I don't like spam!

Sadly, I am not talking about the variety that Graham Chapman and company are speaking of. I'm talking about the crap that clutters up our inboxes.

Lately, my darling kittens, I have been getting anonymous comments promising me that I can earn $2,000 a day if I just invested in this online program. They have been so frequent that I have no choice but to establish the following policy:

Anonymous comments will NOT be published.

This is especially true if you promise me that my short dark brown hair will turn a lovely shade of blonde if I take 30 of your Insta-Blonde pills three times a day. It is also true if you say I can make $10,000 a day if I whore myself by using your website.

Have y'all been receiving such comments in higher frequency these days, kittens? Or is it just me? Fortunately I moderate my comments, so I can weed out the ones by this "anonymous" fellow. But if you are new to the blog, please make a note of this.

Merci beaucoup, mes amis.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

A Christmas meme

Special thanks to NurseExec for this one.

1. Does your family send Christmas cards?

Always. We even hang them up. I have kept my Christmas cards every single year since I've been on my own. Not just the photo ones, but the paper ones, too.

2. How soon do you start shopping?

I traditionally start the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year it was the Saturday after T-Day. A migraine prevented me from partaking in early festivities.

3. Who do you shop for?
Immediate family and my two best friends. I bake for co-workers.

4. Do you put up a Christmas tree?

It wouldn't be Christmas without one!

5. If so, is it fake or real?
It is fake. I live on my own, in a loft. It would be a doozy for me to drag a real tree up the stairs every year. Plus, I kill plants. I have a black thumb.

6. Do you like tinsel?

Ick, nooooooooo. Besides, it's too much temptation for the cats, and the last thing I need during the holidays is a ginormous vet bill.

7. Do you use homemade or store bought ornaments?

Both. In fact, this year, I'm taking pictures of my ornaments and writing posts about the stories behind them.

8. Do you put Christmas lights outside your house?

It's against condo association bylaws to do that.

9. Do you put lights on the tree?

It's a pre-lit tree that I bought from the Home Despot the day after Christmas one year. Best clearance deal EVER.

10. How about popcorn and cranberries?

Nope. Don't wanna attract vermin.

11. Is there a wreath hanging on your door?

Yes, it's a wreath handmade by Mama Cat herself.

12. Do you hang up your stocking?

At the Cat Family homestead, yes, because there is a fireplace. At my place, no; I don't have a fireplace.

13. Does your family read "Twas the night before Christmas?"

We used to, when Sister Kitten and I were little. We also read a book called Santa Mouse. We don't do this anymore, now that we're grown. :(

14. Christmas Movie?

A Christmas Story is the BEST Christmas movie EVER. No question. Sister Kitten and I watch the 24 hour marathon on TNT every year and we never get sick of it. We can quote the dialogue.

15. Character from any Christmas Movie

Randy, the little brother from A Christmas Story. My favorite scene is the one where he eats dinner as if he were a pig. Oh, and no mention of A Christmas Story would be complete without the leg lamp!

16. Christmas Song

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town", as performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

17. Christmas Memory

My sophomore year of college a bunch of us went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We took the Metro North into the city, saw the show, then went to Jekyll and Hyde's afterward. We caught the last train back to school at 1:30 AM. We got back to campus at 3:30 AM. It was a great night...:)

18. Give or Receive?

Both are fun

19. Ham or Turkey?

Turkey

20. White Lights or Colored Lights?

White; I'm not much of a fan of colored lights on small Christmas trees. On the bigger ones, such as the one in Rockefeller Center, it works.

21. Blinking Lights or Still Lights:

Still. I get motion sickness when I look at blinking lights.

22. Were you Naughty or Nice this year?

I'm a nice girl.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year?

A new washing machine would be nice, since mine no longer runs cold water.

24. When do you open your gifts?

Christmas morning

25. What's the best gift you've ever gotten?

I've received a lot of nice gifts.

26. What's the worst gift you've ever gotten?

Can't think of one.

27. Who gives you the most gifts?

I really don't keep a tally.

28. Have you ever had a secret Santa?

We do Secret Santa every year at work.

29. Do you like wrapping gifts?

Ugh, noooooooo. Read this.

30. Do you put change in those red buckets?

Yes. I feel that any contribution I make is worthwhile, even if it's just a few pennies.

31. Do you burn a yule log?

Only the one they broadcast on TV. Anyone out there in Bloggerland remember the Yule Log on WPIX every year?

32. Can you name all the reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph

33. Do you bake cookies?

It depends on how busy and healthy I am during the holiday season.

34. Have you ever seen your mommy kissing Santa Claus?

Ahhhh...no.

35. Have you ever gotten a kiss under the mistletoe?

Yes

36. Do you drive around and look at the Christmas lights?

No, but we used to have some neighbors who would deck the halls, so to speak.

37. Have you ever left Santa cookies?

We did growing up. We left the jelly thumbprint cookies for him...which, coincidentally, were Papa Cat's favorite cookies. Hmmm...

38. Have you ever sat on Santa's lap?

Mama Cat has some pictures, yes.

39. Who do you celebrate Christmas with?

The Cat Family--rawther, my immediate family.

40. Where do you celebrate Christmas?

At the Cat Family homestead.

41. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Yes, but not every year. In Connecticut it's a crapshoot.

42. What part of Christmas do you look most forward to?

The concerts, the carols, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Also spending lots of time with friends and family.

43. Have you ever had your picture taken with Santa?

When I was little.

44. Does your family always take pictures at Christmas?

Moreso when we were kids, not so much as adults.

45. Have you ever heard the song "Thank God For The Kids"?

Nope.

A new Thanksgiving classic

I thought I had posted this clip last year, but I guess I didn't.

So in the tradition of me posting the wackiest clips on the Internets for your enjoyment (well, there are a few readers who post wackier clips), here is one from the good people at Blendtec, the folks behind the popular Will it Blend website.



Kittens, if you get the chance, I highly encourage you to visit the website. Seriously. It is one of the best time wasting websites EVER.

Happy Thanksgiving, my darling kittens.

An old Thanksgiving classic

I knew that I had to do a Thanksgiving salute here on the ol' blog, and what better way to do this than feature an old Adam Sandler classic?

Adam Sandler Thanksgiving Song from Jeff Mullooly on Vimeo.

On another note, I totally forgot Kevin Nealon ever did Weekend Update.

Happy Thanksgiving, my darling kittens!

If there is one thing worse than teenage acne...

...it's adult acne.

Aside from the occasional zit or two, I've never had severe acne in my adult life.

Until now.

And I don't know why.

I checked all of my cosmetics, and they're all supposedly non-comedogenic. My diet's been OK; not great, but OK. I'm not taking any meds that would supposedly lead to breakouts. I've been using Proactiv, but not as much as I should.

And then--and I know I shouldn't do this--I squeeze. Yes, I know it's a rawther nasty habit that can only make breakouts worse. It's also a rawther difficult habit to break.

So here I am, my 33-year-old face looking like a pizza pie, and my regular mineral foundation isn't doing the job of covering up my zits. So I've had to go to a liquid foundation--one with "skin-clearing properties."

I'd just like to go to the grocery store without having to put a full face on.

Is that too much to ask?

Hoping to adopt a miracle: Yaya's adoption website

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about my friend Yaya. Today I'm posting the badge that links to her adoption website:

Do me a favor, kittens. If you have not yet done so, and would like to help out, click on the badge, which will take you to Yaya's adoption website. (I'm sorry, Josh is in the picture here, I can't forget about hubby!) Anyway, click on the badge, and grab the code from the sidebar. Post the badge to your blog. Let as many people know about this as you can. Help get the word about these two loving, giving people. If anyone deserves to be parents, it's them!

Writers Workshop: Destructive kitties

Click here to play along with Mama Kat.

Here is the writing prompt I chose this week:

Describe the most destructive thing your pet has done.

I am fortunate that my kitties are not terribly destructive. They are very good cats overall. They have never scratched furniture or chewed anything of value up. I hate to brag, but they are naturally well-behaved.

However, there is one incident which made me so mad at Maggie.

It happened about three months after I moved into my condo. At the time, I just had Maggie. When I first moved in she used to love to climb on top of the cabinets. From the cabinets, she would climb to the top of the refrigerator, and would dangle her paws in such a way that they brushed against the door to the freezer...and then the freezer door would open.

Can you see where this is going, kittens?

So one morning--the morning of my first dinner party, as a matter of fact--Maggie woke me up, acting more anxious than usual. She was pacing the bed, pawing my face, doing everything within her power to get me out of bed. So finally, I got out of bed, walked to the kitchen to get breakfast...and saw my freezer door, wide open.

How long had it been open, you ask?

Long enough to defrost nearly $100 of frozen goods.

On the bright side, I had the menu for my dinner party ready to go.

And Maggie is a smart enough cat to know that what she did was a big mistake. She hasn't climbed to the top of the refrigerator since.

That, and the fact that I now store my toaster, coffee maker, and several other things up there has been a good deterrent, too.