Compromised Heating System

As if the world needs additional proof that cats are all about themselves and getting their wants met before anybody else... here's the trio placing themselves strategically in front of hot air registers simultaneously around the house when the furnace comes on, baking their furry little biscuits to the utmost maximum and blocking the flow of warm air into the rest of the house. As I said, it's all about the cat. Humans? Eh.

Meowy Christmouse! Happy Tissue Paper!

Oh, the fun one can have with tissue paper! I gave this to my kittos for their present and they were all most happy. As you can tell...

One of their best Christmas mornings ever!

Off Road and Off Leash for Xmas Day

I spent the day with my parents. I got perfectly cooked/crisp and buttery Pierogis for lunch - heaven! A wonderful walk in the woods. Talking, laughing, brother called, dinner, Farkle (which Dad tolerated better than Scrabble coz it was faster although he didn't much care for the noise factor the shaking of the dice created and Riley was one confused pup as he wanted his dinner and thought we were shaking treats!), and pumpkin cheesecake (which is hugely more delicious than pumpkin pie!).

A suitably snowy Riley.

A super fast dog is he bounding out of the woods.

Getting a treat coz he came back on his own.

And we walk while Riley (aka Tigger) bombs ahead.

Tree Finally Finished

Today I finally took off the dud lights and put the new LED strands on. Typically I decorate in a massive "red and gold" theme but as I only had dregs for lights to choose from, I picked the best of the lot which was multi-colored minis. Which are pretty, don't get me wrong, we always had multis growing up. It's just that my tree is usually redNgold everything. But tis the season this year for all things different. Out with the rigidity and inflexibility and in with the totally flying by the seat of my pants. Lighting and decorating my tree on Xmas Eve is a big first, and very seat of my pants. The only reason it's decorated is because it has to stay up until New Year's for luck and I couldn't have a nude tree going into the new year. (See, not entirely gone, the rigidity and inflexibility rear their heads for that tradition!) Anyhoo, I couldn't take a non-blurry photo of the tree, so here's the best of a smeary lot and then an experimental one which looks very cool!

It's like candy cane lightning!

I have to get ready, going to Mr. L's family for Xmas Eve. Another first!

Winter Wonderland

So this is what I woke up to this morning!

Just finished shoveling and showering, off to work I go! HiHo HiHo. HOHOHO!!!!

Crafty Christmas

I've already posted about the Party Pretzels.

Here's my Secret Santa gift to give at tomorrow's Xmas potluck. Who doesn't like a bit of sparkle for the holidays. I made the wreaths out of wire hangers (which I will be actively soliciting for thruout 2011, wanna make some more) and garland.

I made these for Mr. L's boys - all three of them love Zombie movies and Mr. L's Z-shirt that I made for him went over bigtime with the boys this summer... so now they can be the the Zombie Twinkies!

It's Not Really Feeling Like Xmas

I'm having a hard time catching the holiday spirit this year. All of my friends are having a really difficult time this year emotionally, financially, and family-wise.

I got a whiff of it when J2 and I managed to connect last week, lots of laughs and looking for that perfect gift for special people and finding unexpected perfect gifts. And another whiff when I got my tiny wild tree with tiny needles that is absolutely the cutest tree I've had since I moved into my house. And a small charge when I hung packages of party pretzels on my two neighbors' doors this morning before work as well as dropping off a beautiful Xmas card/pretzels off at Mr. L's parents who'd sent me a card earlier in the month.

Saturday, I got my Xmas tree after walking the dog. I didn't think it would fit in my stand but it did.

Sunday, was a pajama day all the way. Developed a minor breakout which is oh-so attractive.

Monday, I procrastinated and watched taped TV shows and tried not to think about the home things I needed to do.

Tuesday, I got halfway up my Xmas tree when I ran out of lights. I tried three pre-LED era light strands and all three strands only lit up half way. I spent two hours trying to find the damn light that was preventing the last part of each strand lighting up before I got so frustrated I rolled them up in a big ball and put them in the dump pile in the basement. Let me amend that, THREW them in the dump pile.

Wednesday, the head cold I'd been sort of flirting with the beginning of the week, stopped flirting and slammed me. Snot and headache and post-nasal drip and tired and cranky and behind at work and no attention span and irritated beyond measure that all the stores do not have any Xmas stuff other than dregs coz I tried to find the same lights to finish my tree but no such luck. Had to buy 4 new sets. A store DooBee gently suggested I start my shopping for Xmas decorations in November. NOVEMBER! Humbug! At least the tentatively predicted messy weather didn't arrive.

Today, still battling the head cold but I think I'm making some progress. Not to mention I'm feeling downright fugly right now - mood-wise and physically! Still behind at work. Still have to remove the lights from my tree and put the new sets on it.

Off to bed.

Party Pretzels 2010

I've been invited to this year's Yankee Swap Xmas Party at L's friend's house. L relayed a "strong" request from the party-goers that I bring my Party Pretzels again. I can't resist such enthusiasm! This year's pretzels are as follows:

White chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and festive holiday sprinkles.

White chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and Andes Peppermint Candy bits.

And for the grand finale for which I cannot take any credit for, the chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and crumbled bacon.

Click on the pic for an upclose experience that you can almost smell right thru the photo! Idea courtesy of the Food Paradise show on the Travel Channel, featuring Bacon Paradise, a show all about restaurants that just have bacon items on the menu. One of the places was a candy store and they featured choc-covered bacon strips which is their best seller. All the eaters of this treat said it was the perfect mix of sweet and salty. I decided to take it a step further and put the bacon on an already sweet-salty mix of choc-covered pretzel. I tried it and it was good. L told me to not tell them what they are covered in, just surprise the party-goers and see what they think after they've tried it. I'll keep you posted!

Thanksgiving Exhaustion

Thanksgiving agenda:

1) Wake up, dawdle, and then things get rushed.

2) Must bake: Have brainwave while mixing ingredients for pumpkin bites and use mini-muffin tins as this will be the easiest and shortest way to make 4 dozen (actually more than 4 but who's counting at this point?).

3) Get ready in between baking trays of pumpkin bites.

4) Receive call from Mr. L saying he's at his parents and when are you coming. Tell him you are finishing up the bites and will be there shortly.

5) Take a breath, pop the last of the bites in the oven.

6) Finish getting ready while fielding another call from Mr. L asking where I am as his family eats at 12:30pm and it's 12:35pm.

7) Bites done, cool, pack, and drive.

8) Arrive at 12:45pm, apologize for being late and Mr. L's sister said it worked out for her as she is a football fan and wanted to watch the game.

9) Eat Thanksgiving lunch with Mr. L's family (plate filled with little portions of turkey, stuffing, corn, peas, yams, squash, cranberry sauce, roll, mashed potatoes, and gravy). Chat.

10) Eat pie after playing with Mr. L's cat. His niece's Very Berry Pie is most excellent and even better when eaten with a slice of cheesecake!

11) Mr. L's cat makes a break for it to go under the boat across the street. Much chaos ensues. Mr. L sticks head out window, yells "hey" and his cat hightails it back home.

12) Mr. L leaves to go back to work and you get hugs and give thanks as you leave too.

13) Get home and make dinner rolls for family dinner.

14) Get to parents around 3pm.

15) Chat. Dad shows new blog and panty-wetting laughing ensues, must remember to put on favorites.

16) Parents have repair job for you, fixing the gingerbread house, 5 min tops.

17) Dinner (another plate filled with awesome turkey/gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, acorn squash half, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls). Very Very FULL.

18) Watch clean-up, talk to Mom while Dad recovers.

19) Play BananaGrams with Mom. Ask for this game for Xmas.

20) Head home smelling like two turkey dinners, feed kitties, and then head to where Mr. L is house-sitting so he can enjoy the turkey bouquet.

Riley trying to rest after all the cooking excitement. See his paws peeking out from under the dino?

Hiding his face - warmth? Sleeping? Trying to block it all out? Self-soothing? All of the above? What a sweetie! and so good!

Pie and Ugly Sweater Party

Mr. L and I were invited to a party at my friend J2's. Her hubby came up with the idea... he said that one never really gets to enjoy pie/dessert after Thanksgiving dinner because everyone is too full of dinner. So for his birthday, he wanted a party of pies, nothing but pies so one could eat all the dessert they wanted and enjoy it. AND he wanted everyone to wear the ugliest sweater they could find and prizes would be given to the fugliest. L and I got to the party late, but we were told we'd have been VERY strong contenders for first place and winning a prize. As you can see below.

I found Mr. L's at Salvation Army. Tomato red with pixelated golfers in various poses all over the damn thing - front, back, and sleeves. Mr. L was extremely excited to wear it... NOT! but he did it for me. Sweet right?

My mom found this one for me at Goodwill. It's like a Mexican fiesta threw up all over me!

Wonderful Dogwalkin' Day

For November, you couldn't ask for nicer temperatures, more sun, bluer sky, a happier dog, or better company! Not to mention the puddles to jump/run in...

Mr. L is wearing orange so he doesn't get mistaken for a deer. I've got red on.

Sunshine smoochin'

Awesome vista of blue sky, left over green grass, and tons of sun. And not a cloud in the sky.

Riley was fascinated by the floating leaves coming thru the pipe... As you can tell by his expression!

It was a great day... no more of these til springtime.

Rainy Rainy Rainy Days

Thought I'd try some wet web work. Not so successful but it gives some idea of how dreary it is here.

Fun With Fall Foliage

Fall Festivities With My Pseudonephew

So J2 and I tried something new this year. Our usual fall festivity venue has turned touristy, crowded, and unfun so we decided to give another town a try. We watched the Pumpkin Catapult launch large produce into the water where it satisfyingly splattered and the Pumpkin (air-compressed) Cannon which shot perfectly grown/measured produce at a car where it did some SERIOUS damage! Then we tried to watch the Giant Pumpkin races - basically hollowed out mammoth pumpkins made into boats/rafts/paddleboats/kayaks raced for two laps in the cove - which was next to impossible given the sheer amount of people. I lifted TJ up on my chest so he could see over everyone but he totally thought they were racing rafts and didn't believe J2 and I when we said the "rafts" were actually pumpkins. We ended up at a very cool farm stand and I splurged on two pumpkins (only $6 for both of them, who could pass up beautifully grown large pumpkins, not me!) and a bag of the last of the season's freshly picked green beans. Here are some pictures of our Grand Adventure which ended with us eating lunch at the third restaurant we stopped at, bowling one game, and stopping in at TJ Maxx where I splurged again but on Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark Chocolate Squares - 5 bags of absolute heaven which cost more than my two pumpkins but will last much longer.

Can you say Holy Giant Winning Pumpkin, Batman?

I just had to take a pic of it's mammoth pumpkin buttocks!

TJ's costume and "face" for the day.

Disturbing (hee) how TJ has no idea how much his expression resembles my favorite of all the decorated behemoth pumpkins scattered around the town.

Getting lost and found in a mini hay maze.

And a good day was had by all despite minor behavior bumps and less-than-met expectations, but then again, J2 and I always manage to salvage the day and have a great time regardless of what happens and how rude the enormous crowds of people are!

Ghost Cat

I was messing around with my camera, gave up trying to take pictures of the almost full moon shadows, and started bothering the crap out of Hobbes. My bedroom was pitch black so I was shining my "lantern" in his face and snapping with slow shutter speed to catch what little light there was.

Feeling super prickly today, veering between okay and so not okay at the speed of light. Not in the mood to post anything delightful and witty.

Smooches for the SmartAss

It's so nice to be dating someone taller than me:)

And looks amazingly similar to Mr. Clean! (snort)

Go Figure

Who knew that you could lay out in the sun on Sunday and bake your assets off but wake up Monday with a full blown cold of major mucus proportions?

That's what happened to me. I got all nice and glowy, renewing my color before the laying out days end, which will be sooner than I would like, then Monday, BAM!

At first I thought I was having a serious issue with allergies coz there is something pollinating right now that has my nose in a tizzy but the apple cider vinegar suggestion from the wonderful newbie at work had put a stop to it. I thought it wasn't working anymore and was feeling mighty disappointed because apple cider vinegar tastes like utter crap, MUCH worse than green tea, and I just found a way to cover it up and sip it slowly as recommended - a shot glass amount of pineapple juice.

So I had myself a second shot of apple cider vinegar/pineapple juice midday yesterday to help alleviate the river of mucus and showers of sneezing. By the time I used up two thirds of a box of Puffs tissues (the big bulk box mind you), I did some rethinking and decided I had a cold.

Mr. L got much enjoyment out of making fun of me but he was also solicitous too. Men! A true mix of buttheadedness and sweetness.

Woke up this morning feeling poopy, I just went into work for a couple hours today to get some deadliney stuff done, had my annual check-up (called first to make sure they wanted to see my germy self which they did), got some bloodwork done (the lab was like lightning today, already got results: electrolytes are good, I'm not anemic, my thyroid is normal, and some other test I can't remember but it's all good), and came home and took a 4 hour nap.

Now the kitties are fed, my eyes are out, I'm having a small dinner, and headed for bed. Regular work day tomorrow so want to feel better.

And So the B'day Destruction and Mayhem Continues

Everyone keeps asking me how my birthday went yesterday. I keep telling them the b'day weekend was way better than the b'day itself. Don't get me wrong, my birthday is essentially a good day, celebrating my arrival and continued attendance to this party we call life. Mr. L took me to dinner, my dad took me to dinner and a movie, and I got a bunch of cards.

But I could have done without the trail of mishaps, accidents, and breakages. I'm hoping this doesn't set the tone for the rest of my year...

First up, I had extreme difficulties getting out of my own way yesterday morning getting up and getting to work. Always big time fun when the inanimate objects conspiracy-ize against you.

Then at work, I knocked over a huge pile of paperwork and resources, busting several folders and mixing up the papers well.

Some computer hiccups.

Learned there was some miscommunication and the meeting I thought was scheduled for yesterday, the client thought was scheduled last Monday and considered me a no-show. I love coming across as inefficient and a slacker. Worked hard to rectify the mistake.

Then back at home, I was fixing the cats' dinner whilst simultaneously talking to my brother via speaker phone, I dropped the phone and Moomin's dinner. Moomin's 3 tablespoon's of water mixed with food dinner dropped directly onto the handset, filling every crack and crevice with watered down food and liquid. I hung up with him and spent the next 45 minutes cleaning and drying it off. Bro called me back and let me know the handset had a high-pitched buzz coming thru on his end, same on my end. Thank goodness I have a second handset in the bedroom. Used that for the rest of the night.

Learned from Mr. L that all of the main street going thru town was without power late afternoon which negatively impacted his ability to do his job effectively and he basically had a suck-a$$ day himself.

This morning, I woke up and preceded to break the thing holding up my bathroom fan so I had to take 20 minutes to dismantle the apparatus, clean the fan, and find a new hanger. Did and done.

Spilled the water for Moo's breakfast.

Managed to get to work in one piece, work day was fine despite two power outage hiccups, and got myself a b'day present after work at Target.

So all's well that ends well.

Closer to Being Older

(J says I'm the only person she knows whose laugh you can feel coming right off the picture.)

Or closer to reverting to back to childhood due to senile dementia.

Or one day closer to death. (thanks PinkFloyd)

Whatever, gonna get there either way...

Anyhoo, as I sit here typing and drinking my cuppa choco-doctored green tea (which is going down fine every morning thank you), I'm thinking about how fortunate I REALLY am, especially in the things that make life meaningful and worthwhile tho we tend to take them for granted and forget how important they are when bogged down with the day-to-day shit: family, friends, cats, home of my own, books, interests, employment, transportation, overall health, and what passes for sanity nowadays.

I'm going to add a new "habit" this birthday to the other ones I started on other birthdays in an effort to keep things in perspective which the other two are helping me do.

The original two are: 1) finding the golden side of the coin and 2) counting to ten to stop the knee-jerk reaction of saying "no" immediately when asked or invited to do something new or outside my comfort zone. So far I've done fairly well with both although I have to admit my "inflexibility and rigidity" (description courtesy of friend J2 which she uses on both my pseudonephew and me) does still trip me up. But I have gotten better, I have.

The new one is going to be to learn something new everyday or at least identify something new I've learned, even if it is very small and seems insignificant, it might not be later on down the road.

So starting just this week, I learned:

• 1 & 2) Safety-Care - a two day course on safe behavioral interventions, so that takes care of Mon/Fri.
• 3) If the bread is dense and chocolately enough, I can eat zucchini bread. And zucchini brownies ROCK! And I HATE zucchini!
• 4) Safflower oil has a high burn doohickey (unit, rate, ratio, limit, something technical which unfortunately did not stay in my mind) so it is much better for you than all the other cooking oils, especially for frying stuff.
• Aside: Someone told me olive oil is better for you and when I tried it, it tasted the way grass smells so I've not done it again. I'm hoping safflower oil isn't the same case, we'll see.
• 5) Organic dark agave nectar is way better for you then the light or any other sugar due to the low glycemic index.
• 6) Mr. L explained some building stuff to me in regards to the house he is sitting and while I got the gist of the heat/cooling premise, I have to admit I did not retain the more technical aspects:(

Wonder what I will be learning today?

I did see two shooting stars Thursday night, so that makes a grand total of three shooting stars I have seen in my entire life. No, I did not make any wishes. I read a story way back in my impressionable days about a boy who had a choice to keep/use his wishes or give them to charity (to ones who were in need). He chose to keep and make his wishes and things did not turn out well, at all. So I decided then and there to give all my wishes to charity. And I continue to do so. Besides, true change comes from within when you are ready and make the decision to change and I'd like to experience what it takes to make my wishes come true for myself.

Mr. L wants to take me to dinner tonight to celebrate my birthday since we both work long days Monday. He had his boys wish me happy birthday too when I ate dinner with them last night. Those are some seriously awesome kids and I don't say that very much in today's world.

I need to think about where I want to go have some birthday dinner - where we had our first date, second date, somewhere we go alot, or somewhere new. I have all day. Maybe it will come to me while baking in the sun before dogsitting or while I'm walking Mr. RileyPants.

Slowly Getting Back Into Experimenting

I figured if I was taking mundane pics of my garden, I might as well take some other plant photos and play around with them. These were done by tweaking the temperature, tint, and saturation in iPhoto. The fuzzy pics are mold on one of my weekend harvested squash. Unbeknownst to me the baby squash had been harboring the mold and I just noticed it today.

I am LOVING the color intensity!