May the new year bring health and happiness!

Merry Christmas to all!

















(This cookie tree is from http://blogs.menupages.com/boston/2007/12/amuse_bouche_snow_day_happy_fu.html)

Go Snoopy go Snoopy

Exams are over! I am freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Now I can run around like a nut doing those things I have to do before leaving for FL for THREE WEEKS!

100 things about me

I have:
1. Had a wood fired sauna
2. Slept under the stars
3. Visited Maui
4. Picked pussywillows
5. Been to Disneyworld
6. Climbed a mountain
7. Held a praying mantis
8. Watched a lightning storm at sea
9. Taught myself an art from scratch
10. Grown my own vegetables
11. Had a pillow fight
12. Hitch hiked
13. Took a sick day when I wasn't ill
14. Built a snow fort
15. Went skinny dipping
16. Saw a total eclipse
17. Watched a sunrise or sunset
18. Saw Niagara Falls in person
19. Saw an Amish community
20. Had enough money
21. Sang karaoke
22. Walked on a beach by moonlight
23. Been transported in an ambulance
24. Went deep sea fishing
25. Went snorkeling
26. Kissed in the rain
27. Played in the mud
28. Went to a drive-in theater
29. Taken a martial arts class
30. Served at a soup kitchen
31. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
32. Went whale watching
33. Built a wooden fort
34. Donated blood
35. Bounced a check
36. Saved a favorite childhood toy
37. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
38. Ate Caviar
39. Pieced a quilt
40. Stood in Times Square
41. Been fired from a job
42. Been on a speeding motorcycle
43. Saw the Grand Canyon in person
44. Bought a brand new car
45. Had your picture in the newspaper
46. Visited the the monuments in DC
47. Had chickenpox
48. Joined a book club
49. Lost a loved one
50. Made a baby
51. Been a vegetarian
52. Been stung by a bee
53. Gotten a speeding ticket
54. Seen a wildfire
55. Was in a rainforest
56. Walked 50 miles for a cause
57. Traveled cross country
58. Changed careers
59. Rode a horse
60. Rode an elephant
61. Saw an albino peacock
62. Saw four rainbows at one time
63. Saw a deer in the wild
64. Hugged a wolf
65. Rescued a snake
66. Sweat in a sweat lodge
67. Took a high ropes course
68. Spent 10 days tenting in the woods
69. Had photo credits in a book published by Houghton Mifflin
70. Had a story published
71. Had a photo used by Kodak for their blister pack
72. Hatched a monarch butterfly
73. Gathered eggs from a henhouse
74. Milked a cow
75. Saw an alligator
76. Saw a coyote in the wild
77. Saw a Great Grey Owl in the wild
78. Signed up as an organ donor
79. Signed up as a marrow donor
80. Had an iguana
81. Sang descant in a church choir
82. Learned Latin in high school
83. Saw wild turkeys
84. Went into caverns that had stalagmites and stalactites
85. Saw the ruins in Athens
86. Climbed the Bunker Hill Monument
87. Baked my own bread
88. Made (sewed) a winter coat
89. Finished an oak cabinet
90. Refinished a rock maple desk
91. Golfed
92. Cross country skied
93. Was a cub scout leader
94. Found old clay marbles in the dirt floor of a barn
95. Rode a motor bike in Aruba
96. Saw the French Quarter in New Orleans
97. Meditated for three hours
98. Had a genuine Ansel Adams print for a week
99. Hand printed my own color photo
100. Photographed using a large format camera

Oh Joy!

My first born, my son, who has just barely graduated from a university with his PhD, took a job offer today! This is so good! My heart is overflowing! This son of mine has worked so hard to get where he is today. I am so very proud of him.
He will be working at a biotech pharmaceutical company near Boston.
I am doing a big happy dance here.
Here he is...

Gin, the dancing dog

NOT a lull

OK. In the next four weeks I have three tests, two papers and two finals, plus working three days a week at internship, 8 hour days. Can anyone say stress?
I have a stomach ache almost daily. I have been drinking warmed water to help it. Whoever thought that warmed water would be something I would want to drink? It does help though. I have tried teas, but they just seem to aggravate the situation.

I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of this example or that problem. I wake up all scrunched into a ball. I thought sleep was a time of relaxation, when your body calmed down, and recovered from the stresses of the day?

My cats have decided that since it is getting cold, all they should do is sleep, eat and maybe once a day get some loving from me.
I WANT TO COME BACK AS MY CAT!

A Lull

period of calm: a brief interval of calm or decreased activity
Well, almost a lull. I got through my venipuncture final, my second statistics and instrumentation test and my second radiologic physics test, and I comped on two scans that are mandatory. That said, all I have going now are two papers, prep for two more tests and two more comps to do. Is that a lull? All I know is that every waking moment is not being spent studying so it feels better.
The cats are getting along. They have this thing going where Carlton gets to be king until he exerts a hair too much pressure on Micah and Micah gets pissed and pulls out the claws. Micah is a very quiet cat, whereas Carlton is very vocal. When I hear Carlton making a certain noise, I can tell that Micah is after him. Carlton goes belly up when the claws come out. (Remember, Carlton is front declawed.) I say, you go Micah. Let him know there is a line.
On the other hand, I spotted Carlton grooming Micah's head yesterday. Go figure.
I am happy that they are both in my life. Makes the apartment feel like home.

...and what a nice late birthday present it was!

My two cats are showing the first signs of companionship! YAY!

Today is my Birthday! Happy Birthday to me!

And here is a picture of my new cat, Micah using my birthday present, a new camera.
He is very affectionate and gentle.

Coming up for air

It is week 6. 9 more to go in this semester. It feels like I am carrying a load of rocks on my back. At this writing, I have to say that I am going to have to give up doing anything but schoolwork until I feel caught up. I had a few many days where I did none and it is coming back to bite me in the azz.

July! July! If I chant it enough maybe it will arrive sooner and school will be over with.

Drawing blood is kind of fun. I am in affiliation at this place where the people are great. Alas it ends this week. Good news is that venipuncture class ends in two more weeks. Yay! Then I will only have statistics and physics to worry about in between the days I am in clinical.
Did I mention how tired I am?

On the plus side, Carlton and Micah are settling in to a tolerated coexistence. Carlton has forgiven me and has come around for affection again. He had stopped for a while, he was so pissed at me. Micah has figured out his place, which is anywhere that is not where Carlton has decided is his at the moment. For the most part, he is tolerant of Carlton, but once in a while I have to giggle to see him going after Carlton. Mind you, Carlton has about 7 pounds on Micah. All in all, we are happy. Carlton is no longer alone for long stretches of time, Micah has a new forever home, and I have two cats to keep me company.

September 29, 2008

This is the day that my oldest son had his final defense of thesis for his doctorate degree. It was a wonderful experience. My son, lecturing to an audience of scientists. Sigh. I am so proud. His doctorate is in research pharmacology. His thesis was on, well, something to do with the receptors involved in pain. It was wonderful. A mother's dream come true.

It's Friday night and I am sooooooooo tired

Somehow my weekends just aren't as fun anymore. All my 'stuff' outside of school gets left for the weekend AND I have to study for two tests next week. Statistics and Physics. Barf. Dishes piled in the sink, clothes to be washed, floors to be vacuumed and dust to be gotten rid of. BLAH.
I wanna go home now.

It has been too long

since I have sat down and blogged. The weeks fly by. I have so much to do all the time.
Let's see, where to begin...
Carlton and Micah are getting along. I don't think they will ever be bosom buddies, but, they shared the bedroom window sill when I took the small air conditioner out. That's a start. I noticed that Carlton has a scratch across his nose. Gee, I wonder who that was from? I am willing to bet that Carlton has realized that he cannot bully his big self around and get his way all the time.

Micah has runny eyes all the time. At first, I thought it was an eye infection, but the vet thought otherwise. I don't know. The liquid seems clear at first, then turn light brown. Reminds me of a Shih Tzu that I used to have many moons ago. I wipe it, but that seems to irritate the eye more. What to do, what to do. Anyone?

p.s. This photo was given to me from the shelter. He is a much happier cat now...

School is hard. Having nuclear statistics and instrumentation and the radiologic physics right after one another sometimes gives me a headache. My brain screams Nooooooooooo!

The internship is great. I am at a space where I am performing most of the scans now and beginning to do the radiopharmacology that goes with it.

I have drawn blood twice now from my fellow classmates, with good results. Unfortunately, my own veins are somewhat deep and I wound up with a no draw the first time and a bubblegum size hematoma the second. Dang. I wonder if I can beg off of having my blood drawn?

Tests are upcoming...

The Whirlwind that is my life...

has been filled with internship at a hospital in which I have been given both respect and opportunity. I had done my first internship at that very same hospital and I am amazed at the difference a year has made. Where once I knew nothing, now I know next to nothing, lol. jk. I am able to bring patients in, explain the test to them, and perform everything for the test except to inject the actual radionuclide.

In class today, I drew first blood. Yes, really. I drew blood for the first time and was successful at it and didn't hurt the patient. I was psyched! After ten minutes I reminded myself that that was one person who happened to have very good veins, close to the surface. Before the 7 weeks is up, we have to draw from everyone. There is one particular person that has already announced that she is difficult. So, we will see how good I am as the weeks go by.

The cats are getting along. They are not bosom buddies, but, hey they are two males. At least they can walk by each other and not attack. I left home with the two of them in the same area for 4 hours and I came back to no tragedies, no toppled furniture or broken lamps. I think it is terrific. In time, I hope they can become fond of each other and be good company.

Rescuing Micah has made me feel so good. He is such a dear. How anyone could move on and just abandon a cat at a shelter is a shame. He had just stopped grooming himself a few days before I got to him. He had been there since April of this year. Now, in these few short days he looks wonderful, clean and plays with toys.

Carlton was a little insulted and wouldn't pay any attention to me when I called him for a few days, but he is back to himself now. If I had a camera, I would post a picture, but I have to wait until someone with a camera comes around.

Didn't I tell you?

I have started Venipuncture/Phlebotomy...
bring me your veins
HA HA HA
Actually, I am thinking that I might be good at this. I have an ability to visualize things unseen and hopefully this will help me be a good phlebotomist.
I need practice. Any volunteers?

We Adopted!

Now let's just hope they can live with each other...
We went to the local animal control office where they were having open adoption time. Well, Carlton wasn't allowed out of his cage. I can see their point. Cats are not like dogs, they aren't pack animals. He hissed. He will just have to get over it.
The new cat's name is Michael. Funny thing, that is my son's name. One of them will have to change...
I used to call my son Mooka Meeka Micah Lutch. Don't ask me why. It was something that my uncle used to call my brother Michael. Probably handed down through the centuries to all Michaels in the past, I don't know. Why tell you this? Because the new cat will be Meeka Micah. Not as civilized as Carlton's name, but, heh. The cat formerly known as Michael won't know. Meeka Micah is 4 years old and had been at the adoption center since April. Poor thing.
So now, they are both microchipped and immunized and neutered, who could ask for more?
I hope I did the right thing by both of them.

ARGGH Physics!

It is Day Two and already my head is trying to keep from spinning into orbit. OMG. Much of what the professor is talking about is stuff that I have learned and not too long ago either, but to make my brain pull it out of the file cabinets makes my hypothalamus complain. (snicker) I am writing this in public so that I will be committed to doing it in private. I WILL STAY A STEP AHEAD OF ALL MY WORK. Or, at least, I will almost always.
First, I have to be able to buy the book. I am going to try today a 5pm because any time previous to that has a line that promises a wait time of over an hour to get your foot in the door. Tiny bookstore, gobs and gobs of students.
I have attempted ot bypass the 200% markup of engineering paper in the bookstore, but Staples is out and that is the only office supply store close by. Forget the usual CVS, Walmart etc stores, they carry the quadrille graphing but not the engineering. Poop!

First Day Is Over

It's always a good thing to get the first day of school over with. Went to classes, got syllabi, saw how much books would cost, got parking sticker, updated student I.D.
Oh, and what would a first day of school be without a fire drill? Did I tell you that my physics class is on the 6th floor? BTW, I did make it UP the stairs to the 6th floor, for which I am sure I will be sore tomorrow. It's a truly easy way to get a cardiac workout in.
I also got a parking sticker to LOT 1, THE most coveted lot at the school. Last year I had lot 4 which wasn't even paved. Winter time when it was warm was especially fun in the mud.
I am thinking that I will get a companion for Carlton. He is such a slug and I am hardly any company to him when I have to keep pushing him off of my lap to do homework. I had a trial run yesterday with a cat whose Mommy was looking for a home for her, but she totally freaked out. That was stressful for me and the poor cat. I am going to ask for advice from shelters as to how to proceed.
I am totally lonely for my gf. After being a month with her in Florida, this apartment feels so empty. Imagine what I would feel like if I had left Carlton down there with her. I had been thinking of it because he is so bored here with only one window that overlooks a parking lot and me gone so much and busy the rest of the time. She told me that I would regret it if I left him. She was so right.
At least school and internship will get me out and around people. Pity there are no other single women in this apartment buiding that are my age, but then, I am an anomaly being in school at my age.
I took myself to the movies to see Dark Night yesterday. Great movie! I love Batman movies anyway, and I was surprised to like the Joker in this movie even more than the Jack Nicholson version. I was even more surprised that Batman's gf was killed. Or, former gf, but he didn't know it at the time. I also liked tha fact that he took the fall for the deaths in order for the city to have a human hero.
I totally lost my resolve to lose ten pounds in Florida. ACK! Seems every time I visit there I gain a few pounds which I fight to take off before I go there again. I wish someone would invent an appetite supressant that was organic and good for you. I love food too much, never mind that I eat to keep myself company.

Florida storm skies

It was post tropical storm, but the clouds were uncanny.
The first pic is of a storm that came up suddenly and was pretty scarey to see.This is NOT a black and white photo.

These pictures were taken the following day at sunset. The cloud formations were spectacular!

























The bottom photo was taken that same day just after the sunset. The photo is of the EASTERN sky, I cannot understand what could have caused such a shadow. I color enhanced it so you could see it better.

Maybe it was an alien spacecraft, invisible except for its shadow...

Almosthurricane Land

I have been in Orlando for three weeks now and this is my first taste of hurricane season. Gratefully, the hurricane did not materialize, but the winds and the rains are still doing their thing on the land. The ants have mobilized and decided that indoors is the only source of food. I opened the sugar bowl this am to find it looking like chocolate sprinkled sugar, only the sprinkles were moving. Thankfully, we received our nontoxic ant spray just yesterday, so the house smells like a peppermint candy. I always have these feelings of dread when I end the lives of insects. I think, "my karma is not going to be good because of this". Then I think of the way of nature which is always killing and renewing and try to salve my conscience. Sigh. If only I could just scoop up the entire ant colony and move them to a safe place, but I am not a god.

Equality in Massachusetts

Today the Massachusetts politicians repealed an old law that forbade anyone not living in Massachusetts from getting married here.

To quote HRC:

"In repealing this law we've sent the message loud and clear that in Massachusetts, we respect and honor all families. No matter where you live or if you're gay or straight, if you'd like to marry you can do it in our state."


I consider this a victory.

I always wanted to do one of these...

It's a meme. Rules are:

1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Well, I don't want to tag anyone, but I will share 7 things about myself.

1. I am 55 and back in school.
2. When I get out of school and get a job, I want to start one of those sustainable gardens instead of having a lawn.
3. I am a blog hog. I love reading blogs and am constantly on the lookout for new and exciting blogs about nature, animals, recycling, and an occasional off the wall person. (Melissa Lion, this would be where you come in.)
4. I have just started listening to classical music on a serious scale. I want to be able to distinguish between the famous composers without having to look on a CD cover.
5. My cat and I will be traveling to Florida in August for the whole month.(August in Florida? Are you crazy?) My significant other is living there, so off I go.
6. I am always trying to divest myself of things that I don't need. You would think that I would have relatively few things by now, but I am afraid they multiply at night.
7. I am a Unitarian Universalist. It is a nondenominational congregation. We begin each service with this:
"Love is the spirit of this congregation,
and service is its law.
This is our covenant:
to dwell together in peace,
to seek truth in love,
and to help one another."

I owe this blog meme to Robbyn of The Back Forty.
Thank you Robbyn

p.s. I am full of myself because I figured out how to embed someone's blog spot on my post.

My famous scone recipe

Well, actually it's not mine. It came from a cookbook. I have made it with fresh red currants and it is to die for yummie!
When I make them, I don't bother cutting them (the scones) out, but place them by the rounded tablespoonful on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and let them sit while the oven is heating up.

This recipe came from the Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors. It is attributed to the Welsh.

Makes 12 scones, depending on the size of the cutter.
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
5 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/3 c milk

Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour and salt. Mix until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Add the sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Mix well.

Beat the eggs with the milk and add to the flour, using a wooden spoon, to make a spongy mixture. Place the dough on a well floured plastic countertop or board and pat it out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter. Flour your hands and place the rounds on a nonstick cookie sheet and leave for 10 minutes to settle.

Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 8 minutes.

These should be served with butter and/or jam, or with cream and jam for special occasions.

Variations

Cheese scones: Add 1/4 c grated Cheddar cheese.
Fruit scones: Add currants or raisins.

Hooray, Yippee!

I just finished my summer internship today by getting my 8th competency exam done.
When I started this summer, I could not imagine doing all 8 in ten weeks, but I did it! Yay me!
Now I get to completely veg out, I mean, clean my house for when I leave it for a month. I deserve all the rest I will get.
And, I get an A- for the 5 credit course (grin).
Yay! Go Pat!

Carlton is so excited, he is laying on the floor. Well, his tail is moving...that must mean yay Mom!

A little heat for the brain

telephone popcorn

ps

I only post to this blog in order to have a blog address with which to comment on 'real' bloggers' pages.

Carlton the overweight cat

I keep trying to tell people that Carlton is not fat, that he is just a big cat. No one believes me. We are going to fly to Florida in August, Carlton and I. He and his soft sided carrier cannot weigh more that 20 pounds. Good grief. He weighs 19 pounds in the carrier, and what if my scale is off?
The problem is that we used to live in a house that had stairs, a sun room with 'cat' tv, and plenty of windows all over the place that he could run from window to window after the bird, mouse, neighbor cat, turkey, deer etc etc.
Now we live in a small apartment that has a driveway in the front and the brick facade of a pharmacy side wall in the back. I used to let him out in the stairwell, but now there is a dog living downstairs and I am not willing to risk it. Carlton has become sluggish.
I have toys up the ying yang, catnip, and even a laser pointer. He plays with them for maybe 5 minutes and them flops down and only reaches out his paw if the thing is near. He doesn't even lift a paw to the laser pointer. He has figured out that he cannot 'catch' it so he stopped trying. The big poopie.
He is only getting 1/3 of a can of wet food in the morning and 1/2 scoop of dry food at night. He gets maybe 15 pieces of a dental dry food as treats(his Dr. thought it might help). I think that I cannot take away any more food. He is on a prescription diet, but I am close to getting him a senior food. It has less calories and more fiber. The prescription diet was for a problem with crystal formation in his urine. The doctor told me that the prescription has less magnesium in it.
He is whining at me right now wanting food. The PITA.

Carlton vs regular cat

That's my cat, the long one. Even when he was a month old, the vet told me he was going to be a big cat. He had large paws for his size. I had never heard of cats having large paws like that. Well, the predictions came true. He is not from one of the usually large cat families either. He is the garden variety born on a ranch in CA and sent to the feed store for adoption kind.
He has been a lifesaver for me. He makes me get outside of myself. He comes up to me and pats my arm when I have been too long on this computer. Play with me, feed me, let me out into the halls, brush me, let me sit on your lap. Granted, when he sits on my lap, my legs go numb after a short period, so sometimes we compromise and he sits next to me on a footstool.
His name is Carlton and it fits him to a T. He is a gentleman. Calm, loving and vocal.He will not be ignored. In the morning, he lets me know when I have had enough sleep by walking all over me, licking my hair, tapping my face, or, when none of those work, walking across my head. For that , he gets pushed off the bed several times before I wake enough to get up and feed him.
He is always hungry.
I have him on a diet because we need to fly on a plane together and the weight limit for a cat and a carrier is 20 pounds. It's close, I tell ya. I am trying to put a little more leeway between the 20 pounds and the package of cat and carrier. Mind you, it is a soft sided carrier.
Well, Carlton and I are trying very hard to diet, but you know how that goes...

my cat's picture

Don't you think that he looks like he is in a christmas stocking or something? Actually he was in his now defunct bed. He gave it up because it was too small for him. He is a very looooonnnng cat. Next to a regular cat he looks huge. So, he has decided that the book bag that I had gotten from Goodwill is a better bed. Sigh. So, I went and got me another one and he was about to take that one over too, but this one is a backpack and it can be hung from the chair. I get to have some things too, ya know.
He has taken to chewing me if I don't give him his bedtime snack in time. I have taken to getting out the water bottle to cool him down with when that happens. Poor thing. We moved from a many windowed house with at least six views and a wonderful flight of stairs to an apartment that looks out onto a parking lot. And, there are no stairs except those in the hall.
The bedroom window looks out onto the backside of a pharmacy. A lovely shade of brick if I do say so.
I was going to hang a feeder, but then I thought that the people living downstairs may not appreciate bird doo on their windows.
I think he is suffering from cabin fever.I got him some of that grass in a cup and a plant of catnip. The grass went tits up and the catnip is on a high shelf to let it grow over 1/8 of an inch before he chews it up.
I try to play with him, but he is so easily bored. He will chase something for about 3 or 4 minutes and then plop himself down on the floor like the slug that he is.I even got him a laser pointer. He loved it for about a week then he figured out that I was controlling it and that he could never really catch it and he lost interest. Even after I let him 'catch' it. He knew there was nothing in his paws. He is too smart for his own good.
What I really want to do is get him a playmate. Problems are:
1. I am in school and short on extra money.
2. I go away from time to time and have to hire a cat sitter. Two cats would cost twice as much.
3. I will be moving to Florida at the end of 2009 and it will be difficult enough to move with one cat, nevermind two.
4. I am again on a guilt trip. I grew up catholic, you know. It is what we do best.

Hey, I got this far

Now I am tired. Later...