My cats are different

Shadow's tail is 5 inches long
Boo's tail is 17 inches long

Shadow has shiny inky black fur
Boo has brownish-black fur that is more matte than shiny

Shadow has rounded ear tips
Boo has more pointed ear tips with tufts of hair on the ends

Shadow's body is short and stubby (like his tail). He looks like a little bear running around
Boo's body is long and lean. Very lean. His little ribs and backbone stick out because he is way too skinny, although healthy (the vet says he IS too skinny, but has no health problems....just anxiety issues. He lost 3 pounds, from 11.5 to 8.5 over a 12 month period, but $300 worth of tests say that he is perfectly okay, just skinny)

Shadow likes to eat.
Boo likes to eat, then puke (hence the skinniness)

Shadow likes to climb up onto my lap and plop down to snuggle and sleep
Boo likes to climb between Ethan and I on the couch and turn around 14 times trying to find the perfect petting position, then drool and shake his head to flick the drool all around him.

Shadow HATES having his claw covers put on and his claws trimmed. He "hula-hoops" his body when we pick him up to do this, and Ethan has to protect himself with a pillow and blanket so Shadow doesn't scratch him in his haste to get away
Boo 'freezes' when we put his claw covers on, and purrs frantically until we are done

Shadow has golden/amber eyes
Boo has light sage green eyes

Shadow has a full back of hair
Boo does not

Boo crosses his little arms when he sits across the back of the couch (kinda like the Sphinx)
Shadow's arms are not long enough

Boo can leap from the floor up to the 5th step in one jump
Shadow can jump to the second step

Boo REALLY wants a bird. He makes clicking noises when he sees one
Shadow is a big fan of moths that get into the house (very rarely....)

Shadow likes to instigate fights with Boo, but he is a crappy fighter
Boo gets picked on by Shadow, but he is a great fighter and always wins their scuffles (but they are not really fighting, just wrestling)

Both Shadow and Boo meet me at the door when they hear the key in the lock, and follow me everywhere I go. If I go upstairs to get a drink, they follow me. If I go to the bathroom, they lie down in front of the door and wait for me to come back out. I can no longer play hide and seek.

I love my coffee carrier

I won a LiquidSolution stainless steel massive vacuum sealed coffee travel thingie at the White Elephant exchage this past Christmas. I made Ethan steal it from Mom so I could have it.

Then I promptly put it in the trunk of the car and forgot about it for two months.

I recently remembered it, and decided that it might be useful, along the lines of our more financially-conscious lifestyle. I mix up some General Mills Vanilla coffee mix stuff (tastes nothing like coffee....just the way I like it) with some soy milk and water, then fill the coffee tower up and head off to work. It is 1:21pm right now, and I just drank the last little bit and it is still HOT! The lid doubles as a cup, and it is such a snazzy little system!

I used to pay $3.83 for a chai from Starbucks every morning. Then they sold my basketball teams, so I moved to the hospital Bistro and paid $3.10 for a chai. Now I pay $8.00 for the massive powder container and $3.00 for the soy milk and have my caffeine for weeks and weeks.

I am saving some serious money here.

I also have a nalgene bottle I got for free from the Sonics that I fill with Crystal Light fruit punch and drink. I love it!! Between these two containers, I am sloshing!! I am now bringing bagels and beef jerky and pretzels to work for snacks, and making sandwiches or bringing premade salads for lunch. Safeway has some amazing specialty salads. My current favorite is one with a BBQ ranch dressing and corn, tortilla strips, cheese and tomatoes on top. So good!!!

Anyway. Now you are up on the olde culinary intake of Ms Amerson

Now, have I mentioned how very much I like my new toilet seat??

My old toilet seat broke. I am convinced that it broke because it was crap and not because of my mammoth girth (although to be fair, it first broke when Ethan was using it...the second and more complete break was when I sat on it, but that obviously does not count, since it was already broken.......by Ethan. Got that??) So. The crappy seat broke and was generally crappy and cheaplike. Nevertheless, I continued to perch precariously on this seat for about 3 weeks after it broke (as long as you sit down squarely and evenly, it doesn't move and you don't fall onto the floor), but I finally decided to replace it.

I went to Home Depot and perused their vast supply of seats, both elongated and round, and finally decided on a jazzy brushed nickel model. I like brushed nickel. That is to say, the attachment parts are brushed nickel. The seat itself is a regular white. I think an entire metallic seat would be icky. Prisonlike. The lovely seat is sculpted around the edge a bit and very nice. I removed the piece of crap (well, the old seat. I flushed before I began this procedure), then screwed the new seat on. Of course, to properly admire it I had to scrub the toilet, then the floor looked icky next to my gleaming toilet, so I cleaned that (only right next to the toilet, though....I didn't get completely carried away).

So. It is a very nice toilet seat. I admire it each time I enter the bathroom, whether I am directly involved with using it or not. Now I gotta replace the rest of the stuff in there so it all matches.....

United Citizens for Uniquely Tricky Subway Sandwich Topping Accommodation Tactics, or "U-CUT STAT"

In an effort to keep my blog entertaining and updated, I am dedicating this post to the Subway U-cut.

Do you remember the U-cut?? As a former Sandwich Artist, I am well versed in the art of the U-cut. The beauty of the U-cut is that you get an even distribution of the sandwich contents, whereas with a plain bisecting cut leaves you with an area where bread meets bread and you get a bite wholly without toppings. A disgrace, that is. The U-cut piece is placed artfully on the top of the sandwich contents like a little beret and serves as a place to rest your fingers without dirtying them as you hold your sandwich, and also helps to keep the contents contained within the confines of the bread.

This new slash cut sandwich crap is woefully inadequate. The resulting V space where the contents are placed tends to push the toppings towards one side, so you get some bites that are all bread, and some that are all toppings, not to mention the shocking amounts of toppings that fall from the sandwich and are either wasted or messily replaced within the bread.


Join me in urging Subway to go back to the U-cut of the past. We deserve even topping distribution in our deli sandwiches!!