Friday, August 29, 2008

Kitty Learns a New Trick

I got up later than I'd intended this morning, because one of my cats has learned a brilliant new trick.

Angus is a ten-year-old orange tiger striped kitty and he's a mama's boy. One of our neighbor kids found him when he was a kitten and brought him to us because some other kids in the neighborhood were trying to swing him around by the tail - yeah, don't even get me started. I made phone call after phone call trying to find a place for him to live when my husband finally stopped me and said that the kitty had already found his home. I looked, and he was curled up on my husband's chest sleeping. We named him Angus and he's been with us ever since.

He sleeps with us at night and if I get up in the middle of the night, he follows me to the bathroom, patiently waits and then follows me back to bed. Since I usually get up after my husband, Angus stays in bed with me until I get up and then follows me downstairs and hangs out in the bathroom with me while I get ready and then sits on the arm of the couch while I work.

So this morning, I'm half asleep and I think I hear my alarm go off, but then it stopped, so I figured I must have been dreaming and fell back to sleep. This happened several more times until I was finally awake enough to open my eyes. Imagine my surprise when I saw Angus saunter over to the alarm clock and smack the snooze button with his paw, after which he wandered back and laid down next to me and purred seeming quite pleased with himself. I watched him do it three more times before I finally forced myself to get out of bed. I really hope he doesn't make a habit of this or I'm going to have to figure out how to kitty proof the alarm clock.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tag...I'm It

The lovely Sandra Cox tagged me and here are the rules:



1) Link to the person that tagged you.

2) Post the rules on your blog.

3) List six unspectacular quirks you have.

4) Tag six bloggers by linking them.

5) Leave a comment on each person's blog to let them know they've been tagged.



My unspectacular quirks are:



I hate hot dogs - haven't eaten one since I was five and there was an unfortunate incident involving me, a hot dog and the basement stairs.

I love candles - God bless Brynn and her Partylite connection.

I'm allergic to penicillin, codeine, latex and bleach - found all of those out the hard way - lol.

I have to have white noise to go to sleep - unfortunately the sound of my husband snoring and my kids babbling in their sleep isn't enough to do it.

I can't stand doing dishes - I find it the most loathsome of all household chores. Weirdly, I don't mind doing them at other people's houses.

I eat around the outside of a peanut butter cup first - all the peanut buttery goodness can then be savored.

I'm tagging Brynn Paulin, Jennifer Armintrout, Dakota Rebel, Lyn Cash, Cheryl Sterling, Molly Daniels

Monday, August 25, 2008

Wait...what time was that appointment?

Like a moron, I waited to schedule all of the appointments that needed scheduling until right before school. In retrospect, I realize I should have done it right after the kids got out for summer vacation. Hindsight is a lovely thing.

So last Monday, I brought the boys school shopping. We went with the girls I do daycare for and their mom. OMG. I had forgotten how much of a pain in the butt girls are to shop with. In every single store (even if they didn't get anything) it took the B and Jess for times longer than it took Killian and Corwin. It would have been a lovely little socio-scientific observation if I hadn't been ready to strangle them. I think their mom was even more annoyed! (For more on boys/men and how they think, check out Brynn's blog today - it's awesome!)

On Tuesday, I had to get my new bifocal contacts checked. (That's what I get for spending so much time on the computer!) and Corwin had to go to the dentist for fillings.

On Wednesday, the poor little bug got fitted for braces.

On Thursday, there were appointments at the doctor's office.

On Friday, I had to quick make a Pocahontas costume for my niece's birthday party on Saturday and then drive three hours to Detroit to go to the party.

We're back to Monday and I just got back from Killian's high school orientation (yikes!), Corwin gets his braces on Wednesday and school starts next Tuesday. Somewhere in here, I have to write a book - the deadline is bearing down like a freight train.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Magnetic Personality?

I don't know what it is, but I'm beginning to take it personally. I think nails hate me. Yes, nails - roofing nails, regular wood nails, all those different sharp, pointy pieces of metal that are meant to hold things together. They hate me.

Let me back up. I have a great little car - a Saturn Ion. Her name is Squishy (ala Dorrie and the jellyfish from Finding Nemo) and I love it. However, Friday at rush hour, I got flat while driving on a really busy express way. In Michigan, the speed limit is 70, which means that people typically go 75-85, myself included. I never really realized how scary-fast that is until I was standing on the side of the road watching the traffic scream by.

My jack had never been used before so the ratchet end didn't want to pop out, but a liberal application of sunscreen and a hammer cleared that right up. My sister and my kids were with me and Cait (cause she's awesome) started changing the tire...only, I'd just recently gotten the tires rotated and the bolts had been machined on a little too tightly...which meant I had to call the hubby. He came, changed the tire and was all around fabulous.

Cait, while tossing the flat in the trunk, pointed out the giant nail sticking out of the tire and I swore. A lot. This was the fifth nail to puncture one of my tires in the last two years. Seriously, I know people who've gone a lifetime never getting a nail in a tire. Maybe I'm just being pissy, but it seems like a lot.

I spent my Saturday at the tire place (Thank God I had the new Suzanne Brockmann book) waiting for them to either fix or replace the flat and I found out that it was not the fifth nail...it was the sixth. Yes indeed, embedded in my other front tire was another five inch long nail. Luckily, that one managed to stay inflated long enough to make it to the tire place.

So I'm annoyed at the seemingly overabundance of nails that have found their way into my tires. Is there some cosmic lesson that I'm supposed to learn from this (other than don't drive over nails - which, for the record, I don't do knowingly) Cait insists it's my magnetic personality, but somehow, I kinda doubt it.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Check It Out!


I was interviewed by Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews and I'd love it if you'd stop by and take a peek. There's also a chance to win a set of 3 ebooks and a deck of tarot cards!


Here's the link if you want to take a look and enter the contest. http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/interviews.htm


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Rocks and Husbands

I think I've mentioned in other posts that Lake Superior is one of my favorite places on earth. It never ceases to amaze me how it can go from this to the pictures below in a matter of moments. These top two pictures were taken at Whitefish Point. I've heard rumors that the lighthouse is haunted, but unfortunately, weren't able to get inside and check it out.






The day after the top two pictures were taken, we went to Autrain which is a small town that sits on the shore of Lake Superior between Munising and Marquette. I wanted to stop on a certain section of beach and pick up some rocks. Of course hubby's idea of the stones we should get were different from mine. I was thinking nice, palm sized rocks...however, Matt was thinking that boulders were the way to go. Sigh...

He wasted no time in finding a beautiful stone and started to unbury it while Killian and I looked for smaller stones and Corwin dug holes on the beach.






This is the rock Matt decided needed to come home with us, but before he could get it out of the sand, a storm blew in.















The lake went from completely placid to rough inside of ten minutes. Five minutes after that, we were battered by hail and pounding sheets of rain. The wind was so strong it blew my husband's glasses off his face. We ended up searching for them in the midst of a thunderstorm so severe, cars pulled off the highway. It rained so hard, the parking lot (which was dry when we pulled in) was covered in swirling, calf-deep water. We finally found them about thirty minutes later once the rain stopped.
I told Matt the storm was the lake's way of saying it didn't want him to take the stone, but he decided since we were already soaking wet and his shoes and glasses had been trashed that he wasn't going to let the lake or the rock get the best of him so he rolled it up the hill (it's about 150 pounds) and hefted it into the trunk of the car.
Men... Stand back ladies...he's all mine.
*rolling my eyes and shaking my head*