Friday, September 29, 2006

Ever get that feeling of impending doom?

So. Taking the LSAT tomorrow morning. This should be interesting. I'm not really worried about how well I'll do (I, like Shallow Man, intend to emerge victorious). I just don't enjoy four-hour tests, since they usually make my hand cramp up. (Especially after holding it in that photo for so long.)

Wish me (and my hand) luck!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Argh!

Avast, me mateys, I did be wantin' to wish ye a belated happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which were Tuesday o' this week, the 19th o' September. I did be keepin' a weather eye out fer it this year so I dinna miss it like las' year. I hope all ye lubbers did be havin' a jolly time of it, and that none of ye got a taste o' the cat or were keelhauled. Unless, o' course, ye did be deservin' o' such, in which case I may be havin' to give ye the Black Spot!

Yarr, I hope ye all did enjoy yer day, engaged in pillagery and looting and drunken revelry (of the cleaner sort), and raised high the Jolly Roger. And while ye be waitin' fer next year, set yer deadlights on this website, (after ye've swabbed the deck) and have a bit o' grog. Fair winds, me hearties, an' a yo-ho-ho!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Three quick positives

In an effort to dispel the idea that all I do is complain about my boss, I need to mention the fact that while I do have many problems with him, he mostly means well. Today I was feeling sick and decided to leave work early. (Since I'd finished all my work for this week by about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, I really didn't see any point in sticking around.) I told my boss and mentioned that since I hadn't taken a lunch, it would be two and a half hours of sick time that I was using. He thought about it for a second and said, "How about I just put down two hours but you still leave right now?" I appreciated that, and it just goes to show that even though he can be really anal about dumb things, he still does care. So I wanted to let all y'all (what, five of you?) who read this blog know that I do appreciate things my boss does on occassion.

Two other positive things have happened (though not work-related) that I wanted to mention. The first is that I got to go to Enrichment twice this week -- once at my ward, and once with my mom to my home ward. That was lots of fun because I not only got to hang out with my mom, who is the coolest ever, but I also got to see all my friends from my home ward who I don't get to see very often. I also got to see my two youngest sistahs and we had fun going through Mom's old jewelry and telling her how much it would all sell for at an accessories shop. (My youngest sister likes to wear some of the necklaces to school and all her friends are jealous of her neat necklaces. My mom remains skeptical about the appeal of her "old-lady necklaces," but is glad to know that she is sitting on a goldmine if she ever chooses to declutter the old jewelry drawer.)

Third and very momentous for me, I found some good Camembert at the grocery store. This is big because it was one of my two favorite cheeses in Paris and I haven't found any here since we got back. So I bought it and ate it and it made me very happy. And on that note, I am going to go to bed and dream pleasant, Camembert-induced dreams.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Meet the newest additions to the family


No, no, no, I didn't suddenly and secretly give birth to twins.

Please give a warm welcome to Tobey and Gus! (And Shallow Man's leg and laptop, but they're not really the important part of the picture.)

Partly as a birthday thing for the Shallow Man, partly because of odd websites, and partly just because I felt like it, we decided to get a cat. So we wandered on over to the Humane Society and ended up coming home with two. (It was a two-for-one special on cats anyway.)

We actually ended up going to the shelter twice, because when we went the first time on that Friday night it closed before we had a chance to find a cat we really liked. This turned out to be lucky for us, because we had barely stepped in the door on Saturday morning before these two jumped out at us -- almost literally.
Kittens!
They hadn't been out the day before (still recovering from certain medical procedures), so we hadn't seen them. Once we saw both of them we knew we couldn't split them up, since they're from the same litter and, as you can see, simply too cute together.



Kittens!
They were nine weeks old when we got them three weeks ago and are just absolutely adorable. They're joined at the hip and very sweet with each other when they're not trying to lick, bite or pounce each other's ears off.



They are both white with black spots -- the same number of spots but differently dispersed. Tobey has a smudge on his nose, too.
Kittens!
He's the more cuddly of the two. He likes to snuggle up on my lap whenever I sit down and tends to sit by my feet meowing to be picked up and loved if I spend too much time paying attention to things other than him. He has figured out how to jump into the sink and his favorite wrestling move is the kangaroo kick.



Gus is a lot more independent but can be snuggly when he's in the mood. He loves to explore and has to be spritzed with the "discipline water" a lot more often than Tobey.
Kittens!
He, thank goodness, has not figured out how to jump up onto the counters, although he does very well at climbing up people. He thinks his tail is possessed by demons and likes to exorcise them while sitting on my shins as I'm typing on my laptop with my feet on the coffee table. This, of course, means that I can't wear knee-length skirts until he figures out clawless exorcism, because my lower legs are covered in beautiful bright red scratches that are set off very well by my pasty white skin. He is also a technocat who has figured out that he can change things on the laptop screen by pouncing on the keyboard, and manages not to do anything horribly wrong. (Tobey is not so adept; he also loves the keyboard, mostly for the warmth, but also accidentally deleted the "Finder" on Shallow Man's Mac...) Gus' favorite wrestling move is the Matrix pounce. I swear he defies gravity more than half the time. He also could probably make it in the wild since he's got a fairly good grasp on the hunter mentality.
Kittens!
Tobey, on the other hand, acts tough but would probably die in the first ten minutes because he's pining away for snuggles.



I'm really enjoying this whole pets thing. I never really had pets growing up because my mom was allergic, although we did have fish for awhile. I'm not quite sure why that ended... Shallow Man grew up with cats so he's been extremely helpful in showing me the ropes and all that. He also has kindly agreed to do all the litter box-related duties if I monitor the food and water bowls.

The best part about having the kittens, though, is that they are very therapeutic for me to come home to after a long day of listening to my boss enjoying the sound of his own voice. They're keeping my rage way down and helping me to control the Fist of Death.

Kittens!



Plus, they're just so dang cute.

Watch out, you other kittens out there, 'cause you are totally going DOWN!