a99kitten's Musings

Just finished reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I read the description of the book on Amazon awhile ago and had it in my cart (see why the Kindle could be dangerous?!) for a while before finally purchasing it. Then husband stole it from my pile. Then I started the Twilight series….

I definitely wanted to read it based on its description but then when I saw it was going to be a Scorcese movie starring Leo…well…then I wanted to read it even more :)

To sum it up = creepy!!! t takes place at a Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Now sure how that CAN’T be creepy! Will be interesting to see what they do with it. How Leo plays the main character Teddy.  I am very good at figuring out the twists of books and movies. I did figure this one out…kinda  sorta…I guess you will need to read it to understand what I mean and where I figured it out :)

I always want to read books before I see the movies. No matter how good the film maker, the actors, etc. the book simply contains more details.  More story. Plus  some movies follow the books very well (Atonement) but other will veer for time, simplicity in story-telling, etc,. So best to read the original story to know how it was intended.

This movie is intended for release in Feb 2010. So you have plenty of time to get the book and read it!!! If you like creepy, psycho, brain-twisters…read it. Also a good argument against psych drugs/radical psych treatments.

I am a Gator fan. Have been for years. I didn’t go to UF but grew up in Florida. You were either a Gator or a Seminole. Period. Florida takes its sports seriously. They didn’t have pro baseball or hockey teams while I was growing up/living there so football, both pro and college, were the biggest sports.

The Gators have been good for some years now but have really become an excellent team in the past few years. University of Florida is a sports school so attracts great talent but there are plenty of great sports schools. Their basketball team is also a shining star for the state. What I don’t understand or like is that when the Gators get ranked #1, I end up reading all sorts of negative stuff about them. Mostly from whiny fans of other teams but even from some sports commentators/reporters.

I remember when the Gators were playing in the BCS Championship game against Ohio a couple years ago. SO much press was about how they shouldn’t have even been in the game, didn’t deserve the spot and will lose to the much superior Ohio. I took all of the $5 bets that people at work or friends made against Florida. And happily won them all. Florida dominated that game.

That was Tim Tebow’s freshman year and he shared QB duties with Chris Leak. They were an outstanding offense backed up by an outstanding defense. Ohio puked all over that field so I am not sure what teams the sports reporters were watching prior to that game to write their superior pieces on how Florida would lose and didn’t even belong on the field with Ohio. They proved they belonged.

Same thing happened last year. Blah, blah, blah how the Gators didn’t belong in the BCS Championship game. Even the President, Senators and Congressmen were talking about how the system needed to be changed. Guys – stay the hell out of it. Pretty sure you have bigger things to think and worry about. Your endless baseball/steroid investigation/hearings hasn’t really done anything too big other than make noise. So glad you have so much free time but we don’t need government interference in college sports now too…

Anyway, Tim Tebow is an outstanding leader for that team. Obviously the entire team is great and Urban Meyer deserves kudos heaped on him for coaching. But having a team member who the team reacts to as a leader (like a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady) does a LOT of good. And he is the kind of guy off the field who deserves the respect. Someone who I would like my kid looking up to. He cares about his role as a leader for the team but also cares about his academics, about his future, his family, charity work. A very well-rounded person. Not someone I expect to see holding out after the draft for a bigger contract because he feels he is worth $25 million dollars straight out of college (yes, talking to you Michael Crabtree.) With all of the guys in professional sports who act like entitled, whiny babies or worse – idiot criminals – it’s nice to see a guy like Tim Tebow have great character on and off the field.

I guess it’s human nature to want to tear down whoever is #1. But when the Sooners were ranked #1 I didn’t hear how they didn’t deserve it. Or whenever USC is ranked high, it’s like it’s a given. Like they should always be #1?

Or how about the Patriots. Nothing gave me more pleasure than watching Eli and his guys take that game from the Patriots. But that’s because I hated their entitled attitude to being there. Before the game, I would read how they would dominate the Giants, and the interviews with the players (pre-game) were all so haughty and “we deserve this”. One of the pre-game shows was all about the awesomeness of Tom Brady and the Patriots perfect season. Plus throw in the alleged coaching/cheating junk that year. Laughed out loud when they lost!!! BUT – I’ve always preferred the NFC :)

I haven’t seen any Gator interviews – with players or coaches – giving off that kind of attitude. I’m glad. They are trying to stay humble, at least in the public eye, which is a good thing. Because so many people are waiting for them to stumble. I read many tweets on twitter Saturday about how the Gators played a high school team. How it was ridiculous. How they needed to play a real team to “show them”. Ummm…last I checked, the Gators don’t actually make their schedule. And theirs wasn’t the only lop-sided game. Kansas/N. Colorado, Nebraska/Fla Alt, USC/SJ State, Notre Dame/Nevada (my poor Wolf Pack)…all of these games were very high-scoring – by one team. Yet the Gators get all the negative tongue-wagging. Why? And really…they didn’t beat the spread (73 pts!) so a good bet was on Charleston :)

Whatever…I’m hoping they win every game gloriously and shut everyone up. But if they don’t – I will still root for them, will still proudly wear my Gator gear and I still say they deserve the accolades they get. They are a great team. CHOMP CHOMP!

Woke up around 1:00am to a Stormy face staring at me “need to go out Mom!” Took him out and he went potty and back in we came and thankfully I feel back asleep pretty easily (not usual for me lately.)

Around 5am, still pitch dark out, Stormy face staring at me again. Ok, buddy….he seems to be having some tummy issues (will spare any details) but he got that out and back to bed. Of course, now falling back asleep is not that easy. If it had been a little light out, I would have gotten up and taken the buds out for a walk. Very cold last night/early morning so they would have liked that. However, walking in the foresty area in the dark is not such a good plan in coyote and bear country :) ALTHOUGH, maybe I would have seen the bear I’ve been trying to see all year!! But I heard the coyotes earlier and didn’t want to deal with that. I know they will generally stay away from people and big dogs but walking myself into a pack of them is a Darwin Award for sure…

So I tossed and turned and tried to get back to sleep. And my mind was racing with thoughts of what chores I wanted to get done today, what fun stuff I wanted to do, where should I hike, why is Stormy having tummy issues, he didn’t eat anything weird – or did he? When will his medicine arrive? What if he still has tummy issues – I should wait to start his medicine as that’s a sign to take him off if it. Ooooh – don’t forget to sign up for the Survivor Football pool, and check my Fantasy teams, oh yeah, excited to finish my book today, what should I read next? Can’t wait to get my Kindle! Race…race…race. This is what happens when I wake up anytime after 4am-ish.

I did manage to fall asleep though. And around 6:30am, again woken up by a Stormy face staring at me. And this time it was urgent. Ok, out we go. It’s also amazing to me that my husband magically sleeps through all of this but if I move the covers wrong or turn on a light, his sleep has been ruined. ?????

But now, because I did manage to fall back asleep, I was actually very tired when I woke up this time. So after taking Storm out, I got back into bed and wanted to go back to sleep. No dice. Angelus came in and thought hey – it’s light out, you just took Storm out and not me, GET UP! RRRUUUUUF! He only ever does one. Huskies aren’t barkers. Angelus uses his 1 bark as communication. It is used at different times but basically has the same meaning: get up, move it, take me out, give me a treat, play with me. His one “ruff” will mean any of these things and you will have no doubt which one it is when it happens. Very good communicators these huskies are!

By now it was about 7am. Ok, Mom just get up. Fed the buds and then got dressed. It was 45 degrees out so I knew they would be happy. Gave them their vitamins and then asked husband, who had said he wanted to go on our walk this morning (umm…yeah..), if he was coming. He was still lying in bed with the covers pulled up. I already knew the answer but gave him the chance. “No” he says. “I would have if I got enough sleep but the dogs kept waking me up” (really? you seemed to be in a coma to me?)

I closed the bedroom door and off we went. Very quiet and peaceful out. I am worried why Storm is having these tummy issues. I’ll get him ground turkey and white rice today and make that for his dinner. It’s the easiest thing on their digestion. Hopefully this fixes it in a day or 2. Or I’ll be up 3 or 4 times again during the night and calling the vet.

I brought Storm back after a short walk and took Angelus on a longer one. Then did the dishes, made some coffee, checked my email, got annoyed by my email, and wrote down my To Do list for today. Stormy is sound asleep at my feet and Angelus is relaxing on the desk. Husband is still sleeping. He was feeling sick yesterday so he better sleep that off and not give me his germs!

So happy Labor Day to the Moms of fluffy and human kids everywhere. You labor way more than some organized union worker collecting his/her “entitled” wages, pension and benefits until the day they retire and finally die….

Storm had 2 more tests last week. 1 for his thyroid and then a 2nd, more focused, ultrasound for his liver. Both came back negative/OK. Kind of would have been easier/better if his thyroid was the issue. Quick medicinal fix. But I guess I kind of already knew this wasn’t the case. And very happy no liver issues. Before the vet diagnoses Cushing’s (which doesn’t have a positive/negative test), they want to check any other potential issues. Since both his thyroid and liver enzymes came back abnormal in other tests, we ran these tests.

Storm is now completely over going to the vet. He used to like it. Go in, see other dogs in the waiting room, show everyone how awesome he was, howl a little, get a shot, get a treat, out the door. But now…he looks at me with sad eyes. Which kills me. But he is a tough, stoic little guy who has been tested, shaved, poked and prodded. But he still sings when he walks in there and everyone there loves him. He is greeted with a “Hi Storm” just like at our office. He is a character.

After the thyroid and liver tests came back OK, I had Storm’s file sent to his regular doctor (who has been out of the country for a month.) She has been Storm and Angelus’ doctor since they were puppies and she is a senior partner at the vet hospital. Plus, well, frankly, she is really nice and cool. Angelus likes her a lot which speaks volumes. Angelus is very picky about his friends. He’s like his Momma :)

She also treats the majority of Cushing’s patients there. And she agreed with us. She approved of the diligent nature of the additional tests to rule out any other issues. Especially since treatment for Cushing’s is no easy matter. But she said his symptoms do point to it.

So we worked out his meds and the pharmacy is sending them this week. He will start on a low dose and we will monitor his progress. I am very stressed about this. I am not a big believer in drugs. I understand they are created to fix something but I believe the chemicals introduced can generally do more harm than good. But she assures me the low dosage and monitoring will be OK. And I recognize he will not live 100 more years, but I want his life to be happy and for him to feel good. It’s obvious to me that he doesn’t feel good right now. In the end – the most important thing is he is happy and loving every day like he used to.

So fingers are crossed. And I will be a giant stress ball once he is on the medication looking for any signs that he is having a bad reaction to it. And he will have to go for tests every 4-6 weeks to make sure his body is handling it. So I will stress then too. But if he walks around ah-rooing like he used to, waking me up in the mornings and chewing on Angelus again – it will be worth it.

Storm smile

I received this joke via email. I have no idea if any of them are true but it actually wouldn’t surprise me as I have heard the kind of questions people ask and have less than zero faith that any of our politicians possess a working brain…

Plus they made me giggle :)

“A DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of ‘why’ our country is in trouble!

1.I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2.I got a call from a Kansas Congressman’s (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ”I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts .”

Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ”Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa ”

his response — click.

3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that’s not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.

He replied, ‘don’t lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!” (OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ”Is it possible to see England from Canada ?”

I said, ”No.”

She said, ”But they look so close on the map.” (OMG, again!)

5.An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas . I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas . When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ”I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.” (Aghhhh)

6.An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.

I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ”Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?” I said, ‘No, why do you ask?’

he replied, ”Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I think that’s very rude!”

After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca. is (FAT – Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage.

8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ”Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?”

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright (D) from Ala who asked, ”How do I know which plane to get on?”

I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ”I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.”

10. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) called and said, ”I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?”

I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , FL on a commuter plane.

She said, ”Yeah, whatever, smarty!”

11. Mary Landrieu (D) La. Senator called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. ‘Oh, no I don’t. I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.”

I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ”Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!”

12. A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ”I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .”

I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ”Are you sure that’s the name of the town?”

‘Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the man.

After some searching, I came back with, ”I’m sorry, sir, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a rhino anywhere.”

”The man retorted, ”Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!”

So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ”You don’t mean Buffalo , do you?”

The reply? ”Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.”

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it’s in! Could anyone be this DUMB? YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED.

I don’t write it, I just offer it for your consideration. Like manure, you just gotta spread it around. “

I don’t ask you to agree with me.

I don’t ask you like what I like.

I don’t ask you to do what I want to do.

I don’t ask for you to care about everything I care about.

But I do ask that you care about me. About what I have to say. Even if you disagree, you should care to listen to me and what I have to say even when ranting about something you deem silly or annoying. Because it’s me.

If you don’t, then I’m not sure why I should care.

A million thoughts for posts in my head but no real time to sort or type them out. I hate days like today… I had all sorts of good thoughts about what to write about over the weekend but was busy or wanted to do something else at the moment. See what I get for procrastinating!

I slept horribly last night. I Tossed and turned and woke up so many times. This happens a lot on Sunday nights when in Tahoe as I need to wake up early to get ready and drive back to the Bay Area and work. So I start waking up and checking my alarm around 1:30am or so. And once I am awake, my mind is off and racing about things to do at work, home, family, etc., etc. I feel like I got 3 hours of bad sleep if that.

I am usually extremely organized no matter what but today was just a mess. I found that I made a mistake. I didn’t save a spreadsheet on a certain date several months ago and now need a number (it’s an spreadsheet with many accruing formulas) from that date and have to re-create it. But many numbers and columns and cells play into it. Not one that can’t be fixed but time-consuming and stupid. I hate that. Very, very unlike me. 50 lashes…

I do not think the rest of the week will be much better as it is very busy with work, work, Storm’s ultrasound, work, Board meeting prep, Board meeting, work and whatever else I can throw in there…but I will fix it and put organization back into my space. It’s what I do best I think.

Am looking forward to taking next week off in conjunction with Labor Day so I get a 9-day stay in Tahoe. I figured use my vacation time up now for a nice summer week as I won’t really need any until Christmas anyway! Quite happy about it (minus the stress of getting tons of work done beforehand.) I’ve already begun to prepare my chore list for the house up there mentally (sicko) but will definitely set aside time each day for hiking, reading, sunning, catching up on True Blood Season 1 and husky fun! PLUS football season officially starts on 9/10 :) (although I am liking my Fantasy team less and less as I stare at it and compare to the other teams in my league – boo.)

On an up note, I looked fairly cute today…fun pink summery J. Crew dress and cute pink Betsey Johnson shoes. Outfit really should have put me in a better mood all on its own :)

UPDATE 9/3/09: Waitlist went through today!! He WILL be mine!!! :)

I added myself to the wait list for this last night…fingers crossed! There are making 500 of them. They are scheduled to ship in 4Q09. Here is hoping someone’s credit card gets declined (yeah, I know, that’s mean but all is fair in the hunt for great Star Wars and Indy collectibles!) :)

Sideshow Premium Format Crystal Skull Indy

He’s 19″ tall and should go nicely next to my Sideshow Raiders Indy. This one just looks a little older thanks to Harrison aging a bit. It was 27 years in between movies!! He is still and forever my #1 love man so I do not care how old he is!!!! :)

It’s that time of the year…when kids go back to school, the leaves will start changing colors (ok, not really where I live but I like to think about it happening), weather cools off (umm..see prior note), and people start thinking what to dress up as for Halloween. But most importantly – IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!

Now, I wasn’t always this into football. My Dad made me watch Sunday games with him all the time. We had football parties, definitely play-off parties and of course a Super Bowl party. It was OK, but I have to admit I didn’t care all that much until play-offs and the Super Bowl.

I grew up in Buffalo, NY and then moved when about 11 to the Tampa Bay area. BUF has gotten close to winning a Super Bowl…4 times actually. But alas, they are still first place losers in all 4.

TB won a Super Bowl! But not until years after I moved away. Growing up – they were the worst team there was. Awesome. Plus they had the most hideous uniforms of ALL time. But I have been rooting for them for years and now that they are decent AND have better colors and uniforms – it’s not embarrassing to say that out loud :) I was actually the ONLY person in our office pool who picked them to beat the Oakland Raiders and win the 2003 Super Bowl. And I was the only person at the Super Bowl party that year rooting for them. That was super fun :)

I definitely got more into football when I moved to the SF Bay Area. We had the 80s/90s San Francisco Forty-Niners. And Joe Montana. And Jerry Rice. And then Steve Young. You had to be a pinko dirty hippie to not care about SF football back then :) I went to plenty of games, went to and threw plenty of football parties and play-off and Super Bowl parties (ah…back when the Niners were good…)

But not until I got into Fantasy Football did I REALLY get into football. And boy – I am hooked! The great thing about fantasy football is that you get into other teams and players that you wouldn’t normally even know existed or care about. Typically you root for teams from places you have lived or do live, where you grew up, etc. But now I root for so many teams and players!! I have never been to Indiana. Can’t say I’ve ever given it much thought other than knowing where it is on the map. But I LOVE Peyton Manning!! So I care about the Colts. I cared when Tony Dungy’s son died and when he retired last year. And I’ve had Dallas Clark on almost all of my fantasy teams since I started playing. And I loved watching Peyton beat the Bears when everyone was screaming “Defense wins Super Bowls” and I loved watching Peyton be a proud big brother when Eli beat Tom (yes, I was rooting for the Giants HARD!)

A couple years ago I got the Season Ticket package offered by DirecTV so I can watch ALL the games and not just the 2 broadcast in my area (and we always get stuck with the OAK game and that’s just a waste of broadcast space.) And of course with the season ticket package you need the Red Zone Channel. I swear, this channel is made by and for people with ADD. But I love it!! This will be my 3rd season with the package and I cannot live without it.

On football season Sundays I have a ritual: wake up early, take the huskies out for a good walk, come back and do a last minute check on my fantasy team, my weekly pool picks and my Survivor pick. The stress this causes is both ridiculous and insanely fun :)

While I do this, Fox Sports is on and no one is allowed to touch the TV. And I watch all the games and yell at the TV and scream at my laptop which has my Yahoo Stat Tracker (free this year-yay!) up along with my leagues and pools. I’ll do laundry, pay bills, do my stepper/exercise, chores around the house, etc. But nothing that takes me out of the house. If I didn’t get to shower before the games started, then I turn the bedroom TV on and take a quick shower during morning game half-time!

At the tail-end of the afternoon batch of games, I take the dogs out for another walk (unless I have players in and it’s an exciting/close game – then they have to wait!) This is a brief respite before the NBC Sunday Night game. I will usually make dinner right as the game is starting and settle in to watch the game. Unless I have no players in, have no hope of winning the weekly pool and it’s 2 teams that I am not all that jazzed about…then we can watch or do something else :)

And this occurs every Sunday. Without fail. There is no socializing on Sundays during football season. My husband is a football widow.

Very importantly, I just finished my live draft for this year’s office Fantasy league!! In order of my drafting – here is who will help The Running Huskies (always my team name) win this year :)

Brandon Jacobs
Drew Brees
Marques Colston
Derrick Ward (always need 1 Bucs player!!)
Hines Ward
Dallas Clark
Kevin Walter
PIT
Rob Bironas
Bernard Berrian
Jerricho Cotchery
Jamal Lewis
Tim Hightower

So, I will likely blog more about football. Although with all my yelling at the TV and computer (and they HAVE to have a good iPhone app I need to find!) maybe I’ll just be too tuckered out to talk anymore about football…….Nah!! :)

Good Grief Charlie Brown – these are CUTE! A little heart?! This shoe screams buy me!!! Gorgeous soft suede, 4″ heel, cute peep-toe to show off a newly perfect pedicure. And best of all – made in Italy and not China.

It comes in black too but I think the heart makes it a definite RED SHOE purchase. Come to think of it…I have no red suede peep-toe pumps….an empty category needing filling! I have a satin criss-cross pattern peep-toe by Betsey Johnson. ENTIRELY different shoe!! :)

More Genny…

I also have a coupon code for $50 off at Kate Spade. Hmmmmmm….