ladyofshadow

After visiting some local wineries, Steve and I have acquired a taste for some of the wines we tasted. We're currently enjoying a bottle of sweet white wine, "Misty Niagara" from Niagara Landing Wine Cellars. Naturally there is a picture of a waterfall on the bottle.

I especially find that watching sports, particularly hockey, whilst drinking wine makes it a rather pleasurable experience. I enjoy watching the Buffalo Sabres regardless, but with that little extra sweetness after dinner....YUM!

Yep.

( Isis is a Halloween Cat! )

Ack! Its been a while since I've posted on my journal. I think with my crazy schedule all I want to do is veg when I get home and facebook status updates are quick little things to post. So, if any of you are on facebook and would like to friend me, send me your name and I'll find you to friend you. ^__^ I tend to post a bunch of photos on there as well.

Summer programs have started at the library. I made it through week one and have four more weeks to go. I've taken over programs for another colleague who is out for the summer for health reasons. Her programs are popular at a bigger library (AUD), so for the one summer fun club there's an average of about 50 school age kids (with the possibility of 70 kids at once). I have teen volunteers that help, but then I have to keep an eye on them too to keep everyone on task. I also have themed preschool specials with about 30 preschoolers and their parents. Those are fun. :)

At EGG I've got a regular preschool storytime (20-25 preschoolers with their parents), lego club and summer fun club (last week I demonstrated kendo for the kids...they loved it!). I also make sure hte family fun nights go smoothly. Last week was the Buffalo Zoo, this week is a storytelling & performance group.

I also ended up being the one to organize and distribute summer reading prizes. Thankfully everything is all settled with that. There were some late deliveries.

Hmm, what else?

Oh yes! I helped my mom and grandparents at the Pirates Festival up at Olcott Beach near Lake Ontario. The professional pirates that I like were back and it was a fun time (despite the heat, bugs and aching feet because super-genius me decided to wear heeled boots on Saturday to be authentic). On a random note, I DESPISE smokers at festivals who come INTO the tent and also browse the tables with a cigarette. It makes me sick and sends me into an asthma attack. I swear we had more smokers than I can remember on Saturday. -_- I think they think it's okay because they're outside...but smoke travels. Ugh.

I got some awesome pics of some swans that were near the lake and some Canada geese. I called to the latter and they all started coming up the beach toward me, lol.

Steve and I went to see Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It was AWESOME! My favorite line: "I've always wanted to do that spell." We also saw The Green Lantern a few weeks ago because we had a free movie pass. That was a great movie too! If you like the superhero movies, definitely rent that when it comes out on DVD or streams on Netflix.

We also made a random pilgrimage...erm, piratage to a Long John Silver's I discovered about 45 minutes to an hour away. ^__^ Oh LJS chicken...how I miss thee!

I rather love spending time with him. ♥

I've been busy with Librarian union stuff since I've been the recording secretary. Mostly I try to put order to the conversations of my fellow board members, who tend to stray at times with the topic. So far I've been told that I'm doing a good job.

I also managed to snag a couple freelance projects by winning some bids (annotations & research). At this point I'm working on building my rank on various sites.

Isis the kitty is doing well. Her new thing is when mommy gets up in the morning to cuddle with her as she's on the toilet. ^^;; Thankfully she stays on the floor, satisfied by my pettings and rubbing against my legs.

On a random note, I'm sooo not digging this summer heat. I miss air conditioning. The fans do an okay job of cooling down the apartment, provided the night is cool.

Okay, enough rambling from me. I'm thinking of you all and wish you the best!!! ^___^!!!

April 8-11, 2011 Steve and I traveled to New York City to visit his family and see the sights. It was my first time in NYC, so naturally I took A LOT of photos.

( Here there be photos-Click at your own risk! )

Happy birthday wyldbutterflies!

So, on Tuesday I was innocently walking through the Eastern Hills Mall, picking up a gift card. Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite so innocent considering I was picking up a gift card for photo shoot discount, which I probably won't use anyway. But I digress. Fate apparently wanted me at the mall and I'm not one to ignore Fate when it's being insistent.

It was then when I walked by the Honey Hill Pet Store. I glanced at the display window. You know sometimes there is a colorful bird there...but oh no, there were three...THREE black cats.

I stop.

Three black cats. You can't NOT look. I told myself I shouldn't look. We weren't going to look until after our NYC trip (we're going to visit Steve's family this upcoming weekend...my first trip to New York City!! I'm going to meet his grandma and his aunt & her partner). However, I looked.

It was at that moment when one of the cats looked at me.

Me: Oh no... *kneels down*

Cat: *walks over to Kristi and puts paw on window*

Me: Steve is going to kill me

I found out that the pet store was hosting these cats for Second Chance Sheltering Network, a no-kill sheltering organization. Steve and I then had a talk. :) I even looked for a 'sign' this cat was the one. While looking at the shelter and the other cats the pet store was holding, I found out some of the other cats were 'Beatles' names and Steve is a huge 'Beatles' fan. Then again, I'm a fan myself, lol. *grin*

I got in touch with the shelter organizer to put in an application for the cat to arrange a meet & greet. We got in touch with a volunteer who actually fostered the cat before she was put on display in the store.

On Friday Steve and I met with the cat formerly known as Keesha. She was nervous, clinging to the volunteer, but when we got to the back of the store she glommed completely onto us. She melted into us. It was the most adorable thing...so yeah, we were going to take this cat home.

Of course, the pet store was out of carriers. Steve ran out to Walmart while I did some paperwork. I waited in back with Isis and we watched a crazy bunny named Thor. Seriously, this bunny was crazeh. 0_0 Isis was all like "You crazy" and Thor was all $$#%^*&*((*!!!!!!

The pet store gave us a discount on a litter box, scoop, starter food, and litter.

The volunteer was all "She's carrier trained and quiet, she'll be great!!!" ^_______^!!!!!

Yeah......she got in that carrier and was NOT happy. She started crying her little heart out. She cried in the car the whole way home and as soon as we pulled into the apartment, she let loose some poo in the carrier. Steve and I dove out of the car for air, then sprang into action.

She was still crying when I had her in the bathroom. It was really disorienting for her (she was used to having other cats and being in a small space).

He aired out his car while I prepared for some dirty work. I got Isis into the bathtub and started to wash her...she did so well!! I used a wash cloth and she was loving it. I passed her off to Steve in a towel so he could dry and cuddle her to get her warm, then washed out the carrier.

Isis loves to be cuddled, but she's still rather timid. The first night she cried a bit and the morning I found her wedged behind a bookcase *facepalm*. I played with her a bit before work.

She likes to be underneath tables and under desks, basically low to the ground and under things, rubbing up against things. She likes her 'forts.' She used our litter box for the first time (YAY!) after I showed her where it was in the kitchen, then she went on her own to explore. She also started playing with some toys too. *must get her some more toys*

She hasn't eaten the food we brought from the store (the kind she ate there). But we did get her to eat some treats I picked up. She knows where the food and water are though.

We'll have to see how she does before out extended weekend in NYC. My mom will look in on her, but we want to make sure she does okay before we leave. We'll see how she does when we leave her for hours at a time in the coming days.

In the meanwhile...*discretely stalks her from afar with camera*

My offering for art over at LJ's help_japan:

http://community.livejournal.com/help_japan/4185.html?thread=1294169#t1294169

Every so often I do random cosplay for a challenge community:

Alternate Universes for Saiyuki & Weiss Kreuz. It's a really great place to find random fics and art.

My inspiration of late has been Schuldig.

February's challenge was "High School & University". So I did a short photo story in cosplay:

http://community.livejournal.com/saiyuki_wk_au/14025.html

This morning I work up with head pain and nausea. Looking over my doctor's notes, it was times to take the Sumavel needle-free injection. You basically pinch your thigh, ready the device, press it down, and it makes a LOUD click. I was a wimp about doing it myself, so I had Steve do it.

Several expletives, a bit of blood, a welt, a slight gag reflex, "feeling strange", weird tingly sensations, and a bit of drowsiness in the span of 15 minutes my head pain WENT AWAY. 0__0 WOOT! My thigh's still sore and there's bruising, with a bit of a welt, but hey I'll take it.

I was planning to go to the botanical gardens with a friend today (dollar day!), but the snow ruined those plans. -_-;; It was all right up in the North, but in the southerly direction it was not playing nice. However, she still came over and we had some Chinese with Steve. After that we watched Steve play some Assassin's Creed adding our commentary and I made some Portabella & Artichoke dip for some Family Guy episodes. After that she and I hung out, talking about music and other such random things. *grin*

I went out to see if I could find any cosplay materials on the cheap. Amvets had some good President's Day deals so I picked up a few for work and I got one for an Ouran High School Host Club cosplay. It's lightweight, which will be good for warmer weather. I shall be Tamaki. He's the leader of the Host Club.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR !!!




……(\__/)
……(=’.’=)
…☆(”)_(”)☆

May the Year of the Rabbit bring you good fortune! (And lots of plot bunnies ^__~)