daily heroes...

grace ran away today. she went out when tim was home for lunch...which is normal. she usually sits on the porch. well, she did that. but i then i forgot about her.

yes, i'm a neglectful pet owner. but not all the time. about 45 minutes and 1 load of laundry later i realized she was still outside.

unfortunately, after searching for a half an hour there was no sign of her. she wasn't under the house, in the shed, hiding in the bushes, across the street in the parking lot. so i called tim. and because he's pretty much the best boyfriend ever, he came home to help me look. but, another 30 minutes passed and she was still no where to be seen.

tim went back to work, i went back to sitting on the couch, ringing my hands, and every 4 minutes or so yelling "here, kitty, kitty, gracie!" out the screen door, while shaking a cup of food.

when i finally came to terms with the fact that the only thing i could do in this situation was wait, i hear what sounds like somebody had replaced the timing belt in a car with a large stick. i stepped outside, to meet henry.

be sure to read "henry," as in "heaun-ree," how the french might say...but put a germanish accent and a rotting eye-tooth in there. say it again. okay, perfect.

henry's car had quit working. he "tried to put it into gear, and it just didn't." so henry borrowed my cell phone to call triple A.

and as i stood there, while henry called for a tow truck, i look over to my car and see grace. stretched out, looking as happy and content as can be.

when henry's tow truck arrived, he came and knocked on my door to say "thank you," and ask me if i like chocolate. i told him i didn't need anything in return for helping him out, and good luck getting his car fixed. he had helped me find my missing cat.

catching up & phoning it in...

i've been pretty swamped at work lately, with little time to blog (as you can tell), and even littler time to read other people's blogs. and by the time i get home from the office i'm too tired to do anything but watch tv or read harry potter (of which i'm on the 3rd book). so in the 15 minutes i had to step away from the school database and phonathon planning, i did some catching up.

and boy have i been missing some good stuff. so i thought i would half-ass the post today and share some of my readings and my thoughts.

1. "And please, if you are ever in my company when I am that hungry, do not offer me choices. Do not ask me if I would like a hamburger or a taco or maybe a large turkey sandwich on rye, because the decision-making sector of my brain has shut down entirely. All those words you are speaking make no sense and instead feel like the tip of a beak that is busily pecking at my cornea." this is me. just ask tim. i'm glad that my low-blood sugar-crazies have been validated by another human being.

2. "Whenever I open a new bag of cat food and pour it into the cat food container, Taylor acts like he just won a jackpot, pulling himself up to the stream of kibble, trying to catch one in his mouth mid-stream." it's also good to know that my cats are not the only oddball pets out there. you should most definitely read this link - the rest of her post talks about GPS cell phones and is one of the best laugh out loud moments i've had in a while.

3. mmm....oreos.

back in black...

tonight i saw lewis black live at the MGM in las vegas. and my face hurts. a lot. i love comedy. i love comedians. i pretty much love anything that can make me laugh until my cheeks are aching and my eyes are permanently squinty.

he made fun of america. he made fun of christians, jews, las vegas, mormons, republicans, democrats, the news, television, advertising, herpes, new york, salt lake city, building walls, the president, former presidents, astronauts, himself, the comedian that opened for him, you, and me.

i must say that i greatly enjoyed his "i want to build i restaurant, right next to hooters" joke. for those of you who haven't been to las vegas recently, please know that any classiness left in this town is gone. it left with the construction of the HOOTERS hotel and casino. like there wasn't enough sex, and boobs, and exploitation in this city. so, lewis wants to build a restaurant next door to it.

** potentially easily offended readers please stop here, for your own good **

he wants his restaurant to be shaped like a penis. with a rotating restaurant at the top. and a water slide that finishes next door (i'll leave that to your imagination), "for the kids."

most of all though, i enjoyed his final joke. the one that brings you back around from the beginning - from the point of anticipation of his show. i agree with his statement that if there were one, just one, shit-your-pants-funny news headline every day, the world would be a better place. for example: HIPPO EATS DWARF. no details necessary.

okay, so the delivery isn't the same via blog, as it is on stage when he's covered in sweat, throwing in "fuck" every other word, and slinging back fiji water straight from the bottle. but it was funny. the whole hour and a half was funny. it was worth sacrificing my free ticket to hootie and the blowfish ("that's cool...if it was 1992," said the lady next to me at the lewis black show). it was worth the extra $60. and it was worth my time.

awake is the new sleep...

i'm tired. i'm tired from everything i've been doing; from everything i'm doing right this minute; and from everything that i will be doing in the next few weeks.

tim and i got back from LA almost a week ago now. sorry i haven't posted a recap or anything. just know that it was a great trip, and you can find pictures here. we saw everything from the getty museum to venice beach. we drove to santa barbara with scott and blithe on tim's birthday and enjoyed breathtaking views the entire time. i got harassed by chuckie and given marriage advice by elmo. i now have even more unnecessary pictures of palm trees. we partied in hollywood and walked along santa monica's beaches.

we had so much fun that i got sick. so last week i spent most of my time struggling to breathe, coughing my lungs up, and being doped up on sudafed. today i am still coughing (a lot), but i know it's the tail end of things since my appetite is back and my energy level is rising by the hour.

and now, here i am at work, taking one of my 2 precious "required" 15 minute breaks. looking ahead at my calendar i can see:

- 2 meetings this week
- the arrival of 3 college seniors who will take over my house and remind me what "spring break" means
- the arrival of one of my closest college friends, tiffany and an awesome wine country day
- 4 trips to the oakland airport
- tim and my's 2 year anniversary (which we will spend in different states)
- a trip to las vegas for yet another work conference

and then i can sleep.