The Riddance of Cable

So I decided that cable was evil and canceled it.
Well, not really. Where we live we only have once choice for a cable carrier and they are expensive.  For cable and internet we pay around 200 bucks. So to remain true to my resolutions I am canceling cable to save money so I can move by the end of the year. I will miss cable but I am also excited to leave it for a while.
I will have cable once again, of course. Must see the new season of True Blood and Dexter but that doesn't start till June.

Bringing In The New Year

What a great start to the New Year! Florida is going through a wonderful cold front which is bringing the temperature down to mid 60's as the high and mid 40's as the low. Pure heaven. The air is fresh and crisp. The brisk weather is delightful and my energy level is at an all time high!
I took Ozzie out for a couple of long walks this weekend and we both ran and played like two happy idiots.  Completely blissed by this rare and intoxicating weather.  I have been able to keep my a/c off for three whole days! That is a rare event in Florida!

Excitement

It's not even New Years and I am already starting my resolutions. I have begun the healthy eating process today.  I feel like all the junk i have eaten lately is bringing me down. I feel tired and not all there mentally. So i am excited about committing to my veggies.  I will also start jogging. I love walking and jogging and running but when its 90 degrees with 100% humidity my energy level becomes nonexistent.  So starting today, new experiences will come abound regardless of humidity. 
One of my other resolutions, that i am freaken ecstatic about, is my commitment to move out of South Florida by the end of 2010. Our destination? Seattle!!  Why Seattle?  Well it all started with our trip to Alaska in July. We arrived in Seattle to start our adventure. We stayed there a total of 3 days and loved it. I do have to admit that those days were completely sunny days so our views might be a bit biased.  J absolutely loved it! I lived in Manhattan for most of my childhood so i always had a love for the city.  Since visiting Seattle we both decided that was exactly where we wanted to be.
So the one and most exciting resolution that we just cant wait to start, is that of financially preparing to move the heck out of Florida...asap!
For excitement and motivational purposes, I will post pictures i took while in Seattle July of 2009.

And finally Rufus

This silly guy is Mellow's son. He is a wonderfully annoying cat. Annoying in the sense that he never lets up when he wants something. He has this idea that running sink water is the only water good enough for him. Where he got that from i do not know.

Maybe i thought it was cute when he started drinking the running water from the sink while i was brushing my teeth. Maybe i thought it was adorable how he waited by the door for me to go to the bathroom and turn the sink on for him. Maybe i also thought how smart my cat was to wake me up by meowing on my bed and then running to the sink to let me know he was ready for his water. Well after a couple of years i can honestly say, it is no longer cute.

I still love him just the same but now it has become an issue. Sometimes i wonder whether he drinks any water besides his precious sink water. Mellow drinks from her dish and has never shown any desire for this sink water. Not Rufus. He will watch you and stalk you and meow you to death until you get your lazy butt up and turn on the sink. When his litter box is beyond his means he will howl from the bedroom until you clean his litter so he can go. When you are folding clothes he will insist on laying on your clean clothes and if you don't like it then fold elsewhere. Mellow, well is mellow. She doesn't want much but to be brushed as much as possible. That is her only demand.

Yet i can't imagine a day without them. Life is 10 times better with my fellow fur friends.

a walk in the park

Mellow

Mellow
Originally uploaded by lidda.s

This is my Mellow Yellow. I found her in the streets about 7 years ago. the night i first saw her i called her and she came right to me. I fed her and hung out with her outside for the night. Each night I would come back from work she would be there waiting. I decided to keep her. After a couple of weeks I noticed her figure changing. I had never had a cat before so I called my best friend over to check her out. She told me she was knocked up. I couldn't put her back outside and my parents would have flipped if they knew she was pregnant so of course I hid her from them. I knew who knocked her up too. He would come at night and serenade her from downstairs while she watched by the window. I felt bad keeping them apart but it was for the best. I got her fixed after she had her kitties. She only had 3 so I kept one, gave one to my boyfriends mom and one to a friend.
So now I have two cats, one being her son Rufus. They adore each other but she gets sick of him from time to time. They always sleep together and eat together and terrorize the dog together. Sometimes she just wants to be left alone but Rufus wont get the hint so she has to smack him a couple of times till he understands that she needs her space. But he never does and she finally gives in.

I love cloudy days. That might sound strange but I do. Those days are usually cooler which is one reason. I also love seeing the bright green trees with a dark grey background. I love the breeze that comes with a cloudy day. The beaches are empty and the waves are ferocious. I can just sit there all day with the breeze flowing through my hair tasting the salty air, hearing the waves pound into each other. I feel such a sense of peace.

Some More

Here are some more pics of wonderful fall. One of my favorite seasons. When you live in a place that has none you really start appreciating how wonderful it is to have all four seasons.

I haven't quite figured out how to post the pictures the way i want them. Once i do i will post more.

Nothing New

Hello All!
The trip to Alaska was fantastic. I have no words to describe the beauty, the air, the smells. Just all so wonderful. I will post pictures later this week. For now i will leave you with some pictures of my trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains two years ago.
I miss fall terribly and I have no money to visit it this year. The 90 degree temperatures we are having here is not helping console me either. Florida has no love for me.

Preparing for Alaska

So I am going to Alaska in exactly 9 days. I am very excited. I love the mountains and nature and anything that doesnt look like Florida. Dont get me wrong, Florida is beautiful but it has no mountains and the constant heat and lack of any season besides summer is tiring. My boyfriends parents decided to take the whole family (including me since I have been dating the dork for 9 years) on a 7 day Alaskan cruise. I'm preparing to rent two lenses for my camera and starting to pack. So expect to see tons of pictures here soon.

(photo from reurinkjan's photostream on flickr)

My best friend will be watching over my kitties and my dog will be staying with my mom. As excited as i am though, i cant seem to stop worrying about my dog. When i rescued him he had extreme separation anxiety. He tore a nice big hole on the wall next to the door. You could stick half your arm in the hole. It took me about 4 months to train him but he still has a bit of the anxiety left. Whenever i leave to Tampa to visit friends, he stays at my moms but he wont eat and he sits by the window the entire two days im gone, and that's only two days.

This time ill be gone for a whole week and im stressing knowing that he will be miserable. What if he doesn't eat all week? What if he thinks I abandoned him? What if he gets sick from being depressed? Yes I worry a bit too much.

Ozzie Boy

Introducing my dog Ozzie. He was rescued from a shelter that i volunteered at. I found out he was there for about 4 years maybe longer so i decided to foster him and ended up falling completely in love with him. He is honestly the coolest dog. He can cheer me up no matter how low i might feel at the moment. Who wouldn't be cheered up by this face?

Losing

Getting laid off is a crappy, miserable thing. Especially if you enjoyed your job but most of all enjoyed the people you worked with. I would be so lucky to find that type of work environment again. But i am one of many.
I am trying to be optimistic. Trying to tell myself that this is all for the better. I do not see it now, of course. Life does not work that way but soon hopefully real soon i will see that this is the best thing that could have happened. Maybe something i have been dreaming for will come out of this. Change is usually a good thing. Sometimes you don't realize it right away but with time you end up seeing it all happened to get you where you are at now.