Gardening

Last summer, our gardening didn't go all that well. We had some upside-down tomato planters, which were cool, but Buffy ate all the green tomatoes off of them. (She shat seeds for a week.) Our herbs did okay, but they were in containers on the deck, which made them vulnerable to knockage by us and by animals, and the containers didn't drain well. And our solitary basil plant just couldn't keep up with our pesto needs. And all the decorative stuff I planted died an ignominious death from lack of sun and/or attention.

So this year, we are doing things differently. We bought all our ornamentals (except my morning glories) at a native plant sale. And we're doing our veggies and herbs in a square foot garden. This has been very nice so far, since our soil here is basically clay filled with little rocks. We have 3 tomato plants, 2 basil, 3 hot pepper (one mistakenly purchased from the bell pepper shelf), 1 bell pepper, 2 cilantro, and I just planted the seeds for sweet onions, parsley, and garlic chives. Ideally we will have a good enough harvest to make our own tomato sauces and salsa, and KarateMonkey wants to try hot  sauce (if the peppers turn out okay).

We also bought some trellises for our clematis (clematii?). Two are at the front of the house, and I just planted one in the back. The front yard one has been mowed several times, since KarateMonkey didn't realize I liked it. The one at the immediate front of the house is just a baby, but I hope by training it vertically I can get some really flashy flowers out of it. And the one in the back is, at the moment, wishful thinking. Ah well.

New dog

About a year ago, we adopted another dog. This was on top of our existing dog and three cats, as well as assorted fish. I wanted a friend for Emma (good dog), plus she's getting older, and I knew that I would cope with her eventual passing better if we had another dog around.

So we went to the shelter, just to look. Well, I knew better. KarateMonkey I think believed that was all we were going to do. But he made the mistake of reading their stories on their cages... Suddenly, instead of a medium-sized male dog, we were looking at an adorable female boxer mix named "Serenity", who was billed as shy and sweet. We took her out for a visit and liked her well enough. We decided to bring Emma by the next day, and if they got along okay, to adopt her. All went well at the meet-up, and we had a new dog.

Little did we know that Serenity was a terrible misnomer. While she may have been shy as a newly rescued stray, she got over it quickly. Suddenly we had a boisterous year old dog bouncing around the house! Her housebreaking was dubious at best, we didn't know any of her history, and she chewed. A LOT. That was tough.

She also went through a bout of terrible kennel cough immediately after she came home. This was followed by going into heat (we had to postpone her spay due to the kennel cough), slicing open a paw pad, eating a bottle of calamine lotion, and eating my two favorite pairs of heels.  Freaking dog.

But she is a sweet dog. Her entire body wags when we come home, and she adores Emma. She will play fetch or tug for hours, and is scary smart. (Unfortunately, she is also stubborn!) She can pick up a basketball in her mouth, though it gets stuck and she has to paw it out (she can't open her mouth any further!) And we adore her. 

BTW, Buffy is a Joss Whedon reference. Coming to us with a name like Serenity, what else could we do? Kaylie didn't fit, and Zoe was what my ex wanted to name a kid. And Fred would have made for too many explanations, but would otherwise be perfect.

I also just spent 5 minutes looking up whether or not tulips are toxic, as she proceeded to eat the petals off of several in the yard. Fortunately it sounds like the bulbs are the problem. Thank god for ASPCA poison control....

So, without further ado - Buffy Marie!

Frustrations

I like my new coworkers. Really, I do. They are kind to me, and understanding about how it can be hard to be the new kid, and enjoy my geeky humor. They are compassionate to our patients and clients, which makes me happy. And they do good medicine, which is ever so important to me.

But their casual cruelty in their language, in their thoughts, in their oblivious privilege, make me sick. I have had one person suggest (jokingly? I couldn't really tell, or bear to pursue it) that the earthquakes in China are "God starting some population control." Another has, on separate occasions, referred to Mexicans, gays, and a Jamaican in a way that assumed I would know he meant someone off. Wrong. Lesser. I just kept saying "And?" Trying to get him to say what he was implying, or at least make him think about it. My direct supervisor is DEEPLY evangelical Christian, as well as a Fox News advocate. He tried to tell me the other day that Fox just "balances out the rest of the liberal media, and that's why they're biased." I countered that, if you're going to be biased, at least own it. Don't pretend to be objective. I may have made some ground there. Maybe.

It's hard. Hard to censor myself every day. Hard to like these people sometimes, and other times want to scream and cry in frustration. I don't want to look for another job - in a lot of ways, it's a very good one. But I think I'm going to have to spend extra time at my favorite liberal blogs, just to remind myself that I'm not alone. Thank goodness.

New Job

One of the recent developments in my life is (yet another) new job. Last summer I left my day practice veterinary hospital for a temporary job at a (somewhat) nearby zoo. It was amazing, and amazingly frustrating. Part of the frustration was the 75-90 minute drive one way; another part was being told that I was "too sarcastic". The biggest part was that, though I felt I was being responsible and staying in the hospital and doing work rather than going along and just observing procedures, this apparently made people wonder if I was "interested in animals." No, asshole, I drive this far 5 days a week so that I can be around things I hate. Christ.

When I left there I went to a multi-specialty practice much closer to home. A friend of mine was a doctor in the department I was going to, so I had high hopes. Unfortunately I had little -- actually, nothing -- in common with my coworkers, no patience for the BS in the rest of the hospital, and ethical disagreements with some of the things I saw being done around me. So I left there in mid-April.

So now I'm at yet ANOTHER specialty practice. However, it's a new specialty to me, and I'm learning cool stuff. My coworkers are nice, though at various places on the conservative spectrum. I'm working to change minds, though! I'm calling people out on blatant sexism and racism, and it seems to be working. So I have sorta high hopes. Which I worry about, because it's not unusual for those to get dashed, particularly when it comes to work.

Far too long

... since I've posted here. J. Goff noted this earlier, as he wished us a happy anniversary. From last year. The nice thing about anniversaries is that they come around at the same time every year, so it was still appropriate.

It was hard to blog there for a while. Part of that was simply lack of time. I was working too much, and unhappy when I came home, so I didn't much feel like writing. Part of it is also insecurity. There is very little that I can say that hasn't been said better elsewhere in the liberal blogosphere. So, rather than making this uberpolitical and trying to cover all the newsworthy stuff -- I'm going more personal. Stuff that pisses me off, that makes me happy, that I wonder about.

Why start back up? Well, I got some very good advice from an excellent blogger a few months ago. "Don't think every post has to be the next great American novel - just sit down and write something. Every day. It works."

So that's the goal. Every day. Something. I think I can do it. Especially if KarateMonkey helps, the lazy shmuck.

Quick update

Unfortunately, as good as my intentions are, I've not been blogging more frequently. Between work, school, and my volunteer commitment(s), my time is rarely my own.

Work has gotten terribly busy, since we are short 1 1/2 doctors ( a full time and a part time) and our practice owner has decided to compensate by seeing every animal in the Chicagoland area. Argh. I'm a part-timer getting overtime. It sucks.

Also, it's hard for me to blog when everyone over at Shakesville says it better than me. But I'll keep posting, probably mostly stupid animal pictures. I hear kona and Jack love those... :)

Paper????

So KarateMonkey and I are celebrating our first anniversary this weekend. (And what the hell kind of anniversary present is "paper" anyway?????? I decided it was much like a book.) Miraculously he isn't sick of me yet, and I can still stand the sight of him, though we often marvel that it's been a year, since it's seemed like an eternity....

In all seriousness, I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life, who somehow managed to fall in love with me. So here's to being a fortunately happily married wench!!

Love you, babe. With all my heart. Happy anniversary.

Bad Kitty Mommy!!!

So KarateMonkey and I came back from eating dinner tonight, and I realized I hadn't seen Charlie, one of the kitties, in quite some time. KarateMonkey was pretty sure I was being paranoid, but indulged me in searching the house.

Finally I opened the recliner, and out shoots a rumpled ball of fur!!! Poor thing had been shut in the recliner since last night. I feel terrible..... But she seems to have escaped any lasting harm.

'bout gave me a heart attack, though!

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow, March 3, is RedSonja's birthday.  Happy birthday to most wonderful women I've ever met, and the best wife a guy could hope for.

FYI be nice this is the last year she'll be able to (truthfully) say she's still in her 20's.

Critter blogging

It's been a while since critters made the page....


First, the non-domestic. (Taken at the Milwaukee Zoo)














A lioness sharpening her claws. I loved that it was such a familiar thing to me, and to anyone who has cats. Evolution's only a theory my ass!!!!















This lion was waiting for his lunch. I was experimenting with framing, and loved how this turned out.















A tiger expresses his feelings about Bush.... Actually, his cage mate just marked that tree with urine, and this facial expression exposes extra receptors to catch the chemical signal. (Boring, I know....)
















Emma (the one on the right) had a friend stay for the weekend while her owners were out of town. Remy (the Rottweiler) was a good guest, except for eating the cat food. They had a lot of fun playing chase and tug-of-war.

















After a long day of painting, the animals all come snuggle. ALL of them. Daxter (orange and white) prefers my chest, while Addie (tortie) takes my lap and Charlie (black) cuddles next to me and her Emma. They were VERY warm!















Daxter prefers to sleep in boxes. If he's not on my chest. He was thrilled when I bought a new pair of shoes.

Happy New Year

My family is all German all the way back. Every year on New year's day for as far back as I can remember we'd all get together for Specken Dicken, a German rye pancake traditionally eaten at New Year.

A couple notes:
This is my great grandmonther's recipie, and it's sized to feed a large gathering of hungry farmers. You may want to cut it in half. That should give enough batter to screw up the first few, and still make enough to completely stuff 2-3 hungry people.
It's nearly impossible to find rye graham flour. Regular rye flour works fine.
The anise may be a little offputting to some people. I grew up eating this, and it's one of my favorite foods. For others it can be a bit more of an acquired taste. You can reduce the anise a little bit. This year, in deference to RedSonja, I've cut it by a third. This is tradition though, don't fuck with it too much.
Make the batter the night before and let it sit in the fridge. It just tastes better when it's been allowed to sit for awhile (the anise flavor spreads through the batter some). Just thin it back out with water.

3 cups sugar
5 well beaten eggs
2 cups dark corn syrup
1 Tablespoon anise seed
1 teaspon baking soda mixed in a small amount of hot water
1 Tablespoon salt
6 cups rye graham flour
6 cups white flour
bacon, hamburger, or sausage browned and broken up into small pieces (personally I like bacon or cut up cocktail wienies).

Mix all ingredients except the meat together with enough water to make a thin batter. When you're ready to cook, set a small pile of meat on a hot griddle or skillet and pour the batter over it and cook like a pancake. Serve with or without syrup.

Updated with further notes: Now that I've cooked some up again, I've thought of a few more things to mention.
Half of the above recipie is still alot. I think you could cut it in half again, and still have enought to make 10-12.
These are a bit more temperamental than pancakes. Make sure you thin the batter out enough so that it spreads out some. Pour them small, and flip as soon as bubbles start to break the surface. A little burning around the meat is fine. It doesn't impact the flavor at all.

Busy busy busy

It's been so damn long since I blogged, I think I forgot how. Plus, you know how it is when you haven't done something for a while, it's hard to start? Yeah, that too.

We have been way busy here. I finished my class, and am now not only a hot, horny coed, I'm a hot, horny coed with a 4.0. Yay me! Family came and went several times in the past few months, with the last visit being my family over Thanksgiving. That's been nice, but it does jack up one's stress level, especially in a new house. I want so badly for people to like it, but at the same time I know it needs a bunch of work.

We've also painted. The guest bedroom, now a lovely lilac, was easy. The dining room, with it's 14 foot ceilings and stairwell, was a bit more difficult. However, it is now a warm and cheery "lemon whip", which is really basically a pastel yellow. And I STILL have paint in my hair.

Critters are all well, and we're having a doggy visitor next weekend. I'm hoping it will wear Emma out to have someone to play with...

And various and sundry things to catch up with, but that may take some time. In the meantime, happy holidays to all of you, and hope that whatever you celebrate, it brings you joy and happiness!!!

Funniest thing I have ever seen.

So, crazy busy around here lately, what with the working on the house and working at the paying job, and in RedSonja's case also working for free at the aquarium and going to school. I just thought I'd stick my head back in and point both our readers (Hi Jack and Kona) at the funniest damn thing I have seen in a very long time. No boobs or anything, but probably not safe for work.

Babies!!!!!!

So my guppies decided to pop out their babies while we were moving. In an effort to create a race of super-guppies, we are giving them very little survival support. At the moment, there are 6 - 1 is older than the others, I think. That, or it's already evolved into another category of fish.

I tried taking pictures, but unfortunately my camera isn't fast enough, and they're just blurry. But they're cute, as fishes go. We'll see how they do.

Friday critter blogging

Daxter contemplates the new orange walls. Yes, they ARE orange.















Addie makes sure that Charlie has washed behind her ears.

















Addie stragerizes on Morrowind with me.

At least I have my health

Back from a long bout of stomach flu and in-law visits, finally. I couldn't bring myself to blog, what with the whole spending 45 minutes of every hour in or on the way to the bathroom. I didn't really think anyone would be interested in that, nor did I feel like reliving it.

More posts to come, including crittery goodness and Shedd updates. And maybe even a pic of the amateur home improvement project that has eaten up our week.... We'll see how brave I'm feeling.

Injury update

Yes, this used to be the tailbone update, but I keep injuring myself in new and creative ways....

Tailbone much improved, except for when I sit at the computer too long.

New injury: I was helping to take xrays on a dog the other day, and he struggled. A lot. In the struggle he cracked me in the nose with either a leg or his head, I'm not sure which. And I literally mean "cracked" - I heard it! I managed to not get a black eye, but it's a little swollen, and it hurts there when I chew.

I'm like an accident just waiting to happen.....

How to Vote: My Dilemma

Obviously midterm elections are nearing with an alarming rapidity. Since we just moved, KarateMonkey and I keep saying we will vote early, rather than try to get to a polling place that's now rather inconvenient to home, but I'm not at all sure that we actually will. So likely I will be voting on Tuesday, with everyone else.

In our illustrious state of Illinois, we are voting for governor. We also have to vote for Congresscritter, with the incumbent being Melissa Bean. I suspect there will be a school bond issue, and lord knows what else.

My dilemma is this - who to vote for? Or rather, how to vote? Do I vote as the idealist I enjoy being, or as the pragmatist I often feel that I should be? For example: Melissa Bean. Not the most liberal of Democrats. I was irritated when she voted for the bankruptcy bill, but enraged when she didn't vote against the torture bill! How can I vote for her now???? But her opponent, and sadly I don't even know who it is, has been running ads complaining that she didn't try to keep "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Which makes me want to vote for her, or at least not for her opponent. (There have been many other ads blasting her for positions I support, but that's the one that always pushes my buttons....)

So part of me says, maybe just skip that one. But then, how important is a Democratic majority in the House? Should I hold my nose and vote for someone who is okay with torture, in the hopes that we'll knock the Republicans out of power?

Governor is much the same issue for me. I don't like Topinka, the Republican challenger, but frankly I think Blagojevitch is a corrupt doofus. But in this race there's a Green candidate, who is actually talking about things like universal health care, less tax cuts for the wealthy, and guest worker programs. I want to vote for that, to believe in it. But I also know that there is no way in hell that the Green guy will win. And if I DO vote for him, does that make me the equivalent of the people I railed against so much in 2000, who voted for Nader and made the election close enough for Bush to steal? Argh!!!!!


Anybody else having this issue?

We're ba-ack....

Finally finished moving. Well, not really. There's some stuff yet in the apartment, and it needs cleaned, but the major stuff is done. Which is why I have a few minutes to pound out a long overdue blog entry....

Firstly, I love our house. It has its flaws, and there's more than a few of them -- for instance, washing your hands after flushing the toilet is difficult because the water pressure is virtually nonexistent -- but I love it anyway. It's ours, and it's big, and the critters have settled in quite nicely.

Secondly, I hate moving. KarateMonkey and I almost had a fight while moving, which tells you how stressed out we were. (Usually he's too laid back to fight, and it's no fun when you're the only one getting pissed off...)

Thirdly, we have nice neighbors. One of whom has a lovely Irish accent, so hopefully he comes over to chat a lot. I bet he also has good taste in beer.

That is all.

Odds and Ends

Well, crap. I got home late from the Shedd tonite, and am so tired I just want to sleep. But a few notes before that....

It's Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week. So if you go to the vet, hug a tech. Or bring them food. They LOVE that.

Kona, I will do the picture meme, I promise. But not till Friday, when I have time to do it justice. KarateMonkey probably can't figure out how to post pics, so I doubt he'll fill in for me...

I WAS going to post an awesome macaroni and cheese recipe, but Minstrel Boy beat me to it. Jerk.

Ass update: still hurts. Improvised donut at work didn't help. New solution is to avoid sitting down.

That is all. Carry on.