Pew Pew Mew Mew!!

Kittens shooting rainbows out of their eyes. Now that's the kind of day I hope you have! A day that goes by swimmingly and perhaps involves a mystical unicorn showing up and taking you to coffee. All while you have a perfect soundtrack going on all around you.

Wouldn't it be awesome if life were like a musical?

Seriously - I would love it if people broke out in random, perfectly choreographed musical numbers and everyone is in tune and for a moment you think, I wonder where they put the orchestra that accompanies everyone?

I suppose you could say I live in a city that is the closest existence of living in a musical. You walk down the street, hear a band playing. You water your vegetable garden, hear a band playing. You try and take a nap on a Saturday and realize your neighbor is having an awesome party, complete with full band. And so on, and so on...

Loves it. Now if I could just train the kitties to shoot rainbows out of their eyes.

Happy Tuesday!
xoxo

P.S. I'm so glad you all are still here! Thanks for sticking around, y'all!

Monday, Monday

Hi all. So much has been going on lately, I simply haven't found the time to sit down and collect my thoughts.

*crickets chirping*

Y'all? Are you there? Let me know you are still around! I'm still alive - summer is fully upon us with the heat and the humidity. And lots of rain, too. Which means more humidity.
Yummy.

I hope everyone is well. Things are swimming along here nicely.

Oh, and happy Monday. The second cup of coffee is on me.

xoxo

Homemade Creole Tomato Soup

Gorgeous, fabulous creole tomatoes, baby! They remind me of Maria. She introduced me to the glory that is the creole tomato. I remember driving around with her in Slidell last summer and we would pass these fruit and veggie stands on the side of the road and she would exclaim, "CREOLE TOMATOES!!!" *giggle* That's why I love her.

Being that it has been a year since that time, we have now entered "CREOLE TOMATO!!" season and I thought I would share with you my absolute favorite tomato soup recipe. You can honestly use any kind of tomato you want for this soup, but I made it with the "CREOLE TOMATOES!!" recently, and I must say that I enjoy the meatiness that this tomato brings to the soup. They aren't as seedy as say a Roma, but if your garden is overflowing with tomatoes, this is a great way to use some of your bounty.

4 lbs fresh tomatoes, cut in big chunks
1 onion, cut in big chunks
2 bullion cubes, diluted in 4 cups H2O (you can use chicken or vegetable)
2 cups H2O
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c fresh herbs, chopped (basil, parsley, mint, dill, or thyme - I personally like a combo of parsley and basil 'cause it's what's in my garden)
1/2 - 1 c heavy cream (optional)

In a big pot, combine tomatoes, onion, broth/water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh chopped herbs and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Place the soup in a blender or food processor and process until pureed. Return to soup pot and add cream to taste. Serve warm!

You can also make this and can it. I would maybe not add the cream if you are planning on canning or freezing this, just add it when you want to heat it up!

Enjoy! And buy some "CREOLE TOMATOES!!!" if you can! They are delicious!

xoxo

He Hates Us All

Oliver wanted me to inform everyone that he hates the world and is planning its demise as we speak. See? He's foaming at the mouth in anticipation of everyone burning in a fiery pit of brim fire and destruction.

Ok, while he is actually planning the end of the world and has said many, many foul words in the past 24 hours, he was foaming at the mouth because our little baby had to be knocked out. Oliver went back to Dr. Scott yesterday for a checkup.

Oy. I don't know how much more of this we can take - or Oliver! He really has been improving in the matters of the litter box. However, yesterday, he was being quite grumpy. Not his normal grumpiness, more of a something might be wrong but you aren't picking up on my signals wrong.

So, thank goodness we had a follow up appointment with Dr. Scott. He checked his bladder and it was really full but he couldn't get anything out. So, he knocked poor Oliver out and had to catheterize him to empty his bladder. He was blocked - meaning while the antibiotics are working, we still aren't over this little hurdle.

Did you know that they make a catheter just for boy kitties and they call it a Tom Cat?

We ended up leaving him at the vet so he could take care of him and got to pick him up as I was taking Kev to work last night. Oliver got to ride in the car in the middle of a giant rainstorm! Oh boy!

Thank Tyrannosaurus Rex that he was still a little loopy from the anesthesia. The picture above is what was left of him when I brought him home. Poor, drooly baby. He also was given another I.V. for hydration.

Please keep Oliver in your thoughts and prayers - WILL him to drink and pee! Preferably in the litter box, but I'll take him peeing in general right now.

Have a fabulous Tuesday.

xoxo

Jump In The Line

Rock your body in time! Okay, I believe you!

Sorry...a little Harry Belafonte for ya' on this Monday morning. It might help you get the grove of your week going. Dance! Dance! Dance!

I hope you all have been having a wonderful summer so far. I can't believe it's already summer. Wasn't it just Christmas? Sheesh. Oh, and I realized that I passed a pretty monumental date and didn't acknowledge it.

It's officially been a year here at the Monkey Heart Discourses. A year ago, we threw caution to the wind and moved to New Orleans. A friend asked me the other night if my perception of the city has changed since moving here.

Oh, you have no idea. I could go on and on and on about how I had one idea and Ms. Nola has promptly retaught me. And by promptly I mean she has taken her sweet ass time. 'Cause that's how she rolls, y'all.

I don't regret it. Not for a moment.

Do we get frustrated? Well, that's like asking if you put okra in gumbo.

But, there are so many other positive things that have come about from our move to the city. My relationship with Kev has deepened as has my love for New Orleans. So, rather than be a Negative Nancy and focus on how the potholes are ruining every one's car (and by everyone I mean anyone who drives a car in New Orleans) I am going to focus on the thing that New Orleans does really well.

She loves. She shows love. She brings you in and feeds you and gives you a cold drink and says I am so glad you are here. Then, on a dime she can turn cold, but can't most lovers?

So, thanks Lady Nola for continuing to teach me a thing or twenty.

I look forward to another year, m'dear!

xoxo

Oliver: An Update

We made it to the vet, whom we love! Other than a few nasty words directed at Dr. Scott and his assistant, Oliver did pretty good.

Dr. Scott explained that kitties, especially boy kitties of a certain age group, can start to have urinary tract issues due to the placement of their junk. So, Oliver most likely has some sort of bacterial something going on in his boy parts. He tried to get a bladder sample, but Oliver wasn't wanting to produce what he needed. The doc did a scan of his bladder and saw crystallization and some other stuff, so he went ahead and put him on antibiotics. He was/is a little dehydrated and needs to drink more fluids - Dr. Scott gave him an I.V. We are trying to get Oliver to drink more water.

Interestingly enough, however, there are other causes of feline urinary tract problems. It's called Idiosyncratic - meaning they don't know the cause of the problems.

Anyone who has had the honor of meeting Oliver, and I say honor because he truly believes it is an honor to be in his presence, knows that he can be a little *ahem* demanding, at times. He is prone to tantrums and peeing on Kevin's socks. We never knew why he would do this, other than him being a male cat and a diva.

But, you see, there is the key. Our Oliver is a diva of the highest degree. His world crumbles around him with the slightest change, extra poop in the litter box, or Alice eating all his kibble. The doctor explained that with these changes, he decides to hold his pee-pees. And we all know what happens when you hold your pee-pees for too long over an extended period of time! U.T.I. *ouch* I'm sure holding all those toxic things makes you go a little ga-ga and it just perpetuates itself because there's already a pre-existing mental issue compounded with crazy making toxins.

So, basically, Oliver is bat-shit crazy.

And he is now on Prozac.

Yes, we are medicating our fur baby with anti-depressants. Hmm...I'll keep you posted on how this works out!

Thank goodness we have an awesome vet that understands that sometimes you need a little better living through chemistry to get by. I hope Oliver appreciates his elevated mood.

Happy Tuesday!
xoxo

Prayers for Oliver

Hey y'all. I hope you had an awesome weekend. Ok, so we have to take Oliver to the vet today. He's been peeing blood - I'm kind of freaking out. But, we will get it taken care of. I think he has a bladder infection, but I'm not a vet.

The oddest thing is that he has started putting his head inside the litter box with his bottom outside and going to the bathroom on the floor. Thank GOD we don't have carpet anymore.

So, please say a prayer for our fur baby. I don't know how much more random peeing Kevin is willing to endure - or Oliver for that matter!

I'll keep you posted.

xoxo

Have You Met My Left Fist!?!

I hope you all have a FABULOUS Thursday! And you know, that Lydia really is an encyclopedia!

xoxo

Eyebrows Raised

Oliver has really long eyebrow whiskers.

I need a nap. It's 6:30 a.m. and I need a nap. Oliver just threw up a hairball at my feet. Literally, like just right now. I think I might throw up. I was all set to write a lovely, beautiful, inspiring post today.

I hope this isn't an indication of what the day holds...

I hope no one comes in and throws up at your feet today.

xoxo

Oh The World

There was a protest this weekend in the Quarter over the BP oil spill. I really liked this particular sign. The shops around town are starting to sell anti-BP t-shirts. This is nasty and honestly, I'm getting a little scared. Worse than the Exxon spill and that is still recovering.

Oh, president of BP. I must say, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now. But honestly, you look like a big jack ass in this entire mess. Own up to things and FIX IT! Don't just apologize, FIX IT!

FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT!

Please. Because how would you feel if some company spilled oil into a water source that could contaminate YOUR water supply?