And they’re invading oceans all over the world? This sounds more like a sci-fi movie than a nature article!

I got my week off, alright.  I hurt my back two weeks ago, and it got better day by day.  By last weekend, I was getting cocky, and pretended I hadn’t hurt it at all.  Big mistake. Monday morning I was in even worse pain, and it hurt to even take a step.  I went to the doctor Tuesday, and ended up being told to stay home the rest of the week! What a waste of time. I found out that I  do not work very well when I’m in pain. For all the extra “work” I got done, I might as well have had a full week!

And just some random things I also discovered. One is that I am never in my car a 1:11, am or pm. Monday through Friday I am at work, so that makes sense. Most Saturdays I have a music lesson, and I’m usually home by then. If I go out on Sundays, it’s for a matinee, and I’d be anywhere I need to be well before 1:11. And of course, I’m asleep at 1:11 am.  But I got to see the 1:11 Tuesday on my way to the doctor. (See, this is why I don’t have a digital watch; I’d spend most of the day trying to “capture” times like 12:34:56 or 2:52:52.)

I have also discovered Robyn Hitchcock. How can I have lived on this planet for 46 years without ever hearing of him before? He is my-kind-of-music. I have also been listening to Ralph Vaughn Williams Flos Campi over and over again; it is so beautiful. Last month I discovered George Butterworth (1885 – 1916), a student of Vaughn Williams who tragically died at age 30 in WWI. Oh, the beautiful music we lost when he died. I could listen to Two English Idylls (1911), A Shropshire Lad (1912), and The Banks of Green Willow (1913) over and over again. Actually, I do listen to them over and over again! The people at work must think I’m crazy.

But perhaps the most random thing I discovered was that Diamond carries stuffed animals in her mouth when she yowls at night!  She is a weird cat.  Old too, but she was weird when she was young as well.  She’s a tabby cat, and they are supposed to be “feisty” animals.  That she is.  Pixel is also tabby, but she was never feisty.  That is, not until we got her hernia removed, poor kitten.  Now she’s feisty, and even a bit bossy!  One night when Diamond was downstairs yowling, we brought her up to stay on the bed with us for the night. Well, Pixel didn’t like that! Not only does Pixel consider herself our “baby”, it’s her bed. She (Pixel) growled, howled, yowled, scowled, meowed, and pouted until Diamond left the room. Guess she told her.

So now I have to work with Diamond helping me, which she does this by continually hitting the keys on my keyboard.

It’s going to be a long year.

I have been smelling poo all evening, but I can’t locate it.  I’ve been all around the downstairs sniffing, turned Dot’s cage inside-out, and looked under all kinds of stuff, but it still eludes me.  I know the dog needs a bath, but up close, she only smells like dog, not poo.

After grumbling the past few weeks about being invisible, what do I do? Neglect to tell Katie that her sister got her visa problem resolved and left for London yesterday.  She cried.  Boy do I feel like a shit.  Maybe that’s why I smell poo.

I got a huge pain inside when I heard cars and voices outside the side of the house and realized it won’t be Kerri and her friends.  This sucks.  And with Katie planning on moving from Beverly to somewhere near Andover, we’ll never see her anymore either (even if it’s just for laundry).  Must get another puppy to alleviate my empty-nest syndrome.  Oh wait, that would mean more poo.  Never mind.  I’ll get another hard drive instead.

Well, she did just fine!  She sniffed everything in sight, played with Dot, ignored the cats, sat on everyone’s lap, and came running when she heard Vin open a bag of snacks.  We don’t give Dot any kind of treats except veggies, so Lola had to abstain as well.  And Dot was such a good dog!  She was a bit jealous whenever Lola would cuddle with someone, but Dot is not a cuddler, so there wasn’t much we could do about it.  Besides, Dot gets jealous when Vin and I hug good-bye in the mornings!  We just made sure we kept petting her, playing with her, and telling her what a good dog she was.

In the evening, Lola settled on Vin’s lap pretty early.  My God, does she snore!!!

Katie had warned us that Lola likes to sleep on the bed, and that she was a bed-hog.  With Schrödie spending so much time in Kerri’s room at night, we knew that there was no way Lola could sleep in there.  We usually have Pixel with us at night, and we knew my MIL would never had a dog sleep in her bed.  So, poor Pixel got the shaft.  Lola slept with Vin and I, often right between us, snored all night and licked us whenever she woke up.

Dot got her back the next morning however (because Dot had to sleep in her crate): she ate all of Lola’s breakfast!  All in all, though, it went so well, that I now want a second dog, a pug just like Lola.

• Never give Schrödie flea medicine while wearing a decent shirt; she still has back claws.

• There is a limit as to how much milk one can ingest in the span of three minutes.

• High school kids that play in pit bands are really cool.

• The Comfort Inn is not that comfortable.

• It can take 50 minutes to drive 5 miles when there is night construction on I-95.

• Always make a backup of a database table before you do anything to it.

• Agatha Christie is still a good read.

• Some vampire cable shows should never have been made.

There was a snow storm in which Kerri carried Timone out to the back fence, put him down, and then recorded him finding his way back to the house in snow as deep as he was tall.  It was funny!  He was such a good sport, even though he hated snow.  I swear, this photo could be of that day.  Just amazing!

Well, let me tell you, Dot is ANNOYING.  It is 8am, and she is howling.  And barking.  And whining.  “Ruht-roooooooooooo”.  Over and over.  The kids are at the bus stop, which is in front of our house, as we live on a corner on a busy road.  They are there every day.  They sing. They talk. They laugh.  They’re real cute! But if Dot’s awake when they are there, she howls and barks. And heaven forbid Schrödinger walk by Dot’s cage during all this.  Then Dot barks louder and furiously while scratching at her cage door.

Over the weekend, one of the little girls in the neighborhood came down the street, probably looking for a playmate.  Vin was out in the garden, and Dot was out with him.  Dot heard the girl and started barking like mad. Through the fence, Vin heard the girl say “Aw, shut up Dot”.

See Dot. Even the kids think you’re annoying.