Alien Spouse

Birthday Lurgey.

It's my birthday!  Yay!
And I'm still not feeling well!  Boo!

I've been on the NHS Direct website and I'm pretty sure that I have sinusitis, my favourite official symptom of which is "A feeling of being generally unwell", isn't that just so beautifully vague?  The good news is that I should be better in the next day or so.

It's just so annoying though, because I'm ill today, and I usually love birthdays!  I was planning to bake cookies to take into the office for our weekly meeting, and at lunchtime I was going to go out for a nice meal with my charming husband, whose birthday it also is.

Still things could be worse!  This morning I spoke to my mum, and I know she's sent a parcel which is very exciting, plus we had a lovely birthday party already.  I also get to clean up cat pee snuggle up with Edith on the sofa again today, whilst Nancy keeps a close eye on the food bowl.

My Turn.

Doc C is feeling lot better today, thank goodness!  And we took Nancy to the vets for her check-up, and Dr. Parrish was very pleased with how she's doing.  The receptionists and nurses made a big fuss of her, and told her how pretty she was, so I think she actually quite enjoyed her visit this time.  Edith is her usual healthy zoomy self.

So everyone is fine, apart from me.  I've caught Doc C's lurgey, which isn't a cold as such, it's more of a sinus infection.  The front of my face just feels heavy and painful, and that makes doing anything feel like surprisingly hard work.

I went into the office this morning, but Doc C brought me home to nest on the sofa with a blanket and a cat.  It seems like the perfect opportunity to watch some of the DVDs that Mick sent me.  I'm starting with "Messiah V: The Rapture", because there's obviously nothing like a dour, blood-soaked detective drama with vague religious overtones to make one feel better.

I just hope that I feel better by my birthday. sigh.

Docs Make The WORST Patients.

Doc C has a cold.  He was fine last night when we attended a very nice after dinner drinks-and-dessert at Kim and Jill's, but he woke up at 5 with a bad head cold.  It's all in his sinuses.

For the love of all that is good, please do not express any sympathy.  Doc C does not like to be mothered whilst ill, I wasn't even allowed to heat up his chicken noodle soup this evening. 

However he did let me take over his scooping duties.

He's ill, he's not daft.

Why We Call Her Piggy Big Eyes!

Doc C was asked the other day why Nancy got the nick name "Piggy Big Eyes". It's very simple really, we call her that because she is a walking stomach with fog lights in her orbital sockets.

She is very very motivated by food, and so if the cat's food bowls have food in them, she will put her head down and work until there is nothing left.  Even though at other times she seems to be nervous of Edith (Who unfortunately chases Nancy around the house, I think she's just playing but I'm not sure Nancy realises that), at food time she will block Edith's access to the bowls.  It's quite funny to see the bemused look on Edith's face when this tiny cat elbows her out of the way.  Nancy usually eats all of her own food and about half of Edith's.

Bearing that in mind it was unsurprising, but still pleasing, when the vet told us she had put on a pound in the two weeks since we last took her.  She is becoming nicely pear shaped, with a podgy little tummy.  Don't get me wrong I don't want Nancy to get unhealthily fat, but she was definitely underweight when we first brought her home so it's nice to know we are doing something right!

My New Hobby: Floor Cleaning.

I cleaned the kitchen floor last night to prepare for tonight's party, and I took some photos to do a step-by-step of my new floor cleaning technique which involves my new rubber broom.  I could make a new broom joke to pretend I was trying to link it into the election, but really it has no significance beyond proving to my Mother that I do indeed clean!

Let me go through frame by frame:

a. A dirty kitchen floor.
b. Use dutch rubber broom to sweep up all loose debris.  The rubber broom is fantastic for things like pet hair so this is very satisfying.
c. Brush into dust pan.
d. Pour cleaning fluid of your choice into spray bottle.
e. Top up spray bottle with hot water.
f. Spray floor with the soapy water. 
  Agitate with the broom.  ( I could have sworn I took a picture of that!)
g. Flip broom head over, and use squeegee to pull all the water into one place.  Admire how much dirt you have removed.
h. Mop up water with a cleaning cloth.
i. Repeat steps f. to h. with more soapy water, and then with clean water.
j. Admire the lovely clean floor, which is probably already dry.

This method is based pretty much on Ellen Sandbeck's technique, which she describes in "Organic Housekeeping".  She doesn't use a spray bottle, instead she soaks the cleaning cloths and pushes them around with the broom before squeegeeing and mopping up with a dry cloth.  Either way is good, but I prefer my variation because it uses fewer cleaning cloths.

I much prefer this to conventional mopping for four reasons, first you can see the water getting cleaner and cleaner as you progress so it's very satisfying, secondly you can walk on the floor almost immediately, thirdly it uses so much less water and finally it doesn't leave any residue on the floor at all.

So there you are!

Election Night. Freaking Finally.

In case you didn't know tonight is the Presidential election here in the USA.  That means after today they might just stop talking about it for eighteen months or so before it all starts again.  It's ridiculous!  How long do people campaign for in the UK?  It feels to me as though they just put out adverts the week before, but I'm sure that's just rose coloured spectacles because this has been so over the top.

We are having people over to our house, and have purchased champagne to celebrate if Obama wins, and Pabst Blue Ribbon to drown our sorrows in if McCain wins.

Doc C is making a pecan pie, and some pizzas.  I totally failed to make an elephant shaped pinata, but I have decattified the living room.  There are no food bowls, scratching posts, stray fur, or cat toys in sight, because they are in our bedroom with the cats.  We thought that would be less stressful for the felines; and as Nancy had to be forced into a pet carrier today to go to the vets, where she was given a steroid muscle injection, I think the less stress for her the better.  Plus she still looks terrible still, and I am vain on her behalf.

So this time tomorrow we will know who is the next President of the United States.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Look Mum! What Did I Tell You?!?

I know, I know you are probably thinking "Good Grief Woman! We get it! You own cats now!" but I have  an excellent reason for posting this picture.

Mum and I were just discussing the other day how none of previous pet cats would ever even look at a toy or a piece of furniture that they suspected of being designed especially for them. Particularly if they managed to intuit that it was probably not cheap.

Imagine my delight when our pusskies both deigned to use the cat tower at the exact same moment, and without any prompting!

Plus that's currently Nancy's best angle (I am beginning to suspect she might literally be mangy, poor thing. Back to the vets. sigh.), so it's a nice picture of both of them!

Positive Reinforcement for Cats.

We have to take Nancy back to the vets next week, once she has finished her antibiotics.  I'm really not looking forward to trying to get her back in the pet carrier, so I was talking to the lovely Laura and asked if she had any top tips.  Laura said that she would just leave the pet carrier in the living room, so the cats got used to seeing it and didn't associate it with stressful things like people trying to force them into it against their will.

I thought I'd give that technique a go this evening, so brought one of the pet carriers into the living room; Nancy immediately saw it, and started edging away from it, whilst keeping an eye on it.  I just put the carrier next to the window and walked away.  Nancy sat a good distance away from it, and kept an eye on it.  Meanwhile Edith jumped on top of it, and sat there quite happily watching birds.

After about ten minutes (and once Edith had got off the carrier) I got the bag of cat treats, and made lots of noise with the bag, so Nancy was aware there was some food being offered.  Making sure she could see the open door of the pet carrier, I put the treats half-way inside and then walked away.  Nancy looked at me and gave a single plaintive mew, but she knew where the food was.

Slowly and cautiously Nancy edged over to the carrier, sniffed all around it and then inched her way in until she could reach the food.  I think she just stuck her head in, with maybe her front paws but her hind legs and tail were still firmly outside.  Nancy ate a few of the biscuits inside the carrier, and then ran off.

I'll be honest in that I just did not expect that to work so quickly!  I have never owned a cat who was so easily motivated by cat treats before, and if I tried that type of trick on any of my other cats all I'd have got would have been a withering look for my troubles.  I think this whole thing may just have got a lot easier.

The Nitty Gritty of Cat Owning: A Product Review.

Mrs K recently expressed her interest in the concept of flushable cat litter, and I have to say it makes owning a cat much more pleasant.  We started out by trying Pet Ecology Kitty Litter, which I am as happy with as one can reasonably expect to be be with such a product. Apart from being just incredibly light weight, it also has the two golden words on it's packaging; these are "flushable" and "clumping". The flushable is self explanatory, and the clumping means that the litter forms a neat little ball when any, er, um, liquid is introduced to it.  If you know what I mean, which I think you do.

So then you just scoop out anything, er, um, lumpy from the litter tray into the nearest handy toilet, and it flushes away.

It's still not exactly fun, but it's less of a chore than it could be.  The arrangement I came to with the Doc is that I will feed the cats and scoop the tray in the morning, and he will do it in the evening.  I noticed that he kept putting off the scooping, until I pointed out that I was scooping at 6 every morning, so by leaving it until midnight he was scooping 18 hours worth of kitty treasures, whilst meant I only had six hours worth to dispose of.  He scoops at 6pm now.  The cats seem to regard this as a suitable surface for their ablutions for five days, and then on the sixth day they indicate that they would like it to be changed now please.

As for the CitiKitty, it is in place on the toilet but the cats haven't automatically discovered it and immediately divined it's purpose yet, they aren't that intelligent.  I'm going to wait for another couple of weeks, before I start trying to get them to actually use it in situ; however this morning I put the CitiKitty on the floor whilst I was cleaning the tray and flushing contents, then Edith wandered into the bathroom and went straight to it.  She planted her little paws right into the kitty litter, stuck her fluffy bottom out over the edge of the tray and peed on the floor.  Damn.

Fortunately we also bought a spray bottle of this cleaning fluid called Nature's Miracle - Just for Cats (I think it sounds like a range of specialist fur dyes personally), which uses enzymes to help break down any little accidents.  That stuff is freaking AMAZING.  I've discovered that once I've sprayed it on the offending substance, I have to leave the spray bottle next to it whilst it soaks in and works it's magic, because by the time I come back to blot it up I literally cannot see where it was. 

Finally have I mentioned how great the Furminator cat brush is?  Edith loves being brushed with it, and it is making such a difference with her shedding.  Two thumbs up!

More About The Cats. (I'll shut up about them soon, I promise. About six months I reckon.)

Nancy doesn't love us any more.  Today we tried to put her in the new cat carrier which she Did Not Want so much that it was pretty much impossible to do.  Unfortunately for Nancy we hadn't yet recycled the cardboard cat carriers that she arrived in, so we stuffed her in that, which she Did Not Want at all.  Then she Did Not Want to be in the car, or at the vets, or getting her rabies shot. 

She had some time to recover when we were at work, only for us to return home and force her to take a dropper-full of bright pink antibiotics (a performance we have to repeat every twelve hours until the damn stuff runs out).  To cap it all off I vacuumed the living room, which made Nancy run up to the top of the stairs in horror.

Nancy Does Not Want to even look at me right now.

Edith, on the other hand, sauntered into her swish new pet carrier and apparently enjoyed the drive to the vets; where she seemed quite convinced that we had brought her there purely so the nice lady vet could fuss her.  She didn't seem to notice getting her jab, and doesn't require any further medication.  Edith doesn't appear to mind vacuum cleaners one little bit.

Edith has had a lovely day.

Grooming as a Means of Self-Defense.

Today we went to buy some more cat stuff.  In particular we needed a rubberycat brush (we got the Zoom Groom which is what we had in London for Kitkat, they are really good - Particularly because you can use the non bristly side to get fur off clothes and furniture), a different scratching post because they just ignore the other one and some claw clippers.

I've never clipped a cat's claws before, but I've only ever had outdoor cats before, and clearly running around outside keeps them nicely filed.  Our girls have wicked talons on them, which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't love to pad so much on us.  Nancy was sitting on me this morning, turned to start washing her back and carelessly put all of her weight on one claw; she may be tiny but news flash, it really hurt!  Edith on the other hand likes to display her beautiful fluffy tummy and then attack any thing foolish enough to touch it with rabbit kicks, and she has been known to casually impale the offender on her front paw claws to make her point, whilst purring loudly.  So I decided we would give them a little manicure.

I was warned that you should only clip off a small amount, and be careful not to cut the vein that's in the center of the claw.  With that in mind I very carefully snipped off a tiny bit from four of Edith's claws and I think 4 or 5 of Nancy's.  They don't seem to mind the clipping itself, but they do object to their paws being manhandled, so they keep walking off in a huff. 

It's going to take me a while to get them all done I think, but I have the time, I have the clippers and I have the determination.  We shall see who will win, little grey kitties! Oh yes, we shall see!

A Post About Cat Sick. You've Been Warned!

The cats were left alone in the house today, because I was working an event and Doc came with me.  We were a bit concerned about what we would find when we got back, particularly because Edith had been looking like she wanted to be sick just before we left.  On the way home we stopped at the local pet shop and bought all the things there little kitty hearts could desire in the way of toys and home comforts, as well as a spray bottle of cleaner specially designed to deal with puke, poop and wee.  Lovely!

When we got back though we were pleasantly surprised to find that no cat had done anything destructive or icky whilst we were away.  After we'd been home for a while Nancy scooted off to the bathroom and threw up a hairball; not nice, but the good thing was that she actually seemed to chose to be sick on the tiled floor rather than the carpet!  Isn't that the best cat you have ever heard of?

We will still obviously be trying to limit hairballs in the house, however good the cats maybe at choosing a good location for it.  One of the things we had purchased at the pet shop was a very specific pet brush called The FURminator.  We'd heard really good things about it, and certainly the pictures on website are impressive, but it wasn't until I actually used it on Edith that I could believe the hype.  It took SO much loose fur out of her coat and she absolutely loves being brushed with it, so much so she fauns around it and rolls over so you can get her tummy as well.  It's ridiculous, I've never had a cat that liked to be brushed that much.

By the way, the CitiKitty is in place on the toilet in the spare bathroom, but so far we're just happy the cats are using the conventional litter tray which is next to it.  I don't want to thoroughly confuse them by rushing them into using it, but it's there should they feel the urge to experiment with exciting new litter tray experiences.

A Touch of Sun.

Doc has commented several times on how much better I am at handling the warm weather this summer; because I am not a fan of high tempratures and last year, I hate to admit, I did get very whingy.  This year I seem to have adjusted quite well, and it hasn't really bothered me as much - Which is a relief to both of us I'm sure!

Having said that it was very warm last night, even with every window in the house open and two fans turned on in the bedroom, and I found it hard to sleep.  Today it's still very sunny, and I feel very tired and a bit headachey.  The sun it is not my friend.  Still I hope it's like this when Jason comes to visit so he can get the full benefit of our balcony.

Friday! Friday! Friday!

I cannot believe it is Friday already, this week has flown by.  Bob started driving back to Boston today, because he'll be taking a couple of days to get there; unlike our fourteen hour marathon last time we went.

This weekend I shall be getting some more wool to finish off the scarf I am crocheting for Doc C and to start off the one I've decided to make for myself.  I shall also be positioning stickers, and using them to paint polka dots on the fabric for my bag flap.  The piece of cordura arrived this morning and  extremely thoughtful people at Courierware have even chalked in guidelines for me, so that I don't polka dot anywhere that's going to be hidden.

Apart from that I am intending to sleep a lot, but I don't know if that's going to happen because I drank half a litre of coffee at this morning's breakfast meeting.  That was at 8am, and I am still feeling wired.  I drink tea every day, or I might have a latte once or twice a week, but half a litre of strong filter coffee is clearly not a good idea for me, and yet I manage to forget that and do it again every five years or so.

Note to self:  This is your brain on too much caffeine, Eeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Cure.

It would appear that red wine, good quality dark chocolate and eight hours of sleep really does help a sore throat; I feel a lot better this morning.

I shall be trying that magic combination on everything from now on.

But I am Not Ill!

I have had a sore throat all day.

Red wine and good quality dark chocolate are both really, really good for that, right?

New Specs.

My eyes seem to have settled into my new glasses now, which is excellent.  Here are those pictures I've been meaning to post of the frames from different angles:

Aren't they cool?

Weekly Exercise Update.

Ok, so what with the cricked neck, the trip to Washington and the suddenly having a full time job I realise I have let the exercise program slip (although I have done the odd work out every now and then, it hasn't been what I would call consistent).  The other difficulty is that I don't think Kinetic is going to work for me at the moment, because I don't have enough time in the mornings; unless I get up at 5am, and at that time of day the light isn't strong enough for the camera to pick up the movement properly.

This needs to be addressed clearly, but I think if I re-organise my schedule slightly I'll have an extra half hour in the mornings for pilates or yoga, and perhaps I should also take advantage of some of the free exercise classes on offer at the University. 

As a starting point, let's review the measurements:

• Bust - 37.00 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Bicep - 11.5 Inches (No change from last measurement)
• Waist - 33.5 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Hips - 40.5 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement) 
• Thigh - 21.00 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)

Hmm, so I haven't really worked out regularly for a few weeks but I haven't put on any weight and in fact I've lost a bit more.  My theory on that is simply that I am working full time and using a bit more energy during the day.  Or maybe my body finally got that memo, let's hope.

Sunday Morning Me Time.

Doc C has gone hiking with Randy this morning. 

Meanwhile I am enjoying breakfast in bed whilst watching "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" (a program that Doc C would never watch, because he doesn't like reality shows) later I might do some pilates, make a dress, bake, or watch a really terrible teen musical. 

The possibilities are endless.

Good Morning!

This morning is so much better than yesterday morning.�

When I woke up my neck was definitely on it's way to being uncricked. �I still don't have what you would call a full range of motion, but it's�considerably better than yesterday when all I could really do was to go back to bed, position two firm pillows under my head, press my mini hot-water bottle (it has a knitted skull-and-crossbones cover) to my neck and watch almost the whole season of "Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood".� In the evening I changed things up a bit by lying on the sofa and watched "I Love You Again";�a Myrna Loy/William Powell movie that was not part of the "Thin Man" series but would definitely do until one came along.

On the jobs front I've now�spoken to both my current manager and my future manager to work out the time-frame for my switching jobs.� Everyone has been very kind to me in this office and, fortunately for all concerned, the timing on this is perfect; the temporary job would have been finishing within the next fortnight anyway,�which means they were happy�to let�me�move over very quickly.� In fact my last day in this office will be tomorrow, and then I start my new job on Tuesday.

Eagle eyed readers will no doubt note that means I am not working on Friday or Monday, and that discrepancy�accommodates a mini city break in Washington D.C.� Doc suggested ages ago that we should go away�this weekend, as it fits neatly between the end of the summer class session and the beginning of the fall semester;�my changing jobs�means we can go for an extra couple of days and really chill out.� Again with the perfect timing!

Naturally�I am knocking on wood as I type this.� There will be no jinxing of anything around here, thank you very much.

Put the Kettle On.

Naturally I've been trying all the best home remedies to help un-crick my neck. �I've taken some Advil, and applied a hotwater bottle to the left side of the neck.

Finally I self-medicated with a cup of tea with two spoonfulls of sugar. �I only ever drink hot sweet tea when I'm feeling ill, and it always helps.

Um.  I don't know what those little squares are doing in this post, I tried to take them out but they just came back again.  Weird.

Doctor's Orders.

I'm at home in bed with a cricked neck, you know it's surprisingly hard to type when lying on your side and unable to turn your head.

What's really annoying is that I know when I did it, but I wasn't paying attention, so I don't know exactly what I did.  I was towel drying my hair, and planning a post about Doc C's nightmare last night (He was fighting a ghost that kept playing the piano, and apparently I woke him up just at the point when he'd got the thing cornered.) The next thing I know the left side of my neck suddenly started hurting.

Being of sturdy English stock I battled on and carried on getting ready for work, but by the time I'd managed to pull a wrap dress on Doc C had decided that I should go back to bed with a couple of tylenol to help relax the muscles.  Once I was comfortable, he brought me the laptop then made sure the TV remote, my phone and a glass of water were all within reach before he left.

I hate being ill.  Stupid neck muscles.

RSI. Like CSI But With Fewer Corpses.

I've finished one sleeve on the T-shirt, and changed the pattern so I actually only did three rows of crochet instead of five.  When I went to bed my right arm ached, so it took me ages to go to sleep.  Is crocheter's elbow a thing?

Kinetic Phase Three Week Two: Complete!

I'd call this week a B+, and it's been particularly tricky because it's so muggy here this week.  I'm exhausted without lifting a finger, let alone rolling out the exercise mat.  Anyway, this week I've cut a slight corner by adding in the trip to Asheville, but we were on the move pretty constantly all afternoon so I'd say there was some cardiovascular benefit to that.

1. Yoga
2. Kinetic - B
3. Yoga
4. Kinetic - A
5. Walking around Asheville for 5 hours
6. Yoga

The measurements for this week are:

• Bust - 37.25 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Bicep - 11.5 Inches (No change from last measurement)
• Waist - 33.75 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Hips - 40.75 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement) 
• Thigh - 21.25 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)

I got my new yoga mat(brown, with blue leaves) on Friday, but I've had to leave it unrolled in the spare room for a few days because it smelled very strongly.  I knew it was going to be stinky because quite a few of the reviews on Amazon mention it, so that wasn't too much of an unpleasant surprise.

I also bought a yoga mat bag, and that's a lovely fresh shade of green called hedgerow.  I'm seriously considering going to classes on my lunch hours, so naturally a smart bag is very important.  I also paid $6.99 for a grab bag which could contain any five items in stock, and I got some really good stuff.  I got two work out DVD's (one yoga, the other some type of yoga martial arts hybrid), a DVD reflexology tutorial, a CD of music written specifically for tai chi and a light resistance cord.  Naturally I went straight on-line to see how much this stuff would have cost usually and I would have paid about sixty dollars normally, so I definitely got a good deal there!

Bikes and Wool.

Doc C needs a bike.  He really does, and neither of the bike shops in town have anything suitable.  I need some dress making and crocheting stuff, and the yarn shop here always seems to be closed.

So this morning we have decided to go on a shopping trip to Asheville.

See you later!

Specs.

 

New Specs.

 

Old Specs.  

I really like the new ones, but I've only had them for an hour, so my eyes are adjusting to the new lenses still and making me feel slightly queasy.  I really like that the glasses look different from different angles, because the frames are made from plastic with a slightly sparkly grey grid pattern to it.  And the corners are blue, which you can't see at all here!  Clearly I'll have to take some more pictures to capture these in their full glory.

Whilst we were at the opticians, one of the receptionists asked me what the legal drinking age was in the UK.  Apparently she has a British fourteen year old staying with her, and he's been swearing blind he can drink all he wants back home.  Even better he's been telling her how dangerous his home town is, apparently you can't walk down the street without getting stabbed.  In Thetford.

Dilated Pupil.

Alien Spouse Sees All!

Unless it's far away, or really close up.  Anything in the mid-range though.

Framed.

I had an optician's appointment at 11.30 this morning, which was very exciting because I'm getting new glasses and I haven't had new frames for about ten years.  Doc C dropped me off at the mall at about 9.30, because he had a class to teach so I was planning to just browse the shops before my appointment.  The only problem was that none of the shops were open before 10, so instead I sat and read for an hour, then I went and tried on jeans until it was time for my appointment (I'm definitely between sizes, it's really annoying but also very satisfying!).

The optician's itself was really fun.  They have loads of equipment I have never seen at a UK opticians, let alone had used on my eyes before, and I even was shown an image of my own retina on a computer screen!  It's really interesting, in a disgusting sort of a way!  I wish I'd taken a picture for you!

Then I got to sit down with one of the opticians, and look at new frames.  I had a look yesterday and noticed some that I liked and those were the first pair that the optician handed to me.  Doc C came back to pick me up just after I'd chosen my shortlist, so he came in to help.  Naturally it turned out to be the very first pair that I tried on out of the twenty odd that I looked at that I decided to buy.  They should be ready on Friday.

Before we left they gave me a pair of disposable wrap around sun glasses because as part of the eye exam I had been given eye drops that dilated my pupils, and they stay like that for about two hours.  Not only was everything really bright, but it meant that my near vision was really bad too!  Doc took a picture of the dilated eye, I'll put that up tomorrow.

When I got to work I was pretty useless still, so Kaye suggested I go and sit in Doc's office where the lighting wouldn't be as harsh.  I had a nap on the sofa for about an hour, and now I can see sort of normally again.

It's been a very odd morning.

Definitely No Plans for a Human Pyramid.

We were in the local mall yesterday to buy a loaf of sourdough from Panera Bread; and, as that is opposite Old Navy, who are currently having a 50% sale we decided to browse the sale racks quickly.

I picked up a pair of brown pinstriped trousers, two skirts, a blue dress and a white blouse.  I went to the changing rooms to try them all on and discovered I'm at the between sizes stage of weight loss.  The old size that used to fit now gapes at the waist but sits on my hips, the next size down is just a touch too small.  So I didn't buy anything.  This is good, and when trying to diet it really helps me to find a positive visual reinforcement like that.

That's particularly good whilst shopping in Old Navy, because their sizing system typically places my size towards the top end of the their range, if not the largest size available (I like a slightly looser fit).   This means that, in their terms, I'm a L or even an XL.  I am not XL.  I have to keep reminding myself of that whilst browsing the racks, because otherwise it could be quite demoralising.

Doc C has the opposite problem; he's always having to go through the racks with a fine-tooth comb trying to find all the Ss. 

The really frustrating part of all this being that Doc C and I are actually pretty much the same size, I'm slightly taller and a lot curvier of course, but I can easily borrow his t-shirts.

The Doc explained this annoying fact of shopping life very well, he said that essentially shops like Old Navy are selling to the football team and the cheer leading squad.  Doc is small for a football player, and I would be large for a cheer leader.

For some reason that explanation made me feel a lot better about the whole thing ever since.

Kinetic Phase Three Week One: Complete!

I'm back on schedule! I like keeping to the twelve weeks cycle of Kinetic, it makes it feel like I'm working towards a goal which is clearly in sight.

This week's score is a B+.  Hoorah!

1. Yoga
2. Kinetic - B
3. Yoga
4. Kinetic - B
5. Yoga
6. Kinetic - A

I just completely forgot to take notes on what I'd actually done for the Kinetic routines this week.

The measurements for this week are:

• Bust - 37.5 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Bicep - 11.5 Inches (No change from last measurement)
• Waist - 34.00 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Hips - 41.00 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement) 
• Thigh - 21.5 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)

Farewell Blue Yoga Mat.

The yoga mat I bought in October is starting to disintegrate. I know I've been using it nearly every day, but I was expecting to last longer than ten months.  It's still fine for doing my Kinetic work-outs on, but it's not good for yoga because I can feel it breaking up under my hands and feet.  Which does not make for a confident Downward Facing Dog.

Looking on the bright side that did mean I could go on-line today, and buy a very nice new yoga mat and bag.

Kinetic: Week Off!

I didn't intend to take this week off, but as I only managed to actually do one work out (for which I got an A+), I think that's what it was in reality. 

Doc is teaching summer school classes in the mornings, and that change to our usual routine has just thrown me completely.  I need to be getting up at about 6.30 now to fit in the work outs before work, but every morning I would tell myself I'd do it when I got home and then roll over for another hour of snoozing.  Needless to say in the evening it was far more tempting to watch "Ocean's 11" than get in my cardio vascular for the day.

Next week I need to be a lot more focussed.

Kinetic Phase Two Week Twelve: Complete.

I'll be the first to admit that the second phase of Kinetic has not gone quite as smoothly as the first, but it has gone considerably faster!  Wow!  Twelve weeks has just flown by this time.

1. Yoga
2. A+ - Two Combat, One Cardio and One Mind/Body.  I've taken the difficulty level back down to easy for the time being, until I'm sure my ankle is completely better.
3. Yoga
4. Yoga
5. A+ - Two Cardio, One Combat and One Mind/Body.  Oh, that was fun! 
6. Yoga

That was a pretty good week, I've been very careful with my ankle and it doesn't hurt anymore which is great!  As well as using supportive inserts, I've also been using a baseball to massage the soles of my feet, I've been stretching out the tendon and putting an ice pack on it after exercise.  So essentially anything I could think of that might possibly help and I think that's paying off.

As for the measurements:

• Bust - 37.75 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Bicep - 11.5 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Waist - 34.25 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)
• Hips - 41.25 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement) 
• Thigh - 21.75 Inches (Down by 0.25 Inches from last measurement)

Well, Hoorah!  It seems that I'm still losing weight even though I've cut down on the number of Kinetic workouts, and added in yoga instead.  That is exactly what I was hoping for.

A New and Potentially Exciting Cleaning Product.

Yesterday when we were food shopping I waited until Doc C was distracted with selecting some salmon and then I snuck off on a secret mission of my own. 

I was determined to investigate the cleaning products aisle more fully. 

The Doc hates spending more than thirty seconds in the cleaning products aisle, because he finds it boring.  Well, don't we all?  But sometimes it is necessary to investigate what cleaning inovations are out there.  In particular I wanted a better shower/bath cleaner, because the fumes from the one I had been using were making me cough every time I scrubbed the bath and I also was not 100% happy with the cleaning results.

I didn't have a lot of time before Doc C noticed I was missing in action (my cover story was I had gone to get some dishwasher powder), but fortunately I honed in immediately on Method's Daily Shower Spray.  Essentially the idea is that you spray the cleaner on all surfaces of the shower immediately after showering.  And that's it.  In theory you will then not need to scrub anything, and, even better, Method products are cruelty free, non-toxic and biodegradable. They use high percentages of naturally derived ingredients, and ensure that they are sourced from preferred sources whenever possible.  (I cut and pasted that last sentence directly from their website, it sounds really good doesn't it?)

So I talked Doc into buying a bottle (It was $6, but it's cheaper online) and we started using it this morning.  Well I say we, Doc very candidly admitted that considering he's only just getting the hang of drawing the shower curtain closed after he showers, it seems unlikely he's going to remember to spritz the cleaner around.  That's fine, I can take on spritzing duties if it means I don't have to scrub things. 

Ooh, and it smells really nice, our bathroom is now fragranced with ylang ylang which I rather like

I'll keep you updated on this cleaning adventure, and if you want to play along at home you can buy Method stuff in the UK and the US.  No promises though, I have no idea if this stuff is going to do what it says on the tin yet.  Fingers crossed.

Doc's Orders: Television and Chocolate Pudding.

Yesterday afternoon I had horrible cramps, and all I could face doing was lying on the bed and watching a back-to-back complete season re-run of "America's Next Top Model" (I believe it was season six, but I really don't care enough to check) because it required no thought whatsoever and was extremely entertaining in the trashiest way imaginable.  I don't watch the show regularly but I find an occasional episode, or entire season in this case, fascinating for all the wrong reasons.  I didn't really care who won, but I was pleased that the season's obligatory cow-bag from hell only made it to the semi-final.  I'd have been proper furious if she had won.

During my gorgeous marathon of superficiality Doc C showed the good sense to simply leave me alone, only coming upstairs to ask if I wanted anything like pain killers or a hot water bottle.  Then he went food shopping, came home with a tub of exactly the right brand of chocolate pudding for me and proceeded to cook me scrambled egg on toast for tea.

He's a keeper.

Kinetic Phase Two Week Eleven: Complete (If We're Counting Yoga, and I Am)

This week has mainly been about resting my ankle, so I only did one Kinetic work out and the rest of the week was yoga.

1. A -  One Combat, One Cardio and a Mind/Body.  I choose very carefully, making sure there wasn't anything that required too much running around.  I was very pleased with how the work out went, and I beat a personal best on the Mind/Body.  Hoorah!

I think it was worth taking it easy this week, I've been wearing my arch support insoles every day and my ankle feels so much better.  I also dug out my trainers for working out in, and it really did illustrate that I should have been wearing them from the start.

I'm not going to bother measuring myself this week, I'm fairly certain that I won't have lost anything and I don't want to know if I've put any on going into the twelfth week!

Another Black Cat.

There is a little black cat that lives somewhere round near our house, it's very friendly but a bit skittish and doesn't like loud noises such as "Ohmygod! You unlocked a car door!  Run! Run!"

When Doc C left to go to the gym the little black cat was outside, and immediately ran over to the door to say hi and then came into the house to explore for a moment.  Whilst she was running around checking things out, Doc C noticed one of her eyes was very pale.  He picked her up to have a proper look and saw that she is developing a cataract in her right eye.

We weren't sure before if she was someone's pet or not, because she doesn't wear a collar but she is very friendly to humans.  Now we've noticed the cataract, we're fairly certain she is actually a stray and now we feel like we should call Animal Control.  The only thing with that is that it's not the same as the Humane Society, because Animal Control do put animals down after a certain amount of time.  What happens is that when pets are adopted from the Humane Society and they have some space, they call Animal Control and who transfer over the animals who are closest to the cut off point.

I really want to help but I'm worried that there is a small chance that this little cat, who is currently happy and glossy, might not be one of the lucky ones.  I think I'm going to wait until I speak to one of the nice people at the Humane Society before I do anything (they're closed on Mondays), they'll know what to do for the best interests of the cat.

Kinetic Phase Two Week Ten: Not Exactly Complete.

The good news is my average score for this week is an A+, the bad news is that I only did two workouts so I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.  I think that is probably more like a C.

1. A+ - To make sure that I'm setting myself good workouts I checked back in to see what Matt had set me on Personal Trainer mode, and I was given Two Cardio, One Combat and a Mind/Body.  Excellent start to the week!
2. A+ - A short but challenging workout of Two Combat and a Mind/Body.  I beat one of my personal bests, which I was very happy about indeed!

Unfortunately the plantar fasciitis that effects my left ankle has flared up this week and it's particularly painful, so I'm taking things very slowly for the time being. 

I'm not intending to completely stop exercising, because, from what I've read, inactivity and excess weight really exacerbate the condition, so I think that I need to aim to do is strengthen that ankle with exercise and stretching.  That means I definitely need to keep going with an exercise programme albeit with modifications.  I've put arch supports in my shoes now, and I also bought an ice pack to treat the ankle when it really aches.

Unsurprisingly The Measurements for this week show no change from last week:

• Bust - 38.00 Inches (No change from last week)
• Bicep - 11.75 Inches (No change from last week)
• Waist - 34.5 Inches (No change from last week)
• Hips - 41.5 Inches (No change from last week) 
• Thigh - 22.00 Inches (No change from last week)

Arch Support - Do You Have Enough?

I suffer from plantar fasciitis in my left ankle and it suddenly really flared up this week, so I did some internet research and finally had to admit that it might possibly be because none of my shoes have any sort of arch support.

sigh.  Why must you hurt me, my beloved flat shoes, why?

So we went and stared at all the various insoles available in our local drug store (which is really a chemists), and I finally chose some ProFoot "Smart Arch Custom Fitting Othotics", which uses memory foam to taylor itself to your foot.  I'm a convert to memory foam since we bought the mattress, so that sounded great.

I put them in my polka dot converse as soon as I got home, and, so far, they are really comfortable! 

I hope they actually work too, because that way I can carry on living in my ballet flats.

Gadgets.

First of all let me just confirm that the shower seems to be working entirely as normal, and I'm my usual fragrant self.

I have a new and exciting blog widget (that's the technical term, honestly!) which is in the left hand column underneath the list of archives.  It tells you where visitors to Alien Spouse are in the world and how they came to be viewing the blog, so if they came directly to the site, or found it via a search engine, that sort of thing.  It's sort of fascinating to see how much information a website gets from your computer when you click on it; were I feeling paranoid I'd regard it as being very big brother but I'm enjoying being nosy, so I currently think it's really nifty!

I was clicking around the net yesterday and read about CitiKitty, which is a gadget designed to help train your cat to use the toilet.  It's based on the Charles Mingus method of toilet training a cat; yes, the musician and composer Charles Mingus trained his cat Nightlife to use the toilet.  This may well be the thing that has got Doc C to even consider this idea!

I'd seen CitiKitty advertised before and just ignored, because I've always had outdoor cats who didn't require a litter tray.  Now, as I may have mentioned, we are planning to re-home two cats, but they are going to have to be indoor cats for a whole host of reasons.  We could put a litter tray in the downstairs bathroom, but we're not keen on that idea because that bathroom is too small for a covered tray.  The only alternative would be a covered tray in the living room, but the only large enough areas of space are either right next to a heater (Stinky!), or right next to the kitchen (Germy!).  If CitiKitty works as the company website suggests then we couldtrain the cats to use the downstairs toilet instead.  I hate scooping poopy litter, so I'm quite keen on the idea particularly as it's only $30, so it might be worth getting one just for the comedy value.  My question is:  Have any of you successfully trained your cats to use the toilet, or do you know someone who has?

The Alien Spouse Well Runs Dry... Literally (except, actually, it probably hasn't)

Last night was just one of those nights. 

After I got home from work I suddenly felt exhausted and so I lay on the bed and had a nap. When I woke up, a couple of hours later, I felt yucky.  Not really ill, but as if I was made entirely from cotton wool, and I wasn't at all hungry; which is very rare for me, particularly as I really hadn't eaten much during the day.  Doc insisted I should eat something, so he made me a plain veggie burger with baked beans, which was all I felt like eatting, and I curled up on the sofa for a while before deciding to go to bed early. 

When I was getting washed, the water tri