Our semi-feral, Cat Ballou ("Bally"), would tell her that the outdoors are vastly overrated.

My former stray cat Murray is the same. He'll stare at the outside, but he makes no attempts to go there, even when the open door is right in front of him.

Oh Fred, our feral-caught tripod kitty, TC, was the same way. The vet who saw him first said, "He'll never be a lap cat. He'll hang out by the door and be gone the first chance he gets."

Um, no. StY used to "speak for the cat," pull his hand up inside the sleeve so his cuff flapped empty, and he'd wave it and say, "Outside?! Let me tell you about outside!" Of course I was a terrible person and used to scoop him up and carry him outside in my arms, but only on extremely bright days, where he couldn't see much for blinking, or on rainy days, "What is this wet stuff falling on me?!", or on snowy days, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" He'd fasten his gaze on the door and practically *will* me to take him back safe indoors.

You hear that, Cosmo? Come home, sweet girl! Your hoomins miss you! Plus, there may be *ham*! Or tuna water, or some other good thing if you come home. IJS.

askye, I'm glad you got some better info and some relief. Knowing what's what is probably better than pain-ease at this point. I hope things go better from here.

sj, I'm sorry you're not well. Sending you vibes to kick the cold to the curb, and both get and feel better, soon.

Kitty~ma, Strix!

I had a face to face interview today. I think it went well? It's hard to tell. I'm pretty sure I'd like the job if it were offered.

That's exciting, calli! Where was it?

It was at NC State U. I wouldn't even have to move--there's a commuter bus about three miles away that goes straight there.

Fingers crossed, Calli!

Tomorrow is my pin-up photo shoot, and I am nervous as hell. My stomach actually HURTS. I am silly.

They have a document explaining what to expect, what to bring, what to do (like, clean but unstyled hair, no makeup, etc.). And it includes things like "Remember to have toes and nails painted in a bright red or blush pink." Well, I almost always have my toes painted, so NBD there, but I never paint my fingernails, because it just immediately chips and looks like shit. But I'm going to paint my fingernails tonight and hope for the best. (I was painting my toes last night and grumbling to Tim about the amount of work involved in getting ready for a photo shoot, and he asked, "How much work?" I said, "I have to paint my toes, and fingernails, and shave my damn legs and wax my unruly eyebrows and trim my bangs! This is bullshit!" [That last sentence was mostly facetious posturing.] And he said "...so, personal grooming is just going out the window now?" I said, "It's almost winter! I shouldn't have to shave my legs until May!" His response? "I love my feral wife.")

(I, uh, do shower on the regular, just in case I'm sounding like a revolting human being right now.)

Teppy, if you're not used to doing your own manicure and are worried about chipping, hit up a nail salon and get a shellac manicure. It will last for at least a week to ten days without chipping. And the hand massage that usually accompanies a manicure may help you to relax.

If I had planned better, I would have done that, but I am swamped with work right now (in retrospect, this was the worst week to schedule the photoshoot), so I'm just going to use this as an excuse to not do dishes tonight.

If your nails are short, the more neutral color will look better on your hands and be more forgiving of any smears - not to mention show less chippiness in days to come.