I am apparently never supposed to have a fully-functional vacuum cleaner in my home. I did some sweeping and dusting, and then set about to vacuum the couches and living room floor/rug. I put on the upholstery attachment, turn on the vacuum, and no less than ten seconds later, I smell smoke … smoke which is billowing out of the vacuum cleaner. I turn it off and open the area where the brush and belt is and there lays the belt broken and melted. No idea what caused it either. The brush didn’t have any hair on it or anything else that would make it stick, and it spins freely. Yuck … what a smell too. Burning rubber is NASTY!

I always thought the old one ate belts because it was old, we couldn’t get exactly the right belt, and so we had to “make” a newer one work. Now I am wondering if all vacuum cleaners with belts need to have them replaced often. So yet again, I have a vacuum cleaner that seems to like eating belts. Is this common? Should I always have several spares on hand, because I’m going to need one every few months (or less)? If that’s true, how annoying.

At the moment, I have spot cleaner sitting on a stain that I don’t think is going to come out no matter what I do. I have to give it a try all the same. I’d just turn the couch cushion over, but there’s a stain on the other side too. There comes an age when couches just need to be replaced or recovered, and ours passed that many moons ago. These were Lin’s first new living room set, so use your imagination on how old they must be. Even I don’t know their true age. Old … that’s all I know. I was probably still in high school when he first sat on them.

Now there’s a crimp in my whole floor-cleaning plan. At least I can still do the furniture and get the dusty bunnies out of the dark corners, but I really wanted to do the rugs today too. Maybe I’ll get out the old vacuum cleaner and see if it wants to work one more time for me. Let’s see how many vacuum cleaner belts I can do through in one day!

Good thing we are going to Sears this weekend to look at some tools that are on sale. That’s where the vacuum cleaner came from, so hopefully they’ll have the belts for it. I’m getting two. I hate when I’m in the middle of something and have to stop due to something breaking and there being no replacement. It messes with my workflow.

Oh well … back to getting that stain out, and then I guess I’ll just vacuum what I can. The weekend is almost here, and I can do the rugs then. I’m really annoyed about this though. Vacuum cleaners and I just don’t get along.

SQUEEEE! The lady from the kitty rescue group just called me, and we are in the process of setting up which day would be best this weekend for Lin and I to meet some kittens! Then after we have filled out the adoption approval form (nothing nearly as draconian as some of the groups, I assure you) and see them at the public adoption day, we get to go see them in their foster home. I’m very excited about this! Very … very … excited!

This will be these kittens’ first visit at an adoption day. They are only 7 1/2 weeks old, which fits perfectly with our wanting a kitty that was born after Fuzza died. I know, that’s pretty silly, but it’s something we felt was important, each of us for our own reasons. Not to mention, that’s such a great age to get kittens. They are REALLY babies. Also they are being fostered in a home with a couple with no kids or other pets, so the home situation they have been living in will be a lot like ours. Here, look at the lot of them … too cute, aren’t they? Don’t you just want ALL of them?!

To be completely honest with you, I am really wanting to get two. I haven’t broken this news to Lin yet, but I think two would be great. Better than great … FANTASTIC! We’d always talked about getting another cat, but our old apartment was far too small for two cats (or two people, for that matter), and when we moved to the house, Fuzza was just at that age where getting a new kitten might have upset things too much. Then he started getting sick, and well that definitely wasn’t the time to add to the family. But now we have this whole biggish house to fill with cats, and I don’t think two would be unreasonably expensive. To me, kittens are like potato chips … you can’t have just ONE! Lin has other feelings about it, and I suspect it involves dollar signs. I will have to do some intense negotiations. We shall see how successful I am. Personally, I’m hoping he’ll just fall in love with them all, and so getting two won’t be an issue. Maybe if I start out by saying I want them all, I can “allow” myself to be “talked down” to just two.

I’m going to go work on the living room now. Today the task is vacuuming, which works perfectly to counter Lin’s complaint that I haven’t even gotten all the dust bunnies up from the last cat that lived here. I might even get overly industrious and mop the kitchen and bathroom too. Yes, why don’t I just say that this afternoon, I am going to do the floors everywhere. They all need it, and in the process, I can get rid of the dust bunnies hiding in the dark corners making my argument for TWO kitties more solid.

As Kenno said in a comment recently, I am “with kitten.” The anticipation is both fun and aggravating! Now all I have to do is get Lin 100% on-board with the idea of repopulating our home with a kitten … or two.

Because every morning should start with kitten cuteness:

Yup, I have a bad case of Kitten Fever! I’m also totally fatigued, not having slept more than an hour and a half last night. I’m going to go crawl back into bed for another hour or two and dream of adorable kittens.

I have figured out the problem, or at least one of the problems, relating to my sleeping, not sleeping, or not staying asleep. Lin’s snoring. When I go to bed before him and am either asleep or nearly so by the time he crawls into bed, no problems. I generally sleep through the night … unless he kicks me or something, which can make me wake up and stay awake. If I go to bed at the same time or after him, I am not going to get to sleep or stay that way long. He’s not especially loud, but it’s just enough to keep part of my brain awake, and when he does get loud enough to be truly disturbing, he sort of wakes himself up, tosses a moment, and that’s when I usually get kicked, nudged, bumped or what have you.

This isn’t the only reason I have trouble sleeping at night, but I’m sure it makes it worse. I’m going to have to start going to bed before him. I’m also going to get some melatonin this weekend to see if that might help. I have heard multiple reports that it does help. In the meantime, I’m going to go try to get an hour of sleep on the couch, and then I guess I’ll be taking a nap later today. I’m tired.

Oh, and just so it doesn’t seem I am picking on Lin for snoring: I snore too. I also make small grunting noises in my sleep and sometimes toss and turn horribly while dreaming. I have also been told I sometimes talk in my sleep. So I’m probably pretty damn annoying to sleep with too. Luckily, once Lin is asleep (and snoring), I don’t think anything I do particularly disturbs his sleep. I’d think he’d let me know if it did. He’s rarely one to hold back on stuff like that.

My last task for the night has been to email the rescue group that happens to have a kitten that I may have fallen totally in love with. Yes, I have gone into Pro-Active Kitten Search Mode. I can’t wait to hear back from them. They are having an adoption day at the South Petco this weekend, and well … I’m sort of hoping we’ll get to meet Quid and her siblings then.

No guarantees any of them will click with us or us with them, but it doesn’t hurt to look, right?

I want a kitty. I want a kitty. I want a kitty.

After I finished the dishes from dinner, I got out my fancy and expensive sewing machine and cleaned it. I got out some material and all the things one needs to sew. I printed out the Pointy Kitty pattern. Then I went to attach the foot pedal. I had the wrong one. The one I had goes to the crappy old sewing machine that barely sews. I have no idea where the foot pedal to my fancy and expensive sewing machine is. My guess? Somewhere in the depths of the box room. Ugh. So I put away the sewing machine, and I guess I’ll put away the sewing stuff too. I could sew my pointy kitty by hand, but it would take forever.

Dammit. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out the old machine and see if I can figure out why it doesn’t work quite right. It probably needs to be thoroughly cleaned, oiled and adjusted. By the time I get done with that, I don’t feel like sewing anymore. I really wanted to sew a Pointy Kitty tonight.

Maybe I’ll just go to bed now. I hate going to bed grumpy, and I’m pretty grumpy at the moment.

Even if you aren’t especially a cat lover, you have to go meet Waffle. Oh no really … the “cute” is definitely strong in this one.