have a 24 oz can of Monster Ultra Zero with lunch when I’m in the orifice. I forgot to buy some Sunday. Then I forgot to buy some yesterday. I figured I could get some at the gas station on the way to irk. I forgot. So there are no Monsters in the orifice fridge for lunch. I may expire.

50

Today is mom’s discharge day - hooray! I’m excited for her. Hospitals are terrible places to recover from anything once you’re well enough, so I’m glad I get to take her home. Of course, there are all the post-surgical things I forgot about that I feel terrible for being frustrated over. The endless short-notice, pop-up appointments requiring an additional half day here, three hours there, for which I have to submit to work, feeling terribly guilty for being so unreliable. One thing I never appreciated as a kid was that life goes on whether you’re dealing with a lot of shit or not. It sucks.

Anyway, I am so happy for her, and relieved. Now for her to recover. Then we have to get ready for her radiation therapy and anything else that gets thrown at us.

Drinking coffee, working, prepping a bag so I can stay with my mom for a few days to make sure she can rattle around comfortably on her own.

51

So we were shorthanded again on the sort. Where the heck are they putting all the Noobs I see every day?

Bones it is. Dammit, Jim

Yaya for mom coming home, Wordy!

52

Morning, all. Up early today because a certain someone managed to shed his collar in the night, depriving everybody else of fair warning. So this morning’s parkour attacks were silent until the other cats exploded. Got him into his secondary collar and bell until I can discover where the first one is.

Off to teach, then a quick grocery run before really getting into house cleaning. Much sweeping to be done.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

53

Without a dramatic gesture (back of hand to eyes, for example) I’m not sure I believe you.

In other dramatic news, I’ve been stabbed!

(By a pharmacy tech, givin’ me a flu shot.)

If I feel crappy, I shall go back to bed. In fact, I may do that anyway! For now, kitties are bopping around outside, and I am contemplating some sort of breakfast.

We’re low on both kitty litter AND toilet paper (!!) so I’ll hafta put pants on. Later. Right now, I think imma roll myself a joint & play “Plants vs. Zombies” on my phone.

Gotta big rat order for tomorrow evening, so I need to decide which group to decimate, and put them into a big, clean tub for counting. Probably the Fucking Black Ears, I got enough of 'em and they’re stuffed into a too-small enclosure right now anyway.
Pardon my French, but that line earned their nickname. It’ll take generations of well-behaved little beasts for me to drop the moniker.

Actually, the current group isn’t bad. Certainly not the furry wood chippers/razor blades like their ancestors. I’ll hafta hold some back.

They ARE adorable, with (you guessed it) black ears on white fur. They look like Mickey Mouse.

54

Morning, y’all. I actually got almost 8 hours sleep last night. That never happens! (I guess the afternoon xanax helped.)

@SurrenderDorothy thank you so much for caring and for the link. Far from considering it “cheesy” (I don’t even know what that means), I’m totally into meditation, mindfulness, awareness of breathing, the whole ball of wax. I attend a 30-min online meditation class every day and make frequent use of the Headspace, Calm, TemPercentHappier apps. I also have bookmarked a boatload of meditation videos on YouTube.

When it works, it works, and I absolutely believe that the (temporary) solution is to quiet the thinking function and dial up awareness of the body and its automatic functioning… like the fact that your breath happens and your heart beats and your liver, kidneys, intestines, etc., go on about their business without you having to even know how they work. There is great serenity to be found IF and WHEN you can surrender to the physical world and (temporarily) silence the worry-worry-worry of the mind. The acorn knows how to turn into an oak tree without an online instructional video.

However, when it doesn’t work– and yesterday it didn’t for me, then you are plunged into the abyss that is also always right there next to us (along with the beating heart and hardworking liver) and into which we cannot escape falling into one day, sooner or later.

The thing that sent me over the edge was the realization that all the xanax, meditation, walks in nature, good meals, profound insights, kittens and puppies, can only temporarily distract me from the reality of the abyss. And my life has very few distractions these days. In the Before Times, I had a few. Now all of those are forbidden. So for a morose, introspective, mopey, Enneagram Type 4 like myself on some days no distractions help. Meditation doesn’t help. Prayer doesn’t help. There are no physical hugs to be had. No in-person conversation, only phone calls. Xanax quiets the thinking function some, but yesterday, the clanging alarm bells were just too loud. Some days, in spite of the zillion ways I am safe and am blessed, it’s just too much. One simply surrenders to the slippery slope and hopes there’s a cushion at the bottom.

It helps me to share these thoughts and feelings with you, my (possibly) imaginary friends. :hugs:

55

Glad to hear your Mom is coming home. Glad she has a nice kid like you to help her~she’ll need it to do well with the ongoing treatment. Please sure to feed and rest yourself well too. Pick out a long list of stuff to let slide. Hang out here a lot.

Glad you got stabbed. In your job you must meet half the flu microbes circulating in Michigan.

The black-eared ones are pretty IIRC. Is it the little African ones you are the fondest of? Temperament wise?

56

Detailing of the car continues. Toddler nappage began early today (she had a short night, so she was tired) and I have self-fed. After a morning of blocks and crayons and rassling, we’re both pretty much spent.

All of a sudden, I’m almost looking forward to Florida and a toddler-free week…

57

{teacher face on: pencils in bun, peering over glasses, etc.}
Mine are all African soft-furred rats, which are a different species from regular rats (the kind you see in pet stores, often with a dark hood on their head & stripe down otherwise white fur). Can’t interbreed, descended from different critters out in the wild.

Regular rats (a.k.a. “fancy rats” or pet store rats) are bred from Rattus norvegicus, the unimaginatively named “brown rat” now bred into a rainbow of color options, including Siamese. Adults get MUCH bigger than my African soft-furred rats (usually ASFs) which stay a nice, manageable size.

ASFs also don’t produce nearly the ammonia as regular rats or mice, which is a roundabout way of saying they don’t stink up the place.

But they’re not really domesticated, yet, so they’re not the rats that hang out in your hoodie & know their names & do tricks. Not bred into a rainbow of colors, either - not yet. I think I have literally all ASF colors except for one single variant (missing solid red coats, although I do have piebald reds) and that’s a half-dozen lines total.

Not my pic, but here’s an excellent representation of ASFs:

In case you thought I was kidding, here is a Siamese rat:

The ones of mine @BippityBoppityBoo of which I am so very fond, are approaching solid white. I have ONE that has no spots; the rest all have one dark ear (adorable!) or a freckle on their shoulder or something.
The proper term for that color in ASFs is “platinum” although my secret personal nickname is “my pretties.”

That’s because their counterpart is solid brown, a.k.a. “my brownies.” But that would mean calling the platinum “my whities” and that sounds ALL KINDS of wrong.

58

Mrs. L.A. saw a rat on the roof yesterday. She said it looked ‘lethargic’. (It was raining.) Goo caught a rat in the catio a month or so ago. Creamsicle may have died after eating a poisoned rat. We can’t really do anything about rats outside, but I’m concerned they may get into the attic. Time to buy some snap-traps.

(The single-wide next door is now occupied. That place was known to have a rat infestation a couple/few years ago, and we suspect that the guy living there is driving any current occupants out.)

59

Oh, man, I’m sorry - I missed that about Creamsicle. Poison baits are the WORST, closely followed by glue traps.

Owls, etc. fare badly as well. P.S.A. please don’t use poison bait, or glue traps. Anything that spares you, the killer, from having to deal with an itty-bitty dead body inevitably spells a far more horrific death for the victim. Plus innocent bystanders.

60

Okay, my arm is really sore at the injection site now. Just had a bowlful of homemade chicken broth, with croutons for sustenance. The cats are napping, and I do believe I shall join them.

Lying on the other side, of course, from where I was poked. Hope my sinuses cooperate!

T.P. and kitty litter and orange juice is gonna hafta wait till later.