Hey There!

Y’all, cats are weird.  Absolutely weird. Little Luna gets fixated on the craziest of things. She won’t play with a toy for months; then suddenly it appears. We’re fully convinced she has a toy storage spot she’s created, and when she’s ready to play with a certain toy, out it comes.

She attacks our legs when we walk in the hallway like a ninja, spends the entire night trying to walk our headboard like Anne of Green Gables and the ridgepole, insists on love and pets while we’re in the restroom, and spends an absurd amount of time upside down.

Little Luna likes to hang out on the back of my chair or the couch most nights, and far, far, too often we look over to see this:

And there she stays, happy as a clam.

We don’t understand her, but we love her. The Fellow has even said that he hates to admit it, but he’s a cat person.

I really wonder at times what it’s like to be a cat. Like, how does the inner monologue of a cat read? I did a short scene as a dog in a theatre class in college, and I felt that it was pretty accurate. “Hi! I love you! Why are you mad at me? Why can’t I be on the couch? Squirrel!”  (Thankfully, no video evidence of that scene survives.)

But I feel like a cat’s monologue may just surprise us. Then again, maybe the musical, CATS, is dead on. I guess we’ll never know, and either way little Luna just keeps hanging out in her own little upside-down world, and I keep wondering.

Hey There!

As you all know, Fridays are my Self-Care days, when I relax and paint my nails. Sometimes I buy a new nail polish, and no matter what the bottle says it never quite looks the same. As you may have seen on the MiaT Facebook or Instagram feed this week, I went for a rose gold metallic. I didn’t realize it was going to be quite so, well, metallic.

I’m committed though, so it will last me the next few days until my next paint job.

Sometimes I forget that I have readers who haven’t gotten the chance to sit down with me for a cup of tea and really talk. One thing you should know about me (if my writing a blog didn’t make it clear) is that my communication style is storytelling. One thing sparks a memory and then another. The next thing you know we’re best friends, and you know half the weirdness that is my life.

Now that you know to expect random stories from me – back to the one at hand. All week this nail polish color has reminded me of when I went to Spain for a concert tour with my college choir. We went to several locations, and at each one of the larger cities we saw street performers!

Each performer had their own different routine. The acts that fascinated me though were the metallic-painted people. They stood completely still like they were a statue or an art installment. If you were distracted, you could almost walk past them without noticing them. However, when you dropped a euro into their collection jar, they would jerk alive and chirp and whirr (that’s the best description I can give you of the sounds) as if they were a wind-up doll and go through their mechanical movements.

Usually, the act consisted of small movements, like a bow or series of head movements. My nail polish reminded of the the golden lady in the next picture. When she received a donation, she would spin her flower.

I remember reading this list that a teacher gave his students of rules for life. One of the rules was, “If a street performer makes you stop walking, you owe him a buck,” and I completely agree. Where did you see your favorite street performer and what was their act? Tell me in the comments below!

Hey There!

I am excited to introduce you to the newest member of our little family – our kitten, Luna. Having a kitten is a huge adventure, so I am also going to share with you 5 things no one told us before we got a cat!

Back in January, we re-homed little Luna from a friend at work whose adult cat was not liking there being a new kitten in her space. After much stress and many attempts to reconcile the two, Luna came to live with us.

The Fellow was not convinced that he wanted a pet at first, but I’d been talking about wanting a cat for about a year, and he finally gave the go-ahead. We’ve had a few months to get to know one another now, and she has absolutely brightened our lives. (The Fellow still likes to act tough, but he’s attached.)

I researched a lot about being a cat owner before bringing Luna home. I read articles and kitten-proofed (ha!) her space. As promised earlier, here are 5 things I was so not prepared for:

1. Cats do the weirdest things.

There is no planning for it. Luna tries to eat our hair. Off of our heads. No one told us to expect that. Of all things, she plays fetch. She also sits in the bathtub and meows at the faucet until we turn it on so she can drink. Luna hates being wet but will sit on the edge of the tub while the shower is running. At least twice, while I was taking a bubble bath, she has decided that my knees were a safe island to jump to. That didn’t end well for either of us.

2. Cats have the biggest personalities.

Each cat has their own distinct personality and there’s no telling what weird quirks they will have once you get them home. Luna hates being more than 2 feet away from us at any given time. She will follow me back and forth throughout the house as I’m doing chores and loves all the pets ever. However, she decidedly does not enjoy being picked up. We’ve learned that she tolerates it as long as we let her stand on our arms and be carried to her destination – kind of like Cleopatra being carried on her litter. (Google tells me litter is the official word for “chase-lounge-chair-thing-on-poles.)

3. You can train a cat.

Well, to a certain degree anyway. We harness-trained Luna. We’re working on her fetch game, and we don’t let her on the table or counters. The Fellow and I are very serious about how we allow her to play with us. When we play, we don’t roughhouse, and if she bites or claws we encourage her to do so at a gentle level. If she bites too hard, we pull our hands back and whimper (which is about the most adorable thing to watch the Fellow do), and that’s the end of play time. You can actually see her realize she’s playing too hard and dial back the bites to little love nips.

4. They are great alarm clocks.

Remember my saying I was seriously struggling getting back to my early morning wake-up time? I am happy to say that I’m back to getting up between 5-5:30 a.m. Luna comes into the bedroom, hops up on the bed, walks up the entire length of my body to sit on my chest, and tries to eat my hair. Good morning!

Side Story: When I was in high school, my father was dead set on having a domesticated bobcat as a pet. My mother and I vetoed the idea. I remember saying, “I am not waking up to a 40-pound house cat sitting on my chest licking its lips.” After life with Luna, I am convinced we made the right call.

5. Once you have a cat, you can’t imagine your life without them.

In just four short months, Luna has become such a part of our lives. The first thing I do in the morning is give her snuggles. I can’t wait to get home to see her, and I have become used to having her company while I hang out around the house. She has the cutest, chirpy voice and the biggest personality. While I may never have the bathroom to myself again, that little ball of fur curled up on my toes purring away while I do my makeup is completely worth it.

Whew, kids! It’s been a hectic year. As the wedding gets closer and more and more things get finished, and I get more comfortable with my new position at work, I’m starting to feel human again.

I’m also fortunate to be having more time with the Fellow who is meal prepping for me, helping to organize the house, and taking care of needed projects (like installing gutter shields so that the basement can hopefully stop flooding).

It’s wonderful to not feel like I’m drowning every day. I want to go out and do things, and I’m excited about projects again!

Today the weather really felt like fall, and I got an old familiar itch for hot apple cider and a walk around Shepherdstown. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to make it up there just yet, but I always find time for at least one trip each fall.

If you’ve never hung out in Shepherdstown, there is this bizarre little coffee joint called Lost Dog.  It’s an alternative business full of crazy art pieces and random things the employees or patrons enjoy. It’s got a serious Coffee of Doom vibe going. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a drink made by the owner.

My drink of choice in fall is always a hot apple cider. Seriously, it’s the best you’ll ever have. They slice fresh lemon and lime into it and add a dash of grated nutmeg to top it off. I can’t wait to get my fix!

Hello all! Sorry for the delay in posts; it’s been a crazy 2 weeks.

Last weekend I went to a family reunion, and it was such a rainy day. On the way there, the radio beeped with a severe weather warning. I’ve heard a lot of those in my day, but this one actually said, “Move to an internal room. Do not drive in a wooded area. Be advised that untethered objects around you may become projectiles.” Well, I had just entered a national forest, so needless to say, I was a bit concerned, but I made it to the river lot and the reunion just fine.

It rained so hard that all of us were gathered under the pavilion and just watched the rain on the river. My father said they had arranged the rain, and it was not to stop until all the food was eaten, and we came pretty close to achieving it. I love picnic food!

 

Good Morning! I’ve been sleeping in until 6 lately, and I need to get my schedule reset back to waking up at 5, but it’s sooo hard!

It doesn’t help that I work the closing shift at work three days in a row. It’s so hard to get up when you don’t have to be anywhere until 11.

I like my morning time though; it lets me be productive before I’m so tired from my day. It also lets me watch some terrible TV. I’m a sucker for sappy dramas or girly shows. I’m also a sucker for terrible music. I once drove the entire way to Ocean City listening only to Meat Loaf the entire way. I guess bad TV and music are my guilty pleasures. I wonder how many guilty pleasures you get before you just need to admit that you have bad taste . . . I should probably figure that out.

One of the hardest things for me is finding time to work out. I have some workout DVDs, but I kinda despise them, so I was so excited when I went back to the gym this week and got my phone (which is incredibly finicky) to connect to the Wi-Fi. Now I get my workout time and my terrible TV time. Win!

What about you? What’s your guilty pleasure?

Well, we finally got our winter snow one week before the first day of spring. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

We had a two-hour delay at work which was nice. I got up and made a crock-pot of vegetable beef stew and did some laundry.

It took a little longer than anticipated to get my car dug out. Just when I was finishing . . . the snow came down off the trees, and it needed to be dug out again! Persevered, got it out, and the old buggy made it to work.

After a low-staffed short day (with a full day’s work crammed in), I was so glad to get home to my fuzzy socks.The fellow picked me up this pair over the weekend and they are by far the fuzziest cozy-est most snuggly pair I have!

Fuzzy socks have been my favorite thing this winter. I have a few fuzzy blankets that I love to snuggle up in, but this year I’ve also been rocking the fuzzy socks. Nothing beats being all cozied up in a warm, fuzzy blanket, holding a hot cup of tea or coffee, and wearing some fuzzy socks.