Braaaaaains!

I'd like to say that I've spent the week horribly busy working on my life list. You know, getting those projects done, signing up for guitar lessons, learning French, arm-twisting my Mom into getting a passport for a trip to a country she thinks hates her, buying and consuming a wide variety of fruit...

Yeah. I'd like to say that. What really happened? I saw Alice in Wonderland last weekend, in 3-D. I liked it a lot, except for the last ten minutes. But then, any return to The Real World from Wonderland was bound to be a let-down, right? I did my taxes, filing them online for the first time (what was I fighting? I'm getting me refund Tuesday. Freaking Tuesday! Booyah!). I wrote my piece of my performance review for work. I called my Mom to see how her doctor's appointment went. Oh, and I ate a plum. A black plum. And a MacIntosh apple. And a navel orange. Oh! And some red seedless grapes. 4 down, 996 to go!

The rest of the week I wasted with a computer game I bought a few weeks ago called "Plants vs. Zombies." Sweet Mother of Pearl, is that addictive! The premise is simple: you're being attacked by zombies, and your plants are there to defend you. They shoot things, like peas, spores, cactus needles, cabbages, corn (interspersed with big gobs of butter, that momentarily stop the zombies). The squash? Squashes. The cherries explode (a la cherry bombs). So do the jalapeños. Once you get to the end of the adventure part of the game, all sorts of other game modes get unlocked.

If you have some time to kill, go play with the demo. ** I warn you though, playing the demo made me want to download the free trial. Once I got to the last level available for the trial, I dragged out my credit card to pay $20 for the full version. I'd say I've gotten my money's worth.

But I'm not gonna play it tonight. No. No! I have stuff to do. Laundry, dishes, projects, I cannot spend any more time with the plants and the zombies.

"Zombies .... are coming!"

Must....not....click....icon!

You know what? The first night I played it, I was so enamored of it I dreamed about it that night. And the next day? I played better.

In other news, I did venture out of the house on the rainiest, most blustery day so far this year to attend the Home Show out at the indoor sports arena on campus. Got a few ideas. And probably a cold. Then I went to Petsmart, because a local no-kill animal shelter was bringing in cats that were available for adoption.

No. Not ready to bring home a new cat just yet. I just really, really needed to touch one. Hung around talking to the woman who runs the shelter--out of her home. She had started as a volunteer for another no-kill shelter, catching feral cats and trying to gentle them. She was keeping them at her place for the other organization, at their request, and when new management took over they pretended she and her 20+ foster cats were not their problem. So she went registered herself as non-profit and started her own shelter.

I'm glad she's not affiliated with them. I don't think I'd ever adopt a pet from them. Though if I had one that needed a home (like those two kittens I found a couple years ago) I'd try to get this organization to take it, and probably for the same reason. They act like they're the animal's equivalent to the Office of Children and Youth. They keep tabs on the pet, you have to bring it back to them periodically for them to check that it's still all right, they contact your vet to make sure you're taking the pet for regular check-ups, and they reserve the right to swoop down and take the animal back at any time.

I see some of the reasoning behind that, it's to protect the animal. There's a line between protective and possessive though, and I think they're dangerously close to it. I don't like having my privacy invaded, so I won't be adopting anyone from there. This other woman seems to be much more laid-back. She gave me her card for when I'm ready to bring someone home.

Okay, that's it for now. Those dishes aren't going to do themselves.

**I am not a paid spokesperson. Just a fan of really good computer games.