Time for you to get off your lazy arses and start bringing in some $$$. Here's some inspiration from Japan.

People, the furballs let me sleep in this morning!

Normally Spooker starts scratching my side of the bed between 3:30 and 3:45 am. I flop a pillow in his general direction to scare him away. He gallops off and stays away for a few minutes, then creeps back to scratch on EEK's side. Since EEK has an amazing ability to sleep through this, I have to sit up and reach over him to flop a pillow at Spooker, who again gallops off. Meanwhile, all this activity wakes the old cats, who start milling around the bed and whining. I usually manage to ignore them until about 4, which is when Spooker pounces frail, elderly Roo. That's the one thing that will get me to leap out of bed and Spooker knows it. Little bastard.

This morning, not a peep out of any of them. I got up at 4:45 and probably could have stretched it to 5 if I hadn't been afraid of oversleeping and being late to work. I...I...I feel well rested. On a Monday.

Once I got up I discovered the reason for the feline inactivity: I forgot to pick up their food bowls before going to bed, so they were nibbling all night long. Fine for Roo, but fat cats Spooker & Luna are supposed to be on diets.

Sigh. Back to morning battle tomorrow.

New Simon's Cat! I think our Luna was a consultant on this one.

Well, that flew by, but then I was on the go every single day. Note to self: try to squeeze in a commitment free day once in a while, will ya?

Sabah is back from tour and is teaching again at Pineapple on Thursdays & Saturdays for 10 weeks. So between taking both her classes and Erika's Level 3 as well as auditing Level 1, I am currently at the studio 4 days a week. That'll be up to 5 days when the GQs come back from summer break. Erika, work on that shower & nap room idea.

On Friday my yoga teacher Fran was out due to attending her daughter's graduation. One of the other instructors subbed for her. Tom teaches the class right before Fran's on Fridays and I'd been curious about his teaching style. He seems to focus more on strength, while Fran concentrates on flexibility. I may try doing their classes back to back this week.

That is if I've recovered from my massage by Friday. On Sunday, I went back to sports therapist Eric C. for a targeted treatment of my neck, shoulders & upper back, as he recommended when I saw him last month. It took about 15 minutes to clear out my right side. He spent the rest of the hour on my left side and it's still not clear. And he worked deep: that massage fucking hurt! Thank goodness for yogic breath control. The ache & stiffness I'm having now is like what I get after doing a weeklong dance workshop, except just on the left side of my neck. Time to pop some more Vitamin I.

I catsat for my friend Lynn who watches our furballs when EEK & I are traveling. She used to live just across the courtyard, but is now a 20-minute walk away. I planned my visits around trips to the studio and health club. On Sunday I watched a gripping production of Peter Grimes from the Met with Lynn's kitties. (Some cats really dig music.)

Yesterday I went to the club for yoga, but even though Fran came to teach and three students showed up the club sent her home because the class wasn't on the holiday schedule. The trip wasn't a total loss though, because I ran into former GQ Cristina and got to soak my aching neck in the hot tub. Also picked up some plants on the way home and did my flowerbox for the back porch.

Oh yeah, I watched a bunch of French movies too. Because the ennui, she is filling me. ( L'ennui du chat noir )

Quick hits before I get re-caught in the work whirlwind.

1. I got my butt kicked good at Suhaila's Level 2 weeklong in April. I did not take the certification exam because I have not mastered the level yet. Some people have given me grief for this, but these people have no concept of how fricking difficult the format is. I'll take it when Suhaila says I'm ready.

2. I registered for Samara's June weeklong in NYC, which will kick my butt in a competely different way. I will be travelling with my teacher Erika & troupemate Kate. We'll be staying in the East Village and performing in the gala show (June 15 at the Lafayette Grill - come see us NY peeps!).

3. EEK & I joined a gym. He's been going every day & I've go most of my off days. No machines for me though, I'm more of a yoga & pilates girl. I tried Nia there last week, which was more free form than I expected for something based on martial arts....I guess that's the modern dance influence. There will be a ballet class starting soon, hopefully not on a night that conflicts with my other dance classes and hopefully not just a floor barre class (though that would be good for me).

4. Speaking of my other dance classes, Erika is doing her level best to separate me from my money. She's opening a Level 3/Performance class, as well as dance conditioning and dance movement classes. Oh, and Sabah will be back to teach advanced classes for 10 weeks. I should just move into the studio and shower at the gym.

5. I had a weird dream last week. Cats & rabbits kept getting into the condo, even though all the doors & windows were closed and locked. My dream self was all "WTF is up with all these cats & rabbits everywhere?" My awake self is still all WTF about the dream. Seriously. Cats & rabbits everywhere. WTF?

Back to work. Le sigh.

First of May! First of May!
Outdoor loving starts today!

Celebrate Spring! (NSFW without headphones.)

Also, please send healing vibes, say a prayer, etc. for our old guy Roo who is at the vet's undergoing tests. He has renal disease--for which we have been treating him--and yesterday EEK noticed blood in Roo's urine. UPDATED TO ADD: Roo has a UTI, but we caught it very early. He'll be heading home soon with a bottle of antibiotics. Merci mes amis.

(Yes, I am home from San Francisco, but am buried under preparations for three impending bankruptcy filings. In fact, I am at work on one of my days off. My group figured out yesterday that since January 1, there has been only one weekend that none of us was working. How depressing is that? I needs me some outdoor loving, I tell you what!)

This was movie weekend. eeknight & I watched four Pedro Almodovar films: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Matador, Law of Desire, and The Flower of My Secret. I used a soon-to-expire pass to see The Other Boylen Girl, which was okay once I turned off my brain.

I also visited Sirius Cooks, to check out the homemade, human grade pet foods they offer. I picked up one small carton of their chicken stew for cats as well as sampler packs from Tiki Cat (wild caught seafood) and Chicago's own Evanger's. Miss Luna Blu is too picky too eat such things, but so far the boy cats are fans.

I'm such a terrible procrastinator. Erika's Level 2 students are supposed to map a song for class tonight. I never got around to doing it at home, but figured that since my work computer has Windows Media I could do the map on my lunch hour. Nope: "file not compatible." Now I'll have to show up empty-handed. Go me.

So instead I spent lunch on Jezebel. Jezzie has a fun weekly column that looks back on the books American women of a certain age loved in their youth, from virtuous Laura Ingalls Wilder to slutty VC Andrews. Ah, memories.

The annual review process starts today. I have until next Friday to complete a self review. I hate those things. As if work isn't unpleasant enough as it is.

But my friend Ann sent me this 'tube: blak kitteh iz harbinger of doom. I danced last night. Tonight I get to snuggle with EEK. I dance again tomorrow. So things aren't all bad.

Oh, and it's Mardi Gras. That means the Legal Behemoth will be providing paczki for breakfast and I will indulge my chocolate tooth repeatedly. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

I simply must repost this most excellent Star Trek catfight 'tube found via eeknight: kittehs can haz amok tiem.

I was also reminded of this Meg Cabot vid that the writers on my flist will appreciate: Amy gets what she deserves.

Still working like a dog. Rather be snuggling with my sweetie. C'est la vie.

Miss Luna Blu is doing much better. She ended up having eight teeth removed. I feel terrible that I didn't know how bad they were, but she never acted like her teeth hurt. Even the vet was surprised. After lying around the house being sleepy & cranky for a few days, Luna is almost her old self. She will be on meds for one more day, then watch out boy cats!

This has been a lovely holiday break so far. I've been reading, watching movies, snuggling with eeknight, napping with kitties, and socializing with family & friends. And I still have a whole week to go. Yay!

It really is hard to believe that another year almost over. I hope you had more joy than sorrow and I wish you the same for 2008.

Our Luna Blu went to the vet this morning for what we thought would be a relatively routine dental procedure. Instead she had to have most of her remaining teeth removed. She'll be on antibiotics & painkillers for a while. Poor little baby.

Virtual Purring

Ah, I feel better already.

To be really accurate, we'd need to add a cat scratching the side of the bed and dodging tossed pillows. And an elderly cat calmly waiting for the humans to get annoyed enough to get up. Oh, and the wake up crew would be bugging me unmercifully and leaving EEK completely alone.

Brats.

I hate Mondays, so I think I will just sit here quietly watching this video over and over and over...

Busy, busy, busy. Lately I've had 3-5 hours of classes and/or rehearsals six days a week. The Baladina show is in three weeks. I'm not sure I'll remember what to do when I get my weekends & evenings back. I'm learning lots with all this dancing of course, but one thing irritates me: I'm getting slimmer, but the scale hasn't budged. Muscles, eat fat faster dagnabit!

Made time for my "annual" physical this week. I am in perfect health other than the weight issue. Also, I am two inches taller than I thought. If you haven't had your height measured since high school, break out the measuring tape. You might get a surprise.

Someone who is not in perfect health is our elderly kitty Roo. He has renal disease and we have to give him subcutaneous fluid treatments twice a week. This involves an IV bag of saline, tubing, and a big needle. Roo has had three treatments so far and is improving already I think. Yay!

In other news, Luna & Spooker are on a diet. They are not happy with this turn of event, but they've both lost weight in the past week. Suck it up fat cats.


LOLCHAUCER:



i can hath cheezburger? (Warning: this link may only be funny to literature & language nerds.)

And now back to the whirlwind. Anon peeps.

This is Spooker, the youngest of our three cats and the family clown.



Spooker has a problem with food. He just can't get enough and if said food belongs to another kitty, well all the better. eeknight & I think this is the result of Spooky living on the streets before we adopted him.

At meal times I put down a bowl for Spooky in the kitchen, then lock Roo and Luna Blu in the bedroom with their bowls for about 20 minutes to make sure they get a chance to eat. Meanwhile Spooker will take one look at his bowl, then scamper down the hallway to sit outside the bedroom door. If he really wants the food, he'll stand on his hind legs and pound on the door with his front paws (EEK just loves this at 5 am). Once the time is up, I go into the bedroom to release the old cats and take up the food bowls. Then Spooker sniffs around looking for the food, eventually giving up and returning to his untouched bowl in the kitchen. This happens twice a day, every day.

A couple weeks ago I entered the bedroom to find the two old cats huddling on the bed looking dismayed and Spooker with his face in Roo's bowl. The little brat had been hiding in the bedroom when I put down the food. After that incident I started checking the closet and under the bed before locking up. I chased Spooker out a couple times.

Yesterday Spooker did it again! He was chowing down on Roo's food when I came to cleanup and poor Roo was looking on sadly. I did my usual check of hidey-holes before locking up, so how did Spooker outsmart me? He pulled down two black dresses in the closet and used them as camouflage.

Clever little bastard.

A KFC commercial is being filmed in my neighborhood today. I cracked a window and was sickened by the smell of Kentucky Fried Crap. The beasties, however, are all "Aaaaaaaaah! Chicken! Chicken!! Mooooooooooooooooooooom, were is the chicken? CHICKEN!!!"

In a can, furballs, courtesy of Mr. Paul Newman. I'll scoop it out at 4:30. Sheesh.

Trekker alert: Spock & Isis on Cute Overload!