joy and shadows

Every night, Biscuit wakes me up because she wants a snack. (She usually has food in her bowl, but she is too dumb to check her bowl out first.) Usually, after having her snack, she comes back to bed and snoozes with us until the alarm goes off. Sometimes, she doesn't want to go back to sleep - she wants to play with us. Many times when she's pesty at night, I'll find a toy on the bed the next morning that she's brought upstairs to keep herself entertained. Unfortunately, keeping herself entertained means keeping us up at an inappropriate hour, so we don't encourage her to play at 3 AM even though she is cute as buttons.

One of Biscuit's favorite toys is a kitty fishing pole with a feather on the end. We had played chase last night, and then husband hung the pole up where she couldn't get it. (Or so we thought.) I had gone back to bed after a snack run when I heard "BONK, BA-BONK, WHACK, BONK BONK BONK" coming up the stairs. Biscuit had managed to pull her toy off the wall and was bringing it upstairs to us so we could play chase some more.

It broke my heart into pieces to bring the fishing pole back downstairs and hang it up where Biscuit really couldn't reach it, and then shut the kitty door so that she had to stay in the basement (once she gets going, she won't settle down again.) We can't let her think that we're going to play with her at night, or we'll never get any sleep. But wow if it isn't hard to say no!

Biscuit likes to munch on the white flower buds that sprout from our peace lily. This upsets my husband, because he likes the peace lily's flowers and Biscuit eats them before they can bloom. I suggested that he try putting some deer netting over the plant, which worked, but not for the right reason. The deer netting was supposed to keep her from getting to the plant. She just pulled the netting off and decided it was the BEST TOY EVAR.

Meet Michele Bachmann!

An excerpt from the article:

Bachmann later condemned those who had made Holocaust references at the rally. But even a cursory glance at her career reveals that this rising star has long trafficked in some extreme positions. In October last year Bachmann called some of her fellow congressmen anti-American. She has said Obama holds socialist views. She has attacked global warming by saying that carbon dioxide emissions are a natural part of the atmosphere. "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas," she said. She has fed into fears of a violent backlash against Obama by saying that "having a revolution every now and then is a good thing". She has spoken of "gangster government" in a speech viewed more than two million times on the internet. She has dubbed Obama's plans to increase AmeriCorps – a government volunteer service group – as a plan to forcibly indoctrinate young people. "I believe there is a very strong chance that we will see young people put into mandatory service... there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people," she told an interviewer. Her language in opposing healthcare reform has been bloodcurdling. At a recent event in Colorado she told her audience: "What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass." She is also extremely socially conservative, strongly opposing abortion and gay marriage, and deeply religious. She has described herself as a "fool for Christ".

I'm sitting at my computer, chatting away, and Biscuit comes along.

Biscuit: *paws on my leg* Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?

Me: What is it, little brown butt?

Biscuit: *nose to nose with me, chirping* It's time for bed now.

Things Biscuit Eats That Are Not, Strictly Speaking, Cat Food:

Asparagus
Cucumbers
Papaya
Green beans
Zucchini
Tomatoes
A sip of my lychee martini
Kix
Marshmallows

From the Parenthood Practice Department

At about 10 PM, Biscuit curls up with my husband and me for the night.

1:00 AM

Biscuit: Daddy!

Husband: snrrrrrgh. *rolls over*

Biscuit: *walks over to me* Mommy?

Me: *tries to hide in the blankets*

Biscuit: *digging at blankets* Moooooommmmmy.

Me: Go away, cat.

Biscuit: *bangs on the dresser drawers* Mommy!

Me: What is it, you little pest?

Biscuit: I want a drink of water.

Me: You have a water fountain downstairs.

Biscuit: I want a drink of water from the faucet.

Me: *runs water in the sink and goes back to sleep*

3:30 AM

Biscuit: Mommy!

Me: *groans*

Biscuit: *walks all over my head and purrs* I'm hungry.

Me: Why can't you learn to go through your pet door?

Biscuit: Pet door is scary!

Me: *takes the cat downstairs and gives her the heave-ho through the pet door*

Biscuit: *munch*

5:30 AM

Biscuit: GOOD MORNING! It is time for you to be awake!

Husband and me: Caaaaaaaaaaaat. Can't you wait until 5:45?

Biscuit: No, I want to play NOW. Also you should feed me.

Me: We should get rid of the alarm clock. We don't need it.

You did it again. You made me cry again. And with a trailer, no less.

Toy Story 3 Trailer

I'm going to need an entire box of tissues for this one.

Hello everyone, it's National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and there's pink everywhere. Pink ribbons, pink drinks, pink bags, pink sweatbands for football players. Doesn't everyone love pink? And you can Shop for the Cure and get fun pink things for your kitchen at the same time. It's great, right? Right?

Great, except for the part where the research societies don't get a whole lot of the money you just spent on your new KitchenAid. A lot of this pink stuff is a gimmick, another way to separate you from your money using your good wish to do something for someone else and get that blender at the same time. So here's what Aunty Arafel is here to tell you today:

If you really want to help with breast cancer education, prevention, and cure efforts, GIVE MONEY DIRECTLY to places like the American Cancer Society or the National Breast Cancer Foundation. That way, 100% of your money goes where you want it to, as opposed to a few percent (and that goes for any charitable organization, by the way.) And while you're at it, check your own health - not just the boobs, but also cholesterol and blood glucose levels and things like that, because heart disease and diabetes kill far more women than breast cancer.

There's nothing wrong with buying something pink - if that shade of pink is what you want in your kitchen, go crazy - but separate consumerism and philanthropy. You'll be a better person for it.

O HAY TEA-DRINKING FRIENDS!

Follow me on Steepster! Because I just know that you want to hear about all the tea I've been drinking, and vice versa. :)

My husband has started reading Harry Potter. He's been carrying the book around the house, and it's adorable. Now, if I could only get him to try His Majesty's Dragon, given his penchant for Patrick O'Brien books...

This morning, when I let Biscuit out of the basement, she saw ANOTHER CAT in the back yard.

Biscuit: WHAT.

Other cat: ...

Biscuit: *puffs tail*

Other cat: *stares*

Biscuit: *arches back*

Other cat: *hunches down*

Biscuit: BITCH DON'T EVEN, THIS IS MY HOUSE AND MY YARD, GTFO

Other cat: *leaves*

Me: You're very fierce, missy.

Biscuit: DAMN STRAIGHT.

And then a deer walked by and I had to chase it off the lawn in my pajamas.