funny felines

I was making lunch today when I looked up and saw this:

People where they're not supposed to be.

Yesterday, we moved the cat castle over next to the armoire. It had been in the kitchen and was crowding the table, and it was bothering me. (You can't see it in this picture, but it's right under the picture to the right of the sliding glass door.) Well, the castle is tall enough for them to jump up on the armoire, then up on the ledge. They are so cute up there, but they chew on my fake plants!!!! We'll be moving the castle again shortly.

Then guess what. Today at the gym I saw the NY Yankees guy again. His skin is leathery looking. Anyway, I was on the treadmill and I saw him sauntering around. Some of the weight benches are by this huge window--it's really a wall that's all glass--and I watched him walk over to a weight bench. I was thinking, "Is he actually going to lift a weight??!!" But instead, he took a seat and proceeded to stare out the window. Maybe he was waiting on a call on his cell!

On the way home from the gym, I stopped at a store called Tuesday Morning. I had heard of it before--there was one near Sera's old house in NY. But I never went. Well, today I spent TWO HOURS in there! It was so cool! I got these really awesome boxes to store things in in my office--they're solid blue, red, and lime green and they have striped lids of the same colors. Love it. I also got a bunch of Christmas presents!!!! (and some rock candy--only 1 point!)

When I got home, I got the mail while I was emptying out the car, and I stuck the mail in one of the boxes. When you enter our house through the garage, you come into a little laundry room, then into the kitchen. We always keep the laundry room door shut so we can come in and not worry about the cats (escape artists) getting out. So I put all my stuff on the washer and dryer, took the mail out of the box, and came in to start dinner.

In a little while, I noticed this:

SOMEONE didn't waste any time trying out the box, did he??!! And SOMEONE ELSE was quite nosy and had to inspect all the boxes!!

That's my exciting news for today. I'll post pictures of my office when I get the boxes organized.

froggie went a courtin'

Check this out. I was on the phone with my mom a little bit ago and noticed Max come into the living room carrying something in his mouth. He dropped it and it jumped. I screamed. I was SURE it was a roach! Brian ran over (he was cooking dinner, bless his heart) and said, "It's a frog!!"

Sure enough, it was a teeny tiny baby frog. Max kept sniffing it, licking it, pawing at it, walking in circles around it, biting at it, etc. I ran and got the camera. Not to be outdone, Sam came over to sniff and paw at it too. You just never know what might happen around here!

Incidentally, after the photo shoot, Brian scooped up the frog in a plastic cup and took him out to the grass. He's safe. No animals were harmed in this blog.

first layout in florida

Here's a layout I made of Braden at that crop I went to last week. Just thought I'd share!

friday night with the dunlaps

Our dear friends Don and Nancy Dunlap were in town for the weekend and invited us to dinner on Friday night, along with their friend Harold Ivan Smith. We'd never met Harold, but apparently he's written many books and is somewhat well-known in Nazarene circles. He went to Trevecca (TNU) and was there at the same time as my Aunt Stella. My parents went there too, along with Don and Nancy, and many other friends and family members of mine.

Anyway, we ate at Tony Roma's and had a marvelous time. As always, it's great to see a familiar face. I lived with Don and Nancy for awhile when I lived in Nashville. They have seen me through some really tough times, and I kind of see them as my second set of parents. They are wonderful people and I love them so much!



That's Harold on the left, then Nancy and Don, and me and Brian. I look Asian as usual, since my eyes practically disappear when I'm laughing. The really funny thing is that we were at a place called The Bad A** Cafe which was right next door to Tony Roma's. We got a big kick out of it, so we went over and took some pictures. It turned out to be a fab evening.

nano nano

Our ipod nano arrived yesterday. We had lots of fun uploading songs to it! I tried to upload a book from our library, but it will only let me upload it to my desktop, it's not compatible with Mac. :-( That's okay, though. I've been listening to it while organizing the office.

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, and only lost .6 of a pound!!!! I was NOT happy to say the least, it was my first week! I always lose like 4-5 pounds the first week! (Can you tell I've done WW many times?!)

Anyway, then I went to the gym and worked some aggression out while listening to the nano. I love it, it has a great sound, and I can divide my songs into catagories, etc. It's the perfect thing for an organizational freak like me!

Memories Expo is coming to Orlando on Oct. 6-8. I might have to go over there on Saturday to see what's up. I've been behind in the scrapping world because of the move! But I'm getting caught up now. I've been on Lifetime Moments, 2 Peas in a Bucket, and Croppin' Paradise to see all the new stuff that's come out since July. I've ordered a few things too! :-D

office space

My new desk arrived this morning and I've spent all day putting it together. It's now in place, and this evening Brian has been setting up the computer and other electronics, and I've been sorting, organizing, filing, filling up drawers, etc. I'll post pictures when it's all done. I love it, though! It's so exciting! It's going to be a wonderful place to scrap and pay bills. I like to have a nice area in which to pay bills, since that's not such a fun task.

And the exterminator came back today. We've got to get rid of these bugs! They are much, MUCH better, though.

Next week at this time, my parents will be here. I'm SO excited!!!!

illuminations with tara

Our friends Tara and Joe are in town, vacationing at Disney. They invited us to join them on the Illuminations Cruise, and tonight we went. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had in a long time!

We arrived on the dock at the Disney Yacht Club at about 8:15 pm. There was Tara, Joe, and their son Alex, along with Tara's sister and her husband, Joe's mom, and Tara's brother and his girlfriend. They were all SO NICE and we jumped on the boat. It was a beautiful evening, with a nice breeze coming off the lake. We floated around and saw lots of cool hotels and shops. We could see the Tower of Terror at MGM--it looked really cool, all lit up purple in the sky! The boat driver guide was SO NICE. He was telling us about everything! It was great.

We finally entered into Epcot, and stopped the boat under a little bridge. Then this amazing fireworks show started and it was the best one I have ever seen! I didn't even know fireworks could do that! This cool rotating globe came out into the middle of the water and it had TV screens on it and there were all kinds of things--animals, scenery, transportation, etc. It was spectacular.

Afterward, we said goodbye to Tara and her fam--they were headed back to MGM--and we walked around to the Boardwalk resort and went in some shops and stuff. We talked to lots of people (Disney employees) and they were all SO NICE!! Finally, we stopped and got ice cream at this retro sweet shoppe (delicious!) and walked slowly back to the Yacht Club, enjoying the scenery and ambience. It was fabulous.

It was also wonderful to see Tara, Joe, and Alex. They are SO fun and we are so grateful they invited us tonight.

soak up the sun(burn)

OK, I'll admit that my legs are pink, I have some burn marks on my shoulders around my bathing suit strap area, and my nose looks like Rudolph. And I was wearing SPF 30!!!! But I still had a great day.

We got to Daytona a little after noon and headed straight to the beach. David and Mona had been there since like 8:00 am. We sat under their umbrellas on their beach chairs and talked until we were hoarse, taking frequent ocean dips to cool off. OK, OK, I sat in the sun. I KNOW it causes wrinkles, but I had on sunscreen and I live in Florida now, so I should at least TRY to stop looking like a ghost!!

We stayed out till about 5:00 or so. For about the last 20-30 minutes, Brian and I went out in the ocean and rode the waves. It was so fun! The ocean was pretty choppy, so there were some fairly good-sized waves. We had a ball. I haven't done that in years! Usually when we go to the beach, the ocean (or gulf) is pretty calm, so we really enjoyed today's waves.

We went in and I showered (I can't stand the sand!) and Mona cooked dinner. They have a condo right there on the beach and it was really nice. She made what she calls "camp burgers." It was chopped sirloin, surrounded with potatoes, carrots, green peppers, and onions, topped with cajun seasoning and cooked all together in an oven bag. YUM! It was DE-LISH! She had also made homemade rolls and homemade cinnamon rolls for dessert! Scrumptious! It was a perfect dinner.

Then we sat around and talked till we were hoarse again, and Brian and I finally headed home at about 10:45. David and Mona are so fab. They are just absolutely pleasant to be around. They know all kinds of funny stories from when my parents were younger (pre-kids) and also from when I was little. I remember some things too. We were remembering all the trips we used to take in the motor home. We went EVERYWHERE in that thing! It was SO FUN! I love them like my own family. Well, they pretty much ARE part of my family!

I must say a few words about the crop on Friday night. There were only about 8 ladies there and the room was huge, so I didn't meet everyone, but I talked to quite a few people. The girl working at the store was super nice, so I hit it off with her. I did talk to one older lady about cats (of course)--well, she had on cat earrings and I complimented them, so we had to talk about our furbabies. Another lady was cropping alone so I sat at the table across from hers and we talked some. She was really nice.

Some of the people did a lot of Creative Memories, some did simple scrapping, some did elaborate pages--there was just an eclectic mix. I finished 1.5 layouts. I have to put the finishing touches on the last one tomorrow afternoon. It felt good to scrap again--I haven't done ANY scrapping since NY.

When I got home, Brian asked me if I met anyone, so I told him about some of the ladies. He said, "Anyone who you think you can hang out with?" I said, "Not really." He said, "There's no one like your NY friends. You guys are the Sex and the City of scrapbookers." I thought that was cleverly put--we really kind of are! (Except there are five of us. Well, I guess there are four now without me!) :-(

I really, really, REALLY miss my NY friends. I can't WAIT to see them in November!

i'm the proud owner....

....of a brand new Florida driver's license! Woo-hoo! That's about the best thing that's happened all week. Real exciting, huh?

BUT I do have a stellar weekend ahead! First of all, on Friday night, I'm going to be brave and go to a crop at the Local Scrapbook Store--by myself! Yes, folks, I'm going it alone. But I'm sure I'll meet some nice scrappers there. I'm psyched about it! I need to pre-plan some pages!

And on Saturday, we're going to Daytona Beach to spend the day with David & Mona. I can't wait!

Finally, on Sunday night, we're going to meet our friends Joe & Tara and their son Alex at Disney! They're coming down from NY and we get to go on a fireworks cruise with them. I'm SO excited about that! I haven't been to Disney since the 3rd grade! (Well, I went to Epcot when I was 20, but there are no rides there so it doesn't count.) I know I won't be riding anything on Sunday night except a boat, but it will be cool to just GO because Disney has changed so much! And it's always awesome to see a familiar face.

In other news, the GREAT DESK SEARCH has finally ended. I've found my perfect desk, and yes, it's white. :-) It has different pieces that fit together, so I'm about to go measure and see what pieces I need. Maybe I'll go and get it tonight! It's on sale, too!

Oh, some of our shows have FINALLY begun again! Our very favorite, "Lost," premiered last night for its new season. It was incredible! Just as good as last season, if not better!!!! We can't WAIT till next Wednesday's episode! Also, "The Biggest Loser" is on again. We love love love it! And this Sunday, "Desperate Housewives" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" are coming back on. We can't wait.

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! I guess it's just been a boring week.

sunday, happy sunday

We didn't go to the beach. I was feeling yucky all day yesterday. I think it's because of lack of sleep. Friday night, we went to bed with Max locked in our room/bathroom. We put the empty litter box in the bathroom and left the normal one outside our room for Sam. Every time Max made a noise, I was INSTANTLY awake. And he got bored, too. He scratched at the door and meowed. He tried to chew on my glasses. He knocked everything off the nightstand. He jumped on top of the tv and clawed around on it. He meowed at Sam under the door and Sam meowed back. (Brian slept through it all, of course!!) I believe I was awake more than I was asleep.

Finally, at about 7:15 am, I heard scratching in the litter box. I jolted awake. It woke Brian up, too. He went and checked--sure enough, Max had peed. Hallelujah! Brian sucked it up in the syringe and put it in the fridge. We let Max out and he RAN to the sliding glass door to watch the lizards, and Sam promptly came and got in bed with us. We went back to sleep for a few hours, and then Brian got up and took the pee to the vet. The vet tested it, discovered that Max had a small bladder infection, and gave us meds for him. Brian didn't have his check card, so they called me for the card number. By that time, Brian had already called me twice, so I was up and on the couch, watching "A Different World."

So I was in and out of sleep all day, with a horrible headache. Brian took good care of me--he fed me Aleve all day and finally put me to bed around 11:00. I played some Spider Solitaire, watched some TV, and was out. I slept great, and felt much better this morning.

We went to Apopka Calvary Church of the Nazarene, where we've been a few times. It was a good service. Then we went to Sonny's BBQ for lunch. It was YUM! They had banana pudding for dessert, but I was too full, so I got it to go. It reminded me of my dad--he LOVES banana pudding. Maybe I'll make some when they come in only 2 weeks!!!!

And now we're home and it's quiet. *sigh of contentment* The cats are napping and Brian is working on my computer. I'm about to go to Home Depot to get a curtain rod and price some cabinets for my office. We're going to go to Daytona next Saturday.