Best football game takeout in Fort Collins, CO

Here's a Yahoo! article I wrote about BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Fort Collins.

2013 end-of-the-year movie releases

I published an article on Yahoo! discussing this year's end-of-the-year movies releases.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

I'm having a stressful and irritating day, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite songs.

He makes my soul happy...


Over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole OFFICIAL VIDEO from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

Never work with animals or children

So this week has been… hectic.

And we're only half way through.

HUMP DAY!!! Woot woot!

I love that commercial. It never fails to make me giggle hysterically.

Anyhoodle, as I've mentioned before, I'm severely lacking in the motivation department with regards to school. Half way through week 2, and it's not getting much better.

Part of it stems from the fact that we are supposed to hear back from the underwriter today on whether or not our docs are approved. While she said that everything should be fine, and despite the fact that our credit is really good and we have a substantial down payment and we've given them every single piece of OCD-level documentation they've asked for (I'm almost expecting a request for organ tissue samples at this point), I'm still nervous. Because you never know.

The other part of my distraction stems from the fact that it is uncomfortable for me to type, properly hold a text book, or basically function like a regular human being on account of the vicious assault I suffered Monday night.

Yes, it hurt. And yes, I have a forearm tattoo. It's Anglo-Saxon and Norse runes. It translates into "Fate is wholly inexorable". 

Yeah. Courtesy of my cat. Little bastard.

So, I mentioned before about how he is a Long-Haired Asian, and so without regular trimmings, he can sometimes get poop on himself if he doesn't position himself properly in the litter box. It's gross, but it's something I just know will occasionally happen.

Well, it happened again Monday night. He just got a little bit on himself; better than usual, no biggie right? 

Wrong.

So wrong.

I'm right in the middle of making dinner when this happens, so of course it was super awesome timing.

So I stop what I'm doing, carry him to the bathroom, and clean his bum fir with baby wipes. I then discover he had also gotten some on his tummy as well, probably while attempting to clean the first mess. It becomes clear that he just needs a bath; baby wipes won't be enough in this situation.

We confine him to the bathroom while we eat, and then I start gathering the supplies for bath time. 

Well my daughter accidentally let the cat out of the bathroom at this point, and seeing as how he was already stressed about me cleaning him and pissed that I locked him in the bathroom when there was food smells he desperately needed to investigate, he bolted into the bedroom and tried to hide under my daughter's bed. I grabbed him and gingerly carried him back out, trying not to touch the still-stinky parts of his tummy.

And this is when he flipped the eff out and ripped my arm open*.

Let me tell you, it hurt. A lot.

And it bled. A lot.

To the point that I had to bust out the family pack of paper towels because the first-aid kit was too far away.

So I clean my arm and wrap it in gauze, and The Husband taped me up, and we proceeded to trim the cat's excessive fur and give him a good bath.

It didn't go well.

Lots of growling and angry mewing and escape attempts.

And of course, being that I was newly injured, I was only slightly helpful in the whole process. And a little jumpy about more potential attacks.

But we got him clean, we got him somewhat trimmed, and I kept my distance from him for the rest of the night.

All I can say is he's lucky I am morally opposed to de-clawing and find it utterly cruel; and he's lucky that I understand he was stressed and pissed about being cleaned; and he's lucky I understand that he hates being in the confined space of an apartment. He never used to act like this in our old house, so once we're in the new house (knock on wood) I'm hoping his attitude gets better.

Post-bath look of shame… or hatred...

Cute, fluffy, evil bastard.

*You know my priorities are a little screwy when my first thought was not "oh crap I'm bleeding profusely", it was "oh no my tattoo!"

Beautiful message on how a little perspective and empathy goes a long way

Halloween Health: Safety Tips for Kids' Candy

Here is an article I published on Yahoo! discussing tips for Halloween candy safety.

Lazy Monday should be a thing

So I'm officially one week into fall quarter. My last fall quarter ever.

And I couldn't have less motivation if I tried.

Oy vey, this isn't a great sign!

I think most of it has to do with being preoccupied with the house and moving soon and everything that goes with that. Like oppressive amounts of stress.

I'm not sleeping super well, and I've just sort of been perpetually tired lately, and thus we have the lack of motivation to do school work.

Le sigh.

This first week was interesting though. I think I'm going to like my classes- the subject matter is interesting, and not overly complicated for my obviously struggling brain right now.

I also have already gotten into somewhat of a tiff with a fellow classmate, so it should be an interesting 10 weeks dealing with him.

See, we were discussing how racial and gender issues influence modern American families, and a gal and I were specifically discussing the integration of post-slavery African Americans into American society and the impacts that had on their family structures.

A guy in my class who hadn't been involved in the conversation to begin with decided to jump in then, and basically ripped me a new one. He was apparently trying to point out what he felt was a flaw in my comment, but decided to reference something incredibly violent and disturbing in order to do so. Not only did it not make any sense at all, but it was highly inappropriate for a class discussion.

Several other students jumped in and defended me, pointing out his non sequitur and the inappropriateness of his comments.

He then went on to attack me in other post threads that also did not involve him and did not apply to anything I said.

Basically, he's an icky troll who appears to hate women who have opinions. He was completely cordial to the men in the class, and kind of a wank to the women. Why someone with such an angry and bitter outlook would take a Sociology of the Family class is beyond me, but cheers to what looks to be an unexpectedly exciting quarter!

Beyond that, I have had AWOLNATION's Sail stuck in my head for a few days now. I was working on a Yahoo! article discussing movie releases, and after watching the trailer for The Counselor several times, that song is sufficiently lodged in my brain.

Which has made me miss 107.7 The End...

I think I'm going to go drink some tea... and maybe crack open a textbook... maybe...

2013 Seahawks Gift Guide

Here's an article I published on Yahoo! discussing gift ideas for the Seattle Seahawks fan in your life.

Why I Had a Colonoscopy at the Age of 29

Here is another article I published on Yahoo!, discussing the importance of colonoscopy screenings and why they need to be part of the broader medical discussion.

Colonoscopies save lives, yet the current recommendations are woefully inadequate. The current recommended age to begin screenings is 50, yet more and more colorectal cancers are occurring at younger ages, making earlier screenings absolutely vital.

Colorectal cancers are entirely treatable, and early detection saves lives.

Added bonus

Creep

So the last few days have left me with a sort of perpetual headache. And no amount of caffeine or Advil or fruitless attempts at sleep have helped.

I think I've hit a wall.

You know, that point when your brain just decides that you've put it through too much and it peaces out in a blaze of glory?

Yeah.

I swear, I actually heard something break in there.

So first of all, the house is coming along beautifully. It is getting closer and closer to being done; our docs are in underwriting right now; I have moving boxes stacked against the wall ready to be packed.

My soon-to-be entryway!!!

In theory, this should all be super exciting, right?

Except for some reason it has me losing my mind.

I think because we're so close to being done and ready to move in that I'm more worried than ever about something- anything- going wrong.

I haven't slept well in several days. Probably has something to do with the headache.

On top of that, fall quarter officially starts on Monday. The portal opened today, and in theory I can start working on my readings and whatnot and get a jump on things.

Except that I got an e-mail from my advisor on Wednesday informing me that one of my classes had been cancelled.

You know, a class that I registered for a month and a half ago. A class for which I've had the book sitting on my coffee table for a month. A class that started in five days. And they freaking cancelled it!

Needless to say, that put me in a bit of a tailspin.

I had to find a new class immediately- a lower level elective that wasn't already full- or risk throwing off my graduation schedule. Not an easy feat FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE QUARTER STARTS.

Bye bye Philosophy, hello International Studies...

Then I had to track down the book for said new class. And, of course, it was backordered through the bookstore.

Cue the breaking sound in my brain.

So after a bit of a mental collapse, and a few Gilmore Girls episodes and some tea to soothe myself, I finally found the required textbook through Amazon. And for even cheaper than the school's bookstore!

God bless Amazon!

It should theoretically be here Tuesday, so I'll only be a little behind in that class.

I also got the other textbook shipped back to the bookstore for my refund, just under the cutoff date.

Le sigh.

Then today I went into the portal to start getting myself situated- assignment schedules and syllabi and whatnot- and my required reading schedule for my Sociology class? Has two textbooks.

I only have one.

The course resource guide only has the one listed. Three days before classes even start and I'm already confused, stressed, and slightly overwhelmed. Great.

Needless to say, I've been listening to a lot of Nirvana lately, and I've had Radiohead's "Creep" stuck in my head for days.

Apparently stressed Sarah relies on Alt Rock for sanity.

What's not soothing about that?

Vitamin D Deficiency

Here's an article I published on Yahoo! about vitamin D deficiencies and why they suck.

(The Yahoo editors removed the image that was supposed to accompany it because they said it didn't meet their submission criteria, but the irony is the image was from their image library!)

(You may want to address that, Yahoo peeps.)

The Best Costume Ever

Here's another article I published on Yahoo. It's a "Throwback Thursday" piece about the best Halloween costume from when you were a kid (though ironically it was published on a Monday)