Oh Where Oh Where Has Your Favorite Blogger Gal Gone...

It seems to be a re-occurring theme with me - disappearing for a few weeks. However, I have a legitimate excuse, actually excuses, this time.

First of all, my amazing life-loving, loud laughing, gardener, dreamer, perpetual learner of a grandfather passed away on March 13th. His illness that progressed so quickly and then life that ended consumed me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I’m happy he’s not suffering; I’m happy he’s not alive but hooked up to machines because for my grandpa that would not be considered living at all; I’m happy he’s reuniting with family and loved one that passed on before him. But, I miss him. Plain and simple.

I wanted to fly him out when I finally owned a home to teach me everything he knows about gardening. I wanted my future children to learn from him and know him. I wanted to learn more from him. It’s been difficult for me to even except that he’s gone at all, especially for my grandma’s sake. They were such a powerhouse of a couple. They were a strong and true team and I strive to have a marriage like theirs. They embraced one another for their differences and individuality and loved that about each other. Grandpa always said they danced through life.

I’ll miss you grandpa. Hey hey, ho ho, tinkle tinkle.

Secondly, and with great spontaneity and maybe a pinch of madness, we moved to the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. Perhaps the timing was a blessing as it has given me something to direct all my energy to, instead of being depressed and bored which equals sleeping a lot. However, I do not have internet yet, and my feet are so swollen that I could barely get a normal pair of shoes on today. Up and down and caring large boxes and standing for hours and sleeping for few. The process has been draining as all hell – but very therapeutic. We are trying to purge unnecessary items and decorate our incredible new modern apt in a way that will make us happier. Micah has his own space for his art that is quickly transforming into a room we may spend a lot of time in and the rest of the house is in semi-shambles as I try to organize everything as he scrambles to get all his homework done. I already LOVE being downtown – it feels like I’m home.

So stayed tuned for pictures when everything is all ready to go!

Vegan Cat Update

Quickly, the cats totally dug the vegan kibble - however all the extra kibble I made and stored went moldy and now I had to switch back to regular food while I make more. What a shame! I think it needed to dry out even more before I stuck in storage. C'est la vie!

Vegan Cats

I'm sure by the sheer title of this post, most of you are rolling your eyes and slightly, or perhaps vigorously, shaking your head in dismay, disbelief, or sheer dumbfoundedness at my utter weirdness. But to quote Alice in Wonderland (I ADORE Tim Burton) - "all the best people are a bit mad". I may have totally effed that up, but you get the point.



So - cat food is expensive and who knows what they hell is really in it. That's how I feel about most pre-packaged foods I eat. So I prefer to cook from scratch as often as possible. So why on earth would I not do the same for my precious little baby girls? I know - what HAVE I been thinking all this time? I also think to myself, I'm healthy being vegan, so why not my carnivorous cats?! Oh yes, I have gone there. And so have A LOT of other people, by the way.



So there is one amino acid cats require that comes from meat, it's like, aquamarine or some crazy named sciencey type word, and someone found a way to make a synthetic version. So, I can now feed my cats homemade vegan food. I tried a recipe the other night that had chickpeas and olive oil and tofu and I swear I could eat it, but then you add this confetti of weird smelling stuff into it (the stuff that has this aquamarine shit in it) and it immediately smells awful. Sophie, being the sweet amazing pet that she is, at least TRIED the stuff. She licked off the cheesy tasting nutritional yeast I sprinkled on it to mask the nastiness, but Tabitha. YEAH RIGHT. She came up to the bowl, sniffed it, and then stomped her paws in it - NO JOKE - like HELL NO. Then she looked at me with this face like, who are you kidding? That cat food you mixed in IS FOOLING NO ONE. She then refused to look at me the rest of the night. Ok, so THAT recipe failed. You know your cats hate something when they refuse to eat it and then don’t even whine. I mean, they had to have been starving. Cats are so fickle and snobish. What kind of animal would rather starve than eat something semi ok gross? Oh yea - my princess cats. I'm rolling my eyes right now.



So tomorrow is the kibble adventure. I think making my own hard food that looks like what they eat now is going to be a better bet. They even suggested putting imitation bacon bits in it. That BLEW MY MIND. How could they not ADORE me and their food if there was BACON tasting goodness in the food? I figure my odds are pretty incredible. So, I'm off tomorrow to find these said bacon bits and cook my little bratty angels something they may like.



By the way, I'm totally head over heels in love with my cats, if you didn't already know.

"Digging for Gold"

I'll be the first to admit that I love picking my nose. Especially since the installment of my nose ring. Those damn stubborn boogies, or "bougies" if you're Harry Potter, love to cling to the stainless steel in my nose. So the sheer relief I feel after a minute of good old fashioned digging is probably the best form of instant gratification. EVER.

I'm sure Micah would love to tell you that I love picking my nose as well, and then bitch about how I "sprinkle the boogies in our bed". I don't sprinkle them in the bed Micah. I sprinkle them on the carpet NEXT to the bed. And who vacuums the floors 99% of the time? Me. So technically I'm taking care of it just fine, whilst saving the planet by not using tissues. WIN freakin WIN.

So I am obviously NOT the kind of person who only picks their nose in the bathroom with the door shut with copious amounts of tissue, but I still have MANNERS people! Let me back up before I tell you the story that inspired this post by explaining the how to's and where's of Jen's nose picking.

1. I pick in the car. The odds that someone I actually know will pass by me in the 60 seconds I'm digging away are so not likely. Even if someone I knew did drive by, would they even see me or know who I am? The only way you REALLY get a good look at another fellow car driver is if you're stopped at a stop light side by side. I try to minimize my picking during these more highly exposed times. However, even if someone I knew happened to see me, I don't care. It's my business what I do in my car!

2. I pick at my desk. Since changing our cubicle setup and the only thing dividing me and my cubicle mate is a piece of glass, I try to be more discrete and use a tissue. But she's chill and we kick it outside of work, so I really don't think she cares. *Side note, I do not sprinkle my boogies on company carpet. I use a tissue to dispose of said stuff, but still like to use my fingers. They're so tiny and useful.

3. I pick at home. Everywhere, anytime. I mean, seriously, if I can't be comfortable at home, then it's not home.

But I don't blatantly pick my nose in front of strangers or look people in the eye whilst doing so. If I’m sick or something is dangling - then maybe I'd do something about it emergency style...but always discreet. Because, let's face it, boogers are gross. They always are gross and no one else needs to see mine, and I don't need to see yours, or imagine seeing yours.

 This has been on my mind as of yesterday around 5:00 pm because of the following:

I'm leaving work. Being lazy and taking the elevator down 2 floors. Well, not lazy really, more like because I was in pain from my pumps that I wore all day. My piggies were hurting! So I'm in there alone, and I hit the first floor. The doors open up and there is this woman there staring at me with her finger up her nose. Now I may have excused it if she had acted like she was embarrassed and quickly removed her finger. But alas, she was neither embarrassed nor surprised. She was downright PROUD to have that finger up her nose. She even smiled at me, walked past me and got into the elevator all while still digging to China town. I mean, SERIOUSLY?! I get it, you're the only one waiting for the elevator and you take a quick sneaky pick. But the little DING of the elevator should be some kind of alert to you like "Hey crazy lady, take your finger out of your nose, someone might be in that elevator". But no. It didn't even phase her.

And frankly, it was a tad bit disgusting.

But I still love picking my nose at the right place and at the right time. And if you happen to drive by one day and catch me, just laugh at me and forgive me for being a tiny bit OCD for a clean nose and a tiny bit crazy. Ok, maybe more than a tiny bit.