Catsu's Corner Archives May 2004 Back to HOME

May 30, 2004 -- The lot is full.

We took the van up to Fullerton yesterday to help move Raymond out of his dorm. I was thinking it would be so much easier this year since last year we had to haul things down three flights of stairs. This year, with Raymond's dorm not only on the first floor, but also facing the parking lot, we would be able to pull the car right up to the patio door and load. Now I don't know who decided to hold commencement exercises on the same day that the students are required to move out of the dorms, but the timing could certainly be better. We arrived to find that every single entrance to the university was blocked off, every parking lot closed, including the dorm lot. The young parking guard indicated we should park several blocks down the street. (Park down the street?) Lloyd said, "Those three flights of stairs aren't sounding so bad anymore." By telling the guard we already had a car in the lot which we could switch with the van we were able to get in. (Once in, we noticed there actually were several parking spaces available.) As we were moving Raymond's things out, I heard a boy on the next patio on his cell phone saying, "Tell them you have to get in to pick me up. Tell them I don't have a car and I can't carry all this."

May 27, 2004 -- The adventure continues in Shrek 2.

We saw Shrek 2 this week - very cute. So seldom does a sequel equal the original, but Shrek 2 was very funny and enjoyable, with a lot of inferences to old movies, TV shows and books. In fact, they went by so fast I think I'll have to see it again just to catch them all. Puss-In-Boots definately stole the show. And now I have this new wallpaper on my computer screen. It's Puss doing the "sad cat" look to gain sympathy, just before he attacks. (Click to enlarge.) I found it at rednova.com I love Puss-In-Boots. He's usually a "Three Musketeer" type of cat, (being it's a French story), but with Antonio Banderas doing the voice, in Shrek 2 he is a "Zorro" cat. He was adorable. I saw an interview with Antonio Banderas where he was asked if he studied cats for the role. He said, "I tried to do some research with my cats but the only thing that they said back to me was meow." It's so hard to find a good feline drama coach.

May 25, 2004 -- What lies beneath.

Our Halloween decorations included a box of little rubber lizards. Purrs just loved to play with these lizards. He carried one around with him for days after Halloween, dropping it and batting it around the floor until it was lost. However, knowing where they were kept, he'd just trot out and get another from the box. We were finding rubber lizards all over the house for weeks. Yesterday our new kitchen appliances were delivered, a new refrigerator and a new stove. I can only wonder what the delivery man thought when he pulled out the old stove and saw the 15 rubber lizards and 23 little bouncy balls that were hidden beneath it. It was a kitty toy bonanza! There were only four lizards under the refrigerator.

May 24, 2004 -- Long live the Frigidaire.

The refrigerator died this weekend. It started making a horrible noise, at first a sort of moaning, elevating to a loud wailing, howling, groaning, blipping, and screaming. It was old and we've known for some time that it would have to be replaced soon, but the end came very quickly. So we put as much food as we could fit in Raymond's little dorm-size fridge, stored some at our neighbors' house, and went out refrigerator shopping. "What? Are we out of milk?" Kimberly says when she gets home. "No, It's next door." "Our milk is next door?" So today I am awaiting delivery of a brand new refrigerator. Whoo-hoo! Cold food again. The refrigerator is dead. Long live the Frigidaire.

May 17, 2004 -- Hide and seek.

Keeping cats confined to a yard is proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated. Pip has never had any problem getting out. He's like a little gymnist, walking upside down along the net and doing a sort of circus flip over the edge to the fence. Now Patch has figured out she can go straight up the wall to the roof and bypass the net altogether. It's rather amazing to see. And now I can't even find the cats that are in the yard. Toby disappears every morning. I search the yard, can't find him, then turn around and there he is. I can't figure out where this very large orange cat could be hiding? It's not like he blends in with anything. I'm constantly counting cats. It's worse than taking a group of kids on a field trip. I never can find all of them at the same time.

May 12, 2004 -- And they wonder why we need laws.

There he was, speeding down the freeway at 65 mph, a beer can in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

May 9, 2004 -- Mother's Day.

May 8, 2004 -- Sugar and spice and everything nice.

Kimberly loves to get all dressed up. She'd love to have occasion to wear formal clothes more often; fancy dresses, shoes, hats, even gloves. I think she'd like to be one of those Country Club ladies you always see on the society page, involved in this or that charity ball or dinner. This is only funny because it wasn't always so. Julie, being the first child, the first girl, was dressed like a little doll. She flounced around in ruffles and lace, ribbons and hair bows. So when Kimberly came along she inherited a closet full of adorable dresses, all of which she refused to wear. She much prefered Raymond's hand-me-down tee-shirts sporting pictures of He-Man or the Ninja Turtles.

May 7, 2004 -- In search of the perfect dress.

We arrive at the mall first thing in the morning and join the dozens of teens moving from store to store searching for that perfect prom dress. The dressing rooms fill as they enter with armloads of frothy satin and tulle in pastel colors. Like catapillars to butterflies, they shed their jeans and tees and emerge transformed as Cinderellas to view themselves in the mirrors. Of course the dresses are all beautiful. It's such a hard decision. The saleslady, hoping to move along the sale, says "Do you feel like a princess? Is this the one?" "Ooh, I don't know." they say, "Maybe." (But perhaps I should try on another 47 dresses just to be sure.) So we move down the mall, putting a dress on hold in every store. Once we've seen them all we can start back, reassessing and slowly narrowing down the decision. And, six hours later, we leave the mall, dress in hand. Success. Now we just need to get the alterations done.

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