busybee

Big ole green cones!

I don't talk about them often, but at our house we have two pet kitties, who (though I love them very much) are sometimes the primary reason for my mental instability.  That is to say that while 90% of the time they provide me with entertainment and companionship, the other 10% they make me want to shoot death-rays from my eyeballs.  

Since moving to our new house in the fall, they've begun an attack on my livingroom furniture so violent that it has forced me to take action.  Mostly because I am quite tired of seeing the innards of my sofa strewn about the floor each morning, and at this point, I'm not even sure I can repair the damage that has been done.  Yes, I have a scratching post.  Yes, I have tried the sprays and the plastic protectors.  Nothing works.  They are simply too smart.

Because I do not believe in declawing, I decided to give it another go with the softclaws.  Surprisingly enough, the cats tolerate the application of the rubber claws pretty well.  Only one of the cats growled through the whole process and tried, only once, to slice out my intestines.  I consider that a success.

Simon is my problem child.  He is the most lovable cat you will ever meet, but he is about as smart as a pile of bricks in a junkyard.  As soon as I get the claws on him, he rips them right off before the glue has a chance to set.  And so, in my efforts to put a stop to the Great Sofa Massacre, I have recently purchased a pet cone.

Oh yes.  A big ole CONE to put around my cats head while the glue on his rubber claws dries.  And they even come in pretty colors.  We got a green one.

I have to admit.  I was so angry at this cat that watching him walk around backwards for an hour with the green cone around his neck felt somewhat like a small victory in my twisted little mind.  He was all over the place, walking into walls and doorways, and finally just laid down on the rug in the dining room and gave up on his quest to back his way out of this situation he was suddenly in.  I also have to admit that after watching him clunk-clunk-clunk himself over to his water dish, I finally gave in and took the cone off.

But, I will win this battle.  Of that you can be sure.

Problematic.

You might look at this picture and see a little boy who fell asleep with a lolly-pop.

But what I see is the blatant mistreatment of a sugary delectable.  It's pretty clear to me that Keegan needs to be punished for this behavior.

I mean, what kid falls asleep MID-LOLLY-POP?

(Certainly no child of mine!)

How do you not love a $5 pashmina?

I'm having a hard time coming up with words to describe how much fun NYC was... 

 
 

Getting to visit Jeff's college campus, and getting to hear some of the stories of the time he spent there was so great.  It was one of those experiences I knew I was going to love, but it was actually WAY MORE COOL than I imagined. 

 

The night-time views of the city from the top of the Empire State Building were simply breathtaking.  A memory I wont soon forget...

On Friday night we ate at a local brewery.  The food was deeelish!!  Jeff was very excited about dessert! 

Saturday night, we wandered over to Restaurant Rowe and ate at a really cute little fancy italian place that had yummy wine and candle-lit tables... It was absolutely perfect.

We also ate many a street-vendor hot dog, and soft pretzel.  We drank lattes to keep us fueled!  We discovered that the Starbucks are plentiful, UNTIL YOU ARE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR ONE!!

Walking around the Village and SoHo was the BEST.  THE BEST.  The best!  It was my own personal heaven!  Art everywhere, awesome little shops, people all around.  Loved it.

Obviously, I had to purchase a $5 pashmina from a sheisty looking man off a street corner - because literally, EVERYONE was wearing one, and I like to blend in.  Even the men were wearing them.  No joke.  I got an orange one and a teal one, because who can really choose between those two colors? 

  

Things I did not do:  I was not a contestant on the Cash Cab.  I did not run off and marry the Naked Cowboy (though I did catch a glimpse of his tighty-whities from the car as we passed by.)  I did not see a celebrity, and I did not buy a knock-off purse from the trunk of someone's car...

BUT - I had the best time, with the guy I adore...  Which makes this trip a total success...

Check out the rest of the pics in the gallery if you're interested!!

crash & burn.

We are home...  We had the most amazing time, but we are TIRED.

 
  

LOTS of photos and stories...  coming soon...  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

from what feels like the top of the world...

 

NYC is amazing!!  I am totally overstimulated!!  Of course, it does help that I have the cutest tour guide ever, AND I am easily excitable!

Up bright and early to hit some art museums, do some shopping, and see more sights!

And that's why we're friends!

There's really not much hope for someone like me who is not only mostly brain-dead, but also forgetful!  It's a bad combination, and sometimes it lands me in precarious positions.  For example, often times because I have already forgotten something several times, I am forced to write reminder notes on the only thing I can not forget to take with me...  myself.

 

Today it was a pair of snow-pants that I promised a friend/co-worker she could borrow for her hot date on the ski-slopes, and then forgot to deliver.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! 

Later in the day, I thought it might be funny to send the above picture (via cell phone) to my very tattooed friend, Bird.  You remember him, right?  So I sent it along without a single word of explanation.

Did he write back asking why I had tattooed the word SNOWPANTS on my hand, you ask??  Did he need clarification??  Did he need me to explain??  No, sir.  Instead, a few moments later, my phone buzzed and I was graced with the following:

 

And as far as I was concerned...  That was all that really needed to be said, and I probably laughed way more than was actually necessary!

Stay tuned for Steph & Jeff's NYC Adventure!!

Oh, and PS - I did finally remember the snow-pants.

hush.

I like this word.  It's my new favorite.
 
I like it so much better than "be quiet" or "shhhh" or "shut up already, you spazz!!"
 
It's soft and gentle.  It's calming.  
 
It's almost sweet.

Just my random observation for today.

Because, when you injure your face, you get a fish. Those are the rules.

Keegan's face got a little worse before it got better.  The bruising is mostly faded to a lovely shade of pale-yellow now (how very spring of him), but the scrapes are still looking pretty ominous. 

We got lots of stares and sideways-glances at our local Walmart yesterday while we ran our errands.  I suppose that'll happen, when it looks like your kid was attacked by Skeletor.

So, last weekend while we cleaned the basement, we found a small goldfish bowl tucked away in a dark shadowey corner.  It wasn't long before Alyza's sweet little corneas discovered it sitting on my kitchen counter, and the incessant begging began.  In the span of 6 days, I was asked to go to the pet store approximately 7.5 million times.  If you are laughing because you think I am exaggerating, you should probably stop.

I was on the cusp of caving-in to the begging.  Mostly because I am a softie, who loves spoiling her kids, but also because Alyza cleaned the living-room for this fish.  Yes, I often use housekeeping as a mechanism by which to determine the true level of her want for something.  If she will clean for it, she really wants it.  Trust me on that.

But it was Keegan who broke me down, when he pointed to the empty fish bowl and said:  "ish, eeeeese, muh?"  Spend some time deciphering that, and I guarantee you will be at the pet store buying ALL the fish you can fit in your mini-van before you can bat an eyelash.

So without further adieu...  I introduce you to Swimmy...

 

And just like that, my cats lives have meaning again....

That's gonna leave a mark...

It looks much worse in person than it does on this cell phone picture Steve snapped....  Mr. Keegan had a pretty nasty spill today.  Everyone was upset - even little Alyza who wanted desperately to tell me what had happened to her brother, but could not get the words out in between her worried tears...

All it really comes down to is that his clumsy feet got the best of him, and he ate pavement.  Literally.

Poor Dude. 

Time to Dust Off the Wonder Woman Costume Again...

Several weeks ago, during a snow storm, I came to an abrupt stop at a red-light and because I had been lazy - and perhaps somewhat careless - in my snow removal process, my winshield was suddenly covered in what can only be described as a small avalanche.  Without a second thought, I did what any female-who-knows-nothing-about-cars would do.

I flipped on the wipers.

After watching the sad little wipers desperately try to lift Antarctica off my winshield, I came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't my best decision ever.  This conclusion was only made more complete by the sound of a loud pop, followed swiftly by the cessation of any/all wiping.

What's funny about the breaking of the wipers is that almost immediately, I knew that I could fix it.  I'm pretty sure I even told Jeff I could fix it before even telling him what had happened.  He was skeptical, as were several other people that I told.  Encouraging me to take the car to the mechanic instead.

But I was brave, just as I have been in the past.   I knew it could be done, and that I could be the one to do it.  Even when being told I needed a tool I did not have (and can not - for the life of me - remember the name of at the moment), I perservered.  I hit only one road block during which I had to call in the big guns to help loosen some extra tight nuts... A phrase never realized I was dying to use until just now... 

Moral of the story is...  Never let a tool and some tight nuts stop you from achieving your dreams. 

(Special thanks to Steff, Rich, and Brad for their parts in this adventure as well.)

Also, yes I am wearing surgical gloves in the above video.  Must protect manicure at all costs...  Obviously.