Opening Day

It is a family holiday, it is Opening Day for Baseball and my entire family has gathered for hotdogs and peanuts and baseball at my sisters' house. Everyone but me. I instead am at work and then heading to Shakespeare tonight. This is depressing. It has been overcast and raining all day and it put me into a rather foul mood this morning, only made better by my driving to the wrong hospital this morning. I called the boys and told them to get signout from the weekend without me, I would be there by 830am. No problem, they said, laughing loudly. Still not in a good mood, here.

As I came around the corner near the hospital. I noticed a big yellow thing by the construction site at the drug company. I could not figure out what it was and then I started laughing and my day looked up from there.

This, my blogger friends, is the GIANT Rat that is accompanying the striking construction workers at the site. There is also an accompanying gray rat that I could not get a picture of. They are huge- that is a white Jeep behind it and it towers over the car. They made my day...

Just when I was getting a little down, I went to lunch and the cafeteria had phillies jerseys hanging from the ceiling and hotdogs on the menu. Life is looking up. OH and best of all, I have my laptop back and it only took 4 hours on the phone with the lynksys people to get the wireless router working again. (HP had me reset it and it was down for the count) That, however, is a story for another time. Happy Days Blogger Friends :)

The Story of Princess Piglet

Although not the most flattering picture of Princess P, it does show her bad wing (tucked back on her left).



Several years ago, my friend Terry and I were at Pet Smart trying to find an automatic feeder for her cat, Jungle. At the time I had no intention of getting a cat. I had tried it several years earlier, found myself severely allergic to her fine fur, and had to find her a new home. (You will find Gretel Asparagus with my sister, MB.) That day at the Pet Smart, a shelter called the Cat Angel Network was having an open adoption day. I paid little attention as we walked by but a certain cat sleeping in her litter box caught my eye. I read her story and cried.



The rescue had been called about a kitten, no more than 2 months old, who was hopping around an apartment complex in Philadelphia. When they found her, her mouth was frozen shut, her arm was broken and frozen in a manner she would never be able to use, and she was severely underweight. The Cat Angel Network took her to their vet and the nightmare began. She had suffered severe nerve damage and could no longer feel or use the lower part of her left front paw, nor could she eat. The first step was feeding her- they had to pry her mouth open and fed her liquids. Then they focused on her arm. At first it seemed that amputation was the only treatment, but a lovely orthopedic vet stepped in and after many rounds of accupuncture, minimal movementto the arm and complete movement of the jaw was restored. She is missing several teeth but eats like a horse. She had to spend almost 8 months in vet hospitals before coming back to the rescue and then it was almost three months before she could be adopted. I found her at the Pet Smart when she was about a year old.



I did not adopt her that day, but for a week was haunted by her story. I went online and applied to adopt with particular interest on "Dawn". Almost immediately, I recieved a phone call from the vp of the rescue, who wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. "She is a special needs cat, who requires alot of attention and love". We arranged that I would come meet her and if I liked her, I could take her home. (Like there was any question....) It was love at first site. I brought her into the apartment and showed her the litter box and the food. She showed me the couch and how she really liked my lap. That was three years ago. Every one who meets her initially cries when they see her hop through the house and then they fall under her spell....

She is a gentle creature who, despite her rough first year, has never seen a stranger. What she really likes are the days that I am home and she can be on my lap, at my feet, or simply nearby. My mother swears that she willed me into the petsmart, I think she might be right...

Curses...

How does this-

Plus this-

equal this-

That if you cannot see, is my foot with a bruise extending from above my pinky toe to just before my big toe.

What happened you ask?

In my rush to get to work on thursday morning, I pulled the towel from the hook and managed to pull the giant brass and ceramic hook off the wall, which unerringly made its way onto the top of my foot. I was on my knees before I could process what had happened and watched the immediate bruise start. Shoes are fun, walking is a joy, and my cat has managed to step on the exact scene of the crime at least twice a day since...

On a more depressing note, I still do not have my laptop back. I have only recieved an email from Hewlett Packard saying they have recieved the defective product :(

Bath Time

For Wordless Wednesday, we have the budda having a bath. Anyone want to rub the lucky belly? Any suggestions for weightloss in a cat already on diet food and fairly active?

She must be feeling better

So Princess P must be feeling better- she is throwing herself ontop of me for loves and landing on the bad wing. Every so often she seems to be a little careful but overall seems to be better.

On a different note, my laptop has decided to give up on its wireless connection. No problems with the router or the modem (having thoughts of Ewe in England) but actually a malfunction of my wireless card. After 2 hours on the phone with Costa Rica and a very nice gentleman, it has been determined that the computer must be fed exed to customer support and most likely get a new motherboard. That leaves me with the dinosaur desktop......

Yet another topic- Tommy, my downs syndrome patient, who was heartbroken to be in the hospital at Halloween, came in for a check up today. After a miserable morning of bitchy patients and physicians, his genuinely happy soul made the above bad news much easier to take. He sang "Climb Every Mountain" to me and the rest of my office. He made my day....