As I was carrying the cat out of the kid's room, I offered to let her kiss the cat goodnight. She said yes for the first time, and I brought the cat over. The kid leaned in and the cat cooperated and touched her nose to the kid's cheek. All through story time the kid kept talking about kissing the cat.

The cats chased a fledgling bird into the house today.

Much excitement all around. I had to hold the cat back until R could shut him in another room, all the birds outside were loudly chirping, and the baby kept yelling "Baby! Bird! Baby! Bird!"

I scooped the poor thing up in a bowl. Seems like one of its legs was broken, and it had a moist patch of feathers on its chest. Once we left it alone outside its parents came by to check on it and it hopped right out of the bowl. Hopefully it will be okay, but I think I will be checking the back yard tomorrow before I let the cats out.

The fat one

The Litter-Robot breaks, and only now does the fat cat start using it again. Hopefully we'll get it back from the company soon (thank goodness it was still under warranty and the company has been helpful), but he'll still be using a regular litter box for a while. Maybe I should manually cycle the machine when we get it back. He did start using it again after it broke...

Target has apparently found a weak spot. I can't resist the baby socks they have in the cheapie bins by the front door. They get new patterns for each holiday. Luckily, their $1 price tag makes them a cheap thrill.

Recent cooking:
Chicken and bacon pasta in garlic cream sauce - Simple, quick, delicious.
Roasted cabbage with lemon - Did you know that slightly charred cabbage tastes just like the outside of a toasted marshmallow? The resemblance is uncanny.
Inspirational eggs - Eggs baked in potato skins. Not bad, but the general consensus was the recipe would be improved by cooking the constituent parts separately and then assembling. Or, you know, frying up some potatoes and eggs. Ah, well. Trying new breakfast items keeps us from getting bored of the old standards.

Backsliding

Litter box failure with the cat. I imagine this is what potty training must be like. Some days, success, other days, failure. The cat is clearly of a like mind with my nephew, who isn't interested in being potty trained quite yet. He uses his little as a step stool.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The most wonderful thing has happened here in the A&R household. (No, I'm not talking about the baby.) The second cat has finally started using the mechanical litter box! We bought a Litter Robot at least six months ago, hoping to reclaim the bathroom that had been taken over by the cat box. The one cat started using it immediately, but we realized several days later, when he had an accident, that the second cat wouldn't use the machine. We tried showing him that there was litter in there, shutting him in the bathroom all day, making him sit by the litterbox - nothing worked. He was terrified of it. He obsessed over it, spending hours at a time sitting at the bathroom door, watching it. We put a small litter box for him to use by the machine, hoping the proximity would help to ease his fears. We intentionally didn't clean it often, hoping to encourage him to transition to the machine. Eventually we took the box away, at which point in time he started using the drain in the tub. We had pretty much given up hope, when poop stopped appearing in the bathtub. I kept an ear out, and the next time I heard a cat in the box I peeked my head in and saw his head sticking out of the machine. Success!

Catastrophe

Had you asked me yesterday morning, I would have sworn that the cat was in cahoots with the baby. Several times during the night it woke us up with bizarre yowling. The first time, after a few minutes, I poked my head outside to see if something was wrong, only to be greeted with the usual "Murrrow?" We did our best to ignore subsequent noises, not wanting to encourage the behavior, but still was fleeting.

As it turns out, the cat was just ravenously hungry. She completely blocked the other cat from the food dish after I filled it, and even went back for seconds. I think she might have had a little cold, as she seemed to have gone off her feed the last few days, which had me rather worried (this is the cat that had to be force-fed and racked up several hundred in vet bills last year).

Monday morning's feast also meant that Tuesday night we didn't have a starving cat, and so were able to get a night of uninterrupted sleep. Seeing as we only have 6 more months until regular sleep disturbances, we're doing our best to sleep well while we can.

Babyproofing

Having had several Pier 1 gift cards sitting in my wallet for a long while, I finally decided to go into the store recently and see what they might have that wasn't too gaudy and awful (or a candle). I wound up purchasing a lovely decorative vase. It was black, with a light blue silhouette of a couple of birds sitting on a branch. I had finally gotten around to taking it out of the bag this afternoon, when I dropped the dang thing. It fell all of three feet onto the carpeted floor, but nevertheless shattered rather fantastically. As disappointing as that was (it was a rather nice looking vase), I'm glad that I did it, rather than the cats or the baby. That thing was clearly not long for this world. Shoddy Peruvian craftsmanship.

Getting into the spirit of things (a little bit)

I've been feeling really lazy lately. So lazy, in fact, that the thought of all the work that goes into getting an actual Christmas tree seemed like too much effort. Still, I wasn't quite to the point of not having anything (especially since we're sticking around this holiday season), so I decided to light up the metal cactus that my aunt and uncle gave me as a wedding present. As it turns out, little white lights are all one really needs to feel festive.

The infamous no-knead bread

Joblessness persists, which means that my culinary adventures also continue full time. R finds it somewhat hilarious that, even though I do not subscribe to retrogressive ideals of feminine duties and propriety, I'm still doing all sorts of newlywed housewife activities (getting up to make him lunch, seeing him off, greeting him when he returns, making dinner). He has decided it is because I'm secure in my place in the world, and he will be more than happy to stay home when I'm supporting us as an orthodontist (should that happen in the future).

In any case, I tried out a quick version of the much lauded no-knead bread recipe. I think R hopes I will make it every week. (I might even, too, as it was very easy.) The accompanying article states a variety of flours can be used in the bread, which I might take advantage of to use up the various nonstandard flours I have acquired. Got to lighten up the load for the future move.

Speaking of lightening the load, I've been working to purge the house of things we don't use. If anyone wants crutches, a yoga mat (slightly cat-nibbled), or a picnic kit, please feel free.

Gazing into my crystal ball

It's time to blog for school again. What fun!

Blog Response #3: What is your 2020 Education Vision?

Looking into the near future, I think the event that will have the most significant event on the whole compulsory education complex will be the retirement of the baby boomer teachers. Looking at the teachers I know from that generation, specifically my mom and step-mom, I can tell they are definitely excited at the prospect, no matter how much they love teaching.

After the baby boomers retire, schools find themselves missing a large chunk of their returning teachers. New teachers will come into the profession, much as they have, but continued high rates of attrition (made worse by the retirement of mentor teachers and school leaders) will lead to teacher shortages. I imagine that 2020 will probably be a turning point for education, though the field will go in one of two opposing directions.

The first direction, the ideal one, would be for schools to reduce teacher hours and institute formal mentoring programs. During an extra free period, novice teachers would meet with more experienced colleagues for advice, planning tips, and even (hopefully) to share materials. By giving teachers a little more time to plan, network, grade, and contact parents, attrition rates will decrease. School curricula will be refined, while at the same time becoming more inventive, thanks again to the increased planning time.

The second direction, the non-ideal but more probable one, is that the prerequisites for going into teaching will be lowered in an attempt to shovel more bodies into classrooms as fast as possible. The constant influx of new inexperienced teachers will hinder any attempt to institute school programs and policies, as participants will change from year to year. Staff development will also suffer, as many new teachers leave prior to or immediately after completing induction. In an attempt to counteract the inexperience of the majority of the teaching staff, more schools will adopt prescribed curricula, decreasing educational flexibility and experimentation.

Wow, that was depressing. Time for a gratuitous cat picture!


moar funny pictures

Recipe Review: Infused Vodka

I'm not much of a vodka drinker myself, but a friend's birthday provided the perfect excuse to try infusing a little bit of flavor into alcohol. Out of all the berries at the supermarket, the raspberries were the most fragrant, so I decided that they and a couple of moist-looking vanilla beans would make a nice combination.

I've got to warn you, though, that you really should check this concoction regularly. Due to school and the rigorous cat medication and feeding routine, I completely forgot about this for a week. Although it had turned a lovely raspberry color (sucking the pigment right out of the raspberries themselves), the dominant flavor wound up being the vanilla. Perhaps one bean would have been enough, but I suppose it will make a nice flavorful mixer.

Vanilla-Raspberry Vodka
Adapted from wikiHow

750 ml medium grade vodka
1 punnet fresh raspberries
2 vanilla beans
1 1-qt. mason jar

1. Wash fruit and split open vanilla beans. Place the fruit and vanilla beans in the clean mason jar

2. Add the vodka and seal the jar. Put it out of the sunlight (perhaps in a cabinet), but somewhere where you won't forget about it like I did.

3. Wait a week or so, testing the flavor every day or two. You might want to take out the vanilla beans a few days before the raspberries finish infusing.

4. Filter liquid back into the bottle (I used a coffee filter I liberated from my school's lab supply closet) and enjoy. One could also turn the pale raspberries into a rather potent smoothie, if so desired.

Of course, now that I've done that I find myself wanting to try other projects (and am pining over the associated tools).

My kitty's keeper

Lately, my schedule has revolved around feeding my cat. I had to force feed her twice a day last week, but after getting worse the doctor figured out that she needed to be getting more food, so now I feed her two syringes of food three times a day. Combine that with the pills and fluids and my activities start getting constrained.

I don't begrudge it, mind you. I refused to put a feeding tube into her neck, though the vet recommended it, as it would have been an unnecessary surgery just for my convenience. I was also afraid that the other cat would pull it out, even though the vet assured me that it would be safely taped down when not in use, as he's been rather mean to her of late. He's probably not being more of a bully than he normally is, but now that she weighs fully half as much as he does she just can't put up as good a fight. Of course, the clincher on the feeding tube was that it would have cost $300, which was just way too much after having already thrown $600 or so at this illness. I love my kitty, but she's still just a cat.

In any case, I think I made the right move, as she's getting better sans feeding tube. She seems more energetic and is starting to lose that jaundiced yellow coloring of the visible skin near her ears. The only downside is that the healthier she gets, the less she is willing to put up with the treatments. Hopefully we'll be able to pin her down and feed her long enough for her to get better!

Little bag of bones

My poor little kitty has been withering away. At first I thought it was all in my head, but as time went by we started to be able to clearly feel her spine. I tried tempting her with different foods, treats, and other goodies, but to no avail. She's meow hungrily whenever it looked like we were heading to the kitchen, but would give up after a bite or two.

I've spent the last two afternoons at the vet. As it turns out, my little kitty lost about a third of her body weight. She went from 11.6 pounds to 7.6. Poor baby! As it turns out, when cats stop eating (for whatever reason, perhaps due to an illness) it starts to mess with their liver, which in turn keeps them from eating. A vicious cycle, but I'm glad its not anything serious (though I do wish we had figured that out prior to all the expensive tests).

In any case, I've now got to keep her fed and hydrated until her appetite returns. I now know how to:

• give pills
• force feed
• administer subcutaneous fluids

I've become quite the medic. Luckily, I've got a pretty compliant patient. The subcutaneous fluids are pretty hilarious, though, as they form a big liquid bulge by the cat's elbow. It's squishy!

Anorexi-kitty

One of my cats stopped eating. Not the fat one, of course--he'll eat anything. Instead it's the little, smaller, nicer cat.

We'd been noticing that there had been more food left in the bowl lately. Half-pieces of food, as if they had been chewed but not swallowed. When I returned from staying at my mom's house, I did notice that she seemed smaller, but I figured it was just my having been away blurring my perspective. It wasn't until I realized that I could clearly feel most of her bones that I put two and two together and offered her a treat, which she scarfed down ravenously. Apparently she disliked the dry food so much that she'd rather starve. We picked up some canned cat food today. R and I never thought we'd be the kind of people to cater to our pet's whims, but here we are getting special food.

To think I made it this long

Today I learned that the song lyric is "secret agent man," not "secret Asian man."

LaBloShoeMo

Above is the reason I didn't post yesterday: I was busy picking out my Christmas present. New boots! Beautiful boots. Comfortable boots. Boots with a lining that has been heat-molded to the shape of my foot. Boots a half-size larger than my old pair; a half-size larger than the guy at the store recommended.

I swear, there is some sort of sports store conspiracy to get everyone to buy snowboarding boots that are slightly too small for their feet. The first store we went to didn't have a very large selection, but while R and I were looking we overheard a customer commenting that the boots she was trying on felt to small and heard the sales associate launch into a tirade about how they were supposed to fit that way and you want your toes to be touching the front of the boot and it is better to get them small than too large.

I will tell you all now, having had boots slightly too small for my feet for the last four years, the sales people are lying to you. Yes, when crouching while wearing the boot it is fine for your toe to brush the front of the boot, but they should not always be touching. If they do, your foot will wind up hurting. You will wind up buying the thinnest socks you can find, at which point in time your toes will start becoming numb. Just resist the salesperson's pressure! They should be snug, but anything mildly uncomfortable will only get worse.

These are the boots that have served me faithfully for the last four years. If it wasn't for the fact that they make my toes go numb and I can only wear the thinnest of socks with them they could last me another five or ten years. If you can't tell from the picture, their laces are thinner than those of my new boots, making them much harder to lace. Even with all their issues, I still feel a little bad about replacing them before their time. They were my first boots. We've got a history.

Three in one

Recipe Review: Macaroni and Three Cheeses

If you're looking for a quick recipe, this isn't it. However, if you're looking for something tasty and a step up from mac in a box with orange stuff, you might want to try this out. I think it may have been even better the next day, which is a mark of superior craftsmanship.

You can find the recipe here, so I'll not bother typing it up. I didn't put the bread crumb garnish on top, as I don't think bread crumbs add anything to pasta, but otherwise made it as stated in the recipe. Reviews were positive, so I think I'll keep this recipe. I will, however, be making a few modifications in the future. The dish could use a little more bite and personality, so I'll probably put in a little chili powder. Additionally, I may sprinkle some cheese on top so that the dish can have the crunchy top layer that it was supposed to have.

Fridge Friday VI: The top

Ah, yes. The top of the fridge. Home to whatever fruit I need to ripen (in this case, an avocado destined for grated carrot salad with avocado) and, only recently, the cat. He only figured out how to get up there this week and is still slightly unsure of whether or not he is supposed to be up there. Often times when one of us pass by we'll startle the cat, who then proceeds to try to hop up into the crevice between the cabinets and the ceiling, a space that is much too small for him to fit into. It's pretty funny to watch.

LaBloShoeMo

These dusty, filthy, slightly urine-splattered shoes are my mountain biking shoes. R and I fell in love with Solomon brand shoes after his brother gave him a pair of boots. They're really comfortable and have huge tread on the bottom, meaning they're perfect for keeping one attached to the pedals of their bike. Sure, I could get clip-in shoes, but you have to be sure you're not going to fall, because it's hard to detach yourself midway through the air. I'm just not ready to take that leap of faith yet.

Six percent

I think I finally managed to convince a large portion of my students to turn in an assignment.

First, I printed out a summary of their assignments to date and grade breakdown and gave them each a copy. After they had looked it over, I drew their attention to the total grade percentage at the bottom.

"Look at that number. Now, add six to it. This assignment," I said, "that we will be doing for the rest of class will raise your grade approximately six percentage points. It's not hard; it just requires a little thought and reflection. I know you can all do it.

"Remember. Six. That will raise a whole bunch of you up a grade. It's so easy."

You know what happened then? They all worked on the assignment! It was awesome.

LaBloShoeMo

I got these Tevas for a trip to Costa Rica that I took with my mom a few years back. I'm still not exactly sure why I got tan ones. They look like something my mom would wear. Still, they're quite comfortable and I have gotten a decent amount of wear out of them.

Happy Halloween!

Euki dressed up as a resident of San Diego County.

Yesterday was the first day back to school. It was so dark when I left for work, and we're still on daylight savings time. It's amazing how much the light level changed in just a week. I'm not looking forward to leaving when it is still dark out. Of course, that won't last too long. Two more weeks (one of which is a four day week), then a week off for Thanksgiving, followed by one more week of class and a week of student presentations. All the teachers are practically counting down the days until the end of the semester. It's so close!

It has begun

Well, I have now survived the first two days of school.

The first day... well, I think it can be best described in lolcat form.



R was very much afraid that I would come home and announce that I had quit the teaching program, and in all honestly, he wasn't too far off the mark. There was certainly some crying involved at one point during the day and the semi-serious consideration of the fact that bowing out of the program immediately rather than waiting a while would be much better on everyone, seeing as the kids had only had one fluff day with me and there are still interns in the teaching program in need of biology positions. The kids weren't even bad or anything. I just didn't feel like teaching was clicking with me - you know, all that standing up in front of people and talking.

Today was a lot better, though. Even though it was just the first day all over again with a new set of classes, I felt much more confident and a bit more prepared. If nothing else, I now feel that I can make it through the year.

Bachelors in Memology

Another meme, stolen from Laura.

1. The phone rings; whom do you want it to be?
Anyone but my mom. The woman can go on forever about anything!

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
To the store itself? Rarely. To one of those kart korrals? Almost always.

3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed, would you?
Every day (and hopefully more than once).

4. Do you take compliments well?
No, not really. More often than not I don't really agree with the person, so I think they just lack perspective.

5. Do you play Sudoku?
I did for a couple of days, but there are just so many better things out there. Books, for example.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?
For a little while, at least. I don't think I could make a fire, though, even if you left me a cigarette lighter. One of those BBQ lighters, however, and I'd be set.

7. Do you like nipple rings?
They're... interesting.

8. Did you ever go to camp as a kid?
Oh yeah. Day camp, Girl Scout camp, 6th grade camp, music camp - I did the whole spectrum.

9. If a sexy person were pursuing you, but you knew he/she were married what would you do?
I'd tell them to look at the ring and then back off. Look at my ring, that is (of course, this also applies to sexy single people).

10. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you?
Possibly, but it would depend on how religious they are. It's easier if you and your partner are at least somewhat in agreement.

11. Do you like to pursue or be pursued?
Be pursued. I'm shy and lazy.

12. Use three words to describe yourself at the moment:
Tired, full (of mango chicken), cramped (I had a charley horse of the calf in the middle of the night and the darn thing is still all funny).

13. Do any songs make you cry?
No, but there is one that gets me pretty close.

14. Are you continuing your education?
Yup. Currently I'm getting my Masters in Education, and I figure down the road I'll get another Masters or a Doctorate. I'm a degree junkie.

15. Do you know how to shoot a gun?
Nope.

16. If your house were on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?
During the big wildfire, R and I packed up our important documents, pictures, and DVDs so that we could quickly get them into the car if we needed to evacuate (the fire actually came up a canyon within a quarter mile of our apartment, so this wasn't just idle paranoia). Now, if there was a fire in the house, first thing would be to make sure the other people were awake and escaping and the second thing would be the cats.

17. Who was the last person you shared a bed with?
R. Same as for the last few years.

18. Whom do you text the most?
I guess my sister, but really I don't text much.

19. Favorite children’s books?
The Ordinary Princess.

20. What color are your eyes?
Blue.

21. How tall are you?
5'6", which makes me practically a midget in my tall Scandinavian family.

22. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you?
No, because I'd probably just make the same dang decisions.

23. Any secret admirers?
If I knew then they wouldn't be secret, now would they?

24. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?
Yup. I've still got 3 of the 4 of me and my dad from back in the day (my dad has the 4th on his nightstand).

25. Where is the farthest place you have traveled?
Either Hawaii or Costa Rica.

26. Do you like mustard?
I love mustard.

27. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
Well, if I'm hungry, then eating, and if I'm tired, then sleeping. They both are wonderful.

28. Do you look like your mom or dad?
When I was little I looked just like my mom when she was the same age. Now... I look like my cousin. Genetics is a funny thing.

29. How long does it take you in the shower?
Depends how much time I have. 15 minutes-ish, but I do enjoy a long shower.

30. Can you do splits?
No, but I can touch my foot to the back of my head (and not by bringing it up and over my shoulder).

31. What movies do you want to see right now?
Pirates!

32. What did you do for New Year’s Eve?
Is it sad if I don't remember?

33. Was your mom a cheerleader?
Nope, she was too tall (pretty hilarious, eh? Actually, I'm guessing it was because she was a big dork).

34. Whats the last letter of your middle name?
N.

35. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
6 or 7 on weeknights, 8 to 10 on weekends.

36. Do you like Care Bears?
Not being allowed to watch much TV when I was a child, I missed out on the whole Care Bears phenomenon.

37. What do you buy at the movies?
I don't actually buy anything. R buys two tickets.

38. Do you know how to play poker?
Yup. I've finally gotten to the point where I don't lose all my money immediately, which makes it much more fun.

39. Do you wear your seat belt?
Click it or ticket, biatch. Actually, in high school I did stop the car when my sister didn't have her seat belt on (I also stopped the car when my stepsister was playing with a lighter in the back seat. So not okay to hear that right behind my head).

40. What do you wear to sleep?
Nothing. It's so much better than wearing anything.

41. Anything big ever happen in your town?
Fire? Near bankruptcy of the city? All the illegal immigration that the rest of the country wants to talk about? I'm sure there are other things.

42. Is your hair straight or curly?
As straight as can be. My mom and I tried to perm my hair once in 2nd grade. My hair was apparently too immature, so it didn't take, but to make up for it my mom's hair turned out extra curly. She wound up cutting it short and wearing a wig while it grew out.

43. Is your tongue pierced?
Nope.

44. Do you like liver and onions?
I've never had it as a dish, but I do like the components. The onions would need to be caramelized, though.

45. Have you ever been in love?
I'm so there.

46. Do you like funny or serious people better?
I like funny, but it has to be the right kind of funny. I enjoy dry humor.

47. Ever been to L.A.?
Yup. May I never return. B, however, is moving there in August, so I probably won't get my wish.

48. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads?
Lately I pay, but if I can't find the song I want or they only have it in wma format then I will find alternate procurement methods.

49. Do you hate chocolate?
Nope. I love dark chocolate and tolerate milk chocolate.

50. What do you and your parents fight about the most?
My dad and I don't fight. My mom and I fight about stupid things. Of course, sending me "A Case for Faith" for Valentine's Day (and my sister a Dr. Phil self-help book) is really just asking for it.

51. Are you a gullible person?
Sometimes. I'm too trusting and innocent to pick out good and determined liars.

52. If you could have any job, what would it be?
Trust-fund baby, though firefighter sounds good too.

53. Are you easy to get along with?
I think so, but then I rarely fight with myself.

54. What is your favorite time of day?
Evening.

55. Are you a generally happy person?
I'm... at peace. My host teacher described me as Zen-like.