I did it! Long week over and I finally have tomorrow off! It's going to be amazing. I am going to sleep in so hard. I might even stay in bed until ten. :P And then apparently I have a couple surprises for my birthday.. Ugh, I hate surprises!

But that's tomorrow. Tonight is the anniversary of the night I sat at Syl's boyfriend's apartment, dreading the surprises of my twenty-first, and Baby-Kitty wandered into our lives.

The baby one year ago.

I woke up this morning, went to work, rode the bus home, walked up my long driveway and back into my bedroom where Michi and Lolth were still laying around in bed. (Michi's a closer, I'm an opener. :P Odd schedule overlaps) Lolth ran off, came back, cried at me for thirty seconds straight, let me rub my face on her,  and ran back out of the room. That was when, for some reason, I remembered it was her birthday!

Last year we were all sitting around at David's, probably us three girls pouring over DnD manuals while the boys watched TV/played video games, when we heard crying at the back door. (It was actually very, very reminiscent of the time in Virginia when we fostered a lost cat who had cried at our window. We were very happy to find his little girl.) David went to check it out and the skinny little black and white cat flew into the room. She had a lot to say and desperately wanted pets. We gave her some chicken to eat and gave her a warm place to stay for the night. Michi named her Lolth after the Spider Queen in DnD. Why? Not sure. I think she thought it wouldn't matter because she wouldn't be sticking around and she came in out of the dark. Plus when a name strikes her it fits. As for Lolth, Michi and I agreed to be foster mommies again while David and Syl put up posters searching for her people.

No one called or came by, so, Lolth became part of our little family.

Lolth and I had a rough start as I had a bit of 'Stepmother' syndrome in which I considered her Michi's baby and had a hard time bonding with her. Enough nights of her sleeping, curled up against me underneath the blanket and sitting on my arm while I tried to use the computer quickly remedied that and I love her to pieces. Even when she wakes me up at midnight when I have to open at four-thirty and I nearly toss her out my window. We haven't gotten her anything yet but she has a pretty little pink collar with her name on it for Christmas and tomorrow we'll pick her up some treats and a new toy. One of these days we will buy her the scratching post/perch she desperately wants but that will have to wait for a bit.

She so spontaneously appeared in my life and I couldn't love my cat baby more.

Happy Birthday Baby Kitty~~

She prefers the Underdark.

♥ Amanda Leigh

I am almost to the end of my work week. Tomorrow is the last of fourteen! Just one more day to go...

Instead of my usual 4,5,6am shifts I actually started at eleven today. So I got to put on real people clothes and take the bus. I grumble my way out the door but I actually really like to ride the bus. It's free and I get a lot of reading in without any interruptions. I think it's the only way I would ever get anything read.

(I'm three fourths through my book and Oh my God what the heck is going on?!!)

This is the view from the end of my driveway while I wait for the bus. In the early morning it's just about my favourite five minutes of the day. It's cold but it's peaceful and just beautiful.

Real people clothes. Or... my version of them.

I found this sweater deep in the closet under all our junk. It's Michi's and way too big on me, from her bag of things from her Grandmother (lots and lots of scarves) so I have to be really, really careful. It is my favourite thing right now.

Lately I found a clothing/lifestyle movement from Japan called Mori Girls. Mori meaning forest. These are the girls of fairy tales. Simple, girly, stopping to smell the flowers. They dress similarly to the style I have been going for and I'm interested to see what else I can find.

♥ Amanda Leigh

I had a super short shift this morning at work. Because I would have had overtime I worked from 4:30am to 9am. @.@ It was awesome.

Then I decided to mess with my hair and fight my fear of cameras.

I'm trying. I really am. ><

I'm sleepy so I've been rubbing my makeup off all day..

Well... this is going to be hard to deal with in the morning...

♥ Amanda Leigh

Not much going on lately. Near the end of another fourteen day work week. Halfway through my book. My feet hurt.

Haha.

I'm turning twenty-two on the first! Ugh, I don't want to think about that one.

Anyway, here's a small photo-dump, for your viewing pleasure.

The snow made my life so difficult, but it really did make everything so much more beautiful. When it finally started raining and melting a bit, I finally got to leave the house. My mom and I ended up at the Tulalip Casino.

While cleaning my bathroom the other day I separated my makeup from Michi's and found a shoe box to store it all in. Turns out I have a very specific colour pallet..o.O

Michi faces!

♥ Amanda Leigh

Last night I lost track of my roommate while I was minding my own business, watching TV in the living room. For a WHILE Michi disappeared into our bathroom and I tried not to ask questions. She had been toying with a drastic hair change for a while now (which she tends to do after.. a few weeks of not dying or cutting it) and she had told me what she wanted to do. I had to keep that secret for a week! I hate keeping secrets!

But that's not the worst thing she did to me.

I tried to pretend I didn't know what she was doing back there. Our baby kitty has been a little sick lately, maybe she was just laying around with her? Right?

...she came out and handed me a lock of her hair, then gave me the extreme honor, of shaving the rest.

...

This is so beyond making me dye her hair! I wasn't even comfortable with that! I have NEVER cut anyone's hair before! I've never even cut my hair like little kids tend to do! Last night was so, so well beyond my comfort zone.

Even though it was kind of cool and she looks amazing. ^^

She loves it too.

These, of course, are just the right after pictures and she will most definitely be posting some styled soon, so keep an eye on her blog!

♥ Amanda Leigh

I... am still snowed in. -_- I've missed three days of work. Yay for a foot of snow and twenty-five degree weather. My dad tried to leave the house earlier today just to give it a try and almost slipped into the blackberry bushes down the side of our driveway.

But it's okay. I did something much more important.

In fact I did something so momentous I think my life will never be the same.

Think I'm joking?

That? Oh, no big deal. It's just THE ENDING CREDITS TO TETRIS ATTACK!! That's right! I beat stupid Bowser! With a super amazing PERFECT combo/chain that was so beautiful I almost had a heart attack and lost!

Tetris Attack is one of my favourite games ever and I could play it to the end of time. It's like Air Hockey. One of two things I was BORN good at and no one will play with me anymore. But I've never beaten it. Because Bowser's mean and I hate him. He doesn't even play! He just sits there with an HP meter and laughs at you while the tiles fly off the screen! But I showed him! I've been playing since I was little and I finally did it! I feel so accomplished I don't even know what to do with myself. 

 

Apparently when you win you unlock new characters. Now I can play with Bowser's cronies! I can be Bowser. And sit and laugh at people as I beat them. Mwahaha.

I wish there was like a super hard mode I could move on to... Anyone wanna play?

"I tell all my friends about our family during snow days. We all revert back to children. We play games and laugh and sometimes mom plays Twister. We all get like.. happier and funner."

- My little brother Cameron on my family and snow days.

^^


We got our first real snow of the year today! And somehow my whole family was in the house when it happened. Michi and I woke up this morning and apparently the both of us saw the snow through the shades and went back to sleep. When we woke up again I accidentally pulled the shades off the wall to show the baby kitty and the whole outside was covered in about four inches. I really hate living so far outside of town and dream of the day I can finally have my own place again, but when things like this happen I remember just how gorgeous it is out here.


Michi and I both had the day off, Cameron's school was canceled, Kris (my older brother) is always here, and Mom, Dad, and my Aunt Robin couldn't make it to work. That's everyone! It has been, put simply, a really good day.

 How gorgeous is that?

 That would be my driveway. It is very, very long. Yeah. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

My little brother decided that he wanted to go outside with no shoes on. Like he does every time it snows. It progressed from there until he decided he needed to do a belly flop on the deck. I really wanted a picture of the undisturbed snow but... I couldn't pass it up.

Sorry I tilted the camera!! I didn't even think about it. That's my voice in the background :P

Ahh, he makes my life.

His bodyprint. XD

He trounced around barefoot for a while, so Michi offered him a dollar to sit in this chair.

A good dollar spent. XD

He sat for about two seconds and came back inside.

The puppies enjoyed the snow too!

It's a shame I couldn't get a picture of Kibbles galloping.

The snow was deeper than Kuma XD

So he leapt!

Shyanne we couldn't find after she went outside. We decided it's because she was camoflauged!



It was all fun and good but Michi and I decided it was time for an expedition. Plus, the power went out and it was cold anyways. So we went on a journey to check on the outside world.

We geared up.

 Michi and her bear hat.

 No makeup for Manda. *pout* Snowy weather makes my face to dry and it just doesn't handle it. Oh well. I'm always bound to get white-washed anywway.

And we headed out!

Goodbye loving family. XP

The treck down the driveway was trouble enough. Somehow there seemed to be a few more inches all the way down than there had been in the yard. Plus it was a untraveled.

Somehow I ended up blazing the trail.

We made it up to the road after only a couple of snowballs and near falls. It was fairly deserted and covered in snow and ice but we had decided we were walking to the Tyee. The little grocery about a mile from my house. Actually this was when Michi informed me that we were going to the Tyee. I just sort of... put on snow clothes and followed her out the door. She let me in on the plan later. ^^;;

We were not so stealthily followed by a small pack of monkeys. We pretended not to notice.

Then out of nowhere there was a million cars! Not all at once but one right after the other! And no one driving slow at all!

Catching snowflakes. ^^

We passed another party on the road. Potentially dangerous but we kept our distances and continued on our way. 

And then after what felt like a million years we made it! We weren't even too cold, just tired from the difficult walk. Of course the store wasn't open but we hadn't brought any money anyway. This was, after all, just a scouting mission. 

We made our way home.

And spied a cow train!

Michi stopped to say hi and the cows came over to converse.

They spoke for a while and eventually allowed us to travel with them in their herd. They walked us to the end of their feild.

Then we were on our own again, walking down the road and laughing and having a good time. Until we heard something in the bushes behind us. Well, Michi heard and made me stop. We had lost track of the monkeys and somehow they had circled around behind us for an ambush.

But no worries. They hesitated and I flipped Cameron into the snow. A few times.

I never expected the treachery to be in my own group.

Mrr, snowball to face.

But in the end we followed the blue sky home.

And checked the mail. :P

Finally back inside and in dry clothes we had our obligitory hot chocolate.

Michi's with whipped cream, marshmallows, cinnamon, and banana flavoured rum. Mine with... lots and lots of marshmallows. Haha.

The rest of the day was spent warm and dry (the power having come back on before we got back). We watched Guys and Dolls, I made dinner (tatertot casserole with biscuits corn and peas :P), and finished up the night with a loud game of Phase 10 and... daiquiris sort of. Mom, Dad, and Michi played with me and Michi made us daiquiris with strawberry daiquiri mix, sweet tea vodka (my strawberry vodka got lost somewhere ><) and... snow instead of ice. It was kind of awesome.

Overall? Just relaxing and fun and exactly what I needed.

^^

Happy snow day.

♥ Amanda Leigh