Cars are more expensive than cats... but not by much.

Over the past two days I have shelled out a little over $400 to fix my car and try to fix my kitty. Life is expensive, isn't it?

Every single time, seriously, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I take my car in for an oil change they find something else wrong with it. And it's never just a $20-30 operation, oh no, it's always in the hundreds. So I needed a new battery and had dirty transmission fluid and I figured I should get it fixed before I leave my car at the airport next week when I....

COME HOME FOR THE WEDDING!!!!!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

...and chance it not starting again. Then of course my passenger side door has been really hard to open and shut lately so I had them oil that a bit. I spent $206.12 yesterday on my little Nuggetmobile. And here's the very Heather part of that story: I forgot my wallet at home!!! What an idiot, right?! So I had to write a check, but anything over $200 requires a driver's license number so as soon as I got home I had to call them with that information. The guys were actually really cool about it, thankfully.

Now onto the kitty... Neve's cough never really went away so I brought her into the vet for a check-up and to see if we could figure out what's going on. Well guess what. $194.68 later, we still don't know. We did X-rays, blood tests and put her on a deworming medication on the off chance that she has lung worm. She hasn't coughed these last couple of days, but it comes and goes, so I'm not convinced yet.

There are two other options at this point. The first is to put her on an antibiotic for a longer period of time than she was before and see if that works OR (here's where we start talking the BIG BUCKS) we can do a bronchial lavage which would run me about $600. Other than her occasional cough, Nevie is PERFECTLY FINE!!! She runs around, plays with Belami, eats, drinks, uses the litter box, she's a very happy kitty- I can tell. And she's gained 2 pounds! Her size always worries me so I'm glad she putting on some weight! Not only do I not want to spend that much money for something that might not tell us anything, but it's a big deal procedure and I don't want to put her through that if I don't have to.

I've started calling Neve my "little expensive kitty" and I wish I knew something, ANYTHING, about her past that could help me with her health issue. I guess that if she's happy then I shouldn't worry about it too much, but asking me not to worry about my babies is like asking me not to breathe.

I finally watched Marley & Me and while I had some issues with it as a film- the stabbing scene, seriously??? I think that the story of the Grogans and Marley is such a true, relatable tale to anyone with a pet. They are best part of your life, but sometimes they make things very stressful! Whether they're chewing up the couch or coughing inexplicably you constantly think to yourself "What should I be doing differently?" I wish animals could talk! Or in Nevie's case I wish she made any sound at all- no purring, no meowing. She's a mysterious little bugger.

Amy and I were talking about our cats the other day and we've developed a theory about cats who have had multiple owners vs. those who have lived with one family or person their whole life. When I was away for Easter and my friend Carole took care of the kitties and said that Neve was all over her and so friendly but Belami wasn't very friendly. I explained that he's had a charmed life and he can be snobby with new people. Neve on the other hand has had a tougher life with less stability. She can adapt better I guess, whereas Belami notices changes more easily. When I came back to Park City in January after being in NH for 10 days, I swear Belami would barely look at me for two days! He was MAD at me for leaving! He would like me to be around all the time because he knows me as his mom/owner. Neve probably still wonders if this is her permanent home.

I realize I'm giving the kitties far too much credit in the brain department here, but interesting idea, don't you think?

Time for work! See some of you in a week!!!!

Dance, Dance, Dance.

Having troubles telling
how I feel, but I can
Dance, dance, dance.
Couldn't possibly tell you
How I mean, but I can
Dance, dance, dance.

So when I trip on my feet
Look at the beat
The words are written in the sand
When I'm shaking my hips
Look for the swing
The words are written in the air.

Dance,
I was a dancer all along
Dance, dance, dance
Words can never make up for what you do.

Easy conversations, there's no such thing
No I'm shy, shy, shy
My hips they lie 'cause in reality
I'm shy, shy, shy
But when I trip on my feet
Look at the ground
The words are written in the dust
When I'm shaking my hips
Look for the swing
The words are written in the air.

Dance,
I was a dancer all along
Dance, dance, dance
Words can never make up for what you do...

Dance, dance, dance.

This is a cute song by Lykke Li, a Swedish singer. She has a couple of other good songs, my favorite is called Little Bit, but most of them are actually kind of weird. Back to Dance, Dance, Dance... I love the idea of dancing for inspiration when you're not sure what to say. What a lovely idea!

Is...

I was reading the NHSPCA newsletter online and saw some information about leaving a dog in a hot car. I wondered what the laws are in Utah so I went to the Google page and began typing "Is it illegal to leave a dog in a car in Utah?" My Google assist is on so it always guesses what you're typing as you type it. I just have to share with you what Google thought I would be asking after I typed in the word "is."

The first suggestion was "Is Santa real?" Could you imagine some little kid going on the Internet to find out if Father Christmas exists? Maybe they're too embarrassed to ask a real person. And speaking of the holiday, one of the other suggestions was "Is Walmart open on Christmas?" So do these questions pop up because so many people are typing them in? In that case there are a lot of people wondering "Is bronchitis contagious?" and the same thing about pneumonia. There are three things people would like to know about Obama: is he a US citizen? Is he a Muslim? And, here's an interesting one: "Is he the Antichrist?" Hmmm... People actually went online hoping to find factual evidence to answer this inquiry?

Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing? You can Google just about any subject. And FYI I didn't even find the answer to my original question! Does anyone know where I could get that kind of information?

Mom won!

Congratulations, Mama! You guessed right! Well, half right. The song is called The Fear, by Lily Allen. I think it has cool lyrics and it's an interesting commentary on some aspects of life these days.

So for your prize you win... a visit from me on Mother's Day!!!!! Lucky you!!!

Speaking of Mother's Day, tomorrow we celebrate our other mother- Mother Earth! It's Earth Day as I'm sure you are aware. Let's all try to do something nice for the planet!

I have been to the end of the earth.
I have been to the end of the waters.
I have been to the end of the sky.
I have been to the end of the mountains.
I have found none that are not my friends.

Navajo Proverb

Clues.

That song is not rap! Here are some other clues:

It's sung by a girl.
She's British.
It came out in the last year.

Good luck!

Turn off your cell phone BEFORE the movie starts.

Let me tell you all what the mean man did to me at the movies last night...

One of the other managers, Carole, invited me to see State of Play with her and a couple of her friends after work last night. Never one to pass up a trip to the movies I obviously accepted and the whole night was really fun! We went out for wine and appetizers first at my favorite restaurant in Park City, Red Rock, which happens to be across the street from the theatre.

Now onto the mean man. The movie had started and I realized that I hadn't turned off my cell phone so I took it out of my bag to do so and the old man next to me grabs my phone while it is still in my hand and says "EXCUSE ME!" I told him that I was actually turning it off and he didn't say anything! No apology! Nothing! What a jerk! I guess he thought I was going to make a call? Start texting? I don't know what he was expecting but if he had just waited a second he would have seen that I was doing the courteous thing by shutting off my phone. Some people.

BTW the movie was pretty good, a little boring, but according to Jared I think all good movies are boring. In my opinion it's a rental, but what a great cast! I think Jason Bateman was my favorite part of the whole film!

Now let's play a game! I'm going to put some song lyrics here and you all have to guess the song! Have fun!

Life's about film stars and less about mothers,
It's all about fast cars and cussing each other,
But it doesn't matter 'cuz I'm packing plastic,
That's what makes my life so f#$@ing fantastic.
I am a weapon of massive consumption,
And it's not my fault, its how I'm programmed to function.

Easter in Paradise... again.

I've fallen into my old blogging habit of letting myself get too busy to post. I don't have time to write anything too special right now, I just wanted to check in! I type this as I lay in bed and both of the kitties are sitting on top of me right now which is making this very difficult but I'll do my best!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! This was my second Easter away from home. The last time was while I was abroad. Katie, Beth, Szilvia and I spent the holiday in Surfer's Paradise. This year I spent the day in Paradise, UT at Stacie's farm. The same place where I went for Christmas. Her family is SO NICE! They got me an Easter basket and everything! They do an Easter egg hunt and guess what is in the eggs?! Money! I only found $5.75- way to go, right? Her sister found $45!!! They're pretty hardcore about it! The whole day was really relaxing. We went for a walk around her property and I took lots of pictures which I will post another time when I'm not trying to get to sleep. Don't worry, I didn't come home with a kitty this time although I did see all of the stray cats who live at her grandmother's (where I found Nevie) so I was excited about that! None of them were running in the house though so I figure they're set in their wild ways- not like Neve!

Okay that's really all I have time for... here's a cute little poem to enjoy!

They might not need me; but they might,
I'll let my head be just in sight;
As smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
Emily Dickinson

Etsy.

A couple of weeks ago I complimented a customer on her earrings and she told me that she bought them from Etsy. She was a little surprised that I had never heard of this website. Have any of you? I feel like you could literally spend DAYS looking around the site so I've only browsed a few areas but it's pretty awesome! What a great idea for people to get their designs and creations out there for all to see!

COOL STUFF!

One should make one's life a mosaic. Let the general design be good, the colors lively, and the materials diversified.
Princess Marthe Bibesco

Compassion & Fashion.

Some great news on Wayne Pacelle's latest post... fur sales are down!!! Woohoo! I won't go into details here since you can get to his blog from mine but in case you don't want to read the whole post you can click on this link to see if your favorite retailers are fur-free, like J. Crew.

GOOD places to shop!

Make sure you're shopping with a company you can feel good about! And if you'd like to know where to go for all of your beauty needs, click on the link below.

More GOOD places to shop!

Remember that cruelty-free is always in style and looks good on EVERYONE!

Oops.

As you can see I screwed around with the size of the font on my post and couldn't get it back to normal. I figured I'd get people (and by people I mean Mom) asking what happened so I'm just telling you now. I don't know what I did, I just wanted Meg's b-day message to be big, but now it's ALL big. Oh well.

ZUMBA!!!

First things, first...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEG!!! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!

And now onto Zumba! Has anyone taken this class?? It is SO MUCH FUN!!! It's a fitness class that doesn't feel like working out! I was sweating like crazy and the instructor told us it burns 800-900 calories!! It's basically just shakin' your booty! We had heard about it and seen people in the class so Anna and I decided to try it out. Everyone wears these chiffon skirts with coins on them so that it jingles when you move, so I bought one for myself and Anna for our big debut. The instructor at our gym is a Colombian woman named Leticia and she is fabulous, full of energy and makes you feel so comfortable! At the beginning she told us to just make sure we have good posture and have fun. She said don't worry about your neighbors or anything else, it's about you and your movement! Click on the link to see what Zumba is!

Ditch the workout, join the party!

Usually during a class I'll look at the clock and wonder when the torture will end but today the hour flew by and I was actually a little sad when it was over! ANYONE can do this! I was probably the youngest person in the class and some of the women were a lot older but you could tell they were having a blast!

Life's a party make it hot, dance don't ever stop, whatever rhythm!
Jennifer Lopez (or whoever wrote Let's Get Loud since I'm sure it wasn't her!)

Progress!

I talked 3 of my friends from work into going to a class this morning that's taught by Josh, the trainer that I met with last week. When I met with him he suggested that I take his class but I knew I'd need some support so I recruited Stacie, Anna and Kristi to attend with me. When I went to sign us up for it yesterday morning the girl at the front desk of the gym told me I was brave for taking that class. Oh great! I thought "What have I gotten myself into here!?" I was so glad that I had friends to go through the torture with!

The class was difficult and I will admit that I took a few shortcuts on some of the exercises that I really struggled with, but here's the good news... He told us to do those full sit ups that you'll recall I couldn't do at all last week and guess what! I COULD DO THEM!! I've been practicing every day and it paid off! I know it's just something little, but I was truly proud of myself. I'm so out of shape but I'm getting there- slowly but surely!

After the class Kristi, Stacie and I went to a restaurant called Squatters and got some breakfast. It was my first time there but I really wanted to go because they have vegetarian and vegan choices and run a pretty eco-friendly establishment. I got a tofu scrambler burrito and it was quite yummy! Take a look at the website to see what it's all about! Delicious!

I have the day off and planned to get my taxes done, but I must have put my W-2's in a safe place- so safe, in fact that I am having a hard time finding them. Oops. I guess I should go look some more- I know I'll find them!

I have a strong feeling I'm going to be sore tomorrow so I'll include a quote of inspiration. You can use it too should you need a little motivation for anything!

You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Maya Angelou