Disappointed

The new house came today. It was tiny! the chins could both fit but it does not actually clip together. so when my very active chins take off or try to jump on it, it will fall apart and potentially hurt one of my babies! I will have to see about the return policy.

I was so excited when I ordered it. even it being small wouldn't have been much of a deterrent to keeping it. the fact that it can not stay together makes me wonder what idiot came up with the design.

At least I had a long stress relieving run (jog by Angela's standards). It was great to be back outside!

Fasting

I really don't have any right to complain. I had to stop eating at 7pm, I even had enough time for an early dinner. Unfortunately I awoke at 3:30 very hungry. Fortunately for the girls, as they were more then happy to distract me.

Gizmo jumped on my shoulder and got comfortable. Pinkey jumped into my hands and was looking to escape. We went over to the couches and Pinkey went exploring while Gizzy sat quietly on my shoulder. Other then occasionally having to discourage Pinkey from jumping it was a relaxing 20 minutes with the pets. Then Gizmo decided that she too needed to explore the couches. Pinkey was put back in the cage so that Gizmo could run.

It was nice to see our more serious chin bouncing around the couches. once she was done she sat looking at the cage and tried to jump off of the couch. Then I brought Pinkey back out to continue her bounding about. They were a good distraction.

At least the blood was drawn early and I had an appointment so my wait was short. I spent much of the rest of the day doing what I do best, Eating.

(with a very short and easy workout)

More Pluming

The self repairing leak has relapsed. It is not as bad as it was but there is fresh water in the bucket. So much for easy home repairs, Lucky for us we are in an apartment and all we have to do is call maintenance.

How long they take to come and make the repair is a mystery. Our furnace took 3 days to repair, the oven I think took at least 2 days. They may not have parts to order which makes it possible to do the repairs in a shorter time. However they did not show up today to look at the problem (though I did call it in at lunch). Hopefully tomorrow the cabinet and sink will be fixed!

Poor Pinkey

Yesterday I noticed a strange spot in the girls cage it was small so I was not sure what exactly I was dealing with though I gave them a very quick once over to make sure nothing major was wrong. After arriving home this afternoon I went to see how they were doing and saw a few good size spots. They were definitely blood.

Gizmo was my first inspection victim. She checked out ok and was placed back in the cage just a little more annoyed then normal. Then it was Pinkey's turn. Her face was fine, her rear end was fine but her foot was covered in blood. Both feet were bloody one way worse then the other. We cleaned them up the best we could and it appeared as if the blood mostly came from her one foot.

I of course had to call the breeder to see what we could do to prevent infection. Keeping her and the cage clean seemed to be the most we could do. (putting gauze on it seemed an exercise in futility). After arriving home I did another inspection and was pleasantly surprised to see that one or both of them had cleaned the wound and it was not nearly as large as I thought it would be. In fact it was so small that my reaction was a major over reaction.

At least my girls are safe.

(the offending toy was removed and replaced with something they can chew but not hurt themselcves on)

messing with the chinchillas

The girls have been steadily turning one of the shelves in the cage to swiss cheese. One of the holes they very much appreciate, they used it to slip through to the bottom shelf as an interesting alternative to jumping down over the side. I was sure they would miss that hole but It was overdue. We finally ordered replacements.

They came in today. It was great to toss out the other shelf (I only wish a photo was taken first). After installing the new shelf Gizmo was the first to come down and investigate. She thoroughly sniffed each of the places where they had made very good progress. It was very cute she was looking for the holes they had painstakingly made.

Pinkey had a similar yet less severe reaction. She made a note that the holes were gone, thought about it shortly then moved on. Don't tell Gizzy but we think Pinkey is the smarter chin.

Self Repairing Leaks

Friday night as Pat was brushing his teeth before bed he noticed an odd sound. He opened the cabinet under the sink to check it out. Water was gushing from under the sink. I cleaned up the water and placed a bucket under the piping to catch any water and made a note to call maintenance in the morning.

It was forgotten until Sunday. (not sure how as we were using the kitchen sink for everything). Anyway Sunday I washed my hands in the bathroom with out thinking. I realized what I had done and looked under the sink. The bucket was dry as was the rest of the cabinet floor. So to tempt fate I turned on the water again, still no leak.

I have yet to replace all of the stuff that belongs under the sink, as soon as that is done it will start to leak again.

What is the chance that all maintenance issues will magically repair themselves? Pat is not a handy guy and well I can't do everything, just the basics. It would be very handy.

More Food

Today was great! I got the kitchen sparkling after breakfast and went to the bank before my workout. This timed my workout with a soccer game that Pat was watching. This gave me extra motivation to stay at the gym and work out harder.

It was a great workout! The best part is that the soccer game was over by the time I was showered and ready to relax.

The only errand we did today was to go get chin food from the new/closest supplier. It is much more convenient then the other places we were going. As a bonus they have some very friendly outdoor kittens. They saw me coming a mile away and one was literally screaming for attention. That little guy got lots of attention!

The rest of the day was all about relaxing and avoiding the thunderstorms.

Great day for eating

The lab work was rescheduled as they now make appointments! Last year I had to sit and wait for my name to be called, despite getting there 10 minutes before it opened, the wait was long. I was not looking forward to an afternoon of fasting and a morning of waiting. I found out when I went to the website (to find out when they opened) that appointments were now available. 7:30 was available and perfect for me.

That means that food is all of a sudden back in the plan for the evening. We had a simple meal but I enjoyed every bite!

The Rule

We have a rule in this house. When I have to fast Pat is not to eat or bring food into the apartment. My annual blood work is scheduled for tomorrow and I asked Pat what the rule for tomorrow was.

Looking Very confused he replied, "Chinese Friday"

What?

Pat says ' I'm not sure Chinese Friday'

LOL, Well tomorrow is Chinese Friday but I'm asking you for the rule for tomorrow night.

Once I reminded him we were all good and we both had a good laugh.

Simple things

Today for lunch I took a rare trip to Taco Bell. It lucky for me is just far enough away that it makes me think twice about going. It had been a while and because I did not pack a lunch and the cafeteria food was not enticing me, the taco bell lour could not be fought off.

I'm glad it didn't.

The guy that took my order must have been one of the happiest/outgoing people to work a fast food restaurant. Something about him, he REALLY was happy to take my order! And when I asked for lots of sauce he actually gave me an abundance of sauce. He did laugh as he did this, perhaps thinking that it was WAY overkill. HA, I will drown everything in Taco bell sauce for the next month. Including perhaps another trip (to the one that is fairly close to home).

Part 2:

On the way to the gym Coach was talking to a guy about a motorbike. The guy was holding a very cute baby. I couldn't help but chime in asking if the baby had a helmet. I asked the kid if he drove the bike yet (not expecting an answer as he did not appear to be old enough to talk). Instead Coach points out that one does not DRIVE a motorcycle, one RIDES a motorcycle.

I laughed and went inside to work out.

Fair point I must say.

Now I must go and eat the delicious dinner my husband has cooked for us!

Hot or Cold

I never know what the gym is going to be like. They normally leave the AC off during the day. This is problematic when the temperatures reach 90+, or even anything over 80. I have been sticking to shorter elliptical workouts but I miss my long treadmill runs.

Today the AC was not on during the day. Tomorrow the temperatures will reach over 90, I really want the Gym to be cool when I get there. It is seriously squashing my motivation.

Hazardous Waste Site

No I did not go to work with Pat today. I'm referring to the trunk of my car.

Apparently the motor oil caps need to be checked to make sure they are actually closed. 2 of the 5 Liter jars that I purchased spilled in the trunk. I had maybe 5 Liters total in the trunk. Today I set out on the adventure of cleaning the trunk.

The first step was to dump out the Kitty litter spread out to absorb the original (small) oil spill. This actually required 2 people. Pat had to help me carry the liner over to the dumpster. As the kitty litter was being scraped off we noticed Oil pouring off of the liner. It was that saturated. Gross.

We then set it aside and worked on cleaning the standing oil from the spare indent. Yes there was standing oil there too. We got as much of the kitty litter out of the as we could then put down super absorbed cloths to get the rest of the oil out.

I then leaned the liner against the wall atop a layer of plastic then a layer of newspaper beneath it. Lots of Oil leaked off. Enough that refreshed the newspaper to make sure it was not leaking and to give the new oil a place to go. In all it was a fairly successful day of work. After another day standing upright I should have it to a point that washing the liner will be the only way to get the rest of it out.

I have no Idea how that will work.

I should have taken photo's, what a missed opportunity.

Product tip

If you have to ask what complaints someone would have about your product it is not fair to exclude anything. Comcast called with a survey today. The question was, Other then price what would you change/improve about our product?

Um the Price.

Thanks for asking.

Ice Cream Thief

Ben and Jerry's ice cream was on sale last week. I purchased tons, and quite a bit of it has disappeared. I have been doing well just eating little bits here and there, despite that it keeps disappearing.

I got home tonight to Pat working on a pint. It was not until I tried to restrict him to other flavors that it hit me how much has gone missing. At least the culprit was caught red handed. It is unbelievable how much he had eaten over the weekend (especially because we were gone Saturday).

Easy fix Pat is no longer allowed to eat any Ben and Jerry's.

Who's playing

Enevitably the week after traveling to a rock show I end up talking about it at work. I get asked the same question.

"who did you go see"

Then I have to back track and explain it is not a rock concert but a rock and mineral show. A place one goes to look at rocks and minerals. The stuff that is pulled out of the ground. Many confused looks follow.

Cleaning day

Yesterday was spent in the car. Today is cleaning day. At least it is rainy.

We started out fairly early with the laundry. We skipped last week so we had tons this week! After I got that put away I washed the floors and the girls cage.

Next week I am de-cluttering the apartment again. I don't know where all this stuff comes from!

Rock Show

Today was the Rock show. It was 3.5 hours away according to Mapquest, which proved to be pretty much correct on the way to the show. We pulled in just before lunch and chose to walk around instead of stopping somewhere for a decent lunch.

The food they served at the show was pretty much on par with what you would expect. Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Pizza and Chicken tenders. Salads were available but with the other fair offered it was most likely ice burg lettuce. I hate that you can't find a healthy meal at these things. Most of the time we don't do lunch at the shows because they are not that far away. Next time (if their is one) we will pack a lunch and eat better.

We both made purchases at the show. This is a VERY rare occurrence. Having rocks in the house is annoying to me but sometimes the have other interesting stuff. Pat of course purchased some minerals for his collection. His collection is growing pretty fast despite the fact that I encourage him to go through it and sell any duplicates or not so nice minerals. it's a good thing I'm not holding my breath!

The way home was disastrous. Right off the bat we missed a highway exit and (luckily) found another way to go. This added a few miles to an already LONG trip. The worst mistake driving home was missing the THRUWAY. yes you read that correct we missed the thruway. Apparently the ramp we needed was closed, this was not why we missed the exit mind you. We missed any signs that were up advertising it. We had no idea that it had been missed for a good 10 miles. On the way back Pat pointed out the numerous large signs letting us know the through way was coming up. He is convinced that the signs were not there going the other way.

We were talking so I could see missing one or two but their were allot and missing all of them is pretty hard to believe, still I think we must have missed at least one. It is a major road to not have at least 1-2 signs. By the time we made it home I was exhausted and after a yummy (and fairly healthy) dinner I went to bed fairly early.

Mean People

Pat and I must be really mean people. The other day in the gym a kid that is notorious for disrespecting his mother/ running amuck came into the gym for a drink of water. The guy working at the gym was talking to his kids about something thus was not paying attention. The terror locks his mother out of the gym.

I yelled at him to unlock the gym door. He ignored me the first time (like I was yelling at someone else), so I yelled again. He unlocked the door and left with his mother. Obviously the yelling did not go unnoticed. I think the gym guy was surprised that I would yell at him. (BTW the mother said nothing).

Fast forward to tonight Pat and I were walking after dinner and the terror was riding his bike with his mom at his side. I told Pat that that was the kid that I had yelled at in the gym the other day. Pat replied with,

I yelled at him a few weeks ago.

Apparently he had wondered over to our HOT grill and was about to start playing with it. Pat watches the grill from the back porch and yelled at him.

Apparently we are both mean (not that the kid said so but that is what he must think).

Cooking

Pat has been doing allot of cooking lately. This allows me to shower right when I get home and still eat at a decent hour. Most of it involves pre-made sauces, so it did not occur to me to question Pat's cooking skills.

Today I did.

We were going to do a pork tenderloin rub that we had tried before. It was great I put the rub together and Pat did the rest (which was a good amount of work for this recipe). I asked him to make it again. He looked at the recipe and let me know what we needed. Then we went Grocery shopping.

You know how they have the multi packs of garlic in the netting? Pat picked one of them up as I was getting lettuce. I looked at him and let him know we did not need that much garlic. He looks at me and says the recipe calls for 5 Garlics.

Um, that's 5 CLOVES of garlic dear. I can only imagine what the rub would have tasted like. Mom would have loved it!