Too Much Time Alone

I've been content to mess around in the garden by myself or with Andrew for the majority of my time recently. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon how you look at it) I ran out of things that really need doing. Not that any of it really needed doing I guess. I've also run out of motivation to do... welll... anything.

For me, possible causes for lethargic apathy are as follows:
1. Sickness
2. I haven't left my home enough
3. I haven't seen enough humans.

I'm not sick and causes 2 and 3 tend to go together like conjoined twins, so I'm not even sure they are different things. It's likely that, like most humans, I need both for emotional well-being. I must be lonely or bored with my space though I don't really feel like going anywhere or seeing anybody, but I think that feelings are not always so good at telling a person how to fix a problem. One may just feel yucky.
Anyway, I guess it's social adventure time for me. I suppose I must go tell Andrew that I have solved my funk. Let us see something new and make mischief!

Rhododenron opens first flower

The Rhododenron opened its first flower.

Adding the Fish Pond Spring 2011

Andrew and I decided to put in a fish pond last spring. Here is the bush that I call "the fish bush" as a big lump.

 Here it is getting trimmed back.

Here it is in bloom with the pond under it.

The "Oasis" in April

 

Andrew and I created "The Oasis" last summer when we wanted a shady place to hang out in out yard. We hauled away the trash, leveled it and put down indoor-outdoor carpet. This is what it's like this spring. 

The clematis that we got on clearance in the fall has buds.

The Oxalis, Bleeding Hearts and Hastas that I got from dad last year are doing well as are the ferns. Those are the Hastas coming up there.

Julius- a brief biography

This picture was taken a month ago. Julius likes to take naps with me ... on me. I found Julius at Heartland Humane Society when I was looking for a friend for Samantha. *See footnote. I fell in love with his huge, floppy, purriness and put a hold on him, so I could take him home as soon as he was neutered. He got a bad case of the feline upper respiratory infection (the cat version of a cold) and couldn't be adopted for over a month. When he finally came home to live with me, he was very thin but his massive amounts of fluff hid it. He was startlingly light when you picked him up. He made friends quickly with Sam and they spent a lot of time cleaning each other. Julius went from being a skinny cat to a very fat one. He also started whining for food even if he already had some. You never met such a whiny cat. Even when he's just chatting it sounds like he's whining. When I realized his fat rolls were making him waddle, I forced him to go on a diet. He hates it, but he is no longer a fat cat. He's not a skinny can either. I think he's pretty happy that way in spite of what he says about it.

Julius had a brief stint of freedom last summer when I let him roam the neighborhood during daylight if he chose. Unfortunately he seems to be under the impression that he still has balls. The people at the humane society assured me that he does not.

They also told me, "you're cat had huge cojones! You should have seen them when we took them out. We wanted to put them in a jar for display." I was not at all sorry to I have missed seeing the giant cat amputated cat testicles, but I had a strange image of showing a guest your house. "This is the kitchen that's my china collection. Those are my cat-balls. Aren't they ENORMOUS." Well apparently Julius still thinks he has them. So he set up to fighting with the neighborhood toms and was doing an excellent job of kicking ass and taking names until I revoked his outdoor privileges.

 Foot Note
*Samantha also called Sam is no longer my kitty. She likes to eat paper, books, homework and notes. I finally realized that it was just a matter of time before I would find myself in a professor's office holding a pile of cat poop and begging for an extension because "my cat ate my homework." So, I took her back to the humane society where I she was eventually matched up with a new family. I hope it is a home where paper is just paper and not invaluable vessels for days of work. It wasn't as hard to give her up as it might have been. She didn't really seem happy living with me. I think she needed more excitement.

So Growed Up

I got my first credit card the other day and opened a joint savings account with Andrew. The gal at the bank spoke with a cute Georgia accent. She asked us if the savings account was for the wedding. I told her that I was hoping it was for a house. I'm hoping the money we put in can stay in and that we don't have to pull it out for a vet bill, medical bill or other un-fun emergency. 

The credit card is cool. I got it through chase. I guess they like me because I've been doing my banking there for nearly 10 years. I'm just getting it so I can build credit. My credit limit is a whopping $200.. The 1% back is kinda nice so it would be nice if I could use it on more stuff. The credit limit will go up pretty quickly but I do most of my shopping at Winco and they don't take credit cards. I'm pretty sure the landlord doesn't take credit cards either. So, I guess I can use the for my electricity and internet bills. I have them on auto-pay and I have the credit card on auto-pay... so I just have to switch the bill to the credit card and I'll get a couple dollars a month back. Over the course of a year that's $24. Such savings! Err well if my electric internet cost $200 a month all year.. which wouldn't be savings at all. It would mean I need to remember to turn off some lights or something. Yeah so the main thing is that I can build good credit so I can buy a house someday with Andrew and have kids and chickens and dogs and cats and ferrets and goats...and gold fish.

Full Metal Alchemist

Full Metal Alchemist is an anime series and manga that Andrew has loved for a long time and I'm just discovering.When they were making it, the anime got ahead of the manga, so they ended it differently from the manga. Fans were apparently not pleased with the ending, so they remade the whole thing the match the manga (also to make more money I would imagine). So there are Full Metal Alchemist-Brotherhood and Full Metal Alchemist. The first one is better until the ending. Full Metal Alchemist-Brotherhood is harder to follow and tends to lapse into ridiculous silliness more.  As they follow the same story arch I think it's best to watch Full Metal Alchemist right up until near the end then watch the last few episodes from Full Metal Alchemist brotherhood so you get the good ending from the manga. Alternatively if you have a lot of movie watching time you could watch both series start to finish starting with Full Metal Alchemist and then starting again with Full Metal Alchemist-Brotherhood which will make more sense now that you already know what's going on.