Some Merry Pictures

And now I offer you a merry Post-Christmas. Hope yours was merry and bright!

John and I started the day around 8 with a breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon buns. Then we gave Hammy his presents. By Wednesday night he was feeling pretty much back to his old self, so he was able to enjoy his new toys very much! He absolutely goes bonkers for his new fishing pole game, which has feathers, crinkly strips, and a sparkly ball on the end. We gave that to him first, so he basically wanted nothing to do with his laser pointer, knit mousy, or catnip mice. haha Later, though, he was able to check everything out.

Iz okay, guys...

dinner's on me.

Here, Hamlet checks out his new fishing game...I especially love when he stands like a human. Oh so cute!

Aside from Kitten, we hoomins had a very nice holiday, too. I gave John an MP3 player, a movie, and a handful of little stocking stuffers. MAYBE he'll pop on later and write about it. MAYBE... As for me, I got two movies and this:

Always a good sign!

Ta daaaa!

After gifts here, we watched the Disney parade and then went our respective ways. I got some pretty sweet loot from the rents, too! And Mom, Dad, and Kev seemed to like their presents, so everyone was happy. Then I went and visited Tara for a bit, which is always a treat. : ) We stared at Sangha and tried to lure himout from under the tree with gifts of shoelaces, but he was having none of our games. He did come out long enough to be straddled and forced into a Santa hat and beard...amazing. Simply amazing! You'll have to see Tara's blog for those pics, though. (Stay tuned!) You can imagine that after that he was completely humiliated, and so he squished his not-so-little body sa far back under the tree as he could, and there he remained. God, I love that kitty! We're in the process of arranging a kitty playdate between Hamlet and cousin Sangha...that will be pure magic! I've obvioulsy only seen Hamlet interact with other cats by way of mewing in the shelter, and I don't know that Sangha has ever had real contact with any other four-legged creatures. So it'll be an interesting experiment if nothing else!

And I don't have any pics from Xmas Eve in Edison, but we got spoiled there, too, with presents, good food, and lots of laughs (as always). I was so glad to finally be part of the Xmas Eve fiesta. It was just nice to relax with everyone. Now to start planning our New Year's Eve!

I will leave you with this, Hamlet's very first interaction with Thing in a Bag, his present from dear Aunt Tara...

Merry Christmas Eve!

Wishing you a merry Christmas from me, John, and Hamlet!

We wanted to do a cute family photo, but Hammy's been a bit of a recluse since he's still recovering. We can't wait to give him his presents tomorrow, though.

In other kitten news, he's healing up quite well. We gave him back his toys today so he can start getting back into his active lifestyle. He'll have to re-learn how to grab his toys, I suppose, but for now he's content to watch us flail his mousy through the air like lunatics. If only I could read his thoughts...

Well that's all. I just wanted to check in and let you know we're all doing well. This evening we'll be in Edison at John's aunt and uncle's for fun festivities, then tomorrow will be a nice brekky, presents and Disney parade, then we'll go our separate ways for MORE presents.

Have a merry!

Hamlet, sans Claws

So my Hammy kitten came home from the hospital today after staying overnight for his declaw surgery. Ugh, I cried all morning yesterday when we dropped him off...putting him in his carrier is probably just as emotionally traumatic for me as it is for him. He cries and it's like a knife in my heart. But all the staff at Banfield is very nice, and they are all smitten with my cutie, so I know he was in good hands. All the same, I know declawing is horrible, and all day yesterday I regretted it. Then I came home today and say his little hands, all matted with surgical glue (instead of stitches, which I feel is better)...I just burst into tears and buried my face in his fuzzy little tummy. He gave me a quick kiss, then decided it was a little too much closeness, and rolled over.

He seems to be feeling okay, though. He's eating and drinking normally, if not a little more than normally. He's very sleepy and groggy and will have to take medicines for a while, but he still looks at me with those big eyes and even purred quite profusely when I was petting him earlier. If I can still turn on the purr machine, I think we'll be just fine.

I'm just really really really stressed about him licking and nibbling at his wounds. The vet (and all the literature they sent home) says that it is normal, as long as he doesn't do in incessantly and obsessively. But now I'm the one obsessing...how much constitutes "excessive"? Ugh! If anyone reads this and can give advice, please do! I feel a call to Tara will come as soon as my free minutes kick in...I'm trying not to be an overprotective mommy, but how can I not? Ugh. Right now he is curled up in his bed snoozing away. I hope I'll be able to get some sleep tonight. I feel like I need to watch him every second lest he should hurt himself...I don't want him to reopen anything.

In other news, we had quite the wintry weather today. Nothing accumulated, and it was worse in Princeton where I work, but around noon it was really icy and awful. I hope the weather the rest of the weekend will begood enough for travel...TDangerous is supposed to come over tomorrow, and Mom is supposed to come up Sunday for shopping and hanging out.

Well, more to come as the saga continues. Everyone think happy thoughts for Hamlet tonight. : )

Tagged!

A three-post evening! You, my readers, have hit the jackpot! haha

This one is compliments of Tara, as brought to her by Ashley.

Rule One: I have to grab one of the books closest to me, go to page 56, type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.

Rule Two: I have to pick five people who love books and who could receive the Bookworm award with honor.

(Not that you can tell, but insert a time lapse here...I was grabbing the nearest book, and knocked over a plant. So I had chase Hamlet away from the new playground, the vacuum.)

I now commence the game...

"...had set down the palace
for this prince and this princess."

And that's all I can play cuz there are only six lines on page 56 of Ruth Stone's Ordinary Words.

: ) But I will share my favorite of her poems with you now, in its entirety:

Earthquake
from Ordinary Words

The moon rises as Shizu rises from her couch,
still in the shadow of her husband
who puts her to work early at his vegetable stand.
The mountains take the light.
Her calligraphy, the dark brush stroke
with which she frees herself,
lies in loose sheets on her drawing table.
The tide recedes, the tectonic plates
grind into the flesh of the peninsula.
She is one grain of sand
in the rippling ground swell;
a fan opening and closing.



That last line gets me every time.

So I will now tag:
John
Mom
Vera
Rachel
Donna

Follow the rules above. If you don't have a blog, email me your page 56. : )

I Owe you More Pics...

So here they are! I will start with the cuteness of my kitten:

Chia Milk...? When your dairy sprouts a kitteh, methinks it's past its prime.

Hammy makes his baby face...the cuter the face, the greater the crime...

Now here are some pics from my office holiday gala...

Nathalie and I at cocktail hour. Nom.

The hottest double-stuff Oreo ever...Johanna, me, David, and Nathalie. : )

And lastly, Fishmas!

More to come!

Snow, and the Philosophy of Selecting a Seat on Public Transportation

Hello, and happy winter weather advisory! I had to clear about a half an inch of snow off my car before leaving work this evening. ::sigh:: So happy. Just call me Loralie Gilmore.

In other events, John and I went to Fishmas at the Adventure Aquarium this past weekend...so fun! The aquarium did a lot of renovations to old exhibits and added some new ones. It seems that we will never get bored of the AA. What was really nice was that we took the RiverLine right from Btown, and it dropped us off at the Aquarium parking lot. When spring comes, we'll take the RL to some Riversharks games, too! Score!

On the way to the aquarium, though, I started thinking about something I overheard on train to the Rangers game Thanksgiving weekend. A man and his son got on the (awesome double-decker!) train and asked, "So where do you want to sit? Do you wanna see where you're going, or where you've been?" He was obviously talking about the seats facing the front of the train or facing the back, but the implication is interestisng. One of those unconscious expressions of character. I gravitate toward the seats facing the back of the train - where I've been - because it is different. I don't drive my car facing out the back window (and I hope no one else does!). I guess to me, it's a gesture of ease and surrender, of putting faith in driver by not looking out the windows to see what's coming next. I'm just along for the ride. But when I heard that man ask his son what he wanted to "see," I thought, "Do I sit here because I get stuck in what was?" And maybe I do, partially. But I also think part of that philosophy is also enjoying examinging the past with respect to the present and using it to look ahead to the future. Do people who sit facing forward disregard the past and focus on what's ahead? That might be their main tendency, but the past is always there...even if it's just in the next train car. Anyway, I'm probably overanalyzing this, but I've been mulling it over since, and now toss it to you for pondering and feedback. Where do you like to sit, and what do you think it says about you?

In lighter news, our holiday decorating here is finished, and we are enjoying thr tree and other festive touches. While we wait for our PartyLite goodies to arrive, we have Yankee Candle Balsam and Cedar burning (though I also recommend the new Sparkling Pine). The bathroom and back of the apartment smell especially wonderful.

I've gotten almost all my shopping done, and will do the rest next weekend when Mom comes for a visit. We're totally gonna hit up Red Robin. I just recently experienced the magic, and after years of seeing their commercials without being certain they actually existed (there are NONE in that area), Mom and I will be chowing on some amazingly yummy burgers. Last time I had the Shroom and Swiss burger...oh, heaven on a bun!

Anywho, that's what's been up with me lately. I hope to check back in more regularly. In the meantime, I hope you're having a great holiday season, and you're thinking about all the goodies you'll find under the tree (or under the menorah...?). I know I am!

I Owe you Pics

So here they are. First, Xmas in our apartment:

Dining room table.


Reading nook (and stockings!).

Our tree. So cute!

Dining room windows.

Stairwell.

Pics from my office party still to come. Stay tuned!

Tireddddddddddd

Sorry once again for my prolonged absense. This week was a little hectic. But we did manage to get about all of our holiday decorating finished. It looks so pretty and festive. I'll post photos at a later date. I'm too wiped out to fight with formatting right now. haha

Friday night John and I went to my company Christmas gala at the Heldrich in New Brunswick. The hotel was gorgeous, and the shindig was pretty swanky. We met up with my friend, Nathalie, and her boyfriend, and then a few other pals. It was good freakin times.

Saturday we went to Somers Point and helped Lisa pack up and paint before she moves to PA for an assistant editor position with a scifi publishing company.

Today I had some friends over for a PartyLite demonstration, which was great, but I'm totally wiped out now from cleaning all day and just generally being on the go go go! All worth it, though. I love having company. Plus, everyone did an awesome job of spending money cuz I got to go on a $200 shopping spree with the hostess rewards I got. Sa-weeeeeeeet! Got some gift shopping done with that in addition to getting lots and lots of stuff for myself.

Tomorrow is back to reality, boo. It's a pay week, though, and my first paycheck! Word!

Well that's about all for now. John is cooking dinner, and I'm gonna go watch The Wedding Singer on TV for a bit.

Pics to come!