Keagan and utube

Here is Keagan's utube video. This is part of the toys I had to buy for him.

New Kittens

Here is where I took Keagan for his first vet visit. He was loved by all. He didn't even get mad at me for putting 3 pills down his throat today.
In the meantime, I found 3 other kittens out on the back porch. So I put the trap back out. This is from another stray and all of her kittens look alike. There is an older kitten out there but I haven't caught it yet. These will all go to the SPCA.


I went to check on them, and this one was on top of the exfoliant. I thought it was a hilarious picture. The biggest problem is the Houston SPCA won't take them till they weigh 2 pounds and these guys are really little. But they are eating well, so they should plump up quickly. Then off to the SPCA they go. I have a temp job starting tomorrow so I'll have to take them on a Saturday or Sunday.

I Caved

Bill was mad at me for taking the kittens to be adopted. And he kept begging me to let him go get the kittens. I said no. Here is the conversation from Friday.

B: Do you know the ID numbers for the other two kittens (or just all of them)?

E: The number I got was the one for Dunn.

B: They said the other two were #7656389 & #7656394 (named Willie & Badger) and that they have already been adopted out to different owners... do those numbers match what you have?

I have Brooks (siamese mix) #7656354 and Dunn #7656399 for the other two and they have NOT been adopted... (sure I can't have just those two...? PLEASE????)

E: kittens will tear up the house worse than it already is. And Spike can not handle anything new. It upsets him too much. And we don't have room.

B: It's adult cats that bother Spike, not new kittens... Kalliope and Xena came in as kittens and they don't tear things up and I lost Rusty and Gizmo...

E: And I'm not having 2 more male cats to pee on things.

B: I'll help more

E: And we gained Scooby and Silver. Kalliope was full grown when we got her. She is just special.

B: cuz she's "your" cat...

E: No more cats.

Then Saturday I finally told him that if the kittens were still there on Monday he could get them. But I made the mistake of looking on the website, and the Siamese had been adopted. So he begged and pleaded more. So I said he could have the white one, which was his favorite all along. The whole way there I said you have to think of a name. We are very picky about our names, not that you would know by some of the names. Some of them we inherited. Anyway, the SPCA said the kitten was white with mustard. So I was joking around saying we could call him Col Mustard, or Clue. Bill said he liked the name Keagan but thought it was a girl's name. I said I thought it was a boys name. So we get to the SPCA and Bill goes postal. He is frantically looking for the kitten and can't find it. So he goes and stands at the desk. Meanwhile, I find him, asleep in his litter box. Great. Xena used to do that.

So we get the kitten but have to leave him to get fixed. So we pick him up tonight, after he gets fixed, his shots and microchipped. But while we were talking with the person doing the paperwork, she says he's really not mustard, but flame-tipped. And he's really sweet, not wild like he was when we took him in. He was getting sweet while he was holed up in my bathroom.

So we get home and look up Keagan. It can be male or female and means flame. So we have a name! It was destiny.

Meanwhile: This morning I found 2 more kittens on the back porch. I have the trap out. This week after we catch the kittens, we will catch the adult cats and take them to the Spay Neuter clinic.

Pictures to follow.

Refurbish Cat Tree

One of my many projects of unemployment is to refurbish the cat trees. Bill's ex bought them and she left 10 years ago. With lots of cats, the numbers vary from month to month, this is the condition of one of them.



I started with these tools. But to get the old nasty carpet off, I used needlenose pliers to get all the staples out. The carpet cutter was very handy too.

This is what my arms looked like before I got the carpet off the wood.


Here is the finished product. Sienna has proclaimed the new tree is hers and chases everyone else off. In the house part is Silver. When Sienna was a kitten, she was a stray that was attacked by a dog. Allison worked at the vet, and when someone brought Sienna in and did not want her, she took her. She brought her by our house to take care of her till she found a home. Well, that was 3 years ago. She has become the sweetest cat. And has recovered from all of her wounds. Silver was one of Bill's mom's cats that we took in when Bill's mom died. She has bad asthma, but is very sweet and loves me.

I think the finished product turned out pretty nice. I ran out of carpet halfway through, and had to play let's make a deal with Lowe's for more remnants. They don't match, but that's ok, I don't have a job and it was cheap.

The tile on the floor is one of my other DIY projects.

Kittens Up For Adoption

I caught all the stray kittens in the rabbit live animal trap purchased at the Tractor Supply Company. Here they are as bunk cats in the carrier. I took them first to a no kill shelter. Fortunately the shelter was booked, because I didn't like it at all. The cats were in cages but not in air conditioning. The place was not sterile at all. So I went to the Houston SPCA not because I wanted to. And I was pleasantly surprised. First of all the building is gorgeous, and was designed by my college roommate Martha. It has sections for drop off, adoption, spay neuter and education. The place is spotless.

The adoption area is very nice. They keep the litters together. There is a get acquainted room. I was so impressed! I did pay $50 to drop off the litter, but I feel they are so cute they will be adopted quickly.

As you can see, the mother got around. These are all from the same litter.

I feel good that these cutie pies will be taken care of. Now the guy checking them in wasn't the brightest. He put one in the new cage, then was having a hard time with the rest, so he took the lid off the carrier. Of course kittens went everywhere. A quick thinking lady guarded the door so no one could come in and the kittens get out. I grabbed a towel and got one of the kittens. Finally the staff caught the other 3. So all we know at this point is the Siamese is a male.

I'm just glad the kittens are not outside any longer getting in Bill's engine (we found them there on Monday morning) or playing with the raccoons (the little one's eye has been scratched) or being eaten by fleas and other such stuff. And I did not let Bill keep any!

Update: I knew this would happen. Bill told the other cats that Evil Ellen threw the kittens away. Fortunately they don't believe anything he says.

Cat Towers

Getting the icky, gross, old carpet off the cat towers is a pain in the rear. I have been w0rking on the smaller one for 2 days and still have the worst part to go.

It's not as humid as yesterday, but it's still awful.

Slow Day

Yesterday was a slow day. I started out by walking in the extreme humidity and mugginess. I'm still at the 2 mile mark for one more day.

I cleaned out the linen closet in Bill's bathroom. When his ex left (he's been divorced 10 years), she left several comforters and lots of polyester sheets - ick. So finally after 5 years got around to cleaning all of that out. I took all of the comforters that were left (I had already donated about 5) and the sheets to one of the clothing boxes at HEB that go to needy families. Then I refolded all the towels, blankets, etc. We have an empty shelve and everything is very neat and easy to get to. As you can see, I had a big helper here. Kalliope, my 6 pound cat, decided that she was going to help.

Completed: 22. Straighten linen closet in Bill’s bathroom

I made Bill chocolate chip cookies, his favorite and fortunately I don't like them much. I made me cheese scones. See Kimmie's blog for the recipe.

I went to the post office, library, and dropped the linens at HEB. At the library, I read magazines and picked up Living Dead in Dallas that finally arrived. When I got home I loaded Living Dead in Dallas on my iPod. I have all the other Sookie books now and have listened to Dead to the World already. So I'm psyched to continue the Sookie series!! But first I have to finish Mr and Miss Anonymous and Look Again. I'm loving both of these books!

After making dinner, I watched the Biggest Loser finale, and the semi's of Dancing With the Stars. Glad it was Ty that went home, the best are left. I think I'm pulling for Gilles. There were some amazing stories on Biggest Loser!

And I applied for lots of jobs!

Up for today? Who knows! I'm hoping someone will call for an interview!

Accomplishments of the day

After the drama of the kittens this morning, I didn't accomplish much today. I did get one thing off my to do list.

39. Update resume

I did update my resume, updated it on all job boards, blasted it out to all recruiters I've dealt with in the past. I applied for 5 jobs. Of course all of that took about half the day.

Then I mopped the kitchen, dining room and laundry room floors. Dusted the master bedroom floor. Played with the cats. Went to the grocery store.

Washed the sheets and put them back on the bed.

Fed the deer, filled up the log feeders with homemade suet, fed the birds.

I also finished loading the 7 books on CD from library on iTunes. Then copied them to the external hard drive.

And I walked 2 miles today.

Hopefully I'll be more productive tomorrow.

More on the Unemployment To Do List

Here are additions to the unemployment to do list:

Wash outside of car
Clean inside car
work on Bill’s mom’s cookbook
mail cookbook to family
work on surprise project
Update resume
Print out pictures from ML’s mom’s birthday party
Organize the DVDs
Get rid of Bill’s VHS tapes
Catch kittens and take to Petsmart
Re-cover cat towers

I might have to reorder what I decided to do. This morning we had great excitement when the stray kittens climbed in Bill's engine. We had to get them out so he would leave for work. I thought I had one kitten captured and then he bite the you know what out of me and got away. Their claws are sharp! I'm bruised like you wouldn't believe. So I need to get room in the garage so we can get the cars in there. At least till I catch the kittens and take them to a rescue. Right now I can't get close to them.

Unemployment To Do List

Let's see how much I get done before I find a job!

Unemployment To Do List

Finish tiling bathroom floor
Tile closet floors
Clean out Ellen’s closet
Clean out Bill’s closet
Take clothes to good will
Clean out and arrange garage
Get stuff out of storage
Tile bedroom #2 floor
Tile bedroom #3 floor
Paint kitchen
Paint dining room
Paint laundry room
Paint bedroom #2
Paint bedroom #3
Put down quarter round in master
Put down quarter round in living room
Put down quarter round in bedroom #2
Put down quarter round in bedroom #3
Put down quarter round in hall
Clean out pantry
Clean out and arrange shelves in my bathroom
Straighten linen closet in Bill’s bathroom
Tile front porch
Repaint back door and columns
Add extra space to park
Start paths in yard
Start vegetable garden
Plant bottle brush in ground
Clean out kitchen cabinets
Unpack my kitchen stuff that is still in boxes
Start diet
Walk 3 miles a day
Bike more

Laid off - Again

I was working on a contract at one of the top cancer hospitals in the country. Because of the economy their investments are not doing well, patients are paying as fast, so they were in a cash flow problem. They ended up stopping all IT projects. I had the greatest team ever. Everyone is devastated. The full time people don't know what till happen to them either.

I had just been let go from another job 3 months again that they asked me to move to Nashville. I did not like my boss, and had no desire to move to Nashville. At least I had a 3 month reprieve with a great bunch of people.

So now it's back to looking. I will apply anywhere just to have insurance. COBRA is so expensive. And at my age, I can not afford to go without.

Hopefully something will happen soon. In the meantime, I might get some home repairs done.