Okay, so. My hubby and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary (it was on the 20th... Woot for Midsummer!). We were supposed to be 'married again', but can't afford it, so we just went to dinner and a movie. It was a good good night. Our girlfriend watched Sarah for us, and got us an AMC gift card and $20 for refreshment stuff. It was a really perfect night. I looked incredibly hawt, James looked incredibly hawt, dinner was perfect, it was an awesome movie (Iron Man ROOOOCKS), and just... Couldn't have asked for a better 10th anniversary. Plus, it was the first time since we've been married, the VERY FIRST TIME, that we've gotten to celebrate our anniversary ON our anniversary. GREAT 10th anniversary. :D

So yes, we have a girlfriend. She's a sweetheart, she's a good person, she's good company, and she makes each of us happy in our own way. And we make her happy.  And lemme tell ya, it's great having someone to share clothes with... We're nearly the same size. :D :D

Cat and dog still aren't getting along so well, mostly because the cat still hates the dog. Okay, so I don't think Kali actually HATES Shadow, but she sure doesn't like him very much... I think he still scares her with his size and his puppy-rambunctious nature. But she at least tolerates his presence when he's being calm, as long as he's not within about 2 feet of her. LoL.

Uhmm... That's about it for now. Life's just been same old same old 'cept for that.

Sarah sprained her ankle on Wednesday. We spent 5 hours at Urgent Care just waiting to get xrayed (they're digital now so no developing, just a picture snap and it's done) and for a doctor to say "Oh, it's sprained, here's a splint and an ice pack." But she's doing better today, doesn't need the splint now or anything... hopefully she doesn't twist it wrong and rehurt it. LoL.

James and I got new furniture. Not a LOT of new furniture, and it's more like new USED furniture. From a garage sale. A couch and 2 end tables with drawers (yaay for drawers!). The couch is extremely sturdy construction, fortunately. It's got a couple of cigarette burns in the arms, but I've never met a smoker who didn't have cigarette burns in SOMETHING they own. Now I have to begin rearranging the house to make room for everything, to get some of the more random stuff into drawers (yaay drawers!), and get the damn books I have out of the boxes and onto a shelf. And we're getting rid of one of these chairs we have that's just completely broken. It used to be a very nice chair, and if there was any way to keep it I would, but the arm is falling off and I don't know that we can fix it.

Kali is still scared of Shadow, but she's venturing out of Sarah's room more and more often when the dog isn't around. She still hisses and swipes at Shadow, but he doesn't really react much anymore... I don't think he cares at all whether or not she's there, he's just mad he can't go make himself at home in Sarah's room anymore. LoL. But, that's ok, I think that as she gets used to Shadow's presence she'll stop being so scared of him and start ignoring him the way he ignores her. It's only been 3 weeks, so I'm trying to give her plenty of time.

Preparing for the wedding tomorrow - I got Sarah's flowergirl basket and decorated it to match the wedding theme, and it's really pretty. Tonight is the "rehearsal" dinner, and tomorrow at 2pm is the ceremony. Sarah has her flowergirl dress, and I have my dress, and I still don't know what I'm putting James in... I have to look around and see what we have. I'm looking forward to the ceremony tomorrow. After the ceremony my mom's picking up Sarah and taking her for the night so James and I can go to the after-reception reception. No drinky-drinks for us, though, we're kinda broke after spending all that money on furniture. LoL.

Deeper thoughts -

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit China this past week. Before that it was the Myanmar Cyclone. Before that it was the massive amounts of tornados ripping through the states (and more have ripped through recently as well). The mudslides in the northwest. Hurricane Katrina. The Indonesia quake that produced the tsunami. Hurricane Ivan. You get the idea.

As a pagan, I have effectively done what thousands of others have done - anthromorphised the planet, giving it a gender, mind, and personality all its own. However, what if it's not a simple case of anthromorphising? What if the earth really is alive as a separate and whole entity, with thoughts and feelings of its own? And what if she's cleansing herself? Effectively taking a shower... it's not really that farfetched, is it? The idea of the earth as a living, breathing, thinking being. I mean, how much do we really know about consciousness? Or the earth as a whole? We're still learning new things every day, and maybe, just maybe, the earth as a whole has a consciousness we're just unaware of.

Just something to think about.

Now I'm off to watch hubby play Bioshock.

We got a cat. Yes... A cat. James let me pick her up today.

Her name is Shelly. She's a beautiful black cat with tiny spots of white through her coat, and beautiful, very pale green eyes.

She went to the vet today with her other owner to get her shots before I picked her up, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Thank you, previous owner, that means a lot to me.

So, we get her things loaded into the car, coax her out from under the bed, get her into her carry thing, and off we go. She didn't make a sound on the way home, I think because her carry thing was sitting in Sarah's lap (previous owner warned me about the horrible noises she makes when she's on a car ride - allegedly it sounds like she's DYING).

Home we get. Sarah lets Shadow out back before we bring her in. We set her in the living room, and I keep her in her carry thing while Sarah and I unload everything out of the car and into the house (including a huge 3-tiered cat tower) and set up.

Queue the dog.

I'm pretty sure Shadow is TERRIFIED of Shelly. Shelly is equally terrified of Shadow, because he's a big loud barky thing, and she's already PISSED OFF from A: going to the vet and getting shots, and B: getting moved around.  So, Shadow's barking up a STORM, Shelly is hissing up a STORM, and I get bitten by Shelly in the process. It's a small bite, she only got me hard enough to let me know she wasn't happy... A little bit of broken skin and blood on my index finger, nothing I can't handle.

So, Shadow is barking and Shelly is hissing. I finally get Shadow calmed down, and he's no longer terrified of the cat. The cat, however, is still terrified of not only the dog, but her new surroundings.

Shadow is outside right now, being... a dog. Shelly is hiding in the coats by the front door (I finally just took the top off her carry thing and she gingerly stepped out and immediately found her hidey-spot in the coats).

Shadow will get used to her (he's a loving dog, and got used to the rats really quick, and tries to play with them while they're out), and Shelly will get used to us, Shadow, and her new surroundings.

In the meantime... I'm terrified to leave the house. LOL.

I am so friggin happy right now! James and I were talking today about our "economic stimulus" refund cheque and what we're going to do with it, and I have a landscaping plan! Well, first we're going to fix the pool. We're going to be replacing the liner and the filter housing and stuff, but all that should be less than $500. So that leaves us at least $400, if not more.

We're going to be fixing the fence (eventually) and planting climbing ivy as a privacy measure. It's pretty, and a privacy fence costs like 3x as much to buy (and install) as a regular chain-link fence. So... fixing the fence. Then we're putting in a walkway from the back porch to the pool. Probably some cobblestones with some of the pea-gravel (you know, that smooth playground stuff) as filler, to prevent the cobblestones from moving too much. James was thinking wooden planks, but I think those would just be a bitch and a half to maintain. So next, the walkway.

Now... I have big plans for the front yard. First order of business - getting rid of the rotting railing around the front porch/stoop/step thing. It's really low, and surrounded by hedges, so no chance of anyone getting injured from falling off of a 6-inch step that's a 5x8 rectangle. Heheh.
Next order of business is planting a dogwood tree. I LOVE dogwood trees... Not only are they plenty green in the summer, but in the spring they flower so beautifully, smell REALLY good, and then when the petals fall it's like a fantasy movie scene, the ground littered with white petals and it looks almost like a springtime snowfall. So pretty.
After that I'm planting creeping phlox. Phlox, if you're unfamiliar, are a perennial flowering bush-like plant, very low to the ground, usually only grow to about 3' diameter, and have small blue-ish or pink-ish flowers that look like one huge cluster covering the entire surface area of the plant. VERY beautiful, and perfect for lining porches and walkways. I also plan on planting peonies, since there are none here and they're one of the perfect summer flowers. Also a perennial (I don't plan on planting ANY annuals, because I enjoy maintaining but not replanting every year), big huge foofy flowers about 6" in diameter, anywhere from white to bright red and occasionally even purple. Awesome for perimeter landscaping. And in the planter box on the outside of the house near the front porch, I haven't decided what I'm going to plant yet. I may plant the creeping phlox there and line the front walk with miniature roses or some other small flowering plant (are mums annual or perinneal?)... Marigolds maybe? Hmm... *ponders* I also plan on planting lilacs somewhere, possibly (probably) in the backyard, or the side yard next to the neighbour's property. She wouldn't have a problem with lilac bushes lining the property, so that's nice.

Okay, so after I'm done with all my planting (which will be relatively inexpensive and still pretty!) I plan on getting guardian statues for either in front of the front door or at the end of the walk at the step of the stoop. NO, the alliteration wasn't on purpose. :P I haven't decided what I'd like yet, though. I don't want to be cliche, with lions or gnomes or gargoyles, so I'm thinking maybe faeries or angels. Or possibly a Pan statue on one side and a Hestia on the other (who cares if I'm mixing traditions, right?). Yeah, I like the idea of Pan and Hestia. I think I'll go with that.

Ooooo I'm so excited! And we get our cheque on the 2nd, so I'll get to start everything before too long! *SQUEEEEEEEE*

Sarah's going to LOVE helping me, too. She loves to dig in the earth and plant and make things pretty, so she's going to be absolutely enamored with my landscaping plan. It'll be nice to properly teach her about working with the earth, and everything that needs to be done in order to keep the plants healthy.

OOH no, I have a better idea. I'll turn the planter box into an herb garden! It's JUST the right size for basil, rosemary, lavender, and sage! Yaay, go me!

LOL I'm uber excited, sorry this is so broken. I just can't wait!

First, Earth Hour was great. It's good being a witch - I had 29 candles lit, and nearly as many unlit... the room was very brightly lit with candles. Sarah and I sat around talking, and she read me a story out of one of her books, and it was great. She wants to do it again soon, and I don't entirely disagree. It was good not having the fetters of technology binding us to modern-mundane banality.

Now... We cleaned Sarah's room again last night, and made up her bed with her new bedding.... shiny pink bedskirt, pink and purple sheets, and shiny pink comforter and pillow shams. It looks GORGEOUS, and I know that with her bed looking all beautiful she'll be more inclined to keep her room clean, so crap doesn't get all over her bed.

Well, last night in her new bed, she had a dream. In her dream, a faerie in the form of a chipmunk (or possibly a ground squirrel) was teaching her magic. Not just any magic, but High Magic. Okay, so she had this dream, and told me about it this morning. So today, while I'm kinda half-napping, Sarah put the dog outside, and when she came back inside she was followed.. by a small furry animal, who came into the kitchen and rooted around. When Sarah saw it, it came to the middle of the kitchen and sat down, stared at her, and scurried out the door. She came to get me up to see the little thing, but I didn't get up... She went back outside and saw it again on the back porch, running around. She came to get me again, and this time I got up, but by the time I'd gotten to the porch it was gone again.

Here's the kicker - it was the same animal she saw in her dream. Exact same animal - same size, same colouring, same pattern, everything.

Methinks it's maybe time to begin teaching Sarah The Ways....