step one.

Register a domain. Check! I’m now the proud owner of lemonslush.com! It’s not much to look at at the moment, but I’ll be working on it soon. Bryan surfed over to GoDaddy this weekend, and I just happened to have him check on lemonslush.com, as it’s been parked with a placeholder page forever now. And there it was, for $10.87! Normally I’m not a compulsive domain buyer (like some people I know) but this domain is mine. It is the screenname I use pretty much everywhere (minus this blog, oddly enough) and it is my “brand.” Bryan also was kind enough to link up my domain with his WebFaction account, awesome guy that he is. :) So, step one complete. Now, to make something happen!

In other news, I am looking at adopting a kitten/cat. The lot of us went to the Humane Society this weekend to peruse the felines. I found two potential youngins named Reid and Fabrizio who were caged together but not siblings. Reid was born at the H.S. and would be the first of his litter adopted out were I to take him home. Fabrizio was found abandoned and brought in alone, based on his file. We all sat in a visiting room with them for a long while, watching Reid race around, cuddling with Fabrizio. They were quite the dichotomy – crazy vs. mellow, athlete vs. lap cat.

I have a couple points of hesitation, of course. (Would I be me if I didn’t?) First, I’m still wondering whether I’m responsible enough or “ready” enough to have a pet. Second, am I at a point where I can keep my stress levels down enough to have animals in my home? Will I be able to stop worrying about both their well being AND the intact nature of my furniture and breakables long enough to enjoy their company? Third, there is the issue of Fabrizio’s tilted head. We all noticed it pretty much right away, a tilt to the right and a bit of a balance problem. His medical file mentioned an inner ear infection, but there’s no telling if that’s something temporary or chronic. Also no telling if it is, in fact, not an infection but a tumor or something else life threatening. All I’d need is for my first pet to get sick or die on me immediately. :(

But I did love cuddling with Fabrizio as he purred loudly and climbed around. Erica posted a photo on Flickr, and though I look a bit mentally handicapped in it, I’ll link to it anyway. After we left the HS, we went to the local Greek place for lunch, and, while we sat looking at the menus, I heard a TV announcer say the name Fabrizio Santos. I glanced up to see he was a professional skateboarder, but since I’d never heard the name Fabrizio before the kitty, I was pretty convinced that meant something.

With so many people visiting the HS with me, it was hard to think clearly and consider my options. So I think I’ll be going back over there at lunchtime tomorrow to visit with Fabrizio again and see how we get along without Reid and the others. As much as I’d like to give ‘Briz a brother and playmate, I think Reid may be a bit out of my league. Though he did entertain himself without my even trying, but still—I want to love my kitties, and Reid and I just didn’t click.

If Fabrizio and I don’t connect, I will respectfully withdraw my application for both little boys and go back to the drawing board. I’m fine with waiting till I find the right cat(s). The last thing I want is another Tori incident, like in college. Had I known torties were so temperamental (recent feline research) and really thought through sharing a single bedroom with a cat, I would’ve waited on that one too. :P

I leave on Thursday afternoon for Birmingham and the Social South social media conference. It will be good to see that city again after some time away. I may even get to see Dennis while there. He has high-school football to cover elsewhere in the state, so he won’t be attending SoSo, but my early arrival should allow us to grab food or a drink, or for me to see the new digs he’s renovating right now. Exciting!

What else… Oh, Bryan, Nick, Erica, Alan & I played D&D yesterday! It was my first game, so I was totally unsure how everything worked. Still am, a little bit. But I caught on well enough to kill a few Kobolds and enjoy myself during the second half of the game. Nick was our DM and he was proud of the six-page back story I wrote about Elluvia, my elven ranger. Always smart to impress the DM! :D Bryan will be DMing the next round, and Nick will be taking over his human shaman, Albini, so they can alternate playing and storytelling. Should be fun to see B in action as DM, both in that game and in the other we’ll be starting with his coworker, his wife and their son in two weekends. Twice the D&D action!! I can hardly wait. :)

Also, my brain is broken. I really need to figure out how to fix it, but with about a million things on my to-do list right now, I don’t think it’s going to happen till after Ireland and a potential mom visit in October. Maybe once fall rolls around and some sort of cool settles over the land, I’ll be able to reevaluate my mental state and get things moving in the right direction. For now, I will read good books, enjoy cuddles whenever possible, share a cup of coffee with a new friend, work hard every day and accomplish as much as I can. Woot!