I have big news, and I have been holding back on it for a week!

Last year, I mentioned that one of the things I wanted for Christmas was a puppy. Then I met AJ, we started dating, and he got kittens, Jazz and the Little One. So I changed my mind, and said I really wanted kittens. I had no idea that I liked cats - I have always been a “dog person.” It never occurred to me that I could be both a dog and cat person, but I truly love AJ’s cats soooo much (need to get some updated pictures, they’re so big now)! I even asked for your advice about cats just in case!

Well, the day after Thanksgiving, my whole family and AJ decided to go to lunch together, and AJ suggested a place by the humane society because he decided to get a third(!) cat. We went and ate, then AJ said “OK, I’m gonna walk to the humane society to look at another kitten for me.”

Then my mom said “actually, Lindsey, AJ is not getting a kitten, you are getting two.”

My Christmas present from my parents is two kittens!!!!!!!!!

They decided that since I have a job and therefore can’t travel as much, now might be a better time to get a pet. And since I’ve discovered cats now, they would be better for me than puppies because I am away from home for long periods of time during the day (with school and work). So, that is my present from them - two kittens and allllll the stuff that comes with them (litter boxes, toys, vet trips, food, etc.)

So, we went to the humane society, and I didn’t see any I wanted. Over the next week, AJ and I visited the humane society, two PetSmart adoption centers (with animals supplied by local shelters, NOT bad animal places), the animal control adoption center, and the Animal Adoption & Rescue Foundation (AARF).

I was looking for two kittens that were young - baby to around 6 months old. I quickly realized that most people only want one cat, so it is often hard to adopt out siblings together. So, since I was already looking for two, I decided I wanted siblings because that would be good for the cats. We looked and looked and looked. I wanted short hair, and I kinnda really wanted an orange one, but they seem to be in high demand, so they were hard to find.

At AARF, a nice woman named Rebecca told me about several of her kittens that she is fostering in her home. She brought in a pair of brothers that are black and white, and a pair of sisters that are brown tabbys. I played with both pairs and just couldn’t decided if I wanted EITHER pair. She told me a little about their history, and it turns out the brothers (4-5 months) are REALLY attached to each other, and she would love to see them go home together. So, that made me pick the boys over the girls, but I still wasn’t convinced.

So today we went to a couple of adoption fairs and the humane society again. The first two places didn’t really have anything that interested me, so we went to the adoption fair held by AARF.

It was a NIGHTMARE! That made the decision soooo much harder because there were SEVERAL pairs of siblings, and they were all so cute and so sweet!

After half an hour of cuddling all these kittens, I was down to two pairs - the black and white brothers I had seen earlier in the week and a pair of brothers that were 8 weeks old. They were so tiny and adorable and kept purring and kissing me! They were medium-haired, and one was black and the other was orange (like I’d been wanting)!

So now I had a tough choice. And I must have deliberated for another half hour, LOL! I asked the foster moms of both pairs as well as some of the other foster moms. And AJ and I discussed it a great deal. And the general consensus was that the two little bitty ones would get adopted since they were so small, but it is harder to adopt kittens that are closer to the black and white ones age. The little bitty ones were also so young that even though they kept flopping all over each other and curling up together, they would probably be just fine to be adopted separately. The black and white ones really needed to go together.

So I’m taking them!

At this point, I was worried since I didn’t have an immediate reaction to them (the “you’re supposed to be mine!” feeling). But after talking with everyone, they said that would come with time once we got to know each other. And in all honesty, this will be best for the cats, because they really should go home together.

So, here is a picture from their foster mom and a little excerpt from her email when she was first telling me about them:

“I’m attaching photos of Jacques and Philipe. They are both short haired, black and white. They are about 4-5 months old. Both are very affectionate, playful and they love each other. Jacques is the more outgoing of the two, but they are both very social. Philipe is a water baby. The other day my husband turned on the shower and left the room. When he returned and opened the curtain, Philipe was standing in the shower! Today, my husband was taking a soaking bath and Philipe was sitting on the side of the tub with his front feet in the water. He is so cute about it.”

They aren’t responding to their names yet, so I will be changing them. They’re at just the right age to be neutered, so the foster mom has an apointment for them to get neutered on Tuesday and I will pick them up and bring them home on Thursday! I have all week to get the apartment kitten-proofed and finish getting ready (I have most everything I need except for food, litter, and a couple of carriers).

So that is my big news, and I am so completely thrilled! Of course, there will be more pictures of my babies (and new names) once I get them, so be on the lookout. I am SO excited!!! Merry Christmas to me! And thank you Mama and Daddy!!!!!

Also, all advice for this first-time cat owner is appreciated !

Sidenote: While we were looking for me, AJ fell in love with another kitten. Her brother has already been promised to a family, so they are going to try to get the family to adopt her as well, but if they say they only want the brother, then little Ana is going home with AJ . . . sigh, he’ll have three cats then!

OK, let’s try this again! I really do want to get back to blogging regularly, things just seem to be a little unorganized at the moment. However, as I am about to tell you, that will soon change.

First off, I’m transferring to a new store . . . today was my last shift at the Starbucks that was “my Starbucks” as a customer, and my first Starbucks home. Our new store is said to be opening on August 4th, but sometimes these things get pushed back a bit, so we’ll see if that actually winds up happening like it’s supposed to. It was sad today though - MANY regulars talked about how they will miss me, and there was a banner and a cake . . . it was really sweet. Oh, and I hit 6 months with the company on the 5th of August, so woo hoo!

OK, enough sadness, onto the AMAZING news! I have been accepted into grad school for next year! This whole things has come together very quickly. A former director of mine (I stage managed Marvin’s Room for him) got me in touch with his wife who is apparently very well connected in the theatre community in this region. I spoke with her on the phone, and she told me about this new program (just graduated their first class this year) that North Carolina School of the Arts is offering - it’s an MFA in Performing Arts Management. Not only is it right up my alley, but it’s right down the road (NCSA is in Winston-Salem). So I contacted the head of the program and went in for what I thought was an informal chat, but wound up being my first interview. We discussed the program (which is set up very similarly to the FSU program), and the possibility of me jumping into their class for this fall at the last minute. This was just over a month ago. Things were left very much up in the air, and then he had to leave town for a couple of weeks.

After much back and forth trying to arrange a time for me to meet with him and the other full time faculty member (who I had not met previously), we finally set a meeting for this past Wednesday. We sat down, talked, reviewed my application (which I had submitted while the head of the program was out of town). They told me that they couldn’t officially tell me if I was in, the admissions department had to do that, but they could tell me if they were recommending me for admission, and they said they would get back to me in the next few days to let me know if they were, in fact, recommending me.

I was quite shocked to check my email Wednesday night with an email saying that they were going to recommend me for admission! So, unless I fail the background check (like that will happen), I’m in! I am currently an unofficial member for the NCSA grad class of 2010! I will be here in Winston-Salem for the next two years, and then the third year of the program is spent in an internship . . . somewhere. They have some people that stay nearby, some people in NYC, some in Boston . . . it just depends.

So yes, I have a life plan, I am SUPER pumped about it, and I can’t wait to get started in September!

Aside from that, my family is doing well, AJ is great, my new apartment is slowly coming together (did I mention I moved 2 weeks ago? - living by myself for the first time EVER - eek!), and I’m loving my job with E. Webscapes. Yay!

Now if only I could convince my mom to let me get a kitten like I want . . .

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the kittens! About a month ago, I helped AJ remodel his condo (repainted EVERYTHING, ripped out the carpet and sanded down and refinished the hardwood floors, picked out all new furniture, the works)! While we were waiting outside for the Chinese delivery guy, a very tiny and very cute little kitten came up to us! We figured he was just a kitten that got loose (actually, at the time we thought he was a she), so we pet him, gave him some water, and then were going to go about our business. Well, the food came and we walked across the street to the park so we could sit at the picnic table to eat. And the kitten followed us! He played in the tree the whole time we ate, coming to us every once and a while for a bite of chicken, and then he followed us back across the street when we went back to AJ’s. At this point we realized he was a stray, so we took him in for the night. The next day we took him to the vet and found out that he was a very healthy 10 week old kitten that we decided to name Jazz.

He is such an awesome cat - so lovable, and playful! I have always always ALWAYS been a dog person, and never in a million years would I think of getting a cat. But Jazz absolutely won my heart over, and I will never feel that way about cats again. Here’s a picture of Jazz when we first got him (he’s grown a lot now) - he’s got really cool markings, including spots on his back:

Well, after about 3 weeks we decided Jazz needed a playmate. So we went to the Humane Society and got another little kitten. This one is even tinier, and we named him Ninja (well, AJ named him . . . I disapproved of that name because it doesn’t suit him, and we never call him that, we always call him “the little one” . . . so there). Here’s a picture of him giving me kisses (bad pic of me, but he’s so cute) - he is COMPLETELY black . . . no white at all:

Anyways, they’re technically AJ’s kittens, and they get to live with him, and I love them so much and they act like I’m their mommy, so I think they’re mine too. But I really would like one (or two) to have at my own place. So, must talk Mama and Daddy into this . . .

Oh yeah - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? AWESOME!!!!!

Well, I guess that I definitely needed a blogging break! I am so sorry it’s been forever since I posted - a few of you have been wondering where I am, but I really haven’t gone anywhere, I’ve just been busy!

Not too long after I stopped posting I started to hang out with a co-worker of mine a lot, and now we’re dating :-). His name is AJ, and he’s a really awesome guy. VERY different from anyone I’ve ever been interested in in the past, but it works somehow. We’ve been actually dating for about a week shy of 2 months now.

On top of that, I’ve also been hanging out with other new friends from work. It think I just needed a break from online life to adjust to my new life that is emerging here. Life in Winston-Salem is very different when you’re not encased in the little Wake Forest bubble, so I’m kind of discovering the city for the first time.

I did hear back from Florida State University about grad school - it was very frustrating because they said they’d get back to me in a week and a half to two weeks, and it actually took about SEVEN weeks, so by the time I got that email I almost didn’t care about what the answer was, I just wanted an answer at all! Which, unfortunately, was no. So that’s another thing I’ve been doing the past month or so . . . reevaluating where I want to go and what I want to do. At the moment I am intending to spend another year here in North Carolina. They got back to me so late about the theatre management program that it was too late for me to apply for any other graduate programs, so this coming year I will be taking another year off. But honestly, I don’t think it’s such a bad thing. I think a little more time to think things through would be good.

As far as jobs go, I LOVE working for Starbucks. It really is the awesome company to work for that everyone says it is. I thought that it had to be hype, but it’s not. I love this job - just had my 4 month anniversary with the company! And things have been going VERY WELL with working for E. Webscapes . . . I’ve just passed my 3 months with them! E. Webscapes is full of such awesome designers and staff members, they’ve really made me feel right at home!

I’ve traveled a little bit since I last posted - I went home at the beginning of April to join the Episcopal Church (#5 on my 101), and then I took AJ home with me in May to go to the TPC golf tournament. And this past weekend I went to Georgia to visit my mother’s mom (who is REALLY not doing well, so prayers that she finds comfort would be appreciated).

Also, I turned 23 this past Thursday (June 7), so I’m getting old, LOL!

A few little administrative things - I never marked of #46 on my 101, but I completed subscribing to and reading a newspaper, I closed down my Doodlebug website, so #74 is no longer an issue, and I forced AJ to sit down with me and watch all six episodes of Star Wars in a row, starting with Episode I. If you’re into Star Wars and haven’t done this, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a full day’s commitment, but my view of all the movies has changed, and I like the prequels more now. I think watching them like this allows you to see them the way that Lucas intended them to fit together. So yeah, nerdy moment over, #81 is completed.

What all have I missed with all of you? Hopefully I will be back to posting regularly now. I didn’t mean to leave everyone hanging high and dry! I’ve missed blogging!!! Please comment and let me know how all of you have been doing!

Thirteen posts on my blog that I like in particular!

Only one person responded to my quiz from last week, so I haven’t posted the answers yet - please check it out and let me know your thoughts!

And yes, this is a slightly self-centered T13 . . . but I really couldn’t think of anything else! Note - many of these are T13 posts

1. My post on inflammatory breast cancer - not many people know about this, and it is a HUGE silent killer! I particularly like this one because the mom you see in the video sent me an email after I posted this! (Updated with video)

2. One lesson learned the hard way - backup everything on your computer! (Updated)

3. The Closet Caper - this was such an intense project, and I was very proud of my documentary style on the blog ;-)! And you’ll all by happy to know that the closet still looks like that - woo hoo!

4. Pictures from our cruise to Europe - this was probably my favorite T13!

5. When I initially posted about my 101 in 1001, I had no idea that I was still going to be going strong a year later - wow, this has been great!

6. My post of 13 Firefox extensions I can’t live without - also the post I have with the most comments. 47!

7. Some great personal finance resources that I’ve found online!

8. I only posted about this recently, but I found the best light bulbs EVER, and it seems like my post may have sparked (pun intended) a bunch of bloggers to go buy these great bulbs!

9. This video made by Dove never ceases to amaze me. What kind of world do we live in?

10. Cheesy, yes, but very much from the heart. I love my parents.

11. Another great environmental tip - get rid of the junk mail WITH NO EFFORT!

12. We all know I love the quizzes . . .

13. And, how could I forget, when I became a T13 hostess!

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