Flickvan's Profile

I love these comments! My kitty sleeps alone in the evenings, but joins us at 6 a.m. to purr and stare in our faces while my husband and I wake up, slowly. The amount of love and amusement that AT readers show towards their pets makes me smile :-)

Since we got married, every year my husband and I go out and buy a few animal ornaments. It's been 4 years and we have a nice collection of critters (this year we got an alpaca, two amoebae, and a trout). My husband, the mad scientist, enjoys arranging them according to the geological strata. I'm just glad that he can overcome his natural urge to be a Grinch and let me have a tree.

I bought the Bionaire and just love it. We live in a 690 sq ft condo and odor was our main concern when we got our kitty. The Bionaire does hum a bit (we got used to it, and my cat was unphased) but our house is completely odor free. I use the refillable Petco clay littler and mix in some crystal litter for good measure. The house is so free of litter odor that when people come over they have no idea we own a cat until the little guy comes sauntering into the room!

Well, this might be relevant and fun if it was installed in a lingerie shop...

I love to make big salads and nibble on them all week at work! One word of advice, make the salad ahead of time but do not toss with dressing until you are about to eat a portion - that will help the greens keep longer in the fridge without getting soggy. I make up my own dressing and take it to work in a little spice rack jar that I cleaned and reused. Then I drizzle it over the salad just before I eat.

We tried City Kitty with our kitten. Ah...how idealistic we were...

It was a bad solution for us because we have only one bathroom. Humans didn't like it. We were afraid to have guests over at our house.

Kitty actually did pretty well because she was young with a eager little mind and she was willing to try anything. However, even though she made it to the very last ring, the minute we took it away to "complete" the training she rebelled. The first indiscretion happened in her kitty bed - the second under the Christmas tree. The call of the wild, I guess. We switched back to a litter box immediately.

I recommend trying City Kitty - it's a good product. Don't make the mistake of trying it if you only have one bathroom.

Two words: constant cleaning! Oh, and one other word: beautiful.

I used to have almost the same view - it's also lovely at night when the city is lit up.

Ah, my moody city...

The bleak, Pacific Northwest light is fine for working - if you're used to it (although that view is facing south, so you can get that room heats up when the sun comes out). The only thing missing from that picture is the obligatory bottle of vitamin D that most of us Seattleites have to take during the winter to keep the blues away!

Another way to make the house smell inviting (if you have the time and inclination: bake some cookies, an apple tart, or anything yummy and sweet. The house will smell like comfort food!

- Baking and experimenting in the kitchen (sometimes it's wonderful to just tie on an apron and start trying new things)
- Sitting on my couch and enjoying the calm (I have a stressful job and there is no other bliss like turning off the BlackBerry and listening to the sound of nothing)
- Playing Xbox with my husband and drinking wine (because he loves me a little more every time)
- Curling up in a blanket with a cup of tea and reading my favorite book (until it is finished)