Tag Archives: Cats

New Picture Gallery

In the last few weeks I discovered that our scanner can deduct separate items instead of forcing things into 1 sheet.  So I can now scan 2-6 pictures at a time and not have to go back and crop them from each other.  Which is a huge help.

So I finally took time and scanned some of our wedding pictures since I didn’t have to be stuck editing them.

Here is the new gallery of our wedding pictures :

http://paulineantoinette.com/PNH/paulineharold/PNH_wedding/PNH_wedding/index.html

Those are located on our bio page of my blog : http://www.paulineantoinette.com/bio/

I also finally got around putting together the rest of our cat pictures from last year :

http://paulineantoinette.com/PNH/cats/2009_cats/2009_Cats/index.html

Those have been added to our cat page ; http://www.paulineantoinette.com/our-cats/

Now of course that means I probably won’t get back to working on our pictures for awhile…….lol

Flying Cat, Police & SCOTUS

Well, this time I remembered to put subjects down when I thought of them to remind myself of what I wanted to write about.  =)

Today we actually got a few things done, hubby got the place vacuumed of all the cat fur…not a fun job. We did some outside work.  Hubby got it done much faster then I thought it would take. I got #8 of strawberries cleaned and frozen, shortcake made, laundry done & a blog post.  Tomorrow, debating on making up some egg salad and need to finalize our taxes….fun, fun….  I really need to get back focused on our project….need to get that done.  What I need to do, is put on my ipod to my classical music and just tunnel vision myself.

I finished the Secret Lives of the Supreme Court last week. That was a very interest for a SCOTUS geek like me….grin I’m now reading True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy.  I’m really enjoying how he wrote it.  It is filled with humor, personal insight…..telling a story without it being dry.  So far you get to know people like he knew them….  I have been trying to give myself reading time…it really helps for chilling out and keeping my sanity.  =)

I so can’t wait for more hiking weather…just to get out of the house more.  The gym is getting ho-hum…I think I’m getting restless with it.  I don’t want stop it, just want to get more drive again and less boredom.  Changing between the treadmill & elliptical is helping.  But by the time I get my abs in, I don’t feel like getting my weights in….not good.  But as long as I’m maintaining for now, it is a good thing.  Once we get out more, it won’t be so bad.

We discovered that our other cat, Sakura, can fly….grin  But unlike her brother, she didn’t care that we saw her.  We have a black leather chair that spins with a foot stool about 5-6ft away from the end table.  As we were watching a Ron White stand up, I saw out of the corner of my eye a chunky furry body flying through the air from the end table to the chair….she landed on the top of the chair and it went spinning around in circles.  LMAO  She just looked at us like “What? I do this all the time”  Holy cow…..we just lost it…  I don’t get these 2 cats….we’ve never had cats act like they don’t give a rats ass about us correcting them and don’t care if they do things in front us that they are not allowed to do.  They are something else…we have never had cats fly before….LOL

There is one thing that I find very different to me here in Portland.  I guess there is a history of police brutality from the PDX police.  And from the news reports it sounds like they have taken a lot of steps to correct the actions of the past.  But there have been a few deaths from police shootings in the last year or so.  One of the shooting, sounds like the cop totally screwed up, but unfortunately we had one a few weeks ago and there has been protests….but this one doesn’t sound like a screw up.

This last shooting, the guy was covered in blood, had a knife and was acting crazy.  A knife is a deadly weapon, I would prefer and would hope that they could find another way to disarmed them….but a knife is not something that you play with when it comes to the public and your safety.  So with the info that has been released, at this time I feel it was more like a justified shooting….but I like to hear the all the info.

I hate the arm chair “cops” that act like they know what should’ve been done without being in that situation and knowing all the facts.

Now yes, I know that there are cops that abuse their authority….ever dealt with a small town cop on a power trip?  Not fun.

But now a days, in most places (there are some cites that are nothing but corruption…..not going to name the ones I won’t trust) most cops are just doing their job, trying to keep the public safe.

Maybe I just have been lucky with my dealing with cops, especially the county and state cops in IN, even when I’ve gotten pulled a lot when I was younger and dumber (very well deserved pull overs, 90% of the time). I’ve only had one bad experience, it was in FL and that was due his attitude and talking to others…this cop was known for being an ass….so I don’t actually count him.  Every other cop I’ve dealt with has always been professional.  I treated them with respect and it has always been returned.

My first two jobs were in food service and when cops and emergency responders came in they got 50% off. There are two main reasons for that.  One you know their jobs don’t pay…..so two, if you take care of them and they keep coming back they keep even a better eye on your place.  One of places I worked, it was the only location in all of Lake Country that hadn’t been robbed, because we had cops there all the time. And when they saw cars that they didn’t recognized in our parking lot after hours, they called us to check on us to make sure that everything was ok.  So it is a win-win situation.

So, even though I know that PDX police’s history has been spotty, I’m very uncomfortable with how quickly that they “burned at the stake” no matter what the info is….like the knife and the threats.  It so ties the hands of the good cops that are putting their lives on the line to do a thankless job.

Well, if you follow my tweets with all the links, you know that I’ve totally tied up in the retirement of Justice Stevens.  When you are addicted to politics, history and social issues you know that the Supreme Court is a huge part of our advancement in society, ie Civil Rights…women being allowed to control their own bodies.  What is really sad about Justice Stevens retirement is that he is seen as the force on the liberal side when he is actually old republican moderate.  It is the court that has changed.

The right-wing-nuts rally against “activist judges” (which is code for liberal judges) but their hypocrisy shows because the actual activist judges on the bench are the conservatives.  They are always rolling back our rights…..I feel as if they are going to throw us back to segregation and back alley abortions.  Screw our rights as long as corporations are allowed to do what they want and the white men keeps their power…..ggrrrr No ONE tells me what I can or can’t do with my body, my husband respects that.

Time to do a little bit of reading.  =)

My Happenings for the Month

Been a while since an update. Same old same old….I have thoughts about what I want to blog about and then when I go and do it, my brain goes blank….so sad.

What I need to do, is do a draft post with just thoughts/subjects. So when I go and write one up, I have a reminder for myself.

I’ve been maintaining at the gym. Nothing earth shattering. After using the treadmill for about 18months straight, I’m getting a little annoyed on it. So I’ve been using the elliptical machine the last 2 days. I like that it is easier on my knees, feet & hands (I death grip the treadmill, no matter what speed). I also like that it working totally different muscles and so far, when I get off of it my legs feel jelly like. What I don’t like, is that it doesn’t force you keep the speed so I’m getting a good sweat but not the soaking, down pouring sweat that means I’ve burned more calories. According to the machine, I’m burning about 200 calories less and about 2 miles less then I’m use to. But I know that the speed I put on the treadmill is nothing that I would ever be capable of doing naturally without it forcing me and my death grip. So I just need to get my routine on it and with there being 2 versions of that machine at the gym, learn how to make them work the best for me.

Our kitties are still cute and ornery……grin Drew almost acts like a dog when you call him and loves to play with hubby on the cat tree. You try to correct either Drew or Sakura about something and they look at you like to say “what?” Heck, when hubby has pointed his finger at Sakura to scold her she turns around and rubs her face against it…..LOL Totally makes us laugh…..grin

Alexis is still hard at hearing, meowing (yelling/screaming) at us, because she can’t hear herself. Wondering if she is going senile, since she’ll do it in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.  She never use to make this kind of noise until she ended up sick over a year ago. Not she just hasn’t stopped…..drives us batty. I keep wondering if those 4 days at the vet for the thyroid treatment gave her separation anxiety. She hadn’t been overnight since she was fixed as a kitten 14yrs before. She is use to us traveling and leaving for a few days, but that is when she is left home with everything she is use to.  I just wish she would stop being so loud….

We had some friends come down for a visit a few weeks ago.  We took them to see Crown Point Observatory and Multnomah Falls, everyone has to see that when they visit.  =)

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We finally did some Portland things and went to Voodoo Donuts & Powell’s Books.  Wow….those donuts were awesome….grin  And a bookstore, 3 floors and a whole city block…..I loved it!  Ironically my favor subjects (politics, history, social issues)  were under my favorite color (purple).  Need to go back down there and go to the Chinese Garden and visit more of the shops.

We have had a really mild winter.  According to the news we are about 6ft below the average snow pack on Mt Hood.  That is not a good thing….that is our summer water when we go into our dry season.  Part of Oregon are under drought warnings.  It is from the El Nino….all the wet weather is going either north or south of us….California and it flooding….that is our normal winter rain. So on one hand, concerned about possible drought conditions for the summer, but it really has been nice for winter.  Everything started budding in Feb, about 5 weeks earlier then normal.

With the nicer weather, I’ve been wanting to get out on one of the nice days.  So hubby found a nice hike in central Oregon, about  2 & 1/2 hours SE of here.  It is what they call the high desert.  Boy, once you are going down 26 on the east side of Hood, huge difference in the vegetation. You get use to all the green wooded area on this side of Hood and the Gorge that it is hard to imagine it being anything else until you see it.

We also really got to see Mt Jefferson better then we see from this side.  Normally we just barely see the tip of it on a clear day from high points.

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Those smaller peaks to the south (left) of Mt Jefferson are the Three Sisters.

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Closer look at the Three Sisters.  Hope, Charity, & Faith.

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That “small” peak is Mt Hood.  So not use to seeing it look so small.  =)

We went to Smith Rock State Park for our hike (this was our trail http://www.nwhiker.com/SmithRockHike.html ).  It was only 4miles….which was nice distance wise……but it had heck of a climb up and down.  That 1st miles was a witch.  No matter how much you do at the gym, it never prepares you for climbs like that.  It just totally wipes out your stamina.  We did the hike in about 3hrs.  According to wiki, they have shot several westerns there and it is “generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing

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I’ve already posted all our of pics from this hike in my facebook, just need to make a gallery to post them all here.

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I actually got a good pic of hubby.

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Our traditional self-portrait.  =)

It was really great to get out of the house and our routine for a change.  I never like long drives, but we did get to see the snow on Mt Hood.  =)  With not getting our average the snow line was much higher then normal and melting.  Wasn’t even required to have chains on. We really want to explore all the different parts of Oregon for hiking.  So we are leaning towards the coast for our next day hike, since we haven’t done that yet.  We would love to get to Crater Lake for camping and hiking this year.

Flying Cats

I totally meant to have this in my last entry.  But we have discovered that our cat, Drew, can fly.  It is an interesting thing to learn about one’s cats.

But I do need to give some background on our evil cats.  =)

Sakura has a major thing for tearing up paper.  She will just sit there for hours and just methodically bite and tear into paper. I have to worry about receipts on my desk and magazines in the living room. Those aren’t too bad, until they fall on the floor….then she will go for it.  A very destructive cat when it comes to paper.  You should see what she does with cardboard left in the garage….lol

Drew Brees enjoys tearing paper, but no were like his sister…..he has a thing for wire bread ties, tooth picks and tearing off my wicker from my laundry basket.  Oh yeah, and q-tips…so we had to get a trash can in the bathroom with a lid on it to stop that one….lol We have no idea how he gets the toothpicks…..we brought a new holder that you have to shake it to get them. We think he has a stash somewhere, because we will find him with them all over the house.


Well, both of them love to mess with plants…both tearing into the plant and digging into the dirt, which sucks.  Because we love our green house plants, especially my hubby who loves to take care of them.  Our other 4 cats were never this bad at all.  We were able to have our plants without an issue.  These two….well, we grew some grass for them and they just tore into big time.  Drew pulled it out of its container.

So hubby keeps trying to find places for our plants to stay safe.  We lost 2 of our plants that came with us from Florida and they chewed on our bamboo.  =(  Well, we thinking what is the safest place to put our plants…..how about hanging from the ceiling?

Wellllll…..that worked for maybe 2 weeks.  We heard something while in the office, sounded like it was from the bathroom…looked, no one there.  Sakura and Alexis were sleeping and since we didn’t see Drew, we thought something just fell.  I go downstairs a few hours later, look at the cat’s food area and find a portion of our hanging plant in the water dish.  I called hubby down…..wow, we were both so upset but also trying hard not to laugh….because somehow Drew was able to jump on the hanging plant without knowing anything down and stay on long enough to also dig into the dirty….we have no idea how he did it.  Hubby has this image in his head of Drew’s butt just hanging and swinging from our plant and we are both upset that we didn’t see it happen, because that would be funny site….lol  We have concluded that Drew has learned how to fly to get up there…..grin

We have never had such cats that are so ornery, destructive, playful, and just don’t care when we try to correct them. They look at us as to say “what?” and causally walk away like nothing…..it is both amusing and infuriating….lol  We have some crazy cats….yet they are so laid back.  Even when they are totally fluffed up, we can pick them up and calm them down.  If that was Reggie, he would have our skin cut up.  Drew & Sakura definitely keep things interesting, that is for sure.

Alexis is doing ok.  She has lost a big part of her hearing, so when she meows (which is she is doing more and more of) it is has if she is yelling at us.  I’m also wondering about her sight in the dark, because she meows a lot more at night…something she never use to do before she got sick over a year ago.  Yet, her eyes aren’t cloudy at all.  But I have read that cats can go senile, so I’m really thinking that she is losing it with her old age.  She is going to be 16 this fall, went through an almost deadly urinary tract infection in Dec ’08, then the hyperthroid that same month and then a few months later had 7 teeth removed.  Until that all happened, she meowed, but no way as bad until she ended going through all that pain. So I don’t know what she is yelling at for…lol

She has finally out on some weight last she lost from the hyperthroid, still much smaller then she was before it.

My Random Thoughts

Eat Me!
  • 10:56 would think a retired Naval Officer would know when a 4 star Admiral gives opinion while in uniform he is NOT giving his personal opinion…
  • 10:57 wonders how much lower John McCain will go… contradicts himself repeatedly… dementia or just a fucking liar?
  • 14:29 USA! USA! USA!
  • 14:32 the fans at the Purdue game are chanting “USA USA USA”…
  • 14:54 Congrats Canada… Sid the Kid is fucking amazing…
  • 15:06 would be pleased if Purdue would get a rebound…
  • 15:14 Damn what could have been for Purdue…
  • 18:21 my cat has the strangest obsession for wire twist ties off the bread… FRAKING CRAZY OBSESSED!
  • 22:31 should go to Canada… and get some beaver..