Yay!!

At last! I has a kitteh :)

Denzil is in my lap as we speak and has been since last tuesday. He is a siamese mix, five month old kitten. The story of how we chose him is kinda funny. There is a cat shelter in rexburg that my friend volunteers at every week. She set up a time where matt and I could go in and look around.

The only way I can describe this place is by calling it the House-o-Cats. It doesn't look like a shelter at all with one giant room full of shiny cages and scratching posts in every corner. It is literally a house. O cats. But I love it! You walk up to the house and scurrying across the porch are cats. You walk in the door and the fur and cat food just hits you, almost as hard as the swarm of kitties that prance up to meet you.

Denzil was the first little guy that came up to me. His dark ears perked up when he saw me and I was mesmerized by his bright blue eyes. As soon as I reached down to pick him up he jumped up into my arms and nuzzled his face under my chin. His creme colored coat was so soft. He was colored exactly like my beloved childhood stuffed kitty, Cappuccino.

"Oh he's purring!" I said dreamily. "Look Matt, he likes me."

"I knew this would happen," he replied with an eye roll. "You would fall in love with the first one that came up to you."

Realizing his point, I reluctantly set Denzil down and walked with Matt over to the kitten room. He really wanted us to get a little kitten, so we could train it sooner, and Denzil was practically half grown. He already had his shots and was neutered, so he had graduated from the kitten room.

The kitten room was great. Just what you think it would be. You sit in a chair and watch all the kittens play and half of them jump up into your lap and demand attention. A little black kitten took claim of Matt's shoulders while a sweet little polydactyle kitten curled up in his lap. I could tell he liked her too. Polydactyle means that the cat is born with an extra digit. So they kind of have a thumb, but really it just looks like they are wearing mittens. So from now on in this post I will call her mitten kitten.

I liked mitten kitten too, but I had my heart set on a boy. With all my experiences with cats, boys tended to be more affectionate. So I played with an orange stripped kitten named Scout and a multi named Gage. I liked this other fluffy grey kitten but Matt was worried about the long hair shedding, so I put him out of my mind. Both Gage and Scout were really cute and fun. By the time we left Matt and I had it narrowed down to those three, (Mitten, Gage, and Scout) but I just couldn't make a decision and since Matt said I had the deciding vote, I thought it best to sleep on it.

I thought about the cats all the next day. Mittens was so tiny and she really seemed to have a thing for Matt. Gage was so sweet but not very playful. Scout was sweet too, but I noticed he was kinda sick and I just didn't want to take the risks right off the bat. But then I still couldn't get Denzil out of my mind. I told Matt this and he said the same thing. We decided to bump off Scout and add Denzil to the runnings.

That night we went back to House-o-Cats with a kitty carrier. We were going home with a kitten.

We put Denzil, Gage, and Mittens all together in a room to help us decide. After sometime I narrowed it down to the two boy kitties but in the end chose Denzil as a tribute to Cappuccino and for his pretty blue eyes. But to Matt I justified that it was because he was already neutered and had his shots.

My friend gave us some food and a little folder with all of his information and vet dates in it. Denzil walked right into the kitty carrier and didn't meow at all on the way home.

I know he's the first one I saw, but I pride myself on the fact that I greatly considered other kitties before picking him. I'm sure I made the right match though. He gets along great with both Matt and I. He sleeps with us and follows us to every room. Its so cute to see Matt interact with him. When I got home today, Denzil was curled up in his lap while he as at the computer.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked.

"Glad to be home," I sighed.

"Well, we are glad you are home too."

"We?" I asked.

"Yes, we." He replied.

Denzil's shelter name was actually Cheif, but that...didn't fit at all. But we didn't name him for days because he hadn't come up with the perfect one yet. I asked my kids at work what I should name him, and I got suggestions everywhere from Marshmellow to Circle. *shrugs*

Finally Denzil just hit me. He looks like a Denzil, and it was also the first one Matt agreed too :)

What a week.....

This week I feel like I've been running around like crazy, between work, hanging out with friends, babysiting, and more work. But I guess it was all worth it because this morning I called in for the weekend and am currently lounging on my couch watching my favorite movie eating black berries. I think I deserve it.

What Matt and I also deserve is our trip to SLC tonight to go see Say Anything, Saves the Day, and Motion City Soundtrack. We are going with a group of friends but after wards we are going to IHOP (tradition) and then Matt booked us a room at the Anniversary Inn!! Since it is a friday night, the only thing left in our price range was the log cabin themed room, but it will be nice and cozy with the fireplace and gold speckled waterfall. (can't wait to see what that is) There was actually a choice between that and the Train Car room, which was nice but I just couldn't get over the fact that they made the hot tub look like it was in a train tunnel and the train was coming right for you! Yeah that's relaxing....

So anyway. Super excited for my trip/weekend off. Not much word on the cat yet. My landlord called us on Wednesday, but left us no message. We haven't been able to get a hold of her since, but I know she is crazy busy. This is why I didn't want to get my hopes up, but we'll see. Meanwhile, Aubrey is being the bestest friend ever, and maybe later I'll explain what that means.

Hope everyone's weekend will be as fun as mine :)

I Can Has Kitteh!!???

At this point in time, I can't really get into the details but.....

We might be getting a cat!!! Dream come true! (Of course, now that I said it, I just jinxed myself. So we'll see)

But I'm so excited and we will find out for sure in a couple of days. Our land lord has a no pet policy, but we've found a couple of ways around that. One being that we offered to pay an extra deposit and have the cat declawed. When we called her on Saturday, she seemed pretty optimistic but said she had to check with her husband and would get back to us on Monday.

With Matt and I being the animal lovers that we are, having no pets for two years seems like a decade. I just love the personality and humor they bring into the home. And Matt and I are at the point in our marriage where we are ready for a change, but still don't feel like it's quite time for kids yet. Maybe soon, but we don't see a BYU baby in our future :)

All in all, I'm not getting my hopes up. Right now I'm just feeling really anxious and nervous. So I'll keep you posted on the subject but right now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go research brands of kitty food and google how to make forging toys.

Hiya!

Wow. Its been awhile. Well, we are all settled into our new place and loving it. We are diggin' the urbany feel. And since our apartment faces the inside alley, I've been getting a lot more peace and quiet lately.

Matt's doing well in school, but struggling with OchemII. He says the teacher is different, and harder, and uses different words for the stuff...I don't really know what exactly what "stuff" he's talking about but he makes it sound like a big deal. He says the mechanisms are easier to grasp than he thought. Which is good, but I still don't know what he's talking about :) Since he's in school now, I don't see him much, except for when I take him to and from work, and when he crawls into bed at 2am.

Don't worry. He's the kind of person who can run just fine on only 6 hours. Speaking of which, I really need to get some if I'm gonna be at WM for 10 hours tomorrow. (only 8 actually working, but still)


I'll give more details before the weekend is up.

My Life In Boxes

Well, it's Tuesday - three days before we go on vacation - and not much progress has been made with our moving situation. Except that Betty went out of town until further notice.

So with a pounding heart no other choice, I googled the owner's name and called her directly. I'd heard through someone who use to live there that she was not a pleasant person and HATED to be called at home. But I was that desperate. I'm a planner. If I can't plan things, my gears lock up and I can't function.

She didn't really seem like she was upset that I called. She gave me her cell and said that she would figure things out and call me tomorrow. Shhheww! I may not be able to move on thursday but at least I will have an answer.

Meanwhile, to keep myself sane, I've been packing up all the crap I've managed to shove in this shoebox. Any time I start to feel anxious, I point at something and say, that can go in a box. After picking out the perfect cardboard container from our pile in the corner of our living room. I carefully wrap up my valuables in free newspapers we took from the grocery store, say a silent farewell and close the lid. The packing tape is loud and reassuring as it strips off the roll. It soothes me.

This method has proved effective since I am running out of things I can pack. We are pretty much down to the bare essentials now. Just for fun I will list them in order of importance:

T.V.
PS3 & accessories
DVDs and some books
Christmas lights that have been hung in the kitchen since '08.
Otter Pops
hair straightener
Kippy
work clothes

Moving

Well, things in general have been going good, but I finally have something to talk about.

WE'RE MOVING.

Back in February when Matt and I bought Toki, we decided a good way to save money was to protest our rent going up $30 every semester and move to the cheapest place in town. Seriously. If our apartment now is a shoe box, this place is a hole in the wall. But I really don't mind. We will be saving over a hundred dollars a month for the rest of our short duration here and best of all, we won't be surrounded by the dorms, the school, the tennis courts, and thirty other apartment units. I just might get some peace and quiet.

We went on the waiting list in February and tried to sell the rest of our contract but couldn't con anyone into buying our shoe box for about two hundred dollars more than what it was worth. About every other month I had to call the manager of our new apartment and remind her that we were the people on the crumpled up post-it note that should be first on the list if only her website wasn't remedially made by someone from Idaho who doesn't understand that in the great land out east phone numbers can in fact have zeros in them.

But I digress....

No. No I don't.
This manager, we will call her Betty, is either the biggest ditz on the planet or doesn't care about her job in the least bit. She has at times left me speechless with her level of unprofessionalism. At the end of July I was getting antzy because she still hadn't called me to let me know we had an apartment for September. So once again I took matters into my own hand.

I called her up and was like, hey, its Mrs. Post-It. I asked her if she knew whether or not we would have an apartment for fall, because if not, I needed to start looking for another place. She told me she was waiting one more day to hear back from two people about whether or not they were going to renew their contract and that she would call me tomorrow. If I didn't hear back from her the next day, I should look for another place, she said.

Fair enough.

About 3:30 in the afternoon and no call. Surprise, surprise. I call her, and here are the actual words that passed between us.

Betty: Hi. I'm glad you called. I was about to leave in 10 minutes. I have an apartment for you if you are still interested.

Me: We are still interested. When can I come sign the contract?

Betty: Today before 5 would be great.

Me: Oh, it will have to be Monday because I work until 7 tonight. I'm on my lunch break now.

Betty: Well that's a problem because I have to have this contract signed by today.

Me: (Stunned. Taking a moment to gather my composure.) Wow. Had I known that I would have made other arrangements but I don't get off work until seven.

Betty: (sighs) Well, I have family coming in town tonight but I guess just stop by when you get off work.

Me: Thank you. You are too kind. I'll see you at Seven.

Fast forward a bit. I am still stunned that she wouldn't even tell me if I got the apartment I would have to sign on it that day. But when I left the house a little voice inside me told me I would need to bring my checkbook.

Now. Below I will give you a brief description of what transpired at our meeting. PLEASE let me know if you feel anything I did or said was out of line.

I found her apartment/office and when I arrived she asked her what appeared to be two year old son if he wanted to go with mommy or stay with daddy. Daddy, lounging on a bean bag chair mumbled, "He wants to go with mommy."

That's professional. Not that I minded, but I wouldn't take my kids to work. Especially not when there is a perfectly capable adult at home to watch them. But whatever.

So upon MY request we go see what is to be my new home, and she knocks on the door. I can hear someone scuffling and talking inside but no one comes to the door.

"Well, I guess their not home," Betty says. "Should we go back up and sign the contract?"

Again, stunned. "Wait, what?" I stammer in disbelief. "I can't sign for something I haven't seen."

"Well they aren't home," she says matter-of-factly. I'm starting to wonder what she is hiding.

"Actually, they are. I heard someone inside. Don't you have a key?"

"I do, but this is their home and I'm not just going to barge in."

"Well I'm not going to sign into a legal contract on something I haven't even seen. I've been scammed before."

At this point, she made an effort to pick up her son and hold him close to her. Her doey eyes turning all defensive. "You don't have to sign the contract," she said.

"How would I know if I want to sign it if I haven't even seen the place? I can't do that."

I was about to plead with her and ask her if I could come back tomorrow or monday and try again, when by only the grace of God the current tenants emerged from the den of mystery. They seemed happy to let me take a look around. I didn't notice any gaping holes in the wall or creepy stains in the carpet and the toilet flushed just fine. But still. I'm not stupid enough to sign on a place I haven't seen.

So when Betty and I go up to sign the contract, I asked her if I needed to pay the deposit today. When she said yes, I said, "Glad I thought of that."

We talked about when we can move in. The current tenants had paid for the entire month of August but were planning on moving out early for part of the 7 week break. I told her we were going on vacation on the 20th and wouldn't be getting back til the end of August. It would help us out a lot if we could move in on the 19th. She told me she would have me get with the current tenants so we could arrange way I could buy out the last half of their contract for August.

When I told her I didn't have the money to do that she said, "Well I'll just call you then if they move out before the 19th.

Yes, I'm sure you will, Betty.

Still nothing new to report....Sorry.