krink

When I got home late Tuesday night, I picked up my kitty and noticed something was amiss. She had lost all of the fur under her chin along the right side of her face and neck, and had a large scab. I assumed she had been obsessively scratching her ears because she had ear mites again, and I took her to the vet straight away. It turns out that she might not have ear mites at all, but some other kind of ear infection, but that isn't necessairily the reason for the scratching. My vet gave me some cream to treat the contact dermatitis on her skin, and a liquid antibiotic to ward off infection of the wound. She has to go back next week to be placed under anesthesia and have her ears cleaned out and the wire removed from her jaw. We talked about the possibility of a funny collar to keep her from scratching, but decided against it. At least this hasn't affected her demeanor. She is still very peppy and has regained the weight she lost after her accident. But still, my poor kitty!

Why don't they have pet insurance? Running tab for all of this is almost at $800. Next week will likely throw it over $1000! Jesus. But where else will I find a pet that lets me spoon her and lays with her body under the covers and her head on my pillow? Priceless.

Patrick will be here in about an hour, and then it will once again be trains trains trains to nyc. Our weekend will be cut short b/c of need to return and medicate the feline, so I get to show him around Philly tomorrow night, and that should be fun.

Home again home again. Work again. Life again. Being in Oklahoma was very surreal, but nice. I had a good time chatting it up with some old partners in crime - from high school and beyond. Mexican food was the highlight of the visit, and my friend marveled at my ability to stuff my face continuously with Chelino's queso, fajitas, and sopapillas. How DO they make that queso so tasty? I wish it didn't take me upwards of 8 hours travel time to get there, otherwise I would visit more often. A few people hadn't changed, which was sad, and some people were exactly the same, which was wonderful. Tonight I have The Life Aquatic to look forward to, with some new foreign friends, and tomorrow is unpacking, repacking, and Friday is off to NYC! My darling friend Patrick is making the trek up from DC to come along with me, god bless him, he hasn't managed to visit Pennsylvania once since I've moved here, but present him with tickets to the Lips, and he can't jump in his car fast enough! Old friends are the best friends. Best xmas present will be seeing him, and closely followed up by laughing at my nephew over lunch yesterday. Cheers to baby boys.

finally experienced the northern liberties section 'o town last night. it was tres neato, and i went to a really nice party in a gorgeous warehouse loft. played some pool, more witty banter with english gents, smoked too much, ah and finally went dancing! we met some kids at the party who left to go to the metro lounge, and we straggled along and met them there about 1am (got lost in a horrible part of north philly along the way, but no matter). it was really nice! finally heard some decent electronic, and danced my ass off! have a flyer for the next party there, and i think i will attend again, but wear sneaks and t-shirt. i was in my fancy party clothes (read: pointy toes high-heeled boots) and they made the gyrations just that much harder. the more amusing part of the evening was crashing at a friend's, who met and brought a lady home, so i was stuck sharing the futon with another gent, laughing at the host who finally was going to get some play. wish i could say the same! tee-hee.

home in three days. crazy!

Canada plans set with a ticket bought on US Airways. The irony is I have to drive an hour to small airport north of here, get on a plane, fly back to Philly, change planes, and then fly to Buffalo. Difference in cost between flying directly from Philly - $200 cheaper! Can someone explain that to me please? The customer service rep thought I was stupid for asking.

Headed back to Oklahoma next Wednesday (!) and I'm looking forward to the time off to relax and argue with my mom about trivial things. And see old friends, and my bouncing baby nephew! He must be so big by now.

Moved into my new office "officially" - even bought some plants and set up my computer. It's funny that people still want to leave things for me at my old desk. Hello, I'm not the assistant anymore! Just take time for everyone to adjust. Busy with projects, and as I find myself repeating, being busy makes me happy.

Hope everyone has a happy weekend! Go and see Closer if you haven't already.

oh, canada
On Wednesday, December 08, 2004, at 00:05AM, Jay wrote:
hey Kate,

Are you still coming to Buffalump in January? Do you want to take off to the great white north? I hope so.

I've found an apartment in Toronto ... so that means that I can show you the "golden horseshoe" from Niagara falls to TO in all its glory. If you have time we could even make a trip up north to the cottage to play in the snow and run around on the ice.

Either way ... let me know. Also, if you're coming up then I'll need your address again so that I can do some tricky internet ordering and have the VHS tapes sent to your house. Do you mind bringing 6 or 7 tapes of a Burt Reynolds movie from the 80s over the border? It's called "Shattered: if your kid's on drugs" and it's the greatest film ever made. Don't you see?!?!

Anywho ... I'm a gonna sleepa cause I've a gotta worka. Booyah!
Ralph

On Dec 8, 2004, at 9:25 PM, Kate wrote:
lol, yes I was still thinking about coming up in january. I wrote my uncle last week and mentioned the weekend of the 15-16. My office is closed on the 17th, and I could take off a few more days and make it a long weekend. It might be tricky logistically, but my aunt said she could come and fetch me from whatever airport I came into (buffalo, toronto, etc). Here is the tricky part: I want to spend some time with them, cause they're fun, and they have a house in Youngstown, NY. A big house, and my aunt said just have your friend come and stay with us. BUT I also want to see Toronto cause I've never been to that fabled country of "Canada" - so I need to work out how many days total I want to be there/take off work. Any thoughts? You going to be working and only have weekend free? I've never been much of one to be good at planning trips. (see the irony that i work in tourism?)

vhs tapes.. don't they deliver movies to canada? i didn't think it was that much of a facist country. well you do still have some of the old brit sensibility hanging on, i suppose. even though i think you're joking, it's ...
k

On Dec 9, 2004, at 7:09 PM, Jay Porter wrote:
I should be able to take a few days off (Mon 17 and Tues 18 perhaps) if it suits the schedule. As per flights, it'll most likely be cheaper for you to fly to/from Buffalo than to Canada (domestic flights are always cheaper). I could get a car on the weekend and meet you in Niagara falls or Youngstown or whatever works best. My advice would be to find the best deal on a flight (arriving Fri or Sat and leaving whenever works best for you) and we can work something out from there. It seems like it'd be a shame for you to get so close to Canada and not visit ... so I think that a foray into the great white north should be high on the priorities list.

Depending on how much time you have, we can work out things to do. Niagara falls makes sense ('cause we'll probably have to go through there at the border). Toronto and Hamilton make sense depending on what the weather's like and what you want to see. If there's snow, then we should try to do a night hike on the Bruce trail somewhere in the Hamilton area. We suit up in snowsuits (which I could provide), pack a backpack full of intoxicants and head off into the woods for fun and adventure. Toronto can also be quite fun ... lots of small clubs with good music and lots to see downtown during the day.

Either way, something can be arranged. I can always find us free places to stay in the Hamilton-Toronto area, so that'll be good. Also, if you bring those Burt Reynolds/Judd Nelson movies (minus one copy for your collection) we can witness the glory of 80s anti-drug films. Don't you see?!?!

Pierre

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i think i'll drive if i can convince jack to ride along. cheers to seeing dear friends after a long absence!

Last night, instead of going to the gym, I convinced myself that cleaning downstairs was it's own little workout. This comes from a book I'm half-heartedly reading on personal well-being, that mentions cleaning as a good calorie-burning activity. The kitchen is now sparkling, and it ready to be completely trashed again within about three days. I discovered where Linda stashes the light bulbs in the basement, and I replaced the front porch and bathroom lights. Yea for being productive!

I predict that it's going to be a nice weekend. Tonight, I'm off to First Friday to check out a new exhibit at the Fabric Workshop, if I can get off my butt after work. I have this tendency to come home from work and just collapse, which ruins any chance of seeing good art, as First Friday ends at 9.30pm. Wish me luck.

Tomorrow, my darling friend Lindsay is down from NYC. The only way I could coax her to Philly was with a ticket to the see the Pixies, so cheers to Jack for having a spare and helping me get my best friend into town. I'll pick her up at the station tomorrow afternoon, and she has new MAC make-up for us to play with. Drinking is certain to commence Saturday night. Concert is Sunday night, then she's back up to ole' Manhatten come Monday morn.

Glad to have something to look forward to!

I made an appointment with my old hair stylist when I'm back in Okie at xmas time. I scheduled a facial for my mom at the same time, which will take care of part of her present. I'm also getting her a gift certificate to take some yoga classes. Then she'll be so hip and modern! Looking forward to a cut and color. Just haven't felt like myself with the lousy haircuts I've been subjected to up here.

Cheers to looking like myself again! And cheers to visiting home.