It's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light...

Ocicat Breed temperament

Ocicats are a very outgoing breed. They are often considered to have the spirit of a dog in a cat's body. Most can easily be trained to fetch, walk on a leash and harness, come when called, speak, sit, lie down on command and a large array of other dog-related tricks. Most are especially good at feline agility because they are very toy-driven. Some even take readily to the water. Ocicats are also very friendly and sociable. They will typically march straight up to strangers and announce that they'd like to be petted. This makes them great family pets, and most can also get along well with animals of other species, although they are likely to assert their dominance over all involved. Ocicats make excellent pets for people who want to spend a lot of time with their cat, but they do require more attention than cats who aren't so people-oriented.

Yeah, this exactly describes my Echo-baby. Right down to the fetching. We were discussing how she was a dog this weekend. Now I totally want to get her a harness and walk her around so people will be like O_O!!

This is basically exactly her. It pleases me immensely.

So. After the last entry I accidentally fell asleep watching QI. Hurrr. BUT I am awake now (I know, right, I'm not sleep-typing, I bet you didn't guess that!) and actually have energy again. So I was dancing around the living room, singing opera metal.

Yep. I know how to have fun. The cats did not enjoy it. Their ears are still back.

Tomorrow I am getting up and noon and going shopping, I don't even care if I don't fall asleep until 11 am because I only just woke up at like 7. I am making myself leave this house and do things. Besides, I really want more Sweet lollipops. And also poptarts. And dumplings with soy sauce. And I need chocolate chips and cream cheese for the banana cake with cream cheese icing I am making. And I just ate an quarter of an apple pie and drank some coffee with whole cream milk and sugar. The sugar was regular sugar, not whole cream sugar. And I had curry with coconut cream in it.

How in the WORLD was my cholesterol at incredibly healthy levels?! I will never know, dude. But hey, an excuse to eat more crap, yay! (That isn't technically what that means, is it?!)

Also I am getting a pretty pill box for my meds because if I have to take pills to make my brain function right, I am keeping them in a pretty thing. So there. They have gorgeous ones on eBay for about $7.50 USD. And golly gee, I have USD in my US bank account. And shipping to NZ is quite cheap. This will also mean I have my meds WITH me instead of leaving them in my nightstand which is crap when I forget to take them.

And I decided to start to learn both ASL and NZSL. Because it shouldn't be someone else's problem that I can't understand them when they are communicating with me and having a basic understanding of sign language will be handy when working with some clients, I am sure. I found sites for ASL and NZSL and when I have a basic understanding, I might look for cheap NZSL classes after I get back from the US. It is a little more difficult for me to do it because my hands shake. But if I can play the flute, I can do this too. But that's why I am taking the time to get the hang of it BEFORE taking classes for the realsies. I can now do the fingerspell alphabet in both. The NZSL one is so much easier, omfg. Well it's easier for shaky hands since you use two hands for most letters instead of one. Praise my awesome memory because I am actually getting this.

The results of my second blood test showed no long-term problems (and that I have good cholesterol, who knew!?) so it's post-viral fatigue for sure. Then my doctor said "I know you're incredibly pale, but sometimes going out in the sun can help" and I gave her a Look. Instead she prescribed me Vitamin D (my doctor is an enabler!) which I suspect might actually have been speed.

She did warn me that the first few days after taking the high dose Vitamin D, I might feel like I had energy and not to overdo it. I didn't believe her...

Today I cleaned the house and the kitchen and did the dishes and wrote yet another four scenes and made a bunch of icons I have been stalling on, and I collected sources for my next assignment and started mapping it out. That's more than I have done in a day since May. I am now sure that the reason I felt inspired and wrote so much yesterday is simply because the energy gave me the mental facilities to handle it when I was using most of my brain to just deal with being awake before.

Of course I probably overdid it because I'm like that, but I just felt so awesome and didn't want to waste it! I didn't realise I actually completely forgot what energy felt like. It's kind of impressive.

Helios just grabbed the package of cat treats off the side table and ran out of the room with them so I'd better go catch him! :D

The past few days have been eventful. First, I got Echo a collar and decided she could go outside, since she doesn't just hide under the porch and refuse to come out like certain tortoiseshell cats I know. Her first day outside and she gets stung in the throat by a bee. It swells up to gigantic proportions and I have to take her to an afterhours vet which costs a heck of a lot of money. So guess who gets to stay inside for a little while now. :| Not happy.

The other night I woke myself up screaming! I had been having ghost nightmares all night, but the one I woke up from and finally decided to just stay up involved a room in the basement of my childhood home. But the room was Evil. And we were hanging around outside it, who knows why. One of the cats wandered in and Leah decided she didn't like him in there and she was going to get him out. I watched from the door frame and this random doll was running around to be freaky. Dolls terrify me. And she handed the cat to me but she didn't follow. I went back for her, calling her name. I found her in the corner, staring dead-eyed up at a ghost who had taken her form but twisted and terrifying. And the Leah-ghost turned towards me and rushed me. When Leah-ghost was a centimetre from my face, that's when I woke up screaming. Not.Awesome. Unless it was in a movie. Then really awesome.

Went to the doctor to renew my prescription and complain that I am still tired. I explained that I had even slept about 10 hours last night and woke up feeling like I do when I travel and don't sleep for two days. So tomorrow I have to have MORE tests done. Joy of joys. She said now it's probably just post-virus fatigue, but she wants to rule everything out.

Me? I just want to sleep for like...days. Humph.

But I did get a 1949 edition of Chaucer's Poetical Works in stunning condition from the Uni bookstore's used books shelf for incredibly cheap. It's so beautiful, I want to marry it.

It seems the worst of the snowpocalypse might be over, which is good. I don't know when things will open again, but it will be nice not to feel stuck at home. Not that I go anywhere these days, but I like it to be an option. It does mean Alison will fly away from us tomorrow, waahhhh. Let's not focus on that, or the fact that a virus deleted the essay I had mostly finished so I had to write 2,100 words for it last night. I kicked it's arse though. Thanks to my own personal cheerleader. His name is Simon!

So here is a pictorial account of the last few days. It is awesome and features mostly cats, my bathrobe, Jen in an awesome costume, a lot of me (some upsidedown) and a photo that looks like I am choking Ariadne. I was not.

( Listen close to everybody's heart )

Laura came over and made me fajitas. OMG. So.Good.

It's that time again. Cat pictures time.

( Why do the Vikings in How to Train Your Dragon all have Scottish accents? )

In case anyone was wondering? this is why I love Wil Wheaton so hardcore.

There is a tree near my house, that has probably been there for years, just doing its tree thing, watching patiently as families come and go, empires rise and fall, and Isengard is flooded. I'm sure it's a beautiful tree, cheerfully trading carbon dioxide for oxygen, providing shade, and most likely supporting several birds and squirrels. It's a lovely tree, I'm sure ... but I hate that motherfucker because I am super allergic to whatever pollen or voodoo or evil waves of itching sneezing bullshit it emits. I've seen doctors and witch doctors and oracles and psychics* about it, and all anyone's been able to do for me is suggest I take an antihistimine (Oh? Really? Thanks, medical professionals! I never would have thought of that on my own!) and ... well, that's just about all I can do, so just pay the receptionist on your way out, Wil.

His written word and my inner monologue? They match. All I could think reading that is that it sounds exactly like something I would say. And I couldn't stop laughing.

Because I think I am the funniest person on the planet. It's really true.

I slept from 7 pm until 4 am and now it is 8 am and I can't sleep any more :| Stupid WEIRD BODY SLEEP CLOCK VIRUS THING! But I wrote a bunch. Made me happy :D

Bought a cat tree house (the tunnels are not that big at all and I don't think Ariadne could even remotely fit in them but the rest is awesome) and they love it! Well the kittens were immediately convinced. They climbed up there before I was even done building it. I had to place Ariadne in one of the little cat hammocks and manually curl her up and then hold her there while I pet her for several minutes before she calmed down, but she hasn't moved since and she looks quite happy with her new sitting place. She's going to sleep in fact. See, baby? Sometimes when I bother you, I actually have your best interest at heart instead of just wanted to kiss your wee face because it is so cuteomg.

Also, check out the spam email I got (this is a print screen I took. It's safe to click!) It makes me laugh quite hard. I don't live in the US, guys. I didn't file a tax return. And much better on disguising your address there and even including a header, but still not falling for it. You sort of uhm...used some wrong words there. But you are getting craftier. Bravo.

The last few nights have been rough. I can't sleep again. Increased adrenaline makes for increased anxiety which makes for me staying up until 6 am and sleeping badly when I finally do fall asleep. I have a little dry mouth again and that's annoying. Huurrr. The social anxiety is still okay, I think! And I have finally gotten my head back into writing, YAY! Thank goodness for that. I missed it while it was gone!

Also thank goodness for our new cheese toastie machine. I will never eat anything else. And all the tea. I drink it. All.

Stop. Sneezing.

No really. You're losing IQ this way.

Evidenced by my panicking because something weird was beside me. It's a shirt. OH NOES, WARDROBE!!! Stupid...7 in the morning. Can't sleep. If I lie down, my nose betrays me, and I can't breathe. I can not stand that feeling. It freaks me out. I can sleep sitting up, FFS.

Also, about an hour ago, there was a bang and then a TERRIFYING SOUND like something yowling from THE UNDERWORLD and I FREAKED OUT. I jumped so much my laptop almost fell off my lap. And then I called for Ariadne and she didn't come. I shook her treats, and she didn't come. I was absolutely certain that a Hellbeast had eaten my kitten (my touch with reality is thin at the best of times, and now I am sick and sleep deprived, so yes, I am being actually serious right now...) and I started tearing the room apart to find her. She was behind the curtain, staring out the window at Yoko, the kitty from next door. Who apparently makes the same sounds when she sees Ariadne, as Lewis makes when he's having a nightmare and screams in his sleep. A sort of blood-curdling, howl from hell, intermingled with a death rattle/shriek.

Honestly, the most frightening thing I have heard, ever. This is the birth of Heart Attack Kitteh, cousin to Heart Attack Pigeon.

And Yoko is a lovely kitty! I'm just grateful that sound did not come out of my tiny widdle princess. I picked her up to take her away from the Hellbeast, and she jumped out of my arms and scrambled back to look out the window again. So I know where I stand!

Staying up all night isn't good for your brain, but I did eat chips, chicken nuggets, and watch Spaced! :D