Guido~ness

Guido: What the heck is that on yer fro, dude?

Dog: It's my halo!

Guido: BWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

Walking With Chanda

It was a crisp foggy morning and Chanda whispered a plea in my ear.

Gathering her up, I packed her bag with filters, a wide angle lens, a 50mm lens and other sundries, snapped on my ski vest, wedged a cleaning cloth in one of it's pockets and headed out the door.

Wanna see what we saw?

Go HERE!

Humpday Chortle

A young blonde woman was driving through south Louisiana while on vacation. She wanted to take home a pair of genuine alligator shoes in the worst way, but was very reluctant to pay the high prices the local Vendors were asking.

After becoming very frustrated with the attitude of one of the shopkeepers, the young Blonde declared...

"Well then, maybe I'll just go out and catch my own alligator and get a pair of shoes for free!"

The shopkeeper said with a sly smile, "Well little lady, why don't you go on and give it a try?"

The blonde headed off to the swamp, determined to catch an alligator.

Later in the day, as the shopkeeper was driving home, he spotted the same young woman standing waist deep in the murky water, shotgun in hand.

As he brought his car to a stop, he saw a huge 9-foot gator swimming rapidly toward her.

With lightning reflexes, the Blonde takes aim, shoots the creature and hauls it up onto the slippery bank. Nearby were 7 more dead gators, all lying belly up.

While the shopkeeper stood on the bank, watching in silent amazement, the Blonde struggled mightily and managed to flip the gator onto its back.

Rolling her eyes heavenward, she screamed in frustration...

"CRAP! THIS ONE'S BAREFOOT, TOO!"

Tuesday. Mewsday.

Today is much better.

(even if my grammar isn't)

*pokes imaginary tongue in direction of 4th grade teachers everywhere*

It's snowing outside.

Big. Fat. Fluffy. Flakes.

I scurried out on a "soda excuse" run so I could frolic a bit amongst the fuzzy sky droppings :)


Sign outside my building. Quarter to 50 cent sized snowflakes! :)


Look closely and you can see my frolic steps :)

Monday. Monday. Difficult Monday.

Walked during lunch break at work. Northern wind biting into any exposed skin.

It matched my mood.

Change is in the Air

MiniWarrior turning 11 has forced me to make some changes. Changes in his routine and changes in my Momma mindset.

He's no longer a little boy.

In a few short months he will start Middle School which will be a whole different world for him than grade school.

*sigh*

I have had to take a good long look at myself this past week and I saw how I've worked to keep him little.

This cannot be, no matter how much I wish for him to stay small, innocent and sweetly dependant on me.

I've begun to loosen my Mommy grip and have forced myself to begin letting him grow up to become the wonderful man I know he will be.

This weekend I went through my boxes of old pictures with him. Showing him images of himself as a baby and pictures of myself at his age.

"Mom, what was it like when you were 11?"

Images flickered through my head like a bad movie. The kind you watch late at night that haunt you for weeks after with an unbalanced feeling.

It was the worst time of my life.

Looking into MiniWarriors sweet, curious eyes I smiled and ran a hand through his hair smoothing down a wayward bang.

"Oh. I dunno. There were lots of things changing then." I said. Feeling a sense of accomplishment that even if I told the truth MiniWarrior would not understand the ugliness. That while he faced a time of darkness, it was brief and hadn't tainted his generous heart and sunny outlook on life.

This time, remembering the dark seemed somehow softer within the light of his happiness.

I created a tiny album for him of pictures he loved the most and he scampered off to play with it clutched in his hand.

And I?

I poured Lord V and I a snifter full of Scotch, clinked my glass against his in a silent salute and downed it in one shot.

His Guidoness

I grilled Brats on the outdoor grill last night--and Mr. Guido took the opportunity to slink his way outside (un-seen).

We were chomping our feast when Lord V perked up his head and said, "Is that Guido?"

Apparently he heard him yowling.

He got up and searched out side calling for Guido but couldn't find him.

Guido has snuck out before and always come back so I wasn't too alarmed and knew he'd be back when he got cold.

A short time later while cleaning up the dinner carnage MiniWarrior heard Guido scratch at the door. He opened the door and Mr. Guido shot inside slinking low and looking spooked and cold.

"Where's his collar? I don't hear it jingling?" MiniWarrior asked.

I coaxed Mr. Guido out from under the darkness of the stairs and found him bare necked. Collar gone.

We think the yowl that Lord V heard was Guido being trapped outside by his collar!

Thank goodness I followed the cat rule of only placing a break-away collar on him and didn't put a regular collar on him!

Now that it's daylight I'm going hunting to see if I can find where Mr. Guido had been trapped...

Mummy Be Gone: Two Claws Down

We watched the 3rd Mummy movie this evening.

I loved the 1st.

Tolerated the 2nd.

And laughed my way through the 3rd.

Not cuz it was funny, but because it was just. that. bad!

If you wanna waste an hour and a half of your life...go ahead and rent it.

Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Gran Torino

Lord V and I went and saw 'Gran Torino' yesterday.

Very.

Very very.

Very very very.

Good Movie.

Get thee hither and hence to the theater to see it!! :)

Happy MLK Day!

Crazy busy weekend with parties. I was (almost) glad to get back to the quiet of work yesterday! (almost) :P

It was officially MiniWarriors birthday yesterday which he was going to celebrate at his Dads (we celebrated it on Friday)...'cept his Dad called me yesterday morning and MiniWarrior had woken up with a terrible stomach flu! :( Poor little guy.

He was very disappointed and a bit blue, so I spent some time talking to him on the phone to cheer him. I was glad that he had celebrated his birthday already with us--so he didn't totally miss out on his celebration time!

*sigh*

It's hard when I hear him so sad and sick. Everything in me wants to go over and take care of him but I realize that would be intruding on his StepMom and Dad time so I have to allow them their time to care for him and bond with him.

So...

Any big plans for today? Is everyone watching the inauguration festivities going on? It's crazy! So many people converging on Washington!

I just hope the Secret Service does a better job of protecting Mr. Obama then they did Mr. Bush during the infamous shoe throwing incident!

Don't even get me started on that rant...

I'm not a Bush fan...but he is/was the head of our country--visiting a foreign country during War time--and someone was allowed enough time to not only hurl an item at him without being put down but was allowed to hurl a second item before the Security guarding OUR leader responded and tackled the assailant.

I ask you, Peeps...is that the representation we want the world to see of our security?

ARGH...sorry.

End rant.

*puff huff pant*

Where's Clint when ya need him, ya know? ;)

"Feeling lucky, Punk?"

"Well do ya?"

Which View is....You?

realism vs idealism.

Which viewpoint is you?

Place comment HERE!

Unintended Consequences: Cat Removal

Mmm Hmmm

I could have told them that.

Any project that wears the fiendish title of "Cat removal" is gonna end badly.

Baaaaaaaaaadly.

(click here to read article)


*Z snaps*

Happy Happy Humpday!

Fridayyy its my Fridayyyyy.

WOO!

Filled up weekend comin' my way.

Lotsa birthday celebrations.

XOXOX to my birthday guys!

I love you



have a grand rest of your week, Peeps.

See ya on Sunday!

If I Were A Cat...

Blogilation

Busy week, Peeps. Busy week.

I have 3 birthdays to plan for--one of them being MiniWarriors!

He stands as tall as my eyebrows and had begun the pre-teen eating fest.

To that I have to say--GOOD LORD! WHERE does he PUT all that FOOD??

Oh yeah.

Into his legs which are mini tree trunks and growing as fast as a dandelion in Springtime.

Just this past week I received the frantic phone call from his StepMom for more pants--'cuz he's out grown 'em all.

ALL of them...

*tsks and shakes my head*

And another thing?

When we drive past teenage girls loping on the sidewalks he turns to me and says, "Those girls are cute. Or should I say, flamin' hot!" which he finishes off with a manly waggle of his eyebrows.

God help us all.

My baby's growin' up.

*sigh*

Fridayyyyyy

Hurrah! It's my Friday AND I'm leaving work in 1 hour.

*shoops around the blog*

*Shoop Shoop* *Shoop Shoop*

I don't have big plans. Just jazzed over the fact that I won't be workin!

I hope for a sunny weekend day so I can drag Chanda out for more pic captures.

What's your plans?

Gimme some news.

Hurrah!!

I won second place in a photo contest!



I feel like I'm 5 and this blog is my parents refrigerator gallery door...

*big happy grin*

This Made Me Giggle

Dinner With Friends

Lord V and I went out and had a post Christmas dinner with friends at their house last night.

You know the Italian movies where they show the families all bustling around the kitchen and dining table, laughing and talking to and over each other in booming decimals while shoving down delicious food with wine chasers?

Yeah.

It was like that.

And it was fantabulously wonderful.

We've all known each other for so long that we move in a rhythm that is family.

We tease. We laugh. We hug. We celebrate accomplishments. We commiserate and share losses.

We love.

And for a girl who grew up where family meant something to be avoided, every time I am with my friends, I feel some empty space inside me fill.

They are my treasures :)

Through the Eye of Chanda

New Chanda pics

HERE

and new iPhone pics

HERE

Native American Eagle

Eagle teaches us:

Ability to see the highest truth or highest viewpoint
Connection from earth to sky symbolising balance
Spiritual energy
That we have the ability to reach great heights when we find the courage to do so
That freedom is our birth right

Opportunities are coming to you that will enable you to reach new heights. Be aware they are coming and have the courage to grab them.


I find this a comforting start to my new year, 2009 :)

Soaring into the New Year!

There were three Eagles flying and screeching outside our house this morning.



I grabbed up Chanda and slunk into the wind driven rain to try and capture a picture of them.



This is a close as I got to them. I was out as long as possible but Chanda and I were getting soaked so I had to race back inside.





Happy New Year!