The Other Man

The other man in my life is discreet. He won't come around me when my husband is near. But when we are alone, watch out! He is quite polite. He won't jump on me unless I give him a little boost. And then we have a heavy petting session. And when I say heavy, I mean heavy. Look at my precious fluffy lumpkin.


Homer, my love, my life was so empty (or lighter) before you.

However, he can be a fickle lover. Just yesterday he sat on someone else's feet. (Frank's feet declined to pose for this picture.)


He might need a little manscaping, because that chest hair needs constant attention. And dare I say the D word? A diet. I do wish he had neater, SMALLER, more economical bathroom habits. "Chore" was a spelling word this week, and Mrs. B asked the kiddies what was their least favorite chore. Mine was cleaning the cat box.


This bag of cat litter was supposed to last for 36+ days with 2 cats. It lasted only 25, and let me tell you, it wasn't dainty little Francine who was using it up.


Look at her. She is so shy and scared, I wonder if her previous man abused her. But she allows our men to pet her if she is under the chair. She is the daintiest eater. She will take one piece of kibble out of the bowl, bring it to the floor, and eat the piece completely including crumbs before she goes back for another piece. Unlike Homer, who is all gulp gulp gulp.

And so ends today's tale of Homer and Francine.

Do you have a pet tale to share?

Seeing Double?

Ernest finally wore his Christmas socks.





Ugh. The black rug needs vacuuming again. While I've been zipping through the house with my magic eraser (it works wonders on fingerprints around the light switches) the vacuuming has been put off. What excuse can I use?

Oh, here's a good one: I don't want to scare the new cats. Except that won't work because I had to vacuum up cat litter this morning--Homer is overly vigorous in his litter box activities.

What have you been putting off?

Blown Away

I truly am blown away by your kind comments on my doodles "paisley art. "

Wow, thank you! You made my week!

Jodi, those koi are yours if you send me your address.

My new cat Homer has that paisley pear shape. But he's white and grey and that's just not colorful enough.

So I need more ideas! What else can I turn into a doodle piece of paisley art?

10 Little Things: Thing 10 (Doodles)

Name 10 little things that make you happy.

Thing number ten: Doodles.



During a tough week, Mrs. B and I discovered we had a mutual love of coloring. There is something so relaxing about coloring...it just focuses your mind in a different way and gets you out of the stressful worry rut. I loved my TCPs with Miss L, but I got out of the habit. So I thought I would focus on doodling and my current obsession, paisley. I got out my ultra-fine-point Sharpies and wondered, how many ways could I doodle paisley?



My husband saw me doodling the tree and gave me that look. That disbelieving look. It relieves stress, I said. You have stress? he asked, with that tone. That disbelieving tone. You know that look and that tone. Like, what could you possibly be stressed about?

But I'm not going to go there.

I'm looking for doodle ideas.



What else could I turn into a paisley doodle?

Swag

Swag.

It's what the movie stars get.

I felt like a movie star on Valentine's day. The kids kept asking if I would come back after lunch for their party, because they had something for me. When I walked in, they all cheered. That was the nicest moment I've had in a long time. Really, it made me misty.

So here's my swag.

I'm in love with those pink marshmallow cats. They were from the boy who wears a tie because he wants to look like Mr. Gibbs on NCIS. He's also the boy with great manners. The other day he held the door open for me and said, "Ladies first." What a sweetheart.

Brotherly Love

Ernest has a Tech Club bake sale today. He was going to make cookies last night, but he woke up in the morning with a stiff neck. Stiff? He could barely move. He is not used to being incapacitated. He was miserable.

So Frank stepped up -- with two dozen chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale, plus another batch for us. "This one just won't fit on the rack, someone HAS to eat it."

Sweet!



Why yes, they do have Pi on them.

I know I talk about baked goods a lot. Because Frank bakes the best! It's a great hobby.

Avett Brothers

I'm woefully ignorant of most current music. I only know Lady Gaga from Glee, and I've never actually heard Justin Bieber sing. (Although thanks to Cheri, I now know and love Adam Lambert.)

But I liked these guys! They were better than Dylan, who followed them.



I've got to expand my horizons.

Non-live grammy blogging

I don't normally watch, but I got sucked in this year. Not really to see Justin Bieber lose (because I already knew it would happen, see below ***). I don't have anything against him, it's just my sons don't like him.

Mostly, I'm STILL waiting for Keef (oops, sorry, wrong Stone) Mick and Barbra.

***But the Grammys didn't start on local TV until they were actually already over. NOT FAIR. At least the frickin' Oscars are on live in the state they originate in. We might be the on left coast but I hate being on the leftover coast.

They're doing the dead montage now.. My back was turned...someone who did My Sharona is dead? I feal really old now.



Mick's on.

PAUSE

OK, he looked like a leprechaun. Green shirt and green silk jacket. He's 67???

Barbra, at last. Evergreen.



Funny, the grammys blocked the mick youtube but not the barbra.

The camera passed by P diddy doody puffy daddy. He looked bored. Cyndi Lauper looked verklempt, bless her little cleavaged heart.

10 Little Things: Thing Nine (Magic)

Name 10 little things that make you happy.

Thing number nine: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

I've had them in the cupboard for years and never used them. But when I saw Kristen M's comment over at Derfwad Manor, I had to pull one out and try it on my craptactularly scummy shower door.

Magic all right! I call it a miracle!

No, Mr. Clean is not paying me to say this. But if he would like to send me some more erasers...

From FAIL to WIN

I've been cooking real dinners since I was 19. I don't have too many absolute failures anymore. Some things don't taste as great as they might, but total bombs? Not really. Imagine my surprise when my basmati rice, which I have made countless times, turned out to be a sticky nasty blob. I KNOW I followed the directions. Fortunately, my refrigerator treasure trove included a carton of leftover Chinese restaurant rice which saved the day for my green curry dinner.

But there I was, staring at the starchy blob, when Inspiration with a Capital I hit. "Frank," I cried! "You need to learn how to make rice pudding!"

So he added some milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, dried cranberries, and his secret ingredient.

(Oh, I'll tell--cinnamon.)

And the massive fail turned into a win.