My Birthday!

Hubby stayed home with me and we had a great day.  We went shopping and

I DIDN'T HATE IT.

It helped that we didn't shop for clothes.

 

And, this.

 

Also: someone texted me and wished me a happy birthday.  I had no idea who they were. 

Thanks, random phone stranger!

"I Need a Drink!"

And now: a series of complaints.

1. The kids are sick. No Seminary for Bella today. Stupid illness!!!  Why can't we just schedule it in?  It ruins everything.

We could have sick spas.  "I have to go have the flu, I've been putting it off for three years."

And sick cops.  "When was the last time you had pinkeye?  Well, you're due for it again." They give you a ticket and you can either get sick or go to court and have it reduced to slamming your pinky in the oven door.

2. I can't ever find my glasses unless I have my glasses on. I should weld them to my head.

The kids always do the "I can't see a THING without my glasses" (Velma from Scooby Doo) thing when I can't find mine... little stinks.

Tune in tomorrow for more, different gripes!

KITTY WHO NEEDS THERAPY

BUT FIRST: I was whistled at this morning.  Not the worst way to start the day.  :)

Thinking Catness must get bored while the kids are at school and it's just Brennan and me at home all day, we decided to venture forth and adopt a new kitty... we ended up with more than we bargained for.

The new kitty is about a year old, black with white patches, and we named her Olive.  She spent at least four months homeless before her rescuer found her cold and hungry; Sunny (the lady who found her) took her home and kept her for about a month, but her idiot boyfriend didn't like the cat and abused her. As a result she is afraid of men and daylight, and is terribly skittish. It's killing Hubby, the big softie.

She stays under the kids' beds (whichever room we put her in, that's where she stays) and comes out at night to sleep on the bed. I'd really like to find the people who first abandoned her and then hurt her, and give them a nice butt kicking. If you don't want the cat, great! Find someone on Cr@igslist who does. But DON'T HURT THE KITTY. I don't know why this isn't obvious to more people.

Why did we adopt her, you may be asking... after several hours of texting in which I asked if we could meet the kitty, Sunny brought her over, told us her boyfriend was ready to kick them both out (good riddance, if you ask me), and had brought all of Olive's stuff with her, obviously assuming we were ready to take Olive on at that very moment.  Awkward...

Oh well :)

Sigh.

When my kitchen is clean, some unheard alarm sounds in five kids' heads....HOLY CRAP the kitchen's clean!!! Thankfully they rectify the situation as soon as they see it. Whew! Crisis averted!

And then there's:

Sweet Kitty.

Catness nuzzling her old lady.

Proof I Actually Do Stuff

Yummy crack-y fingers and thumbs.  At one point I had five appendages looking like this, some with two splits each, on each side of the nail.  Oh it's fun (actually they hurt like a ....).  But that's what Band-Aids are for, I guess.

#FirstWordProblem

How many cheese plates do we really need?

I'd say most of the occasions at my house are pretty cheesy.

If The Secret is to be believed, I attract serving pieces. We have four cake stands, and one of them converts to a punch bowl.

Also: Hearing Talk Talk's version of It's My Life (as opposed to Gwen Stefani's stanky cover) on the radio restores my faith in the future of mankind.

Only In Her Dreams

Catness would absolutely love to go outside and chase those birds, but alas, she is an indoor-only kitty.  Thus says that busy road in front of our house.

 

When she sees birds, she makes the same "ka-ka-ka-ka-ka" noise with her mouth that Kitty Alyssa used to.

 

(Sims on the computer... don't judge)

Bella's Missionary Moment

My genius child tried to explain the Book of Mormon to a classmate by comparing it and the Bible to the TV shows Cheers and Wings - two different places, some overlapping characters....which would be kind of a cool comparison if the kid had heard of either show.  :)

Best Church Time EVER.

11:00 church for a whoooooole year.... Ahhhhhh.

Seal of Approval

Hubby: "I love the new house. It's cozy."

Making Good Progress

The living room is BOX FREE.

Enough with that trombone, son

Random kitty pic.

Harrison update:  After Harrison spoke to his school counselor and was denied a transfer out of band, Hubby called and found out Harrison had spoken to the counselor's clerk, not the counselor.  The clerk told Harrison it was too late in the year, but when Hubby talked to her, she let it slip that too many kids had already transferred out of band this year! Ooops! Apparently Harrison isn't the only one hating it... I kind of feel bad for the band teacher. Seems like he keeps getting smacked with the "you suck" stick.

 

Harrison update #2: After a couple more phone calls from Hubby going unanswered and unreturned by school staff, Harrison's counselor came into his class and put his new revised schedule on his desk. No more band!

 

I hate to say it but sometimes it pays to throw a big stinkin' fit.

UH OH.

Apparently the two oldest schoolchildren are enjoying their first day back, as one is texting me asking to switch out of a class and one is texting me asking to be homeschooled.

Later: I just wrote a very courteous but pointed letter to the Harrison's band teacher, cc'd to the school principal, who continues to look the other way while two boys steal my son's things and hide them DAILY. *sniff sniff* I smell bullying.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Scrubbing this old house within an inch of its life.

Moving out has been terribly stressful. But it's over. Mr. T came over today, curious about the "issues" Hubby had mentioned the house had.  He was kind about the things we'd had to leave undone and told me the house looked great. That was a huge, huge blessing and relief to me; after he gave this compliment and left, I sat in the old green bathroom and cried.

O Christmas Tree

This girl received her patriarchal blessing from stake patriarch John M. today.

 

Her mother cried the entire time.
 

Dad may have shed a tear or two as well.

 

The blessings she was promised were so beautiful.

 

So grateful for her and for this wonderful gospel principle.

Meanwhile:

Decorating the tree, and not a moment too soon.  That's what happens when you move in December. 

 

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Boy

Our first birthday in the new house. Note the still undecorated Christmas tree in the background. :)

THERAPY KITTY

Now that we're in our new house, we're free to take the kitty plunge!

We adopted a kitten from a guy we found on Cr@igslist, a very kind, lovely man who will be known forever here as "Jeff Kitty Guy."  Our kitten was a foundling raised by Jeff and his family, who bottle-fed her from about two weeks old on - they couldn't keep her because their very large dog was eyeballing her and obviously dreaming of a furry little lunch.   They found her trapped in a hole they'd dug on Jeff's father's property, and were about to bury a pole in it for a new pole building.  Seeing the kitty, they fixed a tiny noose, looped it around her neck and carefully pulled her up.  Her mama was long gone by then, probably having tried without success to rescue her.  Poor baby!

 Tiny baby, after being rescued, posed next to the TV remote...

 

Two months later

 

We brought her home today and named her Catness. She's a tabby/white mix and the most adorable, crazy thing.

Poor H

We just had another tonic-clonic seizure. It's been six months since his last one. 

Mutual This Evening

 I'm driving the ward youth around as they go caroling... Bless my un-Valium-ed heart. 

LATER: It was fun.