Friday, June 20, 2003
 

I returned to PetSmart today and purchased the sooper-dooper-deluxe litterbox with lid (that's not the exact one, but you get the idea). Alice started out being very tidy with her litter but has since taken to playing in it. I have no idea how to discourage that behavior without discouraging litterbox use in general, which would be A Bad Thing. She may outgrow it when she's less of a hyperactive young cat, but, in the meantime, bathroom floors should not crunch. I have no objection to strewing books, papers, and clothes from here to the North Pole, but I don't like unsanitary messes. Kitty gonna play by Big Momma's rules in this apartment.

So now she has the ultra-cool litter box and a mat to catch stray litter bits. I also got her a kitty bed in hopes that she'll vacate my laptop carrier, which is now highly hairy. This bed has a gray interior, so at least it won't show the hair. She also got a new collar (her previous one was a buckle rather than a breakaway) and a brush. But she's not spoiled.

Her collar has a bell on it, and she now dingles. This puzzles her in the extreme, as, in her experience, only dingle balls dingle. She keeps pressing her chin against her chest in futile attempts to locate the source of the dingling.

But back to the litterbox. The 30-lb Tidy Cats was on sale, and I needed litter anyway. I can't resist a bargain, so I thought I'd be all macho and get the 30 lb container. I had a buggy in the store, so it wasn't that bad (though I should have taken a hint when the buggy groaned under the weight). When I got it back here, though, I thought I was going to croak. I literally ended up cut and bruised, between hauling the litter up here (believe me, I took the elevator) and getting the blasted container open. You need to be both a Mensa member and a weight lifting champion to get those blasted containers open. I was prying it open with scissors (I couldn't pull the plastic pull tab), sitting on top of it and scooting around. Finally, I ended up lying in the floor from sheer exhaustion. I could have sold tickets.

I had a caffeine headache already, and, by the time I'd gotten the litter opened, it had evolved from mild to shoot-me-now. I've also majorly screwed up my back. My hands and legs were trembling after all of this.

Alice had so better use that box.

I turned in a first draft of my thesis to the graduate director today. Please start praying. Goat sacrifices also welcome.

And my good news is that I've got a gig indexing a professor's book. It pays well and is definite resume fodder, and it's an honor to be picked for this sort of hard labor.

I've gotta be able to afford Purina and Tidy Cats, man. Gotta take care of the baby. I'm a mommy now.

Back to lying down.

Elvisette philosophized at 7:28 PM