10/25/05

This is my favorite. I’ve always known that Iceland is a beautiful country (well, “always” meaning ever since they went through there on The Amazing Race last season), but seeing Sigurrós’ pictures of her beautiful country make me want to visit that much more. Maybe when I win the lottery. Which I shall promptly do as soon as the jackpot goes back above $100 million.

* * * So I was reading this entry yesterday, and in the entry that darn Catie was teasing me with talk of Thai Lettuce Wraps for dinner, and I thought to myself “Self, I have had Thai food once, and I liked it a LOT, so perhaps I’d like something named Thai Lettuce Wraps!” I Googled “Thai Lettuce Wraps”, and I came across this recipe, and I looked at the recipe and I thought “What the hell?? What in particular makes this recipe Thai??” Then I read through the recipe again, and saw that it had teriyaki sauce in it. Well. Of COURSE putting teriyaki sauce on something will make it Thai! What was I thinking? That opens a whole new world to me. I can have Thai burgers! I can have Thai macaroni and cheese! I can have Thai scrambled eggs! All I have to do is add teriyaki sauce! I feel so worldly and sophisticated now. * * * Every time Fred’s doing something in Word or Excel and the paperclip man pops up to offer his help, Fred calls him a “goddamn piece of shit c0cksucker” and tells him to go away. Paperclip Man hasn’t gotten the hint yet, ’cause he keeps popping up. * * * The exterminator came yesterday and sprayed around the house and put some kind of granules in the yard, and told me that if we see any ants in the next month (she’ll stop by next month to make sure we’re having no problems, apparently) to give her a call. The first thing she wanted to see was where the ants were coming in, which is when I had to tell her that they weren’t exactly coming in any more, but I could show her where they WERE coming in, which is when she got to see Fred’s mad duct tape skillz. She didn’t seem all that impressed, really. For the past week or so, I’ve had the kittens’ food dish in a pie plate, with water in the bottom of the pie plate so the ants couldn’t get to the food. Every few days I’ve been bringing the pie plate downstairs to wash it out – because those damn kittens just can’t eat without scattering food everywhere, and the scattered food goes into the water (instead of on the floor), and after a day or so, it gets kind of nasty looking. Anyway, yesterday as I was carrying the pie plate downstairs to wash, I thought to myself, I thought “Self, what with it being cold, and what with them not being able to find any food for the last several days, I bet we can just stop worrying about those stupid ants.” So I left the pie plate downstairs, and left the kittens’ food dish on the floor. I’m sure I don’t even have to tell you what happened after that. At bedtime we medicated the kittens, and then I went in to scoop their litter box, which is when I saw the ten-thousand-strong line of ants to and from the food bowl. Sugarbutt didn’t seem to be fazed by the ants in the slightest, and just sat and happily ate and purred and did his little dance, while ants climbed up onto him. So we spent the next fifteen minutes vacuuming up ants, tossing out the ant-covered food, finding and sealing the hole, etc. etc. etc. “This is becoming a nightly ritual,” I said to Fred. “No kidding,” he said. So this morning, no ants. Because they can’t get to the kitten food, of course. What we should do is put a pile of cat food on the floor near the window, and then call the exterminator so she can see where they’re coming in, and do something about it. Actually, what I’d really like to happen is for the fucking guy who’s supposed to be replacing the windows and the rotting window sill, the guy who told us six weeks ago that it would take about three weeks for the parts to come in, to come and replace the fucking windows and window sill. If that stuff was replaced and caulked well, I suspect we wouldn’t have ourselves an ant problem. Why the hell do we have to hunt this guy down? Does he not want the money he’ll make doing the job we’re more than willing to pay him for? Every fucking time we hire someone – a handyman guy, a yard guy, ANYONE, really – to do something, they drag their fucking feet about it, and it pisses me OFF. Ugh. * * * Currently reading: We Thought You Would Be Prettier, by Laurie Notaro. Finished last night: Conversations with the Fat Girl, by Liza Palmer. Oh my god, this was SUCH a good book. Amy recommended it in her blog a while ago, and I ended up loving it so much that I came downstairs at almost midnight to thank her for the recommendation. If you like chick lit (even if you don’t like chick lit!), you’ll love this book. It was so good that I’m actually keeping the book, and y’all know I hardly ever do that! Very highly recommended. I think I’m going to read it again in a few days. * * * I don’t know what it is, but both Sugarbutt and Tom Cullen are absent-minded lickers. If they climb into one of the cat beds and you give them a belly rub, they’ll purr and rub their faces on your hand, and then lick whatever’s closest, whether it’s your hand or the cat bed, they don’t care. Last night they were playing, and Sugarbutt ran across the room to attack one of Fred’s slippers, and when the attack had been completed, Sugarbutt looked up at Fred, and licked his slipper. They’re so cute I just want to squeeze them ’til their guts shoot out their mouths, I really do. The quintessential Crazy Eyes. Snuggly brudders. “Wazzuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!” “Hi, lady! Whatcha doin’?” “Adopt a stupid kitten and keep another one around FOR A REALLY LONG TIME, will you? Well, EFF YOU, lady. You want some snuggles, you go see those stinky little brats. I’m sold out of snuggles. NO MORE SNUGGLES from me!” All of today’s uploaded pictures are here. * * * Previously 2004: “Bessie,” Fred said. “We used to watch TV without being able to rewind it. We can do it again!” 2003: No entry. 2002: It seems like yesterday. 2001: The term “give my feelings” cracks me up for some unknown reason. 2000: Mark my words, it’ll be back to looking crappy in three days flat. 1999: “Take credit card. Buy computer. Big monitor. Go fast. Go buy. Now.”]]>