Replace Face

The cat is not allowed on tables.... except the computer desk. Mostly because I like the company when I'm spending hours surfing the net or when I'm stressed working from home. Bosley often likes to stick his butt in my face while I type or just step all over the keyboard. Mostly he prefers to do anything that obstructs the ability to use the computer, and instead just pet him (but only for like 45.79 seconds because then he gets annoyed with you and bites). 

So usually when I am working from home he gets tossed off the desk pretty quick when I am working but the minute I leave my chair, he's either parked back on the keyboard or sitting in my spot. He get kicked off again and that is our rhythm until he's tired of my antics and meows off to take another nap. 

One day Chris noticed Bos up on the table again. Chris is not as much of a fan of Bosley on the desk as I am so he went to shoo him off and as he walked towards him, he realized.... maybe Bosley was sending him a message....

My cat wants to replace me.

Bosley is completely covering my face in our desktop picture! It looks like Chris' hand is right around him! 

Original photo - Paris 2012

Pretty sure these guys are making plans. Time to sleep with one eye open....

100 days // 2012 in retro

Today [12/30] marks the 100th day of Chris and I being married! Okay, I know it seems crazy that I know that but it's only because I left my countdown app on my phone on and now it's counting UP! Once I realized that I just thought it would be funny to announce the days to Chris... who fully appreciates the randomness :) 

I can't believe it's already been three months. So much has happened this year!

(cue 2012 retro post...)

♥ First off, today is my younger sister's 24th birthday! Happy Birthday, sis! [12/30]
♥ I also celebrated my birthday this month - the big 28! I think I am going to like this one :) [12/05]
♥ Another Heavy Metal weekend in January to see Lamb of God and Machine Head - I managed to catch picks from almost all of the guitarists!  [01/27-28]
♥ My niece/goddaughter Jamie turned ONE in April. She's such a precious and funny little kid. [04/17]
♥ We lost our cousin Alan but he will always be in our hearts [04/16]
♥ Chris' sister had a little boy, our nephew Holden! He is adorable and much loved by his big bro [06/10]
♥ Chris and I babysat my niece for the first time. It was a fun experience although it showed us we are not quite ready for the kidlets yet! [06/23]
♥ Rowan celebrated his 4th birthday! We love our fun and goofy nephew - especially when he's constantly wearing his Batman costume. [09/06]
♥ Needless to say, my wedding day with Chris was amazing and all we could have asked for. [09/21]
♥ Chris & Michelle Do Europe! Our honeymoon in Amsterdam and Paris was incredible! [09/26 - 10/07]
♥ Bosley turned THREE! I completely forgot his birthday until a month later because of the wedding prep so he was adequately spoiled [09/09]
♥ In order to get closer to the promotion at work, I took on a lot of new projects that were bigger in scope than I had managed before. A lot of great opportunities and learning curves. Still love my boss and job!
♥ Finally got the promotion! My boss told me the day before my birthday. Great present! [12/04]
♥ Celebrated our one month wedding anniversary with whole lobsters at Red Lobster! [10/21]
♥ Celebrated my parent's 41st wedding anniversary by throwing them a party! [12/17]

It's been a fun year and I have a lot of catch-up posts to write about some important events in my life. I started a wedding post and it became a monster, so I've been writing it in batches so as not to require an hour to read through ;) 

I'm definitely looking forward to 2013. I don't have any resolutions per se (because I always says "screw you" to them by the end of January) but I'd like to consciously continue to grow into my own person and be fortunate enough to continue to show my love and gratitude towards my family and dear friends. I want us all to count our blessings - and that includes each other. xoxo

On Cats.

Well, there's absolutely no doubt about it that I am a crazy cat lady. The thing is, I only have one cat! Of course that's not my choice... my future husband is against me becoming the OFFICIAL cat lady (apparently you need 4+ to get that title) and has banned me from rescuing all the kittens and cats I find each day.

No big deal... for now. I get to express my love on the internet, where cats flow freely! And my new hobby now (and for the past 2 years) has been taking pictures of my very own Bosley Cat and posting them online.

I feel like I've gone on a whole other level because I have instagrammed him (even though I don't actually have a device that can take pictures and use instagram - chew on that, McGyver!) and submitted his image to This is Caturday, a wonderful blog featuring cats (what else?!).

And now he is featured (click it and LIKE it dammit!)! With currently 138 likes! I am crazily refreshing the page and feeling pride when he gets more "Likes" and comments. Dude. He's a beautiful cat. 'Nuff said.

And so, here is the masterpiece of my cat! Bosley in a bowtie. Dapper fellow, ain't he? You can't blame me for loving him and showing him off!!!!

Signed,
The Cat Lady

Cat. Bosley Cat.

Retail Therapy

I was in a genuine funk last week and did some retail therapy at the cosmetic shops in the underground "mall". I satisfied myself with neon nail polish in my new favourite brand, essie. From one of their hot Summer 2012 Pappy Razzi collections I snagged "Camera" - watch out kids, it's HAWT! I've seen a few pics of it online but it looks drastically different on my fingers. I wish I'd applied it better (first try was in the darkened living room as I started a bit after sunset) but they seriously look like I took a highlighter to my nails. And surprisingly, I LOVE IT!

my neon nails in essie's "Camera"
essie Summer 2012 collection

essie's Poppy Razzi Summer 2012 collection

I read a tip online to do a base coat of white to make the colours pop and MAN do they ever! I contemplating snagging the pink bottle as well... but really my nail polish collection is a vast array of pinks, transitioning to pink-orange then melting into orange-red, then red... then the purples and sparkles, plus the mini-set of Sephora polishes for nail art. (Not that I have been doing nail art since I got it...)

Anyway, to offset the polish I bought in my attempt to buy happiness I am selling some lesser-used polishes at our family garage sale next weekend. Hopefully people are still into that because I personally wouldn't buy a stranger's used polish (although technically it happens every time we go get a mani/pedi...) but keep your fingers crossed that others will! ;)

Off to blind people with my nails! ;) 

Forty Days

It's been forty days since my cousin passed away. Forty days since he took his own life. 


Forty days, and each one is still edged with a sense of sadness, shock and loss. The fortieth day is a lot easier than the first - that first day everyone that knew him lived a nightmare of living without him. Because of him. And it hurts.

I don't know how his parents, his brother and sister are doing it. They are being so strong for us. My aunt repeatedly told me that she didn't know how they managed the first few days. She believes that the love and support from the family and my cousin's friends just kept her up and going. I can only imagine how much it hurts. Parents aren't supposed to bury their children. But this is what happened and we are living through it.

Alan, my cousin, told us to remember him for his life. I know I am doing him no honour because I cannot get over his death. I want to, and for many reasons. I want to do him right. What he thought was right. I want to help myself and not be so sad about it. I want to show my family that I am strong and that they don't have to worry about me. I want to remember the thriving, handsome 24-year old man that was at his prime with the love of his life.

But I am stuck on another level. I keep replaying what I think were the events of the day. I wasn't there, of course, so my mind just plays what I heard happened. Along with that comes the grief - I keep thinking of the grief that I felt over and over again. I think of his smile, his humour and how it now only lives in our memory.

The memories I have of Alan, AJ and Kristin are from when we were kids. Their family lived in our house for a little bit when they moved to Canada from Belize. Then we went to to same elementary school together and my aunt watched me and Mel, my younger sister, after school. Our families drifted apart for a few years after that and as we grew older we saw each other only really at family functions. It sucks that we didn't take advantage of the time we had but I am thankful either way that he had a full roster of friends and a loving girlfriend.

Maybe because I don't have memories of him as an adult is why I am so focused on his life as it ended. I know part of it is that I feel like I can relate - I was depressed, I did want to give up. The difference is that I made some huge cries for help and I got it. It makes me so sad to think of how depressed Alan could have been without anyone knowing. We all have a sense of guilt though it is unnecessary - he hid it on purpose. He made a plan, he didn't tell anyone he was upset. Everyone was shocked. Everyone IS shocked. It makes me want to be a loudspeaker for mental illness and the fact that everyone has someone they can talk to. It doesn't have to feel so bad. You can get help. You WILL get help.

So here we are forty days later. Tonight the family gathers again for a night of prayers and a celebration of Alan's life. I am going to do my best going forward to think of Alan and his life - not Alan and his death, or his illness. I want to start living with his words of encouragement and to do my best to live according to the principles of well-being, kindness and love that he wanted us all to remember.

Rest in peace, dear Alan. You will be missed dearly and will be forever in our hearts. xoxo Love you, cuz. 

Keepin' On

I'm back to work now and feeling much better. I've just been grossing out my co-workers with a nice, thick cough. I'm not contagious though! Just gross. And this cough will linger for a while. Le sigh.

On the diet front, it's been a little tough but I'm feeling good about the Weight Watchers. I'm in the regular habit of tracking my food but I've been horrible about "cheating" and taking from my weekly extra points. However, I'm still down the weight I lost on the cleanse/bronchitis. :P So YAY!

Today I made the BEST dinner. It was a nice twofer: I finally got salmon (been craving it for a long time) and I tried a Skinny Taste recipe.

Skinny Taste is an awesome website that features delicious food that is also low-fat and simple, too. I found out about Gina through a former coworker that was also on WW and seriously spent a good hour going through the entire site and collecting recipes. Skinny Taste also puts the nutrition value and Weight Watcher points for each recipe featured.

So for dinner tonight we had Broiled Salmon with Rosemary with a side of roasted asparagus and rice. DELICIOUS. And to top it off, Chris even tried some asparagus!! Dudes, this is a huge deal. He HATES a lot of vegetables that I love but in his promise to support me he has said he is willing to try all the things I make.

Now I am stuffed and happy and tired. Same with the kitty, who got spoiled again with another treat of raw salmon. For the first time ever he didn't finish his treat.... which we think means his tummy hurts from eating too much cat grass earlier. He DID totally barf a bunch of cat grass up. :S Poor guy. I think we could both use some snuggles so off I go!

Hold.

Action plan is on hold... for now.

I am exhausted after each coughing fit (and grossed out by all the stuff coming out of my lungs). The next couple of days are devoted to really letting the meds work and slowly getting back to my regular patterns.

It just sucks though, because I'll get totally excited when I feel better and then the coughing strikes and I'm down for the count. All I can think about is another nap.

Speaking of... the couch beckons...