Squeeeee!!

I won, I won, I won!!!

I mean, I almost never win anything but I won!!

Okay, wait.

I did win a copy of her first anthology but I forgot that I had entered the contest and bought it. Shut up.

This time *waves hands in front of tearing eyes* I didn't screw up!!!

So Uber-Thanks to Meljean for being so generous and if you haven't seen it (you probably have because I'm normally the last to see the fun stuff) go over to the Ja(y)nes and see the Review Video they made. I swear it's their best yet and I couldn't stop laughing!

Then there is this review by the Ja(y)nes here.

A review from AAR here (it got a HOT rating - woohoo!!)

This is Meljean's first single title and her first published work from the Hot Spell anthology came out last year. Here are my convoluted thoughts on the short story.

ALSO.

I have been asked to post pictures of the headboard Bob built for my book room. He would also like me to post pictures of his mitre joints. Since I love him to itty bitty bits I figure I would indulge him. Hey, and I LOVE my new room!

This is before the headboard - Oh look there's the Little Miss in between the cushions - I just noticed her (it's Amber). She couldn't have been bothered about this room until Bob got everything set up just right and I washed all the bed linens on the 24th before my family arrived. Yep, she curled up right in between the pillows and I was thankful my Aunt is not allergic to cat fur. Oy.



Here's the midway point of the headboard - Bob built it in a day and we found these lights with glass globes but I wanted them to be candlestick with the soft shades so Bob stripped them and re-wired them. Yeah he did!

There is a whole story about going into a lighting store and having the sales person be soooo rude that I was tearing up when we left. See, it was two days after Christmas and I guess I just wasn't expecting to meet someone who was so hateful and mean. C-Rex was definitely asleep at the switch but when we decided that the lights we wanted were at that store, we drove 40 minutes to the sister store to buy the lights because I refused to buy them from her. (She kept insisting that what I wanted done couldn't possibly be done - I mean, I could barely ask Bob something before she would start shaking her head. Then we ask her to go and get one so Bob can look at it and when he went to help her with the box she said 'Sir, I can take it out of the box myself'. Bob and I start discussing stuff and she's standing there shaking her head and interrupting and Bob is trying to say he can do what I want (I knew he could because, duh, it's Bob!) when I finally just looked at Bob and said 'Forget it. She says it can't be done so let's go'. Then she starts with the ' I would happily sell you this and I'm not trying to dissuade you...'. I think she finally figured out I wasn't in the least bit impressed and we left her to re-packing the light.)

Wow, how's that for getting off track but Lord have mercy, I don't have it in me for negative people!

And now some after shots - I'll zip the lip.

Time! How long did I last?

Sorry I just realized that out of context you might not see anything all that great. So the second picture is of the mitre joints (where the angles meet) Yeah. I love him. And I have seen joints done improperly so I am very aware of how nice it is to have someone who can do this (I can do it also but there is more time, cursing and general rage involved)
Okay the far left is of the crown mouldings and the base mouldings now on the bookcases - hey, things happen in stages around here.

And finally, the headboard from the side - too bad I didn't straighten the shade before taking the picture. *shrug*

Okay, tomorrow I will have a more book related post.

No really.

Could happen.

New Year's Book Resolutions (Not quite yet)

Or as I like to refer to them, ooops, WTF, you gotta be kidding and fuck me.

Yep, welcome back from holiday time you're back in the Cindy zone but the good news is I feel like I have a new lease on life but then, we'll get to that. (in another post)

First, I looked at last years resolutions and well, Bad Cindy!

Resolution 1. Make better notes for the TTB list. I actually started this sometime in August in a Word Document. I have some titles to go over since all of my books have been in the 'closet of horror' (do you hear the doom and gloom voice when you read that? Just me again!? Damn.) since well, June 8th of 2006. So this is kinda of an ooops.

You may have noticed recently that my books were freed from the 'closet of horror' and I can now go around and get reacquainted with them. There is a bed in the 'library' where I will probably curl up to take naps but Bob was laying there admiring his trimming while I talked to my books.

You don't talk to your books?

Oh *cough* me neither. Who would talk to their books? (pssst, me) Hey! Who said that!?

Onwards!

Resolution 2 from last year was to read a bunch of my TBR pile by authors I had not read before. Yeah, this is the WTF? because seriously, how hard was this? Since a monkey could pull this one off, I've decided to blame the move and subsequent 'jailing' of my beloved books.

Yeah.

That's what happened.

Next!

Resolution 3 - Figure out what books the dogs ate and replace them. This would be the 'you gotta be kidding me' because I think some of the books were eaten beyond description. Also, I wrote the names of the books down and have no clue where I put it. Helpful no?

Cindy, thou art a moron.

Thank you, I wear it well.

Shut up.

Resolution 4 : "I will continue reading a book until at least the half way point before deciding I cannot finish it. I have been doing that few pages thing again and it's always the start of a slump. I see no reason to be in a slump."

Huh. No wonder I ended up in a slump. That is definitely a fuck me because I couldn't get past 15 pages of some of the books I read this year. Hey, it wasn't like a reviewed them, I just didn't make the effort to read to the half way point at the very least. This one might have to be revived. Ugh.

Next will be a look at why I think my reading time will improve 100 fold this year. I mean, I'm very excited about the month of January because I have decided it's Cindy month and that I get to just sit my arse down and read. No guilt. No emergencies. No socializing (except for my mom's B-day).

In essence, it is the Month of Me!

Yes, it's allowed!

Ahem.

I don't have any children and Bob knows how to use drive-thrus to bring us home dinner. Basically, I plan on a 'reading, napping, eating and uh you know' hibernation! I just need about 6 feet of snow to fall on us so no one thinks I should be out enjoying the day.

Or that I should be their personal taxi. Or that I should be around sick kids. Or, well, any number of things that people call and get me into.

JUST SAY NO!

Yeah, right. I'm such a push over but at least I'll make them work for it. I'll just yell 'NO!' and see if they leave it at that. If not, they'll have to spin some serious magic to get me to leave my new lair.

Okay, I need to think on my Book Resolutions for this year - Go read Marg's list for inspiration or you know, to look at your own list and go sonofa...

Happy Almost New Year!!

I may have mentioned in passing my love of monkeys. Well, I got a few new ones for Christmas and I love them HUGE!!

So here is a wish from me to you in pictures!




















(I squealed with delight when I opened this gift. I only saw the gorilla at first so image my great joy at discovering BABY MONKEYS!!! Just in case, these are book ends but then, all us readers know that.)

Even though you might not know it, the little things you do bring great joy to others. (Lookit the happy monkeys!!)

Ahem.

So here is a kiss and a simple wish. May you have a drink and be merry on the Eve and on the morrow, enjoy your favourite things!

(psssst, tell me this monkey doesn't just rock your socks!!) I got the rum as a stocking stuffer because my family discovered my love of Pina Coladas (I only ever have one because of the meds. Stupid meds) and well, the gift card is self explanatory. When I pulled this little guy from the package I was floored and then everything clicked and I set up a picture - my family didn't get it but I knew my 'blog' friends would get a kick out it!

Colour Me Confused

I got a few cool things for Christmas and I set up a photo that I thought you would all get a kick out of. Problem is that some how our camera dock is missing it's power cord and the do-hickey that connects it to the computer!

I'm completely clueless as it worked yesterday and yet now I look at the hook ups and realize it's not just the power cord missing.

Me thinks that Bob may have something to do with this although he asked me what was wrong with the camera dock last night. I'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out what Bob may have done - I bought him this cool foot massager that is now under the desk working it's magic on my feet.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Ahem.

Anyways, he probably pulled on a few things to get it plugged in which might be why the camera dock doesn't work. Hopefully I'll get it working by New Years.

For Christmas I got 100 and something dollars from our bookstore Chapters (I'm not sure exactly because the person didn't put how much - I mean, how hard is that!? A buck, one hundred? I don't care, just put it on there!)

I hit the bookstore before Christmas but I can't recall exactly what I bought.

HEY! I got distracted by all my glorious books being moved out of the closet of horror. Here's what I remember:

Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. I have no clue what it is about but it's Jay approved so I'm in! Since I asked for recommendations for great chick-lit, Jay has obliged by saying this one would be near the top of her list. I say let's give it a whirl!


Jay has also approved Sylvia Day's last book and it's on my TBB list but I think I'll have to order it online.

Then I finally tracked down The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt which is Kristie approved and since 'dark' was mentioned in relation to the hero I was sold. Not only that but it is a Warner book and I have been having a run of good luck with them.

What else .... what else, oh!

My Big Fat Paranormal Wedding Anthology. I started the first story and was thrown by the language so I stopped, the next one was by Jim Butcher and since I've only ever read the first of his series I decided to skip to the next one. I think it's the one by Rachel Caine and one of the characters reminded me of Jack from Pirates so I was rolling my eyes a bit but now I'm sucked in and want to know what happens and since my brain only has moments of relaxation the story length is probably just right. I'll let you know how I do.

Finally (I think) is Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank. I have no clue. I think I heard something and I can't remember if it was good or bad so I was standing there staring at the cover and yes, I admit it, I was sold by the tag line or series name, whatever, The Nightwalkers. I'm not proud. It's a weakness and I'm thinking about working on it.

Not yet though.

Oh MAN!

Some of Bob's family are coming tomorrow for about a two hour visit.

Don't get me wrong, I love them and really do want to see them but they are coming for 11am and staying until 1pm.

It's the 10:30am wake up call I'm having a problem with as it is now quarter to 2 in the morning. Ooops.

I made up a Baked French Toast dish that I did for Christmas morning (thanks LinnieGayl! (pssst, she doesn't have a blog but she does post on AAR's AfterHours blog) and it rocked. Tonight I go to make it and discover I don't have enough half and half cream so I hope it cooks and firms up because I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat 'wet' bread. (This was an excellent breakfast and I would definitely suggest leaving over night because the bread sops up all the liquid and WOW! - Oh, I didn't put on the brown sugar topping because it sounded to dessert like and well, brown sugar makes me hyper.)

Other than that, nothing new or exciting has happened, in fact, I do believe I am being a dreadful bore!

On that note I will now go and visit my blog buddies.

What a Ride!

It's 12:30am so I just closed out Boxing Day and everyone has gone back home to their own beds and Bob and I have the place to ourselves again.

Things to know:

1. Cody was such a charmer that even my Mom took a shining to him (she's afraid of dogs since she was bit by one years ago) & he had no gas for the past two days!!

2. Those of us who wore our jammies (8/11) have decided to make every year a PJ Christmas - we may be over-ruled but we are living the dream! The thing about jammas is that you are comfortable all day and even after dinner you don't have the 'my pants are too tight' feeling. We were all very much in the spirit!

3. My Bobby took a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day and that never happens so I was happy to put a blanket over him and let him sleep.

4. I had no nap because I had too much to do! Even so, my new Angel Aunt Nora helped immensely with putting out the snacks and preparing the side dishes for dinner. Then my brother came and he and I spent an hour in the kitchen talking and cooking together. I had a great time with him!

5. You shouldn't even have to ask - yes, we were all very spoiled! Oh and Bob's gift was a brand new bike from a speciality store that will fit him properly and ensure that the bike is just the way he wants it. Bob loves to ride and has wanted a better bike for a few years (we bought 100 dollar bikes when we started to make sure we would ride - Bob loves it and so do I but I think I would need a new seat and really, I can't keep up with him)

So, I got a new phone (a red one where some of the proceeds go to AIDs in Africa) that flips closed because my old phone had an open keypad and it would call out if it was in my purse where the buttons could be pushed. (yes, you can lock the keypad but then I would have to read the instructions and well, lazy). Wait till you see my MONKEYS!!!! I don't have the camera hooked up so I can't show you but I think you will enjoy my little set up.

Let's get to the good stuff:

My new Book Room/Guest Room (click on the pictures to get them to blow up - oooh, ahhhh!)














AND the bathroom was ready in time for guests!

Bobby has grouted tiles before but never tumbled marble. Whenever he grouts he will walk away from the grout for 12 hrs no problem, come back and wipe the excess grout off.

Apparently a huge no-no with tumbled marble. It was like concrete!! We sat there rubbing each tile separately with water on towels (water would reactivate the grout) and sit and scrub them one by one and sometimes the grout just wasn't going to come off. I at no point cried but I did feel like bopping my hubby in the head! It took three days of elbow grease, some sort of grout haze remover and lots of patience that I didn't know I possessed! Anyways, here is the finished result:

Yeah, needless to say I am thrilled and as far as I'm concerned my book room and my new bathroom were all the Christmas gifts I needed. The rest were just gravy!!

Not only that but Bob unloaded all my book boxes and put all my books up on their shelves. He says that one night this week we'll sleep in there so I can be surrounded by my books - I can't wait!!


I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas or holiday and that you got to spend it just the way you wanted.

All in all, it was a rousing success!

We Are Survivors!

To All Blog Buddies

We have survived Christmas Day *stop*

Everything went like clockwork and what didn't was shrugged off *stop*

Will fill you all in later *stop*

Haven't had a nap in two straight days *stop*

Goodnight! *stop*

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad....

It's now 2pm on Christmas Eve and I still have half the house to clean so I thought I would jump on here for a break and wish everyone a happy holiday season! I think many have already left to see family and friends so I think I am one of the rare ones to hold down the fort.

It's our first year to host Christmas and Bob has outdone himself in my book room - I will post pics soon and the bathroom is done!!! (The house looks like a lumber yard but whatever ;))

I am going to go wrap more gifts and then continue on my cleaning spree - then a small nap and the family shows up around 6pm and from then on I shall be one moody bear. Lots of new things being tried on this round but I have my mom and Aunt Nora to help when I'm not really sure how to make that breakfast or why my gravy is turning lumpy.

Ah well, three sleeps and it'll all be over until next year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today and Meme

Stole this from Tara Marie's and then my best buds e-mailed this to me so I figured I would put this one up today. I am still working on the weird meme because DUDE, you all know my weird stuff and I'm not sure I have anything left!

I didn't get Bob's gift yesterday because C-Rex woke up around 11am and laid waste to certain people in its vicinity. Once C-Rex wakes I know going anywhere that could be potentially frustrating is like giving it a license to kill. So I'm going today the minute the store opens. Then off to Bob's family to drop off a sleigh load of gifts (I'm telling you that wrapping stuff is making me wiggy!) and then C-Rex will probably show up and putting me to bed will be on everyone's priority list. By tomorrow morning I may just be on daywalking hours!













Okay, this is what the bookcases look like right now - it's all maple plywood but the trimming is when stuff gets pretty - Bob's just balking at the cost but I'm saying take my gifts back and buy me trim! Lookit the pretty pot lights above the window! This is our second spare bedroom and I'm thinking it might just be ready for Christmas guests!! I'm painting the bookcases white which is different for me so I'm kind of dragging my feet. I'll post more pics as work gets done. My bathroom pics are almost ready - Bob is grouting as I type this up!

Christmas Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Coca-cola over lots of ice please - wouldn't touch eggnog with a pointy stick and I don't believe in drinking chocolate - maybe when I'm old and gray and have no teeth I'll get it ;)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was a child Santa left the gifts under the tree all ready to play with. When I got older he didn't visit anymore until I got married and discovered that Santa dropped into Bob's house with little wrapped gifts in the stockings. This year, my family is coming to our house and I think the adults will be floored that Santa really does remember those who nurture their inner child (which is why he has never stopped coming to Bob's ;))

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White and I was damn lucky to get them up before Bob insisted the rest of the ornaments went up. I like to put ribbons in our tree and he just wouldn't give me enough time so I went to put more on after the ornaments were on and I broke two glass ones - ooooops.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? no - wasn't our teenage years embarrassing enough without that hanging over our heads? Not only that but there are certain people who I'm not kissing. Just saying.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I'm still getting the stuff up - my tree doesn't seem to have enough color so I keep adding more and still, it looks sparse!

6. What is your favourite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Turkey, potatoes stuffing and gravy. If I could get away without eating anything else that is all I would have on my plate!

7. Favourite Holiday memory as a child: The four cousins (me, Billy, Jen and Jason) waiting for the adults at the crack of dawn at the top of my Gram's staircase - there were four steps down to a landing and then it turned 90 degrees and went the rest of the way down. There was a mirror at the bottom of the stairs and if you could get to the landing without an adult noticing it would reflect some of what was under the tree but we would run down then race back to our spots so I think all we would see was coloured streaks. The parents would make us wait for all the adults to get up and dressed and teeth brushed - since there was only one bathroom it seemed like forever as a child.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I thought Santa didn't exist since about grade 1 and then I realized I was wrong around the time I got married. Santa is forever!!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Since Bob is a huge kid at heart we open at least one. Last year for the first time on my side of the family we did our Secret Santa game on Christmas Eve! As kids we were never allowed to open anything before Christmas. Ever.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With lots of profanity. Decorating the tree makes me angry. (Michelle's answer) Mine - Word.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I want lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and....

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, I am Canadian - I used to be able to but now I'm afraid the ice might crack my ass ;)

13. Do you remember your favourite gift? I remember many - they usually turn out to be something you never even considered asking for - when I was twelve my parents bought me a stereo system and I was just floored - it got lots of use after that and I bet my parents regretted that one ;)

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Bobby time

15. What is your favourite Holiday dessert? Chocolate, coconut graham cracker squares - yum.

16. What is your favourite holiday tradition? The friend's Mini Christmas' where we all just get to spend time together and not race around like loons! Also, cutting down our tree but we didn't get around to it this year - I prefer to do that when there is snow.

17. What tops your tree? An Angel named Sarah Grace after Bob's grandma (I never met her) and my Gram (who accepted and loved Bob right away)

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Little drummer boy in all it's renditions!

20. What is your favourite Christmas movie? I tend to like comedies so Christmas Vacation was something my family put on every year - All the same, it ain't Christmas until Bruce Willis and Alan Ryckman go after each other in Die Hard! Yummy.

A Side of Mush

I haven't told you all lately just how much of a lifesaver you guys are!

My overactive brain has been trying to flay me alive so sitting and reading is torturous in that my brain won't stop futzing around. To help you visualize, I was able to flip through not even half the weekend flyers last night - so maybe six in all. I was all bundled up and yet my brain kept saying it was cold and needed to sleep so I finally gave in. Also, sitting in the room that I normally read in is overwhelming since the tree isn't *all* decorated and the furniture hasn't been moved to the right areas yet.

So everything is just a touch off kilter which keeps me from relaxing. Oh, I need to get to a **** shop for Bob so I can buy him his gift. The problem I will encounter is that the owners of the store I'm going to love their business and can talk for hours about the type of **** someone should buy. I really don't have the attention span for hours of information being thrown at my head but I decided that Bob would really love this as a present so I'm going in. Believe it or not it was a year ago that Bob and I went to this store to buy him a **** and we were so overwhelmed we just let it slide. So I'll do the hard work and get him the **** he has always wanted - in my price range. Did you know there are **** being sold for thousands of dollars!? Yikes.

So that is playing in my brain because I'm not really sure how I can hide the present from him and then the time it will take and the energy it will consume. Lethargic much?

Stupid brain!

On that note I wanted to let you all know how grateful I am that there is a world of bloggers out there who talk about reading and family and Christmas and toys. You are all keeping me on the right side of sane.

I said the *right* side of sane. Sheesh!

Okay, I'm about to head out into the mean, cruel, crazy ass world - send back up if you don't hear from me by Christmas!

I used the **** in case Bob decided to peek at my blog for what I might be buying him. It might be obvious to him but maybe his eyes will just glaze over and he won't know what going on. I'll let you all in on it after Christmas.

Edited: OMG!!!! Bob started to build bookcases!! I have pictures I will post hopefully tomorrow - he said after a full day, 'you better blog about this!'. I seriously cannot wait to get my books out of that closet so I can remember the ones that I have. Hey, I'm expecting gift cards from Chapters for Christmas and I need to make a list!

Mini-Update

Well, it seems neither Bob or I want to spend so much money on a stove or cooktop right now. So I've asked him to check the wiring and see if there is something wonky and I might do a few test runs with the two burners. Also, I'm thinking for about 60 bucks I can buy a two burner thingy that you plug into an outlet - it'll take a while to heat up but hopefully it will come in handy (course we have to find one but I'm thinking the local Canadian Tire *please, please, please*).

Either that or we eat in stages. I'm just not going to get stressed over this. No. Really. It'll all work out.

We don't have a side burner on our BBQ but maybe we could fire it up and use old pans - hey, it'll be mild enough. I just don't want to hear my mother squawking. Meh. We'll liquor her up to the gills.

See, being positive.

We went out tonight to find a Butterball frozen turkey about 22 lbs. Yeah. I'm euchred. I had no clue, however, that it was possible to get a 30 lb turkey. I mean, how old did that guy have to get? Was he eating McD's? I considered buying it for about 10 secs but it's one breast was caved in and since we're white meat eaters that wasn't going to work. So I'm calling the meat department in the morning to see if they can get me one the right size. Again, not stressing. If I have to I'll buy two 10 pounders and ... oh shit - can you cook two turkeys in one oven at the same time? Wonder what that would do to the cook time?

And breathe.

No, really. Everything is hunky dory.

*blink*

Shhh, I'm in my happy place.

On Top Of It All

I forgot to share with you the immediate need I have for a new cooktop. I actually don't like cooktops (on the counter and then there is a separate oven) and the one we have only has two elements and then a grill. I was going to suffer through Christmas hoping that the grilling section would get hot enough.

Thing is the last few times I have been cooking, the burner elements just turn off. I haven't turned anything else on, or moved anything and it is a head scratcher. I had the carrots and potatoes on the elements and was trying to warm up the corn and do the gravy on the grill section when I noticed the water stop boiling. Thing is it's like the elements have to cool down and then they will for whatever reason, just start up again.

Not conducive to me not having a stroke on Christmas Day.

I loved my oven at my last house and of course, it had to be left behind. Bob loves this unit here because it has a downdraft and Jenn-air is the only company that makes them so he wants to stick with them. Their cooktops are kind of ugly and I think I'll have to spend almost 2000.00 to buy one (they have removable cartridges and since I need 4 burners I have to buy them separately - yeah, I'm not that kind of rich!). I could buy a proper, gorgeous new stove with 5 burners, a warming tray and an oven that would fit a 25 lb turkey for much less!

So, I'm cranky. We aren't going to be renovating the kitchen for a while so buying an oven that I love is out of the question as I can't put it in anywhere. Crap. I also know that if I don't buy one today there will be a melt down on Christmas Day.

Hmmm, maybe I should make Bob responsible for dinner. Let's see how he does.

If only.

Ponderings

1. Am I the only person right now that is sick to death of these 'meaningful' movies?

I'm not sure what my problem is but I don't want to watch anything too deep (Blood Diamond) or uplifting (current Will Smith movie) or even historical (the CIA movie coming out with Matt Damon (who looks too much like my brother for me to watch fall in love!) and Angelina Jolie). What happened to movies that are just for entertainment (Night at the Museum is the only movie out that *might* fit the bill)? I want to see something that will make me laugh or feel good afterwards.


2. How is it that a 10 lb turkey only has about 5 lbs of white meat and just managed to feed 4 adults tonight!? I have 12 people on Christmas Day for dinner and I'm suddenly wondering if I will need a 40 lb bird! In reality I'm thinking a 22 lb turkey and if we don't have any leftovers then all I can say is that 22 lbs is not the same today as it was when we were kids. We used to eat leftovers for a week and I know for myself that I don't eat very much on Christmas day because I think exhaustion sets in. I'm more likely to overindulge on the left overs so there better be some!


3. Our furnace is set at 71 F and I often wonder if this is typical of others or are we running hotter or colder? We used to have the one in Celsius with the little plastic push thing but now ours is all digital and programmable. We had a programmable one at the old house and tore it out when we woke up one too many times freezing our hinnies off because the battery had died and the furnace didn't turn on while the temperatures were at 20 below! There was a day last week when the thing decided to die and sure enough there was a day without heat so this fancy thingamabob is on notice.


4. Why is it when you are looking for that *one* thing you find it in the last place you look? Bob was all in a tizzy because he couldn't find our Christmas music and decided it was in the closet of horror (this is where all my books are). Tonight I decided to trudge up there and start pulling boxes out - I should mention that for moving to a house twice the size of our last one, the room that houses the closet is quite small - add to that the treadmill, floor sander and all the Christmas gifts and wrapping table and it becomes claustrophobic. Sure enough I moved every single one of those boxes you see to the right (okay, it doesn't look like much but *starts adding* there's about 20 of those brown boxes and then 10 of these white ones that have magazines in them and there are very heavy!). I only opened a few because I didn't want to get misty eyed over my books. I opened those boxes that weren't labeled (wonder who packed those) and found the CDs in the very last box. Even so, I am missing more than I found but at least we can have holiday music playing in the background now.

So if you will excuse me, I'm off to play with the metric converters so I know how many kilograms the turkey needs to be and yes, I know it needs to be over 9 kgs but I would like it to be more specific (in the US are your turkeys tagged in lbs? We switched to metric when I was like 8 or 9 but the elders never really took to it and it was something my brain couldn't handle but at least I can 'guesstimate when I am in a store). I will also need to know how long it will have to be in a fridge to defrost AND if it will fit in my oven AND how long it will take to cook. I always add an extra hour to the suggested cook times.

We like our turkey dry.

Uh, help?

Anyone see the birds at the top of the blog? I did something with my hitcounter and had it re-save and now I can't see the birds.

Curses.

Edited: Okay, it won't show up in Firefox but it will in IE - the website that hosts the template (if I am using that correctly) isn't loading in Firefox either.

Edited Again: I'm going to give it till tonight to fix itself. I'm using Kristie's theory of not looking for something that you have lost. Afterall, it'll show up sometime!

Christmas Tour 2006

Marg and Kailina are hosting a Christmas Tour and bloggers signed up to share Holiday treats, memories or just some fun.



Recipe

First I will share a recipe that has been locked in a vault for years. I call them Maid Marians but apparently they are actually called Maid of Honors (HA!! I have searched for a recipe with this name and what comes up is sooo not the recipe I'm looking for). My Mom's best friend makes them for me every Christmas but last year my Mom claimed she had never tried them and wanted to know why I was getting special treatment.

I was not happy.

Needless to say another addict was born and I was forced to split my take with my mom. Curses!

This year, I plan to try and make them myself - the few times I have tried I have over cooked them and when they are over cooked you can play hockey with them. Hopefully I can figure this recipe out but since I'm sure there are many excellent bakers out there here is the recipe.

Maid Marians (aka Maid of Honors aka Whatever Name You Wish to Call Them)

1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine
1 1/2 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Can (14oz) of Sweetened Condensed Milk (Carnation makes one as does Eagle)
2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (or any variation of chip you would prefer)
1 Cup Flaked Coconut
1 Cup chopped Walnuts (or another nut you would like - I'm thinking pecans)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 *F

Melt butter in a 13 x 9" baking pan in oven, remove from oven (or melt with microwave). Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the butter, stir well and then press into the bottom of the pan. In a small bowl stir condensed milk, coconut, chocolate chips and nuts together and then pour over the graham cracker crumbs.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (remember don't over do them) and then remove from oven, let cool and then cut into squares. In all honesty, keep the squares to a smaller size than normal - these bars are very rich!

My best friend's mom doesn't put the nuts in and puts very little chocolate on them so I think you can move ingredients in and out as you like but I am going to try and bake these ones up as they are my absolute favourite bite-size morsel of food during Christmas!

A Game

The Secret Santa Swap which is better known as the White Elephant Gift Exchange:

Our family only discovered this little game about 5 years ago. We still do Christmas as usual but now each person buys an extra gift valued at 35 dollars. This gift needs to be universal in it's appeal and thus, no candles, girlie things or drills or manly things AND it should be something you want. The gifts have no tags and are dropped in one area and for the most part you try to hide the gift you have brought.

On Christmas Eve our family does the Secret Santa Swap - basically you put every ones name in a hat and then you pick one person to pick out a name. The first person goes to the pile and picks a gift to open up - they have to show everyone. This person then picks a person's name from the hat and that person has one of two options. 1. Take the present that has already been opened and thus the first person has to open another gift or 2. Pick a gift to open.

Now, because it gets confusing let's skip down to the last person. They can open the last gift under the tree or steal anybody elses gift. If they chose to steal then the person they stole from makes a choice - steal or open the last gift. The one rule is that once a gift has been stolen it cannot be stolen again until another gift has been opened. The game is over when someone chooses to open the last gift.

My family has been known to swap after the stealing is over because I'm a people pleaser and I live to make others happy. Not only that but you may not end up with the gift you brought and sometimes that sucks. Bah-hum-bug!

A friend of mine did a Secret Santa Swap where each person had to bring the worst thing they had received as a gift. Apparently this can be hilarious but I would not suggest doing this with family.

Santa Presents

It has been interesting to read how others celebrate Christmas and for years I thought Santa visited everyone the exact same way. Our Santa came on Christmas Eve and was used as 'you better go to bed and go to sleep or Santa won't come' tool and it was effective! As children we were never allowed to open any gifts before the actual day. Not one!

Christmas morning would arrive more than likely at the crack of dawn (the only day of the year that us kids ever got up that early) and we would have to go and wake all the parents. We had to wait on the stair landing for all the adults to brush their teeth and such and we would be just brimming with eagerness to get to the tree.

See, our Santa doesn't wrap his gifts. They are all out ready and waiting for the kids to run down and start playing. There was a mirror at the bottom of the stairs that reflected a part of the living room where the tree and gifts were. As the parents got ready one of the braver children would peek around the bend and try and see through the mirror what was there. These are my favourite memories of my Gram's house and I hope they will always remain with me.

Nowadays we have no young ones in the family so we are usually able to stay in bed until at least a normal 9am and well, Santa doesn't come for the adults. (It wasn't until I married Bob that I discovered that Santa will come and bring wrapped trinkets for the stockings if your an adult.) This may be shocking to people but we start opening gifts at about 9am and can still be opening presents well into the afternoon! Bob and I had one year where we finally decided that we just couldn't open any more presents and left the rest for the next day. Course the ooohing and aaaahhhing take some time and then there are the coffee breaks for the addicts but after hours of opening presents you really just want a nap!

This year is the first year Bob and I will host Christmas and we're both excited and nervous. We brought up the fact that Santa visits our house and leaves gifts in stockings and I was surprised at how happy some of the adults were about this - my dad is being a grinch so I'm sure Santa will bring him a piece of coal. Also, we're doing a Pajama Christmas where every one gets to stay in their PJ's for the whole day - even during dinner which is usually a dress up affair. I thought my family would rebel but everyone has taken to this with such relish that special PJs are being bought and there is a rumour that my mother (who said there was no way in hell she was wearing jammas) has bought herself a silk pair to wear on Christmas Day.

That there my friends, is our Christmas miracle!

Cindy Christmas (those who are new can skip this if they wish)

Now those who come here might know that Christmas Day is like my Everest. Ever since I can remember I have had panic attacks worrying about Christmas dinner (what if I can't eat?) and yes, it's my own kind of crazy. So Christmas Day was quite the emotional roller coaster as a kid. Hey, Santa was coming (woohoo!) but then WHAM it's followed by a fancy dinner that the women slaved over all day and apparently you had to make sure you didn't 'spoil' your appetite (*gag* boohiss).

Not knowing how the body worked I used to stop eating days before Christmas (people didn't really notice before what you were and weren't eating), usually at the four day mark you would start to get the spins and stuff, but I believed that if I didn't eat I would be able to eat Christmas dinner no problem. Ugh.

I have yet to out grow this anxiety and I'm 36. At least I now know more about biology and that starving yourself turns your metabolism off so you are rarely hungry. I'll post a pic of me as a teenager one of these days - 5' 7" about 120lbs.

With all that, I think God just has a great time with me. Why? Because one of my favourite times of the year is Christmas Eve. Once again, it's before the actual day so there isn't a feast so no one cares what you are doing, the shops are closed and the presents are wrapped and you are just with your family.

That's it.

Every thing is done, the tree is up and lit and the presents look perfect (even when they aren't wrapped that nice), you are sitting and enjoying each other and there is an energy of possibilities. I usually hate to go to bed on Christmas Eve because I have to wait 364 days again for that weird special feeling that somehow survived all those many panic attacks.

So there you have it, one of my favourite days followed by one of my most terrifying.

Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humour.

The platypus and now me ;)

Referrals?

I have seen others post what people are searching for when their site pops up but mine have never been that interesting. This time there are a few that make me wonder.

"julia quinn" blog
compost "pool heater" -solar
ding fries are done ( mcds )
"84 waverley" toronto
wonderings
"anne stuart" puppies
lisa valdez miss florida
lord of danger anne stuart
Actor stage "Pamela Clare"
"mold smells like "
sex cruisies
a man who never grew up
what happened to bono's hair
"Kristopher Reisz"
cindy's blog
anne "stuart books" sale
pictures of tacks beach newfoundland
nocturnal bucks
badboys II game find gasmask fumes
making cinnamin pine cones

Number one: I'm glad I'm not the only poor sap that wonders what mold smells like. I learned the hard way after the basement at the old house sprung a leak. I thought it was the dogs. Ugh.

Number two: Sex cruisies? I thought it said cruises and I was all ready to sign us up.

Number three: What happened to Bono's hair - really? this is of the utmost importance to someone?

Number four: the last four are head scratchers but when I went to one of them I was on page 20 of a google search so it doesn't mean the person showed up!

Last but not least, nocturnal bucks.

Yeah, baby.

Fumes

Sorry guys! Reading is far from my realm of possibilities right now because I can't seem to turn my brain to the 'just enjoy' setting. I start one thing and am assailed by all the other things that need to get done. Oy!

Tonight the plan was to knock off the rest of the Christmas gifts (except Bob's) and I was slamming it! I had a list, knew where I was headed and wasn't going to take any prisoners.

Then something like my spleen exploded.

Or you know, something just as dramatic.

I mentioned how my time of the month has been getting progressively more painful? Well, I started on Sunday and had the normal cramps but this time I was not going to take anything Aspirin based because it makes me want to puke. Tylenol to the rescue! So we do Sunday and it hurts, Monday hurts also but the Tylenol is taking the edge off. Today I wake up pain free and think nothing of it because that's normal for me.

I've been up and moving for over 4 hours and am hoofing it through the mall, cleaning off my list when out of no where my ovary (must have been cause what else is around that area (lower left)) decides to do a triple sow cow and land on it's ass.

Okay. That hurt but I'm a woman and I can take it. Whatever.

I no sooner had one of my last purchases paid for when the lower back decides it too would like to aspire to some Olympic greatness and also lands on it's ass. And possibly it's head.

Good God!

The plan was to stop at a few other places on the way home from the mall but there was no way I could walk. I was lucky to get back to my car without curling into the fetal position and crying for my mama!

It was as I turned onto our street that I decided I was close enough to push down hard on 'the ovary area' of my belly to see if I could get the pain to stop. Bloody hell if it didn't ease up! I came in, dropped the stuff at the door, stumbled for the Tylenol and curled up on the sofa. An hour later Bob got home (9pm-ish) and I crawled into bed for a few hours.

I don't have one friggin' clue what that was about - the pain is usually gradual and much more general and I have never had it come on out of no where like that.

Aside: I have a ton of crap in the house and not one pure piece of chocolate! (Bob got a sampler which is just a bunch of ways to ruin chocolate and I was desperate enough to try some but quickly learned the crap in the middle wasn't worth it.)

That was my night.

I know, I'm living the dream!

Mission Alpha Bravo Accomplished!

I've decided to give the weekends mission numbers. Yes, I'm a sci-fi geek.

It turns out that this weekend was really a lot of fun!

Ten pin bowling was hilarious and the people at the party (the ones we gravitated to) were very down to earth and fun to be around. Since it is a small company there were only about 30 people there and I pretty much met everyone.

I'm just horrible with people's names but I just payed extreme attention during the introductions. There was only one moment of panic while I was in the washroom washing my hands after bowling when another woman came in and started talking to me. I knew I had met her but I just couldn't find her name in my brain (not that I should have worried since we were just gabbing but I kept thinking 'oh shit, oh shit, what's her name!'). It wasn't until we were at the table and she sat beside her husband that I remembered her name - their names were Dan and Danielle so I had mentally matched them up and my brain didn't recognize each without the other. Isn't the brain fun?

I called it on the dinner.

I changed my order from prime rib to a steak because I figured my tummy would be better without the gravy - turns out I wasn't the only person at my end of the table who insisted on a well done piece of steak. I was the last to get my dinner but I told everyone to start their dinners but Sam sitting next to me insisted he could wait until my dinner came (I had waited till his salad came before I started mine). I get my plate, ask about the steak dips (didn't want to eat anything with cream) and scared the poor waiter silly when he discovered the potatoes had cream. I think he thought I was allergic (which really, maybe I am but only in the very slightest of ways) but I assured him that was fine. Knowing is half the battle so I only ate a small part of the potatoes. It was when I cut into the blackened steak that I saw the blood pour out. I couldn't believe it! The gentleman across from me saw me cut the meat and then put it aside. Since he also order his meat well done he pronounced that I just couldn't be made to eat the raw piece of meat - hey, it wasn't like I was going to! I told him it was fine but they called the waiter over to take the plate back (I grabbed the guys arm and whispered to put it in a to go box and I would eat it at home).

So question, will it be okay to eat tomorrow if I fire up the grill and cook it till it's dead? We'll see.

Today we did the best buddy mini-Christmas and we had a great time. I was a mess last night because I looked at what I had bought everyone and thought 'are you kidding me!?'. I swear, it's like you don't know the people you are buying for and yet, I DO!!

My one best bud has her significant other and no kids like Bob and I and her thoughts on Christmas are pretty much mine. We came down the stairs and she says 'Merry Christmas! Ah screw it, got your straight jacket fitted yet?'. Yep, them there are my peeps.

Course the best buds deck their halls, I mean, these guys are gunning for best decorated house of the year! Bob and I leave and he's all, we have got to get our shit together! Best bud number one collects Santas and for the first time we went to her house for a quick pop in so we could see her decorations (they live 5 minutes from each other while we live 45 minutes away so we usually only go to one person's house at a time - who ever is hosting). Bob was a wee bit scared of all the Santas but at least her collection is useful.

Then there is mine.

Tonight I got an addition to my monkey collection. I never intended to start a collection but with the two best buds and a family who loves my reaction to monkeys - it was made to happen.

I need to find the scary ass monkey picture (it a ceramic monkey head that is freaky!) and post it for you - since that gift I have been looking for a scary lady bug (something my friend loves) and I thought I had nailed it. I'm talking a huge, pink stuffed lady bug with pouty lips, long eyelashes and sparkles on her antenna - she loved it! Just when I thought I had her. Maybe I'll just buy her a scary clown - everyone hates clowns!

So we have made it through the first jolly weekend. Bob had a bit of an upset stomach today and I thought he had a fever. I'm just praying it was the rye and gingers he decided to drink at the party. Bob rarely drinks and guys are usually trying to get him to drink something. Bob loves Crown Royal and gingerale so forgetting my panic attacks I told him to go ahead and have some - I'd be driving.

Five rye and gingers later he figures he's good.

The man may not drink often but he holds his liquor well. I'm just thinking his body is all 'what the hell is going on!?'.

One can hope.

Weekend Extravaganza!

Okay, that sounds like we should be having some fun!

We will but I always have the pre-anxiety crap to deal with - apparently increasing the meds does very little. Crap. I wish they would invent the 'normal' pill already!

Saturday we are going to Bob's Christmas party for work which is quite nice since for the last few years the guys were just going and playing pool for an afternoon. Bob mentioned to me a few weeks ago that he was going to his work's Christmas party but I guess knowing me he didn't mention that I was coming along. Why get me stressing early?

It's good though, apparently it's a few hours of bowling and then dinner at a nice restaurant. My problem is the restaurant because it's about 45 minutes from home. Hey, I rarely eat in a restaurant 2 minutes from our house! (Kristie knows) Bob ordered me prime rib which I would love to itty bitty bits if I was the one to cook it. Well done is not a concept many cooks embrace but I'll be sticking to my guns C-Rex style. Or maybe I'll be too nervous and the pound of raw meat on my plate can just sit there.

My one time best friend was the coordinator for one of the 'fancy' Christmas events a few years back and she was very precise with the chef about my dinner. Still came to the table blood red and I wasn't going to say a word but my friend saw the blood from her table and made them take it back. I sat for about 20 minutes while everyone ate dinner and when it came back I hid the plate from my friends eyes and ate the parts that were closest to well done.

I figure tomorrow night will be a repeat but I'm not going to bother sending it back as the gravy will probably throw my stomach into a tail spin anyway - especially if the cook has added cream (which I didn't know people did that!). I wish we could have ordered off the menu so I could have had a salad or something that I knew would not want to play tennis in the belly.

So that's tomorrow and then on Sunday we have a mini-Christmas with my best buds which is always fun. I'm just not feeling prepared. Actually I haven't wrapped anything and probably still have a few things to get. Ugh.

THEN, I think I mentioned that I 'bought' a present for Bob from one of the Toronto stores that we went to in the early fall and the stupid sales woman wouldn't even consider shipping it to me because it would cost a small fortune. Hey, if I'm dumb enough to pay it then ship it already!!

I'm thinking of asking my best friend to go on a two hour event trip with me to pick up this piece. Perfect time of year for me to have a melt down. Wonderful. I know my friend would do this for me no problem which is probably why I haven't called and asked. Yep, anxiety loves to mess with me. I just don't want to get half way there and have the mother of all panic attacks. Not this year. I can't afford it this year, next year sure, but not the year I'm hosting Christmas!

Ahem.

Anyone else hear a screeching in my writing?

You guys are way to good to me for putting up with my crap. I'm still carting around Drop Dead Gorgeous by Linda Howard and if anyone is waiting on another opinion before buying just let me know and I will make more of an effort to put my butt in a chair and read!

Thanks everyone for the comments on my almost finished bathroom.

I'm tickled pink. *bad-um-tish*

And goodnight!

Gifts and Reno

Woohoo!! I have picture capabilities!

Since I'm soon back to bed this will hopefully be brief. *snort*

Okay, Christmas gifts first.

My Dad loves his garden and for years we have been getting him eagles or owls for his yard. This year I told him if he didn't give me any ideas for him he would get a ton of birds. Well, my dad never tells anyone what he would like and he always says surprise me. One year we will all carry out our threats of coal let me tell you! Lucky for him I have been on Ebay for the past month trying to find unique gifts that you never see up here in Canada.

Thus, I found this beautiful Heron.

Maybe you're thinking this is too girlie and maybe it is and maybe next year he'll make a list!

Even still, his favourite colour is blue and well, it's a huge bird! It stands 3 1/2' tall. Yep, I'm going to find out just how much my Dad loves me.

It'll either be visible or behind all his spruce trees.

My Aunt is also a bit hard to shop for although she said she would shop for herself and then get the money from us. Uh, okay. So she went out and bought a few things but I couldn't help myself when I saw this on Ebay.

My Aunt's dream is to actually see Mexico one day. Since that isn't financially feasible right now she has been bringing Mexico home.

I saw this colourful Sombrero and knew my Aunt would have a good laugh and you better believe she will hang it somewhere prominent in her home!

On a completely different bent (you knew it was coming) I went to place an order for Bob's gift tonight and the lady at the store in Toronto said that shipping the item to my house would cost a small fortune. I said 'what, like 50 bucks?' and she said, 'no, much more'. Ugh. So I'm trying to decide if I have the cahones to drive to Toronto with my best friend to pick it up. I've noticed my anxiety level is much higher than normal and I'm not sure I want to test it's boundaries so close to my all time panic day of the year. Christmas day. Actaully the day itself isn't the problem, it's the dinner. Uh, it's not the dinner because I *love* turkey dinner but it's the stress of my parents. Ugh. That's a whole different story so let's move on for now.

Bathroom Reno!

For those who don't remember the scary ass pink bathroom here is a reminder.

Yep, screams Pepto Bismol which might just end up being my drink of choice over the holiday season.

Also note the lovely snot green counter top.

My sweet cousin's boyfriend who is the slimmest man I have ever met (one of those who can't put on weight no matter what he does and yes, it pisses him off) came out of the bathroom the first time and said 'Wow, that's a small bathroom!'

Here's where we are today!!

Booyah, Baby!!

Bob has to put up the final piece of trim that goes over all the tiny squares but since he wouldn't let me paint before he tiled he had to leave it off so that I could paint without having to tape off sections. Taping is a sure way to have C-Rex come for a visit.

So the floor is marble and the walls are tumbled marble and it's all from Home Depot. I swear I have no idea why I felt the need to hurt my brain by going all over the place looking at tile stores because once I knew what I wanted it turned out that Depot had them. Course, the day we went to buy them they were out of stock AND they had their promo on for not paying for a year so you better believe I raised proper hell. They ended up writing up 4 different orders because they didn't have the tiles in stock (Depot is horrible for not having the most basic of goods in stock - makes Bob flip it does), they didn't have the toilet we wanted in stock and they had to special order the marble chair rail and bullnose I wanted. We spent something like 3 hours in the store just getting their people to place the orders since they belonged to different departments.

I kept my cool.

Okay! I didn't maim anyone.

And just because I think these next two pictures are hilarious I'm going to post them.

The first looks like an Emma ghost - this was taken after waking up and discovering that Cody had run the kitties ragged. Poor Emma looked like she'd put her paw in a light socket but the flash whited out her nose so she looks like a frazzled ghost.

Isn't that the perfect 'I hate you' face?

What a sweetie!

And then I took this picture and I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the result. I sent it to Bob because he wanted to know if the pets were missing him (stop laughing Renee!) and I put the caption 'Evil thoughts on what to do with your pillow'. They hate when Bob goes away because he looks after them. I'm more likely to turn around and tumble over one of them and not clue in that they are hungry. Yesterday I truly believed that Amber was sensing my sore stomach and thus the reason she slept practically on my face.

Later I realized it was her way of saying 'HEY! I'm hungry!'

I'm always just a touch hurt that the extra attention wasn't just because I'm mom. Nope, it's all about how to get me to notice the food bowl, water bowls and cat litter.

I hate cat litter.

Wow, hope you enjoyed the long ride to nowhere!

Just to let you know I'm going to be blog hopping for the next day or so (haven't been anywhere except Kristie's), so I can catch up. Also this weekend is the first test of my inner strength for the season. Maybe I'll post about that tomorrow - most of it is normal stuff but there is one thing I'm not looking forward to and those who are in the know will have some opinions. For those not in the know I will post links to what you might want to read to understand the potential stress situation.

Okay, now I'm just rambling. Hope some of you will be around on the weekend and blogging about your day - I need my blog hopping fix!!

What's Up? Cody!!

(Edited: I'm off for a nap so I have not proofed this - I'm just about to fall asleep in this chair and I think my bed would make a better refuge! So, read at own risk.)

My tummy is giving me fits so I haven't been a good blogger. Bad Cindy.

Bob left for his business trip this morning so maybe the gidgey tummy is me missing him.

Okay, there's some stress stuff too.

Cody goes to the vet in the morning which means I have to be awake in the morning. My best friend invited me to dinner tomorrow night so there will be no sleeping in and acting like a cat.

Before going for dinner I'll have to pick up my groggy puppy and make sure he's all settled and then there is my over anxious brain worrying that I have the stomach flu. (Went to my Aunts' for her birthday and my cousins beau was sick. Throwing up sick. Not that we saw him because he stayed in bed but I was in a house with a vomiting person. That's right up there with flying when it comes to fears.) So basically, I get myself all worked up for about 72 hours wondering if I'm going to get sick and NO, do not tell me if the incubation period can be longer because I feel stupid enough being a henwit for 72 hrs!

I haven't done Christmas cards, the exterior lights or the interior lights, in fact I have done no Christmas decorating yet and I'm feeling a wee bit frazzled. The good news is that I think I'm actually rocking the gifts this year in a fun way.

Oh! Let me show you!

*blink*

That scream you just heard was me discovering that I cannot put up pictures which means that I need to change the title of this post (Partial Rendition) because on top of not being able to show my super cool gift prowess, I can't show you my gorgeous bathroom pictures.

So this post is now just a whiny 'Oh woe is me' thingie.

Hmmm, I'll tell you about this morning and maybe that will make you smile.

I don't know if you know this but our puppy Cody gets put in the den when I go to bed. There is a child gate that we put up. Now you might wonder why would we do this but you would have had to know our dog Cody since he was a pup. Here is an example of his high jinxs.

Anyways, lately he is stuck to Bob or I like glue and he seems to have passed the need to eat drywall although he still loves to chew on paper (see his destructive powers here). So when one of us goes to bed we let Cody pick where he wants to be and normally that's at the side of the bed snoozing away.

This morning though I was exhausted and crawled into bed before Bob left. He asked if he could leave Cody out and I said that was fine because I figured he would come upstairs once he saw Bob out the door.

Well, Bob leaves and I hear the click of Cody's nails on the hardwood. I wait and minute and then yell for him. (Yell because he is deaf) He doesn't hear and I yell again.

That is all I remember because I must have dropped right off.

I wake up at 2:30pm still groggy but aware that something isn't right. I don't hear Cody snoring. I look over and Amber is on the bed. Hmmm. I roll over to go back to sleep and notice that Emma is on the floor beside the bed.

Uh-oh.

In the old house this would have meant nothing to see Emma by my bed but it doesn't happen here so I figure someone has been terrorizing the kitties. (He doesn't do anything to them but you know how cats are). At that moment I hear a thump followed by the clicking nails of puppy paws. I groan and pray he wasn't sleeping on my leather sofa.

I get up from bed and go down the stairs. Once he sees me he realizes that I've been home the whole time. He happily gets up and follows me back upstairs so I can go back to bed.

It's hours later before I come downstairs to discover Emma sitting dead center in the kitchen with a look that has frozen my heart many times. I look over at her food dish and don't see it. Crap. Cody ate all their hard food, licked their wet food dishes to a shine and tipped over the kitty's water bowl. Ugh.

It was hilarious when I filled up the hard food bowl. Normally Emma launches herself at the bowl but she just turned her back and went to stand beside her upturned water bowl as if to say 'this needs to be addressed also!'

I figure the house stood the test of Cody and well, he'll be gassy from eating the cat's food but that's spilled milk.

I have to run a few errands and start gearing up. I put on my sneaker and then reach for the other one only it's not there. Huh. I look all over the house about four times before giving Cody a funny look. I mean, a whole shoe would be quite a feat but I can't find the sneaker anywhere.

I end up putting on Bob's sneakers because I only own one pair of shoes and have to make an extra stop to buy myself new shoes.

When I get home I call Bob and we talk about our day and I run through Cody's hit list. I get to the shoe and Bob starts laughing. Last night he had set up the guest bed and to do so he had to remove tons of plastic which he threw down the stairs. He then scooped it all up and put it in the garage.

Yep, my shoe was under a bunch of plastic in the garage.

Never would have thought to look there. See, he's messing with me and he's not even home!

There's A Style!?

I just finished putting the first coat of paint on the bathroom - it's almost complete but Bob has to go away on business Tues through Friday so I think the state it is in will remain stagnant.

I was hoping Bob would put the bed frame together for the 'blue' room but he never found the time. Looks like I'll have to warm up my salty language to prepare for that task. Nothing quite cures like cursing like a sailor when it all goes to pot.

I should mention though that Bob cleaned the hell out of the kitchen and the rest of the house - I gave up once a two inch layer of plaster dust settled on everything.

I may have told this little story before but at the old house when the contractors from the insurance company were finished with the basement it was a piece of beauty. All sparkly new. My Dad comes over to help Bob with something and sees him pull his table saw into this newly fashioned room. He was stunned when Bob turned it on and started cutting a panel without a thought of the dust he was creating. See, my Dad would have been shot on the spot but my Dad doesn't realize that I got sick and tired of explaining to Bob the mess he was making years ago. Hey, he always sweeps up the dust (that's his excuse). I have yet to see him wash a wall though.

After 11 years of marriage I don't get my dander up about the state of the house anymore. I do get miffed if Bob gets upset that the house is a mess when we have company over. I'm no neat freak but I don't walk through the house with my muddy boots on an hour after someone has vacuumed. I now know not to get upset after vacuuming because I swear it's a given that Bob won't even think about the floor unless company is coming. At that point I no longer give a shit and put my feet up and read.

Okay, looks like my dander still gets up.

Anyways, I think I'm back on nights (I prefer being up at night when Bob is gone anyways) with loads of stuff to do yet. Ugh.

So I give you this - kindly swiped from Bookwormom.





Okay cuddles and my kiss. My kiss rocks. Okay, maybe it's just my whorish ways. Potato - poe-tat-oh.

Oh and for those of you in the know about werewolves and such maybe you can find time to pop on over to Bev's and help out with a certain quandary that I've pondered a few times myself.

Okay, I'm going to go and clean up all the painting crap I had to drag out.

See, I'm a trooper!

Pictures to come soon.

Cody Bear

We got the results of the biopsy for Cody and it is a cancer. What it's called I can't remember but basically one year is the norm. Seeing as how he is 12 1/2 I figure we've done well.

My BIL's dog is an eight year old Golden Retriever and the stuff they have had to deal with is unreal. Not only that, the dog looks old. I've only ever met one dog that was close to 16 years of age and their dog looks just like it. Grey hair all over her face, she can't get up without groaning and looks to be in a lot of pain. The BIL figures she won't make it through the year.

Cody will go in next Wednesday for more X-rays and a mild sedative to check his lymphnodes. At that point we might learn how invasive it is now and we can prepare ourselves and watch for any signs of suffering. Bob was very upset tonight and worried that Cody was suffering. I can tell you in all honesty that he isn't suffering. He has those panicky moments when he can't get enough air through his nose but I know he isn't in any kind of pain anywhere else.

I was considering radiation treatment which won't cure him but would keep the tumor from growing. I thought it would be in pill form (and it might be but I have to talk to the vet yet) but it looks like it is 3 days a week where they give the dog mild sedation and he has an IV in him for 10 minutes. Quite frankly, if he were a much younger dog I might try it but quality of life is the most important thing right now and since he is considered 'very old' for a dog of his breed I don't see the benefit. I would rather put him on pain pills to take care of any discomfort he might have than put him through the radiation where burns are a definite side effect. Not only that but Cody (and I'm sure most everyone on the planet) seems to be groggy for a good 24 hours after coming out of the sedation. So he would just get his pep back and have to be sedated again. Can't do that to him.

As to giving him sedation, we have discovered that that is what makes the boy gas-y! On Monday he no longer stank and thank goodness. Bob has to go away on business next week so he gets to miss the three day stink fest that'll be happening on Wed, Thurs, Fri. Ugh.

Bob said he wants Cody to sleep upstairs in our room and I said that was fine. It was quickly followed by 'on our bed?'

Hell no!

I love him but it's bad enough I have to fight Bob, Amber and Emma for a spot on the bed. If Cody climbed in *I* would be the one sleeping on the floor.

As it is, I am looking the other way when I come down in the morning to find Cody curled up on my brand new couch. I'm a smart monkey though. I put blankets over all the cushions before going to bed. That way it's all washable.

Yep. Cody finally has us just where he wants us and don't think for one moment he isn't pleased as punch about it.

Edited - I wrote this on Thursday night and promptly lost it in the new Beta version - I just couldn't write it all up again so I was thankful when I figured out that I needed to select 'All' versions to see the posts I have in draft status.

Last night Cody put his front legs up on the sofa while I was lying there (it has a chaise part which is where I was stretched out). I looked up at him and said 'okay, c'mon up'. I know he didn't know what I was saying because he didn't try to get up any further but his tail was wagging like crazy - he also does this cute thing where he puts his chin on the seat cushion and looks up at you. I kept encouraging him to get up on the couch and he just acted like a clown for 10 minutes putting his chin on my tummy and rolling his eyes at me.

I love the little fur ball.

I'm Not Really Here!

I'm just popping in to let you know I'm alive but I want to do blog rounds so I won't have time to post tonight and possibly tomorrow. You guys have been busy!

I bought Drop Dead Gorgeous by Linda Howard and I think that will be the next book I read. I was going to crack my Anne Stuart book but I don't have the heart. With all the stress heading my way I want a friggin' reward and Anne is it!

I also went through and tagged all my reviews. I'm not really sure what it would do for you guys - I was thinking it would create a sidebar menu with links but I guess I have to do that.

What became clear to me was that for the most part, I read only B books and up. Very rarely do I suffer through a D book but there is at least one of those. Also, I realized my blog is more about me than about the books I read.

Yep.

I named my blog just right.