The Kat House

He Came, He Saw, He Snored!

Tish — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:46:06 +0000

I took a much needed break from studying on Saturday evening to see a movie with a nice young man. He and I are both huge fans of the Saw movies, so we chose to watch Saw V. I had read some negative reviews, but we decided to reserve judgment until seeing the movie for ourselves.

I am happy to say that we were both pleasantly surprised. The movie flashed back to the previous four films, filling in some gaps and tying up some loose ends. We both really enjoyed it - except for one very distracting element.

Shortly after the opening credits, we heard snores back behind us! There were only a handful of people in the theater, so it was easy to pick out the culprit. He was sitting all alone on the back row, head tilted back, mouth open, and disturbing the peace of all those around him. The nice young man speculated that the old coot was sleeping off a drunken stupor, but I have a very different theory. I think his old lady tossed him out, and he figured he’d save a few bucks by buying a couple of movie tickets instead of springing for a hotel room!

Despite the fact that the snoring continued through the entire movie, we had a great time. The nice young man and I enjoyed an evening of terror coupled with good company. And well, I’m pretty sure the old coot had his best night’s sleep ever!

Lots to Say…

Tish — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:04:43 +0000

True to my chatty character, I do have lots to say - just very little time to say it. My SPHR certification exam is coming up on December 1st, and I’ve been spending nearly every spare moment studying for it. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this test for such a long time, but now that it’s almost here, I’m scared out of my mind. The exam covers the same material as the PHR exam that I took and passed last December. This one, however, has a much heavier focus on Strategic Management.

Expect to see more regular posts from me after the exam, and I’ll post here and there as I have the time until then. After the test, I’ll be able to focus on those areas of my life that have long been neglected - in particularly, a romantic relationship. I find it very interesting that I’ve been putting off relationships so that I can dedicate my time to studying, and with the end now in sight, romantic opportunities are really starting to unfold. Funny how that happens.

The dogs are doing well. In my continuing quest to save money on vet bills, I discovered that I can save a bundle on medications through Doctors Foster and Smith. I just ordered heartworm prevention and flea control and saved $21. I will soon be ordering Cruella’s Percorten from them as well. I can save about $60 per injection by purchasing online and giving the shots myself. Those savings really add up, and combined with the other lifestyle changes I’ve made over the last few months, I hope to progress nicely through my Total Money Makeover.

I hope that you all are doing great and that wonderful things are happening for you. I apologize that I haven’t made it around to your blogs as often as I’d like to, but I promise to get back in the swing of things next month!

Four Years and Counting…

Tish — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:26:34 +0000

Today marks the fourth anniversary of my very first blog post. In honor of this momentous occasion, I have compiled a list of some of my favorite posts from The Kat House.

Tish and Dan Go to Krystal - If you’ve never eaten a Krystal, be sure to read this post explaining the dangers of doing so.
The Valentine’s Day Blues - Being single isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
People Really Do Read My Blog! - Never underestimate the power of a blog.
Random Acts of Kindness: Are They Really So Random? - The “random” people we meet are anything but.
Self Portrait as the Invisible Woman - I moonlight as a superhero!
Have You Seen This Man? - I have an unhealthy stalker.
S.O.S. - Can’t swim? No problem. With my emergency kit, you’ll never risk drowning again!
Top 10 Reasons I’m Single - Looks like I’ll be single forever!
Legend of the Dump Man - Those of you from Knoxville will certainly appreciate this local lore.
Letter to a Stalker - The stalker found my new house!

Happy blogiversary to me!

A Day on the Shitter

Tish — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 02:51:48 +0000

Every life is marked by significant moments - moments of insight, moments of sudden realization, moments in which we learn valuable lessons that may not have otherwise been learned. In my 36 years, I’ve collected quite a list of these moments, but none so significant as the one I experienced yesterday.

You’ll have to trust me on this. I’ve lived to tell the tale, but you may not be so lucky. Just yesterday I discovered that Fiber One cereal was developed by Satan himself! I learned that eating two heaping bowls of it in one day is about as stupid as hitting the Krystal drive-thru after a long night of drinking. More stupid actually. Whereas the “Krystal Shits” last for a good couple of hours, the ill effects of Fiber One take a full 24 hours to subside.

It all started with a deep rumbling in my stomach. You know the type. I’m pretty sure it made the local news. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to tune in at 6:00 or 11:00 because I was otherwise engaged - on the can, if you will. It was easily the most unpleasant day of my life.

After a few hours of severe gastrointestinal upset, I was pretty confident that the culprit was Fiber One. I decided to utilize the power of Google to see if anyone else had encountered the same problem. That’s when I found a very disturbing thread titled Too Much Fiber? My suspicions were confirmed by dozens of people who had posted about their experiences with Fiber One. One guy went so far as to say, “General Mills needs to consider putting a warning label on the stuff if you ask me.” I couldn’t agree more.

It’s now more than 24 hours after the Fiber One Fiasco. There were times that I thought I wouldn’t pull through the ordeal, but I’m happy to say that I’m now feeling great - and about 10 pounds lighter!

Barry’s Halloween Costume

Tish — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:45:38 +0000

A while back, my friend Barry commented that he hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since he was in college. I promised to compose a list of the top 10 costumes he should consider this year. But as I sat down to work on the list, I came to a startling conclusion. I’ve known Barry for 14 years now, and I’ve seen him in costume lots of times! In fact, Halloween may just be the only day during the year that he doesn’t masquerade as someone or something else!

He has been a rock star and an insomniac. He has toured the country as part of a pop sensation. He has been an Olympic swimmer. And we certainly can’t forget the time he wore his birthday suit, which promptly landed him in the dog house.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. This man is the master of disguise! So Barry, I regret to inform you that I will not be posting a list of 10 costumes for you to consider wearing tonight, because there is only one that comes to mind. I think you should be…

Barry.

Now there’s an idea!

What Cruella Does When I’m Away…

Tish — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:08:20 +0000

A few days ago, I put the dogs’ dinner on the table and then took them each out for a short walk. While I was out with Molly, I caught a glimpse of Cruella standing up at the table trying to get to her food. It looked hilarious, as she was still wearing an e-collar due to her eye injury and some minor surgery to the side of her face.

Today I did the same thing, and I took my camera outside with me. This is what I saw.

I wonder what else she does when she thinks I’m not watching?

Sorry for the smudges on the glass. I have to clean those doors every day due to doggy nose prints! I guess it’s a good thing I clean the table every day too!

MegaColon Releases MegaTurd

Tish — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:02:35 +0000

As the doctors work to determine the perfect timing of Cruella’s Percorten injections, she is required to have frequent vet visits to check her electrolytes. I took her for one of those visits this evening.

You may recall that among the many other afflictions she is currently dealing with, Cruella was recently diagnosed with MegaColon, an abnormal enlargement of the colon caused by its inability to empty properly. She is now on a high fiber diet and takes a stool softener twice per day. This new regimen has been keeping her regular for a few weeks now, and I haven’t noticed any ill effects - until today.

As I was walking Cruella toward the vet’s office, she suddenly assumed position to take a dump. I tried to rush her to the grass, but it didn’t work. She dropped a turd right there on the sidewalk! I assumed she was finished. Big mistake! While we were waiting for the doctor in the treatment room, she hunched over and dropped another one in the floor! Beyond embarrassed, I opened the door and told one of the girls what had happened. While she cleaned up the mess, I took Cruella outside. She couldn’t even make it to the grassy area behind the building. She just let loose in the middle of the parking lot.

Convinced that she surely must have an empty colon by now, I took her back inside. Just as the doctor and a tech walked into the room, Cruella took the biggest shit in recorded history. I’m telling you, folks. Somebody should have called Guinness. We all just stood there in total shock until the doctor finally broke the silence. “My gosh! That is the biggest I’ve ever seen!”

The sight of such a thing was bad enough, but the smell was even worse. I won’t even attempt to describe it, as I don’t think there are words in the English language that can do it justice. Let’s just say it sure as hell didn’t smell like Christmas cookies! The tech brought in an odor absorbing candle, and by the sheer grace of God, we all lived to tell the tale.

And speaking of the tale, it doesn’t end there. When I finally got back to the house, I took Cruella for another walk. She did it again!

At the beginning of today’s vet visit, Cruella weighed 59.5 pounds. The doctor told me that she should weigh 55 pounds, and that I need to limit her food intake until she loses a little weight. I should have weighed her again on the way out the door. I’m betting that she needs to gain weight now!

If You Don’t Like My Blog, I Don’t Give a Damn!

Tish — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:14:54 +0000

There have been a few negative comments left on my blog in recent weeks. The perpetrator may be new, but the story is still the same. When you’ve been blogging as long as I have, you’ve seen plenty of rude remarks. I’ve got thick skin, folks. Bring it on.

This is my personal blog, and I’ve been posting to it for four years. It is my forum to keep my friends and family updated on what is going on in my life. It is my space to talk about whatever the hell I want to talk about. And if you don’t like reading what I write, you’re free to leave and never come back.

I don’t write about online trading, politics, or world events. I don’t intend to start. If those are the things that interest you, there are plenty of great blogs out there. Go find them. But if you’re interested in reading about the life and times of a fun-loving Tennessee girl and her dogs, I hope you’ll hang around. And if you’re interested in making a new friend, I hope you’ll drop me a line.

The Lovers

Tish — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:43:03 +0000

I’ve always been intrigued by tarot cards, so I couldn’t pass up this neat little quiz.

You are The Lovers

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

The Lovers represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made.

Originally, this card was called just LOVE. And that’s actually more apt than "Lovers." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can’t understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that the you have or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

All I can say is wow. There couldn’t possibly be a more perfect card in the deck. Thanks to my buddy Michael for tipping me about the quiz!

Another Trip to the Pet ER

Tish — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:31:11 +0000

You’re not going to believe this. I spoke way too soon in my last post when I told you how well Cruella was doing. Later that same night I had to take her to the Pet ER - again! It wasn’t the Addison’s Disease or any of her other ongoing afflictions. It was all Molly’s fault!

Molly has been on a diet for a while now, and she’s not handling it well at all. She gets plenty to eat, but she’s never satisfied. She is constantly trying to breaking into the garbage can or steal Cruella’s food - and sometimes she tries to steal mine too! On Wednesday night, I had been munching on sunflower seeds while sitting at the computer. I got up to get ready for bed, and I made the mistake of leaving the bag of sunflower seeds unattended. I walked out of the room for just a second, and Molly took the opportunity to grab it.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before, but Cruella is my shadow. She goes everywhere I go. When I walk from one room to another, so does she. I started to walk back into my computer room to turn out the light, and that’s when I saw Molly with the sunflower seeds. She growled and snarled her teeth at me, and before I could even react, Cruella jumped her. The two got into a terrible fight, and I had to pull them apart. Once I got them separated, I guarded Cruella and rushed her into another room. That’s when I saw a large gash just below her left eye - the same eye being treated for a corneal ulcer! There was blood all around the eyeball too, but I couldn’t tell if it was also injured. So I called the Pet ER to tell them I was on my way, and then I rushed out there.

Cruella was very lucky. The doctor closed her wound with surgical glue and stained the eyeball. The corneal ulcer was back, but there were no new injuries. I am continuing to treat the ulcer with an antibiotic and pain medication. Hopefully it will be healed in a few more days. As for Molly, I am still upset with her. The only “treats” she will be receiving in the near future are appetite suppressants!