The meeting of the Cats will now come to order. Sit down, Captain.

The meeting of the Cats will now come to ord - no, Captain, we will NOT hold the meeting outside. Yes, I know it’s very nice out this morning. You would just jump the fence and be gone…

The meeting of the Cats will now - Captain, you are about this close to finding a new home.

Fine - Roll call, in order of seniority - Vashka - Sarabi - Captain - Jewel - and Phantom. Good. Now, first item is the use of the litter box. First, I would like to say that I do appreciate everyone now using the litter boxes, instead of random spots on the floor. Not mentioning any names, Captain, but I think you all know who the culprit was on that subject.

However, in spite of the use of the litter box, I think the next area to be addressed would have to be covering up what is done in the litter box, for the olfactory consideration of the others in the household. The natural scent of the litter will only go so far.

The next item is the treatment of the older cats by the younger cats. Again, I will not mention any names, Phantom, but there have been inquiries as to the necessity of having more than two cats in the house in the first place, and a certain senior cat has specifically requested the removal of the most junior cat. At this time, we are not looking at a reduction in Cat Force, however, economic and personnel considerations may necessitate a future revision of this position. Particularly if any further complaints are received. Again, not pointing any fingers, Phantom, but if the shoe fits …

With that, do I have a motion to adjourn? Thank you Vashka - second? Thank you, Jewel. Adjourned.

==-==-==-==-==-==

The meeting of the Dogs will now come to order. Sit! Stay!

Roll call by seniority: Sadie - Sara - Cinnamon - Mackenzie. Good. A moment of silence to remember Logan.

Thank you.

First item - the management wishes to assure all personnel holding the position of Dog in the household that not all car trips are one way. If you will all recall, there has only been one trip that was not there and back, and it was due to medical reasons. Until and unless medical issues arise, all car trips are for fun!

Second item - please remember the big bed is primarily for the humans. Any dogs on the big bed are there at the discretion of one or both of the humans, and that privilege can and will be revoked for either hogging space or passing gas.

Third item - random barking in the middle of the night is not nearly as amusing as you might think. Please keep any middle-of-the-night barking to truly emergency reasons. This means if there is a fire or break in, you may bark; but if there is a car driving down the street you may not.

Do I have a motion to adjourn? Thank you, Sara - second? Thank you, Sadie. Adjourned.

==-==-==-==-==-==

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Yes, a whole week (plus!) without putting thought to keyboard (because pen to paper doesn’t work in this setup) and my mind is whirling with thousands of things to write about.

Unfortunately, they are all dated and of no consequence, so they won’t see the light of day.

I will say this: We (the United States) have enough untapped oil deposits to be free from foreign energy, when combined with alternative forms of energy. Like, walking and riding bikes and sharing the rides you do have to make. Selfish buggers. I’m talking to you, Phoenix. Hundreds of miles of freeways and surface streets, and still we have more people driving solo than sharing rides. Oh, and whining about fuel costs. Here, in one of the few areas of the country that was not affected by Ike’s price increases. Selfish buggers.

I will also say that Obama has finally seen the light, and is trying to slam Palin’s door shut. Tough noogies, Barry. There are still a few things you haven’t shared with the US as a whole that need to be cleared up. Like, a paper copy of your birth certificate. Records from your college time. Lists of clients, cases, and whatnot from your time as a lawyer. What, exactly, a community organizer in Chicago does. Why ACORN plays such a big part in your life. Why Bill Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist, is one of your biggest fans. And, why does the entire muslim world want you to be our next president, if you aren’t muslim?

On with updates of a personal nature:
Custom woodworking isn’t paying the bills. I’ve actually lost money this year. So, I’m driving a cab two nights a week to help make ends meet.
Speaking of custom woodworking, I have a project to do. I need to make a storage case for an item that measures 8 3/8″ long by 6 1/4″ deep by 4 1/4″ high. It will incorporate a picture frame, a brass plaque, fancy footwork and a hinged lid. It will hold Logan’s ashes.
MEG still misses Logan, as do the other dogs. All five of them (MEG and the four dogs) wander around at times; MEG calling for Logey Ogey, the dogs sniffing the places he normally laid. Sara seems to be especially lonely, since the two of them would often lay together at night.

Life, however, goes on. I need to go run some errands. I will swing through the blogroll later today, and drop comments where appropriate. It’s good to be back, and I will try to keep all three of my regular readers entertained whilst I continue to ramble. With the cab, I should have some good stories. Like Saturday evening, when ASU got handed their butts on their home field, and I was sitting in Tempe traffic when they got their one and only touchdown, and I had forgotten that they tend to celebrate those things with fireworks…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

What a gangly little boy you were! You came into our lives when TMBWitW’s sister called and asked if we could adopt you. You had been abandoned by the breeder, because you weren’t “pure” enough. We thought you were pure love, so that was good enough for us.

Crate training sucked… you wanted to run and play! But you did train very quickly and learned to only go potty outside.

You loved taking a bath in the kitchen sink - while you fit. That didn’t last long. You grew pretty fast.

Your sisters all loved you. TMBWitW liked to give you hugs, and Sara, Princess, Sadie, Mackenzie and Cinnamon would take turns playing with you.

Princess wanted to know if she could swim with you.

Never pass up the chance for a good nap. When you were only six months old, you were diagnosed with polyneuropathy, which is a big word meaning “the nerves and the muscles don’t talk to each other.” You started spending more time laying down than standing up. Dad bought a garden wagon to take on the walks, for the times you just couldn’t get all the way around the block. Mom and Dad agreed that they would do everything they could for you, but if it came to the point where you were in pain they would not keep you here for selfish reasons. Mom and Dad love you very much, and they want you to have a good quality of life.

Helping Dad is hard work - so it’s time for another nap!

A new addition was greeted with the same love you show everyone.

“May I have some more, please?” As time went on, your hips and back legs wouldn’t always work right. Even when you got up, you sometimes needed help getting in and out the back door.

Easter and time to share the goodies! You tried to convince MEG to hand over the jelly beans…

Guarding the hallway.

Your back legs kept getting worse, in spite of the help and the work. By this time you were having more trouble getting outside, and the walks around the block had stopped because you couldn’t walk very far at all.

Sometimes, after we visited Dr. Powell (the chiropractor, for Dad’s back and your legs) you would just hang out in the front yard. You especially liked to sit “behind” the Christmas trees, and you were sure that no one could see you.

MEG loved you with all her heart, and you loved her right back. She would go running to you, shouting “Logey Ogey!” Sometimes, she would lay on your back and give you a full body hug.

By now we knew that when you were whimpering, it wasn’t because you wanted to go outside, or move to another room. You were whimpering because even laying down, it hurt. Your hips hurt, your legs hurt, and your back hurt. Your right hip had degenerated to the point that there was almost no support there for your body. Even with Dad helping you get in and out of the house, it hurt for you to walk. Mom and Dad knew that the time had come to not be selfish about wanting to love you for as long as possible.

We did, however, spoil you as much as we could for the last week that you were with us. We knew that you were going to go on ahead of us, and we spent all the time we could loving on you, and making sure you had special treats (don’t tell your sisters!) and taking you to the dog park. You loved to roll on the grass, and Dad just couldn’t get enough grass to ever grow in the back yard for you.

By the time you all read this, Logan will be waiting at the Rainbow Bridge.

Our friends at Acoma Animal Clinic have been nothing but supportive while we made this most difficult of decisions. They helped us to say good bye to Logan this morning. I cannot say enough good things about the doctors and staff at Acoma; their compassion and caring for your furkids (and featherkids, and scalekids) is second to none.

LOGAN
February 2005 - August 2008
You showed us how to love everyone.
We miss you so much.

Today’s show is dedicated to Logan.

You can listen to the archive of The O Word and rate it. Subjects covered include Logan (of course!), Train Travel, a National Primary, McCain’s VP pick, Geochaching with Bob, and a celebrity political statement that - well, Rocks! Special guest caller from the island of Okinawa!

The show will be back on it’s full hour format, so join the discussion for what is sure to be a good time.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I feel like I “owe” my readers some kind of a post, but I’m torn. Do you really want to know the deepest things going on in my mind? My thoughts of “how dare I play God with the life of another”? Second guessing the decision we have made?

Sleeping on the floor next to Logan so he knows how much I love him?

No, I won’t bother you guys with all that. It will come to a peak soon enough.

Friday’s show (to jump subjects, and hope that Saturday morning will never really have to come) should be a good one. The show itself will stretch back out to an hour long. It is my understanding that a certain young Gunny on a certain Rock will stay up late to call in. At least, that’s what he said while I was chatting with him this morning. So - 0700 Mountain Standard Time Friday morning (0700 PDT, 0800 MDT, 0900 CDT, 1000 EDT 2300 Tokyo time) and we’ll have a grand old time.

Hope ya’lls week is going to be more joyous than mine.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

TMBWitW and I had to make a very hard decision this last week. Actually, it wasn’t a hard decision, so much as it was hard to make the decision. The decision was made when we decided to keep Logan as our youngest dog, that when the time came we would not be selfish by wanting to keep him around. It was hard to admit to ourselves and each other that the time had come.

For those who have been following the story of Logan: he is in pain most of the time now, and nothing can be done. In order to provide him with the best quality of life, and not prolong any kind of suffering, we will be sending him Home this Saturday morning (unless he gets much worse sooner). You can bet your bottom dollar we are going to be spoiling him as much as we can this week.

If I don’t publish a lot this week, please understand.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Do you all remember Logan?

He has polyneuropathy - the muscles in his back half ignore the nerves and the messages they send, so he doesn’t walk very well due to under-development of the leg muscles. Sometimes, he gets frustrated with not being able to get up and romp with the other dogs.

Friday evening he needed to go out. He tried several times to get going, but then he gave up. I tried to help him stand up a few more times, but he wasn’t ready to try, or something, but I finally got my game face on and lifted him (deadweight, no assistance from him, about 115 pounds of dog) up and through the back door, got him balanced on his legs, and he started tottering off to take care of his business. He kind of stutter stepped once, when I was almost straightening back up, and I made a lunge to keep him upright. That was where I made the mistake.

I overextended and exerted in that overextended position. I went down hard.

So, there I was, crumpled on the back patio. TMBWitW heard my whimpers requests for help. After mumbling something about stubborn old Marines again, she did everything she could to help me up. We ended up using the box dolly (with her standing on the blade, and me using the back as a hand ladder) to get me into a walking position. With great difficulty I managed to get to the bed. Meanwhile, TMBWitW called our chiropractor and he outlined a treatment for the muscles of hot bath, ice packs, heating pad, ice packs, alternating these for about an hour.

It worked, pretty darn well too. By Saturday morning when I woke up, I could almost move without pain. By Saturday evening I had regained most of my movement, and now I am pain-free and able to enjoy a full range of movement - well, as full as I have had recently.

Promises have been made to not attempt such a maneuver in the future.

How was your weekend?

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Inside joke, the title.

As in, inside the cat’s room. Yes, I’m talking about a certain cat who likes to think outside the box. Normally, a good way to come up with a solution that had not been thought of before. In this context, I’m going to have to vote against any further thinking outside the box, as it results in pee by the door and cat poop on the floor.

Cinnamon, the little brown dog, tells me that if she were allowed in the cat room, there wouldn’t be a poop-on-the-floor issue.

I don’t wanna know.

I managed to sabotage my bike riding efforts yet again - I left my phone (with the alarm function) in the closet last night, in stead of on the bathroom counter. That way, when the alarm went off, it was muffled by the closed closet door…

So - how’s your week going?

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Hard to believe that it’s been that long, and so much has changed.

I started out blogging on Blogspot just to put my family history in electronic form - that project is still in the works, as evidenced by the lack of progress behind the tab marked “The Wisconsin Cartters” at the top of this page.

Then I started a personal blog to take my rants off the family page. That led me to meet a wonderful bunch of people - most of them still hanging out on my blogroll, some of them having signed off, one or two having shed this mortal coil - but all of them worth reading and chatting with when I get the chance. Oh, sure - like any family, there are going to be instances where some members of my blog-family aren’t going to be getting along with other members, and that’s fine, we’re all human, and if we all got along all the time it would be downright boring.

I started out with two blogs, and ended up with this one when I merged them in April of 2008. Having my own domain and full control over the blog is a comfort to me, being the semi-control freak that I am, and I have to thank Texas Fred and Robert for their help with getting this site set up.

I don’t remember who the first batch of contacts I made was, perhaps the gang over at The Notebored, a writer’s workshop headed up by Dee and her wonderful circle of fellow writers. I tried my hand at some writing projects over there, but there was something - I don’t know, missing? - and I just never really fully clicked. They are very welcoming there on The Notebored, but I don’t think I was ready for primetime. I do know that once I ran into Gawfer I ran into the best bunch of people I could call friends and a great variety of “conservatives” - from absolute white hat to situational conservatives, you can find a bunch of them on the blogroll now. Like I said, we don’t all get along all of the time, but we always have a great conversation.

I found Bill Whittle, a former liberal who started reading and thinking for himself (proof, by the way, that it can happen) and then using his talents as a writer to put our thoughts to “paper” and let us all read it and realize that “Yes, by thunder, that is EXACTLY what I was trying to say!” I still read him, when he publishes in between his super-glam life on the west coast and the movie deals and the screenplays… In fact, one of my personal favorite entries for I’m Thinking of the “O” Word was inspired greatly by Bill’s writing; specifically, my entry titled The Sheep, The Sheepdogs, and the Wolves was written after I had read his entry titled Tribes. I think it’s still relevant.

My wife, whom I refer to as TMBWitW, gave birth to our child, MEG, on December 30, 2006. I ran a babypool of sorts, and Paul at prying1 came in second while Just John (who, at the time, was going by Gunny John) came the closest in guessing the day and time for the momentous occasion. MEG is growing and running around and keeping the dogs on their toes now - the cats are not sure what to make of this little rosy-cheeked beauty that wants to pet them all…

And then in January of 2007 I read this entry on Jenn’s blog, and it just didn’t sit right with me. I started my campaign. Without funding. Trying to get a groundswell of support and momentum for a run at the White House. Trying, and failing. My feelings haven’t changed, especially now that we are guaranteed a liberal in the Oval Office, and I am seeing more and more signs of a revolution brewing to take this country back into the conservative hands of We The People. I do, however, plan to take another run at it in 2012, when the people of this country should be good and fed up with the liberal actions of the president and want to get back to being a sovereign country with absolute borders and absolute laws.

Now I have a BlogTalkRadio show called, appropriately enough, The O Word. Be sure to tune in on Friday mornings at 0700 Mountain Standard Time.

One thing about having a blog, and meeting (on line, of course, except in rare instances where you actually get to meet the fine people you blog with in person) other blog-owners - you will never run out of people to meet, and people who you want to link to, and people who may want to link back to you. Of course, having all these links is one thing, but being able to keep the connection going is another. I don’t always get to read all my links every day, but I sure try to stop in at least once a week or so.

Most recently, I was asked to join the gang over at Reject the UN and help spread that word. I don’t know how often I will be able to contribute, but I will be doing what I can when I can.

One thing that hasn’t wavered since I’ve discovered it: Wear Red on Fridays. I’ve got some way cool shirts that help spread the word, and I know that when service members see my red shirt they know they are being supported, prayed for, worried about, and generally appreciated for what they are doing.

A lot has changed in three years. I am so happy to have met all of you, and hope that you feel the same about me. We may not see eye to eye, but unless you break my commenting rules and totally disregard common courtesy, you will be welcome here. I know that there are a lot more people out there who deserve to be mentioned, and I will, on this Friday’s show. I’m sorry if I didn’t specifically mention you, but know that I think of each one of you often. Either to wonder what you are up to, or why you haven’t written anything lately, or to berate myself for not getting over to your site and leaving a comment. Tell you what - would you do me a favor, and just click on the “All Blogrolls Here” tab up there, and read through everyone who is making a difference in the blogosphere? Stop in and tell them I said hi, and I’ll be by later to chat.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

But first, let me catch you up, since I know you all are dying to know what I’ve been up to since I last posted.

Actually, I need to start back a bit, like Monday night. I was supposed to put the small box dolly in the trunk of the car for TMBWitW. In between Rodolfo and other projects on line and off, making sure TMBWitW’s ice pack didn’t freeze her or stay on her too long as she slept, and Logan not quite sure whether he wanted in, out, or to just move from room to room, I managed to forget. I lost big time husband points there. (TMBWitW uses an ice pack on her back since the accident; it keep some of the inflammation to a minimum).

So - this deficiency was not discovered until Tuesday morning, when she got to work and expected to grab the dolly out of the trunk to take up to her desk, so she could load files at the end of the day for working at home on Wednesday.

Phone call - my phone rings:
“This is Cary.”

TMBWitW: “Hi honey. Guess what wasn’t in the trunk today?”

“That leaves it pretty wide open, but I imagine you were looking for the dolly that’s in the garage.”

“Uh-huh. So, guess what you get to do?”

I got to drive downtown and pick up her and the box of files, leaving the SUV in the parking garage. No problem, since I don’t do a lot of driving anyway.

Wednesday passed, with her working from home; I did manage to check my e-mail after she went to bed.

Today I went to the doctor. Helpful hint - if you don’t like long waits in the doctor’s office, see about getting one of the earliest appointments possible. There hasn’t been any delays yet, and you’ll be in and out in a timely manner. My appointment was at 0800. I saw the doctor at 0805, we had a nice chat, yadda yadda yadda, I was out the door by 0830.

I know what you’re thinking - “Cary, don’t yadda yadda yadda the visit - we want DETAILS!”

OK. We discussed the migraines that hit me two Mondays ago, and the one from Sunday. We reviewed my meals prior to the attacks, and sleep patterns; he asked about work-related stress, I asked him “What stress? I haven’t had a wood order in months!” and we both chuckled, then he asked “Isn’t that kind of stressful, not having orders?” Well, yes, but I have a 17 month old to keep me happy and well adjusted. He couldn’t tell if there was a pattern, or any specific triggers, I couldn’t help him with that either, since I know what to look out for and I have been eating less, but not not eating, which could be a trigger; I’ve been getting my usual four and a half to six hours of sleep every night (not straight through - dogs, especially Logan, make that hard to happen), and I’ve been engaging in moderate levels of exercise. In the end, he gave me some samples for migraine meds (one, Frova (frovatriptan succinate), I’ve had before, and it works OK if you take it early enough in the process; the other is new to me, Axert (almotriptan malate), and I’ll be carrying two tabs in my pocket just in case).

To seal the deal (and this is the best part) he prayed for my healing. Yes, my doctor is a Christian. He had prayed for TMBWitW to have a healthy pregnancy before she was pregnant, and she conceived shortly after; with a track record like that you don’t turn down this man’s offer for a healing prayer. So - after all is said and done, with the grace of God I will not have any more migraines, there is medicine in my pocket if one does break through; my faith will be the barrier to any more incidents. After a month, if there are no more frequent attacks, then fine; otherwise more stringent tracking and recording will be needed. If, in fact, there is a physical reason for the migraines, it will be outed over the next few months. No neurologist yet, but if it’s necessary, then one will be consulted.

TMBWitW thinks I should have gone to one now. She also mumbled something about “stubborn”, “old”, and “Marine” but that could have been my imagination.

Thank you to everyone who has been worrying about me since I mentioned the first migraine, and thank you for the prayers and support leading up to the appointment. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and with your prayers backing me up I have faith that I’ve seen the last of the migraines.

I know what you’re thinking now - “Cary, how do you find time to squeeze all this in?”

I don’t know. I just do. I also try to keep up with the growing piles of fur in every corner (five dogs and five cats generate a lot of loose fur), keep a seventeen month old entertained, stay on top of the laundry (most days), post here, have a talk show on Friday mornings, play TradeWars to keep my mind sharp (oo - that reminds me. i found another trader last night, he was almost as good-aligned as i was - took him out, stole his planet from him, and in the process became one bad dude - i am now an evil trader, and i had to park my imperial starship - only goody-two-shoes traders can fly those. on the upside, i can now trade at a port, and turn around and steal everything back. i’m so evil.)

How is your Thursday going?

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!