I don't know whether it was in the packet we got from the Humane Society, which I didn't look at, or if there was info in his microchip. I don't know how that works. Anyway, I thought he had been in the shelter since April, but it turns out he'd actually been there since February--and he'd even been in the shelter before that, probably the previous April. I was really surprised that he'd been turned in to the Humane Society twice. He's such a sweet, easygoing cat that I don't understand that people would give him up more than once. I understand if you move or whatever and can't keep him, but I would think it would have been easy to find a home for him. And how sad that it happened twice! It made me wonder--does he think going back to the Humane Society is just part of life? Does he feel traumatized from it? Would he rather live in a house with us, or would he rather live in that room in the Humane Society with all his cat friends? But maybe he doesn't have the capacity to think about all those things. After all, he thinks he can catch and eat laser lights.
We also learned that he has no claws at all, front or back. The Humane Society really seemed to emphasize that he was only missing his front claws, but he's missing them all. I am a little disappointed about this. Not only is it sad for him, but it also means he can't go outside--which means he won't catch mice, and it means I'll have to empty his litter box all year long. His only defense is his teeth, and that's another thing we learned--he's missing one of his canine teeth. After we learned that, I noticed his missing tooth when he yawned.
We have had him for eight nights, and five of those nights he slept on my bed. For the most part he leaves me alone until he sees that I'm awake. Then he will sit on me and knead me, and he will rub his head against my neck. I'm very ticklish, so I can't say I enjoy that 100 percent, but it is cute. I got him a little Halloween house--I didn't expect him to use it, but I'm a sucker for anything holiday. But he has liked it!
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| He doesn't really like the balls my mom got him. |
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I've been trying to get in the Halloween mood this week. I was thinking about holidays, and while of course I love holidays in general, I prefer the holidays where the celebrations are connected with the seasons in which they occur. I love how Halloween is very much an autumn festival. Pumpkins and apples are in season, so you carve pumpkins and bob for apples. Some people get into the scary stuff, but I prefer the autumnal stuff. (I still enjoy some of the spooky stuff, but mostly silly spooky stuff.)
My favorite movie of all time is The Nightmare before Christmas. I got it for my birthday when I was six years old, and as most kids do, I watched it over and over. It has become a tradition now, and I'm pretty sure I can recite the dialog of the entire movie.
Anyway, I also have the music of the movie in my Halloween playlist, which I listen to often at this time of year. I have the original soundtrack. I have the 2005 version, which put the music of the end credits into one track instead of two, featured original Danny Elfman demos, and included rock covers of some of the songs. And I have Nightmare Revisited, a hit-and-miss cover album of the entire soundtrack. (The instrumentals are quite nice, but the cover of "Jack's Obsession" is horrendous.)
When I learned that the Utah Symphony was playing the soundtrack live while showing the movie on a large screen, I knew I had to see it. But I didn't get tickets in time, so they only had single tickets--hence I went and saw it all by myself. At work that day, I had a bad headache, which rarely happens to me, and I had to use some of my sick hours because I did lots of napping at my desk. But I was mostly recovered by the time of the concert.
Bahama Buck's Candy Corn Shaved Ice has a slightly buttery, very sweet taste. It kind of does actually taste like candy corn, even though candy corn isn't really a flavor. 7/10.
I was surprised by my Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Sea Salt Caramel Apple. The caramel was not firm like I expected; it was slippery. I didn't feel like I would hurt my teeth, but my teeth just kept sliding and it was hard to take a bite. But sometimes the simple things are the best. 8/10.
The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Pumpkin Spice Truffle isn't very pumpkiny, but it's good chocolate. 7/10.
There are different textures of gummy candies. There are the translucent fruit snacks and gummy bears, which I like, and then there's the opaque, extra chewy kind used in peach rings and Trolli products--which I don't like as much. These Parley's Street Gummy Candy Corn do taste like candy corn, but they have that texture I don't like, and they have a weird aftertaste. 6/10.
This Imagine Pumpkin Creamy Soup has a pleasant autumn scent. It's OK. I threw some pepitas (pumpkin seeds with no shells) in it. 6/10.
Tillamook Pumpkin Cookie Butter Ice Cream is what I ate while watching the Halloween-themed episode of The Brady Bunch and The Mummy (1932). (I used the same bowl I had used for pumpkin soup.) It has little bits of cookie pieces in it. It's good, but the speculoos in it tastes more like Christmas. 8/10.
Caramel apple season is almost over, so I tried to get a lot of them--especially since I don't feel as bad eating them because I'm eating fruit. This is a Kneaders Butterfinger Caramel Apple. It's just what it sounds like. 8/10.
Then the Kneaders Nut Caramel Apple (I don't know what it's really called) is similarly good. 8/10.
My first Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie fell apart. I don't remember a whole lot about it. I think the chips had a cream cheese flavor, and the cookie base was a fairly typical pumpkin cookie. I've wanted to try these for years and finally did. 7/10.
They took out all the music, but they kept the dialog, sound effects, and even the singing. For a lot of the songs, the tempo didn't quite match up with the singing. It was a bit unsettling. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I have the music memorized, so I noticed. At times, however, they totally nailed it, and sometimes I forgot it was a live score.
I was worried that I'd finally gotten to the point where I didn't notice any new details, but I did: the news anchor has a spilled cup of coffee on her desk.
I also had a few things on my bucket list that I did this week, including bobbing for apples and going to a corn maze. (I went to a party where the apple bobbing was in a pool full of styrofoam. That's not bobbing for apples! It wasn't even fun!)
Another thing on my bucket list has been to hear an owl hoot. Two years ago, I was on a trail in the dark and heard one, so I've returned to the trail to hear one again. Sadly, I haven't heard one this year, but it is fun and romantic to be on a trail on a dark October evening.
Halloween is my third-favorite holiday. But I have a feeling that I like my least-favorite holiday even more than the average person likes their favorite.
***
Ooh boy, we're down to our last month of pumpkinundation roundup!
Cross E Ranch had this apple cider donut, which I think is an East Coast thing. I'd never had one before. It's not the sugar bomb you get from a grocery store donut. 7/10.
Also at Cross E Ranch they had a caramel apple maker, but I don't remember her name. I got a pumpkin spice caramel apple, with pumpkin spice white chocolate and spices. The white chocolate was a little weird, but I think almost all caramel apples deserve 8/10.
I went to a dinner where someone brought this pumpkin chocolate chip cake. Wonderful. 8/10.
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