In the Meantime...

De-fanged

Ok, it's been a busy Spring Break. I'm tired rather than relaxed and I haven't put a big enough dent in the grading I had hoped to do.

My cat Stevie has been eating in a rather painful way lately, and since I know he has had dental problems in the past, I made an appointment with the vet. He eventually needed 6 teeth extracted at once! So painful!


As soon as I put him in the crate to go to the vet, he let out his distress warble, which sounded throughout the apartment complex at high volume. I swear when I came back from the vet, all the cats in the complex were in the windows giving me the stink eye. Even my dog, Radley, made a whimpering noise at the drama of the warble.

Stevie doesn't have too many teeth left. And his bottom canines were removed, so he's walking around with his tongue stuck out a bit. Thankfully, his extended fang, or snaggle tooth, is OK. For those of you who know him, it's his trademark, and I thought you'd want to know he's still got it. Poor Steve. I'll try and get a pic of the tongue business, it's sad/hilarous. It cost way too much, but at least he will feel better and apparently cats don't spend too much time on chewing their food anyway. Who knew?

I also helped my mom re-do her master bedroom. I will post a pic of that too. It's a super cool blue room with a horizontal stripe in a lighter blue. I made a headboard too, using my HGTV design skillz. I made a very impressive 6-foot high headboard out of wood, with four giant square padded paneled inserts that she can change out and/or clean. It was two days of manual labor, which I haven't really done in any concentrated way in a while. The second day I woke up sore but pushed through because I wanted to see the finished project (or, as I say it in my TV addled brain, "the reveal"). The third day, my day of rest, I was a wretched creature. Hobbled by the thousand or so squats I did to paint and move furniture, every move just screamed at me, "it wouldn't hurt so bad if you went to the gym ever, you big sloth." Several days later, I still feel the burn. But at least it cured my home improvement jones, and I got to help my mom, which I don't get a chance to do too often, unfortunately.

Thankfully, I spent today relaxing, which is nice. I saw I Love You, Man. Not so hot as a film, but Paul Rudd and Jason Segel have a chemistry that can't be denied. Also, it follows the formula of a romantic comedy, only it's between two straight dudes. I liked that. But it had a scene with vomit, which cancels it out from ever being considered a good film by yours truly. Can't stand the sight of it in real life or on the screen. And there was a whole scene with projectile vomit onto another person. Unexcusable. Ugh...

So, to recap, I'm broke, tired, and my muscles ache, and none of it is related to a hot week in Daytona. And yet, it's still better than my worst Spring Break of all time, in which I had my wisdom teeth removed. I went home from the dorms to recover, and even though my boyfriend at the time was in the same town, he didn't visit me once during my recovery. I had giant cheeks filled with cotton swabs, a tortuous memory of the extraction (I made the stupid decision to stay awake during the surgery with a local, rather than sleeping through it--DON'T DO IT), and a shitty boyfriend. Oh, and my room at home had been turned into the TV room, which means I slept on a fold out couch.

So all in all, not too much to complain about.

Fridya Finds - Pet Stuff

M and I live with one tiny dog, Radley, who has no clue of his size, and a long haired black cat named Stevie. This week's finds involve pet related stuff:

For people who don't want to have the litter box spoil their mod style, the Litter Pod is for you!



I am a bit concerned that they couldn't get a cat to go in one of these, as the image is super photoshopped. But it looks swanky, no?

Likewise, if you have a little dog but don't want the middle-America fluffy sofa style of dog bed that seems to dominate the chain stores, check out this from bowhaus:



If you have a spare hundred dollars (and really, who doesn't?) this is a dreamy sleek hookbox is a great way to keep your dog's collar by the door:
If your cat feels that he or she deserves better than carpet covered MDF (and EVERY cat does), this should make things more harmonious at home:

It's a Rondo cat furniture piece that costs, I kid you not, over $1000.

OK, enough of that expensive stuff that nobody can afford. I highly encourage DIY versions of the above.

Here's some real stuff:

People are always getting Radley's name wrong. Mostly, they hear his name and assume it's "Bradley" which is fine. But this collar would make that problem go away!

KYODT is an Etsy seller that makes custom leather collars and belts in all sorts of colors and styles. This one is only $35

shout out to Stinky, Justine's lil dog!

My dog is a chihuhua mix, or a mutt really, since he's mixed with several breeds. And he gets cold really easy. I never figured myself for someone who would dress their dog, but apparently he needs a coat in the winter and a sweater when it's chilly! A lot of the stuff for sale at Target and Petco is too cutesy.

This is cute, but no words on it or goofy princessy stuff:

Hand knitted for your dog for only $18 at Fifime


Since my dog has a long body, I've been told using a regular collar/leash combo could hurt his throat. Also, he pulls, which is super annoying. And then he does this thing where he "chokes" while pulling. I used to believe this little act and get concerned. But then we got this:

These Puppia harnesses are the best harnesses we've ever had. They are durable, come in lots of non-offensive patterns, and they are pretty cheap. You can find them all over the place online for prices ranging from $18-25. We got ours in front of the Barnes & Noble from a little cart business named "Neiman Barkus!" Once we got this, Radley started with his "choking" so that we would give him slack on the leash and we were not fooled! His little foray into acting is now over.

My cat is a total pig. Seriously, he eats both wet food and dry food and has a water bowl. That's three bowls. And you better make sure that the dry food bowl is full always. I have a mismatched set, but this looks super cool:

Handmade by Merlin's Bark Products for $30


This pet bed looks so cute, and if you have a vintage/eclectic style, it fits right in without being $1000. From Vintage Rennaissance

Cats & Dogs

I hate getting sick on the weekends. Last night I could tell that my sore throat was probably not the result of too much wasabi with my sushi dinner, but being me, I tried to convince myself anyway. Cut to me at 5 am fumbling for Nyquil on the floor in front of my bathroom cabinet. I slept like a rock for 6 hours. M. let me know this morning that the Nyquil I had taken expired in 2006. This is something that would not have mattered to me at 5am, even if I knew. Since my job is talking, and talking for hours straight sometimes, I am going to take a vow of silence today in the hopes that by 8am tomorrow morning, I am ready to go. Ugh. No more sick days for me, so I gotta suck it up.

The latest dilemma around here is a rambunctious pup named Radley (see manipulative cute mug above). He is a year old and is starting to do an adolescent reversal. He knows he's not supposed to go in the house and he knows that he shouldn't nip the cat's ears when they play, but he's doing it anyway. He is also starting to bark whenever anyone gets let in the security gate at the front of the complex. Or if someone walks down the hall. I'm trying to get all "pack leader" on him, but it is very frustrating to have to be a disciplinarian all the time. He totally knew this stuff not more than a month ago. What happened? I am shaking a can full of pennies at him, clapping when I see him about to go in the house, then running downstairs to take him around the block. He's spending a few days at my mom's for Thanksgiving while M. and I head off to Philadelphia. I am hoping he starts showing some improvement by then.

Cool things he can do? He knows his toys by name and can retrieve them when you ask. He can "high five." He can get up on his hind legs like a bichon friese and beg for a biscuit. He knows the basics (sit, stay, lay down, relax, get down). He is super sweet to little kids. He is social with dogs and people. He looks like this when he gets tired:

Hard to remain vigilant in the face of such cuteness, but vigilant I must be. So yeah, in case you were wondering, we're probably not having kids for a while.

Things that are Awesome

This dog, Jake, was saved by his owner on Friday in Florida. Greg LeNoir took his dog for a swim in the marina and he saw a 5 foot shark come up and attack him. So what did he do? He jumped in with fists flying, that's what he did! He punched the shark until it let li'l Jake go. Jake has a couple of bites but is doing fine. I want to send Greg LeNoir a fruit basket, dammit. Speaking of which....

Chris Crocker rules: