All alone, all four of us...

We are finally getting settled in our new digs. I must say, as much as I've loved my roommates (some more than others, but whatev's), it is SO nice to live alone. With my amazing little family of K and the kitties. Just damn perfect. I am a lucky, lucky girl, that is for sure!

This is round two for me living in the Marine View, K's first time. I forgot the walls are constructed of solid concrete or I don't know, adamantium! Whatever they're made of makes it pretty impossible to hang pictures with nails. I have lots of pictures that require said nails in order to be hung. FML, what am I to do? How do I hang large framed pictures? I think our answer is to drill and just patch the shit before we leave. Or not hang them. Which is just a ridiculous non-option. Even if I had somewhere to store them (I don't, more on that below), I wouldn't want to not have them hung. And then what? Wait until we move out until we get to have them up? Eff that noise, they're going on the walls...somehow. We also had dreams of putting up lots of mirrors towards the back of the apartment to bring in the light from the few windows we have. We shall see about that as well.

Storage space, or lack there of. Holy crap the Palace spoiled us. Well we did pay a damn pretty penny to be spoiled by it! But the amount of built in storage space and extraneous storage closets / rooms to keep my arts / crafts / crap really was amazing. And obviously uncommon. Hello cookie cutter one bedroom apartment, where is your full wall of built in bookcases with mirrored doors? And we only have one built in mirror, in contrast to hell, 16!? mirrors at the Palace. So while K was on her mini trip to ANC to pick up the new rig, I wanted to try and unpack the rest of our totes that have been taking up all of our tiny space. And that's when I realized we didn't have enough storage. Oh I knew that was the case going into it, but that is when I really knew it. I would open a tote, rifle through it and look for stuff I could put away and not find anything. Okay, I put some stuff away, but the majority of it needs somewhere to be put. If I unpacked it, it would just be on the floor. And we don't have near enough square footage to do that. So I shoved all the un-unpackable totes in the corner, where we hope to put our dining table (with sweet wall mirrors surrounding it) someday and put the dining table semi decently (awkwardly) skewed next to the bookcases and behind our rando recliners. I arranged the recliners and side table to make our cot couch and coffee table space look much more living roomy. Looks pretty cute if you put on blinders for walking past the corner of totes and flotsam. But I digress, back to storage. I looked at freestanding shelves at Fred's, seems to be the best option. But even then, those will take up space. I'm tempted to keep our storage unit that we rented for the move. Maybe organize and keep the craft / art / crap that I actually think I will use in the next three months at the house and send the rest to storage. I don't know though, I like the idea of just living with wonky, crowded storage and keeping the $85 a month in my pocket.

In other, other news:
K flew to ANC and drove back our brand new '94 4Runner! She's cute, needs a name and possible a catalytic converter. Oy, don't get me started. I think the brief-but-felt-like-forever time apart was very good for us. K got some much needed time with friends she has been missing and I missed the shit out of her while she was gone and got in some fantastic Ver time, with a bonus karaoke appearance. Yikes!

Also while she was gone, I moonlighted at the knife shop for a weekend guest appearance. Mr. D had knee surgery and needed some help. I figured I was just going to be sitting around missing her anyway, so why not sell pointy things and make moola while being mopey. It was great, kind of funny how I was able to just slip back into the spiel. And cleaning the shop just cemented how much I LOVE having a state job. It's true, I fucking love being a state worker. I do my job (that I enjoy!), I get paid regularly, I get weekends and evenings off. I don't get calls at home, I don't work holidays and I have insurance. Yup, I'm sticking with it.

MC Lou is a plant uprooting demon. K brought back some African Violets and some kind of really cool looking plant that looks like aloe but the spikes are different. The aloe looking one is actually five or six little plants that have been replanted temporarily in one pot. So maybe that's why she had NO problem uprooting and removing ALL of them from the planter this morning while I was home sicky and sleeping. Then I cleaned it up and she did it again while I was out of the room. Really MC?! Ugh, it's a damn good thing she's fucking adorable.

Gluten free for me! This one will get its own post someday. After months of continued and unexplained sickness, I am taking the "go gluten free" advice of an incredibly smart and amazing lady who happens to be one of my best friends from forever ago (middle school) and is now a chiropractor. I was tested for Celiac Disorder by my doctor, yeah the same one who still doesn't know what's wrong with me, and didn't test positive for gluten intolerance. But then my above mentioned smart, amazing middle school bestie gave me the rundown. Basically she said the tests that they run don't test enough and that I very well could still be gluten intolerant and that most likely that's what is wrong with me. So I've been giving it a shot since the 16th or 17th. So far it is a little difficult but only because I haven't had the chance to stock my pantry properly. It feels very similar to being a vegan, reading labels and being hyper aware of what people offer you. Ugh, not that great, but if it makes me better then buh-buy delivery pizza and regular bread, hello not feeling like crap 23-6.

We have been mulling over wedding options. And bejesus it seems like the more we discuss it, the more new options we come up with to choose from. Which is making choosing just one very difficult! So I made a list of our top locations and pro's and con's, yes I am that nerd. Hopefully this will make one just stand out and we can forget the rest. I would like to have some stuff pinned down, even if it was just the colors or flowers or you know, the date! Little things like that :P It's getting closer and closer, whatever date it ends up being. I just saw that July 14 is a Saturday...I like the idea of a Bastille day wedding. I'm not a huge fan of combining holidays and weddings, like Christmas or Valentine's day, but Bastille is a French holiday, no one would know but us...and my mom. And she'd be proud and fucking love it :)

Life as now

After being sick pretty much all winter, I went to the doctor to see what the hell was up. I was nauseous all the time, my stomach hurt, I never ate so I lost a bunch of weight. The doctor originally prescribed some kind of antacid which did not help. I hate drug companies. Anyway, after it didn't work my doctor took a bunch of my precious, precious blood and ran a bunch of different tests. Apparently one was a really expensive one, but good thing you have health insurance! That's what the nurse said to me. Yeah but I have to pay my deductible. So I'm still paying for it. And that turned out negative, I want a refund. But what it did show was that I have H. Pylori. It's some stomach bacteria that like 50% of the world has but symptoms aren't always present. I could have picked it up when I was younger and it never affected me until now. I looked it up and I had EVERY symptom except one, vomiting. Luckily the nausea has never gotten to that point. But it was like a ray of light shining down. I know what's wrong!! I know what's wrong with me! So they prescribed this crazy (read: expensive) treatment of antibiotics. Which funnily enough have the same side effects as my symptoms. Actually worse. On top of all the regular stuff I had a horrible metallic taste in my mouth for days. Really, really horrible. But the treatment should make me right as rain.

My doctor also send me to a surgeon (who I like way more than my regular doctor) and she scheduled me for an ultrasound to rule out ovarian cysts and gallstones. The ultrasound was on Tuesday and then I had a follow up with her on Thursday to discuss the results. Apparently I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. Lots of little cysts on my follicles basically. The doctor said my primary doctor would be prescribing me birth control as that's how it's treated. I don't know what this will mean as far as the whole makin' babies thing, we're just gonna have to wait and see. Most of the sites I've found say exercise and a low GI diet are good ways to combat PCOS. Which sounds a lot better than hormones.

On top of all this, I'm sick. Like bleeeh flu sick. After my doctor appointment I only made it two hours before I had to come home and crawl into bed. And I couldn't get up today either. I suppose it's the antibiotics lowering my immunity. Although I did make it downstairs once today and I might make it down again. We'll see.

But for now I have two lovely kitties keeping me company. We got a kitten! And not just any kitten, oh no! My beautiful K had to drive to Anchorage for work and was up there a week. The day before she came back she send me a bunch of pictures of cats in a shelter and told me she was getting one. I was sick and exhausted from the meds and super deep cleaning the house in prep of the surprise party I was throwing her the next night, so I didn't really believe her. But she said she picked one out and she was bringing it home. Luckily I only had one more day to wait to see them and plenty to do to keep me busy until then. At the same time K was picking out a kitten and visiting her fam-damily up in ANC, I was planning her golden birthday party. She turned 28 on the 28th and all she said she wanted was a party. So the roomie and I went to every store ON EARTH to look for gold decorations and things that could pass for gold. I was really impressed with what we came up with actually. It was a super fun theme. We had gold, orange, yellow snacks, drinks, a "special" four layer lemon cake, and fixings for fancy shmancy grilled cheese panini's. And gold crowns and Ed Hardy tattoos that I found at the last moment.

Below I give you party and new kitty pics. And a shot of the art I framed for K, found on my interweb love, etsy. Our little kitten's name is M.C. Lou for Mama Cass because we both love Mama Cass. And it also stands for Micro Cat because she is TINY! And the other crazy thing about her is her front feet. They both have extra feet, or at least the start of extra feet. The "thumb" toe on each of her front feet have more than one claw. One has three and a little pad below them and the other isn't quite as developed. We should have named her Chernobyl. Jack thinks we should have never adopted her, but what does Jack know? She's just mad she has to now share us. But it's been about two weeks now and they get along much better. Not quite BFF's but they'll get there.

I am a lucky girl.

Still tickin'

So maybe it's been a while. Six months huh? That is a while! Let's see where my lil life is at...

I am currently gainfully employed by the State of Alaska, title Office Zombie I. Some day if my rational thinking skills degrade enough, I can move up the corporate ladder. It is very, very different from working in the private sector. I at least like some parts of my job (at least I keep telling myself that) and definitely love the security and benefits!

Which is good since I've also had some weird, I don't even know what you'd call it ailment, I guess. I've been sick for months and have no real clues as to what is causing it. It's just great, super fun, lemme tell you! But on the plus side, and yes I know this is vain, being too sick to eat made me drop like 20 lbs. Heck yeah! At least I get something out of it, right?! And it makes me aware of what I eat, so maybe I can get all better and just keep losing weight! Also heck yeah!

I quit smoking. Oh yeah. For reals. I quit October 20th. I have smoked probably a total of 5 cigarettes, either a full bummed one or stolen drags. And pretty much all when drinking, not when stressed. Which to me is a really good thing. I know that I still want to do that when drinking, but I also know I don't really drink much. So if say I want a puff and that's it, then I will do that. But even when drinking I haven't liked it. It's like my brain is so trained to want it, it just does automatically and now it's having to relearn that it doesn't like it. And it's doing damn good job!

My amazing future wife is just that, amazing! I won't say that it's sunshine and roses everyday but that's okay! It's better than that, it's honesty and communication! SO WEIRD! She is really a truly incredible person and I'm a lucky girl. We've decided on Spring / Summer of 2012 for the wedding. Mainly so we have more time to save up for it. We're both on the same page: this is it, let's do it right. The latest wedding plans are looking "ship shape" :) We'll see if they last, it is still a long ways off. But not that far!!

We're looking to add another cat to the fam-damily. Jack is such, such, such a sweetheart. She has become this lovey, adorable cat since we moved into The Palace. But she's also super needy. She meows all the time. Meows because you came home and didn't immediately pet her, meows because she just walked into the room and you didn't immediately look at her, meows because she is staring at the wall... Oh and she often wakes one or both of us up around 5AM. It's usually me because I'm up off and on anyway. And K buries herself way under the covers so Jack's claws can't get to her anymore. And somewhere in our crazy, lesbian minds there is some chemical seeping into our bloodstreams. A chemical that says "Yes, another cat would fix all your current cat problems." And so we are looking for another cat, preferably a kitten. I really think that if Jack is to like a new addition at all it will have to be young. I think she'd just be pissed at us for bringing another adult cat in.

Let's hope another six months don't pass before I post again...

Wet cats, Adrenaline, & Heath Food

Starting from right now going backwards. Mother effing Jack has magically become an outdoor cat today. And so far her favorite activity is to go out the little kitty door, stand in the rain until she is soaked and then come downstairs, whine and meow and run up to me (and my computer) and shake dry. It's awesome. Oh and while she's standing outside soaking up EVERY raindrop, she's standing in mud. Little kitty paw prints everywhere. They'd be cute if they didn't go across my bed!

I volunteered to help clean out the bar storage unit with the lovely S today. We both felt like not doing it when we got up however. So we went to breakfast out in le valley and then decided to go to a matinee. Drove back downtown to watch either The Crazies or Legion. Couldn't decide so we flipped a coin. The Crazies won. HOLY HELL! So good. I didn't realize how tense it made me until we left the theatre and I was shaking. I seriously flipped out and couldn't stop looking around and just feeling unsettled. Good job movie maker peeps! So then we decided why not be really lazy and make a full day of hookie and go see Legion. So we did. Decent movie, nice amount of blood right off the bat. A bit slow in parts, but perhaps that's because I felt like my heart hadn't calmed down from the prior movie. After our movie marathon S took me over to H Dot's house to have dindin. H and I decided to have dinner and have it be healthy organic stuff after watching Food Inc the other day.

Talk about a horror film! Having been a vegan I know a fair share about how bad feedlots and mega farms are, but can usually ignore it for the most part. For a while now I've been feeling a pull back to some kind of vegetarianism. This sealed the deal. I remember learning about all the bad shit animals go through. I remember how bad that food is for us. For our planet. I'm not saying people shouldn't eat meat. That is entirely up to the individual. But I know there's a better way. And genetically modified foods? We are fooling ourselves if we really think we can outsmart mother nature. Seriously, we can't bend nature to our will. We are not invincible. As much as we'd love to think we're unstoppable because we're at the top of the food chain, we're not. At the rate we're going, there won't BE a food chain to be on top of. We can only fuck with nature before we fuck ourselves. You know that whole thing about how we only have one Earth? Well it's true. We keep breeding down plant species until there are fewer and fewer varieties left. The strong ones! The big ones! The ones that will feed us forever! Until that day when the one last variety of tomato succumbs to some new mutated, pesticide resistant bug and then we've successfully sent the tomato into extinction. Go us!

One of the best things the movie got across is that we all make a difference. Watching the majority of the movie there is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. That we can't turn to the government because they're in fucking bed with Monsanto and whatnot. Which is a damn waking nightmare. But what we can do is choose. Every time we shop, choose organic, choose items that specifically say non GMO, grass fed, etc. It will make a difference. "They" will notice. Our money is our ballot and we can make "them" change with each and every cent we don't spend on CAFO downer beef and hormone laced milk. At least I fucking hope so. Hope is all we have.

So much

It's been forever and a day since I last posted. Not much and everything has changed since then.

We adopted a kitten. His name is Frank because he has blue eyes. He's a gray siamese and is gently retarded. We picked him over his brother because of his lazy eye and his tendency to sit with his mouth slightly agape. We figured he'd get along with our other stupid pets. And he does! We had to convince Zyda that she shouldn't jump on him or swallow him whole. Now they play and sleep together. Jack was very unhappy to see another cat brought in and didn't hold back from telling us. But it only took a few days before she was cleaning his fur and sleeping next to him in the closet. And she hangs out with us more often. So getting Frank really has brought the other pets closer together. Which is what I said a kitten would do. So there!

Last week I stayed at a hotel. So we could have time to think without one of us having to sleep on the couch. We decided that I will move out and we will try and date. That if we're not around each other all the time, maybe we will actually want to be around each other. And if not then I'm already moved out. I hope it works. It's so confusing that two people who love each other so much can't make things work. It's so frustrating. So as much as I'm not looking forward to leaving, I know this is the best solution to our problems. 

And while I was away, I developed a head to toe rash. Awesome. I don't think it's from the hotel room. I woke up with it after staying at a friends house. I've never been allergic to anything. People keep saying it's stress and I guess that's what it must be. I think I'm just not letting myself realize how stressed out I am. But my body knows and is letting me know. It itches like a mofo. In fact I've had it almost a week. I wonder how long it will take till I break down and go to the doctor. I just can't afford it is all. And I have plenty of benadryl gel to keep the itching to a minimum.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and I have to tend bar. Hopefully I will make a ton of money and have fun. I would rather not be working, but I really need the money.

And this morning it was nice and semi spring out. Sun and some melting snow. Now it's still a little sunny but it's snowing. The weather is so effed.

And that's my life in a nutshell for now. I will try and post more often. I just haven't had the desire to do anything. I guess I have to make that stop.

We got a deeohgee!

Last week from the pound. We went in to look at the kittens, so Jack could have a friend. But all the kittens were already adoption pending. So we went to look at the dogs. And there she was, the cutest dog on earth. She's mostly white with large black spots, one over each eye. And when she yawns or pants her whole head opens up like a pez dispenser. Who wouldn't love her? So we met with her in a room and decided to fill out a form. We got approved and brought her home two days later. Her name at the pound was Freja, pronounced with a yah at the end. Sarah couldn't remember it, so we changed it. But we wanted to keep that yah sound so it would be any easier transition. We almost like the massively over used Bella. It's so pretty, but literally every other pit out there is named that. Then Frieda, that one almost made it. But we went with Zyda, as in zydeco music. Her full name is Zyda Mae Lion-Berry, isn't that cute? Kinda makes ya want to puke.

So far, Jack is not so happy with us for bringing a large slobbery dog into her domain. And tells us that every time she comes into the room, by hissing and scratching at Zyda. But she's just gonna have to get used to it. They're gonna be sisters and they're gonna like it.

We got her!

Sarah was able to get off of work early yesterday and we went out to the pound so she could meet the cat. Well I don't know what the pound people were talking about her being "picky" or "aggressive" with people because everyone who went in that room loved the cat and she loved them. Since there was no problem with her liking Sarah, we filled out all the paperwork and took her home. She spent some time under the bed sniffing everything thing, but she got comfortable pretty quickly. She is super playful and loves to "hunt" things. She almost always has a paw out, like she's batting at something that isn't there. Maybe we have ghosts. She is adorable. One of her ears is shorter than the other like it got cut off, maybe from a fight, maybe frostbite. I'd like to think she was a little street hustler ruffian cat before the fuzz picked her up and impounded her. But she's also ready for any black tie affair with her little furry tux. Quite the versatile cat. She really likes to hang out under the bed, but once she's out she won't leave your side. So Sasha is officially now Jack Sprat the Cat, or just Jack. And officially ours!

Hodge Podgery

Let's see. The event on Saturday turned out to be lame-ola. One of my bosses was there, so it wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be. But it wasn't anywhere near as busy as we expected it to be either. So I spent a whole day inside instead of enjoying the sun with my babe.

I couldn't go camping with everyone for memorial day, but I did go out to the bonfire for a few hours. It was so nice to get out of downtown and be near the water. Sarah took some great pictures that I need to upload to flicker when I get time.

We just found out that we have our choice of two one bedrooms that just came open in our building. Sweet! They aren't that great, but they are bigger than our 3" apartment as I like to call it. So once we decide on which one, we will be moving in. Hopefully we still get free wifi.

Today I went to the beach with Harmonie and her doggy, it was beautiful! So sunny and nice. We walked around for more than an hour, some on the beach, some in the woods going past all the mining ruins. I should have brought my camera. I love, love, love the old falling down buildings with the trees and moss reclaiming them. So amazing. But I didn't, so you'll just have to imagine. Walking around, especially in the sand, gave me some great blisters from my new flip flops. Stupid expensive flip flops. And now I have to go work in an hour or so. Lame-o.

After the walk, we drove out to the pound to look at the cats and dogs. Sarah and I really, really want to get a dog. But our pound usually only has lab mutts or very large barky dogs. So I looked at the cats and one came up to the window and wanted to play. So they took her out so I could meet her and pretty much fell in love with her. She's so cute, one of her ears is smaller than the other and she's mostly black with some white and green eyes. She looks like she should be a boy cat so I want to rename her Jack the Cat. I filled out an adoption thingy and it should go through in a day or two. There is no reason for them not to let me get her, but I'm still worried a little. I will definitely be posting pictures of her when I get her.

In movie news, we went and saw Indiana Jones this weekend like everyone else in America. It was good, kinda cheesy, but that's how they all are. And Shia LeBeouf rocks! I really want him to make more Indiana movies. Aaaand we finally saw Juno. Yes it's official, the last two people on earth have seen it. I loved it! Right from the get go, the lines are so damn funny! Ellen Page is hilarious with her deadpan delivery. 

Arrg, it's getting to be time to go to work. I really loathe my job sometimes. Especially when it's almost 70 outside and no one cool will be in the bar. Just asshole drunks who don't care if it's sunny outside. They just need another MGD and 10 on Bananas.