Friday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk)

Thursday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee, $10 snack foods
Found money - $0.22 (road, bus floor, Safeway floor)

Took money off the 403B table and rebalanced back to the 60 yr old man portfolio - cash, bonds, gov bonds, equal small parts of: large cap, small cap, mid cap, international, value. Saw my changes yesterday.

Saw that my transfer agent bought the $300 worth of SYY; it was bought along with the re-invested dividend.

Found out that the fire from last weekend was arson. When I tried to shortcut through the Taproot parking lot, I found that the back parking lot was all fenced in along with the fronts.

Behaved myself during the parade of work potlucks today, and I contributed with fruit snacky items.

V.I. (kitty) and I are having a nice time. So far, she's been hitting the litter box with me. I have changed a couple of things - I've shut the bedroom and home office door during the day, so no "surprises" in those rooms. I've also made the living room quiet - most of her "surprises" are left underneath coffee table, desk, behind the couch. Quiet, shadowy places. DH loves to have the radio on during the day and I suspect that loud human noises and bustle startles her. Most of all, when I hear her use the box, I quietly and quickly get a greenie from the bag and reward her as she walks past. I also play with her for at least an hour in the evening.

you Great Depression, you. You hardly look a day over 79. But never fear, your grandchild parts his hair near the same way.

(In all seriousness, today is the 80th anniversary of the then-Black Monday stock market crash. Wheee!)

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $2 decaf coffee + $20 pizza
Found money - $0.03 (road, bus floor) and yesterday - $0.02 (coffee shop floor, road)

Today DH is off visiting his mom, so evil me, I cleaned the kitchen and ordered a large pizza - olive, mushroom, onion, and anchovy. All my favorites and even better cold for lunch, and it takes a rare lunch thief to go after the anchovy pizza.

Then Mad Men, then a bath, and off to bed. So far kitty is behaving herself also and hitting the box. Nighty night.

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $13 breakfast, coffee + $12 wine & dessert for duck trade dinner
Found money - $0

Friday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $5 yogurt, fruit + $49 vet stuff
Found money - $0.01 (bus steps)

No money found - a miss after 21 days straight of finding something.

The duck for beef trade occurred - they got:
1 ground beef, 1 t-bone, 1 chuck roast, 1 sirloin = 7 lbs beef
and we got:
2 muscovy ducks @ 8 lbs total, 1 dozen eggs.

We had a muscovy duck for lunch/dinner, I got a slice of the breast, which hardly looked like a poultry breast ... it looked like pretty beefy on its own.

V.I. is giardia free (yay), but had continued with some more missing of the litter box. We've decided to go with the positive reinforcement - keep the box impeccable, and when she uses it, she gets a greenie and face scritch, both things she likes. If she misses, we clean up but we ignore her. In the last few days, she has been hitting the box. We'll see if it holds.

I've been also using positive reinforcement with DH during this whole affair. A few days ago, V.I. was tested for the fecal parasites in general, but before the results were in, DH gambled a bit that she was still sick. He sprung for a stronger prescription, but tuna flavored. When V.I. tested negative but was still missing the box, DH still presented her with the medicine. "Why?" I asked. "I spent good money for the medicine, and I'm using it," he replied. So we were at the stage where DH was going to give her something that she wouldn't take and didn't need, all because of cash. I paid him to offset the cost of medicine - its free to him so he's free not to use it.

N.B.(10/19/2009): Turns out that the vet suggested to DH that he still give the medicine to V.I. C'mon guys: less is more.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 coffee, breakfast + $41 cat toys, collar, treats + $17 id, camera case

Sometimes you just have to have a spendy day. At least it was fun stuff. We used another PAWS coupon for some cat spending - the cat pillow was appreciated, the new collar, not so much. V.I. must have had an attachment to her old collar even though there was a cat claw embedded in it. Hers? I don't think we will ever know.

I also made a stop at Office Depot and solved a problem that has been nagging me since the long walk/jogs on the weekends. Its inconvenient, but necessary, to carry the remnants of my wallet as I jog - need at the very least, my bus pass, driver's license, a bit of money, key, and if I buy an apple or have a bit of tea at the end, I need a place to put the change. My running pants have one rudimentary pocket. I've been jogging in my jacket with the pockets to get one, but it does get mighty warm during. I originally thought about a wrist wallet ($15), but never pulled the trigger. Today I just went with a very simple ID pocket on a cloth lanyard ($4) and see if that works.

I leave you with a non-financial picture.

The harbinger

Thursday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $40 dinner for 2

Wednesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $3 peanuts
Found money - $0

Been a rough three days of eating. Tuesday I helped polish off a lot of angel food cake along with a lot of homemade blueberry plum whiskey compote.

Recipe is straightforward - 1 lb blueberries, 1 lb pitted ripe plums with skins on, 1 c sugar, cook about 15 minutes, add 2 tbsp whiskey, cook 5 min more, cool, store in refrigerator. It forms a sauce, thinner than a jam, although with a bit of pectin it should make for a smashing jam.

Wednesday I went to the baseball game and got logy with a beer, garlic fries, and a bag of peanuts. At least I could only finish 2/3 of the bag and I had to shell the peanuts besides. And tonight we had dinner, appetizers, and drinks with friends. DH bought the beers and fries at the stadium; I bought our dinners tonight.

I also got a bit of a shocker yesterday morning - my gym trainer quit, so it is time to finish off the rest of my time with another. I'm sad, of course, he was a great trainer, but my MO has been that I lose the most amount of weight within the first three months of training. Makes sense if your body gets used to specific exercise - and every trainer has their own favorites that they will try on you. In other words, from the tactical losing weight/gain muscle thing, this is the best thing that could have happened. So if you buy trainer time, three months and then done.

I get twinges in my knee when I climb stairs, and tried one legged squats - that knee felt very challenged.

V.I. is settling in still more - we only had her for five days and her coat has improved by leaps and bounds. She wasn't terrible to pet when we got her, but her coat was rough and dandered. Now, very soft and glossy even at the base of the tail. I don't think improved food would work that fast. I think its because her stress levels have gone down - being the only cat in a quiet environment, she has the time and the desire to clean herself properly.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $5 groceries
Found money - $0.01 (crosswalk on 1st)

Here she is on our couch, very much a grande dame...

And yes, we are black cat people. I tried steering DH away from the black cats, to no awail.

Monday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $3.29 forks
Found money - $0.01 (chiropractor's office) + $0.01 (Goodwill parking lot) + $0.01 (underneath Safeway vending machine)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.90 bagel (free coffee) + $2.90 large iced tea, apple
Found money - $0.02 (floor of Pete's coffee)

Made a nickel the hard way these last two days! Would have thought that the Goodwill parking lot was prime for change finding: very busy, cash business, kids, people shifting money from hand to pocket and leaving in a hurry. I found a penny, was expecting to find much more.

I went to Goodwill again to buy forks. Got 15 for $3. Last April, several co workers complained that the temp staff stole all the forks. I bought 8 forks at Goodwill after the temp staff left. Opened the work silverware drawer in the last few days: one fork. Look in the mirror, thieves. Quit blaming others.

BIL and DH's sister have firmly decided to visit the Oshkosh EAA next year in 2010. "If not now, then when?". I emailed them and invited them to stay at the farmette, and sister emailed them and invited them to the farmette. We'll see. Just a little warning: if you decide not to attend EAA for a day or two, sister will work you in the garden. We joked that we were in a re-education camp.

Sister's birthday yesterday. She got her b-day gift from us but she chided DH: if you are going to use popcorn as a packing material, don't use oil! She and the neighbor at the farmette are getting tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, and squash, squash, squash. She's beginning to be a regular at the Tuesday farmer's market and picked up another customer near the farmette, losing a non-payer in Milwaukee. I suspect that that's the benefit of the farmer's market - advertising to pick up weekly customers.

Yesterday I got my library visit in before the Seattle libraries furloughed for the week.

Kitty is settling in even more. Ate more dry food (at least she's cheap, sister said), and after she begged a little from my plate (I have SUCKER tattooed in cat on my forehead), played for a few minutes with the mouse on a stick, totally DESTROYED the little plastic bag containing catnip that I put on my dresser, explored the kitchen and the tops of the washer and dryer, tolerated a bit of brushing, wants to snuggle on the bad as soon as the lights are down. In other words, a full day, and not that shy. She does have an unusual habit - she is quite the tail swisher when you pet her and you think you better stop otherwise you'll get a claw in your hand...but she doesn't growl or attack. Tail swishing must mean general excitement. Think I will call her V.I.

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $12 breakfast, coffee + $30 adoption fee
Found money - $0.10 (Safeway parking lot - underneath the vending machine)

At the breakfast place today, DH and I got a compliment. Our next table looked at the massive amount of food they couldn't finish and sighed...just about the same time we got our meals. I pulled out our Ziploc boxes and we merrily cut our portions in half. The waitress on duty said, "they do it all the time - they are the greenest people we know."

We are also in the midst of another recycling project. Because of the large crop of strays and abandoned pets, PAWS is swamped - PAWS Cat City ran a $30 special this month if you would adopt an adult cat. (includes chip, rabies shot, spay/neuter, etc) I wasn't ready at the beginning of the month even, but I feel ready now.

We adopted a very sweet, but very shy 2 yr cat this afternoon. She had been at PAWS for several months so the entire staff was excited about it ... and doubly excited that we were in the neighborhood so they could keep in touch. I have to reset my eyes - our new adoptee looks huge compared to Morgan. New adoptee is shy, so I'm hoping that that will translate into no desire for the outdoors. I enjoyed how PAWS classified her personality - they called her a "private investigator". Tentatively, I'm calling her V.I..

Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $5 groceries

I wore a pair of pants today that I was not able to wear in awhile. Actually I've never been able to comfortably wear them until now.

At work, today was one of the quietest end of fiscal year ends ever. We still keep our books open a few days more, but I don't expect a mad rush as in previous years. Yet another indication of a deep recession.

DH reseeded one of the lettuce bowls for an early fall harvest. We planted Morgan's memorial catnip in the corner and it seems to be doing well - nothing has disturbed it yet. I had heard that if the catnip plant is big enough and you don't bruise the leaves too much, the plant won't get mowed down by rampaging cats. Hopefully that's what's happening.

Thank you for your comment SMB - your words helped pull me out of my anger.

I woke up this morning at about 4 am to a grey twilight. Easy to see that people might be getting up and getting going, easy to see black shapes.

I'm left with a sad result of a senseless act. I could interpret dead Morgan in a box as an angry malicious act and lash out against my neighbors, or I can treat it as someone's last kindness from a horrible accident.

DH reminded me that if he was "caught" by someone peering into a box with a dead cat in it, that he would run too.

Gratitude has taken me a long way. I'm grateful to share Morgan for those six months. After all, she was six months old when we got her secondhand, so from the perspective of her first home, she had died long before. I'm grateful that I have no misplaced hope that my little girl will come back. I'm grateful that someone was kind enough to cover her up from indignity. I am grateful that someone called the police. I am grateful that in expressing my gratitude that I got some sort of answer from the police. And I'm grateful by your comments, dear readers. We've gotten more response from the universe than many others have facing the same situation.

Morgan was pure love to me. I have to remember to reflect pure love and gratitude back. Any other response would lead to madness and sadness.

I walked the stupa of Sakya Monastery, twirling the 32 prayer wheels clockwise and I felt a lot better. DH bought the biggest, leggiest catnip plant I've seen for us to plant. We plan to plant it in the southwest corner of the property - the first and best place Morgan ran to when she began exploring - furthest away from where she was found.

Apologies that this is so very far off the topic of personal finance.

I called and got a hold of my contact at the Seattle Police Dept. This is the situation that he told me, verbally (no police report):

Sometime early Sunday morning (before 4 am), a private citizen saw 2 males standing by the cardboard box resting by our mailbox (we are one of 4 mailboxes in a row). The citizen shouted, "what are you doing?" The 2 males ran off. The citizen opened the cardboard box, saw dead little Morgan, and called the police. The patrol officer came at 4:15am and wrote up the incident report.

So I feel certain that Morgan's killer is in our neighborhood, and knows that Morgan was owned by either us, the upstairs neighbor (we are a duplex), or the next door neighbor (also a duplex).

I don't whether Morgan's killer is one or both of the two males, the private citizen, the person who set Morgan in the cardboard box, or none of the above.

We still have the cardboard box. The irony is not lost on me that said cardboard box has a shipping address of Lifeway Christian Store with a tracking number (!) dated from Feb 2009 and has "Kings Elementary" (private Christian elementary school) handwritten on one of the flaps, while Morgan is an entirely black cat (8 white hairs at the throat), and we have a license plate that begins with "666".

North Seattle is not anywhere close to the Bible Belt, its not even a Bible headband or a bible ankle bracelet. At least I thought that. We are left with a box and the thought of a killer-nutball or a killer-scumbag in our neighborhood. DH and I are debating about calling the SPD back either right now (me) or wait because we assume that the investigation is on-going. My SPD contact has my number, and they know we owned Morgan.

In the meantime, anybody have the ability to trace a tracking number back to an order?

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee and sweet + $20 for 2 orders of takeout noodles

I'm a bit better today. I can now talk about what happened without totally breaking down. I've been playing telephone tag with the contact from the Seattle Police Department. I tried again to get the incident report. Nothing - we are now running up against the 72 hour limit. I phoned the police report line and heard the ominous phrase "we will not give you a report if its an on-going investigation."

Patience, baselle.

Though I have to admit that it would be ironic that Morgan working her way up the phyla (worms, flies, mice) in her death perhaps caught the biggest prey of all.

I haven't been hungry in days, just eating a bit here and there. Today was the first day that I even had an appetite. Yesterday I went to work, and kept my appointment to the gym. The trainer weighed me - 174. I told him that the news is not nearly as good as he thinks it is.

I was yesterday also.

Sunday morning we discovered our cat, Morgan, dead in a box with a Seattle Police business card & incident number clipped to the lid. Morgan didn't have any marks on her, no broken bones, no blood. She looked like death literally caught her mid-yawn from a nap.

We tried getting the incident report but since it was written up during the weekend, it will take 24-72 hrs to come up.

You now know as much as I do. I am sadder today than you will ever know. She was a little princess, about to become an adult. Was.

Damn. Damn. DAMN.

Saturday
Saving log - $40 drp
Spending log - $12 breakfast + $20 dessert

Saturday DH and I cleaned up a bit more of the south facing flower bed in preparation of planting some more veg. We found a few more critters...


I suppose that if DH and I were really in desperate straits, we would put these in a jar for a few days with water and cornmeal, then bake 'em with butter and garlic. Of course if we were that desperate we wouldn't have the butter and garlic.

Instead, they all went crunch underfoot.

The container garden is also moving along.


We also found an eviscerated mouse in the yard. In the last weeks, Morgan had been hunting and bringing in earthworms, so I think she's moving up the phyla.

Friday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee + $10 lunch/snack + $20 dinner w/friends

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $10 breakfast + $40 two blueberry bushes + $2.75 top + $6 meat for lunches

Spendy couple of days all around. I discovered that I didn't have any turkey or ham for my little bit of rice, so I bought a bit of salmon, tofu, and green beans to augment and I didn't make the afternoon snack, so I bought a little side salad for that. For that one day, I went from $0 spending I went to the typical for six months ago.

Had to refuel my wallet, as it were, at the ATM before dinner. (I'm still old school - I've been burned enough times to be wary of just using the debit card. Way I roll.) General relativity exists - time has to change depending on perspective. How else can I explain why I can get money from an ATM in a bit under a minute, and why I ALWAYS am behind someone who takes freaking forever to get or not get their money. I know what I can and want to do at the ATM before I get there. I guess not everybody is that together. It still burns me, though.

At the little dinner soiree last night I learned that my ex is losing his job at the end of April. Told him about the hiring freeze, and the possibility of no temps working the fall campaigns. But you never know - and I'll be one of the first to hear, either way.

This afternoon DH and I bought two low blueberry bushes. I wanted a fairly low growth habit for two reasons - 1.) we were going to grow them in pots for a year or two or three and 2.) we figure that Morgan's side job will be to go after any bird that tries to snack on a berry, so we went for low to make the job easy and fun for her.

Again, the two lettuce pots are starting to sprout those little four leaf seedlings...(they are green in real life)

The gardener irony: Weed seedlings always look far healthier than your seedlings.

Here's the pot garden, so far. We're also doing a couple of tomato plants in pots - the soil that is the sunniest and warmest also grew potatoes, which are a host plant for fusarium wilt.

Wednesday
Saving log - $7 tip box
Spending log - $0

Thursday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee + $2 groceries

Re: 2$ coffee. What can I say? Every couple of months I crave a professionally made cup of coffee.

I'm starting to see the food sales - one sign said: "Ignore the prices on the menu, everything is $6.95". Cabbage is now .19/lb, and now that I have Clif bar coupons, I can only dependably get Clif bar at Trader Joe's or PCC. The coupons last until 12/31/09...I can wait.

Busted:


Now for the unfortunate news. I learned that lawyer friend's younger brother passed on this morning. I never met him, but I feel the loss.

Thursday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $20 drinks

Friday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $4 coffee, scone + $8 lunch

I haven't been blogging too much about my work with Global Vortex Radio and DJ friend, probably because I don't do very much with it on a day to day level. But I have been doing some writing for the Internet radio station when DJ friend has a project for me. Mostly its been crafting a message to get a precise tone and effect. For instance, DJ friend needed other DJs to send their remixes and programs in certain way, and he REALLY needed that to happen. I crafted what we lovingly call the "hammer letter". It had to set a polite but firm tone. Please do this, and if insist on not, your show won't go on. It worked very well, with no problems with compliance and no hard feelings. I also wrote a thank you to the DJs that gave the all rights to one of their songs to GVR for the compilation album. It had to thank them for their gift, ease their mind that they weren't being ripped off, and tell them what will happen because of their gift.

I was paid in barter yesterday - I got a free copy of Global Vortex Radio's first CD compiliation (2 CDs) and a thank you in the liner notes! I'm buying another copy to give to my sister. I also got a free invite to the CD launch last night.

Here's a picture to give you a flavor of where I was...too bad my battery gave out right after.


The first half was an event to Seattle's Fashion week - a student fashion show. To tell you the truth, it has been over twenty years since I've last been "clubbing". So long ago, that at the door I proudly held out the top of my palm for the stamp, 80s style. Current style is underside of the wrist. Observing cool kids is a lot of fun for an old fart geek like me. Lots of fake hugging - women & women pat at the base of the back, women & men pat at the top of the back, men & men at the shoulder blades. My only compliant is that "Kitchen" was in the name of the venue: kitchen was closed by 9pm. Its how the fashionistas stay thin, apparently. The bartender was a generous pourer. I'm sure I got 1/3 of a bottle in my wineglass.

Our event started at around 10:30pm - very fun. We got to go up into the DJ private aerie up above the bar (in the picture) and dance floor and I got a chance to meet new people and talk with some friends. Morgan's (our kitty) rescuer was there so I got a chance to catch him up and tell him how she's doing, a couple of former co-workers came by, and the couple of DJs that I met on the 15 bus and we later discovered that we had a connection to DJ friend (that's my boss! DJ friend later told them)- they showed and I had a chance to talk with them.

Today, though, I really felt it. How did I ever do this in college? Thank heaven it was Friday and I could rest up. DJ friend will be resting too.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0

Woke up this morning to a very sad Post-it on refrigerator from DH:

We must eat what we can
Freezer and refrigerator were OFF last night.

Bummer. He called this afternoon. We'll try saving a pot roast that hadn't been in the freezer that long, and we'll save the butter in the freezer, along with the bottle of good gin. Everything else he tossed. As far as the refrigerator was concerned, anything that hadn't been put in the night before gets tossed.

Sad, but it would be even sadder to risk food poisoning for several $1.49 bags of frozen vegetables. I think, well, hope, that we only lost about $50 worth of food. Its why I have to remember to treat food as food to be eaten, and not as heirlooms.

DH traced the refeer culprit to an odd design - you can control the cold inside on the middle of the top shelf - and lately the top shelf was quite packed. A few things knocked the control, a careless hand brushed the dial down, and there you are. No cold? Refeer can do that. At least it wasn't that the power cord was chewed on or it got unplugged accidentally.

Time to restock the refrig over the next few days.

Speaking of entities that chew cords and dangly things, a breakthrough of sorts. I said, "Morgan", she looked up from her scratching post. I said "Morgan" again and she came. Without bribery even.

Another bit of good news - DJ friend showed me the cover of the new, first compilation CD for Global Vortex. Vol 1: Electronic and House. Its a beautiful cover. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I have bought CDs on the cover alone. And if it was in the CD stacks I definitely would have touched it and thought about buying it.

Tuesday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $3.50 fresh juice

Wednesday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $10 lunch

Its busy at work but I'm making great progress so I bought a treat yesterday and had lunch with the gang today.

Lawyer friend had read my blog and had a question for me: Why don't I count the farmette in my net worth? Let me see...

1. Don't know what the farmette's worth, and really, until I'm bought out or it goes up for sale, not worth it to me to appraise it.

2. And it would 1/2 of an estimate anyway.

3. Treating the farmette like an expense, which it is if I pay half-sies on expenses and taxes and I visit it once every couple of years.

4. Would prefer that my net worth be an underestimate.

After lunch, as we were walking back to work, screenwriter friend found a $10 bill under a parked car. Score for him.

Apologies that I haven't been posting daily - I have an excuse, now I have to look around for the screen and type one handed...

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 breakfast + $8 produce

Sunday, Super
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 liquor and sweets

Ate way too much at our Super Bowl soiree, but we saved a bit - we provided the chips, the homemade salsa, a bit of liquor, and a tiramisu cake. Our guests brought several cheeses and crackers, sweet potato chips, dried fruit. We were going to order pizza, but we already had enough food.

Nothing particularly fiscal happened this weekend, only that the game and the ads didn't particularly make us "forget" our troubled times. And that cash4gold ad? Hmmm. Sign of the times.

The threat of guests this weekend did what it normally does - forces us to clean the house. Ah, blessed clean house.

Morgan behaved herself this afternoon - first time she's seen our friends. Didn't run away, but didn't really relax in front of our guests.

Tuesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $14 groceries

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0

Not much today. Found a penny last night, and found another this morning. Work is now really picking up; the crunch for me is coming the end of this week.

Enjoying the kitten but I thought that when cats get spayed, they mellow out. Not Morgan - she is very kitten hyper, practically levitating as she pounces on the bed. To the laughs of my DH, he found that my satin pyjama top is Morgan's new plaything, along with the Trader Joe's paper bag, the mice with the feather tails, the toilet paper and paper towel rolls, my earbuds (especially if they dangle), and the scratching post. Hmmm - if I teach her to shred paper, that could be a cost saving measure.

So far we've been keeping fairly well to the diet. She was weighed right before she got spayed, she held at 5.5 pounds, but grew much longer.

Nice to pet her after facing the world for the day and heard so d^mn much bad news.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $88 body fat & bone density tests + $256 spay, chip, toenail clip

...is resting comfortably after being spayed. She is wearing a little plastic cone to keep her from licking the scar. I don't know which Morgan hates more, being sore and thinking "every time I go to the vet bad things happen" or total unstylishness of a plastic cone tied at the neck with a white gauze bow and collar. The bow does give her a little House on the Prairie look, but I don't think she's buying it.

As for me, I underwent the gold standard for body fat tests - still at 37% body fat - but since it was underwater, I discovered that my swimsuit fit on the loose side, and just with a bathing suit, I'm 178. I also sprung for the bone density test - I'm at 95% of average amongst non-menopausal women (98% at one test, 91% at another).

Found out that just one of my clif bars fell into the Salmonella recall.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $0

Didn't take out my wallet once. Tomorrow I'll be having lunch with the gang, so the NSD was needed.

We watched the inauguration at work (9am on the west coast) on the streaming CNN.com hookup. Just in a couple of spots - we were told that if everybody tried it in the privacy of their own offices, the network would go down. As the kids would say - streaming sux. I was very glad I have an MP3 player with an FM radio, I could listen continuously and watch the picture shudder and stall and pixilate. The only issue was that NPR was a good 30 seconds ahead of the CNN sound feed. If I cheered at a good line, I'd look like I had Asperger's to everybody else.

I'd sympathize with everyone else watching the pixilation without augmentation, but I'm getting old and cranky. Remind me again why we don't have TVs at work any more?

Now to bore you all with a kitten picture...
This Trader Joe's bag is mine, mine, mine!

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $13 breakfast

Friday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $9 groceries

Sent off 5K to sister for taxes and upkeep on the farmette. Friday was a this and that day. Did a session with the trainer - I've bounced up to 183, then bounced back down to 182. Showed off my kitten scars.

Noticed now that with Boeing laying off, the PI going under (okay its being put up for sale within 60 days before going under. Not going to happen), and an actual crockpot recipe appearing in the recipe of the day it feels a bit like the 70s - can disco be far behind? If you compare the economic climate to the weather, it feels like a hurricane is bearing down. Seattle is getting the first bands of rain and wind with worse on the way.

Today lawyer friend had an open house/wake for his dad. One of the side benefits of working in the basement is that our department - all 7 of us - feel like a tight unit. We are actually a bit too busy to do too much political backstabbing.

Not so in the previous department that I was in. A co worker who still works in that department and came to the wake confided in me that she thought she would be laid off. Supposedly no one will be laid off, but to believe that these days is complete idiocy. My suspicion is that each department will have to come up with a "just in case" budget about 15-20% under what we do, meaning cuts everywhere. It was helpful to us to take up the offer of and use the services of several internal staff. It kept us under budget, perhaps we'll escape it. I haven't heard anything, its all feelings, but you pick up a thing or two if you were alert during the 70s and early 80s.

Then we did the mundane after we got home. I trimmed kitten's nails; she behaved herself and it was easy. Didn't give the nails a severe chop, but the scimitar points are gone. Morgan will go to the vet Monday to get a blood draw to test how well she will handle anesthesia, and get the second round of shots. She's been outside a little bit for a few minutes and under our eyes. She's not excited to go out, which solves a lot of issues, but we do want her get a little familiar with what our house and plants look and smell like if she accidentally gets outside.

Thursday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $18 groceries

Wednesday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $8 groceries

Q: So what's the difference between Mike Tyson and Morgan Le Fay, our kitten?

A: Morgan will lick your ear first before she chomps down.

Kitten now sleeps with us on top of the bed, which is good, but the chomp of ears and nose is not the optimum way to wake up after a sound sleep. I've been pushing her away because even though its a kitten phase, its not a habit she should take with her as an adult. After thinking about the problem, two other things are working:

1. Rub a bit of orange peel on my nose and ears before I go to sleep. I like the orange-y smell, but kitty hates it.

2. Keep my hands away from my face as I sleep. Kitten likes to play scary hand, but if you play scary hand in front of your face, your ears and nose are just finger 11, 12, 13.

So far that's been working.

Treated myself by buying 18 oz of blueberries for $5.98.

Sister sent me news that the state of Wisconsin incentive check for installing solar has come: $5324. Along with that news came a picture of the newly installed kitchen floor of the farmette...

also with sister's dogs, and a red-orange accent wall leading to the living room.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $20 brunch

$20 because I got two breakfasts. By accident I got someone else's breakfast, then my real one came. 1 1/2 breakfasts are now sitting in a styrofoam box in the refrigerator. Tomorrow I'm eating breakfast all day.

Another 1099-R has come in. Last year I used my 600$ stimulus to open up a new DRP, now I pay taxes on $21 worth of dividends. Look Ma, I'm helping the economy!

It takes adjusting to eyes staring back at you in the dark when you first wake up...

DH looked at my face and said, "you know you have a claw mark underneath your eye." I can laugh. I'm still a heavy sleeper even with a kitten claw near the eye.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $0

Yippee. Another no spend day.

Sister emailed me - the kitchen floor of the farmette is nearly done. It really needed that complete renovation. Patches of the now gray 30s linoleum (so old that we got a scare - the tiles might have contained asbestos) were worn through a couple of inches to the subfloor underneath. The times are changin'. We must have been the only project the floor contractor had because they were working our 3K job through two snowstorms and Christmas.

All claws refers to Morgan. I'm going to have to get some thick, kitten claw proof socks because she has a total passion for my orange slippers, my bell bottoms, and my ankles. OW! She uses the scratching post extensively just to hone those little scimitars, but when she gets done honing, apparently only a fresh human ankle will do. If my writing starts to trail off...my blood type is A+.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $32 kitten chow + $35 groceries

Freakin' icy again today, so I burned another PTO day at work. Our work hours have been around 11-3, the car deals with snow better than ice and slush, and then there is the 2-3 hr evening commute. I did the critical time tasks yesterday, I had the PTO time, and tomorrow's Christmas Eve.

But DH and I were productive: Morgan went to the neighborhood vet. She's a girl, no chip, 6-7 months old (the vet showed us her baby molars), no scar or tattoo indicating she was spayed, no feline leukemia, and at 5 pounds with a little fat on the lower underside, she was just a teeny bit overfed. Not obese, just back off the food a bit and don't worry about the shortchanging the kitten development. The vet opined that no kitty just eats what s/he needs then stops with an eternal buffet in the food bowl. He suggested a decent premium brand kitten food, but only 2 feedings at 1/8 c each. In other words, 2 tablespoons. The big bag of dry kitten/cat food is going to last awhile.

"She's a blank slate," the vet said.

Today Morgan got her battery of shots: rabies, distemper, leukemia. DH bought the shots, I'll buy the spaying and chipping...which we'll do in January.

(The White) Our patio this afternoon, with another 6 inches on the way...


(The Black) And little Morgan enjoying her feather toy...


She made it out from under the bed this morning. The catnip and lavender helped.

Well we've brought the kitty to our home, and while she behaved herself during the car trip, she's deep in the hideout stage. She's probably thinking, "its a bad dream. If I get some sleep and just relax, I'll be back at the old place." We are keeping track of where she is, I've put some food and water down, got out the scratch post, got out the kitty feather toys. No pictures until she appears.

I call her a she, but I thought better of just flipping a scared kitty and checking for gender bits, so its unconfirmed. The finders told us they didn't see or feel anything obvious, and she is about 2/3 - 3/4 grown, old enough for the obvious to develop.

She looks so much like a cat DH once had, Merlyn, that we went with the Arthurian theme and are going to call her Morgan le Fay. And right now being invisible and hidden, the Italian (and scientific) version, Fata Morgana, fits her too.