I have actually used that expression on occasion but until this morning I never truly understood it.
Hidey ran outside when Big D left for work this morning. It was a balmy 10 degrees. So when she gave me the Puss In Boots look from the other side of the french doors, I just couldn't resist. I had to let her in, even though I knew that would risk personal injury and possible death by cat fur/itchy eyes/allergy attack.
The cat has discovered the heating vent right next to our door. She really, really likes that vent! And no amount of gentle nudging or urging with my foot would get her to budge. So a little less then gently I shoved her off the vent and proceeded to try and herd her, with my feet, to the garage. The cat won't herd. Finally I end up stepping on her paw. If looks could kill!! I ended up carrying her to her domain in the garage. The bottom line is, she won and I lost. I do find it a bit pathetic that I lost a battle of the wills to a cat! But on the upside, my 4 kids are way easier to herd then Hidey!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Warmth!!!
On a happy note, it is snowing right now. Yes, I am ok with that because it only adds to my delight that I will be flying south for the weekend to experience a little dessert warmth in the midst of this winter! I can't wait to feel the physical warmth of sunshine on the skin (through the spf 30 of course) and the emotional heart warmth of fun with a dear friend!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Roomies!!
I have had some good roommates and some not so good roommates in my past. Such is life. Fortunately for me, my most recent roomie (Big D) is also the best one! (I love you, sweet thing!) The key is finding the right roomie!
A few weeks ago we moved Truck's kennel from the basement to the garage. After all, if a cat can handle the chill surely he can!! And I am tired of vacuuming hair up in the basement! So off he went to the garage with the cat.
The new arrangement has worked out well! But I have caught Hidey pacing back and forth in front of Truck's kennel as if to say, "I can go here and I can go there and I can go anywhere I want!" He just watches, locked in and unable to exact any revenge on her. Yet!
The other night I put him in, locked him up and looked around for Hidey. She wasn't anywhere to be found. I went outside and called but no Hidey. Finally I walked back by the cage and saw...4 eyes looking back at me. One set a little intimidated. The other set I could swear had a gleam of delight in them. So I took a picture before I "rescued" Hidey from an uncertain fate. (Or maybe I rescued Truck. Hidey does have her claws still.)
A few weeks ago we moved Truck's kennel from the basement to the garage. After all, if a cat can handle the chill surely he can!! And I am tired of vacuuming hair up in the basement! So off he went to the garage with the cat.
The new arrangement has worked out well! But I have caught Hidey pacing back and forth in front of Truck's kennel as if to say, "I can go here and I can go there and I can go anywhere I want!" He just watches, locked in and unable to exact any revenge on her. Yet!
The other night I put him in, locked him up and looked around for Hidey. She wasn't anywhere to be found. I went outside and called but no Hidey. Finally I walked back by the cage and saw...4 eyes looking back at me. One set a little intimidated. The other set I could swear had a gleam of delight in them. So I took a picture before I "rescued" Hidey from an uncertain fate. (Or maybe I rescued Truck. Hidey does have her claws still.)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Is there anything worse then vacuuming?
Yes!!!!!! Vacuuming with an un-sucky vacuum is much, much worse! It is depressing!
So, is anyone out there in blogger land happy with their vacuum and willing to give me a recomendation? It would be greatly appreciated!!
(FYI: we mainly have carpet and the cheaper the better!)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Story of How We Met the UGLI Fruit
It all started at WalMart with my husband and I trudging the aisles and tossing various items into our floppy-wheeled cart. Milk. Sugar. Milk. Cereal. Milk. Pasta. Lately, our menu has become somewhat hum-drum...same ol', same ol'... bor-ring.
Our cart was heaped like a mountain as we hit the fruit section. Just as I was reaching for the carrots, we saw "it". There was almost a warm tropical glow surrounding the table on which it sat. We stared at the misshapen, dingy looking, spongy type thing. It was something we had never seen before, or heard of for that matter. After all, it was from the magically warm land of Jamaica and we live in the frigid land of North. D boldly reached out and put one in our cart and suddenly things were not so boring!! We rushed home and excitedly presented to our 4 waiting children the UGLI fruit.
Their innocent little faces registered some doubt, as the fruit is really quite ugly. D. went to the sink and cut through the skin of the fruit and presented each of us with a piece. It was delicious!! It was different!! And then it was gone!!! But the memory has still remained. Days later, one of us will say, "hey, I want some more UGLI fruit" and the rest of us will all nod in agreement.
Moral: If you need some excitement in your menu, go find something UGLI to put in your grocery cart!
Our cart was heaped like a mountain as we hit the fruit section. Just as I was reaching for the carrots, we saw "it". There was almost a warm tropical glow surrounding the table on which it sat. We stared at the misshapen, dingy looking, spongy type thing. It was something we had never seen before, or heard of for that matter. After all, it was from the magically warm land of Jamaica and we live in the frigid land of North. D boldly reached out and put one in our cart and suddenly things were not so boring!! We rushed home and excitedly presented to our 4 waiting children the UGLI fruit.
Their innocent little faces registered some doubt, as the fruit is really quite ugly. D. went to the sink and cut through the skin of the fruit and presented each of us with a piece. It was delicious!! It was different!! And then it was gone!!! But the memory has still remained. Days later, one of us will say, "hey, I want some more UGLI fruit" and the rest of us will all nod in agreement.
Moral: If you need some excitement in your menu, go find something UGLI to put in your grocery cart!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Top FIve of The Weekend
5. hot tub at the hotel!!!
4. no dishes to wash all weekend long!!!!
3. no meals to prepare all weekend long!!!!!
2. snow tubing hills that made us feel like carefree teenagers!!!!! And also the tow rope to pull us back up the hill cause we are so not teenagers anymore!!!!!!
1. time, blessed time with my beloved!!!!!!
4. no dishes to wash all weekend long!!!!
3. no meals to prepare all weekend long!!!!!
2. snow tubing hills that made us feel like carefree teenagers!!!!! And also the tow rope to pull us back up the hill cause we are so not teenagers anymore!!!!!!
1. time, blessed time with my beloved!!!!!!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentine's Day Present
A few days ago I talked about the memory of Valentines Day Past. My Valentines Day Present is that D and I are taking off for a marriage retreat tomorrow morning through the entire weekend, and oh, I am so glad!!
It is funny how these things work...we signed up for this months ago as a favor to some new friends who love this retreat center. We thought it would be a "nice" thing to do! Nice to hang out with this couple some. Nice to see this retreat center. Nice to hang out with each other uninterrupted by the needs of our kids. Nice to miss a Sunday morning. Blah, blah, blah. God knew better. Forget nice and try necessary!! He knew we would need a break from the routine just about now!
So off we go and try not to be too jealous, my friends!!
It is funny how these things work...we signed up for this months ago as a favor to some new friends who love this retreat center. We thought it would be a "nice" thing to do! Nice to hang out with this couple some. Nice to see this retreat center. Nice to hang out with each other uninterrupted by the needs of our kids. Nice to miss a Sunday morning. Blah, blah, blah. God knew better. Forget nice and try necessary!! He knew we would need a break from the routine just about now!
So off we go and try not to be too jealous, my friends!!
True Love
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."
Jeremiah 31:3
"This is love, not that we loved Him but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
I John 4:10
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
I John 3:16
Happy Valentines Day!!
Jeremiah 31:3
"This is love, not that we loved Him but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
I John 4:10
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
I John 3:16
Happy Valentines Day!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Valentine's Day Past
Last week on my stroll down memory lane, I came across the memory of Valentine's Day Past. Our first Valentine's Day together! I remember being so excited about it!! And at that point, we were engaged and preparing for a wedding in just a few months!! It wan't anything terribly adventurous or creative... D took me to a very nice restaurant. I am 97.5 % sure that this is the photo taken by my mom that night and it has since resided patiently in the bottom of a Nike shoe box for the last 19 years. (In case your are wondering, that 2.5% of uncertainty is due to me wearing white shoes before Easter. But maybe I was feeling rebellious that night. Give me a break...it has been 19 years and if I don't now, you can be sure I didn't label photo's back then!!)
The funniest memory I have of that evening out was how annoyed we both were with the waiter who "hovered" at our table and kept scraping the crumbs off the tablecloth between courses. Poor guy was just doing his job and we were so unappreciative. (Don't worry, all you retired waiter and waitresses out there, D has always been a very generous tipper, even when annoyed.) The dress I was wearing was one of those that had the stretchy gathered fabric on the top half with a big bow on the left hip, and of course, it was the requisite 80's floral! At least it wasn't mauve! Get a load of the shoulders on that dress. And I have broad shoulders anyways. I remember having to adjust the stretchy part of it every time I wore that dress. (: Oh the price of being beautiful!
Anyways, I am so glad our first Valentine's Day together was a good one, even if not terribly adventurous or creative, and that I had the chance to remember it this week of all weeks! I guess it is just the hopeless romantic in me!!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Answering Machine Etiquette
I need some advice. My husband and I can't agree on how to handle the "situation" and I would value some input.
We each have our cell phones. We also have our home phone number (high speed internet access). I typically hand that home number out to people who don't necessarily need us immediately (school directories, church directory, businesses, etc.). We also get quite a few telemarketing calls on that home number. I have the machine set on 2 rings and typically don't answer it. It just takes messages which we can collect when we have a free moment.
Here is my issue. There have been a couple instances where people have left messages on the home number and I have not retrieved them until several days later because someone has hit the play button to get rid of the annoying beep.
I have been told to just turn off the machine. So I did. But then I had both my cell phone and my home phone ringing...I just couldn't take that insanity anymore!! Some people hang up after 7 rings and try all over again (perhaps hoping for a machine to click on?). So the machine is back on for now.
Do I let the phone ring continually without an answering machine, unplug the home phone, or do I have an anwering machine that sometimes doesn't get checked within a 24 hour period of time?
We each have our cell phones. We also have our home phone number (high speed internet access). I typically hand that home number out to people who don't necessarily need us immediately (school directories, church directory, businesses, etc.). We also get quite a few telemarketing calls on that home number. I have the machine set on 2 rings and typically don't answer it. It just takes messages which we can collect when we have a free moment.
Here is my issue. There have been a couple instances where people have left messages on the home number and I have not retrieved them until several days later because someone has hit the play button to get rid of the annoying beep.
I have been told to just turn off the machine. So I did. But then I had both my cell phone and my home phone ringing...I just couldn't take that insanity anymore!! Some people hang up after 7 rings and try all over again (perhaps hoping for a machine to click on?). So the machine is back on for now.
Do I let the phone ring continually without an answering machine, unplug the home phone, or do I have an anwering machine that sometimes doesn't get checked within a 24 hour period of time?
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Memory Lane
We are working on our basement...continually. It is my project guys' dream come true because there is always something more to be done. This past weekend I was "helping" by moving some boxes from one corner to another corner. As I went deeper down in the pile of boxes I came across several that I have moved from house to house over the last 17 plus years. And that was where my helpfulness ended.
They were rotten and falling apart, so at first I just sifted through items and put them back in newer boxes. Then I found yearbooks and had to show my son how young his dad and I used to look. Soon I found myself sitting on the cold concrete reading excerpts from my journals covering my semester in Europe. And it was truly all over when I found the box of love notes from Big D. I gave up and had the box brought upstairs so I could read them in the comfort of my own room and with warm carpet to cushion me.
I am amazed that our parents let us get married that young (I was 19 and D was 21) but there is no question our love was real and alive. And it is so fun to realize that our hope that our love would only grow through the years continues to come true. One of the notes just had me rolling. D. was apoligizing for the horrible class he talked me into taking with him...Intro to Computer. The prof was the ultimate nerd (short, balding, pudgy, dark glasses) and he talked about his stewardess girlfriends (yes, plural) and his favorite phrase was "money, money, money makes the world go round."
In one of the letters, D wrote that he hoped our kids never got a hold of these notes someday. Honestly, I can't believe that we actually have kids old enough now to get a hold of our old love letters and tease us about them. Anyways, it was alot of fun to go down memory lane and if you have any old love letters lying around, I strongly recomend you get them out and read them. Memory lane is way more fun then rotating boxes around a half done basement!!!
They were rotten and falling apart, so at first I just sifted through items and put them back in newer boxes. Then I found yearbooks and had to show my son how young his dad and I used to look. Soon I found myself sitting on the cold concrete reading excerpts from my journals covering my semester in Europe. And it was truly all over when I found the box of love notes from Big D. I gave up and had the box brought upstairs so I could read them in the comfort of my own room and with warm carpet to cushion me.
I am amazed that our parents let us get married that young (I was 19 and D was 21) but there is no question our love was real and alive. And it is so fun to realize that our hope that our love would only grow through the years continues to come true. One of the notes just had me rolling. D. was apoligizing for the horrible class he talked me into taking with him...Intro to Computer. The prof was the ultimate nerd (short, balding, pudgy, dark glasses) and he talked about his stewardess girlfriends (yes, plural) and his favorite phrase was "money, money, money makes the world go round."
In one of the letters, D wrote that he hoped our kids never got a hold of these notes someday. Honestly, I can't believe that we actually have kids old enough now to get a hold of our old love letters and tease us about them. Anyways, it was alot of fun to go down memory lane and if you have any old love letters lying around, I strongly recomend you get them out and read them. Memory lane is way more fun then rotating boxes around a half done basement!!!
Friday, February 1, 2008
The Kids Have A Snow Day
They are still asleep, except J. You know, it is the strangest thing how I have to drag her little behiney out of bed and crack the proverbial whip until she leaves on the bus, but on a snow day she is up and out of bed before normal wake up time.
Anyways, the snow is steadily drifting downward outside my window. All is calm and still and beautiful. And my neighbor is out snow plowing across the street. I think it may be because the plow is more of a toy then a tool. But it is kind of messing up my calm and peaceful morning. Makes me feel guilty that we too should be out snow blowing. Hmmm. Big D. is already at work. Maybe I should go wake the boys up and get them going on it too! Or maybe I will just move to another window.
So back to enjoying my, I mean the kids, snow day.
Anyways, the snow is steadily drifting downward outside my window. All is calm and still and beautiful. And my neighbor is out snow plowing across the street. I think it may be because the plow is more of a toy then a tool. But it is kind of messing up my calm and peaceful morning. Makes me feel guilty that we too should be out snow blowing. Hmmm. Big D. is already at work. Maybe I should go wake the boys up and get them going on it too! Or maybe I will just move to another window.
So back to enjoying my, I mean the kids, snow day.
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