Baby Emma

It’s hard to believe, but 3 short weeks ago, this precious little girl was born.

My brother and his wife Niki have longed to bring a baby home for many years now.  And through the miracle of adoption, little Emma has now become a part of our family.

After several years of heartache, wondering when God would bless them with a child, it is beyond wonderful to see Mark and Nik hold their little girl and experience the joys of having a newborn at home. 

It’s exciting to have another little girl in the family to shop for and be “Aunt Tay-la”  to.  Welcome to the world Emma, and welcome to the Kinder family.

Cats and Cars

Cats and cars are like oil and water..they just don’t mix.  Today I took our three little kitties for a road-trip, over to Mandi’s house as her mother-in-law is considering getting another cat (or two?)  And her boys certainly enjoyed petting the “mows” (meows) .  Although they aren’t ready to leave mom just yet, I figured they would be find for a quick 40 minute trip away from home.  And mama kitty was certainly ready for a break from her kids, especially since they’ve learned to use their claws.  I swear I hear a thank you meow as I pulled away from the house.

I didn’t bother pulling the cat carrier from the back shed because a.) wasn’t sure how deep it was buried and b.) I had a nice paper box handy and thought that along with a heavy blanket, it would work nicely to contain them.

I thought wrong.

Kittens are remarkably persistent and resilient little beasties and before I was even halfway there, they had escaped the box and were crawling over the floorboard and passenger seat.  I had better luck on the way home, but despite re-engineering the box/blanket situation, they were still out and about in about five minutes.

My apologies to the other drivers on the road with me today.  Although I’m fairly confident that I never wandered from between my two lines, I’m sure I alarmed a few folks who pulled up next to me and saw a kitten on each shoulder… 

This little guys expression says it well…we were all a little disgruntled. 

School Answering Machine

I have no idea if this is true or not, but I dearly hope it is…  Supposedly the outgoing message that the staff at Maroochydore High School in Queensland, Australia, voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine

Kitties

So the number of furry creatures in our house (that we know of anyway) has just been DOUBLED. Our neighbor’s kitty, who we’ve been feeding & loving on for the last several months, gave birth to 3 little kitties a couple of weeks ago (we think) and we discovered them snuggled up under our electric meter. After a discussion with the neighbors, whereby we essentially took ownership of the cat (long story, but they didn’t care much for her and she didn’t care much for them and turns out we have “SUCKER” stamped on both of our foreheads when it comes to animals), we moved mama kitty and her litter into our office.

And I just have to say..

I could sit and watch those kittens all day long. They are so freakin adorable, it’s ridiculous. Don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself:

Mama Kitty w/her brood

This little guy is the “runt” and the only boy to boot.  Such a charmer though.

Desperately seeking entertainment

They are already spilling out of the little contained area we had for them, so we’ve put up a baby gate and given them run of the room. There is no possible way we can accomdate any more pets. I know this for a fact. There’s the fur and the food and the poo-removal. It’s just too much work.

But.

But..

But…

My heart just melts when I pick them up and hold them. I might be in trouble here. So if any of my readers are looking for a new companion, please let me know and I’ll be happy to slap a big red bow on one of them for you and send them your way. Express mail, even.

You know you want one.

Fainting, Faucets and the Flu

 

Sorry for my lengthy absence from posting anything interesting.  I had planned on updating my blog on Thursday night but was really tired and just didn’t have the motivation to do it.  Early Friday (we’re talking around 4am) I woke up with full-body shivers.  I was sooo cold – my teeth were literally chattering.  So I did what any sensible girl does when she wants to warm up quickly – I hopped into a smokin hot shower.  It did the trick, but I found myself getting a bit woozy toward the end.  (Hubby tells me dramatic temperature changes like that are shocking to one’s system…who knew?)

I hollered for Tim because I could tell my balance was precarious at best.  He showed up right about the time my ears started ringing and my heart started racing. Later, he said he could tell by one look at my face that the lights were on, but nobody was home..  He tried to get me to just sit down in the tub, but I only made it about a half turn before my knees gave out and I plumb passed out.

Now, let me just take a minute here to reflect on the term “fainting” and the many pre-conceived notions attached to it.  Many years of movie-watching and reading various books has likely left a lot of you with a certain idea of how a woman faints.  Usually there’s a delicate fluttering of the eyelashes, perhaps a tremulous gasp of alarm, before she oh-so-gracefully folds to the floor, her hair in beautiful disarray, her skin pale and translucent.  And often there is a dashing young gent standing by, ready to swoop in and catch her before she has a chance to risk a head injury.

About that.

Let me just say for the record that there was nothing delicate, graceful or beautiful about how I fainted.  And to add insult-to-injury (or in this case injury-to-insult), on my way down I managed to take out the faucet in the tub.  Yup, somehow I contorted my body so that the ribs on my left side hit the faucet with enough force to snap the copper tube inside from it’s proper place deep in the wall behind the shower.

Oh Joy.

Sorry for the visual…I made it as small as I could. 
In real life, it’s about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. 
If your eyes are still burning, try cucumbers..it helps. 

I spent the next 24 hours in bed with alternating bouts of chills, fever, nausea, and an all-over feeling of acheyness (especially on my left side..oy).  Thankfully my fever broke by mid-Saturday and although hubby swears he still smells bacon, we’re pretty sure it wasn’t Swine Flu.  Mostly because it was over so quickly.  So I’ll be back to work tomorrow (yay!) and in line for my flu-shot the following week.  I don’t know how people survive a whole week (or longer!) of feeling this way. 

Thankfully, hubby was able to repair the faucet himself, requiring a mere $35 worth of materials from Wal-Mart.  Considering the plumber quoted us a minimum repair cost of $150, I consider myself blessed to have a husband who is so handy.  As a bonus for him, he got a propane torch out of the deal, so that almost compensated for having to play nurse-maid to me for a couple of days.  Tools are a great bribe reward for husbands.

Workout Solution

I’ve been giving some serious consideration to my health lately, and have decided that it’s time (past time, really) for me to get an exercise routine going again.

After a lot of research and careful thought, I’ve think I’ve found the perfect workout solution.  And I’m so excited about it, I wanted to share it with you.

Presenting….The Hawaii Chair (as seen on Ellen)

Do you think anyone at work will notice?  <wicked laugh>

DBS

Tonight I have total, complete Dead-Brain Syndrome (hereafter known as DBS). 

DBS is an unfortunate condition, brought on by an excess of time spent in a corporate environment.  Some days when I get home I feel like this guy from Office Space:

See that desk?  That’s what my desk at work is looking like these days.  And anyone who knows me well, knows that level of disorganization wreaks havoc on my nerves.  I came home today with shoulder spasms and a wicked headache.

And we all know what the best cure for that is, right?  That’s right – say it with me ladies…

CARBS!  

Tonight I whipped up a great pasta carbonara with a twist.  Traditional carbonara is pasta tossed with a bit of olive oil, bacon, parmesean cheese and a couple of beaten eggs to hold it all together.  Hubby loves this dish but has always felt like bacon wasn’t quite robust enough, so this time I added chicken, as well as sliced mushrooms and some halved cherry tomato’s fresh from a co-worker’s garden.

OMG, if heaven had a flavor, I swear I tasted it an hour ago.  I lightened it up a bit by using whole wheat spaghetti and half the amount of bacon the recipe called for.  This is the kind of dish where a small serving goes a long way toward filling one up.  Which is great on a lot of fronts, especially the one where I get to take leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Plus, whole-wheat pasta counts as a complex carbohydrate, right?  Just the kind of carb I like..

Ok, enough for now.  I can’t get Office Space off my brain now, so I’ll leave you with this classic scene:

Miss Pettigrew

I recently finished reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. 

 

It was beyond wonderful.  Originally published in Britain, in 1938, I was initially a bit hesitant to read it.  Although I’d heard wonderful things about it, and the recent movie adaptation piqued interest, I’ve had bad luck with boring British novels.

I so didn’t have to worry about that with this book.

The story chronicles an out-of-the-ordinary day for governess, Miss Pettigrew.  Sent by today’s equivalency of a temp agency to a new post as governess for Miss LaFosse, Miss Pettigrew is soon caught up in the drama of high-society life.  She wins over (most) all she encounters with her common sense and practical nature.  She determines to live life to it’s fullest, for at least one day of her life, and her curiosity and courage pay off, opening doors and bringing opportunities she’d never dreamed of.

As I said before, it was a delightful read and I highly recommend it.  Great read for a cold-ish Saturday morning, wrapped up in a blanket and sipping on a hot cup of cocoa.  Let yourself be transported to another time and place – it’s a worthwhile trip.

Fear the Fuzzy

Seriously Messed Up

 

Courtesy of Passive Aggressive Notes.