Tables Are For Glasses...And a Blogging Break!

This afternoon, I'm driving from Pennsylvania back to New York (with a hopefully non-peeing cat). At 2:30am, Fiance and I are getting in a cab (NOT the railroad to the Airtrain, thank goodness) to JFK and at 5:00am we will take off and head to one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. With two of my most favorite people. And I will be sure to take lots of silly photos of myself, Fiance and said people, like the photo above from our trip three years ago.

For now though, I'll leave you with this photo snapped my my sister last night.

"Tables are for glasses, not for (cat) asses." I swear, I can't take this cat anywhere. Also, sister refuses to pick Dilly up, so when she gets on the table, she can't even take her off...she can only laugh hysterically and take a picture (did I mention we've never had a real pet before?).

Merry Christmas to YOU

Hello there!

This Christmas was a little bit mopey around our parts, but we sure did try to do it up right (my Mom and Dad especially) and I think that all in all, we're making it through just fine. Better than fine, I'd wager.

After an evening of fried shrimp in Brooklyn last night and present opening and breakfast this morning, we're waiting for our company to arrive. Dilly is in cat jail (read: my bedroom) because my Mom's allergies went nutso on Friday afternoon. My Dad is slicing cheese and dried sausage like its his job, and I'm sitting at the kitchen table playing with probably my favorite gift...my 2012 planner. And by playing I mean filling it out with the new Sharpie pens that Santa got me for this very purpose! That Santa man, he sure knows what's up.


I hope that you're Christmas is both merry and bright! I know ours is.

Seriously the best planner ever.

Bull Riding at Madison Square Garden?

Last night, I received an email from a friend of mine from college. Well, kind of from college but that's another story. Anyway, the email included the following lines:

"Howdy y'all,
Bull riding is in town again at MSG, January 6th. Let me know if you
are in and I'll get the tickets on Monday".

I was more than confused, so I typed out this response from my crappy Android phone (MAY UPGRADE WHERE ARE YOU?):

"Dearest (insert name here to maintain friend's anonymity to blog-o-sphere),

I'm sorry but I'm not quite sure I understand. Do you mean, "There will be a mechanical bull in MSG that we can ride (while drinking beer, I'm assuming?)"? Or do you mean "There will be real live bulls for you to ride at MSG"? OR do you mean that "Professionals will be riding bulls in MSG for our entertainment" (ie: do you mean a rodeo?)?

Sincerely,
Catherine

PS: What do you mean be "again"? Do you and your friends partake in this activity annually?"

I was real confused until said friend replied with this information:

"It is the third option, professionals riding real bulls. It's called PBR. They hate when you call it the rodeo. Haha...It's a great time".

OK seriously. They get upset if you call it the rodeo. I didn't really believe him (not that he's a dishonest guy) until I just Googled "Bull riding at Madison Square Garden". TELL ME that these photos do not look like IT IS THE RODEO?

Unfortunately, I will not be attending this year as I already have dinner plans for the 6th. But Professional Bull Riding 2013, I will be there.

New Years Resolutions 2012

Fiance and I are leaving for Puerto Rico at 5am the morning of the 27th and we'll be away (with no internet) until the 2nd. Since I'll be away for the start of 2012 I figured I'd share my New Years Resolutions with all of you now!

1. Wear pants as little as possible. This is the fourth or fifth year that this has been my resolution and I love it every year. I ummm just don't like pants. So (in the comfort of my own home) I don't wear them! I really think everyone should adopt this resolution...its awesome unless there are guests in the home (then it can get awkward) or its a very cold winter night.

2. Read 100 books.

I've read 30 since my graduation in May, so 100 may be a big leap, but I figure its worth a shot. Top on my list for 2012? Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty, anything Jonathan Tropper, Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross and David Wallace Forster's unfinished novel The Pale King. I'm thinking a review of each book here will be a good motivator!

3. Crochet more.

I would like to finally figure out how to make granny squares to make a big living room blanket for me and Fiance. And I'd like to make at least 100 7"x9" squares for Warm Up America to mail to them in December.

So, lets review. No pants, read 100 books, crochet more. I basically could have resolved to "be an 85 years old woman". SO I present to you: Resolution #4...

4. PLAN OUR WEDDING. This is the biggie of 2012. Step one: pick a venue and a date. Step two: plan everything else...colors, flowers, cake, tuxes and the most important question I have thus far: balloons on the ceiling? Tacky? Or awesome? We are getting married and 2012 is hereafter known as The Year of Planning.

What are your New Years Resolutions? I'd love to hear them, and if you include a picture and/or a blurb about yourself, I'd love to include them here! Happy 2012!

True Life: My Cat Wet the Cat Bed

On the day we adopted Dilly, we drove her home from Brooklyn in a carrier Fiance had ordered from Amazon (its awesome and has a strap that you can attach to the seatbelt so that they are safe!). She was a d-r-e-a-m in the car. I even thought she may have enjoyed it.

Fast forward to every time we have taken her on a trip post September...she cries the entire way. When Fiance took her to Albany for Thanksgiving, he bought her a pheromone collar which, according to every cat blog on the internet, should have calmed her down. It did not and she cried for four whole hours each way (granted, she was laying down and dozing, too so I'm not sure that it was too traumatic).

Yesterday in the car, we hit a new milestone in kitty mama-hood...she peed in her cat bed, which was in her (very safe) cat carrier. Traumatic? You betcha.

She was whiny most of the way and then around New Jersey, started digging at the bottom of her carrier. I should have realized that she had to tinkle, but alas I kept driving and she kept meowing/digging.

We arrived at my parents' house and I picked her up out of her carrier and BAM wet butt, wet cat bed, PEE ON MY HANDS.

Up to my parents bathroom she went to be wiped down with baby wipes and sprayed with a bottle of water. She was a pretty good sport about it. And my mom even washed her cat bed in the washing machine (thanks, Mom/cat Nanny)!

Then, because her entire belly and her bottom half was wet, I wrapped her up like baby Jesus and snuggled her until she was calmed down. How much does it look like she loves to snuggle (the answer in this picture is ummm not at all).

What I'm Driving Home To!

This morning, I'm driving home to my parents' house for Christmas. This week (all two days of it) at work were a little nuts, and I am beyond thrilled to be loading up my car, strapping Dilly into her cat carrier and spending a few days at home. I'm even MORE excited to be going home to Christmas decorations!

Fiance and I don't have a stitch of Christmas decorations this year (unless you count Dilly's Santa hat and beard). I'm not really sure what happened. By the time we realized that we wanted decorations, it was already last weekend and by that point it seemed like a waste of time. But no such waste of time seems to exist at my parents house. Excitement!

Reasons to Love New York Right Now

Last night I arrived home to my copy of New York Magazine's Annual "Reasons to Love New York Right Now" edition. This year's is great and includes goodies like "Louis and John finally get hitched after 64 years together," "Alec Baldwin Wants to be Mayor," and "Our Governor is Effective."

As I was laying in bed reading (with Dilly on my belly...really hindering effective reading) I started thinking about all the reasons I love New York. The last time I lived here (two years ago to attend grad school part one) I was pretty cranky about basically everything. The parking. The subway. My commute. The people on the street. In retrospect, I think I was just generally surrounded by a cloud of malaise that year, because I find myself liking New York more and more every day this time around. Do I want to raise a baby in the East Village? Hell no. But that doesn't mean I can't see the good (and the funny) that this city has to offer.

So behold! A weekly feature on this blog...Reasons to Love New York Right Now!

Reasons to Love New York Right Now Week One: Last night in Penn Station I saw a woman bird calling to her man friend across the station. Seriously. There I was, waiting for my train minding my own business when a woman runs past me and into the little tunnel that leads to the A C E. All of a sudden, she pokes her head around the corner, puts her hands to her mouth like you would do when you shout, and she...whistles. And I don't mean like you would do at a baseball game or to hail a cab or what you would do when a hottie walks past you. I mean she whistled like a bird. And she made a strange Snow White like face and then BAM she was gone behind the corner of the tunnel.

About 40 feet away, a man was looking around as though he had heard the whistle. I need you to know that it was not quiet in Penn Station last night. The Salvation Army woman with the bell brought a boom box with her yesterday that was blasting holiday tunes. And there seemed to be 9 million people with rolling suitcases (and we all know how I feel about those). Despite the insanity provoking noise this man had heard the crazy bird whistle and was spinning around trying to decipher where it came from. And then? BAM crazy bird lady emerges from corner and whistles AGAIN. And again the man is spinning around in the circle looking confused. This went on for I kid you not almost ten minutes. Every time I wanted to yell "HEY MISTER, she's over here!" but I didn't want to ruin the magic of whatever the hell this was. So I didn't. Then my train came, and I ran down the steps to the platform with a lot of other crazy commuters. Did these people know each other? Were they in love? Were they on a strange bird calling, nature loving blind date? Or were they just two crazies? I don't think I will ever know.

But I do know, that this week's Reasons to Love New York Right Now was brought to you by the crazy bird people in Penn Station. Happy Holidays to them!

Kitties Really Do Love Yarn

Last night, fiance and I ate tacos for dinner and then resumed our positions on the couch to finish episodes 16-22 of How I Met Your Mother's 6th season (we watched 1-16 yesterday). I really had to get a move on a blanket that I'm making so I grabbed my needle and yarn and resumed my stitches...for about six seconds until Dilly realized what was happening, jumped up next to me on the couch, and went to town on my yarn. Wholly unhelpful for crocheting.

Luckily, Dilly is still recovering from her eye infection slash is the still the laziest cat ever so her interest didn't last long. Just long enough to make me lose interest in crocheting and prove that cats do in fact love yarn.

PS: In an attempt to be a super duper proactive blogger, I wrote this post last night at about 10pm with the intention of publishing it this morning. Last night after I lost interest in crocheting, I put my yarn on the table (next to a half full glass of Crystal Light), picked Dilly up, and went to bed. At 4:00am, Fiance and I woke up to a bang. Dilly was not on the bed. We went downstairs to see what had happened and surprise! Her love for yarn was thus proven again. Dilly (in her still recovering state) had jumped on the table and knocked the glass (and its contents) to the ground in an attempt to play with the yarn that is attached to the blanket. Fiance and I mopped the floor at 4:30am, which in case you were wondering is way too early to do any chores...let alone one that requires a bucket.

I've Added My Blog to Bloglovin! Follow Me Please, Duh!

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Hello There, Hello There, Hello There!

Hello there and welcome to my first blog post!

The next few weeks will be relatively low-key here on Ummm Now What, while I figure out if I can maintain this thing. The next 10 days include a work potluck (for which I will be baking today), two crazy days of meetings, and then winter vacation, Christmas Eve and Day and a flight to Puerto Rico for New Years.

Please keep the expectations low while I attempt to perfect my Blogger skills and regain my writing, typing fingers. And now, I'm off to take a shower and make a grocery store run for cookie baking later this evening. Fiance and I are also going to attempt to figure out why Dilly's eye is still dilated after the vet dilated it more than 24 hours ago. She is a grouchy kitty! Happy Sunday!