how many topics can i fit in one post???

i currently have 100 links in my reader. oh my holy hell. there was a time not too long ago when that was de rigeur for me, but that time was quite a while ago.

some of the sites i've thrown in there have gotten overwhelming. like lifehacker. there's a new post every 2.5 seconds it seems like. wtf. every time i'm about to pull the trigger on unsubscribing from it, some post from heaven appears in its feed that i would probably not have found immediately otherwise, and i think, but lifehacker totally has its useful times....i shall keep it... and so it goes...

other than codependently wracking my brain about whether or not to keep lifehacker in my feed reader, today has been fairly quiet and serene. j was able to come home early and is grabbing a nap, which is awesome. he posted the most lovely post today, you can find it here. he's very thoughtful and sweet, my honey.



i have been off a day all week. tuesday i kept thinking it was wednesday, although wednesday i was fine, then today i've thought it was friday twice. i'm not sure why the internal clock is off so much. the good part is that tomorrow actually is friday, thank biff...



i'm toying with giving my mom the link out here. she never had the other link - oh, the horror if that had happened...oh mah gah... - and i never mentioned it to her. but a couple of months ago, oddly enough while i was quietly debating blogging again, she mentioned out of the blue, "have you ever thought of starting a blog?" ohhhh mom, if you only knew... this is definitely a different space, and i don't have a problem with her reading out here. it's just old hangups, i suppose...she knows that writing has always been an outlet for me. would be nice if i accomplished something with it, however...





if you haven't heard of or been out to the league of extraordinary wives, you might wanna take a toodle over. it's a lovely (i think) approach to improving relationships. j and i work very hard at our relationship, but most of it is not *work* so much as wanting to make our partner happy and content. we seem to be very much in tune with making sure that we each have what we need in our relationship. not that we're perfect - no one is - but, for example, we don't nag each other, we don't put each other down, we fight clean - on those rare times we fight, that is. i can only count on one hand the times we've argued, and each time it was because one of us was upset about something totally different and just didn't talk about it and we ended up fighting about something stupid instead. we work very very hard at communicating, which i think is essential. anyway, my point is, there is some excellent stuff over there, take a peek.



i think that minou is teething. she's cranky and listless. she's still eating, and is healthy otherwise. poor thing...i pried her little mouth open to peek this afternoon and i see where she's lost a couple of her baby teeth. hell, i'd be cranky too if i had teeth coming in again and pushing my old teeth out. clio could care less about this event, as long as it means the cat is not getting attention.



and i think that's it for now...felt good to purge the brain a bit...happy valentine's day, folks!

not exactly wine and roses...

but not so terrible as the title might hint, either... :)

the stepford wife has started a weekly series - sweet wine, red roses - and as soon as i read her post, i wanted to contribute something, but i was a bit stumped. i started several posts, but tossed them as being rambling and nowhere near what i wanted to say.

then i remembered something that i wrote for jay for our "first date anniversary" this past december...we haven't technically tied the knot yet, so this is the closest thing we've got to an anniversary, but we both feel as though we're already married. (to each other, of course... *g* )

two years ago, we met for the first time...

we'd had that awful ice storm, and you'd been without power for almost a week. i was running late, a combination of nerves and poor time management, and the restaurant was packed.

we sat at the bar, talking and laughing as we waited for our table. and waited...and waited...and waited...

finally we noticed the bar area was looking pretty sparse, and the bartender asked, "um, did you guys want to order something to eat?"

we had that moment of pure synchronicity as we looked at each other, then her, and you said, "well, we've been waiting for a table, we had a reservation."

the blood rushing from her face was almost comical when she blurted out, "i'll be right back," and scurried off.

i had my suspicions, so i stood and looked over the half wall and - to my horror - spotted a mostly empty restaurant. i glanced back at you and advised, "don't stand up!"

but oh you did - and within a few short minutes we were able to laugh, and a shame-faced assistant manager seated us at a "real" table, just in time to eat before the movie.

i knew then that if we made a go of this thing, we would be able to face the tough stuff together.

and you know what? we have.

i love you, honey. more than i can tell you...

happy first date anniversary!!

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.)