Obtained another....

Sept 30

What a messed up day. Its started out just like any other day. A struggle in the morning rush to get out of the house and to get to school on time. Im not sure what it is but Im going to blame the ADHD and ODD on her bitchiness. It was at full swing this morning though. But it set my mood for the day and I was so drained.

I went to class tonight and the funniest thing happened. I know I havent posted up my posts on the trunk adventures yet. I will get to that. More than likely, they will go up before this one will but I had these thoughts and I wanted to get them out of my head.

My friend Colette is a gem. She really is. Anywho, I walk into the shop and Kathleen tells me that Colette wants to talk to me about a trunk. He he he. So I told her to have her call me and we will chat. And sure enough, right then and there, the phone rings and its her. She said she was on her way over with a surprise. I get excited over surprises and also the fact that it is a trunk.

I looked into the back of the van and what do I see? A leather covered dome top trunk in decent condition. Nothing that some saddle soap, a little glue and some steel wool cant clean up. The inside is wonderful with a full lithograph and all. I was so thrilled. I will be picking it up on Sat and taking it to my storage unit til I can work on it. I will take pictures of it then and also the other two smaller trunks that I got from her.

I just wanted to get this post in because I was so excited.

Patrick Swayze Dies...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/14/patrick.swayze/index.html

This was just posted up a few minutes ago.

He was one of my favorite actors and this completely breaks my heart. I cant even begin to explain.

May he now rest in peace from all the pain.

I will miss you terribly and my heart is broken.

My Obsession Part 2...

This will probably be a little witty tale to some. Boring to others. But as we go down this journey, Im sure you will get a few laughs along the way. I know I can do that now that the worst is over. Or is it?

We begin this journey with a yard sale. Yes, a simple yard sale. Now mind you that I have wanted a trunk for a long time. But my search hasnt been that long. I figured these things to be somewhat expensive and I really didnt have the resources yet. Looking at the ones on line, they were all appearing in the hundreds of dollars range. I didnt have that for something to just put my blankets in.

We were driving down the road one day on the way to somewhere that I now forget. I saw the yard sale. I saw the antiques and then I saw five trunks. Five of them!! So we pulled over and I went out to look. I had my eye on one in particular but I didnt have the money for it with me. He wanted $85 for that one. But there were others there. Mostly well worn and missing parts. I was hoping for one that I could bring home and load my stuff into. I was soon to discover that wasnt going to be the case. Well, unless I wanted to spend $600. Of course, that wasnt happening either.

Well I could kick myself in the ass for not grabbing that trunk when I had the chance. I went back the next day and it was gone. Along with another one. So now there are three to choose from. One was a small tin trunk that was in fairly decent shape. Nothing that a good cleaning couldnt hurt. It also had a key. Another was a dome top trunk that someone obviously painted an ugly black and brown. It was missing the lock and the handles. The third was a very large beast that had seen better days. It was obvious that it sat in water as it was warped on the bottom half and you could see the water marks on the outside. It was missing a couple of the latches and the lock was badly damaged. So I think you can pretty much tell which one I chose. Yep, it was the small one with the key. Less work and all the parts were there but the handles.



So I paid the man $12 and loaded it into the Blazer. Yes, $12. Thats all he wanted for it. The big one was $30 and the ugly one was $45. Could you believe it? So we went onward to the camp to meet up with my sister and her crew for a BBQ that day. We hit a few yard sales along the way and picked up some interesting things for Mousie. Couldnt resist. It was a statue of an umpire picking up a kid by the scruff like he made a bad play. He he he... Mousie is an umpire so it suited the joke quite well.

That night, as I stared at my new project, I was also debating on another trunk. The one I now have is small. Not the doll type ones that were made and sold during the same time period, but it was what they refered to as a ladies trunk. More so a tall type that was used more for a carry on piece. Later these trunks would be more to the size of a large suitcase. So you can very well guess the age of this trunk. An expert at a trunk restoration shop quoted me an approximate date to about 1865 to 1870. Not bad for $12.

But I was still debating on a larger trunk. So I was thinking about going back to that place and picking up the big trunk and restoring it. How hard could it be? So I went back over to his house and asked about it. He told me that what didnt sell that weekend, was sent to a dealer. Bummer. But thats ok. Im sure I can find another one of that size somewhere else. And so the major search began.

This was a long and frustrating process. If you are thinking of doing the same thing, always shop around for ideas before you buy. Know exactly what you want before you get it. And if it could be what you want, dont pass the opportunilty. Grab it with both hands and run like hell.

My first stop was on line. I noticed a really beautiful one for sale near by. I called the man and told him I was interested and that I would be coming that night to pick it up. About 15 minutes before I was to leave, he called me back to tell me that someone else was there to pick up the trunk and that it was sold. I was devastated because this one was a wonderful piece with shelves that moved up with the lid. Something I still want. Ok, on to the next one.

I was searching in an area that covered about a 100 mile radius around my home. Yes I was that serious on this. Places almost half way across the state and some places almost to NYC. I would contact the people, set up a pickup date and then I would recieve a message that it was sold to someone that got there before me. Now Im beginning to think that something was up. So over a two week period of time, there was someone going around buying up trunks. Everywhere. All of them. We are talking to the tune of about 40 trunks here. I dont get it? Who the hell needs that many trunks? And all of the people referred to this person as a man who is a dealer. So that would explain something. But what is the rush on such a demand? I still dont get it.

So now I need to step up the pace a little. I need to be on the ball and grab at what I can. I found a nice brown canvas trunk in a town not far from here. I contacted the owner and told them that I was willing to pay cash and would come asap to pick it up. She told me that she would be out of town for a few days. I explained the situation to her about the dealer going around and grabbing them all. She told me that I was the first to call and that the trunk was definately mine. I set up a pickup date for that Saturday. It was confirmed. I have a trunk. Whoohoo!! Its mine mine mine all mine.

Later that night, I talked to Bill and Kim about going to yard sales for that day. It was a sort of birthday gift to me to be taken around the world so to speak. If you have ever gone to yard sales with me, thats the feeling you will get. I go everywhere. And I map it all out to where I want to go first. And then to where I will end up. So on this day, the last stop would be at 2pm at the house where that brown trunk was.

I sat at the table for a couple of hours mapping all the sales out in various neighborhoods. Working my way to that town would be the last of the sales. I set them up by priority. It was a work of art. I took the money that I was allowing myself to spend and put that in one envelope and the cost of the trunk in another. That way I would have the cash to give her. By 8am, we were pulling into the first stop.

I have an obsession....

I have an obsession....

This is going to be an on going blog that Im starting for the 29th of August.

I have an obsession. My obsession is trunks. Not swimming trunks and most definately not elephant trunks. Although swimming trunks would mean that it is still summer. Yeah I could use another month of that. Im not ready to go back to work.

But my obsession started about a year ago. I love antiques. But with my antiques, I use them. I dont just show them and dust them off now and then. I like to use them because they are made better than modern things. I have a lot of them. My bedroom set is actually unused because I dont have the room for it here. But someday I will have a larger room again. I also have some kitchen things that are quite old. Like old enamel fry pans and some burner covers for cooking things. You put them under pots and they distribute heat evenly. I gave used some new ones of these but they tend to burn out quick. The old ones were made better and are still working perfectly. I also have some old cast iron ones too.

My diningroom table is actually and old enamel top kitchen table. On some of these, the sides come up to form a square table. I had a couple of those before but sold them as I didnt have the room. But the one I kept is one where the ends come out to form a longer table. I like this one better and they are more rare.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Trunks. I have always loved the old trunks. When I was a kid, we had a few and I liked them then. We used one as an old coffee table. The wooden box type. Some refer to them as steamer trunks. Some have a dome top and some are flat. Some have metal over the wood and some are canvas. You know the kind I am talking about. Some open up to be a closet with drawers too. They come in all sizes and shapes. Some are low and flat. Some are so big that an adult can crawl inside them.

I have done a lot of research on them. I wanted one badly. I have a stack of blankets and things in the living room that I would love to put in an old trunk. I looked on line for some and, for the love of god, they were so expensive. Trunks are very different than most antiques. When you restore and antique, you decrease the value. I dotn care how good you make it look, it wont be worth as much. But with a trunk, the better you restore it, the more it it worth. To restore a trunk, takes a lot of time and money. If you can keep it as original as you can, it will be worth more. But there are so many parts that need to be cleaned.

Usually you will find these trunks to be well worn. Handles and straps missing or in bad need or repair. Usually you cant repair them so they will be replaced. The casing of the trunks is made of wood. Usually pine. Over that they will use canvas or sheet metal. Most people will call this tin, but it wasnt. Tin doesnt rust. And a lot of these old trunks are showing signs of rust somewhere. They can be smooth sheet metal or they can be embossed with a pretty design. The hardware it usually very ornate and a lot of it. Its needed to hold the trunk together. And they are filled with brass nails and tacks to hold everything in place. And believe me, there are a lot of nails.

The canvas trunks are the more common ones you will find. Sometimes the canvas is in decent shape to where all you will have to do is clean it up a bit. Most of the time though, it is in rough shape and will have to be removed. But thats ok. Under that canvas is some nice wood that can be sanded and refinished with a stain. This is where these trunks gain in value. The beautiful wood looks wonderful when stained. Makes a nice addition to any decor. You can check out all this on various websites that restore trunks. And you will also see before and after pictures and will know what I am talking about. Also check out the prices they want for these beasts. Outrageous. But they are beautiful. The work they put into them is awesome. And expensive. Which is why I want one of my own, but Im going to have to do it all myself. I cant afford what they want.

So my journey begins with the search of a trunk of my own. Little by little I will be posting about various adventures along my route of trunkdom. Im sure you might be bored but then again, it could inspire someone to do something similar. Not so much as a trunk but something else that you may want to have in your home. Could be a table or even a special couch. Who knows.

On with my obsession......

Time is ticking down...

This is another post I was working on. This was started last weekend.

What a crappy day today. It was raining and a little chilly. I had to wear a jacket. It was also a busy day. Went out shopping with Bill and Cami in the intent of opening a bank account for her and then go get her some shoes and let her spend her gift cards from her birthday.

So we started out at the bank. We both had to sign for her new savings account. She was thrilled to have the account but disppointed that she had to turn over her cash to do it. She wanted to spend it but I told her that there will be a time when she wants to buy something and wont have the money to do it. Plus she had $45 in Walmart cards in her pocket. I think that was enough for her to spend today. She loved the new tshirt and the piggy bank that the bank gave to her. Plus if she does a book report for them, they will put $15 in the bank for her. I will make sure she does that this weekend too.

Then we went to the post office to mail Lindas package. I cant wait until she gets it. There is the watch necklace that she ordered and two gifts from me in it. I know she will love them all. While we were there, Cami and I watched some lady walking around on the post office lawn. She was looking at the bricks on a sort of little park and she was walking backwards in circles. It was odd but at the same time, it was interesting to know what the hell she was doing. I guess people do their own thing. I just hope I dont meet up with her again. Im not sure what she was doing and I didnt want to find out.

Next stop was Walmart. We chose to go to the super one because we were hoping for something different than the local one. The objective to this day of shopping was to get some more stuff for Cami for school and a few shirts for me. I took some money out of my account to do this. Things didnt go as planned.

Went to the store and they went looking for something for her to spend her gift cards on and I went in search of some shirts. I picked out a few and headed for the dressing room. They are doing some remodeling in the store and wouldnt you know it, the dressing rooms are part of it. So I ended up in a room with no mirrors. How are you supposed to try stuff on without a mirror? After about 12 shirts later, I emerged discouraged with one shirt to buy. That put me in an even more sour mood.

On the way home though, there was a car that pulled up along side. It was so hot. 1967 Camaro. When they pulled out of the lot, he slipped the tired a little. I didnt say squealed because thats not what it was. It was a slip on the wet roads. So as we were leaving the lot, he went to the right and we went to the left. I thought for sure he was going to smoke the tires this time but he didnt and I called him a p***y. I didnt mean for it to come out of my mouth out loud but it was funny.

I needed coffee so I stopped at DD for a quick fix. I was too lazy to brew my own at home. Plus I did have one earlier at the bank. Ive become a coffee drinker again. Not a good sign. But it does get me through the day. All in all it wasnt too bad of a day. I got a new shirt and Cami walked out of there with a new shirt, sneakers and three new video games. Two for the DS and one for the computer. None of us is ready for school to start. I think this is why we are so dragged out. Time is slipping really fast. Only a few days left til we go back. Im so not looking forward to it.

Cat Tails...

Cat Tails...

This post was started about a month or so ago. Yes its one that I started but didnt finish. Well here is the finished one.

Yes I spelled it wrong on purpose. Or maybe I spelled it right. Eh, who knows. Depends on how you take it for what this post is about. Its about my cat. Yep. My cat.

Its been hell here for the last couple of weeks. Between my daughter pulling her fits, staying up all night and just generally being hyper, its been a long week. But its the cat that Im more worried about. Even as I post this, she is staring me down like she knows I am talking about her. Oh wait, she wants her box cleaned. Be right back.

Ok, Im back. While I was at it, I took the dog out for her final business for the night and I also gave kitty her medicine. Yes, medicine. She has been so sick the past couple of weeks. This is how it started...

My cat is very attached to me. I cant go anywhere without her following me and making sure that Im still there. I adopted her from a home where she was a lap cat to two elderly people. She was also there with her sister. She was adopted the same day but to a different family. Right from the start, this was my kitty. She called out to me from her little glass cage at the adoption clinic at Petsmart. The adoption clinic is actually run by a private rescue agency. I was there to bring my dog to the groomer. Upon leaving the dog there, I was walking out of the store when I looked over at the kitties in the cages and I could see her staring at me. Drawing me to her. Within the hour, the papers were signed. When I came back later for my dog, I also picked up kitty and brought her home too.

When kitty has issues, she comes to me. She is very particular about her box. Holly never did it but now Mindy has a thing with the box. Im not sure why dogs do it but they think it is some sort of cookie jar. Sara is a very clean cat so she wants her box cleaned out. Not sure if it is mostly because she wants a clean box or that she doesnt want the dog to eat it. Its like she uses the box and then comes to me to say "clean the crap out of there before the big black hairy thing eats my present for you". Weird. But thats how she is. I keep the box clean because thats just how it is. I wouldnt want to use a dirty toilet, so my cat doesnt have to use a dirty box. And I also keep the back yard clean so that my dog doesnt have to use a dirty spot either. Im not anal, Im just clean.

A week ago this past Thursday, I noticed something on the floor. It appeared to be a spilled chocolate shake. Oh, I must warn you that this will be technical and quite gross about the bodily functions of a cat. If you are eating, you might not want to read this. Put the food down or finish it fast before continuing.

Anywho, I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen because I thought that Cami might have spilled something. You never know with her. But then again, how did she get a chocolate shake in the first place? I didnt give her one and no one has been out to get one. Chocolate shakes ususally come to this house via BK. But we didnt go. But also, this mess didnt smell. I dont know what it is but I cleaned it up anyways. Also, the cat didnt alert me to it.

During the day I was alerted to the sound of heaving. There is nothing like the sound of a cat heaving up a hairball. Its such a pitiful sound. When she released the contents, it was just green/yellow foam. A sure sign of bile. Nothing else came up with it. She did this a few times. I chalked it up to her trying to lose a hairball. But then I thought about it for a minute and remembered that she was tracking something in the kitchen for a couple of days. I wasnt sure what it was. I know that it was under my counter inside the cabinets that no one is allowed into. She has a way of pulling the doors open and going under there so I have little locks on them. Its like I child proofed the house. Then again, I do have locks on pretty much everything because of the child. But thats another story.

A house centipede was caught in that time so I thought maybe she found another and ate it and it was upsetting her tummy. She has been known to catch other various insects and eat them. Sort of like a protection thing. Look ma, I caught Godzilla and ated him for you. As many of you know, Godzilla is a large spider that lives in my bathroom and gets free peep shows. But we wont go into that.

So I figured I would give her a day or two to get rid of what was in her tummy and if that didnt work then she would have to go to the vet. Shes a tough kitty so I would give her the chance. She was drinking and eating at the time so I wasnt too worried. Friday came and the same thing was happening. She was vomiting up bile. Nothing else with it. Also her food dish was still full and untouched. I went to clean the litter box and there was nothing in it. This is odd. If I dont get to it in time, the dog will eat the "cookies" but there wasnt any pee in it either. I went through the house looking for spots that she might have used instead. She wasnt the type to do this though. She is very particular about her box. She is a neat and tidy kitty.

I didnt find anything but her little puddles of foam on the kitchen floor. But then I noticed there were spots on the carpet and she was pretty much just sleeping in the diningroom under the table in the corner. This is not like her. Shes a dominating one for a spot on my bed. She wasnt there. Now Im getting worried. Also she prefers to drink from the dogs water bowl and she hasnt been to it.

A little later I saw her head to her box. I thought that everything would be ok. She didnt go into it though. But I heard the sound of the heaving again and went to investigate. Sure enough, there was the tell-tale foam but also a spot where I noticed some with a brownish color in it. I assumed that this was also bile with some blood in it. I should also tell you that this is Saturday morning now. I called the vet and they didnt have hours for me to come in and told me to watch over her until Monday morning and to call back. If it got really serious then I was to call the emergency vet but they didnt see the dire need for it at this point. Well I do, but the emergency vet was an hour away and I would have prefered her go to her normal vet.

So by Monday morning I was really nervous for my kitty. She hasnt eaten and she wasnt using the box or going anywhere else. I called the vet back and they told me to bring her right in. I did. They checked her out and got everything in order. They told me what they wanted to check her out for and then showed me the estimate. I nearly choked. But this is my baby and I couldnt let her die. So I filled out the paperwork for the credt so that I could make payments on all this. If not, I didnt know what I was going to do. I didnt have that sort of money in my pocket and I needed to make sure she got better.

In the mean time, Cami was crying over her kitty which got me crying. A few minutes later I got the message that they approved me for the bill on credit. Whew. What a relief. So I signed all the papers and they took kitty to the back to start the xrays and stuff. They told me to call at about 5 to see whats up and then I could come get her. Ok. Lets go home and pace the floor there. And that is what we did.

At 5pm sharp, I called and they told me that kitty was ok and that I was to come to get her and the vet would talk to me then. Ok, that is a mixed reaction. What will the vet tell me? Im nervous but I went to get my baby. As soon as I walked in the door, they took me to the back to see my kitty. The doctor showed me the xrays and said that she does have a UTI and that she was dehydrated. They kept her on fluids all day and that did wonders for her. They said that because she was dehydrated, there was a stool blockage and that everything was all fixed. She said that they gave her some strong antibiotics and that within the next day or two, she will release everything like no tomorrow. So they sent me home with her and some medicines for her to take for two weeks. Yep. Nothing like giving a cat a pill.

it was only two medications. A liquid antibiotic and a pill that will help her sick tummy. I can deal with this. Shes pretty good about taking a pill. But I know she wont like it for two weeks, twice a day. But she did well with it. My total bill for all this was just under a grand. Im glad I can pay it in installments. Kitty, dont get sick for the next two years.

The next day, she did vomit a little and the brownish stuff was gone. The vet had told me that it wasnt vomit when she did that. She said that was forced unrine with blood in it. She did use the litter box and thats what I found in there too. But she peed a lot. And I do mean, a lot. She wasnt so dragged out and she did take the meds very well. Like she knew she didnt have a choice in the matter. I dont think she wanted to go back to that vet any time soon.

By the next day, she was up chasing the dog as usual. This is another good sign. And also she pooped a little. Yay!! Like I should be excited that my cat pooped. But she came to me to tell me that there was something in her box for me. Shes good that way. She hates a dirty box, so I have to clean it as soon as she uses it. That and I didnt want the dog to eat medicated snacks. Sounds so gross doesnt it?

The next day she was doing much better and she pooped some more. Shes been eating like a starving rat. So there was a lot of poop this time. Another good sign. And shes so snuggly. I figured she would hate me after putting her through all that. But she has seperation issues so she knows that mom is the one to go to when something isnt right. And also when everything is right. She clings to me.

About a week after all this happened, she was back to tracking something again. It was driving me absolutely crazy. She would go to the cabinet and dart around trying to get into it. Then she would run to the wall where the washer and the stove was and go back and forth. She has a growl that would scare a bear away. So of course Im out ther with her trying to see what it is. I couldnt find anything so I went back to bed. This was 230am. I was tired and needed sleep but she wasnt about to let that happen.

Right outside my door is a sort of cabinet that has doors on the bottom and a few shelves on top. She was trying to get at something under there. I got the flash light out and saw nothing under there. Yes, Im laying on the floor even with the thought that there will be some nasty bug in there. But I wanted whatever it was so I could sleep. I even got the broom out and went behind the cabinet and still nothing.

I went into my room and sat on the bed. She came in and laid down next to me. Soon, she would growl again and dart out to the kitchen. Still finding nothing I went back to bed. Again. Now its about 4am and she decided to go sit up on the counter. I watched her from my bed and she was stalking something. Listening intently. Her ears perking. He head darting back and forth. Suddenly there was that growl. She lept off the counter, sprung to the table, down to the floor and landed near the dogfood bag. I heard the rustle and then nothing. I came out and clicked on the light and there she stood with something in her mouth. i saw the tail and the smug look on her face. She dropped it at my feet and said, here you go mom. It was a mouse. Alive still and it was trying to get away. I caught it and tossed it down the street outside. I cant voluntarily kill them. So it will go find a new home somewhere else. I hope that got rid of that. I dont want anymore. I spent the next day cleaning everything in my kitchen.

Its been over a month now and shes been doing great. No signs that anything went wrong with her. I have the first payment due for her bill tomorrow. They will take it directly out of my account so that makes it all the better. Shes currently laying in front of the AC and the dog is next to her. Good thing they sort of like each other.