Saturday, July 29, 2006
The Annual Birthday Bash
This post is sent from "on the road", as it's the weekend for our Canobie Lake Park Birthday Bash. With 7 kids in 4 familes, it was easier to have one big party than have many different ones spread over the year.
The usual hotels near the park were full this year, so we're all at a Marriot Spring Hill Suites about 7 miles away. Very reasonable rate for a room with 2 TV's, a "living room", 2 large beds, a kitchenette and hi-speed internet (not wireless). The kicker is that it's right next to where I work, so I obviously had no problems finding the place. My guess is that they can offer the low rates because it is situated in an industrial park and probably does a good business with travelers during the week.
Just returned from the annual dinner at the Weathervane, a seafood restaurant. Now we're all either resting, watching TV, blogging (me), or in the pool. We're off to the park tomorrow morning with a decent weather forecast, except for the mid 90 heat.
I end up being the family "videographer" so my family memories are black & white images from a camcorder viewfinder, tomorrow will be no different. I'm not a ride person anyway, I'll hit a couple of water rides to cool off, the kids have way too much energy for this 50-year old.
I doubt I'll be there all day, I hate the heat and I'll be home in time to catch the Sox on ESPN and to jam the meds down Buddy's throat.
The usual hotels near the park were full this year, so we're all at a Marriot Spring Hill Suites about 7 miles away. Very reasonable rate for a room with 2 TV's, a "living room", 2 large beds, a kitchenette and hi-speed internet (not wireless). The kicker is that it's right next to where I work, so I obviously had no problems finding the place. My guess is that they can offer the low rates because it is situated in an industrial park and probably does a good business with travelers during the week.
Just returned from the annual dinner at the Weathervane, a seafood restaurant. Now we're all either resting, watching TV, blogging (me), or in the pool. We're off to the park tomorrow morning with a decent weather forecast, except for the mid 90 heat.
I end up being the family "videographer" so my family memories are black & white images from a camcorder viewfinder, tomorrow will be no different. I'm not a ride person anyway, I'll hit a couple of water rides to cool off, the kids have way too much energy for this 50-year old.
I doubt I'll be there all day, I hate the heat and I'll be home in time to catch the Sox on ESPN and to jam the meds down Buddy's throat.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Pilling Buddy
Buddy's hyperthyroid condition requires that he get medication twice a day, in the form of 1 1/2 pills. He used to get the pills ground up in his food, but he's not eating when the food is served to him, so to keep Lucky from getting the meds, I've had to give Buddy the pills myself.
Fortunately, Buddy is a very good patient. He gets put up on the bathroom sink and I reach from behind to keep him in place. I don't have to worry about losing my fingers or being scratched, eventually his mouth gets pried open, and in go the pills.
His latest "trick" is to turn his head and look right at me as soon as I go for the mouth, at which point he'll get told what a "good boy he is" and he should just let me get it over with. He'll do this a couple of times then give up.
This morning, he decided to open his mouth as soon as I touched it. I was so surprised, I wasn't ready with the pills.
Buddy holds no grudges, he'll curl up next to me within a few minutes of getting pilled. I'd hate to do this with Lucky, I doubt I'd have any unscratched skin left on me by now.
Fortunately, Buddy is a very good patient. He gets put up on the bathroom sink and I reach from behind to keep him in place. I don't have to worry about losing my fingers or being scratched, eventually his mouth gets pried open, and in go the pills.
His latest "trick" is to turn his head and look right at me as soon as I go for the mouth, at which point he'll get told what a "good boy he is" and he should just let me get it over with. He'll do this a couple of times then give up.
This morning, he decided to open his mouth as soon as I touched it. I was so surprised, I wasn't ready with the pills.
Buddy holds no grudges, he'll curl up next to me within a few minutes of getting pilled. I'd hate to do this with Lucky, I doubt I'd have any unscratched skin left on me by now.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Catnip bubbles
I've been out of the wedding loop for a while, but when my wife and I went to a wedding last weekend we were handed bubble favors instead of the traditional rice to throw at the bride and groom. I suppose it's partially because there's no cleanup involved with bubbles. Anyway, it was fun for all of us to blow the bubbles around.
We ended up at home with partially used little bottles of bubble water and my wife wanted to see how our 2 cats would react to it. As I expected, Buddy the elderly one seemed to be scared of them especially when they popped on his fur. Lucky was definitely interested in playing with them, to the point where when we were finished he would cry for more. This from a cat who hardly ever meows, even if you step on his tail. Now if we show him the bottle, he'll cry for us to blow the bubbles at him. I'm glad he's finally decided we're worthy of being "talked" to.
Yesterday, while shopping for other kitty needs, my wife saw a bottle of "catnip bubbles". You guessed it, catnip in bubble water, just shake and blow bubbles. Well, those turned out to be a big hit with both cats, except it was really difficult to get a good amount of bubbles, I think it might be because the wand is much larger than the ones we got with the wedding favors. I think the cats would prefer lots of little bubbles to fewer smaller ones, so they won't fight over them. Buddy still prefers to watch them, but he's not scared of them and Lucky will joyfully chase and destroy.
We ended up at home with partially used little bottles of bubble water and my wife wanted to see how our 2 cats would react to it. As I expected, Buddy the elderly one seemed to be scared of them especially when they popped on his fur. Lucky was definitely interested in playing with them, to the point where when we were finished he would cry for more. This from a cat who hardly ever meows, even if you step on his tail. Now if we show him the bottle, he'll cry for us to blow the bubbles at him. I'm glad he's finally decided we're worthy of being "talked" to.
Yesterday, while shopping for other kitty needs, my wife saw a bottle of "catnip bubbles". You guessed it, catnip in bubble water, just shake and blow bubbles. Well, those turned out to be a big hit with both cats, except it was really difficult to get a good amount of bubbles, I think it might be because the wand is much larger than the ones we got with the wedding favors. I think the cats would prefer lots of little bubbles to fewer smaller ones, so they won't fight over them. Buddy still prefers to watch them, but he's not scared of them and Lucky will joyfully chase and destroy.
