He’s 3 months old and still without a name. Matthew’s still hanging on to Tolkien. I’m leaning toward Sebastian, Simon or Oscar. Decisions, decisions.

In other news, we celebrated Jason’s last day at the Leader with a BBQ at my house. It was lovely, except for the bee sting I received on the middle finger of my right hand. My dominant hand. It hurts. Bad. My middle finger is rather swollen and tender to the touch. I hope it’s healed by tomorrow. I haven’t been stung by a bee since I was a kid.

You read that right. Thanks to a patient boyfriend and the WONDERFUL staff of the Nebraska Humane Society, I’m, once again, a cat owner! Matthew and I spent a few hours at the humane society Wednesday, before the Rilo Kiley concert. We found an adorable, 3-month-old kitten, named Gene. We played with Gene for more than an hour before we decided this was the one. (We decided to ditch the name Gene to something more suitable. I’m leaning toward Oscar. Matthew wants Tolkien.)

I picked him up Thursday after work and he has been mine ever since. He’s very playful but enjoys napping and being held, too. It’s so much fun! This kitten is so much more loving and playful than the first. Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve learned a few things the second time around ;-)

For whatever reason, I scheduled three Wendy Only appointments this week: a dental appointment Tuesday afternoon; a haircut Wednesday afternoon; and an eye exam Friday afternoon. I’m getting a cavity filled and a much-needed haircut this week. As for the eye exam, I have a hunch my prescription has changed since my last exam two years ago. On most Web browsers, I up the text size (especially when posting to my blog). When shadowing a high school student for a front-page feature two weeks ago, I could barely read the blackboard from my back row desk.

My Bellevue Leader buddy and music supplier, Jason Keese, ran in the Omaha Marathon this morning in downtown Omaha. Jason opted for the half-marathon (13 miles), but plans to run the entire marathon (26 miles) next year. Best wishes to Jason this morning!

Jason Keese, dreaming of a first-place finish.

EDIT: This just in. Jason finished 37th out of 574 runners, with a time of 1:33:58. Way to go, Jason!

A busy weekend is here. Tonight, Matthew and I are having dinner at Kobe Steakhouse. It’s one of those restaurants where you’re seated around the chef, who chucks cooked steak and chicken into the mouths of hungry patrons. That should be entertaining in and of itself. Tomorrow, we have my co-worker’s wedding reception to attend. It’s being held at an ultra-swanky mansion in Midtown Omaha. I imagine that meal will be delicious, as well. We enjoy getting dressed up for a night on the town, so long as it doesn’t happen every night ;-)

Work went well today, for a Friday. I find that I can accomplish quite a bit when I listen to my iPod. That way, I’m not as easily distracted by other conversations and the like. People don’t find it as easy to approach me to gab, which has become a pet peeve of mine as of late. As a writer, it can be hard to concentrate on a story when someone stops you mid-sentence just to chat. It looks like I’m just sitting there, doing nothing, when in actuality I’m reading what I’ve written or thinking of a way to write what I want to say.

I’m reminded of a story: One of the guys who works in the press room was up front in the newsroom last week. Margaret and I were hard at work on stories, when this clown blurts out, “Jeez, it must be nice to just sit there and watch TV all day!”

Honestly. For starters, since when the hell did a PC function as a TV at work? Couldn’t he see the Microsoft Word files open and populated with words? Secondly, I get the vibe from a handful of our press guys that because our job doesn’t involve manual labor, it’s not important. If I remember correctly, we print newspapers so people can read what we write.

Check this out: http://www.globalrichlist.com/index.php

(Thanks to Molly for sending this my way!)

I’ve seen on my friends’ blogs through Blogger that images automatically appear with a nifty border. Anyone know the HTML code to use in LJ to create the same effect?

Me at Macworld New York, circa June 1999. That iBook was rather clunky, but it was my first portable Macintosh. I think it had a 3 GB hard drive. And I loved it.

I still feel in a transitory state with my job. I have a few options out there, but nothing has surfaced that rings true. Nothing has clicked or sent a resounding ring of confidence. It’s all about patience and timing, right?

I really learned something about myself during Tuesday’s kitty experience: I need to roll with the punches a little better. For much of my life, I’ve made changes when something wasn’t right. “Fix it” was forever my motto. Don’t let a day pass when you’re not completely at peace with something. But when a new experience like the kitten surfaced, I kinda freaked. Rather than allowing myself time to adjust to the situation, I reacted on my immediate emotions and returned the kitty. And as much as I can’t stand Dr. Laura, a bit of her advice sticks in my head: Don’t base your decisions on your emotions. So there. I think I want to try this cat ownership again in the future, with full knowledge that both me and the animal will need a few days to adjust, and not a mere six hours.