Monet, Schmonet. He ain't got nothin' on me.

I've always been an excellent artist. I mean, Monet is an amateur compared to me. Oh hell. I can't even joke about that convincingly. My artistic ability is pretty much nil. But, a girls' night out to drink wine and paint a pretty cool painting? Hey, why not?

I went with Jodi, Shelley, Laura and Kim to Paint the Towne on Tuesday. We had registered for a private party so it was just us, two bottles of wine and our creativity.

A work in progress

My finished product

The instructor's finished product

We did it!
Me, Laura, Jodi, Shelley and Kim

Sagging is cool.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

If being a homeowner taught me one thing, it would be to make sure your vehicle is big enough to transport your Home Depot goods.

Hmm...I think we're going to need a bigger Jeep.

Meet Niko

I now have four babies. Maddie (who's technically my parents' dog), Bailey (my favorite-ist chocolate lab mix in the entire world), Jasper (my littlest guy the hamster) and now...Niko, the kitten. He's a 9-week-old cat that Andrew adopted yesterday from the Kansas Humane Society. He is adorable. One of my co-workers fostered him for about a month and knew that Andrew had a black cat named Simon who died a couple of years ago and thought he might be ready for a new love. Well, he wasn't. But, I can be pretty persuasive when I have to be. Okay, and so can a cute, little, black kitty who purrs constantly and immediately snuggles up to you the first time he meets you. Andrew's face lit up when he met him on Friday. He took a night to think about it, and we picked Niko up on Saturday. Granted, his name was Aki at that time. Andrew was going to keep his name, but then spontaneously changed it to Niko after we called him Aki for several hours. Oh well, he's young and will learn his new name.

He was a bit timid at first and hid under the bed for awhile, but he soon started making himself at home.

He really likes his kitty castle. We placed it by the window and he already enjoys sitting there and looking out the window.

As an owner of dogs all my life and never a cat, I was very impressed with how it seems cats are automatically litterbox-trained from the start. Very nice! Every time Niko uses his he darts out as fast as he can once he's done covering up his business. I don't blame him: it's a pretty stinky business.

Already playing video games with dad. Oh what a pair they will be.

Having a Ball

Hamsters in balls. Very cute. This is Jasper's first experience in a ball. I'd say he had a ball, except that would be too punny. So I'll say he had a good time instead. Bailey likes to watch hamsters in balls. Would probably like to toss it around a bit too, but she's a good girl and listens when she's told "no". So, don't worry. Jasper was perfectly safe in his ball. I tried to upload a video, but videos haven't been working for me on Blogger forever so I don't know what's going on...

Updated: Well, whataya know. The video is working.

Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive. I just haven't had access to internet lately (except at work and I obviously can't blog at work). Why haven't I had access to internet you ask? Because, I've been staying with Andrew. And Andrew doesn't have internet yet...in his new apartment! Yep. He finally did it. It's a really nice one-bedroom apartment on the top floor with vaulted ceilings and a pretty spacious balcony. It's really cozy. He's getting cable and internet this weekend, so my exile from Facebook and the blogging world will end soon. I'm at home today since I missed Bailey so much. Once Andrew gets used to his apartment I won't be staying there all the time though. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet so I'll do that soon and post a few.

I don't have much of an update on the weight loss front. I've been slacking quite a bit lately so I wouldn't be surprised if I've gained a couple of pounds back, but I'm too chicken to check. It just seems like I've been hungrier lately...and lazier. Hopefully I will get back on track again soon.

Speaking of hunger...it's dinnertime!