P365 Day 143: The lazy cat's guide to hunting

Fred doesn't chase toys as much as stand there menacingly with her mouth open, waiting for the toy to fly in. I'm not quite sure how she survived in the wild before she came to live with us. Perhaps she took advantage of very suicidal birds.

I seem to have lost my jump drive at some point when I was in Memphis. I haven't checked the car thoroughly, so it might be in there. I'm a little distressed though; while there weren't any super-personal files on there (e.g., tax returns), I did keep a copy of a lot of work files on there. I'm crossing my fingers that I backed those files up someplace other than the jump drive, which was ... well ... my backup.

P365 Day 142: Resisting temptation

Knowing that we weren't going to Memphis for Christmas, my aunt and uncle gave Paul and me our Christmas gift early, but with a stern warning: Do not open until Dec. 1.

My aunt drove home the point with an e-mail today: "Tell Paul only two more days until he can open the gift...remember that the Christmas fairies will be upset if you open it early!!!!!"

Paul's gently shaken the box and we have determined it is not a puppy. Beyond that, no clue.

P365 Day 141: Every king has his castle

Paul and I came across this ginormous Burger King playground right off the interstate somewhere in Georgia (or was it Mississippi?). Those tubes and slides and what-have-you are loads fancier than the single slide and jungle gym at the McDonald's near where I grew up.

I have never so badly wished I was no taller than 4'11".

P365 Day 140: All my sugar-free dreams have come true

P365 Day 139: Feast after feast

Thanksgiving spread for Dad's side of the family:


Thanksgiving spread for Mom's side of the family (plus Dad):


I didn't even get a picture of the feast Paul's parents prepared for us. We've been well-fed during our trip to Memphis.

I thought I was going to spend Black Friday morning at Old Navy for the Lego Rock Band promotion, but Paul balked at my adventurous spirit. He didn't even give in when I cried. Instead, he just went to Wal-Mart and bought Lego Rock Band, which defeated the point of going out on Black Friday in the first place. So instead, we're going back to Charleston tomorrow morning.

Ah, gotta go. The family's making s'mores (over an open fire, no less) and I should probably head that way.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Warm fuzzies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As much as I love my friends and family, it's easy to take them for granted — especially when they're just down the street. Moving 11 hours from home base has made me realize how important little moments can be. No spades game I play will be exactly the same (or as epic) as the one I played this summer. And no Thanksgiving will be exactly the same as today.

I don't tell my little tribe often enough how much I love them, how much they keep me going when I'm depressed and how they calm me down when I'm upset. Just as no day will ever be the same as today, no one can replace the special place in my heart I have for my family and friends.

So on this Thanksgiving, I send my love out to my husband, my parents and in-laws, and my little group of friends that sticks by me no matter what. And on this special day, I also give thanks for my "new" old family: Carol, Cari and Lynn.

I love you guys. Thank you for being you.

P365 Day 138: Being watched

Ever get the feeling you're being watched? By a red panda in a tree? ... It could happen. And this one never blinked. It was the creepiest staring contest I've had in a while.

Paul and I spent the afternoon at the Memphis Zoo (plug: Voted the No. 1 zoo in America by TripAdvisor — go see it). The baby grizzly bears in the newly opened Teton Trek were particularly endearing, which made up for the fact that giant pandas Ya Ya and Le Le were nowhere to be found (nothing new).

Tonight — actually as soon as I finish this darned post and get my butt off the computer — Paul and I are going to his family's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Then two more Thanksgiving celebrations tomorrow.

I'm vaguely considering standing in line for the 3 a.m. Old Navy Lego Rock Band promotion. Am I crazy?

P365 Day 137: In which I see a movie that hits close to home

Mom and I went to see The Blind Side this afternoon. It's based on where I went to high school, though Michael Oher graduated a few years after me. It was fun figuring out which mean and awesome teachers were being portrayed. I've made no secret on my blog that even though I did well in high school, it left a progressively worse taste in my mouth each year, culminating with me going off to college and realizing there was a world out there that didn't revolve around constant Southern Baptist indoctrination with a hefty side of favoritism. (Twelve years of that!)

In that regard, The Blind Side was a nice reminder that even though I look back now and think, "Wooo, I'm glad that's over," there were plenty of good moments and teachers and families and friends that made it tolerable and, in many cases, even worthwhile. Ah, maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. I know at least a couple of my high school friends read this and are as cynical as me (or more!). To you, I suggest seeing The Blind Side and pelting tomatoes at the screen when the mean ol' English teacher comes around. :-)

Tonight: Tigers basketball game. Looking forward to seeing some Memphis hoops under new coach Josh Pastner. We're gonna rock the socks off Central Arkansas.

P365 Day 136: Landing for lunch (I've missed this!)

Had a great, late, long lunch with Johanna today. Then I went shopping for jewelry supplies. In short, it was a great afternoon.

P365 Day 135: He reminds me of the Cadbury bunny

This is my parents' other fluffy friend, Buddy. Buddy likes kale and carrots, and sometimes he suffers from sticky bottom.

And now you know about all the non-Kate kids living in my parents' house. I think.

P365 Day 134: The welcoming committee

Meet Joey. Joey really likes hangin' around, sniffing things, biting his tail and begging for anything and everything consumable. He gave me a big doggie hug before I even got to say hello to my parents. Thanks for making me feel loved, Joey. :-)

Now, off to bed. Things to do, people to see and whatnot.

P365 Day 133: No cat pics for a week

What? You're going to Memphis for a week and won't be able to take close-ups of me? Absolutely Thrilling.

Paul and I are headed home for the holidays. Well, at least for Thanksgiving. We're going to be spending Christmas in Chas. with no tree and no fuss. Paul will be spending most of Thanksgiving break working, but that's OK. Just being back in Memphis, near family and friends, is worth the 11-hour drive.

Plug your ears. Or don't and leave me feedback.

Found this online. It's part of the Indian River High School Talent Show of 1996:



Trainwreck. I watched the whole thing. Couldn't turn away.

P365 Day 132: That's just trashy

Dirty little secret (pun intended): One of the selling points on this apartment — along with the great view, the huge porch and the decent cost of rent — was the super-cool, then-new Valet Waste trash pickup.

Five days a week, we don't have to worry about driving to the dumpster because dudes with huge bags on their backs go door-to-door picking up everyone's trash and driving it over to the dumpster for them. It's every lazy, trash-producing person's dream!

P365 Day 131: Drains and things (plus my longing for a theme song)

Cat logic: Humans stand in the shower and get clean. If I stand in the shower and stare at the drain, I'll be clean too! (Joe-Kitty isn't alone with her bathroom fascination. See here, here, here and here.)

In other news, I have posted a new item to my Metawishlist: a custom song by the band Dubious Ranger. When I first heard that this band was writing theme songs, I e-mailed my buddy over at Cheddar FonDrew and told him. He didn't delay in ordering a song. What did he tell them? That he loves Abba to Zappa, Hank Sr. to Dinosaur Jr.; that his nickname is Dr. Ew; and that he once temporary-tattooed his face on the back of his head (and as a tramp stamp. Eww.). I also made him send them this picture because that itself is worth a song.

So, you know, if anyone wants to drop $25 on a custom Fairly Incrediblekate theme song ... well, that would be all kinds of awesome.

P365 Day 130: Target comes through for me again

The other day, I was doing a little shopping in the "hip" part of Charleston. I felt out of place until someone complimented me on my purse. I didn't tell them I bought it for $7 at Target. I'll just let them go on thinking I'm one of the cool kids and that I picked it up as a one-off at one of the other hip boutiques downtown.

I'm in a really good mood today, despite my lips being swollen beyond belief because of one of my meds. (N.B.: Disappointingly, I don't look like Angelina Jolie. Apparently that takes more than big lips. Also, at least this med doesn't make my hair fall out in clumps like the last one did.)

I like being in a good mood. I'm taking Paul out to dinner.

And I'm carrying my $7 Target purse.

P365 Day 129: Two down, five to go

I'm starting book three of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm really enjoying the books so far, save for one thing: They make me stay up way past my bedtime, with the covers over my head and my booklight faithfully keeping me company.

I feel like a kid again. :-)

P365 Day 128: Beadalicious

Here are my spoils from the bead store today. That should keep me busy for a while.

P365 Day 127: But I'm sure she'd never sleep on a cat bed if we bought one

You know how I said Fred-Kitty sleeps on our beach towels? She sleeps on the rest of our clean clothes as well. I guess they're fluffier and more comfortable than our dirty clothes. Or maybe she just likes the idea of fuzzing stuff we haven't worn yet.

We head to Memphis a week from today. Paul will spend much of the week working, but I'll be free for a couple of days. And of course I'm looking forward to the Tigers basketball game Tuesday night! Go Tigers!

P365 Day 126: Work is *fun*

That huge smile? And he was working. Joe-Kitty makes everything smile-worthy. Well, except when she's making excellent barfs on my shoes. Hey, I don't appreciate that, little missy.

Happy Friday the 13th, folks.

P365 Day 125: Chicken of the sea

This time, I got both dino-shaped and whale- and dolphin-shaped chicken nuggets. (I skipped the snowflake-shaped holiday ones. Boring.) They cost about the same as other nuggets — $4.98 and $3.98 for 40 nuggets, respectively — so why the hell not?

What wonders will the frozen food section yield next time? I've never before looked forward so much to grocery shopping.

Crazy Little Thing Called Kate

I have of late become a huge Queen fan and for reasons I can't yet divulge, I have to re-create this Freddie Mercury screencap — and it's not even Halloween anymore:



It'll have to wait till after Thanksgiving so I can dye my hair darker. I'll wear a white wifebeater with my red ascot.

Main obstacle: creating an even semi-convincing mustache. Suggestions?

P.S. If you want the full video (it's a live version of "We Are the Champions"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdCrZfTkG1c

P365 Day 124: Queen of the printer

She presses the buttons, listens to the beeps and seizes anything that prints. We really shouldn't blame the "crappy printer" when things look bad. More than likely, it's PEBCAPT — Problem Exists Between Cat and Paper Tray.

P365 Day 123: Saturday night blues

I really, really wanted some Cheetos puffs tonight — not a problem since I was going grocery shopping anyway. One problem: Wal-Mart was out of regular Cheetos puffs and only had these, which turn your tongue blue when you eat them.

But that's not what's weird about them. What got me was the note in the bottom corner: Saturday Night Comes Alive. Because sitting alone at home on a Saturday night sucks ... unless you're full of artificially flavored orange cheese poofs and have an artificially colored blue tongue. ... I will try this on Saturday and report back.

P365 Day 122: My feet are 100% more pink and flowery now

I bought these jelly flip-flops (but not the Joe-Kitty) in an off-season sale for $1. Can't beat that. I wear the heck out of flip-flops, so I'm sure I'll get more than a buck's worth of mileage out of them.

In other news, this shirt comes with a spoiler alert, but you should check it out. Still, don't say I didn't warn you.

P365 Day 121: Starting on Christmas gifts

Posting this because Mom doesn't read my blog. She asked that I create a necklace for her for Christmas using brown components. (She wears a lot of brown.) She picked out the jasper focal bead, which I wrapped in sterling. I then added unakite leaves, tiger's eye hearts, gold glass beads and — as a personal touch — amber cylinders I reclaimed from a 1970s necklace she gave me. I hope she likes it.

I guess I need to get hoppin' on the rest of my Christmas gifts. We're going to Memphis for Thanksgiving but not Christmas, so I need to have my ducks in a row in the next couple of weeks.

P365 Day 120: In the friend zone

Saw this in the GameStop parking lot tonight:


I wish I knew the story that led up to that moment.

P365 Day 119: The best cat toys are free

Fred-Kitty and Joe-Kitty do not care that I got the Harry Potter box set. They just wanted the box:

Fred:


Joe:

P365 Day 118: Christmas in November

Oh my goodness! A box? For me? What could it be?


The entire Harry Potter collection! An early Christmas gift from Paul.


Now all I need is a book light so I don't keep him awake.

P365 Day 117: All your towels are belong to us

Every towel in the house eventually falls prey to a sleeping cat. Even the beach towels. Especially the beach towels. Hopefully this one is salvageable by next swimming season.

P365 Day 116: A bite to eat

Why buy boring groceries such as milk and eggs when you can buy fun groceries such as dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets? Rawr!

P365 Day 115: Queen of the heap

Joe-Kitty likes to stay on top of everything. And I mean everything.

I finished the first Harry Potter book last night. It was a quick read, with most of it knocked out the other day while I was waiting at Saturn for an oil change. I'd already decided to read the whole series and watch the movies, but I'm trying to decide whether I should read a book and watch its corresponding movie, or read all the books then watch all the movies. (The last two movies, both based on the last book, come out in November 2010 and July 2011.) Suggestions?

P365 Day 114: Sunset through the trees

Nice fall sunset. Looks like the leaves are finally starting to change on the trees surrounding the live oak. I hear it's been beautiful back in Memphis — and my Animal Crossing town is decked out for autumn — but I haven't seen much of a change around here.

We had no trick-or-treaters last night. Actually, Paul and I were playing video games, so if we did have trick-or-treaters, we didn't hear them. In any case, we bought candy we like (mini Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch and Baby Ruth bars), so it's all good.

Creepiest Halloween costume I've seen this year

This is wrong on so many levels:



I love Spongebob (everybody knows that by now, right?), and I find this a little bit repulsive. ::shudder::