I think I'm addicted to making lolcat images of my own cat.

P.S.- Percy hasn't been that tiny in decades.

You might be asking, why did LaKedra just write an entire entry on academic regalia? Because this is the alternative:

School
Dr. Pharm did not have many friends in the second year class this morning. Sure, it wasn't his fault that it was 13 degrees outside, but it was his fault that we had to show up for the mandatory problem set review at 8am. I know that the mandatory part was the only thing keeping me from staying in my bed, curled up under my five blankets. I'm sure many of my classmates felt the same way. There's a time for being forced to drag myself out of bed at all hours in all sorts of weather, and that time is called third year. Not now.

Percy
The first toy Percy ever had was a long, lush, pale blue feathery thing attached to a stick. We'd wave it around, and he'd just go crazy trying to "kill" it. Over a couple of months, the toy was gradually depleted of all its feathers, and was retired when it became just a nasty string on the end of a stick. The other day, I bought the exact same toy, so that Percy could relive the fun of his kitten days. This time around, he destroyed the entire toy in ten minutes. Guess I learned my lesson: 10-pound killing machines are stronger than 2.2-pound fuzzballs.

I was channel surfing the other day, and I happened to come across "High School Musical" on the Disney Channel. I'd heard about it, so I decided to watch it because I'm a sucker for song-and-dance numbers. OMG, it was awesome. No wonder it became so popular with the kids. (I know that I'm almost a full year behind the rest of the world on this discovery, but I was a little busy last fall. Humor me.) So now I'm all excited about the premiere of "High School Musical 2" in just a few days.

Percy just had another vet appointment, to finish up all his vaccines and deworming. He handled those shots like a champ. I think he really enjoyed everybody fussing over him and exclaiming how cute he is. Apparently his face markings are fairly unusual, and his eyes are the darkest that the nurse had ever seen on a cat. Since his first visit, he's almost doubled his weight, going from 2.2 pounds to 4 pounds even. At this rate, by the end of the semester he'll weigh 44 pounds. Won't that be awesome?

Watch this now. You're welcome.

Wednesday evening: Happy birthday, America! There was a cookout, there were firecrackers in a backyard. I stayed in the house while that craziness went on. I should probably add 'firecrackers' to my list of strange, irrational phobias. I don't like sudden loud noises, I don't like things that shoot flames near me. Most of all, I don't like the very real possibility that one of my friends could run by me, screaming, with his or her face on fire.

Thursday morning: Percy had his very first vet appointment. He still hates his carrier. He cried and freaked out from the moment we got in the car, until he finally exhausted himself and went to sleep. I felt like such a bad mom. I've had him practicing spending time in there every day, but progress is slow. Other than that, things went well. The vet assured me that Percy's a healthy kitty, and that "he'll grow into those ears."

Friday: Work and busywork. Pretty boooooring.

Today: The process of moving out of the Bellevue apartment continues. I actually still have a long way to go. I packed up a carload of stuff today, but I haven't yet lugged it all up to the new place. (The fact that we live on the fourth floor and there's no elevator is pretty discouraging.) At least another carload still remains in Bellevue, and I have yet to sell my dining room table. Oh, and I need to clean the place up before I turn the keys in for good.

Now we're all caught up to the present moment. Yay!

Everybody, meet Percival Pam.



This little guy HATES his carrier. The entire drive from the animal shelter to the apartment was one constant, pitiful meow. I felt so sorry for him!! Luckily, we got home without incident. He's been getting used to the place ever since. Liz fell in love with him instantly, and I was already in love, so everybody's happy!

We spent most of the afternoon exploring and playing. Percival's all tuckered out and resting on my lap now. He's got quite the purr for such a little guy. Sounds like a motorcycle...! Maybe his nickname should be Purrcy. Har dee har har.

I did have an all-night packing party on Friday night, as it turns out. I was so excited about moving-slash-panicky about all the stuff I had left to pack, that I only got two and a half hours of sleep. Even with all that, I still forgot some small but crucial things in Bellevue. As I tried to find a box that would hold my microwave, I took the glass plate thingy out of it. The microwave is now on our kitchen counter, but the glass plate is in my closet. I also left the cables for the DVD player. Whoops! I'll probably take a trip out there later this evening, to bring back another carload o' stuff.

Our movers were very nice, and got the job done quickly. They had everything from my apartment out in their truck after just an hour. It was impresssive; I have really heavy furniture. I felt sorry for them as they lugged all our stuff up to our top floor apartment. It was ridiculously hot, and there's no elevator. They were absolutely soaked with sweat. You couldn't have paid me to switch places with them. Which is, I suppose, why I was paying them.

Now for the important news: we have a kitten. Or, we will on Tuesday. I went to Metro Animal Control and picked him out yesterday, but he has to be neutered and I can't get him until Tuesday afternoon. Apparently you don't get the choice of having an outside vet do the fixing. Anyway, he's an orange tabby with white paws and is quite frankly the cutest thing to ever walk the earth. And yes, he's a he. We'd planned to get a girl, but while the shelter had over a dozen kittens, there was only one girl. I wanted to like the girl, but she didn't like me very much. When I tried to play with her, she was utterly uninterested. Wouldn't swat at the feather, chase after the jingly ball, or anything. I felt so rejected.

While the girl kitten was at my feet and I was busy trying to get her to react to something (anything!!), another kitten jumped from the ledge over my shoulder right into my lap. Then he put his front paws on my chest, tilted his head and asked, "Mew??" And that's basically how the cat we'd planned on naming Persephone became Percival instead. I like Arthurian legend better than Greek myth anyway, and the nickname "Percy" still applies. I'll post pictures as soon as I have him home.