I finally saw it. If you’re a fan of bad horror flicks and/or Samuel L. Jackson, it’s definitely adorable. I try to look at the bright side — it could have been worse! (They would have done better to minimize the plot a bit more. No, really.) For ladies who will be watching with a gent, I have one bit of advice. When it gets to the scene when a guy is using the airplane toilet (trust me, you’ll know when it’s coming), be sure to keep one eye on the guy you’re watching the movie with. When the snake bites the guy in the flick, your guy will violently recoil (due to the location of the snake bite). Then you can point and laugh. *evil grin*
I taught Anxiety how to make macaroni salad today. I don’t mind cooking quite so much when there’s a teenager present to amuse me.
The cats continue to be a constant source of entertainment! Zadya got very interested in what was going on when I fed little Peyo today (the bearded dragon lizard). She seems to think I should let him out to run around:
A few days ago, I got a great pic of the tabby cats almost sleeping together:
Zadya isn’t as interested in sharing catnaps as Hasani is. Here’s a pic of how I typically find the two younger cats:
In other news, I’ve been ridiculously productive in recent days. I got onto the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, which is for any Oregonians who don’t have prescription drug coverage (with or without health insurance). It’s so simple to apply, one page to print out, sign & date, and that’s it! I also got an application sent off to hopefully get Anxiety on the Oregon Health Plan…I should have done that a year ago, really. At least it’s taken care of now.
And I finished filing my taxes! My federal refund was less than half of the refunds I’ve gotten for the last couple of years, since my eldest basically supported herself last year and I couldn’t claim her as a dependent. But my refund this year will still be enough to pay all of Anxiety’s Catalina Island trip (over $800), pay for my next tattoo (scheduled for Feb. 15th), and leave me a smidgen left over for a (small) book-shopping spree! I’m going to hit Moonshadow first, and maybe Powell’s if I still have any money left.
So, that said, I need recommendations for Pagan/Wiccan books! I’ve got quite a few, but always looking for more that are intelligent & well-written. My income tax will probably show up around Feb. 10th (gotta love direct deposit!).
I regularly wake up with cat fur stuck in my eyelashes and otherwise scattered across my face, because Zadya likes to sleep there (on my face, that is). She’s figured out that, unless I’m so deeply asleep that only a 7-magnitude earthquake or a child screaming in terror will get my attention, if she lies upon my face I will stir just enough to pet her. And to think, most people’s morning routine doesn’t involve getting the bits of static-clung cat fur off their faces.
Last night, Anxiety & I did something that neither of us had ever done before — woo hoo! We made an apple pie, nearly from scratch (we did use a store-bought pie crust). It was actually pretty tasty, even though I know nothing about which apples you’re supposed to use for baking, so I just got the cheapest ones. It was a lot easier than I expected, so that bodes well for future pie-making. (We love the cookbooks, they are our friends. With them, we can take ordinary foodstuffs and alchemically transform them into better-tasting foodstuffs!)
Michiko is definitely growing up. She’s 9 months old now, and every time I enter the kitchen, she’s right there at my feet, meowing imperiously to be fed (whether or not there’s actually food in her dish, and there usually is). I swear, they’re genetically encoded to treat humans as their personal servants. But it’s one of the reasons I love cats — they remind us that we aren’t necessarily the ultimate life form. One of my favorite taglines says, “Cats are an extension of God.”
Ok, there hasn’t been any actual mayhem, unless you count finding the toilet paper unrolled to a length of about 6 feet & shredded by kitten claws, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration.
And now for something completely TMI…
You know it’s Monday when…
- Your teenager wakes you up at oh-dark-hundred to report that she feels like she’s dying
- When you wake up (again) later, your teenager reports that she feels like she’s dying and she’s been throwing up all morning
- You go to the coffee pot, throw out the old filter & grinds, put in a new filter & fresh grinds, and walk away
- Twenty minutes later, you find yourself standing in front of the coffee maker wondering why there’s no fresh coffee, and then you realize you didn’t put water in it, so you fill up the coffee maker
- Twenty minutes later, you find yourself standing in front of the coffee maker wondering why there’s no fresh coffee, and then you realize you didn’t turn the damned coffee maker on
- You pray to the god Murphy that this will be the last of the Monday woes, turn the coffee pot on, and it starts perking
- Your teenager is still dying, and describing in lurid detail exactly what her body has been doing to make her believe this, but you have coffee now, so it’s okay
I’m terribly grateful that nothing worse has happened. Oh yea verily. Here, have a few Monday taglines…
- Mondays are the potholes in the road of life.
- I hate Mondays and Mondays hate me.
- Monday is an awful way to spend one-seventh of your life.
Battlestar Galactica is on tonight! YAY! I’ve been counting down the days. *frantic fidgeting*
In other news, my 14-year-old now has her very own CSI Forensics Lab. I think the niftiest part of it is the blood type antigens, so you can actually type your blood (I have a feeling no few of us around here will be getting our fingers pricked). Anxiety promised to share it with Geoffrey & me. *grin*
Our new high-efficiency front-loading washer is up and running — the first load was started bare seconds after the delivery guys left. There are a zillion wash settings, and even a digital display on the front to tell you how many minutes are left before it’s done with a load of wash! It’s a layer cake of awesome with nifty sprinkles! Here’s what it looks like:
The cats are utterly terrified of it! I don’t know why, since they never minded the noise of the old washer (and the new one is significantly quieter!). Maybe it’s the fact that they can see movement through the nifty window. We keep the main litterbox in the same room (which is the downstairs bathroom). Hopefully they’ll soon figure out that the washer’s harmless, and in the meanwhile, we’ll just be grateful we have more than one litterbox in the house!
This is a fabulous essay on adult relationships. This bit, in particular, caught my eye:
I find it disturbing that even today, so many women think of and treat men like children (or animals) that have to be tricked, coerced and “trained” to behave like an acceptable adult. Even more disturbing is the fact that so many men think it is their god-given right to continue to act like children well past their 18th birthday.
Oh yeah, I’ve seen that time and time again. I never can decide which is more pathetic — the women who act this way toward the men in their lives, or the men who put up with it (if they even bother to recognize that they’re not really being treated as adult human beings and equal partners). That’s the main reason I don’t date older men — in my experience, older men tend to treat women as if they’re fluff-headed silly creatures who need someone to “take care of them” and make their decisions for them. (While there are exceptions, they are just that: exceptions.) Life’s short — I don’t have time to deal with that kind of condescending bullshit.
And I really love her summation of what it means to Act Like An Adult in a healthy, equal relationship with another adult:
We recognize that the other person is a) Human, b) NOT out to intentionally drive the other person crazy, c) not responsible for us and our feelings, and d) someone we want to build a life with — so that means consideration, respect and love.
Not rocket science! But — quite sadly, really — I don’t know of very many relationships where those basic ideas are exhibited by all involved parties. I consider myself blessed that the relationships I have with each of my boyfriends do live up to that standard…which is largely why those relationships continue to thrive, and my previous relationships didn’t.
I was supposed to get a washing machine today. The bounty of snow we got here in Portland (over 5 inches at my house!) yesterday put the kibosh on that, however, as all Tuesday deliveries were delayed 1-2 days, which bumped Wednesday deliveries out even further. So now we don’t get the new washer until Friday.
The washer purchase was made possible by a completely unexpected monetary gift from one of Geoffrey’s relatives. (The old dryer still works, if not optimally, and we couldn’t afford a new one right away, anyway. Maybe in a few months.) Geoffrey was so adorable after we left Best Buy; he said he felt so grown up because he’d now bought a washing machine! (I remember feeling that same way when I was 29 and realized I’d paid for a car, a washer & dryer, and I didn’t owe my mother any money.)
The snow was gorgeous, and I’m almost sad to see it go…it was tons of fun driving (without chains or studded tires, mind you) to the grocery store yesterday (about 1.5 miles) — going 15 mph and being extra-careful about leaving room for stopping meant that it was a safe & uneventful drive, actually quite relaxing. We saw a young woman skiing along down the sidewalk of SE 50th Ave! Even getting back into my driveway (which has a rather steep incline as it comes off the street) was no problem, despite the 5+ inches of near-virgin snow in the driveway. Thank heavens I have a Subaru! (I doubt I would have even tried that in my crappy old minivan.)
And the snow brought out the wildlife like crazy — the squirrels practically fought one another for a spot at the squirrel feeder, and I found raccoon tracks in the snow right outside my front door. We’re used to seeing them furtively slinking along the back patio area, but I hadn’t realized they roam all over the entire property looking for food.
Some Portland drivers weren’t so careful or safe, though. This is a really good (and short) video of the problems a few idjits had on one street downtown. *rolls eyes*
