Mogget Monday: Helping

Mogget provides assistance with grading papers.

It has been radio silent here for the past few weeks for mainly two reasons:

1. I was super busy. Not "full of fun adventures" busy,  just plain "swamped at work" busy.  Without rehashing too much, third quarter, which is always full of activity, sapped all my energy this year. All of the events that are usually distributed from late February through March were jammed into a 12 day window. So. Tired. 
2. Since I run a classy operation here at refeathered, all of my "photos" are taken with my phone. I totally destroyed my phone about 2 weeks ago. I had not backed up any of my more recent images and lost them all. All the Moggets disappeared. Sadness.

I'm enjoying a much deserved Monday off, and lucky for me it is the one nice, warm day in the forecast. I'm off to go wander the city and bask in some sunlight.

Project 52: Week 10

1. Spring blooms!

2. Oh, wait...it's still snowing...

 3. Banana slices...

4. .... that became my first attempt at chocolate banana cream pie. Yum!

5. Balancing out pie with a healthy breakfast.

Mogget Monday

I see you.

Project 52: Weeks 7 & 8

Sorry for the delay in posting week 7. Technical difficulties at first...then I forgot. Whoops.

1. Accompanied Chris Martin, principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. It was a pleasure to perform with a musician of his caliber and humor.

2. Slightly lewd Valentine from a co-worker. Just the giggle I needed.

3. Valentine card supplies.

1. This little sprig of thyme subtly perfumed the kitchen most of the week.

2. Whole wheat chocolate cookies. Nom-noms.

3. I may have set a sponge on fire in the microwave. What a difference one zero makes....

2. Note from a third grade boy that gave me pause. It's a skull balloon, just in case you were wondering.

Mogget Monday: No Room for Compromise

 

This scene may look sweet & cuddly, but in reality this is a basket brimming with stubbornness. Let me describe the scene for you:

 It's a quiet and sunny morning, the radiators softly hissing while the humans sip their steaming cups of coffee on the sofa. Simandl slinks into the living area from the kitchen, Mogget plods in from napping on the bed, both aiming for the basket bathed in sunlight. Realizing they are both headed toward the ultimate nap location, they pause at the basket and stare intensely at each other. Mogget puts a paw in the basket. Simandl hisses and puts one of her paws in the basket. They stare, motionless, until Simandl puts another paw in. Mogget disapproves and swats her. Undeterred in her quest for the sunny spot, Simandl jumps into the basket and quickly lies down. She looks smug in her triumph. Unwilling to admit defeat, Mogget mooses in and lies atop Simandl. They both grumble and hiss at each other for a few minutes, squirming to get comfy. Then Mogget starts to lick Simandl's nose, and they both purr at a ridiculous volume. They remain crammed into the basket for several hours. Cats be weird.

Shedding My Prejudice or Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy!

In 2013 I had planned to "watch less, read more." About that...I only cracked open 3 books last year, and managed to not finish any of them. One of the books was about motivation. Oh, the irony and the shame. I adore a good book, and am honestly embarrassed by such a dismal reading record.  Determined to feed my brain, I added read 12 books to my 2014 Amazing Year 100 Things To Do list.

To assemble my list of books to read, I fielded my friends for recommendations. If you could recommend 1 classic work, what would it be? My smarty-pants friends suggested many great books and authors, but I was surprised how often Jane Austen appeared on the list. Jane Austen, really? She's booooooring, I thought to myself.

I think my aversion toward Ms. Austen came from the pitifully brief "women authors" unit I had in high school, where we read a small excerpt from Sense & Sensibility. Ms. Austen's writing style takes some time to get accustomed to, and her wit and humor slowly unfolds. Since time was not invested in reading a whole work, I did not get to fully understand Jane Austen and quickly dismissed her writing as pretentious and trite. How perfectly sophomoric (or Lizzy Bennett-ish) of me. Since so many of my friends raved about Pride & Prejudice, Emma & Persuasion, I figured I may have misjudged Jane Austen.

Clearly I had a prejudice against Ms. Austen, so I decided Pride & Prejudice would be a good place to begin. In all honesty, it took a few chapters before I became interested in the storyline and got a handle on Austen's prose. But then it happened. By chapter five I was completely engrossed in the absurdity of it all. The characters are all ridiculous, the etiquette and civility is over the top in haughtiness, and the banter is ludicrous. Mr. Darcy was my favorite character by far- such a charming ass. I found myself genuinely excited to have time to sit down and read a few more chapters. What foolishness is in store? What snarky thing will Lizzy say? And WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME JANE AUSTEN WAS SO FUNNY? I wondered. No matter, I am a convert now. I certainly plan on reading more of Austen's novels in the future. The big question is: which one?

Pride and Prejudice (Barnes Noble Collectible Editions) / Pride & Prejudice

Mogget Monday: Contemplation

Soaking in the afternoon sun, contemplating life.

Or staring off into space.

Whichever.