This is my favorite picture of Sketchy bc she looks sort of bitchy and well - she is. 

CJ complained that I didn't have enough cat pics on here. So Oscar gets to be next in line. He's an absurdly cute cat who is afraid of anything and everything... but most especially the vaccuum and (gasp) going outside. 

Here is Tricksy - this is one of the few pictures I have of her where she doesn't look stoned. Usually, she half closes her eyes and it makes her a not very photogenic cat. 

I am so tired of my back hurting all the time. Yesterday it was fine and then today it hurts if i stand. It's just so hard to get anything done.

I was talking to Denise the other day and she actually brought up those stupid metal things from inside the magnetic barcode thingies and how they cut up your hand and you don't realize it until later. I think you have to understand that this is a friend who would also join me in slamming our hands together so hard that bruises would form and the pain would last for days. Oh the memories!

Also - yesterday Tricksy and I learned a new trick... I guess it just A trick considering she doesn't know any others. She is a very whiny and clingy cat when I'm annoyed with her. When she's been good I prefer to call her "talkative" and "affectionate". Yesterday I would say she was better than most days - she didn't break anything. She has this habit of standing on things next to you (chair, couch, table, desk, etc) and reaching her paws upward and stretching as far as she can in an effort to get you to notice her, pick her up, and pet her until she gets sleepy or distracted. So yesterday she did this and I took a step back. She held her paw out into the air like she was trying to reach me - but there was no way she could. So I faced her and said "Jump, Tricksy" and she did. ha ha ha. It was the cutest thing she's ever done. I got her to do it two other times throughout the day. I'll have to make sure to do this often so she gets used to it.

For those who worry this could cause another injury - no need to be concerned. She's a pretty slim kitty and she has no front claws. So it's pretty much 100% cute.

Today I noticed a new injury. Those who know me well also know that I somehow get injured a lot - usually it's pretty much my own fault. This is sadly not an exception.

Yesterday, Cj took one of those magnetic strips off the back of a cd. I tore it apart to get to the metal strip. I started relating a story to CJ about one night in HS when I was at the mall and accidentally cut my fingertips with one of those.

"I don't think they really make them thin enough to do that anymore - let me check" - at which point I half heartedly ran it on his arm.

"Stop!" - CJ

"ok, fine, but I already told you that it won't do that anymore. See." and I demostrated on the back of my hand. It seemed that nothing had happened, but this afternoon I noticed a cluster of little thin cuts on that hand.

Sometimes I'm an idiot. Fool me once - shame on me. Fool me twice... um.. well yeah.

The Spizzlemeister - also known as Spaz, Stinky McButton Eater, Boots, and whatever else happens to pop into Cherish's head

Cherish thought that I should put pictures of all the cats on my blog. I generally humor here when it takes so little effort and doesn't hurt anyone. Plus - he looks so cute here.

the infamous shoe 

woo hoo

My back is back!

That's the quickest recovery yet. I reinjured my back this past Sunday and today it's back to where it was before. I could walk pretty normally on Wednesday but it still hurt. Today it didn't even hurt when I got out of bed. It's definitely a nice way to start my day.

Thoughts

Ok - so this is a quote from about a year ago - but it's still relevant.

"I want an America where mothers can take their children to a
family doctor, instead of going to the emergency room every time because there's
no health insurance.

I want an America where hard-working Americans don't live in
fear of losing their jobs because that means losing their health care too.

Where corporations care as much about the communities that make
their products and buy their goods as they do about their profit sheets.

Where CEO's don't make 531 times what workers earn, even as they
ship their headquarters to Bermuda and their jobs to China.

I want an America where men and women have an opportunity to go
to college, get good jobs, and maybe even start their own businesses -
regardless of their background. Where the kitchen table is a place to share
dreams - not to worry and struggle over paying the credit card bills, the
mortgage, the tuition payments.

I want an America where 'no child left behind' is something we
pay for and guarantee, not an empty promise sold by Washington politicians to
the rest of us.

I want a fair America that doesn't let soldiers risk their lives
for us only to be told they can't get overtime pay for jobs that use the skills
they learned in the military.

I want an America where we are more than cogs in a machine,
where there is nourishment for our human souls. Where there is true community,
and we recognize and affirm that we are all in this together.That's the type of
America I want us to take back."

Governor Howard Dean, M.D, February 17, 2004