Chicken Wire

I just realized that I posted those pictures of Zim on the edge of the balcony, but never updated that he actually fell/flew over the balcony one night some months ago.  It was crazy, as we did hear a sound and then could not find Zim anywhere.  Now, he is a cat, so he rarely (if ever) comes when we call his name.  And it's not that he doesn't know his name, as he really does, it's just that he's a cat and will only come to you when he's good and ready, not just because you want him to.  So, we searched everywhere, inside and outside.  Finally after about an hour of that madness (did I mention that it was 10pm? thankfully, a Friday night and not a school-night) we called our downstairs neighbor, who has a fenced in patio, which lies under our balcony.  As soon as we went out onto her patio, I rounded the corner and there is Zim all happy-go-lucky.  I scooped him up and brought him upstairs to find some blood under his mouth.  He either scraped it on the way down or...??  Thankfully he seemed fine otherwise.  But because of that, we were scared it would happen again.  The next day I bought chicken wire from the hardware store and on Sunday we had our work cut out for us.  We locked Zim in the bedroom and finally completed our task after about 4 hours.

Makes us feel much better.  But it was a pain to put up.  We have so many plants on the balcony, we had to move all of them, cut the wire, secure it, and then put all the plants back.  Talk about painstaking work!

I've read quite a few books since my last post.  Let's see if I can remember them...
My Story by Elizabeth Smart was captivating.  I enjoyed it and feel so sorry for what happened to her.  Although I am really glad she has been able to move past that terrible time.  Poor kid.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb was a fabulous book.  If I had money to spare, I would give money to her organization.  What a great blend of history of the region she is from and her life story, thus far.  I still am amazed at what kind and loving parents she has.  I highly recommend this book.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a little disappointing.  Firstly, I had thought I'd read it before, but I was mistaken.  I really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong.  I suppose I thought I'd get more out of it or something, the way everyone talks about it.
China Dolls by Lisa See was wonderful.  She's a fabulous writer and I was so excited to hear she had a new book out.  She does historical fiction almost as good as Isabel Allende.  It was a great story and a really wonderful read.
There are a couple more that I know I'm forgetting, but I cannot seem to remember.  I'll have to post again when I remember.

And now I'm reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.  I've all of his novels and am really enjoying this one too.  He doesn't disappoint, which is not surprising, but I have a feeling I'm going to finish it too quickly.  I'm trying to savor it, but it's difficult as I just want to read and read and read.  I suppose this is not a bad dilemma to have!

That's all I have for now...get back to reading!

Rescuing Sven

Zim has a reindeer toy that I've renamed Sven.  He loves attacking Sven and carrying him around in his mouth.  Well, Sven needed to be washed, and I was putting everything in the laundry basket to get ready to do a load of laundry.  I though Zim was not in the bedroom, but he was stalking me (what's new?) and saw me grab Sven from the couch and, worse yet, saw me put Sven in the laundry basket.  It turned into a rescue mission and a few minutes later, when I went back into the bedroom, I found Sven outside of the basket and Zim inside it.  Not only did Sven get rescued from the clutches of the laundry basket, but also Zim realized that it's a great place to play in.

I finished Run by Ann Patchett over the weekend.  It was lovely, but I felt it ended way too soon and wanted to read so much more about my new friends in the book.  I suppose that is the sign of a good author.  I have decided I need to read more of her books, so I've put a few more on hold at the library.  While I wait for some holds to come in, some Elliott Smith biographies, I'm reading a complete guilty pleasure book, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger. She wrote Devil Wears Prada, which I'm still upset about because that is actually my story but it would've been called Satan Wears Gucci.  Oh well, maybe one of these days I will actually try my hand at writing a novel and get all the money and fame I deserve.  Ha! 

Zim as Evel Knievel

Here is the daredevil on the edge of our balcony.  It's a bit scary to see him up there, but he goes up there no matter what we do.  It's best just not to look at him up there, makes my stomach drop.

I started (and am already halfway through) Run by Ann Patchett.  It's great.  I forget how much I love her writing style.  If you haven't read Bel Canto by her, you should!  Back to work!

Cat Toys in the Bathtub

Wanted to share some fun video clips of Zim playing with his jingle ball in the bathtub.  He loves when we throw them in there, so he can dive in and go crazy.  He also loves to pick them up in his mouth and carry them in and out of the bathtub.  We do have to be careful before taking showers though, as those jingle balls hurt if you accidentally step on them.  Plus it's not fun to shower with a bunch of Zim's toys.

It's been too hot lately.  I'm hoping the weather cools down a little, it's really bad, especially when it reaches beyond 100 degrees.

Books...
I finished Wool, Shift, and Dust by Hugh Howey.  It was a great series, very entertaining and he even ended them well.  I have to admit, I was impressed.
I just finished Isabel Allende's Inez of My Soul.  It was great and I thought it was historical fiction where the characters were all made up, but the goings-on was all real.  Turns out that the characters were real people too.  Pretty amazing and so great.  I got to read a good story and learned a few things.  I forget how much I enjoy her books until I pick one up.  I've only read a few and think I need to read more.
I'm now on a memoir kick again.
Until next time.

Happy 1st Birthday Zim

It's a bit exciting to know your cat's birthday, especially since with Grr I just made one up.  Now, I'm not going to do anything special for him today (he didn't do anything for my birthday!), but it's fun to know he's now a year old.  Poor Grr, when I got her she was very sickly, the vet thinks she was about 10 months old, her white fur was yellow and she had been abused before the rescue place found her.  After just a few short months she was on the road to being a normal, healthy, kitty.  Her white fur became white and although she had health issues still, she became a relatively normal kitty with a happy life.  Zim, on the other hand, was the happiest creature.  He was taken by the pet adoption place so early, that he doesn't remember if he ever had a bad human.  And he was living the life of luxury with a bunch of other kitties his age.  So coming to live with us, just meant that now he has an even better life than before.  He's still a devil kitty, but we love him.

Happy Birthday Zim!!

And I got to go to the Oscars, which is awesome.  My first time going to them.  Of course, I was seated in the very last row, very high up, but I didn't mind at all.  It was very surreal and really fun.

2014 86th Academy Awards

I've been reading a lot.  I know, what's new? I am on the last book, Dust, of the Silo series by Hugh Howey.  They are pretty good and entertaining, I can see why people liked them so much.

I'd better get back to work.