Spice the Cat

So I'm pretty sure I've blogged about my new kitty a few times already, but I don't think I've put up any pictures. So here's my new little kitten. She's not really a kitten, she's probably almost 2 years old now. But she still acts like a kitten! She lives with me while I'm at school, not at home with my parents, which is nice (although sometimes she's pretty freaking annoying but that's okay).

Anyway, here's Spice:


















This last picture is my favourite, because she's totally sticking her tongue out at me - how rude!

Christmas time is here!

Well, actually Christmas time was here about 3 months ago, as we all know, but as we also all know I'm lazy, so I haven't posted about it yet. So I'm going to do one super quick post today, because there's really not enough exciting about it to to more than one blog.

Two days after Adam and I got back from the Bahamas, we drove up to my parents' place. My sister and her boyfriend, Fred (yes, I did mention that my sister is dating Fred, right? Weird.. but surprisingly normal at the same time, after all) were already there. Luckily, a couple of years ago my parents joined up with a couple they're friends with to build a new cabin, and it's winterised (unlike the rest of our cabins), so that's where Adam and I and my sister and Fred were staying. It's also where we set up the Christmas tree, did Christmas supper, etc.

Adam and I arrived Christmas Eve, and my parents had been nice enough to wait to decorate the Christmas tree until we got there, which was awesome. So we did the traditional decorating of the tree, put up decorations around the cabin, etc. and it was really nice. We had the 'faux-fire' going, but also had a 'fire' going on on the TV (b/c the dish had some channel that just showed a fire burning - I know, we're dorks). And we listed to Christmas and Chanukkah music that I downloaded, and it was good times. Mum had made 'wassail' (like spiced Hot Apple Cider) that was sooo good, although not spiked unfortunately. ;) Just kidding.

The next morning we all got up, and when Mum and Mikey came down we opened up all of our stockings, which were ridiculously full. Then we had an excellent breakfast, then it was time for presents - of which there was seriously a ridiculous amount. But hey, isn't that what Christmas is all about? :p (hahaha...) Presents took a couple of hours to unwrap, because we do it in turns one by one so we can all see what everyone got. My parents got Adam a deep-frier for chicken wings, because Mikey had refused to get the vegetable steamer that I had recommended because he said that veggie-steamers aren't 'manly' enough for one guy to give to another. Men and their rules, eh?! I got a bunch of good stuff, as did we all, although I'd already gotten my biggest present before my trip to the Bahamas - my new camera!! I also got these amazing Bose speakers for my iPod from my parents (mostly my step-dad, I'm assuming, since my mum wouldn't know what to get in that area). He always knows what to get, it's amazing! Adam and I had agreed not to get each other presents, since we'd already spent so much on our trip. But Fred got my sister a personalised canoe paddle, which was beautiful, and so cute because that's so them! My mum got my step-dad like the best toy helicopter you can get, which was crazy cool and realistic looking. And my mum got lots of good books and some really awesome art supplies from Mikey. And we all got a bunch of smaller stuff, so we all had a great Christmas overall!

Then it was time for a quick lunch before we started making Christmas dinner (and the boys started playing with their new toys, of course). Christmas dinner was super yummy, and it was so much fun to have me, Robin and Mum in the kitchen making things. I know, so uber-traditional to have the girls cooking and the boys playing, but whatever, it was fun!

The rest of the night we just hung around in the cabin, listened to music, talked, watched TV, etc. - very relaxing. The next day Fred's parents came by for a visit (b/c they're also really good friends with my parents), so that was nice, and they stayed for dinner. The day after that, Adam and I went with Mikey down to the gun range to do some shooting, since Adam had never done anything like that. He was pretty good at it for a beginner! And it was nice to have Mikey and Adam do some 'guy stuff' together too. :) That afternoon our family friends Amber and her mum Marlene came to visit, which was great cause I hadn't seem them for forever. Then that night (or maybe the next, I don't remember for sure) we had a big bonfire with a whole bunch of guests, and got to see the Rawns, and watch some old home movies of when we were kids, and it was all lots of fun.

And then Adam and I went back on the 28th, and hung around T.O. (and I went back to London for a couple of days), then celebrated New Years' Eve at his cousin's (and his cousin's girlfriend's) place, which was laidback just the way we like it!

So that's all I'm going to write about Christmas. I'm also sharing a Christmas 2006 album on here, so click on that baby if you want to see pics. Now I'm all caught up!!!

Christmas 2006

Photobucket Album

No news is... bad news, in this case.

Yes, it's taken me 3 days to update this since finding out, but on Thursday I found out that I'm not getting an interview at that firm in Toronto. So I'll be in London again working for my prof, which is good cause I do like the job and I like him, but sucky cause it would have been fun to live with my sister in T.O. and make lotsa moolah. Ah well, I'll just have to rack up debt some more - I'm so good at it, I might as well not waste what talents I have! ;)

Anyway, that's all, just thought I'd let you all know.

On a plus side, my mum and her best friend (who is also my sister's boyfriend's mother) are down this weekend to see my sister's play (she was awesome in it, as per usual) and get their Christmas present massages. We just watched To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar; they hadn't seen it, and I knew they'd love it. What a great girls' night! :D

Update. And by update, I mean letting you all know there's nothing exciting going on in my life.

Hey all, as you can clearly see from the subject line, my life is unexciting. School (nothing exciting), work (for the prof I worked for the past summer still - interesting to me but no one else), and boy (again, interesting to me but no one else). That's all that my life consists of. I'm waiting to hear from one firm about a summer job, so will definitely update when I know what's going on with that.

We (the law school) did have our Career Fair yesterday, and my roomie and I who both applied to this one firm got taken out for dinner by the 2 women (and we were the only ones who got taken out), so that was pretty cool. They'll be contacting people this week or next about interviews, so we'll see what's the what. If not, I'll probably end up working with the prof again, which is cool cause I like him and like the work.

And yeah, that's about it. I know it's entirely unexciting, but I thought that I should at least let you all know that I'm still alive. Oh, went to St. Patty's Day party at Adam's place cause it was also Owen's b-day. Blah blah blah, drunken idiots, etc. Woot. Entirely not my scene, but that's fine. And went for a makeup lesson at the Clinique counter on the following Sunday, which was super helpful. Seriously, a makeup lesson is the most exciting part of my life right now. Again, woot.

So yeah, if I think of anything else I'll update again, but otherwise, hi and goodbye!

One last goodbye to Precious

This past tuesday, the 26th, my cat Precious (who I have had since September of 1996) was put down. About a week earlier my mother had finally taken her to the vet, because she was having a hard time grooming herself and wasn't eating much. The vet found a mass under her tongue, gave my mother antiobiotics to give to Precious, and told my mother to come back in a week to see how things had gone. My mother went back Tuesday, and they found that the cancer had spread throughout her mouth, so they decided to put her down. Luckily (?) my mother had been pretty sure that was going to be the result, because Precious was eating even less and kind of hiding, which is what animals tend to do when they know they're going to die. So Tuesday morning I called home and got to say goodbye to Precious over the phone, and tell her what an amazing cat she had been and how much I was going to miss her.

Precious (I know it's a ridiculous name, but I was 14 and I got her because my previous cat had just been run over by a car and killed the week before, so give me a break) was a great cat. She always knew when something was wrong and would run up to comfort me. She slept with me every single night in my water bed (without ever once puncturing it!) until I went away to university. When I first brought her back from the Humane Society, she would bring me her catch of the day of mice, squirrels, birds, etc. - until she brought one home that was still alive and I made it clear that I didn't really like it!! She had this cute little thing that I taught her to do, where she would dip her paw into a glass of milk, shake very daintily (I didn't teach her that part, obviously), and then lick all the milk off ever so cutely because she was such a prissy little thing. And when it was raining or snowy, she'd walk so that every single time she picked up one of her feet, she'd shake it to get the wet off. And her tabby colouring on top and white underneath and on her legs, combined with her long fur, made it look like she was always wearing bloomers, so she looked extra dainty and prissy when doing stuff like that. But she was also a tough cat who spent a lot of time outdoors hunting, and who never once fell victim to a natural predator, so she definitely wasn't really that much of a priss! She had that 'cat attitude' that cat lovers know and adore; she was usually willing to let you pet her, and was pretty friendly, but she was very demanding when she wanted to be petted, and if you took your hand away before she was done with you you'd (very gently) be getting claws in the back of your hand!

When I went away to university I was sad because I knew I couldn't take her with me, and that even if I'd been living somewhere where I could have pets, she'd be totally unhappy living anywhere but the country. So I was worried for a while that she would think that I had abandoned her. But eventually (and it took just the right amount of time), she and my step-dad adopted each other. So every time I would go home to visit she would still be happy to see me and cuddle with me the whole visit, but I got to be happy knowing that she had someone else who could be 'her person'. And she would sleep in my parents' bed with them every night, and if my step-dad for some reason went to bed later than usual, she would come out and meow at him to let him know that it was bedtime. She was a cute, smart, wonderful, loving cat, and there won't ever be another one like her.

Now, I haven't posted this until today, because very sadly the mother of a good friend of mine passed away on Monday, and so I have obviously been preoccupied with that. In fact, I even feel a little guilty writing this whole big blog and being so sad over my cat when losing a mother is obviously so much harder and more horrible. But I loved Precious very much, and she was my 'baby' for over 10 years, so I think she deserves this. I'm just going to post a couple of pictures of her, to show just how cute and sweet she was.

This is Precious lying in a cardboard shoe box - she always loved laying in them for some reason.







Here's Precious chilling out by the window, basking in the sun.







This is a funny picture of her yawning - I love that my mum got her at just the right moment!





Here's one of Precious and Mikey this past Christmas - Mikey is her other 'person', and I'm so glad that they ended up adopting each other!






And here's another picture of Precious at this past Christmas, with our beautiful Christmas tree in the background. She had a great time with us. We had Christmas in the new luxury cabin, which luckily is winterised. That's where Adam and I and Robin and her boyfriend stayed (I will probably be doing a post on it soon), and also where we had the tree, the present-opening, and Christmas dinner. Precious would come down with Mum and Mikey every morning, and go back up with them at night, and get to be smack in the middle of all the action getting lots of affection all day. A pretty good last Christmas for a kitty!!



This last picture I'm going to post is my favourite one of Precious of all time.



Goodbye Precious. I loved you very much. I have Spice (my kitty with me now) and Panda (my bunny), but I will always remember you and love you. Thank you for being such an amazing cat.