Klaude Wesley Armstrong

I am sitting here weepy.  No because I am sad, but because I can't believe I am watching he same cat who I found feral in a trap less than a year ago.

Klaude was a feral stray who had brought 7 tiny kittens up to our porch to eat.  he was so doting and careful we thought he was a she and the mother cat.

After trapping and fixing and rehoming all the kittens and a female we thought was a sibling we finally caught Klaude.

When I saw him his backside was red and smeared with feces, his eyes were goopy, he had fleas, eat mites and worms.

I quickly got him into the vet.  Upon Klaude realizing that we were there to help him he immediately latched on to me.  The vet nicknamed him "Bodhisattva" and my husband named him Klaude.

We found out he had FIV and decided to try keeping him with non FIV cats and just being cautious.  We had his teeth cleaned, neuter done, and inoculated him against FLV and got he other cats their boosters.  We knew Klaude was timid and shy so we decided to give him and our eldest cat their own room.  We created the senior cat Geriatric And Special Needs Unit in our house or the "GASNU" but Klaude had other ideas.

Every day I would let him out t wander around supervised.  Then at night I would put them to bed in their room.  Soon I found Klaude and his sister Ani had decided they didn't WANT to be alone and refused to go back into the GASNU.  We spoke to the vet who said as long as they didn't fight to give it a try.

For months Klaude would shake when we tried to pick him up, he would let us comb him but if we clipped his nails or touched his tail he would hiss and spit and run and hide...

Slowly I got him used to being touched, and picked up.  Soon I found him jumping up o sit on chairs (It ook 5 months) and not running away when we walked into a room and sat down.

He had a check up and they were amazed a how great he looked and the vet saw he still had poopy butt and put him on a diet because he had gained weight so quick!  So it was time to implement play.  But whenever we would bat toys or play with him he would duck or flinch and run away.

So Chris my husband, never being one to give up, started bringing home milk rings, and door stops.  They were the perfect size for batting and made no loud noise.  Soon Klaude was playing with them, then he started playing with wooden pogs, then pen caps, then graduated to catnip stuffed mice.

Now he has his own toy box, and when he isn't sitting next to me purring his fool head off he can be found head stuck in it digging around for his two favorite stuffed toys.

So here is this cat.  Who went from withdrawn, scared and UN-trusting to being my best friend.

Random Review: Earth Rated Poop Bags

So as American Bulldog Owners we see our fare share of massive stinky poops.  We used to reuse plastic bags until we realized at the amount we were using them, we were creating DECADES of trash.  So we started trying biodegradable bags.  First ones we found were expensive and TINY.  ABD poops are massive and frequent so this would not work.  Second we found disintegrated when even remotely moist.  We hike with out boy a lot, and rain dissolving your bags so that when you go to pic up poop, your fingers go through?  NOPE next.  We found some bags that we like the size and they didn't disintegrate.  The caveat was, no handles and hard to open.  You ever try to hold a 80 pound dog in one place while trying to wrestle open a poop bag and then tie it in a knot?

So we were at our local pet store and saw they had "Earth Rated Poop bags"  they were scented, but not baby powder/Lysol strong just faint and nice lavender.  They are a LONGER bag, so you can pick up even Mastiff sized poops and not get it all over your arm.  We even had to double bag and two poops fit in!  The bags are tough, resist tearing, and best of all they are  biodegradeable!   They even make a corn based bag that will completely dissolve in 30 days in a compost heap!  (We don't recommend using dog poop as compost material for gardening tho!  Think of composted poop as being a doggie septic tank. More info here 

We also tried BioBags which are placed in all the dog parks and hiking trails by our house.  We love them, but prefer our bags to have a masking scent and also handles. 

All in all the Earth Rated Poop Bags get a 5 out of 5 paws from all our furry minions.  We have four cats and started to use a ERPB when we scoop cat litter (and we have 4 boxes!)  I highly recommend them if you have any pets that poop!

Strange Brew...My belly probs.

So, for about the last 3 months I have had issues with my stomach.  I used to be able to eat about 2 cups of food, 8 ounces of liquid and 1/2 cup of fruit or pudding or something sweet (fruit cocktail, fruit, gluten free cookie... ounce of chocolate) lately however I have had some serious issues.  I am only able to eat about a cup of food and 4 ounces of liquid before I feel like I am going to puke.

Sometimes I can only eat once a day and it usually consists on a single ounce of protein, 1/2 cup of chopped or small vegetables (like french green beans, peas, or shaved Brussels sprouts) the have to wait about an hour or so before I can eat or drink anything else without having serious stomach pains, nausea or gas.

Chris thinks I have ulcers (very possible) but since I have no health insurance I can't really do much about that.  I was hoping that this would mean that I would lose weight, but since I have not been able to do much cardio, the weight loss has been very negligible.

Tonight I managed to eat an ounce of cheese, an ounce of turkey, and 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, and a 8 ounce cup of coffee with homemade rice milk and stevia.

We were supposed to have gluten free spaghetti and turkey kielbasa meat sauce tonight, but I may end up just having the turkey.

I want to try to get 30 minutes of light recumbent biking in while I am doing my reading for class. and maybe a set of wall push ups.  I feel sore and slugish, and need my energy back to be able to get errands and cleaning done.

Random acts of being a human being

Its official I am not leaving the house again until Wednesday night.  Went to Aldi, to get my groceries, while walking back to my car I saw an old lady doing the "OMG I AM GONNA FALL" windmill arms dance.  I ran up and helped stop her from falling down, I steadied her and walked her to her car. 

Went to get gas, was approached by TWO homeless guys asking for money.  One went to go tap on car windows in traffic so I reluctantly called non emergency to go pick him off and drop him at at the shelter he was well dressed and clean, so he probably had people looking for him.    The other followed me inside and started an argument with himself.  The owner started yelling at him (which never helps) finally I told the guy if he went outside and waited quietly I would buy him coffee and a donut.  He left quietly, the owner apologized and I shrugged and said "Hey, one wrong move and that could be any of us."  He gave me free coffee and an old hotdog for the guy.  I remembered I had an old skullcap in the jeep, gave him that too. 

Went  BACK in to pay for my gas and found out the lady  who had been behind me had added 6 bucks to my measly 5 bucks!  Yay almost an eighth of a tank! 

Part of me feels super blessed, part of me is sad that this kind of behavior is considered "exceptional" It was the right thing to do.

Ion Color Brights+Henna Sooq Red Raj Henna: a review

I have black hair with gray and white highlights.  I wanted to cover the gray and make it BLOOD RED.

So for the last year I have been using red raj henna by henna sooq (www.hennasooq.com)

I'd used henna before (even henna from henna sooq!) but never found that it gave me the deep cherry cola/deep red tones that I wanted.

I tried adding lemon juice, taking it away, adding coconut oil, taking it away...sugar, tea, beet juice...EVERYTHING.

Finally I started using Dechlorinated boiled hot water and 10 drops of organic lavender oil.  EUREKA!  It finally stained and didn't itch so much!  BUT the caveat was that it was like trying to get a cat out of a catnip factory.  It took DAYS to get the mixture out.

So on a whim I found a bottle of Sally Beauty Supply "Ion Color Brights" in Red and Fuschia.  I added an entire bottle of "red" and half a bottle of Fuchsia into my henna mix and left it on over night.

It applied super easy, washed out like a breeze, and gave me night deep saturated color, except it stained my scalp.  Got a little over zealous with the Ion stuff.

So the next time I bought A tube of Ion Red, a tube of Ion Fuschia
, and a tube of Clear.

I mixed 1/2 a tube of red, with 1/4 a tube of Fuchsia and 1/4 tube of Clear.

Applied it to my roots, left it on overnight again, washed it out.

Once again, easy to apply, easy to wash out, stained beautifully, but didn't stain my scalp!

I waited three days and let it oxidize and then super conditioned my hair using 1/4 tube Clear, 1/4 tube Fuschia, and a cup of conditioner.  Left it on all day (didn't drip or stain my skin) under a shower cap and a woolen beanie.  Even went to the grocery store, no problem, people just thought I was cold.

My hair is super shiny, super soft, and I only wash it once a week with no problems.

I did end up mixing my giant bottle of conditioner with the rest of the Ion Colorbrights Red.  Just so that when I wash once a week, it touches up the color.  I feel like the henna roughs up the pores and the colorbrights smooths them again.

I only have to retouch now, every 6 weeks.  Once every three months I might do a "comb thru" with the red and Fuchsa mixed with conditioner and leave it on overnight to "refresh" the color all over, but for the most part its just touch ups, which take about 10 minutes to do, and 5 minutes to wash out.

I highly Recommend the Ion Color Brights.  I had previously tried Manic Panic, NRage Demi dye, Beyond the zone semi permanent, and Special FX.  Although I have to say I liked Special FX I didn't find that it worked any better than Ion Colorbrights and it is difficult to get.

Random title here

So I started Masters Degree classes,  don't know WHAT I was thinking.  All my family members are quick to tell me "You know none of the social service positions pay very well"

Thanks family, but I have to go with what I have talent in.  I would be a killer humanitarian, if ONLY I made millions of dollars a year to give away.

I got diagnosed with Tietze Syndrome.  Which explains why my body suddenly puffs up and is hurty for no apparent reason.  Whats good is it is treatable, what is bad is that it comes on for no rhyme or reason and can take weeks to get better.  Which means ice vests in January, super fun!

The whole working on the weekends only thing is coming into round 6 and seems to be working out for us.  the occasional babysitting job really helps.  But those are hard to find.

I took a job cleaning a fish tank once a week.  The annoying thing is that when I go there a tiny old woman follows me around barking in Italian.  I don't like it, I am going to ask my boss if I can go during the week in the PM after my husband gets home.  Like Thursday or Friday evening (probably friday) Then they might be out and I can just pop in and clean in peace.

Things would be so much easier if they just invested in a stupid fish filter!  I would donate one just to make life easier!

Its beyond stupid.