Category Archives: Updates

A few of my favorite things (zombie cats included)

Posted in Cats, Me Me Me!, Updates by

Oh dear. I’ve neglected you, faithful Fuzzy Undertones readers, and I am so sorry.  But I’m getting into the holiday spirit, and I’m going to write a post that shares with you some of my very favorite things.  Perhaps you will do the same!

  • To-Do lists, specifically marking things completed (“post for Fuzzy Undertones – check!”)
  • Completing my certification for Feline Behavior and Training through the Animal Behavior Institute.  Three classes since March, over 100 hours of field work, and I only have one final left!
  • Launching my website for Feline Behavior Solutions and becoming a first-time business owner (the website will be launched very soon – just a couple of minor glitches to fix).
  • Fixing minor website glitches.
  • Getting away for Thanksgiving.  It’s never been one of my favorite holidays, but Chris and I headed up to Seattle to have lunch with his family, then we spent three nights at the Tulalip casino/resort.  It was a much needed mini-vacation, and I am grateful for having such an awesome husby!
  • Cats to come home to.
  • Furry Friends.  My work with them has been so rewarding and I feel like I’ve actually been doing good, useful and productive things with them.  They are so generous and kind, and a constant reminder to me that there are good people in this world.
  • The relief that comes with finding that the people for whom you’d like to purchase Christmas gifts have up-to-date Amazon Wish Lists (HINT HINT – GET ON IT, PEOPLE!!!).
  • Zombie Cats from Mars!  Have I told you that I’m going to be the cat handler for the feature film, Zombie Cats from Mars?  It’s true.  I’m not making this up.  It’s for real.  And the zombie cats are coming.  You can help the invasion spread by visiting their kickstarter campaign (there’s a short film about the movie there).  And if you want, you can watch this “behind the scenes video” that the producers made about the cats and, well, me.  Full disclosure:  a) I do not know what was wrong with my hair that day so ignore that, and b) I didn’t know that I would be doing any sort of interview, much less be photographed, so please ignore my general slovenly appearance and most of the words that come out of my mouth.  I’ll let you decide which ones.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great holiday season.  I’m pretty busy these days, with trying to get my business launched and avoid having my brain eaten by marauding zombie cats and all.  But as you can see, I’m checking things off my to-do list, getting things done, TCB.  I’ll get there eventually!  And I’ll keep you posted 🙂

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Good Things on the Horizon

Posted in Career, Cats, Me Me Me!, Updates by
Cat at sunset by Serkan Sarikef

Cat at sunset by Serkan Sarikef

I know I haven’t been blogging as much lately.  But that’s actually a good sign, because it means that I’m busy with some really great things right now.  I can’t reveal all at this time, but suffice it to say, I’m thinking about my blogging community (you!) and am missing all the reading and writing that comes with being a part of it.

There’s a new chapter I’m working on right now, and it is taking time to form and shape.  But it is moving forward.  I’m nearly done with my classes and field hours.  I’m scheming and making things more and more solid.  With the help from a few folks I’m actually getting things done and checking things off my list.

January 1st, folks…I hope to be in business January 1, 2015.  It has been a long time coming.  Thanks for your support, and forgiveness for being so vague.  Muah!  ❤

Long or short?

Gonna be a little self-indulgent and perhaps a bit narcissistic here.  But what do you think – long or short?  I just had my hair cut a couple of weeks ago, and now it’s the shortest it has been since the 7th grade.  See?

Bah, screw it.  I was going to post a picture of me with long hair for comparison, but since there’s no going back, there’s no need for it.  Also, I usually just tied my hair back anyway and rarely wore it down. I like the way my hair looks now – it was time for a change!

Whooooops!

Posted in Home Life, Me Me Me!, Updates by

So, it looks like I completely forgot to write anything for this blog in September. Ooops! Sorry about that, folks! Because I know you were totally checking my blog at least once, twice, or maybe even three times per day to see if I’d written anything new…that’s how much you love my blog, huh? Ah, I have such a loyal audience! All three of you are the absolute best!

So now, on to a quick recap. In the beginning of September, Chris and I started our bowling league, which will go through April. Yes, every Thursday night you can find us at Bailey’s Classic Lanes, which is just down the street from our house in the basement of the Elks Lodge. It is only 8 lanes, has original wood floors, and is run by a really nice couple – Dennis and Robin. The people in the league are kinda nutty, so I guess we fit right in. I bought a fabulous pair of bowling shoes and a leopard ball, because style is apparently what I have going for me, instead of a decent average. On the other hand, I have a super-high handicap! Yay!

Yup, the shoes were the first thing I bought when it came to purchasing the necessary equipment.
That’s my leopard ball in the front there, and Chris probably bowling a strike. Too bad my ball is too light – last time I bowled with one of the house balls, 2 lbs heavier! I can’t say it made much of a difference in my score, but I was at least a bit more consistent.

We also made it out to Vancouver’s annual Sausage Fest. With real sausages. I’ve had better sausage, but how could we pass up Sausage Fest? Short answer: we couldn’t.

See – it really was a Sausage Fest. And you thought I was kidding.

    

Additionally, Chris and I spent a weekend at the coast in Lincoln City. Chris actually got me out on the golf course, where my talents were most usefully applied to driving the golf cart and keeping score. I did hit a few balls, but again, golf is perhaps something where I’ll have to get by on style and not on skill. Now, if I could trade my bowling average for my golf score, *then* I might have something going!

    

September was a good month, but I suppose it is time to say goodbye to summer. The rain has started to become more frequent, and I’m seeing new birds at the feeder. The spiders are now huge. In fact, Shelob has relocated from Mordor to our front porch and is feeding on small birds because of the hobbit shortage. We have an understanding, though – I won’t use the front door, and she won’t make me scream in terror and run around the front yard like a maniac. It sounded like a good deal at the time, but I’m ready for her to move on! And speaking of moving on, it is now October. And you know what that means…yes…Halloween!!! I’ve already got my entire costume purchased, complete with accoutrements and accessories. What will I be? Well, you’ll either have to guess or wait. But here’s a hint: we’re all mad here!

I’m already 2/3 done with my first bag of candy corn, but that simply means I get to buy more soon. I hope you have a splendid October, and are looking forward to the best holiday of the year. Because any day that combines costumes and candy is number one in my book!

I’m still here!

Posted in Me Me Me!, Updates by

Between planning a non-wedding wedding and wedding planning, I’ve had little time to do many things that I regularly used to incorporate into my life. For example, I used to spend a lot of time NOT planning a wedding. This is no longer the case. It seems that, lately, I’ve been consumed with detail-oriented tasks concerning Who, When, Where, and How (the why is covered, of course). And while I’ve tried my hardest to make this a somewhat unconventional, non-traditional fun-type wedding, those pesky little wedding-ish details keep sneaking in there. Things like, “decide what to wear” and “design the ceremony” and “are these heels going to make me fall over within five minutes of putting them on”. And I’m kind of freaking out a little because every piece of wedding planning guidance I’ve read says that these questions should’ve been answered at least 18 months ago! Hell, I didn’t even know Chris 18 months ago!

Well, if I don’t completely lose my shit, these questions (and hopefully more) should be at least partially answered within the next month and a half. Wish us luck!

And PS – does anyone want to start a betting pool on how many times I’ll fall over as a result of wearing excessively high heels during the wedding festivities? Just for funsies?

A 2010 Retrospective…Lamenting the Passing of the Best Year Ever!

Posted in Accomplishments, Friends and Family, Home Life, Me Me Me!, Updates by

Happy new year, everyone! It is with great sadness that I say goodbye to 2010, the Best Year Ever. Behold 2010, a year that sidled into my life without presumption or pretense, and now a year that has slipped away like grains of sand through an hourglass…these are the days of our lives…Wait – haven’t I heard that somewhere before? Dang, and I don’t even watch soaps!

But in all *seriousness* (because we all know how Serious I am), 2010 was a fantastic year. I’m left wondering how 2011 could possibly be any better, seeing as how so many crazy-rad things happened in the past 12 months. Like what, you ask? Well, how about the following:

So, can you now understand why I might be sad to say farewell to 2010? Yes? Oh, I know…your response is that 2011 will probably be even better. How is that even possible? Well, I’ll keep you posted on how that works out – be sure to check back soon!

P.S. – Did you notice how I kept last year’s resolution? I totally maintained this blog! I posted way more than in 2009…let’s see if I can keep it up in 2011!

My Blog Shall Not Be Forsaken!!!

Posted in Me Me Me!, Updates by

Let’s see – it’s mid-January and I’m already on my second post of the year. Not too shabby, in comparison to last year’s blog, but we can do better, don’t you think? I haven’t forgotten about my Ultra-Marcilicious blog – fear not! I’ve been waiting for a brilliant idea of what to write, but I’m sorry to admit that it’s probably not gonna happen today. Honestly, I haven’t taken any pictures or done anything that you would care too much about. I’ve been going to belly dance classes regularly, the odd burlesque/cabaret workshop, and hanging out a lot with Chris. Life has been good!

I have, however, put together a little share site on Shutterfly so that you peeps can easily see pictures and photobooks that I’ve assembled. It’s still under construction, but functional to a certain degree. Want to see it? Go here: http://marcikoski.shutterfly.com/

I’ll be taking a little trip this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have some new pictures to post soon. In the meantime, have a fantastic MLK weekend (wow – those are *MY* initials!), and send good thoughts down to all the people in Haiti. I’ve been having a hard time tearing myself away from the news articles and pictures of that whole scene…please donate and help if you can! Any little contribution can help save a life at this point (text HAITI to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the Red Cross – it will be billed to your cell phone).

Suck it, 2009!

Posted in Blogging, Me Me Me!, Updates by

Toodle-loo, 2009! It’s time you moved on. Based on my regular reading of MSNBC.com, it appears that most of the world had a sucky 2009. But I have to say, mine was pretty good. I had some adventures, moved to Portland, got a new job, made new friends. All good things, right? The only bad thing was that I didn’t blog nearly as often as I would’ve liked (ok, so it wasn’t the *only* bad thing), which is probably more of an impact on my disappointed loyal readers than anything else. Could that be the main reason that 2009 sucked for so many of you? If so, I’m terribly terribly sorry. I will try to make it up to you.

And to that effect, let’s just say that things are gonna change around here at A Very Marcilicious Blog. 2010 is gonna be BIG! I can feel it…it’s getting bigger already. The postings will be more frequent and more feisty. The pictures will be more scintillating and scandalous. The links will be more poignant and procrastination-friendly. There might even be a poll or two. And hell…there might just be another blog. Yup – I’m starting to think about another blog highlighting my adventures in online dating, which will be at least as entertaining as the New and Improved 2010 Marcilicious Blog. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy some newish pictures, which I’ve provided as slide shows to the right. If you’re reading this some time in the future and are thinking that the slide shows are not the ones mentioned here, click these links: Halloween in White Salmon and Christmas in Portland. Good times, everyone, good times. See you on the flip side!