Luc

Nuclear beer is this beer called Hurricane High Gravity. Has a higher alcohol content than most, 8.1%. Has a nice kick to it. Thanks for your words.

Was reading Someday Out of the Blue. I had no intention of reading it, especially when someone told me what it was about. Knew there would be nerves touched. But a discussion in the chat room and with Mark made me decide to read it. I am partly glad I did

Lost another kitten last night. One of Sweetheart

Happy Birthday!

We are likely insane. There is a strangeness in shelling out SO MUCH money to feed and care for animals who will not, in turn, feed us when there are people starving in this world. There is just as much strangeness in buying Playstations, dvd players, mp3 players and all those other necessities that really aren

Cubby died this morning. First thing, I want to thank everyone for their kind and encouraging words about Cubby. One thing I know is that every moment of Cubby's life, someone cared about him. There are many cats--and people--about whom you cannot say that. His little body wasn't able to contain his spirit. It's free now and hopefully will find a stronger body next time around--hopefully he will be as loved as he was during this short life. I knew things weren't going to go well last night when Cubby didn't join in the fight for the best spot at mama's dinner table. He didn't even make an attempt. Marina washed him quite a bit, but when he didn't join in, she tended to her other kittens, which is nature's way. He was quiet the rest of the night, no more of that deep, insistent crying. I suppose that cry got him what he needed--to be taken into a family and given love and comfort. Oh, and he did receive that. The other kittens crowded around him as if he had been with them from the beginning. And Mama Marina (because she has definitely earned that title) chirped at him and sat on him and did all the things mama cats do with their on babies. I take his subsequent silence as a sign that he was comfortable and content, no longer feeling in need. So I have another kitten for my garden. At this rate, I'm going to have some serious catnip.

*sighs* Cubby isn

It

It's soda. Definitely. If you look on a can of soda it will say "Diet Soda" (am looking at a can of Slice One, a Pepsi product) or, in the case of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, it will say "artificially and naturally flavored cherry vanilla soda." Can't argue with the can.

Happy Birthday, Vance

Well, I

Happy Birthday, Kurt

I just want to say that I think people who use other people as pawns in head games are the lowest form of life. Especially when they use vulnerable people. There are people like this. They can smell who is useable and who is not. I suspect they spend much of their conscious time sniffing the air

I tried to write tonight. I figured my head was full enough to need dumping. But I couldn

Well, Sweetheart has had her kittens. I swear she waited until today just to give me the maximum amount of anxiety. I was a wreck worrying about leaving her when she was so very pregnant. Last time she had 4 kittens and one was born dead and the others died about a week later--so I had nightmarish visions of coming home to little corpses. But I was awoken this morning by the unmistakable sound of a newborn kitten screaming its head off. Seems they always do that. Either they will be born in a "wrong" place (had one mama give birth to one in a garbage can, another in the corner of the room behind the door, another on top of another cat...) or mama will step on them or sit on them and they will complain VERY loudly. Nature takes care of newborn kittens--gives them a voice that could shatter glass. No one is going to overlook a wailing kitten. But anyway, Sweetheart has had 6 kittens so far (and I say "so far" because she is still big and may have more in there, though I doubt it). One, a little yellow boy, was born dead. Tried to get him breathing but no luck. But the other 5 are loud and hungry. The other 2 mamas in the "nursery/maternity ward" are having a maternal day. Both of them are obsessively caring for their kittens now. Must be the sounds of new motherhood has spurred their maternal hormones into action. Which is a good thing since I was a bit worried about Little Girl's one kitten who is so much smaller than the other. Still worried about him, but at least I have seen her obsessing over him, so I know she is caring for him. So I picked up the rental car for our trip with a MUCH lighter heart. Was really thinking of not going if Sweetheart hadn't had her babies. It's a cool car, a Toyota Highlander. Should be able to fit all our "stuff" in there. If not, we'll tie Sam to the roof. He'd probably like that anyway. *glares* Scott just said if anyone gets tied to the roof, it will be me. He is reminding me that I am not a good passenger and get obsessive over the map. Well SOMEONE has to--not like HE can actually READ one. And ok, last two times we went I DID make a few comments about his driving. But I have gotten better. I haven't screamed "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" more than once or twice in a long time...

That's good information. Of course, I immediately went through most of the things I have written and compared the word length to the categories (I have anal retentive attacks from time to time). With my rather short attention span, I'm not surprised to find most of my things fit into the "Short Story" category. Was impressed with myself when I discovered I have written two "Novellas." As close to a "Novel" as I am ever likely to get. Thanks for putting all that info together.

The other night Sam and I were in Price Choper (local grocery store) and for some reason I happened to notice him. *laughs* Well, he is pretty hard to notice since his mouth is usually running and he has a voice that could whisper and be heard in the ozone seats in a stadium. But you know how you see someone every day and then suddenly SEE them? All of a sudden I noticed I was looking at him in a different place. Ok, that sounds strange, I know. What I mean is, when I had looked at him the last time I had

You know, I was reading through some things I had posted on my site. Was mostly going back through the

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN! Hope your birthday is great.

il

I love cats. Anyone who knows me will actually laugh at that statement because it is an understatement of incredible magnitude. All I can think is that I must have been a cat in a former life and haven

I cannot even begin to count the number of baby bunnies and mice I have dealt with in a similar manner. I used to live in the country and I won't even mention the number of cats that called my house home. MOST were mine, some were itinerants who spent a night or two checking out the facilities before deciding to move on to better things (or unspayed females, most likely). I have one cat, Honey-Honey, who was rather fond of testing her hunting skills--and showing me the results. She always brought her catches home to me alive--which was nice for the bunnies and the mice, not quite so nice for the bats, marginal on the snakes and frogs. And then...there was the night I got up in the middle of the night and heard (before I turned on the lights and saw) a nice big crawfish crawling across my kitchen floor. Honey Honey, of course. None of my others would step one foot in the creek and she always had a taste for seafood. I had a special lilac bush where I would put the mice that would probably not make it. I liked to think they spent their final moments enjoying the fragrance. Those that I had better hopes for would go deeper into the woods before being releasaed to hopefully live to tell the tale of their capture and dramatic rescue from the horrible, saber-clawed, evil-eyed beasts. Country life is wonderful. I miss it. My cats are all indoor cats now (we live in a city now) and the most exciting thing Honey-Honey has managed to catch has been a few wasps. Still brings them to me alive, though. Alive and pissed off. Nice kitty.

I would love it. I would probably get as red as a beet, but I would love it. He can do that anytime he wants. I wouldn't do it to HIM though--he is a teacher and schools are SO funny about such things. Absolutely no sense of humor.

I know where I would be without you. You are on the other side of a screen, but your hands have held mine and kept me from letting go of my life on at least 3 occasions. Perhaps there are people who would not understand that, who would smirk and think that statement a bit melodramatic; but you and I both know it is true. As I also know what you have said in a similar vein is true. Scott has an issue with my not talking to him about things, but he doesn

I sometimes like to say nothing. Meaning I like to speak, but not actually say anything. I accuse my son of liking to hear his own voice, but he gets that from me. Though I do it with the keyboard; he uses his mouth. My way is better since at least no one HAS to read what I don