Oh, the Drama

Billie loves her soaps!

Hi everybody! Miss Billie here with a quick hello! Last week Momma and I enjoyed the adventures of some floofy kitties on the drama As The Paw Turns. It was really good! Who knew Praline was such a little vixen? :)

Momma has pictures of me also watching the Whiskers and Purrs Gang and their Mommy Jenny on TLC and she has a picture of Cricket admiring Daisy's Hallmark card. ( Momma bought the last two!) They are still in her camera though and Momma is feeling too yucky to do much right now.

The RA monster is winning. She can't take anymore medicines until she gets her bloods taken again and she doesn't go see her doctor until October. So, she is hurty and grumpy and hoping after lots of rest and water and vitamin C she will feel a bit better. Those shots she had to give herself hurt her liver and she can't have them anymore. She won't miss poking herself every week anyway. I don't know how she could stand that! Us kitties hate the pokes at the V E T!

We will post new pictures later, maybe this weekend. It is going to be rainy and cold here, so hopefully we have a good chance of just posting and visiting.

Hugs!~ Miss Billie~

Nurse Kitties

Hello, Cricket here with an update, lest you think we have fallen off the planet.
We are doing our best to bring comfort to our Momma Lorianna. She has had a rough few days. The jaw pain is TMJ due to a misaligned bite and from the RA nom noming the joint. She will need surgery sometime in the next few months to fix it. She thought for sure the hip would be first!
She also will be getting a root canal tomorrow. Her RA medicine made the infection in her gum bloom up really fast. RA can cause dry mouth and that isn't good for teeth. She is now using a special mouth rinse. The dentist gave her antibiotics and Valium. She likes the Valium. ;) silly Momma! She got sick with the Vicodeine, so no more of that!
She is in a lot of hurty right now and thinks that after the root canal she just wants to sit in the sun and stare off into space like a cat. She is so tired of feeling bad. She has been crying a little bit, but only in front of us kitties, because we understand.
As you can see we offer her much comfort. She is quite loopy as she types this for us, so she thinks I should wrap this up.

We Love you, our friends. We miss you. Purr for Momma so she can feel better soon. We pray none of you ever have to feel this lousy!

Lots of hugs!
Us kitties and Lorianna

Cricket Updates the Blog

Cricket Gives an Update

Hi everyone. I am blogging today for Momma. She has been feeling really icky since Friday and is finally out of bed for longer than an hour today. Her whole body hurts and she just wants to sleep. I keep her company of course.
She makes sure to feed us and pet us and just make sure we are okay. Us kitties are her reason for getting up.
She misses visiting her blogging friends and posting about how wonderful we are. (Me being the most wonderful of course.)
She is hoping that if she can just get enough rest this weekend things will be back to normal. It would be nice if the Daddyman and the Teenagergirl would help a bit, but I'm not holding my breath. You wouldn't believe how nasty my upstairs litter box got before the Daddyman would change it! And that was only after Momma begged him to because she couldn't lift the heavy bag of Tidy Cat.
So anyway, Momma is going to give me my lunch now and get some rest before she has to make dinner. I think she should order pizza. ;)
Momma seems sad to me and I hope she feels better soon. Don't worry though; me and Billie will look after her. The two boys are, in my opinion not very good at nurturing. I'm an excellent nurse!
Take care everyone. We send you big hugs.

Cody's S. A. D.

Kitty S. A. D.

I think Cody has Seasonal Affective Disorder. Remember, he is my gardening buddy and my front porch relaxing partner. Now, he is restless, and irritable. He snacks and naps and walks to the door and meows. "Hey Mom, shouldn't we be pulling weeds and walking around the yard and sitting in the sun? Hey, why is there a tree... Oh no, it's Winter again!?!"
Poor baby!
Yes, I know that sad little tree needs to be decorated. I hoping before Christmas. sigh...

I still think the flu shot gave me a touch of the flu. The Methotrexate made me queasy and weak and still very tired. I know it's job is to reset my immune system and in the process it's going to kill some white blood cells and just generally make me feel worse before I feel better. Gee, I hope so! I would hate to have to feel like this only to have it not stop the joint damage. There's a part of me that wonders if putting something so toxic in my body is not a good idea. But, to be able to function without pain is a goal I need to aim for. I miss looking forward to gardening and baking and well ,even getting out of bed is rather painful. I will give it a try. I can try the injectable method, which may be less "hurl" inducing. We shall see.

The kitties have of course been very patient. As long as they get food and attention they are happy. Stinky Goodness a few days ago was not fun to open! *o*
Billie seems to be a bit more tired. She eats fairly well in the morning and evening, but naps all day in between. She's never been a hyper cat and she is 13, so I will not worry much yet. She's due for a check up soon, so maybe the Vet will reassure me. She does seem to miss sunning on the enclosed back porch, so maybe she has a bit of S. A. D. too. I wonder how much those sunlight lamps cost?

I know I am so behind in visiting. Thank you all for visiting me. I just adore all of my bogosphere friends! Special Prayers and Purrs for Kelly. She is Scotchy, Sugar and Stryder's mommy. She is having major surgery today and will be very sore for awhile. Hugs Kelly!
Hugs to Everyone!

Cat Naps And Hot Cocoa

It has been extremely cold here . I am a little under the weather with a RA flare and a sinus headache that won't seem to go away. Every time I try to read or do some writing, my head starts throbbing. :(
Since it is so cold and I'm feeling blah, and the kitties are sleeping and not doing anything entertaining to photograph, I thought I would post a hot cocoa recipe. I found those mugs online. I did not order them, though I would like to. My husband doesn't like to use the credit card over the internet so I don't think I will. *sigh* They are cute and very true.

Hot Cocoa
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup boiling water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup half and half cream is optinional

Combine cocoa, sugar, and pinch salt in sauce pan. Blend in boiling water and bring mixture to an easy boil while stirring. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes and watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide into 4 mugs.
Add cream to mugs of cocoa to cool down if desired, or give cream to your cats. ^,^ (unless your cat is lactose intolerant like Billie)
Well, I'm going to take a hot shower and some meds now. I hope to post some new pics soon, if the kitties stop acting like lumps and actually do something. ;)

Well blogger is just giving me a hard time today. I'm trying to post a picture of Billie, my floofy girl. I will keep trying because it's very cute. Our internet service provider has been flaky since last night. They claimed they knew the problem was on their end and would have it taken care of by this morning. Today is another gray, cold day. A day for reading, straightening up the house, making tea and working on a grocery list. I might try writing a little if I can shake my brain fog.
I will try to get pictures posted later. Gee, I hope I can post this. I wish I knew if it was blogger or jasnetworks. (our IP)
Think warm spring thoughts!

Can I read and hibernate at the same time?

Darkness settled in around 5:30 this evening. That is way too early, I mean I'm ready to put my pj's on! I am so not ready for this. If I can manage to stay dressed, :) I would like to go to the bookstore this week. It's just absolutely one of my favorite things to do. I don't always buy a book, but I could happily wander around looking at books in every section of the store. It seems there is something of interest in almost every category. Well, ok maybe not computer programming or mathmatics, but pretty much anything else. Fiction though is what really draws me in. After I gather a stack of books, I like to settle in at a table and order a mocha or a hot tea. If I'm feeling really indulgent there's usually brownies or cheesecake to tempt me. Wouldn't it be fun to be locked in your favorite store for an evening?
I've been reading a few blogs, (actually trying to catch up on my favorites) and I'm noticing quite a few people seem to be rather down in the dumps. Maybe it's the change of seasons and looming holidays, I don't know, but I'm feeling it too. Hmm... Maybe we all could use a cup of tea and a few good books. now, if only the bookstore would let me wear my flannels. :)

Chasing my tail

I have been in a fog for several days. They say that happens quite often to people with autoimune diseases. (brain fog) I can't seem to concentrate and napping is about the only thing that I can accomplish. The streak of warm weather we had was very nice though. I warmed my sore joints in the sun and took lengthy strolls to keep my hips and knees limber. I wish I could get myself into gear, especially with my writing. I miss my creativity. The characters still play out scenes in my head, but I just can't seem to get the energy to actually write anything. I noticed that for the past several days that I haven't been reading as voraciously as I used to either. It takes me much longer to finish a book now. Mmm... Reading used to inspire me to write, so maybe my first step should be to delve deep into my books for a couple of weeks so I can remember what it is that I want to accomplish for myself. Now if only I could get this fuzzy, buzzy feeling out of my head. zzzzz....