Adventures of Super-Muggs

I sat up in bed, threw the blankets back. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed, and as they neared the floor, they came in contact with something furry.... Just Muggs, who had decided that this particularly odd location (half on the rug, half off) suited her perfectly. Now that the heat is on, there are all kinds of warm spots in the walls and floors. She was quiet, so I picked her up and we had a nice cuddle. But I did need to get myself ready for class, so I put her down, stood up, and flung the duvet back into place... AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH! Now, I am used to finding mice on my bed, but they are usually of the synthetic variety. This one was the genuine article, recently alive and now very much dead. I am not scared of mice at all, but finding one on my bed at 8.30 in the morning was slightly startling. And judging by its position, who knows how long I had been sleeping under it?? So, lots of praise for the brave, wonderful kitty, who courageously hunted down an intruder and lovingly presented it to her mommy...

Muggs was rather subdued, and I kept a close eye on her. She wasn't interested in her food, and was behaving somewhat listlessly. I was rather concerned, because the mice are being poisoned and I didn't want my baby getting sick. By the time I got home from work at supper time she was back to her normal, noisy self. She is working hard at getting me another mouse: she knows where they are, and spends hours just sitting, watching and wagging her tail. The mouse poison has been put away and I am going to rely on my very talented to get me more mice. In the meantime, she has continued hunting insects: she snatched a fly out of midair and cleared the bathtub of a spider before my shower. How wonderful she is!

But she did have another, less wonderful adventure, which resulted in her being grounded. While I was chatting with one of the upstairs tenants at my apartment door, Muggs slipped out and ran up the stairs. Which was fine, I wasn't concerned. I mean, where could she go? But when I couldn't find her a while later I started to worry. I worried that maybe she had slipped into someone's apartment, or had slipped out the door when another tenant came in. I called her and called her and rattled her treat bag to no avail. I went upstairs looking for, asking the tenant if he had seen her. I noticed that the window on the third floor landing was open, so I knocked on that lady's door and asked her to check her balcony for me if she didn't mind. And yes, there was Muggs huddling on the ledge of the balcony. She couldn't fit between the slats to get onto the balcony, so it took two of us, with the help of Muggs's claws and teeth, to get her over the railing and safely into my arms. She certainly was not allowed outside on her rope that night, and will not be allowed out in the hallway again, I can tell you!

Link Fixed

My sis pointed out to me that my photo album link on this page wasn't working. I've got it fixed now, so if you've tried to access it before (although I suspect no one has because no one has said anything to me before now) you can now try again with a little more success.

Still sick. Hauled myself to class today, although I don't remember much.

Had my first tutorial for my Sci & Tech History class, and it's going to be great fun. The course is great because it draws people from all disciplines. I'm the only one in Classics in my tutorial and there is one history student. The rest come from engineering, geography, commerce, mathematics, anthropology, etc. So lots of people bringing lots of different backgrounds and info and opinions to the table, which will make the discussions great. I wish the course went a full year, not just one semester. The prof is very enthusiastic and entertaining as well.

Hopefully I will get my Washington pics from Boy on Friday, so sometime next week (depending on how I'm feeling and what's on my plate) I will finish the slideshow. If you'd like me to send it to you, let me know.

Bleh

"Bleh" describes today. The weather is bleh. I feel bleh (well, actually, worse than bleh, but I'll spare you the details). I have piles of homework to do-- possibly another five hours. But everything's so bleh, I think I'll just go to bed.

I Believe in Miracles

Those of you who have been following my blog know that this whole back-to-uni thing has been (and still is) a huge leap of faith for me. I have no idea where all the funds are going to come from, but am doing my best to trust God to provide. Well, I just discovered today that there is money in my bank account to cover October's tuition payment. This makes me very, very happy.

I have various things I would like to blog about but I don't really feel up to it. Besides feeling very happy, I am also feeling very sore and tired. So I will have to tell you later how I have made an impression on my Greek prof, how I am totally lost in the Greek drama course (the Family Guy and Simpson clips are fun, but I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to be learning....)

Washington: Taxation without Representation

I'm back from a lovely weekend in Washington with the Boy. I am going to write more about that later and, once the Boy emails me all the pics I took, put together a fun powerpoint slideshow on our weekend trip. But for now, I would like to start by backing up a little...

Last week was awful. For some reason-- and I cannot pinpoint it down to one particular thing-- I have been very stressed. I wasn't sleeping well and my body wasn't functionally well. Perhaps it had to do with the new schedule now that school has started again; or the fact that I haven't had a day just to take care of myself since the Tuesday after Labour Day; or that I was trying to get a long list of things done before I went to Washington (including a dress, which did get done an hour before I had to leave for TO); or whatever, but it was a pretty rough week. The nadir of the week was missing work on Wednesday. Yes, missing work. I had written down in my dayplanner that I was working a regular shift; In reality, I was to have started work at 10:00 doing a guided tour for a busload of seniors. So, I went to class instead of work. And I didn't get the message until almost 11, so I was an hour late for work. I was so upset and flustered, that when I had to talk with the two managers after the people left I started to cry. Being late or missing work is not me: I am very diligent, and if I do happen to be late it is by no more than a few minutes. So I was very, very upset, and feeling pretty frayed for the rest of the day. With all the stress that I had been feeling, this was just too much for me to deal with. Although, I am assured, that it happens to everybody at least once.... Still...

I managed to get everything on my list done before I left for TO on Thursday. Except for all the homework I had for today and this week. This afternoon will have to be spent reading, and reading, and doing Greek. I have a test in Greek on Thursday.... Yikes.

Although I started my vacation somewhat frayed and at the end of my rope, I did have a great time in Washington with the Boy. Like I said, I will put together a little show with the pics later. For now, here is a quick rundown on my weekend:

Thursday evening: Boy's work social. Dinner and dancing at the Palais Royale in TO... an absolutely gorgeous place. Big band music and lots of fun.

Friday: Left TO in the morning. Got to Washington, checked into the St. Gregory's Presidential Suite. Absolutely gorgeous. Then, hit the International Spy Museum-- an awesome experience, although a little long. We learned how to by spies and kept an eye out for suspicious activity the rest of the weekend. Got a couple of cool souveniers. Supper at a nearby fancy restaurant Zola's. Went by Roosevelt's monument to see it at night. Back to the hotel, where I shut myself in the bathroom and enjoyed the whirlpool bathtub and catching up on my TV watching (yes, TV in the bathroom...). The two of us lounged around and watched some of our favourite shows.

Saturday: Rainy and dreary again, just like yesterday. Went up the Washington Monument in the morning. Stopped by the Smithsonian visitor centre (The Smithsonian has a lot of museums and galleries, but the museum I want to see is closed until 2008). I think this was when we went to see the Vietnam memorial and Korean War memorial, but maybe that was on Sunday? Can't remember now. Stopped by the Ford's Theatre. Drove out to Alexandria in VA. Went to the historic downtown to the visitor's centre to get directions to the US Patent and Trademark Office and their museum there. The exhibit wasn't what was listed in the paper, but it was very interestingly done. (Unfortunately, since I work in a museum, I can never visit a museum without thinking about work.) Got a super cool t-shirt at their neat shop. Didn't make it to the Library of Congress, but oh well. Had a late supper at the hotel, wearing my new dress (we had decided that we would dress up a bit, although the hotel restaurant wasn't particularly formal.) A very good meal. Spent the evening just hanging out and relaxing.

Sunday: We had a slower start to our day today. Pretty sore, so I indulged in the bathtub one more time. Breakfast at the hotel again. Went back to Ford's Theatre again-- Boy's third attempt to see the presidential box. Finally successful-- it was open to the public. We went to Union station, where we got directions to Frederick (which turned out to be in Mayland) because I wanted to see the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Nice historic dowtown, the museum had great exhibits and I got some ideas for the exhibit I'm working on. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures. Headed back to Washington and had a half hour to see the Smithsonian's mineral exhibit and the insect zoo, both at the Museum of Natural History. Boy studied geological engineering, so it was cool to see all those amazing mineral formations with someone who was knowledgeable. Still amazes me that all those minerals know how to form themselves into particular, precise, shapes. Also saw the Hope Diamond, but as far I'm concerned the minerals were more amazing. We then headed back to the Reagan Airport to return the rental car, check in and get something to eat before our evening flight.

I got home about midnight, and Muggs greeted me with a great amount of loud purring-- for about 5 minutes. Then she just wanted to go outside. Today (Monday) I found out that she bit the neighbour lady who was taking care of her, but then settled down and was quite friendly towards her. How embarassing for me.

This blog entry's title comes from the Washington DC license plates. (See a picture here: http://www.dcvote.org/media/release.cfm?releaseID=226) Ironic, isn't it, that a country that was founded because they were upset that the British were taxing them but not allowing them a say in their government should deny their own citizens a voice in congress simply because they live in that nation's capital.

I also want to write at some point more about the ridiculousness of security. We went through more airport security in Toronto before leaving for Washington than we did getting on the plane in Washington to come home. At Toronto they searched our bags and swabbed them (for some type of residue, I guess) before we were allowed to put them on the conveyer. We personally went through at least two security points where we had to take off our shoes, I had to open my purse and/or put it through an x-ray machine, etc. Any beverages sold after the first security point couldn't be in a bottle-- they had to be poured into plastic cups when you bought them. You weren't allowed to have the plastic or glass container. No beverages at all were allowed past the second security point. At Washington, we left our bag with the security people to eventually scan, and we went through only one security check. We could eat and drink beverages sold in their bottles right at the gate while we waited for our plane. Of course, we watched flight crews breeze past security points with merely a nod at the agent....

Anyway, I have two things I need to catch up on: my sleep and my homework. I think I will start with the sleep.

Excellently Exciting

I guess, since the second day of classes is done, that I should update my blog a little. It is excellently exciting to be back in class. I am very excited about my courses this semester. The material and the profs seem really interesting.

I have the same prof for Greek language and Greek drama. Anyone who describes grammar as sexy is definitely on my wavelength. He's a young prof fresh from the States with a great sense of humour. It's going to be a lot of fun. I am eagerly looking forward to my Science and Technology in World History course. I'm hoping I can get known by my profs a bit so its easier to apply for a research grant next summer.

More Line-Ups

Tuesday I got up early and went to the university for 8.30. I waited in line for an hour and a half for a locker rental. The line was maybe 20 feet long. I think there is a union at work here somehow....

Anyway, I did get my locker. Then I went and got a haircut and went home to sleep until it was time to leave to see Boy.

Today I work again. We are back on winter hours, so I don't work until 12.45. It feels odd not to be leaving for work now....

Why Unions Can't Do BBQs

Today is very definitly the last day of summer. I love the fall-like weather the last week of August and first few weeks of September. It's a beautiful transition: although it still looks like summer, it is starting to feel so much more like autumn, right down to the monarch butterflies and the birds gathering in trees.

Today being Labour Day, the unions had their march and then a picnic. The picnic was held at the park where I work, and involved free food, so I headed over to my union local's bbq and lined up for my free food. Well. You know how some people have observed (myself included) that in a unionized environment nothing ever seems to get done? This extends to bbqs as well. I was about the tenth person in line, and I had to wait half an hour to get my slab of ground meat between two buns and a piece of over-iced, nutty, carrot cake. I hadn't wanted to take a proper lunch break, since they are unpaid and today I get paid holiday pay, but had simply wanted to nip out and in during my 15 minute paid break. So it was a rather expensive and annoying hamburger, certainly not worth the $20 they take off each paycheque. And, I guess because I wasn't wearing one of their blue shirts, the fellow doing the burgers challenged me on being a union member. I was annoyed. So the moral of the story is: If you want to actually eat in a timely fashion, don't go to a union barbeque.

Tomorrow I head over to the uni early (8.30) to see if I can't snag myself a locker rental for the year. Hopefully I can get one that is somewhat central to the area where I will be; If they try to stick me with one over the comp sci building I'll pass. Then I'll get a couple more of my textbooks, run out and do a few errands for school (now that kids are back in school, the pencils and stuff will be even cheaper and it will be quieter!) and grab a nap. I must also get some sewing done at some point: I have three garments to get done before Boy wisks me off for vacation in less than two weeks....

Nose Meets Door

What a weekend at work....

My nose had a very nasty run-in with a cupboard door at work on Friday, about five minutes after my coworker left early (the one day she had to leave early!). Right on the bridge of my nose! It was extremely painful, and a little challenging to get through the day dealing with (annoying) people (and bratty kids who pulled the exhibit apart!) and trying not to tear up.... Of course, everytime I sat down and put the ice on my nose, someone walked in the door. But I'm fortunate: I didn't break my nose, I didn't break my glasses... in fact, amazingly my nose didn't even bleed. It is still tender today (Sunday) but the headache is gone and the generally face ache has greatly subsided. Of course, it helped that Boy very tenderly kissed it better for me last night :)

It's been windy, cool and rainy again this weekend, so that doesn't make my body feel so great. Flannel pajamas, two duvets, a blanket and a cat all helps keep me warm.

Boy very kindly came down last night for a visit and took me to the movies. We saw Wicker Man, which we both agreed is not really that great of a movie. It doesn't live up to its potential. If you really want to see it, wait until it's out on DVD... or, cheaper yet, on the TV.

School starts on Thursday, less than a week away. Yay!

Anyway, even though it is only about 8.30, I'm feeling tired and I think I'll wander off to bed and read for a while.