Tissues and Napkins

How is it almost August already?? Where did my summer go? I have only been to the beach once and in a pool once, and it was not even my own. Tomorrow is supposed to be 75! That's so cold! And it's going to rain! (That was so much complaining for 6 sentences.) At least the husband and I have plans to go to see Dark Knight Rises tomorrow.

Right now, it looks like my allergies gave me a two day reprieve where I only had a stuffy nose instead of sneezing a million times. I have sneezed 5 times so far this morning. I know, I should make an appointment with an allergy doctor. My fears include the following: the recommendation that I get allergy shots; prescription nose spray (Who likes to put things up their nose and then spray?! It is the worst feeling ever.); or I get another allergy pill that isn't strong enough. I am hoping if I do end up going, that he or she has found some miracle cure in patch form or even magic. I can deal with a magical cure. I am just sick of blowing my nose and having my boss ask me if I am sick every single time, every year, even though I always tell her it is allergies.

Okay, I am pretty sure no one wants to read a whole post about allergies. So I will tell you about last night. G and I made dinner together. It went smoothly and came out pretty delicious.

Look at all those cooking stations!

He let me put on my music and we chatted, then sat down to a nice dinner and talked. This sounds normal except that our usual routine is to eat dinner in front of the tv. It's a habit I am trying to break. I made our dinner a little more fancy by setting the table and adding the roses he sent to my job last week and some candles. The fact that we were wearing pajamas does not take away from the fanciness.

Napkins and everything!

Yes, Benny is there. He was circling the table. Silly pup. After dinner we went upstairs and he read while I played on the computer. I have to say, it was the first day in a long time that we didn't watch tv. I really enjoyed the night.

Tonight we are going out on a date into town. I got a Living Social deal for a wine bar called Bella Vino, though it doesn't cover wine... or alcohol at all. So apps and drinks at Bella and if we are still hungry, we will go to dinner. I love date nights with my hubby. I already have a dress in mind to wear. Sometimes when I am having dinner with my husband or going out on a date, I try to capture the moment mentally because I am crazy and always have a fear that I am not enjoying the moment, which I might regret later. I guess that happens when you lose someone close; afterwards, you want to remember everything you do with the people you love.

In other news, I guest blogged for my close friend LMC yesterday. It's a good read on what she deserves in a man, according to me.

Happy Thursday, my lovely readers! Hooray for summer Fridays off!

Just another day...

Just one of those Tuesdays where you get dressed and ready and go to work to realize you forgot to put on a bra. It was one thing to forgo make up this morning, but a bra? I think I just really need it to be the weekend already. My face is still full of allergy hell and I am ready to go back to bed.

This morning, however, a fun little tumblr called Admissions Problems helped get me through the first 30 minutes of the day. Really this tumblr gets me through most days. I know I am lucky enough that I don't dread going to work and most days I enjoy my job, but it is so cathartic to bitch about admissions and all the ridiculousness that comes along with it.

In nerd news, I am pretty obsessed with Doctor Who. When I get into shows, it's like a good book to me, I just want to watch the whole thing until it's done or I am caught up. Could I be doing more productive things with my time? WHY DON'T YOU BACK OFF AND STOP JUDGING ME?!

Speaking of productive, it's back to work time.

Ah-choo! and my summer is officially here!

You know you have bad allergies when your officemate says to his appointment "You don't have to say 'bless you,' she sneezes about 80 times a day." I really do sneeze so much when my allergies are bad. I can't wear my contacts. I even dream about my allergies knocking my contacts out. So weird.


But better than that...
THESIS IS SUBMITTED 
and DONE 
and PASSED!!!

I am so thrilled about this. I can read for pleasure and enjoy my month off before I have classes start back up at the end of August. 4 more classes, 2 in the Fall and 2 in the Spring until sweet and glorious freedom!! 


Lynne pointed out something very true: I barely complained. I have been saving article after article on social media and online initiatives and online expectations of prospective and current students for over a year and it paid off. I had 4 pages of resources. The paper was 27 pages in total and  I had a great advisor. (In a complete side note, I hate that word and the internet do not accept "advisor" as a correctly spelled word. It is a person who works in academic advising computer!! Deal with it!) This was the big hump to get over. Now, it is like I can almost see the end of my degree. 6 courses down. 4 to go.


So... close... 

My husband is my love for a reason

Sometimes... no most times... really just about all the time I have quite an amazing husband. He is patient, kind, funny, smart, and crazy productive. He does so much for me and despite the way I act, he asks very little. On Monday,  I came in to find my beautiful white calla lily that has been in bloom since early February was finally killed by a week of July heat. I mentioned it to my husband. Two days later I come in to work and get a delivery from ProFlowers with flowers and chocolate. And not just any flower, roses.

 

Just cuz. Love, G

He really does a great job of making me smile and telling me he loves me every day. I love him. Every day. 

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In thesis news, I finished my first draft. I am having it reviewed and then will update it, send it off, update it again and be DONE! So excited to read a book and enjoy my summer, stress free. Continue watching Community and Doctor Who like it's my job. Speaking of Community....

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My other life partner Lynne and I brought our relationship to a whole new level this week. On Community, two characters have a fake morning show. They even have their own mugs. It's called Troy and Abed in the Morning. 

They sing the title and then pretend to have a morning show...

So I one time made a joke where I pretended that Lynne and I had a show called Lynne and Jackie in the Morning... Which made us look up the mugs, which made us say okay, we should have our own mugs. Lynne gave me the deadline of Christmas to figure out how to make it happen. I got back to her in 5 minutes and then it took me a day to get the image for the mug just right.

We ordered them yesterday... yea. That just happened.

Kitten has left the building...

Desdemona has a new home! Here she is playing with Olive. Playing.. fighting...  same difference. I am happy to say she will have a new kitty friend, a 2.5 year old, and a new mom and dad to take care of her.

I totally cried when our friend drove off with her. I couldn't believe how upset I was. It was mostly happy tears that she is healthy, happy, and full of energy when she left; no longer starving and sick and full of fleas. We only had her for 6 days, but they were so full of emotion and craziness.

I'm outta here! 

Incidently, I'm not way behind on my self imposed thesis deadlines. I got a lot written yesterday and today, but there is a good amount left to be done. But it's vacation time and I plan on enjoying this super long weekend. 

And in other news, we found a fabulous groupon for our trip to Niagara Falls, so our anniversary trip is booked! Can't wait.  

Kitty Drama 2012

This is the story of a kitty on a mission. On Wednesday, while weeding around the pool in my backyard, our dog Olive was chasing something around until she chased it right over to me and I scooped her up. Now, for those non-cat people who don't know, stray cats, or even most cats, do not go quietly and nicely to strangers. This little lady was feather light and let me hold her while I just walked around the yard thinking, what do I do with her?? 

So my husband and I drove her over to the vet that we bring our dogs to, but it turns out they were closed. So we sat in the car looking up shelters, but they all closed at 4 or 4:30pm and it was just after 5pm. So she wandered around the car while we tried to figure out our next move. 

Look, I'm in an ashtray!

It looked like there was nothing we could do for the night, so we brought her back to the house. I crushed up some dog food and added water to make it soft and gave her a bowl of water and put her in the library away from the dogs. I posted a picture (the one above) on Facebook in the hopes that someone might be interested. A lot of people told me to keep her, but I knew our house was not the right one for this kitten. 

It took everything I had to keep strong and try to find somewhere to bring her. The next day, I went to work and  left a little early to bring her to a shelter so she could be adopted. I brought her to the closest one and waited until someone came to reception. A man jumped in front of me to talk to the lady so I stayed seated. He asked them to take 4 cats. They said they cannot take any more cats or kittens. He asked them to put the cats down then. They told him they could not put down healthy animals. He said he couldn't keep them and the receptionist suggest that he try a vet, who might euthanize them. 

My heart broke.

I stood up still in shock after the man left to assumingly get those cats killed. She told me the same thing, that they could not take any more cats or kittens. They were storing them in the office, reception area, and everywhere else. So I left, called my husband and cried. I promised the kitty I wouldn't let anyone kill her. So I went to the car and called the local chapter of PAWS, they don't accept cats or kittens, and neither did the other 3 shelters I tried. I was heartbroken. I was considering keeping her, but with the puppies, the possibility of her getting out of the yard and the added cost was not looking good. So I called North Shore Animal League and went on a waiting list. 

I left and went to the supermarket to get her food and litter, made an appointment for later that day with my vet and took her home. I posted about the saga on Facebook and asked is someone could please give her a home. 

Guess where I am?

Just before the vet appointment, my wonderful friend Kelly said she was considering it. She owned two cats already and I know she does well with her cats. So I took her to the vet where they confirmed what I was only assuming, that she is a girl. She is 6-7 weeks old. She did have fleas and a minor upper respiratory infection (aka kitty cold), but healthy otherwise, which the vet was surprised but pleased about.  He gave us meds and flea medication and told us to give her a bath. 

Drying off.

Licking herself as she dries.

Fluffy once more!

Once it was confirmed she was a little lady, I named her Desdemona. I sat with her in the bathroom for a while. She loves my lap and enjoyed crawling all over me.

And eating my shirt. Om nom nom nom...

The only thing I was worrying about was that the vet said that she was healthy as long as she had an appetite. And it seemed like the only appetite she had was for my shirt and fingers. She wasn't really touching the cat food. So like a good mom, I put some on my finger and let her sniff it until she ate it. Then a bit more. Then offered her the bowl. Which she ate from, but only from my lap. I spent a lot of last night sitting in the bathroom with this kitten. Once she had eaten and seemed to be in good spirits, I brought her into the living room. The dogs had been going crazy since we brought her in the house. Benny was actually a gentle giant...

You smell like kitty. 

Olive, however, as more of a sniffing bully. I think she was just excited to be bigger than someone. I couldn't even get a picture because Olive was being so ridiculous. So Desi snuggled up to me. Every once in a while she would venture off to other parts of the couch. She enjoyed attacking toes...

Mmmm.... those toes look delicious.

So now she is back in her bathroom for now, until her new mom comes to pick her up tonight. I am sad to see her go, but she needs a new home. I can't wait to watch her grow from afar. And excited that Benny might stop whining. 

Say bye bye little Desdemona!!

UPDATE: Kelly cannot take the cat. She is back to looking for a home...

Pizza and Plans

Pizza and I have a love/hate relationship right now. I love it because it is delicious and full of cheese, but I hate digesting it. Right now a lot of meat, cheese, and dough is sitting like a rock in my stomach.

I have been slacking with my posts and everyday I go home and think, I need to write a post about my trip to Austin (best trip EVER!). Then I get sleepy or start watching True Blood or Community. Or I was working on my thesis. Okay that's a lie. I have 8-10 pages due next Wednesday and I have not started writing anything. I have a detailed outline and folder that is just holding 2 inches of papers I have gone through and highlighted. So today after work I will head to a coffee shop and try to bang out a page or two before I head home. My plan for tomorrow is to write in the morning, L-bomb drops in the afternoon.

Lately I have been so insanely tired. Last night I had all intentions of working on my thesis, but instead I fell asleep while my hubby went to the gym and then we caught up on True Blood. Which is why I am forcing myself to get a chai* and sit in a coffee shop and write. That is if I'm not curled up in a ball in my office crying about how the delicious pizza tried to kill me


*Why is my blog not accepting chai as a correctly spelled word? Chai is delicious blogger!! Why are you anti-chai?!