Always Something There to Remind Me

My mom and I have a good relationship, well, we usually do. It's been tough but over the years we've been able to learn how to like each other. Unless there is a full moon. No, Mom doesn't turn into a werewolf but she may as well. It seems like every time the moon changes phases, she goes a little nuts---like today.



I called her in the morning and she was a bit cranky, which was strange considering Mom is a morning person. A few hours later I called her back and began complaining about how the dog has lost weight. Au contraire, ma mère, his weight is exactly the same as when we adopted him. "I don't care what the scale says---he's too skinny. He's lost about 3 pounds." Yes, the person who wears readers on top of her glasses would be able to tell that he's lost 3 pounds. Bloody hell. Apparently my arguing annoyed her because she laid into me about something I did in 2003. That's right, 6 years ago. Wow, talk about holding a grudge. I'm lucky she didn't blame me for the Black Death and the French Revolution. It was like being a kid all over again, with her pissed off at my dad and taking it out on me. She totally employs guerilla tactics, as in she'll yell at me over the phone while I'm at work. She knows I can't lose it at work so she goes for the jugular. Kudos to you, sneaky Madre o' mine.
I don't want to get upset with her because I know she isn't feeling well, but sometimes it's too much. So I won't call her back. I'll let Mama Oz get over her wolfiness, then maybe we can talk.

Tell Me Thursday

Aimee is, without a doubt, the cutest kitty ever. You're probably saying to yourself, "But dangerkitty, that statement reeks of bias!" To which I say, "Yeah, so?" Most people think their pets, kids, dryer lint collection is the best EVER. In this case, it just happens to be true. See?!!





All joking aside, Aimee is adorable. I adopted her and her mom, Josephine, when Aimee was 2 months old. They belonged to people who never took care of care of her so my parents and I took them in. That's right, I stole their cats. Not that they cared---Aimee had a bad case of ear mites and Josephine had a very serious chronic respiratory condition which had never been treated. She passed away when Aimee was about 6 months old.

I can't explain how much joy this cranky little furball has given me. She was there for me through heartbreak, good times, bad hair days, and everything in between. There were times when I felt the only one who cared about me was Aimee. There were other times when the only reason I kept going was Aimee. So when I go married, it seemed logical that she would come along. Geek Boy and I found a pet-friendly home to rent, and my mom said she would watch Aimee until we got settled. And I never got her back. (Cue dramatic music---this is like a telenovela!)

It sounds worse than it is. My mom loves Aimee so much that she didn't want to give her up---she's like mom's furry daughter--- so I agreed to let her stay. I see her at least 3 times a week, but I still miss her.

Even though Geek Boy and I adopted two more kitties, Buffy and Xander, Aimee will always be my furry sister.

My New Stylist

She loves to attack my hair. Aimee is a strange, strange kitty. :-)

Booking Through Thursday

We'll definitely be celebrating the 23rd at Chez Kitty since Geek Boy is a Sci-Fi writer himself. He wrote a book called "Camberaxe ". It's self-published and while it isn't exactly flying off store shelves---or cyber store shelves, in this case---I think it's great that he fulfilled his dream. He's had the idea for this book since he was a kiddlet and seeing it in print is really exciting. But how to celebrate? I may take the day off work and have a Sci-Fi movie marathon. Geek Boy will choose stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, and 2001. I will have to go with Devil Girl from Mars, The Blob, and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Maybe I can make some flying saucer cupcakes or Klingon Nachos. Or maybe I can sit down and read Camberaxe. That sounds like it might be fun.

Tell Me Thursday

This picture was taken at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, CA. For an amateur gardener like me it's heaven. Although I think I'm being too generous by calling myself any kind of "gardener". It's more like She Who Manages Not to Kill A Few Plants. Crappy gardening skills aside, I love the Arboretum. There are different gardens, each dedicated to a certain family of plants--roses, citrus trees, herbs, and so on. While a trip to see plants may not be a big deal to some, it is for me. See, Geek Boy is not an outdoors type person. He dislikes dirt, bees---nature as a whole, I guess--so much that I call him "Monk". The only reason he agreed to go was that he needed some pictures for a project he was working on. Anyway, even he couldn't deny the coolness of this:




This is the house used on the tv show "Fantasy Island", starring Ricardo Montablan ("KAAAAAAAHN!" Sorry, I had to!) as Mr. Rourke.

And all of Geek Boy's complaining was worth it just to be able to say "De plane, Boss, de plane!"

Wordless Wednesday

What do you see in the clouds?

Booking Through Thursday--Niche

When I was single, one of the ways I would impress guys was via their stomach. I'm not sure why, but men seemed to be impressed by my cooking skils. Never mind that I never actually cooked for them. Foolish mortals. I used my knowledge of Clint Eastwood movies and cars as ice breakers. Somewhere in the conversation I would would mention that I love to cook and proceed to describe some culinary delight. If he was a Vegan, I would mention something from Juliano's Raw, The UnCook Book. If he had a sweet tooth I would casually throw in something from The Cake Doctor's book. My trump card however, was the copy of 1000 Jewish Recipes given to me by Mom. Home cooked food at it's finest. All this stuff is stored in my head because I read
cook books the way teenage girls read the Twilight books. I have quite the collection of them, most of which I've read back to back.

I suppose the knowledge isn't completely useless. I'm a good cook with tons of receipes just sitting there, waiting to be used. Ironically, my husband will not try the majority of them.

Tell Me Thursday

Jeremy is a 16 month old Golden Retriever who was rescued by my parents. After he was hit by a car, his former owners left him to lay in the yard without any medical attention. My dad would check on Jeremy and eventually convinced his owner to give him up. Originally, the idea was to foster him until he was well enough to be adopted but somehow I don't think that is going to happen. It looks like Jeremy has found his forever home.

Wordless Wednesday---Thursday Edition

Jeremy is my BFF.

Wordless Wednesday

I wish it were always sunny...