Thunder Thursday: A Day in the Office

My friend, Angie, teaches geology at a couple colleges in New Mexico. I like this job because she works weird hours, like I do, so we IM each other a lot during the day. It’s nice to have someone to talk to. I mean, yes, I’m talking to other people – through my keyboard – all day. But she’s the one I can be privately snarky with.

But that all changes in the summer. She takes her kids – sometimes her husband if he doesn’t have to work – and they wander around the country. We still IM and text all day. But sometimes not. I hate summer.

BUT! They have taken a break from gallivanting for a little bit. So today, Angie was saying how typical it was that when her desk is spotless, Maggie the Cat wants nothing to do with her. When it is “overrun,” that’s where the cat wants to be. I nodded and was about to type in that I totally get it. Though with Kitten Thunder there really is no point where they don’t want to be on the desk.

Then I got the pictures. And I have two points to make:

1. This, by my standards, is hardly overrun. Look at all that surface that you can see!

2. It never occurred to me that geologist would have different work stuff than the rest of us on their desk.

Weights with no paper.

***

In other desk related news, Oliver and Obi’s birthday is July 27. Their wish list has been submitted to The Boy.

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The Runaround

I apologize if you felt a horrible loss over not having a Kitten Thunder blog to read on Tuesday, but I was on an important mission. I had to download and watch a movie on my computer to see what impact it would have on the battery. The Boy and I are going to Europe this spring and we wanted to know how many movies we could take with us in case we only want to watch the in-flight movie six times. I chose Anna Karenina – it was very artsy, but pretty good.

And then it was time for bed.

***

On Wednesday evenings, The Boy and I drink beer. This has been so since our bar, The Capitol Grille, opened about 11 years ago. When we started, sometimes we had enough people there to fill the bar. Over the years, our friends have grown up (old), had kids, and found other things to distract them from our Wednesday night tradition. Until it was just The Boy and I. And so we decided we might as well date and eventually get married.

Now when we go home at night, The Boy plays flat mousie with Obi. In case you are new to the blog, this is where The Boy throws Obi’s flat mousie into the hallway. The brown kitten races to get his toy and brings it back to the belly rubbing rug. Rinse and repeat until the kitten loses interest.

Last night, though, there was an issue. His name is Oliver.

For some reason Oliver decided to forgo his usual snuggle with The Girl and wanted to play flat mousie with The Boy and Obi. The problem being that Oliver doesn’t know how to play the game. He kept running with Obi to get the mousie, but then he would sit down, confused, and get in the way. The brown kitten had to go around, or over, the grey.

Then, Obi had enough.

The Boy threw the toy into the hallway. Obi got to it and tossed it into the air. He bumped it away and chased after it…out of sight. Oliver went to find him. He never did.

Obi came through the kitchen, and returned to the living room from the other direction. Having lost his brother – who was probably reminded as he entered the kitchen that he was peckish – the brown kitten and The Boy played on.

A kitten has to do what a kitten has to do.

How to Sew Curtains

Preparation

1. Read email from friend saying she needs help picking out fabric for daughter’s new princess extravaganza room. Gag a little in anticipation of princess pink, but agree to meet her at the fabric store.

2. Realize at the store that you are expected to sew the curtains. Accuse friend of leaving that part out. When she objects, tell her she is smoking pot.

3. Spend time needed to purchase supplies and lunch afterward trying to teach toddler to say, “Mom, you are smoking pot.” Think this is especially funny since, of all your friend who may have smoked the pot, this friend is least likely to have actually done so.

4. Receive sincere thanks for curtain project. Less sincere thanks for teaching children about pot.

5. Return home to find that email does, in fact, clearly ask you to sew curtains.

Set up

1. Lay fabric out on the floor. Remove brown cat.

2. Cut fabric to appropriate length. Remove grey cat.

3. Lay black out fabric on the floor. Take break for breakfast. Remove Mr. Bear.

4. Cut black out fabric to appropriate size. Wrap brown cat in fabric and gitchy gitchy him until he’s over excited and runs from the room.

Sewing

1. Lay two types of fabric together to pin them. Remove brown cat.

2. Change needle on sewing machine. Try to remember when needle broke. Do not succeed in the remembering.

3. Load the bobbin with appropriately colored thread. Look at horrified kittens on the table and realize that neither of them has ever seen a sewing machine.

4. Start sewing two pieces of fabric together. Remove grey cat.

5. Stop and move brown cat to kitty condo after 14 whacks on the nose with the bobby part on the machine.

6. Finish one edge. Decide it’s time to take a break. A long break.

7. Decide to blog about sewing curtains rather than finish the other seven seams.

And…post blog. What was I doing?

For Thunder Thursday, I bring you an LOLcat that actually made me LOL. I was researching costumes for The Boy and I; we’re going to a meme party. I was told that LOLcattiness was expected of me, given this blog. So I’m thinking…ceiling cat and basement cat?

I’m also sharing a picture of a pug loaf. I saw this and giggled like an idiot for at least two minutes. Then I laughed intermittently throughout the evening just from the memory of it.

I’m sorry, I don’t have any way to track the sources of these pictures for attribution. Hat tip to the memeiverse.