What the hell is a ketchup chip?

Well, as it turns out, this. Go on, click the link. It's really funny. I'll wait.


Even more intriguing, you can get them shipped, FROM CANADA, to anywhere IN. THE. WORLD. Unfortunately, it might take a while.

Canada has weird food. It's almost like it's a foreign country or something.







_________________________
Okay, you guys know I'm not really that stupid, right?

OMH!

Spoiler alert - for those of you who TiVo America's Next Top Model, do NOT read this!

HEATHER WENT HOME.

Oh. My. Hell.

I'm stunned. I couldn't stand her, but it was mildly amusing watching her just sort of fumble around the show. I thought the judges would keep her until the end. Huh.

I seriously gasped. Like really loud. My hands might even have flown to my mouth.

VERY dramatic evening here.

The G** Da** Bells

So is it me or is EVERY VENDOR OUT THERE using that blasted "Bells" Christmas carol in their holiday ad this year? Comcast, Walmart, some company that makes GPS systems... surely you know what song I mean. It's driving me nuts. I am a person who ALWAYS has a song in my head, sometimes two or three. Bad enough working in the Beaverton branch on the 4th floor, with the woman's voice in the elevator saying "Going up", "4th floor", and "Going down" - you know what song is in my head every time I get in the dang thing (think Aerosmith). Today I found myself humming the Bells song as I raced around the office and tried to make sense of the desk I was on. And Friday or Saturday I caught myself making up little kitty-related words to it. It's driven me mad. And it's annoying. Really. Here's a really bad example of it, thank you very much Marita. It didn't help.



I guess it's time to switch to eggnog lattes...

Growing kitties

And I think Seca is possessed.

Little angels. Mmhmm.

This is them coming out from behind the stove, where they currently nap mid-day. I am not renaming them.

Constantly skittish, Seca is wondering where the hell the rest of the leopard is.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've never been a huge fan of the whole Thanksgiving dinner situation, which I might have mentioned, but Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers! This evening my brother, my mom and I will head out to McCormick's Fish House in Beaverton for the commitment (as I call it) and then the rest of the weekend is pretty much mine. Love getting that four day weekend, let me tell you.

So this morning I checked Trip Advisor's forum, which I tend to do, and a poster there threw down a challenge. So I took it, went to Give a Toy Get a Smile and made a Paypal donation. The link directs you to the site. You should check it out, if you have any interest in an organization that takes care of Cancun's kids. My good friend Nancy runs it, and she has done some great work with the kiddies, and just so you are aware, every single penny goes to the charity. She has her own income, she doesn't skim off the top like so many places we donate to. Anyway, that was my morning, sitting at the cracktop amidst two speed-demons tearing apart my living room and hanging from my furniture.

"Alice's Restaurant" is on at 1pm on KGON, Happy Turkey Day ~ !

Sh

Shocked: that Blogger has kept me logged on finally when I go to make a new post. Since I switched to this version I have had to log on every time I go into it, even when I don't close the browser, and even though I religiously check the "Remember Me" box in the log on page. I have now not had to do this for the last three posts.

Short: tempered. I am working in a branch with quite possibly the biggest boob on the planet in the form of a lender who doesn't get that WE ARE NOT OUT TO GET HIM, and it's HIS gig that is the reason his files are so flipping hard to close and are just enormous clusterfucks. On top of that I am covering two escrow officers' desks, which isn't that bad actually because the assistants are rock stars and one of the desks is kind of slow. I had some good outbursts yesterday, replete with f-bombs and rapid-fire-sometimes-nonrelated strings of words that, in the end, seemed to be both amusing to my coworkers and soothing to my mood. Plus I smoke a lot. The days just CRUISE by, though, when you are this busy. I feel like it's 2003 or something.

Shredded: something must be done about these little kittens' razor-sharp claws. Yesterday morning they drew so much blood I had to wait to put on my pants. Fun is jumping on to my lap while I drink my coffee and read the news on the net. It's fun because we are all working on our upper body strength and the kitties are really learning to rely on their claws. They weigh like 8 ounces or something, but you throw that dead weight on the end of 10 little razors and then clamp them on my bare thigh, well, there's gonna be some blood.

And a sidenote - I am STUNNED and AMAZED that I did not purchase lotion when I foolishly hit the Fred Meyer on Saturday. Totally forgot people actually cook anymore on Thanksgiving, judging from the crowds at the Charthouse last year. Every single person on the planet was at the Fred Meyer. But I managed to get my groceries bought and was all proud that I wouldn't need to go to a supermarket for a good solid two weeks... until this morning when the lotion sputtered and died. Dang it. I guess, what, Rite Aid at lunch? What choice do I have? Foolish, foolish, non-list-making Virgo...

If I could have just deleted it I would have...

...but I'm no party pooper.

That dang Cancun Canuck tagged me in a blog game of sorts, and so I comply. The gig is you get "tagged", and you have to mention the tagger in your blog, list 8 random things in your own post, and then link to 8 other bloggers. This is assuming you're popular and KNOW 8 other bloggers that that dang Canuck doesn't know. We'll see how that goes. For now, on to the 8 random things. Good Lord, like my life isn't an open book already.

1. I have been a (University of Oregon) Duck since I shot out of the womb, and that is how I describe myself. Anyone can be a fan of Notre Dame, or the 49ers (dating myself) or USC, because it's our sheep mentality that makes us want to root for the traditionally victorious. I have been a Duck fan through the crap years, the good years, and of course the years we thought might be crap, ended up going well, and then turned out disappointing. I will never put them down, I will support them even when they break my heart. And I am still not ready to talk about Thursday with anyone other than another Duck fan.

2. I think I might be one of those people that talk just for the sake of talking.

3. I don't feel like I am 42. Sometimes I wake up and go, Oh shit, I'm 42. But because I am single (a spinster, no less!) and have never had any kids or owned real property, I feel like I might be closer to mid 30s. I am quite sure I LOOK 42, but I think age is about how you feel.

4. I am afraid of the dark. I don't have the abilities like Mexico Way, but I do have a little bit more of a heightened sense of... something. I have to have lights on right up until I go to bed, and then I can't fall asleep unless the TV is on a self-timer.

5. Every Saturday morning I get up really early, make a big fat pot of coffee, plan my very industrious morning, and then drink so much coffee that it makes me sleepy. And generally end up napping around mid morning.

6. I try not to shower at least one weekend day.

7. I hate cleaning. I get very little satisfaction from it, and what little I might get is forgotten soon after, giving me very little motivation to clean again when it comes time.

8. I often ask questions but don't wait around for the answers. This has been going on for years, though, and I don't feel bad about asking the questions again, because I just tell people that I don't generally listen when the person is answering me.

Okay then. The following have been tagged and are now "it". Great.

Woot
My Magic Roundabout
Brenda and Roy Go to Mexico
Cracked Chancla
Heather in Paradise

Okay, five. Five is all I came up with. I could have added Mexico Way, Rivergirl, and Canuck herself to round it all out, but then it just becomes this wicked circle. Hey, did anyone link to Dooce?

Sigh

Sometimes you just wish there was something you could DO.

The kittens haven't killed me yet

I don't have much to report but thought I should check in. Work, sleep, play with kits, feed kits, scoop poop, scold kits, consider claw trimming (kits and my own), that's pretty much what I got going on. It's winter. I don't do a whole lot.

The good news is their heads are too big now to go under the sofa and in the hole under the bathroom vanity. The not so good news is they have discovered that climbing up the back of the sofa with their little razor-like claws is fun. We don't see eye to eye on this. They have also learned how to climb up a pants leg. Now if I could just teach them the difference between "pants" and "no pants".

Sorry. This one is pretty cute, too

And this one.


>sigh<

I swear this blog isn't going to be all about the kittens

But you want pictures. Well, Canuck wants pictures. And I'm sure Mexico Way, RiverGirl and that Zsa Zsa wants them. And probably others, like Shelia, and maybe even Janet. Okay, I'm not going to name all of you.

The kitties pissed me off something fierce last night when I got home. Turns out, not so potty-trained. I'm SORT of over it, because it's hard to stay mad at these little bastards, but for right now they are staying in the bathroom/laundry room. Until they get used to the fact that under the bed is NOT the potty. And as soon as I tear apart my bedroom completely and Resolve the crap out of it (literally). Remember, these kitties actually WERE born in a barn (okay, a parking garage). Don't fret, they have stuff to do in the bathroom/laundry room.



Aren't they cute?

Little pooping bastards.

Slowly getting comfortable

No pictures yet of the newly named Lava and Seca. They are just too hard to nail down. I have had some minor play time, mostly with Lava who seems to be more social. Seca looks on from behind whatever major household item (bed, washer) she can quickly retreat behind in the event the human's foot turns in her direction. The last few mornings they have been up to greet me (I mean eat fresh food) and that's good, and I think they are sleeping under my bed now (baby steps). They tumble around in the middle of the night but they are small so I am not too worried about them taking down the bedside lamp or anything, yet.

I'm really not too concerned about their somewhat slow (remember, I'm Instant Gratification Girl) acclimation to the rest of the apartment, or me for that matter, because they are getting a little bit more bold as the days go on. Lava didn't even freak out when I turned on the hair dryer this morning. She just kept on with her grubbin with half an eye on Seca as she bolted back behind her namesake.

Lavadora and Secadora, you're not in the 'hood anymore.

Kit update

Got the kittens yesterday from Tracy. She was sad to see them go. It appears they hung around her long enough for her to get attached. As for me, I haven't seen them for longer than say 3 minutes since about 9pm last night.

Their first choice was my very low sofa. It was a squeeze to get their little heads in there, but sure enough, there they were. Elizabeth told me to put the food near them and just leave them be, they would come out when I went to bed. I generally get up to go to the bathroom a couple of times in the night, and last night was no exception. No kittens. The 2nd time I got up, however, when I laid back down again, I heard meowing. So for some reason I got up, looked under the sofa and saw the 2 shapes, and decided to shoo them out. Not really sure why but I was inspired to lift up my not-so-light (but quite solidly built, thanks, Shelia) sofa and sort of coaxed them out (their cover was blown, there weren't many options). I put the sofa back down when I saw them clear it (Janet. Jeez.) and put one in the litter box. She bounded out and so I put her in front of the food. One bite and back she went under the sofa. The other just poked her nose out. It was 3:15am. I went back to bed.

At 5:20, when the alarm went off, I got up and went to the bathroom. New meowing, this time much closer. Turns out they went exploring and found the washer/dryer. They like it back there. I moved a food/water bowl into the laundry room across from the dryer, and moved a new litter box next to the washer (there is a big huge space and a door dividing them, so don't worry about their food being too close to their toilet, please). Went to work.

When I got home, food had been eaten, water drunk, and litter box had been used. Good news on all accounts. I saw one of them poke her head out from behind the washer, but when she saw me she went back in. No problem. I can wait this out. Pretty soon they'll see it's no fun back there (probably about the time I need to do laundry. That day is coming) and will come out and explore more. I imagine they will be back under the sofa sometime tonight as well.

So there you go. Updated.

I'd take pictures but you don't need to see my dryer.

Word verification

All of a sudden I am just being BARRAGED by spam comments on a post entitled "Last Post Pre-Wilma". I'm getting like ten a day. It's pissing me off. And it's a pain in the ass. So from now on you'll have to do the word verification thing when you post a comment on TtheD. It's not that much of a pain if you are a human. So I appreciate your understanding this.

Thanks. Jesus.

A Great Day to Be A Duck

GOD what a game. I was sick for a week over it (started right after I watched the end of the ASU-Cal game last Saturday) and ended about 7:25pm last night. Dennis Dixon rocks and Jonothan Stewart is a stud. I'm just so satisfied.

Marsha and I made a thunder run to the mothership Saturday morning, and ran into a gal that works in my building (well, Lincoln Tower - tomorrow I can't call it "my building" since I'll be in Hillsboro) and she happened to be shopping with an old friend... Paula S. Becky H. won't find this out for a few weeks, however, since she is on her way to Mexico sometime today. But she will be interested in hearing about it. Let's see if she goes back this far to catch up on TtheD when she gets back.

Anyway, Marsha bought a purse (and a very cute one at that) and a bunch of other things, while I resisted the mothership and only bought 2 sweaters at Eddie Bauer. And I made it home and to Barbie's by the start of the 2nd half. That was enough. Carpenter looked terrible and I love that. You wonder how the heck they managed to stay undefeated. Seriously, they looked like crap.

I did not purchase anything at the mothership, by the way, because I am set on purchasing the bottle green Bleeker bucket. It will be mine. It will be.

Anyways, go Ducks, and I forgot today was "turn the clock back" day, so I was up at what I thought was 6:30 and really was 5:30. Oh well, coffee's on, and contacts are in, so why bother laying back down. I have an apartment to clean and laundry to do and little teeny tiny kittens to collect...

Should I or shouldn't I?

Look at these little bastards.


They are homeless little kittens that were born about 6 weeks ago in the parking lot at work. Gloria at work takes care of the mom cat and has for years. She's feral and Gloria actually has one of her previous kittens. She just can't seem to get close enough to the mom cat to get her fixed.

Today the security people had something better to do than chase us out of the unauthorized smoking area - they came in and told Gloria that if she didn't do something with these kittens they would get animal control in there and dispose of them. Gloria raced off to Petco and got a kennel and some supplies and set it up for the trap. Her idea was to trap the mom cat, and the kitties would follow, but one of the security guards caught the kittens first (which of course means mom the feral cat was pretty much done with the kittens). Three little homeless kitties...

So the kennel came in to the branch and a lady from upstairs immediately took one home. The other two became quite popular in the branch (for the cat people anyway).

So the deal now is that Tracy has the kitties for the weekend and once I get this disaster of an apartment picked up, I will go get them either Sunday or Monday.

I think I have some kittens.

But aren't they cute?