A big thank you to MissPinkKate for sending me some dollar store lovin�! She even threw in an imitation Tommy for Benito!

Lotsa laughs around. It�s all good fun!

After months of that fleabag shitting on my bathmat and constantly being in my face, she boarded a flight to Houston as my brother�s carry-on. Reports say that despite the difficultly in getting her into the cat carrier (which indeed involved blood), she was well behaved the entire trip, sleeping for much of the flight.

(Ming apparently travels a lot better than Hambone. In the 1.3 mile trek between the old place and the new place, Ham had the trifecta of P-expulsions -- pooping, puking, and peeing. It was not a pretty site. When I moved Ham from Austin to Chicago, I drugged him up more than Robert Downey Jr. on a typical Saturday night.)

So now she�s in Houston living with my family, their cat Monkeytail, and the Rottweiler Max.

On the first night she showed no fear, sitting happily on my parents� bed as Monkeytail sat in the window and hissed in her direction. Ming gave him a look of, �What�s up with you?� and then went about with licking herself.

I�m told that she and Monkeytail now nap all cuddled up -- something that never happened with Hambone (a.k.a., �I�m a lone kitty and don�t you forget it�).

Ming met Max a few days later. When a ten-pound cat is approached by an 85-pound dog, you�d expect some reaction. Max certainly did. And when she merely sat there, looking at him confusedly, he was also a bit puzzled. From a dog with a command �Get the kitty!� he was used to them running at his appearance.

The parents say that Ming and Max playfully chase each other around the house.

On the other side of the family, life here in Chicago is going quite well.

Hambone has stopped with the sulking. He�s stopped with the endless naps and the cold shoulder. He�s not once given me �the tail� (the cat equivalent to �the finger�) since Ming�s hit the high skies.

He�s again begging for cat nip. He�s again playing all hours of the night with his mousey. He again jumps on the bed for nuzzles and pets and all of mama�s lovin�. And what I�m most happy to report, he�s now back to toilet training!

Who�s a good kitten? Who�s mama�s favorite? Who�s my snuggly-wuggly pumpkin?

Yeah, it�s not Ming...

What�s up with my shy bladder lately?

It seems that whenever there�s someone in the bathroom at work, my pee just won�t flow. Just today I ran in there ready to burst when there was another woman finishing up her business in another stall. I followed my bathroom etiquette rules and took the stall farthest away from her location. However, when I hiked up the skirt and sat on the seat, no pee flowed forth.

This has happened before. I know how it works. The other person in the bathroom leaves, and I pee without any problems. So I waited for her to leave.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

That bitch took her sweet-ass time. She must have lathered up her hands three times. And then the care she took to dry them... Good god, just get the fuck out.

Sure enough, as soon as she left, all was well with the bladder.

It seems that Chicago�s allergens are out in full force yet again.

Argh.

As soon as I get outside, I feel all droopy and can�t breathe. It looks like the decongestants and antihistamines will again be my friends.

This has no relevance to anything. Just thought I�d share.

I had dinner with Benito last night. We don�t usually see each other during the week, but our impromptu get-together was much enjoyed.

He grilled while I watched TV, we ate while watching an old episode of Newlyweds, and then we hung out until we fell asleep.

At 2:30 I realized two things: that we had fallen asleep and that my right arm was broken. The first was not such a big deal since I left him with the task of setting the alarm to get me back home early in the a.m. while I turned off the TV and lights around the house. The second still lingers, as apparently arms don�t like having the weight of two people resting on them for a few hours.

Tivo picked up the Ashlee Simpson show. But after three minutes of her pretending like she didn�t know how to sweep or mop, that got old. She�s unlikable and b-o-r-i-n-g.

Give me more Jessica! She�s cute, sweet, and says silly things. Definitely likable!

There was this clip for an upcoming episode where she tells someone that Nick makes this face when he�s working hard on something. Then she squishes her face up to demonstrate. The camera is on Nick cleaning the pool, and she calls out, �Hey, Nick!� As he turns, you can see the squished face Jessica just mentioned.

Cracked. My. Shit. Up.

Speaking of something similar, I once had a guy ask if I knew one of my front teeth was smaller than the other. Despite our very limited time together, this was something he noticed and remembered months later when we again crossed paths.

I guess life really is in the details, huh?

Can any of you who know me point out some mannerism or characteristic that I have?

Tonight�s the Ben Folds concert I�ve been looking forward to. There are only three bands/people that I�ll willing see in concert, no begging or cajoling required: The Reverend Horton Heat, The Red Elivses, and Ben Folds.

(It may seem that I�m a rockabilly fan, but such is not necessarily the case. Rev and the Elvises are just good shows. Both are highly recommended!)

Mick told me that I missed the Rev�s last pass through the area. He played somewhere in the city in May. Foo. However, I took some preemptive measures and checked the tour schedule for The Red Elvises. And lucky for me, a mere hour on public transportation or someone with a car who�s nice enough to drive ten miles down the highway in a westward direction, and I�ll get to see TRE at the beginning of October.

Whee!

I think my feet are rotting. Seriously, y�all. They smell like the cheese that tastes really good but smells like, well, feet.

I bought a new pair of really cute slip-on shoes, but unless I come up with something, they�ll have to be retired after a mere one month of wear-time.

After wearing the shoes while at work yesterday, I washed them twice (once with Herbal Essences shampoo and once with my really strong bath gel) and put on some super-minty gel. When I got to Benito�s, I asked if my feet smelled.

A *whiff* and a *gag* later, I got my answer.

Got any solutions for this? It�s summertime. I want to wear cute shoes!

A quick google search later, and I have my answer: soaking in vinegar, strong tea, Epsom salts, or baking soda soaks are helpful.

Looks like I�ll have to hit the grocery store for some vinegar later on. I somehow don�t see myself slipping my feet into balsamic vinegar...

All right. This is enough for today. Have a great weekend! �