Love at first Sight

On my first trip to New York we had a layover in Salt Lake City. It was at that airport when I first laid eyes on these amazing little figurines. I cannot find a website that has the extensive collection that I had seen in that airport, but this one is pretty good: http://www.shopheadlines.com/Departments/Gifts/Veggie-Critters.aspx?page=1. Amazon also has a lot of these 'Home Grown' animal figurines.

I must prepare you...these are some of the cutest things you will ever see.

My personal favorite is the cauliflower sheep. I don't know how someone would ever come up with such an idea, but I am glad they did. I have decided that I need a collection of these strange little creatures. I think they would look just perfect on my very empty shelves. I just thought I would share these with all of you guys since I knew you would appreciate them. You know, these remind me of great grandma. I remember  playing with her little animal figurines for hours when I was younger. Me and Aletha would barter back and forth for days before coming to an agreement on who could play with which ones. Maybe one day Laci and one of her little cousins will do the same thing with my animal collection.

A Lesson on Cats: Expect the Unexpected

Meet Bella: my almost three year old, crazy trailer park rescue cat. I blame her crackhead ways on her somewhat controversial kittenhood in the trailer park by Pigs Liquor.

Oh, yes she does look sweet; although with that little bit of creepy cat eye you can see that she is mischevious too. Bella has always been a little strange, although I guess all cats are in their own way. She has a very intense love of straws, and stuffed animals. You have never seen anything funnier than your five pound cat trying to run down the hall with a stuffed animal in her mouth that is twice her size. It is so very strange that she loves straws the way she does. She knows all about fast food cups, and will quite stealthily snatch the straw out of your cup if you're not careful. I will always find a few straws underneath random pieces of furniture or in closets.

My dear friend Kylie thought it would be nice to get me a cute little house plant in a little turtle container. Bella thought it was nice that Kylie got her a plant...TO EAT!!! No, Bella has not been playing with this new plant of mine, she is just eating it. Here is a terrible picture of my plant where you will see the terrible glare of my high gloss painted walls, and you will barely be able to see the damage. It's there, just trust me.

I posted this in honor of Tonya, since we were all discussing this exact situation the same night that Kylie gave me this sweet little plant. I have no idea how long this little guy will last, however I hope by moving him onto the shelf where he is more secluded will help with Bella's interest in eating him. Cross your fingers.

Sight Without Sight

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.

The fearful are caught as often as the bold.

Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invisible host against difficulties.

- Helen Keller

Life Lesson from the Ghetto?

Rap songs are seldom a source of good advise or life altering wisdom, but every once in a while if you really listen you may be surprised. One of my favorite rap songs is Ghetto by Akon. An interesting song in it's entirety, but the best of it has to be the second verse. It's not quite the same written out, but if you know the song you will appreciate it:

No need to cherish luxuries, cause everything come and go

even the life that you have is borrowed

cause you're not promised tomorrow.

So live your life as if every days' gonna be your last.

Once you move forward can't go back

best prepare to remove your past.

Sometimes I get so ahead of myself that I forget to just enjoy the moment and the day for what it is, instead of what it isn't. It's good to have a little reminder once in a while to ground you once again. It may come from somewhere as unlikely as a rap song, or something as heart warming as a baby's smile :); perhaps even a hot cup of tea at the end of the day, or the comfort of your dog's head in your lap. There is 86,400 fabulous moments in each day. Live every one of them.

Spring Fall Bulbs

You always think of spring as a time of new beginnings, but really each season is a new beginning for something unique. These same bulbs come up in my backyard every fall. A backyard that is completely neglected and only has dirt and leaves and whatever treasures Riley has found to destroy and scatter around. These bulbs only bloomed once the first fall we lived in this house two or three years ago and I believe they are paperwhites or some other type of small daffodil type flower. When they get big enough they will catch Riley's eye and he will lay on them and smash the foliage into the dirt, but until then I will look at them with wonder. Bulbs are like an unexpected present. One day you go out into your yard and surprise, there is new life bursting from the ground without any preparation or encouragement from you. It is amazing that plants just know when the time is right. Last month after just a few cold nights, trees all around town bursted spontaneously into their autumn wardrobes of yellows, oranges, and reds. Sigh...

The Shed...What on earth am I getting myself into?

This lump of spider webs, junk and dry rot is what I would like to call a work in progress. For some insane reason I haven't quite grasped yet I seem to think that I want to turn this pile of nothing into my own little greenhouse/potting shed. I hope that this is only the beginning of something that will turn out to be beautiful. Now before I get to ahead of myself we need to take a closer look inside just so that you fully understand just how much work this is going to be.

As you can see, there is an extremely large hole in the roof of this dream shed. The plus side to this is that it doesn't look like the 2x4 beams are rotted, just the plywood. So I guess there is some good news :). Now I just need about 8 sheets of plywood and a bunch of roofing. Wish me luck, maybe I can find a good deal on Craigslist.

And this picture gives you a pretty good idea of what the rest of the inside of this thing looks like. Perhaps before anything else I should bomb this black widow haven. Then we will do clean up, then hopefully I can get the roof done before the year is done. These are big plans, so we will just see how it works out. All I know is I have to try and get this done before January so all of my little seedlings will have a warm home to grow in. If you need some ideas of what I need for my b-day, here you go. Plywood and shingles...or just a Home Depot gift card if it's easier. Or nothing at all, I really don't care. The older you get the less you care about things like presents and more about just being around the people you love and doing the things that make you happy.

Words of Wisdom

Besides the people of walmart website, which I love, one of the funniest websites is urbandictionary.com. It's a wonderous place that opens your eyes to all sorts of words and definitions that you never knew existed. For today's selection I have chosen all PG-13 rated words. If you don't have a few minutes I would suggest turning back now, there is about 20 definitions. Enjoy:

Shuffle shame

 This is when your mp3 music player is playing on speakers in shuffle mode, and somebody enters the room at the exact moment the worst song of your collection is being played. It never fails that this happens whenever the mood strikes me to take my iPod to work on a slow day. You think I would learn my lesson.

Sloth-Cloth

An old tee-shirt you wear while hanging around the house. I would say that my attire today undeniably qualifies.

Involuntary "You Too"
When out of habit you reply to a comment with "You too". For Example: while at dinner the other night when the waitress said have a good dinner, I said you too. I do this ALL the time.

Stoptional
When the braking of a car is left to one's choice due to an unnecessary stop sign.
Passenger: Did you just blow through that stop sign?
Driver: Oh, no worries. It was stoptional.
I can say that I have never done this, but that maybe this was the cause of Kristina's car accident?

Selective Fatigue Syndrome
Fatigue which is used as an excuse when one does not want to perform undesirable tasks such as work. Unfortunately I have to say that I am guilt of this sometimes when cleaning the kitchen is involved.

Shituation
A dramatic, usually negative happening resulting in utter shit in one's life. Kinda like Thursday was for me...just one of those days.

Piglet Flu
During times of pandemic, the common flu is known as Piglet Flu. While less deadly than Swine Flu it still makes you feel like shit. However, because it is not infamous like swine flu you get no respect from having it. So you feel like crap and no one gives a damn because you don't have h1n1.

Right-of-Stay
When two cars disregard the right-of-way guidelines they were supposed to learn from a driver's manual when they were 16, resulting in both cars to remain motionless at an intersection assuming the other car will make the first move. Usually after about 10 seconds both cars will go at the same time which leads to a firestorm of profanity and/or an accident. This happens a lot downtown, and usually involves a little old lady or a tweaker.

Mantrum
When a grown man throws a tantrum when he can't have his way. I plead the 5th.

Caraoke
Singing along with music in a car, especially loudly and passionately. Whitney Houston is the best in bringing out my caraoke skills.

Courtesy Fart
When someone accidentally farts and is embarrased, you should, if you have one ready, let one fly as well. This is a courtesy fart. I don't think so, but it's still funny.

Upper Case Voice
Noun. to raise your voice or accentuate part of a sentence to stress significance as you would while typing in the digital world. This would be the voice I was using at 3a.m. this morning to ask David why he was trying to kill Pickles by leaving the A/C on all night. I know it wasn't on purpose, but my excuse is that I was half asleep still.

Manstration
When a man is going through his monthlies. This may also be accompanied by the Mantrum: see above.

Buffer Race
The race between the playback line and the buffer bar on an internet video. Ex: Trying to watch any video on mom's computer.

Writer's Crap
Derived from 'writer's cramp', writer's crap reffers to a stage when one is only capeable of writing utter crap. Anyone who has ever gone to school knows all about this.

Douchebaguette
A female douchebag. A woman who exhibits characteristics of a douchebag. This one if for my mom who just recently discovered what a douchebag was and quite frankly loves the word.

Running Latte
Showing up late to work because you stopped for coffee along the way. Guilty. I have had to make a stop for a pumpkin cappuccino at 8:05 in the morning.

Mowing the Laundry
Doing a load of laundry after allowing clothes to pile up on your bedroom floor for weeks. This is a perfect example of what I am doing today. It envolves grabbing everything within reach and putting it all in the washer together regardless of color.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost