Oh boy. As if the whole job thing isn't enough to keep my head spinning, now I have the foster kitties, and I am having a hard time taking them back. Yesterday, I tried. I gave them wet food around 5pm (they usually get it only in the morning) and easily trapped the little scared one in the dog crate with the bowls. But the other, my friend, my favorite, sensed something was up and she bolted! She hid under couches, I flipped them over, she hid under beds, I lured her out. Finally, I had her in my sights and tossed a towel over her and gathered up, trying to protect my already scraped and bloodied arms from further assault. She absolutely panicked, her heart was racing, she was meowing like a beast, and when she cleared the area, I saw she had wet herself as well! So I had to call off the operation, exactly at the moment that the little one escaped from the carrier anyway. So I have loosely promised myself to try again this morning but actually, I have other priorities today so time will tell.
B is sick. Sick as a dog. Sunday he treated himself for low fever (100) and a headache. Monday he woke up with a rip-roaring raging 103+ fever. Advil and tylenol barely brought it down to 101 before it spiked back up again. We've been fighting this pattern for two days now. He has a headache and his nose grows increasingly more congested. I'm going to call the doctor back today because I'm concerned that he didn't take enough antibiotic for the sinus infection that he had 2-3 weeks ago. He only took a ten day course and was still sniffling a little at the end. But she thought it was a virus and he'd have to ride it out. But I don't like this fever, not one bit.
So - the job. I have an offer. But I have to go to the doctor for clearance, and I couldn't get there until Monday. Meanwhile, I've had a couple of calls so I am going to meet with one company this afternoon. I had a sub job for yesterday and today but they ended up sending me home at noon and canceling tomorrow. They had also offered me Thursday and Friday - good thing I didn't take them because they would have canceled those too. That's a terrible way to treat people and no way to earn an income if you are reliant on it in any way. Thankfully, that will probably be my last day ever working in that capacity. It was a pleasant day surrounded by good kids and nice people. But that Principal should really have some refreshers in how to treat people, not as if they are disposable. Although I suppose, to her, the substitutes really are disposable.
And in other news, M's big meet starts tomorrow! Kevin will be going down tonight, but I have to see what is to come of the B issue, and also the cats. My concern is the litterboxes. The kitties do fit in with the rest of the menagerie and as far as expenses go - what's two more, right? But since we were reduced from four cats to three when Buddy died, the litterbox has been so much more manageable. Now, with five, it's worse than ever and someone apparently agrees, because they have been using inappropriate bathroom selections - and I don't think it's one of the fosters. Otherwise, my concern is B because of the sickness and the fact that I was worried about pulling him out of school for Thursday and Friday, but now he's done gone and missed Tuesday and Wednesday too! But I don't even know if he will be well enough to go in tomorrow anyway, and at that point, might as well just write off the whole week and bring him and his arsenal of fever-reducing meds down with us!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
hanging on
Well, good news! I'm not going to ramble on about the sadness of my so called job search for this blog. I'm just going to say that all is still the same!
Anyway, I'm home today because I have a meeting this afternoon at B's school to discuss the college search and application process. This should be interesting because this was not a service offered by the public high school, and it isn't one which I'm sure I need to utilize. Nevertheless, off I am set to go and just in the nick of time, as B is experiencing his traditional third quarter slump. His SAT scores should be available at the end of this week, and that information, combined with what I learn today, will help us plan our first real round of college visits. We have one scheduled for Monday at one of the state schools, and if I don't work Friday, we'll hit up another one or two then.
The 'big' news for M is that next week is her conference championship meet. We have the hotel booked but still haven't been told if we are going to be able to get in to watch. I'm not too bothered by this personally, as I also don't have a backup plan for B and the dogs so will probably have to go late to the meet anyway (as usual). Also with having these two extra cats it's not really ok to just leave the litterboxes for a few days (or a few hours at this rate ... sigh). Also, M is missing quite a bit of instruction and examination, which is alarming. I think this is one of the biggest downfalls of being a student-athlete. The practice time is something to which you have to adapt - but being pulled out of class for events is the worst.
And speaking of the pets - they are still hanging in here. I would love to have them find homes. I like them OK, despite their standoffishness, but they are just too many. If only I could figure out how to train them to use the toilet! And someone has been peeing outside of the box, and on the dog bed. Poor Abby is now down to no bed at all. So she decided she would sleep on ours! This morning, I ordered one of the camp cots for dogs. This way if it gets peed on, I can just clean it - she'll sleep on a comforter on top of it instead of a cedar dog bed that's ruined by a urinator. We've thrown out about four of them in the past few months. This went on even before the baby cats arrived.
And in other news, our house was egged over the weekend! We don't know if it was personal, maybe someone who knows B, as they're in the right age group for such antics. The majority of the slime covered his window; there was just one egg that dripped across the frame to the dining room and smeared its windows. Several drives around the blocks revealed two other crime scenes, and Kevin found an uprooted mailbox with a name and house number that were unfamiliar to this neighborhood. So we will probably never know the story. As for the parkers, they continue to park. One neighbor did speak to the one on the street the other day, but it turned out she just asked him not to park at the end of her driveway, which sent him further down the road. At least it gave me the opportunity to explain their presence. She doesn't mind them, but she has four kids of her own and the youngest just got her permit. However, it's not her yard that they're accessing to get to the school!
Anyway, I'm home today because I have a meeting this afternoon at B's school to discuss the college search and application process. This should be interesting because this was not a service offered by the public high school, and it isn't one which I'm sure I need to utilize. Nevertheless, off I am set to go and just in the nick of time, as B is experiencing his traditional third quarter slump. His SAT scores should be available at the end of this week, and that information, combined with what I learn today, will help us plan our first real round of college visits. We have one scheduled for Monday at one of the state schools, and if I don't work Friday, we'll hit up another one or two then.
The 'big' news for M is that next week is her conference championship meet. We have the hotel booked but still haven't been told if we are going to be able to get in to watch. I'm not too bothered by this personally, as I also don't have a backup plan for B and the dogs so will probably have to go late to the meet anyway (as usual). Also with having these two extra cats it's not really ok to just leave the litterboxes for a few days (or a few hours at this rate ... sigh). Also, M is missing quite a bit of instruction and examination, which is alarming. I think this is one of the biggest downfalls of being a student-athlete. The practice time is something to which you have to adapt - but being pulled out of class for events is the worst.
And speaking of the pets - they are still hanging in here. I would love to have them find homes. I like them OK, despite their standoffishness, but they are just too many. If only I could figure out how to train them to use the toilet! And someone has been peeing outside of the box, and on the dog bed. Poor Abby is now down to no bed at all. So she decided she would sleep on ours! This morning, I ordered one of the camp cots for dogs. This way if it gets peed on, I can just clean it - she'll sleep on a comforter on top of it instead of a cedar dog bed that's ruined by a urinator. We've thrown out about four of them in the past few months. This went on even before the baby cats arrived.
And in other news, our house was egged over the weekend! We don't know if it was personal, maybe someone who knows B, as they're in the right age group for such antics. The majority of the slime covered his window; there was just one egg that dripped across the frame to the dining room and smeared its windows. Several drives around the blocks revealed two other crime scenes, and Kevin found an uprooted mailbox with a name and house number that were unfamiliar to this neighborhood. So we will probably never know the story. As for the parkers, they continue to park. One neighbor did speak to the one on the street the other day, but it turned out she just asked him not to park at the end of her driveway, which sent him further down the road. At least it gave me the opportunity to explain their presence. She doesn't mind them, but she has four kids of her own and the youngest just got her permit. However, it's not her yard that they're accessing to get to the school!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
parking wars
It's snowing! B is disappointed because it's not sticking to roads or even driveways and probably will not. It looks very pretty on the trees though, and on the lawn. Abby is excited to run in it although it's not that exciting when your paws sink to the frozen grass. Wilbur came right back inside! Luckily we had a nice long walk this morning.
So the job front festers. I had a (very long) interview yesterday but don't expect to hear anything for a couple of weeks. I also sent out several resumes but, as always, don't expect to hear much from them either. Even the sub jobs have dried up. I would have liked to work tomorrow, but I like to have the jobs lined up ahead of time so I know where I'm going and it ain't looking good for that.
Speaking of school - what a quandary. As most know, B walks to school. He has to cross a neighbor's private driveway and yard, for which he asked and was granted permission in the beginning of his high school career. The school provides parking for seniors and some juniors, but it's limited for the juniors. So as they begin to get their licenses, they try to find creative parking alternatives so that they can avoid being bused or driven by parents. One such new driver is in B's classes and discussed this issue, I suspect opportunistically, with B. B, ever the nice guy, offered the kid to park in front of our house. I told him that this might annoy the neighbors, but it would be OK if one car parked in our driveway.
The kid showed up the next day and the day after BUT ... the following day so did another car! And the car parked (of course) in the street. Then that kid brought another kid with him! So now instead of just B, we have THREE additional kids walking across the neighbor's yard to get to the school. Although I suppose technically we don't even have the right to offer the one, I guess I figured as long as he was in our driveway it wouldn't be a big deal. But now this other kid is coming every day, sometimes with his passenger. And the worst is that when B asked the first kid about it, he denied knowing who it was! And then when pressed (after I saw the three of them walking through the woods together) he said that the kid just "followed him."
I'm not too happy. B is worried that there will be repercussions if I say anything (for example, to the Principal at one of our monthly club meetings, which he always attends) so I'm trying to remain calm. I am sure that the school discourages this practice or we would have these parkers every year. Once we had one, and it lasted about a week before someone stuck a note on the car and he never came back. A friend of mine said she would take the cowardly way out and stick one on and not mention it to B. But we will see. I'd like to tell the kid - tell your friend to stop coming or you can park in the street too! It's legal to park there, but not to cross through the yards.
A lesson learned at PTA meetings: sit on your hands when they ask for volunteers. And don't open your mouth when someone says they have nowhere to park!
And in other news, the foster cats are now listed on the shelter's main page as adoptable. So maybe someone will call for them. Meanwhile, they can stay here for a bit longer. I really love the one, she has a great personality and it isn't like she is indiscriminate. It took her a month to warm up, so you know she means it. And they both come around often, even the shy one. And they're completely fearless of the dogs. They really settled right in.
So the job front festers. I had a (very long) interview yesterday but don't expect to hear anything for a couple of weeks. I also sent out several resumes but, as always, don't expect to hear much from them either. Even the sub jobs have dried up. I would have liked to work tomorrow, but I like to have the jobs lined up ahead of time so I know where I'm going and it ain't looking good for that.
Speaking of school - what a quandary. As most know, B walks to school. He has to cross a neighbor's private driveway and yard, for which he asked and was granted permission in the beginning of his high school career. The school provides parking for seniors and some juniors, but it's limited for the juniors. So as they begin to get their licenses, they try to find creative parking alternatives so that they can avoid being bused or driven by parents. One such new driver is in B's classes and discussed this issue, I suspect opportunistically, with B. B, ever the nice guy, offered the kid to park in front of our house. I told him that this might annoy the neighbors, but it would be OK if one car parked in our driveway.
The kid showed up the next day and the day after BUT ... the following day so did another car! And the car parked (of course) in the street. Then that kid brought another kid with him! So now instead of just B, we have THREE additional kids walking across the neighbor's yard to get to the school. Although I suppose technically we don't even have the right to offer the one, I guess I figured as long as he was in our driveway it wouldn't be a big deal. But now this other kid is coming every day, sometimes with his passenger. And the worst is that when B asked the first kid about it, he denied knowing who it was! And then when pressed (after I saw the three of them walking through the woods together) he said that the kid just "followed him."
I'm not too happy. B is worried that there will be repercussions if I say anything (for example, to the Principal at one of our monthly club meetings, which he always attends) so I'm trying to remain calm. I am sure that the school discourages this practice or we would have these parkers every year. Once we had one, and it lasted about a week before someone stuck a note on the car and he never came back. A friend of mine said she would take the cowardly way out and stick one on and not mention it to B. But we will see. I'd like to tell the kid - tell your friend to stop coming or you can park in the street too! It's legal to park there, but not to cross through the yards.
A lesson learned at PTA meetings: sit on your hands when they ask for volunteers. And don't open your mouth when someone says they have nowhere to park!
And in other news, the foster cats are now listed on the shelter's main page as adoptable. So maybe someone will call for them. Meanwhile, they can stay here for a bit longer. I really love the one, she has a great personality and it isn't like she is indiscriminate. It took her a month to warm up, so you know she means it. And they both come around often, even the shy one. And they're completely fearless of the dogs. They really settled right in.
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