The Year In Review

• US Men's Hockey - Silver I'm still a fan of Canadian beer and Canada geese
• Scott got his first deer - totally yeah!!! Meat in the freezer, baby!
• Haiti - no more needs to be said.
• Hello to Tristan!!
• Goodbye Midnight - the only Chow mix I've ever loved
• Goodbye to our amazing and sweet and wonderful smelling Bailey Black Dog. Oh my gosh how I miss him. I miss him so much. I miss having to call Scott to call the damn dog off while he's laying cross wise across my chest. Dumb ass dog! Scott loved him very much, and he loved Scott very much - but he was my dog. Bailey was my boy.
• Meggers and Marlie are preggers!
• Meg and Cory are engaged!
• Emma started Kindergarten and had her stage (ok, risers) debut.
• Good bye Robert, hello Scatt.
• Good bye Khodachrome
• Chilean Miners

so so much more... but I need to refill my champagne!

Happy Freakin' New Year - 2011 is going to ROCK!!!

Christmas Time and the Living is Easy, But the Travelin' Ain't!

Saturday Night. Christmas Night. All is calm, all is bright? Oy! After close to twelve hours of fighting on again off again with our wireless connection, I am finally snuggled in a flannel sheet clad twin bed next to my dear sweet hubby, also in a flannel clad twin bed in my old bedroom. The child passed out on the living room floor with her new Tangled horse, Maximus. Not the most cuddly of new toys... Last night I had to share said flannel clad bed with my dear sweet 5 year old. The dear child IS A BED HOG!! Tonight, I am exhausted, but of course I'll have trouble going to sleep. The kid was understandably up before dawn showed it's crack. I mean, before the crack of dawn! Yesterday I was a very patient and understanding mother and wife. I tend to freak out a little when we travel. I kinda hoped that we'd be on the road by say, 11am. That did not happen. I even posted on Facebook that I expected us to finally get around to leaving the house around 2pm. According to the clock in my car (which is 6 minutes fast) we left at 2:06pm. We rolled into my parents house around 6pm. Before we left I let my husband check, double check and triple check the house to make sure everything was off. I allowed our child to have a complete meltdown over which outfit she wasn't going to wear. I even made sure I laughed at the situation. Enough to keep me from going over the edge, but not so much to piss off the kid even more... I made chicken sandwiches for the road but forgot the salt and pepper - and napkins. I didn't freak out when it took us 15 minutes to get out of the gas station. I didn't freak out when the dog was whining and the kid was barking while hubby was in the beer store. We had Christmas burritos to look forward to - and I knew there would be champagne. We'll get there when we get there. The crazy kid greeted Oma and Papa wearing her dreaded traveling outfit and her reindeer antlers made in school of construction paper before she ran upstairs to change into her red velvet Christmas dress. The red velvet Christmas dress was made for me when I was Emma's age by my Mom. It is so pretty. There is a little white eyelet frock that goes with it - but Emma never liked that part of it. It looks too much like an apron. So, I have to say - I'm pretty proud of myself and my not freaking out! Saturday was mostly nice. My Father and I played a couple of games of double nines dominoes. Neither of us had played in years and years. I found out (like I really had any doubt) that my Father has no trouble calling me names and cursing at me. I kicked ass in the first hand - total annihilation! And, I did go on to win the game, too. I wonder if that's the reason my Daddy was cursing at me?! The child was pretty much out of control most of the day. I don't like the way she acts when she gets like this, but I completely get it. She's just so excited that she can't contain herself. The kid is in bed with me again tonight. Just since I started writing this, actually. Scott had lugged the sleeping kid up to her nest in Oma and Papa's room. She settled right in and seemed to be fine. Within an hour I heard the pitter patter of sweet little feet. She was headed right down stairs. I stopped her - what was I thinking?! She climbed right into my bed and snuggled in and passed out again. Sleeping this close to her and being as uncomfortable as I was did allow me to sleep lightly enough to hear all her nighttime mumblings. She talks a lot in her sleep. What I like the most is when she giggles in her sleep. She's a good, happy kid. Sunday morning when she had me up before dawn she did tell me that she tried to give me more space so that I would be more comfortable. Sweet girl! Sunday. Not a totally horrible day. Rough start... but, we dusted ourselves off and went on with our day, eventually. Mom made an as always wonderful breakfast. Emma, with her new notepad and pen in hand went around to take our egg orders. I was reminded of SNL's "Cheeseburger" sketch. We each ordered our eggs done differently - so we all got scrambled! Our eggs, that is! Scott and Jazzy and I left soon after. We spent too much time at the over priced and over crowded mall in Ithaca before making our way home. As we were cresting one of the hills before our home we witnessed one of the most beautiful wintry scenes. The trees were all white and frosty. It was still daylight - but not by much, and so cloudy and overcast that is was just grey. But, it all lent itself to the crisp frigid white trees. We saw a pick up pulled into a little driveway in the woods with a bunch of people just hanging out. Some were sitting on the tailgate and a few were just standing around. They waved vigorously to us. You could see that they were happy people. Happy people hanging out with people they love. It didn't matter where they were, it mattered who they were with. I miss my kid, but she'll be enjoying her winter break with with Oma and Papa. After all, I'm sure she could use the break from us! I'm just happy to be back home, mostly...more on that later.

A pEaCeFuL Day at Home with the Kid! hahahaha!!!

She actually let me sleep in. The dog was stretched out next to me, the cat never moved from his desk chair and the kid was playing Rudolph. When I finally woke up I called the kid in to see me. I asked her if she was a good girl. She said yes. I asked her what she was doing. She said playing. I asked if she had made a mess and would I freak out when I got out there. She said no. This might just be a pretty darned good day! I went potty, because you needed to know that, and went to the living room to survey the damage. "See... There's my sleigh. Nothing to freak out about, right?" You're correct, child. But, if my darling husband reads this he can freak out - because I'm running the washer and the dryer AT THE SAME TIME!!!! (Insert evil laugh here) Off to fold laundry now.

yup, I should be blogging

...but, I'm opting to sit in front of the tv and veg out. I'm tired, long day...

Productive Sundays DO Exist! Full Moon?

This has been an exceptionally productive Sunday. Let's attribute it to the full moon. Some very good friends of ours gave us a beautiful bed set for Emma. I was able to totally make over her room and I found un-found space for stuff. Emma has much stuff. But, now her stuff seems to be a bit more manageable - with more manageability to come! She took a very active role in the re-birth of her room. Man, that kid has got opinions! Wonder where that comes from?! So, the weekend so far...

• Cheese got cut without my assistance
• Jewelry has been purchased
• Puttering has been done
• Deer has been got
• Cappuccinos have been drunk
• Bed and dresser have been delivered
• Scott's desk has been relocated (the most emotionally charged event of the weekend!)
• Bed and dresser have been assembled and Emmafied
• Kid has been showered and put to bed with a bedtime story
• Cheesy New Wave music listened to

Yup, a productive weekend indeed. Darling Hubby has just finished making "Many Bean Ham Hock Soupish," and is in the process of baking his non-risen bread, fryin' up some smoked pork chops and re-heating some mashed 'taters. It looks like we will also be joined by some sauteed zucchini and steamed peas. I like my guy. I like him a lot.

We Miss You Bailey and Who Is This Kid?!

We lost our Bailey Black Dog six months ago today. We all miss him so so much. Jazzy is pretty mopey and sticks pretty close to us. Looking at his pictures helps me, but it just upsets Scott. Emma wants to take a picture of Bailey Boy to "sharing day" tomorrow. Actually she wants to take a picture of Bailey, Jazzy and Emma Kitty. I can see the scene unfolding... "Good morning class. Emma has brought us a picture today of her 'Running Dalmatian' Jazzy, her dead dog Bailey and the dead cat that she was named after." I kinda wonder what the teacher thinks of this child... Last week the kid brought home a piece of artwork. Apparently, they're learning about body parts, and she had to draw a picture of hands. I'm really not sure out of what blue yonder this came from, but she drew a picture of herself holding on to jail cell bars! What?!

Kindergarten - Not Like We Remember It!

Emma has started in on her third week of kindergarten. The kid has taken to being a schoolgirl very well. She's very social by nature and truly enjoys learning - school, a perfect fit. On her third day she received a sticker for being the best napper. The best napper! Man, things aren't like they used to be!

The Chalk Family

Times are tight, as they say. Scott has been out of work for over a year now and we could definitely use a few extra bucks. But, we're more fortunate than some - we can almost always pay our bills - and food is never scarce. Nor is a good time! The kid is in a summer program through her soon-to-be-school. The program is from 8-Noon, totally free and they pick her up and drop her off at home on the bus and feed her breakfast and lunch! We're all very excited about it! Scott and I are, so far, pleased to have her in this school district. From what I can tell, by most respects, Emma does not have a lot of toys. And, even though cash is tight, that is not the reason she doesn't have a lot of toys. We choose to not get her much. the Grandparents are great about this too. We've never had a family meeting to discuss our self imposed toy deprivation, but we just have really cool parents that "get it." Please don't think that the kid has no toys, or never gets indulged - because that is far from it! Not to worry, the child does just fine... So, with the kid being back in a school atmosphere I figured she would be exposed to the more material side of life. Not long ago, as we were sitting quietly on the porch listening to and observing the bird, I asked her if there was anything that she wanted or needed that she didn't have. "Well, there is one thing..." she started. I was expecting her to announce her need for some plastic imported piece of junk that can only be purchased by calling an 800 number. But, my sweet, wonderful child proclaimed her need for - no, really - a massage table! I had, moments before, given her a quick little massage at her request. She was achy from having to stand for so long to make her soup. Her soup, you see, is for now made up of trillions of cut up pieces of paper. This has been an on again - off again obsession since Christmas. Her first batch of soup also contained beans (real ones that we planted), beads, buttons, pompoms and a smattering of other miscellaneous little trinkets. But, because that must not have been flavorful enough, she added ripped up pieces of paper towel. You know - the fluff. But, the fluff must have been a little tough, so before our friend Josh could convince her otherwise, she added a couple of Dixie Cups of water to her mixture. Oy! Currently, the kid is entertaining herself with a family of sidewalk chalks. the family is taking a ride in the car - a big stock pot lid. And, because the closest sidewalk is in the little village at the bottom of the mountain about two miles away, we let her color on the porch. And all the rocks are fair game. Recently she colored a big section of the porch purple - because she wanted it to look pretty. The dog likes to lay on the porch... We were left with a lovely lavender tinted polka dotted doggie. Purple dogs, chalk families, massage tables and oodles of cheap plastic toys... We could have more, but we choose to make do with less. I'm pretty sure our kid is better off because of it. Our life is slower than most. And that works for us. Life is good.

The Cat Peed in the House

This hilarious event actually happened weeks ago, but it's much more dramatic in the present tense. Allow me to take you back to the last Saturday in May... . Scott and Emma let me sleep in this morning. It was so nice. Then the dog started barking... and Scott started laughing. Of course I had to get up and see what was going on. Scatt was stalking the neighbor's pet baby rooster. I like our neighbors, and I know our neighbors like their pet baby rooster. It was obvious that Scott was going to let events unfold, so I got my shoes on and went out to retrieve the cat - the mighty hunter... As I started walking back to the gate I noticed the damn chicken was following us! Scott and Jazzy had given up on the whole scene. Apparently, this was nothing new. Scott informed me that Scatt (the cat) and the baby pet rooster had the same cat-and-chicken game yesterday and that if Scatt really wanted chicken, he would have gotten himself some chicken by now. Fine. Because I had just gotten up, as is my morning routine, I had to go potty. Lately, Scatt has been keeping me company in the bathroom so I thought nothing of him following me in there. I assumed that he was seeking asylum because our little wild child had been chasing him since I brought him back in from his early morning expedition. Did I mention that she was chasing him in hopes of capturing him in her net - and by net I mean her pretty pink fleece blanket? The cat is not her biggest fan. I was definitely not in a position to get up from the potty when I noticed Scatt pacing back and forth in front of the shower. This wasn't his normal searching for a place to stretch out pacing, but more urgent. I called for Scott to get him outside - but it was too late... In hind-site, the best thing to do would have been for Scott to put the cat in the shower. But that didn't happen. We could have even let the cat finish what he started. That would have at least been easier to clean up. But that didn't happen either. Instead, Scott grabbed Scatt by the scruff of his neck to get him outside, mid-stream, mind you. Meanwhile, I'm still planted securely on the toilet and hubby has the cat swinging like a pendulum, racing to get him outside. The cat was not thrilled to be going for a ride at that moment! It seemed like the events all unfolded in slow motion. I didn't think that Scott would ever get the cat outside! Just so you know, cleaning up a non-visible wiggly stream of cat pee is MUCH harder than concentrating on one big soaked area. There are so many ways that the morning could have gone differently. But, you live and you learn and you deal with the consequences and you move on. Dear Scatt, thank your providing me with a teachable moment. My lesson learned... if the cat is going to pee - let it be!

I'm on a pencil kick...

Ok, so I haven't been here as much as I should be - but I've rediscovered an amazing tool... the mighty pencil!

yeah, I'll get back to this soon...

Monday Early Evening Bloggin'

• The microwave in clean. Life is good.
• Seeds are started - later than most people, but we had a freeze (not a frost, a FREEZE) in the middle of June last year...
• The sun is shinning.
• My perennial garden is kickin' butt!

I'm not sure what this will develop as. Life is happening so fast. I'm having trouble keeping up. Emma is going into kindergarten in 5 months. I'm having a really hard time with that. Ok, that's not something I can get into right now - that subject requires some heavy lamenting, a glass of red and some dark chocolate...

Tonight for dinner we're having beans and venison franks. They're pretty much the only hot dogs we'll eat anymore. They're so plump and yummy!

We're pretty proud of our kid. She ate almost half of my salmon fillet the other night. Scott made salmon for the first time ever. To make the bbq dill sauce he used the Dinosaur BBQ "Mutha Sauce." Very nice. Emma thought it was delicious. Then, the next night, I couldn't keep her off the crab cakes. Scott's simple crab cake recipe is the best ever!

A Little Help Please?! Crap-Master Crap McCrapenstein

What the hell should I do with my life - because I tell you - what I'm doing now just ain't gonna cut it for much longer! Spring always gets me down. I'm pretty confidant that I'm not a big fan of Spring... a time of rebirth - my ass! It's a time to realize all the things that you could have gotten done last year, but didn't. Can I blame my parents for any of this crap that I'm feeling? Probably not, but let me try... Damn you Mom and Dad for not forcing me into organized sports or music lessons. Damn you for allowing me to have a fun and carefree childhood. Well, crap - that didn't work! Unfortunately I have a too-Zen approach to life. Given the fact that I've never had to really work at anything, I've never really worked to achieve anything. Things will happen when they're supposed to. I'm at a point that I just cannot let that be good enough anymore. Get over it and make it happen! But, what is it that I want to make happen? Suggestions are welcome... This past summer was pretty much an embarrassment for me. Yes, it was a rainy, crappy summer - but not every single day was crap. I work at a job that is running towards the end of it's lifespan - at least on my end. So, no matter how beautiful it is when I come home, there is only so much I can do, I'm mentally exhausted and pretty tired to boot. I do get a little bitter and resentful given the fact that my dear husband has been out of work for over a year now (including an entire summer), and that our home and our life is not where I had hoped it would be by now. My dream of being garlic farmers has been dashed (smashed?) I was hoping to have 500 cloves in the ground - we have maybe 30... I'm frustrated that I cannot live the life I want to live. Hey, I guess that's my fault - I need to live the life I want - just do it. Just do it - that's a nice way of saying "shit or get off the pot!" Does it sound like it's time for a self help book, some sort of inspirational, motivational story? Let me explore what's on my bookshelf...

Here's what I found:

• The Celestine Prophecy - great book, many things to take to heart. A gift from a nice couple from Florida traveling 'cross country. I met them in the shoe repair emporium I was working in at the time. But, everything happens for a reason...
• Bus 9 To Paradise - haven't read it in many many years. It was given to me as a gift for my 17th birthday by Tammy Sepe. I miss her. I don't even remember what the book is about. On the cover it states, Inspiring #1 Bestseller. join the beloved author on a mythical "bus" for a journey that proves earthly paradise can be yours in the here and now...
• Silent Spring - not a self-help book, but an absolute must read! Kinda puts life into perspective.
• The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness - again, not really a self-help book, but who wouldn't want to read this book?! What a beautiful man!!

Oh yeah, there's lots more that I could bitch / write about. But, I think I'm pretty spent for the night. Tune in next time for the adventures of "The Muds of Spring, How Can a Child Get THAT Muddy THAT Quickly?!"

Are White Crayons Evil? -or- I Love So Much In This World

Where do I begin...

Our child is an interesting little critter, that's for sure. For the past four years she has wanted nothing to do with crayons. I'll pause here and make it known to those that may not be in "the know" about crayons - THERE IS ONLY ONE CRAYON - AND CRAYOLA BE THY NAME. I may be a little passionate about this subject... Ok, so absolutely no interest in crayons for the last four years, barely any interest in the huge crayon carousel at the Crayola Factory, even. But, now we're a bit obsessed with them! Emma is a peeler and a breaker. She likes to use the tiny little pieces, so she will methodically peel the crayon and then kneel on it to snap it into pieces. We explained to her that was kinda like what Oma did to her hand! The rumor is that - Mom broke her hand falling off the mechanical bull. Teeheehee.

So here we have dozens upon dozens of tiny little crayon pieces and a bright pink garbage can full of crayon wrappers. And then I stumble upon a handful of unused, "fully clothed" white crayons... and then another and then another. Hmmm. The child has a thing with white crayons. Of course she has colored paper - I totally get that she doesn't want to use a white crayon on the white paper. She has green paper, but she's not abandoning the green crayons? Silly girl!

While snuggling with me on the couch Emma started singing about dragonflies and unicorns. (next she'll be singing about butterflies and moonbeams - she already talks about zebras and fairy tales... ) "there's so much in this world that I love - yeah, yeah" The kid is a sing-songer. Life is a song for her. She inspires me.

One Hell of a Hockey Game!

* We did not win. I'm sure that by the time you read this blog, you'll already have heard that our men's hockey team did not win the gold medal. Wow, what a game. Scott and I are not usually into sports events, but we both really like a good kick-ass hockey game! * Scatt has not been inside for the last couple of days - we'd feel more comfortable once he sees the vet. The health of our other furbabies is too important to us. * Emma's closet and drawers have been cleaned out and I feel good about it. * The toilet is clean. There you go, again with relatively low standards... I've very recently come to realize that pushing myself on weekdays is more productive and rewarding to me than trying to get too much done on the weekends. The weekends are really my time to just step back and putter. I love to putter. I don't see huge results, but I feel like I've been somewhat productive - while being able to somewhat relax at the same time. I feel like I've been less stressed out going in this direction. My weekends are for my family and for me - not for everyday chores. I figure that the weekday, being the work day is pretty much shot anyways - so why not suck as much out of each day as you can?!

A Good Day with a Few Exceptions

Wow! Big snow! Scott is finally back in from trying to clear us and our neighbor out.

Unfortunately, what started as a really good day went down the giant slalom (sorry for the Olympics reference) pretty quickly. There is a misunderstanding with our beloved neighbor who right now thinks that Scott is not a team player... After Scott cleared our neighbor's pathway (having walked through 3 feet of unplowed snow all the way up her uphill driveway), he brought the snow blower down here to clear our driveway. He was done with our driveway and on his last pass for our walkway when our other neighbor asked if he would take a few passes on our beloved neighbor's driveway before he plowed it. Scott said he was going to finish up what he was doing and be right up. Well, this neighbor doesn't like to wait - he doesn't like to wait at all. It takes awhile to walk up the driveway on a good day - let alone while pushing a snow blower uphill through snow that is a two feet too deep for the snow blower... Apparently, the snowplowing neighbor voiced his dismay at having to wait for Scott. Our beloved neighbor must not have understood the time frame and now I think is a bit irritated with Scott. Scott, by the way has been out in the snow since this morning and can now barely move. I do not like conflict. I don't like conflict with family (damn it for your crap, Penny and Mom!) Maybe more on that later... I don't like conflict with friends (Laura - Scott worked his ass off and Victor likes to bitch!) End of story! Oh, yeah - and Bailey threw up all his breakfast, Scatt dumped his food - not once, but twice! And Emma destroyed our snow castle before we could food color it. Besides, I was supposed to be the ogre to destroy the castle!! But, the saving grace for the day is: #1 We're all chilled and going to dinner at our neighbor's house for chili - and they're from Florida so it will be pretty warm in their house. #2 At the end of the second period of men's hockey USA is over Finland 6-0!!

That's all I've got in me for now. I'll probably be back after dinner.

And one last thing - I'm almost out of lime and while I was writing this, the cat took a big 'ol liquid poo on the comforter that Scott was covered up with... Well, crap!

I Love This Book!

Today made me think of one of my all time favorite books - Arm In Arm by Remy Charlip. On the left hand page is a beautiful snowy scene with half a dozen technicolor kids playing.

Isn't it better to be out in the cold snow saying, "isn't it better to be out in the cold snow rather thank in a warm bed?" Rather than in a warm bed saying "isn't it better to be out in the cold snow rather than in a warm bed?"

And on the right is a serene scene of a super king size bed with half a dozen technicolor kids snoozing under a super big technicolor "log cabin" quilt.

Isn't it better to be in a warm bed saying, "isn't it better to be in a warm bed rather than out in the cold snow?" Rather than out in the cold snow saying "isn't it better to be in a warm bed rather than out in the cold snow?"

I searched for years, literally years, for this book. I don't know how many times I checked it out of the library in elementary school. As I reread it now, it seems pretty trippy. I'm kinda wishing I had it while in college. But, then again, that may have taken away some of the simple, innocent charm of this book. I love this book. I can only hope that Emma will enjoy it just as much as I did!

I came home early today and have no plans of venturing out tomorrow. We got a nice big snow. The kind of snow that Scott and I remember as kids. It's the nice heavy packing snow that you can do so much with. We may try to build a snowman or even a tunnel tomorrow. Scott scrapped all the snow off of our roof - he had to climb onto the porch roof to get at it all. We briefly lost power at that time. DCEC (Delaware County Electric Cooperative) had to shut down their substation due to arching... yikes!

Emma, the Snow Queen was covered head to toe with snow when she finally came in from eating snow chunks. "But it just tastes so good!" After a very cool but relaxing bath, Emma was wrapped in a towel and a blanket and sipped on some hot chocolate. Extra marshmallow, thank you. I even warmed up her big fleece nightgown in the dryer -"just like Papa does!!"

Scatt has been in for another nice visit. I hear Scott telling Emma (as she was trying to bring the cat into our bedroom) that Scatt is an outdoor and living room cat, maybe your room this summer... Hmmm. Scott may be warming to Scatt...

Dinner is ready. Pan fried tilapia with sweet potato fries and peas. I'm done writing for the night - I do have my priorities!

Headache Day, Getting Older and A Very Tolerant Cat

What the hell? I'm 37 years old. My complexion is worse than it has ever been and gets even worse during that "special time of the month." I've also started getting really really bad headaches at the same time. What is this whole getting older thing all about? How can I be aging like this when I don't even feel like a grown up?! Oh, and the bleeping lines around my eyes - well, I'm not even going there! So I did take the day off today. I had a headache all day yesterday and tossed and turned all night with one. This morning I said "forget it," and called into work. I probably would have gotten more rest and peace and quiet if I had gone in though!

Scatt came in for a nice long visit today. Between the dogs and Emma, I think the poor cat was glad to get back outside. While he was in he got to cuddle with us on the couch. I sat him on the back of the couch so he could have a bit of an advantage over the dogs - or so I thought... Bailey's big 'ol snoz nudged him back just enough that he fell. Emma, bless her little heart, tried to catch him. She had as light of a grip around his neck as she could without letting him fall. I reminded her that our couch really isn't that tall and that he would probably have been better off if he had been allowed to fall. Silly Scatt was purring pretty much the whole time! After the near-fall, Emma decided to read him a bedtime story. I'm pretty sure this poor cat is going to get dressed up sometime in his near future. So, Emma went in to find the "just perfect" book and a "blanket" (one of my bandannas) for the cat. She plopped him onto her lap, covered him up and proceeded to read him a lovely little story from her "Book of Aquarius." She's so sweet and loving. During the whole visit, the poor kitty was being rooted and mauled by the dogs and the child. The child, though, thought she was doing her best to protect the "sweetest little kitty she's ever met!" All the while saying soothing things to the cat and reproaching the dogs with each nibble and snout toss. I think we'll all be just fine.

trying to register the Wii and other miscellaneous thoughts

It has been a very busy couple of days. Today my main goal is to clean the toilet and register our Wii. My standards are pretty low today. I made Scatt a new kitty nest and prepared several days worth of meals for Bailey Black Dog. Scott is in the kitchen baking. Emma is hibernating in her room watching (and re-watching) Gummi Bears and Jazzy is on the couch hoping that I'm not going to clean her ears today. We had the opportunity to spend some good time with family. Unfortunate circumstances, but a pleasant time nonetheless. Emma the Earth Warrior has a nice new black eye. She's my "black-eyed sweet pea!" She was kneeling on top of a bin of dress up clothes at Aunt Jennifer's trying to reach a lamp to turn it off. The lid tipped inward and the kid fell. She immediately had a very pretty shade of violet mark under her right eye. It must have been pretty bad because she actually allowed us to put ice on it! She's such a little tough girl. She was pretty excited to tell Oma about her black eye the next day.

Dad, my cat does not have mean eyes!

Scatt is a lovely little kitty - very sweet. I think you'll really like him! The dogs keep rolling him off the porch. There's just so much butt sniffin' that needs to be done!

blah blah blah

There is actually quite alot that I should be writing about. But, right now, I'm just not into releasing my thoughts. *hello cat / goodbye brother-in-law *awesome trip to Butterfly Conservatory *getting ready to go scrapping *Scott laid off 1 year *Mondays are "bake-day" *Bailey doing good, both dogs getting old *Emma is a cool kid *more recipes Ok, that's it. An outline of my thoughts. I'll have to refer back to this later. tootles!

Serendipitous

Sometimes a series of events just fall into place and puts you in a situation that you would not normally be in.

I was going to stop after work to get a bottle of rum. I decided not to and instead washed my car - my poor filthy, salty car. I would not recommend washing your car on an 18 degree day...

Right there I think is what set the wheels in motion. If I had just gotten my rum or even just gone home I may not have seen the cute little black and grey tabby walking up the middle of the road...

The signs have been all over. One of my customers has recently started fostering a dog that uses her cats as toys, an old friend sent me an email just this morning about cats vs. dogs and then another customer admitted that she was a cat-lady. I've been missing the allure of the feline mystique. Our dogs are just so open and loving - they have nothing to hide. Cats are so different.

Anyway, I was driving home on one of our back roads and this cute little kitty was jotting up the hill - I had to slow WAY down because because he wasn't moving out of my way. This is where things could have gone differently: I could have kept going once he did finally get out of my way - but, that's not what happened. I decided that it would be best to roll down my window and ask if he was okay. He was meowing up a storm. I noticed right away that he has six or seven toes on his front paws. He came right over to my driver's side door and was still meowing. I thought he was going to jump right in! Then I noticed the scuff mark on his ear. I had to get out and make sure he wasn't injured. He didn't seem to be injured, but he was very skinny. The plowed bank is pretty high. The kitty jumped onto the snow bank and then onto my shoulders - purring and meowing the whole time. His meows were very demanding - "pay attention to me!"

I went to the 3 of the houses on that road, four if you count the abandoned one. No one claimed the cat. I drive on this road twice a day, six days a week. I've never seem him before. In fact, I've only ever seen one other cat on that road and I know where he lives. I did get to see a guy in a bright neon green snowmobile suit peeing on a tractor tire. That was fun...

Kitty cat settled into the car like he owned the place. He did scratch on the back seat once, and tested out a few spots for comfort. He decided to hunker down on a pile of wintery accessories piled in Emma's car seat. He travels better than our dog Jazzy!

Grandma Laura got to see Kitty Face on our way home. I rolled down the back window so she could get a better look. I told her that I wasn't sure how Scott was going to react but that I would fill her in.

Once we got home I had Scott come outside without the dogs. He saw me with a cat and said "put that down!" He thought it was one of our neighbor cats. I told him that the cat came home with me and that we had to feed him. I did a flea check - looks good. This will be an outside cat. That is, if he comes back...

We brought him in and introduced him to the doggies. I wanted to make sure that they didn't freak out over a strange cat once they went outside. Our dog Bailey is on a special raw food diet for kidney issues. I was prepared to make a meal for the kitty, but then realized that our next door neighbors would be happy to give us some food to tide us over. Good people... good people. Then it occurred to me that Grandma Laura was on her way to town when I saw her - I could have asked her to pick up a bag of food...

So, after a nice meal and some semi frozen water, Scatt has gone explorinating. That's my word - I like it. It has been about 4 hours since he took off. I even made him a bed out of wool sweaters in a box under an enclosed table on the porch. I worry, I can't help it. And yes, I decided to call him Scatt. Cool, right - Scatt Cat.

Come home little kitty, come home!

Five Years Old?!

Well how that hell did that happen?! My baby will be five years old tomorrow and I'm having a really hard time with it! This evening was not a great one. We were going to let her open Candyland so we could play tonight, but no... She wouldn't help me pick up her books from the living room. I was even trying to help her so that she didn't have to do it all by herself - nope, she wouldn't do it! So, I sent her to bed! I explained to her how she made me feel and that I missed her so much and that I didn't want to spend my evenings arguing with her, that I want to be able to enjoy our time together when I come home... I'm pretty sure it all sank in. She's asleep in our bed right now. At one point I went in to check on her and she was just laying there with her eyes open - you could tell that she was thinking about things. We'll have a little chat about it tomorrow.

a Saturday...

Saturday evening. I don't feel like I've gotten much done at all today. And you know what - I'm okay with that! I did scrub our bathroom. I just have to finish the toilet and the shower walls. Emma even helped me scour the shower floor. I love a kid that wants to help. A couple of years ago (that sounds weird to say in the context of Emma) the kid wanted to help me vacuum the bedroom. No problem, here you go! It happened to be a brisk, but sunny beautiful day. So, I sat myself down in our bedroom window seat and soaked up the rays like a kitty cat. Oh, yeah - and I had a glass of wine in my hand. Scott walks in as Emma is on her hands and knees with the vacuum hose and I'm basking in the sunny warmth sipping on some Cabernet. Yeah, life is good. We live in the country and we have mice. It doesn't make us bad people, it just makes us people with mice. Those little bastards got into our bathroom vanity drawers and demolished the toilet paper. I have an unusual attachment to toilet paper. I must always have plenty on hand, or, as my Mom would snicker - a back-up supply. Get it, back up... For me to open that drawer and see shreds and shreds of paper in little piles mixed with tiny little oblong poops - well, not a nice way to start the day! That, I vowed would be my first order of business for the day - that is, after my first order of business was finished... I cleaned out and then cleaned two of the three drawers - not the bottom, for some reason the little bastards don't seem to bother that one. I re-organized and really cleaned the contents of each drawer and then moved onto the sink and counter. Last week (a terrific way to start a Monday) I lost an earring down the sink drain. It was a pretty blue baked glass post earring. Scott had gotten them for me as an anniversary gift at one of our last GrassRoots festivals. For those of you that don't know, GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY is where we met and fell instantly in love. So, yeah, I was pretty irritated first thing Monday morning. Being in the plumbing business I decided that I had enough experience to take apart part of the drain to retrieve the earring. Scott stopped me from doing that. We did take apart the pop-up assembly and pulled the pop-up out of the sink. I heard the earring go "plop" into the bottom of the S-trap as I lifted the drain. The earring was gone, but we were introduced to this horrible, icky globby thing hanging off the end. Yuck!! I instantly threw that in the garbage, but did not want to take on the challenge of re-assembling the drain first thing Monday morning. Once the sink and counter were decluttered and cleaned thoroughly with Clorox Green Works spray I decided it was time for a break. Luckily... the next day... Luckily is where I stopped writing at 9:30 last night. Now, with all the chaos in the house and the overly distracting smell of bacon cooking, I have no idea what came next. I cannot even seem to remember what I did after the thorough bathroom cleaning. My goals are pretty simple for the day. I totally plan on being an underachiever today. If I can get the toilets cleaned and my laundry put away, I'll be a happy camper. I miss camping. Sorry for the jump, that's just how my mind works. Sometimes it's pretty exhausting being in my own head! The child's mouth has NOT stopped flapping since she woke up at 7:30 this morning. I'm not exaggerating - it has not stopped! She's in her little tent right now and has said "Mommy" for one reason or another about 47 times! Believe me, I usually love it when I hear that most beautiful little voice utter "Mommy." But, today it's more about "Mommy, you ruined it! Mommy, you wrecked it all! Mommy, you didn't do it the right way! Mommy, there's a fly on my doll! Mommy, will you cover me up? Mommy, there's something really wrong with Daddy's camping bag - Mommy, I think you should see this! Mommy, I told you not to put my hair up!" Even while I was typing all this, along came another barrage of "Mommy's" I don't think I'll be drinking orange juice with my breakfasty-lunch.

Date Night - Priceless?

Scott made reservations for the two of us at the Andes Hotel on Saturday. The kid was at Grandma's for the night and we were on our own. I put mousse in my hair and even put on a little make up! And, off we go. We got there just at 5:00. We decided to go right into the dinning room because there was a big sports thing going on in the bar. We sat down at a lovely little table near the window. Scott ordered a beer (oops, non-alcoholic), and I ordered a glass wine. An Evening At the Andes Hotel: Non-Alcoholic Paulaner $4.50 Cabernet Sauvignon $7.00 Salmon Gravlox Appitizer $10.00 Chicken Picatta with Rice Pilaf and Green Beans $19.00 "Garlic" Ribeye Steak with Broccolirabe and Potato Fritters $24 An evening at a totally upper-end-of-mediocre restaurant...Priceless AND THEN... silly us, we were alone for the evening and wanted another drink before we went home. So, we went to the bar. Easy peasy for Scott there were a few nifty beers that he was able to choose from. Me, I'm a little more picky. I told our bartender that we were kid-less for the evening and that I didn't have to drive, I like dark rum and wanted to let loose a little... what could he recommend? silence silence silence "We have Meyers." I told him that I liked Meyers but that I didn't want just a rum and coke. silence silence silence Then he popped open a beer and poured a soda for another customer... When he came back he asked if I had made up my mind yet! I replied that I was all set and that I wouldn't be getting a drink this evening. The funny this is that this bar is supposed to be known for their "mixology!" But, to be fair, it IS Mixology Monday! We were there on a Saturday - our bad! I certainly have some other thoughts on the food itself and its presentation, but I don't have the energy to begin my first food critic post. I'm going to go pack a bag for the kid - she's going to Oma and Papa's tomorrow morning. She'll be so excited when she finds out in the morning! Good night all!

New Pet for Emma!!

We have a new pet! Don't forget that we already have our two doggies - Jazzy and Bailey. I'm not sure if the delinquent mice count as pets, but then, what would make this new pet count? Hmmm. You have no idea what I'm talking about... Let me back up - the delinquent mice are as follows: Warehouse Mouse, Honey Mouse and Tickle Mouse. They are imaginary, they do not exist - but they sure do get into alot of trouble around here! Ok, so the new pet - a dead ladybug named Connin (maybe Connon, I'm not sure). We provide our child lots of love, the doggies love her too! We make sure that she has plenty of art supplies and lots of other goodies to keep her entertained. But, she just has so much love in her heart that she has to share it with everything she can. Everything including a dead ladybug and Rockie - her pet rock. The dead ladybug is on a box in the little hallway between our bedroom and the kitchen. There isn't a light there and even in the middle of the day it's pretty dim. Well, that's where the dead ladybug lives. So, Emma got out her little flashlight so she could check in on it. And, because nobody really wants to touch a dead bug, Emma got out a little plastic spoon and a paintbrush to move the dead ladybug around a bit. I guess even dead ladybugs need their exercise. Emma is going to be FIVE in a few short weeks! I'd like to get her a special gift for her birthday, but what's a mom to do when the kid plays with dead bugs and rocks?!