Oh, Christmas Tree

I'm going to be really sad to see this come down tomorrow... It was another great tree this year and I had to do another tree post before the year was over (I missed last year).

(christmas morning)

(we got this ornament in turks & caicos this year. it's made from sea glass found on middle caicos - it's a potcake dog!)

(cute knit kitty from crate & barrel - i love their ornaments!)

(acorn - new last year)

(asparagus from amy & corey - goes great with my broccoli ornament)

(this is one of my faves - we got in at the nbc store last year when we were in nyc)

(this was in my stocking from christopher this year)

(i bought this seahorse this year after christmas)

(we have lots of penguins on the tree)

(christopher buys me the rudolph hallmark ornaments every year)

(christopher collects the grinch and dr. seuss hallmark ornaments)

(my friend sabrina sent me this ornament this year from the central park zoo! it's got a snow leopard on it.)

(on the left - that's right - we have not only one beet ornament, but two - courtesy of amy; on the right - the nyc library lion)

(my grandma made me this ornament several years ago)

(awesome ornament from team linkous this year)

(my aunt sent me this ornament - 'cause she knows how i like the kitties)

(gingerbread boy and girl...and another rudolph ornament)

Shelter Update

It's been a while since I blogged about the shelter, and tonight I decided that I needed to change that! Incase you haven't noticed, the shelter pictures have taken a serious turn for the better! Check them out! In fact, they are so nice, that I'm not even sure I should be snagging them and putting them on my blog. A group called "Project Pearl" is going in and volunteering their time to take pictures. Nice pictures. Not dogs in shrubbery. Surely they won't mind if I use their pictures if I credit them, right? I'll try it and see what happens.

Take a look at this cat. She is a Himalayan named Nadira. Normally I don't pay too much attention to these fancy breeds because I don't worry too much that they won't get adopted. Everyone wants a fancy cat. But Nadira has been there a little while. When I opened her cage today, I was greeted by a sweet kitty hug. She climbed right out of the cage and on to my shoulder and just snuggled me. She is such a sweetheart. I was so impressed with her, I could hardly put her back in her cage. Can you believe she was a stray found in a field?!?!

{photo credit: project pearl}

This is the dog that is really just pulling at my heartstrings. Chico is amazing. Absolutely amazing. When I open his cage he does the same thing the kitty did. He hops gently in my arms and just wants to be held. He didn't even try to get down - he was content to just be held and talked to. Rumor has it that he plays fetch - how neat! He is so sweet and friendly. He reminds me of my little Leroy (only not elderly - Chico is only about a year old). I think this little guy would make a fantastic pet. He's been there for a while. People just don't realize what they are missing.

{photo credit: project pearl}

This is Lori. I have nothing about her. I'm not even sure if I saw her there tonight. I mostly just wanted to comment on what a silly name "Lori" is for a dog. She is absolutely beautiful though.

{photo credit: project pearl}

Hutch doesn't have a pretty picture yet, but I wanted to tell you about him. I absolutely love when I see a big dog who looks like he could chase you out of a junkyard and then you open his kennel door and he is all friendly tail wags and kisses. This is hutch. He's got a massive square head and a mouth like a boxer that looks like it could unhinge when he opens it and create a flip-top head. But Hutch was just the sweetest thing when we took him out today. He wasn't even hyper happy. Just plain happy-happy. This just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. I hope somebody takes him home.

And don't forget - the shelter has small animals too - like this bunny! Someone dropped off some gerbils tonight, so there may be some gerbils up for adoption soon. Seriously, people. If you can't manage to take care of a gerbil for its tiny little life span and instead take it to an animal shelter that euthanizes... I don't even know what to say about that, other than I don't think I like you.

{houdini the bunny}

Other shelter items to note from the night:

• I found a little girl puppy that looks exactly like my friend Meghan's dog, Elvis! She's super cute!
• I saw the tiniest puppy I have ever seen in my life. It didn't even look real. I hope they don't confuse it with those gerbils that came in.
• There was a dog there that hadn't eaten in a really long time. They are trying to take care of her and nurse her back to health, but it's just so sad to see how some people treat animals.

Tonight's Dinner. A Comedy of Errors.

I've decided to start cooking more. Last week I made fantastic chili (if I do say so myself). Tonight I was making meatloaf, smashed cauliflower and steamed rutabaga, carrots and broccoli. I started off chopping up the vegetables (rutabaga is so damn hard to cut!). Midway through, my sleeve started to slip down my arm. I pushed it back up...with the knife still in my other hand:

(how many of you have sliced near your elbow while chopping vegetables?)

(the culprits)

One cleaned knife later, and after the veggies were chopped, I cut up the cauliflower and put it in a pot with chicken broth. Then I started on the meatloaf...when I realized I didn't have an egg. I walked away from the food to google "egg substitute for meatloaf" (mayonnaise, if you ever need to know). While I was researching this, I heard, "slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp." I didn't really think much about it - after all, there are two pet water bowls in the kitchen. Then I turned around and Buster Cat Nixon was ON THE COUNTER SLURPING THE CHICKEN BROTH OUT OF THE POT OF CAULIFLOWER!!! I had to call Christopher and ask him to pick up some more cauliflower and chicken broth on his way home from work.

(bye, bye, kitty cauliflower)

I was a bit torn. While I didn't want to reward the bad cat, I figured I might as well do something useful with the chicken broth. Buster couldn't get enough of it. I had to push him away so Tuesday and Leroy could get some too.

(darn cat)

Now That's a Weed

Over they past month or so we have been equal opportunity with our flowers beds; we have been accepting flowers and weeds alike. A couple weekends ago, we were out in the yard and pulled some weeds. There was one particularly hefty weed that Christopher took ahold of. When he did, the root started moving the earth...literally. The "flowery/bushy" part of the weed snapped off at the base of the leaves and then we pulled this out:

(christopher is 5'8", so this thing has to be about...6" tall?)

(this picture kind of reminds me of the snake)

(bye bye, weed! we'll probably see you next year!)

"Peps on the Side," No More

Those of you who have the pleasure to dine with me know that I love, hearts and kisses Jimmy Johns. My jam? The "Big John," aka, #2 - with hot peppers on the side. There are scarcely words to describe the deliciousness of this sandwich.

As indescribably good as the sandwich is, it is not without faults. The "hot peppers ON THE SIDE" is an integral part of the aforementioned deliciousness.

To my sheer horror, a few weeks ago, I went into Jimmy Johns and ordered, "#2, hot peppers on the side," and was informed that they do not offer hot peppers on the side anymore. What? But... Nooooooooooo. It seems they are trying to cut costs by reducing the amount of paper they use to wrap the peppers.

This is why I do not like my peppers to come on the side:

(first I need to open the sandwich...and dig through all that lettuce...)

(to pick out these. who wants to eat stems? yuck! total sandwich ruiner.)

(by the time I am done picking out all the stems, my fingers are covered in mayonnaise)

(and I have this pile of yucky stems)

Jimmy Johns - is anyone out there reading??? Do you see the problem? What can we do? I have considered the following:

• One of the lovely guys that took my order said that they peppers come "stemless." HA! We could write a letter to the pepper company.
• You could start charging for the hot peppers on the side! $0.25 or $0.50 would more than cover the cost of a couple sheets of paper.
• What if I brought my own ziplock bags?
• What if I started a fundraiser and raised enough money to buy your pepper paper for you? How much paper do you use on peppers?
• What if I found a sponsor for your pepper paper? "Jimmy Johns pepper paper, sponsored by..." This could be a winner! Again, how much paper do you use on peppers?

Miss. Tuesday is Home!

Guess what! Miss. Tuesday has a home and it's with us! You can read her account of the situation here. She's currently resting comfortably from her surgery. We are up in the library together, watching reruns of Frasier.

Sneaky Buster

I had to take Tuesday to the AARF House after work today to get her second round of distemper shots. When I got home, I put her in her carrier and brought her downstairs. When I got downstairs, Leroy was whimpering. I put Miss Tuesday on the table so Buster Cat Nixon wouldn't get to her (we keep them separated) and then went over to get Leroy situated on the couch before I left the house again. When I turned around, this is what I saw:

(silly cat)

You can read Miss. Tuesday's account of the incident here.

Showering With a Cat

Buster Cat Nixon and I just took a shower together. I would not recommend this.

Buster was a kitten the last time he had a bath human-style. It didn't go well then and we haven't tried again since. I have, on occasion, tried to wash a solitary, dirty paw. Those experiences only reinforced my belief that we shouldn't try the full bath thing again.

Unfortunately this evening Buster had a bit of a litter box snafu. Things didn't go so smoothly and he tried to fix aforementioned snafu by dragging his butt on the floor. UGH! If you have a cat, you have probably experienced this at least one. If you don't...take my word for it - gross.

Christopher and I tried to clean him up, but it really wasn't working. We decided soap and water might be the only way. Additionally, for some reason, Buster had gotten a few matted spots in his fur over the past couple weeks. I figured this might be a good time to go all out and try a full bath.

Duhn-duhn-duhn!

We brought him in the laundry room, started to fill the tub, and somehow he knew what was coming. I'm not sure how he knew, but he knew. He jumped straight up from the floor and hit the TOP of the door frame. (Trying to get out?) I put some flea and tick shampoo we used on him as a kitten in the water, because it has some coat-conditioning stuff that made his fur super soft. I also put some baby shampoo in there that we use to wash Leroy. I soaped up my hands and Christopher put him in the tub.

Wow. This did. not. go smoothly. I know I said this like "Easy-breezy - Christopher just put him in the tub" ...but trust me - it didn't go down like that. There was twisting and flailing and crying and moaning. And that was before his first, little toe even touched the water. Once he hit water, before I knew it, the towel on the side of the sink was in the sink. The washcloth I was going to wash him with was in the sink. An umbrella that was in the back corner of the sink was in the sink. All three bottles of pet/baby shampoo were in the sink. And Buster was just barely in the sink.

He kitty yelled. If he had claws he would have torn us to pieces. I tried to really soap him up good, but the four of our hands could barely keep a hold on him. I was wet. The floor was wet. The counter was covered in water.

I doubt he was in there for more than 90 seconds. He was yelling so bad that he started to pant and almost gasp for breath. It really worried us and I pulled him out, sopping wet, and just held him. If he dripped a drop of water on the floor, he dripped a gallon of water on the floor. No joke. I was completely dripping, but guess what? He was still soapy. And unfortunately I had put that darn flea and tick shampoo in there which, as one might suspect, is not exactly organic. It had to come off of him. Christopher filled a cup of water and tried to gently pour some over him...and me...and the floor. That wasn't really working.

There was really only one other non-submerged-in-sink option left...

Christopher turned the shower on and I followed closely behind. Through the house. With a dripping wet cat in my arms. Fully-clothed, I got in the shower with Buster and tried to rinse all the soap out of his fur. While this wasn't a walk in the park, it actually went a lot better than either of us had imagined. We both emerged from the shower unscathed.

BCN is soap-free, poo-free, mat-free and he's not gasping for air anymore. Bath WIN.

He's been washing himself for the past hour-and-a-half. He actually just got up on Christopher's lap and is now purring while Christopher scratches his head.

We're now bracing ourselves for a hairball the size of Arkansas.

Oh yeah - and we're pretty sure Leroy thinks we torture animals now. Great.

Pensive Peach

Perhaps you recall Ouida's story about the sad little nut? Or maybe even my follow up on more sad vegetation? Well tonight, I came across a pensive peach.

(what do you think he's got on his mind?)

Between Sentences

The New York Public School System (specifically Traver Road Elementary School) never taught me to double-space between sentences. But then we moved to North Carolina and my parents put me in Catholic School and they had me doing all these insane things that I had never done before like diagramming sentences, some shit called “Wordly Wise” (If it’s so wise with the words, how come it doesn’t know that “wordly” isn’t actually a word?), and DOUBLE-SPACING BETWEEN SENTENCES.

(Also, there was even a girl in my class that INSISTED I use the mouse to highlight and delete my misspelled word rather than backspacing. It still annoys me to this day and when ever I realize, two words later, that I misspelled a word, I think about Jennifer Hendy. (I don’t mind calling her out on my blog because I ran into her in the GAP a couple years after 8^th grade and she called me Tiffany. She has no idea who I am.) It takes me more time to take my hands off the keyboard, grab the mouse, highlight (highlighting is a bitch – especially with those 1994 roller ball mouses/mice…that’s a debate for another post), put my hands back on the keyboard to delete and retype the word and then grab the mouse again to get back to the spot I was when I realized, “crap. I misspelled ‘orange’…AGAIN!” Jennifer Hendy was also quite the little tattletale about the double-spacing. Hrmph.)

Anyway – back to the point at hand – the double-spacing thing. I went to college and nobody there told me to stop double-spacing between sentences either – but believe me – I thought about it a lot. Remember? Every time I deleted a word to correct another word, I thought of Jennifer Hendy…and then also thought about the weird double-spacing thing.

After college I was working at an ad agency and I noticed that all the designers’ copy looked so pretty. What was it about their copy that looked so much better than my copy (aside from the fancy Mac typeface)? AH-HA! There were no double spaces between the sentences!!! I immediately marched myself down to the other end of the hall and inquired. “Blech! NO! We certainly DO NOT double-space between sentences!” It was said with all the disdain of someone who had just been spat upon. I freaking knew those nuns were wrong!

I started to investigate a little further. People started double-spacing between sentences because of TYPEWRITERS! Early typewriters were set with monospaced font – meaning that all letters took up the same amount of space. An “i" took up the same horizontal space as a “w.” This meant that some words looked kind of spaced out and it may or may not have made it a little more difficult to tell when one sentence ended and the next started.

By the 1950’s they had totally fixed this. Totally. They did it by using proportional typeface and…wait for it…computers! Ooooo! Aaaaah!

I’m just sayin’ – if you are still double-spacing between sentences, then you need to cancel your Twitter and Facebook accounts and let me know how your new job is going over at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

(Take that Jennifer Hendy!)

Rooster? Cow? ...Chihuahua???

The first week we had Leroy, he slept in his crate with no complaints...then he started to love us. Aaawe. Once he became attached he did not want to be crated at night.

After Leroy had been with us about a week, I came home from work one night to a tail-wagging pup. I was thrilled! That night, we heard terrible, unnatural noises coming from where our tiny little dog should be.

We thought we should ignore it...that did. not. work. Christopher and I were up all night. Finally around 4:00am or so, Christopher jumped out of bed, yelled, "NO!" at him and he was silent. Honestly, I was beside myself worried that the reason he was silent was because Christopher had, literally, scared him to death. Luckily that was not the case.

Night two, I got my phone out. After I got a little snippet of a recording, I firmly told Leroy, "NO!" He was silent. He is such a good dog!

Anyway - I just came across the recording. Here it is:

(there's no video; just sound. and it doesn't really start until :17 and it doesn't really get crazy until :35)

Doggie Paddle

Earlier this past week I was looking at Leroy and thinking how sad it is that he doesn't get more exercise. During the day when we are at work, he is in his crate. While we are sleeping, he is in his crate. If we are doing stuff around the house, he is on the couch sleeping. If we are on the couch watching TV, he is on the couch sleeping. He really enjoys being outside when it's nice out, but our yard isn't fenced in and he won't walk on a leash so he mostly just walks around the yard for a few minutes once or twice a day when we can walk around with him.

Leroy loves laying in the grass, but it's getting pretty hot outside - I don't want to let him sit out there too long and bake.

When we got Leroy, I was really curious about his past life - I tried to find out more about his owner, but I wasn't that successful. I did know his address...and google maps showed that he had a pool in the back yard! Maybe Leory likes to swim???

Well, he didn't hate it, but I'm not sure he loved it. When Christopher put him in, he acted like he was going to swim; his little legs just started moving! But of course the water wasn't deep enough to actually try swimming.

I guess that settles it - we are going to have to get an in-ground pool and see if he likes that any better. Christopher....?

Gardens!

Christopher and I made this flower bed a few weekends ago. Isn't it pretty? Before this it was just the butterfly bush and some grass. I can't wait until all the flowers start coming up and blooming.

(this is where I accidentally spilled some cosmo seeds)

I also planted these little containers of vegetables and herbs! I believe you are familiar with the radishes.

(top row, L to R: either roma or cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, the other tomatoes

bottom row, L to R: basil, radishes, mint, cilantro)

(damn, that mint grows SLOW!)

Farmin'

Check me out - I'm a farmer! I planted some radish seeds in a container on our patio (along with some tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, basil and mint) and guess what! Radishes grow quickly! Aren't they awesome??? I'm quite proud of myself.

Happy 4th Birthday to Buster Cat Nixon!

Happy birthday, Buster Cat Nixon! You rock!

(buster a few days after we brought him home - with his to-this-day favorite toy, which hartz doesn't make anymore. grrr.)

(buster on his 4th birthday with his new yeowww! pollock fish)