jealous much?

poor liddle kittymeowmeow.

She has such a rough life.

Currently she is sitting in between me and the laptop. Earlier she was walking across the keyboard to show her dominance. There was even an attempt to chew the corner of the laptop.

updates and the like

Wow, how about those celebrity deaths?

Farrah, Michael...and Billie Mays. He lived in Tampa, did you know that? I like Tampa.


Firstly. So the carpet is now almost dry. There's just one little corner in the big bedroom. That means kitty and won't be having sleep-over parties much longer. I may even sleep on the couch tonight. There's nothing better than a little furry thing pouncing on you in the middle of the night. nope. well, maybe a small sticky child.

The blowers will continue in the kitchen and bathroom for at least two more days. And then there's the carpet cleaning to happen. BUT, at least there's progress.


Secondly. Well, the stove is unplugged. My first reaction was, well shoot, I'll have to eat out more, but I've been trying to eat in more, and learn well, practice cooking, etc. etc. So, I remembered my wee crockpot, and decided to experiment.

An aside: I was typing in the word reserved to send in a text message, and perestroika came up. wow.

Okay, so I threw in a frozen chicken breast, some raspberry dressing, blackberry freezer jam I made earlier, a dollop of horseradish the parents must have bought, and some onion powder. Let sit on high for 4 hours or so, and voila, tasty yumminess. I put it on low, and put some rice in the rice cooker, put some carrots on the plate, and buttered bread, and it was a nice meal.

Thirdly. I changed phone services, because I was tired of spending money on something I don't use! Even with breaking my contract early, I'm still saving money every month.

I switched from that one with that one guy and glasses, to a prepay service. I had nothing against my previous carrier, it just didn't have a plan for those types of people who really don't talk on the phone all that much.

Fourthly. I finally saw Star Trek, and UP!

I quite enjoyed them both. I must say, I really enjoy matinee showings!

Fifthly. And now for those who have made it down to the very bottom: I reserved my right to veto the votes. I would probably have voted for Persephone myself - and I still really like the name. It's a beautiful name in theory, but I just didn't see myself using it on a daily basis for x years. Plus, dad didn't like it much. I think he was just mad his suggestion didn't get any votes. :)

So, I began trying to find a common denominator in successful past pet names. (Here they are from the most recent living)


Hatti
Magoo... or Tanker (I guess)

They were always puppies. They were good doggies. Hatti was the best one of the two - they were brother and sister muttlets. It will be a while before I can get another pup pup...taking the both of them on their last walk...not fun.

Albert/o and Alberto Segundo

A beautiful blue beta who became Alberto after I received my mission call to speak Spanish.
My dad and Matthew swear that Albert died while I was on my mission, and replaced him with another Beta fish before I got home.

Scooter Pie the III (We just called him Scooter

We gave this little runlet to Grandma Smith when we moved to Utah. He was a sweet puppy till he was influenced by the two tyrants we already had. (Hatti and Magoo) He died of diabetes.

Snowball kitty (aka Bob after she lost her tail)

She also stayed in Arizona with Grandma and Papa. White cat - snow - didn't think that was a good mix. She was an alley cat that was given to us by a neighbor who heard of Felix's death.

Willy

A lhasa apso that was mistreated, who we took in at Aunt Mellers request. He wasn't nice to very many people outside our family, but he was a good dog. His claim to fame is biting the principal that no one liked at the nearby elementary school. He became a sort of hero to parents everywhere.

Matthew also put his print shop skills to use when Willy had to go on his long walk...he put up 'Mom is a dog killer' signs, complete with skull and cross bones.

Felix

A black kitty who let a little girl dress him up and carry him around the house in purses. I remember walking home from elementary school through our orchard, and there was this circle of kids, staring down...it was poor little Felix, who stomach had been ripped open. Needless to say, he was d - e - d dead. :( That was a sad day.

Wow, that was a bit morbid.

Ahem.

So I also noticed that most of the names were two syllables long, and lent themselves well to nicknames.

Without further ado, kitty's name is Maxine.

So, there you have it folks.

on the bright side...

I did just get cheap-o bookcases for my books, so none of them were on the floor.

Nor any of my fabric.

The only casualties were some empty boxes I was keeping for storage, and possibly my sewing machine and printer. They were on the wet carpet.

But, I have renter's insurance just in case! Yay!

See, there IS a bright side to this. I just hope I remember that four days later when my ears are ringing because of the blowers and kittymeowmeow is going crazy because of the noise. :)

wooo-eee!

A couple of things: one, Persephone won in the poll. It's not for sure yet, but I liked the name too. I'll let you know soon.
There are days, though, when I think Hades would be more appropriate.

Story: I was ignoring the little darling, trying to clean a few things up, so she climbed up on the back of a chair, and then leaped at me, while standing, catching onto my stomach with her claws. Owie.

But, thankfully, those events are few and far between.

I doubt I'd use this name, but I thought Bella may work, too. You know, vampires, bloodsuckers, black cat....



Okay. Next story, and why I haven't officially decided yet on her name.

Today, about 1:30ish, I went into my room to read a book, and take a nap. (You try lounging on the couch with a kitten who wants to play!)

I finally came out around 5:30 (I guess I was more tired than I thought....) and almost immediately stepped into soggy carpet.

I swear I'm cursed!

It turns out, the neighbor's wash machine water intake thing burst, and since they have tile floors, and rugs, it all leaked (okay, their apartment was a LOT worse than mine) a lot leaked over to my apartment, too.

I'll post pictures later. I'm not quite sure where my camera picture uploader thing is, and everything is a mess.

Deep breath.

Breathing.

AAARRRGGHHH!

Thankfully, my neighbor was outside; I forget why I was out there, but I asked him if he was having problems. It turns out he works for a water restoration place. My landlord came right over. All is being taken care of.

Side note: my neighbor was surprised how calm I was. I just am glad it's clean water.

Things are almost all soaked up - it's just the matter of the how much moisture leaked up the drywall.

And I'll get the blower things in my apartment for a number of days. Poor kittymeowmeow. She's currently shut up in my room because the front door is open to let the water soaker upper's hose dump the water in the lawn.

So what did you do today?

hmmm...

I don't know what to say.

there's a furry animal in my lap

And she's purring. I hope that's a good sign.

She was so cruelly robbed from her mother and one remaining sister earlier this afternoon, but she has since stopped crying, and only occasionally will hide behind the bookcase.

I have some not so good pictures, one of which follows.



Now, for the naming.

Her previous name is Hephzibah. I like the name, and as much as I like good strong biblical names, I don't want the wee one getting ideas of motherhood - even if Manasseh was a pretty important person. It could easily remain a middle name (and it's okay if certain persons want to continue to call her that. :) )

I was talking to my father about some names, and he looked through "The Lightning Thief" and suggested Annabeth. I think it's currently my top pick, though there are still a few names that I like, some from the book (or Greek mythology) and some, well, just names I liked.

I like Persephone because of the underworld reference. My dad suggested Hades, but, I don't think SHE would like the name. I could be wrong.

Ahh, she's asleep in my lap now.

Let's hope I still think she's cute when she (insert animal drama here.)

Okay, back to names.

Bianca Hmm. That means white, or fair. That, she is not.

Phoebe, and Daphne.

Well, there you have it.

Annabeth
Persephone
Hades
Bianca
Phoebe
Daphne

Cast your votes off to the side!*

And, well, as with most pets, she'll end up getting a nickname, anyway.

Oliver became birdie, Snowball became Bob. Maybe this one will be kitty meow meow.


*As the one who gets to use this name on a daily basis, I reserve the right to overrule any votes. I never said this was a democracy. :)

i went to the oquirrh mountain open house

As we were leaving the temple, one of the last places we went through was the women's dressing rooms, and the bride's dressing rooms.

My grandpa looked at me and said,

"Take a good look [referring to the bride's rooms] because it will be the last time you see them."

hmmph.

Needless to say, I stuck my tongue out at him. (Real mature of me, I know.)

I think he was a bit put out and needed to tease someone, because as we were earlier about to descend three flights of stairs, the host lady asked if he would prefer to take the elevator.

How was she supposed to know he was about to make a 40 mile hike earlier this month? He only refrained because of flash flood danger.

Poor grandpa. He's only 76 after all.


Don't worry, though - I hold no hard feelings, for I know he was teasing.

At my cousin's/his grand-daughter's wedding, he asked where the strippers were.

Why?

Frau and I were playing "Air on a G String."

Oh, and the temple was quite lovely. I really liked the colors; the Celestial room was very very nice. The ceiling was amazingly high!

And from the parking lot, I could see the Draper Temple, and the Jordan River Temple as well. It was dark when we were leaving, so the inversion was invisible.

Though I am often light-hearted, and sometimes silly, I am grateful for temples, and their place in the Plan of Salvation. Without the knowledge that I have, well, let's just say sometimes really crappy things happen: I'm grateful for a different perspective, that, though not making such things easy, there is Someone in charge, making them bearable.

For

...when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.
But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they [the bad-guys] may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.
Now Amulek said unto Alma: Behold, perhaps they will burn us also.
And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not.
Now it came to pass that when the bodies of those who had been cast into the fire were consumed...the chief judge of the land came and stood before Alma and Amulek, as they were bound; and he smote them with his hand upon their cheeks, and said unto them: After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people, that they shall be cast into a blake of fire and brimstone? Behold, ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them because they were of thy faith. And the judge smote them again upon their cheeks, and asked: What say ye for yourselves? (Alma 14:10-15)

I say that the Lord knows the beginning from the end, and really, there is no end. There is no end.

*ahem*

Always always always wear a slip.

It does no good even if you remembered to pack your slip for a cross country slip, yet forget to put the slip in the bag of clothes that you are to change into before a concert.

For, you never know who you will run into, while trying to manage major static cling-age.