October 31st, 2012

Today has been quite an interesting day. First, I saw some sheep.

For some reason I always feel the compulsion to take a picture of sheep when I see them while I'm driving. Today I indulged in that compulsion while the shepherd looked at me quizzically. Maybe I like taking pictures of them because I realize this won't be a normal occurrence whenever we PCS. Unless of course my plans of becoming a sheep farmer pans out, then these pictures will be redundant.

Also today, I made pizza.

Step one - use very little sauce. Almost none. I'm not really into marinara sauce, and even looking at this I'm thinking "I could've used less sauce."

Step two - snack on mozzarella.

I eat this shiz by the fistful while I'm making anything with mozzarella.

Finally, glory at your amazing pizza.

That's right, bacon and pepperoni. Sorry health-nuts - this is the way to eat a pizza. None of your spinach or vegetables here.

And even though I have a stomach ache right now from eating too much pizza - it was worth it.

October 30th, 2012

Rejoice, readers, for today there are no pictures of cats. However, today does not have a particularly interesting picture either.

I had to go grocery shopping after work. I don't like grocery shopping in general because we live on the fourth floor and do not have an elevator. I know walking up those stairs is probably good for my legs or heart or soul or whatever, but it sucks having to hike it up to our apartment with three million grocery bags.

It turns out today was one of those times when we seem to be out of just about everything, so the cart got this full and I wasn't even done. When the bag boy brought the cart out to my car he looked in abject horror at the size of my car and trunk. Everything fit because Reptar has secret compartments, but still, lots of damn groceries.

To add to the grocery jubilation, I had to go shopping alone because of my husband's work schedule. In addition to shopping alone, I had to carry most of this crap up the stairs alone. But, I left the really heavy/non-perishable items in the trunk for Ski to take upstairs after work.

Because that's what I married him for.

October 28th & 29th, 2012

It's another cat post. But, at least it's only 3 pictures of cats and not 9. I really need a life.

Yesterday Admiral did his best Creeper impression.

He's in there. If you look really closely you can see his eyes. Such a freakin' creep. It made me realize if I had someone who was really superstitious and afraid of black cats I could scare the crap out of them.

But then he scared the crap out of me.

He literally jumped out of his hidey hole at me and I screamed and pressed the camera button. I immediately started laughing at myself like a crazy person and checked if the picture was good enough to use. I deemed it a good enough action shot.

Then today I came home to Bootstrap hiding in his lair again.

Behold, King Kong.

Daniel hypothesizes that he goes up there because no one, including me, can get him there. Daniel also wants to put a towel or blanket up there so it truly becomes his nest. We'll see if we become those people. But, I suspect we already are. I did put a towel in his box to make it more comfortable.

Send help.

October 26th & 27th, 2012

Yesterday I spent my night watching TV; such a break from the norm for me. Anyway, Bootstrap picked last night to be super clingy and needy. Every time I sat down he climbed into my lap. One time when he started to make the climb, I put my hand up to stop him, and this is how that went down.

I'm a sucker. A big, fat sucker.

This morning I woke up to this:

SNOW!

It's slightly unbelievable that it's snowing considering it isn't even November yet and I was expecting to feel annoyed at this occurrence. I looked at the weather report and knew it was coming and I felt a little miffed. We've mostly skipped fall - we had a couple of weeks of cool weather but mostly it's been plain cold. But, rather than being struck by irritability this morning, I felt that giddy kid feeling at the sight of snow. I don't really know what it is about it, but I love snow. Toward the end of winter it starts to turn me into a crotchety old lady, but the first snow of the season is always exciting. It doesn't really get annoying until January. I will say, however, that the best snow happens at night, it makes everything quiet and peaceful. I look forward to the first night snow.

For Barnacle, snow is Always exciting. This morning he literally moaned until we took him outside. He might have had to pee really bad, but as soon as he saw snow he went into hound overdrive, sniffing every inch of it so as to divine its chemical elements.

He's a very goofy dog, and he lorves snow like nobody's business.

So do I, actually.

I also love Daniel's jacket and now have to endeavor to get a new one for myself. I have come to the realization that wool coats really bug me and are uncomfortable.

Finally, it was Admiral's first snow, too.

And he is fascinated. As are we all. Except for Daniel, who grunted when he saw the snow.

Men.

October 25th, 2012

Today is an homage to Barnacle's drug abuse. We took him to get his nails clipped, which should have been easy. However, Barnacle is a damn nightmare. I wasn't there, but I hear he was the king of freak outs and required sedation to trim his toesies. Ridiculous dog. Anyway, here is the sedation taking place.

Semi-disturbing. They had to give him double the dose because he wouldn't fall asleep. So, twice as drugged.

Then, in the car.

Doped out of his mind. He just looked very, very out of it.

Finally, now.

This is where he's been all night, snoring with his eyes open. Weirdo, drugged out dog.

October 16th - 24th, 2012

Way behind. Not much time for narrative, but I feel duty bound to do this. So, here we go.

On the 16th, Admiral and Bootstrap bonded.

First, Admiral cleaned Bootstrap to the point of pissing him off. Then, eventually he got tired and fell asleep on top of him. They are weird cats.

On the 17th, Admiral showed off one of his more annoying qualities.

He likes to sit behind me on the couch and this is how he sits. He kicks my back, the back of my head, etc. It would be more irritating if he wasn't cute at the same time. Plus, the only reason he sits there is because I'm there, so that gives me an ego boost.

On the 18th I documented weight loss.

Sadly it was not my own weight loss. We have been portion controlling the crap out of Barnacle and the results are becoming apparent. I'm actually excited that we get to weigh him this week to find out his progress. At least someone is getting skinnier.

On the 19th, I had an awesome snack.

Butter pretzels! One of the only things I like about Germany. I am certain they are bad for you, but I love them.

On the 20th the cats showed a weird personality quirk.

On weekend mornings the cats are happy to postpone breakfast for snuggle time. Exhibit A: they are sharing bed space. On me. I didn't put them like this, they decided this was the most comfy position.

Also, on the 20th, Bootstrap loves to snuggle all day.

He also likes to hold hands. You can't see it, but his paw is under Daniel's hands. Ah love.

On the 21st the animals congregated.

To watch Daniel do the dishes. They pretty much do this every night. They are a bunch of weirdos.

Also on the 21st.

Not staged. Also - unexplainable.

On the 22nd we got a catalog at work.

Really? Come on. Just. Come on.

On the 23rd I came home for lunch.

He's teaching him the tricks of the trade. God help us.

Finally, today!

This is how I remember to do things at work. On any given day my desk is covered in post-its.

It's professional And effective.

October 15th, 2012

I came home for lunch and found this.

I'll admit, I was a little surprised. I mean, not so much that he was up there because he's been up there before, more that he could still get up there considering his girth.

I mean, he's not the hugest fat cat I've seen, but he's a chubster for sure. I guess it's a good sign that he can heft himself up to those cabinets and be a weirdo.

October 9th - 14th, 2012

Get ready for a cat explosion.

On the 9th is par for the course in my house.

I looked over and I saw this snuggle session. They like to spoon.

On the 10th we realized we spend too much money on beds for the animals.

Bootstrap is clearly happy in his box. He's actually sleeping in it right now. I don't have the heart to put it in the recycling. I think it's his box now.

On the 11th Bootstrap  was full of longing.

He sat there and watched Daniel eat his ice cream for a good 5 minutes; or however long it took Daniel to eat it, I can't remember. All I know is that Bootstrap is a fatty and eventually Ski let him lick the plastic ice cream wrapper.

On the 12th, Admiral showed me his kill.

A foil ball. He insists on bringing them into the living room after I throw them in the cat room even though Barnacle inevitably eats it. My animals are ridiculous.

On the 13th we went to Ramstein with Emily and Matt. I forgot to take any pictures because I was high on Chili's and an American island in the middle of Germany. We bought a bunch of pet stuff at their awesome PX, and one notable cat toy which made Admiral nutty.

You can't hear it but he was growling and pulling like a sonofabitch. He went insane with this toy, he dragged it all around the house, racing around like a crazy heathen.

Bootstrap was much more conventional with the toy.

Although at one point he did look like a fish I caught. Meh.

After the cats played with the toy like jackals for literally hours they crashed on my lap.

Bootstrap particularly.

Finally, today, the cats shared their toy.

Eventually they got it off the door, but for a couple minutes they took turns swatting the crap out of it.

October 8th, 2012

Today we celebrated Columbus' discovery by sleeping in and watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Well, I did. Daniel went to the gym and then took a nap.

Later we decided to take the hell beast for a country walk again.

We took a different path, the trees were much prettier.

Pretty oranging tree. Yes I just made that up. I'm going to lobby to have it put in the Oxford English Dictionary. If "jiggy" can make it in, oranging is a shoe in.

Finally, adorableness.

We are too cute for school. I'm actually surprised we got a decent picture to be honest. But, that's just me and my optimism.

October 6th & 7th, 2012

Yesterday I insisted we take a walk because it was 70 degrees. It was also super windy, but it's October, you take any nice day you can get. So, away we went to the country.

There were only a few colorful trees on the walk - but it was pleasant anyway.

Also on the 6th - date night.

I realize I take the same picture every time we have date night, but it's only because we always go to the same place. We're a little bit old. But, I love the restaurant so, whaddyagonnado?

The 6th has a lot of cat pictures, too, so sit tight.

Yep. They're kissing. It has reached that point. The point of no return.

This is what it looks like when Daniel lets Bootstrap lick out his ice cream sandwich wrapper.

Here they are snuggling up after they had their ice cream.

Finally, cat lovers.

They decided to make snuggles before bed.

Today I just got tired of singing the smelly cat song every time I held Admiral. I don't know why, but the cat reeked. So, Daniel and I got to do that most entertaining of activities: washing a cat.

He looks like a wet rat right now.

Surprisingly, Admiral was fairly easy to bathe. He really doesn't mind water that much. The showerhead freaked him out a little but other than that he just stayed put while I shampooed the hell out of him. The part where he freaked out was drying him off - he does not like to be confined, even if it's in a fluffy towel.