Brokeback Mountain comes out today, and I’ll be getting it in the mail from Netflix when the mail comes later. I am VERY EXCITED to know that I’ll be watching it tonight.
Of course, the fact that I’m this excited pretty much guarantees that it’s going to suck.
* * *
“What,” Fred said from his spot in front of his computer, “Is that NOISE?”
“I don’t know,” I said absentmindedly from my spot in front of my computer.
“It almost sounds like a weed whacker,” he said.
“Yeah, but it sounds like it’s coming from inside the house.”
“The CALL is coming from
INSIDE THE HOUSE!” Fred said, and then got up to see what the noise was.
“Oh shit,” he said a second later.
“What?”
“He’s got a bird!” Fred said, and then I heard the noise of a cat thumping up the stairs with Fred running close behind.
I got up and went to the bottom of the stairs. From the top of the stairs, I heard the sound of Fred yelling at Mister Boogers, then running back and forth, and I yelled up helpful things like “Is it a baby?” and “Is it a cardinal?”, and Fred answered my questions in the affirmative as he chased the now-free bird.
Eventually, he came downstairs with the bird in his hands.
“How am I supposed to let him go?” he asked.
I went into the living room, calling “Just open the door and open your hands, and he’ll fly away!” I resisted the urge to break into song (
He’ll fly away, Oh Glory/ He’ll fly away; (in the morning)/ When he dies, Hallelujah, by and by/ he’ll fly away (he’ll fly away). I’d just reached out to open the back door when I heard Fred swear again.
“What?” I said.
“He got away!” Fred said, and I could hear the sound of a pissed-off baby cardinal squawking and taking flight, then hitting the wall. Then taking flight and hitting the wall. Then taking flight and hitting the wall.
I went into the dining room to see Fred trying to chase down the cardinal and hold Mister Boogers back at the same time. And I knew I had two choices – I could try to help, in which case Fred would bitch at me for getting in the way, or I could stand back and observe, in which case Fred would bitch at me for not helping.
“Could you give me some HELP here?” he snapped, pushing Mister Boogers back for the tenth time. “I need some gloves or something!”
I went into the kitchen and got gloves from under the sink, handed them to Fred, and then picked Mister Boogers up and held onto him so he couldn’t go after the bird again.
“Brrrrrrrrrrp!” Mister Boogers said with great displeasure.
Fred finally got hold of the bird and I went into the living room and opened the back door for him.
(That sounds kind of dirty, doesn’t it?)
Fred stepped outside, opened his hands… and the bird just sat there. Apparently he’d stunned his tiny brain and was in a state of shock. He just sat in Fred’s hand for the longest time, and after a few minutes, Fred started petting him, and I’ll be damned if the bird didn’t seem to kind of like it.
Around Fred’s feet, the cats swarmed, looking up and trying to figure out what exactly The Daddy was holding in his hand that smelled so damn good.

We eventually shooed the cats inside and shut the cat door. They watched us unhappily from the other side of the windows as we stood and looked at the bird. Fred finally walked over to the bird feeder and set the bird in the feeder. The bird sat there and regarded Fred with some confusion. Fred took off his gloves and held out his hand to see if the bird would hop back on his hand.
The bird did.

The bird went back into the feeder for a while, and then Fred tried to get it to hop on his hand and stand on one finger, but apparently the bird had other plans. It took off and flew for a short distance, then landed on the ground and happily hopped around, occasionally peeping. We decided to leave him alone for a little while, and about half an hour later, we looked out to find him gone. Fred walked around the yard to make sure he wasn’t hopping around anywhere, didn’t see him, and we opened the cat door back up so the cats could go outside and perhaps bring us another bird.
A bird in the house is a definite sign that spring is here.
* * *
So remember last week when I had a temper tantrum about how it was going to be just too fucking expensive to carpet the living room and how much I hated the Berber carpet and how I hate everything, WAHHHHHHHHHH?
Turns out Fred – who majored in MATH in college – figured it out wrong, and it ended up that it was going to be much less than we’d originally thought. So he called the carpet store and made an appointment to have a guy come out and do an estimate for us, and – just for shits and giggles – we had him give us an estimate on replacing the carpet on the stairs as well (of course, I’d much prefer to have the stairs hardwooded, but that’d just be too damn much money to spend on a house we’ll be selling in a year), and when the cost of carpeting the stairs and the living room was added together, it ended up being something we could live with.
So they’re coming next Monday to carpet the living room AND the stairs, and I’ve already told the spud that I will beat her six ways to Sunday if she EVER tromps on the newly carpeted stairs with her shoes on, because I’ll be damned, after living with those ugly stains on the carpeted stairs (said stains were actually caused by people who looked through the house when it was up for sale before we bought it), if she’s going to stain up the new carpet.
AND not only are we getting new carpet in the living room and on the stairs, but Fred’s going to paint the living room next Sunday – the same color it is now, only all the ugly stains and dings will gone – and I am VERY MUCH excited.
Yeah, I need a life. Shaddup.
Someone mentioned in my comments last week that I should think about getting an area rug for the living room and leaving the Berber carpet, since it would add to the resale value of the house. I would actually consider that, except that the Berber carpet is so stained and ugly (the cats have pulled up loops of the carpet in a couple of places) that there’s no way it would add to the resale value. Between Fred and the cats, iced tea has stained the carpet by his couch so badly that it’ll never come out.
* * *

Tommy in the back yard.

Pissy Boog.

Miz Poo whines annoyingly.

Oh, how the Sug cracks me up.
(
Fred took most – if not all – of the pictures in today’s entry.)
All of today’s uploaded pictures are
here.
* * *
Previously
2005: E’gar comes home.
2004: No entry.
2003: โHi. What R U doing to loose weight and how much weight have U lost?โ
2002: Burned fucking beans.
2001: No entry.
2000: Diane Sawyer is so uncomfortable around kids, itโs laughable. ]]>
That’s so funny- you hate carpet and I hate hardwoods! We need to swap houses. ๐
I minored in math. In Alabama. Go figure.
Looks like an adult – or nearly so – female cardinal.
Oh how I have laughed at work today. We used to have a cat who brought EVERYTHING in and let it go. He was so proud of hmself! He could open the screen sliding door without help. He brought in numerous birds, a baby rabbit, tons of lizards and moles (all alive of course). Thank goodness he never brought in a snake or something…..
Love, love, love the pics today.
Hey, what’s that thing around the Boog’s neck?
(KIDDING! Just kidding. I know what it is.)
Chris: It very well might be; I just default to “he” when I’m talking about birds. ๐
When I bought my house last year, I was thrilled with the beautiful hardwood floors. But after a year sweeping and polishing 3,000 sq. ft. of it, I’m planning to order carpeting this summer. I’ll finally get to put my beautiful and very fast Hoover to work!
Heh gloves! I was thinking manly work gloves or at the very least gardening gloves, not pretty pink dishwashing gloves. Heh!
Fred finally got hold of the bird and I went into the living room and opened the back door for him.
(That sounds kind of dirty, doesnโt it?)
BROKEBACK BIRD! Hee Hee! OR BROKEBACK GLOVES!
The Pissed-Off Baby Cardinals is totally going to be the name of my jazz quartet.
Enjoy the movie Robyn, I thought it was very good!
I’ve got a question for you cat lovers… we’re pet-sitting this beautiful cat named callie. She’s got some wet stuff at the corner of her eye though… some of it is clear, some of it looks like brown goop. Is this normal? It’s not green or yellow which is what I would think it would be if its infected. Sorry the camera isn’t close enough up, but if you can see the brown spots on the inside of her eye area, that’s all goop. Is this normal or should I be calling a vet? And pardon my daughters grumpy gaze, she was up really late the night before.
http://www.msu.edu/user/artibeem/callie.jpg
Thanks in advance!
Tawnya, that’s hilarious! Definitely Brokeback Gloves!
Awesome closeup of the bird, by the way. Beautiful shot.
Michelle-
You’re right; green or yellow, thick eye goop indicates an infection. Cats’ eyes operate a lot like humans’, so they get “crusties” in the corners of their eyes just like us from the eyes’ natural self-cleaning. It looks like that’s what Callie has.
An important thing to do with this eye discharge, though, is to keep it cleaned off. Even though it’s not a sign of a problem on its own, if you let it build up there too much, bacteria will start multiplying on it and then CAUSE an eye infection. (I know, it’s one big circle of goop.)
I’d keep an eye on it, though, as thick discharge (even clear) can be a sign of a viral infection or allergies.
Hope this helps!
Hey, I just rented Brokeback to watch tonight and I too am soooo looking forward to it, ha! My husband thinks I am nuts and wants no part of it.
Oh, The Mr. Clean Magic Sponge works WONDERS on all the marks on walls, it is truly AMAZING!
Awesome, thank you! I’ve wiped it off, it came off really easily. I’ll definitely keep an eye on it!
Tonights adventure was smelling something stinky and then I realized she had a big poop blob stuck to her butt. It didn’t seem runny or dihareha’y, just like she sat a little too much into it when “going.”
Cats are certainly an adventure, aren’t they? I’m loving how she cuddles with me at TV time. I don’t think we’ll be getting one anytime soon because my allergies have been going bonkers, but it’s certainly a learning experience to have one here.
Anyhow, thanks for the tips!
Can’t wait to hear the Brokeback review tomorrow! And I second the Mr. Clean Magic Sponge, that thing is INCREDIBLE. It got permanent marker off of our white walls!
I loved the bright pink gloves! LOL Also, I know how you feel about the carpet. Ours needs replacing very badly. The people who lived here before us had 4 dogs that they never let out. (Ummmmm, the back yrd is fenced) Even thought this carpet has been cleaned, cleaned and Stanley Steemered some days you can still smell the after effects of the owners past!
Thank you for the beautiful pics of the baby cardinal! I have one cockatiel on my knee and one on my shoulder so I am definenately a bird lover.
I wonder if that bird will now return and remember how you saved it.
Heh, my cat brought a snake in on sunday……I was asleep on the couch, woke up to find it on the floor about two feet from me…….argggghhhhh.
What a beautiful little bird!
The cardinal pics are so gorgeous! They are definitely giving the cute kitty pics a run for their money!
Let us know what you think of Brokeback. I have some opinions but I don’t want to cloud your view in any way and I’m anxiously waiting to hear yours. ๐
Tom is adorable … let me know what you think of Brokeback … i have begun to like black kitties since hunter