I am totally loving....

This.....

parents.com

and this....

country living

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Cat Fix

bandofcats.com

Lizzie, r u ok? r u ok? r u ok Lizzie?

Wow! This has been such a long week for everyone here in our house.  The piglet is finally over her swine flu, but the Mono lingers on.  Did I mention that she had Mono at this same exact time last year?  Methinks someone upstairs is trying to tell us something.  This child needs to slow down!!  She is a good student in the 10th grade, she is a football cheerleader plus she is on the competition squad at school.  Then there is the whole all-star thing.  She dances & cheers competitively and she is at practice for that 4 days per week. 

Yeah, I'd say it's time for her poor little body to sloooow way down. 

Before she fell ill I agreed to take her to the opening of Michael Jackson's new  movie.  THE. OPENING.    As in Tuesday night at Midnight.   "It'll be OK", I said.  "So she sleeps in and gets to school late, or god forbid misses a day of school.  She's a good student.  She can handle it".   Oh how silly of me!  She missed this entire past week of school.  That's 5 days.  What do I do?  Do I take her to the movie on Tuesday, and risk her being exhausted all day Wednesday.  Or do I forfeit the cost of 3 tickets, and break her little heart?   What to do?  What to do?

You see, her hip-hop team is doing an MJ routine this year (no, not because he died. They actually started it in May), and I feel as if this movie would be like a personal dance lesson from Michael himself.  So important for Lizzie and all the kids on her team to see.  Not that we can't go another time, but seriously folks where is the fun in that?

What do you think?  Should I take her, or no? 

Wordless Wednesday

karma

So last Thursday I thought I'd be cute and post a funny little comic about swine flu starring the lovable Pooh & Piglet.  I should have known better than to pick on the poor little creatures of Hundred Acre Wood.  They didn't deserve it.  And what do I get for doing that? Well, karma has come around and bit me in the ass.  Or should I say bit my daughter? 

Poor little Lizzie has been struck with the Swine Flu.  Not only does she have that miserable affliction, she ALSO has Mono.  Really?  Really?  The poor kid can't even get her self to the bathroom.  Forget the fact that the grading period ends next week and her grades will most likely take a nose dive, she doesn't even have the energy to watch her beloved Degrassi. 

If I catch swine flu, I will not be a happy camper!!  I've never washed my hands more in my life.  Here's a glass of water. *wash my hands* Let me feel your forehead. *wash my hands*  Time to take your medicine.  *wash my hands* 

Talk about paranoid.  I'm already a germaphobe, now I'm going stir crazy.  Steve walked in the door from work tonight and I smiled from ear to ear as if he'd shown up with chocolates and flowers.  Reinforcements!  Yay!  Please just put me in a bubble and wake me when it's over! 

OK.  Enough about me.  The poor girl is moaning for me from the other room, so mom computer time is over.

Damn pigs!

Just a little swine flu humor.

(click photo to enlarge, don't say i didn't warn ya)

Wordless Wednesday - It's Apple Pickin' Time!

Cat Fix

Henry, oh Henry.  How cute are you?  Does anyone read Bye, Bye, Pie?  It's only one of my favorite blogs ever.  Occasionally June will generously share with us her sweet kitties Henry, Winston, and Francis.  (Oh yeah, she has a dog too).

June has me in stitches on a daily basis, she is reallllllllly funny and I love all of her TV and 70's and 80's references.  One of the best parts of her blog are the comments on each posts.  Her faithful readers carry on "chats" in her comments sections that are almost as good as reading the posts themselves.

In case you are wondering, I am definitely on "Team Henry" after this post.

Never a thought.

Once upon a time I made a decision; a life changing decision.  I chose to quit smoking.  I was successful (thanks to Chantix) and I don't wish for them, crave them, or yearn for them.  When I am stressed, or tired, or anxious, or unable to deal, they are no longer my first thought.  I feel healed.  I feel whole.  I feel like if I could zoom in and do a driveby of my lungs that they would have their color back.  They woud be pink and thankful.  They might be a bit worse for wear, they might not be perfect, but they would be healing and breathing and full of life.

It was a difficult decision to make.  A decision that once made, was set in stone. Solid in my mind and solid in my convictions. I just knew it was time.  So on that day I smoked my last cigarette, took my last drag, inhaled my last bit of my drug of choice, said goodbye to my best friend, and have not looked back since.  It is gone from my mind, gone forever. 

The day came and went so quickly. I didn't occur to me what day it was. I forgot to stop and think about that life-changing decision I made.  It was one of the most important days of my life. October 8th.  

It slipped by unnoticed, unremarkable, without even a thought. October 8th slipped by without even a whisper of importance.  You see it was the two-year anniversary of that faithful day.  And just like the cigarettes, it passed by without even a thought.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Really?  Really?  Could it rain anymore?  Ugh! 

Rain, rain, go away.  I'm going crazier every day!

Seriously.  It feels like spring time around here.  Cool temperatures and endless days of rain.  Big difference being there is no promise of Summer right around the corner.  Only promises of early winters, and below-average temperatures, and crap such as that.

I have not been writing much lately.  All of the inspiration has been sucked out of me and washed down the drain with this hackin autumn rain.

I need sunshine.  I need fall colors.  I can't take any more weekends of gray skies and wet weather.  I can only take so many bubble baths and spend so  many hours under a blanket in front of the TV.  Sooner or later I feel like I will disappear. 

Seeing as how this is only the second week of October, I think I am in for a bumpy next 2,854 months!  Isn't that how long winter lasts in Ohio these days?  2,854 months?  That's what it feels like to me.  Again I say Ugh!!

Wordless Wednesday: baby Paislee

Cat Fix

My cats love to climb into anything and go to sleep.  Each time I return home from a trip and am too lazy to unpack everything, my cat will find her way into the suitcase.  She will nap amidst the makeup bag, dirty clothes, and souvenirs.

These kitties have the same idea.  Maybe they secretly wish we'd take them with us.  Or better yet stay away longer.

www.benchtest.com

www.jasonmedelson.com

This lady had the right idea.  If the cats love the suitcases so much, why not make it permanent?  Check out A Brooklyn Limestone for the tutorial on how to make this clever cat bed out of a vintage suitcase: