Power Outage

The power was fluctuating yesterday afternoon. We cooked and ate dinner early just in case. That turned out to be a smart idea. We lost power in the evening. The kids brought out the candles. I went to bed early because power or not, I had to go to work the next day.

The power was out all night. And it snowed. I got up real early. I shoveled a path down the driveway. Then I dug out my car from the damage the snow plow did. It took a long time. The rest of the family was asleep because school was cancelled.

Finally I got the car out. I rewarded myself with a McDonald's breakfast. During lunch I bought a couple bags of rock salt. After lunch, Kit Kat called and said the power finally came back on. Momoko pumped the heat up about 10 degrees higher than normal. We needed it.

Let Me In

My brother and I saw a movie called Let The Right One In. It was a foreign flick about a vampire girl. Now they have remade the movie for the USA. I told Momoko that we should see it. She declined saying it was too scary. However some friends of her said it was a good movie. So this morning Momoko and I got up early and went to the show.

We left Little Kat watching TV. Kit Kat invited two friends to spend the night yesterday. They stayed up all night, so they were still asleep when we left for the movie. Little Kat decided his sister and friends should wake up early. So he stomped on the floor over top of them. The dirty rat.

Momoko and I got some good breakfast at the movie theater. The movie was not too good. They got the plot basics down. However they could not mimic the soul of the foreign flick. Now I wish we had seen The Social Network instead.

Going to School

Last night I did not have a big dinner. So I was hungry when I woke up. Decided to drop by McDonalds. Normally I get the sausage McMuffin from the dollar menu. But I decided to splurge and get an egg McMuffin. I was a bit taken aback by the $2.75 price. It was worth it though.

I had a lot of work to do today. It was tough. Momoko and Kit Kat were going to the doctor's in the afternoon. That meant I had to pick up Little Kat from school. I had to skip lunch because there was so much to do. It was ok. The boys that I normally eat lunch with were not in the office.

Luckily I got out of work 10 minutes early. I got a chicken sandwich from Burger King. That tasted good. I got Little Kat and asked him about his progress report from school. He lost it. His school is good though. They have all the grades online.

Little Kat told me he had to write an essay on Black History month. That was odd seeing how Black History month is 4 months away. He called his friend from class and found out he needed to write an essay about an inspiring Hispanic person. Sheesh. This guy needs to pay more attention in class and write down his assignments. Can we get him a planner to log his homework?

Flood Time

We had some massive rains yesterday. It was treacherous for me to even walk down the driveway to my car. The water was flowing so heavy out of the rain gutters and down to the street. I had an umbrella. However the rain still got me soaked.

Momoko had it worse. She tried to go to Chik-fil-A for breakfast. They shut the street down that Chik-fil-A is on. I think she got trapped and had to take the detour. That caused her to be late for work. It's ok. Everybody else was late too.

The newspaper had a big story on the floods. A lot of people's basements got flooded. They had some pictures of car trying to make it past the high water. Not smart.

The View From Black Cat

It is the night before the cats leave to see their dad. I need to talk with Kit Kat. However it is getting late. So I wrap up any discussion and go to bed. Momoko wakes me up and tells me we forgot to load the car. She and Kit Kat have to take care of it. I get up before 5:00am. Little Kat tells me he is so excited about the trip that he gets up before his alarm goes off.

I drove the family to the airport. When we get there, Kit Kat realizes that she forgot her wallet. Oh well. No driving for you until Momoko mails it to you. We see a huge line for security. When we try to check in, the automated screen does not recognize Momoko's boarding passes for the kids. An employee helps us out. The long security line goes by quick. I am happy I was not required to go through the full body scanner. Little Kat remarks that the airport screeners took a long hard look at Kit Kat's laptop with the scanner. We go to our gate and wait.

Momoko asks if there is time for her to get breakfast for the kids. I tell her I guess so. She leaves me with everybody's carry on bags. The kids go with her to the McDonald's in the airport. Then the kids' plane starts boarding. I would call Momoko, but she left her cell in the car. Luckily the kids come back and scramble to grab their things. They get in line according to their boarding pass number, with uneaten McDonald's in tow. Momoko and I watch as the plane tries to back out of the terminal. Another plane whizzes by behind the kids' plane. Whew. Close call. Did the kids know what just happened? The plane does a 270 degree turns. Is this a rookie pilot or what? Then Momoko and I leave the airport. I get milked at the parking lot exit for 8 bucks. We were only there for an hour and a half. But at least we parked close to the terminal.

An IKEA Weekend

The vanity in the kids bathroom is falling apart. That is no good because that is the most used bathroom in the house. I got a contractor to come in and price a replacement. Momoko wanted to pick out her own sink. She said she saw something cool at IKEA, the furnishings store from Sweden. So Momoko and I went there this weekend.

IKEA wants to take care of you while you shop. They have extensive child care, as well as a big cafeteria. Momoko and I both had their 99 cent breakfast. We added all you can drink sodas for an additional 65 cents. That was good. Then we went to the bathroom section of the store.

We could not find the exact sink Momoko saw in the catalog. Their vanities also look like they only fit non-standard faucets. I am very particular about the type of faucet I buy. It must be a brushed nickel surface. And it must have a tall spout that is not too close to the edge of the sink. So I think IKEA will be a no go for our vanity.

We did see some nice clothing storage options. Momoko has a broke down mini dresser that is not meeting her needs. Only thing we need to figure out is whether the closet sized storage furniture will fit in our bedroom. Momoko did pick up a bunch of finger puppets at IKEA. On a totally separate note, you must see this video I found describing what pwned means.

More Birthday News

I stayed up until around 5 or 6 am Sunday morning chaperoning the boys at Kit Kat's birthday sleep over. However I got hungry a couple hours later. I got up and heated me up a burger. Of course I was the first one awake.

After watching TV for a while, I figured it was time to start my Sunday chores. I did some laundry and in the process woke up Momoko. Most of the kids then proceeded to slowly wake up.

Parents came to pick up their children from the party. We cleaned up the house. Kit Kat drove me to Walmart. An emergency vehicle came by causing Kit Kat to have to pull the car over. At Walmart I bought new neck ties with the $$$ Grannie Kat sent me for by B-day.

I drove Kit Kat and myself home from Walmart. After that Kit Kat was knocked out in her room. The poor cat slept for hours with her light on. She ended up sleeping the rest of the afternoon and all night. This morning she was sick and stayed home. I hope she gets well and back to school soon.

The Big Drive

Now that Kit Kat has her learner's permit, she needs some practice driving. I told her we would go take a drive today. The destination was her friend's house. Kit Kat's friend lives about 3 miles from us.

To start I had Kit Kat ride in my passenger seat. We took a test drive where I was behind the wheel. At each point I described what I was doing, especially with my foot on the gas and break. Then I drove us back home.

Kit Kat and I switched positions. She did not want to do such a lengthy drive. But me and Momoko decided we would push Kit Kat a bit to help her learn to drive. I tried to schedule our ride during the time of day that is not busy. However a bunch of cars showed up anyway.

Kit Kat was able to manage the car while I gave her specific directions on when to break and turn. I had to remind her to put on her turning signals. Once we got to Kit Kat's friend's street, some other car got behind us and was impatient. We took our time and the car eventually pulled in a driveway. It was difficult for Kit Kat to drive home since there is one treacherous left turn. It is hard to see traffic there. We made it home safely. When asked whether she wanted to attempt the same trek again right away, Kit Kat was sure she needed a rest from the ordeal.

Out of Power

Yesterday Momoko encountered some brownouts with the power. You know. The power flickered on and off. She woke Kit Kat up immediately and had her cook us breakfast. That was a good move. The power did indeed go out.

Kit Kat stubbed her toe while making breakfast. She said that was a bad omen. I believe her. Little Kat was not concerned with anything but playing in the snow. However when the power went out, we needed to bring him in.

When the snow is high and the temperature is low, you got to plan for the worst. That means conserving precious resources. Little Kat wanted to us the batteries to blow up some air mattresses. We had to inform him that the light from flashlights was more important than any air mattresses. More on the great power outage 2010 later.

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.

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.

Garage Sale Blues

This morning somebody poked me in bed. Was not sure what time it was. It just felt very early. Momoko said it was time for breakfast. I asked for some Burger King.

By the time breakfast arrived, Momoko informed me that the neighbors were having a yard sale. Somebody visiting the yard sale had blocked Momoko's car in the driveway. Its ok. She has a 4 wheel drive and drove around them.

There was a lot of confusion when Momoko got back with breakfast. All of our food got mixes up. It was not a mix up from Burger King. Somebody (maybe Little Kat) passed out the food to the wrong people. We decided to just eat what we got. I ate Momoko's croissant. Muhahaha.

Breakfast and Adventures

I had a field trip on Friday. I went to a nature reserve. I have been there many times with the kittens. I was just happy that I wasn't in class. I would much rather take a field trip over a boring lecture any day.

Before my field trip, I took Black to pick up his vehicle and I had the tire people look at my slow leaking tire. They said it could get patched for $20 bucks (YAH!) Then, we enjoyed a nice sit down breakfast together before every one had to head off to work or school.

Here Comes the Snow

Late last night it started snowing outside. By morning a little snow was on the cars. It was enough to keep Mamma Kat from going out to pick up breakfast.

This evening it started snowing again. The weatherman said we may get 4 to 8 inches by tomorrow. So the whole family went out to spread rock salt on the driveway.

We spread out the remainder of the rock salt bag we had. Luckily we have another huge bag that is unopened. Little Kat is hoping for a day off from school tomorrow.

The Power of Push

I got up early this morning even though it is the weekend. Mamma Kat got me some breakfast. Somehow I got hooked on watching a movie called Persepolis. It was about a girl growing up in Iran during the 1980s.

The movie almost got me in trouble. Mamma Kat wanted to take the family to the show for Valentine's day. I did not want to stop watching the movie I was watching on TV. Mamma Kat informed me that we can watch this movie any time with cable on demand.

So the family went out to see Push at the movie theater. Everybody brought their own money to buy snacks. Mamma Kat always gets a Cherry Coke. Little Kat and Kit Kat got some candy and a drink each. Me I just drank some water. Push was a complex movie. My favorite characters were the screamers. They were the bad guys, but were very amusing.

Washing Woes

It is the weekend. So it is time to wash all my cat clothes for the week. I got up early today. Put my white clothes in the washer. Kitty brought me some breakfast. Yummy.

After chowing down, I went to put my clothes in the dryer. But they were still stinky. Was the washer broken? No. It seems that Little Kat must have gone to the bathroom in the washing machine.

Bad kat. Don't you know we have a litter for that? Sheesh. Well I am washing my clothes again. I can't go out this week in stinky clothes. That's the whole point for doing the laundry.