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By kilax, April 19, 2017 7:46 am

Another bad cat mom moment!

I was excited when I saw tulips at Aldi* for a reasonable price this weekend.

And I was super impressed with myself for tying a bow on the vase and making it look festive.

A few days later I was thinking “Wow, the cats haven’t even destroyed them yet!” (As you know, Data likes to rearrange flowers.)

Then I googled “tulips and cats” and realized they were poisonous for cats. Oops.

Now the tulips are making the cat-free garage festive! Ha.

(What are they sitting on in garage? Steven built a storage unit to hold all of our building supplies on! Now I can park my car in the garage! Yay! Love my handy husband!)

*OMG though this tag. IT IS NOT “ALDI’S”!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhh.

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By kilax, April 15, 2017 7:22 am

I always thought those black markings around Khali’s nose were odd.

But figured they were just, well, some odd marking.

Um, nope.

The other day, one of them was loose.

Those black markings? Were actually dried blood around her nose from her street fighting days! Poor thing!

I went in full cat mom mode and used my finger nail to pick them off.

Almost all better:

Oops, sorry Khali.

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By kilax, April 14, 2017 7:26 am

I have totally written about this before, so if it seems repetitive, it’s because it is!

This is just a reminder, that if someone is talking to you about something that you have no interest in or dislike, that that is NOT the first thing you have to say to them. IF you say it at all. It’s okay to listen, or ask questions! Even about something that you are not interested in! I know! Shocking!

Ha ha.

It astounds me on social media (and in person) when people mention things they are interested in, and people are so negative with their responses. Blah. Why do they even need to say that? Say it to someone else, duh. Don’t display your crappy side all over the internets. Keep that on the DL.*

All that being said, I am SUPER STOKED to see Fate of the Furious on Sunday! I “celebrated” the release day in my class this morning by having a Fast & Furious themed playlist and having some of the characters join us for our workout. Ha ha ha.

We’ve also been rewatching the movies this week (starting with #3, Fast & Furious) to get ready! If you like the series, check out this awesome infographic about them Rachel shared with me!

*I know, I know, “everything online is so fake and rosy, I want to see some real sh*t!” Well, I don’t want to see people being dicks to each other about their interests. Like who gives a flying fart. If you don’t like it, don’t comment and move along. Save the arguments for real topics. 

Comments (23)

By kilax, April 13, 2017 6:28 am

• I haven’t posted a William picture in a long time! Aww, I miss my sweet little nephew.

• My mom sent me home from my early April trip with an Easter basket! How nice! I have fond memories of searching for baskets (and eggs) as a kid.

• When I was in my hometown, my dad and I stopped by his mom’s as a surprise. She didn’t even know I was in town. Or so I thought. When we greeted her, she told me Facebook told her I’d be in town this weekend. Yeah, that’s the last time I say “yes” to a public event on Facebook (that was how she knew – it notified her in the morning I was going to a nearby race the next day). Of course, my grandmother can know where I am, but I don’t like to publicly advertise when I’m traveling.
• I’ve been having some issues with sensitivity to light lately. I am monitoring it and will see the eye doc if I need to. I’ve made it this far without corrective lenses… I hope my eyes aren’t going to sh*t!
• I am currently listening to this song on repeat. Give it a listen. I heard it on an episode of Girls, which means I can now say I actually got something out of watching that show.

• Did Garmin users see the new “privacy zones” setting options? Privacy zones hide your start and end points on publicly shared workouts. You can see the exact route, but other viewers can’t. This is something I’ve thought Garmin should have for awhile, so I was excited to see they added it!

• Speaking of Garmin, I get comments on my Garmin watch nearly every time I am in the office. Funny.
• I had a lot of fun at my coworker’s baby shower last week in Wisconsin! It was fun to chat with all her friends and family she tells me about, and of course, see all the love and support the baby is going to have! Look at this amazing trail mix bar they had at the party, to make your own bag to go. I definitely snacked on mine on the way home.

• Awhile ago someone told me they thought I’d be a good mom because I always have snacks with me. Ha ha. Okay…?
• Also awhile ago, we were getting a house insurance quote and the agent asked what kind of cats we have. “Regular…?” I responded. They both laughed. “American shorthair”? I tried again. Ha. It’s not like with dogs where a breed is more common!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 130

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By kilax, April 12, 2017 6:23 am

… and Khali is still living inside.

Is anyone even mildly surprised?!

We somewhat are. Our full intention was to let her back outside after she recovered. But we enjoy having her inside too much.

Data secretly does, too. He plays with Khali a few times a day,

and they’re getting pretty close to snuggling together!

A surprise benefit of having Khali live inside is that Data doesn’t bother me as much to wake up in the morning! He used to, sometimes for a couple of hours, before my alarm. But now, when he goes to my pillow to meow in my face at 4:00 am, and sees Khali is nearby, he goes back to the foot of the bed because he doesn’t want to be around her! Ha! Thanks, Khali!

I’ll end with an update on Snow – he’s still loving the outdoor cat life! And we still need to find a way to get him to the vet to be neutered… he’s got too much swagger for his own good!

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By kilax, April 11, 2017 4:11 pm

Sigh. Guys, I am still figuring out Redbox. As you are about to see. Before we moved (the first time) in December of 2015, we used Netflix disk delivery and got two disks a week and watched them (and more!) each week. But moving and house projects means we watch movies a little less, so we ended that subscription and have started using Redbox (cause $). Which I kind of suck at. Case in point:

The week Passengers came out to Redbox, we tried to rent it the first day is was available, on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, we stopped at a Redbox we thought we had pre-checked to see if it the movie was there. It actually was not available there. We used the website wrong. Oops. We got Arrival instead and watched it again, knowing the big twist. (AHH! It was like watching a different movie. Let’s talk about this movie if you’ve seen it.)

On Friday, we figured it out and checked in advance! But when we got to the box, the guy using it before us was having some issues with it. He told us when he returned his disk, it just dropped to the bottom. Sure enough, we got an error screen when we tried to rent Passengers. Darn it.

We stopped at another Redbox and it didn’t have it. So we didn’t get a movie. Womp womp, grumpypants.

On Saturday, I thought I was being smart and reserved a rental on my phone. Yay! I went to pick it up, at a Redbox close to the studio where I teach. When I got to the Redbox, I realized I reserved it under Steven’s credit card. Not mine. Steven was not with me. I needed his card to retrieve the movie. I called Redbox and they couldn’t do anything but give me a refund. “You can’t put it on a different card?” “No, our systems don’t allow us to do that.” “You can’t release it from the box so I can rent it?” “No, our systems don’t allow us to do that.” MUTHA F*CKA. (Hey, it was nice they gave me a refund though!)

I went home pissy. Later I went to run errands and decided to reserve the rental with the right card and pick it up near where I was running errands. Yay! Me so smart. But wait a minute, why won’t this go through?!

Oh hellz no. I can’t rent it close to the house because of the other reservation? WTF?! I am not driving back to the spot that was only convenient to where I was in the morning!

I drove to the location near where I was running errands, knowing they had a copy, since it was going to let me reserve it. But did it show a copy when I physically went to the Redbox? No.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I then realized my phone was not going to let me reserve a copy anywhere, since I had one reserved for the night. So I decided to just give up.

But what if… I reserved a blu ray copy?! Would that work?

Yes! Bingo!

Finally!

Gawd, I was so annoyed, I didn’t even want to see it anymore. Ha.

I swore I wouldn’t use Redbox again after this, but they sent me a few free rentals. So you know I went back. I just really pay attention to which credit card I put it on (you use that to pick up a free rental) and which location.

When did I get so old* that I can’t use technology right?!

This is NOT a sponsored post. 

*I actually saw part of this movie elsewhere, but couldn’t follow since the version I saw didn’t have closed captions. Yep. I watch everything with closed captions. I actually liked the movie more when I could follow what they were saying!

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By kilax, April 10, 2017 12:58 pm

Yes, I am using the blog post title as an example. 

Guys. This book is going to take me FOREVER to read. What was I thinking?

And not because it’s boring. But because every paragraph has at least one word I have to look up, and that takes time. And they aren’t words I can figure out by context. They’re typically adjectives that if I don’t look up, I am really missing the point.

Sigh. Why me so dumb?

Seriously – when and where did people learn and remember all these “big words”? It definitely didn’t happen in architecture school (but I can throw a bunch of design jargon at ya!).

P.S. I still agree with this post from 2014.*

*ME MENTIONING AN OLD POST DOES NOT MEAN I WILL EDIT IT! Ha, I just got an email yesterday with someone asking me to edit a post from 2009 to include their link. Ha, as in, GFY.

Comments (28)

By kilax, April 6, 2017 6:46 am

• My mom loves to wrap gifts. I don’t, and am horrible at it, so when I was in my hometown last weekend, I brought my baby shower gift for her to wrap! Darn – looking back at it, I should have brought all those April birthday gifts for her to wrap, too!

• I forgot to mention two things in my 5K race report. One, I forgot my headphones. Gah! I was so mad when I realized it, forty miles away from home. Then I remembered how fast Pete runs without them, and told myself to suck it up. Two, when I was telling my mom I forgot my headphones, I said “at least I didn’t forget my racing flats!” Then, once she realized I was racing on shoes with less support, she worried about it that night and until after the race when she asked me if my feet hurt from using them. Ha ha. No.
• Woo hoo! I saw this sign at the nearby Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve last week. The Forest Preserve is making a wider shoulder to get to Van Patten Woods, and extending a trail from it to another preserve – Pine Dunes Forest Preserve. This all equals safer running for me! This small expansion is part of the Millennium Trail. Once that entire trail is completed, I’ll be able to run all the way to my old townhome (about twenty miles away) and even further beyond that!

• Steven and I enjoyed our “book club for two” last summer and have been wanting to read another book together. We finally picked one out – Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. I like reading about real people, and Steven likes reading about businessmen, so I hope it’s another winner!
• Blah. I’m so sick of seeing people trying to one-up each other online. Guys, we all live normal, mediocre lives. If you can’t say “good for you,” when someone shares something they’re excited about, just move along. Seriously.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 129

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By kilax, March 31, 2017 7:51 am

1. Riding my bike outside (starting in March, today, with a ride with my dad)!
2. Seeing my family this weekend, and doing a 5K together.
3. Sending out a new newsletter for Essential Fitness that I’ve been working on.
4. Going to my coworker’s baby shower!
5. Handing out the fun treats I got for the “Easter” (it’s the day before) fitness boxing class.
6. Seeing Fate of the Furious with Steven (I bought our tickets this week)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Going to Texas for Luca’s sixth birthday!
8. Date nights with friends!
9. Gifting several birthday/a few other special occasion gifts.
10. Naps. Please. Let there be naps.

Ha, this list is almost always the same things, isn’t it?!

What’s on your list?

Comments (33)

By kilax, March 30, 2017 6:08 am

• Ha, I started this Random Thought’s Thursday (RRT) draft weeks ago! I miss blogging, but don’t seem to have a lot to say for single topic posts, so RTT posts (and other list posts, like what I have for tomorrow) are perfect for me right meow.
• The “On This Day”/Facebook Memories thing that pops up showing what I’ve posted sometimes makes me feel crappy because it’s a memory with someone I no longer spend time with. It’s normal and necessary for people to come and go in our lives, but I sometimes feel pained thinking about it. (I feel like this is also a reflection of how little I post on Facebook now, and how much less social I am.) Note, today’s “memory” does not fall in to that category!

• Another social media comment – I’m surprised how much I like Instagram, and am happy I figured out how to make it work for me. I’m also surprised some of the email requests I get to post random crap (usually infographics or links) here now write “and I saw on your Instagram…” Um, no you didn’t. It’s private. Ha ha. (I’m considering making it public but not sure…)
• Speaking of email requests to post random crap – I have a draft blog post listing all the things to NOT do in the email if you are trying to get me to post something. But the post is a bit snarky, even for me. So it’ll probably stay in the drafts folder.
• We’ve been watching Parks and Recreation during lunch break (it’s my first time seeing the show) and I loved the first few seasons, but the last two are just bizzaro!
• I’m such a grouch until I get my daily workout in. Which is a problem since I usually workout when I get off work at 4:00 pm. Ugh.
• Look at this cool PR bell they are going to have at the 5K I am doing Saturday! I won’t be going near it, but I think it’s awesome they have it! (I was originally hoping for a course PR, but that won’t happen with how I’ve been training!)

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 128