Pay it forward and Harley's sister

A wonderful blogger friend, Beagle, posted this today....so in honor or her plagiarizing Starfish, I am plagiarizing HER with a simple copy/paste with a promise. The following is mostly plagiarized from Starfish's blog, because I am feeling lazy today: I am participating in a Pay It Forward "exchange" that Starfish is doing (You can follow the links all the way back to it's origin to see all the people who will benefit!) I will be performing a few not so random acts of kindness. Here are the rules:I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a Comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blogs . I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it in the the next three months, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward. So, like Beagle, the first 3 will get something from me...not sure yet what that something will be but I promise you I will put some thought into each persons gift. (Obviously I will need your "real" address but I promise to keep it private~don't put it in the comment section, I will give you my email address and you can email it to me.) Now on to the most important answer to many of your emailed questions....NO, we did not get the dog. When I called the dog warden and told him that we were very interested in Mary Lou (still a really stupid name-for a dog) his brusquely told me, "she is gone". My heart sank and I was scared to ask if she was gone because of euthanasia or adoption but he quickly told me that she was taken the very day her photo was posted. Apparently the website is only updated every couple of weeks--which I think is crazy if you are trying to find homes and you are a kill shelter there is a VERY SMALL window of time where you can actually see the animal and hopefully get there before the big needle! So, Mary Lou has a good home, Harley is still spoiled and a tad lonely so I am still looking. Here are my requirements...female (preferably but not mandatory), at least a year old, medium in size (no 8 pound yappers would fit with our family and we are waaaayyyy done with the 130 pound style) like 20-30 lbs or so, sweet, housebroken, minimal (known)health problems-obviously things happen as they age and we will do more than we should for them because they do become family members after all, and the dog must love attention and quiet times and have a great desire to be pampered and loved. Oh, it also has to love cats because they were here first and aren't going anywhere. So, if you have any suggestions, feel free. I have had a horrid week so far that I am too busy to post about right now but I will get it all out later today or maybe tomorrow. It is one of those bang your head against the wall weeks. YUK.

Please restrain me!

For some godforsaken reason today I was purusing the local animal shelter listings. I have toyed with the idea of getting harley a dog of his own but then I come to my senses the xanax wears off and realize I am nuts. Wellllll...today I was looking at the listings and came across this dog...she is 1 year old (same as harley) and was found as a stray in townX-same place harley was born....look at this photo of her on the website and tell me that she isn't his litter mate...

This is her pound photo>>>>

This photo is harley and his friend bo>>>>>>

I just about shit when I saw it. She even has the same funky hair style on her chest (though some people have said that about me;) Sooooo on Monday when the shelter opens the nut part of only-half-nuts will be calling the shelter in hopes that she hasn't been euthanized over the weekend. Something led me to that site this weekend and I am a believer in fate..if harley has a sister out there, then damn it we will make room for her in our family. I am out of my freaking mind!!!

This is a long one folks, grab the coffee and an extra donut

Thanksgiving. I will get to the snarky stuff first since that seems to be the highlight of most peoples day. We had to go to the SIL from hell house and I was in charge of making a couple of dishes (they were requested because she won't eat them, therefore she won't make them, but everyone else wants them so it is up to me. They turned out superbly once again. ) It was a very odd mix of people this year because other SIL and BIL were out of town, of the 5 big cousins only 1 was there and I discovered she is becoming an exact replica of her horrid mother. She is 26, has her masters degree and is pursuing her medical degree and is the most whiny, surly snot I have been around in quite some time. When S3 was kindly asking me some questions about her when we got home, he asked why she seemed so "rude". Good pickup on the vibe kid but the only way I could explain it to him was the theory about the kinds of people whose glass is 1/2 empty vs 1/2 full and I told him her glass was 1/2 empty AND it had a booger in the bottom. He understood completely. My good SIL is usually handy to have around to break up the conversation from the bad SIL monopolizing the entire evening ranting on and on about how her glass is 1/2 empty with a booger to boot. It really doesn't matter what the subject is, she always manages to find the 5% negative in anything and make it a 95% negative. It is absolutely exhausting trying to keep up. By the time we leave there I am ready to drive into a pond and sink to the bottom. Honestly, I was in bed within 5 minutes of being home---we got home at 9. I couldn't even watch Gray's Anatomy-thank God for Tiv*. I even good naturedly told her they are doing wonderful things these days with pharmaceuticals (insert any number of antidepressants here) and she promptly told me they were all poison. She is very big into homeopathy which is great, I believe in holistic medicine any time it is an option but it is obviously not working very well for her. On a much brighter note earlier in the day we were all still scuzzy-not showered or even really out of our sweats, the doorbell rang. At first I thought who in the hell shows up unannounced on Thanksgiving morning?! I saw the car pull in and I went and hid in the bedroom making S2 answer the door. After hearing snippets of the conversation between him and the guy at the door I realized it was one of BigD's old buddies. He was cruising through our city to get to his turkey day destination and decided to pop over to say hi. It was the highlight of my entire month. No joke, it really was. This guy is amazing. He has written a few books, has a few CD's out and has spoken all over the country to many groups from Heads of State to 3rd graders. He labels himself as a story teller and that he is. Most of what he writes is written from personal events, having had a very interesting life. He does weave some fabric in some of them but it is effortless so unless you know him you aren't sure which are all fact and which have bits of creativity woven in. He signed a copy of one of his new books for us but he made me promise to read the very last story in the book as soon as he left. He said if I didn't cry, he would pray for me because it would mean that something in me was broken. I did read it, and I did cry. He has a wonderful way with words and most of his stories in his most recent book are set in poetry style. Before you go 'yuk poetry sucks', let me tell you even S2 (who is a waaayyy too cool 17 year old and S3 who is a 13 year old puke this week) loved the book. S2 even sat at the kitchen table READING TO ME which in my best recollection has never happened before. I told this gentleman all about ETSY because he doesn't want to do Amazon (he loses too much control as they get 70-80% of each book sale and since he writes from his heart and soul, he said it is too painful for him to see them take that much of him. If he decides to give ETSY a shot, I will definitely give you a shout out...they would be wonderful housewarming gifts or hostess gifts or any number of kinds of gifts. Right now he just sells them after his "talks" to whatever audience hires him. He is cheap too...he only gets $500 for his time (some corporate folks pay thousands for speakers) because he really loves what he does. He is amazing. I couldn't help think that if I were to give one of his books to the SIL from hell, she would undoubtedly find something wrong with it.....I think I may give her one for Christmas and see what happens....stay tuned :)

Typical of me

If you knew me in real life you wouldn't be surprised that I bailed on blogging daily. I am the woman that has a huge basket of yarn that needs to be knitted, an abundance of beautiful fabric that is dying to be cross-stitched and a virtual library of books that I will get around to reading. I am a major procrastinator and I get nutsy if I start something and don't have time to finish it..which almost always happens. I am also a planner. I can plan on cleaning the bathroom, bedroom etc and even make a list of what needs to be done but yet I find myself making more lists than actually accomplishing the tasks. I am not lazy, I just am not focused unless it is a task that is making me cash...you know, like working. Last night I had a phone call from a neighbor that I haven't really talked to in about 3 years. There was no falling out or anything, we just hardly ever see each other except for the occasional wave from the mailboxes or bump into each other in the checkout line at the grocery store. She called out of the blue and left a message saying she had to ask me something. I assumed she was looking for someone to watch a dog, or something of that nature (since S2 and S3 both perform tasks for neighbors with the expectation of filling the little piggy banks if lucky). So when I called her back imagine my surprise when she invited me to lunch with 3 other ladies. I was so excited. I felt like I got picked to go with the cool girls to THE party that everyone wants an invitation to. Two of the ladies are new neighbors and the other one has lived here for about 2 years and we get along famously so I thought this would be fun....and it was. I laughed, talked, ate great lasagna and seriously didn't want to go home. The only thing that was a bit weird is that we are at completely different stages in our lives. I sat there wondering if it would be rude to ask them how old they were (the two newbie neighbors) because I am guessing I am probably closer to their mothers ages. They were chatting away about nap times etc and I have been thinking about how we are going to pay for S1's tuition next semester. The one thing that is universal though was our discussion about husbands..it made for quite a bit of laughter. When we were leaving they asked for my email address so I guess they didn't hate me...and...they invited me to the next lunch next month--yippee, I may be getting a life~

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was S1's birthday. Outwardly we celebrate it like any other birthday -the birthday person gets to pick dinner, either made by me or in a restaurant (yes, when they were young there were occasions we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side of potato chips-yum)But, S1's birthday brings with it a little extra. There is a presence that is very prominent in my thoughts each November 10th. His birth mother. I truly have no idea how she must feel each November 10th. Last year, I found her. The adoption was a closed adoption so the chances of us ever making contact were very slim. (I posted about it with a posted entitled "Google rocked my world" if you care to read the whole story). Last night when we got home from our steak dinner (S1 had better land a terrific job someday, this kid has very expensive tastes!) I hopped online with my alter-ego screen name and sent her a brief note thanking her for her completely selfless decision 19 years ago. I think I am more stunned now than I even was then that she was able to hand this wonderful baby over to a couple not knowing us, not knowing if we were going to be good parents. I had to be tremendously difficult. We have exchanged a few emails in the past year, not much but enough that she feels she made the right decision even after all these years. She respects the fact that S1, at this time, had no desire to connect with her. Instead of being hurt, she thinks it is wonderful that he is so comfortable that he isn't longing to meet her. She has gone on to marry and have 4 children..sounds very happy and is someone that I can't even begin to thank. I think I love this woman.

SPANK ME

I know, I know, I missed day #5 of a month of postings. I could tell you that it was because I was finding a cure for world hunger, or climbing a mountain but really I was just arguing with an obnoxious 17 year old MALE. I put that in upper case because I believe it is pertinent to this post.

Here is the scenario.....I was sitting at my computer perusing all your wonderful blogs when S2 walks in with an attitude. I could smell it. He plops himself down on the couch in my office and begins a tirade of "why do you and dad--blah, blah, blah...". I sat there listening politely. Not once interrupting. He ranted on and on about how we have "no good reason" to deny him being with his friends on a nightly basis....now, mind you till this point I HAD NOT EVEN SAID ONE WORD. He continued with the old standby.."none of my friends parents have a problem with them being out every night" (then your friends parents suck--not said, but thought). When he finally took a breath I asked if I could say something at this point. I then calmly (and without a smirk I might add) mentioned that all his friends probably had grades that warranted them a few more privileges, they maybe kept their rooms a bit cleaner, helped around the house a bit more and were basically not obnoxious shits--ok, I didn't really say that part out loud but I was close.

Anyway....this tirade lasted for so long that my eyes were crossed by the end. I know that much if it was hormone fueled and peer pressured but as I sat there it occurred to me that in 5 months, by all legal standards he will be considered an adult. Folks, I hate to tell ya but 18 is no where near an adult.

This morning he was back to his sweet loving self and I slept peacefully with the help of a lovely little pill that I am going to keep on hand at all times from now on. In fact, I may take them several times a day in large doses since S3 is only 13 and I have years of this shit ahead.

OH--and for all of you that were wondering what I did about the lamp shade....I called the Wally-Mart and talked to the manager on duty, offered my credit card number so they could charge me and as I suspected he would say, he told me to forget it, that it was his cashiers error and thanked me for being honest~ but truthfully I think he sounded stunned that I had even bothered to call. So my conscience is clear and I have a cute little lamp...all is right with the world.

Day 4 of a month of posts

I don't know if I am going to be able to pull off this daily posting. I am very boring and not sure if I have anything of value to share that frequently. OH--and the time change thing...whose idea was it anyway? It always screws me up for a few days. I guess I am not the only one tired. I am taking this guy and heading upstairs...though I hate to wake him :)

Taking a poll

Okay..moral dilemma here. S1 is home for the weekend. Before he left for work today he gave me a laundry list (also some real live laundry) of things he needed back at school. Since he is heading out right from work tomorrow I had to go today to spend more money than I have in the checking account so I whipped out the old trusty credit card and headed over to Wally-Mart on the other side of town. I threw in the stuff he needed, workout wear, paper products, shoe inserts, and about $40.00 worth of other useless crap. Since everyone knows when you are using a credit card, it isn’t really money so I thought, "what the hell, I will get a few things for me while I am here". I am a candle freak and have one burning almost all the time so I found a delicious smelling vanilla one, then stumbled upon this cute little lamp for my office desk. I have been using an old one that I dug out of a closet and the shade doesn’t really fit so I thought this new one would be great. I then found a leather shade that I plopped on the lamp and it was a perfect look. Now fast forward to this evening. Because some of the things are for the office they are tax deductible so when I was filing the receipt I was marking off the things that could be deducted and saw that the check out boy…you know the one, he has the 3 eyebrow piercings, a tongue stud, and wears the spiked dog collar around his neck, the one with the lovely shade of black fingernail polish ..yeah, that guy…..he didn’t charge me for the shade. Since it went down the conveyer belt ON the lamp he probably thought it was all one item. So, do I go back over and tell them that I accidentally stole a shade and pay for it? (I have no idea what it cost but probably in the $8-$15 range if that even makes a difference). Had I just pitched the receipt I never would have even known about it but now that I do, I should probably do the right thing but then I think there are probably times where I was overcharged and not noticed. So, I am taking a poll…what would you do?

out to dinner

Now I know how our turkey feels on Thanksgiving morning..stuffed like I am right now. Honestly I can't remember the last time I was in a restaurant...I seriously think it was back in July when we were on vacation. We went out tonight because all the boys were here for the first time in awhile and wrangling everyone to be at the same place at the same time is not an easy task..oh and also because we had a gift certificate to use from a wonderful family that thanked us for doing something that we enjoyed doing for them so it was almost like we got "paid" for doing something nice...which I guess makes it doubly nice for us :) I undid my pants about 1/2 way through the meal so I could eat even more. Gluttony suits me well. I had forgotten how great it is to eat food that tastes nothing like the stuff I make. I used to love to cook until my dwellers started complaining about things...you know..."whats that green stuff in there", "this tastes weird", "do we have any peanut butter".. so I quit experimenting with fresh wonderful ingredients and stuck with the crap that comes in freezers and boxes. Now please excuse me while I go lay down and listen to my arteries harden.

Do I HAVE to post??

I was reading some of my favorites today and was surprised to note that apparently since I have a blog I am required to post every day this month. I was trying to think about what I could possibly have to say that could make up 30 posts but I think I am going to give it a try.

Today's post isn't really going to be poetic or terribly intelligent. I thought I would post a picture and ask for advice. I have lost a couch cushion...do you have any idea where it might be?

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I think he ate it. None of us can figure out how this cat became such a porker. He eats very little but on the other hand, the only time he moves is when he waddles from wherever he is sleeping to the next spot where he is going to nap. We have had him since he was a teenie little guy, having brought him home from a lady that was giving kitties away from her shopping cart. Now he is about 6 and he is still afraid of any noise that doesn't emanate from him. The only time he will go near BigD is when we are in bed. He will get up with us and purr so loudly that it is actually funny, he snuggles with the other cat and also the dog, but if BigD gets up, the cat scurries and hides. Watching him run is one of the funniest things I have ever seen..he crouches down so low that his belly slides along the floor. . None of us have every given him any reason to be afraid of us at all. When the house is quiet he loves us and especially loves his brother animals. My question to you is what in the heck can we do to help him lose weight? The obvious answer is to feed him less but he eats very little as it is now. Our other cat is on a special dry Purin* for cats with urinary problems so that is what this one eats too. I have tried feeding them separately with this one getting a low calorie food but they steal each others food so I gave up because I didn't want the other one to go into kidney failure. OH..and on top of all that...his meower is broken. It has never worked. The poor little guy will try and try to make a sound but it is a pathetic little peep of a noise. So help me out...I am counting on you because I don't think Je**y Cr*ig or Wei*ht Watc*ers accepts feline clients.