Wierd cat tricks

So I'm sitting here, typing away, watching Toby sit on Ben's head. I have to capture this moment. Toby has learned a new trick! Yay! As if eating toilet paper & carpet isn't enough. I'm a little surprised that she took so long to learn this particular trick since we hold her all of the time and she has such a penchant for climbing. She's practically made of velcro the way she sticks to us to much when we're in the house. I think that these particular cats are a bit puppy as well what with the way that they walk around the house, holding their toys in their mouths, crying for attention. And, they generally follow us from room to room, especially at tnight.

So Toby has learned a new trick. She has learned how to not only climb onto our shoulders while we are holding her (and frankly, she's really pretty slippery at times), but she has also learned how to jump onto our backs/shoulders while we are standing. She's even pretty good at jumping & balancing on the backs (not really all that thick) of our dining room chairs. She's quite the talented one, I assure you. This is mostly funny because it happens to Ben a whole lot more than it happens to me. But now that Ben has taught her how to do it (and yes, she was encouraged by him, not me), she does it ALL of the time. It can be quite unnerving when you're cooking and all of a sudden Toby is balancing on your shoulders.

She's moved beyond just balancing, however. Now, she settles in and basically camps out on your shoulders/back. Hence why she is sitting on Ben's head. She's laying parallel to Ben so that her head is betwee his shoulder blades and her bum is squarely situated on his head. Laying down. Quite happy. Probably purring (she purrs a lot). If I knew how to put a picture on here, I would. This moment should be enjoyed by more than just myself.

"Cats regard people as warm blooded furniture."
Jacquelyn Mitchard

New nephew

So we haven't met him yet, but Ben & I just looked at the first pictures of our (first) newborn nephew, Jacob. His older sister looks very mature and happy with her new brother.

By the way...someone used the word "erudite" in class tonight. I giggled (on the inside). :-)

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval." George Santayana

Meandering thoughts

All is going pretty well tonight. Toby is sleeping in a bag. Leo is cuddling with me (not with Ben). I'm pretending to do homework. My laptop is working again. And, I found an interesting book today..."The Pirate Cookbook".

So embarrassing happening of today. It had snowed and iced during the day, which meant that I needed to scrape my windshield before I could drive, which is saying something if you could have seen my windshield into school this morning. Yet, I don't have an ice scraper in my car. Wierd. It used to be there. It's not like I've never needed one before. So I did what any intrepid and inventive teacher would do. I interrupted someone else's class in order to relay my problem and have them solve it. It was hard work too!

Apparantly our garage door froze shut (that's never happened before) Sunday and didn't decide to open again until Sunday afternoon. As soon as I couldn't get my car out, I felt trapped, thus reminding me of my dependence on my freedom. I even went to school to work for a while, partly because I needed to and partly because I needed out of the house! Sad.

Leo is offering his fuzzy white belly up to be rubbed by all of you right now. If there is an all of you.

Alexander the Great was embalmed in honey.

Because we were frozen into our house on Sunday, we didn't get to church. Because we didn't get to church, we didn't drop off the 40 cookies that I had baked Saturday night to take to church Sunday morning. Now I have many cookies. Many. I'm willing to save some for anyone who comes to visit me. :-)

Sugar cookies, half dipped in chocolate. Mmmm.

2nd annual chocolate fest, February 29, 2:45

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."
Mark Twain

Crocs & Football

Crocs. The funny, spongy, goofy-looking plastic shoes. They look like they'd last for a few days before falling apart (or disintigrating in water). They come in clownish colors. They have holes in them. How can these possibly be good shoes.

Yet, I love my Crocs. (Mine are red.)

I'm not normally into rushing out and buying the latest fad. But after awhile, I give in. It only took me approximately 4 years to purchase my first pair of capris. I remember laughing at them and thinking how ridiculous they looked the first time I saw them. I love my capris. They are, literally, just about the perfect pair of pants. Flattering to most. Not too hot. Not too cold (usually). And, they match most shoes that I own.

I am still surprised that I even tried on any Crocs let alone buy any. But I love them (even more than my capris). In fact, I really think that these might be the best investment of shoes that I have ever made.

So I think that Ben should try whatever I'm all about because obviously if I love my Crocs then Ben would love Crocs too. Croc insanity hath spread in this house. Ben not only found his own cute little pieces of hole-y plastic, but he found cute little Colts pieces of hole-y plastic. And the best part is...side by side, Croc by Croc, they actually make my feet look small. Crocs are truly the miracle shoe.

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Football. Before I met Ben, I kind of knew the idea of football, but only because I had to go to every home football game in high school and eventually someone explained the basics to me. Before I met Ben, I don't think that I ever watched a single Colts game. But now, ha, I can (kind of) talk football smack with the best of them...just don't ask me what the difference between a shotgun formation and a slant. In actuality I am pretty good about regurgitating whatever I read in the newspaper and hear other people say about it. But I'm enjoying it. It's really quite a fun game. I've watched more of the post season this year than Ben has...nearly every playoff game. But this is all fair because...

Ben now likes the Braves. Before I met Ben, he thought that the Braves were evil (seeing how he was a lukewarm Reds fan and we all know how fans of teams who never win get jealous of fans of teams who are actually good, whether that good team wins or not...this complex gets much much worse with Cubs fans, unfortunately). Actually, Ben just never watched the Braves and simply had a jaded opinion of the boys in Hot 'Lanta. Now, Ben knows the Braves; he knows the stats, he knows the past players, he knows the good & bad trades, he knows the personal stats of my team. All considering, if Ben's really close second favorite team in baseball is now the Braves, it seems like a small price to pay to learn more about the Colts.

"Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein."
Joe Theismann