Recent Developments

Lots has happened in the past week or so. I've reduced my car usage by perhaps 75%, attended Cole's 3rd birthday party (Cole is Nisha and Trey's kid, for those who don't know), adopted a kitty cat, and sort of quit smoking. I say sort of because I will probably start again. Like tomorrow. It just occurred to me that I haven't had a cigarette since Saturday.

Last week I started walking to school. I live maybe half a mile from school and it takes me four minutes to drive, what with the stop lights and the one-way streets and all. If I walk, it's a straight shot that takes 6 minutes. Pretty sweet. (Also, apparently in the last few weeks I've started saying "sweet.") Walking gives me the opportunity to pet a few friendly dogs along the way, plus I'm totally saving the planet.

This past Saturday I went to Cole's 3rd birthday party at the Herndon Hacienda. If this doesn't sound like a fun way to spend a Saturday night, you've obviously never met the Herndons. Cole was the only child at this birthday party, and probably the only one not drinking, although he did request that his juice be served in a Jack Daniels cup. In addition to the usual cake and presents, there was also plenty of alcohol, excellent music, and a pumpkin carving contest. . .

Which Trey and I won. We (and when I say "we" I mean Trey) carved a Steal Your Face with shamrocks for eyeballs. (For you non-Deadheads out there, steal your face is that skull w/ lightning bolt thing associated with the Grateful Dead). To be honest, I did very little work on our pumpkin aside from scooping out a few guts, but I think I've demonstrated that alcohol, sharp objects and I are not a good combo. I did have the IDEA for the pumpkin, minus the shamrock eyeballs, which were Trey's idea. While there were some other good pumpkins, ours definitely kicked ass and we won a very nice bottle of vodka. I think the vodka went home with Trey, which I guess is only fair since he did all the work.

The biggest recent development is my new kitty cat. I've never thought of myself as a cat person, but my apartment doesn't allow dogs, I'm at work for 12 hours a day, and if I had a dog I'd have to get up early to walk him (and we all know that's not happening). So while I may not be a cat person, I certainly don't have a lifestyle conducive to dog owning. Thus I became a cat owner. I also had lots of encouragement from new pals Steve and Jen, who ARE cat people. Jen went with me to the SPCA to help me find the right kitty or, as Jen tells it, to help the right kitty find me. And she did a good job. On Tuesday, I officially adopted a kitty who's probably very confused about her name. Apparently her original name was Midnight, but the shelter renamed her Sassy, and I have since re-renamed her Luna. She is an awesome cat! She is so sweet and cuddly and she follows me everywhere. I absolutely adore her already.

So that's life in Norfolk. Pictures below. . .