My Digital Camera and Other Stuff

First things first: My BIL was unexpectedly released from the hospital on Friday (they had been told it would be Saturday or Sunday). He had developed a bad staph infection around the incision on his head, but they sent him home with a PICC line in his inside upper arm. It's a sort of catheter-type device used for people that need regular injections. He will need regular antibiotic injections for four weeks, but they will not need a nurse to stop in since he is a paramedic and can do it himself. He sounds like his old self on the phone and is SO GLAD to be home.

I finally got my digital camera last week, but took a while to get around to figuring it out. This is the first picture I took. I had to crop it funny for this post because SOMEONE had not mowed in quite some time. (He blames the rain.) It's a Canon Powershot SD1000. It's TINY! I already lost it twice. The first time I had set it back in the box and couldn't see it. The second time I lost it, I was looking through the box again with my right hand when I realized it was in my left hand. It's about the size of a cigarette box. I told my best friend I should probably keep it in a Camel Lights box. I'd be less likely to lose it that way. That would also seem like a good place to hide it except cigarettes are so expensive these days.

Today we did our Annual Cat Room Spring Cleaning. I've mentioned my cat room before but I think it was over a year ago. People think I'm weird for having a cat room, and by people, I mean anyone that knows I have a cat room. It works for me. Cats are a rambunctious sort and if they were allowed to run free at night, I would wake up every time they did anything. ANYTHING. Also, I HAVE to sleep with my door closed and the cats would take turns crying and scratching to get in the room with us. Another reason is that cats are more likely to puke within the first hour or two of eating, so if they are going to puke, it's going to be in the room with the sealed concrete floor, not all over the house on my carpet or hardwood floor. Maybe I should have done bullet points, because I could keep going about why I have a cat room. Anyway, we did the BIG cleaning today and it took me THREE HOURS! In the middle of the room is a big green indoor/outdoor rug, so we took that out to the deck and sprayed it with anti-bacterial dishwashing soap mixed with water and then power sprayed it down with the hose. We vaccumed and swept and sneezed, oh my. Then I scrubbed the place down with Lysol. We threw some of the old stuff out and rearranged some stuff. And although I did it TODAY, I have some pictures because I have a digital camera now. Woo-hoo!

We moved the shelf out from the corner and stuck that cat house thing there. The cats like to get up high to look out the window.

I threw out the old sheet that was on the ottoman and covered it with a piece of old shower curtain (a cloth one) that I had been saving for a drop cloth or something. I used binder clips in the corners to keep it in place. I went ahead and cut out another one so that when this one gets icky, I'll toss it and have one ready.

This is the "food court." I like to keep a little separation between the food and water bowl or food somehow ends up in the water. I still haven't figured out how that happens.

This is Jake's bed. He likes to sleep up high (but not too high) on a pillow that has no room for the other cats to join him. The carpet is still drying out on the deck, but that should be back in tomorrow. The litter box is in the closet behind that yellow door. There are some large cardboard boxes in there with little doors and windows cut out, but they were not very photogenic - not that this other stuff was. I just thought people would want to know what the hell a cat room is.