Saturday, March 31, 2007

Not so crumbly, anymore.

My hair is blonde, my house is clean, we booked our December trip to Disney World (and the Travel Channel is having a Disney World program marathon tomorrow), I bought pretty fabric to make my first dress, I finished my first solo grant budget and Shelly brought me a cookie. Improvment is noted.

Monday, March 26, 2007

My world, she is crumbling.

The Steel Pig on 89th and Aurora is closing. I dyed my hair a catastrophic color. The weather continues cold and soul-crushing. Christian gets to go bowling during work while I try to figure out why my NEA never got processed and why I'm being told only five days in advance that a budget is closing. The sweater I've been knitting Christian for six months is coming out too small. I have no solo gigs lined up for the indeterminate future. I need a cookie.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Chicken on the Brain

We took Cyril for his teeny tiny head x-ray last Saturday. We were told to leave before the procedure and go to breakfast and they would call us when it was over. I think they didn't want me standing in the waiting room wringing my hands, muttering and asking if that horrible shriek I just heard was my sweet baby without whom I'd be nothing and could I please go into the back and hold him while they did the x-ray? I'd wear a lead vest and hold him very still. No? Fine.

We did go to breakfast, but came back before they called as I couldn't stand it any longer. They had to file his beak after the x-ray and, before we left to eat, had luridly described the procedure as if it had been devised in the mind of Pinochet (they made it out to involve a vice and an industrial metal file) just to set me at ease. I love being mocked by medical professionals. It makes me place such confidence in their skills. Anyway, he came through the anesthetic for the x-ray fine, but they had to resedate him during the filing (with no vice, thankfully) as he was too worked up to be held still (the office manager, David-with-the-lovely-accent, told me later that he went to the back to comfort Cyril because he was hollering so much), and they had to remove quite a bit of beak to correct his bite problem. I have never seen an animal look so betrayed and confused as when they brought him back out after it was all done. His slightly drugged expression made him look exactly like the big-eyed children in 60's velvet art. His beak looked beautiful, all even and pretty, but the vet told us that it looked as though he had a problem with the joint that made his jaw too loose, which would explain the overgrowth and his constant yawning and scratching of his jaw. The radiologist who read the x-ray would later confirm that the filing could correct the problem and it wouldn't become permanent, which was a relief.

We found out on the trip to the vet the first time that Cyril gets carsick in the back seat (the similarities between him and me are now getting slightly disturbing), so he rode on Christian's shoulder on the drive home, swaying slightly but letting us scratch him in what I assume was a comforting way. He recovered completely, though, with the unexpected bonus (in his mind) of now having a much sharper beak with which he can chew through his hateful flight suit. Pictures of that hilarity will be forthcoming.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

My boobs, stage left.

A fellow singer posted on the Forum that a photo from the Tacoma Opera production of Beatrice et Benedict in which I played Ursula is on the homepage of Opera America, the industry's main organization. That is my gleaming white chest next to the head of the ingenue. Hey, I'll take fame any way I can get it.

Why do the Ides have to be in March?

Would the Ides of June just not sound as threatening?

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Lest you think we are neglecting the birds...

I give you chicken helper:

















He's very useful to have around the house. He's a far more effective paper shredder than, well, the paper shredder. And this is his reward:















Well, my reward, anyway. He's not overly fond of the snorgle.

We recently made a purchase that we're hoping will contribute to Cyril's portability and cleanliness:


Yes, that little hole goes over the waste disposal unit, and the discs of cotton are, well, diapers. Do you want to see a tutorial of how to use this suit? Go here. Prepare to laugh hysterically thinking about how it will not be remotely that easy to get that thing on Cyril.
Oh, and by the way, he has to have a head x-ray on Saturday. Yes, a head x-ray. A little, tiny head x-ray. Apparently, the crooked beak could be a bone abnormality. Say it with me. A bird. head. x. ray. Imagine the little lead vest.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

It's a special gift.

Not everyone could lock themselves IN their car, necessitating crawling over the emergency brake into the passenger seat while in a dress and heels to be able to get out.

Why, oh why did I get out of bed this morning?

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Nope, not possible.

It's simply not possible for a child to be this adorable.



Three for three, I'd say.