Today, I took Simba (my youngest cat) to get the first of his preventative vaccines. He can be really sweet when he wants to, and also really evil. This afternoon, he decided to be evil, and clawed a chunk of skin out of my hand when I went to pick him up to go to the vet -- he must have sensed that he was going to get a shot. Anyway, that was the first step to going back to the States. I have so many silly hoops to jump through to take my cats back to the States that it's not even funny.

First, I have to get a document from my regular vet that certifies that they've had all of the necessary vaccines (basic preventative vaccines, plus rabies), then I have to take that to another "government-authorized" vet to have them examined and have another form filled out and micro-chips implanted. Then, I have to take that form, plus the three cats, plus my passport and airline ticket to the Taipei Bureau of Commodity Inspection & Quarantine to have the prior form certified, another form filled out, and final confirmation that the cats are healthy. Finally, they have to be given another inspection at the airport the day I leave. And that's just to get them out of the friggin' country! To get into the US, guess what I need? Nothing -- just the one form from the government bureau here ... cats aren't even required by the US side to have micro-chips or rabies shots (only dogs are). So, Taiwan is totally insane, and just has to have one final jab at me before I get out of it's clutches! Grrrrrr!

Anyway, now I have to wait a month for Simba to get his booster shot, and once that's done, I need to wait until June to get the other stuff done. In the meantime, it's time to start boxing up books and other crap that I'm going to ship home, and take the boxes one by one to the post office. That's going to be a pain in the butt, too. I also will have to try and sell as much of my furniture as I can, and then find out how to get rid of what I can't sell. I have no idea how to do that, however, and neither does anyone else.

I'd leave sooner, but I need to wait until after July 5th so I can pick up the last of my scholarship money and my final month's paycheck from work, which will total about US$1,000 ... I'm not going to give up that much money just to get out of here a week or two sooner ... that's going to be the down-payment on my new car. I'm also hoping my landlord doesn't try to cheat me on returning my deposit, which is about another US$1,000 ... unfortunately, Taiwanese landlords have a tendency to try to find any little reason to not return the deposit, and since I'll be leaving the country, there's not much I can do if she just decides on a whim to not return it. I really hope she does, because 1) it's my money (and the apartment is in perfect condition, and 2) I really need it so I don't have to rely on my parents at all when I get back (other than a roof over my head until I get a job offer -- although if that takes more than a month, I'll probably get my own place anyway because my parents will drive me insane).

I also still have to take the oral exam for my M.A. I'm not worried about that, though. I'm still waiting for my professor to finish going over it, and I'll probably have to make a few minor corrections, but nothing major since my classmates (my professor's #1 student who is going to study for her Ph.D. at Tokyo University now) went over it three times already.

As for writing stuff ... Kitty has already finished the first edit of "Seeking Nirvana," and should have the final edit back to me soon. So expect that to be posted within a few days. I'm not sure when Ch. 10 of "Someday Out Of the Blue" will be done, but hopefully not too long (hint, hint ). But I'm sure reading the new story will make up for any minor delay ... I think it's pretty good, and will give everyone a little better insight into my philosophies on life and why my name is "LittleBuddha" (the "TW" part means "Taiwan," if you hadn't figured that out already).

And ... this blog entry is dedicated to Ben's bum (BoyNeedsTherapy) ... and such a beautiful bum it is! lol

Finally ... *gasping for air* ... since everyone seems to be listing a song of the day or whatever, I'll jump on that little bandwagon, too, and recommend "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," sung by Emmylou Harris, from the film "Brokeback Mountain." It won a Grammy (as I hope everyone here knows), and the guy who wrote the lyrics, Bernie Taupin, is the guy who writes the lyrics for all of Elton John's songs.