Okay, one funny cat story - Cordelia likes barbecue potato chips. The cats have never really shown an interest in human food, which is good. I don't encourage it. They are not given human food so they don't know what it tastes like. On the occasions that I've offered them something for my own amusement, they just sniff it and then walk away. But not this time. Apparently Cordy really likes barbecue potato chips. She only got one little bit of one and Doug let her lick the seasoning off his fingers, but it she was very excited about it! Strange.

Now I want to post this which is one of the funniest stories I've ever heard *and* it's true. It's from the book Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams (compiled and published after his death). It's a story from a speech to Embedded Systems in 2001.

COOKIES

"This actually did happen to a real person, and the real person is me. I had gone to catch a train. This was April 1976, in Cambridge, U.K. I was a bit early for the train. I'd gotten the time of the train wrong. I went to get myself a newspaper to do the crossword, and a cup of coffee and a packet of cookies. I went and sat at a table. I want you to picture the scene. It's very important that you get this very clear in your mind. Here's the table, newspaper, cup of coffee, packet of cookies. There's a guy sitting opposite me, perfectly ordinary-looking guy wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase. It didn't look like he was going to do anything weird. What he did was this: he suddenly leaned across, picked up the packet of cookies, tore it open, took one out, and ate it.

"Now this, I have to say, is the sort of thing the British are very bad at dealing with. There's nothing in our background, upbringing, or education that teaches you how to deal with someone who in broad daylight has just stolen your cookies. You know what would happen if this had been South Central Los Angeles. There would have very quickly been gunfire, helicopters coming in, CNN, you know . . . But in the end, I did what any red-blooded Englishman would do: I ignored it. And I stared at the newspaper, took a sip of coffee, tried to do a clue in the newspaper, couldn't do anything, and thought, What am I going to do?

"In the end I thought, Nothing for it, I'll just have to go for it, and I tried very hard not to notice the fact that the packet was already mysteriously opened. I took out a cookie for myself. I thought, That settled him. But it hadn't because a moment or two later he did it again. He took another cookie. Having not mentioned it the first time, it was somehow even harder to raise the subject the second time around. 'Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice . . .' I mean, it doesn't really work.

"We went through the whole packet like this. When I say the whole packet, I mean there were only about eight cookies, but it felt like a lifetime. He took one, I took one, he took one, I took one. Finally, when we got to the end, he stood up and walked away. Well, we exchanged meaningful looks, then he walked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back.

"A moment or two later the train was coming in, so I tossed back the rest of my coffee, stood up, picked up the newspaper, and underneath the newspaper were my cookies. The thing I like particularly about this story is the sensation that somewhere in England there has been wandering around for the last quarter-century a perfectly ordinary guy who's had the same exact story, only he doesn't have the punch line."

Mmmm... not much to say today. It was a full and pleasant weekend that involved a lot of food. For anyone interested:

Branch BBQ on Wells Branch - pretty good. no atmosphere really and there is a tv on that is very distracting, but the food is good. nothing spectacular, but tasty inexpensive barbecue.

Peony Aisan Cuisine on Balcones Dr - quite yummy! we ate family style so i got to try a few different dishes and they were all good! they also offer some different hot teas. we had the jasimine tea and it was delicious! my favorite dish was the vegetable lo mein. it was simple, but tasted wonderful!

Taco Bell - figure it out for yourself. i did try something new though. i had the cheesy gordita crunch (or whatever it's called). it tastes like pretty much everything else on the menu, which (if you like taco bell) means it was pretty good. i did like the combination of pita and hard taco shell. it's kind of like sticking tortilla chips in your sandwich... :)

Last night we had grilled steaks, but that was not a restaurant. I'm really looking forward to cooking for myself tonight!

Ephesians 2:14 - "For [Jesus] himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility..."

"Don't miss the one fact we're told about Joseph in Luke's introductory account--he was a descendant of David. How awesome of God to purpose that Christ's royal lineage would come through His adoptive father. We shouldn't be surprised at the profound significance with which God views adoption." -- Beth Moore, "Jesus the One and Only"

Well, I'm still sick, but I'm feeling a lot better today! WooHoo! So, the kitties were, once again, doing something funny a little while ago There is a snake climbing our sliding glass door for some reason. It's out of reach now, but when it was still near the ground, the kitties were trying to attack it through the glass. Charlie kept waving his paw around like, "I'm gonna smack it! I'm gonna smack it!" And occasionally he would smack the glass. The snake (about 1.5 feet long and skinny) was just looking at them through the glass like, "What are you doing?"

Birds are so pretty to look at! Unfortunately, it seems that most are... not so intelligent. For several months now, we've had doves flying into our sliding glass door on a regular basis. Like, more than once per week at some points. Well, today it got nasty. One of them flew into the door so hard that it died! I was extremely traumatized! I called Doug in tears and he was sweet enough to come home and take care of it for me. I wouldn't have asked him to do that, but since he volunteered...

I guess I'm going to have to move our birdfeeder so that it's in front of one of the windows that has screens. We could put a screen on the sliding glass door, but it cuts out a lot of sunlight and I enjoy having such a large, unobstructed view of the backyard and its unintelligent wildlife. I could also attach some flash tape to the door (reflective and scares birds away), but that might scare them away from the feeder as well. The only other option would be bird netting, but it would be a major annoyance to have our patio half netted off! So... I'll move the feeder.

Darn birds! It's only the doves! The pretty cardinals don't do that! The doves also like to bully the other birds and hog the feeder. Grrr...

Our cats have totally lost their minds. I mean, all animals are crazy, but ours seem to be getting more so by the day. Last night is a good example. It started out with me irritating them by setting up a massage table in the middle of the living room and then refusing to let them lay on it. To make matters worse, when Doug came home, he layed on that table and I gave him a massage and neither of us paid the least bit of attention to the cats until we decided it was bedtime.

At that point, we finally fed them a bit of canned food, which didn't really make them happy because they felt we were very tardy in doing so. Then Doug and I got ready and got in bed. It has now become the nightly routine for the two of us to play a game with Cordy and a paper ball for a little while before we go to sleep. We throw the ball and she makes wild leaps into the air to catch it or bat it back at us. It's very entertaining for all three of us, but Charlie finds it detestable.

So, when we started up the game last night, the first throw of the ball ended up in the floor. Charlie darted over and started viciously attacking it. This is extremely out of character. Normally he just lies in the floor and looks at us disdainfully. Since he was actually participating, we tried throwing the ball between them to see who would go after it. This, apparently, pissed Cordelia off.

We threw the ball and it landed in the bathroom doorway. Doug and Charlie and I were all sitting and staring at it when Cordy suddenly threw herself off of the bed and attacked Charlie. After she felt she'd done a decent job of roughing him up, she placed herself between him and us so that she could intercept any further throws. From this point on, the game went on somewhat normally because Charlie quickly lost interest anyway.

After we turned out the lights, I made the mistake of moving. Now, back when Charlie was a "kitten", he was very good at killing monsters. When I went to bed, he would hang out by my feet and keep an eye out for anything dangerous that might be coming to harm me. The problem with this was that he tended to mistake my feet for one of these dangerous beasts. Nothing that moved under the covers was safe.

As he got older, his need for sleep increased to 23 hours per day and hasn't been nearly as useful at killing monsters for the past few years. However, within the past couple of weeks he seems to have found new inspiration. And, as I said before, last night I made the mistake of moving. I stretched out my legs and encountered something that I thought was Doug's foot near the end of the bed.

I quickly discovered that it was not Doug however because it was very sharp. It was, in fact, Charlie the Monster Killer. I pulled my foot back up a few feet and he dove across the bed and attacked it. I could not move my feet for about five minutes because he would grab them and bite them if I did. On the positive side, neither of us was bothered by dangerous beasts while we tried to sleep.

So, apparently, sap never dies. A couple of the boards in our wooden deck (the ones near things that i tend to often, of course) have a yearly habit of oozing sap. Whenever the weather gets above 80 degrees (as it now has) they get all goopy and stay that way until the weather cools down again.

Now, this is not just a minor annoyance if you happen to step in it. It's like an industrial adhesive. You *cannot* get it off. It laughs at soap and water. It goes on nice and thick, so it looks like you should be able to pick it off - especially after it's picked up some dirt and cat hair. However, if you make the mistake of touching it, you will then have some of the stuff permanently attached to your fingers.

It also stinks. It has a very strong outdoorsy odor. I've smelled worse things, but it's not really an odor that I want attached to my body. You might think that after so many years it would run out of sap, but no. I just keeps oozing more and more. I pity the poor squirrel or bird who wanders through it. Did I mention that it's also green (possibly because of paint)...?

Hey guys! Sorry for my long silences - I've been short on time lately. It's not that I've been extra busy, but I've been sleeping later in the mornings and therefore have less time for *frivolous* things like my blog! :oI~

So... we watched All About Eve on Sunday. Have you seen that? It's a Bette Davis and Anne Baxter movie from 1950 that won multiple Academy Awards. It's good! It's over two hours long, but it's entertaining enough that it didn't feel extra long. And I didn't know it before, but that's where the following classic line is from:

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

It also contains this quote, which is not famous but I rather like it:

"Margo Channing is a star of the theater. She made her stage debut at the age of four in 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' playing a fairy. She entered, quite unexpectedly, stark naked. She has been a star ever since."

Anyway, if you at all enjoy classic movies, I recommend this one.

Angela's lessons for the day:

1. When buying meat that the butcher has to go to the back and cut (because it's not commonly found in the market of your grocery store), be sure to ask how much it costs first!

2. When enthusiastically slicing carrots, keep your fingers out of the way!

3. It is very difficult to type with a bandaid on your finger!

So, this is kind of funny. On Saturday, I was watering all my plants and I found a small pecan tree growing in one of the pots. [thank you squirrels] I didn't know that's what it was until I pulled it up and a long root and a whole pecan came out with it. So, Doug and I picked a spot near the fence and planted it. Our backyard is almost entirely shaded anyway, but that would fill in one big open area, if it gets big enough. It's a little tiny thing right now, so we put a border of rocks around it to keep Doug from mowing it down.

The Alamo Drafthouse Downtown was showing Turkish Star Wars on Sunday. Doug and I tried to go see it, but we wanted to use these free passes that we have and we found out after we got there that we couldn't use them for that show. That's the second time we've gone to the Alamo downtown and gotten turned away at the door. The first time was on Halloween when we tried to go see a Mr. Sinus Theater and it was sold out. That wouldn't be *so* annoying except that it's in the middle of downtown which means hunting for a parking spot and then walking to the theater... Oh well.

Wow, I've been very delinquent in my postings this week! I guess it's been a busy week. Or an odd week. Or something. Maybe it's because I am so tired and I keep going back to sleep after Doug leaves, so I have to cut things out of my schedule to get all the important stuff done. Maybe.

And now I'm sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, trying to think of something to say. These dry spells are tough. Maybe my story telling abilities are asleep.

Oh, fun news - I'm hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Party at my house next week. If you live in town and you weren't invited, please don't be offended. It's a *very* small party. And who knows, maybe we'll do this periodically and invite different people every time! Anyway, I'm very excited. I've always wanted to go to a murder mystery dinner show somewhere, but they're so expensive! This way, it's inexpensive and everyone involved is someone I know and am comfortable with! :)

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Not much exciting to report today. I made myself a schedule yesterday. It's all pretty and colorful! :o)~ I'm glad I did it because I think it will help me stay on task during the day and possibly get more done. I have a short attention span, so I tend to get side-tracked easily.

Now it's time for lunch...

John 14:27 - (Jesus speaking) "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Angela sooooo sleeeepy........ I do hope to find out in the near future what the problem is with my body that I stay somewhere between tired and exhausted *all* the time. If you would like to take guesses on what is causing the fatigue (endometriosis? allergies? sleep apnea? something else?), feel free. I'll give a cookie to anyone who guesses correctly.

So, Doug and I did go and see Alexi Murdoch on Friday evening and the show was WONDERFUL! The man just has an enchanting voice and he writes very thoughtful lyrics. [sigh] Doug liked him OK based on the EP that I have, but now that he's seen him live, he's a convert and is just as excited for the full cd to come out as I am! If Alexi is coming to your town, I highly recommend checking him out! Heck, just buy the EP! There are only four songs on it, but they're four great songs! You can get it at www.cdbaby.com. (note: this was CDBaby's most popular cd of 2003!)

Isaiah 26:3 -

You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.

I'm very excited - Doug and I are going to see Alexi Murdoch tonight at the Texas Union. Alexi is a relatively new addition to my list of voices I'd love to steal. And he is currently the only male on the list! I discovered him when I heard him playing live on KGSR last year (during sxsw, i think) and I loved what I heard so much that I came home and found him online and ordered his 4 song EP. Now he's working on a full length album - woohoo! This is the first time he's been back to Austin since last year (as far as i know) and I'm pumped about getting to see him play!

For anyone interested - his website is, simply, www.aleximurdoch.com. :)

Psalm 29:11 -

The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.

One of Doug's Chinese coworkers is in town for a while and he brought us some gifts. One of the things was a nice wooden comb! The best part is the English translation of the text on the packaging! All misspellings, capitalizations, missing spaces, and bizarre punctuation are original...

"Brief Introduction of Our Products of this brand wooden comb are with high grade Chince little leaf box, sandawood,nanmu and other natural famous materials, The comb are smooth, clean and good with high temperature and pressure, comb's colour is natural and it feels wess.

"Sui Dynasty famous doctor chao yuanfang points out that comb can prmote blood circulation and keep your hair black. Su Dongpo said that comb your hair and kept sound sleep till next morning. Chinese little leaf box combs are best because of its solid and mild specification. Modem mdeical fungus'growing, stop itching, get rid of dandruff. Peach tree has the saying that it can dispel bad things.Wooden comb won't produce static electricity and have kept you healthy And you will realize that 'comb and comb, but never stop'"

1 Thessalonians 4:17 - After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Funny smell update - I proceeded on Tuesday afternoon to scrub the outside of the screen, but all my scrubbing was to no avail. The smell was still there and as strong as ever.

So I went to PetSmart yesterday and bought some stuff that's specifically made to get rid of cat stink. Doug hosed the whole area down with it, but you have to wait 24 to 48 hours for it to dry completely before you'll know if you got it all.

It already smells better. The smell is still *there*, but it's not as bad. Once we totally get rid of it, I'm going to start spraying some anti-cat stuff around on our porch to prevent any further smelly events! At least we know now it wasn't Charlie!

Today's adventure was babysitting a 2 year old for four hours. It really wasn't bad - we had fun. Our only major battles were over him refusing to come into the house and refusing to take his socks off. At one point, he said something that I chose to interpret as, "Miss Angela, you're my favorite babysitter!"

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Funny smell update - I nearly drove myself mad yesterday trying to locate the source and get rid of the smell. I pulled everything out of the entryway closet and sniffed it all until I was hyperventilating myself! I vacuumed and mopped in the closet and took all the things out to the back porch. I *could not* find a source for the smell and it was still there!

After all that, I discovered that the smell was actually coming from our front door! It was strongest on the screen, near the bottom. So, I drowned the whole area with 409 and scrubbed till my hands were about to fall off (and i don't even want to THINK about all the nastiness that touched my hands) and the smell was still there!

Then I discovered that the actual source of the stink (i have visual proof this time) was on the outside of the screen! Oy!

John 10:28 - (Jesus speaking) "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

So, Charlie has planted a funny smell somewhere near our front door. We have narrowed it down to the entryway closet, but have not located the exact location yet. In trying to find the source of the smell yesterday, I sniffed both of the kitties and that is how I came to the conclusion that Charlie is the culprit - he posessed the smell. This inspired me to give him a bath and since I couldn't be unfair and have him thinking we love Cordy more, I decided we'd give them both a bath. So, I talked Doug into it and we locked them in the bathroom with us and bathed them.

Due to the breed of cat that Charlie is (Maine Coon), he has waterproof fur. This makes it difficult to actually get his fur wet! However, we succeeded and he was bathed against his will. Cordelia actually took it much better than he did, which was a surprise since she's such a spaz. After we dried them with towels and let them flick their legs around some, I took the hairdryer after them. Charlie didn't like it, but he put up with it. Cordy was terrified of it, so I quit trying. The good news is that they are still speaking to us and they haven't punished us (as far as we know)!

John 6:40 - (Jesus speaking) "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

It's Friiiday! It's Friiiday! WooHoo - it's Friiiday! :) I woke up with another bizarre pain this morning. This time it was... I'm not sure. It was either my right pectoral muscle or a rib. I really couldn't tell. All I know for sure is that it *hurt*! A LOT! All morning I kept yelping in pain because I moved wrong (which constituted about half the moves that i made). Thankfully it's gotten better over the day and is almost completely gone now. Weird. What do I do in my sleep!?!

I went to the grocery store again today, but unfortunately I have no strange tales to tell. Although, when I was going in to the store I did see the same lady that I was in line behind when I was there on Monday. A little odd, don't you think? Also, I bought some vegetarian "ground beef" and vegetarian "deli ham" slices. That is definitely weird. And potentially disgusting. But I think it's worth a try. I can tell you one thing for sure though - do not ever buy vegetarian hot dogs. Gag me!!!!!

Job 19:25-27 -

"I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon
the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes--I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!"

These words came from a man who had lost everything and was being hounded by the few friends he had left... pretty cool.