Just a Little Mischief

The Saturday night dinner was about peaceful as it can get with a two year old and a four year, possibly due to the menu... one of the four favorite toddler food groups...pizza. There were even a few relaxing moments so the Grandmas and Grandpas could enjoy a tiny slice of conversation. It was almost an uncanny silence... for about two minutes. Then came the shrieks. Certain that someone was in urgent need of kisses and hugs and perhaps a Sponge Bob or Princess baidaid, four grandparents jumped to attention, each determined to be the first to reach the source of discontent. Instead we were greeted with the merriment of two grandkids who had been startled by the sudden burst of timed sprinkers and quickly discovered the joy of getting soaked, fully clothed.

Minor Little Annoyances

It seems once in a while there comes a day when every little thing you try to do comes attached with some kind of annoyance. Today it happened to be my day.

It started off at the hairdresser. I was unfortunate to have an appointment at the same time as the loudest and most talkative lady in the county. She never stopped. I tried rolling my eyes a few times in an attempt to signal my hairdresser about my disgruntedness. She never picked up on it. So now I know all about the loudmouth's planned trip to NY to visit her son, all the way down to what is in the refrigerator, or perhaps I should say what is not in the refrigerator. I know they live in the suburbs and "grandma" likes to stay and play with the kids rather than tour the big city. She stays away from certain delis, doesn't take cabs or any other method of public transportation, (how did she get there anyway?) and takes enough underwear for the entire trip so she doesn't have to do any laundry. Too much information.

It didn't get much better when I visited the local fabric crafts store. Why do clerks always have to ask what you are making? If they can't figure out why I have 3 yards of 1" elasticized sequin hat band, 2 red fabric pens, a large jar of red glitter, a tube of red glitter glue, 3 bags of red sequins, a jar of true red fabric paint, three different sized fabric paint brushes and one little white baseball hat, what business is it of theirs?

By this time it was way past lunch time but I figured I could squeeze in one quick trip into the mega bookstore before I crashed into sugarless oblivion. I know there is a ton of info on the internet about cruises to Alaska but sometimes I just have to have my hands on a good solid shiny covered picture book with maps, walks, directions and bunches of glossy touristy photos. It just feels right. In record time I managed to find two perfect books that I just had to have. No problem there. As I approached the counter, I was grateful that there was only one person in front of me. Well, make that one family that happened to be making one simple purchase. With a gift card. And a clerk on the phone. And only one clerk on duty. And a computer system that was down. Five minutes later, with about 10 more patrons, credit cards in hand, jockeying for the next available clerk, over the speaker comes an plea for a "visual receipt specialist." A middle aged woman, pencil balanced over one ear and yellowed receipt book in hand, announces she will take the next customer who happens to have cash. Huh? Cash? What's that?

Easy Access for Wanda

My dear departed friend left a room full of red hat things behind and today her daughter dropped off a few boxes of goodies. I am going to share some of the stuff but not this hat stand. I love it but it seems that Wanda now has easy access to three hats.

Rusty is perched on top of the red hat cat doll case watching over the Wanda experiments. We will see how the night goes. I've been too tired lately to lop off any more lives so Wanda does still have six left. Perhaps Rusty is on to something - if Wanda misbehaves she may rest for an eternity inside the glass doll case.

On the other hand, my visitor today fell in love with Wanda. I caught her trying to stuff the cat down her shirt when she left. So the question today would be, if Wanda disappears into another house, does Wanda get to start over with another 9 lives?

Mud Pies

Life is full of surprises. Yesterday my line dance teacher bid farewell to our group. I am so sad but I do understand that sometimes life gets complicated and we must make tough decisions about our priorities. I'm hoping everything works out well for her and look forward to seeing her in other classes along the way.

Meanwhile, she brought me this little gift yesterday. She insists she is just cleaning out her stuff and thought of me when she found this little treasure since the author shares my first name. I read through the book last night and am thrilled to have this little remembrance. I'm thinking about dragging out my old dolls and having a little mudpie tea party. But more important, I'm thinking about the value of the wonderful friendships we experience as we get older and share a genuine appreciation for those who cross our path.

One more comment: could this be a reminder to have a little fun today... fun as defined through the eyes of a child?

Collecting Stuff

My big brother collects corkscrews. He used to collect beer advertising openers. His latest home was built to accomodate his corkscrew museum. He travels the world to attend corkscrew addict meetings. He has visited most every thrift shop from coast to coast and north to south in the U.S. He has a famous virtual corkscrew museum (famous to those who collect corkscrews anyway). He has written many books about openers and corkscrews. He DID NOT write this one... unless he has a new alias that he didn't tell his little sister about.

My little sister collects things too, a rather eclectic collection of things too numerous to list here. She has not written a book, that I know of.

I collect red hats and cats (not red cats). I have not written a book... yet.

Do you suppose something was missing from our childhood? Or, does everyone collect stuff?

I will not...

This is most definitely not a flattering picture. So, what would ever possess me to post such a photo? Cause, this blogger needs to remind herself why she can't button her pants anymore.

Gone to the blackboard (you do remember those, right?)...

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

I will not order a Black and Tan at Fentons ever again.

X100 (no that is not my Tshirt size... yet)

Who Says Cats Don't Like Water?

Last night Wanda surprised Little J by jumping in his bath. She didn't seem all that excited about it. Tonight she dove in again. She seems to be tempting her own fate. Not that she will drown. More likely, if she jumps up on my desk and puts her scawny sopping wet body on the birthday and get well cards that I am in the process of writing again, she may lose yet another life. I'll give her one last chance... but only because I ignored her plea for a towel and she was merely making a point.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be the recipient of one of those cards, remember, at least the cat was clean. She could have left a worse impression.

While In Las Vegas

Here are the cousins after a long day swimming, visiting the Spring Reserve, and eating Mexican food. Little I is 2. Little J is 4. Little J is average for his size. This is the only time the entire weekend they stood still long enough for one quick photo.

Southpoint is a good place to stay with kids. They get to swim in a special kid sized pool, bowl, do kid style gambling in the arcade, eat noodles and ice cream at the buffet 3 times a day, and go to movies. Once in a while they acquiesce and go to Kid Tyme so adults can play slot machines.

We left some money behind for the next happy tourist to collect.

Wanda was a good girl while we were gone. At least that is what the cat sitter says. I would be a bit suspicious however because I really don't think the cat sitter dumped over the garbage in the office and shredded all those yucky tissues. And I don't think the cat sitter saw Wanda getting her daily exercise climbing the evermore threadbare blinds in my room.

Just To Prove Wanda Is Not All Bad

The proof is in the picture. Wanda let me sleep. So did Minnie and Rusty. What woke me up this morning? The "arf" sound that Little J's digital camera makes when it snaps a picture. The culprit behind the camera was not Little J. How many lives do Hubbies get? I think he lost one this morning.

OK I'm done for the day. Really. No more posts today. I actually do have other things to do. It's just that it's soooooooooo quiet and peaceful here when Grandpa and Little J go off on a long bus driving day.

Delete Delete Delete

I happen to have a a piece of art by Leedy hanging in my office. It is a picture of a rather curious looking cat sitting on the keyboard in front of the computer monitor. The caption on the picture is "Are you sure you want to delete this file?"

It appears that Wanda intends to mimic the art. If this blog happens to disappear you can probably blame it on Wanda. If this blog disappears, it's possible that Wanda will lose the rest of her lives. On the other hand, maybe I would have to thank her. Readers are probably getting pretty bored with Wanda right about now and perhaps waiting for the blog to disappear. I know if I had to suffer through many more blogs about people's pets, I'd probably want it to disappear.