Thankful Thursday - Thanksgiving Edition!

This week has been eventful. In mostly good ways. For example, we got to see a lot of old friends and spend time playing vicious games of Dominion with a few new ones. Our new roommate My dad spent another evening with us this week, which we always really enjoy. Oh and I got to experience strangers controlling my brain. No really. I am doing another round of that pain research study I did before, and this time they were sending magnetic pulses through my scalp and telling my thumb to move, among other things. So fascinating. See?

I always have to beg a little to get them to take a picture.

This morning, I woke up and ate a nice, slow breakfast and coffee, then stretched a bit before turning on the tv (seriously, I think we turn that thing on maybe once a year!) to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Because you know, it's Milo's favourite. Every single year he watches that parade - we've had other movies and stuff streaming from the tv screen, and he never watches them...so it truly is something about the parade itself. This year I took the picture of him glued to it when he didn't know I was watching.

By the time I got home from my workout, the cool balloons had already passed, and there were random people jump-roping on the stage. By that point he was only watching with one eye open and half-asleep. I don't blame him. Who cares about jump-ropers.

Throwback time! Let's see how energetic he was about watching the parade the last couple of years:

2012 - Charlie Brown is his favourite! Yes, I know he's just a cat.

...and a series of 4 pictures over 4 hours from 2011 (my favourite series of pictures ever!!!)

This morning I decided to run Pulgas Ridge against my better judgment. See, I know as well as the next person that the 2 biggest "traffic" days for walking and running are Thanksgiving Day, and New Year's Day. The former because people in 'Merca somehow trick themselves into believing that if they go for a very long walk that morning, they "earn" the right to stuff themselves silly with food later. Like I said...'Merca. The latter, of course, because everyone's starting their soon-to-be failed New Year's Resolutions. Do I sound cynical yet? Sorry.

Anyway. So I went to Pulgas Ridge, and the usually empty parking lot was overflowing. So I parked on the little street, strapped on my water belt, and started running. I swear, every person in San Mateo county was on that trail. It was herds. Droves, I tell you. Good news is that none of them braved the whole loop and left out the brutal climb in the middle - so I got to do that alone with nobody to watch me cry blood as I climbed those massive hills out of the canyon. Bad news is that when I finally was on my way back down the last mile, they had the nerve to all make comments as I passed about "must be easy running downhill!". Yeah. Must be. Turds.

We had our Thanksgiving with a few friends around noon this year, and so Nolan got to have his feast after all, though he has to work the next few nights. At least with his work schedule, we've somehow managed to still celebrate Thanksgiving grandly each year. And Milo's still gotten to watch his parade. So we all win. Onto what else is winning?

1. I'm thankful for growth. An area I've been surprised and pleased to see growth in myself in this year has been learning to like people. You laugh, but although I really like spending time with people I care about, I really didn't like strangers or "people", if you know what I mean. Now (with a lot of encouragement and pushing from Nolan), I'm finding myself chatting up strangers and meeting people everywhere and being downright (dare I say it?) agreeable? This was supposed to be a good reflection but now I realize I sound like the grinch. Sigh. Still thankful though.

2. I'm thankful for my undeservedly wonderful husband. How do I even put into words how much he means to me? I see reasons every.single.day why I am so incredibly blessed to have such a good man and such a fun, challenging and loving marriage and friendship to come home to for the rest of my life. Nolan, you are my sun and stars.

3. I'm thankful for our great families. Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas and enjoy good quality family time!

4. I'm thankful for our jobs that we both love and our future career plans! Also, I say this a lot but I'm super grateful for my boss! I love my job, but having a phenomenal person to lead, support and coach you makes such a huge difference.

5. I'm thankful for the holidays and the reminder to love on each other and appreciate the world and people around us, as well as the real reason for the season. So grateful that I get to celebrate that first time God gave us His most amazing gift, so many years ago.

What are you thankful for?

a case of the mondays

Maybe it's because I got my flu shot this morning, but today has been tiring. Also because I am running a little bit low on sleep after the weekend? Who knows. Either way, I'm secretly hoping my bootcamp after work will be low-key (it never is though!) so I can be lazy. Ah well.

This weekend Nolan and I headed up the hill to visit the fam in Placerville. Sadly, our mountain bikes went from the car to the work palace, and never saw the dirt. But! There is always next time. And we did other fun things. Like going to sushi with Nate at one of our fave spots:

Having an egg-cracking contest to see who could crack their share of 250 eggs into this bucket the fastest. I think Nolan would have won if he didn't cheat by leaving an eggshell in there. Don't worry - it didn't go to waste! The eggs were eaten by 90 men the next morning and apparently delicious. But still.

 Check out all those shells!

 We hung out with Gramma, who is the newest magnet for the animals with her fuzzy blankets.

 And as usual, the not so fun part: leaving to go back home. Milo anticipated this as he always does, and picked a bomb hiding spot. If Nate hadn't secretly seen him crawl in, we never would have found him. Check it out - can you see him back there?

 Here's the zoom-out (below).

He was in the left cabinet behind all the photo albums. I don't understand how such a pea-brained creature can always outwit us. Like the time he hid behind my mom's books in her room and blended in with the white wall. Or when he tucked himself under the covers at my in-laws house, and we couldn't find him for ages because he had laid so flat we thought he was just a wrinkle in the bed covers.

Anyway, he eventually came out, but went back into hiding (in a NEW place!) right before we had to leave. Since we didn't find his hiding place that time ($5 says he was under the house, since we caught Hagrid sneaking out of there when Nolan brought treats to coax them out), we had to leave him up there temporarily. I guess I'll pick him up this weekend since I'm going back anyway. But this time I'm putting him on lock-down.

We also took our Christmas pictures while up there. I am amazed at how quick and painless it was this year! So excited that Christmas is just two and a half months away!

Thankful Thursday

Two weekends ago, we went to a wedding out in San Ramon. It was perfect weather, good food, catching up with Nolan's UCSF classmates from all over the country, and the site was gorgeous. I just found this picture and thought I'd post it - no reason really.

My excitement for the week was taking Milo to the vet. He's been getting treated for fleas and worms (gross!), and had his last appt on Wednesday. Conveniently, he decided to let us know he had a bladder problem again on Monday, by peeing on everything and hiding in the bathtub (and eventually peeing in there too and ruining his hiding place). Nolan took this picture to document the angry Milo face.

So I took him in for his checkup, and turned it into an exam of his issues too. He ended up staying the night for testing and monitoring, and got lots of food and meds. I called today to check on him and make sure they got their sample so I could pick him up after work, and the receptionist said, "Oh, Milo's fine. He's resting easy now. He ate a little bit, and was trying to lick himself, so we have him in a cone and stuff. He's pretty groggy and sensitive but seems to be doing okay. The doctor said he will probably be able to go home around 3 if he is able to walk..." At this point I'm freaking out like, what have they done to my cat, what are they talking about?!...and then I think of something. "Hang on a sec...can we, uhh...are we talking about the same pet here? Milo - the little white cat?". There's a pause, and then the receptionist says, "OH. So sorry, we have 2 Milos here right now. Yeah, yours is fine. He's been eating all day and he's ready to go home whenever." Eating nonstop? That sounds more like the Milo I know. So now he's home, on meds for a week, and on a prescription diet for awhile to clear up his issues. But! He's happy, mostly healthy, and flea and worm-free. Win.


This week I hosted our first bible study at my house, and was making treats when I got a little hasty (it was almost bedtime and I was still cooking!), and dumped chocolate chips all over the oven and through the burner holes. Oops. However, I learned that perhaps all those games we played as kids maybe do have real-life applications. Here you can see my Operation skillz coming in handy as I retrieve chips with wooden "tweezers" through the burning hot pipes. Oh yeah.

For date night this week, we decided to splurge a little and go for our favourite high-calorie food (ok, ONE of them): Indian. We tried a new place in Sunnyvale and it was awful. Hah. We normally pick such winners, but this one had legitimately gross food. Besides the saag paneer, which was actually really delicious.

This is Nolan giving a surreptitious thumbs-down to the cheesy tikka masala. Seriously: it tasted like it had velveeta in it. Disgusting. Also: they had mango "froyo" as part of the buffet...and it was literally the same stuff as the mango lassi I had, except frozen. Why would you pay for a drink when you could just melt unlimited dessert into your cup for free? That was our first and last visit there. Back to Peacock's amazing buffet for us.

After dinner, we went to Chuck's donuts, and let me just say: I haven't had a donut in like...so many years. I don't even know. But this place is open 24/7, and ALWAYS has people in it. We figured this would be a night of first and last visits to places. Chucks was one. Great donuts, but seriously: I felt like I was eating America. So bad for you.



So with all that...what am I thankful for? A lot, obviously. I have a pretty amazing life, and a pretty incredible husband to share it with. We're super blessed.

1. I'm thankful for Nolan! He's such an amazing partner and friend. I can't get enough time with him, no matter how much I see him! And he puts up with my bad moods and bad habits with love and grace. What more could you ask for, eh?

2. I'm thankful for my bible study. It's great to have a group of such solid girls to meet with each week and learn with together.

3. I'm thankful for Milo's health! You never really realize how dear those little creatures are to you until they're threatened somehow. On that note, if he disappears this Christmas again, I'll kill him.

4. I'm thankful for the future - there are so many exciting things in our near future, and I already can't wait! Who knows what our life will be like in less than 2 short years! It's so great to have fun things to look forward to. Now if I can just remember to live in the present ;)

5. I'm thankful for my car. Sounds like a stupid thing, but I took it in for an oil change and 5,000 service check, and was reminded of how great it is to have a perfectly functioning (and so cute!) vehicle that I can trust. I remember not having that, and it was nerve-wracking and stressful! I love getting into each morning and knowing what to expect. It's like my little pre- and post-work retreat.

What are you thankful for?

For Sale

We left Milo up in Placerville with my parents for two weeks when we left last weekend, because the brat wouldn't come out from under the house. I don't think he thought we would actually leave him there. So though we miss him, we're enjoying some peace and quiet in the mornings when we wake up, and enjoying our dinners free of greasy little paws trying to snatch the tomatoes from our salads or the little mouth chewing on sockets...


However, I'm just hoping he doesn't wear out his welcome up there, as he will be needing a place to stay for a couple weeks in October, when we're gone (details to come!). Sounds like he's already walking on thin ice, as this was waiting for me in my inbox this morning from my dad, obviously on his way to work:

"For Sale:
Cat- to good home....or bad. I don't really care. He is young, frisky and stupid and does'nt have a natural instinct in his body. He poos where he wants; Comes to no one; Is self centered. Name is milo but you can call him whatever you like since he is ignorant and doesn't know his name. On second thought, I'll pay to get rid of him.
--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry"

Three Wolf Moon

Thanks to gchat statuses, I found this today, talking about the disappointment of a customer in his new Three Wolf Moon shirt, and how he thinks maybe some of the benefits are exaggerated. Things like not being approached by a supermodel while wearing it, and also that he was mistaken for somebody else while wearing it. I think my favourite part was this, though:

"...Similarly, I have not been invited to a vision quest, even though I wore my wolf shirt in New Mexico.

There is one thing, though, and that is that whenever I wear the wolf shirt I have a lot less issues with involuntary urination. I have not studied it long enough, however, to establish a cause/effect relationship."

Fascinating.


I love the sun. I love warmth and getting tanned and swimming and wearing sundresses and flip flops...I cannot wait for this weekend! Time to get away from the fog before I start dreaming about living in Antarctica.

Speaking of dreams, I had a doozie last night. I was living in a cabin with all my friends and family in their own cabins (Nolan and I slept in a bunk-bed in my dream, isn't that fantastic!). I had to hop the fence to catch the muni, and every time I jumped that fence, this giant bear-thing would chase me until I jumped on the muni, and wiped my brow and thought "that was a close one". Eventually, I hopped the fence, and the thing chasing me was Milo. So one morning (I mean, in my dream), I rolled out of my top bunk, and Milo was creeping into our camp, and I tried to poison him to protect everyone, but then felt bad because I love Milo! and then made him vomit up the Indian charms I had given him to poison him. "Throw up the mother charm, Milo!"
Unsurprisingly, I told this dream very enthusiasitically to Nolan this morning, who walked away when I got to the part where I stick my finger down Milo's throat to make him vomit.

On the topic of memories...

Since we revisited college a bit yesterday, I thought we'd take another final glance at my life 2+ years ago, when the Villa was alive and well in Davis. Besides surviving on cereal, I usually also supplemented my appetite with one of Jennie's creations. I swear to you that this woman baked at least 1 cake or batch of cookies a day. It was SO hard to stay in shape :( Here we have our culprit in action:

Also, she told me that her British friends simply cannot comprehend why we would refer to each other as "ho", when it is clearly SUCH a derogatory and offensive term...ho!


Speaking of forgotten things from college: apparently I forgot to wash my bucket o' hats and scarves that Milo had peed in, because I wore a beanie last night on my walk with Nolan, and every time the wind blew, I caught a whiff of...something nasty. I guess just wearing a hat full of moldy old piss for an hour really had an effect, because this morning Nolan kissed the top of my head, and said, "Whoa. That piss smell really stuck. Still there." and then sprayed perfume all over my hair to mask the stench. Sigh.

On a brighter note, Brystal and Chelsea are coming for the weekend to visit, and it is actually supposed to be sunny! So yes...maybe I will break my vow to not sit in the sun, because I am starting to resemble the Cullens more than I should :( Also, Bay to Breakers is this Sunday, and maybe I will get out and take pictures, or maybe we will hide indoors to avert our eyes from the random naked people, stench of vomit/beer, and mass chaos. Maybe.

Be sure to wear a flower in your hair

The guy next to me on the Muni (and by "next to", I mean literally sharing skin cells, because holy crap it was crowded) was trying to reassure all of us that being wedged between masses of strangers on a nasty train in a crowded city isn't that bad, because in Japan they use brooms to actually push people into every little crevice between the walls of flesh on their trains. I don't know about that...but I DID find this, which is equally disaster/lawsuit-waiting-to-happen:


Also, while clutching my sides and eating cereal and watching this (Happy Mother's Day!) with Milo while waiting for Nolan, at one point we heard this howling and thundering outside. After ascertaining that the wind almost blew our house down, Milo and I just stopped and looked at each other, and I'm fairly certain that our souls connected on a profound level in that moment, which was, "what the HELL is wrong with the weather here." Next time I feel like he and I are sharing thoughts, I will find that chick from Freaky Friday and ask her if she has any fortune cookies left, and how much are they please, because I would LOVE to be Milo for a day.

Christmas must be on its way

As much as I adore my husband, sometimes I really enjoy my time alone. Like, not even alone, but I mean...living alone. Heh. Like last night for example? He was at the hospital since yesterday morning until 8am this morning, and so I stayed at the gym as long as I wanted, I took a long shower, I walked around looking frumpy, I ate a bowl of cereal for dinner at 8:30pm, and then I watched The Office in bed until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I'm a very independent person, and I am starting to think that is going to come in handy being a doctor's wife. On the other hand, who wouldn't miss coming home to this:

Instead, I came home to an overexcited Milo, who alternated between jabbing his filthy paw into my cereal and chewing on an electric socket.

You know, San Francisco never ceases to amaze me. I have seen all manner of things here, and it just never gets old. I mean the homeless woman peeing on a mailbox RIGHT outside of a Starbucks gets old, but sometimes I see things that are just...bizarre. Like:

I stop for a second, pull out the iPhone to take a picture, and then keep walking to catch my Muni to work. Because why wouldn't I have expected to see snow on a curb by the beach this morning.

Day # : too many

For someone who literally never gets sick, having Salmonella AND whatever-this-thing-is within a month period is a little harsh. Looks like my awesome immune system is like one of those 6-year-old kids at a swim meet who grabs onto the lane-line, panting, while their mother screams frantically at the other end to "keep going! it's only one lap!!!". Also, my nose is so chafed from wiping it, that whenever I stare at something head-on, I get distracted by pieces of dead skin sticking off of it. Gross.

Good news is, my abs are going to be fantastic from all this coughing.

Nolan's been very busy lately delivering babies (hooah!), so we've had to make due with leaving notes and sending texts to make sure the other is still alive. I remember him getting up at 4:30am a couple days ago, and I *think* kissing my head before he left, but it could have been a hallucination because let's face it, I'm not in my right mind anyway while drowsy (Holla, villains!), and that not counting the sick factor. I think that was the last time I saw him.

Milo has also been less affectionate of late, and I'm starting to think it's because he's been reading the Swine Flu updates on CNN while we're gone, and is getting suspicious...

pahhhdon, i seem to have lost my luggage

Good news: Airlines lost 1.3 million bags LESS last year than the previous year. Hurrah. Bad news: this REALLY puts the odds of losing your luggage into perspective. Travel light, kids.

I've fallen into the virtual abyss--I have been SUCH a loser lately that I have been living through my facebook profile/blogs instead of actually hanging out with people, all the while feigning exhaustion from the new job (but we know that is past), so this week I am changing that. Hopefully. I mean if you guys still want me <3

I also had another couple of breakthroughs recently. One being that Oregon Chai concentrate mixed with milk happily substitutes for my white mochas in the mornings, and saves me almost 300 calories/lots of grams of sugar/money/addiction status per day. I will be bringing it in my sparkly pink mug (thanks, Nolan!), ready to save my day, every morning to work from now on. Another thing I realized, on a TOTALLY unrelated and different note, is that I need to do something with my life. Like...I care about illiteracy and think it is the saddest thing in the world that adults cannot read. You are almost helpless nowadays if you cannot read! So, I am going to do something about it. Someday I will announce what that is, but for now I have my own ideas in my head, and just thought I would put that out there. I care. So there.

Tomorrow I will be unveiling Milo's new project (be prepared)...YES my mother bought a project for Milo and Nolan and I to work on together, and I know that sounds really shady right now but trust me. Tomorrow. It will be worth it.

Hot 'n' Cold

Best I have seen yet...and somehow I cannot believe someone actually put that much time, money (did you SEE the exact costuming?!), and effort into something like this. Complete with a "wtf-dance-sequence". Haha, enjoy.


It’s that season. People sneezing/oozing mucus on the Muni. Someone in a cube near me coughs, then draws in a deep, rattling breath. Spray-able hand sanitizer, 2 inches from my keyboard, ready for deployment, lest anyone else’s troops get too near and lay siege to my beaches. It’s sick season. I am just trying to stay warm, dry, and germ-free…and between hot tea (which we all know probably means coffee for me, despite my pure intentions) and Airborne, Starbucks and Walgreens are making a fortune off of me. Which…I guess isn’t that different since before it was just “Coffee” and Candy. You could say I am being more prudent with my fortune-blowing.

It's only February, and already I am looking around my cube and thinking how FABULOUS it will look at Christmas when I decorate it. I am thinking lights, tinsel, maybe a tiny (TINY) tree. Heh. Today I went out and bought a little yellow rosebush to make me happy in my little corner, and earlier I brought in my “The Office” Calendar (thanks, Nate). Next step: a pretty pencil holder. Huzzah!

Poor Milo. First he barfs all over our back seat after driving up to Pville (guess who had to scrape up the bits of kibble and stomach acid, etc.), then Nolan tells him how stupid he looks in his new teal, striped collar (Milo has no balls -- what does he care if he looks manly or not?), then tonight he loses his collar and goes back to the crappy blue one, then Nolan throws small (but soft! don't call the SPCA) objects at him because he is chewing on electrical cords, and now he is sitting on our bed, fearing Nolan, and wondering (as I am) if his fish will survive the night. The fish's been doing the floating vertically thing. We're holding a candlelight vigil.

I feel like I catch up on my superficial life when I get home. I do business-y things all day, and then when I get home I plunge headfirst into facebook and people.com and other trashy sites, like a pig plunges into its trough.

Shout-out to Sarah, who launched her new blog, which WILL be my financial downfall, but is excellent nonetheless.

Day 2

I absolutely love my job. I mean my brain feels fried, but so far SO GOOD.

I even love the material my cube is made out of. It's easy to stick pins into and makes a satisfying crunching sound when you do.

Did I mention I have a huge, lovely smelling bouquet that was delivered to my desk yesterday from my coworkers? Eeee.

This morning I stopped in at Starbucks to, you know, feed the habit, and my favourite boys (who work there) decided that in honour of my new job, the drink was on them today. w00t w00t! Little did they know that by not making me pay, in my mind they were allowing me to spend money on another drink later today and feed the habit a little more. DOH. Since I was embarrassed about going back twice in 5 hours, I went to the one a block over, and lo and behold: one of the boys had transferred over there and asked what I was doing back again. Foiled.

Also, let me restate as I did 6 months ago, that I DO NOT understand some food-service people. I mean, I go into Subway (and this has happened before), and try to get my free 8th sandwich with my punch card, but no, I have to take a drink too. I can't just take a free sandwich, I have to take a drink too. Okay well I don't want an icy drink on a frigid January afternoon. They cannot seem to fathom a world where they save money by keeping their dumb drink and just giving me the sandwich, and instead tell me that if I don't want my drink, I can't use the punch card for my free sandwich. wtf, mate.

ylehsa sent me a video today that will look oddly familiar to those of you who have met my fat little child. Enjoy.

Maus!

After spending a few hours wandering around the house this morning, Nolan advised me that in the interest of his boards score/future career/our future security, it would be best that I do something with my life. So, I went to the Apple store and bought a mouse and a mouse pad. Not that this is interesting in any way, but the mouse itself is really odd. It said "small" which, I thought to myself, would be awesome since apparently the only pair of hands left in the stockhouse when I was created was of the "midget" variety. Cool with me, I'm just sayin. But apparently "small" to the Kensington company, means "not tall". It's almost too long for my hand, but super thin. Cool in a phone, not so cool in a mouse. So we'll see if I can adjust or not. Also, at first test, the loud and solid-sounding "clicks" were great, but now they're just more reminiscent of my 4th grade piano-teacher's oversized Metronome, which brings back nightmarish memories of its own kind. To boot, the mouse pad is reflective (I couldn't tell in the store), so the laser on the mouse doesn't work with it. So I have it covered with a book right now. $3 down the drain, heh. Anyone want it? It's yours.


As I steadily run out of things to do, I find myself being more and more creative with my time. For example, today I am pre-making "freezer rolls" for this weekend for when my parents and brother come to visit. Make the rolls, freeze 'em, then throw 'em in the oven for 20 min when you are ready to eat them! What a deal! Also, I have considered writing a review on here for my favourite new broom, but then I realized how stupid that would be and how I would probably never read someone's blog again if they started reviewing brooms. (but let me just say that the "'O' Cedar 'Angler'" model broom is fantastic.)

Something I WILL review because I know some of you have cats: I got Milo a new litterbox...but wait! Read on! Don't leave! It's called the "Booda Dome", haha, which is part of the reason I bought it. Okay not really, but it is covered, which means no more nasty germs floating around. I have been freaked out since Nolan warned me that all the germs from that box were going to settle on our dishes, eventually our food, and give us diseases we would slowly die from. So: I bought a covered box. Milo was a little bit...freaked out at first, but now he likes his privacy so much that he sniffs at me to please go away if I try to catch him going inside. See how hilarious this is:


Perhaps my blogging has sunk to a new low.

pwned!...almost

After spending most of yesterday afternoon setting up my LOVELY new computer, Nolan decided that last night we should finally play Age of Mythology. Together. Against each other. So maybe I'm not the most mature person ever, and still like computer games involving magical creatures and secret powers and battles for world domination and PWNING your neighbour (breath)...but: I have to say it was one of the best-spent Fridays in awhile. Nothing says romance like typing "i love u but u suck at this game" to your spouse while wiping out their hard-earned army of Nemean Lions, Colossi, and Medusas and torching their Town Center. Of course I whooped Nolan at it...almost. His computer "backed out" (or so he claims) as I was about to deliver the final blow, so the world will never actually know.

Cats have this odd quality of liking their own space, in every possible sense of the phrase. Many times when we can't find Milo, it's because he is watching us look for him from atop his perch on my armoire, crouching between the top and the ceiling.

Sometimes he'll hop up on the shorter wardrobe while we're asleep, and tell us to wake up and feed him by turning on the lamp (it's a touch lamp, so he just licks it. who knows how he discovered that one), which is NOT OUR FAVOURITE GAME.

And then of course he wants to watch me cook/slyly wait for scraps to pounce on, so he's decided that the spice cubby is the best possible place to plot his attack. Obviously the best place is wedged riiiiight between the Crisco spray and Nolan's beer stein.

He most definitely does not like me following him around all day with the camera, so for Milo's sake, let's hope I get a job soon.

Merry PC Holiday

Each time I go to Walgreens now it's like a little surprise, waiting to see what festive rubbers finger condom lady has donned in spirit of the season. We're still at pink and white as of today, but I'm pushing for a green. Or maybe a patterned one. I read in this blog that apparently more and more people are wearing them to protect their touch screens from grease. Yes, finger condoms are becoming a trend.

Hopefully we won't progress too far in this trend...

Yes, that is a 2500 condom dress you are ogling. Tasty.

In case you're new here and don't know who finger condom lady is, or are wondering why I only have two posts, please reference the last 5 years of my life, located at http://neighbour.livejournal.com

Last night Milo made his first friend in San Francisco. Our neighbour, Alissa, got a sweet little girl kitty named Lilo, and so we introduced Milo to Lilo. She was a little shocked to see another cat in her territory, to say the least. On the one hand I'm thankful that Milo was pretty calm and was slinking around the apartment avoiding her eyes, until he tried to watch her through the crack in the door, and she totally caught him. On the other hand, I am ashamed to have SUCH A COWARD in my family. CLEARLY Lilo will be wearing the pants in this relationship.

Also: holy crap I am never eating at KFC ever again.

I have been wearing my glasses more recently, now that I resemble more Sarah Palin and less Harry Potter. I just feel better. I also noticed that although I have the anti-glare coating on the outside of my lenses, it isn't on the inside. This means: I practically have a mirror glued inconspicuously to my head. This morning on the Muni, I was watching people behind me. I felt like slowly turning around and cackling, "haHA!" Like Chucky from Child's Play or something. Point being, it's an excellent spy tool, and now I feel like I have eyes on the back of my head. HAH! I briefly considered using them to drive so that I wouldn't have to turn my head at all to switch lanes, but thank goodness I REconsidered.

The week is almost over, and this weekend I get to!....do laundry. Ah well. One more week until MY (dare I not use the noncommittal word "holiday"?) Christmas break!

As promised...

Right now I am just hoping everyone is technically adept enough to follow the link here, and it makes me nervous like last year when I started blogging regularly again and felt like I was shouting to the empty halls. Ahh, sweet anxiety.

As promised (and I feel like I have built these up to be really cool, when in actuality they are kind of lame), here are your festive pictures of Milo in his Santa suit, and even one of our little Charlie Brown tree that we picked out:

Okay, about the tree: I KNOW. But it was only $5 and we live in an economic toilet bowl. What are you gonna do.

By the time I get home tonight, my Christmas shopping will be completely done, and I am pretty sure that is some kind of a record. It significantly helps to have wish lists from every relative.

Last night I tried to cut the eggnog fudge to bring to work (I had this vision in my head of me prancing around the office distributing holiday cheer and love in baskets to people I think), and...it melted all over my hand. Kind of/exactly like this. So I did what any self-respecting woman does in such a situation: I called my mother...who promptly told me to trash it and start over. Despite my conscience telling me that I am a terrible person for throwing away a whole pan full of edible (albeit soupy) fudge, I am happy that at LEAST my slaving away paid off and we now get to have tasty and rock-hard eggnog fudge at work today.