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Thursday, July 27, 2006

What Am I Thinking??

Clearly, I feel a need to punish myself for something. Not only am I working on my MBA, but I just enrolled in a 6-month compliance certification program. Granted, the company is paying for it completely and it will most likely boost me up a pay grade and title, but still... Unfortunately, there will be some unavoidable overlap between the certification classes and the MBA classes. So, anyway, if you don’t see me much from, say, August to March, this is why:

Commerce/EAR 8/24 - 10/4
State/ITAR 10/5 - 11/15
Operations Management 11/7 - 12/18
Documentation 11/16 - 12/27
Project Management 1/9 - 2/19
Ethics 1/11 - 2/21
Final Exam TBD
Strategy Formulation & Implementation 3/13 - 4/23

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Home-grown Shredders

Duncan has developed the fun new talent of pulling papers out of my office trash can and scattering them throughout the house. I’m pretty sure Reyna showed him how to do this (and I know she participates in the scattering and shredding) because she used to do it as a puppy. The reason I’m assuming its Duncan pulling the papers out - and not Reyna – is because he will meander over to the trash can while I’m sitting at my desk and start rooting through it. He clearly hasn’t made the mental leap from being told “no” when he does that to the idea that maybe Mom would say “no” all the time. I hate to admit it, but its really kind of cute. I heard them happily ripping and shredding this morning, and I just didn’t have the heart to go fuss at them. And as long as its just trash from the trash can, I doubt I’ll get upset. Now, if that suddenly morphs into taking stuff off of my desk, we’re going to have a little chat. Reyna clearly thinks she’s ridiculously cute when she brings me a piece of paper. And she’s right, she is. They both just look so pleased with themselves……

Saturday, July 15, 2006

It's Not a Tumor

Mikey went to see the vet today to have a lump on his side checked. Doc was able to get a needle in it and suck out some of the ickiness (ew) and check it under the microscope. He said that it definitely wasn’t attached to anything, that he could move it around, and it was just inside the skin (again, ew). He also said that he’s seen that kind of lump a lot before, and it's never anything to worry about. Basically, it's all the crud that normally comes out of the pores, but the pores right there are blocked, and so all the crud is backed up. He said it could get bigger or smaller, it could go away and come back a year later, it could stay the same and never bother the cat, or it could become a huge irritant. He also said that if it gets very big – a size I don’t like looking at – he can lance it or even cut it off. Apparently, that’s almost always a cosmetic issue, and very rarely done because it's actually bothering the cat. So, yay! Mikey doesn’t have a tumor, or anything else really wrong with him. Just a few blocked pores. We can live with that.

Up on the Catwalk, Yeah...


The cats now have a way to get from the back of the house to the front still avoid the dogs. A catwalk was installed - through much hard work and cussing - over the 4th of July weekend. There are three platforms on the hall wall between my bedroom and the guest bathroom, and the actual platform starts over the guest bath doorframe. It runs along the hallway over the library and office, around the corner to the front door, and over to the wall separating the living room and kitchen. In the kitchen, it runs from one set of cabinets, across the bay window, to the other set of cabinets. There’s still a bit of cosmetic work to do, such as caulking and touch-up painting, but it is functional. I thought about painting it some fun colors, and then realized that would annoy me in less than a week. So, the boards match the color of the walls they’re mounted on.

Khar’pern has used it several times…she really seems to enjoy the idea of coming out for a stroll. Mikey is using it a good bit, too, but mostly so he can stay up high and watch everything. He hasn’t used it for a foray into the kitchen (or even out of the hallway) yet. The others aren’t using it, but I figure it’s a matter of time. Reyna and Duncan just don’t know what to make of it. Reyna was very excited to see a kitty strolling along above her, and Duncan just looked vaguely offended by the whole thing. What is really funny is that if someone talks to a cat, Reyna looks up now, instead of at the hall door.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Happy Birthday, Duncan!


My sweet puppy turned 1 year old Tuesday. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Friday, July 07, 2006