Black Widow

I had four cats up until this past Winter. My cat, Poop, passed away shortly before Christmas. Complications due to Feline Leukemia. That left, Bart, Oliver, and Emmie. Today I lost Oliver and I'm not sure if Emmie will make it or not, but it doesn't look good.

This time, its not due to Feline Leukemia, but to a Black Widow spider.

I know this because I found the bite marks. I thought maybe it was a snake that had gotten into my house, but it wasn't. Further investigation and a call to the vet confirmed it was some sort of insect bite. The only insect it could have been...black widow.

My cats live in my Grandmother's old house. The same house that I am fixing up so I can move in as soon as possible. For now though, just my cats stay there. I'm rarely over there for more than a few minutes at a time, unless its the weekends. I wouldn't have noticed any spiders hiding away. But Emmie and Oliver are best buddies, so they sleep together. The only thing I can figure, is the spider was in the bedding and bit them both while they slept.

Nothing can be done for that. Not even at the vet. Hospitals have anti-venom, but vets don't keep it because typically, there is no reason to keep it...small animals (like cats) don't usually survive the bites regardless.

So we buried Oliver this evening. Emmie is still hanging in there, but out of all the cats, she suffers from Feline Leukemia the worst. So I am afraid its only a matter of time for her. If she makes it through the night, I will be impressed.

Bart is fine. He's now my only cat left. He's already suffering from loneliness. I set off a fogger in my house this evening and I hope that will kill any spiders that I can't see.

But I am NOT a happy camper. I have raised those cats since they were two weeks old. I fed them every two hours. I bathed them. I took them to the vet. I pampered them to ridiculous levels, especially after I found out about the leukemia. And a spider bite takes them away from me.

Its not a good day on Nunn Road to say the least. :-(

It's Official!!!

I am officially accepted into Graduate School for this fall.

I had applied for the Social Work program at the University of Kentucky earlier this year and after much back and forth between the Registrar's office here at EKU, I finally got official confirmation last night that I had been accepted to the program.

I'm very excited about this!

I've been looking at the classes online and I am pretty sure I can go part-time (which is what I wanted anyway) and still work. Its going to be busy I'm sure. I'll probably feel like pulling out my hair from time to time. But I work better under pressure anyway (or at least that is what I tell myself). So it should all work out fine.

I have a Bachelor's in History and I minored in both Appalachian Studies and Women's Studies while at EKU as an undergraduate. I finished all that up in 2006 and for the past four years I've pretty much been just floating around. I took a year off, then went back to school. I was enrolled in Graduate School at EKU in the Public Administration program with Community Development as my concentration. That lasted all of one year before I decided that it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It was a great program, just not for me.

I got accepted to the graduate school at Appalachian State University in North Carolina but due to family issues, I had to withdraw. (I was going to get my Master's in Appalachian Studies...something I would still like to do eventually. Maybe after I retire...)

I've been working at EKU now for a little over a year. I work in IT. Its a great job. I enjoy it. I love working for EKU. But I want to help people. It is my calling I think. Sometimes it just feels like I'm not doing enough to make a contribution to society. So, after some research I decided to apply to UK's graduate school in the Social Work program. It didn't require a background in Social Work to be admitted. So my acceptance was based soley on my academic record (thank you 3.5 GPA), my personal essays (thank you my past English teachers), and my reference letters (thank you Joyce, Sherry, and Retha).

I think I'll be a good Social Worker. I don't particularly want to work with the children. That sounds odd I'm sure, coming from someone that loves kids as much as I do. I just don't want to be associated, in a child's mind, with being taken away from their home or their parents...even if they NEED to be taken away from either place. I would much rather work with adults. So I'm hoping for a job in either the prison system or something along the lines of a women's center or abuse shelter. Which is why I am also going to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies while also getting my Master's in Social Work.

So yeah, I'm gonna be a busy gal for the next two years or so.

I think it will be worth it though. :-)

Pray for me! :-)

Homeward Bound (Day 9)

The last official day of our vacation. (Thank goodness...because not only was I tired of the vacation at this point, but I'm actually quite tired of writing about it as well. :-P)

Day nine was simple enough, we were on the road, somewhere in the central portion of the state, heading back North to the San Francisco International Airport.

Lots and lots and lots of driving.

California is a pretty state. Lots to see and do. I wasn't impressed with the cities...obviously. The countryside was nice though. We did a lot of driving that last day through the more "farm friendly" portions of the state. Lots of roadside stands full of farm fresh goodies. We were tempted to stop at quite a few of them, but we didn't really have time. :-(

Not a lot of photos either. I'll go through mine and see if I have any from Day 9. There may have been a few from the little town we spend night at, but I'll check and see.

It was a nice drive...just a long one. :-/

We made it to the airport with about an hour to spare. Good thing too because it took us a lot longer to get boarded in San Francisco than it did in Ohio. I also got lost...in the airport. Go figure. I was trying to navigate to where I needed to drop off my rental car and just couldn't quite find the right parking lot. I called the information desk of the rental company for help, and they weren't any help at all. So I gave up and did it on my own. Found it much easier that way anyway...maybe I don't need to take too many directions from folks. Who knows? At any rate, we dropped off the rental (and for the record, I've never heard anything else out of them about the wreck in Arizona, so I am assuming it is all taken care of...at no cost to me. Thank goodness!) and found our way to our gate. Five hours or so later and we were landing back home.

Ahhhh...it was nice to smell that Kentucky air and ride on those familiar roads. Seems like in no time at all we were back home. And I was fast asleep for a LONG nap in my own comfy bed. :-)

*Pictures soon...hopefully.

Daddy-O

Today is Father's Day. It is also the first time in all my 28 years that my Dad has been somewhere other than home on Father's Day. Dad recently took a new job that requires him to travel around the Eastern U.S. quite a bit and to be gone for weeks at a time. Right now he's in Ohio...and we are all in Kentucky, which obviously leads to a bit of a problem when it comes to spending Father's Day with my Dad.

Never fear! I am a gypsy by nature, so my solution was to pack up everyone and drive to Ohio for the weekend.

It took a mighty big heap o' plannin' to get the job done because it was all Top Secret stuff. See Dad works with his nephew, my cousin, BJ. The way the job works, is they travel from place to place, never really staying in one town for more than a few days at a time. So its a wee bit difficult to keep up with their current location...especially when you are trying to anticipate a weekend move without letting the cat out of the bag about a surprise holiday visit. ;-)

With a little help from the boss man, we were able to find out their current hotel name and room number without the menfolk finding out. So bright and early Saturday morning, Mom, my baby brother Dillon, and I loaded up in my car and picked up BJ's girlfriend Laura and their son, Hyatt, and we all headed North towards Ashtabula, Ohio. Actually, when we first headed out, all we knew was to head towards Cleveland...we really had no idea where they were at until we got a wee bit closer to them.

After roughly nine hours on the road (give or take a couple of hours for pitstops), we pulled in front of their hotel window. Dad later said, "I thought that looked like your car, but I knew it couldn't be. You were in Kentucky and nobody knew where we were at anyway." Never underestimate me...that's all I know to say. :-P

So Saturday night we all loaded up and went to nearby Geneva, Ohio and at some yummy Chinese food as a Father's Day treat. Then Mom rented a hotel room just for our little family, so that BJ and Laura and Hyatt could spend some time together as a family as well. Plus, seven people can't really fit in a hotel room only big enough for two. ;-)

It was nice having the families together. Dad has only been gone a week but we miss him around here. That's the longest he's ever been gone from Nunn Road his entire life, believe it or not. BJ was surprised to see Laura and Hyatt too, but I know it was a great surprise for him as well.

We hung around the hotel room until around noon on Sunday and then we headed back to Kentucky. It was a short trip, but it was a great surprise for the daddies. And I think it was a great Father's Day gift for them as well, because when we got ready to leave, BJ said, "This has been the best Father's Day ever." :-)

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Here are some photos from the trip. I took them with my phone, so they aren't the best, but at least its something.

(Hyatt getting tired on the way up there.)

(Much needed break for H.D.)

(He wouldn't sit still long enough for a picture.)

(Dillon pretending to be domestic in the hotel room.)

(H.D. and the "blue" light. lol.)

Daddy

Note: Please do NOT tell me what is wrong with my Father's health. Yes, he has high blood pressure. Yes, he needs to go to the doctor. No, I can not do anything about this. He is a Nunn male. Nunns have a tendency to NOT go to the doctor when they should and the male members of the family are the worse ones for that. He knows he should go, but he won't. I can't do anything about that. I've talked to him repeatedly, but it doesn't work. If I thought something I could do or say would make him go, then believe me I would do it, but it will NOT work. So please, do NOT add extra worry to my life by telling me how unhealthy he is or isn't. It frustrates me. It worries me. And to be honest, I don't need that...because I worry enough as it is. Thank you!

Now that THAT is over, I will say this...

This weekend is Father's Day and this weekend my Dad will be far, far from home for the first Father's Day since he became a Daddy 28 years ago.

Dad took a new job. He lost his dairy farm last year due to circumstances beyond his control and since then, he's been unemployed. We were fortunate enough that when he sold the cattle he had enough extra money left over to be able to pay the mortgage and some other necessary bills while he was "in between jobs." That money is running low however, so when my cousin B.J. offered him a chance to come work with him, Dad took it.

The only real issue is that he will be gone for seven weeks at a time. Not just gone a little ways away, but gone to various different states...hours and hours from home. Dad has never had a job quite like this before.

I'm glad that he's back to work. I think it is a job that he will enjoy. I've inheritated that gene of wanting to do work outside from my Father. So I know how hard it is to be stuck in doors all the time. He is not a factory working kinda fella to say the least.

I am also very thankful that B.J. was able to get Dad on at this job. Dad has been unemployed for quite some time, but its not from lack of looking for a job. The economy is bad right now, especially if you are unemployed, have only a high school education, and are just shy of turning 50. These are traits my Dad possess and employers are unforgiving when they look at an application and see those things. So thanks to B.J. for taking Daddy along.

But we are gonna miss him around here. Its funny how quickly you miss someone and what it is that you miss about them. Its also funny that my Father would be the one to leave before me. :-) But I assure you if he had any other choice he would have stayed closer to home.

I guess I'm officially the "man of the house" now, since I'm the oldest and the only other "man" in the house is my 14 year old brother. So, note to anyone that thinks they might be able to get by with more since the big, scary intimidating hillbilly man is no longer here: Ummm...sorry about your luck punk, but I may be little and a chick, but I'm just as mean as my Daddy. He raised me well and the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree.

So anyway, this weekend is Father's Day and Daddy doesn't know it yet, but I'm keeping tabs on him each night. Saturday morning, once I find out where he is exactly, Mom, Dillon, and I are loading up in my car and heading out on a weekend road trip. I don't know how many hours we will have to drive, but we are going to go spend the Father's Day weekend with my Dad. We'll leave my Aunt and our cattle dog, Rosie in charge of the house while we are away and we will surprise my Pops with a visit from his kids and wife on his holiday.

In the meantime, please, no disrespect, but those of you that keep telling me all these really negative things about my Dad, read the NOTE at the top of the blog. 'Cause honestly, I don't want to hear it anymore. It does no one any good. Ya'll know how Daddy is anyway and all ya'll are doing is causing me more stress and aggrivation. Now that I'm the man of the house, I really don't need that anymore. ;-)

Day 8 Photos

(John Travolta's. One of many there, I just didn't want to have to post ALL the photos.)

(Jack Nicholson...again, one of many.)(Simon Cowell lives here...yuck!)(Santa Monica, CA)(Venice Beach, CA)

Hooray for Hollywood (Day 8)

Day out found us waking up in Anaheim only to brave the traffic to downtown Los Angeles. Yes...DOWNTOWN L.A. Good Lord! I thought the traffic was bad before...it was CRAZY that day!

Mom and I had made a reservation the night before for a tour of Los Angeles. It was to last six hours and hit all the "hot spots." Now, I don't typically like "tours" of this nature, but I KNEW after my first experience driving in Los Angeles traffic the day before that I was NOT willing to drive to all the places I wanted to see. So we booked a tour.

We were a little late to our pick up point, but no worries, because our driver was late as well. We ended up on the tour with an 86 year old lady from Florida and her 45 year old son, a mother, father, grandmother, and 4 year old little lady from Australia, and our tour guide, who was from NYC originally. I was actually quite impressed with the knowledge of random information this tour guide possessed. Sure he knew a lot about Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles. He knew a lot about California as a whole because he'd lived there for 12 years. But he actually knew a surprising amount about Florida, Australia, and Kentucky. While on the tour we all debated politics, immigration laws, taxes, the economy...you name it. So needless to say, it was quite an interesting tour. :-)

Anyway...

We spent six hours driving around Los Angeles. We got to visit the following places (and many more, but I can't remember them all): Griffith Park & Observatory where we also saw the Hollywood sign, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Kodak Theatre, Beverly Hills (yeah, I took some pics of the famous people's homes, but I wasn't really interested in all that anyway, so they weren't very good pics), Santa Monica, Venice Beach, the Farmer's Market, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Needless to say we were very tired after the tour, but as soon as we got back to the car, we hit the road and headed North back towards San Francisco. We drove until ten thirty that night and I was completely tuckered out. We found a hotel in a little town called Solvang, and settled in for our last official night in California.

Anyway...I have to say this about Hollywood and Los Angeles in general...honestly...I wasn't that impressed. I guess I had it all built up inside my head to be something bigger/better than what it really was. Really, L.A. is just another city. You have your more affluent places (like Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills) that are nice to look at and probably nice places to live, but then you have your flip side to those...your "bad" parts of town. L.A. seems to have a lot of those parts. The roads, the buildings, all of it were really run down and it just made me kind of sad. It wasn't the "dreamy" place that you think it will be from movies and whatnot.

Santa Monica was nice. I really, really liked it there. Venice Beach was pretty cool too. Griffith Park would have been nice to explore and there was an art show in Beverly Hills that I would have liked to just walked through for a little while, but there wasn't enough time. Everything else I wasn't very impressed with. :-(

Anywho...I'll post pictures on another blog. Promise. :-)