Oh No They Say He’s Got To Go, Go, Go Godzilla

I think that spring is my new favorite season.  I used to love summer but since I’ve moved to the gateway to hell I’ve changed my mind.  Spring is green and warm (but not crazy hot) and just as good as a Santa Barbara summer.

After a few weird weather days (clouds, wind, night rain) the weather has gotten warmer and this week two moths have made their way into the apartment.  I’m expecting many more this spring and summer, something I’m not terribly excited about, but they’re not hard to take care of.  In fact, it’s really easy now.

Godzilla watch your giant scaly back, Dixie, make that Dixilla, is on the case.  Mothra and Mothra Jr. went down!

The first moth was flying around the living room which made the capture quite the challenge for Dixie though she didn’t let that deter her from jumping over the couch in one giant running leap while tracking it.  After a while we lost it when it tried to fly through my head and I showed of my cat-like reflexes by quickly ducking.

A few hours later I found it hiding in the bathroom so I called Dixie over and closed us in.  I had the flyswatter but Dixie had so much fun hunting the moth earlier that I though I’d let her try to catch it.  Turns out that for having been a “fuller” cat she’s really agile!  (She’s lost weight since I’ve taken her in, probably because I don’t allow her to eat off my plate, and is now 12 pounds.)  This cat can jump and move super fast.  There was a point where she was standing on the edge of the sink when the moth tried to fly over her.  She leapt into the air, clapped the moth between her front two paws, then when she came down to land her one foot missed the edge of the sink so she released Mothra to spot her landing with her front feet.  I was totally expecting her to fall but very impressed by the catch even if she didn’t land.  She did catch and play with the moth a bit before I removed it.  I wish that I’d had my camera to try to catch some video, maybe next time.

Then last night I heard Dixie scratching about and moving stuff so I got up to investigate.  She had found another (slightly smaller) moth, Mothra Jr.  This one was less exciting, it either couldn’t or wouldn’t fly so it was trying to walk away and hide.  It was dead shortly after I realized what Dixie was up to behind my VCR (yes, I still have one!) so he got to join his buddy from two nights earlier.  Hopefully this won’t become a very regular event, not that Dixie would mind.  Ha!

Loves.

Getting Antsy For That Cap and Gown

Great news!  Today I met with my academic advisor to discuss my progress and my picks for classes for Fall quarter and she told me that I’m basically 20 units away from graduation!  Woo-hoo!!

Basically I need to take 10 units in my major and 10 units in my minor (sociology) to earn my bachelors degree in psychology.  I don’t even need to worry about taking any electives or filler unit classes since I’ve got tons of units under my belt already.  I’ve been a senior (according to the amount of units I’ve completed) for quite a while now.  In fact, last quarter I had 180 units, that’s the minimum required to graduate!  That’s the nice thing about taking about 4 years to get your associates degree, you can fly through your next degree.

Other benefits to a long community college career?  1) Getting to take a large variety of classes for relatively cheap.  Astronomy?  Check.  Black and White Photography?  Check.  Modern American Literature?  Check.  American Film?  Check.  Marine Biology?  Check.  Cardio Kickboxing?  Check!  2) Figuring out what the heck you actually want to major in before you get into the “big leagues”. Hmm…after writing all those papers maybe I don’t want to be an English major after all…I just want to read it, not pick it to pieces!  3) More graduation ceremonies!  And who doesn’t love celebratory dinners?  I love celebratory dinners so much that after this one I am planning on yet another one in another 2-3 years.  Not sure what city that dinner will be held in yet but I’ll let you know.

Loves.

I Love Large Towels

Since it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, I have decided to come back with a fun story.  It was one of those events that immediately registered as a good story, once I recovered from the adrenaline rush that is.

It was kind of cold a couple of weeks ago and, as everyone knows, the best way to warm yourself up is by taking a nice hot shower.  One night I forgot to turn on the fan while I showered and I can’t leave the door cracked because Dixie will pull it wide open and let all the cold air in.  So when I stepped out of the shower I flipped on the fan and cracked the door since Dixie was meowing and I didn’t want to lock her out of her bathroom if she was needing it.

Now I’m sure that you can see where this is going…Since I’d taken a hot shower and hadn’t been aiding the resulting stream from escaping it all came billowing out as soon as I opened the door.  The steam then immediately hit the smoke detector in the hallway and my bedroom causing them to go off.  I have a clock radio in the bathroom so sometimes I listen to (and sing along with) it while I shower.  I’d been listening to the music that evening so wasn’t sure if the alarm had been going off before I opened the door or only since I opened it.

So here I am, wearing only my towel trying to figure out if I need to be evacuating the building.  And not only if I need to evacuate, but if I’d have time to get dressed and how I was going to get Dixie out with me.  I didn’t have a cat carrier at that point (don’t worry, I have one now) so I was not only concerned with getting her outside but also with not getting impaled by claws in the process.

As I’m sure you’ve figured out, the smoke alarms were triggered by the steam from my shower, there was no smoke and no need for me to run into the parking lot wearing only a towel (and hopefully flip-flops) with a scared cat clutched to my chest.  Yeah, that’d have turned out well.  Though that would have made a really good story.

Loves.