Thanksgiving rush.

Trying to get my mess together in preparation for heading to Wilmington tomorrow morning. I don’t feel so well. Upset stomach last night and all day today. Not sure what’s going on.

Gotta give the dogs a bath. Just trimmed the kitties’ nails. Bought some Soft Claws for Neville & Casey, but the glue in them appears to be dried up, so I’ve gotta take them back. Which doesn’t help me tonight or tomorrow. I bought them at a local store, too, so I can’t take them to Wilmington and exchange them at Petco or Petsmart but will have to wait until next week when I’m back.

Haven’t decided if I’m taking both Neville and Casey with me this weekend. Not sure how Casey will do. He’s not the most well-socialized cat. My friend L is coming over to scoop litter boxes (dammit, gotta clean out litter boxes too) and feed Andrew and Chestnut, and Casey would probably be happy to stay home with them. I know, intellectually, that they would be in no greater danger than they are on a daily basis in my home anyway. I mean, hell, it’s not like my being at home at the time of my fire did anything to save my cats.

But something about seeing them every day is reassuring. I know I’m taking Neville, and I won’t take the fosters for a couple of reasons, including because I’m trying to not get overly attached to them and, especially, because I haven’t told my grandmother that I have more fosters. She didn’t like my having the other ones, and I figure it’s easier to just not tell her than to have that conversation over and over and over again.

Anyway…

Have some open eggnog that will go bad if I don’t do something with it. Thought about making eggnog quick bread, but perhaps I can freeze it and use it when I get back in the bread? That’ll be one less thing to do tonight, and eggnog bread is more of a Christmas thing anyway.

Barack Obama is on TV, talking to Barbara Walters, and I have to make note of how WONDERFUL it is to have a man who will soon be THE President of the US talking like he knows what he’s talking about. So nice that we’re going to have a President who is eloquent and intelligent. Even if Dubya isn’t a total idiot, he sounds like one. Sounding like you know what you’re talking about is half the battle when you’re in a leadership position.

Alright, gotta take the dogs out, bathe them, pack, probably do a load of laundry before I pack, clean up the house a bit, and hopefully make it to bed before the wee hours of the morning so that I can get up and get to Wilmington at a reasonable hour tomorrow.

I might go puke first, though. I really don’t feel so well…

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Melamine found in infant formula – IN THE U.S.

Of course, the FDA wants to reassure everyone that it’s no big deal, as it was only TRACE AMOUNTS of melamine. Not enough to cause, you know, kidney failure and kill babies like it did in China.

First pet food, now infant formula. Not just in the developing nation of China but right here in the good ol’ U S of A.

But we shouldn’t be worried. Nah.

You know, that baby formula is probably safe, despite the INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL found in it in trace amounts.

Just like the dog and cat food that killed thousands of animals was safe.

Note that the FDA didn’t disclose which US-sold infant formula contained melamine in their tests. For all we know, it could be more than one.

And it begs the question – how many more of our food products are contaminated with this protein-enhancing industrial chemical? How many cases of kidney disease could possibly be attributed to melamine in our food supply?

Even if it IS just a trace amount…even if it isn’t enough to cause harm…

WHAT THE FUCK IS IT DOING IN BABY FORMULA? IN ANY AMOUNT?????

Is it just me, or is the FDA trying to downplay the seriousness of melamine being found in infant formula a little disturbing?

The amount found in the sample was no cause for concern, said FDA spokeswoman Judy Leon said. “There’s no basis for concern because we’re talking about trace levels that are so low … that there’s absolutely no risk,” she told Reuters.

I’m sorry, but I think that finding an industrial chemical that is known to be used to artificially inflate protein counts, a chemical that likely didn’t leach into the baby formula from its container, and therefore a chemical that appears to have been ADDED TO THE FORMULA for some reason – I think finding such a chemical in baby formula IN ANY AMOUNT is a real basis for concern.

I wonder if Ms. Leon would feed that baby formula to her child or grandchild? Somehow, I don’t think so.

Enough is enough is enough.

My mood is up, down and all over the place right now. Little things make me want to scream or cry, or both. I’m finding myself teary-eyed much of the time, for no real reason. It can be something as simple as a song on the radio, a commercial on TV, a thought about, well, just about anything. I’m just crying a lot for no good reason.

Unfortunately for me, the holidays give me lots of opportunity to cry. Sappy movies, Christmas music, and so on.

Along those lines, though, I’m feeling very sad and frustrated right now. My upstairs neighbors have a young child running and jumping around in their apartment right now, right over my living room, and it’s bothering me more than it should. I don’t spend enough time with my dogs, and I feel forever guilty. I can’t seem to catch up at work, and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m tired all the time. I still don’t know where I’m going to have Thanksgiving dinner, and, really, the thought of dealing with all the family just makes me want to hide somewhere.

I have to clean my house and kitty-proof before I leave for Wilmington, and I haven’t done a damn thing this weekend. I have to finish a big thing for work that I intended to work on this weekend, but with having a headache yesterday and then not getting home until late last night and not getting to bed until later and then not getting up until just in time to shower and take Andrew to the adoption event…well, it just didn’t happen.

I wish I could have a holiday where I could just be happy and enjoy things, and not feel overwhelmed. I wish I could feel good about my job and about my home. I wish I wasn’t so emotional and so easily bothered by every. little. thing. I wish I wasn’t constantly letting down those who are most important to me, whether human, canine or feline.

I wish my fucking medicine would work again. Shit.

Another (semi-)lost Saturday

Woke up with a headache. Did the same thing last weekend. Not sure why. Took the dogs out, fed everyone, put a load of towels in the washer, went back to bed. Got up, put the towels in the dryer and a load of lights in the washer, got an ice pack, went back to bed. Got up just now to fold the towels, put the lights in the dryer and some darks in the washer, and blog. If I go back to bed now, I may not make it to the lovely early Thanksgiving feast S is hosting. As it is, I’m supposed to be making pumpkin pie, but I may just buy something instead…

My plan (HA HA HA) had been to clean my apartment. I’ve got to better kitty-proof it at the least before heading to Wilmington, since the fosters will be here alone. I have a friend coming to feed & cuddle them and scoop litter boxes, but a bored kitty is a destructive kitty. I also don’t know what kind of separation anxiety Andrew might have. Not so worried about Chestnut, but perhaps I should be. And wondering if I should just leave Casey (and Neville?) here too. But I’m terrified of being gone that long and coming home to something bad. Not that there’s not a risk of bad things happening all the time, whether or not I’m here, and not that there’s not a risk of bad things happening if I take them with me, but it comforts me being able to see them everyday. I dunno.

Sitting in my chair with my laptop and a kitten (again) on my shoulder/behind my head. He’s going to be too big for this soon, I think. He may not realize it, though!

New neighbors moved in last night and this morning. Seriously, why are you moving at 11 p.m.????? Not like they had a U-Haul or anything, it was just their car that they backed up on the grass to the door to unload. Fortunately, the ground is pretty firm thanks to the cold weather, so they didn’t make mud out there. So far they are pretty quiet, though, which is all I can hope for these days. My upstairs neighbors have been pretty quiet lately too.

I’m probably jinxing myself…

OK – going to get off my ass and try to get a pie in the oven. It’s not too late, and I’ve already got the ingredients, so…

NaBloPoMo is going to be a no-go

Just realized today that my efforts to succeed at NaBloPoMo are futile, as I will be out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and, therefore, away from my computer. I could consider finding free wifi in Wilmington, but I know that it’s not likely, and I probably won’t have the energy to bother anyway.

Ah damn.

Friday night. Going to bed soon. Hasn’t been the greatest of days. This weekend is going to be busy busy because there’s too much to do before the holidays and not enough time in which to do all of it. I hate that.

Thursday Hodge Podge

Because I’m too lazy to wait until tomorrow…

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As I write this, I have two kitties sharing a chair with me. However, they are not the two one would expect. Instead of Casey & Neville, I have Andrew on the back of the chair behind my head, purring, and Chestnut on the arm of the chair, purring.

No, they’re not staying. No. No. No. No matter how sweet they are.

Seriously, though – I do wish some potential adopter could see how lovable these two can be. Where are you, potential adopter???

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Apparently Dr. Pepper is keeping a promise that I bet they didn’t think they’d have to keep. They said back in March that if Guns ‘n Roses released their “long awaited album” Chinese Democracy in 2008, they’d give a free Dr. Pepper to everyone in America.

Thing is, the album has been in the works since 1994. That would be, um, the year I graduated HIGH SCHOOL. So what were the chances, really, that the album would finally be released, um, ever? Axl Rose must have a keen sense of humor. Or maybe it was just fate.

Whatever the case, if you go the Dr. Pepper web site on Sunday, November 23, you can get a coupon for a free 20 oz. Dr. Pepper. They’ll be available for 24 hours, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Assuming the Dr. Pepper web site survives the onslaught. It appears to already be down from the traffic generated by the story alone…

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Just watched Ugly Betty. Probably one of my favorite episodes. I’m a sucker for happy endings, and I adore that show. Made me teary. Now on to Grey’s Anatomy, with what has to be the Worst. Storyline. Ever. Izzy and the dead man/ghost/reincarnated fiancé/whatever. And the operating on each other storyline is creeping me out. Really CREEPING ME OUT. Eeeeewwwwww.

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Interested in knowing what your blog says about your personality? Try the Typealyzer. According to the Typealyzer, I’m an ESFP.

ESFP – The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead – they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation – qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Not so sure about entertaining, but I can say that the part about avoiding conflicts and rarely initiating confrontation is right on.

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WALL-E came out on DVD Tuesday. Resisted buying it last night after therapy, knowing that there’d be no time to watch it. But I’m getting it tomorrow. I think. Unless I talk myself out of being frivolous. Sigh.

Weirdo kitty

My cats would NEVER do this. At least, I don’t think they would. I don’t know many cats, or dogs for that matter, who like vacuum cleaners, even round ones that move about on their own.

(And one of our grad students is doing robotics research using Roombas without the vacuum part. I don’t have more details than that, however, as I am not computer scienterrific. And, yes, I just made up a word. )

Burned out already

And, frankly, I have no time to be burned out!

I’m sorry my posts lately have been completely uninteresting. My brain isn’t very sharp right now. It goes as quickly as it comes.

Feeling better tonight, though, than yesterday and even than this morning.

Oh – it snowed today! For, like, 5 minutes! One of our work study students came in and said, “It’s SNOWING!” and I had just enough time to see the flurries blowing by my window, and when I looked again, it was gone. Ah well. It is pretty cold outside, though.

Cooking real food tonight. Rutabagas (yum!), steak and garlic knots. And watching Curious George on ABC Family. Why? Hell if I know. It’s a cute movie, but George is not a very good role model for little children. He never was in the books, either. The kids I nannied were George addicts. They had The Complete Adventures of Curious George and had it memorized. Carolyn’s favorite was Curious George Goes to the Hospital, and don’t you dare try to change the words on her, because she’d call you on it. (By the way, did you know that the Man with the Yellow Hat’s name is Ted? I had no idea. Guessing that was just for the movie…)

Alright, time to go check on the rutabagas. Mmmmm….

Completely out of sorts

I stayed home sick today. Haven’t felt good since last night. Not sure if it’s a true stomach bug or something I ate, but either way, it hasn’t been a fun day.

I slept a lot today too. Finally got out of bed this afternoon at about 4 p.m. I still don’t feel very good.

Worse yet, my mood seems to have bottomed out. I’m really hoping it’s a temporary state of being, because right now, I don’t even want to talk to anyone because I’m afraid I’ll snap at them for no reason. I feel like screaming. I feel like crying. It has happened so fast, that I feel pretty sure it’s temporary, and I don’t know what I would do if it wasn’t. My doc wants to try MAOIs if things get bad again and, frankly, I really don’t want to have to go there.

Today.

Pretty uneventful. I didn’t have a headache today, thank goodness. Went to a fund-raising brunch for IAR this morning and got to put some faces with names, which was nice. Then went to visit S in Raleigh. We had a nice lunch, did a little shopping/browsing in Kohls and TJ Maxx, then just hung out a bit at her place. Filled my car with gas for $1.89/gallon. Man, seeing that “1″ as the first number in the price of gas looks weird. Headed home, stopped to pick up a small cat tree (!!!) that I got off of Freecycle, got home, took the dogs out, fed everyone, fed myself supper, surfed the net, cleaned up the cat tree, surfed the net, watched TV, surfed the net, talked to my grandmother, surfed the net.

Now it’s time for me to go to bed. I don’t feel very well. Upset stomach and feel like I’m coming down with something. Hopefully I didn’t take anything unwelcome with me to S’s place.

Hope I sleep better tonight than I have the past couple of nights. Supposed to be interviewed on video tomorrow for a student documentary about Freecycle, and, of course, my complexion looks terrible.