There’s Gonna Be Another Female in the House!

A feline female!  This is a big deal……

When I met Hubs 27 years ago I told him that I needed to have books and cats in a home to be happy and he was on board.  We got one cat and then another and then a few years later a dog and then another.  All four of them lived their full, long into geriatric lives, and we haven’t had any pets for 7.5 years.

 We moved to a new home 7 years ago and we no longer had a fenced yard and by this time the boys were old enough to be on three different sports teams that kept us busy many nights and weekends and we also began taking long summer road trips.  So, we have had no pets for a while with the exception of getting a hamster for  Youngest, but this past Easter it was sad when he expired after only 1.5 years.

 Soon it will be a year that I have had a job that wants me and my peers to work at home and I have increasingly been thinking how nice it would be to have a sweet cat curled up nearby.  Two weeks ago a coworker who also volunteers at a shelter, sent out a mass email about a cat she has observed at the shelter for months—a cat who is three years old and overlooked because she is not a kitten and because she didn't approach potential adopters often and who seemed miserable with the 20 or so other female cats in the room.  But my coworker knew she was sweet and wanted to see what she is like out of there and in a home.  She told the shelter folks she wanted to foster it and find it a home.  After just one day the kitty changed to a very, very happy, purring, lap sitting and leg-rubbing cat.  This is the first time I was included in her mass-email – she has occasionally looked for homes for a few cats previously. 

So I think it was fate and timing because this cat’s story spoke to me—about how she lived at the shelter for A YEAR and was MISERABLE but the minute she was put in a happier place she changed.  So I reached out and this past Sunday Youngest and I visited the kitty and she was so sweet and not scared at all and after an hour was rubbing our legs and letting us pet her belly.

 I showed her photos to Hubs and he accepted this (he is a neat freak so having any cat hair or litter box scenarios is not his fave).  I’m not sure why other than maybe I just need a cat every 25 years, but I know around my b-day in June I started saying I wanted a cat -- for the first time in years I was saying this.  The boys had a couple of separate weeks in FL with just Hubs this summer and I just found out they were advocating for me to get a cat.  I have also had some extreme stress/sadness this summer (nothing to do with work or the people I live with) which is why Hubs is being very easy going about this now.

(my coworker has been emailing me a photo a day of her)

So…..she is gonna be mine this Sunday!  And the Boys!  Right now they are fighting over the name.  I made a list of names that end in the “eeee” sound such as Roxy and Harley--those are the top contenders (kitty was named Shirley!!!) so I was thinking new name/similar sound.  I am out of town for a couple of days which is why the adoption day is this Sunday.  I’m sooooo excited.  She will be scared and hoping that a car ride doesn’t mean shelter time again. 

Oh, and she likes guys and feet so she should be happy at our house.

So what is the trend for cat food these days?  Some canned food at night so the diet is not just dry food (which has a lot of corn)??

Blue Moon Blogging - Traveling to South Dakota

Wel,, I had got a new client at work and they are in South Dakota.  In the plains near the NE, not the SW which has the Black Hills.  I left the world's busiest airport in Atlanta and went to one of the smallest!....after changing planes in Minneapolis.

My plane to SD had only about 13 rows but it went well.  I didn't check my bag but they took it to save space and still put it on the baggage claim conveyor.  There was only one "gate" and went you entered the airport you quickly came to the baggage claims area here:

And do you see just to the left is a counter with a red Avis sign above it.  Easiest walk to the rental car counter I have ever had.

Then, the rental cars were parked right next to the airport.  Mine was waiting for me in row #6 here (my plane is in background).  When I returned to the airport the next day I pulled into Row #1.

I practically didn't even need a rental car because my client was so close to the airport.  It was a long way to go for a visit but I will be going back in October.  They were so, so nice and they must have liked me because I was invited to go pheasant hunting next time.  I think they were trying to get my reaction but hey, I go with the flow.  Some people golf with clients--why not hunt for food?

Oh, and at the littlest airport ever, about 30 mins before flight time, two TSA women appear.  They were super nice and certainly there were no big, expensive radiation screening machines.

Then it was back in Atlanta and on the train there was a young lady with these shoes. 

Last time I traveled it was in May and I bought new flat shoes knowing I'd do a lot of airport-walking.  I made it home with blood dripping down my heels from those suckers.  I still have scars.  Those platforms would have been better I guess.

At the Atlanta airport before you get to the baggage claim area where you exit for the parking lots, you ride up a long escalator and at the top of it, all the people that wait for arriving passengers stand in a line.  There can be hundreds of people there.  When I got to this area, like the guy in this photo in the orange shirt, I was shocked and peeved to see a government worker (TSA) at this podium, with his hands around his phone or ipod, with his head down.

Like I said, to his left are hundreds of people off the street, not scanned.  Shouldn't he be more on the ball?  I was so shocked I had to stop and take his picture.

I think my 11th grade son summed up my travels to SD in a positive way.  He doesn't say very long sentences, but he said, "Your job gives you the opportunity to see parts of the country you would never see."

A Lot Going On in the Sky Too

Life is zooming by in this house on this earth, but there is a lot happening in the sky too.

When I had a party a couple of New Years Eve's ago to celebrate the Blue Moon I knew that the next Blue Moon month would be in August 2012.  This month we will have another Full Moon on 8/31 (on this half of the world) and this will be the last Blue Moon until three years from now.

I found out from a site called Earth Sky that there is quite a bit of planet activity this month as well.

There will be five planets visible in August.  Small Mercury (my ruling planet as a Gemini) can be seen early tomorrow like this:

Venus and Jupiter will be high in the sky, pointing the way toward the crescent moon and Mercury.  Jupiter will be above Venus.  It may have to be dark still to see Mercury, but being closest to the sun, it is rare to be able to see it.

And a Blue Moon month is rare--about 8 times ahead in the next 19 years.

And blogging a lot is rare too.  But in honor of a Blue Moon month, I am going to challenge myself to blog everyday till the last day of August.

It is 8:25 am on a Tuesday.  I have been going since 6:30 am.  It's the new back to school schedule!  I'm tired and my right under-eye has a constant twitch (I Googled it and it means lack of sleep and stress and it has been there for two weeks)...but I'm so happy to be here with my guys.

My Teenager is Alone Driving Right This Second- How will I Ever Relax??!!

My 16 year old son got his driver's license yesterday.  I called the auto insurance agent and he is sending me an email with all my cost options.


Our 14 year old just called from the nearby skate park to say it is raining and asked for a ride home.  I told him I couldn't and Hubs is up to his elbows in a plumbing house project.


But now we have a third driver!  And the law says he cannot have anyone not a family member in the car with him for 6 months but he is now off on his inaugural drive alone.  He practically ran out the door when I asked if he wanted to go pick up his brother.  In my car.


Our 14 year old will be his passenger going to high school together in less than four weeks.  In a small Toyota older truck.  A stick shift.


Anyway, writing this post right this second is a very nice distraction.  Breathe, breathe, hot flash, breathe.


I'm off to cook their favorite--jambalaya.


In the meantime, if you have been through this new driver mom experience, please tell me how you survived or please tell me something to distract me.  Hubs is no help in this dept.


I have to go look down the driveway now.

Visual Proof

June has been a wonderful month and although reaching a milestone birthday is shocking, there are benefits.

Although I have to say that a few weeks before my birthday, on a Friday I walked to the mailbox and found this, which took the wind out of my sails:

What eased the blow is my 50-something oldest brother-in-law and sister-in-law were visiting and shared some stories.

And then, I made a point of picking up one of these at the dollar store to help remind me to take my vitamins every day:

I still forget though on some days.  I have Estroven (multi-vitamin, Vit. D and calcium with citrate).

I also went to have an annual physical--as usual my blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. is very good, but have gained five pounds and I love the doctor--she justs says, that is due to the hormone changes  My birthday gift is supposed to be joining a gym but I have not yet done that.  I am also supposed to get a mammogram and a colonoscopy.  Neither of which I have scheduled.  I know that a colonoscopy every ten years will discover something prior to cancer if something is there to remove, but I am slow to make appts.

Instead I have been at three cities on the beach in Florida,  still in awe over my surprise party and the sister-in-law love, horseback riding in the Little Tennessee River in north Georgia, meeting my 91-year old grandmother at the airport and driving her three hours to North Carolina, enjoying solitude at home while Hubs and sons are in Florida without me, picking and cooking my own vegetables, working, watching the Food Network, and crying during taped episodes of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss shows.

Around here the 4th of July town fireworks are always on the 3rd--not sure why--and it thundered and poured rain at night so no festivities.  Happy Hump Day 4th of July!

Turning 50 in Florida

Today is my birthday.  For the past 30 minutes, after a too long absence from my blog, I have been writing out my story of how this weekend has been one of the best weekends of my life.  But all around me the boys are starting to get up one by one, and Hubs is packing the cooler and folding the beach towels to get to the beach.  I should get ready too and load up the dishwasher at my brother/sister-in-laws house by the beach, south of the Space Center.

Last week was one of the hardest work weeks ever.  Yet it was sweet.  Every year, the whole year long, I look forward to the week in June where Hubs takes the boys to Florida ahead of me and I get to be in charge of the TV, I barely cook, I run one load in the dishwasher and clothes washer and do what I want in my own house.

It is always heaven.  This year I am at a job that I like but it is also very demanding with announcements every day, processes changing, new clients to figure out, trainings to always take and more.  So I worked day and night to be ready for a week off.  By the way, Hubs took the laptop which has the bathroom redo photos so the photos of the rest of the bathroom will be posted in July.

A couple of months ago when asked what I wanted to do for my big birthday I said, oh nothing much--I just want to be at the beach and do things with my sister-in-laws as well.

Well, I had no idea what a plan that was in the works.  I knew that as typical my birthday is a day apart from Father's Day so I knew that some of the big family was going to be gathered and some gold guy plans were being made as well as surfing.  As for us women, I had no idea what was going on but 3 weeks ago, the sister-in-law whose house I am at now, came to Atlanta (with Hubs' bro) on their way to NC.  That is when she started to weaver her story that was going to grow and grow and be used successfully to surprise the sandals off of me this weekend.

But all I knew three weeks ago is I was told that most of the sister in laws could make it but not all (there are 6 of us plus a mother in law) but that I was to think of an item that I loved and buy 6 of them (under $10  each) and we were going to share our favorite things such as a small lotion or fave nail polish, etc.

Readers, I was blown away by the celebration that awaited me....a few days before actually turning 50.  The plan worked--turns out that my sister-in-law was a hidden actress and it was a great plan to have me drive 8 hours, great with with a glass of wine and that evening there was laughing and crying.  It was incredible.  I promise....more to come!

Talking in the New Bathroom

Now that it is summer, Hubs and I are still spending an hour at night talking about our day or The Boys.  Lately we talk about how the time is flying and how in two short years we will have a high school grad.  And how if we thought in the past only as far as getting through high school, how it won't stop--we will be thinking now and talking about how will our Oldest get through the next stage--learning to be on his own.

I realized last night that I need to have a chaise lounge or chair or at least a bench in our bathroom because Hubs gets this second wind after watching TV at night and me doing other things, we then start chatting away in the bathroom and I end up standing by my sink while he showers and I just keep standing there and I told him last night we needed a chair for me.

And then I realized that  I never shared photos of the bathroom redo.

The first and biggest impact is the entry.  We have a large bedroom and the doorway to the bathroom was ridiculously narrow.  To the right of the doorway was our closet, which was large and had a built in, narrow shelf area.  You can see in this photo if you look at the ceiling that is where the wall used to be.  you can also see the crazy, ugly gold-striped wall paper.

On the floor of the bathroom there used to be carpeting up till the sink area and then it was an off-white smallish tile.  Our bathroom of 6 years (for us) was a sight of crazy twists and turns and placement to everyone who ever saw it.  Here is the entry now:

The wallpaper was glued to drywall and so every wall came down and was replaced by new drywall.  The French doors into the bathroom were painted a brownish paint by Hubs.  He was tired of using stain on some other doors and the door trims.  So, no more skinny entry up to the double sink.

On the right side of the entry is still the closet but is smaller now but still a large walk-in and it is Hubs' closet.  One of my sister-in-laws was aghast to hear his closet is bigger than mine but it is all good because he shares.  Hubs is very proud of the closet doors that he stained and his idea to use pocket doors now.  Here's his:

I am most amazed at the sink area.  I didn't take a before photo.  Trust me, it was hideous.  The double sinks and counter were yellowish and the counter was some old, manmade material.  The vanity was solid wood and so Hubs took it to the garage and stained it much darker.  Then we looked into a granite top and decided a less expensive and faster solution was marble tile and trim.  The sinks were simple and just $35 from Home Depot.  The mirror stayed put but wood, decorative trim was found at Home Deport and Hubs painted it various metallic shades.

Here is our new sink and you can see the frame around the mirror:

Believe me, the sink top in 4 x 4 squares of marble took our handyman only a couple of hours to do and the materials were under $100.  The edges themselves cost another $100:

Below is the 28 yr old vanity transformed with some sanding, stain and new hardware, sitting on top of 16 x 16 tiles.

My side of the sink is on the left and now that we have a wide entry leading to the sink area, this is where I need a chair or soft bench.  To the right of the vanity is the shower where Hubs gets talkative and I am left standing by the sink engaging in conversation.  Next up is the shower and bathtub.