September 21st - 30th, 2011

Well, at least I got in the rest of September right under the wire. It's hard to believe it's almost October. Life is crazy. German life is just isolated and crazy.

Kicking it off with the 21st of September.






When my animals aren't play-fighting they occasionally lay next to each other and pretend to be cute. Really they're monster beasts.

September 22nd:

Barnacle sneaks off to his room to sunbathe sometimes.

September 23rd:

Bootstrap decided to snuggle my stuffed elephant, and then chomp on his head.

The 24th is showcasing what a dink Bootstrap is.

I was searching and searching for this stupid cat, and I realized I hadn't checked the laundry room. So, I walked in, saw the open dryer door and I just knew. Lo and behold, there's bootstrap, snuggling our clean laundry. Dorky cat.

Just in case you weren't sick of pet pictures, the 25th is another one.

Every time I put Barnacle in his crate before leaving the house, Bootstrap races in and taunts him in his crate. He's such an a-hole.

Now, finally, a break from the damn animals. September 26th:

German crab-apples! Love fall colors.

The 27th is more fall fabulosity.

Bumblebee got a boyfriend!! Pumpkin bumblebee love is the best love, guys.

Keeping the theme going, September 28th.

Fall means candy corn, guys. Pounds and pounds of candy corn.

On the 29th, I had a smashing wake-up call.

I love getting stabbed with a needle first thing in the morning. It's awesome.

And to bookend this bitch, September 30th is more Barnacleness.

I think this is the best picture of Barnacle I've ever taken, ever.

September 15th - 20th, 2011

Time for ketchup.

September 15th is a deja vu of creepiness.

This is the other creepy doll at the jewelery store. Perhaps creepy things are good selling points to Germans. But, I'm afraid to ever walk into the store for fear that the dolls will spring to life and attack me with their tiny hammers. That would be a bad/creepy way to go.

September 16th is a deja vu of cat ladyness.

I think this might be the cutest cat lady picture I've taken yet.

The next day, September 17th, is another cat picture, perhaps I'm the cat lady.

Here is Bootstrap in his new favorite place - the closet.

To continue the pet theme, here is Daniel and Barnacle necking.

Literally. Not much else to say.

Might as well keep it goin'. September 19th:

Almost every day Bootstrap watches Daniel do the dishes from a close distance - and sometimes he attempts to dive into the dishwasher.

Finally, today.

I used to have 10 wine glasses. 6 are cheap, thin, and crappy. I bought them at Ikea. 4 were moderately more expensive, thick, and nice. There is only one glass left of the latter set. Somehow 75 percent of the nice glasses have broken, 2 by the craziness of cats, and now one by the craziness of my dishwasher apparently - it just came out like that.

September 9th - 14th, 2011

A week of catchup, with a missing day. I forgot one.

On the ninth, Bootstrap played with his brother's toys.

Bootstrap really acts like Barnacle's little brother. He is constantly playing with his toys when he has his own, frequently attempting to take them out of Barancle's mouth. Bootstrap also likes to pounce on Barnacle when he's trying to sleep in an ever-present bid for attention.

On the 10th we took Barnacle for a walk and came upon something odd.

Looks like chalk outlines of dead angels. I don't really know why they were there, but I took a picture of them.

The eleventh saw the result of Daniel taunting Barnacle.

Daniel slowly sipped at his bottle of water for almost a half an hour, taunting Barnacle - who waited patiently to rip the bottle apart after Daniel was finished. Barnacle literally sat in front of Daniel and whined the entire time. However, after awhile Barnacle got upset and pounced on Daniel, chewing at the bottle which was still full of water and still in Daniel's hand.

The 13th is just another example of my marrying a cat lady unwittingly.

Clearly, Daniel was unhappy to have photographic evidence of his ladyness.

Finally, today, I took a picture of another cute pumpkin creature.

Pumpkin bumblebee!!

Germans know about their seasonal cuteness.

September 8th, 2011

Today's picture is split in two. It's a story, if you will.

The first part has to do with the fact that our kitten is a fucking pig.

In the twenty minutes between dinner and cleaning dishes Bootstrap followed his piggy nose into the almost empty bowl of food (beef for philly sandwiches) and licked it clean. Of course, I felt the need to document that my kitten gets into more food than my dog. It was pretty funny when it looked like he was wearing the bowl as a hat as he attempted to lick the beefy depths.

It was all funny - until we smelled him.

Basically he smelled like beefy ass. So, we had to clean him.

Behold, Bootstrap's first bath.

To put it lightly, he did not enjoy it. He scratched the shit out of my arms, which are now alive with pink welts. He squirmed around like a water weasel, it's amazing I didn't drop him. We scrubbed the beef smell out of him with Barnacle's oatmeal shampoo though, and now he resembles a wet rat.

A wet rat who smells like oatmeal.

September 7th, 2011

Today my husband got jealous of the kitten favoring me.

So, I handed him over. Then he proceeded to act like Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Sadly, I was unable to capture those moments on film. But, I was able to take a picture of them snuggling as Barnacle creeps in the background.

My house is full of freaks.

September 6th, 2011

Today I learned the equation for a quiet afternoon.

Barnacle + Bailey + Angus.

Today Barnacle had an awesome playdate, wherein he ran at top speed after two other dogs who did not get entirely annoyed by him. Getting Barnacle enough exercise is a gargantuan feat that seems to require other dogs, and try as I might, I'm just not as much fun as his dog friends.

So, Barnacle played like crazy for an hour and a half and is now asleep.

Having a quiet house is an amazing thing.

September 4th & 5th, 2011

My animals co-exist as siblings most of the time. Peacefully sometimes, at war at other times. But, there is one weird, synchronized habit they've picked up. (September 4th)

Nap time. When one goes to sleep, the other decides it's the perfect time for a nap. I assume they do this because the other is unconscious and thus unavailable for playtime.

And today, a weird/cool German display.

Frog pumpkins and owls!! I thought it was super cute and festive. Although, I keep forgetting it's fall. Possibly because we had one week of summer.

August 26th - September 3rd, 2011

Ketchup means a briefly worded blog, yo.

August 26th was a weird playing ritual.

Daniel spins Barnacle around and around and then lets go - wherein wrestling ensues. It's a little weird.

August 27th = more playing.

Bootstrap clamps down on Barnacle's ears and pulls. Apparently they both enjoy it.

On August 28th we took Barnacle for another walk.

Barnacle freaks out if I lag behind to try and take pictures. So he continuously turns around to check that I haven't abandoned him. It's kind of cute/weird.

The 29th was a tribute to how big Bootstrap has gotten.

Perhaps he's so big because he steals all the food off of our plates.

On the 30th I saw a creepy German puppet.

I think this was a German jeweler repair shop. I think puppets must do all the work because there was more than one pupped at this storefront. I almost want to break a necklace to have them fix it - and demand to see how it happens.

August 31st is a testament to Barnacle's patheticness.

He likes to lay his head on my lap when he's feeling particularly emo.

On September 1st, Barnacle found another dog who could stand him.

This was toward the end of Barnacle's playdate with Bailey - most of which was spent sprinting around the skatepark they were playing in.

The second was just a hilarious sighting.

I don't know what a titan dildo is, but it's hilarious that someone is driving around advertising it.

And, finally, today.

I made Daniel put on a shark tooth necklace so I could take a picture of him. Because I'm an awesome wife.