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December 02, 2000
Must... have... more... coffee...
Yawn. Hmmm. Good morning. Just woke up from a deep and happy sleep, face-down with my head under the pillows, with a warm cat on my back. Ahh. I'm pondering getting in the shower and getting dressed, but I can't just yet. I blame my pajamas. See, when I was in Vermont, I found the Perfect Pajamas. A t-shirt, light blue with a sheep on the front. Flannel pants, nice and baggy and soft, with matching sheep all over them. And my mom bought my the slippers to match. I've seriously contemplated wearing them to work -- what, we don't have a dress code! They're that comfortable. So I can't get dressed just yet. It's all the pajamas fault. Blame the sheep.
It'd been an odd few days. Found out earlier in the week that my poor mom needs some minor surgery -- nothing too serious, but hey, surgery is surgery. So whenever it happens, I'll be back in Vermont to look after the dogs and cook and whatnot, so Mom can rest and get better. Any well-wishes you send will be faithfully passed along to her...
Lately, every time I sign onto AOL at home (I know, I know, it sucks... but it's my roommate's computer, and that's all she's got. Meh.) I get bombarded with Instant Messages from people I don't know. Drives me batty. I don't mind emailing with people I haven't met -- provided they aren't creepy or anything -- but I really hate IMing with strangers. I usually ignore the messages, but a couple of people were really persistant about it. One guy emailed me the other day, saying "Hey, I've been trying to IM you, but you never resp[ond. Why not?" That got me wondering if I actually knew this person... maybe I had given someone my screen name, and then forgot I gave it to them. So I wrote back asking "Do I know you?" He said no... so I politely requested that he not IM me anymore, but email me if he really wanted to... I explained that I have had some icky experiences with strangers IMing me propositions and such. His response? "Stop being such a rape victim." Yeah, he said that. Once the red haze cleared from my vision, I replied to tell him to get some manners, and a life, and some serious psychological help... and that if he ever sent another word to me, I'd file a complaint with AOL. Haven't heard from him again... a shame too, since he was oh-so-charming. Last night, a guy who has been the most persistant IM-er (messages every three or four seconds, over and over, every time I sit down to check my email) got online and started in again. I have asked him to stop, repeatedly. He won't. Last night I gave up trying to be polite, and told him to leave me the hell alone. And I forwarded all of his messages, including my requests for him to stop, to AOL. And I think I'll be changing my screen name as soon as possible. Gah.
Yesterday morning, my roommate's boyfriend told me there was something wrong with Zoe -- one of Beth's cats. Zoe had a hyperthyroid condition, so he was skinny, and cranky, and just not a very nice cat. I went to look at him, and he was just lying on the kitchen floor, not eating (and Zoe would start howling for food the minute he heard an alarm clock go off in the house.) I petted him, and he didn't even move. It was like petting a stuffed cat. His nose was all hot and dry, and he looked like he was having some trouble breathing. Every few minutes, he'd sort of prop himself up on one front paw, like it was easier to breathe that way. Beth's boyfriend went and woke her up, and she said she'd take Zoe to the vet first thing... when I got home last night, I saw Tucker (Beth's other cat) and Smoke, but no Zoe. Hmmm. I hoped he was just at the vet getting fixed up... but then Beth came home, with no cat, and with very red, swollen eyes. Zoe had been very sick -- an enlarged spleen, and fluid around his lungs -- hence the difficulty breathing. The vet said he was in a lot of pain, and that there was really no way to cure him -- the best they could do would be to drain the fluid, and then he might last another couple of weeks, but he would die. The hyperthyroid thing was the root of the problem... so Beth decided she didn't want him to suffer anymore, at all. We hadn't known he was in pain -- he didn't cry or anything. She said she held him, and he purred and stuck his tongue out at her (as he did when he was happy -- which was rare. He was a cranky cat.) and then they gave him the shot, and... no more Zoe. She was going to take him to her parents house to bury him. Zoe wasn't a friendly cat -- he was a cat's cat, didn't have much use for people -- but he grew on you. I liked him, and I'll miss him. I'll miss him standing up on his hind paws and using his front paws to pummel me on the butt while I washed dishes. I'll miss the creaky, rumbling noise he made when he purred. (It sounded almost like he was growling, but it was really a Zoe-purr.) I'll miss him following me into the bathroom, as he had to do every morning. Poor old Zoe... but I am glad he's not sick anymore.
So. Weird week, uneventful except for some bad stuff. Huh... writing it down makes it seem worse than it was. Weird. Anyway. I'm off to get my hair cut off today -- hell with growing it out, it's driving me nuts. It keeps getting in my eyes, and sticking to my lip gloss, and getting up my nose, and I can't stand it anymore. So I'm chopping it off. Maybe I'll manage to get a new picture of it posted... unless it turns out horrible, then I'll post a picture of me with a bag over my head...
Oh, hey, all you non-notify list people? If you join the list, you'll get a Christmas surprise... come on, all the cool kids are doing it! Sign up in the box at the bottom of the page. Make me happy, let me know you're reading this thing...
And for you curious folks, I still have a wish list up.
Posted by Mary Ellen at December 2, 2000 11:27 AM