A Week in Crappy Photos

How does a minute suddenly become an hour? Two? Three? An entire day? A week? Blah. I do believe my blogging hiatus has gone on long enough. I could blame it on the four opening shifts I did this week (seriously draining), or just being busier than normal, or the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol….but let’s face it, I’ve just been lazy. That and my mind has just felt empty this past week. Totally devoid of anything I felt was worth telling you fine people about.

But it’s time to get the ball rolling once again. So, for those of you curious about what else has been occupying my time while I’ve been away, here is the past week, brought to you by my iPhone.

Mother came over and with her she brought this gem. I’d still rock this outfit. Look at that style, that class, that scrunchy! This was way before I got fat.

At some point we did this to the dog and laughed. A lot. We also took a lot of pictures. She loves us. ❤

Lova and I ran 16 miles in Philly!!! It was awesome. No, seriously, there was only a small chunk of time during which I felt like death, and for me that’s a serious accomplishment. Updates to come on my other blog.

I laughed at – and took pictures of – the mattress man while sitting in afternoon traffic.

At some point I tried to take a picture of me, Charlie, and the eyelashes but he kept making funny faces.

Then the cat turned into a zombie!

Then the dog turned into a zombie too. She likes to sit on my lap whenever she pleases. Brat.

And then I bought a fancy new laptop! (And that bottle of wine in the background.) And so this is where I am now, getting updated on all my favorites, and nipping the laziness in the bud. I hope you missed me. Did you miss me?!?!?!?! ::cries::

Happy Tuesday, my loves.

❤

❤

xoxo

Living Arrangements

100% safe!

 

 

Well, it’s official. The cat is pissed. As first I thought she was scared. Maybe she is, just a little. But yeah, mostly pissed. I mean, I didn’t expect her to hug the dog as she came barreling through the back door of her new home on Wednesday, but she did react pretty damn weird. Granted I don’t know much about getting cats and dogs to live comfortably together (any animals I had growing up were taken care of by my parents, played with/tortured by me) but Jewel (cat) immediately ran upstairs and slinked across the floor, belly and shoulders low like in hunting stance…and hid in a tight spot behind some boxes we have yet to unpack. Then she was up on my desk, something she never does. No purring, no usual meowing or rubbing her head on every object she comes in contact with.

Blegh.

I was heartbroken. I felt horrible. It’d been about 20 minutes and I was already convinced they’d avoid each other forever. How would we live this way? Forcing Joe and the dog to live in the garage crossed my mind. (Kidding. Not really. Hey, our garage has a loft above it. A loft. It’s pretty epic.) So I immediately took Mr. Calahan’s advice and began treating Jewel like royalty. Of course I played with the dog, pet her, loved her (she’s the sweetest little thing…but I have yet to hear her bark or make anything other than a whimpering noise at the shelter) until she curled up on a blanket in the living room and went to sleep. But then I coaxed the cat out from under the bed and gave her the usual Queen Kitty treatment: snacks, a thorough brushing, some scratches behind the ears, a dollop (Joe’s favorite word) of her chicken flavored anti-hairball stuff. Then she started purring, and I felt a little less like a big jerk.

Jewel did sleep with me that night while Nevada (doggie) slept soundly on her little blanket…but she didn’t bother me so much for drinks from the faucet, and only once she was absolutely sure the little ball on the living room floor wasn’t making any sudden movements did she sneak into the kitchen for some food. Then she’d either hide in the basement for a while, or sneak back upstairs for some more snoozes. (We do have a little kitty hole cut out of the basement door, so she can comfortably go up and down without the door having to be open. And Nevada can’t fit through that hole. Win.)

As I was getting ready to leave for the always dreaded morning shift yesterday I was happy to see the cat in the kitchen, crunchin’ on some food. Then I left the room for a moment and when I returned she was chompin’ on the dog’s food….and before I could control myself I made some sort of disturbing flailing hand motion and told her to knock it off, instead of gently pointing her in the right direction (big jerk), so of course she darted down the basement, once again. Ugh.

So I headed down there, already running late (at 4 AM, mind you), to try and make amends, which I figured she wanted nothing to do with when I reached down to pet her and she said something like “MrrrEeooOWWWWWAaaaa!!!”, cat for “go away, you asshole!”. Sigh.

Thursday afternoon. Enter: Catnip. 

After another tiring morning shift –

Customer: (5:30 AM) Can I get a Heineken?

Me: I’m sorry, we can’t serve alcohol until 7. State law.

Customer: UuuUUuuuggHh! (He sounded much like Jewel did that morning.) ::puts head on bar::

Me: ::stone face:: Sorry.

Customer: Well, can I get an ice water?

Me: I’m sorry, but you have to buy something in order to sit in here. (We. Are. A. Restaurant.)

Customer: I’d still give you the dollar.

(Well golly gee, in that case!)

Customer: Well, can I sit there and get an ice water? ::points to a table behind him, literally 2 feet away::

Me: That’s still inside of the restaurant, sir.

Customer: Ugh. Give me a menu then. ::looks:: Let me get a milk.

– I stopped at the local Acme for some dinner ingredients (seriously, try this recipe…amazingness) – Acme is kinda expensive by the way – and decided to grab the cat a small , over-priced toy as a sort of peace offering. My choice: a little fuzzy mouse that gets stuffed to the brim with catnip. Score. 

I brought it home, filled that baby up, and watched her go absolutely nuts for a while. It was great. It worked so well that while the dog lay sleeping in a ball on that same spot, I was able to coax her downstairs with it. She’d stop every few feet, looking from her kitty drug to the dog, to the kitty drug again. Her need for a fix was much stronger than her fear of the dog so she chased that baby all the way into the kitchen! Then she ate. Then she batted it down the basement and played with it down there. Uuuuuggghhhhh.

So while they aren’t the best of friends yet, napping and plotting my demise together, they did spend a lot of time staring at each other this morning. The cat has been slowly closing the gap between herself and her not-so-little sister, sneaking up more and more basement stairs to get a better look. And I think she dog is more afraid of her than she is of the dog! Nevada’s back legs shake every time the cat stares deep into her soul. Those cat eyes are no joke. So hopefully – while Nevada is a hound – she won’t want to eat the cat. I think she’s afraid the cat might eat her, anyway.

I’m hoping to come home one day to find the cat riding the dog around like a pony. That would be awesome.

Does anyone have any advice in this area?

Regardless, our shelter rescue is healthy and happy, and I’m looking forward to many play dates and movie nights curled up in little balls together.

Big Decisions

 

The holidays are over! We survived. I suppose that’s kind of a crappy way to look at it, isn’t it? We all hold our breath those weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years, praying things go smoothly when the family is here, digging through the leftover last-minute wrapping paper at Super Walmart, scraping our last two pennies together because we couldn’t give that cousin a lousy $20 gift card, it had to be $40, because $20 is cheap and disgraceful, and you won’t see them again until that obscure family BBQ in August.

But hey, secretly we know there’s more to it than spending a bunch of money we don’t have. And while we are all breathing a sigh of relief this week, I had a wonderful holiday with some wonderful people I cherish.

And now Joe and I get to relax, and really enjoy our new home, together. No presents to buy. Nothing to rush to the store for (besides groceries and cleaning products). I gave the entire house a scrub down yesterday and plopped my ass on the couch for dinner and a movie afterward, my best friend and my kitty cat lounging beside me.

By the way, meet Jewel. She’s 9, and Joe and I inherited her from my best friend’s aunt, who really wanted her to go to a loving home since her daughter went away to school. Jewel enjoys begging like a dog, throwing up on our new area rug, and drinking out of faucets. I love her to death.

In two weeks time Joe and I will also be welcoming another addition to the family, a 2 year old Beagle/Hound mix named Nevada. She is the sweetest little doggie and I’m praying Jewel isn’t too pissed off about it. (A few more piles of puke on my area rug should suffice. She always seems to bypass the hardwood floor and aim directly for the rug. I think this is a conscious decision.)

While I don’t really believe in making New Years Resolutions, I did make a pretty huge decision for the New Year. Sort of a birthday present to myself (as this will happen just 3 weeks before my 25th), an accomplishment I will hold near and dear to me for a lifetime, one this lady has already achieved and given me some seriously crazy inspiration. (Seriously, that is a must-read. It brought tears to my eyes.)

My friends, this Monday I begin training for my first marathon.

Marathon.

Mar-uh-thon.

26.2 miles.

::gulp::

I’m terrified. I’m excited. I’m confident. I’m a mess. Can I really do this? I did finish a half.  Maybe I can do this. No, I WILL do this. Even if my body falls to pieces and I’m dragging my sorry ass across the finish line.

And so to document my adventures, I’ll be keeping a side blog, which I will link on this one. When I make it. At some point before/on Monday. I’m going to need tons of motivation for this one. Thank you in advance.

Another sort-of-sort-of-not resolution is getting back to some personal writing. Like, novel writing. I’ve slacked off many a time, but I have to pick myself back up and get back in there. I mean, moving into a brand new home one day before Thanksgiving counts as a solid distraction, amIright?

Happy Friday, everyone. Don’t forget to stop on over and enjoy the Foolishness!