Trick or Treat!

My roommates adore dressing up for Halloween. 

Cat Stuff

This birthday's theme (because all birthdays must have themes) was cats.  I got three cat birthday cards on Friday and Steve couldn't resist adding one more last night.  I also now have cat tea towels, a cat night light, and a cat change purse.

I am choosing to embrace the "cat lady" label.  There is no use fighting it when a photo shoot of birthday loot in my living room turns into this:

Channeling Nana Luke

First order of business:  A HUGE thank you to USteve, who rescued me and my ginger kitty Weasley on Friday night by bringing us to the animal ER.  Weasley was quite ill and I was quite mentally ill, imagining his impending death.  Weasely is on the road to recovery thanks USteve's assistance and some prescription meds.

Second order of business:  Last week (before incurring a large emergency vet bill), I purchased this bag in kicky "poppy" pleather.  It is very pink.

Anne Klein Perfect Medium Tote

Today I am wearing a pink maxi dress that matches the bag to a startling degree and my pink toe nails are on display too.  I am not usually a pink person and I am definitely not usually a head-to-toe pink person.  When I walked out of my house today, I realized just how coordinated I was and I thought of my great-grandmother, Nana Luke, who loved the color pink.  We played a family trivia game years back in which each person wrote ten facts about him/herself on a sheet of paper.  The facts were read one at a time and when you thought you knew which person had submitted the facts, you wrote down the name and handed it into the moderator.  If you guessed right on the first fact, you would get 10 points, with the number of points decreasing for each additional fact.  Nana Luke included, "My favorite color is pink" in her list and the entire group passed in their guesses at once.

Nana Luke in pink-- a tougher shot to find than I would have guessed.

Third and final bit of business:  Today is my dad's birthday.  He asked that Ryan and I not get him birthday presents, and we failed to meet that request.  He asked that we not post about his birthday on Facebook, and again we let him down.  I am not home to send him through the hot oven, so I hope that any readers in Central Maine will take care of that.  Thanks a million!

Please sir, I want some more. . . brownies

The little doink below, my cat Neville, ate a $1000 brownie last night.  I usually keep all food sealed up in the cabinets, fridge, oven, or microwave because my cats are very interested in human food.  Neville takes the interest to a new level-- a level better described as Gremlin-like aggression.  Last night I got distracted by the super amazing Halloween decorations that had arrived that day and started looking through them with my mum, who is visiting.  When I popped back into the kitchen I discovered that after offering my mother a brownie, I had forgotten to put them back in the microwave for safekeeping.  Neville the Devil was scarfing one down on the kitchen floor.  The vet emergency line confirmed that I would have to bring him in as chocolate is toxic to cats.  At the time I was cursing Nev because just walking into the animal ER costs $150.  I soon discovered that my concerns for finances and Neville's health were comically unrealistic.  When the veterinarian asked about my wishes for Neville's DNR, I totally lost it.  Big time.  Then I saw the bill, which was just shocking.  As I walked out of the animal hospital, crying like a lunatic, The Dude asked if I was upset because I was worried about Neville or worried about money.  The answer was Neville, but the cost of keeping him in the hospital for the night was a punch to the gut as well.  Assuming he survives this ordeal, Neville will forever be the piggy whose snacking cost me a grand.

#4 for Herself

Harry Potter, ladies and gents.

Oh Yeah, We Have a Blog

I've basically taken a month off from blogging.  What less taxing activity could there be than jotting down a few sentences a day?  I have problems.

I just checked the blog for the first time in weeks and saw that The Dude has been posting now and then.  Thanks for keeping things afloat, bro.  The post about the old dog who is rocked to sleep each night in the lake to soothe his arthritis nearly made me cry.  I'm sensitive because of all of the new-mother hormones coursing through me.  Or I'm just emotionally unbalanced, which seems more likely since my new baby is a kitten rather than a child.  Four-month-old Neville came home last night (with the greatly appreciated assistance of my uncle) after being neutered.  I thought he would be spent from the surgery and the stress of the move, but he was bouncing off the walls after just a few hours.  Apparently kittens have quite a bit of energy.

Neville is named after Neville Longbottom.  I committed to the Harry Potter naming scheme with Luna and now that I am becoming an animal hoarder, I am nearly able to recreate the photo below with feline substitutes.  My ginger boy Weasley covers both Ron and Ginny and Luna and Neville are obvious matches.  I'm still missing Harry and Hermione, but there's time.  I'm on the lookout for a cat with a lightning bolt on his forehead.

Little Lions

I'm sleeping in my guest bedroom tonight since it gets a better breeze than my room.  (I got my first electric bill since using central air conditioning and I feel encouraged to go with a fan whenever possible.)  Across from the guest bed is a window with a bookcase on either side.  There's a cat perched on top of each bookcase, very symmetrically.  They look like my very own New York Public Library lions.

Alternate Title

Study Links Cat Litter Box to Increased Suicide Risk

or

IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE THAT YOU KILLED YOURSELF, CAT LADY