Boomer, You Are Still Loved

It's kind of a sad day today. One year ago, to this very day, I lost a very dear friend of mine. His name was Boomer, and he had been with me for 13+ years. He was my cat.

But he was also much more.

You might be thinking . . . it's only a cat. But when you spend that many years with someone (or something), you become rather attached.

Joe and I still talk about him to this day. All the things he used to do. His little quirks, his way of winning us over, not matter how naughty he had been. The way he used to wake us up in the middle of the night with his wet nose in an ear.

He was a spoiled cat, that's for sure. When it was just us, he used to jump up on the counter or the table. And we'd let him. We bought him the best food. When it came to Boomer, there was no expense spared.

Some things about him . . . he hated to ride in the car. He rarely meowed (In fact, when we first got him as a kitten, he barely meowed at all. My mom said it was because he wore out his meow crying for his mom - he was found abandoned by a dumpster). But when he had to ride in the car (either to the vet, or if we had to take him to my mom's when we went on vacation) he cried the whole way.

Like I said above, he was abandoned by a dumpster. We got him from the Pope County Humane Society when he was just a kitten. He was actually my birthday present from Joe. I was still in high school, and my mom and dad didn't know that he was coming to live with us. My dad was asleep when we brought him home, and the next day I was sitting on the couch with Boomer by my side. My dad walked through the family room - and stopped. "What is that?" he said. Luckily, everyone fell in love with him immediately, and he was a welcome addition to the family.

Joe was not a cat person before Boomer. In fact, I think he wasn't too willing to "give" him to me for my birthday. But just like everyone else, Joe fell in love with Boomer. And after 13+ years, he became the third point to our family triangle.

At the end, he was really sick. He had been having some kidney and digestive issues for some time. We'd take him to the vet (which, he hated of course), but he never really seemed to get better. Age has a lot to do with his demise, but health problems contributed.

Finally, it got to the point where nothing could be done. I remember when I got the call from Joe. I was in class, but stepped out because I knew it couldn't be good news. Joe told me what the vet had said - that it was probably best to put him to sleep. He would take him into the vet the following day (a Friday), but it was most likely that it would be time to take that step.

The next day, we made the decision. I was so torn. I wished we could wait until I could be there to say goodbye, but that didn't seem fair to Boo. Joe had his mom take Boomer into the vet because he wanted to say goodbye to him at the house.

It was time, and Boo knew it. He hated to go into the cat carrier - seriously, we had to stuff him in there kicking and screaming (probably because he knew he would be going in the car), but this time, he walked right in. By himself.

That makes me cry every time I think it about it.

So, on 8/8/08, Boomer left us. He really knew how to go out in style - all 8's like that.

I could say so much more, but it's still a bit too much all at once. Regardless, I wanted to share Boomer's story with you - on this, his one-year mark of being gone.

Boomer, you are still loved.

If I had a hammer . . .

So, I'm in this play - Tracing Sonny - which opens next Friday. It's a great play, by the way, and you should definitely come. But anyway . . . there's a set that has to be built, and today was another day to build. There was a "build" last weekend as well, which I helped out at on Saturday. I used a Skill Saw (or is it Skil Saw?) and a hammer. It was glorious. Today I didn't get to use the saw, but I did paint, used a hammer - and a drill. And I acted as "dead weight" (essentially sitting on pieces of wood that were being cut).

I had forgotten how much I really enjoy "manual labor." It was never that much fun growing up, with chores and baling hay, and picking rocks . . . especially in 90+ degree heat. But it offered a sense of accomplishment - one that just isn't the same with the day job, or even the acting thing. I got my hands dirty, didn't care how I looked as a sweaty, paint-stained mess, and built something.

I had to leave a bit early (plans to attend a play with good friend, Trista), but I was proud of the work I had done. And somehow it made me somewhat more invested in my character. Not only did I help build "little limbo" that Nanette calls home, but I found a "home" for her.

You can see this beautiful set, at the Avery Schrieber Theatre in North Hollywood. 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; 2:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

Ok, seriously. Is it really supposed to rain this much in L.A.? I don't understand. Where did all the sunshine and warmth go? Instead we are experiencing rainy day after rainy day, complete with flooded streets and backed-up freeways. And I've had enough. If I wanted cold and rain and miserable weather, I would have stayed in Minnesota.

I'm really starting to get depressed.

Back Up Your Computer!!!

So the other night I was sitting at my computer, enjoying a little concoction I like to call "lemon drop martini."

Ok, let's stop right there. The fact that I had such a liquid substance so close to my computer is asnine to begin with. I know that now. But at the time I was just catching up on Facebook while enjoying my new favorite cocktail.

And then as I was checking my email messages, I reached to set my martini glass down on the coaster . . . except it didn't quite make the coaster.

It spilled. The lemon yummyness raced from glass to laptop in seconds. I shrieked in terror, then quickly grabbed a fistful of tissue to try to wipe it up. Ugh. It was everywhere . . . on the keyboard, under the base, everywhere.

And then the screen flickered, and the next thing I knew it was gone. I frantically tried everything I could think of, but no juice. Even the little light that indicates the laptop is powering up went dark.

I started to cry . . . I'm not even kidding.

Now, I know better. I had backed up my essential files about two months ago, before heading to NY and MN for Christmas (just in case something happened to my laptop during the trip). But I had not backed up since then and there were things - important, vital, life-altering things - that were not backed up.

I didn't sleep much, and kept waking up to see if that power light had miraculously come on. I even got up at about 3:00 a.m. and tried taking my hair-dryer to the thing (needless to say, that didn't work). I was up at the crack of dawn to call Best Buy and find out exactly what time they opened. Argh - it wasn't until 10:00! How could this electronic super-house not open until 10:00 a.m.???? I tried to wait patiently, but failed.

At 9:30 I headed out the door (in the rain, by the way - of course it would be raining). Traffic was not bad at all, and considering that Best Buy is about 2 miles from my apartment, I was there about 10 minute to 10. Apparently there were other technology-troubled souls that day because a handful of us were lined up at 10:01 waiting for them to open the doors.

Doors were opened . . . we all rushed in to our desired location, three of us heading straight to the Geek Squad desk. Where we were informed that the "Geek" had not shown up for the day, but someone would be there in about 30 minutes.

Great. 30 minutes of wandering the store, tortured by the price of the many new laptops . . . which I feared I would have to cough up the money to purchase.

45 minutes later the Geek (or substitute Geek) appeared. The woman in front of me had a Mac iBook that had apparently been in and out of "service" 3 times already. The Geek informed her that they would have to send the computer away (that sounded very ominous - "away") and that it would be 10 days to 2 weeks before she would be able to get it back.

I nearly passed out.

I cannot be without my computer for more than 2 days - and even them I am hyperventilating.

I was next. I explained what happened (I conveniently left out the part about the fact that the "liquid" that I spilled contained vodka - even though I was not even close to tipsy when the spill occurred). He asked me a couple questions, took the battery out and put it back in, then hit the "power" button. I held my breath.

It powered up! I could't believe it! Whatever the Geek did, it worked! I nearly jumped across the counter to give him a big kiss (OK, maybe not . . . he was a Geek after all).

The best part? He didn't charge me a dime! What a nice guy.

The lesson in all of this? BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER!!! I invested in an online back-up system which backs up my files every afternoon - automatically.

It was a close call . . . thank goodness for the Geeks of the world.

I'm back

Again, it's been a long time. How do I not find time to blog? Oh yeah . . . I have a busy life! Back from a weekend jaunt to Phoenix for a Super Bowl party and a night at the FBR golf tournament's Bird's Nest party, I am expecting a busy week with too much going on. Monday is the High Jinks Burlesque at Monday Night Tease. Tuesday, class. Wednesday, class. Thursday, class. Then it's Friday again! And work is in between all of that.

Not much to say other than I know now that I cannot keep up with my husband and Bill S. drinking. If I try to, I fail miserably and am sick for days on end.

That's it.

Christmas Shopping

I ventured out today to try to do a little Christmas shopping. "Try" is the operative word, here. I have two gifts to show from my efforts. And the days are counting down. Many gifts to ship, too little time.

To be continued . . .

Hiccups

I hate the hiccups. They are to me, a painful experience. I've had many people try to give me remedies for my hiccups. Eating sugar, standing on my head, drinking water upside-down, a complicated math problem, looking at a bright light - oh wait, that's sneezing. But nothing seems to work. I remain stymied in my attempt to resolve my hiccup woes.

Help?