Tragedy on a very small scale...

Twenty minutes ago, I was on the phone with my mom when I noticed a tiny bird on my balcony. He was so small and fuzzy that I knew he was a baby out for one of his first flights -- maybe even his very first flight. He was precariously perched on the railing, hopping around, flapping his tiny wings, giving them a try. And then suddenly he flew to the table on my balcony. There was only some glass and a few feet between us as I watched him figure out what to do next.

I was giving my mom a blow-by-blow of his movements and she said "oh go get a camera... you'll want to show M." (He loves birds...)

But as I was grabbing my camera, I heard a thud. I turned around and there was one my cats with the baby bird IN HER MOUTH. I've never seen my cats chase anything bigger than a fly and now she was killing a tiny little bird right in front of me.

I yelled at her to drop the bird, then grabbed her and forced her to drop him. I scooped him up and ran back out to the balcony, away from the cat. He was panting with his mouth open and his little feet were curled up next to his body.

I gently laid him down and ran to get a towel. I put him on his homemade nest and covered him with a chair so air-born predators couldn't swoop down on him.

But just a few minutes ago, I went out to give him some water and found that he'd died.

I love my kitty, but right now I don't like her very much.

To Mom...

Happy Mother's Day to my cool and classy mama!

47 Days From Now...

... M and I will be getting married!

I know, I know... I know what you're thinking. Um, hello! Why haven't you posted about this before!?

I have a good answer for that. Sort of.

See... we've been talking about getting hitched for about a year now. But... at first we said... Okay, let's do it, but let's be all impulsive and romantic-like and secretly run off to Italy to elope. So, mum was the word.

But then Italy turned out to be REALLY expensive and... me? Me and secrets? Ummm... let's just say that these loose lips could sink an entire fleet of ships. (My own secrets, folks. Don't worry... I haven't revealed all the gory details of your twisted lives.)

Yet.

So, first I told Mom. Then, I got all excited and stuff and told a friend here. And next thing you know, I'm standing on top of a windmill broadcasting the information through a bullhorn.

But weirdly enough, I was still sorta in secrecy mode. There were no official announcements. No engagement pictures in the local newspaper. No "save the date" cards.

Therefore, today, less than 2 months before the big day, I hereby officially announce:

I AM GETTING MARRIED! (again)

YEEHAW!