Erica's Blog

Columbus is on Street view of Google Maps

2008-06-15T12:57:00.002-04:00

Columbus was added to the street view on Google maps this week. It is pretty interesting to see a map of our house with pictures. I didn't see the cars taking pictures of our street even though my car is in our driveway.

I officially have my MSW!!!

2008-06-15T12:48:00.001-04:00

Erica's diploma
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

Since I decided to skip the graduation ceremony (5 hours sitting in the stadium in 90 degree weather was not appealing) I picked up my diploma this week. I decided I should at least take a picture of me with it.

Erica's birthday presents

2008-06-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

Erica's birthday presents
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

Here's me after opening up my birthday presents. I am wearing the necklace that Patrick got me. There is a close up of the necklace on Flickr.

Snow in Columbus

2008-03-09T16:32:00.002-04:00

Patrick in driveway
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

Beginning Friday morning and ending Saturday afternoon we got 20 inches of snow. This is a record for Columbus. This is Patrick in the driveway, getting ready to shovel where my car was. You can see more pictures at Flickr by clicking on Patrick's picture above.
Patrick had to clear a path on the deck so that Abby could get from the door to the yard. He also cleared a path for her in the grass so she could get to a spot in the yard that wasn't as deep. She was pretty excited about the snow, but I think she is over it now.
Peanut wanted to go out today, so I put her on the deck in the cleared off area. She didn't like it and ran back into the house.

Dad sleeping

2007-12-28T16:26:00.001-05:00

Dad sleeping
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

What you can't really tell from this picture is that everyone was playing the Wii while Dad took a little nap. This picture was taken shortly after Dad commented that Grover was just like his dad since he could sleep anywhere and through anything...
I uploaded some of the pictures I took to Flickr. There seem to be a lot of people playing Wii.

Santa and Erica

2007-12-09T20:46:00.001-05:00

Santa and Erica
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

On Sat. Patrick donned the red suit and posed with countless dogs, many people and 2 cats. This year Petsmart provided digital cameras instead of Polaroids which meant we could take more than one picture to get the dog looking at the camera. This also meant we had to take more than one picture to get the dog looking at the camera. Most dogs don't look at cameras, especially not when sitting on some strange man dressed in a Santa suit while other dogs are around. It was still a fun event. There are more pictures on Flickr.
I also added more pictures of our cats helping me study, well they slept while I wrote my papers.

Peanut and the tree

2007-12-09T20:41:00.001-05:00

Peanut and the tree
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

For 5 1/2 years none of the cats have ever gotten on this table. However, within minutes of putting the tree on the table Peanut decided she needed to get up and chew on the tree. We took the tree down, but Peanut still got up there. George also decided that he needed to check out the table too. So still no tree for us.

Deer Creek State Park

2007-11-05T16:13:00.001-05:00

DSCN1659
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

Patrick, Abby, and I went to Deer Creek State Park on Sat. It was really nice weather for walking. We didn't run into anyone else on the paths. Deer Creek is another pretty state park. Abby doesn't like to slow down much so we don't get to enjoy the scenery as much as others might. She loves going out for walks, though. You can see more pictures at my Flickr page. I also posted more pictures of our animals.

Cat video

2007-10-23T20:53:00.000-04:00

What a strange, cute story. I found this on one of the blogs (itchmo) that I read. I thought I would share.

Zoo trip

2007-10-21T21:23:00.001-04:00

DSCN1608
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

I went to the Columbus zoo this Sat. with one of my friends. We were looking at the kangaroos which are in an enclosed area, but are not behind a fence. There is a path for people to walk on that has ropes on either side, but I imagine the kangaroos can easily jump it if they so desired. This kangaroo decided to come right over and lay down near us. There were a lot of little kids there, too. A zoo employee did come over and stand near the kangaroo since it would have been really easy to reach out and touch the animal.
You can see the rest of my pictures on Flickr.

New Web-site

2007-09-22T11:05:00.001-04:00

Since a lot of the animal stories I end up reading are sad, I was searching for a blog that is cute and funny. And I found it in Cute Overload. I am going through some of the archives now and there are too many cute pictures and videos, although I did skip the surfing rats because I just don't find rats cute. It is quite distracting, though, and much more interesting than reading my articles for Mental Health Policy.

Under Attack

2007-09-21T16:14:00.001-04:00

Don't worry we are fine now. The other week George became very agitated and ran across the room and attacked the window. There was a praying mantis (at least I think that's what it was) on our window. It was completely unfazed by George's pounding on the window which really seemed to anger George. Here are the pictures:

These guys are in for a surprise....

2007-08-15T18:58:00.000-04:00

I saw this story on Itchmo, which is a fun blog about animals. Some of the stories are a little strange, but there are usually lots of cute pictures and videos.

Knut the Polar Bear

2007-08-06T00:43:00.000-04:00

So I saw this video on another blog and decided I needed to share it. The bear is too cute and the song is just annoying enough.

Flight of the Conchords

2007-07-09T16:35:00.001-04:00

Patrick has an entry on his blog about this too. If you haven't seen it I would highly recommend checking it out. I think the entire episodes can be seen on HBO.com and HBO On Demand. It's on Sunday at 10 (Eastern time) right after Entourage. Youtube has a lot of clips and videos of them too. My favorite "song" is Jenny, which they performed on their HBO special. This version is pretty neat as someone put it in World of Warcraft. I've never played that game, but it seems like it would take a while to create something this detailed.

Also, be sure to let me know what you think about the new version of the blog.

Abby and Greta

2007-07-06T17:00:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

Abby does not really like having to share "her" couch with the cats. Greta normally doesn't stay close to Abby, but I guess she decided she was too comfortable to let the smelly dog disrupt her sleep.

Peanut in plant window

2007-07-06T16:58:00.001-04:00

Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

We have lived in our house for five years now and only George and Moobert got into the plant window. Patrick decided one morning to put Peanut up there to show her the birds (the birds and squirrels like to eat the from the bird feeder right out the window). Now she gets up there a lot. To get in the window the cats need to jump on the counter so now she has discovered the counter!

A roller coaster that actually looks fun

2007-06-07T16:53:00.001-04:00

So Cedar Point's new roller coaster actually looks pretty fun. I guess because it doesn't break any records. The website has a some cool videos and animations that show what the ride will be like. I don't think we'll get up there this year, at least we don't have any plans to, but it still looks pretty fun.

Mythical Creatures

2007-05-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

I saw this article on yahoo today about the realities behind mythical creatures. It sounds like that would be an interesting museum exhibit to go to.
It linked to another website that has a "Top 10" Cryptozoology (study of mythical creatures). It was also interesting and there appear to be other top 1o's there. Most of the top 10's also have links to other stories.

New car

2007-05-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

Sat. Patrick and I bought a new car. Monday my Malibu stalled twice. The shop said they weren't sure what was wrong with it; something with one of the cylinders. The rough estimate was $700-1500. We'd already paid to have the plugs and wires changed and for diagnostics (which is not cheap!). We decided Wed. to buy either a Toyota Corolla (like Patrick's) or a Honda Civic. Since this is Columbus and Hondas are made 15 miles away there are a lot more Hondas. We saw one advertised that sounded really good so we figured there was something wrong with it. There isn't... knock on wood! We bought it on Sat. It's a 2002 Honda Civic. It's silver, with gray interior. It has a sunroof and a CD player. It's a nice car.
It was sad to get rid of the Malibu, Patrick and I bought that car the week after we got married. Patrick didn't even take a picture of it before trading it in. I wasn't there when the car was actually purchased and had assumed they wouldn't want the Malibu.

The Prestige

2007-04-22T13:51:00.000-04:00

So, Patrick and I watched The Prestige last week. This is the movie with Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine about two magicians. I absolutely LOVED this movie. I think it is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I highly recommend it. I even think Dad would like it. I think it is a very thought provoking movie. The acting was also amazing, including David Bowie as Tesla.
On another note we watched Click last night. I do not recommend this movie. Patrick and I agreed that it wasn't so horrible that we had to stop watching; however there were times that it got close.

The best pet stand

2007-04-07T16:25:00.001-04:00

The best pet stand
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

The cats love this box of paper. They all sit, stand and lay on it. It is especially useful for waiting for dinner time.
Last month he was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure (unrelated to the pet food recall). You can see here where he was shaved for his IV to be put in. He was sedated for them to put the IV in, however, as soon as he woke up he pulled it out. Not just once, but twice. They were pretty impressed that he managed to pull it out, because they also put an e-collar on him and he used his back leg. They gave up on the IV. Luckily he's eating and we are able to give him sub-cutaneous fluids to keep him hydrated; dehydration is a big concern for cats with failing kidneys.

Abby refuses to accept that it is snowing

2007-04-07T16:18:00.001-04:00

Abby refuses to accept that it is snowing
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

I guess since it was 80 degrees here on Tuesday, Abby just didn't want to give up laying out on the deck, even though it was snowing.

Tigers and Orangutans playing....Oh my

2007-03-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

Patrick showed me this story today. One month old tiger cubs and 5 month old orangutan babies are in the same nursery at the zoo and have become friends. There are a couple of pictures and a video (click the link) that are too cute! I don't know how the zoo workers get any work done, I'd want to just watch them.

Cows with Guns

2007-01-20T18:57:00.000-05:00

Patrick sent me some links today and I thought that I should share the "Cows With Guns" movie with everyone. I think this is pretty amusing.

Kung Fu Bunnies is pretty funny, too.

Christmas Pictures

2006-12-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

I have uploaded the pictures from Christmas. Check them out at Flickr!

Abby's New Bed

2006-12-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

Abby's New Bed
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

We bought Abby a new bed. She apparently doesn't understand that it's much more comfortable to put your head on the pillow, not the floor.

Bathroom

2006-11-19T23:48:00.000-05:00

Before- mirror.jpg
Originally uploaded by ejkittleson.

This is how the bathroom looked before. Click on the picture to see more pictures of before, during and after the remodeling. We still need to put up the molding around the window and door and then I will put in the towels, shower curtain, etc. I think it looks a lot nicer than it did. I should be posting some more pictures later. I also added some pictures of our pets to Flickr, too.

It's an illusion....

2006-11-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

I saw a story about David Blaine's new trick. I really like that Target and Salvation Army came up with the plan. I wish I were in that meeting. Who comes up with the idea to spin him around for two days? At least the kids get the shopping spree even if David Blaine doesn't succeed.

Greta

2006-11-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

The other night Greta decided that this basket would be the best place to sit. She must have known how cute she looked since she let us take her picture.

Blue Moo

2006-08-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we take Moobert in to get his teeth cleaned and to make sure that they don't have to pull out his broken fangs. Before they put him under anesthesia, they draw blood. I got a call saying when they restrained him to draw the blood he turned blue (we're still not entirely sure how you can tell when a cat turns blue). He was referred to a cardiologist to make sure he didn't have heart disease.
Thursday he got to visit the cardiologist. He was quite unhappy and apparently had a lot to say to them. They did a cardiogram, took his blood pressure and did an EKG. His heart is fine. It didn't cause him to turn blue. They think that he just worked himself up so much and with the shape of his nose and mouth he blocked his airway. He may have been hissing too much and his tongue got in his way or something. What a moron!
I only regret that I didn't get to see him when he had his helmet on. Instead of sedating cats, they use a helmet. I was told it looks like an astronaut's helmet, except that it is soft. Apparently, they look pretty dumb, but it saves them from being bitten. I think I need one for when we clip his claws!

Considerate Dreamer...

2006-08-05T16:30:00.000-04:00

I found a link to a personality test that I thought was neat. It said I am a considerate dreamer; the full results are here.
Take the test yourself at PersonalDNA.

WWF Camera Trap

2006-06-28T09:07:00.000-04:00

WWF has set up camera traps to take pictures in remote areas of the world. The slideshows are great. I especially like the tiger 'attack'. There are a lot of similarities between house cats (and ex-house/ outdoor cats) and the big cats.

Officially accepted

2006-04-19T09:07:00.000-04:00

I got my official acceptance letter from OSU for the Master's in Social Work program. I've already sent back my tuiton deposit. OSU School of Social Work is in the top 15% of the nation according to this article. The program starts in September and will take two years on a full time basis, with summers off.

Cedar Point's new ride

2006-04-08T17:33:00.000-04:00

I heard an ad for Cedar Point on the radio today. They were talking about the fact that they lowered prices... it sure doesn't seem like it, though. They have a new ride, called the Skyhawk. It doesn't look like my type of ride given my fear of heights, but it looks pretty neat.

New glasses....

2006-02-19T20:21:00.000-05:00

I got these glasses a couple of weeks ago... I like this picture so I thought I'd share.

Abby is NOT Spoiled...

2006-01-16T22:19:00.000-05:00

...just look at the poor girl, there are no covers!

More Movie reviews

2006-01-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

First off, Patrick really wanted to watch Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the WereRabbit. We went to see it yesterday at the cheap theater. It was very enjoyable. I think Patrick and I laughed harder than the kids that were in the theater. There weren't that many people in the theater. There is enough "adult" jokes to keep the movie entertaining to adults, but doesn't overshadow the story so kids should enjoy the movie, too. The clay animation is really neat in the movie, too. I recommend checking this movie out sometime. Patrick said a lot of critics have it in their top 10 list for 2005. I don't have a top 10 list, but I think this might make it to the list. It seems there are only a few movies that Patrick and I can go to and just enjoy the movie. Gromit is a very funny character. Abby would not do most of what Gromit does.
On a different note, I have a complaint about romantic movies. I like watching stupid, cheesey love stories. I go into these knowing that there will be a happy ending and everything will be just peachy in the end. I don't like these mindless movies not having a happy ending. The girl is supposed to get the guy (or girl). No one dies, unless he/she is evil and should die. Or I suppose, if the character is really annoying. It's really frustrating when there isn't a happy ending. I watch those stupid movies, not because I want great acting or good cinema, but because they are a good escape.

Movie Reviews

2006-01-11T21:53:00.000-05:00

Patrick and I have seen two movies recently. I recommend half of them. First, we saw Brokeback Mountain with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall (sp?). This movie was really good; everything about it was beautiful. I have liked both of these actors for a long time. I want to see the movie again because the scenery was so nice and the story was so good. If you've thought about seeing it, I highly recommend it (it is not for children, though).

The other movie we saw was King Kong. I don't recommend this movie. I liked the original when I saw it a while ago. This movie is over three hours long! I was to the point where I just didn't care and was hoping that Naomi Watts character would just die so the story could end... but no it didn't! It went on. I personally think they could have lost an hour of the movie and it would have been good. There are some good special effects, but overall not worth the time or money. It just dragged on and on. It didn't help that we had annoying people behind us. I should have known it would be bad when a family sat behind us and the woman said something about the seats being perfect, "except for the two people directly in front of us". We were there first. I really wanted to turn around and tell her to move but I didn't. Throughout the movie one of the kids talked, a lot. He was told a couple of times (only once by his father or man he was with). He liked to point out the obvious.

I really hate when this happens, don't you?

2006-01-11T21:46:00.000-05:00

This is F-Minus from January 2, 2006. If you have time you should check out the other days of this comic.

Pictures with Santa

2005-12-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Cat Welfare took pictures of pets with Santa this weekend. Patrick was Santa on Sat. The kitten is Faith, she was left at the shelter in a box the first part of Nov. (she was 4 weeks old). There were a lot of dogs and four bunnies. Nobody brought their cats, though.
It was fun and we raised a lot of money for the kitties.

Just Hello

2005-11-27T23:04:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I should. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Patrick and I were in Mt. Vernon at his dad's. It was a good time. Abby got to eat lots of food. She tired herself out on Thursday though because she ran around in the backyard. She liked testing to see how far she could off her leash before Patrick or I called her. Once called she took one or two more steps and waited for us to walk towards her. She would then run off, past us, to someone else. She was pretty funny.

Please let me know what everyone would like for Christmas. I have a wish list at Amazon.com that I will be adding to. I will inform Patrick that he is to update his wish list. I will let you know if there is something else I would like, too. Diamonds are always good. I don't have pierced ears, but I love necklaces and bracelets.

Humane Society and fur

2005-11-04T08:18:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't seen the new ads from the Humane Society they are about the use of fur in clothing. The new winter and fall clothes this season (for women anyway) have fur trimmed collars. Most people assume these are faux fur because who wears fur anymore??? If the garment is under $150, fur doesn't have to be labeled as a material. The material looks faux because people don't want real fur... which makes me wonder why on earth the companies would use real fur instead of fake fur.
Check out the Humane Society's website for more information.

Baltimore

2005-10-28T23:10:00.000-04:00

This is a panoramic shot of the view from Federal Hill over looking the harbor in Baltimore. This picture is a compliation of three pictures that Patrick took while we were there. Microsoft Digital Image Suite actually "threads" the pictures together for a panoramic view. It's pretty neat how it does it. We only used three pictures, but apparently you can use more.

Abby's Ready!!

2005-10-28T21:44:00.000-04:00

Abby's all ready for Halloween. She already had her treats, though. Earlier this week I couldn't figure out why she didn't want to eat her lunch/breakfast. She had found something better... peanut butter pumpkin and a snicker pumpkin!
(Her eyes aren't as scary in person; the "red eye" corrector wasn't working... this was the best I could do without going crazy(ier))

Preparing for Halloween

2005-10-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

Neil warned me not to add too many cat pictures to the kittleson.net blog. But this is my blog so I can do what I want!

Moobert is attacking the string attached to the bat (their treat because I felt bad leaving them home alone while we were in MD). Peanut is obviously trying to tell me that Patrick is taking a picture and that I should probably hide or do wear a bag. At least do something that looks a little less crazy than waving a bat around in the air while two fat cats (Melissa these are REAL fat cats) sit on my lap.

Addicting puzzle game

2005-10-19T18:22:00.000-04:00

My newest distraction is Sudoku. The highly addictive game that has actually been around for a while. Commodore 64 had a version and so does Dell puzzle magazines, called Digihunt and Number Place, respectively. The best site I have seen online is Web Sudoku, but you can purchase numerous books. Barnes and Noble currently has a table dedicated to them.
To learn how to solve either link to Wikipedia or to Penny Press.

Captured...

2005-10-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

Zack and Andy worked hard and captured the dangerous monster lurking in the front yard. Andy's tricycle did not hold ScuPat for long as he still managed to escape to Ohio.

I personally like Andy's face in this picture, click on the picture to see a larger version.

2005-10-19T17:46:00.000-04:00

This is Sarah and me on Federal Hill overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor on Sunday.
Due to numerous requests of me to update my blog, I am going to try to put some content on here frequently. Check back often to learn what's going on in the ever exciting Kittleson-Guldan household!

2004-11-05T15:33:00.000-05:00

This is Ash cave. There is a trail that you can walk from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls and then to Ash cave. We weren't able to do that because it looked like it was going to rain and I didn't want to get stuck 5 miles from our car in a downpour or Thunderstorm with a wet dog and wet husband.

2004-11-05T15:29:00.000-05:00

This is Cedar Falls again. Abby was distracted so we had more time to take pictures than at other times.

2004-11-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

This is Old Man's Cave. A man lived here with his two dogs in the 1800's. It's an impressive place, but Abby and I cannot live here. She enjoyed walking, but isn't much for stopping to look at the views.

2004-11-05T15:21:00.000-05:00

This is Abby and me in front of Cedar Falls. She wanted to go in the water, but was nervous about the noise from the falls.

2004-11-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the upper falls near Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills. The area here was beautiful.

2004-09-19T13:34:00.000-04:00

Abby and her bone

Scary Admission

2004-08-18T16:49:00.000-04:00

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
President Bush - August 5, 2004

Just think how much more harm he'll cause to the country if he gets four more years.

First Post

2004-08-18T00:18:00.000-04:00

This is the first post to a great blog.