Last night Liz had a mild fever. 20 minutes ago my throat started burning. This is a very bad weekend for this. :( Plans may be disrupted. More info to come for those of you (locals) who need it.

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy."

Last night I got Rock Band: The Beatles delivered from Amazon.com. It is AWESOME. I suck at it, but it is still awesome. And I plan to play those damn drums until my arms fall off tonight or I get better, whichever comes sooner.

Also, last night Liz and I talked about the kittens. She hadn't read my LJ entry, but ended up reciting bits of it to me as if she had. We have decided to keep the boys. For better or for worse, they are part of our family. Liz set aside the worst of my fears assuring me that we would always be able to find a home, even if that meant temporarily placing some cats with her parents or even placing *ourselves* with her parents.

Call us crazy or stupid. People in love are often both. :)

I'm in a rage right now, so please forgive me. But HOW, how is it that a large percentage of the people I know who purport to be a follower of Jesus Christ are also in that same chunk of people I know who are up in arms because if we have government run health care someone might get something for free that doesn't deserve it??? My mind boggles. Do they really believe that Jesus went around interviewing people to make sure only those who couldn't afford health care were blessed with his healing??? AUUUUGGGGHHH!

Comments disabled. Sorry, but I just can't take it any more. I don't like the way I'm feeling about the human race right now.

Dear Livejournal,

So after 2 weeks of not counting my points or attempting to stay "on plan" with Weightwatchers, I weighed in yesterday... and lost 1.8 pounds in those two weeks. Weird.

I went to Thrill the World practice on Sunday and had trouble with a couple of the segments (and was frustrated that I was the ONLY one who kept asking for help), but it was a great workout and fun to boot. More information on the West San Jose Thrill the World group, Grave Mistake, here.

I am having trouble finding my focus today. If anyone who saw me over the weekend finds it, please let me know.

Back to work,
R.

magickalmolly recently posted a list of 5 things making her grumpy and 5 things making her happy, and that seemed like a really lovely way to vent/celebrate, so I thought I'd try it myself today.

Grumpy:
1. Housework. It's not Liz's fault that she can't help right now, but I am so tired of cleaning up after/caring for two adults and 6 cats by myself.
2. My digestive system. After several days of being "on the fritz" it took me down for the count Saturday night through Sunday morning meaning Liz and I didn't go to the Farmer's Market, and I didn't go to my Thrill the World practice session. I very narrowly avoided a trip to the Urgent Care on Sunday. :(
3. I fell off the WW wagon. I have no one to blame but myself, but when the going got tough last week, I stopped counting points.
4. I'm so tired of not being able to eat sugar. There is a box of VERY fancy chocolates on my desk (Christopher Elbow: just amazing little works of art in a box) that I can't eat. I wanted ice cream last night, but there was none convenient to me that I could eat. Grrrr.
5. Being grumpy. I mean, really, my life is pretty awesome. I wish I wouldn't let the little things get to me.

Happy:
1. Today is payday. Thank goodness.
2. My desk is almost completely free of documents needing to be filed. That *never* happens, y'all.
3. ebonlock finally got her house, keys and all. I'm so excited for her (and so happy to have her in the Bay Area for a while to come).
4. My co-worker and my boss are taking me out for tapas and drinks tonight after work.
5. 4 cats, 2 kittens and a fiancee who all love me even when I get grumpy.

A. My second blog post went live today on the fantastic same-sex marriage website So You're EnGAYged.com. Read all about our meeting with our officiant last week!

B. Ron and Harry are starting to play quite a bit and are starting to associate Liz and I with happy things like food and toys, much to our relief. We need to take more pictures this weekend, as they are growing quickly, but catching the elusive beings on film is tantamount to taking a picture of the Loch Ness creature. We will be posting visiting hours for the weekend to local friends later today. Let me know if you want to be on the email list.

C. Liz is recovering from her out-patient procedure Tuesday quite well, but it seems like the jury is still out on whether or not this will relieve her pain. The doctors say to give it at least 7 days. Please cross your fingers or pray to your deity of choice.

1. The kittens have been re-named: Ron and Harry. It fits them so very much. Ron is tall, red and freckled; Harry is short, dark, green-eyed, and has hair which goes every which way. Also, Ron eats "dessert" at an alarming rate. Pictures have been taken, but need to be downloaded off Liz's camera.
2. Liz officially has a herniated disc at the base of her neck. She's having an out-patient procedure done next Tuesday which should finally give her some relief from the constant pain. I'm taking some time off from work to hold her hand and drive her home. :(
3. Tonight I start learning the Thriller dance for Thrill the World 2009.
4. Also next Tuesday Liz and I meet with our Officiant, Reverend Linda. Reverend Linda is laughingkat's mom, and was like a second mom to me growing up. I cannot wait to introduce Liz to her and her husband. I'm also excited to start forming an idea of what we want for our ceremony.
5. I am finishing reading Julie & Julia. I am not impressed, and yet... I still want to see the film. I think it's just because of Meryl Streep's Julia Child.
6. Zombies ate 6's brains.
7. I discovered last weekend that every single one of my cookbooks got destroyed by a cat who was, well, in desperation for a litter box a few months ago. I feel like a horrible cat mom, and also sad over the loss even though I mostly gather recipes online these days. Still, my well-worn paperback copies of Joy of Cooking Volume 1 & 2 will need to be replaced....

+ Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
+ NO CAPTIONS!!! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
+ They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.
+ You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.

NOTE: I'm at work, so I am thus limited. I therefore used some from my LJ scrapbook.

( sparing your f-page, one lj-cut at a time... )

Gentle Reader,

Please take pity upon me as I mutter "Marmalade!" and "Molasses!" under my breath. O, what dire fate awaits me as my heart stumbles near that sheer precipice that is Love? I thrash about at night straining to hear even the subtlest acquiescence from my heart's furry captors; I fear my resolve is frangible at best in the presence of these wee timorous beasties. If I be remembered as a Fool, let it at least be footnoted that all was in the name of Kittehs.

Yours Faithfully,
M. Raven Brown

This morning I was running a bit late for work, but I grabbed a bag of soiled kitty litter and a bag of recyclables by the front door so Liz wouldn't have to smell that stuff all day. She'd be ensconced on the couch with an ice pack and good drugs, hoping for the phone to ring to tell her when she is cleared for the MRI for her neck and shoulder.

I got to the dumpster and thought I heard the typical squirrel chatter, put the litter in saying "sorry, guys, nothing for you to eat," (why yes, I do typically tell the squirrels the nature of my waste) and headed for the recycling bin when I suddenly realized that didn't sound like any sort of squirrel noise I'd ever heard. I moved an half-consumed slurpee off the other dumpster, lifted the lid and spotted two kittens, one orange, one black, just about the size to fit in my two hands cupped together.

I ran back upstairs, called in late for work, then began stripping out of my slacks and dress shirt while telling a sleepy-headed Liz what was going on. Liz was amazing, I have to say. She jumped right up and began problem-solving with me. We determined I would go in the dumpster and she would grab the kittens from me and put them into one of our cat carriers.

Ha, easier said than done! I was sweating after chasing those kittens around. The orange one in particular gave me quite a run for my money, the black one just gave me tons of attitude. It has a pretty fewocious growl. The kittens are now exploring our bedroom for the day with easy access to food, water and a litter box. They are incredibly thin and scared of humans. Liz had dubbed the orange one Marmalade upon first sight and so that I could stop saying "the black one" all the time we decided to call it Molasses. Yeah, I know the danger in giving them names, but believe me, our hearts were already involved the minute I jumped in that dumpster.

Marmalade seems really smart and gutsy. Molasses is a scaredy cat with a lot of attitude. I haven't had a chance to sex them. I also can't tell if they've had any previous contact with humans. They seemed to think we were just predators, not a rescue squad. We have two possible kitten foster homes, but if anyone has any suggestions, I don't think it would hurt to have some more possibilities. Also, if anyone has some advice, that would be welcome too. Do you think they ought to go to a vet today, or should we just feed and water them?

ETA: Well, Liz called our vet's office and the tech said as long as they are eating and "moving around well" they should be fine until we can get them in for a regular appointment. Liz went ahead and made an appointment for Friday morning even though we are hoping to have placed the kittens by then. In the meantime, they will remain segregated from the rest of the cats for health reasons. Liz is off to the pet store for kitten food and a smaller litter box. :)

I've been stressing out quite a bit lately, running from one thing to the next and feeling like I'm never going to get caught up with all I want to get done. This has resulting in a massive knot in my shoulder on the same side/in the same area that Liz is having a problem (short update on that: she's going to have an epidural steroid injection, but first she needs to have an MRI done of the area). So I made a last minute appointment at Watercourse Way tomorrow: a complimentary 30 minutes in one of their private hot tub rooms, and then a 50 minute massage. Ahhhh. I even have a credit left from my last appointment, so I'm telling myself that I got a 20% discount. :)

In other news, we saw Half Blood Prince last night. It is definitely uneven, but I came away with a generally good feeling about the film. I wish it could be re-edited so that the cuts didn't stomp all the emotion out of the biggest scenes. See it for the character moments; they are adorable.

Tonight we are going to a cheese party which was partially my brain child: everyone brings two cheeses and some sort of accompaniment, and then we spend the night sampling wildly. I can't wait!

Tomorrow we have the luau and Sunday I finally get to see the California Academy of Sciences, plus have amazing (I hear) vegan food in the city. Woo hoo, what a weekend!

I got two amazing gifts yesterday, both of which were original creations by my friends:

The first, some High School Musical/Harry Potter crossover fic by Kel and Molly, Make a Wish. Features two dudes kissing; you've been warned.

The second is a jaw-droppingly gorgeous hand-made quilt from Ellie based on this classic design:


Thanks so much to all three of you. You really made my day special.

We did... absolutely nothing this weekend. Well, minus one trip to Urgent Care and one dinner out because the patient was going stir crazy.

Sadly, Liz's shoulder and neck pain that started three weeks ago seemingly from nowhere -- although perhaps from a couple of rough nights of sleep during a week of dance recitals and a final paper to end her quarter -- had escalated to numbness in her fingers by Friday afternoon and we found ourselves at Urgent Care that evening. The x-ray showed that Liz's vertebrae are out of alignment and pinching nerves. :( The little trooper got an anti-inflammatory shot and a prescription for Lidocaine patches, then a list of doctors to call today. And now we wait and pray that those doctors can fit her in and that they have some other solution to offer her.

So, instead of attending the SF Symphony performance at Shoreline Amphitheater on Saturday, we watched the fireworks from our balcony. Hey, we figured we paid for a chunk of those fireworks, so it was only fair. :) I may need a last-minute date to see Coldplay from the lawn with me next Monday. But Liz is hopeful that this will be behind us by then.

Oh, and for my birthday this year I'm getting published. My first "official" blog entry at So You're EnGAYged will go live tomorrow. It's my trademark sappiness on display. You've been warned.

I'm totally stealing the icon I made for Liz's journal for this post (yes, I call her Bunny and she calls me Birdie... you can gag now).

My first entry at SoYou'reEnGAYged.com went live this morning. Work is beyond crazy here, but I keep finding time to go check the website for comments. Heh.

Anyway, there's a cute pic of Liz and I there (with kelbebop's lovely bookcase as a backdrop) and a mini-intro. I've written and submitted my first two honest-to-god blog entries, but I'm not sure when those will be posted. I'm already having a blast researching my third entry, which is helping me in wedding planning too -- killing two wasps with one stone.

Yeah, I did that massive drop thing I'd warned about. Most likely you were dropped because I'd added you for our shared interests and I'm not interested in the same things anymore, or our friendship never evolved beyond that interest. I also dropped all my fandom stuff. I'm just not in that headspace anymore, and I don't have the time. I did keep a few artists though from those fandoms, either because my awe for their talent turned into a friendship or because no matter the subject, I think they are just too talented not to keep an eye on. :)

Please, anyone who wants to drop me, feel free. No hard feelings. I promise.

Today they are tearing down the building across from mine using a huge dinosaur-like hoe. The hoe is currently taking huge bites out of the roof of the only remaining wall, sending dust, glass and debris flying. This is one of my department's projects; eventually there will be a new building there with 4-foot thick, lead-lined walls to house our LINAC and CyberKnife machines. And the building they are tearing down is one that has, from time to time, been a real pain in my ass. There was the time that the water heater in one of the upstairs rooms catastrophically failed and, being an empty building, wasn't discovered until the entire place had started to mold. When they came out to work on it, I was instructed to stay on the premises until the workers left. Oy, god, I'll never forget that stench. So, good riddance to you, old building. And yay for Demo Day!

~@~

On another topic, my introduction post will go live at SoYou'reEnGAYged.com on Thursday morning. And tonight I get to see Liz's dance students in their big year-end show!

Yay! I heard back from my blog editor today, and my blog posts will start going up this week. Those who are curious about the website, head on over to So You're EnGAYged.

I did indeed reclaim my rights to The Paranormals last week and ebonlock and I are talking about what our next steps are. Ellie is in the process of moving right now, though, and I think we will at least be waiting until the dust settles for her.

However, I've got this new comic book idea I've been kicking around and I got a lot more of that worked out in my head this weekend. I've missed "my kids," but this new group is intriguing as well. Having choices of what to write when I sit down with my laptop is such a nice change of pace.

Well, back to work. I'll post again once my first blog entry goes live!

In a continuing effort to move more and eat less, I've just signed up for The Dream Mile, a local 5k taking place a week from Sunday. The walk raises money for Vibha, a charity helping underprivileged children in India and also My New Red Shoes which provides local Bay Area children with new clothes. If you're in a giving mood, please see my fund raising website.

In other news, I got the blogging gig! Yeee haaa! I may come begging for subject matter soon, but I think I already have my first two entries written in my head. Also, the Jewish Family Center is sending me a volunteer packet so I can start working with a local shut-in/lonely senior. :)