NaBloPoMo Day 12

Hutchinson is a new cat at the shelter who came from a breeder turned hoarder. She had about 40 purebred American Shorthairs who have been coming through the shelter. Hutchinson has a defect in his jaw that doesn't allow him to completely close his mouth - hence the tongue that constantly hangs out. He's pretty funny - how could you ever frown with this guy around?

NaBloPoMo Day 11

William is entirely displeased with his current living situation
downstairs. He can't wait until everything is put back together. Me
too, buddy.

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/faq/htm/willy.htm

NaBloPoMo Day 10

Round-Up

Eating: Vegetable Soup. I had to break in my freshly cleaned (but still a mess) kitchen with a good, fall meal. I make vegetable soup in a two-part process - first I make a pot roast and then use the juices and meat in the soup. This batch had crushed tomatoes and tomato juice from canning camp this summer, corn from Kentucky, and limas from a local farm. It's always extra nice to be able to cook with local produce and ingredients you helped make.

Watching: Swoopo. I'm kind of fascinated by this online auction site. Jeremy got a phenomenal deal on a laptop and some of the sales are unbelievable. Watching some of the auctions is kind of like watching the weather channel - you get sucked in and can't help but watch.

Loving: The fact that Miss Doxie is back. She is hilarious and was much missed during the year that she disappeared. She has fantastic stories about her crazy dogs (I cannot tell you how often I think to myself "Gimme that ugly dog") and has recently acquired a crazy cat.

NaBloPoMo Day 9

Lazy, lazy weekend. I spent a few hours on Friday cleaning the downstairs for the first time since it broke and it felt indescribably good to have clean countertops and to vacuum up all the splinters tracked through the house. There are still small splinters, carpet tacks, and general debris strewn around so the cats are still quarantined, but it's much more pleasant to be downstairs now. An adjuster is coming out in a little bit so hopefully things will get moving again soon. It's been three weeks since I got home to the never-ending mess - I just hope it doesn't last another.

A friend is having his kitchen remodeled so we were commiserating about having a mess in the house. We decided that who ever "wins" (gets a fully functional kitchen first) has to buy the loser a drink. Free beer is nice, but I'll take a comfortable downstairs any day.

Completely unrelated, here is a picture that has been cracking me up since I saw it. Dealing with the stress of the last few months has been infinitely easier with this guy around.

Severe Crankypants Alert

Grrr.

I found this post, title and all, in my drafts folder. Not sure what had made me so cranky, but I think it's funny that I saved a post with a title and only one word. (Obviously I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for NaBloPoMo content.)

Recommended link:
Mimi Smartypants
I love that her posts and her writing style haven't changed in the five or so years I've been reading her. She writes interesting blurbs about her every day life and her random titles/post sign-offs can't be beat. I know I've linked to her at least once and I'm sure you'll find her more than once in my starred items in Google Reader (over to the left - I've still been keeping up with those).

NaBloPoMo Day 7

Talking about a round-up post yesterday made me think I should do a recent one. Here we go!

Reading: Sadly not much. I started Jesse Ball's The Way Through Doors and absolutely love it but I haven't gotten around to finishing it. I didn't think I would be able to get into it because he has a strange writing style. I usually don't do well with non-traditional styles but his story-telling just sucked me in. For a quick read, I recommend Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry (Lauren, I think you would really like this). It's such a fascinating way to write a story and it's a book you can go back to and pick up at any point and read for a while.

Listening: I've been doing a lot of driving lately so I'm always looking for new podcasts. I love the Stuff You Should Know show and always pick up interesting tidbits of information. The Sound Opinions podcast can be really good if they have a good main topic. I have to credit the Sound Opinions guys for introducing me to my latest music obsession - An Horse. They were on the SXSW show back in the fall and their song "Horizons" was featured. Love it. I bought the whole album and have been listening to it in the car ever since.

Eating - the Whole Foods salad bar. Since I haven't been able to cook I've been picking up dinner on my way home after school. I love, love their salad bar but fear it will cause me to run up past my credit limit. It's called Whole Paycheck for a reason.

NaBloPoMo Day 6

Recommended link for today:
ljc fyi
I may have mentioned ljc before but I just love her blog so much. She has fantastic crafty projects, has great pets who are regularly featured, and does canning. What else can you ask? I based my Round-Up posts on her left side-bar but she obviously does it much better.