A little update on my personal life

I've been writing less than I'd like to; I have loads of notes and ideas, but when I have the time to write, I don't have the energy, and vice versa. Hurricane season is always a rough time for people with problems like fibromyalgia, arthritis, and similar issues, as, even up here in New York State, we experience the rapid progression of pressure changes that wreak havoc with joints and sinuses.

Additionally, I've had a very busy month with my business; when I'm not directly involved with a client, I still have to do promotion, taking care of the animals, and fielding requests to adopt unwanted reptiles. We JUST took in a beautiful adult Savannah monitor, and while I'm glad we will have him for presentations, it means I have another cage to build or buy, another type of food to keep on hand, and more poop to scoop (and boy, is it some nasty poop!). We also adopted some blue-tongue skinks, and we'll be working on a breeding project for them, and we've been asked to take in an adult boa constrictor, which I may decide against.

Of course, we're still fostering cats and kittens, and at one point in the past month, we actually had eleven fosters total, including the family of cats and kittens mentioned in this post. I am very happy to say that the situation discussed in that post worked out very well. The head of the rescue bent a few rules so that we could help those cats, and we were able to find homes for all of them! The family did want one of the cats returned to them after her kittens were weaned and she was spayed, which is something we don't usually do, but that particular mama cat really wanted to be with her original family anyway--she was very happy and relieved when I brought her back to her people. One of the kittens turned out to be deaf (as are 60-80% of white cats with blue eyes), and was adopted by a wonderful young woman who has experience living with a deaf cat. Two of the cats were adopted by another friend of mine, and they integrated very nicely into her family. The remaining kittens were adopted by great folks, and it's all worked out very well.

There have been ups and downs, of course. In the past week, both I and the foster coordinator ended up with FIV positive cats in end-stage liver failure. If we hadn't been there for those cats, they probably would have died alone and outside, slowly and painfully; instead, we were there to give them loving hands until the very end. Our boy purred from the moment we met him to the moment he passed, despite the fact that he must have been feeling terrible. We gave him love, and received his love, and that, really, was all he'd wanted in his last moments. I have no regrets about meeting him and being there for him; our time with him was a gift to both him and us.

Finally, we currently have five very crazy, bouncy, purry, adorable kittens. We kept them for an extra few days to make sure they were healthy; I don't like sending them out for adoption right after they're spayed and neutered if I haven't had them in my care before--I'd rather hang on to them and wait to see if they have an upper respiratory infection or some other issues, than send them home with an adopter potentially ill. So, until Saturday, we have some WILD THINGS in the foster room!

Things here have been busy, but not really bad, just lots of stuff going on. I've been neglecting my poor camera, so I don't have any decent pictures of the babies to share. I do have a lot on my mind to write about, and when I've got my head together, I'll put together some decent blog posts for y'all. I hope everyone is doing great out there.

News tidbits

Hey y'all, I am going to continue the "Fat is a symptom" series soon; I went through a few days of not feeling too great after hauling up the AC from the basement. Apparently, this person who could carry 120lbs without thinking about it much has a problem now with 50lbs. I CAN do it, but I pay for it later.

I knew that it might flatten me, but I was really getting sick from the heat, so I figured some muscle soreness would be better than nausea and dehydration. I am quite happy with my decision.

Our kitty situation is pretty good. We had Cyrene and her three kittens; the kittens are all adopted, and we're just waiting for room to open up at the adoption center for Cyrene. She is beautiful and very loving to people. Unfortunately, we've got a lot of cats at the center right now that really don't like other cats. Since one of them, Silver, looks like Cyrene, we are waiting until he is adopted before we stick her in the center.

Silver, by the way, is one hell of a great cat. When I was staffing the adoption clinic last week, he climbed up into my arms, wrapped his front legs around my neck in a hug, and proceeded to lick and nibble my earlobes. The other volunteer told us to get a room! He purred so loudly that it tickled my neck. He is beautiful, cuddly, and would definitely have come home with me that night if we didn't have any cats at home!

We also have Ziggy as a foster; she is a mama that raised her own kittens, then nursed someone else's, and came here to dry out. We're one of the very few foster homes willing to take in adult cats, so we were happy to give Ziggy some space.

Other than that, I've been reading a lot, trying to stay cool, and spending time with my wonderful spouse. I'd love to hear what you folks have been up to, and how you've been keeping cool, if you're in a place that's suffering a heat wave like we are here!

News: What's up with me lately

First, I know I asked y'all to give me your blog links, and I still haven't updated the blogroll yet. I WILL get to it, I pinky swear! I've been a combination of busy and not feeling great, with a skewed sleep cycle, but it's in my mind. Meanwhile, if you haven't given me your info yet, feel free to do so in a comment on this post so I can add you.

Next, We have a new foster. Calvin's brother Clarence has come to stay with us. Clarence seems like he's going to be a harder nut to crack; very shy, but not mean. We got him last night, so we haven't had time to work with him very much yet.

More foster news: Owl will be coming back to us tomorrow (Saturday) at noon. His new family wasn't a good fit for him, and he isn't happy there. He will stay with us for as long as necessary to find the right home.

Finally, I wanted to thank those who sent donations. Every bit helps, and I appreciate it so much. I have a button up on the left hand side of the blog if anyone else would like to donate. If you'd like to purchase something instead, my Etsy shop contains photographs, mostly of animals.

Brief update

I haven't abandoned y'all; I have just not been feeling great. Fibro fog and pain have my sleep schedule flipped, and my wellspring of inspiration is running dry because of the mental static.

Yesterday, I found myself in full-body agony, and I was so discombobulated by it that I actually forgot to take pain medication for it. I finally remembered when the spouse and I were already on our way to our friends' house, which made for an interesting evening.

Once we got home, I managed to remember the pill, and soaked in a hot bath. What I discovered was that the main source of my agony was my right leg and lower back; they hurting so badly that they just radiated waves of pain through my entire being. Once I'd fought back a little, and figured out the source, I was able to have my husband massage out some of it. I occasionally get a cramp that extends from big toe to coccyx, and it thwacks the hip, knee, and ankle on its way up and down. I often ask to be shot while enduring one of these. Putting on a light compression stocking does help (18-20 mmHg), but time is generally the only thing that fixes it completely.

So that's what I've been up to. I also have a new foster kitten, but he will be in a whole new post about him!

Is it Monday already?

Sorry for the weekend hiatus. My husband has the weekends off for about the next month or so, and we spend this past one doing stuff together. One activity was taking Owl to the adoption clinics; he was not adopted, but maybe next weekend! Once he finds a home, two of his siblings will come into our care. Brian has a stronger bond with Owl than I do, so he was better at comforting the little munchkin while I worked out my volunteer schedule with the coordinator. We also did some catsitting for a friend, spent time together watching some DVDs, and enjoyed each others' company.

Meanwhile, I have had some nasty comments here, and I want to take the time to state that, while I believe in freedom of expression, I don't believe that it requires me to give someone a forum to be uncivil to me in my own space. You don't go into a biker bar and bitch about how stupid and offensive tattoos and motorcycles are. You don't go to the gay bar and whine that homosexuality is evil. You want to say that stuff? Find a place to do so with your peers, without invading and intruding upon others. Want to complain that fat people are icky? Make your own blog. That kind of crap isn't welcome in mine.

Cool Switchplates!

I ordered some switchplates a little while back to go in my foyer and downstairs bathroom. I finally received them a couple days ago; they are apparently made-to-order, but they are absolutely worth the wait. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the plates I received are high-quality, with screws painted to match the portion of the plate they screw into. The plates themselves are made of metal, with a decoupage technique used to put the image on them. You are able to order them in just about any configuration of outlet, slider switch, GFI, and flip switch, and if the configuration you need isn't present, they'll happily do custom work if you call. If you want switchplates, I very very highly recommend their products.

I purchased these items:
Dragonfly switchplate, one single and one double, for the foyer.

Cat in the bathtub, single, for downstairs bathroom light switch.

Cats in the toilet, single, for downstairs bathroom fan switch.

There are a LOT of really cute designs available, and I was tempted to get more than I did, but I shouldn't have even purchased these (we are way broke). And no, the company isn't paying me to write this; I was just so very happy with the products I received that I wanted to share their site with other people!

Edited to add: Their products are handmade in the USA, and they are a small company. That alone makes me happy to purchase from them. :)

200 POSTS HOORAY!!!!!!!

Welcome to the 200th post of She Dances On The Sand!

As of this writing, I have 20,169 hits to my blog. I can't tell you how amazed I am at the size of that number, and how pleased I am that it ends in 69 (hur hur hur). I never thought that my silly old writings would be of much interest to anyone. I started off babbling about fish, fibromyalgia, and fat. I suppose I haven't changed that much since then.

I have kept a Livejournal for years. It helped me keep track of my daily life, and I have used it many times for reviewing what I've done and when. LJ has been and continues to be a wonderful social medium for me, and the things I write there are mostly informal and personal.

Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to write more formal items and build my writing skills, so I started a public blog to see what kind of response I would get. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that people enjoy some of the things I write, even when they are personal! I've had a wonderful time doing this, and I hope to continue as long as I have the time and energy. I have had a few periods here and there where I was not feeling well or was too busy to keep up, but I've attempted to be disciplined about posting regularly.

So, here's hoping I make it to 400 in even less time than I made it to 200. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog in the past, and to those of you who are reading this post!

7 things about me

I was tagged to do the 7 things about me thing. I will refrain from tagging others, because I don't want to go through and see who's done it and who hasn't, but I'll participate:

1. I was born with a twisted leg, which was corrected with a cast and some braces.

2. I skipped 3rd grade, then went right into the gifted program afterwards. Since I was one of only a few poor kids in the gifted program, it was pretty hellish due to the social structure.

3. I am mildly germophobic. This is a family trait; my dad and sis are much worse.

4. I get horribly carsick in I'm in a back seat. Sometimes even in the front seat, too, but it depends on the vehicle and who is driving. It's a lot more likely if it's bright out, and the combination of the bright sun hurting my eyes and the carsickness is, along with alcohol, one of my cluster headache triggers.

5. I constantly dream that my grandfather is alive. When he was alive, however, I frequently dreamt of his death.

6. I am very conscious of electrical safety around aquariums after an experience at a former workplace when a light fell into an aquarium that my arm was in. I had an asthma attack, and found that my inhaler was empty. It was a bad day.

7. I love cooking for other people, even when I'm not hungry.

KITTENS!

I haven't been posting lately. Instead of staying inside with the blinds down like a good little fatty, sparing the fragile eyesight of fat-haters, I've been BUSY!

I have been volunteering with a local cat rescue. I participated in their craft fair ("Holiday Furry Frenzy"! Cute!) and have been fostering kittens. Kittens have attracted guests, so I've entertained company many days this past week, spending a lot of time cooking, making tea, baking things for guests to have with tea, and enjoying life (how dare I).

I also had seven more snakes land in my lap this weekend. Long story, to be told later, with pictures.

But, the best reason for this post is, KITTENS! Kittens are good for the soul. They're entertaining, endearing, warm, purry, furry, appreciative of love, and, most of all, in need of help. I was more than happy to open my home to these fuzzy, cute passers-through, and they have provided many photo ops! So, onward with the pictures!

Ptera with her extra toeses:






Charlotte, fluffy and cuuuute and sweet as pie:



(she's such a little princess)

Anya on top of Charlotte; Charlotte tends to let everybody pile on. Anya doesn't have many pics because she is the super active one, and she is a blur most of the time:


My beautiful, wonderful, cat-loving, sweet, cuddly, uber-hawt husband with all three:


A man who loves cats is a man worth keeping.

Scam warning

Yesterday, I received three phone calls on my husband's phone. The person said they were with our electric supplier, and that our account with them had been switched, and would we like to authorize them to switch it back?

The name of the company (I can't remember what they said it was, IDT or something) was NOT National Grid. It's one of those little companies that cropped up after National Grid/NiMo was supposed to allow competition, you know, the ones that buy the power from National Grid and then sell it to you at a lower price--for the first three months or so, then jack it up, anyway.

The problem with this was that we did not switch over to any of those companies. Ever. When I asked the person, "Have we done business with you in the past?" she replied, "Oh yes, I can read you the account number right now, if you want."

That was an outright LIE. She claimed to be our supplier until a month ago. That's just not true: We never went through a middleman; we have been with NiMo/National Grid this whole time. This person was lying to me and trying to trick me into becoming a customer by claiming we already were a customer. I'm going to get the number from Brian's phone and look it up, and maybe report them to the BBB and attorney general. While I am skeptical enough to see through that crap, a lot of people aren't, especially older people.

So, if you get a similar call, be aware that they have no qualms about lying to you in order to get you to sign up!

World Wide Play Day

Today, my best friend Adam came over to hang out. He reminded me that today was World Wide Play Day, and suggested that we go out to a park. So, we packed a lunch (Tofurky cranberry & stuffing slices and cheddar cheese slices with wheat bread for sandwiches, a package of fresh snap peas, a bag of apples, and two fresh homemade lavender and dark chocolate brownies), grabbed a blanket and my camera, and set off for a favorite location of mine: Plotter Kill Nature Reserve.

While we didn't take the portion of the trail that goes past the waterfalls, I did manage a pretty long hike, and Adam was patient with my slower progress, giving me a hand to steady me for steep downward portions. We saw and heard blue jays, chickadees, a downy woodpecker, a gray catbird, and many other species. I introduced him to the carroty scent of Queen Anne's lace and pointed out what poison ivy looks like. I saw no reptiles or amphibians, but I wasn't looking for them.

Five years ago, I would have completed the circuit with no trouble. I actually rescued a kitten in Plotter Kill back then (her name is Akira, and she lives with someone that I worked with at the time), and it was a favorite spot for me to visit with friends. Now, I'm going to take a couple days to recover from the exertion, but it was well worth the effort.

Mom's going to yell at me for this

Story of my life:


I'm the one on the right.

About me-mini biography

I suppose I've never properly introduced myself here, have I?

I was born in 1974 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the Fort Carson army base where my dad was stationed as an enlisted man. After he completed his service, my parents moved back to their hometown of Quincy, IL to raise me and give me a baby sister (born 1978). We were not religious, and I'm really glad for this.

I eventually went to Quincy University, a Franciscan university where many of the instructors were friars. Their biology program was pretty good, and I became an avid birdwatcher as a result of my ornithology class. For most of the time I was there, I dated someone who was wonderful, but ultimately incompatible.

After I ran out of scholarship money to attend school, I floated for a while in jobs until I met my first spouse and moved to Schenectady, NY to live with him in 1998. We did great at first, but things eventually fell apart.

I was going to school for fisheries and aquaculture, making the Dean's List, when I met Brian. I have been glued to him pretty much ever since. A few months after we met, I needed surgery for PCOS--I had a number of large cysts removed, and Brian took good care of me while I recovered. After that surgery, my body started to really go haywire, and I developed fibromyalgia.

At that point, I had been fat and fit for over five years. I could no longer do things that were perfectly easy before the surgery. Every dream I'd had of becoming a field biologist was gone, because I could no longer do the physical labor associated with the work.

So here I am, a brain full of knowledge and a wrecked body full of pain, wondering what's next.

Weekend out of town

I've been gone for the weekend, visiting family in NH. It was a good time, but travel is really hard on me. We rented a van that had seats which could not recline even the slightest bit, so I spent the trip sitting bolt-upright. Thank goodness for dramamine!

On the trip, I busied myself with writing in a notebook and drawing bad art. No camera work, as I didn't see much that inspired me to take photos.

Part of our trip involved a picnic at the lake. My in-laws live in a gated community situated on a lake, where the houses are anywhere from half a million to several times that. While we sat under the huge tent, I had a strange feeling being among all of the people there, and it took me a little while to put my finger on it.

I had not seen such a gathering of all white people since I moved to Albany, NY from Quincy, IL. I've lived in NY for almost ten years now, and I've grown very accustomed to the diversity here; so accustomed, apparently, that I'm actually uncomfortable without it. My brother-in-law, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area, said that it weirds him out every time he visits as well.

Albany, NY has an enormously diverse population. Any race or nationality you can think of is represented here. The tech and engineering industries have brought in a ton of Asian and Middle Eastern people, for example. When I lived in Schenectady with my first husband, we were one of maybe two non-Indian/Pakistani families in our huge apartment complex. All of the men of those families worked for GE doing engineering and computer stuff, as did my husband. The block where we currently reside is mostly a mix of Black and white families, and we are moving to a neighborhood that is similar, with fewer whites than here.

One of my most recent jobs was in a neighborhood where our customers were incredibly diverse. There were many immigrants; countries represented included Russia, Germany, The Dominican Republic, Columbia, Japan, Australia, England, and Poland--and that's just the few that I can think of off the top of my head. I got to hear about all kinds of places, and I felt so lucky to learn from so many different people.

When I read about people who struggle to find salons that even know about, let alone specialize in, African hair, I want to invite them to Albany, where I can direct them to at least four places that I know pretty well. I had to do a photography gig for an area merchant association, and every business in that small area knew who I was. The sheer number of African hair places, including one that was specifically devoted to braiding only, was striking to me. It's a nice little community where you can get just about every service under the sun, including a fantastic manicure, amazing pizza delivery, delicious specialty chocolates, and the best homemade pumpkin ravioli in the entire world, and it's because so many different people have come together to create a neighborhood that is relatively safe, clean, and friendly.

I felt very much NOT at home in the sea of Caucasian faces on the shores of that lake. I don't know if it was the lack of diversity, or the careful masks that everyone wore, but I never thought I'd be so glad to get home to the unruly neighbor kids that run absolutely wild in the streets here (all races, all heavily unsupervised; they're not really naughty, just loud and not very cautious around cars*!). Seeing homes that looked "lived-in" instead of the cookie-cutter McMansions, being in a neighborhood with history, all of this is comforting to me.

Is it any wonder that I was not inspired to pick up my camera? Every ounce of "wild" had been squeezed out by perfectly manicured lawns. There was no architecture to capture my interest, no urban graffiti that made me think, and no broken-down items at the curb to tell stories. Just perfect lawns, perfect houses, and perfect people with perfect children, 2.5 in number, and primarily blonde, blue-eyed, and indoctrinated with the absolute knowledge that they are the Be-All and End-All, and that all attention should be entirely focused upon them, no matter what. I suppose the up-side to this is that I was pretty much forced to rely on introspection and imagination to write and draw. In the presence of a sterile environment, we have only ourselves for inspiration.

*One day, I came within inches of running over the little neighbor girl who is ~6 years old. We have diagonal parking spaces on our block, and she was sitting and playing in one of them, next to a car, but in the space next to it, by the tire. I could not see her at all when I turned into the space, and I glimpsed her at the last possible moment and braked hard. She did not even look up. Her mother was nowhere in sight, as usual, and I was extremely freaked out. She's a nice little girl, and she loves to see and touch my snakes when I bring them out, but I wish someone would talk to her about playing in the street, which she does quite frequently.

News

My husband and I found a house that we love, and our bid was accepted today! While the house itself was perfect and beyond, the gardens were a real charmer for me. I have felt so stifled living in apartments; I grew up in the country, and we always had something growing. There's even an apple orchard at mom and dad's place--it's small, but it's got mature trees that are almost as old as I am!

Gardening is a true love for me. I am awful at growing houseplants; I have doomed more plants to death by trying my hand more often that I should have at keeping them indoors. Gardens, however, seem to be easy for me. I also have some hydroponic skills; it was like second nature when I took horticulture classes in college.

Brian's planning out his woodworking space, while I'm dreaming up flowerbeds! Wish us luck on the closing bit.

In other unrelated news, I fiddled with the layout a bit--I put a new title on the blog, and added an appropriate photo of myself. Enjoy!

Always wear sunscreen!

Last week, I wound up with a killer cluster headache. If you don't know about cluster headaches, they are horrible things that are worse than migraines (I get both). It feels like a white hot drill is drilling into your eyeball. If you have one, you tend to try to hit your head on things, push so hard on your eyeball that you nearly gouge it out, and you want to be alone and away from light. While lying down tends to help migraines, it makes clusters worse. The nostril on the afflicted side stuffs up, and the eye becomes teary. You get almost no warning when they are about to strike; they come on very suddenly, with maybe a hint of an aura (like with migraines), just enough to let you say, "Oh no, not THIS again." When they're over, they go just as suddenly, but not after making you seriously consider shooting yourself in the head or finding a heroin dealer. Sometimes Brian can massage them away, but this one wasn't going ANYWHERE.

This time, however, I had a secret weapon--a secret stash of a single, very expensive Maxalt pill, the quick-dissolving kind. These are prescription only, and they can be pretty dangerous for people with heart problems, and I hadn't yet taken one before. I figured I'd just store it in my cupboard until the expiration ran out. Once that cluster hit, though, I tried everything before deciding to risk the Maxalt ( Yes, I do have a prescription for Vicoprofen, but that didn't touch it). I let Brian know what the risks were, and asked him to keep an eye on me (I don't have heart problems or high blood pressure, but you never know what might happen), and let that sucker dissolve under my tongue.

Within a few minutes, the cluster slowed down to a dull throb, and I was verrry sleepy. I dropped off into a deep sleep, and I awoke a few hours later, headache-free, very mellow, but utterly exhausted. When the cluster is over, you feel like you have run a marathon in your brain. You don't feel the pain, but you're just completely spent.

Now, I've relayed this whole cluster headache story to set up for what I did this weekend. Karen and I went to the Waterford Canalfest on Saturday. It was very sunny out, and I got scorched. The thing is, we weren't there long enough for me to get as horribly burned as I did. It's now Tuesday afternoon, and it's not getting better--and it hurts like fricken hell. I'd forgotten that Maxalt makes you REALLY sensitive to sunlight. Worse than antibiotics sensitive. I'd pretty much forgotten that I had taken it, so I didn't even think about sunscreen. I'm just glad I managed to pick up some sunglasses, because I would have been half-blind for a couple days in addition to being broiled.

I guess I deserved the rather nasty lesson in ALWAYS WEARING SUNSCREEN!

Aquarium Store Life

I currently work in an aquarium store*, where I have a variety of duties. The saltwater department is entirely my responsibility, due to my experience, but I am involved with every other aspect of the store as well.

This is the sixth such store at which I've been employed. It is, thus far, the best one. High end fish, big tanks, and good products--the store owner does not blink at making sure we have the best and brightest in the region.

Prior to this job, I had worked at a museum, where I was the aquarist. I took care of a river exhibit and worked in the animal room, which was full of reptiles. I loved the work, but it was a difficult social environment. I don't enjoy playing cliquish games and insincere, backhanded compliments. I got out of there before I lost my mind, but it hurt terribly to leave behind the creatures I loved.

I have a sizeable menagerie at home. Many snakes, a few turtles, several felines, and a silly little pac-man frog named Blinky. Blinky lives on my desk, and he's watching me right now.

I don't know if I'll have anything interesting to say, but I'll give it my best shot.

*This status has changed as of May 3, 2007. I am currently doing part time work cleaning aquariums when my health permits.