Brotherboy Update

After 13 days in the hospital undergoing physical therapy, Brotherboy came home. They told me he could walk and use a litter box (those were the goals) but he had problems walking on tile floors. Hummmm, my whole house is tiled; this will be interesting.

At home he looked like we all did the day we learned to use roller skates. Sometimes his front or back leg (on the gunshot side) would slowly slide out from under him. Regardless, he has improved/adapted everyday. He can jump up on the couch and bed (that took him about two days to figure out). He got a release from his doctor to go outside again and he frequently visits the scene of the crime (probably trying to get closure). He looks like a normal cat most of the time, especially outside where he can get some traction. But while inside, he sometimes shows signs of clumsy goofiness.

What I haven't told you about this story is that two days after I found my cat in the ditch, another cat in my neighborhood was shot. Because of all this cruelty, people in the community have put up a $300.00 reward for any information leading to the arrest (and dismemberment) of the assailants.

CSI - Rockport

The other day I was leaving the house and saw my cat Brotherboy laying in the culvert of the ditch behind my house. No big deal; that is his hangout.

His back was to me, so I rolled down the window to talk to him. He just laid there and then looked back over his shoulder and started talking.

Crap! Cat's don't do that....just lay there I mean...in a ditch.

So I got out and crawled down into the pit to find my BroBro couldn't move his legs on one side.

He was filthy and smelled like a ditch. He told me all about it.

I called the vet and she was heading back to Rockport from her holiday. Six hours later we met at the clinic and she determined Brotherboy had been shot in the neck with a pellet gun.

Now he is being pumped full of steroids and we are hoping when the swelling goes down and he heals that he will one day walk again.


I took this picture last week, at the time, I did not know it would become a crime scene. If you look close....you can see Brotherboy in the pipe.

I just have one question: Who shot my cat?

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am.

I Heart Home Ec

Today Laci and I went to the store and pre-shopped for her next food lab. Laci has to buy 250 eggs in the morning. I don't miss that part of my job. You see, I taught home economics for 15 years and LOVED it. My favorite subject was Food Science and Nutrition.

I grew up before Food TV and used to watched Julia Child every Saturday with my mom. Mom had a lot of cookbooks and was always trying things out she read about or saw on television. She and my brother Bill like to talk and read about food. They go to grocery stores for fun. I do too.

Now that my friend Laci is teaching Food Science and Nutrition at Rockport-Fulton High School, I get to go up there and help out. I recently got to show her how to make biscuits from scratch. I had to laugh when I was showing her because I slipped back into teacher mode. It was just me and her but I was talking like I had a class of 30 sitting there in anticipatory set. Demos were my favorite.

Right now they are learning about eggs and cheese, so naturally an omelet lab is in the works. I used Julia Child videos (along with my demo) but Laci is using the more hip and trendy Alton Brown DVD. Same technique just a little more appropriate for this Food TV generation.

My friend Stacy teaches junior high home economics in San Antonio. We talked today, at length, about omelets. She told me about a very successful lab she used with her 8th graders....Omelet in a Bag.

I was hooked and had to try it. If I were teaching I would soooooo do this in class. First they would do it the classic way (French/rolled) and then the wacky, mad scientist way. Man, where is a classroom when I need one?

For a copy of the Omelet in a Bag recipe please, click here. I encourage/dare you to try this at home, and if you do tell me about it. As Julia would say, "Bon appetit."

Noodle Returned to the Earth

Well, this has been an odd month. First of all, my apologies for being absent from the Twelve Days of Catherine. I didn't post once about it, or even publish my annual Wants and Needs Birthday List (which, by the way, is still available if you're interested).

In my defense I was VERY busy with the Young Life Fish Fry fundraiser. It being an all consuming fry makes it hard for me to get into the spirit of Catherine. I wasn't bummed, just too busy.

Then there was the Noodle factor. Her health slowly deteriorated until I decided on the night before my birthday that the next morning I would take her to the vet and have them pull the plug. Instead I woke up at 3:30 a.m. thinking about her and decided to go check her status. I scratched her ears and she kicked her leg a little. I said her name and she opened her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and left me. It was 3:58 (I got that from watching ER).

I got flowers for my birthday, so after a day or two I took them out and put them on her grave.

Carlos and I have formed a support group.

Noodle

Being that it is Halloween, I thought I would dedicate this post to my black cat named Noodle. Why? Because the clock is ticking. She is 17 years and 7 months old and basically a fossil.

Her best friend is Carlos (another black cat). Carlos loves her very much and they have both lived out in the garage for years, but when Noodle started getting feeble I brought her inside. Soon Carlos moved in to help take care of her. I'm serious. He guards her, grooms her, and sleeps near her to keep her warm.

She tells me things, but I don't know what she is saying. She is really sweet.

Salisbury Steak

I have such fond memories of school cafeteria food: corn, Salisbury steak, fish sticks, pinto beans, turkey and dressing (OMG), so many good things. Attending school in Brazoria County, we got great meals served to us on mobile steam carts. You could buy a lunch token (red) or get lunch for the whole week (5 tickets). You also had the option of buying an extra milk token (white). We ate them right in our classrooms. They would also put a big bowl of pinto beans with extra white bread in every room during lunch. Then in the afternoon we all got a carton of chocolate milk.

Recently I told my friend Laci, the new Family and Consumer Science teacher at RFHS, to email me when Salisbury Steak was on the school menu. There are only three places to get this kind of a meal: TV dinners, hospitals, and school cafeterias. So today I had Salisbury Steak, cabbage (with corn in it) and potatoes au gratin. I love that stuff, but you have to eat it before it cools off because then it gets rubbery. :)

Parting Shots

No one seemed too curious as to why I had blood work done a few weeks ago (remember that's how I found out I had high cholesterol). Well with the blood work I also had an EKG and wore a Holter Monitor for 24 hours. We are trying to figure out why I am having heart palpitations. I ignored the symptoms for a week or two until I started having numbness in my left arm. DANG! One or the other isn't bad, but those two symptoms together are ALARMING.

As symptoms would have it, the minute I go to the doctor, they [the symptoms] disappear. Regardless, I will follow these medical precautions to the end. I said all that to say this:

I went to the cardiologist Thursday and he asked me if I drank coffee. I said yes, but wasn't forthcoming about the quantities. He somehow knew, because he gave me this look, and I caved. I confessed my addition and asked if I could just go half-caf. He said, "How about all caf?" What a HACK! So I told him I would quit on Saturday because Starbucks was closing in Rockport for good on Friday.

Gina making my last latte. As always she made it with love!

Susan was my most frequent Starbucks partner.

I told the manager about my pending heart attack, so he gave me a free lb. of decaf. I drank some last night....it's like drinking brown water.

Baristas I love and will miss.

Above: Jamee (straw in nose) always had a joke of the day when I went through the drive through. He got them off his Laughy Taffy. The girl in black is named Glory....just like my sister. That is rare.

More baristas. Aaron (blue shirt) came back from school for the customer appreciation party.

Goodbye Starbucks drive thru.

Good-bye to the best Starbucks EVER! :(

Private Bander

Rockport, Texas is a pit stop for the southern migration of hummingbirds. Where they are going I am not sure, but during September they are swarming this town like gnats.

My good friend Susan is a certified bander of hummingbirds and has a back yard filled with feeders. She was scheduled to do demonstrations during this year's Hummingbird Festival but it was canceled due to the pending hurricane.

I work with the Odyssey After School Enrichment program and we collaborated with Susan on a field trip to her house for a private banding session. I have lived in this bird loving town for 15 years and have never seen anything like this. It was great. Here are some pictures.

Merritt Madelynn

While I worried about what cats to take with me during my Ike evacuation, my friends Anne and Seth had a more complicated problem. Anne was on the brink of childbirth.

They evacuated to Austin where Anne gave birth to their first baby on September 12th. You can see a video of the news coverage by clicking HERE.

Merritt Madelynn

9.12.07 ~ 4:43 a.m.

20 inches ~ 9 pounds ~ 14 ounces