I have been contemplating a laptop for some time now and finally decided that now was as good a time as any to bite the bullet and take the plunge. I have been feeling rather low lately about this upcoming birthday (as stated in a previous entry - not for the typical reasons), so what better way to lift my spirits than with a little retail therapy?
The story goes, I was ready to do this little shopping trip on Monday. Once I decide on something...well...I want it NOW. Waiting is rarely an option that makes me happy, however, upon Neil's suggestion, I waited. Why? Because Apple was rumored to be getting ready to update their laptops this week! The great thing about Apple (that I did not know until I asked Mr. N about it. OK asked isn't really the right word...I wanted to know why exactly upgrades was a good reason to wait.) is that they don't jack their prices up upon the arrival of their latest upgrades. Nor do they put the older models on some sort of super clearance sale. Instead, you just walk into the store like any other day and get the latest technology they have to offer. And here I thought they were so great just because of their minimalist packaging!
So, I waited...and lo and behold, the rumors were true! The announcement and arrival of the pretty new things was yesterday. And thus, I picked Neil up after he was off work and we went to the mall.
Meet Mockingbird...the latest addition to my growing flock of Apples:
You will notice that Raven is there charging as well. The bird names all started with my iPod that I named Magpie because it was pretty and shiny. Then came Raven (the iPhone, named thus because of the blackness of the screen) and Myna (the AppleTV - because it repeats whatever is recorded and played from it). I don't have a good reason for Mockingbird, other than it just sounded right.
Now I am desperately trying to not spend all day goofing off on the pretty new toy. I must get this house straightened and cleaned before my mom and sister get here. It isn't like I will have time tomorrow morning - thier flight gets in at 6:00am! So, back to the drudgery...
Marly has shattered two ceramic cat food dishes in as many days. I have had a fever for the past two days. Clyde still is not home.
Really, that is about it for life here via the nutshell version.
The detailed version is that I am spazzing out because I am sick and unable to finish most of the projects that I had hoped to get done before my mom and sister get here. The only up side is that the fever and contagiousness should be well gone before then. I am sadder than I am letting on about Clyde. I cry at night because I truly don't think he is coming home and that kills me. My upcoming birthday is terrifying me...but not because I think I am actually getting "old" per se (I'll be 34 on Thursday), but because I feel like I am running out of time. For what? I don't know, exactly. I think because I am not happy with myself these days. Work stinks...I will write about that in another entry. My personal birthday present (with much help from my dad) will be a new laptop.
I guess it is time for me to go call for all the kitties for the night (I still call for Clyde eve though he doesn't come)...and then head to bed.
Oh lordy...now I have become that dog owner too. Marly's growth spurts seem to have some to a screeching halt and the result is this chub you see here. (Neil took the photo while we were at the park yesterday.)
She is six and a half months old and while I know she still has a lot more growing to do, it is also obviously time to start watching her food intake a bit more closely - read: I need to quit giving her so much food! Luckily, she doesn't get much by way of treats, usually just one biscuit around midday and then one when she goes to bed at night (we are still working on the "go lay down" and "go to bed" commands - one is the crate in the living room, the other for the crate in the bedroom). That aside, she gets no people food at all and only on special occasions does she get any additional treats.
Of course there is also plain old exercise, of which we both need more - in fact, today Neil and I are going to buy a Pooch Pass at lunch time that will allow her (and Sadie) access to the county dog parks (which will be free as of July 1, but until then there is a fee which goes to development and maintenance of the parks).
And last, I will put out the disclaimer that this photo really makes Marly look MUCH fatter than she really is...between the way she is sitting and the shadows, she looks like she has no shape at all, but rest assured, I can still feel her ribs and she does have a waist. Her toungue, however, really is that long.
Still no Clyde. With each day that passes I am more and more sure that a wild animal got him. Last night there was a small (I think young by the way it acted) opossum on my patio. It made me wonder if maybe Clyde got into it with the mommy possum. Now, I also have to find a different place for the outside kitty food since obviously that is what this one was looking for. (It had been moved up onto the patio table yesterday so it wouldn't get contaminated while the exterminator sprayed the foundation.) I did talk to neighbors as well as the office here and put up some fliers...lots of the neighbors recognized his photo and mentioned what a sweet kitty he is and said they would keep an eye out for him, but hadn't seen him in awhile.
Aside from that I flung poop today - it desperately needed doing. The yard was getting gross due to crappy weather lately. After that I made my first hike down the hill. I have no finally set foot on all of my land. Heh. It is lovely down below with relatively easy access to the creek that runs through back there. The hill itself is rather steep and somewhat tough to get back up (then again, I am also horribly out of shape)...but I think if I work at it, over time I can create a stair/path that will make climbing back to the top easier. I also scouted out the gully area that I am going to clear out and replant with wildflowers. I don't think it will be too tough to do, actually. There is just one area that has some washout issues that I am going to have to ponder. It looks like I will probably need to build some sort of retaining wall. I wonder when Dad is planning on coming back to visit? Ha-ha!
Now I need to go change my clothes since I am covered in little sticker bush burr things and find something for lunch. Then I think I might watch a movie...I am exhausted. Marly, Sadie and Bandit were all antsy last night and made sleep hard to get.
P.S. Bandit is doing just fine...he is a little timid jumping, but otherwise surgery doesn't seem to have bothered him in the least. (He got neutered and micro-chipped yesterday.)
I haven't wanted to write this because it makes it too real...but Clyde is missing. I am feeling terribly guilty about it since I put him outside before I left for work on Tuesday (he gets really, really antsy couped up in the house for multiple days at a time and since I wasn't sure if I would be staying the night in the town I was in I thought it would be better for his sake - he sleeps in the cat house on the patio with the heated bed in it...trust me, outside is not terrible for him - under normal circumstances.)
He has gone for a day or so before...I assume he goes off to hang out with his girlfriend whom I have seen around here at times too. (They are both fixed, don't worry readers.) But when he didn't come home Wednesday...and then we didn't see him at all yesterday...
I feel like an awful kitty mommy. I really hope that he has just wandered farther from home than normal and is having trouble finding his way back, but my gut is telling me that a wild animal somewhere may have gotten a hold of him.
This afternoon I will be putting up fliers and calling local vets and shelters...I will also be notifying Home Again which is the company he is micro-chipped through. Unfortunately, I am not sure that places around here automatically scan animals that come in to see if they are micro-chipped...we'll see I guess.
In other news, Bandit is at the vet's right now getting neutered.
Let me preface this by saying that I lived in the Seattle area all of my adult life (minus the year and a half that I have been here in Charlotte). King County is nonsmoking inside all public places now...but most hotels were nonsmoking along with restaurants almost as far back as I can remember. I am not trying to get into any sort of political debate right now over whether this is something the government should make a decision on, I am just stating my background and upbringing when it comes to dealing with smoking.
Also, I am not a smoker. Never have been. Never will be.
Last night was the worst hotel stay I have ever had. Unfortunately, it was a last minute call to decide to stay in the town I was working in - due to some changes it turned out that I would simply be reviewing this branch and finishing up today instead of also including their other location that is close to home today and then finishing up tomorrow. With that, it made no sense for me to drive three hours home last night to just turn around and drive three hours back out to the branch. My standard hotel (Hampton Inn) is such because they are consistently clean, decently appointed, and they have good coffee (yes, this is a factor for me!). Last night, however, there was some sort of random event happening at the local hotel and the only room they had left was a smoking room. Being that I was in a small-ish town and it was a significant drive to another decent hotel, I agreed.
No matter how clean the hotel is, how fresh the sheets and towels are, a room that is closed up with no possibility of any fresh air ever entering it (the windows do not open) that is used primarily for smokers...stinks. Everything feels grimy to me. The mattress, pillows, curtains, and chairs were saturated with the smell. To make it worse, this hotel was trying to be "homey" and also had silk plants in the room. I didn't sleep for beans last night because I was unable to breathe. This morning my sinuses were a mess and I felt like I needed to shower as soon as I got up, and then again just before I left. My suitcase, clothes, and laptop bag all smell now and I could smell the stench on me while I was working at the branch. I hate it.
Needless to say, now I wish I had made the drive to another hotel. Next time, I will not be settling for a smoking room. Right now it is time for me to take yet another shower...at least this time I should stay smelling clean (for awhile anyway) when I get out and dried off.
WORK: I am learning lessons in scheduling with our new travel-all-the-time thing going on at work. Generally speaking, I am gone two nights and three days...what I am learning is that if I want to survive, I can't schedule those back to back. i.e. The week before last I was gone Wednesday through Friday and then this past week Monday through Wednesday. Not having at least one workday in-between trips made for an icky weekend full of work related stuff so that I could wrap up the first week and prepare for the second. Live and learn. Luckily, I got home late Tuesday night instead of sometime on Wednesday and have had time to get caught back up on everything and take some time for myself as well.
HOME: My mom and sister are coming to visit at the end of February for my birthday (and for my mom's birthday too!). I can't wait! It will be my sister's first visit to North Carolina and my mom's second. Of course, it takes visitors to spur me into completing the unfinished projects around here...and now time is running short so I am getting a bit frenzied. (There will be a "to-do" list to follow so I can try to keep track of what needs doing!) Mostly the place needs a good scrub-down and decluttering.
ANIMALS: Marly is growing up. She is still very much puppy and gets into trouble often (my fault mostly for not paying attention to where she is and what she is chewing on). However, she is starting to show that she knows she is going to get in trouble for things like getting up on the counter to eat the kitty food, chewing on mommy's shoe laces or tags her clothes, and being in the kitchen. This gives me hope that someday she won't just acknowledge that these are naughty things, but that she will also stop doing them. A friend and I were going to take the dogs to the park today, however, I think all the rain that we missed over the past year is falling in the past/next 24 hours. My yard is flooded...even Marly the water dog doesn't want to spend much time outside when going potty. I think it is because now instead of just fun puddles, the whole yard is squishy and slippery. And the rain is falling hard...she isn't used to that.
PHOTOGRAPHY: So, as you can all see, I have not started any of the photography projects that I was planning on. Being that today is Feb 1, maybe today is a good day to get going with it. Neil took a seminar in Atlanta this past weekend and had a good time, got some great photos, and was inspired to buy lights. Ha! That is so far out of my league it makes me laugh. However, it is surely nice to have someone who knows what they are doing with the basics around to help li'l old me. He also asked me a great question...one I have been pondering since I bought my camera...what do I want to shoot? I mean of course there is the everyday stuff that I do - pets, life, etc. But for real shooting what do I want to focus on and learn? My answer: structure/industry and some macro stuff. I love architecture, urban and rural decay, trains and planes, etc...but I am no good at capturing any of that in a still photo. So I guess at least now I have a bit of direction? A goal? My real problem right now is that though I 'get' the terms, the ideas behind aperture and shutter speed, I struggle greatly with applying any of that knowledge. I know practice makes perfect, but I struggle with where to even start. I think this Spring, once I have gotten into some sort of routine with work travel, I am going to enroll in a photography class so that I can get some hands-on classroom learning.
Not much else happening here...I guess I ought to get started on some of the decluttering since there is no way I can get any real cleaning done until the "stuff" is put away.
