Friday, July 13, 2012

Big Brother & My Cat Reality Show

Are there any other Big Brother fans out there? 

What do you think of the new cast? I have to admit I always hope for some romance (like Jeff & Jordan) or at least flirting & sexual tension (Danielle & Nick.) I think Shane is my only hope in that department.


This new Danielle saying she was a Kindergarten teacher instead of a nurse to seem less threatening irritated me. It seemed like she was implying that she didn't want to seem too smart. :-( I hate how people have such a misrepresentation of what we do and the intelligence it takes to be good at it.


Willie should have been more proactive if he didn't want people to know he was related to Russell (Survivor). Instead of acting surprised I would have said, "Yea, people say I look like him all the time.
 "
I felt badly that Jodi got sent home the first night! That PJ game looked HARD.


The veteran coaches is an interesting twist. They were really sharing some awful dirt about Boogie on Showtime After Dark. I was surprised they didn't cut away but I guess he did sign the release.

In my own cat reality show...

Shadow is still not reacting well to the cone. She does nothing but lie still (with her head looking uncomfortable) until something spooks her and she runs around bumping into doorways and eventually dives under a bed. She stays wedged under there the rest of the day not moving. The first night she was so still and quiet I was seriously worried she was dead. The last 2 nights we have had to lift the bed entirely off the frame so I could scoop her out. Then we hand feed her. She won't drink water for some reason which concerns me. She peed a little on the rug and we realized she is so afraid to move she is not making it to the litter box. She smells like pee and of course can't clean herself with the cone. So now we place her in the litter box a couple times a day.

Her wound has bled because she has taken to dragging her butt back rather than walk forward with the cone. I wish they had given us the fabric cone but they said it didn't fit her? I stayed in bed an extra hour this morning because she was laying on me so peacefully I didn't have the heart to disturb her. My husband blocked off our bed so she can't go under it today. We'll see if that works!

 I also need to announce....

Congrats to Cathy Smith, the winner of my VersaTiles Starter Set Giveaway!
That was the first time I used Rafflecopter and I really liked it. Why you ask? (Okay, okay, you didn't but play along...)
1. You set the time for the contest to be over and it automatically closes the entries.
2. It will randomly pick the winner for you so no more having to use the random number generator. This also is good since I no longer have numbered comments.
3. The entries are collected by the widget so you don't get an email for each one. I usually like seeing my comments by email but deleting 500+ for this giveaway wouldn't have been too cool.
4. It is much faster for people ENTERING the giveaway than leaving comments for each one (especially if people still have the annoying word verification setting! Seriously, get rid of it already! You don't need it and it will deter people from commenting.)
5. It is FREE!

Are you unsure about HOW to enter giveaways on Rafflecopter? Click {here} to view a short tutorial.

No, I am not getting anything from the Rafflecopter people, I just like to help out the newbies.

I have been asked many times to make a blogging booklet for beginners. If I did, what kinds of questions do you have that you would like to see answered?

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Thursday, July 12, 2012

2 hours left to enter my giveaway!

Did you get all your entries in for my VersaTiles Giveaway? You have less than 2 hours left so get entering HERE.


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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

My Poor, Poor Kitty


After our elation of Shadow's return wore off, we realized here wound was worse than we thought. 
It was hard to get a picture but it looked like a chunk was missing so we figured it was an open bite and could get infected.


After an hour and $200 spent at the vet, I now have a completely traumatized cat. They had to shave around her wound and clean it out.

After reading about Kristin's problems getting her dog to take his meds we opted for the antibiotic by shot. They had to put a cone on her to keep her from licking her injury.

When we got home, she jumped out of the carrier and completely went nuts! She started running around the halls, bumping into walls and trying to get under beds. The poor thing is so hating that cone! She finally made it under the couch and wouldn't come out all night. She didn't eat and I couldn't give her any pain meds.

I finally coaxed her out this morning with food. I held the bowl to make sure she could get to it.
Before I could try to get any pain meds into her she freaked out again. When she tries to run down the hall I think the cone must knock on the floor and that makes her skittish. She always did freak out at the sound of plastic bags so I'm sure being surrounded by a plastic cone is torture.

Luckily she couldn't make it under my son's bed when she freaked out today and I got her to stay on it (that is the first picture above.) Even though she looks a little uncomfortable with her head off the bed it has to be better than it being wedged under the couch, barely able to move.

I want to give her pain meds (liquid) but she won't open her mouth and I don't want to force it and have her freak out again. Maybe in a little while I can bring the food bowl back and sneak the dropper in her mouth then.  Or I could be a total wimp and wait until my husband comes home and let him try. What do you think? 
Thank goodness we opted for the antibiotic shot so I didn't have to deal with that, too!

There is still time to enter my VersaTiles Giveaway by clicking {HERE}

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Monday, July 9, 2012

My missing kitty is home FLASH SALE!

I am so happy that my missing kitty made it home after 2 full weeks! I had just about given up hope.
That is my son Quinn giving Shadow some love.
 She  has a chunk of hair missing by her tail so the poor thing must have had to defend herself. Otherwise she seems okay so I am wondering if someone took care of her. A few months ago she took her collar off and lost it somewhere but I hadn't worried too much because she stopped going out. Looks like I need to get another one ASAP!

To celebrate I am having a FLASH SALE in my TPT store for 24 hours! My good fortune is your good fortune!  And don't forget to enter my VersaTiles Giveaway by clicking {HERE}

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Friday, July 6, 2012

VersaTiles Starter Set Giveaway

Have you heard of VersaTiles? I had heard of them but never seen them in action. The great people over at ETA hand2mind sent me a 1st grade Reading/Language Arts Starter Set to try. I am using it with an incoming first grader I am tutoring this summer and I am a new fan!

The numbered tiles come in a black case with the letter choices on the bottom. As the student chooses the correct answer, he places the number on the letter choice.

We used this book but the starter kit comes with 8 books at different levels of increasing complexity.  My student is still struggling with some of his letter names and sounds so we did the beginning sound picture match the first day.
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Here is a sample page

Once all the questions are answered the student closes the lid, flips it over and reopens it. The back of the tiles form a design that the student compares to the answer key at the bottom of the page.
As you can see, he got 2 wrong (yellow & blue reversed.) So the student takes those 2 out, flips it back over, and tries again. My student confused the b & d so you here you see him trying the finger trick.
 Here is a better picture of the finger trick. I have them say, "a, b (hold up the left), c, d (hold up the right.) I like this better than the bed thing because they always have their fingers with them!
After he fixes his mistakes, the student flips it back over to check again. This time he got it right!
VersaTiles are perfect to add as a Daily 5 choice or literacy center. These are exactly the kind of skills I want my students practicing and I don't have to make them! Plus I love the manipulative aspect. The boy I tutor is *very active* and he was completely engaged by manipulating the tiles and closing and flipping the case.  The self-checking immediate feedback is also a big plus. I'd highly recommend this product!

There are also different VersaTiles sets focusing on comprehension strategies, vocabulary, children's literature, even math and science! Check out the ETA hand2mind website to learn more.

The terrific people at ETA hand2mind are offering 1 lucky winner a 1st Grade VersaTiles Reading/Language Arts Starter Set! Enter via Rafflecopter until July 13th at midnight.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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