Marilee J. Layman

06:01 pm: Sun!
It's actually colder than yesterday, but it feels warmer because of the sun. I went off to get more birdseed (this is getting much more expensive with the increase in the price of seed and having to get it more often) and stopped on the way back for souvlaki and onion rings.

When I got in the car to go out, in the car between the birdfeed store and Roma restaurant, and in the car on the way home, I felt like the left side of my face had globs of fat on it. Now, that's the side that's partially-paralyzed and I sometimes feel that side of my face is longer and I know that means I'm too tired or stressed and take a nap. I'm not sure what to think about feeling like it has globs of fat (it doesn't -- I looked in the mirror and felt with my hands), but my eyes are really hurting, too, even minutes after I put the drops in, so maybe I'll take a nap anyway.

It's nice enough to have the windows open, so Shiva is smelling out the kitchen window. Spirit is just curled up next to him.

I thought of the Changes idea for yesterday's post because of changes I'm making now that Giorgio is dead, and then I didn't put any in! For a few years I've put the pull cord for the kitchen blinds up on top of the fridge so he wouldn't eat it like he did the last two. I'm trying to train myself to leave it down now. I meant to get flowers at the store yesterday to see if Shiva eats them. Giorgio did and so there was no use in having them. I've moved some glass items back on top of a tall chest of drawers because the other cats never dash up there. But the hardest thing is the goodnight saying. For years I said "Time for ni-ni, Marilee and kitties ni-ni. Spirit and Giorgio, and Shiva and Marilee, everybody ni-ni!" I'm trying to make it more like triplets -- Spirit and Shiva and Marilee -- but sometimes I forget and then I cry. The cats don't seem to notice as much.

Tags: cats, health, shopping, weather

08:38 pm: Weird Happenings Day
The guy who'd been selling me the Sqwincher Lite had been making the offer again each time, and when I emailed him on Saturday to take him up on it, he filled the order, but didn't make the offer. The "stix" came today and it was from a third party, so I checked eBay and he isn't selling there, either.

I had decided to just put pouch stuff on Shiva's plate this morning, and I carefully opened the pouch before the fridge, but as I was opening it, he dashed away again. So I put the chicken on and the pouch all on the one plate. He stayed away. He stayed away for snackies.

I took trash and recycling out and then ate at Ruby Tuesday's. I took a CD with me for the waitress I usually have. During an earlier visit, we'd heard a mariachi version of The Kinks' Come Dancing in their music and I thought it was interesting, though not something I'd buy. She thought it was awful and I talked to her about the original, so I took the compilation CD, Come Dancing - The Best of the Kinks, with me today and stuck my card in the case so she could email me when she was ready for me to pick it up. I figured that was all there was to it, but she came by while I was eating and told me she thought she should loan me something I hadn't heard and we went through what I liked and then she asked if I'd heard Cowboy Mouth. I hadn't, although I'd heard of them, so when she's done listening to The Kinks, she'll loan me a Cowboy Mouth CD. I always feel bad when people think they have to do something back because of something I've done. But maybe I'll like Cowboy Mouth.

There was a looooong detour on the way home and when I got back, I started looking for new suppliers of Sqwincher Lite -- the 50 count bag because the case is too expensive all at once. I found two good ones, but also had Amazon come up. It's one of their third-party suppliers and it's substantially more expensive than the other two. Then I noticed the "two new and/or used" bit and went to look. One is the same price as the first third-party, but the other was almost nine times as much. That had to be the case. I tried contacting Amazon via email to tell them they had the wrong item linked there, but they required an order number for that. So I called (you give them your phone number, they call you and connect you with someone -- my someone was clearly in a place with little children and had an accent) and explained. It took me a while to get her to understand that I didn't have a problem with an order, that there was a problem with an item listing. So when she finally understood, she offered me the number of the supplier so I could have them change it. I very carefully said "Doesn't Amazon care that the extra supplier isn't selling the same item as shown on the Amazon page?" She said "Yes," and I said "So I would expect you to notify them." She put me on hold for about 10 minutes and then came back and said she'd passed it to the marketing team who would take care of it. Amazon is getting weirder all the time.

Just before I sat down to start this, I moved some laundry around and also got some treats that my friend Doris sent. I was beginning to wonder if Shiva just hated the food. He thought the treats were great when I dropped some on the floor and on the heating pad, but when Spirit jumped up to have some, too, he barked and dashed to the bedroom. I think it's definitely Spirit. He's just getting crowded. I'm going to try something that probably won't work -- he's in the bedroom closet and I'll put a pouch in the bedroom and shut the door. I think he may be too worried about being shut in to eat. I've tried separating Spirit before and that bothered him too much to eat (if she's in a room, maybe he will be!). I may need vet advice for this.

Tags: cats, errands, shopping

03:58 pm: Teen Shopping
Yesterday's WashPost has a fascinating set of articles, videos, and interactive maps on teen shopping. A team of reporters and videographers followed 61 teens (who signed up) as they shopped at Tyson's Corner Mall, which is a big Northern Virginia mall. Only four boys signed up, and only one showed; the others are all girls and I found the articles fascinating.

Tags: shopping

04:22 pm: Marketing
I'm seeing commercials on TV for the Tuesday Morning store. They have that actress's voice-overs showing a product and saying that was on sale last week and there aren't anymore. You missed it, don't miss this week's product. And so far, I haven't wanted anything she shows. I'm clearly not their demographic.

I was at the Giant today getting groceries and kleenex, and above the house brand I buy were Puffs with lenticular display panels on the sides. They were mostly in holiday themes -- a kid dressed for snow who did jumping jacks when you moved it, an elf that waved, but one was a lava lamp with moving bubbles. Very cute and I almost bought one just for the panel. I could bead around it.

Tags: shopping