In the middle of the night there arose such a cat-fight clatter, I sprang to the basement to see what was the matter. By the time I got there the fight was over, and I could only find Benchley. Another animal—I assumed at the time it was our other cat Mouse—ran out from under Elizabeth’s bed as I tried to lure Benchley out. When Benchley DID come out, he was limping, and he hid under the downstairs loveseat. He’s never hidden like that in the whole month we’ve had him. And the loudness and wildness of the cat fight was surprising, since in the month he’s been here the most he and Mouse have exchanged was some hissing and a paw-to-head whap. And when I went upstairs five or ten minutes later, Mouse was in her usual spot under the computer, with the alert look cats get when they hear other cats fighting.

In short, WTH happened here? One possibility is that a neighborhood cat came in through our cat door, fought with Benchley, and then took off. Another possibility is that Mouse finally did fight with him, and that he was injured either by her (she was a fierce fighter in her street-cat youth, though it’s been a good 14 years since then and she’s more into the wrist-slapping at this point) or by something that happened as they were fighting—like if he fell or whacked into something, or if something fell on him. Another possibility is that he was injured outside, then came in and had a fight with Mouse, or….?

Well, it’s too bad he can’t talk, is what I’m saying, because now he’s at the vet’s office and he was too feisty to allow his leg to be checked while I was there so he had to stay and they have to sedate him, and so here we are at over $100 before the exam has even started ($60 illness/injury visit, $25 staying-there fee, $20 sedative). But the good news is that it looks like he’s probably just fine, and in fact the likely situation is that he’s being a total MAN about his injury and he just has a little boo-boo but didn’t want to walk on it. But after my experience with my cat Oliver (I thought he was being a big baby about a small boo-boo and it turned out his leg was completely crushed), I’m hesitant to try to figure things out myself.

The vet thinks it’s most likely an animal bite, in which case Benchley gets a rabies booster, a shot of antibiotics, and a prescription for painkillers. But once he’s sedated she might find that he needs an x-ray, and there could be a fracture, and then let’s not think about how much that will cost. Let’s instead reflect on what a sweet cat Benchley is (at least when no one is trying to inspect his owies), and how many years he has left to work this off in white-nose-spot kisses.

CAT EXXTREEEME!!!
(Close-up courtesy of whichever child was playing with my camera.)

Update! Even after two kinds of sedative, the cat was still feisty—too feisty for them to shave his little leggy so they could have a look at the owie. They gave him a rabies shot and a shot of antibiotic, and they gave us a supply of painkillers to give him for a few days, and if he’s not much better in 24 hours we’re to bring him back. But the vet thinks he’s probably fine: just being all MAN about his little owie. Cost for Mr. Baby to get some fuss made over him: $200.

We are one week in to the Grim Diet, and there are good things and bad things to report.

The biggest good thing is that despite various ups and downs, I still feel like I am On A Diet, and holding on to that feeling is very important to my success. If I feel like I have to Start Over, I might not do so for a long, long time.

Another good thing is that I am getting used to drinking unsweetened coffee. I’m using Shawna‘s idea of adding a little skim milk to it, and I like that.

Another good thing is that we went to McDonald’s and I drank coffee while the kids had their delicious, delicious nuggets. A bad thing is that this caused suffering, and I’m trying to reduce that.

In fact, this is where I ran into a situation that would require a lifestyle change rather than a diet: when we are out on errands and we hit lunchtime, we stop at McDonald’s or Wendy’s or Taco Bell or Burger King. And I LIKE to do that, and so do the children, and it’s an inexpensive and yummy way to eat. If we are going to stop doing that, I’m not sure what to substitute. I don’t want to pack a lunch, because the thought of packing and toting a lunch for four people makes me feel like leaping into traffic. I don’t want to go to a place that serves healthier food, because of the cost. I think right now my solution is to reduce the number of times that we’re out on errands when it’s lunch time, and I think that’s a pretty good solution for our situation.

Eating a protein breakfast within an hour of waking up only works on mornings when I’m hungry. Otherwise I feel dumb eating when I’m not even hungry. BUT, this has led to keeping hard-boiled eggs on hand, and I’ve found those GREAT for other times in the day when I’m hungry, especially if I’m craving salt.

I’ve had a total lack of success this week with exercise goals. My intention was to increase from my usual three times a week to an “every day” schedule (where “every day” would probably end up meaning five times a week). After one week, how many times have I exercised? Three. Exactly as usual. I did somewhat increase the intensity and length of those three workouts, so that’s good. But this turned out to be another area where a lifestyle change would be required in order for me to do what I planned: I exercise in the evenings and right now that’s the only time of day that works for me, and there are some weekly evening plans that are incompatible with exercise. I don’t want to change those plans: one is a date night, one is a night that Paul lets the older boys stay up and watch a movie with him, etc. But I could still exercise on the night the older boys stay up, if I choose an exercise that doesn’t require me to use the television, and that would buy me one extra night.

And this brings me to YET ANOTHER item that would mean a lifestyle change: I don’t exercise on the nights I drink alcohol. I might INTEND to exercise, but I notice I NEVER DO. Never. Paul and I have drinks Saturday evening before we have our weekly treat dinner: a gorgeous pizza he makes, with olives and pepperoni and Monterey Jack cheese and turkey bacon and green peppers and mmmmmmmm. At this point I’m not willing to sacrifice ANYTHING ABOUT THIS on the alter of thinness. Perhaps later, but not now. So there’s one night that will not include exercise no matter what. HOWEVER: it’s pretty common for us to have some alcohol one or two OTHER evenings a week, and I AM willing to cut THOSE out. Not only does drinking mean I don’t exercise, it also makes me hungrier and reduces my willpower. Plus, of course alcohol has calories. So this week I will try eliminating it except on Saturday nights.

I knew Easter candy was going to be a challenge, and I prepared for it. When I saw Easter candy at 50% off, I successfully reminded myself that the PRICE has NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. It is fun to buy things on clearance, but it isn’t as if my body will say, “Oh, this was 50% off? Well then, we won’t store it as fat!” So I bought none. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to talk myself down from 75% off, bringing me to the worst crisis the diet experienced this week. A sensible person would chuck it all in the trash; I have trouble being sensible in the face of candy + clearance. I HAVE been managing to give some of it out to the children as desserts. And I’ve been managing not to scarf it all down. And I’ve maintained the feeling of being on a diet, despite the candy, and haven’t chucked the whole DIET in the trash, either, so that’s a certain level of sensible right there.

So! That’s how it’s going. Well enough that I’m still on it and still have high hopes; poorly enough that I’m not looking forward to weighing myself this evening.

1. Paul is watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure with the older boys this evening. I will not get sucked in. I will not get sucked in. I will not get sucked in. WYLD STALLYNS!!!!

2. I had a Bill & Ted centerfold (non-naked variety) when I was in high school. One side was Bill. The other side was Ted. Sometimes I thought one was cuter, and sometimes I CHANGED MY MIND. Now I think Rufus is cutest.

3. Not that I’m watching it. No.

4. May I recommend donating blood? It makes you feel like an awesome person. Plus, there is a bit of a natural high, via lightheadedness and the cookies/juice they make you eat afterward. Whooof!

5. Caesar is “a salad dressing dude.” Joan of Arc is “Noah’s wife.” NOT THAT I’M WATCHING IT.

6. We have named the cat. His name is Benchley. The children are unhappy with this choice, and we are disregarding them. PBBBBBBBTTTTTTHHHHHHTTTT, children!

7. Remember when I was searching for a non-ticking clock? I chose one:

Infinity Instruments Orange Retro Wall Clock. It was a bit of a risk, because it doesn’t SAY it’s non-ticking. But it didn’t have a second hand, and I liked it well enough to use it elsewhere in the house if it ticked, so I ordered it—and it doesn’t tick! Yay! I might have chosen it in aqua, but I thought orange would look better in the boys’ bedroom. Maybe later I’ll get the aqua one for the kitchen.

8. Every spring I keep a close eye on the Traverse Bay chocolate-covered DRIED cherries I love more than any other candy. Because every spring, Amazon.com clears them out before summer makes it too hot to store and ship them. And lo, they have gone on clearance: $18 for a 4-pound box. I bought eight pounds. WHAT?

9. Be excellent to each other. Party on, dudes.

As promised, a dieting post.

I have two weights I go back and forth between—not so much yo-yo-ing as TIDING. At the lower one I feel pretty much fine being a plus-sized person; at the upper one I feel like I’m wearing clothes made of fat. Also at the upper one I’m uncomfortable and my knees start aching and I overheat more easily. Obviously the upper one is not where I would like to be, and yet that’s where I am now.

So I’ve spent the last few weeks gearing up for a diet, and this past Monday I leaped into the abyss. (I didn’t choose Monday on purpose. I’m not usually a “starting Monday” dieter. It just happened that that was the day I woke up and felt ready to tackle it. I don’t know why I’m explaining this.)

I do my best to make dieting fun (I wrote about it today over here if you want more on that topic). I buy little dieting treats—spending more on a fruit I like that’s not on sale, or buying fancy coffee/tea, or buying a smaller amount of a more expensive sweet. I choose a gimmick or two: protein first, or vegetables first, or intermittent fasting, or plenty of coffee, or no calories in drinks, or whatever—it’s best if it’s something I haven’t tried before. I buy non-food treats of approximately the same cost as the food treats I was buying when I wasn’t dieting. I blog about it.

But there is only so much I can do. It is more fun to NOT be on a diet than to be on a diet, and that is just how it is. So things feel a bit BLEAK right now.

This time around I’m mix-and-matching the ideas that were successful from previous diets:

1. Eat breakfast within an hour of getting up, and make it proteiny. (The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program)

2. Eat protein with dinner, and then have a potato before bed. (The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program)

3. Drink coffee for energy, antioxidants, appetite suppression. (various sources)

4. But drink the coffee black, because bitter flavors can reduce cravings for sweets. (Eating Well for Optimum Health)

5. Eat when HUNGRY, not when it’s “time to eat.” (Tess)

6. When hungry, start with Good Stuff (vegetables, grainy stuff, a hard-boiled egg) and see if that handles it. (various sources)

7. Try try TRY to remember that “slip” plus “more slip” is > “slip” (i.e., don’t turn a slip into an ALL-OUT CHOW-DOWN as if it’s either ALL DIET or ALL NON-DIET).

8. Fibrous grains! Vegetables! (various sources)

9. Eat Magical Awesome Foods With Magical Awesome Properties (spinach, blueberries, yogurt, flax seed meal, vegetable juice) to achieve maximum Magical Awesomeness! (Eat This, Not That!)

10. See if I’m thirsty, not hungry. (Tess)

11. Exercise every day (“every day” ends up being more like “5 days-ish/week” in practical application, because of evening plans—but I still think of it as “every day” instead of thinking “It’s Monday today so I exercise” or whatevs), so that it becomes part of the routine and doesn’t start to seem like “day off” when I don’t “have to” exercise. (experience is a hard teacher)

12. See if a smaller/lesser/healthier treat will satisfy. (various sources)

So. Anyway. Diet. Sigh.

I am feeling frazzled and agitated and wish-I’d-said this morning. You may remember awhile back my phone victory where I finally, finally, finally made Rob the two appointments he needed: an orthodontic evaluation and, right before it, a thorough dental cleaning for his embarrassingly plaquey teeth. AND I made both appointments for early morning so he would only miss half a day of school, and then I arranged for my mom to watch the three littles so I wouldn’t have to sit for 2-3 hours in waiting rooms telling three small children not to lick the furniture.

Those two appointments were for this morning, and yesterday afternoon the dentist’s office called and said they had to reschedule because the hygienist had called in sick. What I SHOULD have said is, “I’m sorry, that’s impossible: I’ve arranged childcare for three small children, AND I specifically scheduled this appointment to be BEFORE his orthodontist appointment.”

But—how would that have affected reality? The hygienist would still be sick (or FAKING). Still, I wish I’d said it, because OMG MY LIFE IS NOW TOTALLY RUINED. My mom can’t babysit at this new time, and so I have to bring all three kids. The dentist appointment is now AFTER the orthodontist appointment, which makes no sense. And the timing/spacing of the appointments means he’ll have to miss the whole day of school. And all this after I had it SO CAREFULLY PLANNED.

I suppose I could have said no to the dentist, then called to cancel the orthodontist, then called the school to let them know Rob WOULD be there in the morning after all. But I couldn’t face having to make the appointments all over again when it was so hard the first time (for phone phobia reasons but mostly because it’s tricky to find two consecutive appointments with two unconnected offices), and also it wasn’t fair to the orthodontist, and also it would be EMBARRASSING since I had assured the orthodontist’s office not two hours earlier than we would be there, and anyway the odds of the two appointments being at a time when my mom could babysit were nearly nil, so if I’m bringing the kids with me I might as well get it over with.

Worse yet, I was planning that we could at least go to Wendy’s for lunch while we were out, but I’m reading Andrew Weil’s Eating Well for Optimum Health, and I just finished the section on fats, and basically he says that if you eat fast food you might as well give yourself an IV of wet radioactive cement. So that kind of puts a damper on things.

Guess who visited Henry last night?

This is my annual attempt to safeguard myself against April Fool’s Day pranks. One year I believed that my pop station was changing to an all-polka format. Another year I believed Google was offering a dating service. (I still think a Google dating service is a GREAT IDEA.)

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So, hey, I’m now in charge of cleaning up the waste matter of three different species. Not only is there a MOUSE in my CAR, but a cat is peeing on anything soft we leave on the floor. At first we assumed New Cat was the peeing one, but then we remembered that Mouse (our 15-year-old female cat, and I hope this will not be confusing with the rodent-in-the-car I just mentioned) had a peeing problem a number of years ago when the two boy cats we had at the time were heckling her. Also, I looked it up online and found a ton of info (much of it totally useless, like that you should have had the cat neutered earlier, which, um, shoot, I left my time machine in my other pants), but it SOUNDS like Mouse is the one more LIKELY to be peeing from stress and upset and perhaps also as a territory thing, because New Cat seems totally unstressed about coming to live with us and eager to play/cuddle with Mouse, but Mouse seems pretty miffed.

Well. So we got a second litter box and we’re scooping daily and trying to give both cats lots of attention. Also, getting cat pee aroma out of cloth? Anyone? I tried soaking/washing in baking soda and it didn’t work, and if baking soda doesn’t work I am ALL OUT OF IDEAS. (I also tried vinegar.) (Next I think I will try FIRE.)

About the mouse in the car—I think I’ve only mentioned it on Twitter so here’s the summary: I found a bunch of food and a gnawed-through seat and a bunch of mouse droppings IN MY CAR. And to clarify: it was stuff like cornflakes, which even on the rare occasion we DO let the kids eat in the car, we don’t give them CORNFLAKES. Anyway, my dad looked it up online and found that this is a not-uncommon problem (!), and that it was important to UN-problem it before the mouse gnawed through $1500 worth of wires or something.

I got an electronic mouse trap that (1) can be around kids and non-mouse-sized pets, and (2) won’t ever leave a mouse caught and squirming in pain OMG. It has a green light that flashes when a mouse has been caught, so I keep checking it nervously/hopefully. So far nothing, but it’s only been 18 hours.

Let’s change the subject.

Look at this nice big pile of books I got for $4:

I like to get books from the library book sale to use for traveling (so I don’t have to worry about losing them, and so I can leave them behind when I’m done with them and not have to lug them home) and for keeping in my purse (so if they get all scrunched and destroyed it doesn’t matter). I like paperbacks best for this, but I did get one hardcover. The cool thing was that I went to the book sale hoping to find the wellness book by Andrew Weil (The New Girl mentioned it and it sounded good), and they ACTUALLY HAD IT. That’s so weird! Also weird: they didn’t have ONE SINGLE Stephen King book. They always have multiple copies of every paperback, but not ONE. What could have happened to them all? *eerie music*

I hate having a bunch of stuff to deal with first thing in the morning: full trash can, full clean dishwasher, cat food container empty. And Paul often leaves a bunch of stuff on the counters from projects the night before: open science books, bowls of crystallizing substances, pans with thermometers in them. So irritating!

This project detritus I mind less:

(Plus, he unloaded the dishwasher.)

Q: How much do I love our new cat?
A: SO MUCH!

Q: Enough to buy him a large pink cat nest and put it in a sunbeam?
A:

Q: Does he have a name yet?
A: No.

Q: Any guesses?
A: Kip, short for Kissmerighthereonthiswhitenosespot, my favorite write-in suggestion (by Ramona).

Q: Are we driving a full half-hour to a physical Old Navy store just to see if they have a dinosaur swimsuit in size 3T?
A: Yes.

Q: Are we also having lunch at Taco Bell for the SOLE REASON that a 4-year-old boy was weeping prostrate on the floor yesterday at the news that two of his brothers had had Taco Bell when he had not?
A: Yes.

Q: Is that probably a bad plan, parenting-precedent-wise?
A: Maybe, but I will get to eat tacos.

Q: Do I have butter softening RIGHT NOW for making Oatmeal Scotchies later?
A: YEAH BABY.

Q: Is Easter candy the best candy of the whole year?
A: Are you kidding me? Cadbury eggs, Cadbury mini-eggs, Reese’s peanut butter eggs!

Q: Is there going to be a dieting post soon?
A: Coincidentally, yes.

I did our taxes this past weekend, and I’d forgotten that a LARGE CHUNK needed to be paid on any money earned from blogging stuff. I kept having to remind myself that it was not only FAIR but also GOOD: I WANT to increase the amount on record I’ve paid toward Social Security and Medicare: rearing The Next Generation, while valuable, does not add to those funds until The Next Generation starts earning, and that will be awhile yet. That’s what I was saying to myself as I made a large withdrawal from Rob’s Braces Fund, which is what I’ve been saving my blogging income for.

And that’s when I read Melissa’s timely post about tax-time defunkifying through happy thoughts and GOODNESS I thought of a lot of happy thoughts! Melissa said to just think of as many as we could for 5 minutes, and I did so in her comments section but then I kept thinking of more and more.

1. Henry is juuuuuust getting old enough that it’s not QUITE such a hassle to bring the three littles somewhere, so yesterday after we did our errands we ALSO went to a big pet store and had lots of fun looking at animals and buying toys for our new cat.

2. Our new cat.

3. We saw some beautiful little finches at the pet store. I had no idea finches could be pets. I love finches. Now I kind of want a finch. But they were surprisingly expensive, like $40-50. That’s about triple what I would have expected a finch to cost. But now I am enjoying thinking idly about maybe having a pet finch or two.

4. Deli turkey was on sale this week. I love deli turkey.

5. Paul got a bag of Doritos as a treat. So last night I had deli turkey AND Doritos for dinner.

6. I have Mrs. Meyer’s lavender dishwasher detergent.

7. Also, I just spelled “lavender” right on the first try, for perhaps the first time since I made learning the spelling one of my 2009 New Year’s resolutions.

8. I’m really enjoying the book I’m reading: Family Album, by Penelope Lively.

(image from Amazon.com)

9. I bought a pretty Liberty of London storage box to match my pretty Liberty of London mug. I’d been holding myself back from buying it, but then Miss Zoot mentioned that she’d considered the Liberty of London stuff the perfect use for a gift card she’d been saving for something special, and I remembered I TOO had a gift card I’d been saving for something special! So I bought the storage box. I would have bought the canister if I could have thought of a use for it, and I would have bought a sundress for Elizabeth if they’d had it in the pattern I like best.

10. My brother, sister-in-law, and niece are moving. They will live a one-hour drive away rather than a six-hour plane trip away. I can hardly believe it. !!!!!

11. Because I have so enjoyed my six-hour solo plane trips to visit them, I’m going to do one last one in May. This means all kinds of fun preparations such as going frequently to the library book sale to find books to bring with me.

12. I’ve mentioned before that I find it very cheering to send packages of fun things in the mail, especially as surprises. And I have TWO surprises traveling right now.

13. The new cat had the sniffles and was sleeping a lot and not playing, and I was fretful even though the shelter had said it was likely to happen. But now he’s better and is playing with the kids and repeatedly slamming into the window looking out the window at birds again.

14. It’s really fun to be considering a name for him. I’m leaning toward Kip. Paul is leaning toward Benchley. I also like the name Peabody: it has a very nice mix of silliness and dignity. And I like Biscuit, which makes up in whimsy what it loses in dignity.

15. Reader Melanie, who shares my PostCrossing addiction obsession hobby, emailed me that MOMA was having an excellent postcard sale, and indeed they were, and the postcards have arrived and they’re great. I like the Objects of Design set best, and in fact I wish I’d bought two boxes because it’s hard to make myself send them (Rubik’s Cube! pens! typewriter! weird coffee table! cool chairs!).

16. The new cat is settling in very well, but he CLEARLY wants to play with Mouse, and she’s having NONE OF IT. This has led to pleasant thoughts of perhaps shopping for ANOTHER cat to be a companion for him. It’s unlikely, because when we had three cats I had the STRONG FEELING that it would be pleasant if we Reduced In Some Unspecified Way, and when we DID Reduce In Some Unspecified Way it felt like two cats was the perfect number of cats—but it is still enjoyable to think of.

17. Henry is still going strong on his dinosaur kick, and he has been very particular about wanting to wear dinosaur clothing pretty much every day, and I’ve had great luck recently finding him dinosaur clothes. I found an Osh Kosh T-Rex shirt at Target, 50% off. Carter’s dinosaur mix-and-match pjs at Target, 30% off. T-Rex pjs at The Children’s Place, 40% off. Circo T-Rex t-shirt at Target, on sale for $4. (Why so much T-Rex, manufacturers? How ’bout some plant-eaters?)

18. When I get the twins’ pictures taken each year, I get pictures of them individually but I also get pictures of them together. I enjoy having their clothes coordinate for the together pictures, but it’s a little tricky. Happily, The Children’s Place always does coordinated lines in the spring, so I wait for those to go to 50% off and then I buy outfits. This is what I bought yesterday:

19. Every year, I think, “I would really like to plant some bulb flowers!” And every year I miss the cut-off. Last fall, Kara Marie sent me some tulip bulbs at exactly the right time to plant them, so I went out right away and put them into the dirt. AND THEY ARE COMING UP! I guess I didn’t expect this to WORK!

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If you enjoy assignments, here is one for you: spend one minute in the comments section writing down happy thoughts. Let’s Pollyanna it up a notch!