You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea.

True Life:  I'm A Ginger.

Ok, so the real story behind this post is that I've been awarded something because my blog is exceptional and is updated a lot with substantial posts.  The award is naturally called "The Versatile Blogger" award, and it was bestowed upon me by a well-regarded blog in the blogspot community known as Just 1 Family in a Big World.  Check them out.

Well, there are strings attached.  As a part of being bestowed this honor, I am required to share 10 things I hate about..., no, wait.  I am going to share 10 things about me that you never knew (or maybe a few things you did).

So for those of you who love MTV, or watched it in the past 10 years, you know what I'm ripping off of.  Just go with it.

1.  I am a sugar-holic.  Blame Mom, cookie-dough, little miniature chocolate chip cookies straight-out-of-the-oven, little debbie snacks at Grandma and Grandpa E's after those long 4 hour car rides, a myriad of bars and candy for any day we might be able to call a holiday, Grandma C's homemade chocolate sauce (Lauri corrected me on this and I concur), and those "hidden" stashes of m&m's Mom always seemed to think were secretly hers, but we always seemed to stumble upon.  Like being a redhead, it's easier to just accept it and move on.  There's no kicking the habit, unless you want to go into a 3 day depression.  Aunt Debbie did it, but I just don't think I can.  Do you know what rock bottom is?  

2.  I forgot that at one point in my life, I wanted to design roller coasters.  Unfortunately I can't add numbers in my head.  There were also phases when I wanted to design houses, and I designed Grandma C's dream house without stairs.

3.  When I first started law school, I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life.  Maybe I haven't decided yet.  But what else would I be doing?  Exactly!

4.  Oooooh, my favorite movie is What Lies Beneath followed by The Interpreter.  But mostly anything ghost thrillers and you got me.  Or anything with a psycho, like The Crush or Black Swan.

5.  I have denied being a ginger in the past.  I was "blonde."  Strawberry-blonde, or maybe dishwater.  Brown in some lights.  But not "carrot-top" like that kid in high school called me in art class.  

6.  My cat is named after a really awesome television character that is somewhat evil and scheming, while on the inside is emotionally messed-up, which is how I love my fiction characters.  Maybe not my cats, but the name still works.  If you can guess it then good on you.

7.  I developed a French Revolutionary history obsession in college and it's endured.  Anybody want to go to France?

8.  Water is a phobia.  And I don't mean a glass of water, or maybe the pool.  But I mean water that has living things in it, including sharks and fish.  I will NOT step a foot in the ocean.  A nightmare to top all nightmares is being dropped into a bed of kelp in the northern pacific where the Great Whites hunt for seals.  But mostly being submerged in any kind of water with creatures.  (Don't act like this thought hasn't terrified you while you were taking a shower that suddenly turned ice-cold.  I jumped out.)

9.  Speaking of nightmares, I tend to have a lot of them.  Don't ask.  A string of three consecutive nightmares comes to mind from freshman year in college.  I would return to Lenexa to do laundry on the weekends sometimes, and in this particular month I went home three weekends in a row.  I would sleep on the rock-hard bed in the windowless basement "bedroom," which may have had something to do with the string of horrific dreams I conjured up on those three Friday nights.  I don't remember which was first, but there were dinosaurs (usually velociraptors, Jurassic Park style), in a chase (always a chase), aliens a la Signs w/ Mel Gibson, and finally a bizarre Jumanji-style world wherein a night of babysitting turned terrifyling wrong.  Let's not go into the details.

10.  My Grandma C loved redheads and always wanted one in the family.  I might not have been the red she was looking for, but hopefully ginger sufficed.

You know what, I don't have a lot of blogger friends, but if Ms. Bashaw would like to enlighten the world with 10 wonderful factoids we never knew...I would read that.  That would be hot.

My Valentine

Although she is many miles away.

I may be stealing Mandy's thunder on this one, but I needed to share.

Perhaps an update on my Salt Lake City trip to come, when my 6 day weekend (yes, be jealous) finally comes.  Until then, I'll be writing a brief to get a meth dealer off the hook.  Wish me luck.

Just Because

It's cute.

Fewer and Farther Between

Before I dive into a pile of casebooks and law school hell...here is a final post before these posts start to get less frequent.  And this one should make you smile.

Charly Reads a Postcard

I decided to send Charlotte a postcard about Georgetown.  Someday, when she is bigger than the postcard (and she can eat solid foods), I will take her to Georgetown Cupcakes and she can get the peanut butter fudge cupcake or maybe the strawberry one.  I also like the one that explodes when you bite into it, but its a little bit messy.  It's best to go during the week, or when its not ideal weather, because who wants to wait in the otherwise long line?  Charly does not wait in lines.  Also, she would undoubtedly be filmed for their t.v. show if they happen to be filming that day, but we'll have to charge them for the use of her image.

Charly Wears Her Christmas Present from Uncle Nick

Charly needs a new outfit for every day because she likes to spit up on herself.  So I thought it would be a good idea to get her some nice clothes for Christmas.  Here she is wearing her flower cardigan and smiling for her mom.  

In other news, Georgie did not want to be featured this week as she was suffering from some health issues.  Needless to say, she is fine, and all is well.  If you want the dirty details, call Uncle Dave.  Georgie is thrilled he sent her some mouthwash for her gingivitis.

As for me,  every day brings me closer to graduation!  I'm not counting in days right now, but definitely "seasons."  That would leave 11 left.  I'm not counting this winter.  

Happy Days

Georgie was distracted, but Chris and I were trying to grab a shot with her.  There must have been a toy on the ground.

Sophi also loved the spot behind the trashcan.  

Monster

Today began a good day.  It was the beginning of a 3 day weekend.  The sun was out for once.  It was cold, but not frigid.  I felt productive and cleaned some stuff.  I called the vet to get Georgie in for a nail trim.  Turns out they take walk-ins, who knew.  So I shoved her in her kennel, she escaped through an open side door, and I shoved her back in with a couple more treats and made nice sounds to her like maybe she would be a good girl, which we know never works.

Per usual, she huffed and tossled around in her kennel like it wasn't good enough for her on the walk to the vet, which is about 7 - 10 minutes worth of walking away.  Lucky for Georgie, who hates loud noises, sudden noises, anything that moves suddenly, and dogs, it was relatively quiet this morning off Connecticut avenue.  Could things have been any more in her favor?

It must have been the waiting room full of dogs.  If there is anything Georgie hates more than a world of snow and 40 below, its dogs.  The last time Georgie encountered a dog, she bit the crap out of my hand.  MY hand.

You see, kittie doesn't care who you are or whether you put food in front of her face or change the brita water in her kittie water bowl twice a day or scoop the **** from her litterbox every morning so that she has fresh litter to kick across the bathroom floor during the day.  When kittie is stressed, she takes it out on the nearest flesh-covered organism she can sink her teeth, or slash her claws, into.

Add another victim to her list.  The poor vet-tech who attempted to trim Georgie's nails this morning with bare hands and got a slashing.  There was blood.  Georgie isn't satisfied until there is blood.  By the end of the appointment, Georgie was no longer Georgie but Georgina, her evil alter-ego, and was covered in a towel while three of us held her down so she could endure the painful process of nail-trimming.

"They bite through towels," one of the vet tech's told me.  You don't say...

To top it all off, Georgie, (or is it Georgina?) has early onset gingivitis for which a 300+ dollar cleaning and special food are prescribed?  A quick email to Uncle Dave should clear some of this up.

Comfy and back in her kennel for the walk home, Georgie was getting used to her new claws and enjoying the usual compliments from passersby.

"Oh what a beautiful cat," a woman said.  She was standing with two other men and they had a conversation about Georgie, which Georgie was likey relishing.  I turned and said, "She looks nice, but she's not nice."

Charly Loves Her Uncle Nick

So much that she urped on about 87% of her bib.

Oh, and here is one with Charly and me.

In this one, it's Charly - and that is me holding her.

I like to play a song for Charly once and a while on the guitar.  She was asleep on the floor, you wouldn't know from the picture.  But she was.