CitiKitty: Potty-Training Skittles

Call me a fool, or call me brilliant, but I am going to potty-train my cat! I was browsing Groupon one day a couple weeks ago and I came across a cat training kit. CitiKitty is a program for your cat to learn how to do her business in the toilet. I thought, "That sounds great! No more having to clean the litter box!" It was on sale for $15 I believe, and to order it online from their website would cost $30, so why not give it a try right? What's $15 for never having to clean a litter box again?

It is a weekly process. Week 1: you put the litter box in the bathroom to get your cat used to going in that room. Week 2: you put the seat cover on the toilet and take away the litter box. Week 3: you punch out the center ring, creating  a tiny hole in the middle of the "litter box". For the next two weeks you punch out the next ring, making the hole bigger and bigger until your kitty doesn't even miss the litter.

So far Skittles in on "week 2". Her litter box sits atop the toilet; I put it on there yesterday. The directions say to sprinkle some cat nip on top of the seat to make your cat want to go up there, so I did, and then I called her over. She jumped up there, sniffed about, and then decided to roll in it because it smelled so good. She hadn't even used it yet and I had a mess to clean up. Silly cat!  I have since decided not to put anymore catnip around the toilet. I want her to think that's where she's supposed to pee, not where she's supposed to play. Well that happened yesterday afternoon, and then I went to an interview and class and got home around 11 o'clock P.M.

The bad news: I didn't find anything in her new litter location. The good news: I haven't found anything anywhere else in the house.

When I woke up this morning there was still nothing in her litter box. I'm really hoping she hasn't found a corner in the house to go to the bathroom, but I haven't found, nor smelt, anything yet. I occupied the bathroom for about 15 minutes this morning taking a shower and when I walked out there was poo on the floor in the hallway. Just my luck that when she decides she needs to go, I'm in the bathroom. Darn cat. 

It's day two, and so far all she's pooped on is the floor. Really hoping she'll use the seat soon otherwise this will be a failed experiment. I'll keep you guys updated- because I'm sure you're all very interested in my cat's bathroom habits :P Wish me (and her) luck!

A

Wordless Wednesday

"That's Gay"

I was driving home the other day and I saw something on the back of the car in front of me that upset me for some reason. In the dust on the back of that car, someone had written "I'm gay". It was clearly meant as an insult to that person. When someone says something is gay it is meant in a negative way. Just like saying something is "oakie" is meant in a negative way (which I always took as an insult because my family is from Oklahoma).

I don't know why it upset me; you hear people saying "that's gay" all the time. I never really took to the phrase myself, but it's quite common to hear. Seeing it on the back of that car really got me thinking about the gay community and how far they've come, and how far they still have to go.

I won't lie, I used to be what is referred to as a "homophobe". When I was younger I was completely against the gay lifestyle and anyone who chose to live that way. I referred to them as "walking sins". It was just the way I was raised and the community I grew up in. Being gay was not a good thing in my eyes. It was during my freshman year of college that I really opened up my eyes to the truth. They are just people like you and me. I started seeing all the hate that was pushed in their direction. I am not a hateful person and I made a mental decision to not be a part of that hate anymore. One of the main things that helped me see proper was a poem my professor had us read: "How to Watch Your Brother Die" by Micheal Lassell. Please read it; it is a wonderful poem.

I am a Christian, and a lot of people say that the bible says it is a sin to be gay, but that is for God to decide. The way I see it, God is about love, and I don't think He'd appreciate me going around and hating people just because of who they decide to love.

It is one of the things that I am proud of myself for. I'm not proud that I used to be filled with so much hate, but I am proud that I was able to see the error in my ways and make a change. I know quite a few gay/lesbian people now, and I am proud to call them friends. Not to sound too much like a hippie, but I hope one day the rest of the world can see the error in themselves and a new era of love and happiness can arise.

Edit:
Added a poll (at the top left) for responses to this post. I want to know your thoughts.

Naturals VoxBox

I received another Influenster VoxBox this month! Influenster sends out boxes of goodies to people to try out and then give feedback about.  This month's box is the Naturals VoxBox. It is all about all natural things. The Naturals VoxBox came with the following items:

• The Original Dish Drying Matt - $4.99
• LypSyl Intense Protection LypMoisturizer - $2.87
• EBOOST - $28 for a box of 20
• CleanWell Individual Hand Santizing Wipes - $29.99 for 50 pouches
• GEODEO - $5.99 for 2.3 oz stick
• NECTRESSE - $3.99 for 40 serving
• Country Life Maxi-Hair Maximized - $17.99 for 60 tablets

Here is a video of the unveiling:

I have tried out a few of the items since I opened the box and will be posting review posts shortly. Please bare with me! lol

If you'd like to get in on the awesomeness, just go to Influenster.com and sign up! It's completely free; I've received three boxes thus far, and I haven't spent a dime. It's a great way to learn about new products and have fun at the same time!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Tried posting this earlier today. The photo wouldn't upload on my slow internet -.- You shall all have to wait until I get home tonight to see it. Sorry for the inconvenience. Just wanted to post this so you know I didn't forget (:

9:34 pm -- Now for the wordless part!

Subconscious Fears

I am afraid of the dentist.

When I was younger, I had a monster of a dentist. My parents weren't too big on dental hygiene, so, needless to say, my teeth were pretty gross. My parents would occasionally make us brush our teeth, but the only time they really made us was right before going to the dentist (because that did a lot of good). I didn't have clean teeth; I had multiple (20+) cavities. I had to visit the dentist a lot. You might think, well, that was your own fault, if you took care of your teeth, you wouldn't have to go so often, and you wouldn't have such a bad view of the dentist. Well, I would agree with you, except for the fact that my dentist (and his staff) were pure evil.

I was scared. They wouldn't let my mom come into the back with me. Ever.  I remember the one event in particular. Once, I had to get my front baby tooth pulled because my adult tooth was coming in wrong. I was all set up with the gear- my mouth pried and propped open with metal objects and blue plastic. It's a scary set up. I was crying and one of the assistants came up to me and instead of telling me it's going to be okay and to calm down, she put her hand over my mouth, pressed down on the uncomfortable contraption, and told me to "shut up!" My sister and I always told my mom that the dentist is scary, and that we don't want to go back; they're not nice. My mom always thought we were just being kids until I told her what happened that last time. We never went back.

So, going back to the topic of this post, I am now what I believe to be subconsciously afraid of the dentist. I'm at a new dentist now, obviously, and I haven't had cavities in forever (I learned my lesson finally). Last year though, I had one cavity, my first in I don't know how long. I thought, no big deal. I'm an adult now. I can go to the dentist just fine. That's what I thought. I sat in the chair and as soon as the lady started putting the numbing agent in my mouth I started, what I can only guess is, hyperventilating. Tears formed in my eyes and I started breathing very quickly- gasping for air. It didn't hurt at all, I just got scared for some reason. She asked if I was alright, and I apologized to her, because there was absolutely nothing to be getting upset about. As the dentist was working on my cavity, I had to sit there and focus on staying calm and keeping my breathing even.

Have you ever experienced anything like this? Where you're afraid of something, but you feel pretty silly for being so? I have never had a huge problem with this dentist, but I started freaking out for no reason. I can only guess that I have a subconscious fear of the dentist working on my mouth. I can go in for cleanings no problem, but mention cavities and I'm about ready to cry. You can bet that when I have kids, they will have clean mouths!

Wordless Wednesday

My Own Little Slice of Italy

As a lot of you probably already know, I had my first experience with food photography last week. I got another bite off of my ad on Craigslist! Dupree, the owner of Slice of Italy called me up to do some photos for his restaurant. They are going to start doing online ordering and needed pictures of their menu items. I was more than happy to help- I let them know it was my first time doing food, and they were okay with that. It was a really fun experience!

Slice of Italy has been open for about two years now. They serve all sorts of Italian food- the basics (pizza and pasta), but they also have delicious appetizers (mozzarella sticks, calamari, etc.) , sandwiches, chicken, lasagna, calzones, salads, and don't even get me started on the desserts! I had heard of this restaurant before he contacted me, but I've never eaten there before. The staff was extremely nice and, to my knowledge, didn't mind being photographed at all (: I got the honor of eating the lasagna after shooting it. It was BOMB. I will definitely be returning there when I'm "off duty".

The chefs were making the food just for the photos, so there was a lot of food just waiting to be eaten. When I was all done for the day, they loaded me up and I took dinner home to Chris' roommates and my family. Everyone loved it!

I can only hope that I did their food justice. I remember telling the chef "You're the artist here; I'm just photographing your work." And he really is an artist. The food looked soooo good. We did a few different shots of each item. I took picture of the food in the kitchen and then on a table we decorated. I know... I need to work on my decorating skills... but I'm a photographer, not an interior decorator! Haha, I don't really think it looked that bad. And as for the photography, I think it looks quite good for my first time. After he called me I did so much research. Hopefully it shows! You can see a few of them here at my new website.

To wrap it up, the food is delicious, the staff are fantastic, and the owner is great. And now my stomach is growling from staring at that picture of lasagna for too long...

If you are craving Italian food, I highly recommend Slice of Italy!