Peter Pan

Last night, I walked into Cara's room to find her laying on the floor struggling and QE hovering over her. Cara got her jaw stuck under her collar and her mouth was wide open. She decided she hates wearing a collar and tried to take it off on her own. What is with this girl???? She has pretty white (and pointy!) teeth. QE said she was dumber than a box of rocks. Not nice, Dad!

Cara is definitely a perfect blend of Angel and Davis. She has made me appreicate Angel so much more for being a good little girl. Cara is sweet and will rub against us to apologize for her misdeeds (just like Davis). Cara may be 1, but she still acts like a kitten. It's amazing how this tiny little thing can be so destructive and yet so loving. And way too smart for her own good.

Change is Good

Cara loves the computer. Especially laying on the keyboard and hunting the cursor/pointer. She is settling in nicely and has met Angel and Davis through the door. Angel hissed and Cara promptly responded with a growl. So things are going well. Haha! She has bonded closely with QE, which is nice. Cara is a handful. She confirms that I cannot handle a human child. Her destructive behaviors including chewing on magazines and eating the paper; finding the sample packs of food in her goody bag and rippping it open to enjoy her spoils; splashing her water bowl so that there is more water on the floor than in her bowl.

Have to go...Cara is stalking the computer.

Cara

Meet Cara! As QE puts it, she has a hairy eyeball. :) While Cara is cute in her own way, she doesn't exactly have that "I'm a friendly cat" look. I think the white streak down her face is war-paint. Maybe it will ward off naughty grey boys who love to chase others. Based on her history report, it appears Cara just turned 1, on February 6. Is it a coincidence that she was surrendered to a shelter on February 7 when she was no longer a kitten? Hm.

Cara loves to snuggle with humans and other cats. In true Meezer form, she is picky about her meals and refuses to eat canned food. She will fit right in then!

It's a GIRL!!! and other news

It's official...we adopted a litle girl from Siamese Rescue. Our girl is 1 year old and was turned into a high-kill TN shelter. We haven't figured out when she will be available to bring home, but it will be in the next few weeks. She seems like a real sweetie, so hopefully the integration with the resident divas will go smoothly.

It is snowing again. WTF, right??? My footprints from getting the newspaper is already covered. We ventured out to get some groceries and got stuck several times on our own street. That's what we get for living on a hill, I suppose. Oh, and I also got stuck in our driveway. That's what we get for having sporty cars with z-rated tires!

Discovered a yummy 2004 Chardonnay from R.H. Phillips. I'm not big on Chardonnays because that's what those dumb white blonde chicks dig, but this one was quite good. And the first Chardonnay I bought in at least 2 years. Must try other wines from the winery...

On the job front, I've gotten quite a few hits, calls, and interviews. My salary is too high for most of the positions, but it's still nice to get called about opportunities.

I knitted my first cable, part of a toy mouse pattern. Cables are easy, fun, and so cool, because it looks hard and impressive.

Love Stinks

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

It is cold, icy, snowy and all around yucky outside. What's got me amused is that robins are a-plenty outside. Every time I look out the window, I see these beautiful "first signs of spring" perched on a tree or flying about. They must not mind the cold too much.

The kids are napping right now...Davis is laying on the dining room table and Angel is on the sofa, making sure to sleep on as many pillows and blankets as possible. What a blanket hog!!! Hopefully they realize how lucky and blessed they are to have a warm home. All the poor homeless animals outside or in a shelter must feel sad, lonely and cold right now. Hopefully they can feel the love and prayers we send...sigh.... Over a million dogs and cats get killed every year because of irresponsible humans who abuse animals or can't be bothered to spay/neuter their pets.

Imagine what a difference we could make if all the schmucks out there forgo the cheesy Valentine's flowers/dinner and donate that money to a worthy charity.

Let Love In

The forever-awesome Goo Goo Dolls performed at 9:30 club and sold out both nights this week. They have a new DVD/CD combo coming out and was on QVC to promote it. There was some special QVC-only bonus and I sold my soul. I made my first--and last--purchase from QVC. It was a one-hour segment that included an interview with the band, clips from the DVD, and live footage from their performance at 9:30. I am not an obsessed fan by any definition (if I was, I would have been at their concert!), but watching them perform reminds me why I love them. They have great songs and are kickass awesome in concert.

Projects

Here are some of my recently completed knitting projects. The bags are my own pattern. The green bag was knitted with Lion Brand wool. The blue/pink one used scrap yarn from Morehouse Farm. The bear was from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

My Ballerina

Words can't even begin to describe how much I adore and appreciate my little ballerina. Everyone is in disbelief that Angel not only tolerates such nonsense, but she doesn't look bothered by her outfit.

What I Learned

I am not angry, irritated or frustrated at work. I am disillusioned. Trust no one.

My emails are very prone to be forwarded to clients, senior management, and others. I must be careful in what I say.

QE and the cats are the most important beings in my life. Must remember to focus on my loved ones.

Angel and I have a symbiotic relationship. She wants my pillow, I want her heat.

I am old and fat.

Structured Chaos

Lots going on...finished a few felted bags...a felted hat for QE...bought some yarn...coveting needles...bought a work/knitting bag (Namaste messenger bag in chocolate) that I LOVE. My brother is going to be back for a weekend in February. I am starting to work out again and eat more carefully. Note I didn't say diet since I still eat yummies like chocolate. But I am trying to behave. I also posted my resume on several sites. Not quite fed up enough to aggressively job hunt, but my passive search makes me feel better. I even bought a suit that I will wear to work every so often. Angel's six-year anniversary with us is coming up.

Human vs Animal

One could argue we humans are a bunch of animals, but I digress. :)

Why animals are better than humans: because animals don't lie to your face. Sure, some can be sneaky and deceitful, but it's more for survival than ill will.

Blubber

Four weddings in 2007. I can be a whale for one wedding, but not four, especially with one being in a warm and sunny destination. WTF don't people take me into consideration when planning their weddings?! Geesh!!!! :) But Mr. Oreo, I love you so much...you too dark chocolate...and yes guacamole, I love you the most! WAAAAH!

Give a Little Bit

Happy New Year!

I found this wish list for the National Zoo. Thought it was pretty cool how our undomesticated friends need toys too. My favorites: Bubble blower for otters/bears; hot-air popcorn popper for the apes/primates; full-length mirrors; Little Tikes Townhouse(!) for otters/primates; Little Tikes Double Decker Super Slide for otters.

Those last two are definitely my favorite!

BUSTED

We've been pooh-poohing over Angel because she's sick. Poor Angel! QE and I were doing our own thing in the family room last night when we heard fwump--Angel jumped onto the kitchen counters. SHE IS SO BUSTED!!!! We tell her to get down, and what does she do? She proceeds to walk across the entire island, in front of the cooktop, and jumps down at the other end. Ok, we don't want our kitties on the counters because we still like to entertain and feed our guests, and ensure that the food we serve was prepared in a sanitary environment. Seeing pawprints on our shows-everything granite doesn't quite provide the reassurance to guests, oui? But still, I am proud and relieved that Angel is capable of jumping on counters because it means she's not old yet. She just plays helpless and lets us blame Davis for all the paw prints. Such a smart girl.

Her vet visit yesterday set us back over $200 including her prescription kibble. She was still straining this morning so she's now on prednisone too. Angel's relapse has made me realize that our health really is the most important gift. Without our health, who cares about a trip to Vegas, meeting John Rzeznik, knitting, video games, or anything else? Hopefully our little girl will recover soon. Her health and happiness really is my top priority.

Princess Angel

Our resident cutie is not feeling well. She makes multiple visits to the litterbox in a short period of time. We drove to the vet this morning and she cried the whole time. I was prepared to get pulled over for driving erratically and once the officer heard Angel, s/he would understand and let me go on my way. We arrived early, so Angel and I sat in the car. She stopped crying the moment I opened the top door of the carrier to pet her, perfectly content to be in the carrier.

I admit it, I have separation anxiety. Nobody puts Angel in a cage! As the tech took her carrier, I said bye to my princess and told her I loved her. The tech got confused until I clarified that her name was Angel and not Princess. tee hee I forgot to tell Angel to make pee and the sooner she does the sooner she can come home. Oy. Called the vet's office. Angel's stone is still there and her bladder is empty. Please make some pee, little princess!

At 2:00 this morning, I saw Angel sitting outside our bedroom. I scooped her up and placed her on "her" pillow on our bed. She wanted none of it since my pillow is soooo much nicer apparently. I didn't sleep much after she joined us since I was fighting to keep what little pillow I had. She was so soft and warm though. I would gladly sacrifice sleep to have Angel next to me. I find myself doing everything it takes to keep the princess happy. Maybe my sole purpose IS to keep Angel happy. How could it have taken me this long to figure it out??

It's a GIRL!!!!

Ok, so it's not official, but QE and I have started the adoption process to adopt a little girl, 2 years old. Her humans moved into an apt that doesn't allow animals. Halle (Hay-lee) is currently in foster care. In Massachussetts! She's not the most beautiful or regal looking cat, but I have a soft spot for sob stories. QE is already dreading the integration process because it was quite a bit of work to make Angel and Davis get along. And they still aren't friends. They are housemates and don't go for blood everyday, but we were hoping they would be play buddies.

We hope Halle will help Davis expend all of his excess energy and be the ideal playmate. This would leave Princess Angel to be the diva she is and nap to her heart's content.

It's always nice adopting an animal rather than buying a (usually) purebred. There are so many animals who were mistreated through no fault of their own. The sad stories are enough to make me question humanity. But at the same time, there are rescue workers who try to mend broken bones and broken hearts, so there are people who do care. Giving a rescue animal a second chance at a happy life is the least we can do. If nothing else, it hopefully offsets all the other evils in the world and lifts our spirits knowing we are doing a good thing.

Un-Bearable

My latest project is a bear from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I think the book has a lot of patterns that are much more complicated than necessary. For example, my bear is knit in the round on two circular needles. Why is that necessary when dpns are just fine???? I can see if we were knitting a tube top for an elephant that would require more room on a needle, but a toy bear??? It seems like the pattern designer is trying to impress with a more technical approach when a simple and more common method is fine. Why do knitters feel the need to make everything so much more difficult? The fear of being called simple and their patterns easy? Kris Percival is also guilty of creating patterns that are more complex than necessary. Her baby booties comes to mind.

My bear wasn't knit to the pattern's instructions--knitting with two strands of yarn. I used one strand of 100% alpaca that I bought at last year's Sheep and Wool Festival. I also used smaller needles. As such, my bear is much smaller, and cuter imo. It's the perfect size to be a teddy bear to a doll. :)

Orphaned

This will be the first Christmas that I will not spend time with my parents. It hit me hard when Dad called from the airport and said "see you next year!" I don't see my folks every day, so the holidays are definitely "guaranteed" time that we will see them either on the Eve or day of Christmas/New Years. It was rather amusing that Dad and I speculated on whether my soon-to-be sister in law is knocked up. My brother is nesting and talked about baby logistics and he's not even married yet. At a minimum, he has a full-blown case of baby fever.

So no parents this holiday. Maybe they will call. Yes, I think Dad will call because his only wish is for his family to be together. And my brother has to ruin it by living in Germany for what seems like 10 years. Way to go, bro.

It will definitely be a very quiet holiday this year. Just me and QE with our little furry kids.

Storytelling

I miss my kids. Getting the smackdown at work. Life as usual! :)

QE surprised me with a cute ornament that I liked earlier this week. I thought it was cute since it's our first Christmas in our new house and we see lots of birds year-round. In fact, I saw a bluejay last week! He also surprised me with this Merry Trio that is adorable. Ok, so it's a bit menopausal and homely, but still very cute. Angel digs it and Davis has no idea what to make of the singing and bells.

Ripped

Lots been going on, but not much worth mentioning. Working is consuming my life. I ripped my entire picovoli last night. It was made with ggh super merino in a charcoal gray. Loved it. But the yarn has a different guage than the DB cathay, so I sort of knew it may not work. And sure enough, it didn't. Too small methinks. I had invested at least 20 hours into it, but better now than when I was almost done, right?

Our little buddy has been sleeping with us lately. He just hunkers down for the night and stays put. He's so cute. When he finally leaves the bed, I am there to steal his warm spot. Ahhhh...warm. :)