wow, where did my week go?

Ok, it's been a bit crazy this week. I went to Dryden on Friday and didn't come back until Sunday. It was a fun weekend but holy crap I'm tired. We had a texas holdem tournament for my Dad's birthday. I kicked butt ehehee :P and then donated the winnings to Mom & Dad's boat fund. I hope they get enough money to buy the motor Dad wants. He deserves it. Mother's Day went well I think, we mostly just putted around the house and pampered Mom. I took some very nice pictures of Kailee's puppy and a video of pookie pushing around a baseball. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time heh. Pookie snorting and running after this baseball bigger than her head. Terence kept stealing the ball and throwing it and Pookie would run as fast as her little legs would take her. Dog's tongue was hanging down half a mile when she was done.

The animals have been bad this week. The cats broke two branches off the hibiscus and knocked my rubber tree off the table. Grr.... They're lucky I love cats. Misty is now being tied up again as the neighbours left some hotdogs out this winter and Misty decided rotted, 4 month old, frozen and rethawed (repeatedly) hotdogs might taste yummy.... (so very very gross!!) Needless to say, she was sick most of thursday/friday.

Terence has been playing Grand Theft Auto 4 non-stop since we bought it last week. He's thoroughly enjoying himself smashing cars and shooting people and stealing everything that isn't nailed down. I can't say I'll play the game at any point in time. The missions are interesting enough but I get to see them while Terence plays so not much need for me to do them again myself. The graphics are nice though.

What a crazy week!

Last week was nuts but very good. I got lots done and feel good about everything except the condition of the house. It's a disaster area, I got some of it cleaned up this weekend but it's still messy.

My new job is going very good! I really like the people here. I know a few from my work at the bank. The next few weeks are going to be a bit haywirey as it's year end and I'm still learning the ins and outs of the books here but I think it'll go pretty good. Might not be the smoothest year-end ever seen, but it'll get done.

Carmelly kitten got fixed on Friday. She was really groggy and tired for the rest of Friday and most of Saturday, but she perked up and is now back to her little playful self. She can go outside and run free now too! She had grand fun with her sister outside watching the birds and chippy run around at the feeder. I don't think it will be long before she's in the feeder just like her siblings. They are going to teach her so many bad things lol.

I made a chicken and rice dish in the slow cooker on Sunday. It wasn't all that great. I don't think I'm even going to put up the recipe for it. I'll find another one that's more tasty. I still have to put up the chili recipe. I'll do that when I get home for lunch today.

I figured out the camera!

Yay for new pictures! I got the camera to talk to the laptop properly, turns out I was missing a driver. I inserted the XP home disc and voila! Unfortunately, I think I accidentally deleted the funny video we took of Carmelly kitten making her fun chirpy noise at the dishtowel :(:(:( Ah well, it won't take much to get her to do it again. This time we won't have barkey in the background to be let in lol (dog was barking during the clip making it hard to hear Carmel's fun noise) I'll upload the photos to flickr later for everyone's browsing pleasure!

work ffxi and the kitties

I'm still plugging away at Mom's stuff, about halfway done though. I have to remember where I put her cheques she gave me though, I need to deposit them before the first.

We're going for Binbi's egg on friday **crosses fingers** I hope he gets it! I need to figure out how to post my stats online for merits and crafting without using ffxi community (as there are supposedly security issues that are mixed in with it.) I think I might try to figure out how to use GoogleDocs. That would probably do the trick. I wish I had more time to craft :(

I set up Carmel's appointment for her to get spayed. March 19th is the day that she goes under the knife o.O I'd also like to see if there is anything that can be done for Marbles' eye. It isn't dialating and contracting properly on the side closest to her nose. I knew I should have brought her in... Not that they would have been able to do anything here in dryden probably, but I feel bad for not trying.

work, work, and more work... and some birds and flowers!

It's that time of year again! So many books, so little time. I finished the Barker stuff (just have to print and bill it :) , that's the fun part though) and have moved on to Mom and Dad's. I'll be doing that for a few more days, hoping to get it done by Friday. Then I've got the blueberry festival to deal with and Anne at the TIC is interested in getting a review done. That should keep me busy well into February.

Mom emailed me a nice picture of a junko (I think) at her feeder. I've had some good luck at my feeder. Lots of nice grosbeaks, chickadees and one nuthatch. And one less squirrel to worry about hehehe... There was two squirrels at the feeder, eating all the seeds (little gluttons) so I decided to let Grizzy have some fun :P I let him out the front door so they wouldn't see him and he snuck around to the back. I went about my business in the house, getting breakfast ready and happened to glance outside to see how he was progressing. There was one squirrel about halfway up the tree, looking down under the deck. Grizzy was no where to be seen (I'm assuming under the deck) and neither was the other squirrel lol. Needless to say, he wasn't very hungry for kitty crunchies for the rest of the day :P

The datura plant is in bloom! Very pretty reddy-pink flowers. I'll see if I can post a picture of it to my flickr account later on. The fact that it's highly toxic sill kind of scares me but ah well. It's been in the house for 6 months now, if the cats were going to eat it, they'd have done it by now.

my time in TBay

Wow, it's been a long two weeks. I'm glad I went though. I learned all kinds of things about arthritis and my treatment. The following post will be my journal while in the hospital. It may take me a day or two to get it all entered.


Day 1 - January 2nd

We arrived at the hospital at 9 and I checked in. I share my room with a little Finnish lady who had a hip replacement. She doesn't speak much english but seems relatively friendly. The nurses came and asked me a bazillion questions about my check in. Then Terence came at 12 and we had lunch in the cafeteria. I did my initial assessment with Joanne and Noel? (I think that was her name) and started some exercises with Joanne. She wants me to work on my shoulder to help increase mobility. After my assessment, I rested and read my book until supper (roast beef and potatoes) and then went to safeway. I called Terence at 8 and we chatted for a bit. He made it home safe, no animals on the road :)

The showers here are ok, I think I'll shower at night when it's not busy. The only odd thing that happened was the tv for the empy bed beside me kept turning on randomly by itself =O Made me kind of creeped out.


Day 2 - January 3rd

POOL! Yay for pool :) It's bathtub warm and soooo good. My instructor Nancy seemed kind of standoffish at first but she warmed up after a little bit. The assessment for my lower body was fun lol round and round the mulberry bush hehehe. They put out these little pylons in the hallway and made me walk around them for 6 minutes. I did like 15 laps by the time I was done. Lunch kind of sucked, cabbage rolls and mushroom soup, but I ate some extra granola crunchies to top it off. I really like the nutrition class. It was very informative and Julie was very friendly. Joanne jave me a booklet with some good exercises for helping my shoulder and some for every day to help keep my range of motion and keep me fit. Nice light stuff to do while at home. Noel also gave me a little block of wood to squeeze to help strengthen my grip as it's below functionality level. I will make it a point to work hard on this lots as it has been a point of annoyance for me. They will do another assessment at the end and hopefully I can make it a little better by then.

Supper kicked ass today. Chicken! mmmmm tasty chicken :P Dessert was no hell though, pineapple cake, uck for pineapples. I met a nice man named Wayne Hodges. He has a big barn kitty just like Grizzy that is waiting for him at home. He's for a car accident that took his arm and broke his leg. I am glad that all my people are whole and safe and sound. We had a good talk about solar panels and being off the grid. Turns out he knew Charlie when he used to drive truck 30 years ago and he might have worked with Gerald about 10 years ago. I hope I get to meet his kitty some day, he sounds like a nice kitty.

Terence is doing pretty good, he merited today and is doing some assaults. Carmel is doing ok, being a chatty little kitten. He says Misty might have a cold, she was coughing earlier. I told him to make sure he keeps her in and only lets her out to pee and stuff real quick. He said he's watch her close. I'm kinda tired today. They ran me pretty hard during my assessment and exercises heh. The pool was good and I'm looking forward to tomorrow again. I'll read for a bit and then probably go to bed early. Wayne came to show me his pictures of his buddies. His big boy looks just like Grizzy! Made me miss my buddies even more ::sniff sniff::


Day 3 - January 4th

My god I love the pool! I have to find a way to either put in a hot tub or convince the town to add a heated pool lol. After pool I had a chat with Jane the social worker. Suprise suprise she made me cry... We got talking about Mom and Dad and family and self image issues. I'll have to really work on some of the issues I have there but we all know how good I am at self expression HA. We did some hot wax treatment and ultrasound on my hands today mmm the hot wax felt good :) I also talked to Noel about some of the tools for my hands. She gave me some good ideas on where to get some of them. I got some good hand exercies from Nancy and we talked about our buddies and cars and all kinds of stuff. Joanne did some more tests on my shoulder and is going to find me some movements to help "floss my nerves" hehehe. Nancy gets to go to Vegas and Arizona next week (lucky girl) and she's all excited about it :) I remember how exciting Indianapolis was for me.

My lecture about Coping with change and loss was hard, but good. I learned some things about myself and where I am with my disease. I also learned that it's ok to be mad but to make sure I'm mad at the arthritis and not at me. It's not my fault, it's no one's fault, it's just crappy ass life's fault. It's ok to grieve for things but to try to understand and move past and over the grief. But there's still lots there that I need to deal with. Tai Chi was lots of fun. I really think its like swimming, very fluid, very relaxing. I'd like to learn lots more about it. My nurse today kind of sucks but I guess you can't win em all. Kind of a crappy day to get a crappy nurse though :( Hopefully tomorrow is a better day, I get to spend the day out and about. I'm going to take the but down town and to the mall. It should be a good day :) Terence is doing KS99 right now. Pray for the BT to drop!

And it dropped!!! Only one more piece to go! Now if he could get the egg-egg to drop. He's having fun watching Silent Hill right now on DVD. He says he needs it in Bluray so it's that much more splattery lol.


Day 4 - January 5th

I woke up at 6 am today, guess that's what I get for going to bed at 10. Doing my exercises and #5 on the hand chart makes my middle finger tight but that could be from my wrist though. I finished Road of the Patriarch. Poor Artemis... :( I hope he finds some happiness in Calimport. He's so sad and angry all the time :( My exercises are done, time to shower and head to town! I looked at all kinds of fun things today, cameras, fish tanks and plants. I talked to the people at Petsmart about my paludarium. They said a $40 filtration system with some pvc piping would do the trick for my waterfall and circulation. They sell live plants there too!

I also checked out some Tai Chi stuff at Chapters and picked up a video. New shoes, a tea mug, a puzzle book and a plant for my room rounded out the day nicely. I met a crazy (or at least my table did lol) at lunch today. I was eating my burger when this old guy comes over and starts gibbering away at me in some foreign language. I glance up and he's not really looking at me. He's staring at the vacant seat across from me >.> So I watch him for a minute or two and yup he's talking to my table??? Needless to say, I picked up my tray and slinked away to another table. Mr. Crazy just stood there jabbering away at my table heh. The bus rides were ok. Walking from Chapters to CTC was dumb though. I'm tired now and a little sore. Gonna get some drugs from my nurse to help it. Yay for drugs! lol.

Terence got his monk pants today. 5 for 5 lucky guy! He also got three pieces of elshimo marble o.O TH4 ftw! I played cards with Wayne, his daughter and one other patient. Wayne's daughter and I kicked butt! She's gonna bring his kitty in to visit some time next week. I hope I get to see him.


Day 5 - Jan 6th

I hardly slept last night ;( I got a new room mate named Carol. She's not doing so good after her back surgery and kept us up most of the night so I may nap today. Pancakes for breakfast! So tasty with yummy sausages. I played some cards with Wayne again this afternoon until some cranky old man came in. I really hate being around them kind of people. They just never stop whining about stuff. I went and checked out some of the stuff on kitchenstock.com. The cutting board looks interesting but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for. I'll have to poke around online a bit more.

Kailee's coming to visit me on Tuesday :) Stewart has to go to court to testify about some crap from a few years ago. I just hope nothing happens while he's here. He's got so much history here. Mom had a look at the tanks on the CKDR site. She says offer him $75 and see. I don't know if he'd take it though and I don't want to sound cheap but I can't see it being worth much. I really liked the archer fish idea the petsmart lady had. Hehehe little spitting fishies lol. Mom says I'll need to get a suckerfish to deal with the algae. I like the suckerfishes so that's fine.

carmel's vaccination

Carmel got her shots a few weeks ago. She still has a little lump on her back where he gave her one of the needles. I've read about this happening before in my Cat Fancy magazines. On very rare occasions the lump will progress into something called a Sarcoma which could be cancerous O.O!!!!! You can bet I'll be keeping a close eye on this over the next few weeks to make sure it goes down. I found a link to a vet site explaining some of the symptoms and what to do about it.


http://www.avma.org/vafstf/ownbroch.asp



I found a lump where my cat was vaccinated. What happens now?
It is quite common for a small, firm, painless swelling to form under the skin at the site where a vaccine was injected. The lump is almost always of no consequence and disappears after several weeks. Rarely, however, the swelling may progress to a sarcoma. To be on the safe side, your veterinarian will suggest that you periodically check the vaccination area for several months after vaccination. If you detect a lump, you should contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Small samples of the lump will be sent to a laboratory for diagnosis if any of the following are true:

* The lump persists for more than three months after vaccination.
* It is larger than two centimeters in diameter (about the size of an olive)
* It is increasing in size one month after vaccination.

If the lump is found to be a sarcoma, your veterinarian may confer with or refer you to a veterinary oncologist (a cancer specialist) for management.


Scary stuff!!

Christmas cookies and shopping!

I had an awesome weekend in Dryden! Finished all my shopping except last minute stuff like sock chocolates and lotto stuff. Mom and I made ginger sparkles and some other tasties for christmas. MMMmmmMMM they were sooooo good! Mom brought home some kind of candy-like graham bar from the brownie christmas party. I'm so getting the recipe from her when she gets it from the other lady, it was omg so very good.

Kailee and I had a good talk about Abby cat. He's pushing 18 (I think) now and can't hear, or see, or jump... It's time to say goodbye I think. He hardly eats at all and he's a little skeleton ;( I feel bad for her, and Abby, it's hard for her to accept that her first cat is going to die soon and that the decision may need to be made for him. As pet owners, we have to take responsibility for their quality of life and need to recognize when that quality of life is gone. I'm starting to consider when enough is enough for Misty. I don't think it's time for her yet, she still has lots of fun. But her hearing and sight are going quickly, she spooks very easily no matter what you do or how you approach her. We'll see how things progress though. I'm not sure if I want to get her teeth done or not. I don't really see the benefits outweighing the risks and money involved.

no wrapping paper?

Today was a pretty good day, Terence and I played Final Fantasy for most of the afternoon, leveling Paladin (him) and Thief (me on a mule lol). He needed a friend to help him through the dunes. It went well, no deaths (which is amazing for the dunes).

I was going to wrap presents after supper today, but I hunted the house high and low and can't seem to find our Christmas wrapping paper anywhere. I even checked the garage! We must have left it at Mom and Dad's house last year.

Carmel is learning quickly the sound of the water sprayer lol. Terence went to squirt her for scratching the couch and she ran before he even got the sprayer going. Such a smart kitten :) We're in so much trouble if her and Mephit team up on us. I'm so glad they don't have thumbs.

Cat asthma?

Sometimes I wonder if Mephit has asthma. She had another of her coughing fits today. They don't last very long, a minute at best, but it doesn't sound like a hairball or a sneeze or any other noise I've ever heard a cat make. I looked it up and found this article on catchannel.com, the link for it is

http://www.catchannel.com/vetlibrary/article_13267.aspx

Very interesting article, I laugh every time I think of a kitty with a little gas mask on though hehe :P


Muffy had always been a healthy cat. For years, the diminutive, longhaired calico was a fixture on the desk of Steve Beerstein, editor of a New York newspaper. However, Beerstein noticed that Muffy's breathing seemed slightly labored, and he could hear a gentle wheeze as she napped. He wasn't concerned, though, as her appetite and activity remained normal, and she continued to act like her usual self: queen of the newsroom.

Then one day when Beerstein arrived at work, he found Muffy crouching in the corner, coughing. Neck extended, she glanced up at Beerstein with a panicked look in her eyes. Beerstein tried to comfort her, to no avail. Between coughs, Muffy's chest was heaving.

"I'd grown accustomed to the occasional sound of her coughing up a hairball," Beerstein said. "But this was clearly no hairball."

In five minutes, Beerstein was hailing a cab and heading to his vet's office. "There are several possible reasons for coughing and labored breathing in cats," his vet said. "At the top of the list, though, is asthma."

What Is Asthma?
Feline asthma is a clinical condition characterized by recurrent bouts of coughing, wheezing, and labored breathing. The condition affects "approximately one percent of the general cat population, and over five percent of Siamese cats" said Rhonda Schulman, DVM, assistant professor of small animal medicine at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cats exhibiting these clinical signs usually behave normally between episodes. Some cats have only a brief history of coughing episodes before presented with an acute, severe respiratory compromise - the so-called "asthma attack."

Asthma is a type of allergic bronchitis. The allergen acts as an irritant, triggering a hypersensitivity reaction, and the airways respond with constriction, mucus and cough. If the environmental factors triggering the asthma can be identified and eliminated, the coughing and wheezing usually resolves. But, in most cases, no underlying allergen can be identified.

"People should not smoke or apply perfume around asthmatic cats, or use dusty cat litters," Schulman said.

A diagnosis of feline asthma is usually made based on the history, physical examination findings and chest X-rays. Increased bronchial markings on an X-ray are highly suggestive of asthma. Other helpful tests include a complete blood count and a heartworm test.

"Bronchoscopy, which involves using a tiny fiberoptic camera to actually examine the inside of the lungs and collect specimens, may also be useful in some cases," Schulman said.

Treatment Options
The most effective long-term treatment consists of high doses of oral steroids. Steroids lessen the inflammatory response, reducing the severity of symptoms.

Steroids are given twice daily for 10 to 14 days, and then the steroid dose is tapered slowly over several months. Most newly diagnosed asthmatic cats will feel and act much better within the first two weeks. Even though cats are fairly resistant to the undesirable side effects of steroids, a few have adverse reactions, making treatment a challenge. Steroids inhibit the action of insulin. While most cats can tolerate steroids with minimal ill effects, some fall victim to the side effects.

Bronchodilators are drugs that reverse airway constriction, allowing the air passages to open. Because steroids have potential side effects, it is tempting to choose bronchodilators as the initial treatment option. Since chronic inflammation is the root of the problem, treatment of this inflammation using steroids is the cornerstone of therapy. Bronchodilators may be used as adjunct therapy. Antihistamines and another class of drugs called anti-leukotrienes have been used in asthmatic cats with varying success.

Muffy's chest X-rays and blood tests confirmed the diagnosis of asthma. Oral prednisone was prescribed. On re-examination 10 days later, Muffy's cough had disappeared, and she seemed to breathe easier during sleep.

However, a new problem arose. "I found myself having to refill her water bowl twice as often as before," Beerstein said. "She even began to drink water out of my drinking glass." Steve told this to his veterinarian, and a urinalysis and blood sugar measurement confirmed that Muffy had become temporarily diabetic from the steroids.

Discontinuing the steroids caused her asthma symptoms to return. Fortunately, a new treatment that has essentially no side effects is available: inhaled medications.

A New Approach
Philip Padrid, DVM, associate professor at the University of Chicago, began investigating the possibility of using inhaled medications about 4 1/2 years ago. Steroids and bronchodilators can now be given effectively by inhalation to asthmatic cats.

Both types of drugs are available for humans, as metered dose inhalers (MDIs). In the human world, adults quickly learn to coordinate the inhaling of the medication. However, this is much more difficult for children and impossible for infants or cats. An alternative was developed to allow children, infants, and cats to use the MDIs without having to coordinate their breathing. A spacer - a plastic chamber roughly the size of a toilet paper tube - is attached to the MDI, and a facemask is attached to the other end. The spacer acts as a temporary storage area for the misted medication to sit, until the individual breathes it in.

"The original idea was to copy the way infants were treated," Padrid said. We then modified it when we found that it worked, but [it] was very expensive since the inhaler apparatus and mask used for humans was very inefficient, causing the drug to be wasted and increasing the expense."

Cat owners are taught to attach the MDI and the facemask to the spacer, and then to actuate the MDI twice, filling the spacer with the mist. The facemask is gently placed over the cat's mouth and nose, and the cat is allowed to inhale and exhale seven to 10 times with the mask in place.

Inhaled steroids are the most potent inhaled anti-inflammatory drugs available. Fluticasone is a steroid of large molecular size, preventing it from passing into the bloodstream when inhaled. "Inhaled steroids do not cause the unwanted side effects that the pills or injections do," Padrid said. Many cat owners find that giving inhaled steroids is faster and seems to bother the cat less, than trying to administer oral medication.

Bronchodilators are also available as MDIs. Albuterol is the one most commonly used in asthmatic cats. It acts more rapidly than oral or injectable forms. It can be used daily, or as needed for asthmatic cats that are already on daily steroids, yet still have occasional episodes of coughing, wheezing or increased respiratory effort at rest.

Muffy's Reaction
Muffy hated being pilled, and side effects precluded the use of oral steroids. Beerstein agreed to have Muffy try the inhaler and spacer. After demonstration of the proper technique, Beerstein quickly mastered the application of the inhaler and spacer to Muffy's muzzle. "She really resented the pills, but didn't mind the facemask," he said. "I think she realized that it was making her feel better."

Feline asthma is not a curable disease, but recent advances in our understanding of the disorder have allowed veterinarians to devise more effective treatment plans, and cats are breathing with greater ease as a result.

Vet appt today for Carmel

Wow my baby kitty is 3 whole months old. She had to get her immunizations today and didn't appreciate the car ride AT ALL... Listening to her squawk for an hour wasn't much fun for me and Terence either. The appt went well, she weighs 3lb 7oz and he said she was a very healthy kitten with very nice markings, Abyssinian similarities. Makes me feel like a good kitty-mom when people say things like that about my kitties.

I'm glad we decided to come home early today though, we've got a big storm moving in from the states. The weather network is calling for more than 10cm of snow o.O

Carmel pictures

Here's my little Carmelly kitten. Isn't she a cutey! She's getting so big compared to when I brought her home. She's a very vocal little cat, squeaks and mews all the time while playing or just to say hi :) I love my little brown cat.

happy new year!

Christmas went well, I had lots of fun with my family and friends over the holidays. Best gifts this year were a bird feeder from my dad and my power box from Terence. Now I just need a solar panel to hook it to :) (yay for free power) My job's going well, I like all my co-workers except my manager (figures) but that's ok because she travels lots.

My ficus benjamina is looking better, but I'm still not sure if I want to transplant it yet. I bought a few new plants, not sure what they all are. I might post some pics later if I can figure it out.

Mephit caught her first bird this weekend, she was sitting in, yes, you read that right, IN the bird feeder waiting for them to land lol. Needless to say, she got a tasty tweety snack right shortly. I'll have to move the feeder and mount it a bit higher to prevent it from becoming a slaughter house.

very tired but happy

It's been a bit since my last post, I started my new job and it's kinda eating up my time. I wasn't supposed to start until the 4th of dec, but they called me in on the 28th to start my training early. I figured why not, extra hours are good. The training is very interesting, I've always wanted to know how the inside of a bank works, the only part that creeps me out are the hold up procedures ::shivers:: I pray we never ever have to use them. I think BMO will be a fun place to work, I like both my managers and Trevor is fun. Lol, Terence thinks he's gay, but I'm pretty sure he's got a girlfriend. Not that that confirms it one way or the other though, heh. I hope I can get all my Christmas shopping done next friday, I really don't want to have to be running around the weekend after.

On a kitty note, Mephit has been especially bad this week, Terence attributes it to the full moon. I agree and think some of it might also be the fact that I'm not home during the day now. Poor little buddies are all alone for 6 hours a day now. I'd imagine that's a bit of a shock to them. Usually I'm here to take care of them and keep them entertained. Ah well, such is the way of life, the money will help out in the long run.

I replanted my little rubbery plant, the people at the UBC forums called it a pepromia scandens. I separated it into two pots by division and then took some slips to see if I could get them to root. My ficus benjamina isn't doing very good. I think I gave it a bit of a chill by the window, but hopefully something will recover out of it. I'd like to repot it but don't want to shock it any more than it already has been. Time will tell, maybe if it looks better in the spring.

Breakfast, Cookies and some kitty fun

We went for breakfast after Grizzy woke us up wanting out. Both of us ordered the exact same thing we always do lol. Truckers omelette for him, Egg Muffin with hashbrowns for me. I'm suprised the waitress didn't guess what we were having. After we picked up my prescription at the pharmacy, we came home and relaxed for a bit. For the afternoon, Terence sorted some DnD papers while I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I like it when he keeps me company while I cook. Hell, I just like his company :) I hope we can stop fighting soon, it's driving me batty. Life with no FFXI doesn't sit well with either of us I think, but it's for the best.

After supper, Terence and Mephit played with some string. He got the bright idea of running away with her string after she tried to drag it up onto the top of the fridge in an attempt to hide it. Back and forth from the bedroom to the kitchen, I thought I was going to pee my pants laughing at them run back and forth with a little red shoelace in between.