Not quite converted

When we adopted Belita, the Humane Society sent us home with a kitty care package. It had samples of cat chow, cat treats, a couple of toys and a sample sized bag of Feline Pine cat litter.

Feline Pine isn't dusty like other cat litters are. It's made of sawdust compressed into small, thin cylindrical pellets that absorb liquid. After two weeks of being peed on, the pellets turn to sawdust and can be composted or used for mulch.

Solid waste clumps loosely enough to get scooped and flushed down the toilet. Flushing is far preferable to scooping, bagging and hauling kitty waste to the backyard trash cans.

I had visions of Feline Pine revolutionizing the Robertson-Stevens household. However, this otherwise fine product doesn't live up to all its billing.

Where does it fail, you ask? It handles the ammonia smell well, but it doesn't do as well with malodorous stool. Put plainly, the shit still stinks whether it's buried in pine sawdust or not. And if you don't scoop/flush right away, forget about odor control in an enclosed space.

I really wanted Feline Pine to work. I love being able to compost kitty litter and reduce waste. But, BUT I don't want a house that smells like a sawdusty poopateria. Especially since our feline population has doubled.

Grouse is in season!

Got up on the wrong side of 6:30 am, thanks to old kitty wanting breakfast early and new kitty trying to claw her way under the spare bedroom door.

Groggy most of the morning. Crabby in afternoon during/after grocery shopping. Newspaper vending machine took my quarters but wouldn't open to give me a paper.

Saw during an afternoon surf that the newspaper has a copy editing/page design opening. I'm happy about doing the online column, but it feels a little icky to see they have an opening for the kind of job I originally approached them about.

And this evening--when I had accomplished a mere fraction of what I needed to get done today--the RS pres emails to ask if the RS newsletter will be done by tomorrow. (Not bloody likely). And she wants everyone in the RS presidency to be a visiting teaching district supervisor.

I emailed her back privately to say I'm already feeling overwhelmed with my two part-time gigs, looking for FT work and taking a class at the university, plus the secretary duties and the newsletter. I just can't see how I could be a district supervisor, too.

I already have to process VT stats as secretary. Get someone else to collect the data or get someone else to do the newsletter. This plate is already full!

What I wouldn't give to be on a west-facing beach right now...

The high, the low and a possible cold front

The meeting at The Monitor went well! I chatted with the deputy managing editor to get an idea of what they're hoping to accomplish with the online initiatives (including Rio Grande Valley Girl online) and the time frame for introducing the column. They're launching a website redesign Feb 5, so they want to promote new content after that.

I also met with the managing editor, herself a transplant to the Valley, and explained what I saw the column doing. We chatted for a bit and then I met the online editor, talked to him about some column ideas and gave him some additional writing samples.

At $20 a pop, I won't get rich writing an online column, but it will be fun to have cause to go exploring every week and to ask readers to send Rio Grande Valley Girl on assignment. And other perks may come from being associated with the paper. I'll be on the cutting edge of this new initiative and it will be fun to see what this might grow into over time.

That's the high, obviously. The low was having the RS pres appear at my doorstep to take issue with the first book we'd chosen to read. I was on my way out so I didn't have time to get into whether geisha are artisans or prostitutes or what church approved literature she'd rather have us read.

Mike saw the micromanager coming; I didn't. If she insists on vetting the book selections because it's a RS-affiliated enrichment group, then I'll make it extracurricular. Have it at my house, invite who I want and not have to appease people who read through a Mormon filter.

And then I think, duh, why didn't I do that in the first place? I guess I was spoiled by years of being in the Pasadena Ward book group which rocked.

Anyway, I'll have to call the RS pres tomorrow to discuss the matter. That's where I'm predicting a cold front.

Top 10

Top 10 relatively harmless ways not to get invited back to babysit:

1. Teach kids vulgar new vocabulary words.

2. Magic Marker black eyes for everyone!

3. Use Bedazzler as ear piercing tool.

4. Leave copy of "Two Moon Junction" in VCR.

5. Play Tattoo Shop with Sharpies.

6. Shave everyone's head.

7. Feed kids all sugar on premises.

8. Promise to come back in an hour with their free puppy.

9. Put all CDs or DVDs (whichever they have more of) in the wrong cases. Oops!

10. Say to parents, "If my parole officer asks, I was here doing yardwork."

There were a couple of hiccups during the day. The older kid refused to eat his breakfast eggs. The younger kid tipped over and bonked his head while I was supervising the older one's post-toilet handwashing. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and without a telltale lump (though I guess neglect would be another way out).

The mom needed a sitter so she could do some cleaning work for her husband's construction business. It was satisfying to know she wasn't out having oodles of fun while I wiped up poo and wondered why they don't get regular TV. But I'm still not happy about subsidizing their family business with my free labor.

On the plus side, I picked up another side job--editing a dissertation on the Civil War written by a guy in the ward. His wife brought the first five chapters to tonight's book group (the only person to show up) and said specifically they weren't looking for a "Mormon discount" on the editing job but did want to keep an eye on the costs. I said I'd do a quick proofread of his first draft and save the fine-tooth combing for after his committee is done with it.

And tomorrow morning, I meet with the editor about my online column. Yay!

I need to find work so

People will stop asking me to babysit their kids. All day. For free.

My friends' kids--they're a different story. I enjoy their company. The most I expect is to be pleasantly exhausted at the end of the evening (although some parents feed me well, which makes hanging out with their offspring for a few hours that much more pleasant).

But what I'm liking less are the assumptions that because I'm not working that I must not have anything else to do and I'd be willing to babysit for 6 to 10 hours for anyone who calls asking.

My first babysitting gig was for a woman from church. I didn't mind because her youngest daughter was in the hospital and she didn't have any support system but church people to help with the other two kids.

This time the request is coming from a woman in the RS presidency who lives a couple of blocks away. She has a nanny/babysitter two days a week, but I guess her usual person is unavailable and she called me. She said she felt bad about asking at the last minute (but didn't feel bad enough not to ask). Why me? Why not someone she knows better, who knows her children or someone who has small children and could entertain two more much easier than I can?

Since I didn't have anything scheduled (and tomorrow's RS presidency meeting is canceled because this same sister is unavailable), I said OK.

So I'm passively/aggressively bitching about being a pushover rather than saying no. Or, more accurately, saying "I can, but I don't want to because there's a difference between a compassionate service request and a 'please be conveniently available for me' request." I did have enough sense to request this gig happen at their house. Mine is not childproofed or equipped to entertain children at length.

So, instead of having the day to tidy up and get ready to host the first book group meeting tomorrow night, I'll be babysitting. Pfffbt.

Test

For the past two days when I've tried to pull up Rio Grande Valley Girl, I get a blank pink screen. What gives? Uploading test post to see if it shows up and/or simultaneously revives all other RGVG content.

Is this because I haven't switched over to the new Blogger?

Bienvenidos, Belita!

Here are pictures of our new addition to the family, Belita. AKA Sneezer, thanks to the cold she came down with a couple of days after we brought her home.

Her sweet disposition makes PK, the crabby Aby, suffer by comparison. He's stopped hissing at the closed door to Belita's room, but when he chances to see her as we enter and exit the room, he starts up again. This introduction is going to take a while...

I'm sure you'll understand why we're besotted:

An Offer I Can't Refuse

I got a call last night from the assistant managing editor at the local newspaper. I met with him last month, gave him my resume and writing portfolio, and asked if there were any openings on the copy desk.

I'd also pitched him an idea for a column. Since I'm new in town, I could ask locals, Winter Texans, and other transplants to the Valley to share their best-kept secrets with me, Rio Grande Valley Girl, and I could write about the expeditions that readers send me on.

Henry was calling to follow up after a staff meeting regarding Internet initiatives. They want to run with the column and would like to meet to discuss the details such as frequency, content, and what they'd pay. Yeeee haaaaw!

I need to call Henry back and brainstorm a few ideas to bring to the meeting, such as ideas for where Rio Grande Valley should go exploring first. Something that will draw readers in and keep them coming back.

I'll still blog here, natch, but this looks like a fun way for the Rio Grande Valley Girl persona to get some exposure beyond my circle of friends and family. And get paid for it--how cool is that?!

Blue Crossed Wires

When I got married, I didn't realize I would become a dependent in so many different ways. After being independent for many years, it's been something of an adjustment.

Until I start working full time or my sporadic hours working for the physical therapist get regular, I'm dependent on my husband's income. I know I'm damn fortunate to be in this position, but it still makes me uncomfortable to a degree.

And then there's the health insurance. Again, I'm fortunate to have it; but now that I'm trying to actually USE it, I keep hitting road blocks. And I'm peeved that I don't even get my own name on the card.

Like today: the Blue Cross/Blue Shield customer service center is closed due to severe weather conditions. Yesterday when I called, they were closed for the holiday. So I try the web site. It won't let me in.

I call tech support, but since I'm not the subscriber they can't do anything. I would have to call Mike to have him call BX/BS and they would call me back or some wacked out permission-getting scenario like that. Technician says he'd get fired if he let someone other than the subscriber have access--nothing personal.

I've gotten into the web pages before. In fact, I set up online access! I told the tech, I know you can't do anything, but this is asinine! I'm COVERED by these benefits; there should be a way that maintains security for the subscriber but ALSO grants appropriate access to other adults covered by the same policy. Match the call to our home phone number like AM EX does. Something more sophisticated than making every spouse play "Subscriber, May I?"

Sheesh!

Called to Swerve

Tomorrow's a big day at church. After 6 months of having the counselors run the show, we're finally getting a new bishop. I already feel sorry for how swamped he'll be with a 6 month backlog to tackle--assuming it's not one of the counselors.

I have a new calling: Relief Society Secretary. I've pimped my office skills over the years, but never like this. It involves a lot of paper work, a lot of nose counting, a lot of data entry.

The Visiting Teaching coordinator hasn't been functioning lately, so the VT reporting/nose counting also falls to me. And they want me to do a newsletter, which I'd be more excited about except that I did the newsletter in my last ward for SIX YEARS.

In my last ward, this amount of work was done by three people. I'm already worn out and I've barely started. I'm sure my face registered shock in this week's presidency meeting when the RS president initially suggested a weekly newsletter.

I tried to don a poker face when she had us recite the RS motto together and asked us to think about reciting it in RS every week. Gack. And I squirmed at the suggestion that we think about going to the temple as a presidency.

So far, my role appears to be mainly stenographic. I thought I'd get to teach the first Sunday lesson, but I'm not in the rotation with the rest of the presidency.

I also transgressed by wearing pants to the presidency meeting Thursday. Apparently, we need to be in church dress in case we go visit women after the meeting. How much does wearing a skirt matter to God or the women we're visiting and trying to serve?

Some friends have suggested that I'm there to loosen up a wound-tight presidency and unrigidify some of their views. Can I do that wearing pants?

Worth a Thousand

Rush hour on the International Bridge.





Mike and the kids go to Reynosa, and all I got was this picture.






Brad and Nicole are swingers! Seen here bonding with the neighbor cat, Oliver.






Nicole and Brad, signage and a stuffed fish named Gill.





Colorful, but what are they? A closer look reveals....






Yup, each craftily painted shell houses a hermit crab in varying degrees of embarrassment.






Photo op at roadside tourist trap.

It's a Girl!

But it's not what you're thinking, Heather and Janet. ;)

On Friday, we're adding another cat to the family!

I stopped by the Upper Valley Humane Society this afternoon and found a kitty. Called Mike so he could come meet her, too. We've stopped by several times, but never found a kitty who seemed to want us as much as we wanted her.

She's a white/gray Lynx point (so says the Humane Society) with bright blue eyes, a dark gray stripey tail and a pleasant disposition. I spent 30 minutes with her in the "meeting room" and she never stopped purring. She also likes being held and cuddled.

She got a little skittish when Mike came in, but calmed down and came right over to sniff him. They got to know each other while I filled out the adoption paperwork. She gets spayed Friday and we'll pick her up when she's done. We plan to call her Belita.

We'll keep her separated from PK initially and plan on a long, drawn-out introduction. I figured PK would probably take better to a younger female than having another male cat in the house, even if neutered.

Will post a picture once Belita comes home!

Visiting Kids, part deux

Brad and Nicole--Mike's two oldest children--have been here for a week. We've gone more places with them than we did with the younger girls.

On the way home from the airport, we stopped at the new outlet mall. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant near our house. I took Nicole vintage and consignment shopping before going to the salon for her first ever pedicure--very girly. We had a belated Christmas with presents for the kids from us and their Grandma Sue.

Mike took the kids on a drive-thru tour of Reynosa. We shopped in downtown McAllen, which is almost like going to Mexico minus border guards/homeland security. Nicole found a Jesus on a cross on an anchor she couldn't live without and is also going home with a pair of Texas-issue footwear from the Boot Jack.

Brad wowed us with his drumwork at the local Guitar Center. He's also a great orange picker and we enjoyed the juice of his labors. He and Mike caught up on their vacation sports watching, including the embarrassing trouncing of the OSU Buckeyes by Florida.

PK was disconcerted by more new people in the house. Brad and Nicole had been briefed about the cat before their arrival. They alternated between befriending and teasing poor PK, answering his agitated meows with their own. Sunday afternoon, PK jumped up and sat on Brad's lap. I tried to get a picture of this momentous event, but when I called to PK to get him to face the camera, he jumped down instead.

The kids did make friends with the neighbor cat, a semi-Siamese blend. His people don't give their pets much attention, so Oliver comes over to visit while we're out in the yard and naps in our rock garden. At least there's another source of kitty love.

We spent our last day heading to South Padre Island. It was warmer/less windy than our first trip. We stopped at one of the huge seashell stores with a giant reef sculpture out front and photo op sharks, dolphins and conch shells near the front door. Ah, kitsch!

We drove across the bridge and found a place to park and walk to the beach. We picked up shells for a while before heading out to find food. Ended up at the Padre Island Brewing Company for calimari with spicy dipping sauce, seafood ceviche salsa, and other pub fare. Nicole and I conked out on the drive home while the menfolk listened to the game.

After a morning of errands, leisurely breakfasting and fine televised entertainment, we'll be heading to the airport. It will be strange to have the house to ourselves again, but I think PK will be a little happier about that.

Blech

Downed by a trifecta of ailments: physical, emotional and material.

Physical: I woke up last night suddenly vomiting. No warning, no time to get to the bathroom. Just pow, awake, urp. And once I got to the bathroom, I was just as suddenly no longer vomiting--just that one bedside yak. Left wondering: What the hell just happened?!

Since I'm still feeling iffy, it puts the kibosh on me going on our trip to Mexico today. I told Mike he and the kids should still go. However, the departure time has come and gone and, until a few moments ago, Brad was the only one showered, awake and ready to leave. Can only wonder how this will play out.

Emotional: I heard back from a job lead. Asked me to email my resume and writing samples. Trouble is, most of my journalism portfolio isn't in electronic format. I replied with my resume and explained the clips would follow once I got them scanned. In the meantime, I sent three RGVG posts (put into Word) that I felt showcase my writing skills.

The response? "The blog posts are cute, but do you have any hard newswriting experience? I run a weekly paper."

READ my resume, nitwit. Page two. Besides, good writing is good writing, regardless of where it's published. Scanned and sent portfolio nonetheless. Predicting I'll not hear a peep back. Bummer to have a promising-sounding lead go sour.

Material: Don't know when or how it happened, but my cell phone got a crack in it that got worse every time I opened the phone. I hadn't had it long enough to be eligible for a free replacement, so Mike checked our account and he could get a free/low cost replacement and give it to me.

Of course, I still wanted to fix my phone. (DC Rush Hour has some experience with my fix-it trait). We bought some superglue and I attempted to glue the cracked part back together. Unfortunately, a too-large glue spurt covered the entire hinge. I swore and frantically tried to blot it up before it dried. When I checked a few minutes later, my phone was glued open. Which is better than glued shut and completely unusable, but not by much.

Conclusions: Replacement phone is supposed to arrive today; squelch urge to MacGyver things back together.

Mexico is still out, although I could drink the water with no ill effects if already ill.

I'd rather be unemployed than in the employ of someone who belittles my work right out of the gate. Who gets their hard news from a weekly paper, anyway?

Maquila!

John, of Mike's colleagues in the business college, arranges a field trip the last week of classes. Interested students, faculty, and hangers-on (like myself) sign up and we cross one of the bridges into Reynosa for a tour of several maquiladoras or manufacturing plants.

Getting to the Pharr International Bridge was an adventure in itself. Since we were going to Mexico on business, we had to park, fill out extra paperwork, and pay $20 to get processed. New stamp in my passport! After that, we tailgated John so we wouldn't get lost on the way to the first tour.

First stop: Nokia. We surrendered our cell phones and paperwork at the front desk, donned white lab coats, and filed into the conference room for cookies, coffee, and bottled water before the management presentation. I kept peppering them with questions about the gender balance among entry-level employees and management, about benefits for workers and whether they do any recycling. Then we walked around the (HUGE) 130,000 square foot facility checking out the different products being assembled and shipped.

Next stop: Black & Decker. This time we got protective eyewear, ear plugs and had to remove all jewelry above the waist before entering the maquila floor. We watched workers create and inspect plastic injection molding of tool housings. I burned my finger touching a drill handle hot off the presses. The earplugs and noise level made it difficult to hear our tour guides unless you were right on their heels. B&D was the only maquila we toured that employed disabled workers. The post-tour presentation was low-tech compared to Nokia's, but they were forthcoming in answering questions about their work force and business practices. Yes, they recycle. Just toss any wonky plastic part back in the melter.

Last stop: Corning. Not the cookware, although they're part of the same family. This was Corning Cable. By that time, we'd been on our feet about six hours and I wasn't quite as interested. They trotted us around the factory floor showing us cables and boxes and explaining how much data their products can carry. I cornered one of the tour guides to ask about gender balance, employee turnover and what they do for/with pregnant workers. He said the pregnant women wear pink smocks and are assigned to lighter duties and get 6 weeks maternity leave. We finished the tour right at the end of a shift change and I'd never seen such a stampede to punch out! We were herded into a conference room overlooking the plant floor and asked a few questions. They seemed befuddled by my question about recycling.

The three maquilas we toured--Nokia, Black & Decker, and Corning Cable--are considered employers of choice. They provide transportation, health services, free/heavily subsidized meals and treat their employees like valuable human beings, not disposable commodities. Even though all three reported significant turnover among entry-level employees, they don't have trouble filling openings. It was an interesting behind-the-scenes view of what goes into manufacturing and assembling cell phones, power tools and fiberoptic cables--items we rely on with provenance we don't often think about.

After the tours, dinner! We luged through Reynosa trying to keep up with John--no easy task even on the U.S. side. I was glad Mike was driving--and doubly glad he could explain to the police officer directing traffic why he'd pulled a U-turn on a bridge when we accidentally made a turn John didn't and were trying to catch up.

Aside from that incident, we arrived at La Fogata in one piece and enjoyed a nice dinner with a handful of folks who'd lasted to the bitter end. We crossed over the Hidalgo bridge, got stuck in traffic leaving a concert at Dodge Arena, and I didn't wake up until Mike pulled into our driveway. Looking forward to next semester's tour!

After Christmas

As pictured in a previous post, we had a great time with the girls on Christmas Eve/Day. We had a pair of missionaries and the fellow we pick up for church come over for Christmas dinner--turkey #2, christened "Monte" by the girls. We sent Richard home with full stomach and a quart of eggnog, a treat hard to come by in the Veteran's Home where he lives.

We also celebrated Jessica's 14th birthday with breakfast in bed--including homemade waffles by Jackie with whipped cream and other decadent toppings, fresh squeezed OJ from our trees, and the requisite bacon and eggs. After our brunch, we hauled our cookies over to South Padre Island for some beach blanket tooth chattering.

The water was cold, and the air even colder. Playa-ing was only fun for an hour and then the girls wanted back in the van where it was warm. We drove until the road/island ended, then turned around to cruise back through town.

Jessie wanted Taco Bell for birthday dinner. Luckily, SPI has one and we saw it in time to pull over and chow. Mike did some embarrassing dad tricks, i.e. singing "Happy Birthday" and presenting Jessica with two Hostess cupcakes with matches stuck in like candles.

After that, we drove back to the island's one movie theater just in time to catch a showing of Night at the Museum, which was actually kinda fun if compulsory.

Alas, the girls opted to go home a few days sooner so that Jackie could play in some basketball tournament games. Jessica didn't want to travel alone, so she left when Jackie did. The field trip to Mexico and a return visit to SPI will have to wait until next time.

We spent our last night eating leftover Monte and birthday cake and taking turns kicking each others' butts at Uno. Then the girls had to pack for their appallingly early flight out of Harlingen the next morning.

All told, we had a grand time. Got to know each other a little better. Enjoyed Christmas cheer, good food, and good company. What more can a blended family ask for--except more of the same fun now that Brad and Nicole are here?