And AGAIN with the pictures!

Ha! I remembered!

Long time, no pics

As much as I love to see pictures from all my friends, I should be more diligent in posting my own ... but that would require pulling files off a data chip into Photoshop (Mac users please abstain from commenting), cropping/adjusting levels, fixing the image size so people can see the entire picture on the screen, and then posting.

In short, it requires Effort. Which, for those of you who know me, can always be done Later.

So here I'm going to post as many pictures as Blogger will let me, and hopefully more tomorrow, etc. until I'm caught up. Or I forget a day. Which will probably happen tomorrow.

This just in

There've been so many kitten stories I usually forget to post, but this just happened and I've got the two minutes ...

I needed to unload the dishwasher this morning, which always poses a problem (see also previous post re: Merlin and Major Kitchen Appliances). Merlin must be in the dishwasher while I'm unloading it, and it makes the annoying task take that much longer, fishing a kitten out every two seconds.

Then I had a flash of brilliance.

I turned on the kitchen faucet until there was one skinny continuous stream of water. Soon enough, there were three kittens in the kitchen sink trying to catch the water. Success!

Then I saw what Merlin was doing. He was sticking his head in the stream of water to catch it right before it got away down the drain. Well, this would divert the stream of water and make it go somewhere else, which he then had to turn and chase, which would make the water run off his head in a different direction, etc.

He still hasn't noticed that he's soaking wet.

Trump This

Michael has said (paraphrasing here) that I'm by no means stupid; I am simply a smart person who "occasionally does daft things."

I'm on my feet for at least 7 1/2 hours every day. This results in a lot of wear and tear on my shoes, and I usually need a new pair every 3 months (I usually get a new pair every 6 months, because I hate buying sneakers. It's boring.).

I know I need to get new shoes when I have trouble falling asleep at night because my back and hips hurt so much. OK, it's not a very healthy way to go through life, but a new pair of sturdy shoes and my back is fine again.

So yesterday my back was killing me by the end of my shift and I went directly to Famous Footwear to get some new shoes. I have simple requirements: they must be sneakers (or "trainers" for those who got the British Harry Potter) with decent arch support, they must not be white (white shoes are ugly any time of the year), size 7 1/2, and As Cheap As Possible.

These qualifications usually narrows down my selection considerably.

I picked a pair, put them on, they fit OK. The right one was a little tight around the toes, but my feet were probably swollen from the crappy old shoes. Whatever. I paid and wore the shoes out the door.

This morning I put my new shoes on. Yay! New shoes!

By the time I got to work, I knew Something Was Wrong. Checked the labels in the shoes. Yep: Left Shoe is Size 7 1/2. Right Shoe is 6 1/2.

So at the end of my shift today I had to go and exchange one shoe. Thank God they let me! The manager there rang me up yesterday, too, and remembered following up to make sure the shoes fit OK. I had said they were fine.

Today I asked her if this happens often, and she said, "Yes -- but it's always kids."

Kitten Antics

• Miri's favorite toy: rabbit's foot. It usually finds its way to our vestibule, where she likes to put it in my shoe and fish it back out. This morning, I found it in the laundry basket with a load of clean clothes. Hm.
• Molly's favorite toy: alternately our hair and plastic drinking straws. When I make smoothies, I must maintain constant vigilance! lest she run off with one of our straws, leaving a trail of fruit sludge in her wake.
  
• Merlin's favorite toy: closets and major kitchen appliances. This guy thinks big. If a closet door is open, he must Get To The Top -- which he does in about 3 seconds flat. If we let him, he'd stay in there for hours, just taunting his sisters from The Top Of The World. He can sometimes cajole Molly into joining him. Much to our delight. As for the appliances, well, let's just say it's my newest excuse not to bake. Like I needed one.
  

• Molly continues to ride on our shoulders, sometimes climbing up there from the floor. Michael has learned to wear multiple layers; I have not.
  
• Merlin likes to walk with me right between my feet. He'll match my pace, and if I stop he'll flop on my feet and Be Cute. Needless to say, he's been accidentally sideswept across the room many a time. It doesn't stop him.
• Merlin and Miri both know their names (also the "Merlin/Miri no!" command). I suspect that Molly has an inkling of her name and chooses to ignore it, because she doesn't want to stop misbehaving. If we do get her to stop by telling her no, she goes and takes out her frustration on poor Mr. Bill, our stuffed tyrannosaurus, whose days are numbered.
  
• Even though she looks pure black (save a white cravat and panty line), Miri is actually striped and spotted, black on very, very dark brown. You can only see it in bright, direct sunlight, but it's there. I'll try to get a picture up, but no promises.

Kermit eggs them all on every night, darting in and out of hidey places to drive them nuts. Yes, it's deliberate.

8 Obscure Things About Me

Thanks to Jordana, who tagged me.

1. My legal birth name was supposed to be Alysia-Marie Arlene Williams. I just arrived a month early, before my mom thought to tell my dad her final choice, so he had to wing it on the birth certificate. Thanks, dad! That was a close one.

2. I have the word "Hi" written in the veins of my inside left wrist.

3. I have a "thing" about the inside of my knees -- particularly the tendons. I must protect them. I won't let anybody near them. Just the thought of someone touching the inside of my knee creeps me out.

4. Scatological humor will always make me laugh. Embarrassing but true.

5. My first choice of instrument in the 4th grade was percussion, which my mom told me I could play Over Her Dead Body. So I picked the French Horn. I wasn't able to take any lessons in percussion until senior year of college when I finally had time to take Percussion Techniques. My suspicions were confirmed: Percussion Rocks, and I Would've Been Good At It. So moms, let your kids play what they want to play. My horn, it is located Somewhere In The Basement.

6. My favorite comfort food is graham crackers smushed up in milk.

7. My first dance recital was to the tune "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." I was 5. I still have the costume.

8. I have better-than-average hearing in the high frequencies; I hate the sound our TV makes when it's on and not playing anything. I have much worse-than-average hearing in the low frequencies; it can be difficult for me to, say, understand male customers if there is a register in use right behind me. This is the only sane reason I can come up with for why I dislike talking on the telephone so much. (FYI, I much prefer email.)

Now for the new tagees: I tag Kyle, Susan and Andrea W, who (should she see this entry) will have to post in the MatheBlog. Ha ha!

More juicy literary stuff

-- Will blog more later, but I just saw this and couldn't resist putting it up -- read classics in installments! (Does anyone else hate the "in installments" bit? I hate saying that, but can't come up with anything better in the 15 seconds I've dedicated to thinking about it.)

This might hold me until I realize my dream of an eBook reader I can afford (not to mention some kind of standardized format of eBook!).