Summer has Sprung! Cat Pants, Yanni, Lifeproof, Drugs

Hey!  Long time no see.

How 'bout this weather? 

This photo was taken 5 days ago, and here is a photo from yesterday.

Amirite?

~~~

Are you ready to play a round of "Cat or Pants"?

I have a cat that is all black.  Smidgen is precious and perfect and angelic preciousness angel, and very cuddly.  

However, sometimes I don't have my glasses on and can't tell one dark shape from another.  Some mornings I will wake up and stumble around for a minute and then go to cuddle the preciousness, and then I, being blind as a bat, end up trying to snuggle pants.  

Or, sometimes when I am not wearing my glasses and trying to throw in a load of laundry before bed, I'll go to grab pants off the floor, and it is cat (surprising the heck out of both of us.)  

I'm going to be honest here... it happens more often than I care to admit that I kick pants out of the way, except it turns out to be cat, or I will go to gently and lovingly pet my pants. 

Okay, so let's play Cat or Pants.

Step 1:  Take out your contacts or glasses, and be blind as a bat

Step 2:  Be very groggy

Sometimes it's tricky.  Right?

Well, I feel better having admitted this.

Yannster

Good news!  There is Yanni activity coming up.  Of course, you already know this, considering that you follow my Yanni Facebook account, and if you don't please look up "Veronica NorthEast" please and thank you.

Yanni has been doing a tour in just a few cities of "Coversations With Yanni" which is basically a Q&A session with audiences, mixed in with him playing his grand piano. 

What questions should I ask Yanni??!?!??!??!!!  

More good news: I had to get a new phone case, which means I had to get a new Popsocket, so... behold my new fantastic custom-made Popsocket!!

I love it not just because I get to stare at Yanni all day every day, but also because it is a conversation starter and I get to spread the Gospel of Yanni.

It's just as good as my other talisman- my giant Celine Dion mug, which I'm quite known for at work.  My colleague said that she loves it, because it is "just so.... unapologetic."  Yeah, that about sums it alllllll up.

While we are talking about cell phone cases, I need to just do a quick advertisement for Lifeproof cases. Girl, do you know about Lifeproof phone cases?  You are probably reasonably responsible with your phones, but, of course, I am extremely clumsy and drop almost everything and stuff.  

So, I got this Lifeproof case when I first got my phone last year, and I tell you what, it is amazing.  They are pricey, I think I paid $80 for mine.  I know.  It’s bad.  But, an insurance claim on a new phone is $100, so….  

So, shortly after I got my Lifeproof case, I’d say like 4 months later, I noticed that the little rubber thing for the phone jack was coming loose.  This was upsetting because once the case is on your phone, your phone is literally Life-proof, but if there is a leak or a crack, it is no longer life-proof.  I called the company about the little rubber phone jack thing coming off, and they immediately sent me a new one.

It is water proof, dust proof, everything proof.  I have been swimming with my phone, a lot, and taken video. Like this gem, taken whilst playing a game we call "Tsunami": 

I recently had another episode with a crack in my phone case (I probably ran it over with my car or something.)  I called LifeProof and asked if possibly my warranty was still good, and they said, “OMG - totally.  Don’t worry about it.”  They sent me a brand new one, and have been amazing with customer support any time I had an issue.

I love them.  So.  Hard.  Like, I really beat the heck out of my cases… so the fact that a case lasts even a month is a big deal.  This sucker lasted almost a year.

They are Colorado based and totally chill.  The girl I just recently spoke with… her name was Harmony.  Yup.  

One last thought that I just need to put out there...  

I want to just ask that everyone keep your eyes open to, or at the very least, say a prayer or keep in  your thoughts your local community's health.  I am lucky enough to be protected (at least, as far as I know) from the horrible cancer of drugs that is just running rampant in our greater DC/Baltimore area.  I am not blind to it, as I have been interacting more and more with people who are directly effected by it.  The more I talk to people at church, the more I am becoming aware of how close it is to all of us, and we don't even realize it.  

I will sometimes be talking to someone who seems just like me, only to then be talking with them about how their daughter/son/sister/brother/etc. is currently an addict and losing their battle. 

This fire department keeps track of overdoses and deaths from heroin in Anne Arundel County alone.
This sign, as of a couple of days ago, reads "82 overdoses, 5 lives lost" year to date.  
It is only the middle of February.

If you are not directly effected, I just ask that you soften your heart when you go out and interact with other humans day to day - as you never know the struggle of your fellow human.  

Okay, that is all I have for now!  Hope you are well and enjoying life.