the trouble with cats....

Meet Bells...

Bells is our cat...

Her original name was not Bells... it was Bella, but seeing as i am not one of

the many Twilight freaks out there and not personally attached to that name (you just can't escape it) we call her Bells...

Bells was not ORIGINALLY our cat.

Seeing as Tez and i are NOT cat people we were just taking her in as a favor for a short while until another home could be found for her....

we didn't mean to fall in love with her... but look at her:

Bells enjoys many things such as

Looking out the window: (Emo pic)

Climbing things:

Sitting on the couch:

Laying on the couch in awkward positions:

Laying on the floor in awkward positions:

Laying on Tez and falling asleep: (she loves him)

We're friends....

Little did i know that this week would be the ultimate test of our friendship....

It all started with an idea...

Meet PUMA the neighborhood cat:

One day Tez and I got it in our head that it would be GREAT to have them meet each other:

HOWEVER things DID NOT go too well...after smelling each other Bells hissed scorning Puma's advances and then downright ignored his presence. Little did we know that this little meeting of "friends" would invite other friends into our house....

FLEA'S

Yes... and if you know me, you know that there is nothing i despise MORE than fleas... I've been traumatized by them

A) for some reason they choose ME out of a group of people...5 people to be exact (in the last house i lived in with 5 girls, one girl had a dog who contracted fleas and did the other girls get multiple bites all over their body? no.. did i? YES)

B) They bite and it freaken HURTS...stings...it's the WORST

C) They are tiny and they jump (i get freaked out just thinking about it) and when they jump they are never to be found again... until they end up BITING you...again

D) THEY MASS REPRODUCE...think rabbits only tinier and DEADLIER

So needless to say, at 1AM when i found a flea on my cat all hell broke loose!

I started freaking out throwing anything that Bella had ever touched in a pile (to burn) while frantically rambling flea facts to Tezar who just stood there dumbfounded about the events occurring/crazy lady in front of him. As i struck a match ready to burn the place down Tezar convinced me that i was being a TAD bit dramatic...ME DRAMATIC?! (ok so there were no matches involved... but there were piles!) He then assured me that apart from the piles to be washed asap there was not much to be done at 1 AM and that he will help me sanitize the house tomorrow.

I got absolutely no sleep that night. First, b/c i would not let bells sleep in our room and, well, she kind of has separation anxiety.. so she meowed outside of our door all night (not cute)

Second, b/c i just kept thinking about fleas jumping on me and biting me all night. EW!

The next day after giving the cat 2 flea baths, giving her a flea pill from the vet to instantly kill all fleas, larvas (barf!!) or eggs, purchasing 7 months of Frontline flea and tick control, cleaning the entire house and spraying anything and everything that could have fleas(or larva or eggs-GAG) on them, Bells and i made up....

And after i went guerrilla warfare on my house the fleas are all gone... i hope

True confessions...part deux...

Ok, I'm about to get REALLY personal here...

I mean, you just MAY be sorry that you read this post...

When it's done, you may even think: WOW i know WAY too much information about Tatiana.

Why would someone post such a thing for anyone to read?

You still there?

B/c consider yourself FULLY warned... it is not to late to close out the screen and move on to another, less personal blog...

But for those of you who dare or care to read on i will have you know that:

I AM MAJORLY PMSING RIGHT NOW

I don't apologize for writing it. It was your choice to read on. For those of you who don't understand, a definition might suffice:

Premenstrual Syndrome: PMS is a disorder characterized by a set of hormonal changes that trigger disruptive symptoms in a significant number of women for up to two weeks prior to menstruation. Of the estimated 40 million suffers, more than 5 million require medical treatment for marked mood and behavioral changes. Often symptoms tend to taper off with menstruation and women remain symptom-free until the two weeks or so prior to the next menstrual period. These regularly recurring symptoms from ovulation until menses typify PMS, premenstrual syndrome.

I am currently not on medical treatment...but i sure as heck am thinking about it! Upon telling my mom that i feel like a psycopath today she said: "Poor Tezar" to which i replied: "Tezar?! poor Tezar?! at least he can ESCAPE me! I can't get away from myself!!"

It's a problem... it's real... and i wrote a haiku about it:

Waking up dreary

Emotions make me weary

Why does Tez fear me?

This woman I am

My look could kill an orphan

Please get me morphene!

And choclate! and some coffee!

you just may be so sorry

I know not what i do!

Maybe not my best work, but then again a sympton of PMS is not thinking clearly...

sigh...

i have nothing more to say

Lord help me through this day....

True confessions....

I have not had creamer in the house since last Saturday

This, of course, has led me to get Starbucks like every morning since then...

(INTERLUDE: Ok i admit it... i have a SLIGHT dependancy on coffee...my husband, however thinks my dependancy is valid enough to get me on that tv show Intervention.

I tell him: "i can quit anytime i want!!!" however when there is something so beautiful...so creamy...so GOOD...something that literally gets you up in the morning why would you want to quit?! After heavy debating I DID cut my 3-4 cups/day down to 1...[ok maybe i had a SLIGHT problem] but one cup is allright... downright healthy i would say... )

Which brings me back to my coffee perdicament:

Yes, i could have driven to the local Kroger to purchase said creamer- but who has TIME for THAT these days?!

Instead i would simply drive to the local Starbucks and grab a cup of joe... (or plan meeting with girls around breakfast time according to places that carry coffee ...is that sad? i had a GREAT system worked out last week)

Well today I say to myself:

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Tatiana why are you so LAZY and this LAZINESS is causing you to spend frivilous money! You shall drink your coffee black this AM..."

so i made the cup, left the house to work, and as i sipped on that black coffee (as penance) in my car:

gleamed in front of me...

a choice arose....

I thought to myself: I am such a LOYAL customer to Starbucks...especially last week... i mean, i have spent more on coffee last week than I prob have my entire life...

So without even thinking i simply drove up to said coffee shop, walked into it, coffee mug in hand (containing the BLACK penance coffee), poured some creamer in my mug, and walked out....

I mean what is coffee without creamer?! and what fun is it to be a LOYAL customer without SOME kind of benefits...right?!

........Don't you judge me

My blog is a lonely place....

Sorry that i have not updated in a while friends!

For those of you who don't know, my husband is on staff with a college ministry and, I, being his wife, also volunteer my time on campus.

Needless to say the semester is off and kicking and BOY OH BOY have we been busy... but it's been a good busy- I LOVE what we do.

Aside from meeting women on campus I will be co-leading a discipleship group of 4 girls with a sweet friend, Coop.

Coop is COMPLETELY different than me in personality (very type A). I am definitely the free spirited type but it's been cool seeing how we balance each other out and while we are different we get each other, so i thoroughly enjoy the time i spend with her.

In our group we are going through a Galatians Bible study by Tim Keller.

First of all, I love this man, Prodigal God about rocked my world (especially when coming from the High School i graduated from... it will remain nameless but think FOOTLOOSE).

He speaks about how the gospel isn't the ABC'S of Christianity but the foundation... I can't tell you how long i thought "oh the GOSPEL, learned that in Sunday School lets move on to more theological issues!" and that, my friend, shows you how little i knew about the gospel after all. I'm excited to go over this with the girls! I wish i knew what they were reading now, when i was their age... and now i'm starting to sound RREEAALLLYYY old....

We're also reading

The story of Amy Carmichael as told by Elisabeth Elliot

And we're memorizing all of Isaiah 53. 13 prophecy verses about Christ... 1 verse a week... baby steps...

So yea, this is definitely keeping me on my toes but i'm thoroughly enjoying the assignments and they're really helping me with my intimacy with God, which, after all is the point...

So that's all i have dear friends... This morning I got up at 6AM to go walking with a friend and i must say GREAT conversation...but it's starting to hit me right about now.....

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing off,