Middle Child Syndrome, 2.0

Well, well, well. If it isn't that time of year again...

In the past few days I have found myself giving my Thanksgiving-middle child rant to a lot of people. Last night when I watched Brittany decorate her black christmas tree, the line was drawn. While her tree is extremely bad ass, IT ISN'T TIME FOR IT YET. Shame on you, shame on all of you who are even thinking of decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

In leu of writing yet another rant, I'm just going to refrence you back to a post I wrote last year.

Here's the jist:

"Do you know how badly Thanksgivings feelings have been hurt? I mean, he's the middle child which is hard enough for anybody, but then theres all the other things. No one puts out thanksgiving deorations, or gives thanksgiving presents or thanksgiving candy to children in thanksgiving cotumes. Thanksgiving really has only got two things; family and food. But, Christmas does that, too. Thanksgiving tries to stay calm about the whole situation, trying to think about all the things he greatful for. The wonderful bounty of food that is brought forth, uniting families in laughter and happiness. He even thinks he was put in the middle for a reason - to let everyone take a rest between his older and younger siblings events. Usually, this is enough to keep him from feeling like the blacksheep of the family, but recently, it's been harder and harder to keep this positive attitude, but this year? This year Chritsmas has crossed the line!Halloween excitment grew for a month. Houses were decorated, parties were thrown. Thanksgiving waited paitinently and now it's his month. Christmas, you're already the prettiest and most adored holiday, so just back off for a few weeks! Your time will come, it always does!
How would you like it if we started sending valentines and dying easter eggs in december?
Didn't think so."

So please, be good for goodness sakes. Give Thanksgiving a chance.

Potty Training Cat - FAIL!!

Ever since I learned you could potty train a cat I knew as soon as I got a new precious little feline I wouldn't waste anytime introducing her to this convenient (for me, anyway) way of life.

Cats are smart, and more importantly don't like to piss and shit anywhere that isn't where they always piss and shit. Cats are clean and understand that their droppings are not.

The basic steps I was trying to follow, based on my memory or what I had read YEARS ago went like this-

Put a pan on top of the toilet so the cat knows to get on top of the toilet to potty
Once comfortable with that, open the toilet and balance the pan on the toilet seat so the cat came become aware of boundaries with the hole.
Slowly over time begin cutting a hole at the bottom center of the pan, progressively making it larger and larger while at the same time reducing the amount of kitty litter.
Once the hole is as large as the toilet opening, remove the pan and, VOILA!
Potty trained cat.

Ok, so Admiral Pixy Dust, my dear sweet kitten, takes to jumping up on the toilet right away, and once I place it on the open toilet it's like she never knew any better.

But then I got to thinking...if I start cutting holes in the middle of the pan, its just gonna collapse on itself, not to mention the kitty litter that would fall into the toilet.

Plus, every once and a while she would topple over in the box which was always a set back.

So I looked online and found a similar solution but with a bowl.

You place a bowl in the toilet and gradually reduce the amount of kitty litter, mean while, every time you see her potty, influence her feet on to the rim of the toilet until she gets the idea. Then, slowly fill the bowl with water, remove bowl and, VOILA!
Potty trained cat.

This has failed.
Not for a lack of trying. Or ability on Pixies behalf.

It is, and believe me when I say this, impossible to find a bowl that is both the EXACT size of your toilet and sturdy enough to hold a cat. I finally found a bowl that, with the use of handles over the rim, I thought would be fine. And it is fine, as long as she isn't sitting in it. Or scratching in it. Or moving too much. Because if it is then it topsides into the toilet.

Not to mention that I have never EVER caught her in the act of going to the bathroom to help show her how she should be.

So in the past few days she has, understandably, HAD. IT.
She can't take it anymore. She won't get back on the toilet. She's done. She's taking to peeing in beds, both human and dog, and pooping in the corner right next to the toilet.

So, this morning I decided that I hadn't given up but we had to start over. I thought going pack to the last successful point and reevaluating would be a good idea. So I put her pan with litter back on top of the toilet.

20 minutes ago, the thing capsized completely upside down.

I just ordered this.

By the way, all of this is 97.2% because of how amazingly lazy I am.

the other 2.8% is because of how unbelievably foul the things that come out of her butt are.

Music Appreciation 1101

Some bands I'm getting to know in a personal way and totally diggin' every minute of our blossoming love affairs-

Annuals

Parlour Steps

Cold War Kids

Some other bands that I'm still sweet on after all these years-

The Format

Damien Rice

Counting Crows

At the Maroon5/Counting Crows concert last month with one that makes all the songs in the world work harder to be unreal...even if he's making fun of my singing...

Our entire relationship has been intrinsically woven through music like a silky spider web. We met at The Format concert, he told me he loved me for the first time with the help of my favorite musical, we thrill ourselves with finding new music to share with each other. Lay in bed at night and fall asleep sharing our new joys. Endless IPod mixes, singing wrong lyrics, and oh the plans we have for our wedding! I have always been passionate about music, since I was a baby, almost obsessive. Of course now I know I was simply fine tuning my ability to construct the soundtrack for the life I had waiting for me. Searching for the right lyrics. Planning the ultimate play list.

Come what may...

Live Free, Twihard.

Hi. My name is Sarah and I'm a Twilightaholic.


I haven't been sober since I started reading them back in July, I've only been keeping it a secret from all of you out here in blog world.


It's really becoming a problem. My fiance can't stand it. They are really some god awful pieces of literature. And yet my thoughts are constantly consumed with those of the dear sweet edward cullen and all of the things I would do if I were a vampire.


I went to lunch with Brittany today and we talked about Twilight the entire time.


We talked about how all of the characters in the book suck.


We talked about how the books...um...kinda suck.


How the writing is terrible. Stop saying incredulous and nudger all the time Stepenie Meyer.


We talked about how winy and annoying Bella is.


How only someone mentally unstable wouldn't be able to move on when their high school boyfriend of like 3 months left them and then another great guy was in love her and she treats him like shit.


FUCKING RENESME. Whatever editor let Stephenie Meyer name a character RENESME needs to be fired. Black listed.


Breaking Dawn is more like a ten year old girl with no imagination wrote it then the same person who wrote Twilight.


We talked about how we can not wait for the movie to come out.
We discussed whether or not we should wear vampire fangs to the premiere. Not because of how unbelievably nerdy it is but because these vampires don't have fangs and we can't decide if its insulting or in honor.


We exchanged music that we have heard since reading the Twilight series and are convinced that it has to be about Twilight. Seriously, these bands wrote songs about Twilight whether they'll admit it or not.


We talked about how we're going to the Borders Twilght party on Saturday.






Well, it feels good to get that off of my chest.




Me on halloween...clearly i thought the fangs were a good idea, and, yes, thats a shirt with the cullen family crest on it.

YES WE DID! (sort of...)

America, I am proud of you. Proud of us.

We, the people, have officially invited this passionate, innovative, honest man to lead our country out of this funk and slump of anger resentment and divisiveness and back to a place where we can stand up and truthfully say I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!! MY COUNTRY IS THE SHIT!

I've always tried to conjure up these feelings of patriotism, and while I certainly know how lucky I am to be citizen of the USA, I have never truly had that love that my parents and grandparents have.  As long as I have had any sense of politics, proclaiming your love of America meant blindly following bad leaders, and questioning and doubting them was unpatriotic. But here we are, we've done something HUGE guys. I can feel the joy in our country, the collective sigh of relief, the more steadied and relaxed heart beat of our nation. It's palpable.

Even you, Florida. I didn't know if you would pull through - but you did...kind of. We as a very torn state chose Obama but we also chose to pass amendment 2 - which changes our constitution to specify marriage as between a man and a woman and to make sure that no other types of unions are honored in the same way.

Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida. This wouldn't have changed if amendment 2 didn't pass. But somethings got to change, right?

Big time.

We have a huge elderly population in our sunshine state, that's no secret to anyone. A lot of these people are widowed or divorced or never married but are sick, in the last chapters of their lives. A ton of these people have legal unions where in which a friend of family member is granted the same legal rights as married couples - ie hospital visits, estate rights, health insurance. 

Guess what? This is now illegal. null and void. So who will be caring for these elderly people who have friends and family but they aren't legally aloud to care for them in hospital settings or have any kind of financial restitution for their time? State appointed care workers. Which we pay for in our taxes. So, there ya go. 

Was it worth it to be certain that two people deeply devoted to each other couldn't live equally as you because of their genders?

Yet another personal letter, this time to a thief:

Dear Asshole(s) who stole my Obama sign out of my front yard,

Fuck you. We live in a democracy and I'm aloud to support candidates on my own property, and also? I paid for that sign. I can see why you might be so threatened by the measly Obama sign in our mostly white, upper class neighborhood of Carrolwood where Obama is a huge danger to your way of life. My sign is likely to persuade the thousands upon thousands of people who drive down our col-de-saq every day to suddenly change their minds and vote for Obama. Very likely. And if that happened? Holy shit! If your taxes go up to a reasonable and responsible amount instead of being cut because you make over 250,000 a year, you might just be aiding the economy and people who are worse off than you - and our country might actually get out of this shit hole cesspool we've belly flopped in to...we just wouldn't want that now, would we?

Or maybe you just didn't think my sign fit in with the rest of the decor. This is the view from my front yard. Honest to god. No joke. only my front yard.

I know these are shitty pictures, but let the red arrows be your guide. Especially for that fucking billboard my neighbor has.

So, go to hell. We live in a democracy and what I am doing is voicing my opinion as an American, what you are doing is immature and illegal. Because did I mention I paid for that sign?

-Sarah

P.S. I just went online and bought several more signs and had them rushed delivered even though I can't really afford that right now. Both for me and my one other lowly neighbor who had her Obama sign stolen as well. So, keep stealing, I'll keep putting signs out.

Something about hell and freezing and improbabilities and such...

Baseball season just last year when people would walk around the beach handing out tickets for - do I dare say begging - people to attend a Devil Rays game.

So we drop the devil and go to the world series. Some might say God had something to do with this.


I don't say that, but I see where the connection can be made.

Me, Joanna, T-Pai, Jana, Mary and some guy wanting in our picture

They kept putting the five of us on the jumbo-tron so often that by the 4th inning, people were leaving their seats to come and find where we were sitting, just so they could be on the jumbo-tron, too. I want to be clear that I'm not trying to brag about being on the jumbo-tron constantly that day, but illustrating the point of how few people were there.