estacey
but i'm trying to get it done early this year, before it becomes a critical situation. so i am trying to place an amazon order today with gifts for one of my nieces, my nephew, and at least one of my sisters.
last year, i had the idea to get my sister kelli a locket. see, i like lockets. i'm a sentimental person. plus, i think i've watched 'a fish called wanda' a few too many times.
so i spent hours and hours, both online and at the mall, trying to find the perfect locket: silver, tasteful, and within my budget. finally, i found it. it was something like $80, which is on the high end of what i spend for my sisters for xmas, but it was perfect, so i bought it. excitedly, i sent it to wisconsin. "she can put a little picture of kyle inside!" i thought.
i never heard from her on whether she liked it. i think i got the obligatory thank-you when i talked to her on the phone, but certainly.. well, i definitely think i was more excited about it than she was.
so now, here i am, trying to find a gift for that same sister, on amazon. i saw these god-awful necklaces on amazon (well, i mean that one on the left for the most part) and thought how funny it would be if i got her THAT. i'd get the same thank-you and she'd probably wear it as often as she wears the locket, plus it'd be a lot less time investment for me. also, it would be funny to think of the look on her face when she opened it.
whatcha think?
A chick who lives in Onalaska (which is more or less
Amazon page here. It’s about her "childhood in small-town
I gotta see this book.
My Life As A Dog
"I adopted George (a Great Dane/Lab/pit/greyhound/ridgeback/whatever mix — aka Brooklyn shorthair) because I thought it would be fun. As it turns out, she is a major pain an awful lot of the time.
"She mounts guests, eats my son’s toys (and occasionally tries to eat my son), is obsessed with squirrels, lunges at skateboarders and Hasids, has the savant-like ability to find her way between the camera lens and subject of every photo taken in her vicinity, backs her tush into the least interested person in the room, digs up the freshly planted, scratches the newly bought, licks the about-to-be served and occasionally relieves herself on the wrong side of the front door. Her head is resting on my foot as I type this. I love her."
Hee.
I've been thinking of doing that whole 365 days thing on Flickr. You know, 365 days of self-portraits. Last night, I had the perfect one if I just had my camera in-hand. I was sitting on the ground and Buddy was sitting on my lap while Sebastian and Gretchen used the rest of me as a boxing ring. It always happens that way: I go outside, happily go pet the dogs one-by-one, settle into a chair so someone can come get some lap-time, and within about 45 seconds, they start fighting, possibly over me but more probably just, well, because. So there I was, sitting Indian-style on the ground, with one little dog on me and the two others crawling all over me, trying to bite one another. I caught my reflection in the sliding glass door and had to laugh. Those retarded (and when I say retarded, I mean that in the warmest, fondest way possible) dogs. :) ¶ 11:08 AM 0 comments
Light's on, everyone's home, originally uploaded by gms.
So doesn’t it suck when your life moves too far away from your home?
Huh?
Let me explain. Back in the good old days, I lived five blocks from work, in Hollywood. I could go the whole workweek without ever driving my car; it was great! Then all the feline drama happened at my old apartment and I decided to skip living next to the asshole who threatened to kill my cat and on the property of the landlord that 1) went in my apartment when I wasn’t there; 2) told me he was going to catch the outdoor strays and take them to the shelter, and when they were put down it would be my fault; and 3) took my Kitten and wouldn’t give her back until a letter from my nice lawyer friend, Chuck. So yeah, I moved to Plantation. Then my office moved to Hallandale anyway, so the dream commute would’ve ended either way.
Now I work in E. Ft. Lauderdale.
That also happens to be where my Chris lives.
Needless to say, I end up spending a lot of time over here.
But since my stuff (well, the stuff that isn’t in my car or at Chris’s anyway) and my cats are in Plantation, I still go there all the time. Yet I only stay there, oh, 2-3 nights a week.
So now, obviously, I am kinda wishing that home base were a bit closer to the other things in my life. A trip home to check on the cats and grab a different pair of shoes or something takes at hour, at minimum. It's usually more like two on the weekends, if I stay for a little while. I stupidly did the calculations today and, if I lived in this area of town as opposed to the other, I’d save, oh, seven hours a week of driving time. Not to mention feel a little less like I am neglecting my kitties by hardly ever being around.
Small problem: South Florida is expensive. I can’t just go out and rent an apartment by myself. There’s always the roommate route, but.. well, you get to a point in your life where you want your home to be your home. And I've reached it. Besides my short stint living alone in Hollywood, I have spent most of my time in Florida in O.P.P. (other people’s pads) and, well, having to try to feel at home in a place that really isn’t has gotten a bit old. I’d like to feel that I don’t need to cram everything I own in this world into one tiny bedroom. I’d like to feel that it’s my place, too. I’d like to be able to use whatever goddamn sponge I want to wash off the countertop.
Of course, just because you want something doesn’t mean you’ll get it.
There are some little houses in this area with yards on Craigslist that are in the $1,500/month range. Yeah, way out of my price range. Even out of my comfortable price range if I split it with a roommate, for now. But it’s a little daydream, in any case. Maybe if I found a place a bit cheaper, and found a good roommate to go in on it with.. Maybe if works starts to pay me a little more for my troubles.. There are also move-in-with roommate situations, and I suppose that living in someone else’s house close-by would be better than living in someone else’s house not-close-by, but you have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice when you find one of those, not to mention have F, L & D sitting in your bank account.
In the meantime, really, it’s not that bad; I’ve been in worse situations, commuting and otherwise. It is just a bit frustrating. And there is nothing worse than knowing a solution to your problems, just not being able to do a thing about it. Goddamn reality.
I wish I maybe would’ve gone a different route when I was younger; a more decent salary now would make many of my current headaches go away. I'm really beyond tired of worrying about all that shit.
When it comes down to it, I am choosing to do what I do. I choose to make this drive every day. I choose to get back in my car once I’ve struggled through rush-hour traffic to drop by my place so I can get back over to Chris’s, so how can I complain? I could always stay home, but.. well, simply put: I don't wanna. So I guess an extra hour in the car is worth love, of the Chris and puppy varieties. I guess I will figure out a happy solution someday and try to not dwell on it in the meantime, because doing so now is making me feel stuck and it's making me grumpy.
By the way, in case you were wondering, yes I am having hormonal fluctuations at present. I hope to resume to a non-grumpy Stacey shortly. :)
PICT4883, originally uploaded by Laura Olson Photography.
I was looking at pictures of Viroqua on Flickr. Did you realize my hometown has turned into a little haven for hippies? How.. um.. an H-word is failing me here.
Anyway, here's my old church in the Viroqua, Wi. pool.
This is where my parents were married. Where my sisters and I were baptized. Where my Grandma & Grandpa T. are buried, along with their died-too-young Harold. Where me & Dawny had our confirmation. Where my sister Kelli got married. Where her son, Kyle, was baptized. Where my daddy is buried (the weather was horrible, and we all stood outside shivering in the snow when we buried the little container for his ashes, and actually had a giggle about how god-awful the weather was). Am I forgetting anything? Wow, right? It's a cute little church, too.
Anyway, hey. My church. On Flickr.
You heard about that recent study with monkeys and calorie restriction? This relates to that whole thing. The article was amusing.
Eventually, Smith tells us nonchalantly, this CR dieter "hits amenorrhea due to low body fat or whatever, and she doesn't mind because she doesn't want kids anyway so not being able to get pregnant at this particular moment is actually a plus." (Or she could use birth control and eat. But you know, amenorrhea. Whatever.) ¶ 12:12 PM 0 comments
they even enjoy the ride there!
buddy is so endearingly small.
saw this dog for the second day in a row! i think his name is frank. yesterday we saw him on a beach back street as we were jogging with sebastian. he's really cute! buddy tried to pick a fight with him. i wouldn't tell buddy this, but my money would be on frank.
it takes an amazing amount of concentration for gretchey to not just attack chris's hand for the treat. you have to appreciate it.
i love buddy.
esp. when he makes faces like this.
it was a very pretty day.
very pretty.
i love the mangrove seedlings.
one thing - does it occur STRANGE to anyone else that there was a, um, drain in this water? we stood there for a few minutes, trying to figure it out. we didn't.
it started to rain, so we ducked under some trees and i was able to snap this picture. which i like.
so yeah, gorgeous day. and a good ending to this four-day weekend, which has gone by way too quickly. ¶ 8:50 PM 0 comments
yesterday, chris & i took sebastian for a jog. as i am not up to his regular 8-mile jogs, i turned back halfway in. since sebastian also cannot do 8 miles, he turned back with me. it was the sweetest, saddest thing; sebastian stopped running and started whining when we turned around. chris hid behind a post and i picked sebastian up so he would come with me. a half block later, i put him down and went to fix his leash and he started whining again. amazing how loyal and loving dogs are.
we came back by way of the beach, which was really awesome but really tiring. sebastian loved the sand, though. two big dogs were running on the beach, unleashed, and tried to give my baby a hard time. i was not impressed and ended up smacking one of the dogs and plucking sebastian up from in between the two so they would stop harassing him. poor guy.
last night, chris had a friend visiting from out of town. jim lives in the phillipines but his dad lives nearby so gets to south florida every year or so. we took the boat out to charley's crab to meet up with dean & gang, had some drinks, ate some shrimp, came back here, went out to our place, then came back here to start a fire. that was nice.
we shared our drinks with the dogs, and this is the result. three dogs, passed out by the fire. it was adorable.
i really could not think of a better subject line.
so what have i been up to?
wednesday i worked at one of the stores, which was kinda fun. it's certainly nice to get out of the office, and the vibe at the store is always pretty good. i worked up a sweat helping out in the bakery and, the rest of the time, wandered around and tried to look useful. you gotta give those people a lot of credit. we people with office jobs have a pretty cushy day, even if it's just a moment to breathe here and there. an email from your sister. a few minutes to make a cup of coffee. you don't really get that luxury working at lots of places, though.
thursday i went to do the cat thing at petsmart in the morning, then chris & i went to patty's for thanksgiving dinner. unfortunately, due to the fact that i am horribly allergic to animals yet spent my day 1) cleaning cat cages and hugging the cats inside, 2) giving the smelly puggles baths, and 3) tending to the bunny rabbit - well, i wasn't feeling so hot. it was like having thanksgiving in wisconsin! so i squinted my way through dinner, then we came home. we had another thing to go to, which i told chris he was welcome to do without me, but he chose to stay in instead. we're old, ya know. 8 o'clock seems very late when you're old. so instead of drinking our way through another dinner, i took a looooong shower. he made me tea. we ate pecan pie. i fell asleep watching happy gilmore.
yesterday, hmm.. well, i bought some mangos. went to the bookstore. chris had an emergency to tend to at work for a little while, but couldn't drive 'cause of an eye exam, so i drove him there. went home to love on my kitties. we ate mexican food. after dark, we went on a long boat ride. he let me drive, which was fun. then we started a fire.
today the weather is nice. 78 degrees! warmest it's been in a while. i think we're taking the dogs to the park later.
the picture here is outside of chris's bedroom window. see, he has these wall things.. walking around out there one day, i realized that, save for two small gaps, the whole front of the yard was enclosed, thanks to the walls. i think the walls are there for privacy - you can still see outside, but the walls block the view inside from the street. i mentioned it'd be a great place for george the bunny to run around, so last weekend he enclosed the gaps. i brought the torts over last tuesday and they escaped the cold weather outside in a cardboard box in chris's guest shower. now that it's warmer out, i put them out there with george. it has to be, oh, ten times bigger than the enclosure they have at my house, so they're probably enjoying themselves. and it has lots of hiding spots. lots of bushes to tuck under. lots of places to feel safe. it's great.
the best part is, now the front room and bedroom windows look out into the enclosure, so you can see the bunny hopping or bjorn stomping around when you look outside. :)
that's my update. very ex-citing, i know.
For those of you who have to come to my blog instead of reading it on Bloglines as you’re used to (since Bloglines ain’t workin’ right), go check out NewsGator.com. It’s basically the same kind of service.
Some tips -> go to “Add URL” to add a blogspot URL as it will not find it if you just do a “search” for a blog.
To get the posts to stop showing as bold (new), you have to click “Mark All Posts as Read” on the top of each blog. Then it’ll only show up next time you go on NewsGator when there’s a new entry.
Enjoy!
Aww. My poor girl. We stopped by there Sunday. I held her for a few minutes, feeling her purr and telling her I missed her. Man, I hope she finds a new home soon. I'm bringing a nicer About-Me sign with me on Thursday morning. Hopefully marketing will come to our rescue.
¶ 5:16 PM 0 comments
It's so cold here! Like, 59!
I'm in bed right now, wearing a shirt, sweatshirt, pants, socks, two sheets, and two blankets. I hate being cold. How the hell do you people up north do this?
Balu is dogsitting this nice big dog named Bosco. Of course, this means the cats are again avoiding the house, less than a week after they were lucky enough to be rid of Oreo. So tonight I had to walk each of them back to my bedroom, where I am keeping their food and a litterbox. So both of the cats are in bed with me, something that hasn't happened in a good three months. I also brought the tortoises in - they've spent the past few nights in the bathtub - and they're in bed with me, too. Under the covers.
I really wanted to go to Chris's tonight. I talked to him on the phone and, when I lamented that I didn't know if I had a comforter clean (I still don't think I do, but I found an extra blanket), he said I was welcome to come over. And I really want to; I like being with my boy, especially on a chilly evening. But I think, with the dog here, and with Oreo just having left.. well, I think the kitties would appreciate a nice night in with their big, human space heater. So I shall suffer at home for them.
In Floridians-are-crazy news today, they had the air conditioning on at work today. It was in the freaking 60s outside. Agggggh. And they tell me to not run my space heater. Oh, yeah, okay, I'll get right on that. (Ha!)
Isn't he adorable? He likes riding in the car. I was disappointed I didn't get any pictures of his ears flapping in the wind, but it's hard to drive and snap pictures at the same time, if you keep Getting in an Accident off of your to-do list.
¶ 11:54 AM 0 comments
In Dillard's, I heard a "Hey, Viroqua!" I looked over and there is Pat Wanzeck, this kid I used to sit by in um.. Geometry! He was a couple of years younger, but I sucked at math and he must've been good at it, so we wound up in the same class. Anyhow, despite our age difference, we had so much fun that the teacher threatened to separate us numerous times. That happened with another kid years younger than me in Astronomy at BCC two or so years ago. It goes to show how mature I am, you see.
I had my camera, so got this picture. I forgot to give him my Flickr card, though, dammit! I had to give him a hard time about being in the dress department of Dillard's, carrying a purse no less. He claims he was waiting for his "wife" and the purse was "hers" but that's what they all say, right? :D
Yesterday I got my hair done - so it would not look the same as it ALWAYS DOES - and it cost me $40. Plus tip. And it fell flat within a half-hour. The guy who did it was really disappointed that I had just washed my hair and warned me that it would be a "challenge" but I was still bummed. Moreso that I didn't get a picture at the salon. It looked alright once I combed it out, though.
As a bonus, the dude who did my hair at the little upscale hair place (I usually go to Supercuts, so going somewhere where they offer you wine is a bit of a change) asked for my name and number so that he could maybe use me as a model during his next hairstyling photo shoot. And he was flaming so I know he was being honest, not just trying to get my number. :)
Fast forward to the cab ride.
Chris was filled with anticipation.
Nothing a little Jack Daniels couldn't help.
It even allowed him to fake a smile!
This was our seating assignment card. We had a laugh over this one. Chris's was of the "uncomfortable" variety.
The food was yummy, and they even had a vegetarian option for me. And they kept bringing me things to drink.
I had five drinks going when I took this.
This is a good picture, I think.
There was a dude wearing a kilt. Of course I had to get a picture with him. I also bugged Chris a lot as to why he didn't wear one. Maybe next time.
Me and my baby. Please note his awesome smile.
Also, the tie is not to be missed.
When we got home, we bundled up and took the boat out to see the meteor showers. I think Chris saw one. I don't think I saw any. It was *59* degrees out.
I wore all this and I was still cold.
So anyway, that was my night. Not at all painful, actually. I even chatted up the wives of the guys at the table and they turned out to be quite nice. And dressing up is fun, even if it makes me envy the "shower, put on your rented tux" routine the guys have. :) ¶ 11:37 AM 2 comments
And had to laugh: "So it COULD be worse."
Please note that the entire left side of this white car has turned black from the exhaust.
I wonder if it's time for Florida to start requiring emissions testing...
So this explains why I leave my keys in stores (twice in one shopping trip, honestly), leave my $300 cash sticking out of the ATM, throw my wallet out with the trash, etc. It turns out that I’m just a genius!
I thought about that today when I somehow managed to kick open a shaving cut from earlier today, which was actually a shaving cut from a few days ago that I managed to re-open in the shower this morning. Yeah, my high heel from my other foot smacked into it. It started bleeding so I went to the first aid kit to see if we had anything to help. The first aid kit is in this big cabinet-type thing.
It’s sitting on a table, though, and not on the wall, so it’s hard to open. I opened it a smidge, then leaned over to look inside. And hit myself, fairly hard, on the latch for its door. Luckily, I just missed my eye and instead hit right under.
Nearly de-eying myself on a first aid kit. Definitely, definitely the work of a genius. ¶ 4:30 PM 0 comments
But they are again two HAPPY cats, so that's good.
Oreo got spayed yesterday, went to PetsMart after hours last night to recover and today will be up for adoption! She is going to HATE it in the cage, but it needs to be done. I just hope she finds a loving home right away.
I need to make up an information sheet about her this weekend and bring it in.
The volunteering is so rewarding. Two of the really sweet cats are going to a new home, pending adoption approval; that news made me so happpy last night! Dawny and the cat in the cube whose name I don't know. They are both adult cats, both well past full-grown.. I was worrying about their chances for a new home. I have to stop worrying so much; it seems most of these cats get new homes! This is proof.
They were the ones that, last week, I was inspired to make up little About Me signs because they were both so darn sweet but both too shy to request attention from people coming by. I doubt my bit of marketing actually helped get them homes, but it just is cool that the two of the four I was concerned so much about last week ended up being the ones that got the good news this week. :)
I also had to set out a live trap last night for the cat that got out of its cage and has been LIVING IN THE PETSMART for the past month. They leave out food, water, and a litterbox. It actually uses the litterbox! It likes to hang out behind the aquariums. I kinda hope we don't catch it; I think he's enjoying himself. :)
How sad. She was my height and weighed 88 lbs at her death.
She was a beautiful model and still thought she was too fat. What a messed-up disorder. ¶ 10:06 AM 0 comments
10:30 and i just walked in the door.
what i have accomplished since work:
- two previous blog posts
- happy hour with the pictured ladies. 1.5 beers
- food run at whole foods
- pick-up of oreo from home, where i tried to let kitten see that oreo was leaving by holding oreo's carrier up to kitten's face. oreo hissed and batted at the carrier door. kitten jumped back and ran away. typical.
- drop-off of oreo at animal aid, accompanied by massive amounts of guilt and affection; i'll see her tomorrow, and then bring her to petsmart during my volunteering shift to put her up for adoption. the animal aid people are so good to me
- much love to a little adoptable dog named taco at the shelter. i smelled like dog afterwards, but it was worth it
- wal*mart to buy stray cats' food and cheap toys for the petsmart cats, where i was literally one of three white folks in the whole store
- amusement in the hair products aisle at a sign that read: PLEASE DO NOT OPEN HAIR! yes!
- feeding of strays, with a stern warning to the mamacat there that she had better not THINK of getting knocked up again - she's getting fixed hopefully next week
- this blog post. for which i am sure you are grateful. ;)
time for a little shower & a lot of bed!
i don't often ask my readers to speak up - but can you on this one? please?
i've been invited to go to a black tie charity event on the arm of my lovely chris this saturday. i can figure out the clothes, but what to do with my hair? i have super long hair. i can't do much with it.
i tried to put up the sides last year for this holiday party. it kept coming out of the barrette, so this is the only picture i have of me with my hair back.
what to do? help!
i'm getting pictures this time. last time i got purdied up, somehow the whole night went by without me documenting it.
raw foods. you heard about 'em?
i read about it a long time ago. there's this whole movement of eating raw foods rather than the cooked ones we're used to. it would seem that there is a belief that once food is cooked over 117 degrees or so, the nutritional value and necessary enzymes are killed.
so anyway, the more i read about it and the more i thought about it, the more it made sense. and even if the 117-degree thing is off.... eating raw foods has to be a healthy way to do it. after all, what are they? vegetables, fruit, and nuts. some raw foodists incorporate raw seafood and dairy products as well. (some people may do raw meat, too, but i don't really want to think about them.)
i figure if i do a meal or two a day, i'll be happy. the bonus is that, the way i eat raw, it basically ends up being vegan too, which is something i had been intending to do, at least part-time, for years. the only animal product i had yesterday was a bit of organic raw cheese on my (sprouted bread) sandwich (the bread tastes just like bread normally does, it's just better for you! and more expensive!). same thing today. oh, and some half-and-half in my morning cafe.
i definitely don't plan on becoming 100% raw, but i think 1-2 meals a day is an attainable goal. it seems like such a healthy thing to do.
glaser farms organics makes it easy - they're here in south florida and make sunburgers, raw fruit pies, and little snacks that are sold in refrigerated cases in whole foods markets. you'd swear the fruit pies were sugary or SOMETHING, but they're 100% fruit with crushed almonds & dates for a crust.
so anyway, this was my afternoon snack: starfruit. was walking back to my desk and thought, "wow, this is like a piece of artwork!" it looked even better before i gave away a couple of chunks. i was compelled to take a picture.
in health news, i've also cut out my daily diet mountain dew. soda isn't good for you, even the diet stuff. and it doesn't taste good. so why the hell was i drinking it? well, now i don't. today i had a green tea instead. it ain't as tasty as a nice sugary coffee drink, for sure, but it satisfies that afternoon urge of taking a break to get something to drink. and it's good for you to boot!
for more info on raw: http://www.living-foods.com
oreo with the gift she brought me, originally uploaded by estacey.
look what oreo brought me last night, just as i was falling asleep (at around 1 a.m.)!
it was dark, so i just felt her jump up in bed. "hey, sweetie!" i said. then i felt something, um, rubbery. that would've been the tail, i assume. i jumped up. turned the light on.
there's oreo, with a dead rat/mouse/whatever. she was so happy and rolling around on the bed, much the way cats do when you give them catnip. pawing at the poor, dead rodent.
it was pretty, well, unpleasant. but really, she was trying to bring me one of her favorite things - a dead critter! you gotta be touched just a little by that.
in unrelated news, i gotta see if the animal aid people will put her up for adoption at the petsmart. i feel really bad, like i'm abandoning her, but the roomie don't like her and she's still scaring my cats. poor elliot is reverting and has become so skittish again; i can't do that to him. she'll be an excellent pet for someone - so loving, such a lap cat. i just hope she finds one soon.
the dogs appreciated it, too. :)
see the laser pointer on the little table there? the dogs ate it that night. yay, dogs are smart!
sly and his bf were visiting from baltimore, so chris took them, patty & i out in the ocean on the dirty b. we were going to dive - the ocean had been glass in the morning - but the water wasn't quite as flat by the time we got out there. i jumped in to scout the situation and the viz was crap. also, we would've had to use too much precious gasoline to find reef. so - next time!
yesterday we three went out to eat and i saw my old boss, diane, and her husband. that's the second former boss i've seen in a week! and it's not like i have all that many! very strange; i think i have to stop hanging out in e. fort lauderdale so much. it totally threw me off, though. i saw this woman every weekday for years, and then not at all for a couple.. so strange to see her walking up the sidewalk.
then last night after dinner, chris & i went on a little puttering-about on the boat. the intracoastal at night is just so pretty, with the calm water and all the lights reflecting off the surface.. so nice.
not much else - it was a quiet weekend. put george the honey bunny in his outdoor run for the first time - he stayed out all weekend. took gretchey on a spaz-about (i'd call it a jog but that's not quite right) yesterday. she may be a spaz, but she's a good personal trainer; i'll give her that. she got me running a lot faster than i normally do. we also went to the ocean, breaking some sort of city ordinance, and gretchey got to swim a little bit. it was cute. :)
so, yep, pretty nice weekend.
Annie, originally uploaded by Nicola Whitaker.
i woke up a little early and did a little workout by the pool. that part was good.
but while in the shower, i started worrying about school coming up - i think i'm sticking at BCC until I get my AA, or I have to take the ACT or the SAT. omg. but BCC still costs money, and this year will the first in a while i have no bonus.. and i'm making less.. and christmas is coming up. it all adds up to a dreadful worrisome mess. and classes means less free time, which sucks too. during the week, i already feel like i have just enough me time and not enough chris time as it is. not to mention my poor, neglected cats!
then my car hesitated on starting. and shook when it did. luckily, by the time i got out of the driveway, it was driving fine. but, yeah, that's what i need to be threatened with: car problems!
now, let me get this out of the way - i know that, in the grand scheme of things, i am very lucky that my worried mind only has things like xmas gifts and tuition to concentrate on. i do know this! but knowing that somehow does not make it feel any better.
so, anyway, i have like 15 minutes to get to work, which is fine. i tried to go down the alley for the first time to avoid the light at commercial & A1A because IT SUCKS, following instructions from chris that it turns out i somehow mangled. there was traffic heading south, but a nice dude in a sports car made a motion when it was safe to go. i went in, turned right, turned left at the stop sign.. and then police lights. it's been a while since i've had those!
so this big asshole cop takes my license & registration and disappeared back into his car. he had said that i had been holding up traffic by trying to make an illegal turn (mind you, there were no cars behind me since there was a garbage truck on A1A and everyone was stuck behind him). i sat there for a while, wondering what on earth i was getting a ticket for and how fucking expensive it was going to be... how was a turn into an alley an illegal turn? i was getting restless, and by now i was late for work, so got out of the car. he got out of his and started yelling at me. "DID I TELL YOU YOU COULD GET OUT OF YOUR CAR?" i was not expecting that at all. i was like, "am i not allowed to get out of my car?" "NO YOU ARE NOT, UNLESS I TELL YOU TO! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ABOUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO THAT DEPUTY?" on and on.. like, do i look like a threat? that's what he acted like, as if i was coming towards him to break his neck. and he was a big, fat cop! (is there any other kind?) i went back in my car and, bam, started to bawl. i don't handle getting yelled at well, especially when i'm already upset.
so, yeah, i got a ticket for crossing a double-yellow line. i didn't even realize turning over that lane of traffic would be illegal... $120 fine. yay.
i was late for work by about 10 minutes, and who did i walk in behind? the president of the florida region. red-faced, still obviously crying and 10 minutes late. wonderful.
when i sat down, my lovely ninja-hippie kathy asked what was wrong. i started crying all over again. "man problems?" she asked. i had to pause and smile at that: no, not man problems. at least that's not the case, right? i would be much more sad if i were having chris problems rather than cop problems. but he's excellent, so no chris problems.
anyway, i feel mostly better now. i have to keep it in mind that things tend to work out, so it's not such a good thing to worry about them. yee-ha!
I wonder why they chose to do that.. maybe it would encourage Maryland folks to adopt calicos?
I should find out if it worked; if it does, I’ll have to petition Florida to make the Really Plain Mildly-Overweight Tabby Cat the official state cat. I think that would help all the rescue workers quite a bit. :D
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/01glance/symbols/html/cat.html ¶ 5:12 PM 0 comments
just got home from my cat shift. i am going to clean the kitchen floor and go to bed. i'm tired. so i should go do that now. but, since i'm tired, i am procrastinating. by wasting time online. i'm smart, right?
i like my kitty shift. tonight one cat went home, so that was good.
one kitty is super, super scared. she sits on the floor of her cage and scoots her head under her bed, so she's hiding. if you pet her, she likes it, but she's just so scared until you do.
so tonight, i took this tent thing i bought for them at wal-mart.. more like a pop-up cube thing.. and put a comfy smooshy pad at the bottom of it and put THAT in her cage. i left one of the open sides facing the cage door so people could see her. she hopped in that and seems to like it; she probably feels a lot more secure covered up on all sides, even if she has a couple of open windows.
so yeah, i like going in and doing this. i let some cats out to play and throw toys everywhere for them to bat around. the other cats, i try to make life in a cage for them as good as it can be. an extra rug to lay on for the old persian kitty. a fresh towel to hide under for the scaredy cat. a fresh mousey for baxter, who loves toys. a belly rub for good old dawny (pictured). hugs & chin scratches for everyone.
:)
anyway, i guess i should go clean the floor now.
Got me a good night of sleep last night – fell asleep halfway through the first Law & Order!
At around 4 a.m., Oreo hopped out of bed and excitedly ran underneath. Then I heard a squeak.
So, yeah, apparently there was a little rat in my bedroom. City folk, don’t worry – I mean the cute kind. The kind that makes its home outside rather than in the walls of a tenement.
not my pic, but gives you the idea.
I had to hold Oreo back to keep her from pouncing it. She obliged but you could tell she was about to LOSE HER MIND. I tried tossing her out my bedroom door to attend to the rat, but she sprung back in before I could even close the door. Into the guest bedroom she went, then I had to figure out how to get it out of my bedroom. It seemed impossible. After all, I had a queen-size bed’s worth of space for it to hide where I couldn’t reach it.
But I caught it! I think it helped that it took a while.. after 15 minutes of trying to coax it into a (very shallow) box (as it was all I could find) and having it hop back out, all at arm’s length, I think it figured out I was somewhat less of a threat than Oreo. The box seemed to become less and less of a bad idea. So finally, as it sat on the edge of the box, I tossed a shirt over it and grabbed its little body through the shirt. Set it in the box. Closed the flaps. Released it into the bushes outside.
I was pretty proud of myself, though. I may not be a crocodile hunter, but catching a live rat without harming it or myself felt like an accomplishment! :)
you know what that means! law & order night!
what's sad is that the cat folks asked if i'd want to do tuesday nights too. i said that i thought it would probably be too much to do two nights a week, which really is 90% of the reason i said no. but that other 10% was definitely concerned about my law & order viewership.
i got a journal tonight. that's always one of those things i mean to do. and i've tried it in the past.. but, well, it seems that one chooses dramatic times in their life to begin a journal. reading over trivialities and woe-is-me entries from times of perceived crisis gives me a tummy ache, so i've tended to scratch any journal i've started.
for a while, i was writing little 1-3 line day summaries in my daily calendar. i did that for a long time, actually. that was kind of a nice idea. you know, the kind of thing that was interesting to flip through a year later. and a bit eye-opening as well. i was pretty shocked when i pulled out my 2004 calendar and counted no less than 10 "WORST DAY EVER"s.
but anyway, i really do enjoy REMEMBERING things, and it seems that CRS (Can't Remember Shit, a Squid-ism) has afflicted me early in life. at this point, it only affects me when it comes time to find my keys or remember why i got up from my desk at work; the good, bad, and important things lodge themselves pretty well in my brain. but in any case, i was thinking it'd be nice to remember lots of little daily joys that will no doubt fade from my memory in a few years..
the blog is great. great for remembering when things happened. great for summing up my weekends for a later chuckle. how many people can tell you what they were doing on the 3rd weekend in july of 2005? i can! [click, click, click.] i was marveling at newborn kittens! :) and i went to a bachelorette party!
but, yeah, public forum and all, i keep this pretty general. so, a journal it is. i hope life has settled into something that is comfortable enough that everything i write in there now won't give me a tummy ache if i read it in a year. instead, i hope it just makes me smile, much like looking over my blog does.
in other news, britney filed for divorce from kevin! yay!
and hey, at least i know i'm not the only one he does the paparazzi hand to. :)
i'm such a nerd; these few off-kilter, talk-to-the-hand pictures really made me happy. ¶ 7:13 PM 0 comments
look at how much my mini loves her adopted sister! i wish all the folks that i gave kittens to would send me updates like this - i love 'em!
¶ 4:45 PM 0 comments
