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Average Jane’s Foster Cat Needs Your Help

I took Sooty to the vet on Saturday to get her opinion on the state of his mouth. I told her about his horrid breath (which has actually improved noticeably since we got him home) and described his gingerly eating habits and apparent swelling beneath his upper lips.

She looked in his mouth and confirmed my suspicions: he has serious gingivitis and numerous abcessed teeth. He needs a dental procedure to remove most of his remaining teeth so his gums can heal.

The vet said it wasn't surprising how thin he is considering that he's not only declawed but also unable to bite into anything firm without pain. Out on the streets he must have found it incredibly difficult to hunt and extremely painful to eat anything he could catch. Poor guy.

She did his exam for free and I paid for a long-acting antibiotic injection in the hope of clearing up some of his mouth troubles. She also gave me an additive for his water that may help his gums.

Unfortunately, veterinary dentals are very expensive: she quoted me a price range up to $1,000. They involve anesthetic and they can take a long time, so the price reflects the seriousness of the procedure.

Because this care is more than I can budget from my own funds, I have decided to do a GoFundMe campaign to see if I can raise the money needed to get his dental work done.

If you feel inclined to help out, even a few dollars would make a difference in this sweet cat's life. Thank you in advance!

November 18, 2014
Average Jane Plans Thanksgiving Dinner

Last year I copped out when it came to Thanksgiving dinner and just made reservations at a restaurant. Not surprisingly, that was less satisfactory than it might have been, so this year I'm going to cook again.

As you may know, Thanksgiving dinner is kind of my specialty. Here's a booklet I made of some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. One of these days I'll update it with photos and other nice goodies, but it'll get you through the process even like this.

As a newly-minted vegetarian, I had to make some choices about how to handle the turkey that most of my guests will want. I decided to get it and a few of the more mundane side dishes already prepared by a local grocery store that does a nice job with their catering.

That frees me up to make the more interesting appetizers, sides and desserts from scratch, adding a couple of things aimed mainly at the vegetarians. Between my pumpkin pie and pumpkin ravioli, I think you'll note a theme. I'll probably also make pomegranate salsa and probably some kind of roasted Brussels sprouts dish.

As usual, I've put out an invitation to anyone I know in my area who doesn't have other Thanksgiving plans. Otherwise it's only five of us, two of whom are vegetarians, and I've ordered a turkey that feeds ten. So I'm pretty serious about adding anyone else who wants to join us. That means you, by the way. If you want to come over, email me and I'll give you the details. There will be wine.

So what do you have planned for Thanksgiving?

November 17, 2014
Learn About Holiday Pet Safety With Average Jane

This is a sponsored post for which I am receiving some Wellness pet food in exchange for posting. It's the brand my cats all eat and love anyway, so I am happily supportive of them. My specific wording and opinions are my own.

This Wednesday, November 19, 2014 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST, Wellness Natural Pet Food’s veterinary consultant Dr. Cindy Bressler will be doing a live Twitter chat to discuss pet safety during the holidays.

At this time of year perhaps more than any other, pets are exposed to unusual foods and tempting decorations that could put them at risk. Learn more about keeping them safe by following the hashtag #HappyPawlidays, along with @wellnesspetfood and @DrCindyBressler.

I'll be following along and participating if my evening meeting wraps up early enough. I need all the tips I can get for keeping the cats away from the ornaments on the tree!

November 17, 2014
Average Jane’s Obligatory Blog Post

Today's the day when my desire not to fail NaBloPoMo and my life choices finally came into conflict. I'm not going to miss a day, but I am beyond tired and I need to go to bed, so this is going to be super short.

Last night my husband and I went to a jam and didn't get home until almost 2:30 a.m. I got up at 8:30 a.m. today, had lunch at my sister's house and went to band practice to work on new songs later in the afternoon. My biggest triumph of the day was being able to stay up and watch both "The Walking Dead" and "Talking Dead," but I'm dead tired myself, so that's it for me.

Enjoy this cliched but still cute photo of Toby checking out a fire hydrant.

Good night!

November 16, 2014
Average Jane’s Dapper Grandfather

I was going through old photos last week when I ran across this photograph of my grandfather:

There’s no date on the photo, but there’s writing on the back labeling the subject as “Bob and Daphne.” Since my grandfather’s name was Bob, I presume he called his car Daphne. Car buffs can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Daphne there was a Ford Model A.

Even more interesting, it says that he was dressed like that to indicate that he was a law graduate, so I’m guessing that this was taken at or shortly after his college graduation.

I’ve blown up the photo a bit from the original size, which was a little more than 2″ x 3″, but it’s still a pretty clear image. I love it because everything from the look on my young grandfather’s face to the presence of a beloved car represents the best memories I have of my grandfather.

My grandfather loved old cars. He had restored a 1932 Plymouth Roadster from the ground up and would drive it on nice days and in the occasional parade throughout my childhood. When I was learning to drive a stick shift, he let me practice on the Roadster, which had fewer gears and a more forgiving clutch than a modern car.

This is inspiring me to go through my photographs and do more scanning. I’m going to try to make this type of post a regular thing. What great memories!

November 15, 2014
Average Jane Exercises Patience

One of the life skills I have been actively working on for decades is patience. I used to be incredibly impatient, but it didn't take long for me to recognize that no one benefits from that kind of attitude.

However, cultivating patience can be a challenge. Take yesterday, for example. I had a ticket to see Stephen King talk about his new book. I left work a little early with the thought that I might be able to grab something to eat on my way there, but the traffic was terrible and it took me almost twice as long as I might have expected to reach my destination. By the halfway point, I had already given up on the idea of stopping anywhere and I had to just concentrate on making it to the venue by the time the doors opened.

As I drove through the parking garage to find a spot, I saw the line for the event. It stretched down the block, into the garage and up the ramp. For a moment, I seriously considered pulling back out of the spot and just going home, but since I'd already paid and it's a pretty big deal to see Stephen King, I put on my gloves and went out to stand in line in the cold.

Fortunately, the line moved quickly and I managed to get my ticket from the will-call desk and find a seat a reasonable distance from the stage. The presentation wouldn't start for almost 90 minutes, but I surfed the net on my phone while I saved a seat for one of my friends who was on her way.

Stephen King was highly entertaining and quickly reminded me why I like his books so much. I really wish I had brought a notebook to write down some of what he said. Fortunately, a book blogging friend of mine also attended and here is her recap of Stephen King's presentation.

The big lesson in patience came after we all left our seats and grabbed our copies of the book that came included in the ticket price. I made my way back to my car and spent almost 15 minutes waiting for the cars behind me to let me back out. No dice. There was complete gridlock in the garage and I could tell that nothing was going to get better any time soon.

Even though it was fairly late and I was tired and hungry and more than ready to go home, I decided to turn the situation to my advantage. I could have just sat there and been frustrated, but instead I shut off the engine, got out, and headed for the stairs at the corner of the garage.

I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but when I made my way out of the garage I saw a coffee shop across the street. Hooray! I bought myself a small cup of coffee and a ginger molasses cookie to have as a pre-dinner snack, then settled myself comfortably on a stool by the window to wait out the traffic.

There was a time when I would have been seething with impatience over being delayed like that, but I have long since let that kind of attitude go. There's no point in getting worked up about things over which you have no control, especially since the consequences of being late are essentially nil. After all, no one was waiting for me to perform surgery; I was just heading home to feed the dog and warm up some pizza.

Patience is a work in progress, but I think I'm getting there.

November 14, 2014
Average Jane vs. the Polar Vortex

I've already had one of Saturday's planned activities get cancelled because it's supposed to snow. Of course, we're used to snow right smack in the middle of the Midwest, but generally not quite this early. I think I remember a snowy Thanksgiving or two when I was growing up, but that was pretty rare.

Thus, it looks like we're going to be in for a long, cold winter. Fortunately, we wised up a few years ago and purchased a snow blower, which turned out to be a fantastic idea.

I should probably have a look at my tires to see how the tread is holding up because it seems as though it's been a while since I bought them.

I have plenty of warm, hideous robes I can wear around the house. The dog owns far more cold weather garb than he is willing to wear.

The only thing that I'm truly concerned about is the general suckitude of loading band gear in and out of clubs in the snow and ice all winter long. It's bad enough during a short winter but excruciating when winter drags on and on.

How are you feeling about the early winter weather this year? Is it going to affect your plans?

November 13, 2014
Average Jane’s Foster Cat Update

Today is the one-week mark since we brought Sooty to our house. The first few days were worrisome because he was so incredibly emaciated and yet was not particularly interested in food. We have super fancy and healthy food on hand for our cats, but he was unimpressed in the extreme. I went and bought a different kind of canned food and he grudgingly ate a little of it, but wasted most of each can.

I contacted the shelter where he'd been kept and they said he liked the super cheap canned food. Alrighty then. I did get him some semi-premium dry food to keep in his bowl between canned food feedings, but I bowed to his junk food preferences and bought several 50-cent cans of grocery store food yesterday. Since his digestive system was clearly sluggish (aren't you proud of me for sparing you the details?), I also picked up some pumpkin-and-squash baby food to supplement his diet with a little fiber. Mixing the cheap canned food and the vegetable baby food together turned out to be just the ticket. He's eating with much more enthusiasm now.

My husband and I have been taking turns spending time with him so he isn't left alone quite so much. We both observed that he appears to have some discomfort when eating. That and the fact that his breath would knock a maggot off a gut wagon tells me that he probably needs some dental care. I looked in his mouth and saw that he is missing a considerable number of teeth, so the chances that he has rotten or infected teeth in there somewhere seem pretty high to me.

Fortunately, my veterinarian's office is reasonably priced when it comes to dental work, so I'm taking him in on Saturday, piggybacking with Toby's annual check-up, to have them take a look. I used the term "foster cat" a lot when I made the appointment in the hope that they may take pity on me and give me a discount. I'm happy to do whatever it takes to restore Sooty to good health, but I'd just as soon keep the expenses down considering that he's ultimately going to become someone else's cat.

Sooty has definitely filled out a bit since he arrived. For the first day or two, his spine felt like a row of empty spools of thread. Now he's much less noticeably bony, although he's still very, very lean. It's actually unhealthy to "fatten up" a starved cat too quickly, so we're pleased with the pace of his progress.

Once we get him to a point where a stiff breeze wouldn't knock him over, we'll see about introducing him to the other cats in our household. I know he's dreadfully lonely in the laundry room by himself, but it's hard to divide our time enough to really give him a good amount of attention. When I go down to visit him, the dog barks for me the whole time. When I come back up to hang out with Toby and our cats, I hear Sooty's meows echoing up through the floor registers.

This is why we're in no danger of ending up in true Crazy Cat People territory. As much as it's important to give animals a chance to live, it's just as important to provide happy lives for them. We're stretched a bit thin even with our own pets and can just barely accommodate one more, even temporarily.

I'm hoping we can get Sooty transformed into the healthiest version of himself and adopted into a family that will enjoy his happy, friendly personality through the rest of his days. Then everyone wins.

November 12, 2014
Average Jane on Dive Bars

As someone who performs in a classic rock band, I have spent a good amount of time in dive bars and I have to say, I kinda love them. If the idea of going to a slightly seedy neighborhood bar worries you, you’ve probably been misled by Hollywood. In reality, they're just another place in any given community where people gather, hang out, meet other people and take a break from the daily grind. And drink, of course.

I doubt there's anyone who knows that better than Scooter J. He’s an acquaintance of mine who has been on a quest since 2006 to drink in as many bars as possible. I’d almost forgotten about his bar project, but it popped up in Google search results today when I was looking up a place where my band is performing next month.

My dad has always been a dive bar connoisseur as well. Usually he has two or three regular places where he goes with his friends. Right now, one of those is in downtown Kansas City and it may be the ultimate dive I’ve ever experienced. He and his buddies are clearly regulars as evidenced by the fact that on my last visit, more than one upcoming event posted on the bulletin board by the front door referenced them by name.

It’s the kind of place that has small plaques set into the bar to indicate long-time patrons’ customary spots. Oh, and there’s a big liquor bottle on a shelf over the bar filled with some kind of sandy substance. My dad pointed to a photo of a man on the wall and said, “See that bottle? That’s him. He used to be a regular here and when he died, he was cremated and they put his ashes up there.”

The bar where my band played last weekend is developing a nice neighborhood crowd. As soon as we arrived, various regulars started coming up and chatting. One guy latched on to some friends of mine and visited our table repeatedly as we had our pre-show dinner. By the time the night was over, the band was teasing me about how many new "boyfriends" I had among the many guys who kept coming up to gush over how much they enjoyed the show.

The bar itself can be its own character. We once played a place so small that they had to tip the pool table on its side to make room for the band to set up. We were still so much in the way of the staff that they wound their way through the band members on "stage" every time they needed to get back and forth from the bar to the storeroom or kitchen. It's probably a good thing the fire marshal didn't choose that time to stop by.

A few weeks ago, we were playing at another bar with a tipped pool table as a backdrop and in the middle of a song, the large, translucent plastic lens from one of the fluorescent ceiling fixtures fell down onto the drum kit. Without missing a beat, our drummer flung it aside and kept going. We have video of that somewhere; I need to get a copy. That’s the same bar where we tripped the breakers twice during setup before we decided to forego having lights behind the band.

A lot of times the word “dive” seems unnecessarily harsh. I’m aware that some of my more well-heeled and conservative friends probably don’t get out to working class drinking establishments much, but a lot of times what they call a dive is just a bar as far as I’m concerned. It may not be fancy, but it fulfills its purpose.

Even the many biker bars my band tends to play have seemed non-threatening in every way. Honestly, I’ve seen a lot more bar fights in "fancier" bars over the years. Yes, a lot of people are drunk, but other patrons tend to step in if someone looks as though they might stumble into the band or otherwise do something disruptive.

After looking up the latest dive bar where my band is booked, I feel nothing but pleasant anticipation for another show. Apparently the owners are really nice, and I think we'll have fun. What more can you ask for?

November 11, 2014
Average Jane Visits Equality House

On a recent road trip, we stopped in Topeka to see Equality House. It was a Sunday, so no one was around, but my sister took this photo of me out front with my niece and nephew. We were attempting peace signs with varying degrees of success.

If you don't know the story of Equality House, you can read about it here. It was cool to see it in context and have the opportunity to make a donation.

November 10, 2014