Puke not.

My in-laws are big into sailing, espacially my father in-law. I had a bright idea to sailing Sunday. I normally get motion sickness, followed by revisiting what I last ate the second I step on a boat, but I took meds this time and went from feeling so-so to just fine. The wind was perfect and the weather was perfectly freezing. I have never wanted a cup of hot cocoa so bad in my life (which I did have once we docked). Since we are stilling planning a cruise early next year I figured I would want to test myself in the ocean a few more times before making an actual commiment to going and spending all that money. Looks like a cruise and motion sickness meds will in my near future! Woot!

Side note:
Last school term sucked nuts. This term rocks. I love love my teacher and the A's she so gladly gives me. I think I might switch my major and go with something that I am actually good at, rather than struggling to be good at something I am only average in. I have until next year to make changes, so that leaves plently of time to make up my mind.

Byebye Banschi

Today we are putting my Banschi man to sleep. Unfortunately his kidney functions did not bounce back from treatment as we had hoped they would. Therefore a decision has to made and I refuse to see any animal of mine suffer.

This.is.a.sad.day. for D and I.

Update: After Banschi was put to sleep Dr.PM palpated him because we had mentioned in the past few days he became very sensitive when we touch his abdomen. When she felt his kidney it was about four times its normal size. She came to the conclusion that he could have had cancer of the kidney's rather than renal failure. To hear her say that made me feel a little better inside, because it explains why he was not responding to the treatment all this week. I feel depressed that he is gone, but relieved at the same time knowing that he is no longer hurting.

Meatloaf double beatloaf I hate meatloaf

Seriously up until last night I hated meatloaf. While I was shopping at the grocery store the other day I got a wild spur and decided I should attempt a meatloaf for the first time in my life. Dan was shocked when I came home and said we would be having meatloaf sometime this week. Last night I decided was good night to attempt this meaty concoction. I read a recipe from Marthastewart.com to get some ideas and talked to Linz (my sis in-law) who mention that substituting breadcrumbs with cheez-it's is a great option. Well I made the recipe on my terms and eyeballed everything. It came out perfect, moist and oh sooo delicious! Dan looooved it and said it was the best meatloaf he had ever had. Go me!

Here is what I did...

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Dice 1/4c of a sweet onion (more or less depending on taste)
1/4c organic ketchup
1 large organic egg
1/4c - 1/3c organic milk
1T garlic powder (more or less depending on taste or mince garlic cloves)
2 pounds organic ground meat
1 1/2c finely crushed tabasco cheez-it's (msg free, I checked)

Mix onion, egg, milk, ketchup and garlic powder in a large mixing. Add meat and cheez-it's to mixture, then blend by hand. Be sure not to over work the meat. Once meat and mixture are blended place on a pan with parchment paper (easy clean-up), and mold meat into a loaf shape. Be sure not to have it too think in center, otherwise cooking may take longer with burnt ends. Brush a light layer of ketchup over meatloaf and place in oven for 45-50 minutes. Brush the meatloaf with ketchup one more time about half way through the cooking process. Once meatloaf is cooked, remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes so juices can redistribute. Enjoy!

Banschi's permantely ill. :(

Well Banschi (pronounced ban-chee, previous owner spelled his name that way and I thought it fit his unique personality so we kept the spelling the same) is home from the vet. He is in the beginning stages of kidney failure. Dr. PM says that for cat as young as he is this type of condition is rare (he is almost 8yr. old). For now we are doing 200ml lact. ringers solution BID (twice a day). Once he perks up a bit we can cut back to SID (once a day). I hope he will bounce back quickly so we can cut back on the fluids he 'loves' getting so much. It is not fun treating him, so I can just imagine how he feels. Not fun, but it must be done to keep my kitty feeling better.

It comes in three's or four's or five's.

...well for things that go bad that is. Dan is gone on 4x4 adventure with his buddies, which means I get the house to myself. Woot. My plan of attack for today after word was to paint cabinets (Dan has no clue about that!). I get off work early, start the sprinklers for the second time since Dan put the new system in place, and prep for my oil base paint adventure. 35 minutes later I am done with painting and now it is time to clean up and shut off the sprinklers. As I am turning around to head into the garage I notice my perfect dog Willow knock a fence board into the neighbors yard. Not the first time this has happened, so no biggie I can fix it once I am done cleaning the paint brush and roller. Uh ya. Into the garage I go to 'wash' off the oil base paint. I grab the roller with my right hand and squeeze the paint out, but now the paint is literally stuck to my hand and there is nothing I can do to get it off. Quickly I am looking for the mineral spirits, but no such luck. I call my dad, no answer, I freak out. My hand is ALL white, my sprinklers are still on. Then I think... I am going to have to drive Ace Hardware with a white hand and buy paint thinner? OMG, I really hope not. My dad calls me back, we laugh at the stupidity I have gotten myself into... then I find some paint thinner. All is good, right? Wrong. I scrub my tools and my hand. Not all the paint came off but I can deal. I head out front to shut the sprinklers off. I can only get one off, and the other is not moving... then I notice one the sprinkler heads is fubared again, causing major water leakage every where. What a waste of water. I call my dad with a 'sprinkler emergency' and give him the details of what is happening. My dad says he is on his way (he lives like four blocks away). In route of him getting to my house I able to shut the sprinklers off, but I am concerned about the sprinkler head so I try 'fix' it. I move some grass around and start the sprinklers again in hopes that I did something right. Wishful thinking on my part. The water shoots the sprinkler head up into the air and onto sidewalk. As I am rushing to turn the sprinklers off I turn knob the wrong way and it comes off in my hand, so now I have water shooting up in face. Wonderful. I rush to put the knob back on and turn the sprinklers off. My dad arrives and we both start laughing at what I had manage to do since I got home. My dad fixes the sprinklers and the fence. God bless him. He saved my butt tonight. During my dad's visit I go into my hall closet to search for something and smell cat pee. Eww, not again. I find the source of the smell, which is all over my big bag that stores all my purses. Not good. Well hte house stuff is fixed, but now one of my cats is ill. My beloved Banschi has been lethargic all day so I determine it was him and not Spuds.
Tomorrow I am going to the NorCal RenFaire with my mother in-law and sister in-law. Before I head their way I now need to drop Banschi off at the vet. He never acts likes this, and I am very worried. Since I former employee and current volunteer at the vet I get the celebrity treatment, so I know he will be taken care of over the weekend.
Poor Dan has no idea of what had happened since he had been gone in the past 24 hours. His fence need permanent help, his sprinklers need assistance (or I need sprinklers for dummies 101), and his cat (Spuds is mine) is sickly. Let's hope the weekend gets better for me and the cats!

Goodies

My in-laws informed Dan and I that for Christmas our gift will be a cruise with family and friends to the Caribbean early next year. I am soooooo stoked! I have never been on a cruise and I could really use a vacation, even if it is so far away from today.

On a side note, I love the new Gossip Girl season and 90210. I have never been a fan of these shows, but I find myself stalking my television Monday and Tuesday nights.

XOXO K.B.

No funding can be a good thing at times.

I found out last night that my school loan was cut short by a couple hundred dollars. Sure I could pay the couple hundred dollars, but we are on a tight budget so that means paying is really not an option. This means that I can only take one class next quarter. When I first read my email last night I was upset, but then I came to the realization that I will be able to get a break and only focus on one class. Now I am excited to be taking one class. This will allow me to focus on school more, be more available during the week, plus holidays are coming up soon so I find this as a blessing rather than a set back.

Okay off to polish my one of my finals due this weekend....

Nutshell recap

I am finishing my third quarter for college this week. Only 13 more months to go until I graduate. I wish that I would have started school years ago, but at the same time I am glad that I am going (and committing) to school. Where as two years ago I would have lost interest or scraped by with passing grades.
I want to start sewing. Badly. But working full time and going to school full time leaves no "real" time for fun projects. I always wonder when life is going to slow down, but I do not think it is going to happen anytime soon or soonish. I feel like ever since the beginning of 2006 life has just packed with everything under the sun from moving in with Dan, Dan's major car accident (r.i.p. spleen), running a marathon, getting engaged, losing a loved one unexpectedly Christmas Eve, planning a wedding, getting married, buying a home, fixing it up, moving in two months later to have twenty family members over for Christmas dinner, which now puts us at 2008 that has flown by with more birthdays, graduations, obligations and yet I am still waiting for my kitchen cabinet doors to be completed... so then maybe, just maybe, the bedroom doors can be painted and hung. We will be in our home for a year December 1st 2008, and I PRAY that we will have all DOORS painted and hung!