It's gonna be random.
It's gonna be scattered.
I wish I could say that I feel all the way better.
But I'm not a liar.
You know, you spend most of your life not thinking at all about your kidneys, then they get all infected and then it's all you can think about.
Let's have some beauty:

The sunset tonight was so fabulous. Pinks, purples, blues...

A Tiger Moth, complete with fur muff.

One of Mom's fawns...they breed like rabbits on her property.
***
At the Oxbow (the first birding experience since I got sick, and the birding was not so good)

Kingfishers were loud and obvious.

Updated: My bad. It's a great egret.

One of the kingfishers got a really BIG fish.

The pipevine swallowtail caterpillars are eating and getting bigger every day.

A very sad picture:

Conjunctivitis at its worst...this male house finch has one functioning eye, and the other one is sealed shut. We can only hope that he can scratch it off and be able to see fully again. Or he will probably die.

At Lake Isabella yesterday:

A doe in the middle of the Wildflower Area. How cute is that?

An Ermine Moth. Weird. I hear that their range is growing north, following their food source, the Tree of Heaven.

Two girls, one river.

Why do dragonflies come in so many cool colors? I mean, my goodness.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Birdchick. And when Sharon says jump...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here are the rules for Eight Random Facts:

• Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I think I am pretty much random all the time anyway, but I will try to think of 8 things that you don't know yet. And as Sharon said, what can be said that we don't already say?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Famous people I have met: Anthony Munoz (Bengals), the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Richard Simmons, Boomer Esiason (Bengals), and Ronald McDonald. I met all of them at the airport, when I worked in security. I was hoping I would get to "pat down" Anthony Munoz...he is stacked, packed and fine.

2. Right now, I have a French pedicure. But they are press-on nails...I don't feel like going to a salon. Yes, they make press-on toenails.

3. My Life List as of right now is 147.

4. I wish I had more talent. I love to draw and paint and write, but I have more enthusiasm than skill. Why didn't I pay more attention in art class????

5. When I was younger, I dreamed of being a marine biologist. But when I got into high school, I realized that wasn't going to happen, or any other technical field, because I suck at math.

6. I went to the 1994 and 1999 Woodstocks. One of the Nouveau Hippies. Left the bra at home, put my hair entirely in wraps, got muddy, and felt the love.

7. I lost the Big "V" when I was 16. (Hey, I'm coming up with blanks here, people!)

8. I have been coloring my hair since I was 16. Coincidence? I think not.
Men. Nothin' but trouble.

Okay, now to pick the next 8 victims:

Trixie
Nina
Mary
Laura
Pam
Liza Lee
Tom
Jim (I am forcing him to post something!)

And since all of them read my blog anyway, I don't have to leave them a comment alerting them that they are on the hot seat.

In honor of the day that we celebrate:
Not having to have "tea" instead of lunch or
Calling a car trunk a "boot" or
Having to sing "God Save Our Queen" on every national holiday,


here's a bit of RED, WHITE and BLUE:

Fast and dirty

I didn't take any pain killers today, and now I am paying the price. I seem to be having a bit of a relapse.
Just took two Vicodin, so I better get this down before I get all flubby.
Scenes from today:

Our tika-marked bunny came over to the fountain to sample the weeds (what are those wide-leaved weeds?). If you enlarge the picture, you can see a very fat tick in his ear. Poor guy. I hope he has someone who can groom that off.

The yard birds are starting to bring their babies to the feeders...a young chipping sparrow...

...and a young cardinal.

The tree frogs seem to have left the immediate neighborhood, but the bull frogs have moved in, so we don't feel lonely. I think this guy is trying to make a hula hoop.

"Hi! I is a squirrel. Is you allowed to come out and play wif me?"

Gotta love it. Beetle porn. Shameless hussies.
I am not ashamed to say that I tried to see exactly how they do it. Couldn't figure it out. But I did notice that the "bottoms" kept on eating. It must be boring...beetle sex. Imagine eating a sandwich in the middle of "you know". Must be demoralizing.

I am glad that I moved one of the feeders closer to the windows. First, it can cut down on window strikes (forces the birds to slow down) and I can get pictures like this without zooming.


And the gravy:

"My name is Queen....LAAAAAAAAAA!"

My eyelids are flickr-ing

Today was spent mostly in bed.
The pain in my kidney is much better...thanks, everyone, for your "Get Betters", etc.

I did manage to get outside in the back yard to take some pictures. But I didn't feel like using Flickr, so I use the old Blogger-dinosaur way:

These really interesting caterpillars are eating my Dutchman's Pipe. I can't wait to figure out what they are. They have horns!
UPDATE: Laura suggested they might be pipevine swallowtail caterpillars, and it looks like she was right. I knew I had seen pictures of something like this...Laura always comes through, doesn't she? Hugs, sister.

The cosmos I planted from seed last year are making another appearance in the prairie.

Looks like an eye, doesn't it?

A recent addition to the prairie is this Gayfeather. When I chose it, the girls asked me what it was (Their little brains are like sponges and they want to know EVERYTHING). When I said the name, Lorelei said, "Good. We be gay." I have no idea what that means.

We found quite a few of these cute fluffy insects on the Queen Anne's Lace, and on the wild grape vines. Anyone ever seen a bug like this?
And now, I am off for a quick spin around the Bloggosphere, then to bed.

Sicko, Part Deux

1:00 am, Today:
Went to bed.
1:01 am-Realized that I couldn't lie on my right side or back without considerable pain.
2:00 am- Still trying to find a pain free way to sleep. Wonder if I have somehow cracked a few ribs.
3:00 am- Still trying.
5:30 am-My moans of agony wake up Geoff. I explain that I am having a hard time taking a deep breath, and that the pain in my right side is getting worse. I wonder aloud if I have somehow contracted Hep A, or experiencing the beginnings of pancreatitis.
6:30 am- We discuss Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room.

8:00 am- Arrive at B-North ER. While getting up to get a drink from water fountain, I find that I am unable to even talk through the pain.
8:30 am- My sobbing has alerted staff that a bed is necessary.

8:35 am-IV is started, blood culture is taken and a temp of 100.0 is recorded.
9:00 am-Waiting to see the next available doctor. We are told that I can't have any pain meds until I see said doctor.
10:30 am- Still waiting. Curse critical patients coming in with heart failure, trauma and projectile vomiting.
11:00 am-I am taken to X-ray. Able to stand for chest X-ray, but when time comes for abdomen X-rays with me laying on my back, end result is screaming.
11:30 am- Look over at Geoff after I finish bout of crying, tell him that I love him, and proceed to begin sobbing again.
12:00 pm- Meet Dr. Lloyd. Told that my urine sample is full of leukocytes,
bacteria, pus and blood.
12:05 pm- Screaming again because during exam, Dr. squeezes my sides and does some deep palp to my abdomen. Dr. orders pain meds and I never see him again.
12:30 pm- Finally get pain meds: Morphine for pain, Phenergan to control nausea, and Ativan to relax me.
1:00 pm- Diagnosed with acute UTI, given prescriptions for Vicodin and Cipro and discharged.

So, there's my day in a nutshell.
How are you?

Remembering why

Tonight, I had a date with my husband.
*Ah-Oooooooo-Gaaaaa*
The in-laws took the girls for the night, and Geoff and I saw "1408".
Pretty good movie, if you want to wet your pants every 2.5 minutes.
Plus, it's one of those horror movies that make you think and feel.

It's always such a nice surprise to go out with my hubby and be adults. Well, we are adults when the kids are around, but it's different when it's just us. We remember what it's like to talk about subjects that do not include "Little Bear", "Dora the Explorer", Jell-O or "Why is the sky blue?".
We remember why we liked each other in the first place, to get us here, to remembering.

Even if you aren't married, you can get the same feeling when you reconnect with an old friend, laughing and trying not to wet yourself during a funny story that only they can tell.

Like Shannon.
Shannon has been my best friend since 1983. Fifth grade.
We met in Fourth grade, but we didn't like each other. She was a goody-two-shoes who wore matching purple oxford shirts with matching purple sweaters with matching purple corduroy pants, and I was a make-up-wearing, bra-training smart ass. The next year, we were in the same class, we forgot why we didn't like each other and so began our "Best Friendship".
For most of our friendship, she and I have lead parallel lives...whether it be boyfriends and how they treated us, or situations that we found ourselves in, it all ran together. In high school, teachers forgot which one was which, and frequently called us by each other's names.
The parallel lives began to diverge, but we have so much in common, and we have so many differences, we are fated to be friends till the end of time.
She is going through a very awful time right now, and she needs good vibes. So even though you don't know her, send up a good thought for a wonderful woman who is a kick-ass mother to an adorable boy, who is a kick-ass girlfriend to your truly, who has integrity and smarts and a kick-ass work ethic (she works 60 hours a week, and still manages to take college courses and be a good mom!), and who is dearly loved by so many people. Her only mistake was trusting someone who shouldn't have been trusted. And we have all done that.
Love you, Shannon! Keep that chin up.