Thursday, July 3, 2008

More on the sick kitty

Thanks Movie Star Wife, I did get some formula but now she's not eating. She ate very good Saturday through Tuesday but now I'm using the syringe to dribble some in her mouth and she will swallow it. Last night was a turning point I think. It may have been too little, too late. She did NOT do good last night! She is the runt of the litter and her momma turned her back on her so maybe she knew something we didn't. They say animals know when things aren't right but I'm trying to get her to hang in there. Around 4am she started meowing so I got up to feed her but she wouldn't eat and seemed to only settle down because I was holding her. At 5am I just snuggled her up and went back to bed with her. So afraid she will be gone by the time I get home from work. She's very weak and isn't trying to stand up or eat at all this morning. I don't want to be here at work and I can't quit tearing up :( My mascara is in ruins. It's a 30 minute drive home so I can't even go check on her at lunch....even though I know I'm going to be useless here at work.

Between the Momma cats (3) and all the babies we must have almost 20 cats but this 1 little girl is breaking my heart. I can't stand to see anything suffer although she doesn't appear to be in pain, just weak and dehydrated. Plenty for you to chose from, Shakes (wink). Almost all of them are black. There's one gray, one charcoal, a tiger momma that had 2 tiger and 1 black. The sick girl is one of her tiger babies.

I planned to post pictures last night of the kitty and Maggie's birthday party but I ended up spending most of the evening with the kitty. I will get them posted soon. My Mom just called and she and my younger sister, Kay, want to take me to lunch for my birthday, 51 yikes! I'm a firecracker so I have always gotten my birthday off work :) Hubby asked me last night what I wanted for my birthday but I really have nothing in mind. He said, "Well, I can't get you tickets for the Brickyard for this year." I laughed and said, "Well, that was a once in a life time thing." My parents got me Suite tickets to the Brickyard race last year for my big 5 0 and found a lot 1-1/2 blocks from the Indianapolis Speedway to park their motor home (condo on wheels) for 4 days. Was absolutely heaven for a NASCAR fan!

Hopefully with tomorrow being a holiday they will let us leave work early today! Tomorrow will be bittersweet as it is. It will be 2 years tomorrow since I heard my brother's voice. He had called to wish me happy birthday. Seven weeks later, on his birthday, he suffered an aneurysm. He was 57.
Geesh, I'm maudlin today! Guess that's what happens when menopause hits Depp depression and exhaustion! A train wreck!! I need hormones or sleep lol either or both! Time to wipe off my sad face and get to work. I'll go surf the Johnny Depp sites, that always cheers me up. I do want to put some shortcuts up for a poll that Johnny and Vanessa are in at Hello!

Most Attractive Man/Monthly Poll on Hello! To vote for Johnny go here:

http://www.hellomagazine.com/vote/mostattractiveman/month/index.html
Also, Vanessa is up for Most Attractive Female/Monthly. Go here to vote:
http://www.hellomagazine.com/vote/mostattractivewoman/month/index.html

Both are leading so keep voting! No interesting This Day in History today so I'll skip that. No major earthquakes and the volcanoes I keep an eye on are still doing about the same.

Will try to post over weekend and I will update on the kitty. Have a great weekend everyone and a safe Holiday!



EDIT:

I just called her Baby but she didn't make it through the day. We buried her under the pine tree where we saw her with her momma a couple weeks ago.


Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Sick kitty, co-workers vacations, more storms

When I got home from Kentucky (sat.) one of the smaller kittens was under my car, tucked back behind the tire. I needed to move it so hubby could mow but it wouldn't move. I went and got the broom out of the garage but still it didn't move. Warning signals were going off in my head...'this isn't normal'. I finally get it out and the reason it wasn't moving is because it's eyes are matted completely shut! I spend the next hour or 2 soaking and cleaning and I finally get them open only to have lots of puss come out of it's eyes! I'm about in tears due to my soft heart and being tired and it's so tiny and weak. I look all around for something to feed it because it was still nursing and not sure if it knew how to eat yet. I finally grabbed some shaved ham out the frig. and tore it into tiny pieces and literally put it in it's mouth. It got the hint and began eating the ham on it's own. I had a syringe from some other cats trip to the vet and fed it some water. It seemed to be doing better so I took it back to the wood shed to find it's momma but she wasn't around. One of it's litter mates was there and they took off together to nap in the wood. Sunday, same thing only it's on the back porch. I think it follows momma up but when it fall s asleep it's eyes dry shut and when it wakes up it can't see so it just stays put and cries. So, this time I take some chicken noodle soup and mash it up. Man, did she (at this point I checked) scarf it down :) after a little milk, which she drank from a bowl, I put her back in the wood shed and she headed to the back to sleep. Well, Monday after work it became apparent that the momma was leaving it to survive or not soooo back in the house we go and she had a dinner of chicken noodle soup, chicken in gravy cat food, milk and water. By now I have a box lined with towels ready for her. If her momma isn't going take care of her I guess it's up to me, poor little thing. I took 1 picture of her last night and will edit post later to add it. It ended up she slept in the box in our bedroom for the night. This morning she opened her eyes on her own. Not all the way but the corners were open enough to see out of so I'm hoping that's a good sign. Sure hope she's alright. I'm babysitting at my daughters after work tonight so hubby gets the chore to feed her.
For the past 3 weeks I've been covering for someone at work and between that and Linda's moving...I'm pooped! Next week is same story, covering different person. Will try to get picture posted whenever I get home, it's on my laptop. More storms to move in later tonight but will try to do that before they hit.

Today in History: This first story is close to my heart. I did a lot of research into Tecumseh and his life for a book I wanted to write around this time period. There is a lot this article doesn't say but from what I gathered Chief Tecumseh's failure to unite the Indian tribes and the loss of the Battle of Tippecanoe was due more to the antics of his brother, The Prophet, than anything else.

July 2, 1809

Chief Tecumseh urges Indians to unite against whites

Alarmed by the growing encroachment of whites squatting on Native American lands, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Indians to unite and resist.

Born around 1768 near Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh early won notice as a brave warrior. He fought in battles between the Shawnee and the white Kentuckians, who were invading the Ohio River Valley territory. After the Americans won several important battles in the mid-1790s, Tecumseh reluctantly relocated westward but remained an implacable foe of the white men and their ways.

By the early 19th century, many Shawnee and other Ohio Valley Indians were becoming increasingly dependent on trading with the Americans for guns, cloth, and metal goods. Tecumseh spoke out against such dependence and called for a return to traditional Indian ways. He was even more alarmed by the continuing encroachment of white settlers illegally settling on the already diminished government-recognized land holdings of the Shawnee and other tribes. The American government, however, was reluctant to take action against its own citizens to protect the rights of the Ohio Valley Indians.

On this day in 1809, Tecumseh began a concerted campaign to persuade the Indians of the Old Northwest and Deep South to unite and resist. Together, Tecumseh argued, the various tribes had enough strength to stop the whites from taking further land. Heartened by this message of hope, Indians from as far away as Florida and Minnesota heeded Tecumseh's call. By 1810, he had organized the Ohio Valley Confederacy, which united Indians from the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Menominee, Ottawa, and Wyandot nations.

For several years, Tecumseh's Indian Confederacy successfully delayed further white settlement in the region. In 1811, however, the future president William Henry Harrison led an attack on the confederacy's base on the Tippecanoe River. At the time, Tecumseh was in the South attempting to convince more tribes to join his movement. Although the battle of Tippecanoe was close, Harrison finally won out and destroyed much of Tecumseh's army.

When the War of 1812 began the following year, Tecumseh immediately marshaled what remained of his army to aid the British. Commissioned a brigadier general, he proved an effective ally and played a key role in the British capture of Detroit and other battles. When the tide of war turned in the American favor, Tecumseh's fortunes went down with those of the British. On October 5, 1813, he was killed during Battle of the Thames. His Ohio Valley Confederacy and vision of Indian unity died with him.

July 2, 1881

President Garfield shot

Only four months into his administration, President James A. Garfield is shot as he walks through a railroad waiting room in Washington, D.C. His assailant, Charles J. Guiteau, was a disgruntled and perhaps insane office seeker who had unsuccessfully sought an appointment to the U.S. consul in Paris. The president was shot in the back and the arm, and Guiteau was arrested.

Garfield, mortally ill, was treated in Washington and then taken to the seashore at Elberon, New Jersey, where he attempted to recuperate with his family. During this time, Vice President Chester A. Arthur served as acting president. On September 19, 1881, after 80 days, President Garfield died of blood poisoning. The following day, Arthur was inaugurated as the 21st president of the United States.

July 2, 1934

Fox signs Shirley Temple

On this day in 1934, Fox Film Corp. strikes a new contract with child star Shirley Temple. Temple was six years old at the time. Starting at age four, Temple starred in a series of shorts spoofing current movies, called Baby Burlesks, and appeared in bit parts. Her song and dance number "Baby Take a Bow" in the 1934 movie Stand Up and Cheer brought her wide acclaim. Her new contract with Fox raised her salary from $150 a week to $1,000 a week, plus a $35,000 bonus for each film she made. The contract also paid her mother $250 a week.

Under the new contract, Temple quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day. From 1935 to 1938, she was Hollywood's top box office draw. By 1936, she was earning $50,000 per film. Her films included Little Miss Marker (1934), The Little Colonel (1935), and Heidi (1937).

Temple made more than 40 films by the time she reached her teens. However, her box office magic wore off as she aged, and by her late teens her career was petering out. She married actor John Agar in 1946, at age 17. The marriage ended by 1949, the same year she made her last film, A Kiss for Corliss.

She remarried in 1950, to TV executive Charles Black, and changed her name to Shirley Temple Black. Two attempts in the 1950s to launch her own TV shows failed. In the late 1960s, the former actress entered politics, running unsuccessfully for Congress. In 1968, President Nixon appointed her U.S. representative to the United Nations. She served as ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976 and later as chief of protocol for President Ford. She became ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989 and served until 1992.

July 2, 1937

Amelia Earhart disappears

On July 2, 1937, the Lockheed aircraft carrying American aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan is reported missing near Howland Island in the Pacific. The pair were attempting to fly around the world when they lost their bearings during the most challenging leg of the global journey: Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island, a tiny island 2,227 nautical miles away, in the center of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was in sporadic radio contact with Earhart as she approached Howland Island and received messages that she was lost and running low on fuel. Soon after, she probably tried to ditch the Lockheed in the ocean. No trace of Earhart or Noonan was ever found.

Ok, I gotta go for now but will be back to add kitty picture....stay safe....until next post...



Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Helping a friend and birthdays

I'm back!! Was an interesting drive south. The area around Columbus and Edinburgh Indiana still showed signs of the devastation from the flooding. Field pipes once buried now visible. Large areas of fields with big swashes ripped out by flowing water. The rivers were still high but not overflowing their banks. It's just amazing what Mother Nature can do.
The trip to Kentucky and back went well. I have some new bruises and I'm minus a few fingernails lol! Boy, was that some busy days!! I ended up leaving on Weds. morning and arrived at Linda's around noon. Her daughter, Tina, had an appointment with a lawyer in a few hours so first thing we did was get her on the road. Lawyers office was an hour and a half drive. Then we headed upstairs to organized what she had already packed up. Neither of them are in good health so I put myself to good use and packed...and moved boxes...
and packed...and moved boxes...and packed...and moved boxes... As you can guess, Linda had a lot of calls to make so while she was on phone I would hold up items and she would point to which suitcase or box. Before you knew it we had the bed cleared! Then we would start on a different area and fill the bed up again. Then clear it again. Little by little we got everything packed and had 1 suitcase for her to 'live out of' for a few days and 1 suitcase for medicines. She had a friend come in by bus from PA to drive her truck and the U-haul to New Jersey and he was to arrive at 2:30 but called at noon to let us know that a levee had broke in Columbus, OH (what's with the Columbus flooding?...Columbus, IN and Columbus, WI!?) and bus had to detour and it would be close to 7pm before he arrived! Poor Carl was on that bus for almost 24 hours!! Only to turn around and leave by truck the next morning. What a friend!
We pulled out of Bowling Green, KY at 10:30am. I followed behind them until the Blue Grass Parkway exit. I pulled up along side them and blew Linda a kiss. As I headed north, they exited to go east and that's when I started to cry. I stayed tough until then because I knew Linda was trying so very hard not to break down. I talked to her Sunday and she said something about feeling like she stepped off a cliff into the unknown when we parted ways on the Interstate. I told her she hadn't stepped into the unknown but she had been standing on a threshold with 1 foot in today and 1 foot in the future and now she had just lifted that foot from today and stepped into a new beginning. She sounded happier on Sunday than I had heard her in a longggg time :)
Sunday afternoon was reserved for the birthday girl, Maggie!! We had quite the crowd over to celebrate her big day with her. With all the sickness, broken leg and injuries in the family lately we haven't been able to celebrate everything so the cake had Graduation for Jeremy and Faith, and birthday for Maggie and me. I have pictures and will post them when I can get them downloaded from the camera. Maggie got lots and clothes and toys, of course, and we just put the cake on the highchair tray and let her go!! When the party was over, Amanda, Tom and the kids and one of Amanda's friends from high school stayed and we had pizza and wings for dinner. It was a good day :)
Now it's back to work....blah! No more mentioning 'nookie' Son-in-law visited blog last week and was grossed out that his mother-in-law mentioned it...Sorry Tom! LOL :P

Here's a word of the day:
trichotillomania

\trick-uh-till-uh-MAY-nee-uh\
noun

Meaning
: an abnormal desire to pull out one's hair
Example Sentence
Connie’s trichotillomania left her with an unfortunate array of bald spots along the crown of her head.

Now this I have experienced! Although not to the point of having bald spots but there is usually a point (or two, or three) in each day that I just want to pull my hair out!! Thank God my insanity is normal. It is normal isn't it? I was told it was but maybe the person who told me that was crazy too! Yikes!

Today in History:

July 1, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg begins

The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration's restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade.

Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town.

By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade's army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp's Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top. The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. For the next two days, Lee would batter each end of the Union position, and on July 3, he would launch Pickett's charge against the Union center.


For my Canadian friends...

July 1, 1867

Canadian Independence Day

The autonomous Dominion of Canada, a confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act.

On July 1, 1867, with passage of the British North America Act, the Dominion of Canada was officially established as a self-governing entity within the British Empire. Two years later, Canada acquired the vast possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company, and within a decade the provinces of Manitoba and Prince Edward Island had joined the Canadian federation. In 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, making mass settlement across the vast territory of Canada possible.

I saw yesterday that primary filming for PE is done. That's sad and I will miss the updates and pictures. Only thing to do is wait for the movie to come out. And I think it will be an awesome movie!! Not just because Johnny Depp is in it but from what I've seen in the making of it.
Ok, I've got to get some work done. Until next post.....take care