My dear, sweet, roly-poly, beastly Mojo has to be put to sleep. She ate a ribbon or yarn or something and her intestines are bunched up. Surgery would be at least $700.

I love this cat so much. I've had her nearly her whole life, for 4 years. She slept on my pillow when she was as big as my hand, and continued to sleep on my pillow when she was bigger than my head. When I had her declawed, she made me decide not to do that to another cat ever again. She's afraid of the vacuum. She likes sleeping on a pillow up high, on a shelving unit where Nathan keeps his clothes. She's a bully sometimes--she'll sit on Suki and make her move from a sleeping spot. She was always fat, roly-poly and round and wonderful. She walked on us in the night with her sharp, dainty feet and made us complain. She liked to sit in the corner by the door. She'd roll over on her back like she wanted a belly rub then bite my hand when I rubbed her belly. She was a vulture over Jesse once when he passed out drunk on the bathroom floor. She's jealous, and when I brush Suki, Mojo always comes over to get brushed too. Toad made Mojo a kitten again. Mojo doesn't like new places or new things. She didn't like Toad much when Toad first joined us. Mojo gets stressed when she's out of her comfort zone. One Christmas, she picked out all her fur under her front legs and in patches around her body because I'd taken her to my parents' and there were so many little kids around.

She's my baby, my Little Beast. I love her, and I'm going to miss her. It's breaking my heart. I have to tell Nathan tonight, and I know he'll be upset. He won't get to say goodbye.

I'm going to go cuddle her now, and brush her, swing around a string for her to play with, and work on saying goodbye.

24. Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin* ( 1-23 )

**spoiler**
Ned does die. I didn't misremember. That makes me sad.
**end spoiler**

Goody good goodness! Liked it muchly. I find as I get older, I like books with heavy politics more and more. When I was younger, I preferred action, plot, movement. But I'm finding the politics of WoT and now SoIaF just as intriguing and entertaining as the action portions.

I didn't think I'd read all of this book before, but I remembered the spoiler above, which occurs at the end. So I'm marking it as a re-read.

Now reading: Bonk by Mary Roach and soon to start Clash of Kings by Martin. Or the next Bean novel by Orson Scott Card.

I'm quite enjoying this book. I'm fairly certain I've read it before, and glimmers of it are still in my head, but the further I get into it, the less I remember, so maybe I didn't finish it. Though I thought I hadn't got halfway through, I'm now on page 530 of 807, and I remember, vaguely, the major action that just occurred. Though for some reason I thought Ned died. I misremembered. Which makes me happy.

I took a bath earlier, hoping it would help my upset stomach. Combined with Pepto-Bismal, it did. I lay there in hot water and dozed a bit, and in between dozing, I got to watch Toad.

She's obsessed with the bathtub/shower/water. She sat on the edge of the tub while I soaked. She took a bath, too! She licked her paw, wiped her nose. Nose again, then eye, eye, whiskers, whiskers, halfway to the ear, behind the ear, then concentrated there for a few swipes. Inside the ear next, then back down to the nose. Next side, same basic progression.

I noticed her front legs are pretty stout. Mojo has spindly legs, dainty feet, and a fat belly. Toad's front legs are stout, her paws are bigger, and so far, she's normal sized. Suki's feet are pretty big, in accordance with her breed, and I think Toad is going to be a pretty big cat, frame-wise, once she's grown up.

Toad's also a very talky cat. I'm not used to that--Suki's silent except when she's wanting outside (maybe once a week), and Mojo picked up Suki's habits quickly. Moj cries when you stop petting her, or when she's hungry, but it's still not an every day occurrence. Toad? I hear her every day. For no reason. Well, I'm sure her little pea-brain has a reason, like she's lonely, or afraid of the dark, or forgot where the bed is.

I keep threatening to throw her outside or send her off to Mom & Dad's, but I'd miss her. Who'd curl around my head and purr at night? Who'd shower me with snot as I'm on the verge of sleep and wake me up? Who'd watch the water pour off the shower curtain? Who'd come to me for snuggles and then poke me with 20 claws?

I was leaving Target, and I stopped to let a man (he happened to be Indian) cross the parking lot to the sidewalk. He took forever, then instead of crossing, he came over to my window. Ok, I thought, he needs directions somewhere. He asked if I knew any good places for lunch around there. I put some thought into it, ruled out Outback because they don't open for lunch, then mentioned Chipotle. "They start serving at 11?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Do you have time at 11? Would you like to meet me?"

"No thanks," I said.

What the hell? Totally random. He just saw me pulling up in a car and decided to ask me to lunch. Huh?

We picked up the rental car at 7.30 this morning. Dropped the car off at the mechanic's. Stopped at Target. Stopped at the bank. Home. I folded clothes; Nathan sent some emails he needed to send and finished packing. We got a call from the mechanic: one of the bolts that holds the motor mount to the engine block (we had it in to fix the motor mount because it was cracked) is broken. $900 to fix. Hahahahahahaha! It'll hold till Nathan and Dad can fix it. So, then we got friendly then I cooked lunch (fried chicken, rice a roni, and green beans) and he showered. Then putzing around and passport checks and distributing of money among pockets (he was told to have $500 cash, with plenty of small bills for tipping because the Afghani airport workers work for tips only and tipping makes life easier) and another passport check or two. We loaded up and I dropped him off at the airport and drove home.

I thought the cats were missing. I found Suki sleeping in the bedroom, but Mojo and Toad were still missing. Mojo came out of hiding, then Toad started crying. I was afraid someone had repossessed them.

I called the mechanic guy and he said he was working on my paperwork and I headed down there. The rental car place almost didn't take my cash for the car (WTF, I had exact change and all!), but then they decided cash was okay. Then they gave me a ride to the mechanic (a mere 3 blocks as the crow flies, but I didn't want to walk across a six-lane road at rush hour). I paid the mechanic (30 less than expected, yay!), asked the questions Nathan asked me to ask, and went home.

Nathan's flight to Atlanta has been delayed since 4.30. I sent him a text at 7 to see if he'd taken off yet, and he hasn't responded so I'm guessing they're in the air. After 2.5 hours of waiting on the tarmac. They probably won't make their 9.40 flight to Dubai tonight, so he'll be in Atlanta tonight.

23. Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson ( 1-22 )

Yay! Enjoyed this one. ( spoilers ) Good stuff, overall. :D

Buried in Warbreaker.
Car broke. Bad. Can't drive it. Getting it fixed Monday.
Drinking orange juice.
Going to work on a deck today.
Sid, Monkey, and Mum get here Friday.
Nathan leaves Monday.
Cuddle puddle in bed this morning. Me, Nathan, 3 cats. Fun.
Nathan wants me to make a pencil pouch. Ha!

1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of corn, undrained

Stir together and warm.


This came out of a failed dinner of chicken, buffalo mac and cheese, and corn. I browned the chicken and started the mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was something I thought sounded good at Target and it was on sale, so I grabbed a box. Unfortunately I didn't read the box. The cheese? Blue cheese. (Or bleu, whatever.) Not something I can eat. After I put the chicken in the mac and cheese, I started smelling the stuff, and it was nasty. I tasted it, and it was nastier than it smelled. So that was out. Along with the chicken.

Emergency rummaging in the cabinets commenced. I was thinking something chili-esque without meat to be able to use the corn I'd already put in a pan. Instead, the garbanzos came to hand and I added the cream of chicken to give it a little more flavour. And hey presto! A new fave was born. Nathan told me to remember this one because it was so good. Plus, it's easily modified: add celery; add carrots; add chicken; spice it up with cayenne; you could probably even add green beans.

22. Shadow of the Hegemon, Orson Scott Card( 1-21 )

I'd forgotten how good a writer Orson Scott Card is. Probably because I didn't like Xenocide and Children of the Mind as much as Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, and the former overshadowed the latter.

Shadow of the Hegemon doesn't really have the Hegemon in it, so I guess the title refers to the looming presence of the future Hegemon? Meh. Anyway, a year or so after Battle School and the battle with the Formics, the Battle School graduates are getting kidnapped. Someone tries to kill Bean, but he lives and grows determined to figure out who's behind it. He does, somehow (I've forgotten how he deduced it): the kidnapper is none other than Bean's childhood enemy, Achilles. Achilles killed one of Bean's friends, then a few years later showed up at Battle School, where Bean thumped him soundly and got him expelled for being a psychopath. One of the children Achilles kidnaps is Petra, another veteran of the Formic Wars, and a friend to Bean. Bean is determined to save her.

I really enjoyed the entanglements of politics, and the chance to see Peter Wiggin from other than Ender's perspective. This book is where Peter really steps into his role as peacemaker and Hegemon of a united world, though the united world is years away at the end of the book.

Nathan's not leaving till July 6.

21. Knife of Dreams, Robert Jordan*
20. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire ( 1-19 )

The mediocre first: Confessions was alright, good enough to fill some bored time. I only started reading it because I was sitting at Nathan's family's house and I couldn't help on the deck and I was a little tired of watching the baby dance. As cute as she is.

This is a retelling of the Cinderella story. It's sort of a mishmash of all the versions I know (admittedly, not many: Disney, Ever After, and I'd thought of some more but have forgotten now). Actually, it really reminds me of Ever After, where one of the stepsisters really isn't that bad, and there's an artist involved, and an apprentice. Anyway, not such a hot book.

Knife of Dreams, though, holy crap! I'd forgotten how many times I wanted to cheer or laugh maniacally or do a silent fist pump in this book. Here's the list: when Tuon marries Mat at the end of the book, I giggled uncontrollably; when the novices all stand for Egwene, I did the fist pump; when Nynaeve rouses the men to follow the Golden Crane in to Tarwin's Gap for the Last Battle, I did a combination of all three, plus tears; when Birgitte saves Elayne and then they go and storm the castle gates (well, the Far Madding gate of Caemlyn) and win that little battle, I'm sure I did something significant; when Perrin saved Faile, I let out a big sigh of relief that all that's done with.

Although, on this re-read, there didn't seem to be as much Perrin and Faile drama as I remembered. I remembered languishing over chapters and chapters and chapters and books of Perrin rescuing Faile, but really, it's not that much. Other surprises: I'd forgotten Perrin had to kill Aram. That made me saddish--I never really liked Aram, even when he was a Tinker. I'd forgotten Semirhage was involved with the Seanchan and that she was involved in the battle where Rand lost his hand.

Rand, oh! Rand. Our dear little boy from the Two Rivers is all grown up. And turned into a soulless bastard, if you ask me. Cadsuane and the Wise One need to get on that whole making him laugh and cry thing.

Anyway, awesomeness on a stick. Love this book.

Me too! Me too!

Let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name
Followed by -ology

***********FOODOLOGY***************

1.What is your salad dressing of choice? Italian

2.What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Whatever sounds good at the time.

3.What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Pizza

4.What are your pizza toppings of choice? ham and pineapple

5.What do you like to put on your toast? butter

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

6.How many televisions are in your house? 2

7. What color cell phone do you have? red


***************BIOLOGY******************


8.Are you right-handed or left handed? Right

9.Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Soft tissue mass from my foot. Caused by a piece of toothpick that got stuck in there.

10.What is the last heavy item you lifted? Mattress.

11.Have you ever been knocked unconscious? nope

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

12.If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No

13.If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Ashley the Great

14..Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? yep


************DUMBOLOGY******************

15.How many pairs of flip flops do you own? 3 or 4

16.Last time you had a run-in with the cops: I got pulled over several years ago for speeding. No ticket.

17.Last person you talked to? Nathan

18.Last person you hugged? Nathan

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

19.Season? fall

20.Holiday? Christmas

21.Day of the week? friday

22.Month? March

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

23.Missing someone? My sister. My Monkey. My SDS boys.

24.Mood? Calm

25.What are you listening to? Nathan muttering to himself.

26.Watching? nothing

27.Worrying about? Money.

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

28.First place you went this morning? bathroom

29.What's the last movie you saw? don't remember

30.Do you smile often? try to

31.Sleeping Alone Tonight? Nope.

***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

32.Do you always answer your phone? nope.

33.Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? Nathan's sister.

34.If you could change your eye color what would it be? I wouldn't.

35.What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? vanilla

36.Do you own a digital camera? Yes

37.Have you ever had a pet fish? nope

38.Favorite Christmas song(s)

39.What's on your wish list for your birthday? Dragon*Con admission.

40.Can you do push ups? Hahahaha!

41.Does the future make you nervous or excited? Both

42.Do you have any saved texts? auto saved until deleted

43.Ever been in a car wreck? two fender benders

44.Do you have an accent? Seri says I have a southern accent when I'm drunk.

45.What is the last song to make you cry? Eh...don't know.

46.Plans tonight?? cigar and rum

47.Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? yep

48.Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Yesterday? Nothing.

49.Have you ever been given roses? Yep, this year for Valentine's Day.

50.Current worry? Money

51.Current hate right now? Meh. Hate wastes too much energy.

52.Met someone who changed your life? yes

53.How will you bring in the New Year? It's only June.

54.What song represents you? Boondocks by those one people. Or Hollaback by Lost Truckers (I think that's what they're called).

55.Name three people who might complete this? Eh.

56.Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? Most likely

57.Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? Yes

58.Do you have any tattoos/piercings? rose tattoo on my back

59.Will you be in a relationship 4 months from now? Yep.

60.Does anyone love you? Yep

61.Ever had someone sing to you? nope

62.When did you last cry? today

63.Do you like to cuddle? sometimes

64.Have you held hands with anyone today? yep

65.What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school? country

66.Are most of the friends in your life new or old? little bit of both

67.Do you like pulpy orange juice? Not super pulpy, but a little's nice

Something that's been annoying me since I first heard about it:

Pool drain covers.

I mean, in the last decade, ELEVEN children have died from the poor drain covers. ELEVEN!! IN TEN YEARS!! We must pass legislation NOW to stop this tragedy.


Come on. 11 kids in 10 years? That's less than one a year. It's a terrible tragedy for those who've lost a child to the drain of a pool, and I'm sorry for them. However, one child a year dying because of faulty pool drain covers? Is not that big an issue.

Why don't we focus instead on feeding the hungry kids in the country? Why not up the sex ed in this country so that teen pregnancy rates drop? Hell, why not fix the education system?

Don't we have more important things to worry about than pool drain covers? Don't we have more important causes to spend money on and fight for and cause a ruckus over?

19. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt ( 1-18 )

I picked this book up for a dollar in hardback in the clearance section. It's one of those that was everywhere and everyone was talking about it and then the movie. I figured it might be worth the read.

I was right. I was inspired to read it after visiting Savannah (where the book is set) in March. I like reading books set in places I've been, places I know at least a little. It makes them more real.

The first half of the book was more interesting to me. It was like a biopic of the city. We meet eccentrics and drag queens and the city herself there, and there's really no plot or point even, except to introduce the setting. (Though now that I'm done with the book, I don't see why Chablis (the drag queen) even had to be in the book. Sure, she's interesting and I loved her, but she has no bearing on the second half of the book.) The second half deals with the murder trial of Jim Williams. The guy goes through 4 trials, the first two convictions, the third a mistrial, and the fourth an acquittal. The first one was interesting, the second a repeat of the first, the third less interesting, and the fourth totally glossed over. Meh.

So, it's a wash between the first and second halves. The first, very good; the second, well written but lacking in interest.

18. Gil's All Fright Diner, A. Lee Martinez ( 1-17 )

A very very quick read. I started this Monday, finished today, reading only at work and waiting for Nathan in the evening. So I'd say 4 or 5 hours total.

Earl and Duke are a vampire and werewolf, respectively. They run into trouble in the form of zombies when they stop at a diner in the middle of nowhere. More trouble follows.

Fun to read. I'll be reading more of Martinez's novels.

17. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan*( 1-16 )

I actually finished this a couple of days ago. A lot of people don't like this one, but I do. I like being up to speed on everyone and having it be the same two weeks or so going into Knife of Dreams. Which I am now reading.

Also, the book buying challenge of 09 has been busted all to hell. Before, I had justification and reasons for the books I bought (really, just 2 outside of my limitations) (and one of those only a little outside), but a couple of weeks ago I bought a sewing book. And this weekend I got a fantasy book called Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez. I wanted Mary Roach's Bonk, but the store didn't have it. :(

Yesterday I sewed up most of the bodice on my Space Cadet of the Early 21st Century dress. (Yes, that's what I'm calling it.) It's McCall's pattern 5846, view A with a print and a solid.

Geeky sewing talk: I added a dart to either side of the bust because otherwise it gapped big time at the armhole and the v-neck was way too loose. I added about 1/2 inch to the back and skipped the back darts (though I probably shouldn't have, now that I've tried it on, but it's too late to fix it. Well, actually, I'm tired of ripping back, which I've done a lot of). The back seam with the midriff and skirt I had to take in an inch, I think to make up for not having the back darts. Otherwise it sagged and looked silly. I also lengthened the straps, which I had to unlengthen because they were too long and let the neck gap.

Today, I've finished it except for the side zipper and the hem, plus some hand work I need to do on the straps and the lining. Right now, all I can say is it's going to be AWESOME. The dress will make its debut at D*Con.

This is probably the most fun I've had sewing in a long time. Partly because it's a Con dress (yay Con!), and partly because I know it's going to fit me well. ^^

\o/

This was the second time I'd been. We went 2 years ago, but I had a cough and a stomachache and general not feeling well.

This time was 100% better. We rode all but one of the coasters. The one we skipped was a coaster with a spinning car...I just didn't think my stomach could handle that.

Good day...now I'm ready for sleep.

"I had 5 or 6 illegitimate children," he said when I was trying to get him out of bed for breakfast.

Apparently, I'd been talking about baling wire and his illegitimate children.