What a Croc

I hate Crocs. They are quite possibly the only shoes I don’t like. I saw this today and just had to share it since I’m obviously not the only one…

Cheers.

Are you happy now, Melissa?!?!

I wasn’t posting often enough for my dear friend, Melissa so I’m giving her a pity post. ;P Just kidding! Actually, I’ve been working on a few different ideas for posts lately and I just wasn’t sure which one to publish right now. I seem to have more incomplete thoughts these days what with all the changes going on. Here’s just an update on some of the stuff going on since last time…

Michael got a job - yay! It looks promising and I really really hope he likes it there. He starts in a week and I can’t help but feel nervous for him like he’s starting mid-year at a new school. I’ll hopefully be able to stop myself from worrying about him on that first day.

I’m finally getting into the rhythm of my job, but I’m still not liking the fact that I spend a nice amount driving there everyday, but then I remember that everyone on the 101 with me is doing the same and I still don’t feel ok, but I know my misery is shared, at least.

Right now, I’m listening to our neighbor’s new dog bark. He’s apparently very lonely when they leave for the day and has been barking for the last week whenever he’s put outside. This morning it started at 7am. On a Saturday. I’m going over later to have a little discussion about this poor little puppy and how I want to fling him over the wall and free him from his misery.

Mother’s Day is tomorrow and I actually got cards out early this year. Yay me! So, to our moms - if you’re reading this, we love you and wish you the best tomorrow and always. Smooch!

I should probably go get showered and stuff to go to the grocery store. I’m shopping with my mom today for food for tomorrow’s lunch in her honor. She buys the food, I cook it, it’s a lovely arrangement we have all thanks to my very smart sister.

I’ll write more later, I promise (Melissa!). Happy Saturday, er Caterday everyone!

Kittens

I think my favorite one is the little fat guy second in from the right.

cyoot…

…or however you spell that in lolspeak.

I dare you to not die of an exploding head from all the cuteness….

Life is weird

Most of you know already that my husband was laid off from his job this week. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster over the last few days. Things are on an upswing now as he’s got some leads (but would welcome more if you have any, hint hint), but it’s hard to know where tomorrow will take us. I have to say I’m pretty upset about the way things went with his “exit”, and you can read more about it at his site but what can you do… life sucks sometimes and then you move on.

I have had a feeling for a while that something like this was going to happen, I just wasn’t expecting THIS. Although, I have to admit that it seems like everytime we’ve faced a carpet-out-from-under-us event like this, we come out on top and believe me, we’ve faced quite a few in our time together. We seem to thrive under pressure and I think that’s pretty special. It’s also when I see my husband at his best and most real. He’s got an amazing ability to work through really tough times and come out looking so graceful and resilient. It’s one of the things I admire about him. That’s not to say that this won’t be an uphill climb (or that it will be, for that matter), but at least I can face it knowing from years of experience that it’s all going to be behind us someday and we’ll be all the better for it.

It’s at these times that I remember there is always a greater plan at work. The universe always has reason for what happens. Two months ago I was cursing the fact that my business had quite horribly crashed and I was back in the workforce. Wednesday I was quite honestly thanking God that had happened because I have a steady job that pays a decent wage. I remembered a line from one of my favorite songs (How Could I Ask for More) by Cindy Morgan the other day when I was still digesting all of this. It’s very simple and it goes, “Heartaches we go through are often blessings in disguise”. I think it’s the either the meter of the phrase or the way the words blend or maybe the spirit with which they were written shining through, but it gives me such peace to hear and say it. I now pass it on to you and wish you the same…

Pinetop

This weekend, Michael and I went to Pinetop with some very dear friends. They are gracious enough to continue inviting us up there even though all we do all weekend is hang out and eat their food.

We always have an excellent time and eat way too much good food, but we look at it as a mini vacation until we can figure out what to do for a not so mini vacation. Michael and I have always been kind of weird about the whole vacation subject. We’ve been married for a fair amount of years now and we still haven’t really gone on a full blown week, week and a half trip to some exotic locale. Our honeymoon was the last time we took off and went somewhere new just the two of us. We have been to Vegas a lot and California a whole lot, but not many other places.

I think this has to do with the fact that we like being at home. I can’t speak for him, but I LOVE my bed, I love my kitchen and my bathroom. It’s nice to get away and try new things, but sometimes, I just want my towels, for crying out loud. We talked about it a little this weekend (seriously, like two sentences), getting away, going somewhere cool for a WHOLE week, not 4 days like we normally do. It’s somewhat daunting, though, the thought of planning a get away. Of course, I plan all the travel for the company I work for now so it should be easier. Hey, perhaps that’s even a sign that we need to get off our rear-ends and get out!

I’m going to start looking… and Michael’s hearing the first about this here as he’s reading on Monday morning (hi honey!). We’ll see what I find. Oh, and in the mean time, here are the only two pictures I took while in Pinetop…

Those are cows on the side of the mountain. I freaked out when I saw them on the way up to Pinetop Friday. I freaked out again today when we saw them on the way home, too. I just can’t understand how they stand up there like that.

And this is my stuffed monkey, Pleeplius (who stowed away in my bag) sitting by the fire in the cool old stove in the living room. We were hanging out after dinner I think and I’m sure there was beer involved in my motivation for taking this photo.

One of my weirder obsessions

I love abandoned buildings. I always have and what’s weirder is my sister and mom like them too. At least my sister, I’m actually not too sure about my mom now that I think about it. I don’t know what it is, the history, the creepiness, the fact that cats like to hide in old buildings…

I found a site not too long ago called Abandoned Places. People basically go around to old abandoned buildings - houses, factories, hospitals - and take pictures and then post them, sometimes with stories. I was shocked when I found this community because I didn’t think that many people were into peering into old buildings, trying to figure out what went on there and then rating the place on a scale of 1-10 for spookiness. it turns out quite a few are into it. It’s amazing what can sometimes unite people. There’s all kinds of people on this site and that’s why I love it. Check it out if you’re a fan of old places, too or even just great photography. Some of the members are really great at composing an interesting still shot.

There’s also the element of mystery in exploring an old building. My favorite has to be the old houses, though. Especially if they still have furniture, photos on the walls, food in the pantry. You can almost see the history. What I love is actually getting to go to old abandoned homes and I swear I can sometimes feel the energy of what once existed there. Christmases, family drama, babies being born, people dying even, it’s amazing. My sister does the same thing so when we get together and start in about it, it’s pretty funny.

What’s really cool is all the opportunities I’ve had to visit old houses. Someone always knows someone and there I am, able to go through a building on an old property that was pretty much walked out of and left untouched. An ex of mine had a house like that on his great aunt’s property. They just walked out, got all new stuff and left everything like it was. Even the calendar was still turned to the month when they left. That was amazing, definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had. I remember there was still old shaving cream on the sink from the last time the guy shaved. I know that to people who don’t get it, it sounds crazy, but there’s just something about standing in a room where so much history has happened. It’s almost a literal buzz.

Like I said in the title of this post, this is one of my weirder obsessions, but I really count myself lucky for having this strange attraction to old stuff. I feel like I can find appreciation in something that most of the modern world finds unworthy of their time. It’s like I can see something most people can’t and I love that.

Life is better now

I’ve been away for a while because life was just a little too stressful to write about without completely going over the edge and ranting until all of you just wanted to yell “Shut up already!”. I’m sure my husband has been there for a while since he’s had to listen to my whining in real time. I’m much happier now so I think it’s safe to come out of hiding.

I’m not even going to go into what was going on, just too much was happening too fast. Things have slowed considerably and I’m feeling much more peaceful now. My training as a “stress reduction therapist” actually came in handy once I stopped freaking the hell out. I still have some work to do, but for now, I can at least cope and that’s a pretty big jump from where I was.

I could go on, but things are kind of jumbled in my head so I’m going to take a few days to sort them out. Until then, I’m going to leave you with a picture of sleeping kittens. Aw.

**Kitten photo removed at the request of the photographer.  If you really want to see kittens go to www.google.com, click on image search and type “kittens”.  You’ll have kitten photos from here to eternity.**

Crap

Today sucked. That’s all.

Home sick today

I’m home sick today after finding out that I have bronchitis and some sinus issue this morning at the doctor. I woke up this morning feeling like my chest was going to explode every time I had to cough and my throat was even more sore than it was two nights ago. I hate staying home from work so it was a pretty big deal when I decided this morning to not go in and try to get in to see the doctor this morning. She confirmed that, yes, I was sick and yes, I did need some medicine so here are three million prescriptions to take and see me again in two days if you don’t feel any better. Off to Walgreens I went where I spent a fortune on several different medicines. I’m home now and I already feel better.

Ok, I didn’t want to write too much because I really need to nap so I’m off to go half watch HGTV while snoozing. I hope everyone out there has a great week.

Happy St. Patty’s day!