bento

i've become fascinated in the last few days with something called bento. it's not a new concept, by any stretch, but the details are new...i love stumbling across new - to me, at any rate - ways to do the same ol' things.

blogs abound on the subject, much to the chagrin of my already over-burdened rss reader. take a quick peek at all of that adorableness:

- just bento (and its sister site, just hungry)
- bento corner
- lunch in a box

i'm terrible at making lunches for myself, but for some reason i'm able to pack a lunch and snack for j every morning. i'd love to have the creativity to make them as cute and nutritious as the bentos you'll find on these pages, but at 645am i'm not all that in. well, plus i'm not making a bento for a preschooler, so probably a lot of the really kawaii stuff is out...

lunch for the man typically consists of leftovers, since those are easiest and usually after dinner there's enough left to package into one or two plastic containers. then i just pop them into a bag for him in the morning with a snack - classic pb&j with seedless blackberry jam :) - and he's ready to scoop it up with his coffee on his way out the door.

most of the time that seems to work out quite well for him, unless i inadvertently pack something that he wasn't all that wild about when we had it the first time. the pb&j started about a year and a half ago, and he's as amazed as the rest of the world that he's not tired of it yet. the blackberry jam is his favorite, and the protein is just right for a mid-morning blood sugar boost.

i'll definitely be exploring this more, if i can manage to get that "wake up a little earlier" thing under my belt...and i'm sure adapting some of these ideas to our life won't be as complicated as it seems on the surface...

chicken divan

i made this last night, although i pretty much rewrote the hell out of the recipe, so i'm not sure if i can even say that's what i made...

instead of broccoli, i used a bag of frozen cauliflower and broccoli...i only used one 4 ounce can of mushrooms...left out the water chestnuts, but only because i didn't have any, love water chestnuts...used 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of cream of celery soup...and i bumped up the cheese to a full cup, because mama needs not only a cocktail, but also her cheese.

i layered everything according to the directions - amazingly, that part i did follow - in the 4 quart nesco i recently inherited from mom since she - she says - doesn't cook any more. (side note: i also got her 18 quart nesco, and it was perfect for the turkey breast i cooked for christmas dinner. i'm scaring me now.) the 4 quart has pretty much taken the place completely of my slow cooker, since i can do everything with it that the slow cooker did, plus bake, roast, and god only knows what else...still learning... :)

let everything cook and do its thing, and 45 minutes later, spooned some of the best smelling stuff ever over some rice and fed it up to hubby. i don't believe i've ever had chicken divan, but let me say, this was awesome. the curry and the lemon juice were just perfect together, and the whole thing just melts in your mouth. i should also add, when i saw the recipe i initially thought, shred the chicken? screw that... but honest to all that is holy, the shredding totally makes the recipe...the texture of chicken chunks just would not have been the same.

tonight's dinner is still up in the air, unfortunately...but last night's leftovers on a baked potato were a very yummy lunch...

clio's story, part two

we left our fearless heroine snuggled up next to me on her first night inside my apartment. she adapted very easily to our morning routine, and i felt horrible for whoever might have lost her. had she been *my* dog, i would be terrified at not being able to find her.

since she did have a collar, i knew that there must be someone somewhere missing her...i put up fliers and left signs at pet shops, put ads in the paper, halfway hoping all along that no one called. a few people called, but it always turned out that the dog i had was not the one they had lost. i found myself holding my breath every time i heard someone say, "i'm calling about your found dog ad in the paper..."

one morning, clio wouldn't come back in after i'd let her out. she knew that our morning routine went as follows:

-lady gets up and takes precious and clio out
-lady feeds us, takes a shower, gets dressed
-lady takes us out again
-lady LEAVES.

she didn't like that last one. truthfully i wasn't wild about it myself, but someone had to bring home the kibble.

so...there i was, begging a stray dog to get back into my apartment. she wouldn't budge. i was going to be late. as a teacher, this was totally unacceptable. i got in the car and started to drive away. she chased me. i got out of the car, hoping she'd come to her senses, no dice.

driving away that morning is one of the hardest things i have ever ever done in my life. i cannot explain fully how awful that felt.

all day long, all i did was worry about her.

i got home to find that she'd made friends with the local crazy guy, and he'd opted to call animal control. i won't even begin to describe what that did to me.

the animal control officer came over to talk to me - blubbering fool that i'm sure i was - and assured me that if no one claimed her within a week, i could pick her up and either keep her or continue to try finding her home.

i cried all night that first night. kicking myself repeatedly for leaving her. blaming myself for the whole lousy situation. she wasn't even my dog, a few friends said...

but she was. i hadn't named her and i hadn't let myself say it, but she *was* mine. she was happy and thriving with me, and she'd brought joy into my days and evenings.

i called the city animal control office daily. several times daily. it may come as no surprise at all when i tell you that at the end of the third day of these calls, they told me, "um, yeah...come get her please..."

when i pulled into the parking lot, i caught sight of her...she was tied to the side of a barnlike building, with straw for a bed. she recognized my car immediately, the full-body wag and leaping convinced me she'd missed me too.

little side-effect of this whole thing? no matter what, last 9 years that dog comes when i call her now... :D

i brought her home and set about the task of naming her...so many tried and discarded...my mom suggested cleopatra as a joke, mostly...but the fact that the dog had such regal bearing about her sort of begged a regal name. i liked the thought and the sound of it, but...wow, what a moniker to hang on someone.

and then i started thinking about how she felt like such a gift to my life...and the clio award occurred to me...an award, a gift....clio...

she responded to it readily, and it seemed like something we could both live with.

precious passed away five years ago, and clio mourned her in her own way - although she knew as well as i did that i had made precious hang on way too long - and she helped me to mourn.

if i'd been looking for her, i'd likely have never found her. what wonderful fortune that she was able to find me...

clio's story, part one

i'm not 100% on this, since all my old archives are pretty much either gone or not easily accessible, but i don't think i've ever written about how clio came to adopt me...

yes, she most assuredly adopted me...

at the time, i was living in an apartment complex that was set up kind of oddly. there were about 8 or 9 little parking lots off of the main route into and out of the complex. each parking lot had 8 apartments that faced into the lot. they were single story buildings - wow, do i miss that attic. the complex itself was on a very busy road, but once you got into the heart of the area, we were surrounded by fields and woods. from my patio, you couldn't tell you were right on top of a highway, really, but it was close to everything i needed to get to, and it was home.

my cocker spaniel mix, precious (shut up, i was still a kid when i got her... :)), was still alive, although she was in ill health and i was dreading the time when she either passed away on her own or i had to make a decision. in my heart, i felt like i just couldn't get attached to a dog again and precious would be my last pet. now, i've had dogs ALL of my life, so i know i would not really have been able to stick to that, but by then she'd been with me for 13 or 14 years, and i really didn't want to wrap my brain around the thought of losing her.

i was still teaching high school - i KNOW, me...but i escaped - and i had to be up and gone at the ass-crack of dawn one saturday morning to meet the academic team for which i was the advisor. we had a tournament, and i needed to be there early so we could get our "rah rah go team" action on.

as i took precious out for her morning constitutional, i glanced across the parking lot and saw a shape wiggling and whining at the door of one of my elderly neighbors. he was heading back into his apartment, and there was a young dog hesitantly trying to be friendly to him. i knew it wasn't his dog, we'd talked several times and gotten to be friendly.

she caught sight of me and gave a full body wiggle and raced across the parking lot, stopping just out of arm's reach. she wanted to play and be petted, but she was so scared. i tried to gently coax her closer, but she was too skittish.

i brought her some water and a bowl of food, but she was too nervous for that, too.

finally, i had to leave or risk being late, and i wasn't going to be able to do that. all the way across the county i thought about that sweet sweet puppy, and i worried about how she had come to be in our little apartment complex and why she was so afraid. she was beautiful, brown and black and fluffy coated. i could tell that she was too big to be allowed to live in our complex, so she had to have come from somewhere else, but it was a crapshoot as to where that might be.

she had a collar, but no tag. the obvious conclusions were that she'd either gotten out of somewhere, or she'd been dumped. unfortunately, that happens way too often around these parts, so it wasn't something inconceivable.

i figured by the time i got home she would be long gone, but as i pulled up, there she was. all full body wags and happiness.

i went in, changed clothes, took care of precious...then took a tennis ball out to the puppy.

we played fetch with that tennis ball for hours and hours...every single time i threw the ball, she brought it straight back to me. eventually, she even trusted me enough to pet her.

all too soon, the sun sank.

i thought to myself, *what* am i gonna do with this dog?? by now - softie that i am - i couldn't just leave her out there. but i also thought, i *can't* bring her in...or can i???

i tried - once - to go inside without her. but i couldn't resist peeking out the window at her, and she was looking up at the door, such a lost expression on her face.

i caved.

i think that night is the first time that she ever set paw on carpeting, because the look on her face as she felt it against her feet was priceless. as soon as she came in, she sought out something to curl up under, settling in a little ball of puppy underneath the table the tv was on.

the tv amazed her...she watched it, gobsmacked, then ran around behind it to see from whence all the people and animals were coming. she carefully, quietly, skittishly explored every corner of the apartment and tried - unsuccessfully - to make friends with precious.

when bedtime arrived, this adorable little bundle leapt up onto the bed beside me, snuggled close, and fell asleep.

little did i know, but that was the end for me...

next: how clio became mine forever and ever, amen...

litter boxes...exciting stuff!

i have so very found what i want for my next major gift-receiving holiday. behold:

 

you can read all about its wonderfulness here...and you can watch videos! of it being wonderful!! i spent way too much time there recently.

i've also spent way too much time thinking about litter boxes. and their cleaning.

minou isn't hideous with her litter box - actually from horror stories i've heard over the years, she's actually pretty kind to us. but it still isn't much fun. clio is *appalled* that we allow the cat to do these things in.the.house. she's a neat freak, my clio girl...bless her heart for having lived with *me* all these years...

today we got some of the litter that this box uses so we can do a "test run" as it were and see if even just the litter on its own does what i need it to do...because i've become a freak about the litter box. not because i'm mean, but because i feel bad for the cat. i mean, if she could clean it out, i'm sure she would. and i wouldn't want to go into a dirty box to do *my* business, so...i'm sympathetic. i mean, i've seen convenience store bathrooms when i've really needed to go. i *totally* sympathize.

it may seem i don't toot clio's horn enough lately, so let me take this opportunity to say that she gets more and more accepting of the cat's weird ways every day...she's truly a saint, my little girl. and she has never ever ever approached the litter box as a buffet table. thank you, oh great heavens above...you cannot imagine how grateful i am of this fact. tomorrow...a clio post... (and the world gagged)

last night... *le sigh* ...the man and i were in bed for our normal evening "tv snuggle time" and clio was in her normal position, passed out at the foot of the bed. minou jumped up with all of us, snuggled between the man and clio and proceeded to nap as well. there we were, all four of us, snuggled on the bed watching tv and/or sleeping...ahhhhhhhhh....family time...precious stuff... :)

household tips

the first clue you're getting your blogging mojo back? tackling a meme you weren't even tagged with... :)

via psychicgeek:

Instructions:
Write your tip(s) with a link to who sent the meme to you, along with the instructions. They are better if they are your own discovery, or not widely known. Still, tips that make a difference to you are all good. After your tips, you will want to tag some friends who may even be hard up for blog fodder. (As I am today) Perhaps some of your newest bloggy friends. I have several new friends who I would like to know more about.

mkay...there's gotta be some household tips around here somewhere...the cornstarch thing doesn't really count, does it? yeah...thought not.

see, i'm still relatively new still to this domesticity thing, so i don't feel like i'm exactly swimming in knowledge for others, but i'll give it a whirl.

if you don't have a bottle of lavender essential oil in your home, get one. it's relatively inexpensive, and is incredibly useful to have around. put it in a bit of warmed olive oil and you have everything from a hair conditioner to a skin lotion to a skin cleanser and makeup remover...kid you not...a drop or so is also helpful for sinus infections in that neti pot psychicgeek mentioned in her list of tips. lavender oil is one of the few oils that you can use undiluted on your skin, and it has the added bonus of being what is called an adaptogen...meaning lavender does whatever you need it to do at any given time. it's *wonderful* for burns, straight out of the bottle, dripped onto wherever you've burned yourself...not that i burn myself...daily...on whatever hot thing i'm messing with...not at all...ahem...

that's probably the best tip i've got...won't be tagging anybody just yet, so if you feel like grabbing it, please do...i need all the tips i can get! on second thought, i tag RAY, cuz she needs to start a new blog.... :D

honey really is a genius...

but blogengine and dotnetnuke are a royal pain in the fricking ass. so, i'm here for the time being. which is actually kinda nice, surprisingly. much has changed in the ol' blogger.com universe...and happily a lot is for the good.

took a bit of time to get my bearings with the new stuffs, and went ahead and got comfy. hello, prettiness! just love playing with templates... *pets the template*

sorry, i got distracted...where was i? oh yes...running my mouth...the widgets, etc are very entertaining, but i'm still getting used to the changes in how templates - pardon, layouts - operate. didn't do too shabbily for being out of practice, but still...

ham & swiss quiche

another easy peasy recipe...tastes wonderful, but you won't be pulling your hair out...in all fairness, i must advise that parts of this i found when i was looking for ham and swiss quiche recipes, and parts of this were me going, "i'm so not doing that...i'm putting *this* in instead..." but it's yumminess, so don't fear... :)

ingredients:

-9" uncooked frozen pie shell
-1 cup half and half
-4 eggs, beaten
-1 tablespoon dijon mustard
-1/8 teaspoon white pepper
-1 cup cubed cooked ham
-1 cup shredded swiss cheese
-1 cup chopped onions (the grocery store down the street sells bagged, frozen chopped onions...this is the best thing ever as far as i am concerned, because as long as i've got a bag of these, i'm never out of onions and? i don't hafta chop 'em. *le sigh* check into it at your store...near the frozen veggies!!)
-2 tablespoons grated parmesan

preheat oven to 350. mix half and half, eggs, mustard, pepper and beat until combined.

put the ham, cheese and onions in the bottom of the pie crust...you're also going to want to make sure your pie crust is on a cookie sheet. some folks might think that's just common sense, but meh...you get to cookin', you forget stuff. so...there's my PSA for the day... :)

pour the egg mixture over the other good stuff, and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese. i forgot the parmesan the last time i made this and, just for the record? still way yummy.

bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until crust is golden and filling is set. an easy way to check for the "doneness" of the filling is to take a clean toothpick and slide it into the center, all the way to the pie plate...if it comes back clean, you're good to go. if not, a few more minutes in the oven are needed.

when i cook this, it usually swells up, kind of like a souffle only not quite as poofy. also, you've got melted swiss in there, which is about the temperature of a thousand burning suns. so...when you take it out of the oven, everyone is going to love you so much more if you let it sit for about half an hour or so. it will still be piping hot, but 999 of those suns will have backed it down a few notches for ya.

enjoy!! :)

split pea soup

another recipe...this has become one of my favorite soups to make. the first time i made it was the first time i'd ever made soup myself from scratch...i was sooo proud of me! :) ok, the first time i made it, i made it with bacon, but i think i liked it better this time, so that's the ingredient list you're getting.

-32 oz swanson chicken broth
-1 pound split green/yellow peas, soaked in water overnight the night before
-1 cup or so of diced onions...really however much you want
-1 can sliced carrots, which i then roughly cut into smaller pieces
-1 cup ham, cubed (if you want to go with bacon, omit the butter and go with a little over half a pound, cut into small pieces, then sautee with the onion as below)
-1 chicken bouillon cube
-butter...kind of however much you want, really
-garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
-cornstarch/water, if you feel it needs it

as in the directions, soak the split peas the night before. there are quicker directions, but honestly i haven't tried them, so i can't really recommend them.

melt butter in the bottom of a large stockpot or dutch oven...i used about half a stick this last time, i think...sautee the onions and the cubed ham together. when the onions start to get fairly uniformly clear, pop open that box of swanson broth and pour it in. follow that up with the split peas, the carrots, and the bouillon cube.

from here on out, the rest of it is to taste...i wait to put in the salt, pepper and garlic powder until closer to the end, and both times that i've cooked this, i've let it cook alllllllll day. usually starting it around 11 or so, and dishing it up for dinner around 6 or 7 in the evening. i've never done the bit with the blender or the hand blender, because frankly, after letting it simmer for that long, the peas do their split pea thang, and the texture is just right. if you feel that it's still a little on the watery side, cornstarch works its miracle as always and doesn't affect the flavor in the slightest.

if you try it, hope you enjoy!

bonding

i know it's probably disgusting to keep hearing, but i'm truly amazed at how much minou has enriched our lives...still at some point early early early before the alarm goes off, i'm awakened by nuzzles and licks and purrs from her. she has her say, then wanders off again to let me snooze til the alarm finally goes off.

clio is not nearly as amused. she and the cat haven't played as much lately as they did last week or even the week before, and clio does seem to be having some "older sibling" issues. unfortunately, i don't really know how to help her with those. she gets fawned over just as much as she did before, she does still get quality time with both mom and dad...but it's still a different atmosphere here, and she's not wild about it. i think it's finally sunk in that the cat is not just visiting.

being a cat - a growing one, at that - minou sleeps a lot...more now even than when she first arrived. my theory chalks that up to feeling like she really is home and can relax.

just a few minutes ago, minou was asleep in the man's recliner and i took clio out for our midday outting. minou is *fascinated* by the fact that i take clio outside. unfortunately, between that and the living room window making a reappearance after the christmas tree came down means that she tried to rush me at the door the other day. not good. but i digress...

usually when we come back in, she's wide awake and staring at the door, eagerly awaiting our return. today was no exception. so i unhooked clio, scritched the kitty under her chin, and went to my desk to get back to work. before i got the chance to sit down, the cat had already leapt up and claimed my chair and was purr-meowing to me...i picked her up and snuggled her still sleepy self and got the slit-eyed "i'm so tiiiiiiiiiiiiired" look from her. she started purring like a motorboat and licked my nose and my cheek to say hi. then she stood up, stretched, and jumped down next to clio.

wandered up to clio's face, mewing quietly, and proceeded to lick clio on the nose.
melts me that the cat grooms the dog... :D

soon i'm sure that clio will bend to all the love and affection radiating from the cat, but for now...baby steps... :)

(note: originally posted today here.)

thoughts from the kitten:

ohhhhhhhhhh...the female human is my slave. cool.

dooce on bzzagent!!!

(note: originally posted here.)

oh my goodness...how surprised was i to log into bzzagent this morning and find dooce featured in the frogpond!! the frogpond is an area of the site where you can visit different websites that are publicizing through bzzagent and then rate them. i've found some pretty interesting sites and services through there, and was thrilled to see dooce featured. i've loved reading her since i first discovered blogs and blogging years ago, and i hope that her readership increases exponentially through her association with bzzagent.

i'm pretty positive anybody who stumbles here already knows about the great and wondrous dooce, but to see her in bzzagent was truly fabulous. in case you haven't heard of bzzagent, they are a word of mouth marketing company. i was already planning to post about them, but this took the cake today and superceded my silly little free sonicare toothbrush. (freeeeee, i tell you...freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!)

word of mouth is of course the optimum form of advertising. manufacturers and providers can say everything they want about a product or service, but if your best friend tells you something sucks, you tend to believe her instead of the hype.

the main idea behind bzzagent is that you have the opportunity to sign up for different campaigns in which you're able to try a product or a service. you'll usually receive a "bzzkit" in the mail, and then you "bzz" to people about your experiences, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant.

the first campaign that i signed up for was for listerine whitening strips. they sent me several strips for myself to try, and many more to hand out to friends and family to try. there were also some coupons for the full-sized version. (want some? i think i still have some....)

since then, i've been able to sign up for a campaign to try carbonite, a campaign where i was sent several tubes of lypsyl to try and to give away to others, and - my favorite - the sonicare toothbrush campaign.

the sonicare campaign was to promote the new flexcare toothbrush with the - wait for it - built-in UV sanitizer. be still my heart...

i so very love this toothbrush. the man already had a sonicare brush, and although i could've gotten a spare head and tried his, i just never really felt comfortable taking over his toothbrush experience. silly, i know. so anyway...this toothbrush? freaking rocks. it's got all of these different brush settings, although i primarily use the sensitive setting. and the UV sanitizer?? omg, so way beyond nifty...the brush heads fit into this little case, and you just push the button and it cleans your brush head...easy peasy. we finally got the man a brush head on friday, so he's been able to use "the sacred toothbrush" finally. even as a long time sonicare user, he's been pretty impressed with it thus far as well. plus he loves to push the UV button...

i would say something pithy about boys and gadgets, but hell, i'm worse...

i might've had a point when i first started this post, but i think i might've gotten myself distracted...eeep...i have coupons still for sonicare toothbrushes ($10 off!) and some still for the whitening strips and the lypsyl, so if anyone is interested, drop me a line at cjh518 at gmail dot com or just leave a comment...

pork chop a la king...ish

(note: originally posted here.)

ok, so...anyone who has known me for quite a while will be surprised at the vast amounts of cooking and domesticity that are commonplace for me now. i think it's pretty nifty, as does the man...and the puppy has been known to partake every now and again. and we're all still alive! so while my baseboards will never be clean, we're at least eating fairly well. i've made soup, people. from scratch!!

i love to hunt down recipes from ye olde internets to try, but i have also become pretty adept at just tossing stuff together and calling it dinner. almost every time this has worked out well. so i thought, meh, why not just post these. that way i've got 'em for posterity or a repeat performance or whatever, and if they help somebody else, well then good for us all.

now, i don't claim that these are lab-tested or that they are gonna be delicious for you. i also don't claim that these are original necessarily. i mean, the recipe i'm about to post is one that i threw together out of my cabinet, but that doesn't mean someone else didn't already have this idea. so...please don't sue me for copyright infringement if you came up with this recipe first is i guess what i'm sayin', cuz i totally didn't know it was yours. and if it is yours, lemme know and i'll give ya credit.

and away we go...first, the ingredients:

-pork chops, boneless...i used about 3 and the total weight was around a pound or so
-1 can mixed veggies, drained
-1 small can pieces and stems mushrooms, drained
-1 can cream of mushroom soup (yummmm)
-1/2 can milk - i used whole milk, but that's because i'm a bad bad person...i'm sure it would work with whatever percentage you use
-1 chicken bouillon cube
-a pat of butter - real butter, because see above, i'm a bad bad person :)
-1 tsp corn starch
-steamed rice

so. i had about a pound and a quarter of pork chops thawed out for tonight, but i didn't want to do the same ol' baked pork chop thing. the man gets bored with that, and i try to make sure all the carnivores are kept happy around here, helps me sleep with both eyes closed. ;)
ok, i cubed the pork chops and got them going over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil. i drained them once they were cooked through and dumped in the mixed veggies and the mushrooms. mixed veggies can vary, and this particular brand had corn, peas, green beans, potatoes and i think celery. since it was only one can though, it was just enough on the veggie meter.

in next was the cream of mushroom soup and then the half can of milk...i gently stirred all of this and got it back up to just shy of a boil. around now is when the butter went in, and then i crumbled the bouillon cube into the mix.

can i just say here, i've grown to love bouillon cubes?? they really do add a little bit of "oomph" to recipes, especially when you're cooking something from scratch. off my soapbox now...things were moving along pretty well, but my sauce was looking a little thin. here's where the cornstarch made its appearance.

if you've never used it, oh my GOD this stuff is a miracle worker in the kitchen, you absolutely must must must try it. a little goes a long way, however. i cranked up the heat to high, and got everything to just boiling. meanwhile, i mixed about a teaspoon or so of cornstarch with about 1/3 cup of water. you must put the cornstarch in water first, or you'll get lumps. lumps are bad. stir the cornstarch/water mixture well, then pour into whatever you're cooking. then just stir as it continues to boil, and you'll see everything start to thicken up a bit.

truthfully, i don't know for certain if the cornstarch was necessary or not in this one...i might have been impatient, since when i went to put the leftovers away, everything seemed pretty durned thick. all up to you on that one. so...now i had creamy vegetable and pork chop goodness...now what to do?

about an hour before all the fun began, i got some rice going in the steamer. all i had to do now was spoon out some rice, and top it with the creamy goodness...the man agreed that it was yummy, although he added a little bit of salt.

and there ya have it...tonight's dinner, internet. if anybody gives this a try, let me know how it worked for you or if you tried something different!

tales of the minou

(note: originally posted here.)

the kitten is - how do you say...oh yes! - a trip and a damned half.

this morning i was awakened before dawn to her rubbing her face into my chin and cheeks and licking my face and hands. quite a feat, since i sleep face planted into my pillow. all the while purring like an outboard motor. she has yet to deliberately scratch any of us, but i managed to scratch myself by trying to pull my hand out from under her massive 2 pound weight. all the while, she's purring and rubbing. apparently i got boring, and she wandered off to torment the dog. i woke this morning to find her sleeping on the man...see, too cute.

i haven't had a cat around since i was a kid, and even that wasn't for long. apparently my family has always been too dog-like for true cats. i've always loved cats, and been fascinated by them, but as far as pets, even on my own it's always been dogs. i've had pets since literally before i was born. probably i was trying to play with the dog in utero.

the man, on the other hand, has always primarily had cats. some dogs, but mostly cats. and when we met, he had a cat. there's a long, looooong story about why he doesn't have a cat *now*, but i'll save that one for another time. (no, i didn't make him get rid of it, honest...)

minou arrived because i knew that although he loves clio to no end, and she adores him...there was a cat-shaped hole in the vicinity of the man's heartal region. i was apprehensive - even though i was the one who suggested a kitten - because i know that clio adores humans, not so much other four legged creatures.

we really went looking at the right time for all of us...minou loves both of us, loves to be petted and sometimes held, minou *adores* clio, and clio tolerates minou...it's win-win all around...

we found a great place for her food. actually, my mom suggested it, and it's worked out well. her food is in our tiny laundry room, and at night i can halfway close the folding door to keep clio out and still allow minou to access her food. i know, i'm supposed to keep her food away from stuff that can scare her...but she's been fine with it thus far. really, not much startles her, even at 5 months old. should i be afraid of that for later??

anyway, there's a swiffer mop propped between the wall and the dryer, right there at the doorway. yesterday, i noticed that the bottom had slid forward, halfway in the doorway. i thought, must move that...must get it out of minou's way. so i did. this morning, the damned thing had slid forward again. again, my thoughts are, get it outta the cat's way. i'm getting the man's coffee and lunch ready shortly after, and i hear, "slide...slide....WHACK..."

i turn in time to catch minou's mighty paw wrapped around the bottom - which is actually the top, since i have it sitting on its handle - of the swiffer, pulling it forward into the doorway and leaving it there in all its diagonal glory. apparently, we've installed safety-slash-early warning gear in our eating area.

she's fitting in amazingly well... :)

ahhh, fresh paint...

(note: originially posted here.)

not that i love that smell for real real, but virtually speaking, this is pretty exciting...

i've been a blogger for several years now, but it's been a while since i had a home. my honey had an idea, and *poof*, made it happen, so here i am learning a brand-new (to me) blogging platform. i've pretty exclusively used wordpress, since i absolutely heart it and recommend it highly to any and all who will listen, but we're not using a linux-based server, so i get to learn new things. good thing i like to learn new things...

i'm sure i'll have way more to add later, but for now...hi internets!