28 Thank goodness ...

this month is almost over. I don't know how the "big-time" bloggers do it every day. I've just about run out of material and "juice."

Thanks for the boxes Mom, I really like them.
Wait, what do you mean they aren't for me?

27 Eating Out

Yes, we eat out waaaaaaaaaaay too much. It's just one of those bad habits that we haven't been able to shake, one that hubby and I have gotten even worse at now that we are empty nesters. Of course when money is tight we have to forego eating out or at the very least cut back to cheap fast food establishments. However, one thing that we have been consistent about is eating out after church on Sunday. It's something we do religiously (yes, pun intended).

Something that has always been a pain about eating out on Sunday is deciding where to go. It's especially hard when there are four of us. Either no one wants to make a decision or everyone has a different idea. We waste an inordinately ridiculous amount of time bickering back and forth. It really drives me crazy because it's wasting valuable time that is needed in order to get to the restaurant before the crowd get there. Gotta beat the Baptist ya know!

Anyway, in an effort to avoid the whole deciding-where-to-eat dilemma I suggested on Saturday night that we decide now for the following day. After a bit of debate the consensus was Chipotle. Now this wouldn't have been my first choice, or my second, or for that matter any choice but I decided to go along with the guys. Yes, believe it or not, I can be team player.

Something else came out of the discussion which really surprised and quite frankly embarrassed me. My eldest son make the casual comment. "sometimes I get really tired of coming home and going out to eat." Ouch! That hurt. Here I thought I was doing him a favor by taking him to his favorite eating spots when he really just wanted to stay home and eat mom's cooking.

I guess I don't get the Mom of the Year award after all. Thoroughly humbled, I decided right then and there that when they come home for Christmas break things will be different. I've made a vow to come up with three weeks worth of meals with minimum eating out. Yes, it means more work for me, but think of the money I'll be saving AND how content my boy will be. Mom's home cooking - it's what college boys dream about.

Now I just need some suggestions for meals - send me your ideas. QUICK, I only have nineteen days to pull my act together.

26

When was the last time you walked into a room and just felt content? It happened to me tonight.

Here is what I saw
 What's so special about it you ask?

Well, it contains what means the most to me ... my family.

 My husband, the love of my life. He's is currently smitten with his iPhone. He's finally discovered what the rest of us have been crowing about.

 My oldest son, the one I'm no longer supposed to call "boy."

 My youngest, my baby, the one who is so much like his mama. He really wishes she would stop it with the camera!

 This one agrees .... enough with the camera already.

 My little girl doesn't mind having her photo taken. Thank goodness someone around here cooperates.

So, there they sat, watching TV, playing games on a phone, surfing the 'net, kicking back and enjoying being together. For this girl, it just doesn't get any better than this. It makes my heart smile to have them all under one roof. But it's bittersweet because I know it won't be long before the boys will be off starting families of their own. So, for now, I will be cherishing every moment like this that comes along!

25 Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is commonly known as Black Friday. It is called this because it's supposed to be the day retailers are "out of the red" and "into the black."

As someone who worked retail for 20+ years all I can say is I hate Black Friday! I refuse to fall prey to it. No amount of sales can possibly lure me into participating in it's craziness. It's actually 100% worse than it was back in the days I was worked it. There's all kinds of stories in the news about crazy people camping outside stores for days leading up to BF. One year a worker was trampled to death as people stormed into a store he has just opened. Women get into fights over ridiculous items. This year the big story is out of California where a woman pepper sprayed people just so she could beat them to a pallet of xBox gaming systems.

Not everyone is maliciously mean, they just hit the stores at some ridiculously early time and literally shop 'til they drop twelve to twenty four hours later. Back when I was working retail it was just becoming common for stores to open up early on Black Friday, early as in 6:00 am. Nowadays that's late. Some stores around here opened at midnight and some, like Walmart, never even closed.

Craziness, I tell ya, craziness!

Whatever,

I refuse to participate

but for all of you that did .... I hope it was worth it and you scored some awesome deals. As for me, I enjoyed my day at home ... me and the guys - pizza, football, and the internet. It was awesome!

24 Turkey Day

We had a most excellent Thanksgiving. We traveled north to where Dale's mom is now living and most of the local family joined us there. There was food ... lots and lots of food. I was completely happy because I was able to eat my favorite turkey day foods - turkey and dressing/stuffing. To be honest I would be content if that was all there was, but there was so much more to choose from. Let's just say we all went away, stuffed like pigs. One food got left out though. After we were all done and just sitting around talking we discovered that the roasted asparagus never made it to the table. Not one to let an opportunity escape me I went ahead and grabbed a spear ... even cold it was yummy!

A special thank you goes out to my sweet sister-in-law who surprised me with her special stuffing. Mmmmm, that stuff is sooooooooooooo good!



SIL Pat with her grandson Jonathan - checking out the iPhone (that boy loves the iPhones!) and there's my hubby enjoying some tall tale someone is relaying.

I'm so very thankful we were able to spend our day with family, adopted family, and friends. It was a delicious day of food, fun, and fellowship.

Gobble, gobble!!

23 Still Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Eve and I'm trying to remain thankful. Remember this weekend when I posted about car repairs and thankfully having the money to cover their costs? Well, guess who's car is BACK in the shop?

Yep, the "bandaid" the mechanic used on one of the "things" needing to be fixed didn't hold. Not only did it not hold, it came off with a vengeance. He really tried to keep from having to do a major repair and I'm thankful for him trying it. But it sure stinks out loud that we're are looking at yet another $700 repair job. I guess this is the price one has to pay for having older cars.

While we've been hit with major repairs this month, it's still cheaper in the long run than paying monthly car payments. It's just a shame that it's coming all at once. Once again, I'm really thankful I have the funds to pay for them but I really hope this is the end of repairs because the well is just about dry. Keep your fingers crossed for us please!

22 Shopping

I am not like so many other women. I do NOT like shopping. Part of it has to do with the fact that shopping while carefully watching your pennies just seems to suck the fun right out of the process. Other things such as hating being in crowds, not knowing what exactly to purchase, and having bad feet just make shopping an overall pain, both literally and figuratively. Sometimes however, I have to cave and venture out. Today was one of the days.

Yesterday was Ian's birthday and we went all out this year. It really came as a shock to him and his brother because usually birthday gifts around here are small token gifts. This year was an exception. For his B'day Ian got a coupon redeemable for an iPhone 4s and Andrew got a belated gift (since he had already purchased his own iPhone 4s he got a comparable amount in credit).

In hindsight I should have gone ahead and bought the phone earlier and given it to him rather than letting him shop for himself. Do you know how hard it is to find an iPhone 4s three days before Black Friday??? After checking at the Apple store, and several other retailers we came to the unhappy conclusion that he was going to have to just order it online. Saying he was not a happy camper is putting it mildly.

I on the other hand came away quite content. I was able to score a new pair of Crocs that I desperately needed. Have I mentioned before that I have terrible foot (feet?) problems? So far the only shoes that I've found that I can wear for long periods of time without foot pain are the dreaded, ugly Crocs. Go ahead, hate on 'em, I don't care. As long as they keep me up and mobile, I will continue wearing them.

I will admit that some of the styles they carry are pretty ugly, but they have really branched out over the years and expanded the styles they have available. This pair I bought yesterday doesn't even look like a Croc. 
It's really cute and oh so comfortable. My feet can now do the happy dance!

And Ian .... he's doing the happy dance too. We finally scored a phone at a small, off the beaten path, AT&T store. I really hope he likes his phone 'cause all he's getting for Christmas is a couple of candy canes in his stocking!

21 Birthday Wishes

Today was Ian's birthday. My boy turned twenty-two. According to my cousin he's too old to call boy but I disagree. As Mom I reserve the right to call him "my boy" for the rest of his life.

We took him to Genghis Grill for his birthday dinner. He is the one who initially introduced us to this restaurant and we all love it. Our little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant is still our favorite for Asian cuisine but this one is a close second. One thing we really like about GG is you get to pick everything that goes into your dish and can pile your bowl as high (or low) as you want ... and if it doesn't come out tasting good, you only have yourself to blame!

Here's Ian opening his Pokemon birthday card

Yes, that's all he got - a card, and a juvenile one at that. Hey, Pokemon was one of his favorites growing up so it was very appropriate!

Well, there was a little something inside the card.

Seriously Mom? This is for real?


Andrew got a card too. He got a belated birthday card with Chris Farley on the cover - guy humor.


Thank you Mommy and Dad, this is the best present ever!


You're welcome son. Just don't expect much for Christmas!


I'm happy and this couldn't have come at a better time!

I guess I forgot to mention there were homemade gift cards inside the birthday cards.


So, can we go to the Apple store right after dinner?

Here's proof that I was actually there

as usual, looking like the life of the party.

NOT!

20 Thanksgiving dinner

Our church holds a Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday night before Thanksgiving every year. Turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings. I'm so thankful we do this because I love eating turkey and dressing and this gives me the opportunity to eat it twice in one week. Yee ha!

19 Being Thankful

Today I am thankful for unexpected blessings. Without getting too personal (I have been accused of over-sharing here before), I'll say that we received some money recently that was totally out of the blue. And, it came at exactly the right time.

This weekend is the third in a row that we've had to take an automobile in for repairs. Some of the work we knew needed to be done but we kept putting it off because we didn't have the funds to pay for it. Some of the work was an unpleasant surprise. But, because of our totally unexpected blessing we were able to take care of our needs and not go into debt to do so.

Also due to our unexpected blessing we are able to take care of a few other things that have been sitting on the back burner. That back burner is actually overflowing with "things," I'm sure many of you can relate. It seems like something is always broken and needs to be fixed or replaced. Some people are in a position to immediately take care of those kinds of things, others are not. Guess which category we fall into?

Right now, I am just incredibly grateful that God has seen fit to bless us with the means to knock a few things off that back burner. I also pray He will continue to guide us in our journey and that we may be good stewards with anything He may choose to bless us with in the future.  

God is good,

all the time.

All the time,

God is good.

18 Why?

Eddie and I were sitting in the van the other day, waiting for his piano lesson to start. I had one of these with me.
I had brought it along with me to use while I was waiting for his lesson to end. Eddie spotted it and wanted to know what it was and why I had it with me. He associates these notebooks with school and the dreaded journals he has to keep for math and reading and just couldn't fathom what I needed it for. I explained to him that it was a notebook of stuff that I want to write down and remember. "What kind of stuff?" he asked. "Stuff that is none of your business young man." I got an eye roll for that remark.

A few minutes latter he asked, "Do you journal in your notebook?" "Nope, I just write stuff in it. And I'm still not telling you what kind of stuff."

A few minutes later he commented, "You don't write in a journal because you blog, right? What do you write about in your blog?"

"Well, I blog about all kinds of different things."

"What did you blog about today?"

"Today I blogged about a pecan."

"That's weird. Who wants to read about a pecan?"

"Exactly. Now go inside to your lesson, you're bugging me." Sigh. Sometimes our conversations exhaust me.

But this one did get me to thinking. There are people (a few anyway) who read my blog. Am I writing for me or for them? I guess the answer would be both. I like to write. I will sometimes write about things that are interesting to me but mostly I try to write about what I think will be interesting to others. I also write with the future in mind, that is the future of my kids who will hopefully one day be appreciative of the fact that Mom has documented so much of their past and our family life.

Sometimes when I'm writing for "me" I find myself being careful of what I say. I don't want to include anything that will be hurtful to others. I also don't want to put too much of "myself" out there and risk over sharing or saying something that could come back later to bite me in the butt. To be honest sometimes this self-censorship is so restrictive it makes me want to scream. Which is silly because isn't blogging supposed to be fulfilling?

And then it hit me.

I can have a second blog, one that is more like a journal. A blog that no one but me has to see. Doh! Why didn't I think of this before?

I guess it seems sort of silly that I am publicly blogging that I am going to start a private blog. There really was no reason I needed to share this tidbit of information other than I needed something to post today.

Oh oh , I do have something to share.



Look who got an early Christmas present! I'm so excited, aren't you?

17 Get this thing off my face!

This morning Spunky wandered into the room looking like this


I took it as a hint that some housework was in order.

If you can't tell what it is, it's a twig covered in cobwebs.

I had the hardest time getting it off her face. I don't know if she couldn't see it, or was just insisting on making a statement with it. I had to chase her all over the house before finally cornering her in the bathroom and cleaning her face. I got the hint though and spent the afternoon cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, and mopping floors.

I was gonna do all that work anyway 'cause my boys are coming home this weekend and everyone knows how guys expect to come home to a sparkling clean home. Ok, well maybe not. They did live here for the first eighteen years of their lives and should know what to expect! Anyway, it's all about being home with Mom and Dad and not so much what the house looks like, right?

They won't actually be here until Saturday evening. Today they are driving to Atlanta but are going right on by their regular exit as they travel to the south side of town. 
Here they are on the ride home (I stole this photo off Andrew's Facebook page, the guy in the middle is a friend of Andrew's who snagged a ride to ATL). They are planning on attending the National Missionary Convention which is an annual convention that is held in a different city each year. Ian is on year four and Andrew year three for attending this event. They are always getting home late for the Thanksgiving break due to attending this convention. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because this is such a great thing for them to be doing. I'm just happy this year the convention is here in Atlanta and they are close by. For the first time in four years Ian will actually be home for his birthday. Yay! Meanwhile, they will be spending the next two nights with my Mother who lives close to where the convention is being held. How convenient is that? It's a win-win for all involved. She gets to entertain her favorite grandsons and they get free room and board for two days.

And me, I'm just happy that the Thanksgiving break is right around the corner and we get to spend some good family time together.

16 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, I'm all decorated, how about you?


Just kidding. This house is down the block from me. They start putting stuff out right after Halloween and every year the display gets bigger and bigger. I keep waiting for them to add music that is synchronized with the lights.

Next time we go by I'm going to have Dale come to a complete stop so the photos aren't so blurry.

15 Oh nuts!

My house is surrounded by trees - pines, mimosas, sweetgums, and oaks. There is not one pecan tree anywhere around. And yet, every year I find a pecan. Yes, one lone pecan.  Last year it was in the driveway. This year it is on the back patio.  While it looks like I'm being left a gift, I'm assuming some busy little squirrel, storing away nuts for the winter, has accidentally dropped one.  What I really want to know is where is he getting them, just  how far is he traveling with them?

I wonder if he'll miss this lone little pecan. I sure hope it doesn't mean the difference between surviving or succumbing to the winter.

14 Today - I have nuthin' but this link

yes, I know it's wrong but it's still FUNNY!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5Lb2NIaMEIE/Tq70KsW4-4I/AAAAAAAA_Ss/5vD_djIDrl0/s300/64112046gw1dmg8rqygcgg.gif

13 Still running behind

Yesterday's blog mentioned that we are looking to replace some flooring. Janet commented and asked what type of floor were we looking at. Since I'm (still) a day behind blogging and need to write two today to get caught up, I thought it would make a good topic for one of the blogs.

First let me give a run down of whole house situation. Our home is a 1974 ranch home which we rented first then later purchased. We've lived in this house since January of 1991. The house has three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen with breakfast area, dining room, living room, and den. There is also an attached garage which is technically a 2-car size but the dummy who closed off the original carport installed a single size door so we can only get one car in the garage.

When we first moved in the house was pretty much still stuck in 1974. We've done some up grading along the way but never anything major due to a severe lack of funds. I'm one that's never satisfied with leaving things the same for too long so I'm always slapping paint on the walls, moving furniture around, etc, ... anything to keep things from getting stale. Several years ago I decided I needed more than just a corner in a room for my craft area. I also thought it was silly to have a living room and a den. A natural conclusion was to change up the function of one of those rooms. The end result was our living room became our family room, the den became the dining room, and the old dining room became my craft room.

When we first moved in we had new carpet installed throughout the house. With two boys, two dogs, and numerous cats you can imagine the wear and tear that's occurred on the carpet over time. Several years ago we did some major ripping out of carpet in the main living areas. We put down laminate plank flooring in the family room. I left my craft room, which was the old dining room, with no flooring, just the concrete slab (yay, no more worries about dripping paint and all other kinds of craft mediums on the floor). The floor in the dining room (old den) was a linoleum floor that was supposed to look like wood (the key word here is "supposed to"). We had the (hair-brained) idea to paint the linoleum a medium tan color. For awhile it looked pretty good but before long, with the boys and pets coming and going, the floor really began to look worn. We talked about re-doing it but never got around to it, mostly because of the disruption it would cause due to the fact this room is the major through-way to get to to the kitchen. Also, I hated the thought of putting in a new floor as long as we still had two dogs in the house. So, for several years we let it be and all the while it continued to get uglier and uglier.

If you're a regular reader you know we lost both of our dogs within a six month time frame. We've also recently come into some unexpected funds and so we've decided it's time to do something about this awful floor. What I'd really like to do is rip out all of the remaining carpet in the house and have hardwood install throughout. Well, that isn't going to happen - it's not that much money and what we do have must be prudently used. The flooring we want to put down we actually saw at a friends house and think it's really a good choice for this room. It's something we can easily install ourselves. It is a resilient tile flooring made by Traffic Master called Allure. These are the three patterns we are looking at - I think I like the 2nd one the best and Dale agrees. It would be nice if we could get everything in order and do this project next week when the boys are home for Thanksgiving. Wouldn't this make a great family project?!

12 Arghhhhh!

I forgot to post yesterday. We were gone most of the day, spending a good part of the day with Dale's mom. On the way home we stopped at Home Depot to look at flooring and finally made it home well after dark. Blogging was no where on my radar. Oh well, one slip up doesn't make me a failure - just a goof ball!

Here's Mary Alice Binkley Frazier. She never even realized her son was taking her photograph.

11 Today we recognize and give thanks for all our Veterans

This handsome guy is my dad. As a Marine, he served in the Pacific during WW2. Growing up I never really heard war stories from him, it was something he didn't really like talking about. One thing I did know, from a very early age, we were never to wake him up while he was sleeping. Even decades after active duty he'd jump up in full attack mode. The moral of the story - never try sneaking up on a Marine, you'll come out the loser every time!

While I was a history major at West Georgia College (now University) I learned so many more details of the battles he fought in and it's no wonder he didn't want to talk about it. It takes a special person to be willing to fight for their country, regardless of the danger, in order to protect the freedoms we have. We're truly blessed as a nation due to all that have served.

Thank you!

10 Apologies and UFOs

Hey to all you peeps out there that read my blog. Please help me figure something out. If you leave me a comment, do you get your feelings hurt if I don't respond? Do you think I'm a jerk?

Trust me, I read any comment that is left. Sometimes I respond but not always. Why? Well, I wasn't sure if people actually came back on to see if I had said anything in return. I'm not not doing it because I'm too busy or don't care, it's just that I figure most people don't have the time or don't even think to check back. I really don't want to appear rude or apathetic or ungrateful.

So, please forgive me. I love to get feedback and appreciate any and all acknowledgement that someone is reading what I have to say. I'm going to try and do better. I figure if you can take the time to read and comment, I absolutely need to respond and say thanks

And, if you're not leaving comments, you really should .... I need the encouragement!

for today's photo let me show you tonight's full  moon  There's a clear sky, stars that you can't see in the photo, the full moon and some little red speck. A closer look:  So, what do you think it is? An airplane? A UFO? My hubby thinks it's Jupiter? I dunno, I sorta like the idea of an UFO.

9 What? Me borderline obsessed?

Today's post will much shorter than yesterday, I wore myself out writing it!

Have you ever had a song in your head that just won't go away? I do, and there aren't any words, just music. It's the opening theme song to the TV show The West Wing.

I can hear some of you laughing because you already know I'm crazy about this show. I am currently watching the entire series through Netflix rentals. This is like the fourth time I've watched it so, yes, I'd say that's borderline obsessive. I also have to admit that this song is the ringtone on my phone.

What can I say other than I think it is the most well written series ever. It's so fun to watch and compare what's going on in the show with what's going on in Washington today. It also helps me understand a lot about politics and such that I either didn't know or failed to comprehend. I like the show because it makes me think but it also entertains me and it's definitely much better than so many of today's plethora of reality/law/crime etc. shows.

Currently there are several TV shows that are remakes of oldies. I think someone needs to contact Alan Sorkin and tell him it's time to dust off the old West Wing and bring it back.  Until that happens I guess I'll have to be content with watching it on rental DVDs.

Ya know, what I'd really like is to own the series myself. Currently Amazon has it for sale for $112. In case you don't know, that's a real deal for seven seasons worth of DVDs. Do you think maybe Santa reads my blog and will surprise me this year? Wouldn't that be sweet?!

8 Why is it ....

.... a slow and quiet morning can, in an instance, turn into a day of bedlam, and near death

and

.... I'm always alone on these days and there's no one around to capture it on camera?

I went to the grocery store today and cried when I realized I'd spent all my money. That was before I handed the cashier my coupons and ended up with $23 change. Not bad.

After lugging all the groceries in I begin putting stuff away. That part of the job is easier now that there aren't any dogs underfoot trying to figure out what's in all those bags and if there's anything in there for them. Sometimes the cat will come to investigate but today she is scratching at the back door asking to go out. Anxious to get the job done I open the back door and return to my groceries.

Mistake #1 - forgetting to look out the door first to make sure there's nothing lurking on the back porch.

I continue putting my goods away and just happen to look up and see the cat running back into the house. At first I think she's running from something and think maybe Ninja cat is after her. I instantly realize that isn't the deal when I see she's carrying something in her mouth. I shriek. She runs.

Mistake #2 - never yell at a cat if you don't know want it to run away.

Spunky quickly darts behind the recliner next to the fireplace. I race over and peer at her and her prey. It's dark in the room and hard to see. My first thought is "please God don't let that huge mass of grey be a rat!"

I scream at her to drop it and race over to turn the overhead light on. Returning I see she still has "it" in her mouth and "it" is a bird. I yell, "drop it, Spunky, drop it!" She glares at me. It's times like this when I realize how different dogs and cats are. You yell "drop it" to a dog and he releases whatever is clamped in his teeth. You yell "drop it" to a cat and they look at you and dare you to do something about it.

I do the only thing I could think of at the moment, I reach around from behind and pull her tail. Yes, I pulled the cat's tail. Go ahead and report me to the SPCA, I don't care because it worked. She drops the bird and it just lays there. Ok gross. Now I have a dead bird in the house. What do I do now?

I realize the cat has decided she isn't ready to give up the fight and is inching closer to the poor dead bird. At this point I discover I still have a plastic grocery bag in my hand so I start shaking it in her face. She swishes her tail at me and pounces on the bird.

Feathers fly and once again I shriek. Loudly. Very loudly. At this point I'm beginning to get mad. I reach over and with my super woman strength push the chair out of my way. The cat realizes that mom means business and takes off down the hall. I knew then this was my only chance to get the poor dead bird out of the house because it's only a matter of minutes before she'll return and try to claim her booty. Yes, a dead bird to a cat is like hidden treasure to a pirate .... that and I like using the word booty. Anywho, I gingerly reach down with the plastic bag over my hand, prepared to scoop up the dead bird.

Mistake #3 - always make sure the bird is dead before you go to pick it up.

Imagine my surprise when the dead bird rises up from the ashes and begins frantically darting around the room. I shriek again. Really, really loud this time. The bird continues flying in circles, the cat comes racing in from the bedrooms, and I'm standing in the middle of the room flapping my arms.

I quickly realize this isn't getting us anywhere so, being the mature person I am, I stop flapping and stifle my shrieks. I know the other two aren't going to stop what they're doing as long as they are in the same room. I have to separate them. I figure my best bet is to chase the cat back into a bedroom. Surprisingly she complies by running into the first room we come to. I'm sure at this point she's probably thinking maybe that bird isn't worth dealing with the crazy, shrieking, human.

My bad, that is NOT what she is thinking. Instead it is a tactical move on her part.

Mistake #4 - in order to capture and detain a cat in a room you must be able to close the door to the room.

I've been meaning for weeks to take those bags of clothes to Goodwill. Too bad they're still sitting there on the floor right. in. front. of. the. door. Ugh! I try kicking them out of the way, and meanwhile the cat escapes once again into the dining room.

The same room where the bird is still flying around, darting from one wall to another.

Gleefully the cat starts jumping on tables, chairs, the desk .... all in an attempt to recapture the bird. And me? I'm shrieking and flapping my arms again. Have I mentioned that I really don't like birds? When I was a kid we had friends that had a pet bird. I hated going to their house because she would always let the bird out of it's cage and it would fly around the room and then dive bomb right into my hair. I just knew that any moment now this stupid bird was going to go after my head.

Any chance of ending this peacefully is to get the cat out of the room so, once again, I go after Spunky.

This time she has a plan of her own. A plan in which she runs in the opposite direction, goes through the living room, through my craft room, through the kitchen and back into the dining room. Did you know that cats are really fast? She can make that trip in mere seconds. On the other hand, me the overweight, middle-aged woman cannot. I am, at this point totally out of breath and no longer able to shriek. Maybe I should just give up and let nature take it course. It's only the thought of cleaning up bird guts that gives me strength to carry on. That thought accompanied by my cat's one wrong move enables me to grab her. The move? She stopped to glare at me again!

I quickly take the cat to my bedroom and close the door, ignoring her mews of protest. I return to the dining room  determined to bring this all to an end. I decide to retrieve my handy dandy butterfly net from the back porch to assist in the capture. Yes, I have a butterfly net. Why you ask? Well you see, we are in the habit of leaving the screen door from the porch to the backyard open. It made it easier for the dogs to go in and out but it also made it easier for birds to fly into the porch. For some reason it's really easy to fly into the porch but extremely hard to get back out. I have to go out fairly frequently to get the birds off the porch and the butterfly net is just the right tool for doing so.

Mistake #5 - leaving the porch door open is no longer necessary since we no longer have dogs. I'm pretty sure this whole bird debacle started with a bird coming into the porch. Grrrr!

Can I mention at this point that the whole time we've been running and flapping and shrieking that the backdoor has been open and yet the dumb bird made no effort to fly out of the room onto the porch and beyond? No that would have been far too easy.

Anywho, I come back into the room with my net, ready to capture the bird. I wave it around like a flag, my intent is to nab him in a fly-by. He tricks me when he makes a 90 degree turn and heads for the kitchen. As he makes his turn he flies perilously close to my head and I of course .... shriek. again. I also close my eyes, something I do when I think something bad is about to happen (a really bad thing to do when you're driving by the way).

I open my eyes and don't see the bird anywhere. Did he do an about face and fly out on to the porch after all? No. Did he take another sharp turn and go into the craft room? No. Did he make it all the way into the living room? No. Back in the kitchen. No bird. Ok, this is getting old. I want that $%^& bird out of my house! And then I hear it.

Flutter, Flutter, Thud.

Flutter, Flutter, Thud. 

There's the stupid bird, in the bay window - seeing the great outdoors - trying desperately to get to it. At this point the bird and I go into a little dance. Me trying to snap the net over him, trapping him against the window, and him darting away just in the nick of time. I'm shrieking again. This time it's shrieks of frustration. Thank goodness my next door neighbor is out of town, otherwise I'm sure he would have called the police by now thinking I'm surely being tortured by something evil. Finally in a final act of desperation I put the plastic grocery bag over my hand and bring the my hand, the bag, the bird, and the net together in one swift move.

Bingo! 

We've made contact and the bird is trapped. Just as fast as my chubby little legs will take me, I run outside and open up the net.

Fly little bird, fly!

He just lays there and with a blank look in his eye. Fly bird, fly! Nope, not moving. Oh great. Now I've killed the bird.

Once more I yell, "Fly bird, fly!" But this time I get right in his face and yell it. He blinks his beady little eye at me. He flutters his wings, as if testing the air, then swiftly rises up and darts off.

Finally success.

I trudge back into the house, eager to finish putting the groceries away. I sure hope all frozen stuff hasn't thawed. Just as I get done I realize there was something I'd forgotten to do.

I go to the back of the house and open the bedroom door. There sits Spunky in front of the door, a glare on her face and a bird feather sticking out of her mouth. She has a few choice words for me, none of which I can repeat because this is a family-friendly blog. She swishes her tail and pristinely prances away.

The bird may have dodged a bullet today but I have not. Rest assured, she is plotting her revenge on me at this very moment. I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight!

Mom, why you take my prize away?

7 What ... am I talking to myself here?

I saw this T-shirt quote today and I'm thinking about getting one for my husband:

"Half-listenting, as usual" 

Actually I'm thinking it would be pretty appropriate for all the guys in my life, as well as yours. Face it, we all know that guys just don't listen. They all claim they do but we know it's not true. You can usually tell pretty early in the conversation that your husband is not listening. You hear,  "um hum, yeah, ok" followed moments later with "hey, did you know that Matt Ryan threw for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns yesterday?"

If you gently correct him and say, "that's nice dear but we were talking about my Mother coming to visit for the holidays," chances are you're immediately hit with the dear-in-the-headlights look. Confirmation comes a week later when you're telling the kids that Grandma is coming for Thanksgiving and he loudly exclaims, "what? Nobody told me!" Further confirmation comes two days later when the boy-child asks, "do we get to see Grandma for Thanksgiving this year?"

Sigh. 

I have a friend who's decided to just stop telling her husband anything and when it comes up innocently proclaim, "I know I told you, I guess you just weren't paying attention."

I on the other hand have come up with a different approach. I've decided to videotape myself talking, upload it to YouTube, and play it back on the TV for them. Of course I might have to include some loud music, a funky wardrobe, and throw in a few jokes or sports scores to really get noticed.

What do you think?

Meanwhile I'm looking for that T-shirt. Of course he's probably looking for one with this photo with a minor change in the wording (from teacher to wife)  

Guys, admit it. "WAH wa Wah" is exactly what we sound like!

6 - Who's A Dolt Now?

I'm tired of titling every post Day # - NBPM because I can never remember what the letters are, N??? I have to look back to my previous post to find out and between looking at it and returning to my post, 50% of the time I forget before I can get it typed in and end up having to look again. It could be because I'm getting old and senile or it could be because I'm not as good at multi-tasking as I once was.

Or, it could be I'm a dolt. Which makes me think of my oldest son. On May 16, 1994 we were on the way to the mall and saw a tour bus driving down the road. Ian asked "Can children ride on the bus or is it just for dolts?" I'd like to think it was just an innocent question from a precocious four and a half year old and not some Freudian slip. It's common knowledge as children get older, especially when they reach their teen years, they believe all adults are idiots and know nothing. Do you think my brighter-than-the-average pre-schooler (ha, I only called him that because we all know that every parent thinks their child is special right?) was already thinking like a teen?

Anyway, according to my kid, people that aren't children are dolts ... therefore this blogger must be a dolt, which explains why I can't remember if its NBPM or NMPB or N......

Whatever, I think I'm still high on Nyquil which accounts for this rambling post. At least I'm keeping my streak going. I'm also going back to regular titles and you'll just have to check on me to make sure I'm sticking to posting daily ... 'cause it's National Blog Posting Month, ya know.  Doh!

my very own super hero

ps: if you're wondering how I can remember something he said 17 1/2 years ago and not something I looked at seconds ago ... my smart husband kept a notebook!

Day 5 NBPM - It's time again

Time is changing again. Yes, it's time to switch from Daylight Savings Time back to Standard Time. Oh boy. This time tomorrow it will already be dark outside and my brain will be kicking itself for forgetting to be fixing dinner. Never mind, I never fix dinner on Sunday anyway. Let's just say this time tomorrow night I will be struggling to readjust my body and brain to the new time .... which is really the old time. And by the way, the time I prefer.

I'm not a lover of Daylight Savings Time, mostly because I hate adjusting to the change but also because it just doesn't make sense to me. They say it gives you extra daylight time but it doesn't really. You get the same amount, it just comes earlier because you've adjusted the stupid clock. Why can't the farmers get up earlier and leave the rest of us alone?

At least this is the time we "fall back" and supposedly gain an extra hour. Ha! How many of you stay up later 'cause you know you're getting an extra hour of sleep in the morning? Normally I'd be guilty but seeing as how I'm all sick and feeling poorly I'll probably hit that hay early. I'm sounding like a farmer now with all the "feeling poorly" and "hitting the hay" remarks so I guess that means the time change is for me .... but I don't want it .... so I'm giving it back.

If I could.

Give back time.

My oh my, how things could be different.

This is getting pretty deep now so I will close. I think the Nyquil is affecting my brain. At least we know it's not the time change. I'll use that as my excuse tomorrow.

nothing to do with time, just a little girl yearning to go outside and play

Day 4 NBPM - I'z sic, I habz a cooold

I canz 'top sneeezin' and my noze is red and eben tho' itz runnin' i canz breeve. U gotz any good medz to hlps me? Pleeze sends to me now!

Kthnx, Bai!

ps. 'cuz I hab tha germs hadz to cancel hairz cut and Iz bery sad. so dontz mak funs of howz I wook 

Day 3 NBPM - It's a cat's world

icanhascheezburger.com posted this chart on their website. Lot's of info about cats that you may or may not know. Unfortunately they left a lot of stuff off the chart. I thought I would complete it for them.

Cats see and hear things people don't    They communicate with "the other side."

Cats believe if they ignore you long enough you will go away 

While cats may have trouble digesting milk and milk products, this does not stop them from requesting it every opportunity they can 

Cats will let you know when it's raining outside and time to come in 

Cats who play outside in the grass will more than likely eat it and then promptly come inside and hock it up. Sorry there is no photo, even I have limits to what I will share.

Cats have a reputation for being hunters - mice, bugs, snakes, etc. They also excel at stalking and killing paper towels, toilet paper, and hair accessories. 

Cats know how to show dogs who the boss is and claim the spot of honor.

Many cats appear aloof and unapproachable, but just as many are cuddle bunnies.

Cats believe in living on the edge  and the saying "curiosity killed the cat" is a misnomer

The most playful time for a cat is from 2:30 to 4:30 in the morning.

Cat Nabbers are not people that steal cats but cats that steal from people. 

You can take the cat out of the jungle but you can never take the jungle out of the cat.


A cat can kill with a single look. 


Some cats have the ability to hypnotize  others get what they want by just looking cute.

A cat will always win the staring contest. 

A cat would die before admitting the basket is too small. 

Cats have better manners than dogs, they use their paws. 

Cats are really good at hiding in plain sight  they think they are invisible 

Cats will play with anything 

Cats believe in God and pray daily  They give thanks that He has brought them the Crazy Cat Lady to be their mommy.