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Saturday, September 16, 2006

Elcie, Princess, and Max (temporary we hope)

The orange kitty (Max) turned up early this morning with a little help from Elcie. He must have a home but we haven't been able to find it. He's tame, trained, and came with a collar. We'll keep looking. And yes, that's tuna.

I haven't caught up with all the new visitors yet but my friend Heather who sent me the information about Chili's, has started her own blog.

She lives in the Sacramento area and has a lovely little girl named Faith who looks just like her.

She'd probably appreciate a welcome and some encouragement. So far I'm her only commenter.

I was feeling well enough today to attend a birthday luncheon for my friend David with other members of the writing class and his visiting son. Good food and a piano recital by kids ranging from their very first lessons through older kids who had been studying for around 3 years. It's always fun to watch them.

Now I'm dragging a little again but I've been away from here much too long. It seems to be a combination of tired and maybe the bug making the rounds. The girls' colds have cleared up if that's what they were. It could have been the air quality - symptoms the same. I'm a little sniffly and achy yet but much better than I was.

Elcie's ankle problem turned out to be a cyst which the pediatrician thinks will go away on its own. She said they're fairly common and harmless. Ibuprophen will take care of any pain. She twisted her knee on the day of her followup appointment. Perfect timing. The knee was improving by the time she saw the doctor. She probably just stood up a little too fast without realizing it.

She starts her Depo patch tomorrow. We will watch her very closely for side effects and if she has any problems, we'll stop it. I'm hoping it will work for her. She has enough challenges without dealing with one more.

Other than that, I've been taking it as easy as possible. We had another BB gun incident today (different kid, different circumstances) and this time I did call the police when his mother said she couldn't deal with him and to go ahead. It turns out the guns shoot plastic pellets, not metal and are legal. This boy is a young thug who actually shot Rochelle a couple of times, then Elcie, of all people, when she yelled at him, then Rochelle again when she tried to get Elcie back across the street and home.

The police couldn't do much except threaten (the kid is only nine and on his way to juvenile hall or worse eventually). His mother seems helpless to control him. The police officer offered to take the gun and dispose of it but the mother told him she'd keep it away from him. Yeah, right.

I think his mother was wishing the police would do more. She seems to have washed her hands of a nine year old. Sad; he may still be salvagable but someone needs to take an interest quickly. He's missed a lot of school; perhaps something will be done from that end.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next. I'm sure the kid thought he got away with something. Meantime we know who he is and where he lives and all the neighbors are watching for any trouble. Hitting Elcie (who didn't even have her crutches to help balance) was the final straw for everybody. Those pellets don't break the skin but they hurt and they could put out an eye as easily as the metal pellets (which are illegal in the city limits).

There was a bright side. The little boy who was responsible for the first BB gun incident saw this one and ran for help which allowed the girls to get back acros the street. He came over while we were waiting for the police and apologized to me. Said what he did was wrong. He had to see it happen to realize what he'd done. He's basically a pretty good kid and he was almost in tears.

Tim and I watched "Rent" together Thursday afternoon at his house. I loved it; I'm a sucker for tearjerkers; the more Kleenex the better. And then tonight I finally watched Narnia with Elcie and Rochelle (Rebecca came in for part of it). They'd seen it on big screen with Tim. He or Carol are usually the ones that take the girls to the movies. They're old enough to be dropped and picked up but Tim likes the same blockbuster type films (Narnia, Harry Potter, etc.) so it works out nicely. I'm happy to wait for the dvd and the "pause" button.

I had a couple of quibbles with the film but overall it was fun and I may have been a little oversensitive. These movies portray the bad guys as ugly or misshapen and the good guys as handsome heroes. So it has always been of course. The good guys wear the white hats. I don't want the girls to think of that as reality. A handsome exterior often conceals evil and a person considered unattractive or even deformed by some may have the proverbial "heart of gold" and be the true hero. The girls need to know that.

Don't know what got me started on that. End of rant.

I'm thinking about clam chowder tomorrow. It's been on the request list for a week and the weather has cooled off enough for soup to taste pretty good. I'd better make it before the girls eat all the raw potatoes again. It's easy enough; especially when I leave most of the peel on the potatoes.

And, speaking of food, you all know about packaged fresh spinach and e coli, don't you? If you have some, don't use it (USA only so far as I know) and don't buy any until they can track down the source and issue an "all clear". Right now they have it traced to some farm in San Juan Bautista about 70 miles from here toward the coast.

Thanks to all for the good wishes. If I'm not back here daily, don't be concerned. I'm catching up on all the things I let go last week so I may have a little less computer time.

Have a good weekend and take care.










30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Ann (or evening to you)
No wonder your house is such a cat magnet. lol

P. xx

Atasha said...

That's a nice looking cat by the way! There's always so much going on with you Ann how in the world do you do it? Sorry to hear about another incident with the BB Gun and I am glad nothing worse happened.

My mom told me about the Spinach 2 days ago and now that you mention it I have to tell my husband not ot buy any.

Does McDonalds use that in their salads? I ate one yesterday. Man I am not doing that again. Too bad too because I love their salads.

Anyways, take care and I am off to get some relax time. All are asleep.

Granny said...

Hi P. It's technically Sunday morning by now.

I must have an invisible sign on my house that says "sucker".

Thanks for the comment.

Anonymous said...

how many cats are too many? if you feed them they will stay!! I think its the same with children!
having a mad time here with the visiting dog, she is on my knee as I do my pc visiting.
there are some kids here with these pellet guns too, I hate them.
hope you feel better soon
blessings
Claire

Arwen said...

When I was a kid there was aboy who victimized the local rope swing with a pumping bb gun. He hit me once (I was in 6th grade, he was in 9th). He had done this to my friends too. I week later it turns out someone had beaten the crap out of him and broken the gun in half. I think we call this playground vigilanteism. We never found out who did it but the bb gun boy never bullied again.
As for the cats, I love all you cats. I wish the 3 we had weren't 'sneeze factories' for Trey or we would probably have more.

Anonymous said...

That's a lovely picture of Elcie.

I was so encouraged to hear that the first BB-Boy was so affected by seeing it from the other end. That bodes very well for that young feller. I hope for the same for the other child, but it's not looking good for his team.

Susie said...

Glad to see you back and feeling a bit better.
You are a "cat magnet" They must know you're a cat lover!
I found the story of the 9 yr old whose Mom has reached the end of her rope very sad. He's still such a child!!

Gina said...

Yes, I too felt sadness at the 9 year old and the mother who does not care enough to take him and punish him. And then she goes and compounds it by not having the police take it! His actions are classic acting out, and I am sorry to hear that there is no around to take him under their wing, so to speak.

Glad to hear it was only a cyst, hopefully it will reduce itself soon.

Take care Ann...

Puss-in-Boots said...

Hi Ann

Glad to see you back - with another cat! Ah well, they're wise creatures and know who loves them. Yep, you can't resist them, can you? lol

Pity about the 9 year old boy. We have that here, parents who whimp out and say they can't control their kids. So you have littlies of about 2 or 3 years who are little monsters because their parents can't say "no" and won't give them any boundaries. Oh, I better not get started on this, it's one of my pet soapbox rants!

Anyway, glad you are slowly coming right but don't overdo things. I heard about the E.coli in the spinach on the news. I made a chicken and spinach pie last night - never gave it a thought, but I don't think it's a worry here.

Take care, Ann and I'm really pleased to see you back.

Robyn

Sothis said...

His mother is too weak willed to deal with it herself? OMG. I can't believe the police actually left it as an option for her to keep the gun. If that kid takes out someone's eye, both the mother and the police dept will be liable for negligence (make sure there is a report--the mother is on notice now). I'm sorry, but she let him have a gun but then can't control him? Have you thought about calling Family Sevices/DSS on her? She needs some parenting help, fast. Calls are anonymous--and it might save his life in the long run.

Poor Elcie. That must hurt. I hope the Depo works--good luck.

I hope you can find the kittie's home!

TJ said...

I think pellet guns should be banned...and his Momma should have handed it over or be taken to jail herself...what ever happened to parental responsibility???
Hope you get to feeling better Granny...I know now to take it slower...I've done too much today and am feeling the effects right now...may be an early bedtime for me tonight!
:-D

Carole Burant said...

That's all you need...another cat! lol Hopefully you can find its owner:-) I'm glad to see you up and about today...plenty of rest will do the trick!! What a sad story about that 9 year old boy...I think that's getting common nowadays with all the child protection laws...I don't know about in the States but here in Canada even parents are not allowed to touch their children or discipline them physically...if they do, then the child is allowed to report them to the children's aid. Even in schools, the teachers can no longer discipline a child...then people wonder why kids these days have no discipline, respect, etc., for anything! Any kind of guns that shoot, be it plastic or metal, should be illegal! It's such a scary world out there, made even scarier when mothers of 9 years old can't handle their kid!! Hugs!

Anonymous said...

She doesn't sound like much of a mother, not even attempting to control her child! And then not letting the police take the gun?!

DH (police officer) standing right here tells me he doesn't see why they didn't haul that kid right off to juvenile hall. It may be legal to own a weapon but it's never legal to fire it at someone!

Jo said...

What beautiful pictures. Gorgeous children...! And the little orange cat. So cute...! If you don't find a home for him, can I have him? ;-)

My gosh, a little nine year-old with that attitude. That is so sad. He needs help. It breaks my heart. I wonder what the background story is. Please keep us posted.

Josie

JBlue said...

What an adorable little cat.

Everybody well there yet? I think our youngest has strep throat or something. I'll have to get him in to see his doctor first thing tomorrow.

Good look to Elcie with the Depo.

I saw clips from Rent, and I thought Rosario Dawson looked fantastic in it. I do like her. I know what you mean about the portrayal of beauty as good and less-beautiful as evil. Remember in Lord of the Rings, the beautiful Elves spoke a musical language while the hideous orcs grunted. Funny.

Sarah Elaine said...

Nice photos. Hope you are feeling like yourself again soon.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann, of topic, I read your comment on Margarets Memoirs and it raised two points, you mentioned bloglines and Margaret asked me what that meant, I'm afraid I don't know, can you enlighten us? secondly, if I read you correctly you have already worked out posting from Word but have complicated it by the email process, if you prepare a post in Word you can cpoy (ctrl C) it and paste it (ctrl V) it directly to your post window in blogger, just leave it on your Word document until your post has published, and then delete it from Word or simply don't save it.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Ann,

That's sad about this new BB shootest. I wish the mom had let the police have the gun. I'm glad the former BB shootest learned his lesson, but I wish it wasn't your girls being shot yet again!

Beautiful kitty by the way, and Elcie takes a nice picture too. She's growing-up to be a very pretty young lady.

Cat are like potato chips!
You can never have just one!

Janice~

Anonymous said...

Hello Ann ~ I am so sorry that you have had more BB shooting. How awful for the girls. And I think the police shouel have taken that gun away. I hope Elcie's cyst soon clears up. I know what Bloglines are, but not how to access them. Take care Ann, I hope this week is better for you all. Hugs, Merle.

Val said...

Ann, I'm so sorry you are not feeling well, and have had all those other horrid things happen, that would not help. I wish you a speedy recovery!

karrie said...

Ann, Your house sounds like so much fun! If you were closer, I'd drop by and take an extra kitty home with me. I'm off to visit your friend Heather's blog.

Anonymous said...

I just watched Rent last night! It reminded me of when that's what I wanted to do with my life (act on stage, not get AIDS and d.ie)

CUTENESS. I cannot WAIT to get another kitty.

thordora

Kristen said...

I can't believe that about the kid with the bb gun!! It's especially sad / scary to hear that his mom has given up on him.

I agree with you on the movies' portrayal of good and evil as pretty and ugly. It's very hard to find a way to approach this subject with young kids, too - I've tried bringing it up with Bryce and Quinn, and I end up sounding even more cynical about humans than I actually am. Sigh.

mreddie said...

Max will probably want to hang around a while - just for the tuna. ec

Endorendil said...

Maybe I freak too easily about guns, but I think that even a BB gun crosses the line. Follow the link below if you think that the worst that can happen is that someone loses an eye.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_261140843.html

I would call DCFS, and ask the police to remove the gun. Of course I'ld also be packing bags, because I am a little oversensitive to this entire gun issue...

Carissa said...

Sorry to hear about the BB gun incident. Very pitiful that between the mother and the cop nothing was really done about it. How sad that the mother has already given up trying to control him and he's only 9 years old. Where in the heck does a kid like that even GET a BB gun????? Mom and dad thought it was a good Christmas gift for their little hoodlum? *eyeroll* Expect to see him with it again by the end of the week. Very nice that it inspired the first kid to give a genuine appology though.

The Mama said...

Wow, I can't believe the stuff about the kids with guns. This second kid looks like someone to look out for and avoid, how sad his mom has just given up on him. I'm glad the girls are ok though, and glad the first boy seems to realize his wrong. Hope the girls stay safe!!

Alice

Pat said...

Thanks for an interesting bed-time read and lovely photos.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Granny...I hope you didn't eat a fresh salad and that's what made you sick. The cats are cute, I love cats and I can see from your pictures that the girls do to.
I can't believe that a mother can't handle a NINE year old. If she couldn't handle him, why on earth did she let him have that BB gun? I'm not saying anymore because I just get too upset.

Anonymous said...

cute pics hope you get to feelin better soon.. glad the first boy realized what he did.. and wow that sucks bout the second boy!!! his mom should really get a grip on him or find someway to get some help for him.. it's a shame when parents give up...