Third Friday the 13th of the year. I think that is more than enough, thank you. It's been a tough year. Honestly, I'm glad it's almost over. Even though January 1st is really just another day, I look at it as a fresh start - as I'm sure most people do.
Our sweet kitty has been gone from us for about a month now, and each day is not easier. We miss Monte terribly. Sometimes, I feel like he's home when I walk in the door after work - but with the first step I take towards looking for him, reality hits hard. I go to him in his little box now and greet him in my heart.
Work has been difficult as well. Our company recently let go of 500 employees. Very scary time. And while we bid a sad farewell to our colleagues, we also breathe a sigh of relief that we were not chosen to join the land of the unemployed.
Looking back on the year, the prior two Friday the 13th weekends pretty much sucked big time for me. I'm hoping tomorrow will just float by without incident. I never believed in the lore of Friday the 13th before, and I don't want to start - but please let tomorrow just be a normal day. The powers that be can't possibly make it three times a curse!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Farewell to our Monte
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 7:15pm... our beloved Monte finally left us. He fought long and hard, and gave us many scares along the way, but he is at peace now. No more medications, no more tests, no more vet visits.
It's been extremely difficult and only now do I have a little strength to attempt to write anything. And as I type, I already know this will be a short entry.
Monte waited for my husband and I to come home from work before passing away an hour later. We were able to give him many hugs and kisses, and say our final goodbyes. He died at home with us around him, petting him, kissing him, telling him he loved him - and that it was OK for him to let go. And then he was gone.
The week has been filled with awkward moments of doing things out of habit that we did for Monte in the first place. Every nook and cranny of our condo has a story of Monte to go along with it. The hardest part, is coming home and knowing our baby is no longer there to greet us... but that doesn't stop of from saying "Kitty Kitty, we're home!" when we walk in the door. If not out loud, we both continue to say it in our hearts.
Monte was a part of our family for 13 wonderful years. He is greatly missed, extremely loved, and will be forever remembered.
We'll be together again one day my baby kitty, and I can't wait to hear your sweet meows and feel you purring in my arms again.
It's been extremely difficult and only now do I have a little strength to attempt to write anything. And as I type, I already know this will be a short entry.
Monte waited for my husband and I to come home from work before passing away an hour later. We were able to give him many hugs and kisses, and say our final goodbyes. He died at home with us around him, petting him, kissing him, telling him he loved him - and that it was OK for him to let go. And then he was gone.
The week has been filled with awkward moments of doing things out of habit that we did for Monte in the first place. Every nook and cranny of our condo has a story of Monte to go along with it. The hardest part, is coming home and knowing our baby is no longer there to greet us... but that doesn't stop of from saying "Kitty Kitty, we're home!" when we walk in the door. If not out loud, we both continue to say it in our hearts.
Monte was a part of our family for 13 wonderful years. He is greatly missed, extremely loved, and will be forever remembered.
We'll be together again one day my baby kitty, and I can't wait to hear your sweet meows and feel you purring in my arms again.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Ah... vacation!
Feeling much better. Went to Vegas this past weekend. Woo hoo! It started out a bit shaky - not quite the flawless trip, but we made it there and back, so all is good.
Flight to Vegas was delayed 3 hours on Thursday. Instead of arriving there at 5:30p, we didn't take off from SFO until 6:30p! Yes, I was very annoyed. Our hotel had arranged for a limo to pick us up (totally unexpected when we initially booked our trip, but greatly appreciated). Checked into a beautiful suite at the Bellagio - but we were so hungry (it was almost 9pm by then), we basically glanced around the room, dumped off our bags and headed to the cafe for a late dinner. After that, I spent the night sitting in front a slot machine. Hee hee...
The next day, we went to the Miracle Mile of shops at Planet Hollywood. Did some shopping, then went back to our hotel to gamble some more. We had a nice dinner at Olives before heading over to the Luxor to watch Criss Angel's Believe.
Let me tell ya - the show sucked. I don't like Criss Angel to begin with, but I wanted to see this show because it's by Cirque du Soleil. The visuals and music of the show are amazing - and I probably will end up buying the soundtrack - but damn, the rest of it (mainly Criss himself) SUCKED!!!
Five minute montage video of clips from the Mindfreak show made it seem like Criss Angel can do anything. Amazing stuff. But that's all. What did he do live on stage? Disappeared and reappeared elsewhere about 5 times. Each time, we could totally see that it was a body double on stage. How could we tell? Bad wigs, and the fact that when it was obvious that there was a switch, the fake Criss would have his back to the audience the entire time. It was stupid. Oh, and of all people, he actually did the pulling doves out of his sleeves trick. Really? This is Criss Angel - Mindfreak???
Every time he "levitated" the dancers would surround him when he 'landed' - obviously to unhook him from wires. STUPID. And he was dumb enough to comment about how people didn't believe he could do all the tricks from his show?
We were lucky that we didn't have to pay for this show. We had freaking awesome seats, but if we had to pay for them, I'd have asked for a refund. I've never heard such tepid applause from the audience of a Cirque show before. The show wasn't fluid at all. No one was even sure that the show was over until the dancers came out to take their bows. I'm still in wonder as to how Cirque could associate their name with this loser.
Anyway...
On Saturday we went to check out Encore and The Palazzo. Beautiful!!! Encore is an extension hotel of the Wynn, with it's own pool, shopping areas, restaurants/bars and casino. The Palazzo is part of the Venetian. It's mainly a large extension of the shopping mall with restaurants and bars. We didn't see the rooms, but both towers are all suites.
Back to our hotel for the rest of the night. Splurged on a fantastic dinner at FIX. More gambling till the AM hours.
Unfortunately, by Sunday, it was time to go. Plane was delayed about 45 minutes, but that was because there were a million planes in line ahead of us.
It's been a long 4 days, but well worth it. Relaxed, ate some really good meals, felt pampered... short vacation, but every little bit helps. Unfortunately, as we all know, it's so easy to get out of a sleeping pattern. I'm used to my head hitting the pillow around 3am... what a disaster trying to sleep last night - and then to wake up at 6:30am this morning... hope I'm tired enough to just conk out tonight.
Flight to Vegas was delayed 3 hours on Thursday. Instead of arriving there at 5:30p, we didn't take off from SFO until 6:30p! Yes, I was very annoyed. Our hotel had arranged for a limo to pick us up (totally unexpected when we initially booked our trip, but greatly appreciated). Checked into a beautiful suite at the Bellagio - but we were so hungry (it was almost 9pm by then), we basically glanced around the room, dumped off our bags and headed to the cafe for a late dinner. After that, I spent the night sitting in front a slot machine. Hee hee...
The next day, we went to the Miracle Mile of shops at Planet Hollywood. Did some shopping, then went back to our hotel to gamble some more. We had a nice dinner at Olives before heading over to the Luxor to watch Criss Angel's Believe.
Let me tell ya - the show sucked. I don't like Criss Angel to begin with, but I wanted to see this show because it's by Cirque du Soleil. The visuals and music of the show are amazing - and I probably will end up buying the soundtrack - but damn, the rest of it (mainly Criss himself) SUCKED!!!
Five minute montage video of clips from the Mindfreak show made it seem like Criss Angel can do anything. Amazing stuff. But that's all. What did he do live on stage? Disappeared and reappeared elsewhere about 5 times. Each time, we could totally see that it was a body double on stage. How could we tell? Bad wigs, and the fact that when it was obvious that there was a switch, the fake Criss would have his back to the audience the entire time. It was stupid. Oh, and of all people, he actually did the pulling doves out of his sleeves trick. Really? This is Criss Angel - Mindfreak???
Every time he "levitated" the dancers would surround him when he 'landed' - obviously to unhook him from wires. STUPID. And he was dumb enough to comment about how people didn't believe he could do all the tricks from his show?
We were lucky that we didn't have to pay for this show. We had freaking awesome seats, but if we had to pay for them, I'd have asked for a refund. I've never heard such tepid applause from the audience of a Cirque show before. The show wasn't fluid at all. No one was even sure that the show was over until the dancers came out to take their bows. I'm still in wonder as to how Cirque could associate their name with this loser.
Anyway...
On Saturday we went to check out Encore and The Palazzo. Beautiful!!! Encore is an extension hotel of the Wynn, with it's own pool, shopping areas, restaurants/bars and casino. The Palazzo is part of the Venetian. It's mainly a large extension of the shopping mall with restaurants and bars. We didn't see the rooms, but both towers are all suites.
Back to our hotel for the rest of the night. Splurged on a fantastic dinner at FIX. More gambling till the AM hours.
Unfortunately, by Sunday, it was time to go. Plane was delayed about 45 minutes, but that was because there were a million planes in line ahead of us.
It's been a long 4 days, but well worth it. Relaxed, ate some really good meals, felt pampered... short vacation, but every little bit helps. Unfortunately, as we all know, it's so easy to get out of a sleeping pattern. I'm used to my head hitting the pillow around 3am... what a disaster trying to sleep last night - and then to wake up at 6:30am this morning... hope I'm tired enough to just conk out tonight.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Still here...
I can't believe today is the last day of July. Seems like just yesterday I was looking forward to watching the July 4th fireworks, and now the month is gone. But that's OK... August starts the countdown to my birthday! I'll be (cough, cough!)
Getting older is not my thing. I really don't like it. The 'fun' milestones have past and I just don't like that number getting higher and higher. So, I will just lie, lie, lie... until I get the look from someone that says, "Really? You look much older than that." Anyway...
Latest on Monte... he's not doing so well. We don't know what it is. He'll be chugging along great and then suddenly he decides, "Hey, let's throw a little excitement into our lives - I have a new mystery illness." And a mystery it truly is. For the last two weeks (and this is gross), he's been "going" everywhere but in his litter box. Great. His two favorites spots? Our bed and the sofa. So, he's now banned from the bedroom - and our lovely sofa is covered with a new plastic sheet and puppy pads. Yep, we decided that washing our covers, sheets and sofa cover every couple of days is NOT fun.
Took Monte to the vet for this sudden behavioral change - not a clue. (Throwing hands up into air)
Don't know what to do... it's very frustrating, to say the least. Thirteen years with Monte and he has NEVER been like this. Ever.
We've changed his box. Trying new litter. He has an interest in the box, but then we'll still find a surprise on the sofa. ARGH!!! And I'm completely grossed out. (shudder).
Hmmm, so that's where my July went.
Getting older is not my thing. I really don't like it. The 'fun' milestones have past and I just don't like that number getting higher and higher. So, I will just lie, lie, lie... until I get the look from someone that says, "Really? You look much older than that." Anyway...
Latest on Monte... he's not doing so well. We don't know what it is. He'll be chugging along great and then suddenly he decides, "Hey, let's throw a little excitement into our lives - I have a new mystery illness." And a mystery it truly is. For the last two weeks (and this is gross), he's been "going" everywhere but in his litter box. Great. His two favorites spots? Our bed and the sofa. So, he's now banned from the bedroom - and our lovely sofa is covered with a new plastic sheet and puppy pads. Yep, we decided that washing our covers, sheets and sofa cover every couple of days is NOT fun.
Took Monte to the vet for this sudden behavioral change - not a clue. (Throwing hands up into air)
Don't know what to do... it's very frustrating, to say the least. Thirteen years with Monte and he has NEVER been like this. Ever.
We've changed his box. Trying new litter. He has an interest in the box, but then we'll still find a surprise on the sofa. ARGH!!! And I'm completely grossed out. (shudder).
Hmmm, so that's where my July went.
Friday, June 26, 2009
In a mellow mood...
My Uncle Jimmy left us last night. He had been sick for quite a few years, and now he is at peace. No more suffering. We will miss you Uncle Jimmy.
It's been a strange week with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. People I've "grown-up" with. All gone.
It's been a strange week with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. People I've "grown-up" with. All gone.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
M.I.A. again...
Sorry folks, but it's been another busy month. I can't believe I didn't write at all the entire month of April. Family events, friend events, workload... too many things happening at once. Didn't think I would ever experience 6 hour meetings, or worse, all day meetings, but I've had a few of them recently - and let me tell ya, didn't think I could get so tired sitting at a table all day long. My brain needs a vacation.
Unfortunately, any time I think of vacation, I remember that we can't leave Monte alone anymore. He needs meds in the morning and night. Nothing big, but we do have to feed him a pill. It's also unfortunate that we don't have many friends who are 'cat people' who can do the pill thing. So, we're trying to figure it out. Got some good offers for Vegas this summer - would love to take advantage of one of them for a long weekend.
At this rate, nothing will be planned for a while... I may need to take off on my own for a weekend and unwind. Hubby will have to stay home.
Things should calm down by September (when my big project at work is over), but that's so far off! WAH!!!
Unfortunately, any time I think of vacation, I remember that we can't leave Monte alone anymore. He needs meds in the morning and night. Nothing big, but we do have to feed him a pill. It's also unfortunate that we don't have many friends who are 'cat people' who can do the pill thing. So, we're trying to figure it out. Got some good offers for Vegas this summer - would love to take advantage of one of them for a long weekend.
At this rate, nothing will be planned for a while... I may need to take off on my own for a weekend and unwind. Hubby will have to stay home.
Things should calm down by September (when my big project at work is over), but that's so far off! WAH!!!
Friday, March 06, 2009
Time just keeps flying by...
... and I'm trying to keep up.
The last couple of months have been extremely busy at work. As a result, when I get home, I tend to just zone out in front of the TV or computer and just look at brain candy sites, or play video games. I've recently discovered the joy of Guitar Hero... yeah, I'm a nerd.
Monte has been doing better. His blood count is back up. He did have a couple of weeks where it dropped again, because the vet changed his med dosage. When we changed it back, his numbers went back up immediately. I also gave him his shot for the first time last week. My hubby usually gets that honor. I just can't help but feel that I'm hurting him and I freak out. Anyway, I know I can do it now (when I need to).
On a much lighter note, I'm feeling like a kid again - rediscovering make-up! I've found these great tutorial videos on YouTube and have been experimenting with different products and colors. Yep, stuff I did when I started wearing make-up back in high school. Of course, nowadays, there's much more stuff to select from and enjoy!
To the ladies out there, I'm so excited about this one product, I have to share. I don't know how I've lived without this before. Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Girls - it's amazing. I get greasy eyelids that tend to crease regardless of whatever eyeshadow I use. I've used the Shadow Insurance for about two weeks now - no more creasing. Seriously. None! It's $17 at Sephora. A bit pricy, but you use so little of it each time, the tube will last forever. And now I actually enjoy wearing eye make-up because I don't feel it's just being wasted.
Silly stuff, I know - but with work and Monte, I just need some non-serious fun.
Also tried out Everyday Minerals make-up. I tried it only because you can get a free sample kit of three shades of foundation, a blush and a concealer - you only pay for shipping of about $3 (at least, that's what it cost for me). Unfortunately, one of the shades of the mineral make-up made me breakout in hives (light olive), but their flat top brush rocks! So soft - it feels like feathers on your skin when applying mineral make-up. I use it with my Bare Minerals now.
Another great find is e.l.f. (eyeslipsface.com). GREAT deals on brushes... most are only $1. ONE DOLLAR! Where can you get anything nowadays for a buck? Anyway, the eyeshadow brushes are amazing. No more $18 ones from Sephora for me. Ever.
Yep - getting really girly lately, but that's OK. :) These are some great bargains and products and I just thought it would be fun to share with my friends. Enjoy!
The last couple of months have been extremely busy at work. As a result, when I get home, I tend to just zone out in front of the TV or computer and just look at brain candy sites, or play video games. I've recently discovered the joy of Guitar Hero... yeah, I'm a nerd.
Monte has been doing better. His blood count is back up. He did have a couple of weeks where it dropped again, because the vet changed his med dosage. When we changed it back, his numbers went back up immediately. I also gave him his shot for the first time last week. My hubby usually gets that honor. I just can't help but feel that I'm hurting him and I freak out. Anyway, I know I can do it now (when I need to).
On a much lighter note, I'm feeling like a kid again - rediscovering make-up! I've found these great tutorial videos on YouTube and have been experimenting with different products and colors. Yep, stuff I did when I started wearing make-up back in high school. Of course, nowadays, there's much more stuff to select from and enjoy!
To the ladies out there, I'm so excited about this one product, I have to share. I don't know how I've lived without this before. Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Girls - it's amazing. I get greasy eyelids that tend to crease regardless of whatever eyeshadow I use. I've used the Shadow Insurance for about two weeks now - no more creasing. Seriously. None! It's $17 at Sephora. A bit pricy, but you use so little of it each time, the tube will last forever. And now I actually enjoy wearing eye make-up because I don't feel it's just being wasted.
Silly stuff, I know - but with work and Monte, I just need some non-serious fun.
Also tried out Everyday Minerals make-up. I tried it only because you can get a free sample kit of three shades of foundation, a blush and a concealer - you only pay for shipping of about $3 (at least, that's what it cost for me). Unfortunately, one of the shades of the mineral make-up made me breakout in hives (light olive), but their flat top brush rocks! So soft - it feels like feathers on your skin when applying mineral make-up. I use it with my Bare Minerals now.
Another great find is e.l.f. (eyeslipsface.com). GREAT deals on brushes... most are only $1. ONE DOLLAR! Where can you get anything nowadays for a buck? Anyway, the eyeshadow brushes are amazing. No more $18 ones from Sephora for me. Ever.
Yep - getting really girly lately, but that's OK. :) These are some great bargains and products and I just thought it would be fun to share with my friends. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Where does the time go?
Busy, busy... no wonder I've kind of been letting this blog get dusty and cobwebby...
My cold turned into bronchitis - but I didn't know it. Never had it before. Husband dragged me to the doctor, where we discovered I was risking pneumonia if I didn't start on antibiotics STAT! So I did - much better now.
Hubby had surgery on his shoulder (old sports injuries), so I was taking care of him for most of December. Included in the chaos - handling all things Christmas (shopping, wrapping, shipping, cards, dinners, birthday parties) and playing chauffeur. Yeah, this chick is glad the holidays are over. Sad to say, I never did get into the holiday spirit. Aside from the gifts, there was nothing Christmasy in our home for the first time EVER.
Good news is that hubby is well on his way to a speedy recovery. Work is getting back to it's usual busy pace. I'm no longer the designated driver either (very sad during the holiday parties). The stress is slowly going away. WHEW!!!
Looking forward to a calmer year in 2009!
My cold turned into bronchitis - but I didn't know it. Never had it before. Husband dragged me to the doctor, where we discovered I was risking pneumonia if I didn't start on antibiotics STAT! So I did - much better now.
Hubby had surgery on his shoulder (old sports injuries), so I was taking care of him for most of December. Included in the chaos - handling all things Christmas (shopping, wrapping, shipping, cards, dinners, birthday parties) and playing chauffeur. Yeah, this chick is glad the holidays are over. Sad to say, I never did get into the holiday spirit. Aside from the gifts, there was nothing Christmasy in our home for the first time EVER.
Good news is that hubby is well on his way to a speedy recovery. Work is getting back to it's usual busy pace. I'm no longer the designated driver either (very sad during the holiday parties). The stress is slowly going away. WHEW!!!
Looking forward to a calmer year in 2009!
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