The good, the bad and the poop.

The good thing about having a cat who lives on TOP of your screen??? 

No hair on the outdoor furniture.

{No, Maisy didn't just suck a lemon, this is her regular facial expression}

The bad thing about having a cat live on top of your screen?

The cat thinks the screen is it's home, and part of that home is a litter box.

 Yes, that is poop on top of the pool cage. Ain't that a pretty sight?

My friend Kelly was here this weekend, and she aptly named the cat; Screen.

Screen is kinda making me nuts. Screen still won't let any of us near it. Screen is a feral cat.

I have two choices and I'm not thrilled with either choice....I've got to get this Screen situation under some sort of {poop} control. 

Anyone poop in inappropriate places at your place this weekend?

The Situation & the &.

Happy Wednesday!
What? well, all day yesterday I thought it was Tuesday. I know...a crime.

We've been dealing with a hairy situation this week....
This little bundle of claws!

 This crazed kitten is on top of our pool cage. Do you know how high that is? It's really high. 

I've not been able to get near this little girl/guy...it constantly meow's to our cats and then runs from us.

(when it is NOT on top of the pool cage!)
The cats want nothing to do with it and Cocoa wants everything to do with it!

I'm going to call in some help with this one, I am fairly certain it is feral.  :(

***

Look what I found!!

The ampersand!

I am advising that the guy (and I know there is only one) who runs the inventory/shipping dept at Hobby Lobby should get a large raise.
I ordered this online Monday night, it was here on Thursday. 

***

The Coach has been in Vegas for a show/conference. He took one of his new 'guys' with him. On the phone last night he said:
"I've lost my new guy, but I'm fairly certain he is on the roof of the hotel. And would you believe I found a baby in the closet? Oh yeah, I've got all my teeth!"

{Raise your hand if you know what the Coach was talking about}

Have a great Wednesday! Or if you prefer to, get wild and refer to today as Friday!

xoxox

Cousin-ing and Wild Manatees.

On Sunday we took a drive to have a birthday lunch for my FIL.

Along with the inlaws, it's always entertaining when all five cousins get together!

Lo and Kristy compare leg injuries. Lo pinched a nerve in her hip while diving at softball practice. 

Kristy fell off the back of a (non moving) pick up truck. I'm not even going there. 

Lindsay and Bryan compared calf sizes.

As the coach says: Those aren't calves Bryan, those are Steer!

 A photo of Grandpa and his favorite grandchild. 

 Ok, maybe it's not nice to pick favorites. 

 Of course, I was always a favorite to all my Grandparents. I'm sure you already assumed this.

On the way home, we stopped by the manatee park. (right next to the power plant) The manatee flourish here during the winter...warm water=happy manatees! 

 Do you see the Coach's calves steer?

 Despite the reputation they have been given, Manatee are not man eaters.

Do you see them here? They are hard to photograph because they only jump out about once an hour.

 Lindsay walks all over them. Cruel.

For your viewing pleasure, I caught one of the manatees doing their famous 'once an hour' jump. 

Did you see it? Nice right?

See why I was a favorite of my Grandparents...I never fib!

For some reason, the video is available to some, but not others. I hope you are not an other. 

Can you spare an ampersand?

If you were paying attention, and I pay you to pay attention, you will recall that I jazzed up my photo ledges for Christmas this year. This was the very first time that I removed ALL the photos and misc stuff and had ONLY Christmas goodies. And by goodies,  I mean old candy. 

Well, when I declared CHRISTMAS IS OVER!!!!... I started with another clean slate. I decided to change things up. I was tired of the old family photos...needed some newer/updated ones. Lucky for them, I'm not so tired of the family itself. Well, for today anyway.

I had the "S" already. (It was for our last name, now it is for my first name. Oh Snap...the internet knows my initials now! Might as well give my my social security number.)

I found the "J" at Marshall's.

"'J" is for Coach. Yes it is!

{Lo's pottery class pears; so darn cute}

I thought it would be cute to put an ampersand (&) in the middle of the J and S. {by the way, our college child didn't know what an ampersand was. Can we get a refund? On the tuition, not the child, I'm pretty sure they don't give $ back on kids anymore.}

While I was fussing around with the shelves...I said out loud: Oh, if I can't find an ampersand, I can put a plus in the middle of J and S and then an equal sign....with L and L at the end.

Confusing?

Oh, it would be like this: J+S=L&L.

Lindsay said: Gross.

Lauren said: Ewww.

Hey, I was just doing the math.

Actually, I should get credit because I restrained myself from saying: See those wine corks?

Well, J+S+wine=L & L. 

I know you were thinking this as well. 

Anyhoo....I would still need an ampersand for the gross/ewww equation.

And I need to get some people to pose for some new family photos too. I've got much work to do.

Do you have an ampersand I can borrow?

Green Acres...is the place for me.

A few weeks ago the Coach and I cleaned out the garden. I had apparently left it quite neglected because I accumulated a lifetime supply of weeds. If only we could live on weeds!

Well, some people live on weed...but not this kind. 

I decided to NOT photograph the garden while full of weeds...it was just so sad and pitiful. I was bummed. I went into my garden supply bench looking for tools and I found this guy all curled up and warm. I was over my depression...only because he surprised it out of me! 

Don't you know, one of my children asked if we 'could keep him'. 

Yeah, we'll keep him...IN THE YARD!

He is just an innocent little corn snake. No biggie. I asked him to kindly move OUT of my garden bench while I needed to get my stuff. You'd be surprised at how polite snakes are when you approach them without screaming your head off. 

After the garden was cleaned, the girls and I planted our seeds. Within a week, they were growing like crazy!

I was trying to get a photo of the seedlings REACHING FOR THE SUN and I unknowingly caught a photo of Harley's Kanga Pouch. Get away from my baby plants and go do some sit ups!

And just when I thought I was ahead of the garden game this year, my neighbor brought over this bounty of sweet peppers....yes, he is a garden bragger of sorts. 

In addition to all the peppers, he gave us as many plump tomatoes. 

I'll accept his bragging garden gifts....delish. The Coach and I ate roasted peppers and tomatoes for 8 days straight! And no one even complained!

Anyone else planning their spring garden this week? 

What? Did you just give me the finger? NOT NICE! 

Tripping over milestones

I've been up to my eyeballs in stuff. I'm doing W2's, 1099's, year end reports and other stuff that I've NEVER done before in my life!!! Learning is exhausting...just ask me. I've stepped so far out of my comfortable little box.... and surprisingly it's not that uncomfortable. 

BIG NEWS!!!!!

Guess who got her license...

This is great news!!! But then again, if you ask her, "I won't let her go anywhere" so, what's the point?

It's my job to suck the fun out of every moment...I should get a raise cause I am really good at it!

And guess who is incompetent?

Did I say incompetent?

I meant: incontinence. 

Yeah, she is 49 7 and is losing her bladder skills. Welcome to my world Cocoa!

Luckily, they have pills for this now. 

*****

 I've been dealing with some sort of inner ear issue that is effecting my outer body. I feel like I am in a cave with really really loud people shouting at me. Similar to my visits to NYC. 

Today,  I woke up with a bit of vertigo too. 

I am a PARTY I tell ya!

Going back to bed, perhaps I'll wake up feeling normal-er.

*****

If you don't have dogs or care for dogs, then stop right here and leave a nice comment. 

This is mindless. Silliness. Goofiness. And it cracked us up when we watched it.

If you have a dog, you will appreciate how hard it was for these canines to NOT attack the plates.

Have a great weekend....keep that bladder in check and drive carefully! Doing both at the same time is a good thing.

xoxox

There is a slight chance that I am smarter than my dogs.

When dealing with very intelligent creatures, you have to get creative. AND, when you are dealing with DOGS, you also have to get creative.
Now, I am not saying my dogs aren't smart, 'cause they are. But in this case, I am a wee bit smarter.

I have blogged about this issue before....the dogs and my little love seat in the living room. They love to lay on it. It makes me crazy because it shows all dirt and hair. And dogs come with dirt and hair.

I finally realized the reason they love to lay on THIS couch....it is close to the garage and they can clearly hear the garage opening. Therefore, they know when we are coming home and they can be on alert and let us know they know we are coming home. It is their job.

And the dirt and hair makes me nuts...that is my job; being nutty


I finally found the boxer couch Kryptonite.

Yes, aluminum foil.
Bad for the planet;  good for my upholstery.

Cocoa is so badly irritated with me, she can hardly look in my direction.

And Ozzie is just beside himself....instead up being UP my b*tt while I was taking these photos, he was actually 2 feet away from me!

I am available for preventative pet upholstery classes. Sign up sheet at the front office.

Happy Humpday!

Confusion manufactured by manufacturers and goat-tee good pizza.

I had a very productive weekend...Ok, maybe NOT VERY, but semi-productive....and really, that is the best kind for me. I love nothing better than starting Monday knowing I've put a dent in my to-do-lists. Just a dent. How about you??

Being productive isn't always exciting or sharable. But you know what is sharable? Things that make you go hmmm.

This right here perplexes me so much, that my brain gets all squeaky thinking about it.

24 hour moisture.
AFTER 4 showers?
What does that mean? I have to wait to have moisture after 4 showers?

For every 4 showers, I have 24 hours of moisture?

Therefore 8 showers gives me 48 hours of moisture? 

If I skip a shower, what happens?

I don't get it...sounds like some of those lies my high school math teacher made up to make me feel inadequate.

Frankly, I don't even use it. I like an old fashioned bar of soap.  Soap has no directions or specifications and I like that. I like that a lot.

FYI: If you ever find yourself in prison, remember: DON'T drop the soap; this is what you learn from watching cable tv.

And for your belly yearning pleasure, I present to you dinner from last night. The photo does not do it justice. 

Goat cheese and veggie pizza. I know. Darn tootin' that is pretty and it was so darn good I slapped myself! Twice.

Notice, I didn't think to photograph it until I tasted the first piece. Will you forgive me?

I hope your weekend was fun. Or productive. Or yummy. 

Or perhaps all of the above?

The birthday photos

I am sure you are all wondering this very same thing: "Where are the photos from Lindsay's birthday?"

Wonder no further.

Do you know how hard it is to find a 'clear' spot to take a photo inside your house two days after Christmas? 
It is really hard. We had Christmas spillage and birthday mixed in in every room of this humble abode.  

These aren't the best, but I'll keep them anyway. The Coach wasn't home yet, so he missed out on this photo session. 

"This is the way you are supposed to pose Mom."

I still can't manage the BIG smile like my girls. I'm working on it though.

Lindsay's birthday dinner was at Carrabba's. (her fave) She had two girlfriends and my Fil and Mil joined us. 

 Even though, she chose to go somewhere else for dessert, we had them bring something with a candle in it. You can't get older without something showing up with a candle and the obligatory singing of that song. 

Then we were off to the jankiest dairy queen in the state for birthday ice cream.

If you ever want to wait 45 minutes for mediocre ice cream, in a really bad part of town, let me know.  

I was waiting for a drive by shooting to occur. That would have made for a memorable scrapbook page. 

Not the best photo, the lighting in the DQ is horrid. Don't plan any family photos here, ok? Well, unless your family consists of gang members, then come on in. 

*Someone is going to TRY and get her driver's license today...I don't want to jinx it by making a big deal about it*

{{Updated...we she decided to wait another week or two on the driving test}}

You've got a friend in me, even in 2012.

I was going to do a clever and witty recap of 2011...so I started going back through the posts of last year and 4 hours later I realized I'd lost 4 hours of my time.

{I noticed that I used to post a lot more...3-4 days a week and I had gobs of comments! Where have all the bloggers gone? If you are still here with me, I like you better than the quitters anyway. You've always been my favorite}


Anyhoo...I would like to thank you all for being on this journey with me. The journey of being a mom, a wife, a recycling diva, a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she caught the midnight train going.... Oh, sorry, thinking of Journey makes me think of that song.

Oh, back to US you: We've laughed, we've cried, we've cringed together. 

Thanks again for being my ever present cheerleaders, my sounding boards and my friends.
You are special.

XX Smooches XX


Da' girls when I started this blog:

And they have grown into this:

My camera skills have come a long way too.

They both love being part of this blog and are most happy when I blog about them. (Linds especially)
If it were up to Linds, there would be a 24/7 feed of all things Lindsay.
{2nd child who?}

On a serious note, they LOVE all the funny comments...and really, that is what keeps me going.
I love your feedback! Maybe I didn't get enough attention as a child.

Who am I kidding. I never got enough attention. Still don't get enough.

Look at me! Look at me!

Happy 2012 to you all!!!

 Don't let the sun go down on me.

Wishing you all the laughter, love and fun adventures you can handle in 2012!

xoxoxoxo