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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Chocolate, Beverages, and/or Treats For All!



Well, this week started early with a good number of complainable things. Items from the emergency weekend edition will be folded in to this week's regular whine-fest.

Whines and anti-whines of all stripes are welcome!

41 comments:

kathy a. said...

many many hugs to sue today.

best to all who are anticipating still more snow. yeeps!

Sue said...

We just got home from the vet clinic. It's over and he's gone to that Somewhere Else where cats, dogs and people don't hurt anymore and don't have to be afraid.

Hubby held him while the Cat Whisperer gave him the meds. He just shut his eyes and that was it. No pain, no more suffering, no more car rides.

Damn. I know in the big picture he was a cat and there are bigger problems in the world, but right now, I can't think of any. I miss him already.

kathy a. said...

~sniff~ ((( sue )))

he was part of your family; of course you are mourning teh sweet boy. he was well-loved, and left gently, with the ones he loved best still there for him.

you and hubby will probably be remembering Little Man stories, laughing and crying at the same time. if you feel like sharing any, please do! xoxo

Sue said...

It's a hard day. We're both just laying low. I'm not going to the office.

Just before they took him from Peter's arms, Peter tied Ouzo's favourite string toy around his neck in a nice bow. It was the cord from an old hoodie - Ouzo loved it when we draped it over his back. He would spin around until it fell off and he was dizzy.

Ouzo also had a bizarre liking for Italian Soccer. He wouldn't watch unless the Italian announcers were calling the game. He would sit on Peter's lap and face the tv. When the game was over, he would jump down and take his usual spot on the couch. Odd? Yes. Definitely. That was our little man....

Anonymous said...

What wonderful stories!
Many many hugs to you and your husband, Sue, as you get through this day.
--Neighbor Lady

Liz Miller said...

((((Sue)))) Thinking of you and Peter today.

kathy a. said...

department of weird: my sister got a couple of messages from the mother of someone who was my classmate from K-12. apparently she had heard about our mother's death last year, but got the names mixed up and thought my sister had died. and then she called my sister's number, thinking it was me.

teh name confusion is nothing new, since we all had K names. but i haven't talked to this woman in 35 years, and my sister didn't return her calls on account of she thinks my sister is dead.

Elizabeth said...

((Sue))

kathy, that is seriously weird.

Whine: still no plow, more snow coming.

Antiwhine: have heat, internet, etc.

Whine/antiwhine combined: Phantom introduced me to an online game called Echo Bazaar and I am totally addicted -- keep waiting impatiently for my actions to refresh...

Madeleine said...

That is some beautiful chocolate, kathy. And your weird phone message story reminds me of PK's NLASS's message about the baby. Who knew we'd need a whole category involving phone messages and misunderstandings about death?

Sue, thanks for sharing your stories. What a funny little guy. Sending love.

Jenevieve said...

Oh, Sue. I'm so sorry.

My whines this week some in small, medium, and large.

Small: The clininc i'm externing at this week has a talented but very rude/condescending vet. When I aksed him today to teach me X, he said "What? It's not like I'm getting paid to teach you." And he wasn't joking.

Medium: Back is 1/2way out. On the plus side, I have a spot on the MRI waiting list, so maybe they'll know what's going on soon.

Large: I've been rejected by 6/7 of the places I've applied so far. The last one was supposed to email candidates yesterday; no word yet. I'm desperate for a job! Aaaaah!

I have some homemade cardamom buns and cranberry lemonade here for everyone!

Sue said...

Oh Jenevieve, how awful!!!

Of all the days that I am aware of how very compassionate a vet needs to be in order to be a GOOD vet - that guy sounds like a definite thumbs down.

You, on the other hand, are a natural thumbs up - here's hoping you find a job very very soon.

sorry about the back too. Ouch.

Everyone else - boo to snow. We have next to none here!!! It's very cold, but not much snow.

kathy a. - you get the wierd to the extreme award this week. Can you say Awwwwwkward.....????

Sue said...

Anti-whine: Our wonderful sons just had a gift basket full of chocolate and fruit delivered to our house. Love those guys...

kathy a. said...

aw, jeni. what a jerk; and the rest of what sue said. we gotta find you some more vets.

the weird is not quite so weird. i called, and it was a lovely chat. my schoolmate's mom had no confusion about the fact that our mother died; she was just moved to reach out. [the whole overlay of my sister thinking *she* was the one they thought was dead? that's still weird.]

kathy a. said...

aw, sue. you raised them right. so very sweet.

Days said...

(((Sue))) So sorry to hear the news. I hope your sweet sons brightened your day a little.

Antiwhine: Hubby is in the air, heading to Small European Country.

Whine: The paperwork is not quite in order, but we are hopeful that some *ahem* facilitation of the process will help in getting the bits fixed and that documents can't magically disappear in transit when you transport them yourself.

Related, selfish whine: Single-parenting for unknown period of time. Possibly 2-3 weeks, more probably 4-6.

Anti-whine: So close.

Madeleine said...

Days! That's great news. Except for the single parenting of unknown duration thing. Good thing it is for a good cause.

kathy, that just reinforces the similarity to PK's story! In both cases the message-hearer is the one with the mix-up. Hmm.

kathy a. said...

Days! Wooo-hooo! Fingers and other appendages crossed. And hopefully everything will be resolved sooner rather than later. xoxo

Island Rider said...

I've been a lurker for a couple of months. I've been envious you have such a great place to dump your complaints and good friends to listen and console. Sue's grief propels me out from behind the screen. I just wanted to say I was sorry.

Anonymous said...

Welcome Island Rider! Feel free to dump your complaints as well.
--Neighbor Lady

esperanza said...

Hugs to Sue, and welcome to Island Rider. Whine away.

Whine: tomorrow we (grandma, me, Sweet and Mini Baboos) make the trek to Big City for my follow up appointment with OB. Weather forecast? Ice pellets. Fun.

Whine of Ungratefulness...I have a funny feeling I had this same whine last week...help from grandma (AW) but, for Pete's sake, I'm ready for my own space back. Except for the not being able to take a nap part, that is.

AW: freezer is filling up with suppers for the next few days.

Sue said...

Thank you and welcome to Island Rider. Grab some chocolate and enjoy the Pixie Ball!

hugs for all in need of weather-related relief. Oy.

kathy a. said...

welcome, island rider! feel free to jump right in with whines and anti-whines.

ice pellets! no idea what those are, but it doesn't sound fun.

AW: my passport application was approved and it should arrive soon! we're going to visit daughter in japan next month.

Emily said...

(((Sue)))

kathy a. and days--woot!

esperanza said...

Can't believe I forgot. The nipple pain. Yikes. Cracks on both sides. The OB was sympathetic but didn't have any ideas other than what I was doing. And? blamed it on being fair-skinned. Hmmm.

kathy a. said...

oh, oooouchie, esperanza!

Madeleine said...

esperanza, there's this stuff they use on burn victims, kind of a slab of gel that you can put on your nipples while they heal. Make some one give you a sheet of that, pronto. Saved my nipples back in the day.

My whine is too much work, and technical snafus during part of that work. And mistyping a URL during the post-snafu work thus leading a participant to a p0rn site.

PSA: never, ever leave the "Y" out of tinyurl. Fireplacing squatting menaces.

Anti-whine: she claimed to have gotten a chuckle out of it.

kathy a. said...

the local paper's parenting blog has a piece today on kid-inflicted parenting injuries. the post is by a dad, but moms weighed in with "nursing mother boob injuries," otherwise described as "super-suction-pull-away injuries." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?blogid=29&entry_id=56981

Sue said...

esperanza, I'm cringing just thinking about it. My doc told me the same thing back in the day. It was sort of like "Well, what do you expect if you're so fair-skinned?" Ya. It's *my* fault. Thanks for the sympathy pal. Sheesh. Can you even imagine what a whiny world it would be if men had children? Don't even get me started....

Anyway, wish had I some wisdom. You're best bet is probably to check out the website. I'll stop ranting on your behalf now....

Whine: I automatically pulled down two plates after supper for kitteh supper time. I only need one now. Damn. That hurt.

Whine: Head hurts. Duh. Note to self: too much crying makes your head hurt, so stop it. Self to self: 'kay.

Wah.

kathy a. said...

(((( sue ))))

esperanza, the link i posted just has stories, no solutions that i noticed. sigh.

Elizabeth said...

Whine: The third snowman of the snowpocolypse continues to ride. School already canceled for the rest of the week. No bus/aboveground metro service tomorrow. Possibly more snow coming next week. The piles alongside our driveway are now over my husband's head.

Antiwhine: We only lost power for about 2 minutes today. With heat/electricity/internet, I've been able to work most of the week and the boys have been entertained. And we've been eating all sorts of yummy stuff.

JenR said...

(( sue ))

I am too sleepy to whine today (and apparently yesterday). Hugs to all.

Sue said...

Whine: funeral tomorrow.

Anti-whine: As soon as funeral is done, I'm off to the airport to pick up Son #1 who is visiting from Edmonton for a week. Yay! It will be good to see him and it will make the house much less quiet. He's one of those people who fills the room when he enters it before he says a word. (Actually, they are both like that....) Derek just has a certain charisma or something. Anyway, it's a good thing he's visiting because he always makes me laugh.

amy said...

Sue, your sons sound like just the healing balm your soul needs right about now.

Esperanza, I'd call a IBCLC Lactation Consultant PRONTO. If you want me to send you my LC's contact info to see if she knows someone in your area, message me through FB or let me know here. I'll send it through FB. I had bad nipple damage with my son, who turned out to be tongue tied. We got his tongue clipped (not as bad as it sounds), and in about a week, we were All Better.

Roller Coaster Whine: Last week, the feces hit the fan and it looked like my husband was finally going to lose his job within days. It's been Up and Down and Up and Down and Over and Under, but we think (today) that maybe we have a real stay of execution. Fingers crossed something good is coming out of something bad.

Whine of Illness: What I've had for the last who-knows-how-long? Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease with a side of Strep Throat. No one else in the house has Strep. WTF? Good meds on board for the Strep and the HFM has run its course and I'm feeling almost human again. BTW, HFM is AWFUL. AWFUL.

Antiwhine: We got some snow. Not too much (8 inches), but enough to make the cold weather worth enduring. My favorite two moments from this snow storm are:

1. The new neighbors hired someone to plow their driveway, and this someone plowed when there was 3 inches down and 5 to go. It's really sweet because the neighbor don't know yet that our sub doesn't contract for snow removal, so plowing his driveway is capital "P" Pointless. Well, except that you can then get a running start before hitting the sea of snow in the street.

2. I walked to the bus stop to pick up my daughter on Tuesday (where I watched the Pointless Plowing), which is kitty corner across the street from our house. The lady who lives two houses farther down DROVE to the bus stop to pick up her two kids, the in-between-us neighbor's two kids, and she offered to drive me and my daughter to our driveway, too. Um, lady? I can throw a snowball and hit my driveway. I'm not driving or taking a ride. It's JUST SNOW. It's not even that cold. Hell, I'm wearing clogs. Thanks, though.

Madeleine said...

amy, dear me, that is an illness of doom combination. Poor thing -- glad you are approaching human!

Driving to a bus stop on the same block as your house? Epic fail.

A. Nonny Moose said...

AW: The particular familial angst issues complained of last week got resolved. Yay, us!

W: Then there were more. Boo.
AW: And that person calmed down, and those resolved.

W: And WTF? Everyone is on board with the truce, but then the original subject of last week's rant got all pissed off with someone else, so it is back to the land of angst, for No Good Reason.

Q: You ever get the urge to go egg someone's house or write insults on his car in whipped cream, even though you are an upright grownup citizen who no longer indulges in food-wasting adolescent pranks?

kathy a. said...

awards will be along a little later -- keep whining!

amy said...

Oh my word, pixies, I am at a loss. My husband -- who has from day 1 (a zillion years ago) been clear that he does not do Valentines Day and the like -- sent me flowers for the second time in a year. Last year, he sent me roses for Mothers Day using a company that mails them to you in a box and you clean them up and arrange them yourself. I'll call them Amateur Flowers. The roses were *beautiful*. Everything the commercials claim.

So, buoyed by his success (I'm sure), he sent me their Hundred Blooms arrangement today. They are smashed, ugly, and unrecoverable. I called to thank him and laugh about this, but when he answered the phone, I could tell he is having a bad day, so I bailed. I thanked him and asked him what kind of flowers they are (I kid you not -- I couldn't tell), but quit before telling him that they are exactly everything the company's competitor claims they are -- smashed, dying, and depressing. Oy.

When he gets home tonight, I'll be at dance class with the kids, so he'll discover it by himself. I don't know if that is the right course of action. le sigh.

amy said...

A. Nonny Moose -- Yes. I have that feeling all the time. I often wonder what it will take to get me to act on it. Do let us know if that happens to you? And hugs.

Madeleine said...

amy, do they have a customer service phone number? Clearly they should be sending you a replacement set, and maybe you could hide the evidence until then. He might not even notice the absence tonight if he's in a haze.

Liz Miller said...

My whine was eaten.

Hugs to Sue.

Sending Bag Balm to Esperanza.

Welcome to Island Rider!

AW: Made a very chocolatey, moist, delicious chocolate cake from a recipe in "Mile High Cakes". Fabulous.

W: The icing that I made from a recipe in The Joy of Cooking (I had the ingredients on hand) sucked.

My boss came into work yesterday when every intelligent person in the area stayed home. The local gov'ts were BEGGING people not to drive. Shorter, my boss is a nincompoop.

People around here don't think it's important to shovel off the tops of their cars. Drive safely!!

Days said...

My eldest daughter woke up so overwrought and upset that the only feasible solution was for both of us to take the morning off, head to the cafe and have chocolate cake and espresso for breakfast.

Welcome Island Rider!

A. Nonny Mouse - If the food waste is the problem, I recommend

I would also like to nominate Amy for some sort of special award. HFM IS awful.