Something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try

My cat is high on catnip. She literally just flew through the air in some sort of twirling jump thing, wrapped around her catnip wrestling toy. I'm thinking I need a flaming hula hoop and we can take this show on the road.

Now she's waging war on the window blinds or possibly some imaginary bug.

...and now she's crashed. Non-stop entertainment, this fuzzball of mine.

Hey hey hey! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes (I think I got around to them all, but if I didn't, please let me know! I'm not hatin' - just overwhelmed, lol.)

As you may know, this week is Spring Break for me, so I took the opportunity to take a week off from work, since I had no classes. It was supposed to be relaxing yet productive, but if I wanted to relax, I probably shouldn't have bought a house, you know? I've just about got the mortgage stuff straightened out (after a minor "OMG this is so expensive, what was I THINKING???" freakout earlier today), and I'm having the home inspection done on Friday.

I did manage to have some fun this weekend, since the oh-so-Irish mcmegan came to visit and we went to the Shamrock Fest in DC. Lots of Irish bands, lots of people in crazy outfits, and a LOT of fried food (my stomach was not pleased), but the main attractions were Hotspur - Megan's like a superfan or something, they know her by name! - and Dropkick Murphys, both of which were great.

We also got our picture taken with a leprechaun:

( It's a different sort of awesome ladies picspam )

As I was washing the dishes after dinner tonight, I noticed Chelsea sitting on the kitchen floor, staring pitifully at the oven. I probably should have realized the depth of the problem, since that's the way she used to stare at the refrigerator in my old apartment. But this refrigerator doesn't have enough space to lose things under it, so I thought that problem was solved.

And I love Chelsea to pieces, but she's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, you know? She's been known to stare at the wall for no particular reason, so this isn't necessarily an indication of anything. And, I mean, I'd noticed that her toys seemed to disappear kind of frequently, but she loves to lose things in the sofa, so I just figured there was a pile of them underneath, where I couldn't see them.

But there she was, staring at the oven with her sad!kitty face, so I figured she must have lost a toy under there, although I couldn't remember her ever doing that before. So once again, I took out the clothes hanger and got down on the floor to take a look.

OMG Chelsea. I mean OH MY GOD. Four ping-pong balls (two of which were too far back for me to reach), three mice, eight fuzzy balls, one incredible dust bunny, and one of the plastic caps from my door-stops. I HAD NO IDEA. A year and a half I've lived here! No wonder my oven always smells funny every time I turn it on - I've been BROILING KITTY TOYS. (Actually, the toys seemed fine. But my oven does have a funny smell.)

Hey, long time no see! It's been a busy week - once again, I need a vacation from my vacation. I am so glad I took this week off from work, but it wasn't exactly the most restful time!

We ended up getting about six inches of snow on Sunday, which torpedoed my plans to go to the Flyers' practice with Megan. Fortunately, I got out of shoveling, because my dad was awake at 5 am (as always) and decided to shovel the whole driveway before my mother and I were even awake. His reasoning? "I was up. What else was there to do?" My mother said, "You could've at least waited until the SUN came up, you know."

I did get to see Megan on Monday and exchange gifts (yay!), and then that night my mom and I went to see This is the Week That Is, which is an annual comedy/improv show about current events and politics and such. Musical + politics = totally up my alley, so this is the third time I've gone. And this year... I was IN the show. They always do a couple of skits where they bring an audience member up on stage. This year, they'd decided they were frustrated with current party politics and were going to start a new outsider political party, so they needed someone to lead it. And they picked me!

It was awesome and hilarious, because they asked me where I live and what I do for a living, and according to my mother, the looks on their faces when I said I was a lobbyist in Washington were like, "OMG this is too good to be true." But then when I told them I lobbied for musicians, I became the only audience member to ever get their own theme music. \o/ My mom (and the cast) said I was great and didn't seem nervous at all. I like to think that my five years spent in drama club were not in vain, lol.

Anyway, Tuesday we drove back to Virginia at the crack of dawn and came home to a slightly traumatized Chelsea. She saw my dad come in the door first, and she hissed at him! She's only ever hissed at Patches! Fortunately, he interpreted it as her being a good little watch cat, scaring away strangers. :) She was all clingy as usual - she doesn't like it when I go away for several days at a time, and you can tell she missed me because she actually slept under the covers in bed with me. Usually she just lays on top. But I gave her a catnip toy and all was forgiven. (Adorable pictures forthcoming, as soon as my camera charges.)

Chelsea is, of course, much smarter than Patches, who got the same toy, but seemed to have no idea what to do with it. Patches did like the toy my mother got for her, but for some bizarre reason, she only played with it when no one was watching. We'd hear the ball going around the track, but when we went to investigate, as soon as she spotted us, she'd immediately stop. This led to several instances of us hiding behind doors or around corners, peeking out to see her playing with it, and then ducking back around so she wouldn't see us, hands over our mouths to keep from laughing out loud. :)

While my parents were here, we went to see the White House Christmas tree (kinda ugly - my mom said it looks like it's wearing a giant condom, lol) and ZooLights at the National Zoo (unimpressive, but I'm a bit spoiled by Longwood Gardens). We also had to take a ride around to see neighborhoods where I've seen condo listings, and of course we all like the most expensive one best.

This is already a bit long, so I'll save Kelly's and my wild adventures for tomorrow - again, hopefully with pictures! (Kelly, send me the ones you took on New Year's Eve and I'll post them up!)

Paper is DONE. Semester is OVER. Time to finish my Christmas shopping wrap presents bake cookies PARTAY!

( Class, Chelsea, and cooking under the cut! )

Well, Chelsea would not take any medicine today, either. I tried mixing the antibiotic with tuna and coating the lysine treats with cream cheese (IDK, the vet suggested it) and she wouldn't even go near them, so I am out of ideas. She hasn't eaten anything at all since Thursday, though, so maybe mixing the meds with food isn't going to help. In any case, she's taken up permanent residence under the bed and runs every time she sees me, so I'm thinking there will be no more medicating until she's less traumatized.

Needless to say, I am feeling rather pissed/frustrated/annoyed/sadface at my kitty right now, so I thought a little picspam would remind me how cute she is when she's not spitting medicine at me. :)

( Not a dial-up friendly kitty )

I've been watching Less Than Perfect on Hulu (I've now watched all of season 1 - which is all that's there - and must search for the rest via other sources), and so I've seen that Friskies commercial at least fifteen times now. You know which one I'm talking about? The trippy "Across the Universe for cats" one? I actually played it for Chelsea, but she was totally unimpressed. Me: "Chelsea, look at the kitty! Doesn't that look like fun?" Chelsea: *withering look*

In other news, I've discovered that I can adjust the volume on my work computer by kicking the tower. Which is handy, I suppose, except that if the volume would stop cutting out all on its own, I wouldn't have to kick it to get it to come back on.

I'm going to visit my parents for the weekend, and my mom called yesterday to tell me that Patches (their cat) had peed on my bed. It's like she knows I'm coming...

Oooh! But good news for Chuck fans!

"Victory is mine! Victory is mine! Great day in the morning, people, victory is mine."

Took a little trip to PetSmart today, and although I was massively sidetracked by the kittens (OMG they're so cute I want ALL OF THEM), I managed to get out of the store with no additional pets. They didn't have the pill shooter thing, so I got Pill Pockets instead, the little sneaky-treat thingy louise39 recommended.

And we have success! Chelsea took her pill today! But I could tell by the look on her face, she knew she'd been snookered, so we'll have to see if she falls for it again tomorrow.

On a totally unrelated note, I also got my hair cut today. ( Cut for whining )

In the mail yesterday, I got a card in the shape of a cat. A cat that looks exactly like Chelsea. (Well, okay, this cat kind of has a Hitler mustache thing going on, but other than that, exactly.) My glee when I opened the envelope was such that I didn't even bother to read the inside of the card until the next day. (It was from my mother, btw.)

I held up the card so Chelsea could see, and she immediately flinched back like it was going to attack her or something. (She's not the brightest kitty.) Then she sniffed it, then she pawed at it, and apparently having decided it wouldn't fight back, she pounced on it. I don't think she likes Flat Chelsea. At one point, I sat on my bed making the card dance while Chelsea watched suspiciously from the floor. I left it on the shelf next to my pictures, and when I came home for lunch today, it was on the floor, lol. I think somebody might be jealous.

Also, I think I've figured out her game. She likes to swat her toys into small spaces and then get them out - the sofa cushions, under the sofa, under the refrigerator, and last night, I watched her repeatedly toss her ball into the small space between the open door and the wall (where the hinges are), and then run around and get it from the other side of the door, take it back around, and do it all over again. Problem is, a lot of times she swats things, and then can't get them back out. Hence, Kitty Christmas when we clean out under the refrigerator. (P.S. Number of kitty toys found back under the refrigerator already? 6)

Also-also, she drowned a mouse in her water bowl. I'm not sure whether to be proud of her hunting skills, or annoyed that she ruined a perfectly good toy.

ETA: Check out the pretty icon of my baby, made for me by alwaysjbj!

Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

Snagged from dawnofme, who gave me the following list:

Fan fiction
BTVS Canon
Chelsea
Being a Beta
Spuffy

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