A Cornucopia of Feline Delight

A Cute Photo To Reduce Your Ire

Ok, I am sorry I haven't posted. Very very VERY sorry. But after I spill my brain onto this blog about what has happened over the last month you may regret your recent inquiries into my, Yoshi's and Dexter's well being.

We all all good.

Now that I got that out of the way I'll get into a little more detail.

I've been heinously busy. Partly because I am a terrible procrastinator, partly because I am a good citizen and partly because I need to pay the bills. Against all promises I made to myself, my graphic designer, my family and my friends I once again left the creation of the 2009 Iconic Women By Yoshi Calendar to the last minute. What can I say? I work better under pressure. Just not this much pressure. So it is almost done and will be sent to the printer by next week. I'll be opening up Urbanbeast.ca for pre-sales next week as well so you can order the very first copies right away for immediate delivery.

With the addition of Dexter into the mix photographing Yoshi has been a little more difficult. It involves taking Dexter over to my parent's house so Yoshi won't have a grand mal hissy. While more time consuming it has worked out even better as Yoshi loves the one-on-one time and is posing better than ever.

She is so totally and completely hilarious and adorable and I could nom nom nom her to death.

Now about Dexter. He is the cutest, most loving, friendly, happy-go-lucky kitten ON THE PLANET. Without out a doubt everybody who meets him is charmed and smitten instantly. Saying that he is also horribly bad, intentionally annoying, a less than enthusiastic listener, completely lacking in boundaries and manners, clearly not very bright, a terrible farter, and alarmingly destructive.

Yoshi totally hates him.

Her initial curiosity and interest in Dexter was replaced with loathing when he grew bigger and started jumping on her when she was sleeping, looking the other way, eating, trying to poop and minding her own business in general.*

*See above mention of lack of manners and boundaries.

So my day is filled with hissing, growling, spitting, and heartfelt smack-downs. Entirely and totally on Yoshi's part because Dexter just thinks it is all fun and more fun. Did I mention he really is not very bright?

I can say with certainty that I understand why my parents used to get so frustrated when my brother and I bickered because I now experience daily (333333333 TBGE3333333333334 -Dexter intruding on this post) the equivalent of a little boy persistently picking on his older sister. Yoshi has a look that clearly conveys, "MOoooooOOOM! He's looking at me again!"

I am exhausted. I've also taken to yelling, "Simmer DOWN! You guys!"

The futility.

Despite Yoshi's hatred she is actually really happy in general. She is resigned to Dexter's presence and, I think, not as bored as she was. Kind of like the curmudgeonly old lady yelling at the neighbourhood children to get of her lawn. Bitter but fully occupied. I expect that once Dexter grows up and loses his kitteny assholiness they will just sleep the day away in each other's company like boring old cats do.

Random Dexter von Cheddar Stats:
3 1/2 months old
5lbs 11 oz
Meows a lot
Slightly cross-eyed
Eats anything
Drools when purring

Nicknames:

• The Ched
• Ched Head
• Sir Stink-a-lot
• D von C
• NoooooDEXTERNOOOOOO!
• Duuuuude-don't wreck my shit.
• Little One
• Grandmaster Dork

As for me I've suddenly become a little more employed. I've started working a few nights per week as the Theatre Liaison of the 110 person capacity theatre that is located in my apartment building. It works out great since if I feel a little panicky or overwhelmed I can excuse myself for 5 minutes chill-out time in my own apartment with my own kitties. I just make sure that whoever is renting the facilities are treating them with respect and are out of there on time. Sweet little gig, actually.

I'm also now part of my building's Resident Council (sorta like a co-op but different) and have taken a very pro-active approach to dealing with various issues with residents and the building itself. This is totally a volunteer situation and waaaay more work that I anticipated. But good work because being pro-active and solving problems makes me a happier camper overall. I'm also on a committee that is organising and participating in a 3 day Christmas Gala fundraiser for our building (to help subsidize rents) involving an art market and cabaret-style entertainment. I am ALSO treasurer for that which is something I've never done before and am a little nervous about. I continue to be an on-call emergency person in my building one week out of every month as well as work a couple hours per week for my dad.

Yikes, right? Busy but that scattered kind of busy.

So until the calendar is finished and all the surrounding press and products (cards and magnets) are completed I am not going to be posting as much as I'd like. Because my Theatre Liaison position is nights and weekends I am trying to borrow an old laptop so on my down time (when the productions are actually going on) I can maybe write a post or two but, in general, expect me to be scarce until the New Year.

Thanks for checking in and being so patient.

And now here are more Dexter photos and video than you can watch in one sitting.

My Own Personal Sistine Chapel

The Snoozen Housen Usurper Laughs Maniacally At His Sneakiness

'Tocks

Faceplant au Cheddar

Savouring The Deeeeelicious Full Footed Bouquet

Taken Just Now

The Scoop, The Poop, The Skinny

*big sigh*

You have no idea how many times I've said to myself that I HAVE to update my blog and then get totally distracted and, well, don't.

So sorry.

Here is what is happening with me lately.

I am EXTREMELY busy.

Specifically I have, with very little notice, committed to participating in a craft fair. In theory this is a great thing. In practice it means I've been up to 2-2:30 am every night madly sewing stuff to sell. I've got lavender owls (Nighty Night Owls), little zippered pouches, fabric magnets and fabric grocery bags.

I seriously lost my mind and bought a total shit load of incredibly beautiful designer fabric (like several hundred dollars worth [I am a total fabric whore at the best of times but I went overboard with this]) planning to make billions of these bags. Well, it takes about 2 hours for each bag so I am totally running out of time before I am running out of fabric. I know I can sell stuff at the Christmas craft fairs but I really want to do well this weekend so I don't feel bad for buying so much.

You know, that evil mix of guilt and high expectations and stress? I call it 'Oh My God What Have I Done!?!' - That would be me.

Did I mention that somehow I got roped into the committee that is arranging this craft fair (actually they are calling it a Art Market but it takes everything I've got not to call it a Fart Market to their faces) (you know-because it rhymes) (and because I am a 10 year old boy deep inside) so I've got that on my mind as well.

And Oh YES! I've started a little job while not time consuming is also very much on my mind. And then all the work I am doing for UrbanBeast.ca is taking up some serious time.

So the poor blog is really being ignored. So is Yoshi who punished me by pooping on my bathmat the other day. The first time she has ever done anything like that in her 10 years on this planet. The same 10 years that nearly ended when I saw the poop. But it did work as I very quickly stopped ignoring her. Very loudly too.

Anyway, so that is my life right now. Please forgive my lack of updates.

Also anybody want to buy a fabric grocery bag or 6?

Craptastic

Quite the day yesterday. Here is what happened.

1. Photographed the Yoshi calendar on Tuesday. Wasn’t happy with a lot of the first shots so I stayed up all night worrying and got up uber early yesterday and re-shot the whole thing again. Yoshi was not amused but did just fine and was a little furry trooper.
2. So while busy returning the camera gear and putting together all the appropriate images for my graphic designer friend I get a phone call… My dad is in the hospital emergency room. He fell while changing a light-bulb.
3. I run to the hospital and there he is all sad on a gurney. He has broken his hip. Fuck. I hang out there for a few hours.
4. Start making all the appropriate calls. My mom is on Vancouver Island on a mini holiday helping a friend and I can’t get in touch with her. Rally my bro and sis-in-law to “Man The Bedside” while I do some business stuff for my dad and deal with his car, his cell phone and his clients. Dad is feeling ok with just a couple Tylenol 3’s under his belt. All the nurses love him already.
5. Run to my parent’s apartment to get some stuff for him, make more calls, and email another client.
6. Go through a couple hundred photos and burn a disc to take to my graphic designer friend.
7. Return to the hospital with magazines, chocolate and books and hang out to 11 pm. Totally forget to eat all day. My thighs will thank me later.

So poor dad is going to have surgery today to replace part of his hip joint. The docs say despite his age (the nurses keep on betting each other to guess his correct age without looking at the chart. Nobody can believe he is 77. Most guess in the early 60’s range.) his bones are strong and his health is great so he’ll heal up fine and be out of the hospital early next week. He is in good spirits and pissed off and bored already. My mom should be home today in the late afternoon.

So between hospital visits, running my dad’s business and doing the Yoshi calendar I’m going to be scarce around these parts. I’ll update when I can.

Twisty and Kranki Do Vancouver

A few exciting firsts occurred on Sunday which made for a very special day.

First of all I met my very first fellow blogger for reals. I connected with Twisted Uterus who is in town for a vet conference. It was a fantastic surreal experience and very cool to meet her in person. She is a bubbly and enthusiastic lady and we hit it off right away chatting up a storm that didn’t abate the whole day.

I met her in her hotel lobby at 11 am and she graced me with a wonderful TU original pottery piece which I was honoured to receive. We walked through downtown to the beach where we hopped on a water ferry to Granville Island to do some mooching around.

Cherished Giftie

It was quite crowded but very festive with all the colourful produce and other goodies. Twisty took photo after photo which turned out beautifully (check out her Flickr set and you’ll see for yourself) and we checked out the other buildings which house local artists and crafts people. We tried on funky glasses (who wouldn’t allow us to take photos) (we both found frames we liked but didn’t buy. Hers=$375 and mine were $457!) and hats and browsed handmade paper and fabrics. We then checked out the local art college which I attended several years ago. We looked at tonnes of pottery and even a groovy glass studio. I had a nice chat with a young lady whose father has a hand-made shoe studio. I used to work at a shoe store where he made all the prototypes so I was familiar with his work. We gossiped about the olden days. Well what she knew of them as she was only 3 years old at the time the olden days were happening. I saw a dream pair of clogs which are made specially to your foot measurements for only $475. Clearly, I gotta get on winning that lottery.

Checking out the weird ass tomatoes.

The Cookie Hunter

Urban Hippy Political Correctness

Waiting for the yacht valet to bring 'round our ocean chariot.

TU and I decided that instead of eating out we would get some yummy stuff for dinner at the market and eat at my place. I had some homemade tomato pasta sauce in my fridge (thankyoujesus!) so TU got the yummy fresh pasta and prawns and I got the salad stuff and cheese. We split dessert with cookies and cinnamon bun bread.

The old house where I used to live is right by the water ferry so on the way back we stopped by for a quick visit to meet up with my human friends and Lulu, Xiola and Winston The Cat. Twisty got a poochy fix and had a cuddle with Lulu who showed us all that once again she is a super sweet dog. She and Xiola showed off by playing and wrestling complete with scary fake growling and tug-o-war.

Some rainy day Lulu Lovin'.

Covered in dog hair we checked out a very cool social housing project featuring restored Victorian houses complete with running brook and goldfish pond. Next door is the Dr. Peter Aids Centre and Hospice which prompted a lively discussion about healthcare and how important it is.

I got to scope out her hotel room which was very shmancy. While there I checked out some of her photos as well. She has a gorgeous coffee-table book/album made up with her work which totally inspired me. We also talked about dating/guys and are on the same page on that. Picky, picky, picky…

Finally we made it to my place and just in the nick of time as we were both starving and pooped out from all the walking. We cooked up a delicious dinner and scarfed it all down leaving nothing on our plates. This is where the second first-of-the-day came into play. I’ve lived at my place for 15 months and this was the first time I’ve used one of my rear burners on my stove thus illustrating to TU (and now you) that I am not much of a dinner party thrower and normally lead a Kraft Dinner sort of existence.

Yoshi surprised me by being rather friendly and show-offy right away. She tried to mooch food from Twisty and was quite bad in cute ways zooming around and playing with her playzen tuben. She was so social that TU did a risky thing and tried to pick her up. Yoshi let her do it (the third first-of-the-day) but then the vibe changed and the typical Yoshi bitchiness reared its ugly head. Of course we laughed all the harder for her attitude and picked on her even more.

That cat is about as cuddly as a cactus on fire.

Perhaps some hissing for you this evening?

Asshole Cat Extreme Close-up

I drove her back to her hotel about 10 pm after a really fantastic day. I feel like I’ve made a real friend and I hope I will get to hang out with her again. TU is a talented and fun chick. I had the best time and I hope she had fun too. Thanks for the great day, Twisty!

Mad Props for my Bloggies. WORD!

A couple weeks ago I was nominated as an inspirational blogger by Hit and Run. She is a fellow cancerous chick who totally held it together as a single mom with two young girls while undergoing chemo, radiation and surgeries for breast cancer. Well, the feeling is definitely mutual. Anybody who can keep it going with kids, let alone while feeling like ass on a grand scale, has nothing but my admiration and respect. HAR totally rocks. Fact is all the blogs I follow inspire me in some way. I wouldn’t read them if they didn’t resonate on some level. What some bloggers may not know is that I usually lurk. I actually only comment on very few of the blogs I visit on a daily basis. I can assure you, if you have visited me I’ve been by your blog several times at least if not everyday. I might not comment because, quite honestly, I am quite shy.

Here are a few blogs I find inspirational for one reason or another. You might find them interesting as well.

Random and Odd-Kristine and I have something in common. We both have anxiety disorders that affect and limit our lives in some way or another. She inspires me because she not only keeps her sense of humour about it all but is able to convey very eloquently what it is like to navigate a busy life under these circumstances. She has a huge (and gorgeous) family that she takes care of and I simply don’t know how she does it. It would be an understatement to say it cannot be easy.

The Blog Pound-Leigh-Ann lives in Las Vegas with her partner Flippy. A fellow Canadian, she runs a home based animal rescue operation where she predominately takes in orphaned kittens and ill animals. She bottle feeds and nurses these poor pookers back to health without any significant outside financial help. She and Flippy pay out of pocket to spay and neuter animals they find as well. The time and effort she spends on her fur babies is very inspirational. She is continually researching and investigating the best food for her charges and recently has started making all her own dog and cat food from scratch. I can assure you there are dogs and cats out there that wouldn’t have made it without the exceptional care and love from Leigh-Ann.

WTFsanjo-I cannot remember how I found Katie but she is also a fellow breast cancer babe. She is also only 28 years old. Her sense of humour about the vile stuff she has had to go through is mind-blowingly inspirational. She has also proudly posted photos of her recent mastectomy and reconstruction. Something I have thought about doing a lot but always chickened out on.

Lost in a World Awhirl-Alan always knows just the right thing to say in the comment section. He is cheerful, uplifting and inspirational. He works his ass off, cooks, cleans, does laundry, and treats his wife like gold as well as gets up to all sorts of stuff with his kids and grandkids. This guy lives a very full life and he always reminds me to enjoy the little things.

Electric Boogaloo-Tiffany can write about her boys, Nicolaus and Graham like nobody else. Descriptive and irreverent, she makes their every quirk fascinating and hilarious. Even when they are being bad they are funny and cute and adorable. She is also an awesome artist and photographer. I cannot wait until she puts up a new post so I can laugh over what has been going on at her house. You may know her as the former owner of Mos the Harbil Starving Dag.

Subversive Cross-Stitch-Julie mailed me a cross-stitch pattern and I’ve been hooked since. This new hobby is one of the few things that really relaxes me so I am eternally grateful. She also has a cat, Boone, who could be Yoshi’s twin brother. She inspires me to be creative and craft fun stuff. She also rocks as she is maintaining a successful business through her creative crafting. Awesome!

What Was I Thinking-most of you know Susie and her wonderful blog. This chick always writes so beautifully about funny life things or serious life things or scary life things. Such talent! She always knows just what to say and I respect that greatly. Lately she has been dealing with WTF and still is able to keep up her blog writing poignant and emotional posts. She is one brave and excellent lady.

KLOG-Kalki is another gal who can write a hilarious description of a recent Target visit and then the very next day describe in heart-breaking detail the rich and fulfilling relationship she has with her husband. For a gal so young she really gets it. Such an old soul. And, like me, she makes up with caternal instinct what she lacks in maternal urges.

I could go on and on about so many blogs I love but I’ll keep it from getting unruly around here. So ladies and gents-thanks for the inspiration.

I have never done this before but I would love for you all to de-lurk and tell me what/what inspires you.

8 Random Things - A Meme

HAR tagged me for a meme asking that I present 8 Random Things you might not know about me. Or don't really care about. In turn I am supposed to pick another 8 bloggers to do the meme and so on and so on...

I pick YOU! If you want to do this meme then please do. And let me know so I can come by your blog and poke fun at all your idiosyncrasies (as I know I am going to be harassed for mine).

8 Random Things About Me

-I fold my underwear. Panties, bras, everything.

-I like complete sets of things. For instance if I break a glass or two I will pack up the rest for the second hand store and get a brand new set. I do not like to mix and match unless it is intentional.

-Before you start thinking I am an anal freak-show I also rarely make my bed. Only if I am having visitors.

-I almost always eat out of a pasta bowl. I don’t necessarily mix all my food together in one but often have a few pasta bowls going at a meal. I think this is because I found it was easier and less messy to eat out of a bowl on the couch in front of the TV and even though I have a dining table now the habit is hard to break. Also maybe because I eat a lot of pasta.

-I hate waiting. I hate being early but I also do not like being late. I will wait in my car in the parking lot before I’d wait in the waiting room of a doc’s office. I like to walk in about 3-5 minutes early for an appointment. This is because of my anxiety issues.

-I have not eaten in a restaurant for over 2 ½ years. This is also because of my anxiety problem. I have only eaten take-out/delivery food once in the last 7 months. This is because of a New Years resolution I made to stop wasting money on food I could make more healthily at home. The one time I slipped it was for a favourite vegetarian take-out place I used to love. They had changed the menu and it sucked. What a waste of money.

-I hate Starbucks. I think fancy coffee is overrated, too expensive and all the paper cups thrown away an insult to the environment. It has been years since I’ve had a fancy coffee type drink. I do have a couple Starbucks mugs as gifts from other people. I also used to have a Starbucks Card as it was necessary for my job (film people are addicted to Starbucks) to buy my “turn” of coffee for my co-workers. If I ever do get a coffee/tea/hot chocolate I try to go to a locally owned coffee place and bring my own cup.

-I have a serious sweet tooth. Even though I eat very healthily I am a bit overweight as I must have something chocolaty everyday. I try and try to find a way to make my chocolate fix healthy but I still feel guilty about it and like a slave to my addiction. Saying that, I guess as habits go it isn’t too terrible. I don’t drink alcohol, do drugs or smoke. I don’t like fast cars, fast men OR fast women. I don’t own a thousand pairs of shoes or have a diamond ankle bracelet collection. But still…I wish I could get over the chocolate.

Crush Your Cat's Head Friday-Meltdown

Well, talk about technical difficulties...isn't there a pill for that? Oh, never mind.

Mrtl made a great new logo for Crush Your Cat's Head Friday but I cannot get it to work animation-wise on Blogger. It just shows up as an image. So please go here to see what was supposed to be posted here on Friday.

Thanks, mrtl, for your evil genius. Thanks, Blogger, for your buttheadedness. And thanks to anybody who can troubleshoot this animated gif issue for me.

All Sick and Twisted Roads Lead To My Blog

Once again I have compiled a tremendous list of how various people have found their way to my blog. One could argue that a blog stat counter might just provide information better left unknown. I say knowledge is power and, in this case, pretty fucking bizarre.

Here is a list of searches terms that resulted in a visit to this site;

-gay hermit

-ladies peeing while running London marathon

-Yorkie haircuts

-why is my poop long and skinny

-cross dressers in hair rollers

-homemade catshit

-fembot nipples

-asshole burning by dominatrix

-love it when she moans

-penis crushing video

-getting fucked in slut boots ripping assholes

-I am completely alienated how can I fix the world

-long johns fever

-cute constipated girls

-sexy farting women

-pussy cancer

-butch haircut suck

-crush pet hard

-shiny boobs

-bad Barney

-head in pussy

-good looking old guys

-Persian cat revenge

-new hooties

-how do I stop my toilet from running besides jiggling the handle

-I'd like to have an elephant for Christmas

-medical ass injection films

-older brothers tittie twisting their younger brothers

-pictures of possum poo

-melon fuckers

-acidophilus pill in your ass

-tittie twisting bras

-dishwasher making loud moaning sound

Really, human beings freak me out. In a good way.

Incoherent

I am a total asshole. There is a serious lack of posting around these parts and it is completely my fault. I owe a photo of myself to Sharkey to celebrate her 5th Re-Birthday and I thought this would also be an excellent way to show you all how much my hair has grown out as well as a bit of cleavage with the new hooties. I even have the outfit picked out and everything. Here is the problem; being a single genteel lady living on my own who the fricking hell can I get to take my photo? I tried to set up some timer balancing act with my camera on various surfaces with crappy results. I have to get one of my parents over to take the photo. Or go to Sears Portrait Studio. So I’m sorry but you all will have to wait.

I cooked up some CDs for Kristine per her heartfelt request but both yesterday and today I got to the post office after closing so the envelope sadly sits in my car weeping softly to itself. Hold on Kristine! It’s coming!

I would love to tell you all about how much my neighbour hates my ass and describe the look on her face as she glares at me every chance she gets. Sadly it has come to my attention that people Googling my full name are directed to this supposedly anonymous site. In no place does my name appear in any posts or comments so I have no idea how this is happening. **If anybody can help me with this issue I’d love your input.** I’ve noticed lots of folks getting to my blog via my name lately so I have to be a little more circumspect with my rantings until I get this all figured out. I am fully convinced that this lovely lady’s wrath shooting through her fingertips would short circuit a computer if she tried to research me but just in case I won’t be getting into any details. Yet…

So has anybody had any experiences ordering prescription glasses via an internet site? I’ve found a fabu set of frames (in an olive colour) but, of course, cannot be sure they will suit me. I also argue with myself over paying half the price for online lenses opposed to getting the prescription filled here in town where I can deal easily with any potential problems. Any horror stories? Or did you get a great product at a great deal?

I dropped off some stuff I cleaned out of my storage space at the Salvation Army today. While there I poked around in some bins and found a freaking great set of mid century stainless steel serving dishes with gorgeous Bakelite handles and feet. $5 for the both of them!! SCORE!

Lulu My Almost Dog went on her very first camping trip this weekend. You can see pics at my friend’s Facebook site. I’m not sure if you have to join to view photos. Let me know if you have trouble and I will try to get the original jpegs posted.

HEY! Thanks so much for sending out birthday cards to Shane. I appreciate it and I'm sure he will be thrilled.

So I’m sorry I am such a lousy friend but I can promise you a fabulous Crush Your Cat’s Head Friday compliments of MRTL this week. It will be the best one EVAH!

Redemption is mine!

On a Roll

I have been very remiss in my blogging duties lately and each night I fully intend to sit down and write something highly interesting, intellectual and introspective but then suddenly see something shiny out of the corner of my eye and I thereby enter a trance-like state of sorts and forget all about my blogging intentions.

The fact is this; for some reason I am going through a highly Energetic Phase which is very unlike my normal Every Day Lethargic Phase for the last couple years. Between breast cancer, multiple treatments, 5 surgeries, horrific anxiety and my very own personal pity party I have been sitting on my ass watching a lot of TV lately and doing very little else. Why so hyper now? I am not sure if it is Springtime, my fabulous antidepressants kicking in or melamine poisoning in my Wheaties causing me to feel able to get vertical but I am not wasting this energy spike by trying to ascertain its cause.

Here is a list of what I have been up to the last couple weeks:

-completely cleared out my closet and all my drawers resulting in 3 black garbage bags of old clothes and stuff to be given to charity as well as a huge bag to be thrown away.

-drove all that stuff to the Salvation Army.

-multiple trips to IKEA for all those little bits I desperately need to make my house a home blah blah blah (totally falling for marketing hype).

-2 trips to the vet with dogs and cat (my friend’s animals which includes Lulu) for the dogs’ booster shots and tests for the cat who perhaps was fed tainted food. The cat is not poisoned but has urinary crystals. He also has a very bad case of the grumpies.

-2 trips each week to therapy plus a routine check-up at the Cancer Agency (everything is fine) as well as an appointment at my brain doc for happy meds. I also had a visit from my fabulously nice home care nurse (actually he is a murse [man nurse]) for my monthly injection to put me in menopause. That is a whole other post which I will get to another day when I am not having a hot flash. I also got my eyes tested. Still blind.

-plucked my eyebrows.

-went to Canadian Tire for compact fluorescent light bulbs (to do my bit for greenhouse gasses), bins for organising my storage locker, and fabulously cool new windshield wipers.

-repaired a chip in my bathtub as well a fixed caulking issues with precise wielding of razor blade.

-did my income tax return.

-organised my filing cabinet.

-vigorously brushed cat and then vacuumed for hours picking up all the mini Yoshi’s rolling around.

-recovered cat scratching post with new carpet.

-spent several hours going through all sorts of my stuff which was damaged by a water leak in the basement several months ago and put everything in plastic bins. Threw out 2 black garbage bags of moldy papers and photos.

-helped my folks clean on two different days.

-washed my car inside and out which took 3 hours. Went as far as to use Q-Tips for crevices. Also cleaned all the junk from my trunk and vacuumed there too.

-obsessively researched the prices of new eyeglasses online (see above blindness issues).

-watched the entire second season of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD. Now has unhealthy crush on Denny Duquette character.

-dumped out and washed all my spice jars. I am getting fresh contents so I am inspired to cook more.

-cleaned up and rewired nice lamp I found by the dumpster.

-attended a 3 hour course.

-bought two gifts in two different parts of town.

-did research for my business plan.

-cleaned my apartment in a very anal manner.

-completely disconnected my computer and all the peripherals and reconnected them in an obsessively tidy way including a revolting amount of zip ties.

-went on mini shopping trip at great store in crappy part of town. Got good deals but almost got mugged.

-read 6 books.

-polished my stainless steel cutlery.

-shopped online for Father’s Day and Christmas presents. I KNOW! Sick.

And tomorrow I am taking my car in for repairs, getting my hair coloured and washing all my floors. Then sometime over the next week I will be helping my mom make a new bed skirt, shopping for new eyeglasses, taking the dogs to the dog park, getting my clothing dryer fixed, researching materials for my business plan which means visiting distant warehouses, attending physio for my shoulder affected by my last reconstruction surgery, driving an hour to a nearby town to see my friend’s new puppy, going back to IKEA to exchange a lamp shade once they get new stock, making pillow covers, getting a pedicure and a bikini wax, buying some little replacement bits for my car and fixing my fax machine.

I cannot stop doing stuff.

It is kinda cool.

Angst Is The New Black

Well…what do you know? It seems I have found myself right in the middle of a real live ker'fuffle. Boy-oh-boy, you have no idea what my day has been like.

It appears that The Jilted Adopters I posted about yesterday Googled my name and/or Lulu’s name and found my blog. Heeee! And of course the first thing I thought was, “Excellent!! Well I know what I’ll be blogging about tonight.” They read what I wrote about them and were very upset. So upset that they tattled about my blog to my friend who is fostering Lulu and the nice lady who runs the rescue shelter. Well, my friend reads me regularly and nothing I write surprises her anymore. I don’t know what The Nice Rescue Lady thought about this collection of my incoherent ramblings but she still stands behind me and my decision. I have always strictly adhered to a policy of never writing anything on my blog that I wouldn’t be 100% comfortable saying to anybody’s face and saying that I still firmly stand behind yesterday’s post.

I know they are upset. I know there were reasons why what happened happened. I know they are mad at me. I’d be mad at me too if I was in their shoes. I really would. I have no problem with their anger. It doesn’t bother me. None of that ultimately matters to me because for me all this has not been about emotions and whose feelings got hurt. It has been about getting Lulu into a fantastic home ASAP.

So, yes, they are upset and I’m told that they don’t feel that they have been given the opportunity to state their side of the story. Well, this is my blog for my opinions and if they want to start their own blog for theirs then they should. In fact I’d happily link to it. I have some blog domain name ideas for them. How about wehateherass.com or krankiisafuckinglyingwhorelady.com. I have absolutely nothing to hide. Seriously. I’ve always been open to finding out why things went wrong? You see, as well as finking about my blog they have also been sending detailed emails to my friend and The Nice Rescue Lady outlining in gory detail how I did them wrong. So while everybody else seems to be in the know about their side of the story they have never actually taken up their issues about me with me. I’ve not received copies of any of their complaints. And I can’t approach them as I was ordered by the husband in his nasty email to “NEVER” contact them again. Which I haven’t.

Here’s the thing. While I don’t have any copies in my possession of any of these emails they sent to other people about me I have been told a few particular items of interest. Now let me assure everybody that I would never have lightly or foolishly blogged about my experience if I didn’t follow some ground rules. I never identified anybody by name. I never identified anybody’s occupations or places of work. There is absolutely no way my silly little opinion, as misguided as it apparently is, could ever be traced to any particular person or people. And in addition to that I never said anything about the situation that I couldn’t back-up and prove outright with emails I sent and received. I could even promise that if it came to anything ugly phone records would prove my position as well. No, not the content of conversations but whether phone conversations ever took place. I hate to be cryptic here and I won’t get too detailed. He will know what I mean. How CSI, huh?

Hearing certain negative assertions about my conduct and how I supposedly threatened, harassed and pestered them that I know are blatantly untrue and can be totally disproved by the information I have in my possession only makes me laugh even harder. Like I am talking REALLY hard here. Like there is even milk coming out of my nose.

So on the off chance you guys are reading this *waves hello* please feel free to comment and/or post a link if you’d like to state your side of the story. From the very beginning all I ever wanted was to hear from you and be updated and kept abreast of your situation. But I warn you, please be very careful what you accuse me of. I, in all seriousness, suggest you go over the emails I sent and you sent and be very sure of what you are going to say about me in writing to post on the internet. I say this because if there are any untruths I will not hesitate to set the record straight.

I’ll say it one more time. I’ve kept every single email.

PS-I'll tell you all some good news tomorrow.

Nasty! Don't Mean a Thing!

In the two years I’ve been writing my blog I’ve never received an icky comment or shitty email. Everybody has been nothing but lovely, supportive and kind. So YAY! and Thank You! and all that because I think that kind of bad stuff, in large enough doses, could really get to a person after a while.

So imagine my surprise when a rather nasty email arrived in my inbox today. Not from a fellow blogger or internet troll but from the person who had been chosen to adopt Lulu.

I have spent the last week and an half fielding several emails per day from people who were eager and excited about the prospect of bringing Lulu into their homes. The rescue shelter where I adopted her from had very strict criteria to meet so most of these applicants were rejected. Friends of my friend who is fostering Lulu at the moment expressed interest and we encouraged them to apply to adopt Lulu. They did and the rescue shelter lady wasn’t sure they were the right match but my friend and I raved about them and promised that they’d be perfect. Against her better judgment she agreed to the adoption saying she trusted us.

And then the slow decline into hell began. The husband of the couple who seemed to be the spokesperson of the two was not the slightest bit excited when I called to let them know they had been accepted to adopt Lulu. In fact he brushed me off saying he’d call later and then didn’t. I emailed him asking for a date/timeline/ball-park estimate as to when they wanted to take Lulu with no reply. I asked for any kind of information at all about their intentions and got no reply. He did venture to say he wanted to take Lulu for the day to introduce her to their cat and then didn’t make arrangements to pick her up or even contact me to let me know what was happening. A complete no-show.

Well…I sent a very nice email expressing my concerns that there seemed to be some sort of disconnect and that I was not getting the information I needed to get them and Lulu together. I explained my obligations towards the rescue shelter and my responsibilities towards Lulu. I outlined how the payment of the adoption fee would work depending on how the adoption was arranged; immediate pick up or slow introduction into their home. I asked them to give me their thoughts and wishes so we could work together to get Lulu happy and settled.

I got no reply.

So I cancelled the adoption.

And when I emailed to tell them so I wasn’t so nice anymore. I certainly wasn’t rude but I made VERY clear the reasons why I was not going to adopt Lulu to them and nothing was sugar coated. I questioned why they had applied for Lulu in the first place. I explained what they should have done and what they didn’t do. I outlined the circumstances of their application and how my friend and I had stuck our necks out to get them accepted. I told them what an embarrassing and awkward situation they had put us in with the shelter. I said they owed my friend an apology as she had advocated for them very strongly and they let her down. I said they had let Lulu down as well.

Ok-maybe not the kind of email one wants to get but there were no profanities. No personal attacks. Just the irrefutable facts of the matter, my side of the situation and the predicament I was now in. Hell, I have the whole adoption exchange on email and words don’t lie! They totally blew me off.

And that is when the husband sent me the nasty email. It was personal, it was low, it was petty and it contained a very blatant lie. A horrible ass covering desperate lie. A lie that one shouldn’t commit to paper and send out into the world because it is gonna come back and bite you on that ass you are trying to protect.

Remember, I have all the emails...

The best part was that this nasty email was also really funny. I laughed out loud when I read it.

A couple years ago this email would have devastated me. I would have been agonizing that they didn’t liiiike meeee or that it was unnnnfaaaiiiirr. Not now. All those happy pills and hours of therapy have done the trick. And the best part is that a year of picking apart all my idiosyncrasies and issues with a therapist has given me the knowledge and insight to be able to pick apart the mental freakiness of others. And let me tell you this email was filled with all sorts of very interesting and telling things to pick apart. Veeeeery interesting. And that made it all the funnier.

Growing up so rocks.