Tuesday, June 17, 2008



"Nature provides exceptions to every rule." ~Margaret Fuller

Friday, June 13, 2008

Blogstalgia

This is nostalgia, blog style. I can't believe how many blogs I've started and stopped. The first one was on Xanga when I was 20. I was inspired to see if it still existed (haven't been there since 2003) and lo and behold there it was! It's insane to read those entries. Although I had forgotten that most of it took place, it flooded back into my mind like I'm still a nanny in DC, waiting to start college in Baltimore. I would likely do it all again, although I like being 25 :)




Monday, July 14, 2003

I love climbing trees. I love singing babies to sleep. I love raspberries. I love smiling when I hang up the phone. I love long hugs from close friends. I love boats. I love the sound of a bee. I love morning hugs from Killian. I love laughing till it hurts. I love eating at Chipotle. I love talking late until I pass out. I love coconut juice. I love making homemade presents. I love singing onstage. I love singing in the car. I love finding things in common with strangers. I love working at ice cream parlors. I love talking into a fan. I love juice bars from the ice cream truck. I love playing video games for hours. I love the smell of wood. I love bouncy balls. I love stepping on Cheerios. I love taking pictures. I love smelling and looking at lilac fields. I love faeries. I love the way my mom says hi when she hears my voice. I love jumping rope. I love Jolly Ranchers. I love listening to my Godmother's sweet voice. I love autumn. I love collecting junk. I love sprinklers. I love making collages. I love hearing people talk about things they've just learned. I love laughing at myself. I love cuddling with Fish. I love listening to Phish. I love when Katie picks her nose. I love hookahs. I love family portraits. I love the smell of baby shampoo. I love my sister's advice. I love opening a new book. I love finishing an old book again. I love chai tea lattes with soy milk. I love brown eyes. I love dark blue eyes. I love long drives on backroads. I love cream cheese icing. I love catchphrases. I love misfits. I love Gogurt. I love porch swings. I love sun dresses. I love the sound of a cello. I love the beach in the early evening. I love when Karen licks my nose. I love having something wonderful to look forward to. I love curling up under blankets in a cold room. I love when my dad tells me he prays for me. I love waking up smiling. I love kisses. I love listening to thunder with someone I love. I love kickball. I love my brother-in-law's laugh. I love grocery shopping at 2am. I love feeling safe. I love feeling loved.

http://www.xanga.com/BaltimoreBomberGirl

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Thank you Heidi!

She took these pictures when the kitties were four weeks old (and Flora was 1 year old and Ava was 18 months old and Jamie was 25.9 years old)













Friday, June 6, 2008

House pictures!

These aren't the best -- they are pictures the seller sent me before I ever saw it. I thought I would post them so you can see it but also for a good before-and-after reference. The house will be painted inside AND out before I move in!

Front -- on a main one-way street in Tampa. The house was built in 1920, and moved to its current location in 2001 when a highway was built on its original plot. All homes on the street were moved by the city's historic preservation project. Everything done to the outside of these houses has to be approved by city's historic preservation commission. The house was renovated in 2006 with all new heating/AC, plumbing, electric, and metal roof. Lots of other stuff is new but that's the most important stuff :)


The living room looking out to the front of the house. The living and dining rooms and both bedrooms have 10 foot ceilings and wooden floors.


The dining room looking to the back of my house. This will actually be my piano room, and my piano will fit perfectly between those two doors (bathroom and kitchen) in the back!


The kitchen! Everything is brand new. The ceilings slope up to 10 feet which I love :) The back door in the kitchen leads out to the backyard and there is a washer/dryer closet in there as well.


Bathroom! It's HUGE and I love it! Both bathroom and kitchen have new ceramic tile. The closet in the bathroom is also huge, LOVE IT.


This is the front bedroom and will most likely be my bedroom.


This is the spare bedroom. I would prefer this room because it's not on the main street but it only has one window that looks out on the house next store (which is only 5 feet from mine!) so it will never get natural light. The front street isn't too noisy so it's worth the sacrifice.



Thanks for looking! All of the painting will be done by the 20th and I move in on the 21st so update pictures will be after then!


"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." ~Albert Einstein

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Kitty Viddy-O!

WARNING: This video may cause dizziness :) It also makes the kittens look completely insane, which of course they are at 7 weeks! Flora is so funny, she does NOT take her eyes off the camera for a second, whether I'm filming her or not.



Last but not least, Juno has a home :):):) I secretly hoped that one of them would be homeless and I would have no choice but to keep them myself :p I'm going to miss all of them so much!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The best kitten update yet!



Angus is now named Jack and belongs to a fabulous person named Wanda. Wanda is totally and completely in love and obsessed with Jack! She visits him weekly, grills me on how he is being cared for (in a very friendly way and I love this!), and has even bought food to keep the brood fed. She has been so busy preparing for his homecoming next week, and I continue to try and break away from him and the others emotionally. Can't you see how tough this is going to be???



Pearl, who became Elmer when I realized he was a boy, is now Kimba. His home will be with my dog park friend, Uli, her husband Dave, and their three dogs. Luckily Kimba is well-adjusted to dogs and he will do well with this little family, I'm sure. He is such a sweet boy but also very rambunctious! You can see by this look that he is quite the heart-stealer :)



My sweet little Delilah has finally gotten a home! I couldn't believe no one had expressed interest in her as of last Thursday. She is very unique-looking and has the biggest, roundest eyes. She is also the biggest cuddlebug of the group. I can't sit on the floor without having her in my lap. I would say I would keep her if I could, but I think I'd say that about all of them!! Delilah is going home with a really great guy, my old neighbor Jacob. Jacob lives alone and doesn't have any other pets and I'm sure he'll dote on Delilah! But what if she gets bored when Jacob is at work, you say? She won't be lonely, because guess who is going with her??!!



FLORA!!!! As of last night, Jacob confirmed that he would like to give Flora, the moma cat, a home too. Boy, is he one lucky fella to get these two sweeties! I am so grateful to him and to my other adoptive parents. Thanks to them, I feel totally comfortable and confident letting go of my little fosters.

Lastly, sweet and tiny Juno is the last to need a home! I also feel confident that she will find the perfect home very soon. Juno had some health problems early on. One girl expressed a lot of interest in Juno but never called back once I told her about the FCKS. This is Flat Chested Kitten Syndrome. The main sign of it is literally a flat chest -- you could feel the ribcage flatten, instead of curve. Luckily for me I wasn't able to diagnose it until she was 5 weeks old, because I read that the mortality rate is 50% up to 3 weeks old! The great news is that if they live after that, they are almost guaranteed to live a normal life. She was the runt and was slow to catch up to the others, but she is FINALLY growing, filling out, straying from her mom's nipple and eating solid food, and running around playing like crazy!!! Check out these pictures I took of her last night, she's gonna go quickly now, I know it! And worst case scenario is I have to keep her. :p

(She is on the left in the first photo; Jack is on the right)


Monday, June 2, 2008

I'm a homeowner :)

Hence my disappearing for the most part over the last month. I found an incredible house at an incredible price and despite many obstacles, I was determined to make it happen. And it still surprised me when it actually did happen! I closed on Friday, May 30, the keys are in my hand, there's no backing out now by any party. I'm so happy :)

In other news, 4 out of the 5 cats have homes thanks to some special souls in my life, school is beating me senseless but don't worry I keep getting back up, and life is ultimately fantastic. More to come once I rest -- which means see you in 2008 :p

<3 Jamie