Up Yours!

that's right - Up Yours! - and it's directed at that bitch i just dealt with....

honestly. i know it's the holidays. everyone is stressed - especially those having to work and deal with crazy customers. having worked retail for a number of years i completely understand this. it is why i go out of my way to be polite and nice to workers when shopping and i expect to have that treatment returned - especially when i'm spending a good deal of money.

i don't want to be talked to like i'm 5. i don't want to be told how part of my gift sucks. perhaps if you didn't charge an ass, arm and a leg i wouldn't have had to do the work myself! (and for the record i was pretty impressed with my handy work considering i'd never done it before!)

i'm already stressed. the house is still in moving shambles. the baking is not done . the presents are not done. i'm fat. yet i am attempting to make the best of it anyways. this bitch just pushed to my wits end. had i not felt like crying i would have personnally told her to shove her attitude where the sun don't shine and to crawl back into her hermit shell where she belongs. also - that the 800 years of smoking she's been doing have done nothing for her looks or her annoying voice.

ugh. i'm trying to let it go but seriously - some people should really really really just fuck off.

** and for love of fucking pete - when i put spaces in between chunks of writing i expect them show up and not mush it all together.

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.

why walk when you can LEAP

i would have posted last night but the cable internet guys arrived after the office closed and therefore they could not get into the cable room. hopefully they'll be back tonight before it closes again. hmph.

in reference to the title - i like to be different. i like to make a grand entrance. so instead of walking into the front door of the new apartment building i leaped. well....i tripped.

everything i was holding went sprawling and i skidded across the rug. OW! both of my legs are all scuffed up. one required an extra large bandage and it hurts like a son of a.....OW! and to make matters worse chris and a co-worker were still moving things in - i was rather useless. all the bandages were packed in who knows where. then we had to wait for the pokey internet people. finally - about 3 hours later - we managed to get to Target and get some bandages and antiseptic spray stuff (that made the pain even worse....) sigh.... i'm dumb.

i almost fell again later that night but luckily managed to catch myself. good god.

so that was my night :) other than that - we have most of the stuff in. few more trips to make. hopefully i can get it straightened before Friday when my dad arrives with the kitties :)

speaking of cats - i have a question about litter for you cat owners. have any of you used the flushable kind? i also saw this box of litter at Trader Joe's - says it's a one month supply and that the pee doesn't clump but rather dissovles into the crystal littler. So then you could just scoop and flush the poo I guess. I just hate the idea of putting litter into plastic bags and then having them end up in a landfill, ya know? Any advice?

alright - i suppose i should get back to work :)

Movin'

if i forgot to mention it - chris and i are moving. tomorrow. not very far - just down the road in fact as he still has to be able to make those fire calls. it'll be nice though - a bigger place - two bedrooms, two bathrooms and of course my babies (albus and minerva) will be joining us (next weekend).

i would like to say we've been packing but i'd be lying. in fact - as i sit here blogging chris is packing packing packing. it's all his stuff and he knows where it is and where it goes so i think i'd be more of an annoyance to the whole process. so i'm (blogging) doing the laundry and crocheting - gotta finish those christmas presents!!

tomorrow he and a friend will move on the big stuff so technically this is our last night at this place. exciting but also sad. of course i'm the worlds largest sap - so of course i'll miss it. not that's stellar but just the memories - ya know? and i'm kinda bummed that i forgot the take pictures of the place before it was packed up and covered in boxes.....

we got our keys to the new place last night. first thing i noticed was new carpet (wahoo!) - i was very excited about that. lots of closet space. corner unit. good location. we were happy :) also - the office lady told us that we can pick two accent walls and they'll paint them! we're going to pick them tomorrow when we have the furniture there and such. they have a nice array of colors - blues, beiges, greens, and reds. i'm partial to the cranberry red myself - my friend Brant's mom always painted her living room that color and i loved it. it makes the room feel so warm and it'll go nicely with the couch. so there ya go....

alright - i'll post more tomorrow! :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like....

oh shit - i did not just start singing a christmas song.......

today it snowed. not just little insignificant flakes - but snow that resulted in stickage. not a lot but stickage nonetheless. i specifically asked god to not let this happen until after we moved but he must hear like the hairdresser. darn that god......never listens.....

this was taken on my way home from work. you can't see the flakes but they're there. hmph.

ugh. i have a headache from wearing a headband all day. i took it off but the result was not pretty. i have company coming over soon but they'll just have to deal with the ugly amelie.

speaking of company i should probably get some things straightened up around here and the snacks ready. it'll be night with mia and vija (hi!), wine, food and don't forget the crocheting! :)

oh - HAPPY (early) THANKSGIVING! :)

Yarn A-Go-Go....

i didn't realize i had amassed such a collection of yarns......

chris and i got a note today informing us that they'll be showing the apartment this week! this is stressful - the apartment is a) a mess and b) somewhere i'm not technically supposed to be living but all one of the closet and its contents say otherwise....

we decided to not worry about 'b' as it is what it is and we'll be gone in a month. as for 'a' we started to clean. this included doing the mountain of laundry we had and me attempting to sort through the mess i've made of his place....i can be a slob (i know i know...you find it hard to believe but trust me on this....)

i made some headway. the floor outside the closet can now be seen. first time in months. the chair in the living room can also be seen - in it before all that yarn - shown above! ay yi yi! where did it all come from? i only started crocheting 2 months ago! and so much yellow yarn from when i knitted that horid baby blanket for my nephew - SO much yellow yarn....

but it looks good now, eh? :)

i'm workin' on it.....

Water Pressure Please!

Before we move into our new apartment - before we even give the notice to our current apartment owners that we're moving - Chris wanted to get some repairs taken care of.

One of things was getting the tub retiled. While doing this the repairmen also replaced the shower head and knobs to one of those low water things - sorry I don't know the technical term - but know that it should be called 'peice of crap'

People with thick hair - like myself - need water pressure! I got into the pretty shower this morning (the new tile looks great) but was SO dissapointed to discover that I could not even feel the water on my head - through my hair! So while this new 'peice of crap' may be good for the environment - for most people - it's not for me. It takes me twice as long to wash my hair now becuase I can't get it wet - let alone get the shampoo out.

argh.

It was a frustrating morning. Not only did that annoy me (if you can't tell) but when I got to work I went to open my smoothie cup and it splashed up all over my face, hair, shirt (down my shirt!) and lap. Pretty soon I'll start to sour......

Thursday

today is thursday.

i have not forgot to blog about my vacation. unfortunately i was sick this past weekend. on monday the computer was an absolute putz about uploading my pictures (it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r). as for tuesday and wednesday - i'm just lazy.

but today is thursday. a day to get things done. things like exercising. like baking. like filling out housing applications. like making a to-do list. like blogging about my vacation. will all of these tasks get completed tonight? probably not - but the morning is young and i'm full of energy and optimism - which i'm sure will fade by the time 4:30 rolls around. by then i'll just want to go home and make myself comfy on the couch with crocheting needle and yarn. we'll see.

as for now i'm at work. pretty soon i'll finish this blog and resume reading 'the tortilla curtain' - which so far is very good. i just finished reading 'the blind assassin' by margaret atwood. excellent book in my opinion. took me awhile to get into as i only had little ten minute segments to read it when i started - but once i had more time and got used to her writing style it was hard to put down.

what else? updates? let's see.....

the weather has finally cooled off which makes me happier than you'll ever know! i feel rejuvinated and refreshed. it is now possible for me to work up a sweat while working out instead of sweating just sitting on the couch and thinking about it. everything seems richer - the blue of the sky and the green of the leaves. the air feels fresh and crisp. i absolutely love it. i've always said that i can never pick a favorite season but if pressed it'd have to be fall. when i get married it will definitely be in the fall.

chris and i will be moving to a new apartment in december. not a house liked we'd hoped for. but a place that will give us time to think about where we want to live and what we want to do. chris will still be able to make the fire calls on time and i'll finally be able to have my cats with me again! definitely not a long term thing but something that fits for the here and now.

hmmm..my mind is wondering and i'm getting distracted easily. hopefully i'll be back later on this evening with more vacation blogs :) or maybe just this afternoon with more mind wanderings :)

Another Bedroom

my newest bedroom home

one of my new roomies - moose

i'm back! (to the blogging world that is)

i finally made that big move - to yet another bedroom. someday i will have my own home - complete with a kitchen and living room and bathroom and all kinds of good things :)

i was supposed to move on sunday but plans changed. i found i was not nearly as prepared to move as i should have been (i'm a massive massive procrastinator!). i also found i was sadder than i thought i would be. i love duluth and will miss it a lot - especially this time of year! i will also miss my parents home - they will be moving to suburbia this summer and the house i've lived in since 6th grade will be ours no more. so all of that combined and i was a little stressed. so chris and i spent sunday driving around and eating WAY too much food (what? did you think i'd actually pack more...please...)

monday we made the move. it was 44 degrees when we left duluth - the lake was absolutely beautiful with marshmellow like fog sitting right on top of it. when we reached the cities it was a whopping (yes - i said whopping) 81 degrees! Insane and very nice! i spent the day unpacking and knitting and chatting with kristin when she got home. then i headed over to chris's to enjoy a bottle of wine - we are becoming lushes.....

today i planned on starting my job search. i don't however have internet on my computer (so i'm currently borrowing kristin's spiffy brand new one - thanks kristin!). i tried to turn on mine but the monitor is not working (and yes - i've double checked it multiple times to make sure the cords are all plugged in properly - although i'm sure as soon as i get someone to help me they will fix it with no problems...sigh....). so - due to that fact i don't have access to my resume i'll just save the jobs i find and apply to them tomorrow. then i think i'll knit. or nap. or drink some wine. it's wierd being unemployed - you become instantely lazy - or so is the case with moi.

p.s. i've found myself getting slightly carried away with these label things. ah well.....

Carrie is Awesome!

Knitting Bag, Bacon Bacon Dip, and Beer Bread! I'm in heaven!

Tonight was both wonderful and sad. Sad because it marked my last knitting/wine/girl chat night with Carrie (while I'm a Duluth resident at least - just because I'm moving doesn't mean this will be the last!).

Wonderful because - well - just look at the above picture! Carrie gave me the most wonderful going away present I could have asked for! A fabulous bag with red white and black (my favorite colors!) cat prints and Tastefully Simple (and absolutely heavenly!) bacon bacon dip and beer bread! That combined with the quality conversation and knitting - it was a perfect evening :)

So I guess this blog is dedicated to you Carrie - thank you for everything! Who knows where I would be right now had you not invited me to that happy hour in August! I think I can literally say that you have changed my life in numerous ways and I'm very thankful for that!

Thank you for a wonderful evening!!

And now it is time for bed! G'night!

Where is she?

Seriously - where is Marry Poppins when you need her?

I could certainly use her help right now that's for sure. I took a before picture of my room this morning before I started packing. My intent was to be able to take the after picture tonight and post them to show my progress....yeah....I could see a difference but it wasn't big enough to be bragging about. :(

I don't know how I managed to accumulate so much crap over the years or why I have such a hard time parting with it all. Damned packratiness gene......

I've thrown away some things. I've put some things in my donate pile. But for the most part my keep pile is by far the largest. Sigh....

Hopefully I'll be able to brag about some progress tomorrow. Maybe Mary will show up - although after she sees my poor finger snapping ability she might leave.....

wish me luck! 3 days to go!

Have a Seat

excuse the mess

Today I let go of something - which is pretty monumental for a self-proclaimed pack-rat. It is the couch that has been with me all 26 years of my being. I love it!

I was getting worried about it's fate due to my future lack of space to keep it when I move and my parents unwillingness to hang on to it. Luckily - my dear friend Carrie just so happened to need a couch for the reception area of her new 4 Track Films Studio! How cool is that? I may not get to keep the couch but I know that it will have a good home! And maybe when they don't find the need for it anymore I'll take it back and fix it up. Or maybe I'll have grown out of my pack-rat phase....I doubt it though :)

Shipping Out

by Wilfred Bibeau

There are many pieces of art at my place of employment. Some are certainly of questionable taste. This one, however, is one that I like. It sits behind my desk at work and from that vantage point it looks like a photograph. It just so happens that the painter stopped in today. He is an old man wearing a Jack Daniels cap and is hard of hearing -but very nice. I mention how much I like it and (suprise!) he has prints of it in his car which he happily went down and got for me. So for $30 I ended up buying it. It'll be a nice thing to have if life takes me away from Minnesota one day.