IF YOU LOVE CATS.....

You'll love this! I noticed that it ran kinda long and I thought that I'd just watch it for a moment or two but I found myself smiling and watching the whole thing!

I NEED COLOR ! ! ! !

 I WANT SPRING to be here!

I can't take it anymore! All these drab dreary days! Sure, the snow is gone (and Thank Goodness) but now everything is WET, DIRTY and MUDDY.

 I''m still burning the candle at both ends.

Trying to help fill in for the "missing" employees at work. Trying to dig out from under all the "stuff" at home that I have let slide and not making much progress. Right now I pretty much just come home and care for my fur babies and sit down and fall asleep on the sofa and then drag off to bed. I've also had a few things happen this week.
#1. I took my van in for general maintenance on Tuesday and find that I'm driving on FOUR tires that need to be replaced ASAP! Yep, they all have even wear and I guess they have worn down on the edges and cracked from the winter. So.....I need to get 4 more tires and get them put on and realigned? I think that's what they call it. And to top it off, they didn't even wash my van like they usually do!
then,
#2  I come home Thursday and I see something out the corner of my eye laying between my house and the neighbors. I walk over to find that the ice/snow has caused all the gutters, soffits etc. AND the wood that it was attached to on the south side of the house has crashed to the ground. It's also pulled the wood off the edge of the roof and cracked it in two. Then I go inside and upstairs to the bathroom and check the ceiling below that corner of the roof. The plaster "gives" when I push it and then I see some cracks. Obviously moisture has seeped into the ceiling. and then...
#3 Today at lunch as I sit stopped at a STOP sign, my van gets rear-ended. I jerk forward in my seat. Luckily I had my seatbelt on. I get out and the woman gets out of her car. We look at my bumper and we don't see anything. Luckily my bumper took the impact and bounced back. The woman says to me "It's fine. I didn't even knock the DIRT off of your car!" I look closely and it does look OK to me but I still inspect it closely. Nothing. So I get back in the car and drive to the grocery store so that I don't have to do it after work. When I get back to work, everyone starts screaming at me that I should have gotten her information or at least smacked her for the snotty comment. But it really does look fine. So, that makes 3. They say that bad luck comes in 3's.....at least I think that what they say!? Hell, I'm just glad I didn't have to tow the van into someplace and deal with all the hassle of a rental car. And would they let me stick Blue in a rental? Probably not.
Anyway, I need some sleep and I also need some
COLOR!

I want FLOWERS!

I need YELLOW

and RED

and BLUE

and PURPLE

and WHITE

I need some COLOR!
and then I'll be fine.

LOW BATTERY

Yesterday I went into work and arrived about 7:30 AM and I left a little bit before 6:45 PM.
One of the girls at the clinic had a baby a couple of weeks ago and has been on maternity leave. My very good friend at the clinic is also pregnant and is due on March 6th. We are so short handed right now that everyone is running around like their heads have been cut off. Add to this fact that the Doc has just added two more veterinarians to the practice. This means more patients to be care for with a very short staff. I have been helping up in office reception area while my part-time help covers the boarding area until 11:00 AM. After the lunch hour I usually go back to MY area and run around trying to cover the afternoon and evening shift since my part-time help is needed to cover the morning hours.
So, I've been tired.
I got home last night and spent the first hour feeding and cleaning up after the dogs and then scooping litter boxes. I sat down to the TV with a slice of cold pizza and fell asleep during one of the lame shows that was on. I had thought about getting on the computer but I felt too tried to even think and afraid that my mind couldn't form the words to type a comment on any of the blogs that I love. So I went to bed.
And then at 2:00AM

I woke suddenly to something. A sound?
I noticed that Ruby and Twinkle were pacing on the end of the bed and then I heard a voice. Did I dream that?
I waited a moment. Nothing. I laid back down for a few minutes and then I heard a high loud CHIRP kind of SHRILL noise and then the woman's voice again. This time I heard the words...."LOW BATTERY!"
I sat up and looked at the clock on my nightstand 2 o'clock- something.
Crap. Crap. Crap. I got up and Ralphie started barking and then Twinkle. Soon everyone was up. So down the stairs we went where the rest of the dogs jumped and barked in a hysterical chorus in the laundry room. I let everyone outside and walked into the living room. That damn smoke detector.

You see, when I had my house worked on and rehabbed a couple of years ago, they installed smoke/carbon monoxide detectors that were wired throughout the house into the electrical system. I AM HAPPY that I have them but I forgot about THAT at 2:00 AM.
I got out my step stool and climbed up and pulled out the battery and then put in a new one. A few minutes later, The SHRILL beep again! and the WARNING voice. I took the battery out and tried putting it in again. A few minutes later, same story. I messed with it again and the fire alarm went off.
FIRE! FIRE! I got it to stop, hopefully before I woke the whole neighbor hood up. Then I pulled the battery out and went to bed. A few minutes later. CHIRP! LOW BATTERY! Yep, the backup battery or something was working. I still have no idea why but I laid there and pressed my pillows against my ears.

Every ten minutes or so, off it would go. I thought about dressing and driving to an all-night grocery store but eventually I feel asleep for little bits of time and woke several more.

You couldn't really call it sleeping.
This morning I dragged into work and found my friend and her husband dropping off her dogs for me to board. She was going into LABOR early! What a day. Now we were down TWO people. We all did the best we could and joked how we going to go home have a drink or two.
I called my sister on the drive home but no answer. As I pulled into the driveway, she called me back. She was at the hospital with my youngest niece who had an appendicitis attack and was going into surgery in a few minutes! Then she called back and told me that my niece was now IN surgery. I told her that I thought my friend was in the same hospital and then 20 minutes later, my sister called again and said that she had just visited my friend in her room and she was in a lot of pain and at the end of her labor. Then she called me back even later to say that my niece was out of surgery and doing well.
During all these phone calls I replaced the battery with an expensive one that I had bought on my lunch break but apparently I didn't "click" it into place because it fell from the wall with the wires hanging. I attempted to put it back up when I accidentally set off the fire alarm again and then voice was shouting FIRE! FIRE! from that smoke detector and the one in the upstairs hallway! FINALLY, I got it turned off and put up back up.
I poured myself a cocktail.
As I look around I see that my house has really slid into disarray. There are piles of laundry, books, and shopping bags sitting on the chair inside the door. My enclosed front porch has become the catch-all place for STUFF. The recycling is sitting out there waiting to be carried to the outside bin and bags of kitty litter need to be carried inside and downstairs. I feel like I'm living in THAT house. The one where one more pile of laundry or bag of canned cat food  will make it ready to be on that hoarders/junk show!
I have to get some sleep and then I have to get this place together. MY battery is LOW!

http://blog.theblakewright.com/archives/date/2009/05
So I might have to step back and get it together.
I might not be around for the weekend or for a week or....I just need to get it together. So that I can think.
Take care and please don't forget about me! I adore you all but I just need a little break.
XOXOXO - Cindi

COOKNG FOR LOVE

I don't cook.
Not really. You can't call microwaving potatoes or dropping waffles in a toaster, cooking.
Once in a while I'll boil some noodles and add some canned sauce. Mostly it's frozen pizza's in the oven.
I might buy chicken breasts and put them on the George Foreman but I don't usually get the frozen ones because I always forget the thawing out process and then if I thaw it by the microwave, well... the stuff on the plate makes me kinda gag and it doesn't seem to be that appetizing any longer.
Yep, I eat a lot of cereal.
I just don't enjoy the shopping (expensive)
and
(time-consuming)

the preparing (messy)

the clean up afterwards (ugh! I hate a sink full of dirty dishes.)

I used to cook MANY years ago. I would make quiches and omelets and barbecued spare ribs and chicken enchilada's and cheesy meatloaf. These were my "specialities".
I was always getting RAVE REVIEWS but I did it for LOVE. I did a lot of things for love back then. I went to baseball games while I hated baseball. I sat in smoky sports bars and pretended that I understood football. I actually even spent a WHOLE afternoon watching GOLF on TV once!

I also wore high heels rather than tennis shoes and wore contact lenses and was never seen in my eyeglasses.

I spent far too much of my youth trying to be what some guy thought I should be.
So I vowed never to be or do what wasn't true to myself again.
But now I find myself coming back to cooking again.
For LOVE.

Yes, the things one does for LOVE.
I have gone and bought meat and vegetables. Some apples and lowfat cottage cheese.
I've climbed up on my step stool and gotten down the pots. I've washed the dust off of them and I starting to cook. I want my Love or should I say my LOVES to be healthy.

Or....wait. Is it all supposed to be RAW!?

Hmmm, Maybe I DON"T have to Cook!

GREENHOUSE IDEAS and CHRISTER'S BLOG

One of my favorite blogs is http://thecottagebythecranelakeolof1.wordpress.com/
Christer has been making plans to construct a greenhouse this year. He lives in Sweden

and the growing season is shorter. (so now of course I've been thinking about greenhouses and look what I've found!)

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/creative-reuse/greenhouse-made-from-old-windows-078618

Christer used to have his own garden center and he grows the most amazing plants.
He also is a HUGE animals lover and has the happiest of pets. He takes them on daily walks and is always thinking of them.

He just rescued another dog Nova - SUPER NOVA!

(that's Nova on the left)

after the loss of his old Erna. She's fitting in well with his two boy dogs Hector and Orvar.
 He also has two cats, Teodor and Bertil.
This is Teodor who usually prefers to be inside and warm!  He reminds me of my Dewey.

I am TOTALLY in love with Bertil. Bertil is always following Christer and the dogs on their walks!

That cat is just the coolest. He reminds me of my Harry.
So, if you would like a WONDERFUL VISUAL TREAT, head over to Christer's blog because he's a FANTASTIC photographer.

JUST A FEW OF HIS PHOTOS!!!! LOL!

What about DOG FOOD?

http://www.dogs4dogs.com/

On my other blog, http://bigwhitedogblue.blogspot.com/
I just did a post about the BEST and WORST in commercial dog food.
Stop over if you want details!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I thought about not even posting today. Just sort of pretending that I didn't realize what day it was but....
Oh well, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
I wish a happy loved fill day for all of those of you with your soulmates. I always smile and feel a tinge of envy when I see couples like this.

But I'm afraid that my past loves would have turned out more like this-

So, I am thankful that I do have unconditional love in my life.




 and I can paint my house PINK if I want to! LOL!

XOXO - Cindi