Happy Halloween! I haven't blogged in a while, so let's see what's happened since I've been gone...

My parents came down to Charleston last Friday, and met Mo Cuishle, Mel, and Lyne. Mo hid for most of the night because Mel and Lyne had two young, cat-crazy children with them, Malaika and Amani, and Mo didn't particularly feel safe around them.

Saturday, I went shopping at the outlets with Kim and I actually bought some clothes this time. And then I bought some sugar cookies to take into work, which I did on Monday. And then I made rice crispy treats for our safety meeting at work on Wednesday and made a lot of friends.

As I went to lunch on Wednesday, however, I found a bag of candy in my locker from an anonymous benefactor, with a single note telling me to pass along the 'boo' to two other people. I thought it was really sweet (and it was probably Mel), so I went to walmart that night and bought a bag of everyone's favorite candy and put it all into a big bowl. I spent $20 (that's a lot of candy!), and the candy didn't last the entire day on Thursday!

There's more to say, and maybe I'll get a chance later on to finish up, but for now I really want to go home so I can get ready to go trick-or-treating tonight with Connor! Happy Halloween!!

Hi there! This whole not-being-able-to-afford-internet thing really blows. But on the plus side, it's cured me of my addiction to surfing the web. Anyway, nowadays I get online for a few minutes during lunch at work to check my mail, and that's all I need. Blogging must be saved for times when I have a prolongued access to the web, like right now, at home in North Carolina.

I do have a picture of Izzy and of my apartment! My apartment is on the second floor.

I do not, however, have pictures of me or of Mo Cuishle. You might have to wait until Thanksgiving for those, for that's the next time I plan on coming home and having enough access to the internet to post pictures.

Mo Cuishle gave me quite a fright on Friday. When I walked out the door to go to work, she jumped out, got down the stairs and out into the dark. All initial attempts to catch her and get her back into my apartment failed, so I called work and told my friend Sarah that I didn't know if I was going to make it in that day. A little while later, when I still couldn't find Mo Cuishle, I called Mel and pretty much begged her to come help me find my kitty. She said she'd be right there (it was before 5AM, but she was already awake). She and I looked for over an hour and didn't see a sign of Mo Cuishle, and I was just at the point of giving up, thanking Mel and telling her to go back to work when Mo Cuishle began to meow. We tracked her and found her hiding under a car, and then another car, and so on and so forth until she stayed put in a holly shrub and I was able to reach in and grab her. I got her back upstairs just as Sarah called to see if we'd made any progress. I thanked her (she'd lent Mel her car to come and help me), and Mel, then Mel went back to work, and I crashed on the couch. I was already feeling ill when I got up because I'd gotten a flu shot on Thursday, and then Friday morning I contemplated calling in sick but decided I'd better go in...and then Mo got out. Well, I guess I should have listened and just called in sick in the first place. But after I got Mo back into the apartment, I was cold, wet, tired, and ill, so I did call in sick. The good thing is that I got to leave for NC by 10:30, which put me at home by 4. Sarah called me at 1, when she got off work, to make sure I was okay (I think I scared her when I called crying that morning), and then told me the same thing I'd decided - when I don't feel like coming into work, listen and don't try to come in anyway!

Anyway, now I'm at home. I'd intended to give my mom her present from me on Saturday night, but as luck would have it, my dad made waffles for breakfast on Saturday, so I had to give mom her present before breakfast - apricot goop. I can't call it syrup because when I was making it, it wasn't very syrupy, but at least it tasted a little like apricots. Saturday night, Becca and Mom opened their presents from Darren and Kim and they loved them. And this morning, we girls are watching one of the first movies I got with my subscription to Blockbuster - The Inheritance. Soon enough, I'll have to leave, but at least Mo Cuishle is waiting for me at home, and there's always the thrill of finding cheap gas in Georgetown - I paid $2.49/gallon on Friday!

And then next Friday, my family is coming down to visit. They're going down to Florida for a family reunion and will be stopping in Charleston on Friday. I can't wait for them to meet my kitty! I plan on cooking a big dinner for them and for Darren and Kim and for anyone else who can come, and it will be like being at home - a full house, good food, family, friends...what more could anyone want? =D

Soon I'll post a picture of my new roommate, but right now let me just tell you that I love her! She's cute and inquisitive and full of energy but oddly soothing. And she's a cat. Well, kitten, to be more specific - a 6-month old kitty named Mo Cuishle (Moe coosh-la). She's a tabby, but she looks as if she's part wild cat, part prairie dog, and part hyena. And she's so cute!