Annette has a dog, Pokie, who looks suspiciously like someone from my childhood.
Leh me introduce you to mah liddle frien!
The paranoid me has been setting cat foor out every evening for all the poor kitties who are cold and hungry. The rational me knows that this is probably doing more harm than good – I ‘ve heard a few cat fights, and some owner is probably thinking, “My cat’s getting mighty fat from the little food we provide at our own house. I will now limit their food intake.” ….wait! That was paranoid me again. You never know when I’ll pop up.
Anyway, here is proof of the eating. If this was our cat, I’d call him/her P.T. for ‘Pretty Tiny’. This cat is SMALL! S/he’s very friendly, as well. She only looks stupid in this photo because the flash is destroying her night vision.
Old Freezer
This post was going to completely be an apology to Charles for not mentioning his birthday on Thursday. (You share one with Ned, by the way!) We have this little flip calendar that records birthdays & such, but I’m so behind with everything I never get it flipped to the new month until we’re several days into it. Oops.
However, the big part of the post is our stupid freezer. (Coincidentally a hand-me-down from Charles & Deb.) I went down to get some more cat food and noticed that the freezer door had pushed past it’s lock. That only happens if I forget to lock it or if the ice has grown so much that it bursts free into our dimension. Today was the latter. So, a morning that I thought would be spent getting the basement ready for the Basement Fixers was instead spent wrist-deep in ice.  Yippee.
 What I am extremely thankful for is that the food didn’t melt. Almost everything was salvagable. Last time this happened I had to make two meatloaves, three batches of chili, chicken curry, barbeque chicken and spaghetti sauce. Whew!
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Smells like a ukulele
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXVdNKciP94
(For the sake of my parents who have dial-up, I’m just providing the link.)Â
Just to show the versatility of ukes, I will henceforth occasionally showcase their talents. Here’s a little clip from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain doing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana. While nowhere near my favorite song, it’s hilarious to see the kids in the background watch these crazy adults with first incredulity and then head-banging respect!  (It’s also the first time I’ve ever heard the words so clearly.)
Poor widdle Pfennig
I broke down and took Pfennig to the vet. She’s had a crusty/goopy eye for an embarrassingly long amount of time. (Since….December? I don’t know.) She’s ok, just some conjunctivitis that may be blocking her tear ducts. The cute vet* said that we had two options – just do some eye medicine and hope that it cures everything, or put her under anesthesia and flush out her tear ducts with money. Of course, I’m trying the eye cream first.
It is much more pleasant taking Pfennig to the vet than Cricket. Cricket lashes out at everyone there and one time she bit all the way through my finger. Pfennig just trembles and shoots fur out in clouds. This time she got to stay in the box for the whole thing. (We don’t have a cat carrier since I gave it away with a kitten in it once. The box is far funnier.)
* I should say, “One of the cute vets”, for there are three – all cute.
What could happen if you let eye infections go too long? Ned can tell you….
Uke News
(Happy Birthday, Christina!)Â
We’ve got a write-up! Our little ukulele group that meets once a month got a write-up in a little newspaper. You can read it here:
http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/tab3.cfm?newsid=17874170&BRD=2712&PAG=461&dept_id=559850&rfi=6
The man in the picture is Mark Guiterrez. He is actually a very talented mariachi guitar player who can make the ukulele sound like a….well, a mariachi guitar – or a harp – or a mandolin – or anything! (Not a bird, though, because that would be weird.) While Lloyd and I are slightly disappointed that our picture didn’t make it in the article, I’m pretty sure that Warren Buffet is going to read this and join our little ensemble. Don’t you think that would make a pretty good post?