The howling of the wind does a nice job drowning out the screams of my victims.

Why am I posting at 3:30 in the morning? Because the insane howling wind is keeping me awake.

I actually came to report that I *made it to my art desk* last night! I discovered that chopping up clay in a food processor is way more fun than it should be. I suck at making Starry Night canes. My leaf-shaped ceiling fan blades look much more awesome in green than in mud brown. I need to clean my desk and my shelves. Sometimes I enjoy the view of the mountains more than I enjoy drinking water, breathing, or having a heartbeat.

***

No one should be awake right now. And from what I can tell by a quick glance out the window, no one else is. That, or they're all lying in bed, willing themselves to sleep. I tried that for an hour or so and then gave up.

So now that I'm awake, I'm gonna rant about a couple things.

I'M SICK OF POLITICS!

Also, as human beings, it's in our nature to move and be active. We are animals. That said, when did we get so lazy and fat that Physical Education had to become a CLASS that's taught in school? Seriously, it's against our nature and the very way we're designed for us to be in the collective shape that we are.

Oh, and all you wonderful people who are taking initiative to get healthy, for whatever reason, kudos to you. Not the candy bar, those are TERRIBLE for you. But really, I commend you for taking charge of your life, and probably lengthening it in the process.

On the other hand, all you Stepford wives in the suburbs who wear yoga pants all the time and constantly talk about the four hours you spent at the gym and how many calories you ate and what a cow you are.... Shut up. To the woman who weighs 115 lbs and wants liposuction... You're an idiot. There's more to life than being rail thin and having your hair and nails perfect all the time. And those of you who put makeup on to pick up your kid at the bus stop when it's right behind your house and you don't even have to come outside... You're actually pretty goofy looking and the makeup isn't helping. Neither is the milk mustache. That actually just makes you look like your brain is short-circuiting.

Okay, actually the last paragraph was all directed at various mothers at Son's school,and while we're on it I've got more to say. Most of them also suck terribly at driving and obeying basic parking rules (like NOT parking directly behind someone's car when the only way they can get out is to back up). "Pull forward" means pull forward. "Do not leave car unattended" means do not get out and walk away. Pulling your kid out of class five minutes early so you can beat traffic out of the parking lot is ridiculous. There are 19,000 people in this whole town. A traffic jam is six cars at the light. Get over yourselves.

***

Ghost kitty lost her cord yesterday and had her first bath last night. Like Specter, she's content to let the warm water run over her and she'll just go to sleep.

The kitties all got weighed yesterday, and while their weight hasn't doubled over the last week, they are all growing and gaining weight. They're all love to be cuddled and touched, so they should all grow up to be wonderful companion pets. Shadow still doesn't really want anything to do with them, but that also means she isn't being aggressive.

***

I'm going back to bed now. Hopefully the wind will die down long enough for me to get some sleep.

New Year, New Adventures

As usual, it's been a long time since I posted.

If you've come from facebook, you all ready know the story of The Kittens. If not, a short summary; I was going to get a new kitten for husband anyway so that Shadow Cat could have a playmate during the day when kids are gone and I'm busy.

There weren't a lot of options and the people on craigslist were blowing me off. We were supposed to go look at a Maine Coon mix in Fort Collins, but the lady gave it to someone else before we could get there.

The next day, I happened to glance at craigslist again and there was a post saying a stray had delivered a litter and left them and the poster didn't know how to care for them. I went and picked them up, and it's now five days later.





There were three, then we got an email later that night saying they'd found a runt and he had been out in the snow all day. We went and picked him up only to discover that he was a whole ounce under weight (a lot when you're supposed to weigh 3.5 ounces) and he had a cleft palate. We named him Spirit, and cared for him the best we could. He died two days later, but he was warm and loved while he was here. We're going to bury him in the flower garden when it warms up outside.









The other three kittens are eating, sleeping and growing just like they should. We're keeping the only girl, and we've named her Ghost. My sister will be taking one of the boys, and his name is Specter. The last one, who we call Da Vinci, has two potential homes.



So that's where we are now. Not a lot of free time between The Kittens and Younger Daughter. Younger daughter is now 8.5 months old and is pulling herself up to stand. When not standing, she crawls all over the house and tries to eat every bad thing she shouldn't have.

I do have some inspiration and ideas, though! I just need some time.

When I'm not caring for kids and cats, Husband and I run all over town looking for Skylanders. Yes, those goofy toys that all the young kids obsess over. Today, a new batch was released and they're all ready gone. Husband stalks them on the internet though, so he went out and got a couple sets this morning.

We also got fitbits. What's a fitbit? It's a Super Pedometer. It counts steps, of course. But it also counts flights of stairs, how many calories you burn, distance, and at night you wear it in a strap on your wrist and it calculates how well you sleep and how often you wake up. It's an amazing little device. It also keeps all your information on your person fitbit profile and updates whenever you get within about 15 feet of the charging dock. It only has to be charged about once a week. It's very motivating, and I have quite a few of my facebook friends as friends on fitbit, so we try to outdo each other. We got them because I have a goal to lose 70 lbs by October, as that's when my youngest sister is getting married and I'm NOT going to be a fat bridesmaid.

I'm all ready down 5.5 lbs, so it seems to be working.

So that's where we are now. I'm doing Pay It Forward on facebook again, and have a couple other things I want to make, so hopefully I can make it to my art desk sometime soon.