Busy Busy Crazy Busy

Today was a holiday a work. Normally that would mean a quiet, relaxing day for me, but alas, it was not to be.

We had an air conditioner meltdown that had me scrambling on my hands and knees frantically pulling floor tiles to try and find an outlet to plug the emergency air cooler in before everything melted like the wicked witch of Oz.

Just a wee bit frantic busy as I was the only one working, but I managed to get things fixed and the Wicked Work Witch lives to melt another day ;)

I came home to relax and play me some World of Warcraft and guess what? THEIR wicked witch of the server realm apparently melted as its now 7:43pm and their servers are still down.

BOO.

HISS.

*sulk*

*shakes a hat in your direction*

Psst. Hey Buddy. Can you spare a server?

Rain Rain Go Away....

I'm sulky this morning 'cuz it's raining and I can't take Chanda out to capture the colors of Fall.

Yeah, I know. There are those things called "rain sleeves" that I can put her in (saw one on CSI last night--pretty cool)--but seriously, Peeps...that would require me to go in the rain...

Yeah.

Not gonna happen...

So.

Plans for the day?

World of Warcraft.

Yes. I have joined the WOW lemmings.

*hangs head*

Election Watch

A Kats Eye View of History in the Making :)

Innerestin' Day, Ain't It?

The air seems abnormally charged today with the energy of thousands of people moving in sync towards the Voter Booths.

No matter the preferred choice for Candidate...I feel closer as a Nation--and that ain't a bad thing :)

I revel in the fact that we have the right to make a choice without fear of reprisal and this year? This year we are moving forth in record numbers to exercise that choice.


We rock :)

I Gots a Fevah!

I have cabin fever, Peeps...and its Fall.

Isn't this phenomenon only supposed to happen in the Springtime when birds are chirpin' and the smell of fresh cut grass is in the air?

*Sigh*

I'm suffering.

S.U.F.F.E.R.I.N.G.

I feel like I'm gonna pop right outta my skin.

And that ain't good.

Not good at all.

This world couldn't handle skeletal me.

*Mutter* *Hiss*

*eyeballs the clock*

*SIGH*

I've got 6 more hours of work left...

Bah.

Humbug.

Good Evening...

Go HERE!

If. You. Dare.

Mwahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

*cough* *hack* *wheeze*

...

Dang hairballs.

A Boy And His Cat

Wanna see more? Go HERE!

Mantis Boy

MiniWarrior has managed to capture what is probably the last two living Mantis's of the season.

Lord V carting MiniWarrior back to his Dads house on Sunday packed in his trunk:

2 Mantis cages and
1 Hermit crab cage.

What MiniWarrior didn't pack was his school backpack or cricket victims for his caged prey.

So, last night after work I slipped by the pet store and picked up a baggie of crickets and toted them and MiniWarriors backpack over to him at his Dads house.

With my iPhone eyeball always at the ready...I bring to you--images of Mantis Boy and his creepy Prisoners.

Love Outside The Box

I was walking back from my lunch break at work today. The sun was shining, the ground beneath my feet was littered with colored fall leaves, the wind blew just sharp enough for me to enjoy the comfort of my sweater vest and just soft enough for me to smile at it tugging at my hair.

Two men walked down the hill in front of me. One tripped and stumbled off the sidewalk. I smiled as his friend reached out and caught his arm before he could fall and then watched him rib his friend good naturedly on how goofy he looked falling off the curb.

They strode on turning to chat at each other along the way then the one who had stumbled reached over and ran a loving hand across and down the other mans back.

How nice, I thought. They obviously care deeply for each other.

My foot crunched down on a brittle pile of leaves and the one who had stroked the other guys back turned sharply at the noise and gave me a quick look.

He stepped further away from the other guy and assumed a more macho walk.

How sad, I thought. That we still live in a time where loving affection for another is smiled or frowned upon depending on the gender.

That we aren't fully free to be who we are without fear of reprisal.

The sunshine dimmed a bit for me and I shuffled back to work with a moody heart.

Pillow Thief

MiniWarrior aka Dr Doolittle

MiniWarrior, my 10 year old insect, animal, vampire loving, special boy--now stands as tall as my eyebrows.

This morning I woke and crept out of bed as the house and all its occupants lay sleeping.

I shuffled to the coffee maker and filled its belly with ground up beans and water and set it to work.

With the sounds of the water steaming I did a quick check of email and headline news then walked softly up the stairs to MiniWarriors nest.

The red light over Jabba-the-frogs cage illuminated the mantis habitats on his desk. Joset-the-green-mantis and Willy-the-brown-mantis hung upside down, their cages littered with the bodies of half eaten crickets.

A rustle of movement from the cricket cage told me the sacrificial creatures were busy nibbling on their breakfast of lettuce leaves and grapes.

Yes. Eat hearty my little victims. Think not of being speared on Mantis spines while your head is being noshed on nor think upon the lightening fast frog tongue that will pull you into its mouth and suck you down into its amphibian belly.

I passed by the hermit crab as he lay quietly, nestled against empty shells, its cage tucked into shadowy corners of the table then turned and walked into MiniWarriors bedroom.

He lay sprawled across his bed, rubber crickets and grasshoppers, stuffed cats, frogs and dogs, lay entwined in his sheets.

I lay beside him for a moment, stroking the soft outline of his ear. He stirred and pressed against me mumbling in his sleep.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him like I have for so many years now. The memories flickered through my head of a brown eyed baby, chubby legged toddler, now a lanky boy-man running on sun brown legs, chasing after another victim to add to his collection of cages.

Is it possible to love a human being more than I do this child?

I cannot imagine how.

Sunrise

I awoke this morning to this view. Being the geek that I am--I lept out of bed, wrapped both my cameras around my neck and dashed outside in my Hello Kitty PJ's to capture it. :)




Wanna see more? Go HERE

What the...?!!

So. I was driving home from work and stuck in the corner of traffic where there is a stupid timed-wait-your-turn-traffic-signal-on-ramp light. I was waiting my turn...muttering at the light...when I see this hot car pass me by on the right.

Well...hmm...what do we have here?



Niceeeee car.

HOT!

Must inch closer and see what hunk of man is driving this hot car.

*inch inch inch*

Yes. That's it. Turn your head. Let me see you. That's right. Turn. Turn your hea...

What the...?!!



Are those...headphones?

And...and...duct tape??

Good lord.

The dude had duct taped headphones to his head.

I shizzle you not.

Foggy Tuesday

I've been insanely busy of late.

Every spare minute I have I've devoted to my new craze hobby, photography...

It's gotten so I'm taking pictures in my sleep. I'll be dreaming (apparently I dream in color)...and I'll see a particular dream image and think, "Wow...I should take a picture of that!" and then I spend the rest of my dream editing the pictures.

Yeah.

I might be needing an intervention soon.

If you do host an intervention for me? Could y'all wear black and white? It would add to the grittiness of the scene and make a fabulous urban addict shot.

I'm just sayin...

I've joined a new photography site--which after viewing 3 billion and 6 really BAD photography sites--ROCKS.

If you are interested, Check it out HERE. My photos are under Haphazardkat :)

Just to show you how NUTS I've become with taking pictures of everything?

I snapped this shot with my i-Phone while I was waiting for the train this morning.

At 5AM.

Clutching a steaming cup of coffee.

My lunch bag.

My work bag.

And a Louis L'Amour book.

My fellow platform congregants watched me then did the "she's one of those crazy's sideways step away dance" to the opposite side of the platform from me.

*sniff*

Oh. And (most) of the blurriness of this shot? Is Fog. It was thick as clotted cream out there.

Clotted cream

That there is a genuine artistic description.

*Z snaps*

Apple Strudel

And...here it is! The Apple Strudel I baked for the Dinner Club :)

A TAG by Jadey (*mutter* *mutter*)

The Photo Meme (*shakes my fist to the sky cuz Jadey tagged me!!!*)

A) Answer the questions below, do a Google Image search with your answer, take a picture from the first page of results, and do it with minimal words of explanation. B) Tag 5 other people to do the same once you’ve finished answering every question.

1) Age you will be on your next birthday.



2) A place you want to travel.



3) your favorite place.

*no google image of me being home with Lord V, MiniWarrior, thedog and Guido-the-cat :) *


4) your favorite food.



5) Favorite pet.



6) Favorite color combination.



7) Favorite piece of clothing.




8) Favorite tv show.




9) First name of your significant other.



omg...this one cracks me up!!!


10) Town in which you live.




11) Your first job.



12) your dream job.



13) A bad habit you have.




14) your worst fear.




15) What you'd like to do before you die.



and NO! I'm not going to tag anyone else :P You'all OWE me for this one!!

Happah Happah Humpday, Peeps!

Yeah yeah yeah, I know. I've sucked at blogging lately.

Actually--I have been blogging. Sort of.

I've been busy hacking recoding my akatseyeview blog to get the &%#! Blogger template to allow me to post larger views of my photos on it.

HOURS of hacking re-coding attempts later--I have achieved success! WOO! *pumps a victorious fist*

Lotta work left re-posting my pics to match the new format-lotta work. *sigh*

So yeah. Much of my spare time has been working on my other blog--thus allowing for my sad neglection of you, Peeps.

Nothing much new is going on since I last spoke with you.

Work is better. Actually--much better. Which is a good thing as I was tired of hearing myself "yip" about it all the time to anyone and everyone who stood still longer then 2 seconds thus making them a "yip-about-work" target.

Lord V still enters the room with shifty eyes, sniffing the air like a nervous gazelle in tiger territory, though ;)

Ah yes. I do have a bit of news to update you with.

Last Saturday was our first Dinner Club party. I am greatly relieved thank god almighty HAPPY to say that my Apple Strudel was a success!

No, I didn't burn it. *eyeballs you*

I didn't know however. that I was supposed to pull the filo dough out of the freezer 5 hours before using it.

Dangit!

I managed to save myself though by nuking it in the microwave...turning it and kneading it softly every 10 seconds so it de-thawed (semi) evenly.

It was a bit shaky to work with as it was thin like a fine layer of skin and kept tearing--but I managed to glue each layer together with melted butter that I brushed on it--and WALLA! No one was the wiser.

*mops my brow*

Next dinner? Is Moroccan and I've heard I'm in charge of H'orderves. Pfftt. I can handle that.

*Z snaps*

So that's it, Peeps. That's all my news.

Do me a favor and go check out my AKatsEyeView site and let me know what you think of the changes.

Mmm-K?

Thank you.

Thank you very much. (*Brenda from Closer Southern voice*)

*pause*

Watchu' still doin' here? GO! Chop chop! *claps hands*

*tsk*

Kids these days...

Foggy Saturday Morning

I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled into the living room and paused, coffee cup in hand, to watch the sun twirling with tendrils of fog sprites, dancing around the islands along the river.



Wanna see more? Go HERE.

MiniWarrior~ism

MiniWarriors Teacher took me aside when I went to pick up MiniWarrior from school the other day. She said:

Oh my gosh. I have to tell you something MiniWarrior said on the Field Trip to the Fish Hatchery.

The Fish Hatchery Guide was sitting in a circle with the kids after the field trip when one little girl raised her hand and expressed her love of "sawing worms in half 'cuz they repair themselves and grow a new body".

The Fish Hatchery lady told the group that worms do not repair their bodies when sawed in half but die, so it wouldn't be a good thing to continue doing.

MiniWarrior listened intently then raised his hand and asked, "How long have you been respecting the lives of worms?"

His Guido~ness and Pal

Happy Humpday, Peeps!

Tueeeeeeesday Tuesdayyyyy

I know. I know. Two blogs in a row--

*picks you up off the floor and dusts you off*

Sheesh. Ya'all are so dramatic! :P

Things are slowing down at work so I finally have a little spare time.

It's been crazy busy with all the fallout from the hurricanes that devastated Texas!

I haven't had time to take Chanda out to capture anymore pictures. I plan on devoting some time this weekend to that endeavor if the clouds hold back their rain party plans.

Saturday evening, Lord V and I are attending our first Dinner Club party. We joined a dinner club group with some of our friends--which is freakin' me out a bit as I have to be responsible for creating gourmet meals! EEK!

My part of this upcoming dinner is to bake an apple strudel. The dinners are themed based and Saturdays dinner is "German". The strudel recipe doesn't seem too complicated *sweat sweat* so I think I'll do OK. (I hope)...

Last Saturday during our girls night at my house? I baked a ready made pizza--which was baked to perfection, thank-you-very-much...and after pulling the pizza out of the oven, I put some cinnamon bread sticks in to bake for dessert.

Great idea, right?

Yeah.

I put them in the oven, then sat down to watch Sex In The City. I got so engrossed in the movie I completely forgot I had put the cinnamon bread in the oven...

After the movie, I got up and started to clean the dinner remains from the kitchen counter when I noticed the cream cheese frosting still sitting out.

Hmm. Look at that. Cream cheese frosting...why is that out?

*blond moment quizzical tilt of head*

OMG! The bread sticks!!!

I ran to the oven and peered inside.

Yep.

There they were.

Completely burnt to a crisp in a christmas wreath shape.

*thunks head on counter*

We ran around flinging open windows for fear that the smoke would set off the fire alarm.

I so wasn't going to explain that to the fire people!!

ARGH.

The final nail on my humiliation coffin?

The lady who had invited me to join their prestigious gourmet dinner club?

Was one of my friends, watching the movie with me.

AHHHHH!!!

Mondayyyyyy Mondayyyy...

How was everyones weekend?

I spent the weekend with my girl pack. We headed out Friday evening to Edgefield hotel and whiled the night away sipping pear brandy, hard apple cider and ruby red beer while talking of things only girls really "get".

Saturday I drove home, snagged up MiniWarrior and took him to his friends birthday party--then dropped him off at his Dads. Lord V took off to spend time with his guy pack and my girl pack came back over to munch pizza and icecream while watching the Sex in the City movie.

It was a soul filling weekend. Something much needed and thoroughly enjoyed :)

Itsy Bitsy

Go HERE to see more of Chanda's debut :)

Chanda's First Morning

Chanda

Chanda has arrived! *girlie squeal!*




She's beautiful. *sniff sniff*

But scary...

So much to learn!!

I feel like a new parent :)

Jabba-The-Frog

Happy Monday---Blerg!

No Chanda yet. *sniffle*

She comes in the mail (hopefully) by Wednesday. Yay! :D

Nuthin much new happenin' of late.

MiniWarrior's frog Jason died...so I took him out to Petsmart and he got himself a new one. A Dumpy Tree Frog. It's HUGE! MiniWarrior named him Jabba...as in Jabba-the-hut *snort*

I took pics--I'll post some when I can get access to them at home ;)

Jabba is quite amusing to watch lunge after crickets. He landed in his little pond during one particular healthy lunge and did a massive belly flop--knocking half the water out!!

KerSPLAT!

hehehe.

Little things like this amuse me.

MiniWarrior also found a preying mantis. He named her Dixie but then later changed it to Jessica the 2nd, as Jessica was his favorite Mantis from last year.

Remember her?

Freaky ass egg foam laying winged alien lookin monster...

May she rest in peace.

Retail Therapy

I went a little crazy yesterday and gave into a yearning of mine that has been festering for a few years.

I grabbed my bank card, entered the information, closed my eyes and committed to the purchase of a shiny new gadget!


Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

Isn't she pretty?!

I shall call her: Chanda--for she is my passion.

Next purchase?

Medication...

Palputations and Enamel Grinding

Peeps, I apologize for my lack luster blogging of late.

I've been overwhelmed with work issues.

Being's that they are "work issues" I cannot blog about them.

*sigh*

Wish me well, Peeps. It's a dark path I am traveling right now and I am really wishing I had some kind of light at the end of this rocky path to help guide my way.

Desperate HouseDoggie Pics

Desperate HouseDog

We strolled through the town of Seaside our second day of camping. I love Seaside. It has many fun and colorful shops--which is great as it gives you something to do when the Oregon Coast gathers its clouds and has a rain party on you.

MiniWarrior and I were sitting outside a shop while Lord V was inside perusing the goods, when a lady walked by with a tiny little Chihuahua dressed in a ridiculous outfit.

MiniWarrior asked if he could pet the dog and we laughed when the shaking little beast leaped into his lap.

It was then I noticed there was something written on the dog outfit and cracked up when I read:

Desperate Housedog!

I have pics of her and will post them when I am home for you.