Purty Zion Nat'l Park Pics

Minus any identifying-family shots [so sorry, but those don't happen here], here are some of our favorite non-family-featured pics from our camping trip this past weekend with the angel boy-O!

I don't know what these are called [UPDATE: Indian Paintbrush, but it looks slightly different from the kind I've seen in Northern Utah & Southern Idaho - Thanks, Don!], but they and several other kids of wild flowers were everywhere!!!

A gnarly tree! (duh!)

Another gnarly tree, nearing the top of Watchman trail...

The end of the 'Temple of Sinawava' trail
After hopping around the mid-river rocks, I sat n' watched the angel boy-O practicing how to skip rocks on water...
More from the Temple of Sinawava trail...
How I wish I had had something to indicate the scale of this!?!
Beneath the Weeping Rock

Beneath the falls found at the Lower Emerald Pools
From above the Lower Emerald Pools

Some balanced rock art [UPDATE! This lil' pile of rocks is called a CAIRN - Thanks again, Don!] we found along the trail to the Upper Emerald Pools, along with a spectacular view of the Zion canyon...

The lil' waterfall above the upper Emerald Pools...

And down below... (the boy-O for scale)

The view from the Upper Emerald Pools trail
View from the bridge at Zion Lodge

And this moment at the Virgin River was amazing - -

There were about 10 mule deer and the boy-O was absolutely mesmerized.

The gargantuan tree at Zion Lodge (again, the boy-O for scale)!

Watchman Campground:
Along the line of tents seen here, just right of center, the light green one with the purple bottom was us.

Wees Iz Goin' Campin'

Bright and early tomorrow morning, we'll be off to Zion National Park with the angel boy-O in tow! Our first camping trip of the year! I'll be posting purty pictures by Sunday! Yes! I will! With lots more exclamation points too!!!

Eastah Sunday Flowahs

This one's a little late in posting: For the last four years, I've spent my Easter weekends in Burbank, CA ~ And for the last four years, we've gone to the somewhat historic 'Smokehouse Restaurant' for their FABULOUS Easter Brunch buffet with the angel boy-O and his mommie, Wendy and her lovin'-man. There have also been a few others who have joined our lil' party in the past, including one particular regular, Wendy's niece, who lives only a few blocks from the Smokehouse. Sooo, for the last four years, post-Easter brunch, we've walked to her house as our after-brunch gathering place... And the walk there has always featured a number of gorgeous flowers along the way! Here's this year's collection ~

Everythin's Comin' Up Something Daisy-Like

Saw these on my way out to my car, having finally left work after 6:30pm... I had my arms full of stuff, so I first placed my coffee cup balanced atop a barrier post, I gingerly placed what I could around me on the ground, camera already in hand, car keys between my teeth, and my purse wedged between my knees...

Three different people, who were each about to walk right past me, each stopped to see what I was up to, and consequently, each stopped to also admire these lil' sunny blooms.

When She was Thirty-Three

Hi Mum, *Big sigh*

How's it been going these last 21 years? Can you believe it's now been 21 years? And I had thought 20 years, just last year, was well enough time to have lived without you. Of course, I realize the time just gets longer and longer, compared to the 12 years I did have with you... I know.

As a child, I had believed you'd live to be 65, just one year beyond "When I'm Sixty-Four." No one set me up with this expectation. I made it up on my own, and although I did not share this with others, I had convinced myself that you would last that long. See, I had figured that by the age of 65, my children would have all been born and would have all had the chance to have met you.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but when I was 24 years old, I had thought that that year would have to be the very worst, realizing it was the 'half-way point' of no return; having lived half of my life without you, and that from there on out, my time with you would be forever growing smaller than the time I'd continue to live without you.

This year though? Well, this year may actually be the worst thus far, although I don't think I can bawl my eyes out for hours like I did when I was 24.

I'm 33 years old, newly and happily remarried for 6 months now, working full-time while contemplating another masters program (?!?) on top of my MPA, and I'm an absentee step-mom with no other babies, except furry lil' feline ones, and my hair is short by choice, and for the time being, it happens to be hot pink. In stark contrast, when you were my age, you'd been out of college since you were 21 years of age, and you'd never worked full-time since your teenage summers. You had been married for 13 years and had a 12 year old daughter, and you'd spent over half of your life sick with Hodgkins disease. You were experiencing the third regrowth of your hair, post-treatment. You were 33 years old, and you died 6 months before your 34th birthday.

This year will be the beginning of my outliving you.

I really miss you, mum.

Love,
Your Squirreleta oxo

No News Yet...

I've had a few friends call/write in the last week, asking if we've gotten our HIV and HEP test results. My honey-man should receive his soon - - we'd thought he'd have his back last week though.

One other thing, while we're on the subject: Even if we both test negative for HIV and HEP B and C, we have to test again in 6 months to a year... and Then? If we both test negative on the second tests, we'll still have to test again a year from then! Overall, we'll have to keep this 'chance of infection' in mind for potentially the next 5-10 years. No joke. See, some don't understand this part... I could test negative, but be a dormant carrier for years until either virus - HIV or HEP - were to become an active infection.

Ohhh yeah, and here's another lovely perk resulting from this whole ordeal ~ [BEWARE: THE FOLLOWING ADMISSION HAS OVERBOARD 'TMI' POTENTIAL] ~ Because either one of us could be a dormant carrier of HIV, HBV or HCV, we have to use 'protection' from here on out in order to avoid potentially exposing the other, were either one of us to move from 'dormant carrier' to a positive infection, undetected between blood testing. So yeah, when the time comes to get pregnant, hypothetically, we will be required to test on a regular basis to monitor the chance of infection.

Oh then there's this general question: "What if you're infected and you're preggers?"
There are soooo many "If this ______, then _____" answers to that one. Go Google it!

The chances that either one of us will be found positive are pretty slim - - but then read this (8 positives) and this (71 positives).

P.S. Happy St. Pat's!

Just in Time for Easter!

Soooo, my hair has grown out [over 2 inches] since my last hair cut in December. I have done a bit of maintenance trimming here and there for the last month or so to keep it manageable (also in order to maintain my ability to see!), but I plan to get a real haircut in the next week. Soooo, I had my friend, Daly, come over to add some spice to my hair before it's too short for her to get a grip on it!

We were aiming for a deep 'crimson' red, but instead?
We got FLAMING HOT PINK!

These pictures DO NOT capture just how freakin' HOT PINK my hair is...
And what does my honey-man think? - - He says he likes it!?!
(I think he's just a good actor, frankly!)

Daly will be coming over again tomorrow, and we'll see if we can tame these flames before I have to go to work on Monday!

P.S. I went to a team penning event in Boulder City (my honey-man's first event!?!) right after my hair was done, and lemme' tell ya, I got several dozen triple and quadruple takes!!!

Denial Transforming into Anger

I went to get my blood tests for HIV and Hepatitis C and B. SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: The plebotomist I had this morning, I'd had her before a few months ago, when I went in for the required blood work for my colonoscopy, and I was so thrilled to see her again! No joke. From here on out, any blood work to be done, I'll be at that same lab location and will call in advance to ask for her by name! She was fabulous ~ absolutely no digging around for a vein! She gets it the first try, every time, which is big deal for someone [that'd be me] who's been repeatedly told she has the veins of a child. END OF TANGENT.

So, having finally been called in after waiting for over two hours, I sat down, Xochitl did her magic, and I watched each glass vial fill with my blood, and I began to space off, wondering which movie my Grams and I would try to see together later tonight. Once it was time for me to press the cotton ball over the point of needle entry on my arm, I glanced left and the printed blood work order was there for a thorough look over. There was all my contact info. and some technical mumbo- jumbo that meant nothing to me, and then four particular lines detailing 'HIV' and 'HEP C AND B', written in ALL CAPS and some notes typed about the endoscopy clinic closure as the reason for the ordered blood tests... At this point, my eyes began to well with fat tears and my throat began to tighten.

With great enthusiasm, I then thanked Xochitl for her fantastic skills and smiled broadly and thanked her again, and I told her I'd be asking for her next time 'round. I then got up, walked out of the lab and into the lobby, and out the front door, striding fast as I could toward my car - - there was a feeling of hot anger surging through me, and the tears began to pour.

I'd like to write Dr. Dipak Desai a letter. Yeah, I think I'll do that.

"How 'bout we develop some healthy coping skills, eh?"

Last Friday, I stayed up all night long despite trying to settle down for bed four different times that night... I wasn't fretting over anything I had in mind; I wasn't thinking about anything in particular at all; I was just feeling it - - I was absolutely ridden with anxiety, simply wired outta my mind and could not settle down! And Saturday, although I laid down to sleep two different times, both kitties ready for me to finally get some sleep, I just tossed and turned and wound up staying awake all day long... I didn't get to bed and actually get some sleep until 1:30 a.m., Sunday morning.

I'm pretty sure this is not a good thing.

Out of Nowhere

Over the last week, I've had all these posts about last weekend with the angel boy-O that I've wanted to share, and a few others, but they've all taken a back seat to the one I'm about to write.

Have you heard at all about the multiple endoscopy clinic closures in Las Vegas? and the 40,000 patients potentially exposed to Hepatitis C and B and HIV?

Both my honey-man and I will soon be receiving our written letters of notice in the mail from the Nevada State Health Division that because of our recent visits for pre-op measures and colonoscopies, me in December, and him in January, we both now have to be tested for Hepatitis C and B and HIV.

The endoscopy clinic I had gone to was the very first one closed for gross health violations, responsible for this whole mess and now the general health scare in our valley.

Wish us luck.

P.S. I'm trying not to get upset until after we've tested and there's actually a reason to be upset.

"Silly Yet Bright Highlights" or "Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 23"

My honey-man can be soooo silly sometimes! AND I SOOO LOVE HIM FOR THIS, sooo very much!!! See, I am often quite silly, and it's absolutely necessary that I be with someone who can handle my silliness without either berating me for it, nor being embarrassed by it...

What kind of silliness are we talkin' about here?

Well, like it or not, let me offer up some recent examples:

1) I don't remember what we were even talking about, but we were in the car on our way to Target together, and I had laughed about something in a really enthused and maniacal, semi-cackling manner. Having heard myself, I mused aloud how it was almost witch-like and kinda scary. So I tried it again and again, trying to hone a really good and hearty, witch-like laugh. Next thing I know, my honey-man is trying too, and we're both critiquing our efforts, and he's giving me coaching tips on how to improve my witch-laugh...

2) Friday night of last week, we were at RC Willey shopping for a new mattress for our bedroom. Heading first for the markdown room, I saw a full wall display of candles from Salt City Candle Co. (dah BEST! Salt City kicks both Party Lite and Yankee buttocks!)... I shrieked and literally ran for them - - not a sprint, but more like a gentle, but admittedly awkward run, much like a 2nd grader running outside for recess time. A bit over enthused, yes, but I was absolutely delighted to discover a local source for Salt City Candles [SIDE NOTE: Pomegranate is my FAVORITE scent of theirs!!!]. My honey-man did nothing but smile and follow after me, and he smelled every single candle I offered him until we were both green. [FINAL SALT CITY CANDLE CO. SIDE NOTE: No, we didn't buy one, even though my honey-man was willing and insistent. I gotta burn through what I already have first! Another thing: I've only ever bought one S.C.C.C. candle, but I've had 4 others given to me as gifts, and I adored each and every single one.]

3) Same place, same night, while were testing out mattresses: We laid on our backs, tummies and both sides, turning this way and that, going from one mattress model to another, and at one point, my honey-man insisted we had to try spooning to be sure that would be good too. We were hoping here and there, giggling and laughing together...

4) The next night, same place, we were again testing the mattress model we'd zeroed in on the night before: We were both so thrilled about our soon-to-be final purchase, it was as if we were on a sugar high. Some disco music and general 70's music was dominating the store's music programming at the time... While completing our order and the final payment details for our new mattress (to be delivered tomorrow!), either one of us or the both of us, would break out into dance moves and/or song without either one of us batting an eye at the other. I'm sure the sales lady thought we were both deranged.

5) That same night, driving out of the RC Willey parking lot, having bought ourselves a new bed, I announced that I would sure like a cupcake from The Cupcakery, "don't you think?" I spoke this request with a really squeaky voice, much like a munchkin with a lil' bit of scratch to it... We both thought it had sounded much like Gollum would sound if he were on some speed, maybe... So my honey-man began his own effort to chant/cough for "Cupcakes" in his best Gollum voice in the way Gollum chokes "Gollum." This lasted until we arrived at the Cupcakery, both of us going back and forth, quite amused with ourselves.

Of course, this is all just silly, nonsensical stuff, yes, but I consider each lil' silly moment a highlight, a part of my everyday living with this man I love so much.

Can't Sleep Without Mah Baybee

My honey-man left reallllly early yesterday morning for L.A., around 5 am - - I never woke up when he gave me my four (not one or two, but four!) goodbye kisses. I was totally out and he didn't actually want to wake me that early, he told me later. Anyhow, he had some L.A. bizziness to do, and the angel boy-O to see and bring back to Vegas with him. They both went out to dinner with Wendy (his former spouse, mommie to the angel boy-O) and her loving-man tonight, in honor of my honey-man's birthday this coming Sunday. I was uber bummed to miss out again on another L.A. visit. It's been hard to keep myself perky and well occupied.

However, they'll both be back here tomorrow night! BUHHT I can't wait! And I can't sleep either. I do have both of my fuzzy babies here, glued to my right side, both curled together like a yin-yang and fast asleep. I need to emulate their purrfect examples of sleepy-ness! Instead, I'm wide awake, despite any long-spent effort to relax and get some sleep, hence, I'm now blogging.

I think I experience a severe aversion to our bedroom when my honey-man ain't in it!

Sewing With Otis & Owen

Otis likes to be in the middle of it all, right in my lap watching every move...

Owen likes to watch too...

Not Quite 'Back for Good'

I've been feeling remarkably better these last couple days!!! [BACKGROUND INFO: I got sick last week and had to stay home alone this past holiday weekend (being home alone while sick was fine cuz I'm a TOTALLY anti-social grouch whenever I'm sick), while my honey-man went to L.A. in order to see his angel boy-O, who hasn't been to Vegas since January's M.L.K. Jr. holiday weekend, who had also gotten sick last week, requiring that we cancel his Vegas trip for that weekend, thus requiring the visit to L.A. (and I was totally upset all that weekend, that I didn't get to go to L.A. too, having gotten sick - - was way, way bummed!).]

Up until an hour ago (even though I had to sleep upright, propped again with pillows last night), I was thinkin' I was back for good! I'd had had such a good day, today - - until I began to sing along with some music I had playing... After two minutes or less, I found myself in the midst of a violent coughing attack. Silly goon. I imagine I'll now be in recovery for the rest of the night!

Not quite 'all good' just yet. But I do get to go home from work now... that is good!

"St. Anger" in Our Living Room

For a couple weeks now, my honey-man has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a particular DVD from our Netflix queue, and it's been totally cracking me up every time he has questioned when it'll finally come, not to mention the very first time he'd told me about it. When we got home last night around 10 pm, we even made a special trip to the mailbox to see if it had arrived and it had! Sooo, instead of going to bed, we watched it, ALL OF IT, unable to turn it off (even when he paused the dvd to use the bathroom, and I then pointed out that it was a quarter to midnight, to which he asked if we should stop - - and I said NO!).

So what was it?

Welll, um, until one in the morning, we watched the Metallica documentary, Some Kind of Monster. Yup. Metallica. Honestly, if one can get over the naughty language, we both were absolutely intrigued by all the psychosocial issues involved and the general psychological approach used in order to address the band's future and deal with their history as a band. I even teared-up a couple times. Yup. We really enjoyed it!

Most important, of course, we just had a lot of fun watching it together. That was the best part.

P.S. Both Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield have the freakin' cutest kids!?!

After-Work-Pre-Gym Vegas Sunsets

Over the last couple months, I've been making a renewed and concerted effort to re-establish my loooong ago habit of working out at the gym a minimum of 3 times a week. At first in January, I was going to the gym right after work (and it was only happening twice a week, at best), but now, having discovered I can make it to the gym at lunch time for a 50 minute workout, allowing me to head straight home once my workday is done, that's now the preferred approach. [SIDE NOTE: I must admit though, a mid-day sweaty workout is a challenge, going back to work afterwards, but it's a mighty convenient use of my lunch hour!] Before I'd established the go-at-lunch approach though, going to the gym after work did provide a most fabulous chance to really enjoy our Vegas sunsets... Here's a couple from last month:

Owen, Over Time

Each of these kitty pics, plus a few obvious pairings, were all at one time drafted for individual blog posts, yet never posted. Now combined together as one big post, here's some of what our lil' Owen has been up to over the past few months...

This one speaks for itself... typical kitty behavior.

For several weeks (cuz I left it lying on the floor, because...), Owen behaved as if this lil' baby clothes hanger would at any moment pounce and devour him! He'd be walking along by, all casual and smooth cat-like and he'd suddenly glance over and see it lying there, wherever he'd last left it, post-attack, and he'd rush backwards, away from it as if his very life depended upon it. Soon after this picture was taken, Owen opened a can of whoop-ass on that lil' hanger!

At my birthday party this year, my Grams and my aunt Radeane had surprised me with a fully-stitched baby quilt. It's actually the baby quilt from hell that my aunt and I had begun for me in the Summer of 2006. [SIDE NOTE: It was deemed 'the baby quilt from hell' because of all the curly-swirls to be hand-stitched around it's border.] Sometime before Halloween that year, we'd had to take it off the quilt rack, unfinished, to instead prioritize the stitching of 3 other baby quilts for babies actually about to be born into our family. Anyhow, I just need to finish the border now. Meanwhile, Owen has decided that it's his blankie, and wherever I've left it, he finds it and cuddles down for a kitty nap. I've placed it in the coat closet to keep him from it and found him on it; I've placed in a knotted, doubled set of plastic bags, which he tore open to crawl inside... And most recently, preparing to stow it away in some kitty-proof storage bin, I had to eventually wash it to remove the kitty hair, but before I'd determined a kitty-proof bin, I placed the blankie in our downstairs 'powder room' and shut the door.

As you can see... I opened the door and tah-dah!?! How the heck?

Owen also likes to claim all our laundry as his own private nest. We have lots of these kinds of pictures of him...

We bought a humidifier a couple weeks ago, and here's the plastic bag that the unit had been wrapped in when we'd opened the box...

It's almost a bit disturbing, isn't it?

oh yeah, and Owen has recently claimed the angel boy-O's super whatever-these-are-called things...

Taken by my honey-man from beneath our kitchen table: Owen on my lap during dinner.

This is Owen's new favorite pose when we find him on this landing of our stairs. Ya know, ya just need one leg down there, for um, balance? All these pics are from different occasions/days I've found him sitting like this...

And this lil' glass thing we have on our coffee table, filled with collected rocks? Since Owen was a kitten, he has loved to occasionally TRY to get some of the smaller rocks out with his paws, and it has never worked until the day this picture was taken. Moments after, for the first time ever, Owen successfully removed a small, white, very round piece of natural pumice stone. As it rolled off the coffee table to the carpet floor, Jen quickly scooped it up and placed it right back where it belongs - - It was a move that Owen missed entirely (I didn't want him chomping little his teeth on it), so he spent the next couple minutes looking around for his prize.

Fascinating Camo Technology

[Note: This post is several months old!] This tall, lovely 'pine tree' is located off Blue Diamond Rd. on our way out to Red Rock Canyon... Somewhere in my photo files, I know I have a picture I'd taken of 4 of 5 similar 'palm trees' seen from Interstate 210 in Cali...

And I found it! Here's the pic of the 'palm trees' I'd seen!

And a zoom-in shot of the same 5 cell phone towers...

My Own Monte Carlo View

The view of the Monte Carlo on fire, January 25th, as seen (using the zoom feature on my camera) from my office window!

The same office window's view, three mornings after the fire...

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 22

[Be forewarned - - lots of really long and rambling sentences ahead!] Because this morning after I'd hollered from downstairs, "I love you!" and "Have a good day, baby!", etc., etc., I went out to the garage to my car to leave for work, and I realized I'd forgotten something, and when I came back inside, Owen had been meowing loudly after me, standing outside the closed laundry room door, and I could hear my honey-man sweetly calling for Owen from our bedroom upstairs, asking Owen what was wrong and to come up and see him...

And this was after Owen had kept my honey-man up all night, repeatedly bringing my honey-man a small, red, plastic tear-off seal tab from the lid of a plastic milk jug that Owen likes so much to fetch after whenever tossed. My honey-man awoke at least 4 times last night to discover Owen had placed the plastic tab either on his hand or arm, or near his face or at his toes, pawing each time at my honey-man for a toss of it. And each time, all my honey-man did was toss it for Owen!

Later today, I asked my honey-man how many times Owen had brought him the tab... and he said Owen had brought it to him 2 more times I'd left for work! Laughing, I told him that he should have gotten up out of bed to toss the tab down the stairs - - and then we both laughed, realizing Owen would have only brought it back upstairs for another toss!

Especially for Pet Owners

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door, nose-height...
Dear Dogs and Cats [OR RATHER, "Dear Otis & Owen"]:
The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and/or my food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help either because I fall faster than you can run. [THIS ONE IS MOST APPLICABLE TO OUR LIL' OWEN]

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm. [THIS ONE APPLIES TO BOTH OUR BOYS]

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, and try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not required. [THIS ONE, TOO, APPLIES TO BOTH OUR FUZZY BABIES, BUT OTIS IN PARTICULAR]

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:
To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don't. [THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE!]
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That' s why they call it 'fur'nat-ure.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly. [IN OUR CASE, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW TRUE THIS IS]

Remember: In many ways, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't want to wear your clothes
10. Don't need a 'gazillion' dollars for college.

And finally [THIS LAST ONE IS SOOO IRREVERENT, I MUST ADMIT],
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 21

Because my honey-man understands that knowing the reasons WHY something did or did not happen is almost more important than the situation itself, especially the knowing 'why' before one reacts to a situation. More often than not, there's always a good explanation.

Time to Catch Up

I was talking to a friend last night, who asked me if I now had the time I need to catch up... The short answer is no. And the long of it? I'll spare you, really.

However, here's the very best indicator I can offer as to how I am sooo NOT catching up just yet: Our darling Christmas tree is still up (oh, yes!), as is every other winter holiday decoration we have, all of it still out, and I am at NO point along the whole put-it-away process. I haven't even begun.

This morning, another friend asked if I was excited to have this next weekend to recoup from all our holiday hub-bub and our recent Keystone trip...

My step-mum will be in town, arriving tonight to help my sister move into a new place, and I expect we'll be helping out with that. I also have a federal grant proposal to draft by tomorrow, and to complete in final form by Monday, and I've got two chapters of reading for a new course I'm taking this semester, ANNND my honey-man and I, we have a date planned for Saturday night! PLUS an early morning hike at Red Rock for Sunday. Oh yeah, and I've got a date with some girlfriends that Sunday afternoon too, to go see 27 Dresses.

It is all really good stuff, yes, but I have this feeling our Christmas tree will soon be ringing in the month of February!

Kin'I Come Too?

How appropos is this lil' post of mine in light of recent events posted HERE, regarding a lil' Florida kitty named Gracie Mae?

My honey-man and I, we both believe that whenever we're about to go somewhere, the kitties know that sumthin's up - - they'll follow us around the house from room to room, they'll meow a lot in lil' questioning tones... they know we're gunna be leaving. This wouldn't be the first time this has happened, but Owen, before this trip, decided he was going to come along and placed himself in my suitcase... he stayed there for nearly 2 hours. I actually packed around him!

See Those Slopes?

We're in Keystone right now with my immediate family - - my honey-man and I flew in to Denver, CO, early yesterday morning with my sister. We were at the Vegas airport by 4:45 am! Because our Keystone trip dates were pushed forward this year by two weeks, unlike previous years at Keystone, skiing over New Years, the angel boy-O isn't with us because he's gotta be in school... Honestly, it feels downright wrong being here without him. All day yesterday, any time we saw a lil' snow bunny kid or any of the kids playing in the heated pools, or any children in general, we'd look at one another and our bottom lips would slip outward, our heads down, feeling sad.

But it is what it is and we're here and we should make the very best of it, right? We've tried to promise one another that we'll not let this arrangement, sans the angel boy-O, ruin an awesome opportunity. It's just hard though, as this trip is the ONLY family vacation we ever have from year to year with my family...the angel boy-O should be here. Next year, unless the dates coincide with the boy-O's holiday time, I don't think we'll do this again.

Lucky for us, as long as we work to keep our inner conflict in check, the set up here is INCREDIBLE! Our condo is the best ever! I'll write details later... we're all about to literally walk out the front door, and onto the slopes!

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 20

Because when I told him last night that I want to go back to graduate school and why (and not at all using so few words, geesh), he totally surprised me and told me to go for it, with his full support. I don't know what else I was expecting. He wuvs me.

Gimme Some Cake!

Here are my birthday cakes... The taller of the two was made from an angel food cake box mix, and the shorty was our from-scratch effort. We made TWO angel cakes for 2 reasons: #1) In order to compare the box mix to the one made from scratch, and #2) we needed 2 cakes to have enough for 19 people (was kind of an impromptu birthday party), not counting any babies [and #3, we needed the box mix as our back-up, in case we royally screwed up the first!].

And the winner?

First let me explain that the reason the homemade angel cake is smaller than the box mix version is we had issues with my tube cake pan, which we didn't figure out until after we'd filled it with our batter.... as the pan leaked, we lost about 1/6 of the batter! So, we took it out of the oven and gently dumped the batter back into the mixing bowl, and while my honey-man ran off to Kmart to buy us a new tube pan (my hero), the batter began to liquefy during the wait... BUHT, in the final taste test, it won over the box mix, hands down! We had 7 people try both ( 4 of which, didn't know which was which) and it was unanimous.

What's Your Favorite Kind of Cake?

This may be a bit of copyright infringement... but it's such an awesome card though, and I must share! I soooo love it. It's puurrrfectly hysterical (especially when I hadn't realized it included a 'special poster' until 5 minutes or so later)... [The Angel Food Cake reference is quite apropos, oui?]

Makin' me some Angel Food Cake

Later tonight, my friend Ryan and my little Grams (she stands under 5 feet), who's in town from Bear Lake, are both coming over to make me an Angel Food Cake from scratch! It is only upon Ryan's insistence (which I do appreciate) that we're trying to make one from scratch (although we do have a boxed mix as our back-up just in case we blow it)!

And why make an angel food cake, let alone any cake at all? Well, because I'm so angelic, of course! and I like cake!? - Not exactly, although I do love cake!

First of all, angel cake is my favorite kind of cake, hands down. Okay, but why make a cake? ~ we makin' a cake cuz it's mah birfdee tomorrah! That's why! YAY! We're even going to try making the 7-Minute frosting for it, just like my mum used to make... In fact, we'll be makin' LIGHT PINK 7-Minute frosting, no less... Wish us luck!

A little Background Info: I am making a valiant, concerted effort to avoid anything remotely similar to sulking behavior on my birthday this year, from now on, and forever more!

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 19

On New Year's day, we went to see the new Sweeney Todd movie... and I was completely unfamiliar with the story, only knowing it involved a demonic, murdering barber...

When my honey-man found out I new nothing about the play, he challenged me with amused disbelief, and when I explained I only knew it was a musical (and I really didn't know it was a musical) about a demonic, murdering barber, he again challenged me, that if I new that much, I just had to be familiar with the story... When I insisted I knew nothing, he asked how I knew Sweeney Todd was a murdering barber...

And then I said, to my honey-man, who never watches TV nor YouTube or anything in terms of popular media, who even avoids movie trailers, so as not to spoil the stories,

"It's not too hard to guess when all the promotional media features a deranged looking man, brandishing a bloodied barber's straight razor, standing near a barber's chair."

His 'oh yeah, duh' chuckle is the very best. I just love him for it.

Happy Spankin' New Year, 2008!

From out on our bedroom balcony, we just watched the Las Vegas Strip's New Year fireworks - - 12 minutes of fireworks going off the tops of seven of the Strip's main casinos (at least from what we could see and count)...

The angel boy-O called us from Utah, and my honey-man's father called us from Montreal...

Here's to hoping 2008 brings major change to our world, for good.

Belated Most Merriest Merry Christmas Greetings!

Okay, it's New Year's Eve day, I know... and I'm just finally online to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas! We've been out of town, just back to Vegas last night.

BUHT, I do hope everyone had a good holiday, the best to you and yours!

And the Preliminary Results?

So, I'm 32 and I've had a colonoscopy - no one in my family can beat that, suckas!

We got up before 6am to be there by 7:30am... and it wound up taking less than 15 min. to drive there, so we cuddled on the two-seater bench and watched the Today show on the big LCD screen TV in the waiting room, and we were reminded why we don't watch TV.

I went under at 8:50 am.... the plebotomy effort for my IV took longer than the colonoscopy itself. They had to stick me in 3 different places before the IV worked. I was released from the recovery room by 9:30am, and I have ZERO recollection of the bummy procedure, and I thank my lucky stars for that.

And so, did they find anything? Yeah. I've been told I have "rectal erosions."

Say what?

Neither Google or Ask.com, nor WedMD offered much information, so I'll leave it at what the RN said, something along the lines of "your rectal tissue has crater-like ulcers." Now, how do crater-like rectal ulcers cause chronic constipation, I dunno. And why I have them at all, no explanation was offered. I have to wait 2-4 weeks before I can set down with anyone to be told more and to hear the biopsy results. - Wish me luck -

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 18

Not only does my honey-man wish our fuzzy babies a sweet goodbye when he leaves the house, he tells them "Bless you" whenever either one sneezes.

Nuthin' But 'Clear' Liquids

Today's the day before I have a colonoscopy ~ what fun! So far today, I drank a 10 oz bottle of lemon magnesium citrate by 9am, and I took 2 Ducolax pills at 11am, and thereafter, I've had 64 onces of 'Mountain Blast' Powererade infused with 255 grams of Miralax. For breakfast? I had a mug and a half of beef broth (yuck!), and for an early dinner, I just finished a mug of chicken broth...along with 32 oz of diluted, but really nummy, White Cran-Peach juice from Ocean Spray, also infused with Miralax.

In the last 3 hours, I - - well, I could say a lotta different things... but I won't!

You Look So...Butch

We were in Burbank for the past weekend for one of our favorite parties of the year, a white elephant party held by my honey-man's business partner and the fellow's lovely wife (who's a fantastic cook!). We had a wonderful, wonderful weekend - - and it was our first chance to unhook, to remember what this upcoming holiday season is all about ~ family and friends!

Before we left, I got my haircut yesterday... the chicky I saw did a wonderful job thinning and 'chunking' the texture, unlike the woman I'd seen for my 2nd cut, post-long hair. Last night though, on our way home, we'd stopped at a Starbucks, and I caught a glimpse of myself in their public restroom mirror, and I was, um, kinda shocked upon closer review of my new hairstyle, yet I couldn't put into words what exactly was wrong with it, but something was definitely wrong. Once we were home in Vegas, and we'd had dinner, and we'd taken a shower, and taken care of the kitties, and we were back upstairs to get ready for bed, I was staring at my reflection in our bathroom for a moment, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I spoke my realization aloud with my honey-man off to the side, not far away, lying on our bed:

"I look totally butch"

And then? - My honey-man confirmed that that is exactly it... I look totally butch with this haircut. All I'd need is to give up the make-up, dress like a man, and don some leather choker-type necklace.

My honey-man told me to not say or do anything about it, and to just wait and see what people at work would say to me, as no one there is too shy about holding back, if they like something or not...

Well, I'm about to leave work for home, so I just called my honey-man, and he asked me how people had responded to my hair... We didn't have many people in today, but here were some of the comments offered, the first listed being the very first of the day before I'd even unlocked my office door:

1) [apply sing-song, baby-talk voice] You look like a wittle boy.
2) [apply questioning inflection] You look so tomboy-ish (?)
3) [apply peppy tone of forced reassurance] It'll grow out fast.
4) [apply 'matter-of-fact' tone] You look like a boy.
5) [spoken as if my dog died] In two weeks, you'll be fine.
6) [spoken w/slowly mouthed awe] Wow, a lot of 'face' to see now.
7) [spoken nervously] Well that's sporty.
8) [spoken as if trying to convince oneself] I think it's cute.
9) [asked to avoid stating an opinion] Does your husband like it?
10) [spoken as if discussing lawn care] Good thing about short hair is it grows out fast.

And the best one for last...
11) [spoken w/ jabbing amusement] Just in time for the holidays, eh? This one's gunna be well documented.

I think if the bangs and sides around my ears had been left longer, um, the above comments would not be so very, very applicable. But yes, thank goodness short hair grows out fast! And yes, dammit, I hope everyone forgets to bring their cameras this Christmas!

Now with Even More 'Christmas'

I had my French final yesterday (and I believe I'll be getting an 'A' on it by the way = YAY!!! + a huge sigh of relief!), so last night, after getting home after 9pm for my first totally french-free evening in months, I took the chance to catch up a bit... I finally decorated our banister with the remaining pine boughs I'd kept outside for the last 12 days! It's a bit more than my honey-man was expecting though. CORRECTION: It's A LOT more than my honey-man's used to in terms of holiday decor...

When I first began with only a couple bough pieces set on the lower banister, I could tell he was rather, um, concerned, asking questions about their placement and would the wire damage the banister rail, and what about this and that, and, and... and I had an answer for each question, and, thankfully, he returned to his office to work! [now apply baby-talk voice] = He's sooo cute.

Anyhow, once the lower banister was covered, I'd called for him to come peek at my progress, so he came down and expressed his full skepticism... and again, he returned to his office to leave me at it. [again, apply baby-talk voice] = He's too cute.

So anyhow, cut a bit to the chase here, eh? Well, once the boughs were all spritzed and it was all done with pine cones added and satin ribbon placed and coiled, I called my honey-man for a final time, to come down and take in the full affect...

Again, a lot more than my honey-man's used to, but HE LIKES IT!

[Note in the picture, the very cute Owen, sitting on a spindle base, inspecting the job]

And here's our chrimpus tree: I must mention I have new-found hatred for our chandelier...Mind you, I have never been fond of it at all, and now? I want to rip it outta the ceiling! = It entirely blocks the view of our gorgeous sterling silver star tree topper we'd bought in Ireland as our wedding gift to each other.
Both pictures are fuzzy due to the low light... Our tree doesn't look even half as cute in this pic as it is in 'real life!'

If I Were a White Elephant...

...I'd be a set of 8 crazy, curly, brightly colored drinking straws, enough to accompany 8 formal place settings....


This coming weekend, my honey-man and I will be off to L.A. to attend our favorite Annual Holiday White Elephant party hosted by some dear friends of ours in their Glendale home. Of course, a weekend to L.A. means we'll be seeing the angel boy-O, who also attends this party, along with his mommie, Wendy and his Batman-Dad. EXPLANATION: 'Batman-Dad is the new alias I've chosen for the great guy who's also known as Wendy's new hubby's and the angel boy-O's step-dad, but refering to him as either "her husband" or "his step-dad" seems insufficient, lack-luster recognition, and I can't think of a more normal alias, like 'Bob' or 'Tom.' Oh! Oh! I know! We could call him "Bowie"?! = he's a HUGE David Bowie fan (understatement), or would that be kinda sacreligious? I guess I should ask him how he'd like to be refered to here, since I don't use their common names... END OF TANGENT.


Anyhow, so we'll all be at this white elephant party together! And actually, since my honey-man's relocation to Vegas last June, whenever we go to L.A. now, we stay with Wendy and her lovin'-man. Hmm... "lovin'-man" might be a good alias... I got my honey-man, and she has her lovin'-man? I'll still ask.


We also have plans this weekend to see The Golden Compass on Saturday morning, all of us together, as the angel boy-O's tribe of parents. We even had a vote... The Golden Compass vs. Alvin & the Chipmunks. The decision made was a fun lil' development...

Tossing Out an 'Update'

Okay, so um, where have I been lately? #1, I've been studying for my French final exams!!! All day yesterday, I studied my French, and although I did do my hair and make-up, I never got dressed! I never left the house, yesterday. I was in my night top and bath robe with slippers on, allll day long.

What else? Um, we put up our chrimpus tree the weekend before last -- I will someday post pictures, once I have at least taken some! - - so unlike me to have not taken any! Uh, and this morning at 7am, I was at the dentist getting a chipped front tooth on its 7th or 8th chip all fixed up for the 3rd time, since the two other for-free fixes hadn't kept. My DDS told me I can't eat my crisp granny apples anymore without cutting them into slices first!?! *sniff, sniff* I LOVE EATING WHOLE APPLES! That's part of the 'whole' experience! And what else? Oh yes, my honey-man and I, we have managed to gain 10 lbs each since we got married 3 months ago... a mixture of happy fat, plus alotta stress at work (both of us), and several parts achy-heartache, missing the angel boy-O. Oh and on Saturday, we received a disc of our recovered Honeymoon pictures! Almost all of them were recovered! Haaaah-llelujah! And what else? Um, I've been studying my French? And I've been talking on the phone with friends and family, whenever I can, still trying desperately to catch up with everyone I haven't spoken to since before and after we got married!?! Oh, and I managed to holiday shop online for over two-thirds of everyone on my gift list. Oh yeah, and I finally got a new phone to replace my sad lil' Nokia brick, who's LCD screen had gone a bit whacko on me... I'm now a reluctant owner of a flip phone. Yes, I've finally joined the rest of the masses; my new cell is a flip, it's got bluetooth and it doubles as a camera, BUT it's a Nokia still, nonetheless.

My current to-do list:
Grocery shopping and buy new kitty food
Change kitty litter boxes
Trim kitty claws
New air filters for Matrix and Echo
Order rear windshield wiper blade for Matrix
Launder darks and synthetics
Mail off Netflick and Columbia DVD return
Buy LOTS of postage stamps
Mend my slippers
Send Letter to CIE Tours
Send Letter to Theatre Banshee
Write out my Heal Your Body affirmations
Decorate the handrail w/ pine boughs and ribbon
Get my hair cut again (so not used to this), dammit!
Locate and purchase the 'biggie gift' from Santa
Locate and purchase gifts for the ladies in my office
Sweep out the garage sooo...
...we can put christmas decor storage boxes away
Replant the mint and jade plants
Send out wedding gift thank you notes, dammit!!!
French Final this Wed. @ TEN AM
MS Captains Rally also this Wed.
Maria's image modeling competition also on this Wed.
Locate White Elephant gift for this next weekend
Locate a 2nd White Elephant gift for Idaho
Leave for L.A. this next weekend
Make & Send Holiday cards = over 110 this year
MS Walk Committee meeting, Mon. 17th
Prepare list of baked goods for xmas give-away
Bake the list of xmas baked goods to be given away
Sew Father & Son matching PJs for Xmas
Renew Matrix auto registration - go get SMOG test
Pregnancy test before colonoscopy on the 20th
Colonoscopy the 20th, joy-oh-joy!
Gift exchange w/ my sister before leaving for Idaho
Rinse the AC's airfilter - gotta do this before 'next year'
Flush water heater - looks like not until 'next year'
Clean refrigerator coils - also looks like not until 'next year'
Clean dryer's vent track - " " 'next year'
Finish the Enlightened Stepmother 4-heaven's sakes! (only 1 ch. left)
Finish Wedding Book via Shutterfly by Dec. 31st
Finish our Cruelty-free Home Products list (another story)
Write & Send Letter of Complaint to Luxor