What the ...?

Snow?

In Seattle?

In late March?

Yeah...enough said.

Happy-Sad

I'm trying to come up with something profound to post, but just can't do it right now. Probably because I'm physically drained from cleaning my house. Yeah, I'm a bit of an obsessive neat-freak. I just can't stand sitting on the couch reading or watching TV when the room is in disarray. And in my definition of disarray I mean: thin layer of dust on the coffee table, a jacket tossed on the chair, and mail piled haphazardly. But, in my defense, someone (cough) Ryan (cough) had tracked dirt onto my hardwood floor, so that had to be dealt with. It was simply necessary. That only spurred me on to dusting, vacuuming, mopping, sweeping, and investigating every nook and cranny of my house for debris. ;)

Anyway, I've decided to give you a list of things that make me happy, as well as sad.

Happiness...
1. A bowl piled high with mint-chocolate chip ice cream, accompanied by my special ice-cream spoon (yes, I have my very own)
2. Sunny Seattle days
3. Playing soccer on sunny Seattle days
4. Winning at anything, particularly if I get to beat Ryan or my mom
5. The smell of lilacs during spring
6. Freshly mowed lawn
7. Finally being able to afford the shoes I've been eyeing for months
8. Traveling with my sis...Europe? Again? Why not!
9. Cuddling up in front of a fire with a good book
10. Running 3 miles without having to walk or slow down
11. Waking up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight streaming through my window
12. Campfires & S'mores
13. Red wine, chocolate mousse, and a street cafe
14. Painting my nails a shocking pink or sparkly red
15. Knocking someone over when playing soccer and not getting called for a foul
16. Scoring a goal...or two...or three in one game
17. Watching a corny movie with my family
18. Rollerblading on Alki
19. The crinkling sound an old book makes when you open it
20. Singing off-key at the top of my lungs

Sadness...
1. Learning that a friend is going through a tough time
2. Curling my hair only for it to fall flat
3. Losing my favorite earring - but only one, not the entire pair
4. Spilling coffee or chocolate on my new jeans
5. Losing a button on my coat
6. Finishing the final Harry Potter book, knowing that it really was the last one
7. Forgetting to put a key ingredient in something I'm cooking
8. Opening the freezer to finish off my pint of Ben & Jerry's only to find someone beat me to it
9. Being cold, in freezing rain and wet clothes
10. Missing a friend
11. Losing a loved one
12. Finding out that Ed has still not been released on DVD
13. Being sick on Christmas
14. Flying in coach for 10 hours, while being able to see those in first class through the curtain
15. Anticipating an old childhood meal and having it fall flat
16. Visiting the home I grew up in and realizing that it isn't my home anymore
17. Losing faith in myself
18. Finally wearing out my favorite, most comfortable, I-never-look-fat-in-these jeans
19. Planning an all day hike, only to wake up with the rain pouring down with a vengence
20. Stubbing my toe or banging my head on random corners

My sad list was a lot harder to compose than my happy list. Probably because I'm a generally smiley person. And Darcie, I know you're shaking your head in disagreement, but once again, I beg to disagree with you.

***End with smug smile of satisfaction***

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Darling aren't they?

When you arrive home they are immediately at the door to greet you, nuzzling your legs, crawling into your lap, and purring up a storm. How could you resist stroking their soft, silky fur or scratching behind their ears? They knead softly on your lap while looking at you with their sizzling sly eyes. All of a sudden the hair on your neck stands up and you get a cold chill down your spine. For a fleeting moment you wonder if they might be plotting something against you. But then the kitties relax and resume their purring. They snuggle closer to you and curl up oh-so-sweetly on your lap, warming you and taking that chill right away. You shrug off that feeling of doom and slip into a false sense of relief and contentment.

Welcome to my life. I love my boys to death. But they don't always return the favor. At least not once they have received the attention they've been craving. Sure, they greet me at the door and cuddle with me on the couch when watching Lost or October Road. However, as nice as that may sound they have a devious side to them. And it never benefits me.

Their meow can compete with the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Just as nails slowly screech across a blackboard, so do their meows squeak out in the most grating and loud death howl you can imagine. And it doesn't happen just once. Or even twice. No, they can cry for an hour straight if they so choose. It really depends on how angry they are with me. Did I mention this typically happens at 4am? Yeah, exactly. They don't do it when I'm awake. They wait until I'm deep in my REM sleep before belting out their shrieking tune. Are they crying for any apparent reason? No. Their food bowl is overflowing, the water in their dish straight from the tap. So what is the reason behind their cry? My only answer is to test my patience as much as possible. And cause more stress lines around my eyes.

We have a plant. In our house. It is large and green and receives water whenever I remember. The boys are intrigued by this plant. A little too much. I should have known from the beginning that the plant in the house spelled trouble. But I trusted them and granted them access to the plant. Only to come home to find this: The boys had dug around the base of the plant, chewed the lower leaves, trotted around the house with dirt all over their paws leaving a nice brown trail in their wake, and rolled in the dirt, covering their entire bodies with grainy crumbs of soil. The look on their tiny faces when I discovered their dirty deed? One of pure joy mixed with contempt and a side of smug.

Fact: Cats have claws.
Discovered: Cats like to sharpen their claws.
Result: Cats sharpen claws on whatever they can find. Wicker furniture, bed spreads, couch, carpet, foam that the water heater rests on. Pretty much anything they can find, they will use. Destructive little beings. And they relish the fact. They will purposely sharpen their claws on my chair right in front of me, looking at me with an evil grin as they slowly lift one paw into the air, place it softly on the arm of the chair, extend their claws, and then pierce. So triumphant they are. And they know that even if I shoo them away they can simply come back when I'm asleep or away. My house is really under their control.

Moral of the story: Don't judge a cat by it's purr.

Wasting Away

This might show you that I have too much time on my hands.

That I should be more productive. More...something.

But the sad truth is I'm not. I hate being idle, so I fill my time up by doing this. Perfecting my limited Photoshop skillz. Yes, skills with a 'z'. It's cooler that way, right? No? Well, I tried.

Laura got to be transformed into Hilary Duff because I know how much she adores her. ;)

My big sis got Kirsten Dunst because she already has the same face shape, so it was easy. Plus the hair is just cute!

Concert Sightings

On Saturday, I attended the Matchbox Twenty concert - which was incredible - but while waiting for the band to come onstage (and simultaneously killing time while the opening acts played) I partook in one of my favorite past times. People watching. Honestly, what is better than admiring the daring outfits or hairstyles of those who are sharing in the concert experience with you? Okay, besides listening to the concert, obviously.

I thought I'd share some of my sightings & eavesdroppings with you.

**Spotted!**
Slightly overweight woman in skin-tight, hot-pink dress stumbles her way across the floor with boyfriend in tow. Of course this wouldn't be extremely awful, except for the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. And it was incredibly obvious. To the point that the girl sitting behind me made the comment, "Do some people just not look in the mirror before going out? Maybe she doesn't own a mirror!" Her dad admonished her for the comment, which I don't blame him, as she was constantly spouting negative remarks about everyone and everything. But more from her later. The woman, however, was either completely unaware of her ensemble or fully aware and relishing it. Did I mention she had no jacket? Just her thin, jersey dress with narrow spaghetti straps.

**Seen & Heard**
Daring & bold! College girl struts by with indigo mohawk and chic glasses. What guts! What courage! What...was she thinking?? Okay, she actually rocked it well. And with confidence. The people sitting in front of her liked it so much they asked for a picture with her. She gladly obliged, with a smile on her face. Of course, Negative Nelly behind us had to voice her opinion on that.

NN: "Eww! Mom! There's a girl with a mohawk!"
Mom: "No...where? Is that a girl? Are you sure?"
NN: "Definitely a girl. And it's actually shaved on the sides!"
Mom: "Why would you do that!?"
NN: "Oh my gosh! That is so rude! Their asking for her picture! That's the rudest thing ever! I can't believe that! So rude!"

What I couldn't believe is how NN made fun of the mohawk sporting girl and then showed concern for her when others complimented it. The girl seemed in great spirits and I think if you're going to flaunt a purple mohawk you expect stares and comments.

**Witnessed**
Two hip, middle-age women rock out to Alanis Morrisette & Matchbox Twenty. They were swaying, grooving, clapping, and belting out the tunes. The women were having a blast, but one woman had brought her son and he was sitting unmoving in the seat next to his exuberant mom. Embarrassment? Perhaps. Although, he did liven up when Matchbox hit the stage. Back to my favorite lady, the one without the son. Man, was she fun to watch! She just couldn't sit still. Having the luxury of an aisle seat, she was out dancing and sashaying about. To steal from Shakira, her hips didn't lie. She was having the time of her life grooving to the beat. (stole from a few songs there) During an Alanis song she even shouted out an "F***, yeah!" for all surrounding her to hear. Whether she was sitting or standing, her arms were always waving and her hips were forever swaying.

**Overheard**
Now to my negative friend sitting directly behind me. Before the concert ever started she and her mom were running their mouths. "This better not be like the Daughtry concert." "It's just like Daughtry! He sang way too close to the mic!" "Does someone want to tell them their sound system sucks!?" "Who is this band? Their horrible! Maybe that was good, but oh, wow! You can bang on drums. Congratulations!" "Are we going to Daughtry when he comes back? I need to know so I can book it. That's why you need to be online everyday checking to see when the tickets go on sale!" Timeout. Weren't you guys just discussing how awful the Daughtry concert was? And now you want tickets to his next concert?

Mom to her daughter: "I'm so glad you like such a variety of music." Wait! Did I hear that right? Her daughter had just spent the last 10 minutes complaining about all types of music! Country, rock, pop, you name it. Didn't sound like she was very accepting of various music genres.

And on it went. But that gives an idea.

Oh how I love people watching. Brings a smile to my face. :)

Passing the Time

Work has been a little slow for me lately. And I hate having nothing to do. So I made these. Viola! This is how I spend my time being oh-so-productive:

FYI...the bottom one I used a tutorial for and the top one I found a similar image & then recreated it from scratch. Gotta give credit where credit's due. :)