so anyway

at some point every day, scott and i turn to each other and ask "how did we get so lucky?" our baby is the cutest, happiest, most fun, sweet, wonderful, smart, amazing baby ever. EVER. i love her so much, i can't even explain. i probably kiss her a thousand times every day. i'm not even exaggerating. it's nuts.

this week we started a bi-weekly playgroup in fort greene. we met some nice mommies and babies, and it'll be good to have somewhere to go when it gets colder out. next week we start a class at kidville in park slope. it's called "wee wiggle giggle," and i agree that is a silly name, but i'm sure molly will like it.

we've settled into a nice rhythm. molly sees all of her "aunties" and "uncles" (our friends) on the regular, and we've managed to strike a nice balance between being busy and having enough quiet time at home. i never thought i would ever be sad to see the summer end, but i've enjoyed the nice weather so much. we'll have to savor as many outdoor lunches as possible before it gets too cold.

it's crazy how the time flies. molly is seven months old!

five month update

eek, molly is five months old! she's not a fragile newborn anymore, she's big and sturdy and so much fun. she sleeps through the night now, from about 7pm to 7am, which is amazing and makes our lives so much better. she laughs so much, especially when you pretend to gobble her neck and say "nom nom nom." she enjoys grabbing for her feet and trying to put them in her mouth. she's obsessed with the cats and is content just staring at them while they walk around the living room. (they are not so enamored with her, unfortunately.)

she could not be a better baby and i couldn't possibly love her any more. nevertheless, this new life is very different from my old life and adjusting has been a little hard. i went to visit my old office yesterday, and i felt sad when i left. i don't miss the work, but i miss the people. i miss having a commute (never thought i'd say that) and a lunch break--so much time to myself to read books and listen to music and walk around and shop and do whatever i felt like doing. my identity now is 100% molly's mommy and i'm not entirely comfortable with that. it doesn't help that i've completely ceased trying to make "mom friends." i never felt a connection with the women i was meeting, so i finally just said "fuck it. i have enough friends." of course none of them have babies. i should probably keep trying.

but on the bright side, we made the cutest baby in the world. it's hard to focus on the bad when there's so much good.

milestones

my little girl is growing up so fast. at her last checkup she weighed in at ten pounds--ten whole pounds! she's very smiley, and when she's in a good mood, she'll coo and giggle when i talk to her. she's obsessed with her hands--when she's not trying to fit whole fists in her mouth, she stares at them with amazement. she likes her bouncy chair with the music and the lights. two nights ago she slept through the night without waking up. she is perfect and just so amazing. her belly is so soft. right now she is the center of my life, and while that has taken a little getting used to, i wouldn't have it any other way.

the other side

molly is nine weeks old, and things are settling down. the first couple of weeks are now a blur of visitors and diaper changes and adjusting to life with an adorable monster to care for. at first it was so overwhelming that i took my first trip to a new york city emergency room to investigate why i couldn't breathe or eat or sleep (anxiety). but then it got easier. molly started to smile. (it's pretty much guaranteed that she'll break out into a big toothless grin when you say "poop poop poop" over and over in a singsongy voice.) we learned to interpret her noises and predict when she would need food or to burp or a pacifier. she started sleeping longer at night (sometimes).

i wasn't prepared for how much work it would be (it could be best described in a word: unrelenting), but i also wasn't prepared for how much i would love her, how invested i would be in her well being. i could spent hours debating the merits of one brand of bottle over another. i check in on her when she's sleeping and gently place my hand on her chest to detect the slight movements of her breathing. i kiss her face and smell her head constantly. how could something that poops so much smell so good?

today she had a doctor's appointment, then we took a trip to the brooklyn museum, then went to a coffee shop. she was fidgeting in her stroller, so i took her out and held her as i read my book. she was really alert, looking around at all the people and things on the walls. she kept throwing her head back to get a better look at the lights on the ceiling. she's basically a genius and the cutest thing to have ever existed. when she smiles it's like the whole world evaporates and it's just me and her and everything is perfect. i live for those smiles. i love her so much.

waiting for baby.

hi. i never update this thing. i think it speaks to my incredible boredom that i'm updating now. i have had two weeks at home since leaving work on maternity leave. i thought i would have a baby by now, but she's apparently shy or just very comfortable in there, because she had not yet decided to emerge and join us in life outside my uterus. i'm due tomorrow. and anxious to get this show on the road already!

oh yes, she is a she, a girl baby. she has a pink stroller and many pink things in her room, which is very cute, by the way. she has an ipod dock so we can play her music. regular music, not baby music--ugh. and a sheep mobile. and alice in wonderland prints on the wall. very, very cute. 

i know i should be enjoying this time. when else will i be able to watch again the entire first season of the o.c. while asking scott to fetch me beverages? but my days are punctuated with phone calls--many, many phone calls--and text messages. and questions like "did you have a baby yet?" or "anything happening?" i'm excited that my friends are excited, but it's so frustrating when i have no news!

hopefully soon there will be news. i want to see what she looks like. and introduce her to her future best friends, bunny and lionel. i want to get past the unpleasantness of birth and uncertainty of caring for a newborn and get to the good part of having a routine and making her laugh and dressing her up in death cab onesies. 

like a kitten, but different

in 25 days i find out what type of baby is living inside me. human, definitely. but boy or girl? i am dying to know. i want to pick names, decorate a nursery, and most of all, perhaps this will all seem real-er when i know whether to picture a boy baby or a girl baby. A BABY! what a weird, fun, crazy, exciting thing. i'm scared by how much i'm going to love it. i hope it's not overwhelmed.

i need a vacation.

i want to go on a beach vacation. this would come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, because i generally avoid the beach. or being outside in the sun at all, really. but last year's brief trip to jamaica opened my eyes to the possibility that it's not so bad after all. especially at a fancy resort where they put out a beach chair and umbrella for you, and bring you a frosty drink.

this past may, scott and i went to london and berlin to visit friends. our days were so packed with walking around, seeing things, that in the evenings, all i wanted to do was sit and read. i finished the two books i had brought--wolf at the table and wonder boys, then read the chris farley autobiography that scott had purchased in the airport. (i was desperate, but it was actually really interesting.) with nothing left to read, i sought out a bookstore that carried a small selection of english novels, and chose no one belong here more than you, the miranda july book of short stories. but i couldn't get through it. it bothered me in its attempts to be offbeat, like it was trying too hard. if anyone wants it, it's yours.

anyway, my point really is that i want to go to the beach for a week and bring a dozen books and just read and relax. recommendations for places to go are happily accepted. (we were thinking hawaii, but i'm put off by the long flight. now i'm thinking caribbean.) ideas? book recommendations? hello?

update post

i found this sitting in the drafts folder. i never posted it, probably because it's boring, but it made me laugh today to see what was on my mind in april. note my present-day comments in italics.

---------------------------------------------------------

since i haven't updated in two months, here is an update:

-i went to austin with sue and ali and ate the best coleslaw at the salt lick in driftwood, texas. seriously, the coleslaw was amazing. and the company!
-i was vegan again, kind of. then not. and then again, i was vegan, and again, i was not.
-scott and i are going to london and berlin in a couple of weeks. it's going to be awesome.
-scott's 30th birthday is coming up and i have been planning awesome things, like cake and a party and special giant presents.
-i enjoy pilates. who knew! i no longer enjoy pilates! i was so relieved to finish the last class of the session last week. it just became such a chore! sorry cara!
-i am going to buy a pair of high heels and pretend to be an adult. never happened. no heels, no pretending to be an adult. this is one of those things i keep saying i'm going to do, then never do. because heels are not comfortable. though, i will admit they are sometimes very pretty.
-i am hungry.
-i wish i could nap.
-but i'm at work.
-i hate work.
-i think i should quit my job, but i don't know what i would do instead.
-i know, i'm like a broken record. yep.

i am annoying

from a recent IM conversation with a coworker:

buttons: i love said by they way
buttons: is that how you spell his name?
iheartcats: i don't know what that means
buttons: sayid?
iheartcats: oh sayid
iheartcats: hjahahahahaa
iheartcats: you goofed!
iheartcats: HAAAAAAAAAAA
buttons: shut it!
iheartcats: HAHA
iheartcats: HOOOOOHAAAA
buttons: i don't like your tone
iheartcats: you said said
iheartcats: sorry
buttons: i'm just kidding
iheartcats: no, really
iheartcats: i hope i didn't hurt your feelings
iheartcats: i'm sorry
buttons: no!
buttons: you didn't
buttons: goofball
buttons: i was just kidding
iheartcats: oh man, i feel terrible
buttons: OMG! SHUT UP!
iheartcats: i'm so sorry
iheartcats: please forgive ,e?
iheartcats: me
iheartcats: oh i messed up!
iheartcats: I'M SO STUPID
buttons: shut up!
buttons: what are you donig tonight?
buttons: oh !
iheartcats: you hate me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
buttons: gym and cooking
iheartcats: right
iheartcats: in theory
buttons: YOU ARE INSANE!
iheartcats: hopefully
iheartcats: you are
iheartcats: are you mad at me?
iheartcats: please don't be mad at me
iheartcats: ali?
iheartcats: ali, are you mad?
iheartcats: ali?
iheartcats: ali?
iheartcats: ali?
iheartcats: ali, please answer me
iheartcats: ali?
buttons: it's like you are giving me papercuts
iheartcats: ali?
iheartcats: hahahahahahaha
buttons: and poking me
buttons: in the boob
iheartcats: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
iheartcats: ok sorry
iheartcats: i didn't mean to poke you in the boob
buttons: it's okay. i'll live
iheartcats: WHEW

no more deer

i'm headed to the framing shop this weekend to pick up the stuff i dropped off a few weeks ago, and to get this new photo framed.



scott says this makes one too many deer things in the apartment, and that one thing has to go. which do i eliminate: the carboard deer head, the alabaster deer head, the silver antler candlestick, or the silver antler decorative thing? since i've already kind of messed up the cardboard deer head (not hard to do--it's made of cardboard!), i'm thinking that'll have to go. sad, so sad.

remember when the new york times declared that decorative deer things were over? i laugh in the face of the new york times!

also, reindeer aren't really deer, are they? honestly, i thought reindeer were fictional until last week. really.

now something frivolous

i am obsessed with a handbag. the blue and gold one in the back there:



it's a rebecca minkoff matinee bag in one of the new spring colors. i deserve it, right? right?!?!?

update: bought it--yay! it'll ship to me sometime in february. ok, no more bags now. i'm done for a long time.

my boring feelings

i often feel so misunderstood. and i think the reason for that is that i don't express myself very well a lot of the time. rather than just saying how i feel, i whine or skirt the issue, hoping other people will get the message. and i probably end up making light of the issue or confusing it, making it less likely that i'm getting my point across.

i'm trying to be better at expressing myself. but there's a self-conscious side of me that doesn't want anyone to know how i truly feel, worried that it would illuminate my crazy side and send people running. but i find that the more i try to hide my feelings, the more irrational and upset i feel.

in a nutshell, i feel disappointed. by almost everyone. my friends, my family, my coworkers, people on the street, everyone. i feel universally let down and overlooked. maybe i set my standards too high; maybe i expect too much of my friends. but i feel like i've been a good friend to so many that i deserve the same back. and i absolutely don't get it.

i think part of the problem is that i am so together in so many ways. i have a nice apartment, an awesome husband, two wonderful cats. perhaps from the outside it seems like i don't need much nurturing or attention from friends. and i truly wish that i didn't; how nice it would be to not care if so-and-so didn't return phone calls or whats-her-name never initiated making plans. but i am far too sensitive and obsessive to let it not get to me. i wish i could. my life would be far easier.

i don't know the answer. sometimes i just want to move away and not deal with anyone. or keep only superficial friendships and never get close to anyone. i suppose it's in my best interest to be more honest with myself and others about how i feel, but it scares me that i could possibly put myself out there and still be disappointed.

hi sue

i'm updating my blog for sue, who i didn't even know read it! what a pleasant surprise. i guess that means three whole people check in on me here. i feel so special!

i'm getting my hair done tonight, and i'm thinking of having some pink streaks put in. i'm slowly but surely reverting to 24-year-old eliza, with my rhinestone skull watch and purple eyeliner.



danny is in india and cara is in belize and i feel a little lonely with them gone. i'm going to florida next week, which is so much less glamorous than india and belize. i'm going to miss bunny and lionel!

last night i made a tofurky for dinner.



we also had some veggies that were roasted with the fake bird, string beans almondine, and cranberry potato dumplings. cara brought the most beautiful homemade apple cranberry pie. i wish i had a picture, it was so perfect. it looked like this.


(photo credit: Chara Michele www.charamichele.com/blog)

but better.

we also broke in the wedding crystal. finally. i figured i might as well make use of it. i'm going to start using the china, too. but only with really lowbrow food. like maybe corn dogs and tuna noodle casserole. because that's funny?

it's extra quiet at work today; i think there are only five or six of us here. i'm excited for another long weekend, but totally dreading the post-new year's realization that i don't have a day off for a long time. i have a couple vacation ideas in the works, but nothing solidified. texas? germany? hawaii? what?

apartment 2.0

at 2:30am last night i impulsively purchased a multitude of random things for my home. upon waking this morning, it instantly hit me and i waited for that feeling of regret to wash over me, as it so often does when i buy things on the internet in the middle of the night. alas, it never came; i am excited about all of my purchases, but most excited for these:


i purchased two, which will serve as bedside lighting. i also bought bedside tables:


in robin's egg blue, which i am just so fond of. (scott pointed out that maybe i should lay off the tiffany blue, since our bathrooms are painted that color, as well as that large cabinet... and our dinnerware... i can't help myself.)

i finally, finally bit the bullet and bought an office chair. it's not ugly, unlike almost every other office chair. why is that? why do they have to be so ugly? anyway, this one is cute and is going to last forever. and it didn't cost $2,000, like the other chair i was considering.


i also ordered things for the walls, which is a huge step for me, considering i've been unable to find anything i love in the year i've been looking. i'm not sure if i love what i bought, but i think i'm going to like them a lot. we'll see.

scott is going to kill me when he sees what i bought last week.

nothing cuter.

are you dying?

vengeful manicurists

you know the little massage you get after a manicure? why does it always hurt? like, the massage is always a bit too rough, then they do that pounding on your back--they have to know it's unpleasant. and i can never just say "no thanks!" i always endure it. i have no idea why.



oh, and speaking of nails, the cats are sticking theirs into my new sofa. YAY!

smells like...

so my coworker found a coat on the subway. the coat had a cell phone in the pocket. the coat and the cell phone belonged to a young man named prince who was so appreciative that his belongings were returned to him that he brought my coworker flowers. (well, baby's breath--not really flowers, but whatever.)

how cute, right? what a nice gesture! but wait--what's that smell? why do these flowers smell like a truckstop bathroom? did he urinate on the flowers before presenting them to my cowker? MAYBE!

so why are they in a vase, proudly displayed on coworker's desk when they smell so strongly of urine? why am i the only one who thinks they smell like pee? why must i be subject to this olfactory rape? WHY?

chairs

i bought two chairs for the little room between the bedroom and the office. things are starting to come together! now i just need a sofa. and a coffee table. and side tables. and another chair. and some shelves. and a sideboard-type thing. and a tv stand. and another tv. and a desk chair. and more bookshelves. and things to put on the walls. hoping to get shit finished before i'm 40.

chairs:

hormonal kitty

poor bunny is in heat again. it's very mild, i think. she's not being very aggresive with her vagina, but she's definitely more affectionate. she needs to have exploratory surgery, but the thought of bringing her in for surgery makes me SO SAD. she's my fuzzy angel! a gift from god!

remember when she cut her paw on some glass and needed stitches? it was such a nightmare, but she looked so cute in her pink bandage.



why are my cats the most high maintenance cats ever? i feel like they always need to go the vet for something or other. the vet's expensive, y'all! i'd rather spend my money on this mirror:



cara, buy it for me?

oh ps--scott and i decided that when we have a baby we're going to name it lily allen. cute!

random random random etc.

i discovered a new website that has drastically improved the working hours: The Daily Puppy.

i wish this chair came in different colors.


i don't want to be at work. i don't want to have a meeting right now.

bff

through the trauma of packing up and moving to a new apartment, bunny and lionel have become friends.

goodbye new friend

this weekend i noticed a teensy speck of dirt on the bathroom wall. i leaned in to inspect it and the speck had moving legs! it was a tiny bug moving verrrrryyyy sllooooooowwwly along the wall. i left and came back an hour later and it was about a sixteenth of an inch away from where it had been. i wondered where it came from and if it was sad to be separated from its bug friends and family.

i left the apartment for the day and when i came home that night, the bug was gone. i was sad.

not awesome

you know what's not awesome? it's not awesome when your cat, who was spayed two years ago, goes into heat. it's confounding and disturbing. thankfully, bunny seems to have calmed down. she has ceased her desperate cries for some lovin'. no longer is she trying to rub her vagina on me. for this, i am grateful.

we're still waiting on the slow-as-shit lawyer to get us the contract for the apartment. i'm dying to start buying furniture, so i hope this happens soon.

i love the decemberists's new album. the show at hammerstein last week was seriously magical. colin meloy is so talented and charismatic, it's retarded.

anyway.

hello anxiety

oh man, i am scared scared scared! maybe buying an apartment is a bad idea. i'm lost in a sea of terms i do not understand, like "offering plan" and "due diligence." i just hired a home inspector that i found on the internet. is that bad?

all i want is to move out of my current shitty apartment and buy all new furniture and live happily ever after. why is that so complicated? i just want to relax in my jacuzzi tub; cook loaves of zucchini bread in my spacious kitchen and store them in my regular-sized freezer; lounge in a chair in my damn sitting room with red walls and those shelves from restoration hardware i've been eyeing. let's go!

i am simply not a patient person. i want want want everyting RIGHT AWAY and it's so hard to calm down, appreciate the moment, and just wait. so hard.

help me.

hi

it's yom kippur and my grandma would plotz if she knew i was at work, but seeing as i'm taking of all next week for my anniversary trip to argentina, i need to be here, at work, pretending to do stuff.

so far today i have purchased a pair of fall boots and called my management company to request a rent reduction for the four days the maintenance workers took over my apartment last week. i figured any money taken off the rent would offset the price of the boots. the boots are nice, look:



i plan to be very adulty in my grown up boots this fall.

my husband is cute. i confessed to him my boots purchase and he didn't care, even though we're supposedly saving for an apartment or something. he understands the difficulty of finding the perfect pair of boots and he supports me in my quest to obtain them. i'm so lucky. we're almost married for a whole year!

things i want.

i think it's time for a new kitten. i'd like a siamese one:



or maybe a persian one:


or not a cat at all, but a wrinkly DOG!


cara, get them for me.

justice!

crazy barbequing neighbor was arrested this week for vandalizing the lobby. apparently he had been doodling in a black crayon-looking substance on the walls by the mailboxes. frank the super reviewed the security tape and had him arrested. julia, the very old, hard of hearing lady across the hall was very excited, because he broke into her apartment and stole $3,000 and all her jewelry recently. good times!

my sister and her doctor boyfriend are visiting this weekend from florida. we want to take them to shopsin's for brunch, and we have a reservation at kittichai one night for dinner. i don't know what else to do with them. shopping surely. and walking, i guess. i want to take them on a mini walking tour of the brooklyn neighborhoods we might live in one day.

happy/not happy things.

peggy's awesome salad blog has inspired me to update my cat blog. it's been far too long, dear reader(s)!

we found an apartment that we thought we were going to buy, but the neighborhood was a little crappy and the place was kind of dark and i suspected the kitchen was redone with ikea cabinets that might fall apart like all other ikea stuff eventually does. oh, and the bathroom was designed by a crazy person or crack addict who thought a blue glass sink was a good idea. we were stressed out about it, which i took as a sign that it just wasn't right. so we'll keep looking.

problem is, we desperately want to move NOW and i've never been good at being patient. earlier i heard someone yelling "FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!" and i panicked for a few seconds wondering how i would get the cats in their carriers, then i realized it was just the crazy neighbor barbequing outside my bedroom window. imagine for a second a grown man standing inside his apartment, arms outstretched through the kitchen window to turn the charred meat on the bbq outside. what a dick. this is the same guy that told me there was no water in the sprinklers, and that if god forbid there was a fire, we'd all perish. then when i complained to the super, he was like OF COURSE THERE'S WATER IN THE SPRINKLERS.

scott and are both sitting on the couch with our laptops, listening to that dog and robbie williams.

i would be afraid of me too.

hate hate hate. i have so much hatred in my cold little heart. walking on the street today, a man approached me to see if i wanted to buy some of his candy. i didn't. he turned and walked alongside me, the persistent little guy. he was being jovial, but he was annoying me. my reaction?

"are you kidding me? GET AWAY FROM ME RIGHT NOW."

then i crossed the street to avoid meeting the gaze of any person who witnessed this embarrassing overreaction.

then later i'm back at work, internet stalking as usual. and i find the website of a girl i know, a girl i do not like. why don't i like her? who the hell knows. but the mere thought of her sends me into a blind rage. of course i read every entry and sit around thinking about how annoying she is and how i wish she would move far away so i never have to hear about her again, but of course that's never going to happen and every once in a while someone is going to mention her name and just like that i will be angry and my day will be ruined, that strong is my irrational hatred for this girl. and i know i shouldn't feel this way, but i just do.

i guess i'm just in a mood. granted, i've been in a mood for three days, and no it's not hormones.

job woes

i've been consumed with trying to figure out what it is i want to do with my life. for a long time i thought i wanted to be a children's book editor. and now that i'm a children's book editor, i'm thinking i have possibly made a mistake. granted, it would be different if i were working on the new gossip girl book, or at least some kind of goosebumps-like series. or cookbooks--that would be fun. instead, i'm editing titles to teach kids to improve their reading comprehension and problem solving skills. SNOOZE.

so i've made a list of the things i like to do, in the hopes that i can get a clearer idea of what career i should pursue.

-internet shopping
-internet stalking
-shopping
-reading
-cats
-cooking
-looking at engagement rings on the internet

clearly, i am meant to flounder aimlessly through my life, trying on careers that will eventually be so boring that i'll contemplate sticking sharpened pencils in my eyes for entertainment value. is this my fate? this sucks.

my day so far

this morning i saw rachel dratch. then after art school confidential at angelika, sarah and i saw jon voight. sarah got his autograph, and i think she got a little mad at me when i accidentally creased the corner of the signed color copy of jon voight's head.

then i went to crate and barrel and bought a vase. because i needed a fifteenth vase.

lionel is starting a new medicine that the vet said would "restart his nervous system." sounds scary. but his obsessive tail-chasing is really problematic. if this doesn't work, we'll have to hire a cat behaviorist. fucking ridiculous.

dinner tonight at counter with evan. and tomorrow sue, ali, and i are going to shopsin's, the most delicious weirdo brunch place ever. i feel like i've been going there a lot lately. so many people haven't been and it's just too good not to share.

i want to move. i don't know if brooklyn is far enough. i want to move to kentucky or missouri.

i just died

cute overload is my new favorite daily distraction.

not vegan

this week i was vegan for six days. and during the first five and a half of those days, i really felt that i would be vegan forever. and then just as suddenly as i decided to forgo milk and cheese, i changed my mind and ate some banana pudding. and that was that.

is anyone surprised that i caved? no.

this morning lionel and i played a spirited game of fetch with a fake mousie. my cat understands that if he brings the mouse back to me after i've thrown it, i'll throw it again. my cat is a genius. well, one cat is. the other one watches us play this game with a look of utter befuddlement on her fuzzy face.

cats of amsterdam

i recently spent a week with laura in amsterdam. from what i remember, it was a good time. the best part of amerdam was... of course... THE CATS. laura and i took pictures of all the kitties we saw. this guy was my favorite:



see, everyone really does rides bikes in amsterdam. even the fuzzy felines.

one night we were having dinner at this greek restaurant and there was a man sitting alone nearby. but he wasn't alone for long, because mid-meal a cat sauntered out from the back and sat right across from him. the cat was keeping the man company! how thoughtful!



we met this guy at a coffeeshop. he was super friendly, just came right over and plopped down. we worried that perhaps a coffeeshop was not the ideal environment for a cat to reside. but he seemed alright.



the next few photos are from a series i'm calling "cats in windows." these guys we came close enough to see, but unfortunately could not touch.





look at that last guy! i just want to bite him, he's so cute.

tail chasing

you know how they say that animals take on the qualities of their owners? what does it say about me then that lionel needs antidepressants to deal with a compulsive desire to gnaw on his tail? like, when we take his cone off, he licks and chews his tail and bleeds all over the apartment and needs an emergency trip to the vet. and the more he goes to the vet, the more stressed out he gets. have you ever seen a cat pant? it's really sad.

we don't know why he began gnawing on his tail in the first place, but his initial wound wasn't healing well, so the vet amputated a few inches of his tail to make a clean wound which should have healed all nice and neat. but lionel is a rascal and managed to rip his bandage off numerous times and mess with it. now it's mostly healed, but he's sill fixated on his tail. what the fuuuuuuck???

giving him his medicine is difficult. the vet said that bigelow's would concoct a liquid version of his medicine with a flavor of our choosing. we chose chicken. but apparently the flavor does not completely mask the taste of the medicine, because he foams at the mouth whenever we give it to him.

but today he climbed into bed with me while i was taking a nap and curled up and purred for the first time since this debacle began. maybe he's getting better?

prickly

did you know that a cat's tongue is very prickly? it's fasinating to look at all close-up. (i recommend you click to enlarge to get the full effect.)














interesting, but very disconcerting to me, because lionel has been licking off the topical ointment i've been applying to the red spot on his belly. he's EATING IT. i emailed the vet (yes, i email with my vet. we're that close.) and she said it was alright for him to consume his medicine in small quantities, but if he's licking the spot he's probably irritating it and he may need an e-collar. i don't think he would like that very much, but he won't listen to reason. LIONEL, STOP EATING THE OINTMENT OFF YOUR BELLY OR YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WEAR ONE OF THESE!




















i like dogs too.

vet visit for lionel

lionel has to go to the vet this weekend because he has a weird red patch on his belly that i suspect he's been scratching at. while i know it's going to be very unpleasant to get him into his carrier and to the vet, i'm excited for the doc to see him because he's SO MUCH BIGGER than when she last saw him.

he was scrawny. like this.



he's not scrawny anymore. in fact, he weighs TEN POUNDS! he's my BIG BOY.



i'm such a dork for my cats.

baby pictures

bunny von bulow was an unusually adorable kitten. like, the cutest, fluffiest baby i have ever seen in my life. this was taken in marji's backyard, where she was born.



then bunny went to live with cara.





luckily, we were able to convince cara to give us her cat, because life wouldn't be the same without my little buns. my fluffy lady. i love her.

cat in a hat

this is what happens when i get overconfident about my knitting ability.



the hat was supposed to be baby-sized, not tiny cat-head-sized.

all i want for chrismukkah

you know what i want for chrismukkah this year? i want (so badly) to get another cat. a kitten, preferably. a tiny fuzzy baby. i'd like to increase the chances of cat cuddling, and i think the only way to do that is to get another one. bunny and lionel are friends, sure. but they rarely cuddle, and what's the point of having cats if they're not going to curl up together and purr?

not long ago lionel was a tiny baby, but now he towers over bunny. remember how tiny he was?



(i'd also like a vintage gucci doctor's bag, some yummy votivo candles, a powerbook, and a house in oregon.)

kitty calamity

the cats spend a lot of time in the bathroom. lionel enjoys licking water droplets from the tub after one of us showers. bunny loves to hop up to the top of the vanity and survey the bathroom below. they both adore sleeping in the sink.




last weekend we sprung a leak in the toilet tank, forcing us to keep the bathroom door closed so the cats wouldn't fuck with the towels we put down to catch the dripping water. the cats were very unhappy about this, and i think i even detected lionel slipping into a mild depression because he couldn't play in the bathroom.

but now the toilet is fixed and the cats are free to frolick in the tub once again. lionel is especially happy.

sleepy bunnies

i went home at lunch and took a nap with my babies. it was delightful.

knit, purl, meow

also not about cats.

i want more people to understand the magnificence of the television show felicity. it is the best show ever. i started randomly tivo'ing episodes, and at some point i became addicted. i watched the entire last season of the show, then they started showing episodes again from the beginning. i figured i should stop watching, since i had already seen every episode and it was taking up quite a bit of my post-work free time, but i couldn't stop. i wanted more felicity. so i started watching from the beginning. two hour-long episodes (fast forward through commercials) each night. that's a pretty hefty chunk of time, especially when you consider i also have a law and order addiction to feed (criminal intent is my favorite).

do other people feel as strongly about ben and noel as i do? felicity should be with noel! ben sucks--he got lauren, that transvestite lady from ally mcbeal, pregnant, plus he's not that smart and he's always whispering. (he does, however, look good in a speedo.)

but right now i'm on the first season. felicity seems to be adjusting well to college life, despite her psychotic, overwhelming obsession with ben and losing her virginity to simon rex.

it's a shame that i already know what happens, but that won't deter me from watching it faithfully until the end of the show again. then maybe i'll get back into sex and the city reruns.

this is not about cats.

at tonight's decemberists and death cab show i was standing next to these two dudes. they were boring-looking and talking loudly about some lame-o bullshit. i suspected they were o.c. death cab fans. after suffering through their yakking for a while, i finally got up the nerve to say, "hey, do you realize you're screaming?" and one dude was like, "oh, you want us to scream louder?" and i said, "yeah. i'd really appreciate that." fine, so i'm kind of proud of myself for saying something, and i'm excited to begin enjoying death cab and ben gibbard's cute outfit.

then i bump this girl's bag and she turns to me. i'm about to say "sorry" when she recognizes me and says hello. i realize it's katie and so, you know, we start chatting. for a while. then scott comes over and says hello, and there's more chatting. but all the while, these guys behind us surely hate my fucking guts. and why shouldn't they; i would hate my guts too.

moral of the story: shut your big mouth, eliza.

other people's cats are cute too

toothache
Originally uploaded by jessica c.

this picture makes me want to kill myself.

love

have i mentioned how much i love my cats?

bunny was waiting for me to wake up this morning. she head-butted me, then proceeded to rub her face all over mine, as if to say, "eliza, i know you love me, and i love you too." ahh, bliss!

and little lionel, my little man! he's a rascal, but when he plops down on my chest and starts purring, i just melt.

i love my fuzzy babies.

cuddle fiends

i'm in boston for the weekend and i miss my cats terribly. i've tried to convince everyone to get cats because they make life better, but no one's quite believing me. it's true, i swear!



i miss you, bunny, lionel, and daddy! mommy will be home soon, and there will be lots of hugs.