Hi, September!

How did you get here again so quickly?

Before this month is out, I will be here:




















Going to see this show:



















I have been waiting to see this show for three years and words cannot express how excited I am. I've been a Beatles fan my whole life, but really got into them in college and haven't stopped being obsessed since. Their music has always had a way of making me forget the world around me for just a little while.

This is going to be a spectacular vacation, no doubt. It can't get here fast enough.

21 days and counting!

Oh, my poor bleeding heart.

I had a stray cat show up in my backyard a few weeks ago - a cute little orange kitty who was super friendly and a little bit dirty. I didn't think anything of it until he showed up on my patio last Thursday with a sizable cut on his head and looking pretty ragged. If there's one thing that makes me cry, it's a sick or injured animal. What makes me even more upset is the fact that his injuries do not look like they came from a cat fight. I have a sneaking suspicion that the hoodlums that live in the apartment complex behind me may have done something to him, which bothers me to no end.

I was planning on leaving for an out-of-town excursion on Friday afternoon and didn't want to leave the poor thing in my backyard for three days, so I called a local no-kill shelter to find out if they could take him in, nurse him back to health and find him a good home. The answer I got was not what I was hoping for: they had no room for him and couldn't take him, but would be happy to give me the names of some low-cost vet clinics that I could take him to for help. Hmph.

Not knowing what else to do, a friend of mine suggested putting Neosporin on his cut to try and help. So Friday afternoon, before I left for my trip, I came home and there he was, sitting on my patio again. I grabbed the ointment, a pair of gloves and some paper towels and decided to help him out myself. I also brought him a bowl of food and some water, because the poor thing looks like he hasn't eaten in a long time.

I have never seen a cat eat so fast in my life. While he was distracted with stuffing his face, I cleaned his wound and put ointment on it, hoping that would help and that he would be OK over the weekend. I returned today to find him sitting on my patio, his head looking slightly better and his attitude a little feistier, which I'm hoping means he's on the road to recovery. His wound looks a little better, too, which makes me even more hopeful.

My bleeding heart has gotten me another cat, but it's OK. If I can save his life and give him a better home, what a happy girl I'll be.

Poor, sad, neglected little blog.

Happy 2010, about 2 months late! What a crazy few months it's been for me. I can't believe it's already March - the last eight weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye.

I've been knee-deep in making some major life changes in the last few months, which is primarily the reason for the long absence. The bulk of the change is for the better, but it's still using up every ounce of energy I have. And I'm not going to lie: I'm exhausted.

It sounds incredibly cliche' to say this, but I really feel like I'm a caterpillar right now, holed up in a little cocoon and waiting to reveal myself to the world. I'm not sure how long I'll be in there, but I'm confident that when I come out, I'm going to be a spectacular sight to see.

In the meantime, please bear with me along this incredible roller coaster ride that is now my life (not that life isn't a roller coaster ride, anyway).

I still have a sense of humor, though, so here's a little something to keep you occupied. And I promise I'll be back very, very soon.

Your ad here.

I don't have much to say except "Hi! How's it going?" And yes, I'm still here! Man, I'm such a flake. I promised that I would be writing more, and yet again, I've failed you, my loyal reader (there may only be one of you, I'm not sure). In any case, my thoughts have been all over the place lately - I just need to gather them up and think of something clever and I'll be right back.

Here's a picture to prove I'm still around (and Amber says hi!):











I do have a rather cute and fashionable new hair cut which you can't see because of the cat, so I will take another photo (when I am looking more appropriate than I am now) so you will see what I mean.

And now, since it is way past my bedtime, I bid you a fond farewell. And I promise that I will return.

Always look on the bright side of life (and also, what I'm thankful for...a few days early).

I am healthy.

I have an amazingly wonderful family.

I have awesome friends that could pass as family.

I have a great job working for an organization that saves people's lives.

I have a roof over my head.

I have two cats who bring me much happiness and comfort.

I have food in my kitchen.

I have a reliable car that I love.

I am intelligent.

I am alive.

Moving too fast.

I've had so much to do lately that I've neglected my blog. And I promised myself I would never do that. I am hopeful that things will calm down a little in the next few weeks, which will allow me to collect my thoughts and write regularly again.

I am doing fine, thank goodness - work is extremely busy but it makes the days go fast. Rob and I will be celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary this Wednesday (nine years already?) and are heading to Tahoe next weekend to celebrate. It should be a lot of fun - a rotation of gambling and eating is on the agenda, and who knows what else.

Hope all is well with everyone out there, and I promise, I have not forgotten about you.

So long, summer

So here we are, Labor Day weekend. The "official" last weekend of summer (even though fall doesn't start until September 22nd). I'm always sad to see the summertime end - there's a certain sense of ease and relaxation that comes with summer, and it always disappears in the fall. I can always tell when the weather is getting ready to change, because the air in the morning smells remarkably different. I know for sure fall is coming when I smell that unmistakable morning smell - it's the smell that, to this day, still turns my stomach a little bit - not because of the odor, but because of the strong connection I established with the first day of school. I always used to get nervous on the first day of school, but for some reason, the smell of the morning air always made it worse. It reminded me that summer was definitely gone and fall was on its way; that the carefree days of sleeping in, running through sprinklers and eating popsicles were being replaced with homework, getting up early and new teachers.

When I left for work this morning at 6am, I noticed as soon as I opened the garage door that the smell had returned, thus signaling the beginning of the end of summer.

Isn't it incredible how your brain attaches memories to scents? The human body never ceases to amaze me.