Heading for "More" Snow

We are so excited because we are going to see Papa and Grand Kat for the holidays. What could possibly of wrong? Well, they did get a little snow...err maybe it was more like a blizzard. It sounds like we are going to have a little Christmas Adventure. Wish us luck. I am definitely going to pack my winter gloves.

Fence Troubles

Yesterday the kittens were outside and playing in the snow. I heard Little scream, "Mom, we broke the door!" The first thing that crossed my mine was that they had destroyed my car door. I soon realized they were talking about the gate. I asked them see if they could fix it and they said "No, we do not know how to fix concrete!" They were still a little nervous because they did not want Black to be mad at them. I called Black at work to give him the bad news. Apparently, he already knew there was a problem with the fence and was not surprised or even upset. The kittens were relieved. When Black got home, we looked at the gate and decided that we need to save up to fix the problem correctly. Until then we will not use the gate, so Black hung the gate back up and I painted a sign that reads "No Entry!" We will put it on the fence today.

Snow Days!

Well, the snow came and the schools canceled classes. We got to start our Winter Break early. The kittens are playing in the snow and Black is slaving at work. I figured I should at least take a moment out of my day to write a post. I have been so busy this semester. I got an "A" in my last class and the good news is that I only have 2 more classes to go. I will be finished by June 15!!! Until then, be understanding if you do not see many posts from me.

Snowed In

This weekend we got the Blizzard of 2009. I think there was at least 20 inches of snow in our area. Even the snow plough got stuck on our street. Momoko and the kids were off from school today. But I had to head into work.

So yesterday I went out in the afternoon and tried to dig out my car. It was tough because a plough did come by and "plough me in". Eventually I cleared a path for my car to get out. I later found out this was the easy task.

Momoko was parked deeper in our driveway. There was a lot of snow shoveling to get from the curb to her car. Luckily Kit Kat came out and helped me. Then Little Kat came out, but I think he dropped more snow on the driveway than he cleared. Finally Momoko came out because she saw we needed the help. Momoko actually went out driving today in the snow. Yippee.

Snow is Coming

Today I told everyone at work that I was leaving at 3:00PM. I had to do that to ensure I could leave on time. It was my turn to pick up Kit Kat from school. She had an after school activity that made her miss the bus.

My company gave me some cash. So today I signed up for a college class next semester. I was able to do this online. The only disturbing part was that I was the first person to enroll in my class. If nobody else signs up, the class will be cancelled. Come on people.

They are calling for a lot of snow tonight. Luckily it is the weekend. The big boss at work told everyone to take home their computers in case we got snowed in. I did not obey. I don't want to be doing any work from home. If it snows, I get a snow day. Yes.

Shopping on a Cold Winter Night

Kit Kat needed some supplies to do a project from school. Momoko was tired so I got drafted to drive her to the store. When we got outside, it was very cold. We went to an arts and crafts store. They had little shopping baskets.

We went up and down the aisles. Finally we found some molding clay that Kit Kat needed. Since we were there already, Kit Kat picked up some knitting yarn. She also grabbed new wooden knitting needles. Apparently the metal needles bend too easily.

Afterwards we drove down the strip mall to get to Best Buy. We picked up a new alarm clock for Little Kat. His alarm always goes off at the wrong time (waking me up). Momoko told me to put the alarm under the tree. However I am going to make Little Kat open up this "gift" early so he can wake up on time.

Stick in the Ground

Little Kat's alarm woke me up this morning. He must have set it for the wrong time. I ended up going to work early. This enabled me to come home early as well. I was the first one home.

When the leaves started falling from the trees, I was ambitious with collecting them and bagging them. Lately I have been a little slow in collecting the leaves. So today I decided to go out and pick up the leaves.

This is when I found something strange in the yard. There were sticks that were point straight up from the ground. It seemed unnatural. Was Little Kat or some of his friend's trying to plant a new tree? Or maybe, just maybe, the things fell down form the tree and plunged straight into the ground. It still seems unlikely.

Pawn Stars

Momoko stayed home from work today. She had worked real hard this weekend on her college class. Tonight was the last class of the semester. So I drove Little Kat to school today. He was still asleep when I woke up. The old alarm was not set.

Kit Kat and I watched a series on the History Channel called Pawn Stars today. It is a family business in Las Vegas. The show is very interesting. You hear a lot about the history of the items brought in to be sold. There is a lot of bickering among the family. And the main owner does a lot of negotiating with people selling him items.

Another Friday Goes By

After work I went to Kit Kat's school. She has a Friday afternoon club and stays late. While in the parking lot, I texted Little Kat. He successfully made it to his friend's house. He is spending the night with his best bud.

Kit Kat and I headed to the local library after school. She reserved some manga books online. They were there. Then we went home and picked up Momoko. The three of us went out and ate some pasta.

At home I watched the movie Julia and Julie. It was about a failed writer who started a blog. She spent a year trying to cook hundreds of Julia Child recipes. It was quite entertaining, as the movie also introduced us to the life of the real Julia Child.

The Tree is Up

Last weekend the cats tried to put up the Christmas tree. However some technical difficulties with the lights caused a slight delay. This weekend they came back in full force. The tree is now up.

The star at the top of the tree is dim. But we can live with that. The hardest part seemed to be fitting all the presents under the tree. And I have not even wrapped the gifts I am giving.

I think Little Kat decorated our front door as well. We don't need too much. We are going out of town for Christmas. Personally I am looking forward to a "Wii" Christmas. Do you know what I am saying?

No Parking

Today I was awakened by a call on my cell phone. Usually I shut off the phone before bed. It was the boss. They had some emergency. Lucky for me I could not help them. I just pointed them to some other people on my team. Then I went back to sleep.

Eventually I woke up and got to work late. There were not many people there. Slackers. I could not find anybody to eat lunch with. So I went to my favorite restaurant at the mall. I had just one problem. There were no parking spaces.

Then I recalled Momoko telling me that nobody parks at the top of the parking garage. As I circled around the lower levels of the garage, it was not looking good. All the spaces were taken. Then I got to the top level and there were maybe 3 cars there. I got a little paranoid. Was there something wrong with the top level? It was strange. The garage is actually a lot closer to the restuarant I like than the parking lot. I need to make a note.

An All Nighter

Yesterday I worked hard on my last project for the college class I am taking. Luckily it is not due for another week and a half. Momoko was not so lucky. She needed to turn in a paper for her class today. And let me tell you. She was behind schedule. So she bit the bullet and stayed up all night. She got done around 6:00am.

Momoko plans to sleep during the day. She still needs to go to her college class this afternoon and turn in her paper. That means I have to drive Little Cat to school today. We are on schedule for that. And when I get up this early, I normally grab some breakfast on the way to work. I see Burger King in my immediate future.

Our new Brother last printer is pretty good. The jobs pretty out very fast. The ink is dark because the toner cartridge is new. There are only two problems. When somebody prints, my computer sometimes shuts off because the printer draws so much electricity all at once. And our initial toner cartridge is already getting low. Never fear. I already placed an order for a replacement cartridge.

Thanksgiving Plans

We had plans to visit my mom for Thanksgiving. She asked that we only bring some devilled eggs. Kit Kat whipped up a bunch of them using the secret family recipe. When we got to my mom's for dinner, she set out all the food. But when we passed out the devilled eggs, there were only a few on the plate. My mom confessed that she stashed the rest for herself. Doh.

Next we decided to go out to see a show. Momoko said it was a holiday tradition. The theater was not crowded. We saw the Fantastic Mister Fox. It was some type of claymation. I liked it a lot. It was a full story.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. I plan to sleep in. The rest of the family is getting up early to shop until they drop. Little Kat worked around the house all day to earn money for a portable DVD player. I hope he has enough $$$. Momoko and Kit Kat got me to watch their "Bride and Prejudice" DVD. No. Its not Pride and Prejudice. It is a remake of the movie from Bollywood. The thing was actually not too shabby.

Early Alarm

Yesterday I did a lot of laundry. It seemed easy to be distracted during the day with TV and such. I only spent about an hour working in the yard.

So when everybody went to bed, I went to work. I paid the bills. Then I started studying for my class. We are wrapping up the semester soon.

This morning I had to get up early. Momoko went to the doctor's. So I needed to drive Little Kat to school. I mentioned Grannie Kat's new HHR vehicle to him. He said he did not know about this recent car purchase. Oh man, we need to get out to visit Grannie Kat. Let's start the countdown.

New Moon Weekend

Today is the premiere of the movie New Moon. It is the sequel to Twilight. Kit Kat and her friends just went out to see the movie. Momoko bought them tickets online last night.

Little Kat had long ago planned to see the movie with his friend from school. They are scheduled to see it in the theater tomorrow. Let's hope Kit Kat does not give away any spoilers.

I myself don't have any current plans to see New Moon, except maybe on DVD.

Toto "Africa"

Late one work night, Momoko and I started watching music videos on cable. Well Momoko eventually headed to bed. Then I discovered a live concert video from Toto. The best part was when they played Africa. I recall this song from my youth.

This version of the video had some interesting parts. The lead singer on the keyboards is not the original band member. He is better than the original guy. I love how he looks when he has his keyboard solo in the middle of the song.

Another thing I noticed was that gramps on the bass (with the long white beard) does not seem to be the original bass player either. I love how this "new" guy bobs his head up and down with the beat.

There is so much to love about this video. It is clear that these guys are really playing at their concert. However the sound is so good. Normally bands just don't sound as good as their radio/CD edits. But these guys are masters. I also like when they pan out to the dude in the crowd standing on somebody's shoulders.

I am listening to the song as I write this blog post. Only thing left to say is, "I blessed the rains ... down in Africa."

A Busy Day

I had a bunch of meeting this afternoon at work. When they were done, I bolted out of there. Got home in time for a little daylight. So I decided to rake some of the leaves.

When I came in, the family was discussing the plans to watch the movie New Moon. Momoko and I watched some anime during dinner. However Momoko fell asleep.

That was no good because Momoko was supposed to go grocery shopping tonight (for Enchilada soup ingredients). Kit Kat and I ended up going instead. After shopping we hit the library. But none of the books we wanted were in.

Momoko woke up and tried to print some color copies on her printer. No dice. The cyan color ran out. That meant Momoko and I made a late night run to Target. They did not have the color cartridges. Walmart was across the street, and had all we need. Now it is time to study for my college class. Ta ta.

Working Day

Veteran's Day was a work day for both Momoko and myself. Kit Kat and Little Kat stayed home because there was no school. The night before I worked until 11:00PM. So I figured I could leave work early around 3:30 then next day.

I got home and thought about raking leaves. But it was raining and I was tired. Kit Kat got a call from Momoko. She had meetings all day and still had a lot of work to do. Kit Kat, Little Kat, and I got in the car and drove to school. We helped Momoko put her classroom in order. There was a lot of furniture to move around. Some gerbils caused something of a distraction to the kids.

We finally got out of there. Momoko and I decided we should eat out since it was already late. So we headed to the local Mexican restaurant. As usual, we got some cheese sauce for our chips. But the dip was hot with a lot of jalapenos. Our plan was to get home and watch Transformers 2. However it was too late. All in all a busy Veteran's Day.

Tough Weekend

This was a tough weekend. I had to work on Saturday and Sunday. Whew. The good news is after work on Saturday, I went out and picked up a new printer for the family.

The printer is a bit odd. It consumes a lot of electricity. The lights dim when it is printing. Once when I printed 4 pages in a row, it caused the power to my computer to be shut off. But hey. It has toner and it prints fast.

Kit Kat had a tough weekend as well. She started a Windows security update. Then she went to cook us dinner. When she got back, her computer was toast. The thing won't boot, even when she chooses Safe Mode or Last Known Good Configuration. Help.

Locked Out

Yesterday I had to report to my company headquarters for an in person meeting. The main office is far away. And the traffic to get there is murder. So I got up in the early AM hours, and drove there early.

The day went well. Since I got there so early to beat traffic, I left early to miss the traffic going home. When I got home all the lights were on in the house. So I turned them off, locked up the doors, and headed outside for some yard work.

After a few hours I came in, took a shower, and hit the sack. Later I found out that I had locked Little Kat in the basement. He stayed home sick from school and was in the guest bedroom. How was I to know this? Luckily Kit Kat came home from school and detected something was wrong with the downstairs door being locked. No harm. Little Kat was sleeping the whole day.

Getting Scrappy

Both Momoko and Little Kat told me the last printer was not printing dark. I had a spare toner cartridge. It was an old cartridge that had the toner put back in. So I loaded into the printer. Two weeks later, the prints were coming out lacking again.

What were we to do? I could buy a new toner cartridge. But the darn thing costs $100. Little Kat was also complaining that the printer was squeaking. The thing is a work horse. However it is as old as Kit Kat.

I guess it is time to buy a new printer. Momoko has to print a lot of paper out for her class. And Kit Kat plus Little Kat do a little printing for school as well. I decided to try one more time to be scrappy. I put on some latex gloves, and shook that toner cartridge vigorously. Now it is printing fine. But its days are numbered.

Office Depot has a Brother laser printer on sale for $99. That costs less than the toner for our current printer. It is worth a try.

Weekend Start

This morning I woke up and called Momoko. She needed a freezer and fridge delivered to her work. And I am the guy with the pickup truck. Before work I headed over there to make the delivery. Momoko told me I could park in the reserved spot at her work. Then I was off to my own work.

I was planning an early departure from work. Of course the customer came calling in the afternoon. I called my team leader. He got the boss on the phone. We were supposed to talk about the customer problems. However the boss wanted to spend a lot of time talking about the whole team's work.

Well I excused myself from that conversation and hauled out of work. I went to the theater to meet Momoko and the children. They were nowhere to be found. I called them up, and they were on the way. We say The Vampire's Assistant. Good stuff. Now Kit Kat is off with her friends at a pre-Halloween party. Time for Little Kat to fry us up some dinner.

Busy Weekend

This weekend is turning out to be a busy one. Momoko has requested that the family go see The Vampire's Assistant at the movies theater tomorrow. Hopefully the cats will have their work done so we can do this.

Then Kit Kat has a pre-Halloween party to go to. She is inviting her friends to come with her to the party. On Saturday, both Little Kat and Kit Kat are planning to go to friends' houses for Halloween. I like this plan. That means I don't have to take anybody trick or treating.

My own brother is coming over on Halloween to watch movies with me. Unfortunately I think I have some B movie DVDs planned for us.

Setting the Boundary

When we bought our house, I decided against paying for a boundary survey. We got a piece of paper that said where the edge of our property was. It was not exact.

Then we noticed some slackers back on the rear part of our property. It was time to put a stop to that. Our fence only enclosed a small portion of our land. So I looked into getting a new fence.

I hired a company to do a boundary survey. They put stakes on the edges of our property. Now those stakes are getting old and weak. So I drove some 4x4 pressure treated lumber in the ground to mark the boundaries of our yard.

The Cat's Eye

Little Kat complained to Momoko that he has trouble seeing the board at school. He believes he needs glasses. So today Momoko is taking him to get an eye exam.

Last time this happened, Kit Kat got some specs. But they broke in a couple weeks. That was the end of her glasses. Little Kat is less responsible. They might be lost in one week.

After the eye exam, Momoko and Little Kat are going grocery shopping. Due to doctor's orders, and encouragement from me, Momoko will be buying healthy foods for us to eat this week. Might taste nasty. But we got to do it.

The Return of Kit Kat

Kit Kat got sick Monday night. She stayed home from school the last couple days. It is going to be a huge chore to catch up on homework and tests.

While Kit Kat was down, Little Kat had to pick up the slack. He was our little cook. Then he washed the dishes. It is a hard knock life.

Luckily Kit Kat was feeling a little better tonight. She cooked us some "breakfast for dinner". There was bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Good times.

Momoko is looking to get on a low sodium diet. She plans to start after the next trip to the grocery store. Good luck to her.

Homecoming Details

Kit Kat has already provided some details on her homecoming dance. But I will fill in some more details. I drove Kit Kat to her dance. When we got there she called up her date who was supposed to meet us there. He answered the phone and said he thought the dance was the next day. Me and Kit Kat sat in the car waiting for the guy.

I guess Kit Kat's friends were expecting her at the dance. They kept calling her on her phone as we waited for her date. After dropping off Kit Kat, I went home briefly. Then I turned around and went back to pick her up. The parking lot was jammed. Kit Kat was texting and calling me wondering where I was at. I pulled over and walked to where she was.

Kit Kat and I drove back home. But we first stopped off at Taco Bell to get Momoko a little "snack". That's funny. I did not know that cats enjoyed tacos. We ended up missing the homecoming game due to sickness in the family, cold weather, and pouring rain. I am still hoping we see one of Kit Kat's high school football games.

Homecoming Plans

This weekend is homecoming at Kit Kat's high school. Kit Kat is planning to go to the dance. I got drafted to drive her to and from the dance. Momoko is still sick and will be staying indoors.

Our whole family was planning to attend the homecoming football game on Saturday. We tried to go last year, but some last minute circumstances prevented us. The cold weather, heavy rains, and Momoko's sickness make it look like we will miss it this year as well.

I think we need to see at least one home football game at Kit Kat's school. The team does not need our support (they always win). But I think we should show a little school spirit.

Restaurant Madness

I planned to meet a cat for dinner yesterday. I arrived at the restaurant right on time. After walking around the place to make sure my friend was not there, I got a booth. Then I waited and waited.

After 20 minutes, I called my friend on his cell phone. It went to voice mail. I decided to order some dinner. 10 minutes later my phone rings and my friend is next to my table. He said he was sitting on the other side of the restaurant for the last half hour. Doh! My bad luck was that he left his cell phone at home.

Luckily we had a lot of catching up to do. So we hung out for a few hours. It was good times. Lesson learned is to call the person as I am walking in the door to the restaurant.

Home Early

I stayed at work late yesterday. Then I came home and did some more work. It was a tough day. Today I got into work early, and it turned out to be a productive day. When my last job was done, I ran out of there.

As soon as I got home I got the mail. The house was quiet. I assumed I was alone. But when I walked down the hall, I was startled by Kit Kat sitting on the sofa.

Since I had some free time for a change, I started playing a computer game. But the dude on the screen would not move. I exited the game, and started it back up. I still had the problem. The mouse was fine. Then I figured it out. My wireless keyboard ran out of batteries. Simple fix.

Sunday Night Movie

This Sunday we had done all of our work early. So there was a little time left for a movie. It was too late to go out to the show. Therefore we turned to cable pay per view.

Little Kat was a good negotiator. He stonewalled some of the choices we had. He either said most looked weak, or that he had seen them before. We also had to be careful to avoid the rated R and MA movies which we inappropriate.

We ended up watching Bionicle - The Legend Reborn. This was a good movie. However make no mistake. It was Little Kat's choice. Next time I think we will let Kit Kat choose.

In other news, plane tickets have been purchased. We are taking a trip to see Grand Kat. We are looking forward to seeing her new cat. And we must get a ride in that HHR.

Early Risers

Normally our family sleeps in on the weekend. It is to make up for a hectic weekday schedule. Yesterday Momoko scheduled some service on her vehicle. The appointment time was 9AM. Ouch.

I was actually the first one up. In preparation for the early service visit, I went to bed early. Then Momoko got up and we went to the dealership. Some slacker was sitting there blocking the service bay entrance.

On the way home, Momoko and I grabbed some breakfast. When we got home there were no kids awake. However Little Kat must have heard us come in. He came down to see what was up. In an hour the service was done. I drove Momoko back to the dealer, with Kit Kat in tow. They wanted to go shopping afterwards. Luckily I got a bit of sleep in before the afternoon. I needed it. My bro came over to watch some movies. And the cats at work had problems and were calling me the whole afternoon.

Some Like it Hot

I got home from work normal time today. Usually I am the last cat home. But there was nobody in the house. Immediately I called Momoko. She and Little Kat were still at school. But Kit Kat should have been home. I called Kit Kat up on her cell. She answered and said she was on her way.

There was another problem at home. The house was really hot inside. And its already October (hello it is fall season). I tried to open all the windows. No luck. Had to turn on the air conditioning. Let's hope it does not cost too much $$$.

The whole family watched Dragonball Evolution on DVD tonight. It was great. Momoko and I had seen it before on pay per view. But there was a lot I had forgotten already. I won't give away any secrets here though, except that Goku's hair sticks up in the air.

Somthing Nasty

When I came home from work, I found out that Momoko and Little Kat would be home really late. That is normally not a problem. But tonight is Little Kat's night to cook. I guess its time to snack until dinner finally arrives.

There was more disturbia at home. I smelled something nasty in the kitchen. For some reason I thought it had to do with Kit Kat cleaning out the fridge. So I had her come down and deal with it. She ended up cleaning the kitchen sink, which had some old food in it.

On a more positive note, I just read the book "Last Night at the Lobster". It was really good. I felt like I was working at Red Lobster. Good stuff indeed.

3.5 Inches is Enough

I hav to share this awesome video called 3.5 Inches is Enough. The impressive thing about it is that it was made on a really old computer.

You have to love the dialogue from the video like:

• look its gramps
• lol wut
• oh snap
• step aside noobs

The Renn Fest

Little Kat wanted the family to go to the Renaissance Festival for his birthday. He invited one of his cat friends to join us. We got up as early as we could on Saturday morning. Momoko got some breakfast. Then we were off.

Kit Kat wore her tail. Little Kat was the Grim Reaper. We got a good parking space by surprise. The day started off with an archery demo. We split up for some lunch. Kit Kat helped me find the joint that sold fried pickles. Yumm.

Later we all joined up to watch the Joust. It was standing room only so we decided to see it later. I went with the boy cats to go to this huge slide. It cost extra to ride it. Little Kat was brave and wanted to go twice. The King of the Faire warned Little Kat that it was a rough ride. Little Kat ignored this advice.

After that the boys went aboard a pirate ship. They spent a lot of time there. We returned to see the Joust. By then, Kit Kat had purchased a smaller toy cat to sit on her shoulder. It had a secret wire that made it move by itself. People who walked by were amazed. Oh what a day.

Looking for a Bonus

Today is the last day of the month. I filled out my time card and found I had worked a lot of extra hours this period. Unfortunately I am a salaried employee. That means I don't get any extra pay if I work extra hours.

Since I did a good job and worked long and hard, I figure I deserve something out of it. So my plan is to ask to be sent to some training. In fact I want to attend this software conference out in San Francisco later this year.

My company is normally very generous with their training budget. However I can never get the time off from work. They always seem to need me. I even had to make a big case just to get a week off during Christmas vacation. We shall see how my training "bonus" works out. I am hoping for the best.

Untitled

I have been very busy lately and it was nice to have a long weekend.

Kit went camping with the cat-scouts but she got rained out and ended up leaving early and spending the last night at her cat-scout leader's house. Little had a friend stay the night on Friday and Little and I went shopping after we dropped his friend off at home on Saturday. We had to pick out his Halloween costume. He wants to be a scary cat this year. On Sunday, Little helped my clean up the cage of our new class pet, gerbils. There are three girls named after constellations: Ursa, Vela, and Lyra. On Monday, the kittens were home and we spent some time cleaning and running errands but we still managed to rest, read, and relax a little.

Working Weekend

This was a hectic weekend. My team needed to release some software early Monday morning. The team was tired. I got assigned to make sure the software got built and ready to ship on Monday. In other words, there was no weekend for me.

I knew I was in for a lot of work. So I did not stay late on Friday at work. Good move. On Saturday the rest of the programmers were supposed by be done by noon. Turns out they were not done until 9:30PM. I had to wait for them to finish before I could do my part. Once again I was lucky (or smart). I told them I would be busy until late at night. That way I did not waste time waiting around all day for them to complete.

By midnight Saturday I had completed my piece. I got a call Sunday morning informing me there were problems. I diagnosed them and had the next team start their work. When the software was ready, I did a quick check. I found a lot of problems. My plan was to ship the software anyway. That did not work out. The other developers had to fix their stuff. Then I needed to start again getting the software ready to ship. I did not catch many breaks this weekend. The only result is that I try to bolt out of work each day around quitting time. I usually can't leave early. But there is no way I am going to stay late on the weekdays if I had to work through the weekend. On a positive note, like my coworkers always remind me, at least I have a job.

Room To Clean

Kit Kat has been busy lately. Last weekend she was partying with a friend for a birthday. This weekend she is camping the whole time. You add this to the fact that she has been sick lately. The result is a very messy room.

It is disturbing to walk by Kit Kat's room. There is just all this stuff on the floor. Now I am not a freak for cleanliness. But I insist that things be in order. Everything should be in its proper place. It just seems nothing is in the right place in Kit Kat's room.

After work today I took a nap. I had nightmares about Kit Kat's room it was so bad. This caused me to wake up. I was determined to tell Kit Kat that I would have to intervene and make her clean up her room. However it turns out that as I was sleeping, she started taking on the massive task of cleaning it up. Unfortunately it had to get worse before it could get better. Good luck to us.

Planning a Party

Little Kat is having a birthday pretty soon. There have been all kinds of debates about how we would celebrate. Little Kat had visions of lot of cats attending a party. He also wanted a sleep over with some friends. Then there was an idea about renting some lanes in a bowling alley. I scheduled the date in my calendar.

Tonight Momoko and Little Kat came back from scouting out the local bowling alley. Apparently Little Kat did not want to do bowling. He said it was too confusing. I guess we need to do a little practice bowling with the family before we have a big bowling party for Little Kat.

Now plans are in flux again. There is a new idea. We shall see how that goes. And maybe Little Kat can blog about what we actually do on his birthday.

The Movie 9 Released on 09/09/09

Kit Kat spent the weekend away again. First she went to the Renaissance festival with her friends. Then she spent the night at her friend's house to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was just Momoko, Little Kat, and myself at home.

Momoko was sick yesterday. Today she was just too busy. I had to mow the massive lawn today. Little Kat ended up playing video games. Luckily the cat next door was alone and wanted to play. I had Little Kat come out and they played all afternoon.

Momoko thought Little Kat should get some good since Kit Kat was partying this weekend. But like I said before Momoko was busy. I ended up taking Little Kat to the show to see "9". This was a Tim Burton movie. I got some nachos. Little Kat got popcorn and candy. We also both got some Slurpee drinks. We enjoyed the movie. I thought it was a bit on the scary side. Little Kat said it was tame.

Book Bonanaza

Little Kat requested that some books be shipped to the local library from other libraries. We got a call informing us the books came in. Momoko was a bit sick this week. And Little Kat was busy with homework. So Kit Kat and I went to pick up the books.

I figured that since I was going to the library, I had better take a look at some books. Normally I don't go to the library with the family. I asked the reference desk to show me their books on computer programming.

Well I did find some interesting programing books. However I also checked out some related titles like:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Best Business Books of All Time
• Hacking for Dummies
• Web Pages That Suck

This will have me busy reading for the next couple weeks.

Getting Little Kat

Today Momoko informed me I would need to pick up Little Kat from school. Normally I have to work late every night to keep up with all the work. But I told everyone I had to leave early today. I kept a close eye on the clock. I was not too ambitious with my work. Priority 1 was to leave on time to get Little Kat.

Traffic was good. I got to the school early. So I broke out the newspaper and read all the headlines. By the time I was done and went over to Little Kat's school, I was still 5 minutes early. Good timing!

They let the kindergartner's out of class first. They get escorted to the buses. I guess they don't want the real little ones getting lost in the commotion. It was good to hear the announcement that "walkers" were being released. That meant Little Kat. I saw him shortly after that. We even beat Kit Kat home. That's a first. Now it is time for us to do our housework. Hurry home Momoko.

No Dinner

Tonight Kit Kat has some back to school night function. That means Momoko and her are going to her school. That leaves Little Kat and I alone. Now I figured we would just eat dinner early so everyone could be on their way. No such luck.

I found out that everybody was on their own for dinner tonight. For a while I toyed with the idea of going to the movies for dinner. We do have some free passes due to the technical difficulties the movie theater had last time.

But I figured somebody had to keep an eye on Little Kat. So here I am blogging and hungry. What is a cat to do?

Amusement Park

My company rented out a whole amusement park. Our family went to enjoy the rides. There was free food and drinks. Plus there was lots of free ice cream.

Kit Kat invited a friend from school. They went to ride a scary roller coaster by themselves. After a few hours of waiting in line, they were informed that the ride was out of service.

Momoko took Little Kat and I to the go-kart race track. I rode in the car with Little Kat. It was a wild ride. We crashed into other drivers, and the side walls as well. This wasn't supposed to be bumper cars.

The family joined back for the kids to ride some type of twister ride a few times. Kit Kat dug down deep, got some serious courage, and rode a roller coaster with the rest of the boys. Although she screamed like a kitten, she survived.

Momoko spied a souvenir shop on the way out. Everything in the store was $10 or less. They got a lot of business from our party. We are now at home safe and sound. There is just a lot of homework for all the cats before Monday morning. What a weekend.

Arrival of Fish

We had Momoko's fish at home for the summer. But she went back to work last month. The fish went with her. She asked me whether we could keep a tank at home. At first I was hesitant. Then I thought what the heck.

For a while we had an empty fish tank. Momoko has been too busy to go fish shopping. Today that ended. She went to the local pet store with Kit Kat and Little Kat. They picked up a few fish.

I had some company over today. When my guests left, I saw some fish in a bag on the counter. What the heck? I thought those were just for transporting the fish. Apparently they were bought and forgot about. They still looked alive. Come on kids. Give these fish a fighting chance to live.

Back to Work

It was tough to wake up for work after a long holiday weekend. I was the last one of of the house today. Things were better once I got home. Even though Kit Kat was tired, we had her give us a detailed account of her trip this weekend.

Kit Kat cooked dinner for some of her friends. She visited a museum. And she also saw a play, at which she purchased all kinds of souvenirs. She did a lot of walking this weekend. And her paws were sore yesterday.

Little Kat finished up his homework and chores early. So he broke into our new PlayStation 2 game. It is some underwater fossil hunting game. Little Kat took a while to learn how to control his creature. He now reports that he can defend against attacks from the bad guys in the game.

Labor Day Dealings

Momoko, Little Kat, and I went out to lunch together. We visited a restaurant that served New Orleans style cooking. Momoko chose it. But I found it strange since Momoko does not like spicy food. We ordered this bow tie pasta with spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer. That filled us up real good.

After lunch we headed over to the theater. Good thing we gave ourselves enough time. The line for tickets was long. We skipped buying any popcorn or sodas. Something was wrong when the film started. All of the projected movie was not on the screen. After a while the film stopped, and a theater guy said they were working on the problem.

The movie restarted after a few minutes. We watched The Shorts. It was different than I thought it was going to be based on the commercials. The theater gave us coupons for another free movie since we had an interruption in the middle. For dinner we went to Arby's for some roast beef, then got Kit Kat late at night. She returned safely from her weekend trip.

Dinner Motivation

Momoko and Little Kat went out to do some errands. At first I just watched some animation. But then I got to work. I cut the grass in the front and back yards. It was grueling work. However it needed to be done.

Then I came in, took a shower, and passed out. I awoke to a persistent knock on the bedroom door. Momoko was hungry. And we were supposed to eat out today to celebrate Labor Day weekend.

I mustered up what little energy I had. We got us some Chinese buffet. It was a 30 minute drive to my favorite Chinese restaurant. We found that it was worth it. Little Kat got full, and was saved when the waitress took his plate while he was in the bathroom.

Momoko and Little Kat wanted to see a movie afterwards. I needed to get home to rest. The funny thing was that we had Little Kat navigate us home. He was able to chose the right directions for the whole 30 minute trip. If he were a bit older, he might be ready for a driver's license.