1. I collect spoons.
2. Chocolate mint is my favorite flavor, but please, none of that fake green ice cream.
3. My first food was Cheerios.
4. I still have Cheerios for breakfast most days.
5. I prefer to go to the movie theater up to an hour early so I can get the specific seat I want in the middle of the theater.
6. I keep all my movie ticket stubs in a notebook.
7. On average, I see twenty four movies a year in the theater.
8. My high school English teacher, Ms. Holcomb, taught me to spell out numbers rather than write them numerically if they are under one hundred or so (I don’t remember the exact cut-off). To this day, if I type a number with numbers instead of words, while I may do it, I still think about how to spell it out.
9. I am good at baking and obsessed with cupcakes.
10. I have a birthmark on my right shin that resembles the state of Indiana.
11. I am not a night person or a morning person.
12. Schindler’s List and The Princess Bride are my two favorite movies.
13. I was a statistics major when I started college, having never had a statistics class in my life.
14. I thought I would be a sports statistician and wanted to work for the Chicago Bulls.
15. I changed my major to computer science after one semester.
16. Now I do website work and have had the same job for the past seven years.
17. I find genealogy fascinating. (Love Geni.com!)
18. I am a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. I am half Native American.
19. I am a quarter Welsh.
20. I have kissed the Blarney Stone.
21. I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan all my life.
22. I sleep with a teddy bear I got when I was around ten years old. His name is Charmin.
23. I love to take pictures and think I’m pretty good at it for an amateur.
24. I have season tickets for Iowa Hawkeye football.
25. I have seen Harry Connick, Jr. perform 47 times (really). I am familiar to him when he sees me.
26. I play the tenor saxophone. Though these days it’s only once a year for Iowa Homecoming.
27. I wear the same jewelry/accessories everyday: three rings, a necklace, my ReNew Orleans bracelet, and simple gold wire earrings.
28. I take my rings off the minute I get home and put them on my dresser.
29. On my necklace is a gold cross and a tigerhawk. I got the cross because it looked like the one Dana Scully wore on The X-Files.
30. The X-Files is my absolute favorite tv show. Ever.
31. When it originally aired, I wouldn’t answer my door or my phone when The X-Files was on TV.
32. My cat MacGyver is named after the television show which was still airing when I picked her out of the litter.
33. When I was fifteen, I wrote an angry letter to the ABC network in response to the later seasons of MacGyver because I didn’t like the changes they made to the characters on the show and thought the quality of writing had really declined.
34. When I was a teenager, I wrote a letter to my favorite mystery author (Lilian Jackson Braun) to inquire if she was sick or dead after she didn’t publish a book for awhile. She wrote back and said she was fine (and has since published many more books).
35. I dislocated my kneecap twice in high school; once in Spanish class and once at a speech contest.
36. When I was in 5th grade I burped regularly for about two months.
37. I was unconsciously swallowing air and once I learned to control it, I could burp on cue.
38. I was once commended for my burping prowess at a large group speech contest.
39. There were thirty five people in my high school class.
40. I was the valedictorian of my high school class. My speech was Star Trek themed.
41. I must have plain Colgate toothpaste in order to brush my teeth.
42. I met some of my best friends online.
43. I met my oldest friend in first grade. We’re still close.
44. I didn’t drink until several months after my twenty first birthday.
45. I am allergic to live pine (makes me break out), but I insist on having a real Christmas tree. Which should touch the ceiling of whatever room it is displayed in.
46. I am an unabashed fan of Apple and all the fabulous products they produce.
47. I was in marching band in high school and college and I still miss it.
48. I loved wearing a uniform and was insane when people didn’t have their pants hemmed to the right length.
49. I love love love wearing fancy dresses and gowns.
50. I cannot stand uncomfortable or cheap shoes.
51. I learned to read when I was three or four.
52. I come from a family of readers and Scrabble players.
53. I have a tattoo of a fleur de lis on the inside of my left ankle.
54. I am alarmed at the number of people who don’t know what a fleur de lis is. Like they’ve never seen one ever before.
55. Clue is my favorite board game.
56. I know how to stage a crucifixion pageant and how to make fake blood several different ways.
57. I danced (ballet and tap) for many years as a child and then again for a couple of years as an adult. I wish I was still dancing.
58. I was a wrestling cheerleader in high school.
59. I worked in a couple of research labs in college. I had no clue what anyone did in the labs.
60. The only bone I’ve every broken was my left pinky finger. Emily DeWitt broke it when I was in eighth grade because I threatened to tell her boyfriend what she got him for Christmas. I couldn’t play G# for the Christmas concert that year.
61. I collect movie posters.
62. I was conceived in Guam.
63. I studied abroad in Wales for a semester.
64. Hearst Castle is probably my favorite place in the world to visit for a day. I think I could give the tours there.
65. I have a very good sense of direction and rarely ever get lost.
66. I hate that I say the word ‘like’ all the time.
67. My other bad habit is biting my fingernails.
68. I designed and created decorations for a lot of my band and choir concerts in high school.
69. I redesigned the music stands my high school jazz band used based on the design that Harry’s big band used at the time.
70. I am very opinionated when it comes to hymns and how they should be sung.
71. I love to sing Christmas carols.
72. I used to be a good singer and could hit really high notes.
73. I have been to a Britney Spears concert. It was hilarious and mended a friendship.
74. I cannot abide plain walls with nothing hanging on them.
75. I essentially stopped listening to the radio in 2003 after I got back from Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
76. My favorite band is Bonerama. I used to fly to New York City just to see them play for a night or two. (But now they come closer to me. Thanks guys!)
77. Peanut butter sandwiches are to be constructed thusly: if using white bread; first butter, then peanut butter; if using wheat bread, first peanut butter, then honey; finally, fold in half, one slice at a time
78. I would love to get dressed up for Halloween each year, but I never have anywhere to go if I was dressed up.
79. Other jobs I’d like to have include: wedding planner or make-up artist.
80. I love snow!
81. I am a bit obsessive about recycling. I have been for years. I just find it so satisfying to sort things and then put them in all the separate bins at the recycling site.
82. I love to iron. It drives me nuts when guys have wrinkled pockets on their shirts.
83. My best physical attribute is my hair.
84. The first thing I notice about guys is their hair. I love good hair.
85. I think live music is truly one of the joys of life.
86. I attended several Star Trek conventions when I was in high school.
87. I love a good roller coaster.
88. I have been caving in underground caves in Wales.
89. My mom taught me how to knit a few years ago and I’m working on my skills.
90. My favorite real castle is Llansteffan Castle.
91. A dream of mine is to travel to Egypt. I’ve been interested in ancient Egypt since I was young.
92. I never know how to describe my interest in literature and films relating to the Holocaust. Its not something one “enjoys” and saying “fascinated” also seems wrong.
93. I’m obsessed with organizing my photos (both real and digital) and all my music (very large iTunes library).
94. I like to eat bologna one slice at a time, by itself, rolled up. My Aunt Margaret taught me to eat it like that when I was a kid and no other way seems right.
95. I could eat chocolate chip cookies everyday. They are the perfect dessert.
96. My favorite food is fried chicken.
97. My favorite comedy bit ever is called ‘The Four Yorkshiremen.’ There were ‘hundred and fifty of us living in shoebox in middle of the road. I’m laughing just thinking about it.
98. In high school my favorite singer was Bing Crosby and my favorite musician was Benny Goodman. This was in the 1990′s, not the 1940′s.
99. This year I completed a life goal of seeing every movie that has won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
100. One of the coolest things ever was when I got to attend the Red Carpet arrivals for the 2007 Academy Awards in Hollywood. It was surreal.

I’m trying to stay up to see the end of the Cowboys/Packers game on the nfl.com live ticker, but staring at the little icons on the screen isn’t really keeping me awake.

Of course it doesn’t help that things are a mess at work. Stupid unnecessary projects.

Bleh. I wanted an upbeat, non-cat post for once this week, but that’s not happening tonight.

This morning I woke up at 5:45 to be coherent enough to give her her meds at 6am. She was still asleep when I got up and I had to wake her up to shove various pills and liquids down her throat. She just stayed on the bed until I picked her up to try and get her to eat something else. She nibbled for a few seconds, then she looked at her water dish and ignored it. She was sleeping on the floor in from of the TV when I went to work.

I went home for lunch and she was curled up on her heating pad on her bed in the office. I had picked up her favorite cat food on the way to work and brought her some on the bed. (Such service!) She nibbled enthusiastically for a few minutes and then was done and laid down at the end of the bed.

I don’t think she’s had any water since I brought her home. That was on the list of things to call about, “refusal to drink.” I called the vet clinic to have someone call me back about when I should be concerned or when I should start syringe feeding her (that will be fun). She doesn’t seem in pain. She purrs when I pet her. She just seems worn out completely. Either from the illness, the trauma of being away from home, or from life, I don’t know. I’m mostly content to let her be, I just don’t want her to be suffering.

I wake up this morning around 8:30am after a lovely night of sleep that included fragments of a dream where Jerry and I were singing the Star-Spangled Banner with BoyzIIMen. I get out of bed and smell the lingering bits of fresh pine from my Christmas tree. Then I walk outside my bedroom and smell something else. Something definitely not fresh. Then I see it. On the floor all over my hallway and living room. Cat poop. But not a small amount of it. No, this was apparently my cat had diarreah and freaked out and ran around attempting to get it off herself by any means necessary. So. Gross.

Bleary-eyed and even before I got to brush my teeth, I’m armed with rubber gloves, paper towels, washcloths, sponges, and various cleaners. Ew. Ew. Ew. I get the carpet dealt with as much as it can be and then look to check on Mac. She did this once before several months back, but I was right there when it happened so I was able to wipe off the “excess” fairly easily with only a minor bit of fur pulling. Unfortunately, I don’t know how many hours ago this had taken place. She was sleeping in the office which she has taken up residence in of late. I got close and oh the smell. Poor thing. She has such long fur and her backside and tail were rather in a state of nasty. I got out the gloves and some wet washcloths and attempted to wipe things off, but she wasn’t having it and it was more than I could handle. So I called my vet and asked what I should do and they said to just bring her in.

So off we went to the vet, her all a mess, and me in my pajamas, fleece socks, sandals, and a sweatshirt. I had at least brushed my teeth. The vet saw took one look at her and was like “oh, that’s going to take a bit to clean.” The clinic had other patients and said they’d be able to give her a good scrub in about an hour, that I could just leave her there and then come back. Since I was already out and about, went to the other vet clinic I go to that has all the prescription food she should be eating, and since she was out of cat food anyway, I thought I better get her back on something that I know won’t wreck her system. From there I went to Paul’s, our local “we sell everything” store and got some Nature’s Miracle pet stain cleaner to try and get out the smell. Then I headed back to the vet’s to see the state of my cat.

I walk in the door to hear the melodious sounds of her “I’m going to kill you all” song coming from the back of the clinic. The vet tech comes out to greet me wearing rubber gloves. She had scrubbed Mac down and wanted to shave off a bit of her back fur, but she needed my help to hold her down. I know this is what she does for a living, but she was a trooper. Apparently (and here’s the really gross part), while she was scrubbing her, Mac pooped more, in her hand. EW! A lot more apparently. It was the consistency of clay and greenish-grey. So disgusting! The vet looked at it and didn’t think it was symptomatic of anything more than some digestive upset. But to watch her, etc. I went to the back room to help hold her for the shaving. She scratched my hand right off, so the lady gave me a pair of raptor gloves (the ones you wear when you want to hold a large, taloned bird on your arm) and I squished her into submission while the vet tech did what she could so shave the haunches of my wet, pissed off cat. Its definitely not a glamor cut. Poor baby cat. She looks so odd.

I brought her home and she was hungry. I’ve since spent the last hour or so scrubbing carpets, washing linens, taking out trash, and bleaching clean her litter box. Awesome good times. I’ve shut the doors to my office and bedroom until she’s properly dry so she’s not on the beds. Right now she’s sitting next to me on the couch looking forlorn and slightly confused. Sorry Mac.

Good grief, its noon and I’m still in my pajamas, I’m starving, and I’m kind of exhausted. Pets!

It was a lovely day after Thanksgiving day. This morning my mom and I went and got my Christmas tree. It was a spur-of-the-moment change of plans before she left town. The tree was procured at my local Earl May garden center. Which was handy since it was a mile from my place, if that, so we could just have the tree wrapped up and semi-shoved into the back of my car for the trip home. It may not have resulted in the crazy tales from past tree getting expeditions, [note to self: good blog topic for December] but for once, easy was fine. My apartment is now home to a lovely 7′ premium fraser fir. Its been drinking all its warm water today and tomorrow it will be properly decked out.

After the tree was standing and stable, Mom and I went to lunch at Takanami in downtown Iowa City. Their bento boxes are awesome. I had the salmon and mom was daring and had the tofu. The eel was tasty as always. After lunch, we walked around the block to The Prairie Table where my big Black Friday purchases were a new scraping spatula and a new turning/flipping spatula. (Did I mention yesterday that there were people lined up at Best Buy on Thursday night at 5:30PM? When the store wasn’t even going to acknowledge their presence until 3AM on Friday? Insanity. I’d only get up that early to shop if Steve Jobs himself was going to be giving me 50% off a MacBook and ringing it up himself.)

After the big shopping, my mom headed home and I took a shower and then intended to blog, but my internet was down. Annoying. So I watched five minutes of ‘Survivor’ before I realized it was a clip show and deleted that and then watched last night’s ‘Ugly Betty.’ After that, I went to the movies and saw The Mist the latest movie based on a short story by Stephen King. I’d read the short story, so I knew the basic plot, but I knew the movie had a different, more conclusive, ending than the story. But word is that Stephen King loved the change and said he would’ve used it himself if he’d thought of it at the time. Its totally disturbing, even though I kind of thought I knew what was coming. Like a train wreck where you just can’t look away. Overall, the movie was a bit uneven, where some of the special effects/monsters didn’t really measure up to the much more real psychological drama/trama the characters were experiencing. The thrills and chills are there; if you like Stephen King or you like thrillers, I’d say give it a look. If not in the theater, then on DVD.

Immediately following the movie, I went over to Jerry & Sara’s to have some dinner and conversation with Frosty, Margaret, and Brian Moon, who I hadn’t seen in forever. Good times with good friends. Taly was cute as always and Heather & Taylin dropped by for a few minutes to drop off Taylin’s latest Build-A-Bear creation for Taly (a terribly cute Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). We played cards and chatted and I just got home, fed the cat, and watered the tree.

My mom and I spent most of the day with the Steele/Vaughn/Reinertson clan in North Liberty. We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving meal and then the Cowboys won.

This evening Mom and I watched The Blues Brothers as she’d never seen it all the way through before. Then we watched some Good Eats and now we’re heading to bed.

Its 106 miles to Chicago…

In my kitchen as I work on a cake for Thanksgiving. I love my KitchenAid mixer!

After the final rec show of the season, the members of the Hawkeye Marching Band were taking photos with their friends, their sections, their families, ect, before heading out to their last pre-game. It brought back memories of my not-so-long ago final year in band. Except this would’ve never been overheard when I was in band:

Mom to son: Honey, do you want your picture with Mr. Kastens?

My mom and I recoiled in horror. I remember when I had my 4th and 5th years in band, and LKK looked physically pained to have to shake my hand and fake a smile in my general direction.

I was in the band.
Back when the director didn’t like me or my friends because we threatened his grip on mediocrity.