Miscellaneous Manure 2

Cokee is doing great and her ass still smells sweet!

T was sick this weekend with a fever over 104. First he threw up at pre-school camp on Friday. I brought him home and he was 101. No big. We napped, after he stopped crying about missing his Pirate party and play date with BFF. He drank okay but wouldn't eat solids. That night he had night terrors which scared the crap out of me. He was screaming and picking at things in the air, eyes wide open but still he was asleep. Saturday he was okay,but that night he spiked to over 104, at first hus took it and it was 105.1 but the tympanic thermometer is usually a degree higher than it really is. Hus put him in the pool, no help, he put him in the shower, no help. I came home early from work, but T will not take medicine no matter how hard we try. We can't hide it, he knows.We can't force it because he will gag and spit it out. Finally I gave him a suppository of Tylenol. He made me feel horrible about it after. "You hurt me mama" "You're a bad mama" "You don't love me" "Go away". I put ice on his head and his fever broke an hour later and Sunday he was all better!

Hus, kids and I went on our annual vacation to Surf City, New Jersey. The weather was great and the beach was like an episode of Baywatch. Every day we got to watch at least 2 life guard rescues. I particularly enjoyed watching the sun bleached blond hottie doing his thing. Hus seemed to enjoy the brunette, however, he thought she was neglecting potential rescues. Luckily no one was hurt. I bought E and T body wave boards and E really liked hers. T fell off his once and that was enough. There was a cool sand bar we were all able to swim to with smaller waves for the kids to surf in.

I have been busy transporting the kids back and forth to camps. E is at Girl Scout Camp this week and will be sleeping over tonight. I wonder if I could find a sleepover play date for T tonight...

I have also been busy working. More than the usual number of annoying sick people this summer.

I have been spending my ME time at night reading and watching TV series on DVD. I have finished the first 3 books in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series and I am on the waiting list for the fourth at the library. Any of you reading it? Loving it? I seem to meet more and more people who are addicted to this series. I am part of a group of nurses who plan on going together to see the movie when it comes out in December. You can find out more about the books from my Shelfari bookshelf on my side-bar.For TV I am watching season 2 of Charmed and still not quite sure if I really like it or not. I am waiting for the second season of Angel to be delivered when it becomes available. I am totally addicted to that series now. It did take a while ,but now I love it.

We are having a Bikini Bottom birthday party for T's 5Th birthday Sunday. I drew pictures of the main characters from SpongeBob on poster board and the kids painted them. (It keeps them occupied for a short time!!) E asked if I was going to "fix T's?" I don't think so. We are going to swim, play "Pin the shorts on Patrick" and bust open a pinata.

I can't wait until school starts. Some days I just don't handle being with the kids very well. I even resort to Xanax occasionally. I find it hard to say "no" when they ask me to do something. I feel pulled in a million different directions sometimes. For example, the other night I was making supper and E wanted me to help paint her Girl Scout project, T wanted help with his Game boy, and I wanted to set up my new MP3 player. I somehow managed to do it all but dinner was at 7. Yes, hus was here but was mowing the lawn and gardening. Most evenings I just kick them both out so they can play,but sometimes they spend all day outside, they just don't want to go. That is until I go outside!!!

Hey...Your Ass Smells Like an Island Paradise!

I can joke about it now because she is okay, but when it first happened I was terrified.

Two weeks ago we accidentally poisoned our cat and by we, I mean, my husband.

On that fateful night, my daughter mentioned to me that Cokee had a wet leg. I said "Well, she probably just got into some water somewhere" No big. The next day, Hus mentioned to me that Cokee wasn't acting like herself, spending the entire day in my rocking chair. I said "Well, she's old and always does that" No big.

I went to work, came home at the usual time 1AM, kissed everyone and fell asleep reading on the couch. The next morning I woke up and it occurred to me that I couldn't remember if I had seen Cokee in bed with Hus the night before. She always sleeps with, or on top of Hus. I called to her, because she also always sleeps under the covers with me in the morning after Hus leaves for work. She didn't come. I thought perhaps she spent the night outside? I called for her outside, but she didn't come. I still wasn't' worried because cats can vary in their routines occasionally. I went back to sleep.

It wasn't until I tried to find her later that I began to worry. I looked everywhere. No Cokee! Mind you, I have known Cokee for 15 years, longer than I have even known my husband! I love her almost like a first child.

After about an hour of searching, I found her hiding behind an old dresser up in the loft. I picked her up and noticed that her butt was wet. I also noticed that she wasn't talking. Cokee talks all the time. Something was wrong.

I called Hus and left a message. I dried Cokee's bottom and in the back of my mind also wondered where a sweet smell was coming from. I told Hus that I thought Cokee was dying, she was incontinent, hiding and not talking. I couldn't breath. I was having a panic attack.

I am a nurse, I should know what to do. I needed to sort things out in my head. I did a physical exam on Cokee, checking skin, eyes, teeth, breath sounds and belly. Everything seemed fine. I was worried she had an abscessed tooth which she had before, or Leukemia which is what her husband died from.

A few minutes later Hus called back. It had occurred to him that Cokee might have gotten into something that she shouldn't' have.

Let this be a warning to all those of you considered to have a "sensitive nose". If you buy a refill bottle of Airwick for $6.99, and it doesn't' fit the dispenser you have at home, RETURN IT! Don't decide to use it in a way that the label probably warns against. For example, don't pour a little into a tin meant for a votive candle. While your cat or dog may be smart enough not to drink it, they might not be smart enough to not SIT IN IT! Which is exactly what Cokee did. She apparently sat on the window sill where my Hus had put the tin, inadvertently getting it on her bum. Of course then she must have cleaned it off, ingesting some of the air freshener refill.

Once we figured out what happened, I smelled her butt then smelled the remaining Airwick. Sure enough, they both smelled like an Island Paradise. I immediately gave Cokee a bath, towel dried her off and put her back on my bed. She still wasn't talking. I got her a glass of water, Cokee loves water from human glasses, and she drank some.

I was still panicking. I knew I had to take her to the vet but I had to leave right then to pick up one of T's friends for a play date. I thought, well, he will just have to come to the vet with us. When we got home, Cokee was still on the bed, which I considered a good sign. Hiding would have meant she still felt like she was dying. I then realized that I had to pick up E from summer rec in an hour so I decided to wait to take Cokee until after that. When we got home with E, Cokee was out of bed walking around the kitchen, eating cat food, like nothing was wrong! I was so relieved I think I started crying. My baby was better! Of course I still worried about liver damage, kidney damage or brain damage. But now, 2 weeks later, she still seems to be perfectly fine. I guess the air freshener must have made her feel sick and probably burned her throat. Now she won't stop talking, and she is still the best smelling cat EVER!

Cokee

And the Winner of the Fabulous Book is...

Yay it's Friday, time to pick a winner! E nicely wrote all of the entries names and put them into a hat...

E choosing a name...

Congratulations to...

Michele is a new commenter here. She is the author of her blog Creative Writings 101. She commented that she is new to blogging, so I think everyone should go visit her. From what I have read, I know she will be a fun addition to many blogrolls and I plan on visiting again too.

Michele-Send me an email with your address and I will send you the book ASAP!

OOH! A Giveaway!

This could be your book!

Welcome to GM Country Mama's first ever giveaway!

I mentioned in a previous post that one of my favorite bloggers Jess Riley had her first novel Driving Sideways published. I ordered a copy from Target on-line as soon as I could. While I was waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail, to my utter disbelief and surprise, I won a copy! There were many blogs giving away copies of Jess's book when it first came out, and I won a copy from the author of another of my favorite blogs Juggling Life.

I had a dilemma. What to do, what to do? I obsessed, I mean I thought about it for a while...and decided, with the ever helpful and thoughtful advice from my friend Suzy, to give my copy, the one I bought from Target, away to one of you!!! And SURPRISE it will have Jess's signature in it!! All you have to do is leave a comment for me to this post and at the end of the week, I will have my kids pull a name out of a hat randomly. I will give you until Thursday July 10Th 11:59pm to leave a comment. On Friday I will announce the winner.

I hope everyone who visits here will leave me a comment.

Oh and about the book... It is wonderful! I laughed and cried and just really enjoyed the story and the characters. I know you will too.

Good Luck!

Me pretending to read the cover while relaxing at my pool drinking a bit of White Zinfandel. Please no comments regarding my ugly feet or the bump on my left ankle from an old sprain or my blue nail polish.

E posing for the giveaway.

T posing for the giveaway.

Me posing again. Let me inform you that because I am barely 5 feet 2 inches tall, my ass was resting on the door handle in order for my legs to reach that far out the window!