The Story of Munchie and my Finger...

I wrote this entry in May but never posted the draft. When I re-read it, I thought it was kind of amusing, so I'll post now before today's entry. It ends abruptly where I left off...

It is Wednesday, and I've been home sick all week. The dog was just picked up to go to day care for the afternoon, so I can actually sit at my computer and get some stuff done. I haven't written an entry in so long, that it would be nearly impossible to recount everything I've done since I last wrote. Plus, the last week has been so action packed, that I think I'll start there.

This is a photo of Munchie, sitting on my shoulder last year. She is a beautiful Lavender Oriental Shorthair, which is like a Siamese with green eyes, no points and the color of a Weimaraner. She is fancy; her entire name is Sinergia's Princess Violet of Tlu. She is a little thing (Munchkin), and she eats pretty much anything, so she earned the nickname Munchie. She led a pretty charmed life until February, when I brought a new member into the family. That would be Thor (which is pronounced "Tor".) Thor is a big baby, and he either gets along with or is afraid of everything. Except the cats. Sadly, Thor and the cats cannot even be on the same floor together. The cats now live upstairs, which is separated from the first floor by a baby gate half way up the steps. Munchie doesn't like being banished to the upstairs and she screams her brains out (Siamese), and pees on everything (well, not everything...just my bedding and my clothing) to show her displeasure. Anyway, I was having enough issues with Munchie even BEFORE last week's incident; I didn't really need another pain in the ass, but that's exactly what I got.

I have an awesome Swedart bracelet which I wear all the time. I got it at the Swedish Yuletide Festival a couple years ago. They are made by the Sami people (in Lapland) out of reindeer leather, spun pewter and shed reindeer antlers. Because I wear it nearly everyday, the bracelet doesn't often make it into my jewelry box. It is kept in my bedside table drawer. Now, Munchie also likes this particular bracelet; she thinks it's quite a tasty chew-toy. She knows the bracelet is in the drawer, and she can open the drawer and grab the bracelet herself. Bad kitty. So. Normally I get up about 6AM to get ready for work and walk the dog. Last Monday I awoke about 4:30, got up to use the bathroom and came back to bed. As I mentioned, Thor stays downstairs and the cats sleep with me. Because I had about an hour and a half before I had to be up, I had every intention of falling back to sleep. I only made it to the mostly asleep stage. Munchie was trying to get into the bedside table drawer and she was making enough of a fuss that I was aware of it. I rolled over and with my right hand and pushed the drawer closed. On her paw. I initially thought that I'd closed my finger in the drawer as well, but in hindsight, it doesn't seem very likely. She lets out a scream and bites me - HARD. (Hard enough that I thought I'd slammed my finger in the drawer.) In the time it took to sit up and look at my finger (a couple seconds), there was already blood on my sheets, my rug and my floor. Uh oh. Jesus. So I'm making my way to the bathroom, and I'm trying to make sense of what just happened. I put my hand over the sink, and I'm looking at two punctures - one of which is pumping blood. I run it under water a couple times, but each time it just keeps bleeding. Time to call in reinforcements. So I go knock on G's door, wake her up, and ask her to come out and help me. By the time she gets to the bathroom, I was resting my head on my forearm, and my hand was in the sink. She thought I had a bloody nose, but when I looked at her, it was obvious that my face was not bleeding. G: "What did you do??" Me: "Munchie bit me." We cleaned it really well with hydrogen peroxide and she squished my finger w/ a washcloth until it stopped bleeding. I then hopped in the shower and washed it some more with dial soap. It was in the shower that I realized I had two more punctures on the underside of my finger. Applied Neosporin and bandaids, taped it to the next finger over, packed it in ice and went to work. I work for a healthcare organization, so there are a lot of people around with clinical backgrounds. It was decided that I should call my doctor as soon as his office opened, and I was sitting in front of him exactly 12 hours after the bite occurred. The wounds were really clean and looked good. He put me on seven days of prophylactic antibiotics, and said he didn't think I'd have any problems. (I should probably mention that I'm allergic to penicillin. Cats carry some really gross bacteria in their mouths, so they had to put me on two drugs to cover the spectrum of shit that passed from Munchie's mouth to my finger. If I could've taken penicillin, my story probably would've ended right there.) So out of the office I went - to fill my prescriptions and relate the story of Munchie - the cat who'll eat anything - to everyone I encountered. It was still pretty amusing at this point - or at least I thought so. So fast forward to Wednesday. I get up, look at my finger, and ooh - that doesn't look so good. I hadn't been able to bend my finger since the bite occurred, but now it was noticably swollen and red and hot. So I take my finger to work for a second opinion, and the concensus is that I should call the doctor. They make me come back to the office, where I see a second doc b/c mine is not there that day. New doc tells me that yes, my finger is infected, but I pretty much already knew that. He tells me that the only thing worse than a cat bite is a human bite. He does some painful probing which I don't really need to get into, and says that I don't need to see a surgeon that day (WHAT??) but I need to come back the next day. That takes us to last Thursday, when I saw my usual doctor again. Sure enough, my finger is still not so good. We didn't need to open her up, but we did switch to what I've been calling "napalm antibiotics" (Bactrim and Clindamycin for those of you keeping score). The list of side effects of these abx is long, and by the time I got back to the doctor Monday (for my fourth visit) I was so sick from the meds that I couldn't even go in to work AND I'd lost seven pounds. The absess had pretty much cleared up, but I can't come off the abx - I have to take the full course. As far as my other symptoms: I agreed to the stool sample, passed on the internal and departed with another prescription and what little dignity I had left. Today is Wednesday, and I'm still sick. I suppose it's to be expected because I'm still on the Clindamycin. They now have me on a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, broth and gatorade. I could have toast, but as a rule I don't eat bread. (If you ever come to stay at my house, bring your own bread or you'll be eating knackebrod. Seriously. Ask my mother...she brings her own bread.) Anyway, if I don't get better, I'll have to go back to the office to be retested for a nasty GI bug called C-Diff, which is a side effect of the Clindamycin. I'm hoping to pass on that. I'm ten days out, and my four puncture wounds are in various stages of healing, but they're all still quite visible. I keep waiting, but Munchie hasn't apologized yet.

Thor update...it's been a crazy few weeks.

I've meant to post a bunch of times since Thor got here, but it's been really hard to get away from him so that I could sit down at the computer and write. The cats are living upstairs, and every time he comes up here, he gets into it with Tubby. She just swiped him across the nose so he has settled down under my desk at my feet...for now. I'll try to get in as much as possible, but may have to jump off quickly if another offensive starts.
Thor is great. Everyone who meets him abolutely loves him, and he's a really good boy. The problem (and there always is one) is that he doesn't get along with the cats. As I've mentioned NUMEROUS times, Tubby is a bully. She's just awful. The first time I brought Thor home, she wouldn't let him in the house. She literally blocked the front door and wouldn't let him come in. When he was finally in the house and we were making our initial tour of the first floor, she attacked from the rear by jumping on his back. Welcome home Thor.
The first day was a little rough, actually. I've never had a dog before, I don't have kids, and I don't take care of anyone besides myself (well, a little bit when my father was dying, but not what I'm about to relate). If I'm being honest, I have limited experience with certain bodily functions and accidents related to said functions. Okay. So Thor came from Arkansas, which was a two day drive. The men who drove him up said that he hadn't been drinking much during the trip, he hadn't peed and he hadn't taken care of other business. This other business issue wasn't really surprising because of the stress related to the trip. I took water when I went to pick him up and got him to drink. I walked him when we got home and he peed, so I'm thinking "I've got this." No prob. We then come into the house where he is NOT welcomed by the cats and then attacked from behind. I make the mistake of removing his leash so he can get a feel for the smell of Chateau Hol, and he wanders into the dining room and shits everywhere. Bad. Really bad. Now I am the first one to admit that I was totally unprepared for it, but now that I know him better, I have to say in my own defense that what happened in the dining room was not just healthy defecation in an inappropriate location. So here we go...are you ready? (*Edit note: Gina DID offer to clean up the mess, but I knew I would have to deal with this eventually and would not accept her offer of assistance. Thanks G.*) Hol goes into the dining room and immediately begins to gag. Mind racing, I don't even know how to begin, but I'm going to have to come up with something. Gag. Gag. My room mate G had Thor in the living room saying, "If you can't clean up after this dog, we're going to have to give him back." I was pacing around (while gagging) trying to come up with a plan. Okay. Doggie poopie pick-up bags...I'll start there. I get the bags, go back into the dining room and throw up everywhere. No joke. Thor's accident was eclipsed by my own. Now I'm mostly crying. I wail, "G....I threwww uppppp!!!!" She says, "I'm out of here. It's all you." and takes Thor outside. (*Edit note: Oddly, G didn't offer to clean up after I puked all over the place...*) Yes, you heard it here first. This is what really went on the day I got my first dog. Believe me, Thor seems no worse for wear, but the experience has left me scarred.

So here are a couple decent pictures of him. Doesn't he look sweet? I had him to the vet yesterday and he's tipping the scales at a solid 77 lbs. I think he's a big baby, but it turns out that my cleaning lady is afraid of dogs and won't come in the house if he's here. That's a problem. I decided that on the days the cleaning lady comes, I'd send him to doggie day care. Good plan...unless it's raining. He was all set up to go on a field trip last Wednesday so that it wouldn't interfere with her coming to do the house. She's scheduled to come at noon. The day care calls at 9:30 to tell me his field trip is cancelled because it's raining. What? Now, I'm sitting in a cubicle in Needham, nowhere near a window, and I say, "It's raining? Was it supposed to rain today?" And then panic sets in. Oh god. My cleaning lady is supposed to come today. That is a whole 'nother thing. She doesn't speak English, so all communication is relayed through her husband. The whole concept of doggie field trip being cancelled due to rain is totally lost on him, so I'm pretty sure they think I'm insane. I think the main issue is that I'm just not used to the additional layer of logistics yet. I feel like I've been thrown into the deep end of the pool and I don't know how to swim. As far as the house goes, no need to fret. I took him on a field trip yesterday so the house could be cleaned in our absence; it looks decent right now. Thor is as messy as about five people I think.
There are so many more things I wanted to write about, but I have to leave for a baby shower in an hour and I need to find something to wear. I was hoping to write about my terrifying trip to Babies-R-Us, but I'll save that for later...except for one thought. If you ever want to have an anxiety attack, go in Babies-R-Us. Jesus. It's like the friggin' Costco of baby shit. It's a whole world I've never been a part of, and the store practically makes me twitch.
I know this is supposed to be a knitting blog, but I haven't knit much of anything since Thor got here...
Bye for now!

Blatherings before the dog gets here...

This post is probably going to be all over the map. I'm really excited because Thor is coming today, and a blog post will keep me in my seat until we leave to go get him. Since my last post, I took the cats to the vet for their annual physicals. That's a comedy show right there. Munchie did pretty well - I need to take her to see an opthamologist, but I knew that going in. Things took a turn for the worse when Tubby's was on the table. I've probably mentioned that she is miserable. She likes me (she's sitting here on the desk with me as I write this), but she hates everyone else and she doesn't like anyone to touch her. Sadly, going to the vet involves touching. She does not allow me to clip her claws, so once a year we show up to the vet with razor sharp talons growing out of her paws and I ask them to take care of it. So there we are at the beginning of the exam with the vet on the front end and me blocking her back end so she couldn't escape. She's taking swings at the vet left and right, and before you can say band-aid, she caught him in four spots on one arm/hand and one spot on the other arm. They looked like fairly bad scratches, but what happened next was unbelievable. Turns out my vet is recovering from a heart attack and is taking an anti-coag. He starts bleeding, and before long it looks like he'd put his hand though a window. He's trying to deal with the cat while reaching for a 4" x 4" and a tourniquet...kidding...yes on the gauze, no on the tourniquet. Finally they dragged her miserable ass out back. From the exam room, my roommate and I heard one of the techs say, "Take your meds this morning Dr. X?" Nothing to do but cringe...
On Wednesday I picked up a really pretty scarf at a thrift shop in Needham. I've worked in Needham for 2 1/2 years, and although I know where all the surrounding yarn shops are, I didn't realize it was such a mecca for thrift shops until a colleague invited me to go with her during lunch. Anyone who has ever seen me in person knows I have a thing about colors and matching. It's just one of my glitches; I can't explain it. The scarf is woven and has turquoise and light aqua running through it. (What a surprise.) Anyway, in my neverending quest to corner the market on Uggs and flip flops, I scampered home and bought something to match the scarf (as if I didn't have something to match the scarf already).

So exciting...can you stand it?

So here they are! The scarf and a pair of boots to go with.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm knitting the Knotty but Nice hat by Natalie Larson, which has a kick ass cable in it. I'm going to give it to my friend K, who is going to look quite dashing I'm sure. I'm putting up a picture of the hat in progress, and a picture of the chart. I was having a little trouble following the chart, so I had the brilliant idea to color the different cables (there are six variations) with colored pencils so I can tell at a glance what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. Works like a charm. Not sure why I didn't think of this sooner.

I was hoping to finish this hat last night - or at least get through the cable and start decreasing for the crown. I shouldn't jinx myself. Like an idiot, I put on a movie that totally distracted me (Clash of the Titans, which sucked), I made an error, and spent TWO HOURS tinking back to the F-up and correcting it. I saw a cartoon once that said you can't read a chart and watch a film with subtitles at the same time. Probably should've considered that and put on Sense and Sensibility or some such.

So here are a couple pictures of Thor's stuff. His crate is half way between the dining room and the living room. It seems like a pretty big crate, but he's tipping the scale at a solid 75 lbs at this point, so it should be a good fit. Here are his new leash and matching collar which will look awesome against his brown coat. (It's that matchy-matchy thing again - but I have a new color palette to work with.) We've got a bunch of errands to run before we get on the road, so I'm going to sign off. I expect my upcoming entries will relate to socializing pets that want no part of it. I'll be sure to take pictures of THAT. Bye for now...

The Word of the Day is...WOOF

I'm back. Second post in a week. Trying to get back on track with the entries, but it's hard. I had plans today that got cancelled, so with the exception of going out for milk this morning and getting gas later, I don't have anyplace to be or anything to do. Yay! This is probably going to be a long one, because I have SO much to talk about. I'm going to start with the newest addition to the fam. As you all know, I've been mother to a collection of fancy cats for about the last 20 years. I love Siamese and Orientals. If you've never met one, they are like a dog in the body of a cat. Orientals are hysterically funny, but they are loud, they are clingy and they are manipulative. Here's Munchie helping me frog a sweater, and hanging out at the window. I can't find a decent picture of Tubby right now, but she's a black Domestic Shorthair, she's really fat and she has a miserable disposition. If you've met her, most likely you've been bitten by her, right? She only likes me. So anyway, I've wanted a dog for a long time, but didn't think I could swing it due to my long hours. Now that my room mate G moved back in, I started thinking seriously about it because she and I work opposite hours. On Thursday I finally got word that everything is a go. Next Saturday I will be the proud owner of Thor, who is pictured here on the left. He is a rescue dog, and he is coming up from AR. (It should surprise no one that I first clicked on him because of his name. G was just reading my old blogs and reminded me that a few months back I named the water heater at the condo Thor, so the water heater's new name is Ulrik. Yes, it's true; I'm drawn to all names Viking, but that's a story for another day.) According to the woman who has had him for the last seven months, he's a big (70 lbs), sweet, baby. I have so much to do between now and next Saturday. Crate, bed, leash, harness, collar, bowls, toys. I already picked up 40 lbs of food, which is enough to get started and I made his first vet appt for March 19th. Speaking of the vet, I'm taking the cats there tomorrow for their annuals. Munchie has had a problem (a herpes virus, actually) with one of her eyes since she was born, and at her appt last year it was recommended that she see a kitty opthamologist. I've never quite gotten around to THAT $900 appointment, so my vet is probably going to give me shit about it. Munchie doesn't like anyone fussing with her eye, she doesn't like medicine in her food, medicine in her eye (we tried that for years, literally) or wet washcloths on her face. With the exception of the fact that it looks bad, it doesn't seem to bother her. Anyway, Thor is a mix, but I can't tell from his puppy pics online or the new pics shown here what he's a mix of. Any thoughts? I'm thinking Lab and Pit Bull Terrier. H - what do you and K think? I expect it's going to be a rocky few months here at Hol's. Probably Munchie will adjust better than Tubby, who will probably take up permanent residence under my bed...
So G is recovering nicely from her surgeries. She still has minimal use of her hands, but she's been off the pain killers since mid-day Friday, so she's completely clear headed. My friend D is having rotator cuff surgery (UGH) in May, so I'm taking the day off to do the surgical escort thing again, then she'll be camped out on my couch for a couple days. G thinks I should start a service - Hol's Home Healthcare. It's actually pretty funny because I'm the least nurturing person on the planet. D was awesome to me when my foot was broken most of 2008. I was totally non weight bearing on crutches for 7 (yes, seven) months, and D kept me company and drove me everywhere I needed to go. My mother also deserves a shout out as she was with me for my bone graft surgery and recovery, which in my limited recollection, was a horror show. (Just tried to find a lights-are-on-but-no-one's-home pic of Holly on dilaudid, but the disc is missing in action. Probably for the best.) If D needs to camp out on my couch post-op, she can stay as long as she'd like.
The other day I was looking for a fun, quick project to knit, and decided on this hat. I'm only an inch and a half in but here's a pic. It's in Cascade 220 in a dark teal. I've got 17 100 gr skeins of this because I started to knit a coat with it. The coat took so long - I probably worked on it on and off for a year and a half - that I got bored and frogged it. Now I have a ton of this teal in my stash. I'm probably going to do Bella's mittens in it as well. Hopefully the teal isn't so dark that you can't see the cables. I think it'll be okay.
Wow. I hope this isn't as exhausting to read as it is to write... This is the last thing and I'll finish up. I own a print and small original by an artist named Tom Barnes. He paints primarily long-necked ladies dressed in bright colors. I decided that I wanted to spend part of my tax refund (that I don't actually have yet, ha!) on another small painting, so I called him and he painted something for me. He sent some images and I picked the coloring of one and the composition of another, blah blah blah. So here is a picture of the painting (not yet signed). I should have her sometime this week. He named her Holly and I didn't even have to ask. She will be hung next to or above Celeste, who is pictured below.
Okay, that's going to do it for today. Hope everyone enjoys the long President's day weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

And you thought I'd never post again...Silly.

Wow. I haven't posted since December 18th. That's bad. I have way too much going on in my life, and I'm not sure how to resolve it. I know one thing, I spend WAY to much time commuting, and I could do without it. Even in the new car, it's just grim. Didn't work today though. My room mate G had her wrists done (carpal tunnel release), so I took the day off to help her deal with that. She just took a pain killer, and it's lights out for about the next four hours I'm guessing. She had her surgery at MGH, where we are both employed. She's at the hospital proper, but I'm at the corporate level offsite. This was the first time I was actually there WITH a patient; it was nice to not be having surgery today, as I've had so many. Here is a photo of her left wrist - the right looks exactly the same. It is amazing that the work is done now w/ such as small incision. No stitches, no band-aid, just glue to hold the incision together. There might be internal stitches though. I should've asked. I obviously totally dig this stuff. Since I had time while she was in surgery, I wandered up to see if the Ether Dome was open. I've tried to see it before, but there was a conference going on, so I couldn't get in. If you are not familiar with the role that MGH played in the history of anesthesia, the Ether Dome was the site of the first demonstration of Ether used to knock someone out for surgery. The room is very cool, and it is a National Historic Landmark.

This painting called Ether Day hangs up there. It is kind of a crappy pic, but you can google it if you want to see a better image.
There is also a little museum up there, but I won't continue to bore you with the history of MGH.

The only problem with hanging around a hospital all day long, is that the temp in there is about 80 degrees. No joke. I couldn't take it. I ended up walking around outside for about 45 minutes, where the temp was a much more tolerable 20.

So today I was wearing this cowl that started off as a scarf called Celine by John Brinegar. (It's Brown Sheep Burly Spun on size 13 needles. Once I got it done, I couldn't help myself - I had to put in a single twist and sew it up. For Hol, it's all about the cowl.) Anyway, If I'd had 10 of these things with me today I could've sold them all. It was incredible. Nearly everyone in the whole surgical department said something about it - like 20 women. Obviously I need to be in the super huge cowl business. That and nut brittle.

Just finished this for my mother. It is Blue Heron Rayon Chenille in colorway Flax. Clearly not my color, as I look like a corpse. But it'll be better on her.


Those of you who've been with me for a while might remember that my condo was flooded last March when the drunk that was living in the unit above mine unknowingly split his toilet tank when he fell on it. Well, it only took 11 months, but the multiple insurance companies that have been fighting over this have finally agreed that I am to be paid! Can you imagine? Repairs can actually begin! I was over there with the contractor this morning. I don't know the timeframe, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now a whole 'nother headache begins.

Okay, I'm blathering on and on, so this is the last thing I'll talk about, and then I'm going to go make some chili. I've been trying to raise orchids for about four years now. What I primarily do is buy them when they're in bloom, then when they go out of bloom, I watch them remain dormant ad nauseum. I received an orchid as a holiday gift last year that was in bloom from the third week of December until the middle of June. Nearly six months!! It's been hanging out since last summer, but it just started a shoot that is going to bloom. Pretty cool, right?

I was so excited that I just ran out and bought another orchid, which is here in pink. Now I think I have the pink, the one that has the shoot (white) a dormant yellow, and two that have been dormant so long that I don't even remember color they are.

Okay, I think that'll just about do it. There are a few other things that I could write about, but I think I'll save them for next time. Here's wishing my cousin P a speedy recovery, as she has been under the weather of late. That's it. Thanks for stopping by.

New Project Alert

I've been taking a break from knitting for about a month to save my sanity. I have so much other stuff going on that I just can't deal with my projects. On top of everything else, this week I had to cram two 60 minute physical therapy appointments into a schedule with zero free bandwidth. This will be an ongoing addition so that I can deal with my hips. Sadly, the only time I have available for PT is 6:30 in the morning, so I have to leave the house at 5:45 to make it there on time. (Yes, really.) I'm enduring my second raging case of bilateral trochanteric bursitis in three years. I have arthitis in my hips, and the recurring bursitis is secondary. Pain in the ass...but not exactly.

Anyway, I received a gift certificate to a yarn store near my office on Thursday, and poking around the store made me want to start a new project. I currently have only one active thing on the needles - Janis Joplin Jacket by Jill Stover. I'm getting really concerned b/c my Stay-Put Wrap by Mags Kandis (WIP) is missing, and I think my cleaning lady threw it out...or else she hid it really well. Total bummer. Anyway, I didn't spend the gift certificate. I decided to pick out a pattern first and see if I could use yarn in my stash. The winning pattern is Tenley by Mona Schmidt, and I had enough of the Briggs & Little Atlantic already. Wow. Shopping in my own yarn store - what a concept. I can use the gift certificate on the needles I need, as the pattern calls for a 40" size 9 , and I don't have one laying around. I did my gauge swatch last night, so I'm serious...I'm doing it. I'll keep you posted.

On Thursday I contacted a breeder in Texas who is looking for a permanent home for a retired stud. His name is GC Felitan Windtalker of Eireannach and I want this cat. Windtalker. He's a Blue Oriental male, and would be a nice playmate for my Lavender Oriental female, Sinergia's Princess Violet of Tlu (aka Munchie). He is stunning; I just love his face. I haven't heard anything back yet, so I hope he's still available. I'll keep you posted on that as well. I'm pretty sure there's a disappointment in my future on this one. I've been trying to find a breeder who has blues, and it's not as easy as you'd think.

Gotta scram. I have about 20 things to do this weekend, including making at least two batches of pecan/almond brittle. I only make it around the holidays, and it's spectacular if I do say so myself. Just one more example of me missing my calling. I should be in the peanut brittle business. Thanks for stopping by!

Off the needles...

Ultra short post tonight, but I wanted to post my finished object!

I finally finished the Cable and Lace Sweater I made for my friend J. I gave it to her on Sunday, and it fit her perfectly! Doesn't she look great?? I love this sweater, but I've made it twice so I don't think I'll be knitting it again. Now I need to do some quick holiday gifts and finish up my Janis Joplin Jacket!

Since last March (in addition to knitting), I've been working with Donald Trump's newest company, the Trump Network. There was a great article in today's Boston globe, which you can read here. I really haven't talked too much about it, but it's starting to get really exciting. If you're interested in finding out about it, please click here to visit my website. If you have any questions or want additional information, please feel free to get in touch. It's a great opportunity to make a part time income in addition to what you're doing now.

Munchie and I are off to bed, but we'll check in again soon! Bye for now.