updates

the apartment:
it's coming together. we've hung a few things. the second bedroom is still a disaster. i have so many ideas on how it could look better but have no money to buy the things to make it so. it's hard not being able to get what you want rightnow. kari and mark are going to visit this summer - hopefully there'll be enough room for them to sleep in there by then.


my mental state:
i'm far less crabby today. in fact - i'd go so far as to say i'm not crabby at all! (period going away = happy michelle) slightly frustrated with myself for not completely a workout dvd but the squats and lunges i did yesterday have made my thighs want to run away and hide....


christopher:
still amazing. still incredibly awesome. still love him an insane amount. still amazed that he loves me (and all my craziness)!


my job:
see previous post. nuff said.


crocheting/knitting projects:
i think i mentioned that i finally finished all of my christmas presents(!!!!!) i even finished the two burp clothes for my co-workers baby! now i just have to manage actually getting those things in the mail/delivered (this is the part where i usually fail). i am desperately trying to find a cute way to organize my yarn - having it neatly stored but yet visable (ideas? i'm thinking crates....)


my fat:
still (annoyingly) here. i'm working hard to make it go away though. according to the scale at work i'm down one pound. only 34 more to go......


minerva:
suprisingly more likable. as soon as i wrote that post about her she changed her tune. she will now tolerate you getting close(er) to her face and petting her. she has even taken to sleeping right by my head and also jumping into the sink whenever i'm in the bathroom doing anything in front of the mirror - kinda cute.


albus:
he's still incredibly strange. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick. lick - you get the picture.


my hair:
it's getting long - but not cute long. it's that inbetween stage - neither long nor short. it's driving me insane and i desperately want to cut it but i'll give it a go until the end of may.


my stomach:
not hungry but chris is making dinner so i think i'll go chat with him :)

all the young dudes.....

today was pretty gosh darned good. gosh darned good indeed....


i don't think i mentioned it but i started weight watchers today. my co-worker started it as well and she told me how many points i could eat and my mother (who only signed up for the online version) lent me her login info so that i could use the point calculator. i think this will help me get the proper amount of food. i was never really overeating but rather not getting enough - causing me to be tired and in no mood to exercise like i should. so it's going well so far! i even did the elliptical and the first dvd workout of The Firm (my mom got this for herself and me for christmas). If you have the money - i recommend it! it comes with a series of weights (pink ones!) and 5 dvds that you rotate (so you don't get bored). i was really impressed with it and feel like i got a really good workout (55 minutes!) so yeah - worth the money (in my opinion).


so yeah - all of that has put in a great mood. i feel good. :)


oh - here are some pictures of the kitties from this evening. we learned that albus could really care less if you stick stuffed animals on his back and that minerva is a table scrap begger.

oh - the title 'all the young dudes' is a song on the juno soundtrack - it was playing when i signed into my blog. it's strange - i was listening to it a lot the day that i found out about heath ledger and now it's just tied to him. everytime i hear it i think of him and so it has a bittersweet mood to it now. hmmm...

TTLIFF!

that translates to - Thank The Lord It's Finally Friday! (tgif seemed rather dull...)


i'm seriously so happy that the weekend is here! not the work was stressful or anything but who doesn't prefer two days off over going to work? that and i have some plans for the weekend :) tomorrow chris and i are going to a 'stitch & bitch' at holly's house. (not my chris - a friend chris) i'm really excited - i've been wanting to get a group of gals together to do this since i moved down here. (i miss our knitting nights carrie!) perhaps i'll host a few sessions at my place as i know of a few co-workers who are also interested.....


as for tonight chris's (my chris) sister megan and her son carter are coming over. in fact (since i started this blog right before they arrived) they are here now! megan is attempting to put carter to sleep. she put him down in my room but i'm worried that albus hid under the bed. albus and minvera are not the biggest fan of small beings. i'm sure - given time - that they would be. it just takes them time. albus* hated chris for about a week when they first arrived. so yeah - they are here and will be for the weekend. unfortunately megan has a bit of a cold so her and i might just chill while chris takes carter out and about tomorrow...we'll see....

we just got done watching peter pan. i bought a copy before christmas when i saw it was out. but they remastered it. i really really prefer the hand drawn charm of the older version - anyone know of how i can get an old - non-remastered - copy on dvd?

alright - i think carter is asleep. megan and i are going to watch 'the shining.' i've never seen it and she says i have to :)

*i was watching ellen today (of cours) and she was talking about her pets. her cat liked to sleep up my her head and she attributed this to the fact that he was part abyssinian and those breeds were more dog like. i was intrigued becuase i and a lot of other people have said that albus is more dog like. he isn't a lap cat but constantly has to be at your side and walking along with you wherever you go. he plays fetch (i'm not kidding - he will walk back with whatever you throw - he prefers balled of socks - and trot back to you and drop them in your hand). and he has to sleep at my head. i did some researching and it also mentioned the fact that abyssinian's can have defects that cause them to groom themselves compulsively - leaving bald spots. albus does not do this but he does obsessivley lick any and all surfaces he comes in contact with. his favorites are skin (he will lick you and lick you and lick you - i swear if you let him he'd like a layer off....) - he's always licking my legs, and plastic bags. he will not stop licking plastic bags. ay yi yi! minerva is the same way about the skin thing. they're weird. but at least now i may know why...

uh oh - carter is up! gotta go.....

Donkey Style in '08

(did i really just type donkey style? i apologize.....)



here at the home of m&w we vote democratic - even the pets (even if it's against their will....minerva is secretley a very conservative right wing republican - hence her head shake of 'NO!' at having to wear the shirt in the picture below)


i'm not saying that i'll always vote democratic persay - but the state of things right now leaves me no choice. not that i've ever voted republican - but the party itself is not really evil. bush has wacked it out of proportion and in my opinion basically created his own party of Bushies. i'm sure you all know one or two or a few.....


anyhow - i don't feel like digging around in that muck. i told you i'd tell you the story behind that picture from yesterday's post and i shall....


during the last election i signed up to volunteer with the democratic party. almost as soon as i got home from doing so they called me and asked if i had access to an suv. i didn't by my parents did - so they asked me if i'd be willing to pick up cate edwards from the airport. sure! i picked her and her assistant man (forget his actual job title) up and took them out to grab a bite to eat. as we ate they went over last minute poll findinds, statistics for the state of mn - etc. we talked about politics and how crazy their lives had become. half the time they had no clue where they were at.
afterwards i drove them to a press conference and then off to their hotel. the next day i watched her introduce her father at a rally held at UMD. and while i didn't get to meet her farther personnally i did get to shake his hand. all in all it was a pretty cool experience :)


perhaps i should sign up again this year and maybe i'll pick up chelsea?






p.s. i know how extremely mean i am for dressing my pets up. i never mean to really but then i see things (like the above shirt) and just can't help myself. i should also mention that i got one of the last democratic shirts - there were a TON of republican ones left. but perhaps that just means republicans are nicer pet owners......

do not touch me. ever.

meet minerva. the world's most un-cuddley cat. ever.


sure she's cute. she'll even pretend that she likes you. she'll meow and meow like she's absolutely starving for some attention - until you go to pet her and the above happens. she's never bitten or scratched anyone but wow can she growl. deep guttural growls of rage. she hates being touched - especially near her head. she'll tolerate petting on her back - and once in a blue moon she'll like it. but don't try and pick her up. she braces her paws against your chest and pulls her head back like your the the most disgusting thing to ever come into her line of vision. sigh.....

in other news.....

today is february 1st. i made it through an entire month of blog 365 without a snag. in fact - i posted 48 times! something tells me i shouldn't brag about this fact as it probably just helps clarify the fact that i have no life.

today is also the day i'm supposed to get my measurements done. and to celebrate this joyous occasion kristin is coming over to eat pizza and drink with me. perhaps i should do the measurements first.......

oh - one more note in the 'cheeseball' story. when he didn't show up my supervisor and i drafted an e-mail explaining that we would like to set up a new time...etc etc. she (my supervisor) made a passing comment in jest about the way things are going 'over there' and that they probably let him go on monday morning. well....turns out they did. oops! who knows what is going to happen now....

alright. kristin should be here any minute. she wanted to watch 'willow' but it's on vhs and our vcr doesn't work. that and i was traumatized as a child when i was taken to see it in the theater. my dad (or mom - can't remember) had to come and pick me up becuase i started crying and was so scared when they sent that baby down the river in the leaf basket. i thought he would die. funny how i got scared at that but not when my babysitter took me to see the gremlins (might have been becuase she put my sun jacket over my head. then there was that time when i saw 'teen wolf' in the theater. i ducked down behind the seats whenever he started to transform. i'm getting sidetracked...but while on the subject - what movies scared you as a child?

one more thing - any of you sprint users out there? i just got that new phone and for some reason it picks up my phone calls without my ever touching/answering the phone. it doesn't even ring. i'll just be sitting there and all the sudden the white noise of the speaker phone comes on. the outer screen says it's a call - but no ring - just picks up the call. i can hear the other person breathing (while they wait for an answer i guess) but they can't hear me unless i pick it up and open it. very strange......

big white - still missing (!)

big. white. spider! is still missing (!)


chris humored me by looking for the ick as soon as he got home. he even dug out his headlight. i thought it was incredibly cute and sweet :) even minerva joined him in the search. unfortunately the spider is still missing. ah well. i managed to fall asleep just fine......

in other news......

that guy that was supposed to come in and observe me yesterday (the cheeseball who promised to bring me supplies to hand out to patrons along with the phone numbers. the cheeseball who also promised to update this supply box weekly...) - yeah - he didn't show up. didn't call. didn't e-mail. and in doing so proved my point. he's a flake. not that i wanted him to come in the first place but at least it would have been done and over with. now i get to wonder if and when he'll show up. the whole thing is rather dumb - people do not appreciate trapsing into the building expecting a live person only to be handed a number. i can be as sweet as punch but it doesn't cover the fact that they pretty much left me hanging and it's not appreciated......

something more positive? i finished chris's hat. well - all except for the poof ball (or pom-pom - but i prefer poof ball). i had made some finishing touches and had taken the hat to the bathroom to see how it looked in the mirror. while there i ran into a co-worker and she loved it! she asked me to make one for her :) then - as i was leaving - i got another order from her daughter! wahoo! i went to the yarn store right after work and picked up the supplies :)

oh - i was listening to the radio and heard that the John Beargrease marathon had been won (congrats Jason Barron!). i did some peeking around and realized that the team i got pictures of (see the 'fennel toothpaste' post) - ryan anderson's - came in 3rd place :) so congrats to him as well! i was reading and he - along with his brother and sister-in-law have 100 dogs that they've raised since puppies! that's a lot...wow.....

alright. the clock is ticking. i want to get up and walk before work (the weight loss challange ends in a month!) and i told myself i'd only do so if i got into bed by 10. so i'm late - but if i hurry i can think i can pull it off :)


night!

Too Cute :)

minerva decided to plop herself down beside me while i crocheted. she conked out nose first into the couch :)

Albus & Minerva

in honor or the kitties arrival tomorrow i thought i'd dedicate a blog to them :)
(that and i'm avoiding that thing called unpacking....)


in case you didn't know - albus is the black kitty and minerva is the grey and white (with a hint of peach) tabby. the pictures go in chronological order starting out here with albus whom i adopted when he was 6 months old. the lady at the shelter told me he was a handful but i was in love and he seemed calm to me....



...turns out i was wrong - he was a wild one :) albus has a fascination with all things pertaining to his mouth. as you can see he likes to stick out his tongue :) he's also a bit ocd and those first few months would lick everything including the floor, walls, furniture, the litter box, toilet, hair, you, clothes - you name it and he licked it. i thought something might be wrong with him so i took him a few different vets....


the vet told me to get another cat - a playmate to distract him from his odd obsession. another cat? me? of course! i knew i wanted a baby kitten and waited and waited until 'kitten season' as the shelter calls it. i went - saw minerva - and knew i wanted her but the lady in charge made me play with her for 15 minutes just to be sure. i brought her home and kept them apart - luckily i had glass doors so they could check each other out without actually having contact. albus was extremely curious.....

minerva was SO tiny! those first few night she would crawl up and sleep right by my head and nip at my nose and fingers - adorable!

i finally introduced the two and they got along great! albus - although he was much larger was intimidated by his new friend. minerva's first meal at the 'big kid bowl' was funny - albus just sat and watched her. i thought he might try and shove her out of the way but he didn't. instead (from this picture it seems) he just gave up on her ever finishing and decided to start knawing on the bag itself! :)

albus hates water. minerva likes it. these pictures were taken from the first (and last) time she decided to shower with me :) now she prefers to sit in the sink with a slight drizzle running down her back. i absolutely adore these pictures!



while albus may not like water he loves to lay on his back - belly up. i've never really known a cat to lie like this until him. he also loves to play fetch. he'll get the toy you throw and trot back to you with it in his mouth and drop it into your hand. perhaps he thinks he's a dog?

he also loves his carrier - or he did until minerva showed her extreme distaste for it. then he decided that perhaps cats weren't supposed to like it. he used to nap in it. jump right in it. minerva on the other hand has to be held at the and front and back paws and dropped in backwards....

i swore i'd never be that pet owner - the kind that dresses their animals up for their own amusement. but the costumes were only a buck on clearence at Old Navy - i had to! albus could care less - running around in his bat wings. minerva on the other hand just sat there frozen and eventually toppled over. she did manage to get up and limp over to the corner and tried to hide her head in shame. poor baby.....

and yes - i did buy christmas costumes. i'm bad i know.....

in short - i love my cats! despite the fact that i've been an absent mother lately i'm incredibly excited to have them back for good! i hope they like their new home!




oh - had to include this video of minerva watching tyra.

meh...

i'm not cranky today - well - as cranky. i'm just...well...'meh'.......

perhaps it's becuase it's that time. perhaps it's because i feel like an overblown balloon. perhaps it's because my face is breaking out. perhaps. perhaps. perhaps......

i know it'll pass. i'm just overly sensitive right now - so be nice or i might cry. perhaps there is something to that little thing called pms that i've always dismissed. hmph.

right now i'm just going to concentrate on zombieing my way through the day knowing that in exactly 6 hours and 35 minutes my 3 day weekend will begin. at this time tomorrow morning i will be home and awaiting my dads arrival - he's bringing my babies :)

so there ya go....meh....

Question: Cats

as many of you know i have two adorable cats - Albus and Minerva. they are currently living with my parents up in duluth in a kennel that chris and i (mainly chris) built. soon (december 1st to be exact) chris and i move into an apartment that allows pets and then i can have my babies back :) until then....

the kennel is located in the garage - not one that is attatched to the house and one that is not heated. the cats cannot be brought into the house for health (allergy) reasons and i'm worried.

the northland can get pretty darn cold into october and november and i'm worried about the cats being out there! my mother insists that they'll be just fine - that they are inside the garage and not outside. i say the garage is at maybe 1 degree warmer than the outside temp and that if forced to stay outside until december 1st they'll turn into catsicles!

am i wrong? will they be fine? ideas?

Potter Nerd

I am a Harry Potter Nerd.

I have my pre-ordered (of course!) tickets to the midnight showing of 'HP and the Order of the Phoenix.' :)

I along with my co-worker Mia, her friend Susan and my "roomie" Kristin are going. Kristin is actually on her way over with a Papa Murphy's Pizza to watch 'Goblet of Fire' - which she has not seen. (she also hasn't read the books - something I'm trying to change). I even purchased some snacks - yummy Violet Crumble for the chocolate likers - and HP gummies for Kristin to enjoy during the show :)

I'm rather suprised at how quickly my nerdiness came to be. I didn't want to buy into all the hype even though everyone including the Aunt who used to not let her children trick-or-treat because it was evil bought into it. I started out just seeing the first 3 movies. Then I finally gave in and read the books - which I loved! Now I'm off to my second midnight showing. Not only that but I've named both of my pets after HP characters - Albus and Minerva! Wow...

All in All it should be a good night! :)

And did I mention that I have a slight crush on Ron Weasley. I don't feel so bad saying that anymore seeing as how he's legal and all now. But saying the word 'legal' makes me feel rather pedophilish so....hmmm....

updates

hello all!

i don't have a real agenda in my posting tonight. at least no organized agenda. i also have no pictures to post which is slightly annoying to me because i'm rather obsessed with having a picture per post.

hmmm...where to start.....

kitty update:
my friend becca is the process of asking a friend of hers is they can adopt my cats. i hope to hear back from her by tomorrow. if that plan doesn't work then i have a plan B.

plan B involves chris and i going up to duluth this saturday. after talking with my mother the topic of a kennel came up again. it was something we had talked about before but my dad wasn't up to building one and neither was a friend of my mom's that she tried to hire for the job. so chris said 'that'd be easy!' and we shall see if he's right :) we've drawn up some plans based on the only cat kennel i've ever seen and which belonged to my friend kari (hi kari!). so hopefully all goes well and the kitties will have a new home out in the garage by monday!

if that doesn't work then despite protests from chris i'm taking albus and sneaking him into his no pets apartment.

oh - and before any of this plan was hatched we were as you can imagine desperate. i had gotten a note from my friend kari (hi again!) and my memory failed me as to what it said. i thought it said she could take the cats but she lives all the way in Ohio. i later re-read the message and realized it said she'd be glad to take them but she lives in a place that doesn't allow them. oops. anyhow - my mom was willing to give me the money to drive down to ohio to give the kitties to kari! craziness!


job update:
i still have no job. i still have no money. i barely have enough money to purchase gas to drive to interviews - gas is now almost $3 a gallon! holy shit.

i did have 3 interviews this week. two were for temp agencies that are currently sending out my resume. hopefully i will hear back from them soon. i've never done temp work and am a little uneasy about the uncertainty of it all. i'd prefer to have a full time job no strings but i'll obviously take anything i can get!

one interview was for a job that i would really really like. full time receptionist. i should hear back from this by tomorrow or monday (keep your fingers crossed for me!). it seems they need a new receptionist - although i have no idea why.....

i arrived for the interview and saw no one at the front desk. so i saw someone else standing nearby who asked if they could help me. i said yes that i had an interview. she told me to go the front desk - i still didn't see anyone there but walked over anyhow. when i got closer i realized that the receptionist was slouched down very low in her chair and fast asleep! i was completely taken aback! i said 'hello' - no response. so i just stood there awkwardly for a few moments until she finally awoke. needless to say if was very awkward and weird....can't imagine why they are interviewing for a new one.....


working out update:
i'm lazy. i try but i'm lazy. what else is new, right? chris and i did go for a walk around lake elmo today (3.7 mi) - very beautiful! so at least i 'grooved' my body for a little bit. that allows me the papa murphy's pizza and chocolate chip cookie dough, right? i thought so :)


travel update:
i'm still planning on going to ohio this summer. i was super excited about it. then i read my friend carrie's blog and found out they just bought tickets for a trip to sweden. my trip now seems sadly lame in comparison.

hair update:
i think in the last month i may have mentioned more than once how poor i am. this means i cannot afford to maintain my hair. my bangs are going to cover my face soon and my eyebrows have a mind of their own. seriously...cross those fingers for me in hopes i get a freaking job.

dog update:
i dog sat for my friend kelly this past week. (i still have to post pictures of their wedding but i don't have access to my photo shop. if you are interested check out molly's - the maid of honor - page. she has a much nicer camera!)

'the log' as i'm fond of calling their dog - loggerhead - is a cute cute cute HYPER little poop machine. prior to receiving this little bundle of joy i found out that he ate an entire leather journal cover. then upon entering my (well...kristin's) home he promptly tore into moose's dog food bag and ate two large bowls worth. needless to say that combined with the excitement/nervousness of a new place made for a not happy tummy. after shitting on kristin's white carpet he got me up every 40 minutes that first night. i wanted to throw him out the window. unless i gave birth to it - i should have to get up that often for anything. he did settle after the second night and all was good. moose and he got along just fine and we had fun taking them to the dog park a lot. we did discover that the log likes to hump - and he isn't picky. butt...head...he'll hump it. 4 times his size? no problem! it was funny to see :)

i also found out that chris gets to dog-sit for a nattie in a month or so! i love that dog :)


dinner update:
chris will be home soon and so will the chicken and herb Mediterranean pizza - so it's time go!

my babies. . .

my babies all cuddled together

as you may know i have two kitties - albus and minerva. when i moved i wasn't able to take them with me. kristin is not a fan of cats and was worried about her rather large dog being scratched up by them. chris lives in an apartment that does not allow pets. i thought it would be okay though. wait until i save some money and get my own place or until chris and i found a place. that plan should have worked out just fine but my mom became worried about how the cat smell and scratchings would affect the sale of the house as she plans to put it on the market soon. my brother also came home for the summer and he is very allergic to albus. so i was told i needed to find them a new home.

i put out a 'desperate plea!' post on myspace and got a few responses but none of them ended up working out. (if those of you who offered end up reading this - thank you so much for even offering! it means a lot!) so my mom called today and said she doesn't know what to do. i don't know what to do. she doesn't want to take them to the shelter but she doesn't feel like she has a choice.

so as you can imagine i'm having a really bad day. i have no idea what to do. i should have planned this whole move better. i should have done a lot of things better but unfortunately i did not and i'm now stuck. i'm going to repost my plea and hope someone else comes along. but my time is running out.

there is no way i can have them brought to a shelter! they are my babies - i am such an awful mom. hopefully i can brainstorm something tonight. if you think of any ideas please pass them along - i need them!

albus

minerva