Friday, October 24, 2008

random events in the past two weeks

last wednesday - there was another spay/neuter event at the shelter. I helped out. I also had someone help take over the care of the 4 dumpster kittens since life was so busy for myself and kiwi

last friday - we went to the dentist. he had his thing, and i had some oral surgery. cutting open the gums to clean underneath, hopefully this will stop the pus/blood from continuing.

last saturday - kiwi's first official day working alone, although we've been busy prepping for it, with his on-the-job training and my paperwork + online research + et cetera; and us going shopping for tools.


this week, the car's heater broke down again. i took it in to carmax again. it was within the 6 month repair warranty so it didn't cost anything to have it looked at. and since it was a recurring problem, even though the part replaced was not covered, they took care of the cost as well. i'm super duper glad that i'd decided to purchase the extended warranty initially. i'll be very sad when the warranty runs out in may 2009.

going back to the dentist later this morning to get the stitches out. i'll be so glad when that happens. maybe i can finally crunch down on the honey crisp apples i've been smelling all week long, driving me nuts. i'm almost sick of bananas.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Dumpster Kittens

I have them.

4 of them, actually.

Kiwi found 4 kittens in the dumpster at work on monday. He brought them home to me. They were super feral, the hiding/crouching hissing/spitting/growling kind. But kittens are always cute.

The shelter I volunteer at will help me with them. If I get them tamed down, they can be put up for adoption. If they're not tamed, I'll keep them til they're big enough for surgery, and the shelter can help me fix them, eartip them and release them back into the wild.

I try to cuddle each kitten at least 45 mins at a time. But when I'm closed up in the computer/kitten room, Brownie gets all upset and wail-y. Very stressful for both of us.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Clingy Kitties

Well, just one clingy cat in particular - Brownie. He does not do well with separation from me. Long separations make him stressed out and start losing fur. Since I was away for 3 days during the convention, he has been super duper clingy. He wakes me up and sticks to me all day, meowing, getting underfoot.

Today, I stepped on him twice because I was in the kitchen going back and forth cleaning the stove. Silly cat does not know to stay a few feet away.

It also does not help that Kiwi brought home 4 kittens on monday (which he found in the dumpster at work) so I'm trying to spend some time with each kitten to tame them down. They're deathly afraid of everything and hiss and growl. So Brownie gets jealous about that too.

When I go to the basement laundry room and stay in there for about 5 minutes, I will hear such wailing, like it's the end of the world, like the washing machine has eaten me up or something.


Bebe cat is clingy with Kiwi. He's always underfoot when Kiwi is trying to get ready for work in the morning, leading to squished kitty foot or something like that. And 3am in the morning is an excellent time to go breath in Kiwi's hair and meow for attention.

And when Kiwi comes home in the evening, he takes off his work shirt, and then his white undershirt, and lays them out flat on the floor. Then Princella and Brownie will flomph onto the shirts, grab and kick the clothing, and even rub their faces all over his stinky shirt. Kinda like catnip. EW.

I'd actually leave the clothing on the floor until the next day, so throughout the night, I'd see one or the other kitty sitting on the t-shirt. WHY!

UGH.

It's certainly not catnip to me. I'd rather he jump straight into the shower, but I will tolerate some stinky hugs just because I love him and don't want Kiwi to feel too rejected.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Buckeye Game Fest

Thursday
Reached there slightly before noon.
Registered and got our free games: Masons & Guatemala Cafe.

Kiwi and I played various games:
Railroad Tycoon Europe with Ian, Alan and Teague
Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers by ourselves
Carcassonne with River expansion with Wendy and Carol
Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers with Wendy and Carol.



Friday
Had a late breakfast at McDonalds
Reached there about 11 am.
Kiwi bought a whole bunch of games, totalling about $250.

Next we played:
Carcassonne New World with Wendy, Carol, and Dan.
Volcano with Wendy and Dan.

Went to check into the room, then we bought some groceries to fill the room fridge. Originally I had thought that we would have to eat out for every meal while at the convention, but since the fridge was a decent size, we could eat from the fridge and the microwave. Goody! Can save some money that way.

After dinner, we played more games.
Carcassonne New World with Carol
Catan 3rd Edition with event cards with Seth and Niv.
Fluxx (Jeff's deck) with Carol, Wendy, Allison and Niv.
Fluxx regular with Wendy, Allison, Niv and Seth.



Saturday morning, we woke up pretty early, around 7.30am. Got breakfast, and walked over to go play games. Kiwi spent the first part of the morning registering for the auction and looking through the items for auction. I played Carcassonne The Castle with a young man named Daniel (I think his name is Daniel, not too sure, can't remember).

Then the auction started about 10am, and lasted for about 3 hours. For $67, we got Risk, Skipbo, Nature Trail, Settlers of Catan Card Game, Starship Catan, Mancala, Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly, Spammers, Munchkin, Munchkin Fu, Munchkin Blender, and Carcassonne Mini Expansion.

After lunch, we played a few games:
Carcassonne New World with Mike and Tracy
Settlers of Catan with Card Expansion with Carol

Then we had a small dinner back in the hotel room with Carol and Wendy and Nick.

Then it was more games again:
Alhambra the Gardens with Nick and Michelle
Ticket to Ride with Nick

Went back to the hotel to shower, then even more games!

Runes(myself only) with Wendy and Alan
Tichu with Wendy and Alan
Upwords(myself only) with Carol, Jeff, and Nick
Tichu(Kiwi only) with Wendy, Alan and someone Kiwi didn't know.

And that ended our Saturday at Sunday 3am.


Sunday
We slept in until about 10am.
Hurried up and packed up to check out at 11am.
Played a few games before the con closed up at 5pm.
Killer Bunnies Starter deck with Wendy
Tichu with Wendy and Jeff. My first tichu !!
Treehouse with Wendy and Jeff
Volcano with Jeff
If Wishes Were Fishes with Jeff.

Reached home about 6pm, fixed dinner, threw some clothing into the washer, put away most of our stuff, and fell asleep in front of the TV.


I really enjoyed myself for this extended weekend for several reasons. I got to hang out with Kiwi for longer than a weekend (and he didn't sleep much so more hours for us together). Played lots of games with people we know and people we got to know. Learned a few new games. All around fun! Been a nice escape from the recent stress we both have been experiencing (from change, not our relationship)

But I'm also glad it's over and I'm back to real life. Because even though these games are really fun, it takes ALOT of mental energy. And it's good for some peace and quiet again. I like peace and quiet and being alone in the house sometimes. Plus I get to have the cats around us as usual. I worried about the fur-kids when we were away.

------

During the con, Kiwi surprised me by pulling out a wad of money (ok, just $300) and said this was part of his savings, and that we will buy games from the retailer at the convention. Because it's so hard to shop for me and surprise me, and there are games he knows that I like, so this will be the gift for US. OK then!

So he bought:
Carcassonne
Carcassonne Inns and Cathedrals
Carcassonne Traders and Builders
Carcassonne The Tower
Carcassonne Abbey and Mayor
Carcassonne Princess and Dragon
Carcassonne King and Scout
Carcassonne River 2
Carcassonne The Count
Carcassonne The Castle
Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers
Carcassonne New World
Settlers of Catan 4th Edition
Settlers of Catan 4th Edition Seafarers expanion
Settlers of Catan 4th Edition Cities and Knights expansion
Settlers of Catan Event cards
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries