Cat Acne

Today is feel sorry for Small Cat day. First of all, he was forced to go to the vet, which he didn't expect at all and was very disgruntled about. Then it turns out he's actually GAINED weight since the last visit, a solid 16lbs at the moment. Even though he's eating out of the yogurt containers, and some of what he's eating is diet food. Oops.

And most tragic of all, the cat has been diagnosed with chin acne. Very embarrassing, I would imagine. The big pustule kind too. Maybe we should change his name to "Pizza Face." Also, he has allergies. Our house is not as bright as the vet's office, and it wasn't until we were there that I realized he's pretty much pink. His ears, nose, eyes all have a bright pink color to them, but additionally the back of one leg and his tummy are noticeably pink. So he's allergic to something. The dust kicked up on the outside of the building from all this work? The diet food? Fleas we could have gotten from other people's dogs? Who knows? He's got a dose of Frontline on him now, and he does not yet know this but we now own something called a "Pill Gun" which we will hopefully be using to successfully feed him Benedryl. Also, I have to go to the drugstore and buy him some acne cream to wash his face. Seriously.

I also have a dose of Frontline to put on the Monster, but I'm not sure that's a job I'm willing to tackle by myself.

jury duty

Today I went to criminal court, to serve jury duty. I had never been before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I kept trying to convince myself it would just be some traffic violation, or breaking and entering of some sort. But the case I got called to was a murder case, the defendant was charged with two counts of 1st degree murder and one case of 1st degree attempted murder, I think. I don't know exactly, as soon as she started talking about a medical examiner being a potential witness I knew I was in trouble, and had a hard time listening closely after that.

I was one of 28 people pulled to sit in the jury box and answer questions about whether or not we knew people in law enforcement, or had been victims of crimes. I realized I've been really lucky, there's a lot of terrible things people can go through. And they also asked if anyone had been charged with a crime, which a surprising number of people said yes to. Then they all had to say what it was and how long ago, which has to feel strange to do in front of so many people. There was quite a variety listed: a DUI, possession of controlled substances, someone was charged with assault when they were 11, hitting a police officer 35 years ago, passing a bad check, handgun possession. Nothing major, but still a number of secrets aired out among strangers.

Obviously I wouldn't be able to talk about this if I had been chosen. They sent us on break, and when we came back they read a list of names of people who were dismissed, and thankfully I was one of them. I do think being on a jury could be interesting in the future, but I will still keep hoping for a basic traffic violation. If the defendant really didn't do it, then I hope that's what the jury finds. I'm glad I don't have to spend the rest of the week listening to people trying to convince me that he did.

inspirations

Look, it's Ian, on the front page of Edge Magazine!!

And then there's Alec, a fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies, self-publishing, teaching, working on his graphic novel.

Kristen and Joe with beautiful baby Maddie, who laughs and smiles and is a joy.

Lindsey's at grad school studying bats. Living in New Jersey for pete's sake!

My parents are busier than ever in their retirements. They are doing things for themselves and volunteering to help others.

All these things help me stay focused and moving forward. Look at the great things all these great people are doing. I have to keep motivated so I can be on this list too!

5 years

Tonight we're going to Tsunami, the sushi restaurant where we had our first official date. We go every year to celebrate the day we actually met in person. Unlike our new anniversary (the first wedding date), I think that we hold onto this one for nostalgia rather than celebration. When we first went there, ehs didn't eat sushi. He knew I liked it, so he wanted to take me to a really good sushi restaurant, where he proceeded to order the chicken teriyaki. Now that he has learned to love sushi, we get to order things to share. And a sake flight. ^_^

I don't know that we have to keep this anniversary tradition, but I think that we would both miss it. Our new anniversary is a celebration of the commitment we've made to each other and how that relationship is growing. But our first anniversary reminds us that there was a time when we each felt our hearts racing just to see the other one. When everything was a surprise, when he would drive to the airport to pick me up, and when doing his laundry for him seemed like a gift instead of a given. Those moments still have their place in our relationship, but it's nice to have a specific event to remember and honor them. Plus there's sushi!

lazy sunday

Yesterday was the perfect lazy rainy Sunday. We lounged around in our pajamas until about 2, managed to watch three different movies, had a great dinner. And yet still accomplished some of the tasks on our to do lists.

Now if only I didn't have a sneezy cat, I could say that it's going to be a great cool fall Monday as well...

hippie comfort food

Last night I snacked on leftovers (braised celery, balsamic vinegar braised carrots, baba ganoush), but I finally decided I wanted something a little more substantial. I heated up leftover brown rice on the stove in a little olive oil, threw in our peppercorn dressing spice mix, some crushed red pepper flakes, and some nutritional yeast. Then I melted cheddar cheese over the whole thing. And I have to say, it was amazing. Very comforting, and simple.

ehs travels

It's amazing how many things you can think of to blog about in a day, until you actually sit down at the computer to do it.

ehs is down in Champaign/Urbana to do recruitment for his company. He's doing a lot of that this month, going to St. Louis for a night, and then back to Montreal to be at McGill, the silly guy. Never been to Montreal in his life, and manages to make two trips in September. He'll have a great time. We walked through the McGill campus while we were there. It's very pretty, although quite uphill.

I wish the work outside our windows would finish. It's been going on for a long time now. It's very disconcerting to see men outside your window when you live on the 7th floor... Plus it makes the cats REALLY freaked out.

exactly

http://dieselsweeties.com/archive/2097

mail

I always wish for exciting mail. Yesterday was exciting in a disappointing way: a credit card bill and a jury summons. I might stop wishing for it to be exciting...

fall at home

Montreal was great. The weather was amazing. It has basically rained all summer there, and the 10 days I was there were sunny and warm every day. We wore ourselves out with walking, but we also did a good job of sitting down and taking breaks to rest and recharge. We had some amazing food, most notably a Thai place that was entirely vegetarian and known for its fake meat dishes. We spent 4 hours at the Botanic Garden and managed to explore exactly three gardens in that time (plus lunch). We had a great time at the Biodome, it's just like I had remembered from being there as a kid. The last day we went to Old Montreal, toured the Notre-Dame Cathedral, ate lunch at a great Polish restaurant. I'm looking forward to visiting some of the same places next time we go (the Botanic Garden, the bagels, some of the shopping and food we found, the Mont-Royal park), but hopefully also doing some new things too: taking in a hockey or soccer game, visiting the little island in the river.

We went from sunny days in the 80s and even 90s to fall in Chicago. Today's high is 66 or 68, and rainy. It was a great last hurrah for the summer.