Off of Kelly's site...

In all honesty, I was appalled by the first lookalikes I got (Jason Biggs? Bob Marley?!?!) I am down with Audrey Tatou. But I was still feeling bad until I tried Dad's face. My thinking is that Kelly and I would be able to prove for once and for all that Dad looks like the lovechild of Willy Nelson and Kenny Rogers. So I uploaded this pic:



But the program didn't recgonize a face in the photo.

Egad. 

Thriftmonkey

Check out my new blog about saving money: thriftmonkey.blogspot.com

Krazy Kat

After Kit-Kat died, I told Mike I wasn't interested in another cat. Then I saw someone giving away kittens on freecycle. I sent him the link, mainly out of boredom (I was at work). But he responded that they were awful cute and he wanted to get a new kitten. His reasoning? He's always had two cats (Oh-kay).

Because boredom persisted, I went to the Official Mutts site to see if they would recommend pet shelters. Found a link to Petfinder and eventually this fella:



I LOVE HIM. He looks f*#$ing insane. Which makes me love him more. And he would coordinate with Igor. I emailed the shelter to see if he is still available. His name is Aslan, but soon he will be Megaweapon. If he is available that is. Fingers crossed.

Other news? I cut my first pumpkin today, cooked it in the oven and froze the pulp. Will use to make some yummy pumpkin concoction next weekend (Frosten Pumpkin Cranberry Bars probably). Speaking of Halloween oriented stuff, Michael and I stopped by Target last night. They put out Halloween kids clothes and boxer shorts. We stocked up-it's the only time I will buy kids clothes new at retail prices. Maddy is now the proud owner of a glow-in-the-dark skeleton hoodie. 18 months so she can wear it till Christmas. :)

Also made Oatmeal Scotchies. Yummy!

And Mike and I escaped Maddy's clutches to see Snakes on a Plane. Wow. I rate this movie 3 Slouches on the Jamee Scale O' Terrormeter (representing how many times I slouched in my seat and pointed at the screen mumbling something incoherent about snakes). I don't recall the last time I have ever jumped in a movie so often or been so concerned about the fate of Sam Jackson (really, I had no idea about Deep Blue Sea. Wasn't concerned about him at all in that one. Until...) Great movie? No. It had plot holes, some cheesy dialogue, and you can tell Sam Jackson's most quoted line was cobbled into the film. Was it the most fun I had in a movie since I can't remember when? Definitely. And try to guess whose gonna get it. You will be wrong 50% of the time, I guarantee it.

Sunday night and all three of us are kinda sick. Maddy and I have had runny noses and Michael sounds really bad. Not looking forward to another Monday. 

Something you probably don't want to think about

Michael and I realized last week that we haven't seen a single fly since Kit Kat was put down.

It's kind of an icky thought.

Also got word from my sister that my other childhood pet, Mercedes "Bitty," was put down this past weekend. Mercy was a miniature schnauzer with a love for mashed potatoes and spaghetti-to the point that her beard was permanently stained red. She was a sweet, spastic dog. She was supposed to be MY dog-I named her after two of my favorite literary characters (at the time)-"Mercy" from The Witch of Blackbird Pond and author Mercedes Lackey. My mother, however, decided that Mercy had the "littlest bitty butt in the house" so she was dubbed Bitty. Dad referred to her as Butthead. When the 'rents moved to Hawai'i, I couldn't keep her due to lack of space (living in a trailer) and chose Kit Kat instead. Then when my parents moved back to the mainland, they thought that Bitty wasn't getting enough attention and gave her to a loving family who gave her a good home for the remainder of her life. She apparently had a tumor and died at age 13.

Mom? Dad? Take care of the Dude, ok?

In other news, I now I have 13 pumpkins. I think that is a great number of pumpkins to have-can't wait till Halloween...

Social Faux Paux of the Week

I suck at making small talk-I am totally one of those "how 'bout this weather type of people?" It is very rare that I strike up conversations with people other than the ones I am related to and the people I work with. Even then, it can be stilted. I'm not trying to be rude, I just don't know what I am doing.

But I work with this cool guy name Lyndon. We talk about movies, football, and sometimes, Hampton Roads, VA. Lyndon went to Hampton U and I spent the majority of my life in that area-albeit in the more suburban, mainly white middle-class area of York County. Yet I am familiar with Hampton, as my husband is from the Phoebus area, and Lyndon and I often joke about the "ghetto" there.

Of course it isn't really a ghetto-but it isn't a pretty place either. Hampton Roads is a retail-based economy, full of chain stores, strip malls, and very little real opportunity.

So we had this new employee start with us who, of all places, grew up in Hampton Roads. She is this gorgeous, extremely sweet young girl who just moved to Northern Virginia for the exact reasons I mention above. I started chatting with her about areas we were both familiar with and in doing so, tried to describe where I lived when I was there:

Me: Well, first I lived in a trailer park behind the Cracker Barrel off of Jefferson.
Her: Oh, I know that place-didn't they tear those trailers down?
Me: I'm not sure. And then I lived behind The Love Shack (think Adult Toys) in Newport News. You know, in the ghetto. (I said this thinking I was being witty and that she would soon share in with me and Lyndon's continuing discussion of Hampton Roads).
Her: Oh no. That's not the ghetto. I was born in the ghetto. Wait-you said The Love Shack? My friend was shot in the Food Lion across the street from there. No, that's not the ghetto.

Damn. This is why I don't strike up conversations-what do you say to something like that? I;m sorry? There I was, totally schooled on the fact that as a middle-class white girl, I had no right talking about the ghetto.

Erp.

"They don't look like Presbyterians to me."

Michael went to Horrorfind today to kidnap George Romero and bring him home to me. He just called and told me he was unsuccessful. Grrr.

But overall, Maddy and I have had a good day. Being Michaelless, I decided that I didn't want to miss out on this gorgeous weather we are having (God must have gotten tired of wreaking vengeance on us and went on vacation for the weekend) and thought walking around the town of Frederick would be the best way to enjoy it. We went to the farmer's market and bought peaches, scouted for clothes at the Salvation Army, and ate Chai ice cream for lunch (yes, I am a terrible mother for giving my 1 year old caffienated ice cream. Deal.)

Just checked on the garden-a few more tomatoes are almost ripe. I searched, as I always do, for some evidence that I actually have beans on my pole bean bush-I have never seen any. But this time I saw one! Excited, I bent down to grab it-and it skittered away. Confused, I tried again and finally realized that my green bean had eyes and looked like this:







Eep! I jumped up as I realized what it was and saw that my first green bean was actually at eye level.

In the 90s

Mike forwarded this to me. Pretty scary stuff...

Just because you were born in '92 doesn't mean you're a 90's kid.It's not like you could remember the original Simpsons. I am sorry but three conscious years of the nineties just wont cut it.You're a 90's kid if:

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!" YES
You just cant resist finishing this... "Iiiiiiin west philladelphia born and raised..." NO
You remember TGIF on ABC and wouldnt miss it YES
down down baby down down the roller coster sweet sweet baby Ill never let you go..chimie chie cocoa puffs chimmie chimmie rock, chimmie chimiie cocoa puffs chimmie chimmie rock..... YES
You remember when Kurt Cobain, 2Pac, River Phoenix, and Selena died. YES
You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey from "Blossom" and that "How Rude!" comes from Stephanie from "Full House" YES for one, NO for the other
You remember when it was actually worth getting up earlyon a Saturday to watch cartoons. YES
You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school. TOTALLY
You begged for some GAK, and when you got that they came out with scented GAK, and when you got that they came out with funny scented GAK..... Didnt beg but knew of it
You remember reading "Goosebumps" Nope, I was a Fear Street Gal
You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school. Totally
You remember the craze, then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books..... yes-ouch...
You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence...Not... Unfortunately, yes
You used to listen to the radio all day long just to record "Your FAVORITE song of ALL time"....with a tape recorder held up to the radio loL!! Yup-En Vogue, baby
Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? was both a game and a TV game show. Yup
Captain Planet. Nope
Miiiiiisssss Maaaaryyyy Mack Mack Mack! "All dressed in black, black, black"-YUP
You remember when super nintendo's became popular. Yesh
You always wanted to send in a tape to America's Funniest Home Videos... but never taped anything funny. Yup
You remember watching home alone 1, 2 , and 3........and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders" Remember, fantasized about it, but never did it
"I've fallen and I can't get up" Nope
You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates Yes
Two words... Trapper Keeper. Yes
Garbage pail kids were the greatest yes but I wasn't allowed to have them
You wore socks over leggings scrunched down Nope
You remember boom boxes vs. cd players Yes
Writing M.A.S.H. notes. Totally! I always got the shack tho
"No hesitation, no demonstration." ?
You remember New Kids on The Block when they were cool They were never cool
You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell" sigh-yes
You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles Just Ninja Turtles (and the Care Bear movies) Ponies are for wimps!
Yikes pencils and erasers were the stuff! yup All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.(pencils.notebooks.binders.etc.) Oh yeah
You remember when the new Beanie Babies and talking Elmo were always sold out. yup
You used to wear those stick on earings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes. uh, i remember but i didnt do it
You remember a time before the WB. Oh yeah
You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" I LOVED THAT SHOW
You know the Macarena by heart. No I didn't. At least not willingly
"Talk to the hand" ... enough said yup
You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!" Yes but we got over that in elementary school

"When we were younger:Before the MySpace frenzy...Before the Internet & text messaging...Before Sidekicks & iPods...Before MIKE JONES...Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX......Back when you put off the 5 hours of homework you had every night.When light up sneakers were cool.When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.When gas was $0.95 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing.When we recorded stuff on VCRs & paid $3.50 for a movie.When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.When 2Pac and Biggie where alive.When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.Way back.Before we realized all this would eventually disappearWho would have thought you'd miss the 90's so much!!!!! "

I don't-the 90s kinda sucked-all of the above is proof...

Random Thoughts for August 10th

It's dreary, cool, and overcast today. Usually these types of days make me happy, but today I am really down. Would have been worse if it were sunny though.

My friend Amy (one of the nicest and coolest people one would ever hope to meet) just wrote and said her father died.

What a terrible year this has been.

Commence random thoughts:

I am incredibly bored with my job. Granted, we are in a slow period right now, but I have been doing the same thing every year for the past 5 years. I need something different.

And yet I am behind. It seems like the day Maddy turned 1, working at home became more difficult. She wants more attention, is only interested in her toys for short stretches, and has been spending a lot of time hanging onto my leg as I work at the computer. She spent at least half an hour yesterday sucking on my thigh. Mean ole baby. I am wearing jeans today as an anti-baby tongue device.

Also, since I have been trying to steer her to more finger foods, I have to actually take breaks to feed her (before I just gave her a bottle and she could feed herself). Now I have to actually take her downstairs and give her food, watch her to make sure she doesn't choke, and then clean it up.

Not complaining (how could I?) just explaining. All of these little breaks add up to work that I need to make up.

And all I have wanted to do the past few days is sleep. I feel incredibly run down. Not good with September and school starting soon.

I had to dispose of two squash plants because they were rotting at the root. Trying to find the cause. I did get an acorn squash out of one before I tossed it. My tomatoes are slowly but surely ripening and I have eight (!) pumpkins now. (btw-Michael and I read the other night that one pumpkin plant requires 2500 sq ft of space. I have 6 plants in not more than 300 sq ft. Oops.)

But I can tell the season is ending-the yields are coming down, the light is different in the sky and some of the leaves on the trees are turning.

You have to understand-these observations are amazing to me. I feel that once you are out of school and start working, you no longer notice the variations in the seasons. At least, that is what happened to me. I spent five years in a temperature controlled office-it could have been 95 degrees in the middle of January and I wouldn't have known unless I checked weather.com.

This is horrible to me. The years go by faster and become a blur unless you are able to recognize the passage of time by a means other than turning the page on your dayplanner. Now I understand that in some locales, the seasons barely change-trust me, I lived in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida. But to me, fall isn't fall unless the leaves are turning and winter should be cold.

However, the seasons have always seem off to me-culturally, because of industrialization (re: school calendar), we have been trained to consider August a summer month. Scientifically, I know that meterological seasons are determined by the positioning of the Earth. But historically, August 1st, Lammas Day, is traditionally the first day of the harvest. The next harvest festival is in mid-September and the last is Samhain, or Halloween, which marks the end of the harvest and the "death," in a sense, of the earth. At least, this is according to the old Celtic calendar. To me, this makes the most sense and having a vegetable garden makes this even more clear.

What I am truly trying to say is that I have found a way to justify my habit of starting Halloween preparations in August. I have been scouring my various Halloween books, reading up on lore and looking for new recipes. Meanwhile, others are hitting the beaches, grilling, and eating salads. I am looking forward to pumpkin cookies, stews, and casseroles.

Maddy liked her first cupcake too!

 

Maddy's 1st Birthday Party

I think it went off well, but was exhausted by the time everyone left-I didn't realize how hard this was! Between the food and decorating...it has been a stressful week. But this picture makes it all worth it. 

Eulogy for Kit Kat

Today I paid someone $170 to kill my cat.

Truth be told, she had been looking bad for a while. Due to various changes in the family-being pregnant, having said kid, buying a house, Mike's mom...I really couldn't pinpoint when she took a downward turn. She seemed to have lost fur, she walked down the stairs funny, she always had something leaking out of her eyes and nose, she slept constantly (no, it was even a lot for a cat. Really.), and she had lost a great deal of weight. I didn't even know how much weight until today.

She weighed 7.8 lbs. That includes the cat carrier.

Kit Kat had been diagnosed with a thyroid problem several years ago. They had told me then that too much thyroid medicine could cause liver problems. I had forgotten all about it till today when the vet explained to me that we had been giving Kit Kat a dose of medicine based on her weight 3 years ago and that she had probably gone into liver failure. The vet said the best option was euthanasia.

Now, I thought had prepared myself for this. When I made the appointment this morning (after finding blood on the floor this morning), I had pretty much determined it would come to this. I had even discussed it often with my family with often no emotion at all or even (admittedly) jokingly. You see, Kit Kat was not really ever a friendly cat. She was happiest left to her own devices (and treats). I was never really attached to her, except for the time right after my parents moved to Hawai'i when I felt alone and Kit Kat seemed like my only link to my childhood and my parents. Kit Kat was even almost friendly during this time. Once Mike and I got Igor though, she became distant again. And lately I have spent more time cleaning up after her than paying attention to her. Admittedly, I did often feel like she was a nuisance and an inconvenience. And yes, I do feel horrible for that.

But when the time came and the verdict was read, I (suprisingly to myself) broke down.They asked me if I wanted to take her home for one last night (no), be there during the euthanasia (no) and if I wanted to see her one last time (no). Then I recanted-I at least owed her an apology for ordering her death, right? So they brought her in. And she did look pathetic-essentially a walking bag of bones. You could see her rib cage and her hip bones clearly in the flourescent lights. I asked for some cat treats to give her (I had been giving her some all day) and she ate them up greedily and they took her away.

The vet said this was the best option and I have to believe her. And the vet technician said that 15 years was a long time for a cat to live which meant that I had been taking good care of her. The lies felt good but I know I didn't give her as much love and attention as she probably needed, especially toward the end. And I feel horribly guilty for making the decision to have her killed (I have to be honest with myself, she was not "put to sleep", I had them kill her).

In short, it was much harder than I imagined it would be. I can't imagine how people can make the decision to pull a loved one off life support. Don't get me wrong-I am in no way condemning this. But if I got this emotional about a cat that I didn't even like much, what if I have to make this decision one day about my parents, my husband, or (fear of all fears) Mathilda?

I can't fathom it.

Hot Mix Part Deux

Lucky me, I got Sterfish s mix. Check it out here.

Birthday at Grandparents' House

Here is Maddy ogling her new toys and her very tired mom trying to not fall asleep. 

Did someone shift the Earth closer to the Sun while I was gone?

I mean, even Bush has to be thinking that maybe there's something to this global warming thing.

Oh wait. That would require thought. My bad.

It is so hot, the girl in "Raspberry Beret" would probably go so far as to take off her hat. I just got back from Florida and it was cooler there. You know something is wrong when you find Florida an enjoyable place to be.

My greatest concern is my garden. My pumpkins are now only a foot or two away from my door-I expect to hear them knocking to come into the AC. I have four pumpkins now-one is even orange. Totally excited.

I also discovered some foot long zucchini and squash and two baby acorn squashes. I have tons of tomatoes, all still green. My parsley is not looking good-probably a combination of the heat and the beating it is getting from the acorn squash. What does that one boxer say to Rocky? Oh yeah. "I will crush you." Poor parsley.

Other than that, nothing else going on. I start school again sometime this month but am afraid to actually figure out when. Michael is stunned that he is now the father of a one year old. Maddy is teething a great deal and hasn't been her usual cheerful self but she gets better every day.

The next mix will be hard, but I am in.

Happy Birthday Kiddo

 

Super Secret Hot Mix

Which, as of today, is no longer a secret.

First off, I had planned my hot mix to be a sort of one-night-stand through music. It has phases and "climaxes" at a point. I have tried to give a short reason and verse to show why I like the song or included it in my mix.

Phase I: You're Kinda Cute
1) Baby Got Back by Richard Cheese-Just a terrific version of this song. Somehow he makes it sleazy in a creepy sorta way. Gotta appreciate that kind of skill.
"Turn around, stick it out, even white boys got to shout."
2) You're Pretty Good Looking by The White Stripes. I appreciate this song for its retro feel-sounds like a 60s or 70s band.
"You're pretty good looking for a girl."
3) Raspberry Beret by Prince. My husband, who also participated in the hot mix, and I had to flip over this song. We had two versions, one by Prince and one by Warren Zevon. Both are awesome. "Raspberry beret-when it was warm, she didn't wear much more."

Phase II: Desire
4) Honest Pleasure by James. I can't think of anything to say about this one. I just like it.
"She's so holy, please anoint me, at her temple I feel at home."
5) I Want Your Body by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Screamin' Jay is awesome and once you learn about the 57 kids he supposedly fathered, you have to concede that if anyone knew how to seduce someone, it was Screamin Jay.
"I want to feel your hot breath across my thigh."
6) Auf Auchse by Franz Ferdinand. I really like this song. Couldn't exactly tell you what they think it's about, but I felt it fit in with my theme.
"You see her, you can't touch her..."
7) Kiss by Tom Jones-What's not to like about this song, Tom Jones, or the idea of Tom Jones covering Prince?
"You can leave it up to me-we can have a good time."

Phase III: Seduction
8) Hips Don't Lie by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean. This is my all-time favorite guilty pleasure-this is the song that I turn up loud and sing at the top of my lungs when no one else is in the car.
"She make a man want to speak Spanish."
9) Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon by Urge Overkill. I've never seen Pulp Fiction (it is on my To Do list. Everyone I know who has seen it has told me I would like it.) so I have to admit that this song is on my list simply because I thought the title was fitting.
"Girl, you'll be a woman soon."
10) Moondance by Van Morrison. An American Werewolf in London is one of the first movies I ever watched. It is still one of my all-time favorite movies and the shower scene in this, set to this song, is one of the hottest in film history. If you haven't seen it, check it out.
"A fantabulous night to make romance-'neath the cover of October skies." (At least, I think he is saying "fantabulous".)

Phase IV: "It"
11) Why Don't We Do It In the Road? by The Beatles. This is one of the songs my father used to blast in our house in Bermuda-since we lived in cruddy military housing, the walls would vibrate. Needless to say, I have fond memories of the song. Took me years to figure out what they were singing about.
"No one will be watching us-why don't we do it in the road?"
12) Laid by James. Most people recognize this song from the promotional ads from American Pie.
"Dressed me up in women's clothes, messed around with gender roles..."
13) Gett Off by Prince. I was listening to our iPod one day scouting for songs to put on my hot mix. This song, which I had never heard before, came up and I took it as a sign that the Divine wanted this on my mix and condoned Prince's dirty, dirty lyrics.
"23 positions in a one-night stand."
14) Loverman by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. I think this song might have been on my Evil Mix. I'm too lazy to look. But this song fits with my theme, and you have to appreciate the creative license Cave takes with the alphabet.
"V is for virtue so I ain't gonna hurt you, E is for even if you want me to."
15) Closer by Nine Inch Nails. My husband is concerned that I used this as the "climax" song. I think he's scared. Heh heh.
"You've got me closer to God."

Phase V: Postcoitus
16) About Her by Malcom McLaren. This is a fantastic mix of this song (I like the original too).
"Well it's too late to say you're sorry."
17) Don't Come Around Here No More by Tom Petty. I like Tom Petty, but get tired of listening to him pretty quickly. But this song fit with the direction I wanted to go and I always loved the video (Remember? when MTV used to show music videos? Yeah, it was back in the day.)
"You tangle my emotions."
18) I Got It From Agnes by Tom Lehrer. I hate Tom Lehrer. But I have to admit, this song is kinda funny.
"I got it from Agnes. She got it from Jim. We all agree it must have been Louise who gave it to me. "

Enjoy! (I hope)