22 years old and a woman (I am told)

HOLY COW IT HAS BEEN A WHOLE WEEK SINCE I'VE UPDATED!!!

but you must understand that I have just moved not only into my new apartment BUT ALSO into my sister's house, just for this week, to look after these two beasties while the usual sentries are promenading across Italy:

please make the privileged acquaintance of...
Thistle:

And her partner in crime (and I do mean crime), the lovely Whisper:

These pictures are deceptive in their portrayal of happy calmness, though... these cats are W-I-L-D with a capital CRAZY. I'd say this is a better representation of my wee charges:















All the food in the house has to be either very closely guarded (I'm talking shoulders hunched, arms looped around the plate, eyes sweeping from side to side) or else locked away, and mealtime for the kitties involves an elaborate game of Red Rover as Whisper must be kept from charging past me to devour Thistle's grub! Still, they are loveable little beasties... catch them in the right mood and they will climb all over you, curl into little tight fists of fur and purr, and make you feel like the center of their world! (which, granted, you are, since you are the one with the necessary opposable elements for opening cupboard doors and doling out goodies). Thistle even spent most of last night curled against me under the covers (don't tell Tycho!)... that is, until she morphed from housecat to panther and stalked my feet from 2-4am. I am giving them lots of genuine love while their parents are vacationing, and I hope they are happy with me!

SOOOO in other news today I bought a cell phone! I am now the proud owner of Chilli, soon to be the central command post of my life. He's still a bit quiet but I'm sure soon he'll be ringing with joy... Here he is, shyly getting used to his new family:

I also have the coolest phone number in the world... to be distributed upon request.
SO in the last year I've bought (1) an iPod, (2) a digital camera, and (3) a cell phone. I am officially modern! Of course, most people owned these things years ago, but if you factor in my roots and income I think I come out as fairly progressive! Also I am comforted to know that Derek owns none of these things... this means that (1) I can single-handedly manipulate his musical input, (2) he can't take and immediately post any incriminating pictures of me, and (3) I can monopolize his social life!

My hot pad in London is so fantastic... I'm in Waterloo for only a week, but I'm already homesick for my new digs! And for my little T-bot! Seriously, the apartment is kicking ass, especially right now when the reality of being in charge of everything (including all the mess, I know) still hovers at "blissful". The place is brand spanking new but already several hot items have been spotted fraternizing inside:



That is all for now! This is a slightly lonely but digitally comforting weekend and I must go explore it. I haven't got internet at my apartment (I'll just mooch of Western's wireless for the summer) but while I'm at Bronwyn's place I have plenty of free time with connection to the inter wubs, so barring any unforeseen events (ie. cats eat my laptop) there should be more updates to come!