Cat adventures with the new house

Now that we have a yard, the cats have a lot more to look at and play with. We let them in the backyard from time to time, unsupervised usually because it's fenced in. The other day, I noticed a lot of ants on the concrete slab near the back door. Upon investigation, I found that one of the little hunters had brought us a present - a dead snake. It was chewed in half and was now being consumed by ants.

Then this morning I was awakened by a rather loud scream, which has become fairly commonplace. Whenever Nite spots a cat in the yard, she lets us know quite loudly. Well, this morning she got so excited about it that she peed some on the floor. I did actually see the cat and it was sitting under the window that she was sitting in. It's kind of funny, actually.

I'm a big softy

So a couple of days ago, Matt went out to fire up the grill so we could have some Cheddarwurst for dinner. He came in shortly after he went outside and said "there's something in the grill and I need your help". I followed him outside and there sure was something in the grill. There was a nest of some sort and a mammal of some sort curled on top of the nest. It was too small to be a cat. Squirrell was my first thought.

The nest was ingeniously constructed - bits of long dried grass, plastic bags, paper instructions, fake leaves (we don't even have fake plants!) and other bits of yard material. Clearly a lot of care was put into this home. I cautiously picked up the plastic bag and a rat scurried out of the grill and into the shed. She left behind eight babies, no more than a day or two old (we had last used the grill a week ago).

Now we were left with a strange dilemma. What to do with the nest and babies? We posted this on Facebook and the general concensus was to close the lid and start the grill. However, killing them was not an option for me. I can't kill a living creature (except bugs inside the house - they're in my territory), much less helpless baby mammals. I wouldn't even have killed the mother if she remained. So we discussed our options - relocate the nest, leave them as they are. We opted to leave the grill cover open and leave the nest - babies and all - as they were with the hope that the mother would come back and move them.

And that's what happened (either that or a bird picked them out one by one). In the morning, all eight babies were gone. It doesn't bother me that we have a rat living in the yard, either. It was there before I knew it. As long as it doesn't start gnawing through our stuff, we're cool.

My Matt phase

Like a lot of other people, I go through different phases in my life. Sometimes it's a selfish phase. Sometimes I like sunflower seeds. Sometimes I decide I want a puppy. Right now, I'm in the middle of a Matt phase. This is one of the better phases to be in. Everything about Matt makes me happy right now. Nothing irritates me (not that there was much that irritated me before) about him. I just can't get enough of Matt. I can't wait to get home and see Matt. Matt Matt Matt.

I sometimes worry that I'm getting too dependant on him. I don't really have much in the way of support here and if something happened to him, I'd pretty much be screwed. But I push those worries away and play a video game or Mancala with Matt. Or maybe we build a model airplane together. I think you get my drift.

My social ineptitude

I don't remember always being so "shy" (hahahaha) in public situations. I guess it's worsened quite a bit since I've moved from Wisconsin. I hadn't realized how bad it was until Jess's wedding last weekend. I wanted to mingle with people and have a good time, but I just got very nervous and stayed a perpetual wall flower. I don't like it, but it's so strong and irrational that I can't overcome it.

I know that it's not my fault and I shouldn't feel bad about it, but I do. I don't like it at all. It keeps me from doing other social things and I don't really feel like explaining my oddball social anxiety to folks so I end up making excuses.

Anyway, thanks Jess for a lovely weekend. I did have a good time, even if it didn't look like it. I feel like I've missed so much of our family's lives since I moved away, but I wasn't going to miss that. Congratulations to you and Jake! Let me know when the pictures are in!

Cheese spread is potentially dangerous

So I guess, according to the FAA, it's theoritically possible to damage an airplane by carrying cheese spread onto it. Matt and I bought a bunch of cheese, including a yummy sharp cheddar cheese spread, and bought a small cooler to carry it onto the plane home. However, through the security screening, we were pulled aside because the cheese spread is considered a non-solid and can't be taken on a plane. Needless to say, neither of us were very happy because they had to confiscate it (and we won't get it back). This was in Wisconsin, for crying out loud! They, if anyone, should know that cheese is not really a dangerous substance. The only way Matt and I thought of causing harm with it would be to run around and scoop some out and put it in everyone's eyes. If we really wanted to do damage, we'd just hit someone over the head with the big sausage we were able to carry on board.

The rules are just getting silly. As Matt said, anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry could figure out dangerous ways to do harm. They can't catch everything, but I guess they can catch cheese spreads in the meantime.