Another surgery

One dark night a few weeks ago, tragedy struck our family.

Due to the gross neglect of one male member of our family who shall remain nameless, our darling Marianne was involved in a terrible car accident that left her eyeless.



Fortunately, a recognized specialist in kitty eye transplants is doing residency here. But before the surgery could take place, we needed an eye to transplant.

A city-wide search (of thrift stores) was conducted to try to find a suitable donor, one who had 9mm blue round acrylics. (This yielded only a green-eyed frog that Olivia took a shine to.) We finally turned to the black market (craft stores) and found grotesque packages of body parts…but alas, the only blue eyes were 12mm, too large for Marianne’s dainty features.

Finally, in an act of supreme charity, Marianne’s larger (and less beloved) sister White Tiger offered to sacrifice her own blue eyes in exchange for a surgical enhancement of larger blue eyes. With some misgivings, the eye surgeon agreed to proceed.



WARNING: the following graphic photographs of the actual surgery may be disturbing to some sensitivities. Viewer discretion is advised.

Dressed out for surgery


The kitties with their IVs




Performing the delicate procedure





Resting up in post op after a successful surgery




We are happy to report that the transplants were successful (as gauged by Olivia's not rejecting them). While Olivia still doesn't care as much about White Tiger, I must say that because of her unselfishness, she now holds a much dearer place in my heart. And of course, we're all glad to have Marianne back to normal.

Literary greats

Even though you may not be very familiar with them, most of you have probably at least heard of the Bobbsey twins.

Did you know that one of them was named Flossie? Flossie Bobbsey.

...

Taking a bite out of business crime

So, we recently had a heating problem. The first company we called, John Moore (owned by Satan), came out and gave us a repair estimate that was SEVEN TIMES the cost of what we actually went with (Big Tex A/C - woot!) John Moore's diagnostic was also 3x the cost of Big Tex's.

So, after a call with John Moore's customer service department to verify that it was the actual company that was trying to rip me off, and not just the service tech, I submitted complaints with both the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the BBB. And I now submit another complaint to you, internet.

DO NOT call John Moore for plumbing, AC/Heating, Electrical, Pest Control, Insulation, Energy Audit, or Window and Door repair. The "Moore" stands for cost. The "John" stands for poopy customer service. Call Big Tex instead!

Tell all your friends! (If they're not in Texas, I'm sure they don't care.)

Decorative toys

I've been meaning to post about some of my newest projects for a while.

Just before Halloween we went to a pumpkin patch where I saw some cloth pumpkins much like these:


I don't often get cuted out by crafts, but for some reason I just really loved these pumpkins, so I had to go make some the next day.

Even as much as I loved them, it wasn't until after I'd made them that I realized how perfect they were: not only were they a fun project, but they are washable, indestructible decorations! Perfect for a house with a toddler and a mobile baby.

With this in mind, I used some of the same principles and came up with my favorite holiday craft this year: stackable snowmen.



Fun to mix and match:


Fun to stack and un-stack (this picture looks kind of morbid):


Lots of character.


Olivia loves them. She snuggles them, carries them around and dances with them. She also likes to have me sing "Once there was a Snowman" while stacking and unstacking them. Carmen loves to rip them apart and chew on the arms and noses.

I'm still working on some details (they're kind of wobbly), but even now they're a favorite around here.

Reyes Magos and a Mystical Visitation

Every year we celebrate January 6th (Reyes Magos, or 3 Kings Day) with a traditional Spanish meal. This year we had paella, grapes, manchego cheese (salivates), pseudo-baguettes, and of course, the lovely Roscon de Reyes.

Traditionally, the Roscon is supposed to have candied fruit on top and some fruity flavor inside that comes from brandy. I hate candied fruit and the fruity brandy flavor. But I like pecans (and we live in the South anyway). Also please note (I say with a self-satisfied jiggle of my head and a rakish expression) that the Roscon is made entirely of flour I ground myself with a hand-operated wheat grinder. Que rustico! We have yet to see who gets the coin, and therefore luck for a year, and who gets the rock, and is therefore the bozo who has to buy the Roscon next year.



Also, yesterday when preheated my pizza stone in preparation for making naan (which was also quite yummy and also made with hand-ground flour), the head of an Easter Island statue mystically appeared on the stone.


Please take a moment to vote on the new poll at the top of my blog on what this remarkable image means for me in the coming year!

Old news

Apparently, Steven turned down the honor again this past year. I guess he thought it would be inappropriate for all those other women to be ogling him. Congrats to Johnny Depp for being first runner up...again.