Wrapping Up 2007

We leave for Vegas tomorrow evening. I should be doing something productive, like, oh, for instance, laundry or putting away some of the Christmas haul, or something. Packing. Stuff like that. Instead I've pissed the day away, doing sporadic tasks that don't amount to much at the end of the day. And it's about the end of the day. I did manage to take the Christmas tree and few miscellaneous decorations down and packed them away in the basement. So that counts for something. The cats - particularly Twinkle - will really miss the tree. He got my money's worth out of it again this year.

I think I'll take a little nap....

Santa brought the kitties some toys; they had a good time playing with them:

Kenny's grandfather Stanley opened his gifts. We bought him a Master's hat (golf), which he really liked.

My nephews, Trevor and Justin, at Sophie's house where we exchanged gifts:

Kenny and Linda figured out how to work the digital photo frames:

The Girl Cat - what a pretty little thing! She's getting more lovable, I've been forcing kisses on her and she's finally coming around a bit. I'm not in fear of her anymore. At least, not as much.

Getting ready to head out on Christmas Day. I look like a 41 year old. WTF.

I'm single-handedly bringing Sexy Back:

And Sexy is officially back:

And Christmas 2007 drew to a close:




Peace and enjoy the last few days of 2007 and start those resolutions for 2008! I'm happy to report that I did accomplish some things on my list.

2007 was somewhat tumultuous, I'm hoping for an easier 2008.

God and Oreos

There is so much to say, and I'm currently hampered with my normal effusive writings. Let me backup....

My computer power cord has decided not to participate in it's job any longer. It just up and quit on me two days ago. They don't sell them in any of the stores we tried on Monday, so we've ordered one off of Ebay, which naturally hasn't arrived yet. I feel like Edward Scissorhands without his scissorhands - I feel incomplete without my laptop stuck on my lap! My fingers are motionless, except for some random cat scratchings. At present, I'm using Kenny's computer to bang out a few words and get my "fix," but for the most part I was just letting my reader know that I can't post. It's just not the same on someone else's computer.

Anyway, instead of using the few moments I have to write something of importance, or recognize someone special, I have instead decided to post a picture of the fabulous dessert I made for Christmas day. It's Meggan's famous Triffle, although I made one switch to vanilla pudding rather than chocolate, just to put my own stamp on it. It was quite a hit and I left the remains at Marge and Stanleys for the out-of-town company that arrives on Wednesday. There was almost a triffle-incident; I couldn't find my brand new triffle bowl that I purchased from Pampered Chef just so I could make this particular dessert. I hid it from myself pretty good and I had to do quite a search around the house until I found it, nestled in a cabinet above the stove. I never put anything up there - what was I thinking? Well, apparently I was thinking, "there's plenty of room up here, I don't store anything up here - I'll store the triffle bowl!" You can kinda see behind the triffle one of Marges jello treats she whipped up - no holiday is complete without something from the jello family.

Here's the holiday rundown in a nutshell:

Saw Sophie, Melinda and my nephews for an early supper and gifting on Sunday. Enjoyed the day very much!

Monday we visited with Kenny's other grandmother and family. Kenny's grandmother Helen has become bedridden since we last saw her in the spring. It's rare that one rebounds from "bedridden" - it's looking grim in my opinion.

After visiting there, we headed over to Dan & Bevs for a later-evening open house. Very good time, Timmy and Kenny watched the football and won their Fantasy Football championship - a $610 victory!

Today was Christmas and it was quite nice.

Kenny got me a really pretty watch and some misc. stuff.

I bought him Rockband for his Nintendo 360 (I think that's what it's for, if not it's one of those gaming units he has), plus some miscellaneous stuff. We had an early dinner at Marge & Stanleys, opened BAGS of stuff - crazy amounts of stuff! It's all just sitting in the living room, I'm not sure what in the world we're going to do with everything. We're very spoiled, for sure. This evening I met my little brother Chucky at Cinemark, Kenny left tickets at the window for us, and we got to enjoy Sweeney Todd together. We both gave it a 6.5 or 7. We liked it, but I'm not sure if it's Oscar worthy for me. So it was really nice to see him - it's been at least a year and a half. He looks good. Asked me if I'd had a boob job. I told him it's all God and Oreos.

The good thing that happened with the demise of my power cord on my computer was that we were trying to fix it and moved the couch and found the digital camera. I've been snapping pix like crazy, but alas will have to wait to post them. I need my own programs. I have some really cute pictures of Twinkle in my Christmas tree. It's 1:00 a.m. and I have to work in the morning, so I am logging off and heading to my very puffy bed. We purchased a "resort-style" mattress topper and it's next to heaven - both in softness and in tallness. I have to take a running leap to get onto the bed, it seems! Kenny's afraid he's going to sit up and get his head lopped off by the ceiling fan. If that happens, I'll be sure to post pictures!

Peace, and I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas with those they love!

The Gifting Begins!

Merry Christmas to Me! Monday night the girls and I planned for our annual Holiday nice meal together. Normally it's an extended lunch at Macaroni Grill, but with my hectic and unpredictable work schedule of late, we made arrangements for dinner at Carrabba's after work on Monday instead. Jill was unable to make it at the last moment, but Fran, Geri and myself were still able to get together, so we did! We had our gift exchange, and I was the very lucky recipient of the Burberry golf visor pictured above. How stinkin' cute is this??! I will be very fashionable on the golf course next season, with my Burberry accessories - I have the Burberry towel that Jill gifted me with last year. I'm very stylish! Hey, if you can't play good, at least look good! So anyway, I was quite excited and needed to give the hat a special blog of it's own!

Meggan brought over her annual tradition of lottery tickets. She potentially gave me $250,000 - that was the grand prize. Instead I won a dollar, and I was happy enough with that. It was very cute that she still included me, even though her gifting of the tickets is usually reserved for bowling participants - but she grandfathered me in anyway.

Mimi gifted me with a Bonnie Bell lipgloss. We have a no-exchange rule, she has enough kids and whatnot to buy for without worrying about me. But even with the rule in place, I still got her a little something, a mascara named Big Tease from Sephora. She was excited. Only girls would exchange makeup and be excited about it!

I am happy to report that I have closed in on my Christmas shopping - I have it almost under wraps. I gave Kenny his gift tonight, it's a ceramic heater that he needs in the garage for when he's working out there in the cold. I really wanted to save it so he'd have something to open, but he's going out there either late tonight or early morning and I was worried it would just be too awfully cold so he got it early and unwrapped. But he was quite thrilled, and very appreciative to have it early.

Kenny's coat is ordered, but it won't make it here until, well, who really knows. There was a snafu with my Capital One No Hassle credit card - it was quite a hassle. They declined the charge for "fraud" concerns and never notified me, so the folks in London just didn't start the order. I looked like a bad credit card giver, so they didn't even bother contacting me. I found out the troubles after a follow-up email to confirm all was well, and it wasn't. So after my head nearly exploded while on the phone with Capital One, they set my account up for "overseas travel" so when the order from London came through, it would process. This is the same credit card that declined my purchase in Cozumel in September. They decline all my purchases. I'd cancel the whole card, but they have a very low 1.99% interest rate. Of course, they can offer very low interest rates if they decline all my transactions! They can offer to GIVE me money for every transaction, but then never actually make good on it, because they flag them all as fraud. Hell, they might as well do that - it would be one great marketing program. A MILLION DOLLARS FOR EVERY QUALIFIED PURCHASE!

Peace, I have to go wrap up a "zoink" for a White Elephant gift exchange tomorrow. Nothing like waiting til midnight to take care of that :)

Snowin' & Blowin'

A blustery snow storm has settled over the city. Sitting in my living room chair, I can watch the winds struggle against the plastic on the windows, pushing and straining to get out of the cold themselves. Alas, they are not allowed in; the plastic is being bullied, yet holding firm in it's stance.

Morning dread is creeping over me all too soon, infringing on my evening. The thought of facing the cold and snow with the dawn of the new day is less than appealing. Dare I stay home and cuddle up with cats? No, not tomorrow. Too many plans and appointments for the day, it would be too much to cancel and rearrange. The girls and I are supposed to have a holiday dinner at Carrabbas right after work. Mimi and I have lunch plans. So I'll trudge in, despite the blowing cold, because I would hate to miss my pre-holiday shenanigans. Next week is a big party week all the way around with department luncheons and general catching-up. I still have to get my Christmas cards in the mail. I've been sporadically addressing them, I don't seem to have everything contained in one spot, so it's been catch-as-catch-can with them. I'd better get busy with it, or I'll miss the entire carding opportunity for yet another year.

We had some folks over to watch the football game with us and Kenny got in trouble. He was left with a short list of things to do while I was at the gym today and he failed me. Needless to say, he's been in a lot of trouble and I pulled out the "I'm Moving Out!" move again. He's been repentant, but full of excuses for not doing shit around the house again. Same old story. Oh, let me also say that before I went to the gym - while he was on the couch - I cleaned the bathroom, baked cupcakes and put on a crockpot of sweet & sour meatballs. It's not as if I left him with a chore list while I was off gallivanting footloose & fancyfree. I had just completed my part while he sat on his ass. So I think he's buying us a housecleaner for 2008. That might do a good job alleviating some of this strain. It's just about the only thing we argue about, and since it's been the same argument for 2 years, it's not going to change. It is who he is. But it's unacceptable for me to be the wife, maid, lover, handyman, et al. So he can pay for a maid and then he can sit around and do nothing and not have to listen to me bitch. See, already a New Years Resolution is in place! Oh, and I'm due to start my period any day now, so I'm sure my rant was hormonally inspired, but so what.

We did a bit of Christmas shopping, Kenny ordered digital picture frames for his parents and grandparents. Incidentally, he got the idea from Tim's "girlfriend" (it's quoted here because I don't know if they're on or off at the moment, it's touch-and-go by day), who sent that to his parents. While they are "on a break," so that sounds a little bit manipulative to me. Sending your "ex" boyfriends parents a gift you can't afford in the first place = manipulative. But anyway, we got a good idea out of it, and that's all that matters. They were expensive, though - $120 each! I also think I might order a Blockbuster gift subscription for my sister-in-law as a gift for the family. They're not horribly expensive. Oh, yeah - I got Kenny's leather jacket ordered up, too. But it would take a Christmas Miracle to have it even in time for our trip to Vegas, so it will be more like a Valentine's Gift - I shoulda probably got on that a little earlier than I did. Well, I have a few more small ideas for him to open on Christmas day. He'll be fine, God knows we both have enough shit already anyway.

I've been busy thinking about our upcoming vacation plans for 2008. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Jan - Vegas (but only barely into January, since we come home on the 2nd)
Feb - Vegas for Valentine's Day (Kenny has a great offer with hundreds of dollars in a shopping spree at the Caesar's Forum Shops)
June - Vegas for Kenny & Timmy's 40th Birthday
~~Rob, take a deep breath, I know all this Vegas makes your heart palpitate a bit - it gets better from here~~
July/August - Alaska Cruise
November - Caribbean Cruise

And that rounds out the year! See, Rob, Alaska is adding something new and wonderful to explore - we'd be branching out! And I seriously doubt the Vegas trips will all happen, it's just a sketchy plan at this point.

Alrighty, I'm off to read a book before bed. Still trying to get through one my friend Emily lent me, The Way the Crow Flies. It's good, it just takes a while to get into and it's really dense reading, so I don't get through a lot of pages in one sitting. I have been trying some speed-reading techniques I just read about, but that kinda takes away the fun of reading for enjoyment.

Peace, and I hope everyone stayed safe and warm this blustery winter weekend!

P.S. - yes, that's me at the top! Hotdamn, I'm CUTE!

If I Had a Million Dollars...

....I'd buy you a heart.

I had an encounter tonight with a woman I've seen periodically at Cinemark, a plus-sized black woman who always has a friendly word and a hug for Kenny every time she sees us there. She's always there collecting donations for some sick person or whatnot, so we throw in a couple of bucks. I'm usually impatient, ready to get my popcorn and get settled into my movie seat. But always the social butterfly, Kenny stops and engages in a full-out conversation, and this time I actually paid attention to what they were talking about. My attention piqued when she said she had just gotten out of the hospital a couple of days ago. I asked what for, and she said some complications with her heart. Come to find out, she's there collecting money for her own medical problem, she's the person that needs a new heart. I had absolutely no idea all this time that she was trying to raise funds to save her own life. Her name is Sonia. She has 23% of her heart working right now. She needs a new one or she'll be dead in two years at this pace. And she needs $95,000 more dollars to cover her out-of-pocket expenses once they find a match. She said that without that, she'll get a heart, but they'll take her house to pay for it. My heart broke, that this is how we treat human beings in this country. People should be able to get medicine, have surgery - live - if the tools are there to make it happen. So of course my eyes welled with tears and Kenny threw a large wad of money into the donation box - I think to keep me from full-out crying in the lobby of the movie theater. It's a lot easier to turn away from the collection boxes when the heart that needs help isn't looking you in the face. I know I can't save the world, but maybe a start is to help the one in my community.

After that we went and saw I Am Legend, the new Will Smith movie. It had a very sad scene (I won't spoil it for you, in case you plan on seeing it), but it was all I could do to not out-and-out bawl in the theater. After, I informed Kenny it had been a very trying night at the movies for me, first Sonia's story and then the added heartbreak from the movie. Who would have thought a zombie-esque movie would also be a tear-jerker.

On a lighter movie note, Friday night we saw a double-header. I met Kenny for a quick dinner immediately after work, we dined on nachos and beers at Hoggys before heading over to the 6:40 showing of No Country For Old Men. Okay, so that wasn't a lighter note. Wow, that movie was intense, I had sweaty palms from the time the credits started rolling. I don't know what I thought the movie was about, I guess some old guys sitting around and talking about life or something. I hadn't seen the previews. I was wrong. Anyway, go see it. Really good.

I needed something lighter after that to prevent nightmares, so we schooched over to Enchanted, which was enchanting. Until Kenny pointed out that McDreamy as the love interest was a little creepy since he's in his 40's and the chick looked like she was about 20. Well, we just googled her and she's actually 33, so that's not as creepy. But she looked much younger, so it's still a little creepy.

It's been something like three weeks since I've done any major grocery shopping and the food situation in the house is getting a little grim. I really don't enjoy grocery shopping at all, which is odd since I like to eat. We've had the occasional milk and bread pick-up, but nothing of substance in a while. Sunday a gang of guys are coming over to watch football and all we have to offer up is milk and whole-grain toast. One would think I'd be a bit more concerned, but there's always pizza. We have to do a bit of straightening up, get some pizza and beer call it a party. The Mailman is making chili and Timmy is making baked beans and I'm trying to think of something that will coordinate. I'm coming up empty. So. Maybe I'll just make a cake. Chili, baked beans, beer and cake. Nothing says "football" like that line-up. Superbowl's at my house, People!

Meggan stopped over at my cube this past week and brought a picture of little Clementine Diamond-Ortiz. She's a beauty!

I ventured to Beachwood to embark on a little Christmas shopping today, and ended up spending about $130 on myself - again. I bought this new eyebrow shaper kit thing and tried it out when I got home. Kenny said I looked like Uncle Leo from Seinfeld. Then he looked at my hair and asked if I'd gone out looking like that...I was a hot mess today, as Rita would say. And not hot in a good way.

Wow, this is a rather boring plot of words. The heart thing is only a touching story if you met the woman, and who cares that I saw three movies in 2 days and went out looking like a hot mess. I better try to drum up something better than this drivel or I'll lose my faithful reader. Is this really my life for the past week? If so, I need to do something. Maybe I'm just out of words. Used up all the good ones for the year. Hope I get a fresh batch soon.

Peace for the week, and do something daring and interesting. I'm going to try!

Street Widda

Tonight Kenny made this statement: "We need to capture Street Widda and bring her in."

I countered with: "There's a lot of things we need to do. "Capturing" stray cats off the streets and bringing them into the house is not one of them."

Bite-Sized

Here's a must-see for those of you at AG - of even if you're not, it's really quite amusing!

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1341420023

Street Walker

We're adding Christmas to the house this weekend. I had to go and buy a new fake tree since Twinkle "enjoyed" the one last year so much and bent up all the bottom branches. This year I was rather concerned with what to get that they wouldn't knock off the end table; I don't put a giant tree up, just something that can sit on a table in front of the picture window. Last year I had to duct-tape the tree to the table to keep it from getting pushed to the floor, but since we have the new endtables I didn't want to do that. So, while it's a little unorthodox, I bought a "porch tree" for the table, it has a solid planter thing as a base and is much more sturdy. So far, so good, and it looks rather pretty, to boot. It's pre-lit, so I threw on some ornaments and we're calling it Christmas.

Of all the things we've lost in the house, I'm dismayed to report that we can't seem to find our new digital camera. Hence the rather poor quality pictures of late, they are all from my new cellphone, which takes a rather poor quality photo. My old phone was a pain in the ass, but the pictures were generally better. Or maybe not, maybe it's just like a lost love where you remember it more fondly than the reality actually was.

I spend far too much time on the computer messing around, accomplishing nothing. So this is going to be short, I'm going to aim for a little more productivity in my day. We'll see if it works.

This past week for work a group of us went competitive shopping. We had a fun time, met a girl who works in Seasonal Product Managment, her brother works for Coach and she said she can get me anything I want with a 50% discount. That's like unleashing a fat kid in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I could feel myself salivating at the thought of 1/2 price Coaches. I have a working list already started!

As far as other Christmas shopping goes, I still have not purchased one thing yet. I need to get busy with that, I don't know exactly what my brain is thinking, how it's all going to magically get done. I'm stalled because I'm actually forcing Kenny to put some thought into the gifts for his family and so far he's only nixed all my ideas and hasn't contributed any himself. So we're just at a standstill. I suggested a Netflix subscription for his mom, she loves watching movies at home and normally purchases them - why not just order them and send them back when you're done? That idea was met with half-hearted interest. He better be coming up with something rather soon!

There's a black cat who runs around outside, she looks just like our black cat Widda, so we've dubbed her "Street Widda." Kenny came in distraught on Friday because someone hit Street Widda, or so he thought. It was a black cat, but not our Street Widda. He actually went back to see if there was anything he could do for the poor little thing, but there wasn't. And that's why cats should remain beloved indoor housepets.

Well, that's all I've got so far. Maybe more words will pour forth later.

Peace, and keep your cockles warm in this cold Cleveland weather!

Conjugal Visit

I volunteer to provide Jack Bauer with as many conjugal visits as needed. It's my duty as an American. Hotdamn, he is still good looking in a mug shot. He's a bad, bad boy. He needs a spanking.


I think it's cute the way he's letting them think they could keep him if he didn't want to be there. He's Jack Bauer, for Chrissake.

Passed out, surrounded by terrorists and nerve gas, and handcuffed to a table leg, Jack Bauer laughed to himself and said, "I have them right where I want them."

Jack Bauer quit for just five minutes, and a nuclear bomb went off.

Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer fucking hates lemonade.

Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

In 96 hours, Jack Bauer has killed 93 people and saved the world 4 times. What the fuck have you done with your life?

Growth Hormones?

When did my titties get so whompingly huge?? No wonder my aunt asked if I'd had a boob job! Wow, they don't look like this from my vantage point. I'm always surprised to see them from other angles.

p.s. - I don't want Newfie's tribute to get lost in the shuffle of these blatherings, for those interested in reading about a wonderful kitty, please go down 2 blogs.

23 Days Til Christmas

We have this coffee creamer, purchased from Sam's Club, that requires it remain unrefrigerated. It's a liquid. It looks and tastes like cream, but obviously it's not or it wouldn't remain "fresh" sitting on the counter for three months. Because it's been there that long, as I said it was purchased at Sam's Club, where everything is super sized. No wonder I don't have counter space to bake Christmas cookies - I have a Sam's Club creamer sitting out! Now the question that is begging to be asked is, "What in the hell is this creamer made of, where it doesn't spoil sitting out for three months??" I see creamer-related maladies in my future. It tastes good going down, though - hazelnut.

Kenny's been in Phoenix since Thursday on a "guy" trip with Timmy and Timmy's dad Big Al. They're staying at Ak-chin, which is a Harrah's property so Kenny was able to get the rooms comped. He's been gone a long time, it seems - I'll be happy when he comes home! They went to a Browns party Saturday night at some bar, and then they are going to the game Sunday afternoon. Kenny said it's been raining since they arrived, but since it snowed here, he has no room for complaining. He had been taking a bath at the gaming action, and since there's not much else to do there he feels a little trapped an bored at the casino. Someplace he never needs to go back to, he lamented. Hopefully it turns around for him, I did a Voo Doo chant for good luck around my Haitian "man" doll. Someone asked me if the voodoo chants worked, and I said, "About as much as praying does." So when things work out the way you want, it must have worked :).

Update: Kenny just called and told me that late last night he caught a small straight-flush on 3-card poker with a $25 bet, paid $1,000. Twenty minutes later, he hit another for $600 (smaller bet). It's official: Voo Doo WORKS!

This week I've reacquainted myself with the Pilates Reformer. As suspected, it owned me for the first couple sessions. Yesterday I was able to do it with a bit more ease. I need to head back up there in the next half hour if I'm going today. I hate their weekend hours, they close at 1:00 and that's just when I'm getting geared up to leave the house. I feel very stressed for time, having to be someplace by noonish on a weekend. Especially this weekend, I've had a very bad bedtime schedule, up til all hours and then requiring a nicer sleep-in. I see an Ambien in my future, to help me reset my clock.

Saturday I spent the better part of the day winterizing the house. I saran-wrapped most of the windows, getting the giant pneumonia-hole in the living room covered, which was the most important window. It practically spans the length of the wall in the front of the house and it is drafty! Sitting in the chair, you can feel the whoosh of wind come in through the cracks if it's not covered. So I strapped on my penis and became the man around the house once again. I also bought a new toilet seat; the Mailman installed the last one, but I'm going to try and figure this out myself. I'm invincible with my Bosch drill! Well, sort of. I tried to hang a mirror yesterday and it ended up crashing to the floor and breaking. Things to do today: Buy new mirror.

I am pondering following the Murdoch Rule for 2008. Rob is doing limited blogging so he can actually have time to write his next novel. I spend more time f-ing off blogging and rearranging Myspace, devoting no time to making my book happen. It's hard to get underway, while this is very easy and much more fun, being creative without any sense of obligation. And I have a limited readership, I'm sure, so what does it even matter other than noting my life for posterity. My great-great-great-great relatives will discover I struggled to make a good cuppa coffee and I had deep-seated public pooping issues. Is this really the legacy I want to leave behind?? Well, maybe.

This was our view from our room at Caesar's Palace. Not our first view, but the one we got after I threw a classic stink at the reservation desk when I informed them I wasn't spending my vacation in the "Classic" section on the hotel. We all know "classic Vegas" = "old Vegas." I had a stare-down with the front desk chick until suddenly a room became available. I took Geri's advice to just not leave the counter. Eventually they cave, especially if you say nothing and instead just stare at them. We spent one night in the "classic" room, which turned out to be really nice anyway and I felt a little bit like an asshole, but by then had to switch rooms on Saturday after I had created the stink. Our new room was so great, even Kenny was impressed with the switch. We could watch the Bellagio watershow from our room - totally cool.

Monday night I have to go and pick up Newfie's remains, the cremation is complete. I told Kenny that it's my destiny, I will die a lonely old woman in my 1-bedroom apartment, surrounded by containers of pet ashes. I will now have 3 containers of them. Kenny's question was, "Where will I be??" and he wasn't too happy when I told him he won't make it past 72, not with his inherited heart and cholesterol problems, while I would make it to at least 82 based on Sophie's longevity. He was too...surprised, I guess, by my analysis to point out that both of his grandparents are still kickin' at 87 & 88. I figure I'll have to catch another man in my senior years or die alone. I'll be back on that Pilates Reformer at the age of 75 - now that would be a picture! I know, I know, it's not nice to poke and tease about death. Blah, blah, blah. Get a sense of humor, People! As Rob says, "I keeed, I keeed." Or something along those lines.

Get ready to hate Meggan right now: She has all of her Christmas shopping finished and wrapped, and her Christmas cards are ready for mailing. To date, I have purchased NOTHING. I don't even know what/who I'm buying for this year. It will be a very limited list, I believe. It gets shorter every year. Gift cards for my nephews, I just need to determine the "from where." Probably Wal*Mart, they can get a lot of stuff for the money, more so than from Best Buy. And I need to think of something for Kenny. I was pondering (it's okay for me to post my ideas here, he doesn't read this, he says he lives it and doesn't need to rehash it) Sirius radio for him, something he can listen to in the basement and garage when he's working. But I'm not convinced he'd use it - he never used the Bluetooth headset thing I purchased for him 2 years ago. Or I might order a leather jacket for him, maybe. He seems to like coats. I tried to do the old, "Let's not exchange gifts, we're going to Vegas for New Year's" bit on him, but he squashed that idea. He's been strictly instructed NOT to get me any giftcards this year. I don't like the pressure that comes with having those. Now, I like them if they're for the movies or a restaurant or hair salon - I go to those places all the time. It's when he buys me a $300 card to Parmatown Mall that I feel pressured. I want to get myself something substantial for that kind of money, it's my gift after all, and don't want to squander it on 2 shirts and a moisturizer or some nonsense like that. Last year I bought a Coach purse and a pair of Nike Shox with the giftcard, and made him pony up the extra for taking the easy way out on shopping for me. Girls: We always cost the boys money with our made-up rules.

Sophie needs a new television. But that's a pretty pricey gift to give at Christmas. Maybe Santa will bring her one anyway, she's been rather good this year. Here's a cute picture of her from Thanksgiving:

Other than Kenny and my nephews, I have to think about his family and they are very hard to buy for - very hard. They have absolutely everything. I think his dad is getting a heated ice scraper from Avon. I have a couple ideas, but really nothing much to go on at all. What do we get for his 88 year old grandfather?? Chocolates? He does like sweets, but we got him a big tower of that last year. He was an avid golfer, maybe a nice golf logo sweater, even though he doesn't golf anymore. Then I have to determine who else .... I think this might be it. Maybe my sister-in-law, maybe. That's about it. So with some intensive time spent online shopping I should be able to get it all wrapped up in a day.

Should it come as a surprise to me that the cats run from me when I try to pick them up?? Doesn't Twinkle look HAPPY?!!!

I've decided to take my cue for the day from Stanley and stay home rather than battle the Reformer today. Even God rested on the 7th day. Peace and have a festive first-week-of-December.

With Love, My Dear Friend

She was always a little bit different, this one. Not your ordinary cat. Right off the bat you could see she was different as she had a little stumpy fluff where a full size tail should have been. I found out that was her breed, Manx, and she had the distinction of being a stumpy Manx - meaning she had a bit of tail meat and fluff, but not much to waggle around.

Newfie joined the family in November of 1992 - a birthday gift to myself that year. I had just expressed my desire to add another member to the family and had requested a small little calico kitten as my desired kitten of choice. It was kismet when we walked into that pet store off of Great Northern Boulevard shortly after I threw my request out to the Universe. Two calico fluffballs were romping in the glassed cage.

Well, they were both just so stinkin' cute, there was no way I was leaving one of them behind. We purchased both kitties for $35 each, plus tax, and promply delivered Newfie's sister Naomi to my mother, who fell in love with her at first sight.

Naomi was named by my mother after a character on Mama's Family. She was the lucky one :) Newfie got her moniker because she was....well....the New Cat in the house. Clever, I know. Newfie just sort of morphed out of New Cat on it's own, and at least it did add an element of cute to the name.

While her name wasn't very cutesy or common, there isn't another name out there that would have been better suited for her. She was a Newfie through and through. Little. Yellow. Different. That was my Newf.

Newf was a tiny little thing until one day it was observed, "Newf's getting a little fat." It seemed like overnight she went from being a well-porportioned kitten to a basketball-bellied cat. She liked her food! And really, what else did she have? She was spayed. She wasn't allowed outside. Her lack of a tail, which acts as a stabalizer for cats, made it really difficult for her to maintain her balance if she jumped, so she pretty much ceased all activities that she couldn't do from the floor. So she ate.

Newfie became a fast favorite with everyone who met her. She had a gentle personality that demanded nothing more than some occassional attention. But boy, when she wanted attention, she demanded it! New didn't have a common cat meow, she instead made a noise that sounded like a gutteral shout, "Maakah." It was very discernable. As she couldn't hoist herself up onto any of the furniture, she would stand at your feet and bark, "Maakah" until you picked her up and held her for as long as she deemed necessary.

Some years ago she was diagnosed with diabetes. Probably due to her penchant for food and lack of activity, one would guess. Newf required a morning and an evening shot of insulin (the same type people use) and she took those shots in stride - she rarely complained, and when she did it was more than likely deserved for jabbing her a bit too harshly. Everyone learned to give her a shot, even those who were at first relunctant. The reaction was the same for everyone, too, "Wow, that was just so easy!" No problems, that summed up Newfie's life. She rolled with it and everyone around her did, too.

Despite her size and lack of agility, she had a few catlike abilities that she was proud to showcase. She had lightening-fast eye/paw coordination and could catch a housefly or bug in midair. Now, those bugs would have to fly into her "zone," she wasn't going to chase them - that's crazy talk. But if they were unfortunate enough to fly within paw's distance, she owned 'em.

Newf could always be found in one of the same few spots around the house. She liked to sleep in a box lid, her cat basket, in a little corner nook of the living room, or lying near her food or water dish. She was too lazy to stand to eat or drink, she instead just laid by the bowls - and she'd stay there for a good while, just in case she got a bit parched or needed a quick nibble. She took her laziness to the extreme at times and wouldn't even dip her head into the water bowl; instead, she'd dip her paw into the water dish and then lick the water off her fluffy paw soppers. Now that's a lazy cat, and Kenny swears that Caesar picked up this little habit of hers and that's why he now dips his paws into a freshly poured cup of coffee and licks it clean! Newf's left her legacy behind.

She got very sick very quickly. On an ordinary Sunday in November, she just wasn't herself; she had no appetite and was very weak, she could barely stand up. A subsequent trip to the pet emergency clinic helped in the short term, but she never quite fully recovered. The wonderful Dr. Fred and his staff at Cloverleaf Animal Hospital worked with us to try and get her back on track, but the efforts didn't last long and were, in the end, futile. It's suspected she had cancer, but we don't know for sure. She died the day after Thanksgiving, November 23, 2007, while in the care of the veternarian. There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a beloved pet - faithfully loving, always accepting, forever welcoming. I was the lucky one, to have had her in my life for 15 years. Rest easy, beloved Newfie. Mama misses you.

Just Like That

She's gone....

A proper tribute to a wonderful pet to be posted later.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

There he sits, Ruler of the Roost. He is one bad motherfucker, he of the name Twinkle Toes. I will miss him while we're gone for the next couple of days. We leave in a couple of hours, I've allowed myself a couple quick minutes to blather on about the holiday and miscellaneous whatnot.

Kenny and I just had a quick argument about packing - he asked me to pack some stuff for him in with my suitcase, to which I adamantly refuse to do so. He is too messy. When I have packed his stuff with mine in the past, I thought my head would explode on vacation as he rooted around in the luggage, disheveling all of my carefully folded clothing items while he dug for a pair of clean underwear. So no, the answer is no: I will not "just throw some stuff for you into my bag." No matter how nice he asks, or how whiny. It's a very messy person who makes ME look like a neatnik. He succeeds in making me look very tidy.

Quick hair update: I went to the salon to meet with owner and their Redkin professional colorist, who happens to be Meggan's gal. I was on the border of irate, but they at least didn't insult me by trying to tell me the color looked good. So Mary, the colorist, made some sense when she said that if they just refund my money without my letting them try to fix it, I'll still have to walk around for the next few weeks with that horrible color on my head. Long story short, I agreed to let her try it, and while it doesn't look bad, it still isn't Sara Hair. It's too light now, but that's because she didn't really know what she was aiming for . Hair color trauma/drama is just ridiculous, but when you're paying a lot of money, you should get professional looking results. Which I did not, and still do not have, but she did spend a lot of time on it and tended to it with care, which I appreciated the effort being made. Course, it naturally ended up costing me more money - I couldn't let her work on my head for 2 1/2 hours and NOT tip her, it wasn't her fault that it was fucked up to begin with. She tried to insist "no" on it, but I guess I was out to prove I wasn't an unreasonable asshole and insisted she take it. So now my so-so hair has set me back $182. I felt the cock pull out of my asshole after they shoved that one up there. Too graphic?? Apologies to the delicate.

Thanksgiving was a delight. We went to Kenny's grandparent's house, taking my grandmother Sophie with us. Very good food, very good fun all the way around. Kenny and I took Mapleside Farms apple and blackberry pies, as well as a sweet potato casserole I whipped up. Since we're leaving today we weren't able to capitalize on the leftover situation - drat.

Margie did impart a useful tip 'o the day for us: If you're stuffed from too much stuffing, a little snifter of Creme de Menthe will rid you of that overly "full" feeling. We each sipped a little shot of that, and lo' and behold, we were able to shovel more food into our gullets before too long. So we enjoyed 3 flavors of pie with some cinnamon ice cream on top. Yum! Then we drank more Creme de Menthe. Margie argued with me that it was pronounced "cream," and not "creme" and I pointed out that's because she's a hillbilly and thinks it's pronounced "cream de mint-aye."

Alright, I've used up my allotted blogging minutes, I must dash and pack clean underwear and kiss cats. Newfie has been delivered to the vet, she took another turn for the worse last night, she's coughing up spittle again and not eating. I am glad she's in the hands of the vet while we're gone.

Peace, and give thanks for all that's good in your lives!

Holiday Wishes

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Random Thoughts

Some Things I Dislike:

• Weak people. Get some backbone, do the right thing, stand up for your convictions, don't fuck with people's heads that don't deserve it.


• Scraggley cuticles.


• High humidity.


• Bad shoes.


• Bad hair. Bad EXPENSIVE hair.


• Screaming kids.


• Screaming kids that run amok in public venues.


• Weekend obligations.


• Sore feet.
  

Some Things I Like:

• Fucking with people's heads that deserve it.


• Cake.


• Frosting.


• A strong back.


• Kind shoes.


• My boyfriend!!


• My boyfriend in the rack :)


• Dinner out.


• Wings and icy-cold beer. Especially with my boyfriend.


• Hanging out with my girlfriends.


• Cats in bed.


• Cats on my lap while watching television.


• Weekend afternoon catnaps. With cats.


• Friendly faces.
• Dark nailpolish.

Some Things I'm Thankful For:

• That my kitty is feeling better.
• That I'm with the one I love/who loves me back.
• My family.
• A roof over my head.
• Decent health for myself and those I love.
• Enough money to pay my bills and still have fun.
• Finally getting my divorce finalized!
• My independence.
• Living in America.
• My right to vote.
• My right to pursue happiness. I may not find it, but I have the right to keep looking.
• TV - big tv's :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

Where to start? It's been a jam-packed week, and it was Birthday Week to boot, which made it special on it's own merit. It wasn't always a "good" busy either. The week was fraught with cat strife, with many trips back and forth to the vet. Luckily we have her a bit stabilized for the time being, and after Saturday's visit where she received a steroid shot she's even started to eat a bit. The vet has admitted that he just doesn't know what's wrong. She has signs of pointing in one direction, but then the symptoms stop supporting the theory. So we're just trying to get her to eat, drink, poop and pee in a normal fashion - the basics are all we're asking for and it seems we're getting back on track a bit. For the time being, at least. I was very concerned about going out of town next week with her so iffy, but I spoke with the vet and I can board her there for $16/day - which is quite a bargain! We'll be taking her down there on Friday morning before we jet off to Vegas. I feel much better leaving with that plan in place. Here's a pic of her on one of our trips to the vet - she gets wrapped up in a fleecy blankie and does just fine riding.


I think I hate my new cellphone. Hate it, I say. It's confusing to use, I have repeatedly dialed my grandmother as she's 1st in my fave fives and hitting "send" doesn't dial the last number called like my last phone, instead it dials Sophie. I can't send pictures to emails, I had to set up a T-Mobile album thing, the pictures - as you can see - are lacking in quality (although none of the pictures have had ideal lighting). Anyway, I'm just disgruntled beyond belief with the whole situation.

With all the cat drama of the past week, as well as shitty work deadlines, I completely missed my hair appointment with Sarah. Geri saw her on Wednesday and Sarah told her to tell me she'd do me on Saturday (my birthday) over her lunch hour. Well, I was all set for that, but we found ourselves at the vet again and I had to cancel my appointment with her. Fearing I would have to go to Vegas with trailer-trash roots peeking though, I tried a new option in my neighborhood, which Meggan recommended. Meggan always has nice color, so I figured why not give it a shot and they actually had appointments available on Sunday, which is just unheard of, being open on a Sunday. I happily made an appointment, even though Meggan's girl wasn't available. I figured - again, naively - that anyone could do a good job - it's just hair, they're not splitting the atom.

Well, let's just say the results were less than desirable. They ASSURED me they could match my current base & highlight color, that they used Aveda color and it wouldn't be a problem. It's not even close to what I had, and the chick didn't use the Aveda color, despite the fact I requested it when I made the appointment. She had my head halfway done before I realized it was all fucked up. I didn't even get a style or blowdry, and it was a very basic trim, and I almost fell over when I checked out - $150. I asked to see a breakdown of the bill, since that's more than I get charged at John Roberts, and that includes a blowdry/style. Anyway, no sense in getting into it, but when they asked for my personal info for their computer, I told them there was no need, I wouldn't be back. And then once my hair dried and I realized how bad the color was compared how it started out - not even close in color - I called back once I got home and went off on them. They offered to let me come in for a redo, and I asked why in the world would I let them touch my head again when they couldn't get it right the first time - that's piling bad hair on top of bad hair. No thanks. Although I do think I'm not quite done bitching with them, I think I want some money back or free product or something. At least they know I'm pissed off and unhappy. Meggan, rest easy, I never gave them your name so they won't take it out on you when you go back. It's my own fault for just going with whoever and straying from the recommended girl. Live & Learn. Luckily, it's hair and it grows, but the $150 price tag for shitty hair really annoys me. Still. I still haven't calmed down about it! Kenny said it doesn't look that bad and I told him to shut the fuck up.

Okay, that's 2 bad things. Let me think happy thoughts for a moment....ah...breath in, breath out.

Oh, one more bitchy item. With all the commotion this week I was unable to make my 2/times week commitment to the gym so now I'll be locked into a contract with them and have to pay an extra dollar per month. Double Fuck. And it's probably going to be like starting over when I get back on that Pilates Reformer - I haven't been acquainted with that in a week. I think it will own my ass again tomorrow night.

Wednesday night was the very fun Garth Brooks "concert" at Cinemark. We met Dan & Bev and Kim & Jim at Quaker Steak for a dinner and beer beforehand.

The concert was very fun, really good - but he's lookin' old! There is snow on the chimney! I'd still do him, he'd just have to leave his hat on :)

Thursday night was the Karaoke Radio Contest finals at Howl at the Moon. We got down there around 7:30 and it wasn't over until about 1:30 a.m. - CRAZY long night. I was CRANKY by the end, there was no reason to drag it out over that many hours, but the numbnuts that planned it (not Kenny) were trying to milk the bar tab as much as possible so they dragged it out. I was shot for work on Friday, not sure how I managed to get through the work day, but I did and I was even productive. The Product Management girls and Rita from my new department were all going out with me for Birthday Cocktails after work and I was already dragging from being out on Wednesday and Thursday, but I figured I could handle it - I'm not old yet! I can keep up! Or so I told myself....

I had a really good time with Rita, Emily, Chelsey, Kristin & Stefanie - always a good time. But I had to cut my own party short because Kenny made dinner plans for later - 8:30 - with some friends, so I went from one outing to another. It was very rushed for me - I guess that's the one of the hazards of being so popular!

Last night Melinda text-messaged me with the news that my nephew Justin was in another car accident. She said he's fine, but the car was totalled. I am ashamed to admit it, but I haven't had the chance to sit down and call to get the details yet, but since she said he was fine I didn't have a big sense of emergency. If the message can be conveyed via txt msg, it couldn't be that harrowing. But I'm sure glad he's okay - I wouldn't have needed bad news this week - it's been a struggle to get through for me, really stressful overall.

For my birthday, Kenny's mom Linda and his grandparents took me to dinner at Home Town Buffet Saturday evening. It was quite the festivus :)

After we ate we went back to Marge & Stanley's for ice cream cake and presents. I got quite a haul! Marge & Stan (well, more Marge I'm sure) bought me a new Liz Claiborne purse that is very fun, and Linda got me a small MP3 player along with all the necessary accessories. It's super-cool, I've never had one before, and I'll be able to use it at the gym - as well as at work. She bought the speaker stand thing for me so I can plug it into that and get some really great sound. I need to read up about it and get it all figured out, but haven't had a chance to yet today.

The house is totally trashed, we've been steam cleaning the carpet and shit is absolutely everywhere as a result. The carpet smelled, I think my sick cat inadvertently peed the night she had her seizure, and it was killing me to walk into the room - I wanted to go sleep in a hotel the other night, I was so sick of dealing with everything. But then I realized that might be a little extreme and now we're cleaning the carpet.

I would have to say it hasn't been the most carefree birthday week to date, but since we're leaving for Vegas on Friday I wouldn't complain too much. Well, I think it's too late for that, so instead I won't complain anymore. Anymore than two more things...or so. But nothing more for right now, how's that? I'm exhausted, blogging off and going to clean the kitchen, which is a disaster since I embarked on a whole cupcake baking and decorating extravaganza for my birthday treats for work tomorrow. Why couldn't I just buy bagels?? Well, because I bought these really cute decorating bottles from Pampered Chef and wanted to try them out, so there ya go.

Peace, and I hope we're all fortunate enough to make it to another birthday!

What a Difference A Day Makes!

Well, Newfie is back to perky tonight! She was really bad this morning, I had to syringe some water into her mouth and carry her to her litter box before I went to work. I reported in to the vet this morning and he asked that we bring her down right away. Kenny zipped her down there on his way to work. Lucky for us (and Newfie) that he works a little later in the day and was available to do so - I've been so busy this week at work that there is no way I would have had the time this morning.

Her insulin was checked and it was a little high, 154, but I'd rather have that than have it be so low she crashes again. I was especially worried since she had no interest in eating - she hadn't eaten since Saturday, I think. I was expecting very dire news from the vet this evening.

Kenny picked her up on his way home from work, and she must have cashed in one of her 9 Lives - she is SO MUCH BETTER tonight - it's amazing! Her head is perky, her eyes are bright, she had a few little nibbles of some cat food and licked the water. I think she still needs a little more to drink, I'll be squirting some into her mouth shortly just to make sure, and I will carry her to the litter box again tonight just in case, but it's quite a turn around. Very relieved for the moment!

Cat Crisis Update

Well, we're all still standing. Newfie is home right now, but it's tentative at best. She has some serious issues going on, but right now we're focused on getting her to eat again - she has an Ellipsis or something that is pronounced they way I just spelled, and it has something to do with a lot - I'm talking waaaay too much - gas in her intestines, which is causing her discomfort, resulting in her lack of appetite. Her lack of appetite causes her blood sugar to dip, which in turn causes all the other problems - cold body, lethargy, glassy-eyed stare, weak in the limbs. It's a terrible domino effect.

Our first step is to work on getting her to eat again, so I brought her home because it's particularly hard to get a cat to eat under the duress of being in the cat hospital. She has a medication that will hopefully help to stimulate the appetite, which will get the intestines to work again. That's the hope.

Once we get her eating again, we're going to work on her insulin levels. The vet is hoping by Friday, so we're not anticipating a rapid change in behavior right now.

The most concerning part - and the one that we're going to address last - is some spots creeping up into her lungs that may be cancer. Cancer that would be stemming from some other area, of which we're not sure (and probably won't be). Veterinary medicine is a lot of guess work, probably because the animals can't really tell ya what's hurting where.

So that might be the long-term problem, but right now - today - we're focusing on keeping her warm (her body temperature was dangerously low yesterday) and trying to get her to eat drink and poop again. I've built her a cat tent out of blankets by a chair and the heat vent, it's creating a very nice little warm cocoon for her. Now if she'd only have a bite to eat...

Oh yeah - Twinkle hissed at her when she came home and the other cats treated her like they'd never seen her before. It wasn't a very friendly homecoming for her.