It’s National Cat Day! I didn’t even know there was such a thing. If I wasn’t heading out for dance class, I’d post a photo of a cat. Oh well.

This is for anyone who hasn’t seen it posted elsewhere.
Spencer\'s Jewels

On my way to the photographer this morning, I saw a large man with colorful tattoos on his bulging arms. He had very little hair–mostly shaved. He wore a white wife beater and jeans. Anyone know why they call those tank tops wife beaters? And…he was pushing a stroller. I had to laugh when I noticed the incongruency. Did I actually see a tattooed, body builder pushing a stroller? I didn’t see a child in the stroller. It’s too bad I didn’t have my camera and couldn’t have stopped to snap a photo if I had.

No, sadly, I won’t be taking the pictures today. I will be in front of the camera. I have a casting call for HP this morning. I touched up my eyebrows (absolutely necessary) and had a little accident. Hopefully it won’t show up in the photos. I don’t have Tahitian dance practice today, so I will have to find something else to do for the afternoon. Perhaps I should get out my camera and take photos. It’s a beautiful day here.

It’s that time again–time for NaNoWriMo. I’ve even got some idea of a plot already. I don’t know how I will get it done in November. I haven’t posted that I’m working. I will be teaching two course that have three sessions each. These courses teach good writing skills to scientists. I just finished the pilot program in October. We will have to see how much I want to write after teaching writing and correcting errors.

Okay, maybe you guys can’t relate, but I know the women can. I have been working on losing about 10 pounds that I gained earlier this year. Instead of buying new clothes, I thought it would be better to lose the weight to get into the clothes in my packed closet. I have beautiful clothes that I currently can’t wear. I have been frustrated with the weight loss because it’s not dropping off like it used to or the way I think it should.

I tried something different this time. I went to do a body wrap. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. After being mummified to the point where I could barely breathe, I had to walk (could hardly move) to another room with exercise equipment! I didn’t realize that I would be covered in wet, dripping bandages, covered with plastic bags at my hands and feet (you drip) and covered with a poncho and told to get on the “gazelle” machine for an hour. An hour? I had to attempt to move my legs and arms back and forth for an hour? How? I was lucky to be walking. After the hour, I had lost just over 11 inches. They promise 10-30 inches. Now, I can fit into my smaller jeans that I haven’t worn in more than six months. And…they don’t pinch at the waist. I lost most of my inches around my torso, butt and thighs. It’s a miracle.

It’s a great day when you can get into those skinny jeans!

For anyone who is interested:  the body wraps are from Simply Beautiful.

I’m ready to write on this blog again. I realized this morning that I didn’t think I had anything to say really. But as it turns out, I have plenty to write about. I keep struggling with this.

I don’t know that I have mentioned my grandmother much on this blog. She recently went to the hospital for difficulty breathing. I got a call today from my mother that she died this morning. No one expected it. She wasn’t seriously ill. She was 90, almost 91. Frankly, I didn’t know her that well. She wasn’t the kind of grandmother that doted on her grandkids or baked cookies. In fact, I don’t think I ever saw her bake.  She had been living in an assisted living home in Nebraska, where she lived her entire life.

After some painful days without fast and reliable Internet, I finally have DSL, phone and TV in place and working smoothly. I’m particularly enjoying the new DVR. I never watched much television other than the movie channels because I never knew the times of the shows. If I wasn’t around one evening for my favorite show, then I missed it. Sometimes I could watch it on my computer. Now I’m happily setting my DVR to record anything even remotely interesting. I have found a few interesting shows already. I have also watched some On Demand shows from the movie channels that I had missed (I didn’t have all the movie channels before.)

I have been waiting to add the new shows to my recordings as the dates become available. I can only see two weeks in advance. And, I love that I can schedule TV through my computer.

Thus far, I’ve seen Glee. I’m not sure if I will like that one or not. It seems kind of stupid. And I’ve seen The Vampire Diaries, which I liked. I think it’s surprising well done, but I wonder what they will do in the future. It seemed like they gave away a lot of plot in the first episode. I’m used to True Blood, where they only give a little plot at a time and leave you hanging. I wish that the networks began their new season earlier. Right now, only Fox and CW have started their shows.

Considering all the shows I have recorded, I may have to monitor my TV viewing. I may start watching far more TV than usual. I’m not sure this is a good thing.

A friend asked me to take care of his cat while he was out of town for almost two weeks. I thought it seemed easy enough even though it takes 25 minutes to get to his house. I didn’t have to go every day. The first day I had to fill up the cat’s water bowl, but it was so dirty that it had to be cleaned. The sink was too dirty and full of dishes to clean the water bowl, so I had to wash the dishes and scrub the sink. The next time I checked on the cat it was quick and easy. The third time I had to use the bathroom… but the toilet and sink were so dirty I didn’t want to touch them, so they had to be cleaned. The bathroom was rather gross. It was so dirty that I didn’t think the toilet and sink would be clean, but guess what? They are nearly new, and the dirt hadn’t stained yet. Amazing! I had been to his house for parties (bathroom looked the same), so I thought the fixtures needed replaced. I have a couple more visits to make. At this rate, he will come home to a clean house. I think I should take bets to see if he notices.