So Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been very good about posting these past few days.

I've been running around trying to get the remainder of the flowers together for my sisters wedding next Saturday. I'm doing all the flowers for the wedding party.

Went to Garden Ridge today and got the rest of what I needed. They are having their big HOME SALE starting today and I got a hundred and 29 dollars worth of floral stuff for 44.17!!!!!

Not too shabby, eh?

Now I just have to clear out my kitchen so I have the whole table to work on and I can get them all done this weekend...if I'm lucky.

God, PLEASE don't let me get a migraine this weekend!
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Paulius and I are also going to be doing the photos of the wedding and reception for them. We are supposed to be at the rehearsal on Friday night and the the wedding is Saturday afternoon at 2PM.
I can't decide if Paulius and I should go and come back home after the rehearsal, or if we should get a room and stay there close. My sister lives about 60 miles away and the wedding location is another 25 miles. Long drive and I am a bit night blind as well.
We're still debating the pros and cons of both plans.
Any opinions?

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I am about at my wits end with our dumb-as-a-rock-dog, Buddy. He chewed THRU the cable wire for the Internet a few days ago. They came out Wednesday and replaced it. I came home yesterday and Buddy hadn't been put in his room but I didn't think much about it. This morning I come in and he's in his room, but there are bits of blue fluff all around the cable wire at the front of the desk. I get close to look and try and figure out where the blue fluff came from and I glance at the cable wire....yep, It's been chewed on again. All the way down to naked wire...AGAIN. But not chewed thru. Thank goodness.

Am I going to have to beat this dog?(JK)... Am I going to have to muzzle him all the time?(MAYBE JK) Am I going to have to put skunk scent on the cable to keep him from chewing it?

None of those sound like a winning plan to me.
Maybe we could threaten to get a whole litter of kittens to torture him with?

I DO want a daschund, maybe NOW would be the time to get one.
Hmmmmmm, it's definitely something to think about.
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Owwwww!!! Guess what? I got a raise! It was an across the board raise- not an individual thing. We get 2% extra. That's about a 5.00 Hot-N-Ready Little Caesars pizza, in case you're wondering. Weekly. Wow- you know- if we save up for a couple months, we could go to the steakhouse!

I work for such a generous company, bless their hearts!

So Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been very good about posting these past few days.

I've been running around trying to get the remainder of the flowers together for my sisters wedding next Saturday. I'm doing all the flowers for the wedding party.

Went to Garden Ridge today and got the rest of what I needed. They are having their big HOME SALE starting today and I got a hundred and 29 dollars worth of floral stuff for 44.17!!!!!

Not too shabby, eh?

Now I just have to clear out my kitchen so I have the whole table to work on and I can get them all done this weekend...if I'm lucky.

God, PLEASE don't let me get a migraine this weekend!
*****************************************************************************

Paulius and I are also going to be doing the photos of the wedding and reception for them. We are supposed to be at the rehearsal on Friday night and the the wedding is Saturday afternoon at 2PM.
I can't decide if Paulius and I should go and come back home after the rehearsal, or if we should get a room and stay there close. My sister lives about 60 miles away and the wedding location is another 25 miles. Long drive and I am a bit night blind as well.
We're still debating the pros and cons of both plans.
Any opinions?

******************************************************************************

I am about at my wits end with our dumb-as-a-rock-dog, Buddy. He chewed THRU the cable wire for the Internet a few days ago. They came out Wednesday and replaced it. I came home yesterday and Buddy hadn't been put in his room but I didn't think much about it. This morning I come in and he's in his room, but there are bits of blue fluff all around the cable wire at the front of the desk. I get close to look and try and figure out where the blue fluff came from and I glance at the cable wire....yep, It's been chewed on again. All the way down to naked wire...AGAIN. But not chewed thru. Thank goodness.

Am I going to have to beat this dog?(JK)... Am I going to have to muzzle him all the time?(MAYBE JK) Am I going to have to put skunk scent on the cable to keep him from chewing it?

None of those sound like a winning plan to me.
Maybe we could threaten to get a whole litter of kittens to torture him with?

I DO want a daschund, maybe NOW would be the time to get one.
Hmmmmmm, it's definitely something to think about.
*************************************************************************

Owwwww!!! Guess what? I got a raise! It was an across the board raise- not an individual thing. We get 2% extra. That's about a 5.00 Hot-N-Ready Little Caesars pizza, in case you're wondering. Weekly. Wow- you know- if we save up for a couple months, we could go to the steakhouse!

I work for such a generous company, bless their hearts!

BORED-BORED-BORED!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever have those times when you wish SOMETHING would happen?

It's one of the reasons i hate summer so much. It's too hot for me to go out and DO anything- the heat gives me migraines.
I get sick to death of staying in the house tho. Waiting on something to happen, someone to come by, just BORED out of my FREAKING skull!

I make calls to my girlfriends(who are in the same boat)- watch HGTV-god, is THAT getting boring- especially when Paulius won't let me rearrange our furniuture because
a) he would have to help me move it around and b) it would mean he would have to re-do the home theatre sound system-.

Some days I stay in bed later than he does- but mostly I am up WAYYYYY before he is and it's boring being alone in the house with only the dog for company- he's not much of a conversationalist, you know. I've begun doing some of the housework that Paulius usually does while I'm at work, just to not be so bored.(Except dishes- i HATE doing them and put that off as long as possible)... I also have started a new excersize routine- doubling what I was doing and as a result I'm beginning to lose weight again. Yay. On the other hand- it means that as i lose weigh i will start wanting to go OUT dancing and htere is another problem. Paulius doesn't dance. I think he would like it if we just went out and he had a few drinks. But there's another problem. He doesn't have a D/L yet- not able to get one til he gets his green card- and that means I would have to drive. I can't drink and drive so going out clubbing is OOTQ right now too.

Nope- no time to have couples friends- too busy working and trying to get "stuff" straightened out.

I want a vacation. And i want it last week.
last month.
Last year!!!

I wanna lie by the pool or go to the lake or DO SOMETHING- but being allergic to mosquitoes I can't really go out at ALL til after the first frost of the season.

I wanna move to Alaska.
Or somewhere it is cool and there are no insects to bite me and make me sick.

Any ideas?

Guidelines for Cats

Specificly posted for Mike & Cindy who have just adopted a new feline mistress.





Guidelines for Cats

Doors:
Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get door
opened, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws.
Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it.
After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand
halfway in and out and think about several things.
This is particularly important during very cold
weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season. Swinging
doors are to be avoided at all costs.

Chairs and Rugs:
If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If
you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If
there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing
up on the carpet, make sure you back up so that it is
as long as the human's bare foot.

Bathrooms:
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not
necessary to do anything . . . just sit and stare.

Hampering:
If one of your humans is engaged in some close
activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy
one. This is called "helping", otherwise known as
"hampering." Following are the rules for "hampering":

* When supervising cooking, sit just behind the
left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby
stand a better chance of being stepped on and then
picked up and comforted.

* For book readers, get in close under the chin,
between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the
book itself.

* For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the
work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure
as much of the work or at least the most important
part. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out
and slap the pencil or knitting needles. The worker
may try to distract you; ignore it. Remember, the aim
is to hamper work. Embroidery and needlepoint projects
make great hammocks in spite of what the humans may
tell you.

* For people paying bills (monthly activity) or
working on income taxes or Christmas cards (annual
activity), keep in mind the aim-to hamper! First, sit
on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch
sadly from the side of the table. When activity
proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering
them to the best of your ability. After being removed
for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers
off the table, one at a time. When a human is holding
the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump on
the back of the paper. They love to jump.

Walking:
As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as
possible in front of the human, especially on stairs,
when they have something in their arms, in the dark,
and when they first get up in the morning. This will
help their coordination skills.

Bedtime:
Always sleep on the human at night so s/he cannot move
around.

Play:
This is an important part of your life. Get enough
sleep in the daytime so you are fresh for your
nocturnal games. Below are listed several favorite cat
games that you can play. It is important, though, to
maintain one's dignity at all times. If you should
have an accident during play, such as falling off a
chair, immediately wash a part of your body as if to
say "I meant to do that!" It fools those humans every
time.

Cat Games:

* Catch Mouse:
The humans would have you believe that those
lumps under the covers are their feet and hands. They
are lying. They are actually Bed Mice, rumored to be
the most delicious of all the mice in the world,
though no cat has ever been able to catch one. Rumor
also has it that only the most ferocious attack can
stun them long enough for you to dive under the covers
to get them. Maybe YOU can be the first to taste the
Bed Mouse!

* King of the Hill:
This game must be played with at least one other
cat. The more, the merrier! One or both of the
sleeping humans is Hill 303 which must be defended at
all costs from the other cat(s). Anything goes. This
game allows for the development of unusual tactics as
one must take the unstable playing theater into
account.

Warning: Playing either of these games to excess
will result in expulsion from the bed and possibly
from the bedroom. Should the humans grow restless,
immediately begin purring and cuddle up to them. This
should buy you some time until they fall asleep again.
If one happens to be on a human when this occurs, this
cat wins the round of King of the Hill.

Toys:
Any small item is a potential toy. If a human tries to
confiscate it, this means that it is a good toy. Run
with it under the bed. Look suitably outraged when the
human grabs you and takes it away. Always watch where
it is put so you can steal it later. Two reliable
sources of toys are dresser tops and wastebaskets.
There are several types of cat toys.

* Bright shiny things like keys, brooches, or
coins should be hidden so that the other cat(s) or
humans can't play with them. They are generally good
for playing hockey with on uncarpeted floors.

* Dangly and/or string-like things such as
shoelaces, cords, gold chains, and dental floss (&
Q-tips) also make excellent toys. They are favorites
of humans who like to drag them across the floor for
us to pounce on.

* When a string is dragged under a newspaper or
throw rug, it magically becomes the Paper/Rug Mouse
and should be killed at all costs. Take care, though.
Humans are sneaky and will try to make you lose your
dignity.

Paper Bags:
Within paper bags dwell the bag mice. They are small
and camouflaged to be the same color as the bag, so
they are hard to see. But you can easily hear the
crinkling noises they make as they scurry around the
bag. Anything, up to and including shredding the bag,
can be done to kill them. Note: any other cat you may
find in a bag hunting for bag mice is fair game for a
sneak attack, which will usually result in a great
Tagmatch.

Food:
In order to get the energy to sleep, play, and hamper,
a cat must eat. Eating, however, is only half the fun.
The other half is getting the food. Cats have two ways
to obtain food: convincing a human you are starving to
death and must be fed now; and hunting for it oneself.
The following are guidelines for getting fed.

* When the humans are eating, make sure you leave
the tip of your tail in their dishes when they are not
looking.

* Never eat food from your own bowl if you can
steal some from the table. Never drink from your own
water bowl if a human's glass is full enough to drink
from.

* Should you catch something of your own outside,
it is only polite to attempt to get to know it. Be
insistent. Your food will usually not be so polite and
try to leave.

* Table scraps are delicacies with which the
humans are unfortunately unwilling to readily part. It
is beneath the dignity of a cat to beg outright for
food as lower forms of life such as dogs will, but
several techniques exist for ensuring that the humans
don't forget you exist. These include, but are not
limited to: jumping onto the lap of the "softest"
human and purring loudly; lying down in the doorway
between the dining room and the kitchen, the "direct
stare", and twining around people's legs as they sit
and eat while meowing plaintively.

Sleeping:
As mentioned above, in order to have enough energy for
playing, a cat must get plenty of sleep. It is
generally not difficult to find a comfortable place to
curl up. Any place a human likes to sit is good,
especially if it contrasts with your fur color. If
it's in a sunbeam or near a heating duct or radiator,
so much the better. Of course, good places also exist
outdoors, but have the disadvantages of being seasonal
and dependent on current and previous weather
conditions such as rain. Open windows are a good
compromise.

Scratching Posts:
It is advised that cats use any scratching post the
humans may provide. They are very protective of what
they think is their property and will object strongly
if they catch you sharpening your claws on it. Being
sneaky and doing it when they aren't around won't
help, as they are very observant. If you are an
outdoor kitty, trees are good. Sharpening your claws
on a human is not recommended.

Humans:
Humans have three primary functions: to feed us, to
play with and give attention to us, and to clean the
litter box. It is important to maintain one's Dignity
when around humans so that they will not forget who is
the master of the house. Humans need to know basic
rules. They can be taught if you start early and are consistent.

Skeeters & Chiggers

It happens every summer.
It gets so hot and humid here in South Carolina that I can't stand the thought of anything heavy to eat- or anything hot either.
Paulius and I went shopping today. For groceries, I mean. I swear- I got stuff to grill burgers, hot-dogs, ribs,, but I wanted veggies.
Cucumbers and tomatoes and lettuce and squash and carrots. Cantalope and watermelon and strawberries with whipped cream... and bananas. Things that are stored in the fridge and can be eaten cold or cool with little or no cooking.

I'm sick to death of heavy hot food.

And I can't go outside because I'm very allergic to mosquitoes. Made the mistake of goig out for 5 minutes today to help Paulius move the grill off the back deck so he could grill the roast and got eaten UP.

Little trick I learned from a Mountain Witch for mosquito bites. Cover them in nail polish. Clear or natural won't show up on you and it stops the allergic reaction. Seriously. Within about 30 seconds. And it also works for chigger bites.
Ever had THOSE?
OMG- Horrible little creatures that burrow into your skin and bite and bite and bite til they die. And that takes about a week or so.
Cover'em in Nail polish. That'll teach em.

Bleh- I just keep telling myself that Summer will be over soon......and try to make myself believe it!!!

Happy 4th Of July Weekend!!!

My 10 favorite Picnic/Cookout foods....

1) Potato Salad cold- with sweet pickles, but not too many.

2)Grilled Burgers with onions minced and mixed in the meat and basted with hickory-smoke BBQ sauce.

3) Grilled Steak- Rib-eye or porterhouse. Rare- grill 30 secons on one side- turn it over and 30 seconds on the other.
if you stick it with a fork and it yells MOOOOO and tries to run away- it's perfect for me. My dad used to say I had to be either a cannibal or a vampire.I agree.

4)Grilled BBQ Chicken breasts

5)Sweet Iced Tea

6)Stuffed Deviled Eggs

7)Apple Pie

8)Coleslaw made with finely grated white cabbage, carrots, onions, mayo salt & pepper

9)Grilled Hot-dogs. But NOT with chili. I like'em grilled on a bun topped with extra sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in foil and steamed on the grill for about 2 minutes. Then top with equal amounts of mayo & mustard, and add lettuce, tomato, & onion.

10)Home-made ice cream...any flavor but peach.

Unfortunately, I forgot it was the 4th this week and have made no plans to DO any grilling.I am becoming SUCH a SCATTERBRAIN about celebrations.
At least I haven't forgotten my hubbys or my kids birthdays.

So what are YOU doing for the 4th?

A Little Dis- A Little Dat.....

On cellphones:

Boy they get me started. People who drive 5 MPH while they're talking on them.
People who don't pay attention at ALL when they're talking on them. People who talk loudly on them in the restraunt- Hang the hell up and concentrate. I don't care who you're talking to- or what you're talking about.
You're annoying and it really pisses me off when you do this.
I actually sat thru 3 red lights one day while the stupid cow in front of me chatted on her phone and rummaged thru her purse for something. After the third light I got out of my truck- walked up to her window, jerked the cellphone out of her hand, hung it up and then threw it back in the window and told her to pull the F over and get out of my way.
I know- it was VERY risky and I'm not sure I would do it again if I had time to think about it- but I was having a really bad day that day and I just acted. I used to HAVE a cellphone and I know how distracting they are. I also had got one that had a zillion features on it and could never get to it to answer it when it rang, nor could I ever get a signal when i NEEDED to use the phone- so now my lovely, convenient expensive cellphone is lying at the bottom of Saluda River because I got fed up with it and flung it over the railing .

Yeah- I have a temper.
If by some chance I ever decide to get another cellphone- I'll get one that is a BASIC cellphone. No zillion features- just a plain, cellphone to make calls from and recieve calls on.
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On Moving:

Okay, Unlike MC & Cindy, I WANT to move. I am looking forward to it. I want to be away from all the problems and annoyances.
I think my kids can take care of themselves and their families. My mom is another matter. I moved here when my dad was really sick and mom had just been diagnosed as Diabetic, and thought I would be of some help to her and Dad.

At first I was- but then it became increasingly difficult to do anything for them. Now, since Daddy is gone, Mom is impossible to please. She whines about never having any help- but when we offer, she finds excuses to not do anything. Then when it's most inconvenient, she decides to want help again. Even tho she knows when we CAN & CANT do things for her. She complains constantly about whichever kid isn't there when we visit. I know she has to do it to the others as well if she's doing it with me.
If I can't be a help- then I will not be a hinderance either.

I know moving won't mke these issues go away- but it will be easier to ignore them or put them out odf my mind from a distance.
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Paulius and I are having a great couples weekend. We swore we were going to turn off the phone, lock the door and TOTALLY ignore the world this weekend. We haven't QUITE been able to do that, but it's been a much quieter weekend so far.

First, My sister had an accident on Wednesday and totaled her car. She has no way to go and is pretty banged up so yesterday I took her to get her med scripts filled and to get some plumbing supplies for the house my son is remodeling for her.
My son has no water until he gets said plumbing repaired so he has come over a couple times to use the bathroom facilities and shower.

Paulius has been very understanding about these problems and altho he wanted a family-free weekend he has been very gracious about being intruded upon.
I know you all are probally thinking"What's the big deal about family free weekend?"....well consider this....
Paulius lived in the U.K. He moved a very LONG way to be with me a little over two years ago. Since we married there has been one disaster after another where circumstances called for someone in the family moving in with us on a "temporary" basis- two weeks being the usual said amount of time.....which always stretches into several weeks or MONTHS in some cases. Since we've been married we have had someone living/staying with us the whole time with the exception of about 3-4 months. And of those 3-4 months there has been MAYBE 20 days that we didn't have someone calling us up wanting a ride to or from somewhere or with some off the wall request.
We are at the end of our rope. I have always given my all to my kids- if they need help- I give it. It was the way I was brought up and when THEY were growing up all we had to rely on was each other.(The men I've chosen in the past in my life haven't been the best role-models.) We(me and the kids) always have worked together to get what we wanted and needed. But now they are grown and the concept is still here....I think we all need a bit of independance now. Sure- I will ALWAYS be here for them in their hour of NEED- but they need to stand on their own now- and I need to give my all to my husband.
We have some hopes and dreams that will never come true as long as we stay in the same holding pattern we are in with my family now. So Tuesday is Independance Day. For all of us.