The Scrolls

Archive for the ‘pets’ Category

It’s Okay

Things are okay now. They were quite trying for this past week or so. First, there’s that monthly visit that I never know when to expect thanks to my IUD. Then, my computer began acting up at an alarming rate and my attempts to fix it (updating the BIOS, first, then reinstalling Windows) either were no help at all, proved more difficult than intended or actually made things worse. Computer problems really make me worry because a) I spent so much on it and b) I need my computer in order to make money so that I can pay rent and feed the cats and, you know, live. Although my computer is currently performing at a less than ideal state, it’s workable so there’s that. I’ll be enlisting the help of one of my geeky friends to completely reformat and re-do the partitions on Thursday so, hopefully, that’ll cover everything.

Then there’s taxes.. which I really put off because I was afraid of how much I was going to have to pay. Such is the life of a freelance writer. Self employment kind of sucks in that way. So I stressed over making the appointment, which they then had to change, so I stressed for a few more days. Luckily, it’s all over with (except for the envelope that I have to mail to the state) and the total was less than anticipated. But, wow! The fees I paid to H&R block were just ridiculous. Sure, they’ll file your federal return for free but I paid over $235 because of my self employment. Eesh. =/ It definitely helped me to pay less for taxes so it’s worth it but it’s an outstanding amount nonetheless.

Besides those really big things that have had me on edge, I’ve had some unexpected issues arise. Last night I went to grab my earbuds to listen to my music and–lo and behold!–I grabbed pieces of them. Literally. One of the cats chewed them them completely in multiple spots. Now, if you’ve been following my review blog, you’ll see I’ve purchased quite a few sets already this year due to cats as well as shorting out. Today, I had the opportunity to purchase my seventh pair in three months.

To add to my frustration, the chain to my favorite necklace is missing. It as last on the bathroom counter and I suspect that some furry one knocked it down the drain. This isn’t an end of the world situation but I find myself frequently having to replace necklace chains. It’s hard for me to find one that I like because the ones I like are just the basic chains that come with pendants. They’re not really meant to be sold. The chain from this necklace, specifically, was an antique and a bit heavier than you tend to find these days as well.

And so, I’ve spent the last few days being grumpy physically uncomfortable, anxiety-ridden and probably not much fun to be around. I really wanted to blog about it but I guess I didn’t want to ruin my “winning” streak. You see, it’s become important to me that others see me as happy, that I see myself as happy and sometimes I feel like setbacks such as this past week mean I have completely and utterly failed and to speak of them would make that failure real and I would have to accept that I just can’t do this (“this” meaning being happy and well adjusted) and I should just resign myself to a life of misery. Spelled out like that, I know it’s pretty silly. I also know that resisting the fact that I’m feeling unhappy also makes me feel worse. Sometimes I just need someone to tell me that I can feel like that, sometimes, and it doesn’t equate to unequivocal failure. But sometimes I need people to be able to read my mind to tell me that because, obviously, if talking about the negative is what’s bothering me, I can’t do that.

The good news is that, while some days every happy thing seems to come with a bad thing, the worst has blown over. I listened to some music. I feel better. I am confident everything will work out and less stressed about everything. Some of my issues are already resolved and I’m not in such a dire position that I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope I reach it sooner rather than later.

Remember, Remember the fourth of November

As I type this, Wendy and I are watching V for Vendetta. We are a day off, oops. It’s actually the first time I have watched the movie. It has been several days since many of you have heard of me and I assure you that I am not avoiding you–simply been busy moving across the country, cleaning my former apartment, applying for a new one and making all the calls that are necessary when performing a major life transition.

In between, I’ve been trying to spend time catching up on sleep, catching up with work and meeting up with friends and family. To be honest, I haven’t seen many people but there is no rush now.

So how is it, you ask?

Pretty awesome. I’ve adjusted to the cold better than I thought I would have. I bought an awesome new coat. It’s actually been warmer than expected. I walked a couple places yesterday and it was quite enjoyable. People I passed greeted me and drivers even yielded to me!

The kitties were amazing. They weren’t happy and I certainly wasn’t when I had to hold them in the San Antonio airport while the TSA agents scanned the carriers but, all in all, things went well. My last flight on Monday night actually got in 10 minutes early! And they haven’t killed Wendy’s cats or vice versa.

So now we are just waiting to see if we can get an apartment and them moving her stuff over there. It’s a lot of stuff and I’m not sure if I am ready to move so soon. My body has just gotten over being exhausted and I’m still bruised all over. I shaved my legs this morning and it only makes the bruises stand out.

Anyhoo, I’m alive. I miss you guys. I’d update more but I can’t access the Internet or send/receive picture messages on my phone right now. I’m trying to get that figured out.

Restless Nights

There is nothing I like more than falling asleep easily or waking up feeling restful. However, this rarely happens. The other day, I was so tired I fell asleep watching TV and I woke up a bit later, thinking “Wow, I never fall asleep without realizing it anymore.” And it’s true.

Yesterday, I spent 5 hours lying in bed (and sometimes on the couch), trying to fall asleep. I took some melatonin, which did me no good. Mostly, I lie awake worrying about things that have happened, things that will happen. My mind keeps running even if my body is completely exhausted. It can be painful to keep my eyes open, yet my heart pounds and, in my brain, I’m thinking all sorts of things: ideas for blog posts and forum threads, layout designs, what I’ll eat the next day, how I’ll form an article for Demand Studios, whether I need to do any chores, what time I need to wake up to perform activity X. It just doesn’t stop.

I know I’m not alone and that makes me feel better but it doesn’t help, exactly. And neither do the cats who will paw at the walls, beat on the mirror, meow out the window, chase one another and claw at the carpet. I’ve been keeping a bottle of water on the night stand to spray at Goliath when he’s naughty (he’ll run at the sight of it, some mornings) but it’s so incredibly hard to fall asleep.

Or stay asleep. I’ll wake after a few fitful minutes of sleep and start back at square one. I’ll do this 5 or 6 times a night, some nights. It’s horrible. i’m sure the stress of my life makes it worse but, the truth is, I’ve always had trouble sleeping but I haven’t always realized it. Sometimes, we don’t realize that what we accept as “normal” is, in reality, unhealthy.

I know it now, but I’m still stumped. It seems like the effectiveness of my relaxation CD has worn off and I’ll have to look for a new solution.

Facts About Cats and Printers

I have cats, 2 of them. I also have a printer, surprisingly, with 2 cats. I have come to a few conclusions about the combination of cats and printers.

• Cats are intrigued by printers.
• Cats are also scared of printers.
• Cats like to walk, jump and lie on printers regardless of any buttons they press, papers they knock off or mommies they discturb.
• When cats jump off of printers, the force may knock the printer right off the desk.
• When cats knock printers off desks, printers may not work quite as well afterward.

Copycat

In true little brother fashion, Goliath takes after his big brother. Phantom has always slept in certain spots, usually right up against the wall. Goliath now does, too. Phantom started sleeping on top of the TV a few weeks ago; now Goliath tries to join.. but usually falls off because Phantom is the small, graceful one and Goliath is just big and awkward. Phantom used to live on top of the fridge a while back, until Goliath took it over. I think it’s cute but I’m pretty sure Lil P isn’t quite so thrilled. He always has to find new spots but sometimes I still find them curled up together and get a picture like this one:

One Down

And only one to go! I redid the quiz that tells you which of my pets you are so go take it! There’s only one left and I promise to get to that much sooner. Also, I fixed a bunch of broken images on the blog.

Settling In

..is what we’re doing. And that’s okay. Annoying video game sounds and Ryan laughing at stupid shit online are much preferred to crap quality phone calls from him across the world (however, I noticed a direct correlation between the stupidity of shit I missed about him and how long he was gone). So he’s back to video games and making fun of people, I’m back to computer time and we’re both playing with the cats and playing Monopoly on Pogo.

We took the time to buy a new car – a 2002 Dodge Neon in red – which probably isn’t as awesome as the Forenza was but is pretty nice and was affordable. Ashe thinks it’s cute and I’m inclined to agree but Ryan is all “NO RAWR NO CUTENESS I’M A MAN GRR.”

Although happy to have him back I wasn’t able to be nearly as omgexcited as I would have liked to be, due to all the crap that surrounded his homecoming. It’s so hard to be happy when you’re something of a perfectionist, eh?

Phantom was pretty damned excited and spent the first few days bugging the shit out of Ryan but maybe that was ’cause Ryan was bugging the shit out of him. Of course, Goliath was a little ‘fraidy cat and spent the first few days hiding under the bed but he’s come out now and has taken a liking to Ryan’s laptop.

Also on the kitty news front, they keep knocking over an accent table I put in the living room and beating up the pictures of our grandpas on it. Not nice. This is only a problem, of course, because Ryan took out the boxes of crap I had placed under there so maybe I ought to just shove him under there, instead.

We haven’t really done or seen anything super exciting, though. It’s still ungodly hot out so survival has been key, really. I have noticed his tendency to turn up the AC so it’s hotter or set the shower at burn-my-skin-off hot. As long as I’m talking about annoyances, I was shocked to see my laundry literally triple in one day and my dishes have doubled as well. There are some perks to being all by my lonesome but I guess I’ll forgive him for putting a kink in my style ;)