79/365 Marcello

Like most kitties, Marcello likes to be up high.

12/365 Handsome Kitty

One thing I love about going to Annapolis on Wednesday nights for rehearsal is getting to see my old roommate.  And occasionally, the kitty cats.  Here Marcello finally decided to pose a bit for me...and let a bit of his personality shine through the camera.  Alfi was a bit camera-shy, though.  I miss them.

Holy Smokes...It's October!

I love October.  But this year...it's a little frightening!  Simply because we have hit the under 2 months 'til the wedding mark.  Yikes!  Sorry for falling off the 365 wagon.  I had some pictures on my camera...but lost the USB cord to link it to my computer.  Still searching for that...

Anyway, here's a brief little numerical update on what's going on in my life.

Days until I'm no longer single: 50
Wedding tasks completed: 119
Wedding tasks left to complete: 92
Mini-moon facts left to ponder: 51
Concerts to sing this year: 3
Pieces of furniture to move to Baltimore: 14
Boxes to pack: ~20
People who have RSVP'ed YES: 60
Days I exercised in September: 23
Roommates I will miss: 1
Kitties I love: 2
Doggies I will soon adopt: 2
Houses I currently "live" in: 2
Hours until I see my fiance again: 24
Temperature I desire on Nov 20th: 55
Husbands I want to acquire: 1
Daily cups of coffee: 3 (Yikes...used to be 1)

17/365

Marcello wants to help us make Limoncello!

Alfi's Great Adventure

Hi Friends!  Remember me?  Alfio, the Christmas Kitty? No?  Well, I guess that means you haven't visited the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls often enough.  I am usually underfoot there, especially if there is food around.  Anyway, I hijacked one of my mommies' MacBooks so that I could hop on here and tell you all about my exciting evening last night!

There were a bunch of loud women at the house singing until about 9:00 PM.  They said something about "rehearsing" for Page's wedding.  I know not of what they speak...but my brother does not like the loud music and hangs out in the basement when they are around.  I like to know what is going on with everyone, so I stayed upstairs.  Around 11 PM, most all of the women had left.  I'm kind of known as the scaredy cat of the house, so my brother is always surprised that I stay upstairs when so many loud humans are around.  He even double-dog dared me to go OUTSIDE!  He kept meowing "fraidy-cat, fraidy-cat Alfi!"  I got sooooo mad that I surrepticiously slipped out the door when one of the women was leaving!  I figured someone would notice and come running after me...and then my brother would know I'm not a fraidy-cat!

But, no one seemed to notice I was gone!  I sat on the steps for a minute or so, but when all the humans were gone I scooted under the steps of the deck.  I was so scared that I didn't know what to do.  I heard my mommies and my Aunt Lish talking somewhere, but they were really into some serious conversation and I didn't want to interrupt them.  I meowed quietly a few times, but they didn't hear me.  After they went inside, all was quiet for awhile.  I thought I heard my mommies calling my name inside, but I wasn't sure.  Then, they were calling my name outside!  I wanted to come out, but I was so scared that I stayed where I was.  I was also kind of embarrassed...hiding under the deck steps for 2 hours while everyone is calling me and looking for me does sort of make me a fraidy-cat like Marcello said!

Anyway, I heard my mommies (quite upset at this point) talk about getting in the car and driving around the neighborhood.  I didn't want them to go to that much trouble, so when Page came outside to wait for Mo, I tried to meow as loud as I could.  My normally loud meow sounded almost as loud as a newborn kitten's.  I tried again.  Page came a little closer and put her foot on the step where I was.  I hissed at her, not knowing what else to do.  She called Mo over, and said she had either found a cat or a raccoon.  Since they were missing a cat...she decided it must be me.  After shining the flashlight under the deck, they both realized it was, in fact, Me.  They sounded so relieved.  But I was still kind of scared and embarrassed and didn't want to come out. 

Then, they put down some of my hard food.  I came out a little bit and ate some, but when Mo tried to grab me, I ran back under the deck.  Then, out came some soft food.  I was beginning to like this game!  But again, they tried to grab me and I ran back under.  Then, stupid humans, they brought my brother out!  I watched him eating the food, looking at me and saying "Nanny nanny boo boo!"  I got so mad, I decided to come out and eat some food, too!  But my mommies tried to grab me again!  They were starting to sound frustrated at me.  Finally, I went to the other side of the stairs, jumped up on the deck, and waited for someone to open the door.  I sauntered in while my mommies and brother just looked at me incredulously.

Whew!  I was glad to be back inside!  Even though I was mad at my brother,  I snuggled up to him and slept beside him all night long!  When the thunder and lightning started this morning, I was really glad that my mommies love me and stayed up until 1 AM looking for me and trying to get me back in the house!

Thanks for listening to my story!  Since I missed out on some sleep last night, I think it's time for my nap...

57/365 Cat Sitting

This is Koba, the cat who I was taking care of this weekend.  She does not like me very much...but doesn't she look like a princess perched on the pillow here?

46/365 Ready

 

Think he is ready for potty training?  I'm tired of scooping the litter...

39/365 Marcello wonders...

...why I've been in the house for the past 72 hours...

38/365 Snowed in...with company

The kitty boys...Alfio and Marcello.  They love the sun, a warm blanket, and each other!

37/365 Norwegian Forest Cats, Perhaps?

My bedroom window is clearly the best vantage point for watching the snow.  Marcello ran out the front door in the snow earlier.  Thankfully I grabbed him before he got too far out (in my bare feet!) It didn't phase him.  I think he definitely has some Norwegian Forest Cat in him...

35/365 Here comes the snow

Marcello and I are ready in case the power goes out during Snowpocalypse '10!

24/365 Bad Kitty

Here is Marcello where he is not supposed to be.  On the sink.  Although...I can't blame him too much.  On Sunday I made him endure 2 hours of cooking fish stock for Boullabaise.  It smelled great, and both he and Alfi spent the afternoon running around like crazy kitties trying to find the fish.  I think that is why he is looking in the sink in this blurry photo.

17/365 Marcello in the Washer

He does this often...

3/365

Tonight's dinner was Boeuf Bourguinon a la Julia Child.  The kitty cats wanted some for sure.  But eventually, they ended up sacked out on the kitchen chairs waiting for their share!

Twin kitties on the twin chairs!  Hoping they will get a bit of creme brulee....

New Addition to the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls...Meet Alfio!

Last Friday, my roommate came home with a surprise.  Another cat!  And not just another cat, but Marcello's biological brother!  When we picked Marcello out, he and his brother were the last ones in the litter.  Both of them were so cute, I figured the other would get adopted at some point.  But his brother never did.  I hated thinking that he was going un-adopted, but I knew I couldn't afford another cat.  So...Maureen adopted him instead!  It took Marcello a few days to get used to him, and Alfio was a bit scared the first few days, but now they are inseparable.  I even woke up last night to both of them sleeping at the foot of my bed on either side of me.  So sweet!

Here are a few photos my roommate took of them:

Alfio, the new addition

Sometimes, they look like twins!

This should be our Christmas card

The kitteh bonding has begun!

While a bit crazier, it is so fun having two kitties, especially since they seem to enjoy each others' company so much!

Morning Energy

It's a shame that I don't have the discipline to get up earlier than absolutely necessary to get to work semi on time in the morning. After noticing an interesting phenomenon in terms of my energy levels, I've decided to call myself a "mid-morning" person. I'm not a full-fledged morning person since I don't hop out of bed all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but after an hour or so of being up and caffeinated, I get this rush of energy to get stuff accomplished around the house. Unfortunately, this burst of energy typically occurs when I'm in the car on the way to work. I can't even jot down the tasks I've remembered I need to do at the house. By the time I get home, I feel like I've been beat down, and have no energy to do much of anything. I struggle to complete simple tasks like make and eat dinner, or even pick up my room.

Marcello, on the other hand, is an evening kitty. He gets riled up between 9 and 10 each night and flies around the house in what is sometimes a tornado of destruction. We've dubbed it "Kitty Arsenic Hour". Except he's not tired and hungry like the kids' arsenic hour. Just crazy. He did crash hard on my lap at the end of arsenic hour last night, but typically he'll go crazy until we put him to bed. When he's not being destructive (knocking over plants, jumping on counters, etc) it's pretty funny.

Seems like we need to teach Marcello to accomplish tasks around the house while we are gone, and pre-arsenic hour. He's obsessed with the Swiffer, but I doubt he'll actually clean with it. Oh well. :)

Marcello is a Kitten Who lives in Our House

Since we are determined that Marcello is going to be a musical cat, Maureen and I sing to him when we are cuddling with him. It's usually anything from lullabies to made up songs (like the one in the title. The strange thing is that I can't get the song I made up out of my head. Every time I see him, I sing to myself "Marcello is a kitten who lives in our house". And he is. But I feel quite silly wandering around with a made-up song in my head. Here are a few cute pictures of Marcello for your viewing enjoyment:

I bought him a tunnel (along with the fancy "Kitty City")

Keeping cool while I get ready in the morning

Helping me pack my crate for the triathlon

Speaking of the tri, it was yesterday. I finished...2 minutes slower than last year, but I finished. It seemed much harder this year, maybe I didn't train as well? I'll have a full report over on my running blog complete with pictures hopefully sometime this week.

Other than that, things are pretty normal in my world. Hopefully they will somewhat stay that way, but who knows?

Where Has the Time Gone?

It's crazy to me that this summer is almost over. It seems like it was just Memorial Day, and now we're 2 weeks away from my Labor Day venture up to Maine. It's been a busier summer than I expected, but a good one as well. Chorus rehearsals start up again next week. What else is going on with me? Here's a quick rundown:

• Triathlon- The Iron Girl triathlon is this Sunday, and I'm a bit nervous. Last year I was nervous because it was my first try at a tri (ha ha!), and I had no idea if I would finish. I actually blew away my own expectations! This year, I think I started training a bit early, and have been burned out for the past month. I was up to way over the distances for the swim, bike, and run back in June. I've been hovering just under that now since July. So, I'm a little afraid that I'll do worse than last year since I didn't have my pre-triathlon Maine vacation to swim in the freezing open water lake and bike the almost-mountainous Acadia Park Loop. Oh well, it is what it is!
• After I finish triathlon training, I'll be going back to strictly running in preparation for the Goofy Challenge (the crazy 1/2 marathon one day, full marathon the next shindig I signed up for at Disney). I have every intent of diligently updating my running blog during this training, but we all know how that usually goes.
• I'm going back to my roots a bit in the chorus. For a couple of the pieces we are singing this year, I'll be singing alto. It's definitely exciting for me- while alto is more challenging musically, it doesn't stretch me as much vocally. Plus, it can be much more fun to sing harmony occasionally!
• Marcello the kitten is doing well. Other than his crazy kitty arsenic hour antics and jumping up on the counters where he doesn't belong, we are loving every minute with him.
• Next week is the 1st anniversary of J and I's first date. That is just weird to me...seems like the time has flown. I laugh when I look back at the date I didn't think was really a date...and at how long it took for me to figure out how I felt about him!

So that's the update on me...nothing ridiculously exciting, but life is definitely rocking along!

Relaxing Evening

Last night, I ended up having my first completely "free" night in awhile. No rehearsal, meeting, exercise, happy hour, dinner plan, or show. As much as I love those things and having evening plans...it was nice to just come home and do a lot of nothing. So what does nothing look like for me?

Well, last night, I helped my roomie cook dinner (salmon, rice, swiss chard, white burgundy wine), played with Marcello (I had every intention of snuggling with him all evening, but he had other ideas), and had my first Skype experience. J is still in Florida with his family, and his sister is a big Skype fan (living in France and all), so we had a Skype call. I had to load it on my roommate's MacBook (my old computer has no video), but finally had success! So, anyone who wants to Skype with me when I get my MacBook in the fall (ahem...cousin Jeff in Madrid??), just let me know.

I do have a couple of funny photos of Marcello that Maureen took on Sunday evening. We were making fajitas and drinking Corona Light...and Marcello apparently wanted in!




Don't report us to PETA...he didn't actually drink any, although I had a hard time getting the bottle away from him!

Back From Jacksonville

Last week I trepidatiously got in the car with J and drove to Jacksonville to meet his parents and siblings. All 4 of his siblings. Including his sister from France. And most of their spouses and kids. It was wild! And fun! Ok, so I was kinda excited...not really "trepidatious" at all. Being an only child, I've always thought it would be fun to be a part of a large family as an adult. While things were somewhat chaotic (imagine hyper dogs, tender-hearted children, many independent, headstrong folk...and you get the picture), it was still a lot of fun. One of my favorite moments of the visit was the family dinner in a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. The kids went down to walk on the beach at one point, and the youngest boy got his pants sandy and wet in the ocean. I looked down and saw him running around with just his shirt on...giggling, perfectly content, and totally enjoying himself. That memory definitely makes me smile!

On the home front, we officially named the kitten Marcello. It's from La Boheme, and seems to fit his personality. His nickname will likely be "Cello". He seems to like it, so it stuck. Marcello in Boheme is a bit of a ladies' man, and since our Marcello is cuddly and the only male in the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls, I think it's appropriate. :)

This week I need to get back into tri-training routine...only 3 weeks or so of training left! I think I'm ready to at least finish the race, but my goal is to improve last year's time by 7 minutes. We'll see...