Breaking News

BURBANK, Calif. - Spider-Man and Iron Man have a new boss: The Walt Disney
Co.

Disney announced this morning that it is buying Marvel Entertainment -- and the more than 5,000 Marvel characters.They include X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor.

"This is a great fit for us," Disney boss Bob Iger told CNBC this morning. He said the acquisition was a way to attract more boys.

(via Orlando Sentinel)

Well, the Pixar deal worked out quite well for Disney, so I imagine this will pay off as well. Marvel characters have had an amazing run in theaters recently, and I'm sure Disney is happy to get their hands on the rights.

Here's the part that I find fascinating: the most popular part of Universal's Islands of Adventure park is Marvel Superhero Island, featuring the Hulk coaster and the Spider Man simulator ride. Right off the bat, I would guess that every time someone buys a co-branded Universal/Marvel souvenir, my stock will reflect that.

Also, Universal is currently re-negotiating with Steven Spielberg regarding his stake in the parks. Will the same thing happen with the Marvel characters? Will IOA dump Marvel and end up with a completely re-themed land? Or will Disney continue to make a buck every day off a rival park?

Whatever happens, I think this means good things for my stock long-term!

Tasteful(?) Nudes

I couldn't think of anything to say today, so I had some fun over at faceinhole.com. If you don't laugh at either of these, see a doctor!

Design Center

I missed a call yesterday from the girl at the design center for our builder. We were told that our cabinets had already been chosen, and we thought that our flooring was also set as well, but apparently we still get to pick some stuff out.

I didn't call her back yesterday, so I guess we're not even going to schedule our appointment until Monday. And since I'm working for the next 7 days, I would *really* rather wait a week. Of course, if we get the chance to go in some morning before work, I suppose we will.

Frankly, I have a feeling we're going to go in there and go "what's included?" and stick with that. All of our friends have said the same things: a) there's a crazy mark-up, and b) you'll be paying 30 years worth of interest on it. I just have to keep telling myself that when we see all the options.

Lord help me resist a tile back splash for my kitchen...

Bonus Picture

Yes, I almost forgot to blog today. And I'm really tired and don't have a whole lot to say tonight. Instead, I present a bonus picture from the model. Here's the not quite a garden, but certainly bigger than your average, tub in the master bathroom.

Neither Scott nor I really like the pre-fab molded wall with the built-in shelves, but it's removable. I imagine some day we'll take on tiling it. For now, I'm just fantasizing about lounging in it. This bathtub almost single-handedly makes all the organizing and packing, followed by the inevitable moving and unpacking, seem worth it!

Food! Glorious Food!

I made reservations a few months back to spend Scott's birthday night at the limited time only Wishes Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom. What could be better than a dessert buffet with a reserved spot to watch the fireworks? Well, maybe a dessert buffet with a reserved spot to watch the fireworks AND an insulin shot!

Here's a selection of what we ate:

LEFT PLATE (clockwise from top): cheesecake, cannoli, glazed donut hole, banana tart, raspberry tart

CENTER: creme brulee

RIGHT PLATE: raspberry tart, creme brulee, chocolate-covered strawberry, chocolate peanut butter tart

TOP: tiramisu

It's safe to say we ate well. Sadly, Tinkerbell didn't fly because of the weather. She would have gone right over our heads though. And the view of the fireworks, though off-center from the castle, was amazing.

What a great event. If they resurrect it after the Halloween/Christmas Parties, maybe we'll go again some time.

Happy Happy

Happy

Birthday

SCOTT!

photo courtesy of these people

It's Going Around

(please excuse me while I whiiiiiiiiine for a minute)

A co-worker lost her voice and has been battling a sore throat for over a week.

A manager came in yesterday having slept for 14 hours and still felt lousy.

A chef worked one day last week with what can only be described as Kathleen Turner-itis.

I've woken up for the past three days with a headache and a sore throat.

And Elphie just puked half her weight right by the front door.

We need to shut down The Restaurant so that we can all heal. And while I'm in bed, Scott can watch over Elphie.

Problem

"The problem with having ants in your pants is that occasionally one falls out and bites your foot." Jamie-ism

For the past week, Scott and I have noticed a little family of ants in our bathroom. There were never more than two or three at a time, and they weren't near us, just walking across the floor. They weren't anywhere else in the house either. We couldn't figure out where they came from or where they were going, and we didn't really care.

Then I saw one in front of the washer.

Then I had one crawling on my shirt in the living room.

Then my pinkie toe started itching like crazy.

Last night I saw one bump on my toe and wasn't 100% sure it was a bug bite. I thought maybe it was one of those weird water blisters (that's what we called them growing up - not sure that's a common phrase) that I occasionally get on my fingers. Then a while later I noticed there were two of them. Definitely bites. So I put a blob of Benadryl cream on a band-aid and mummified my weirdest, tiniest appendage.

Time to get rid of the ants.

So when I was done with my shower this morning, I put the hamper in the middle of the floor and sprayed some Raid (turns out our roach killer is actually ant & roach killer. how convenient!) around the border of the floor. Hopefully that solves our little situation. At the very least it should slow them down for a few days and give my toe a chance to heal in peace.

Now We're Cookin'

We didn't walk through our house yesterday. The workers were up on stilts doing work on the garage ceilings (I remarked to the girl in the office that it was comforting to know that circus freaks are building my house. She laughed unusually hard.) so we decided to leave them to their balancing act.

We did, however, walk the model again. We both took pictures so that we didn't have to keep asking each other questions that neither of us could remember the answer to. I asked all of our questions (yes, towel bars and curtain rods will be there - if you had seen the models, you'd have asked too!), and we went on our merry way.

I know I said I wasn't going to share pictures of the model because I'm certain our house will pale in comparison, but I do want to show my favorite part of the house. Of course, we won't have the upgraded tile, and we won't have the sweet countertop or the fancy tile backsplash (though backsplash is on my top 5 list of projects to tackle), but just look at all the counter space! And the cabinets! And the size of the room!

This picture was taken from just a few feet inside the front door. It's the first thing we saw when we walked in, and the first thing our guests will see too. I could just stare at it for hours...

Visitation

Scott and I are going to visit the house today. We have an excuse - we have to drop off our deposit cashier's check. We have a list of really random questions, everything from the dimensions of the rooms (suspiciously missing from the floorplan online) to whether we have to buy towel bars and shower curtain rods.

There's also a chance that the painting on the exterior of the building has started. So we might find out what color it'll be today.

And we want to go through the model and take some pictures (for our own reference only - no one else should see the model because our place is not going to be professionally decorated) so that we can get a better feel for the size of the rooms when we spend hours going through the IKEA catalog.

And of course, we want to walk through again and see what's been done in the past 2 days. My guess: not a whole lot.

Oh yeah, and then I have to go to work. I don't WANNA work anymore! I want to watch my house being finished! OK, you're right. I'm going to have to make money somehow.

Tiny Terror

Scott and I just finished an oh-so-healthy breakfast of fried egg & bacon sandwiches. About ten minutes ago, we were sitting in the living room, and I had the last bite of my sandwich in my hand. Elphie jumped up on the counter in the kitchen and I yelled at her, "Elphie, NO!" And she promptly jumped down.

I thanked her and turned to Scott and said that I was dreading the day when she stops listening. No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than Elphie came streaking out of the kitchen, jumped onto my plate, and bounced over my shoulder onto the cat tree. Thankfully, the last of my food was still in my hand, and the only thing on the plate was toast crumbs.

Scott swears he got bacon up his nose from laughing with a mouth full of food.

Someone please get this cat somewhere to live where she'll have more than 600 sq. ft. to run around in!

It's a HOUSE!

Scott and I took a mental health day off from work yesterday. Things weren't progressing at all with the realtor, and I was really starting to panic that we were going to be trapped in this apartment for the rest of our lives.

We planned to look at three local townhome complexes, starting with the cheapest, furthest from work. It was nice, smaller than Scott had anticipated, and was right on the edge of what we could afford. The second complex was 3 miles from work, but WAY high for our price range, and after seeing the cheapest model, we found ourselves wondering whether we could budget ourselves into it. The third was the most expensive, so we decided to skip it completely, and decided to go driving around neighborhoods and look for FOR SALE signs.

On the way, we pulled into a complex that I had forgotten about. It was one that I was really intrigued by when it first rolled out 2 years ago, but back then we could have only afforded the smallest model, which was 2 bedrooms on a single story. Not what we wanted. So we decided on a whim to pull in and check out the models. We told the sales rep our price range and what we wanted, and she showed us the first of the 3 bedroom models.

We walked in the front door, took one look at the kitchen and the great room, and I asked Scott if we could have it. "Yes." We went through the rest of the model marveling at the amazing layout, at the nice closet space, at the DOUBLE SINKS in the master bath, at the fabulous counter space in the kitchen...

For kicks, she took us over to the larger 3-bedroom model, and while we LOVED the downstairs, we didn't really like the upstairs layout. (the deal-breaker for me was the closet that you had to walk through the master bath to get to. what if someone is pooping and someone else needs a pair of pants?)

We took a look at a unit that was ready for move-in, but it was in the old phase and - again with the master bedroom closet - the layout wasn't quite right. So the sales rep got us into a place that's being built now and should be ready to close at the end of next month that's just like the model. She got us the appliance package that includes the full kitchen (side-by-side fridge! smooth-top range! microwave!) plus the washer and dryer. The building has no rear neighbors, and actually backs up to a pond with sand hill cranes and a fountain.

We signed immediately. Then we ran through the whole model again, twice, picturing our furniture and our own colors. Then we walked through our very own construction site!

For those of you who are my Facebook friends, there are lots more pictures there, including the building floorplan, and some taken inside.

I got the call that we were most worried about a little after noon today. The loan agent called and said our pre-qualification looks great, and when she and I couldn't get our schedules to mesh next week, she said she'd overnight the loan packet today. We'll have it tomorrow.

So...it looks like we're going to live there some day! I'm still using the word "hypothetical" a lot because it seems that things are just going by too smoothly and I'm waiting for two shoes to simultaneously drop. Until we get the keys, I just don't think it's going to feel real.

Lurker

Lovely image, aren't I?

During our adventure yesterday, Scott and I stopped at the TooJays on 50 in Ocoee (I think it's in Ocoee...) and had lunch - the reuben for him and the shrimp salad wrap for me. Next time, I think I'll go back to my old standard brisket sandwich with extra horseradish. And then we ordered dessert.

That slice of cake up there is two layers of chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake in between. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well it's absolutely delicious. The slice is, as you can tell by comparing it to the size of my giant mouth, gargantuan. Between the two of us, I think we finished just over half of it. And it was sooo good!

Anyway, I would have probably made this my Facebook profile picture and never put it here on the blog, but I LOVE that goober looking over my shoulder! As soon as Scott showed me the picture, that was the first thing I saw - "is there someone standing behind me?" And Scott said that the guy tried to jump in and smile.

Mostly, it makes me happy to know that there are people in the world besides me and my mom who do stuff like that. And I love that I was the victim of a lurker!

Sleepless?

I have a funny feeling the cats are going to be the only ones getting a good night's sleep tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll be ok. That's all I can say for now. When I can say more, I will. For now, if you're the praying type, pray for peace of mind for us both... and that we get what we want.

Because we really want it.

It's a Rocket, Man!

Here's a picture of yesterday's rocket launch that Scott took on his way to work. From the picture, you'd think "oops...misfire!" right? Well he and I both did. The news, however, indicates that the rocket went where it was supposed to and all is right in NASA land.

By the way, this photo is historic. This is the last Delta II rocket. They're switching over to something new for the next launch.

Floridians: They're Just So Precious!

The last time we went grocery shopping, Scott stopped to talk to an old friend. This friend had just returned from a family trip up into the mountains of North Carolina. He said something with such child-like awe that I still giggle every time I think about it:

We took the kids swimming in a creek. You can swim in creeks up there. There's no alligators.

Wow...a place where you can swim without fear of gator attack? Tell me more about this magical land!

In the same conversation, they also discussed the phenomenon of Florida Snow. (my term, not theirs) Florida Snow occurs once annually, usually in the parking lot of a grocery store, when a dump truck offloads a ton of slush and kids wait in line to climb the mountain and experience "real snow." I actually remember this from my own early childhood when we lived in south Florida. Really, I don't know that I'll ever drag my hypothetical kids to something like this. I think the snow on Main Street USA during the MK Christmas parties is a much better representation of what it's really like.

I know, it's all about perspective. Hell, I still get excited when I see a real live alligator sunning next to a pond in the "wild" of Orlando. I even marvel at armadillos (armidilli?) and egrets and herons. And oh lordy... the number of dumb tourists I see who are freaked out by lizards! Where I'm from, we have deer and squirrels. That's about it. But at least our lakes (when not frozen) can be used without fear of reptile or amoeba!

Stressssssssssss

We want to avoid old houses because they might not be the most hurricane resistant or might have old pieces stuck together with bubble gum and duct tape that'll give out as soon as we sign the papers.

We want to avoid short sales because we need to close before December 1 in order to get the Federal $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

We want to avoid bank-owned properties because you never know what horrible spiteful thing the owners did before they left. At the very least, you can assume you'll need to replace the carpet and supply your own appliances.

What's that leave? Not much in our price range. Especially when we had every intention of buying a house just big enough for our hypothetical family and never moving. Now we're looking at places that make me think, "good enough for now."

Am I going to make it through this process without having a complete breakdown? I give myself 4:1 odds.

Something Wicked (Tasty) This Way Comes

Coming soon to an apartment complex near someone you know:

Cohen's Deli & Butcher Shop
(which so far doesn't have much of a web presence)

Bagels "hot from the oven!" Matzo ball soup! Sandwiches! Salads! Desserts!

I know it's probably too much to expect that the food will be as good as I remember from my childhood, or even as good as TooJay's, but I have my fingers crossed. And you can bet I'll be there on or slightly after September 1 to try out the new place!

A Fascinating Follow-Up

I never did follow up on my fascinating post about mail-order contact lenses. They came within a week (actually, within a week of my second order. it turns out there wasn't enough left on my FSA card to cover the original order). Also, the prescription was correct.

I guess we can give VisionDirect.com *****.

I Shared My Wine

...with a carousel horse!

And that basically sums up the 2009 work party. That was, by the way, my third and final glass of wine. No incriminating photos here!! (I mean, unless you include the one above)

Ugh...It's Septic

When I sent our realtor our "Housing Wish List," a prominent request on there was NO SEPTIC.

I've never known anyone with a septic system who didn't live in an old house with an old system and who wasn't experiencing issues with it. Scott apparently lived with this situation in his childhood and was as adamant as I was.

NO SEPTIC.

So the realtor sent us 2 separate lists, a total of 16 houses. Of those 16, 6 were over our price range, 2 had no interior photos (usually means trashed interior), 3 had septic systems, and the rest didn't really make either of us go "ooh...must have!"

So nothing then? Well...

We both fell in love with a house. But it has a septic system. The kitchen is beautiful! But it has a septic system. The view from the back of the house is amazing. But it has a septic system. Garden tub in the master bath. But it has a septic system. And around and around we went. As it turns out, neither of us was willing to cross the house off the list just because of the septic system.

And so I spent this morning researching septic systems. It seems even the EPA doesn't think you need an inspection more than once per year, and pumping less than that. And as long as you keep up with the maintenance, they're not so bad. They say you shouldn't do all of your laundry in one day, which is what we do now, but I think we could get in some sort of weekday rhythm. They say you shouldn't flush anything but toilet paper. I'm wondering where the tampons go? Is there some sort of mini diaper genie out there? And what about butt wipes? They also say garbage disposals are sort of a bad idea.

So, I'm asking the realtor for more information. But I'd also like your input, whomever you are! See anything bad about the house that I'm missing? Any septic pro/con stories? Anything at all?

45 Minutes

The Restaurant is hosting a special dinner in October. The cost? $375 per person plus tax (gratuity included).

Reservations opened up at this morning, and were sold out 45 minutes later.

I need to look at the guest list and find someone to adopt me!

It's Funny Because it's Hitler

...but Sad Because it's True!

Encore! Flashback

An e-mail went out late the night before the final show. It basically said "Bring sunglasses. Wear them during the Beach Medley. Don't tell Clay." So we did.

Clay (the director) had his face in the music for the first 5-10 seconds of the first song, and when he looked up, the expression on his face was priceless. There we all were, some wearing everyday sunglasses, and some who managed to find novelty ones in wacky colors for the occasion, looking straight at him smiling and singing. If he knew in advance that we were going to do it, it didn't show. Of course, even if he had known, I doubt he would have been prepared for just how silly we looked!

It got even better when the soloist came out and handed him a pair of his own. He didn't put them on at first, but (I'm guessing) once the music got easier, he put them on and wore them for the rest of the number.

It was definitely one of my favorite moments of the entire 2009 show.

Milo and the Pea

Though he tried everything he could to fall asleep on the pile of pillows and blankets, Milo just couldn't fall asleep. The next morning when he climbed down and admitted defeat, he found out that a Wii Balance Board was hidden in the pile, and the fact that he couldn't sleep meant that he was a true Princess.

And he lived happily ever after.

Okra's On!

What I have learned about okra so far:
* It tastes great raw
* The helpful bloggers who said wash, then dry thoroughly, and rinse the knife whenever it gets slimy were not kidding! Though who would've thought "slimy" would equal "every two cuts?"
* Scott says there's no medium in okra - it's either crisp or slimy, so I'm going for crisp.

These babies have been mixed with corn, and are being served with lemon-oregano pork chops and cous cous.

Are you hungry? We sure are...

Actually Doing Things

Thursday night Scott and I went out to Fridays with Matt and Kristen for dinner, and then we all came back here to play Wii Sports Resort. It was nice to get out with people we haven't seen in a long time, and even nicer to kick their butts on games that they'd never played before! I had a really great time.

Next week, I've got Wednesday off from work. The Restaurant is actually closed for the night for our annual celebration dinner. When I last heard, we still didn't actually have final financial approval for said dinner, but reservations have been closed for two months and there's not going to be anyone there.

So, under the assumption that we're going to have the party, I set out yesterday to find myself a new "party shirt." I got lucky with clearance items at Lane Bryant, and actually ended up finding a dress super-cheap that I'm going to just give you this description: not like anything you'd expect me to wear. It's a really cute style, but the fabric pattern is LOUD, with white, two shades of pink, lime green, and a little bit of black. I'm taking the attitude on this one that it's good to step outside your comfort zone. And if Wednesday is the only time I ever wear the dress, it cost little enough that I won't feel guilty about that.

Excitement? It's in the Mail!

Great day at the mailbox today!

The 2010 IKEA catalog has arrived, but I haven't even looked at it yet.

What's been monopolizing my attention? We got our season tickets to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center "Best of Broadway" series. And our seats are incredible! They are front row center of the balcony (3rd level, after orchestra and mezzanine). These are the seats we're going to have for Wicked in February, Mary Poppins in May, plus Cirque Dreams Illumination, South Pacific, In the Heights, and Little House on the Prairie (hey - every season has a weak link! plus Melissa Gilbert is in it... that makes it slightly less lame). The series also includes two other shows in the smaller theaters - Godspell and Wonderland.

Did I mention how INCREDIBLE the seats are going to be???

We saw Wicked from the back row of this section a few years back, and saw Spamalot from the very edge of the section in March. It's far away, but I'd rather be up high than in the back of the orchestra section underneath the overhang. A clear view of everything at once is better than watching the spit flying!

Now that we're getting the hang of Tampa, and have figured out which exit has the giant wine store, the Target with a parking garage and all the restaurants, making a day trip should be less painful than previous trips. Sure it means probably not getting home until 1 or 2 in the morning, but we opted for the Thursday series and we have Fridays off to recover.

Come on, October!!!

A Whole New Blog

So... I'm strangely attached to my new template already. I got my blog lists on the sidebar back up and running, and took out the links to my tags (didn't have them on the old blog anyway). Of course, the only way I could make the title of the blog work was to change the way it was written. That's my only big disappointment.

Thanks to the recently-redid-her-own-blog wickedmess for the link to the site where I got the template. If I had known it was going to be so easy, I would have done this two years ago!

(and if you hadn't noticed, every time you refresh the page, the flickr pictures at the top change. it's my favorite part of the new design)

Hot Mess

So...as you can see, I'm in the process of updating the blog. Right now it looks like a freaking disaster area, and I'm about to leave for work. Sorry for the hideousness. I promise to try and fix everything tonight!

Bonus Opinion: Banana-Rum Pancake Topping

Scott was making pancakes for breakfast (because he's a domestic god) and I was eyeing the darkening bananas on the counter. At first, I suggested cutting up some banana coins and dropping them into the pancakes, but then he thought up something akin to bananas foster (sans flambe because I'm a kill joy like that). So I made up some sauce:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar, dissolved into the melted butter
enough dark rum to turn the butter-sugar paste into a sauce
1 very ripe banana, cut into coins.

Now, I put the bananas in to soon, and ended up with banana sauce with some slimy chunks. If you leave them in for less than 1 minute, you'll get what I thought I wanted - a sauce with warm bananas. Then you basically leave the mix on the stove until the rum cooks down and the sauce thickens.

Pour over pancakes and orgasm.

Definitely ***** out of *****!
(by the way, you're going to want to have some bacon to cut some of the sweetness)

Got Turtles?

Have you heard about the Tour de Turtles?

Started in 2008, the Tour de Turtles (TdT) is a fun, educational journey through the science, research and geography of sea turtle migration using satellite telemetry. Created by Caribbean Conservation Corporation, with help from sponsors and partners, this event follows the marathon migration of sea turtles, representing different species, from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. 2009 is the second year of the TdT and will follow the migration of ten sea turtles, representing four different species.

I heard about the TdT because Disney Vacation Club/Disney's Animal Programs is sponsoring a turtle named Dory. She was fitted with a satellite transmitter (and now looks a bit like an RC Car... can I have a turn at the controls??) after she laid her eggs, and was released at Disney's Vero Beach Resort on August 1.

Each of the turtles has a map tracking where they are and where they have been. They also have videos of the releases, in most cases surrounded by cheering fans. It's just the beginning, so it'll be interesting to follow where they go from here.

Go check out the site and if you're inclined, sponsor the turtle of your choice for $25.

I rate this site ***** out of *****, for education, entertainment, and TURTLES!

Contact Shopping

It's no secret that I dislike my current eye doctor. Scott has been going there for... forever, so when we got married and the first eye doctor I went to (the one literally walking distance from here) gave me glasses that were the wrong prescription, I decided to switch to his. Ever since, I've been unhappy there. After four years, I don't think the man would know my name without looking at the chart. I sit alone in my little room with my eyes all dilated listening to him have 15 minutes of friendly chit chat with Scott, and nothing but "is this better... or is this better" with me. And the last time we were there, he asked Scott when he was going to have kids. HEY PAL! IF YOU'RE GOING TO INQUIRE ABOUT CHILDBEARING, WHY NOT ASK THE ONE WITH THE UTERUS?

Plus, the people who work fitting glasses to your head do a terrible job. My last glasses squeezed me behind the ears, and I paid special attention when I got my current pair fitted that that wouldn't happen. Instead they are loose and wearing them makes me feel like I'm under water.

Needless to say, I'm not going back.

I said that last year, but this year I really mean it. I would rather go to Lens Crafters and pay out of pocket for quality work than use my insurance benefits for unusable crap and bad service.

I ran out of contacts this week (my 6-week supply having only lasted 6 months), and rather than call the doctor's office, order lenses direct from them and have them get even one more dollar out of me, I decided to try ordering online. I price checked through drugstore.com (which redirects to visiondirect.com) and 1800contacts.com. The per-lens price was cheaper through 1800contacts, but you had to buy more boxes. I only need enough to get me through the end of the year, so I went with the former. The ordering process was simple, I got free standard shipping, and all I had to do was give them the name and phone number of the doctor.

Of course, I can't really say 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' at this point since I haven't gotten my contacts, but I give the price and the ease of ordering **** out of *****. I guess for now this is to be continued...

Lazy Sunday, Feline Edition

I just spent the last hour sitting in this exact spot doing my normal blog-jog through the blogs on my side bar. Also for the last hour, I've been doing that strictly using my right hand and the mouse, because my left arm was pinned on my lap by Elphaba.

This cat has quirks that my boy cats just don't have. She ignores me for days, and then demands attention for hours on end. She's like a camel of love! And don't even try to walk through the bedroom door or the front door without dangling her rainbow string in front of her face. She'll either yell at you or just run through the door.

She also does that kneading-my-arm thing, which other cats of mine have done. Of course, Kilo has his "suckie toe." I know he got that because his mother was taken away from his litter when he was too young, and he had an older brother who let all the other cats suck on his toes. Then when Kilo came to live with me, Milo certainly wasn't going to let him play that game, so he started sucking on his own. Tiger, the first cat I ever loved, had a blanket that she'd suck on. Unfortunately for me, it was my blanket, and I never knew when I'd roll over and stick my foot in a wet spot. (hello, Google perverts!) At least Elphie just does the hand motions!

Alas, my bandy legged ginger cat (yes, I did blatantly steal that phrase from J.K. Rowling) has just jumped into the spot vacated by the kitten. He says hello, and also "pet me pet me pet me!" I think I'll go do that!

August 2009: You Are Entitled to My Opinion

I've once again been peer pressured into participating in NaBloPoMo. The theme is "tomorrow," but instead of looking to the future (if I wrote an entry about tomorrow it would probably say "I'm looking forward to working with a skeleton crew tomorrow. Oh, and also sleeping in past 8:00.") I've decided to look to the past, and spend a whole month reviewing random things.

And so I present August 2009 NaBloPoMo: YAEtMO!

Today I'm starting with a fun little gadget Scott and I picked up off the clearance rack at Publix: the Dove SkinVitalizer. You may have seen the commercials for this little thing and giggled, "hey - it's a vibrator for your face!" I think every company that makes face wash came out with something similar about the same time.

Really, if it hadn't been on the clearance rack, I never would have brought it home. It seems silly - my fingers and my favorite face wash were doing a fine job washing my face! Scott and I have both used the DSV for two days now, and I'm ready to go back to my old routine.

My primary issue with this little device is that it's incredibly wasteful. Not only does it run on batteries, it also uses these little disposable "pillows" that stick to the surface of the gadget. This means I'm having to throw something out after every shower (actually, I try throwing it out from the shower, but end up picking it up from wherever it flew to and then putting it in the trash can once I'm out of the shower).

And while I admit that on day 2 my cheeks were smoother than they were before, I don't feel that my nose and forehead are as clean as they would otherwise be. It's almost as if the cleanser is too gentle. And don't even ask me to wash my face in two steps... that's just not good time management!

Fun sideshow: turn the DSV on and press it against the bridge of your nose. This morning it nearly made me sneeze!

Out of 5 stars, I give the Dove SkinVitalizer ***.