Oreo stretches out.

Oreo is the funniest little cat. Her personality is such a force that when I pet her, it's almost shocking how small she really is. She doesn't like to be crowded, and actually doesn't like to be touched unless SHE is seeking the attention. She is also very vocal when she wants that attention and is also vocal when crowded, letting those near her know it by her growls, hiss' and snarls. *g* But, even with her anti-social behavior, we love her.

Today was busy for me. When I awoke it was to discover that an old nerve problem in my wrist was bugging me, making my wrist achey and making me have to wear the brace I was given for such occurences. FUN! Ever try to type with one of those on, or even fold clothes? Not easy and it also meant no Y for me today.

ANYWAY, I decided to trek to the UBS today, but was disappointed. There was nothing there that I went to look for, but I did leave with a book for Son (Star Trek, what else!) and one for me, As Time Goes By by Vicki Lewis Thompson. Because I was so disappointed in the trip to the UBS (Remind me never to go there again on a tuesday, different women RUDE! women were working there today) I then went by BAM and much to my surprise THEY didn't have what I was looking for, but I did pick up 3 books that caught my eye. 'Scuse me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry, Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair and Star Prince by Susan Grant. Sqeeeeeeee! I have books! Then I remembered that I needed to run by the library to pick up my autobiograpy of Katherine Hepburn titled Me, and much to my surprise they had finally gotten in another of my Holds, Foul Play by Tori Carrington. So, not only do I have books. I have BOOKS. *g* And I'm having trouble deciding which one to read first. I love that kind of problem.

After making a quick trip to the library, I then had to do the dreaded grocery shopping. Ugh! But, in and around WW within an hour and a half, and then we were on our way home. The kids weren't too bad this trip to the grocery store, maybe because I warned them that they couldn't have everything, but could choose one thing each as a treat. Daughter even helped put the groceries in the house when we arrived home! I was so shocked! Now, she didn't help put them away, but still! a bit of help, from the tween! After all the groceries were put up I made dinner, yum, and have been doing a bit of laundry and sitting around this evening. In other words, after all the running around today, I am now taking it easy. Until the dryer buzzes. *g*

And that's it from me. I hope your tuesday was lively, but pleasant and that your wednesday is stress-free and a bit fun. B.

Exercise: Shhhhhhh! Nope. Back at it tomorrow.

Check out the Faces!

Midnight has a "goober" look on his face in this picture and Patches, well, Patches looks as though she wishes he'd go away. *g* I know I posted the one where Midnight was flat on Patches earlier, but this is right before he flopped back. I keep telling y'all, these cats are weird.

Today was quiet and as much as I love Chris, when he goes back to work after being off on the weekends, I feel glad to get my house back and in order. He did finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yesterday. It took him so long because he works and then does his schoolwork and then takes a few minutes to read each night. And he's not a "reader". He likes to read, but doesnt' love to read. He rarely does unless it's something to do with computers, or school, or work. I also knocked my hand into the steel front door today, bruising my knuckles. Oops.

I reread Open Season by Linda Howard last night and noticed I still laugh in all the places I laughed when I first read the book. Especially the condom scene, or the Puce color test. *g* ONE of my books on Hold from the library is in, the autobiography of Katherine Hepburn. I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow! And I'm hoping to have time to go to the UBS this week. So, hopefully I won't be without books for long!

I did go to Yoga class tonight. the teacher was the same one from thursday morning. She is very petite and fit and makes me feel like a fat ogre, but I still enjoyed the class. And yeah, I am the largest woman there. But, I try my best and give it my all and I have fun.

And that's all from me today. I am tired. Gee, will laundry do that to you? Or is the the kids? *g*
I hope y'all had a good monday. I hope it was free from stress, but if not, I hope your tuesday lower-key! I send hugs and good thoughts and wishes for a wonderful tuesday! B.

Exercise: 1 hour Yoga.

BatCat Lives!

Midnight is a sweetie, but he doesn't always take a great picture. For those who questioned my saying he looked like a bat? LOOK AT THAT FACE! Have I mentioned that he is sweet? *g* And crazy, don't let me forget crazy.

Today has been quiet, we didn't even leave the house. We overslept and missed Church, and then just decided that we weren't going anywhere! But, I have kept busy with laundry and cleaning today.

I also had to write a biography of myself today. Have ya'll ever had to do that? It's very disconcerting to have to sum up yourself in less than 200 words. And of course this is book related so that had to tie in!

I did spend WAY too much time this afternoon compiling my "Books to Look For" list. I love learning which authors have new books due out. It's almost as much fun hunting them as it is reading them! *g* I'm kidding, there is no way it's more fun than reading them! So, without further ado........MY LIST!

Aug. 28- Silver Master by Jayne Ann Krentz
Aug. 28- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Aug. 28- Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Aug. 28- Die For Me by Karen Rose
Aug. 28- The Royal Mess by MaryJanice Davidson
Aug. - ‘Scuse Me While I Kill this Guy by Leslie Langtry
Aug. - Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair
Sept. - The Morgue the Merrier (an Anthology) by Dianne Castell, Rosemary Laurey and Karen Kelley
Oct. 1- The Séance by Heather Graham
Oct. - The Trouble with Paradise by Jill Shalvis
Oct. - Big Girl’s Don’t Cry by Cathie Linz
Oct. - Mistletoe Bay by Marcia Evanick
Oct. 1- Witch in the House by Jenna McKnight
Oct. 2- A Highlander for Christmas by Sandy Blair
Nov. 6- Down and Dirty by Sandra Hill
Nov. - Into Thin Air by Cindy Miles
Nov. 27- The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair
Dec. - Strong and Sexy by Jill Shalvis
Dec. 1- Satisfaction by Marianne Stillings Dec. 26- Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper
Jan. 2, 2008- Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz
Jan. 2008 - The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands Feb. 2008 - Vampires are Forever by Lynsay Sands

Now, my questions for y'all are, What books are you looking forward to? And, what are you reading now? (I'm out of books tonight and need to live vicariously through your reading!)

That's it for me tonight. I have the kids to wrangle into jammies, Chris' hair to cut and sleep, blessed sleep to attain to. I hope y'alls sunday was restful, that you enjoyed yourselves what ever you did and I wish a peaceful and stress free monday to y'all!

Exercise: Nope. Not at all this weekend. :( I've been bad. Tomorrow, however, is another day.

Layla plans World Domination!

Is that not the most irritated looking face? *g* Gee, I guess she didn't want her picture taken. Remember I said she goes from sweet to sour? Welcome to the sour! *G*

Today was tiring. I woke up feeling like a slug adn couldn't figure out why. Until I remembered that I had taken a benedryl in the middle of the night because I was stuffed up. I guess since I don't take them that often, they are STRONG acting. Whoops!

We did manage to get the things taken to the dump, to pick up my acid reflux medication and to go to the Mall to look for a new t-shirt. No such luck tough. Seems summer is over according to JC Penny and everyone else there. Um, yeah, it was 90-something here yesterday and it won't cool down until the middle of October. Are they joking? I did, however, get talked into buying a new dress. And may I say it does take advantage of the curves I do have. Chris was most appreciative of it. *g* And he actually talked me into buying it. Of course we also ended up buying Daughter a new pair of flats and Son a new pair of Spider Man flip-flops. (Both on sale!) We also went to a nearby grocery store that we don't frequent often, in search of Berry, Berry Kix. NO ONE has them. BOOOOOO! Why do kids constantly ask for things in grocery stores. "Gimme, Gimme, buy me, can I have...." Sometimes it's just too much, especially when it's all junk food they're asking for! After noticing that gas cost more where we were than at a place near the house, we headed there and then home. By that time I was very glad to be home. Why is it you can be wearing the most comfortable pair of shoes ever, but nothing feels as good as goinng barefoot in your own home?

And that's our day. I do now know that I need to call the Doctor's office next week, some other medication that I'm taking was changed recently and the effects are bothering me. So, wish me luck that the Doctor changes the medication nect week. I hate confrontation, I know that's not what this is, but I hate that this feels like it. Chris has offered to handle it for me, but I'm not sure that the Doctor will let him! (And might I also say that I handled the interaction/questions about the bothering medication today with the Pharmecist(sp) and he was was absolutely NO help.)

I still haven't heard from the library, I am out of books right now and wasn't able to make it to the US today, either. Hopefully I may go on monday. Or I'll hear from the library soon. HA!

I hope y'sll had a wonderful saturday. I hope y'all had some kind of fun today! I also wish a restful and relaxing, pleasant, sunday for you! B.

Midnight is so, not right!

Midnight strolled over to Patches, sat down and leaned back a bit and then, THEN he leaned all the way back. Actually, FLOPPED back on her is another way of describing it. And Patches? She picked her head up, looked at him, kind of "hurummped" and then went back to sleep! *sigh* What are normal cats like, again?

I didn't go to the Y today. My left arm was bothering me a bit, so decided to take a day off. I might use the treadmill here at home tomorrow, or even pop a Yoga DVD in. Chris has no excuse for not going today, except that he wanted to sleep a bit more. *g* I DID do something physical today though. I cleaned out the garage after the Out-laws visited and picked up our Yard Sale leftovers for a fundraiser for their Church. And by cleaned out, I mean I swept and then decided that wasn't enough. I then pulled everything out (except the freezer) and swept again, then I took the garden hose and hosed it out, and then swept out all the water. THEN cleaned everything that was taken out and re-spaced it so that everything fits better and I swear the garage looks bigger. I can't wait for Chris to see it. Oh, did I mention that the kids were a bit of a help too. They cleaned all their outside toys off! Of course I did manage to give myself 2 new blisters, from the broom handles. *sigh* No one ever said cleaning was easy! *G* Of course, I also have to get Chris to take a load of useless things I decided to get rid of to the Land Fill. (Don't worry, most are scraps of wood. No environmental oob-boos here!)

Hmm, the Out-Laws visit went well. They were happy to pick up those things for their yard sale and they didn't overstay their visit. Although, I did forget to pick up my acid reflux medication today because of everything. Trust me, it doesn't take much before I forget things. *g* But, I'm not blaming them. It just slipped my mind. FIL seems to be feeling better, yay!

That's it from me today. Boring as usual, but hey, that's my life. Many things to accomplish tomorrow though. I need a new t-shirt. Chris bought the splash-y bleach the other day instead of the splashless, and even though I stood a foot back when I used it this afternoon for towels, it got 2 dots on my t-shirt. Need to replace that. I don't mind working out in it, but general public? No. And other errands to run as well *g* Let's hope it's not hot!

Anyway, I hope your friday was fun and that your saturday is wonderful and not HOT. Have a good day! Don't forget to smile, it's the weekend! B.

Exercise: Does cleaning out the garage count?

Hiding out at the Blue Tent.

Fireball sleeps in the blue tent almost as much as Butterscotch does in the red tent! Fireball and Midnight seem to be the blue's biggest fans. And just so you don't think my kitties are all innocent and adorable (I'll give you the adorable.) I'll let you know that I came down to a fiasco this morning. Son was chewing some gumballs last night and as I was upstairs folding laundry last night at bed time, Chris "closed up" the downstairs. Unfortunatley, where I would have take the resealable bag and put it in the junk food cabinet (yes, we have a whole cabinet, a small cabinet!), Chris just left it in the LR on the table. Unsealed. (You're starting to smile, right?) Anyway, I decided to go to Yoga this morning leaving Chris to get the kids ready and meet me there later, so that he could work out. (It's one of the few times I've ever asked him to do that by the way.) I was the first downstairs and there all over my LR and hallway, were the gumballs. Midnight was at the bottom of the stairs playing "hockey" with one! Which led me to the others. *sigh* They are like a handful of toddlers. Oh, and I know which one knocked them over, I may not have seen it with my own eyes, but I know that Midnight did it. He likes the way they smell. *g*

Like I stated above, I decided to go to the morning Yoga class today. It's the only morning yoga class they do, and I was curious as to how another teacher would do. Boy, I got put through my paces for an hour! AND then! I did the truly crazy thing. I worked out with Chris so he wouldn't be lonely (Even though there are other people there I am trying to be supportive and do whatever I can to get him to workout.) , so I did the elyptical as well. Let me tell you! My legs were shaking by the time I got off. I must have been out of my mind! I am a bit stiff right now, but it was fun.

I have been in a reading slump lately. I think it's because the books I do have, aren't really the ones I want to read. Weird, huh? I don't know. AND I'm still waiting on the library for 5 books on hold. I'm starting to dislike my library again. It's like mood swings or PMS, but library related! I love them, I hate them. *sigh* I'm glad I don't get real PMS! And no, I'm serious, I don't.

Next to having to make a run to WW (OMGosh the HEAT! AGH!) for essentails like BREAD, that's the most exciting part of my day. Oh, and ironing Chris' work clothes. Can I tell y'all that was not fun, upstairs, where it is a good 5-10 degrees warmer, in the late afternoon. I drank 2 bottles of water just doing that! (If you can't tell, I may be Southern, but I don't handle heat well.) Anyone else besides me looking forward to fall/winter? Unfortunately, that's almost 3 more months here. Oh, well, I'll just try and think cool thoughts and pay the Power company mega bucks for the air conditioning.

I hope y'all had a good thursday. And I wish a fun, fantastic, flirty, fabulous friday! B.

Exercise: 1 hour yoga, 2.5 miles on the elyptical, level 7.

The sleep of the innocent.

Layla just looks so sweet and innocent when she's sleeping. *g* Who would know that she can be sweet while awake as well. BUT, that she also has a few quirks to her personality. Especially the onw allowing her to go from sweet to sour in less than 3 seconds! *G*

Chris and I have been having a problem making it to the Y in the morning. The probelm being we're both waking up feeling as though we didn't get any sleep! I've been able to make up for it by going to the Y in the evening, like I did again this evening for another Yoga class. (Yes, I did it again!) The instructor was the same one I had Monday, I guess the other one was on vacation or something. She's really nice and encouraging though. I can say by the time the class is over, I am soaked and trembling! *g* BUT, I hope to get Chris up tomorrow to go, so that Son can swim again.

Other than that, and the kids schoolwork, I don't ave much else to talk about. Oh, Pearl Jinx was cute, with a HEA, but I can say I prefer Sandra Hill's viking/seal novels. I'm STILL waiting for the library to get in several books I have on Hold, in. But, for some of them it's been over a month (and I'm supposed to be the first to get them) for Brigadoom, and an old JAK that someone recommended to me. They finally added the new Tori Carrington, Foul Play to the database and I have that on hold AND they just added Wraith by Phaedra Weldon to the database as well. I may be the only one who isn't that interested in reading the new Nora Roberts, High Noon. And I've found that I am not fond of Linda Howards books if they don't have a bit of humor to them, so Up Close and Dangerous isn't high on my list of books to read, either. Everyone has different likes and dislikes.

And that's it from me! *g* I feel like it's been a long day. I hope y'all had a nice day. I also wish a fantastic thursday for y'all, especially since thursday is usually forgotten! Have a great day! B.

Exercise: 1 hour of Yoga class.

Another Kitty Yoga pose!

I think the idea for Yoga came about from watching cats. *g* Patches seems to prove my hypothesis, doesn't she? She's a sweet kitty and when she gets too excited when petting her, she'll nip at you. Not hard enough to bite, but enough to gather your attention where she wants to be petted next!

Today has been yet another quiet day and I really do prefer it that way. Daughter and Son have done their schoolwork, Son without complaint. *g* We didn't go to the Y this morning because Chris took that time to mow the lawn! YAY! I didn't have to do it! I am so glad he actually cut the grass for a change, instead of having to do it myself. I went this evening, and worked out, there was no Yoga class today, but I was alot more sore than I anticipated from the class yesterday that I needed to stretch my muscles a bit.

I have been reading Pearl Jinx by Sandra Hill tonight. It's a good read so far. I'm not too thrilled with the cave-diving/exploring theme though! (I don't like caves.) I might try and make it to the UBS sometime this week. We'll see. I've been advised that I will like the C.J Barry books, but my library doesn't have them. The same author, under another name (Samantha Graves) wrote a fantastic contemporary book a while back. Since I liked that one, I have high hopes for the others.

Sorry to be so boring tonight, it's turning out to be one of those weeks. I could tell y'all my property taxes just went up, or that Chris' check engine light came on (say a prayer it's just his oil, please?), that I have to order (and pay for) Son's First Grade curriculum by the middle of Sept. (he's flying through kindergarten) or that I have to pay taxes on Chris' car next month and that all those are weighing heavily on my mind. *sigh* See why I usually keep my mouth shut about those things? Don't worry, I'll work everything out. I usually do. It's just that I tend to OVER think things until they become huge to me. Have I mentioned we make a lot of sacrifices to Homeschool the kids?

Eh, don't mind me. I hope y'all had a good day. It's starting to heat up here again in the Eastern portion of the country, I hope it's not too hot wherever you are. I also hope (we've covered this, I have alot of hope)(A bit weird to be an optimist and a pessimist at the same time, huh?) that your wednesday is good, nice and comfortable, that y'all are able to go through-out your day with a smile upon your lips somewhere/sometime. B.

Exercise: 4.38 miles on the Elyptical with a speed ranging between 4.8 (at the end, I was tired) to 7.1, with a level of 7. (Can I just say that right now I can't lift my legs? *G*)

Climbing Mt. Purina

Fireball and Oreo are trying to stake their claim on the cat food. At one time, there were 3 other kitties surrounding the bag laying down next to it. *g* That bin next to the bag is the cat food container. We can't just leave it in the bag, not only is it not aethetically pleasing, but they will CHEW through the bag!

Today was a quiet day and I enjoyed it. As much as I love Chris, I do enjoy it when he goes back to work on monday. He's great, but drives me batty sometimes, especially when he disrupts my schedule.

I finished Dream Factory. It was a good read. A bit deeper than I expected, there was a huge sense of loss in one of the characters past and it made it hard for her to move on. But, I still enjoyed reading it.

I did something completly out of character today. I gathered my courage and went to the Y's Yoga class this evening. It was an hour long and was GREAT! I felt so out of place the entire time I was there, but did my absolute best and there was only one pose I couldn't do at all. (The plow, plough?) (Balance issues!) Afterwards I was that trembly-loose feeling, like a noodle that had been over-cooked. BUT, I DID IT! I am so proud of myself. Granted I didn't like being surrounded by mirrors and was by far NOT the most flexible there, but I went, I tried, and I did it. And the teacher was nicer than I thought she would be.

And that was my day. Not much to it, unless you count laundry, vacumming, cooking and all that, too. Oh, that reminds me. Last night I had a craving for some Nilla Wafers (I have chocolate chip cookies but I like the dough, I don't like the cookies.) so started to make some. (From scratch, yes. They are softer than the ones on the box.) Anyway, I had mixed the butter and sugar, went to grab the egg and OOPS! No egg! I was thinking how dumb I had been to start cooking something before checking my supplies first (don't forget too often) when I thought, okay, I'll just use applesauce. (Yes, it can be used as an egg substitute when baking.) Guess what? I was out of applesauce. GAH! So, I popped one of the pudding cups from the fridge in instead. AND IT WORKED! They came out perfect. The kids liked them, Chris liked them and I liked them. And today, while I was at the Y, the cats found out that they like them! *g* (My mistake, I left them on a plate, covered, but not mixed in the cookie jar.)

I hope y'all had a good day. I hope you tried something new. I hope that your monday was stress free. (I have alot of hope.) I wish a nice day for y'all tomorrow. B.

Looking for sleep Everywhere!

Oreo seems to like my chair. She is hilarious when growling at the other kitties who want to get up there. In other words, Oreo doesn't share, or play well with others. *g*

I swear I felt as though I didn't sleep last night. I have been dragging all day! Most of that due to stupid drainage. Chris wondered aloud today why my allergies were worse than his! (When we were dating and living here, he would have to pull over to the side of the road sometimes while driving because his eyes would be watering so bad.) We have no idea why his allergies have gotten better, and mine worse. BUT, I did manage to get some laundry done, make it to the library to (finally) drop off the DVD that was due this past friday (I paid my fine for it!). We also dropped off the recyclables. (Woo, boy, don't we know how to have fun!) and picked up a few of the things we forgot last night (like pledge and CAT FOOD). I could have done without the pledge, but c'mon, we all know I need cat food. *g*

Chris is engrossed in the new Harry Potter 7. Seriously. He picked it up last night after his schoolwork and has put it down only when we left the house today. And no, I don't mind. I read the first book, thought it was cool, loved that my Daughter liked it and haven't picked up another one. Chris read the first one, and like Daughter loves the series. Seriously, Daughter can answer almost every trivia question you could ever have about the series. Kinda like Son with Star Wars.

While Chris is reading the new HP, I picked up 2 books at the library today. Both are YA. I just felt the need for something light and almost sweet. One of them has a hilarious premise, set at Disney World, where the regular character actors go on strike and teenagers are brought in to fill their places. So far (one chapter in) it's cute and exactly what I needed. Oh, the book is Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. The other book is called Gettin' Lucky and is by Micol Ostow, it's premise is cute as well, all about a poker player and the ultimate showdown.

So, I have been lazy, well not lazy but have felt seriously lethargic all day. Tomorrow should be better, maybe I need to find some sugar........ Sounds good to me! *g* I hope that your sunday was relaxing and that you all rested up for the monday, which is upon us all to soon. Have a fabulous monday and know that I am sending y'all smiles to start the week! B.

Fireball demonstrates the red tents tenure.

Fireball decided that although the new tent is nice, he is still willing to sit in the ratty old read one. He is a cutie and has flipped the darn tent over several times before relaxing inside. *g*

Today wasn't as bad as we anticipated. Well, let me correct that, it was boring as heck for the first 2 hours and then right when we were planning to escape.......we ran into the only other family who seem as outsider-y as we are. They are Chris' cousin and his wife and are as irreverant as we are when it comes to the Old timers. Not to say we are ever rude to anyone, we just feel that there is life outside the family, unlike many of the others. Anyway, the escape, took 2 hours! We were all clustered around laughing and I'm sure making everyone else curious as to what we were talking about. Turns out his cousin (although older) is looking at entering the Army and so is his wife! We regaled them with tales of being in the military and such and gave a few pointers as well. All in all, we had a great time at the end.

After leaving the gathering we headed to WW to pick up cat litter (I swear we buy alot of that!) and a few other things. We ended up picking up a few other things as well and since we've been home I've been doing laundry. By the way, is y'alls family like ours? That every get together has to have fried chicken, or is that just here in the South? And I'm the odd one out. I don't eat fried chicken. My MIL offered to bring me a chicken breast she has baked in the oven with Italian dressing. Um, no thanks. (She can't cook.) (No kidding, not being mean, the woman can't cook.)

Did I also mention that I was bitten a total of 12 times of the LURVERLY mosquitos there? I look like I have the measles. *g*

But, yes, it was a better day than yesterday. So, I want to thank y'all for your good wishes. I don't deserve all y'all. I really don't. Y'all mean the world to me and I appreciate each one of the lovely people I have "met" here online. Thank you, very much.

I hope your day was happy and that you had a good day. I wish a restful and relaxing sunday for you all. My best and smooches to you all! B.

Oreo checks In!

Oreo decided the new tent was pretty cool, so she took a nap in it last night. However she didn't get to stay long. Midnight demanded to get in and Oreo stalked off in a huff.

Today has been, not the best.

I woke up with a sinus headache and took some ibuprofen which took the edge off, but since a benedryl would have worked better........And I refuse to take them during the day because of the kids....... Suffice to say, I did not work out today. And I feel guilty about it. I thought I'd wait until this evening and started to feel a bit sick due to the drainage, that was shot down. Then I was opening a can at dinnertime, one of the pop-tops, and cut my palm in the pull thing. I put germ killer on it, so hopefully I can skip the tetnus shot. Not alot bad today, right? Remember when I said I really don't drink alcohol because I'm allergic to wine? Yeah, this past weekend Chris and I bought a couple of bottles of Draft cider, thinking it would be different. NOT. I took a few sips of one tonight and started to turn bright red, my face felt like it was on fire and so did my ears, after a few minutes of that my chest turned splotchy. *sigh* So, I give up. The only reason I tried it was because I love sparkling cider, I though this would be similar. Anyway, no more alcohol for me. OH NO! Does that mean no more Kahlua Pie from On the Border? ACK! I hope not! (I was looking forward to that on my birthday this year!) Oh, and I forgot that one of the DVD's I checked out from the library was due today. I remembered about 3 hours after they closed this evening. Oops!

Not one of the worst days I've ever had, but not the best either.

I would say that tomorrow is sure to be better, BUT! We have been summoned to a family gathering tomorrow afternoon at one of Chris' aunts house. Yay. What fun. How long do you think we have to stay before we come up with an excuse to leave? What's a good excuse to leave? We can't use Chris' schoolwork, because we always use that. Hmmmm, I'll need to think on this. It has to be something semi-real. White lies are okay with me in some instances, big lies we try to avoid. And the truth is a bit mean, "No we can't stay, we are bored out of our minds and don't want to hear about your recent bowel problems, but thanks for asking." See why that won't work?

*g*

Anyway, I hope your day was MUCH better than mine and that your weekend is FUN and happy! Read a book! That always makes me smile! B.

Check In is at noon!

Oreo is curious and is checking out the new kitty tent we found at Target this weekend. We bought it for Butterscotch, to replace the red one with the rip in it, but he won't go near it. Luckily, Oreo, Midnight and Fireball all like the new tent and are enjoying it. BTW, any of the other kitty Mommy's that visit here should know that Target has a kick-butt selection of kitty toys right now, including things like this tent and kitty condos, etc.

I am posting early tonight because I am exhausted and hope to go to bed soon. We were up late again last night. I have no idea why this time, I was waiting on Chris to finish his schoolwork, it took a while. BUT, we did get up this morning and go to the Y. Why is it I feel so competitive with Chris using the same equipment as I am? I feel the need to go farther for some reason! Anyway, after we arrived back home and Chris went to work, the kids and I went to the UBS, then BAM (for my RT magazine) and filled up with gas when I found it pretty cheap for around here. At the UBS I picked up: The Librarian's Secret Wish by Carol Grace (a SR from 2000), Pearl Jinx by Sandra Hill and Keeper of the Winds by Jenna Soltaire (a new to me author) and a Star Wars book for Son. And all for a $1. At BAM I picked up my RT magazine and The Reinvented Miss Bluebeard by Minda Webber (also a new to me author). I didn't go to buy a book at BAM, but the premise sounded so unusual and cute, I picked it up.

After that I came home and finished the laundry, IT NEVER ENDS! Oh, did I mention that it made it to 95 degrees today, THEN you need to factor in the humidity. So that it may have been 95, but it felt more like 105. Too hot. WAY too hot. I can not wait for Fall.

And that's my day. Well, except to day that the Y was making fresh-from-scratch waffles this morning when we went (for the kids summer camp), and the smell was FABULOUS. But, my thing is, why would you torture people making the Y smell that great when people are there to work out, and to probably lose weight? *g*

And THAT'S my day!

I'm off to get things ready for bed. I hope you all had a great day (*G*) and that your friday is fabulous, fun, and fantastic. B.

Exercise: 3o minutes on the elyptical for a total of 3.2o miles at an average speed of 7 at a level of 6.

EDITED TO ADD: If I had your email, it's gone, thanks to all the computer crud from last week. Also, for those of you whose address I had, it's gone too. Just wanted to let you know! (In case you thought I was ignoring you with no emails!)

For those of you who are curious!

I know, no kitty picture. If it's any consolation I'll post another picture later. I just thought you might be curious as to where my "keeper shelves" were and how full they are! These aren't counting the books I have in my bedside table! *G* If you can't tell, I truly love books and am even a bit obsessive about them. To the point where these bookcases? Are seperated by genre and alphabitized within each genre. Scared you didn't I? Oh, and on top are the kitty "costumes" we have, I had to hide them somewhere. *g*

Today was quiet and goodness I needed it. My loving hubby kept me up very late. NOT LIKE THAT! Get your mind out of the gutter! When he arrived home from work last night he immediately sat down with the replacement computer and started to restore my files and made sure I had all the programs I needed. It took him a few hours. But, it just proved to me that he loves me (*sigh* My hero!), because HELLO, it took hours. I decided to leave Vista on it for now, I am curious as to how it works and what I will hate about it the most. Although, I do have to say that Windows Media on this is a huge improvement. Especially considering that I had no idea that I have over 9oo pictures! Jeez! I never knew.

But, I digress. We were up until about 3am. So, when the alarm went off this morning neither of us was in the mood to go work out. Oops. So, we took the day off from the Y. And I mean it. I really have not exercised today. I "rested". Well, I did go to get groceries. And ended up shopping at 3 different stores because of sales. *g* I like a good bargain, especially on groceries.

Another day of not finishing my Sherryl Woods book. I don't know why I keep putting it down. It's nothing I can place my finger on, but I do think a trip to the UBS is in order. AND I was able to put Foul Play by Tori Carrington on Hold, FINALLY! Seems the library added it to the database today. Wheeeeeeeee! I also need to pick up the latest RT magazine. Next to CatFancy it's the only other magazine I read regularly.

Anyway, I'm off to bake cookies. Chris is working late and I want to be awake when he gets home. What better way to stay awake than the heavenly smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies? I hope y'all had a good day. And I wish a wonderful thursday for y'all! B.

Exercise: No. *sigh* And I feel guilty, too. Y'all have been so sweet about my boring exercising updates. Tomorrow for sure. OOh, ya'll would giggle to hear Chris groaning last night after working on the elyptical yesterday! *G*

Paper wads and handsome cads!

Fireball is a hnadsome fellow. His face reminds me of a fox. He has become very sweet since his near death experience and surgery earlier this year. Of course, he is also still crazy! His favorite things to do? Catch any flies that manage to get in the house. (Which is about one a day thanks to the kids!) Notice the paper ball at his paws? He loves to chase them all over the house.

Today had been very long. Ever had a day like that? Where nothing really bad happens, but the day seems to drag? We overslept and were awoke by the Fed-Ex delivery guy. Then there were the miriad of telemarketer calls that seemed to keep the phone ringing all morning. Oh, and the new (to me) computer is nice and should be up and running shortly. It came with Vista and so far I loathe it. So, Chris is going to put XP and then XP Prefessional on it for me. And what was Microsoft thinking to put an operating system on a computer, but not include Word?

We did make it to the Y this morning and had a good work-out. Chris was next to me on an elyptical and it was nice and weird at the same time. Almost like a date, to the gym! *g*

When we arrived home we had a message from the MIL, she wondered if it were okay to take the kids to see a movie? Like she had to ask! So she came by (by herself, FIL is not feeling 100% yet and had chest pains yesterday) and picked the kids up and took them to see Ratatoullie. (Which they loved, by the way!) And do you think I had fun while they were gone? Um, not quite. I vacummed and then shampooed the floors. Boy, do I know how to have a good time or what? *g* (Does it count if I listened to my iPod shuffle the whole time? And, um, maybe danced around a bit?) Good thing the UPS guy didn't catch me at it when he brought the new software! *g*

After MIL brought the kids home we had to run out to a neighborhood/community meeting. I'll spare you the details except to say that it's to block a HOA from being set in place by the developers who bought this neighborhood from the other developers, etc. The latest developers are tired of maintaining the empty lots and want to force the entire neighborhood to pay for the upkeep of them and any un-sold houses that remain there. Um, no thanks. We signed a covenant with the city when we moved in to maintain our properties, why do we need a HOA? (Oops. Meant to make that shorter.) Suffice to say, the legal reps for the developers never showed up to the meeting. Hopefully that means they've changed their minds. But, I doubt it. *sigh* Oh, and these are different developers than those who built our home, and who built the first phase as well. (In other words, this is the 3rd developer for this neighborhood.)

So, that's my day. Boring and yet, full. I hope you all had an interesting day. And that you have a wonderful, fantastic, great, fabulous, (um, um, darn, my brain died) wednesday! B.

Excercise: 3.02 miles on the elyptical at an average pace of 6.4 and a level of 6.

Athena is serene, most the time.

Athena is the most vocal of our kitties. She adores Daughter and will NOT shut up when Daughter talks to her. She actually sounds as though she carries on a conversation too! Notice the unique (to me) color of her eyes, they are a beautiful amber color.

Today was quiet. We didn't go to the Y this morning. We were expecting my new (to me) computer to arrive (as per Fed Ex's website) BUT, turms out Dell signed out the computer, but didn't give it to Fed Ex until today, so it will be delivered tomorrow. AND the software we had to order to replace a corrupt disc will be here (hopefully) wednesday! Not a bad week! (*knock on wood*)

I did try to go to the Y tonight to try a yoga class, but they were having a swim meet and the place was so packed there wasn't a parking space within a half mile of the place. And I'm all for Yoga, but figured with that many people there the childcare would be packed as well. So I turned around and came home and did Yoga in my LR!

Son is learning subtraction this week and seems to have taken to it (so far) better than addition. Daughter is trying her hand at destroying my patience today.

I haven't had much of a chance to read today. I swear I spend half my time either fussing at Daughter, picking up toys or making meals. And normally I don't mind, but today just seemed to make me emotional. I almost cried when I noticed we were out of my favorite cookie after dinner. Eh. Glad it's almost time for bed. Tomorrow should be better.

I hope y'all had good day. (Dru, I hope you are feeling better.) I hope a blessed tuesday for you all and that smiles are in abundance. B.

Exercise: 45 minutes of Yoga and 12 push-ups.

Oreo has attitude to spare!

Notice the almost disdainful look Oreo has on her face? I promise if you were to meet her she seems much larger than if you actually were to pick her up. We've decided that because her attitude is so large, it more than makes up for her petite stature. (And she likes my new chair!)

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the ones I mean, where you manage to inflict bodily damage to yourself? I have, in the past day and a half managed to sprain my pinky toe AGAIN! Then I stubbed the big toe on the same foot and I have managed to run over all the toes (of the same foot) with a shopping cart while we were at Target last evening. I have also, today, knocked my elbow so hard I wanted to cry and why they call it the funny bone is beyond me. I almost walked into a wall this evening but somehow caught myself and I managed to NOT burn myself while doing Chris' ironing. But, all the other things have made me realize that not only am I klutzy, but sometimes I am just unaware of what space I occupy! Oh, and I patted Chris on the back when he was in front of me on the stairs and he slid down them. So, obviously it's catching! And if it's not? Well, God help our kids. We already know Daughter isn't that coordinated. She can fall UP the stairs. Yes, you read that correctly. Um, not to mention Son's propensity for tripping and hitting his head. Something tells me it's genetic. *g*

My day has been relatively boring. I have done 3 loads of laundry, ironed Chris' work clothing and continuiously picked up the LR, because the kids are not only genetically klutzs, they are slobs (And I am SO not. I don't know.....wait a minute! CHRIS!). Um, slob may be a harsh word. And maybe not. *g* He is really just disorganized and a tad forgetfull.

We had humdinger of a storm come through this afternoon. The thunder was deafening for a time and the rain drops were fat and harsh as they slammed into the ground. I enjoyed it and took that small amount of time to read an ebook.

Tomorrow we go back to the Y, we couldn't take the kids swimming today because of the storm. When that happens they close the pool. But, it's back to exercising tomorrow.

The only place we went today was to Church this morning. It was nice to come home afterwards and stay in. Son slept on me throughout the Mass. He received a couple of smiles while slumbering on, because when the child sleeps, he sleeps! (Not to mention he's cute as heck, but that might just be my opinion being his Mom and all. *G*)

I hope y'all had a good day and that you relaxed so that your monday won't seem as stressfull. Have a wonderful monday (it's all about the attitude!) and I'm sending smiles! B.

Exercise: None.

PS. For those who are Janet Evanovich fans, rumor is the co-authored book with Evanovich and Stephen Cannell, titled No Chance, will NOT be published. BOOHOO!

Patches attempts to do school work!

Is this picture not hilarious? Daughter took a break the other day and while she was getting a drink, Patches decided to take her place! That's a literature book she's resting on.

Today was quiet. We had to go to Target to buy a new dust-pan and broom (little one) because this past week we sort of killed ours. (Oops!) I like the OXO brand because the handles have that rubber grip and our last one was one of these and we'd had it over 7 years. We also went by Marshalls because I was looking for a new dress for Church, but it's usually the 'miss' part of hit-or-miss there for me, and today proved the case. Ah, well. At least I can find the kids and Chris clothes there. I'll have to keep my eye out for a great deal somewhere else. I had one picked out I wanted on ColdWater Creek dot com, but I waited and hemmed and hawed too long and now it's gone! (And I had a $20 coupon/bonus points thing, too!) I guess it wasn't meant to be. I was looking for a dress because I took one out of the closet last night to see if it needed to be ironed and the cats had gotten into our closet and snagged the bottom of it ALL OVER. (It was a very long dress, as-in to my ankles.) Maybe next month I'll look again, I'm all shopped out.
I didn't make it to the USB today (and no that's not shopping, books are as necessary as air!) Thank all y'all who informed me of the Janet Daily thing. I had no idea. The book will be returned tomorrow afternoon, unread. I still have the Bobbie Faye book and The Sweet Magnolia book, so I should be fine. *g* I also have an e-book I am supposed to read this weekend, we've just been so busy!
We also didn't make it to the Y today. The kids wanted to play with their friends this afternoon, so we decided to maybe visit the pool at the Y tomorrow for some family fun. And then it's back to exercising on Monday. I was going to do Yoga today, but we got home late and were running around the house doing chores before we left.

And that's my regular, boring but fun saturday. I hope y'all had a good day and that your sunday is relaxing and peaceful! B.

Layla reads, take 2!

I'm not sure if this is the same picture I posted before or not! (But, it's still cute, to me!) Layla is giving someone the evil eye. They must have interrupted her nap! *g*

FIL's procedure with the Heart Catheter went fine this morning and they did a new type of suture, so he didn't have to lay (lie?) flat on his back for 8 hours afterwards. He has no new blockages and his stint is fine, so they have no idea why his heart slowed down last week. They are going to be keeping a close eye on him though. MIL was very happy that Chris and SIL were there with her this morning.

We didn't go to the Y today, I needed a day off of exercising. But, we expect to go tomorrow. Chris is eager to try the elyptical again, he said it feels like it works better. We did go to the library this afternoon and I picked up 3 books, one of which had finally come in off my HOLD. Feels Like Family by Sherryl Woods is the 3rd book in The Sweet Magnolias series. I also picked up Bobbue Faye's Very Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey (A recommendation by DRU!), and Something More by Janet Daily (because the description on Amazon sounded interesting.) I also picked up Titan AE for the kids. They watched it when we got home and really enjoyed it (so did Chris).

After the library we went shopping because Daughter is starting to outgrow her shorts, but we replaced them with a pair of capri's. AND noticed that Daughter is now over 5 feet tall! She'll be catching up to me soon, probably by the end of the year at latest. AND I finally gathered my courage and went into Victoria's Secret and tried on a bra. AND (here's the shocker) gathered even more courage and had the lady in the dressing room check the size for me, while I was wearing it. (YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DIFFICULT THAT WAS!) So, boobage now has a correct fitting bra with no wire (that cost a bloody fortune!) and that I am hoping will do better than the ones I've had forever. And the straps are thinner. And there are only 2 hooks in the back instead of the 3 I had (making it difficult for me, the klutz, to get all three hooks on one try!). Can you tell I'm excited? FINALLY! And it's not ugly! Woot! Dare I mention that Chris is a brave man and helped me search the racks for my size? *g* OMgosh, one of the sales people was a GUY! He's either very lucky or.......um, not.

On the way home we were joking about Chris' driving and the kids were saying they loved it when he revved the engine ( 4 cylinder stick shift that he can make GO!) and so......yeah, he did it for them. They loved it! Chris also likes to go down a hill and shut off the car, take his key out and show them, then put the key back in and the car still goes. (Honda makes an interesting stick shift.) They loved that too. We were all laughing and kidding Chris about his driving by the time we got home. (And he is a good driver, just wanted to inject that.)

I hope y'alls friday was fun and interesting. Or at least pleasant and stress-free. Have a great saturday! B.

Exercise: Nope, took the day off!

And Stretch!

Daughter took this photo of Midnight stretching the other day. (That's her foot. One of the feet that are now LARGER than mine.) Midnight as has been mentioned before, has NO shame! *G* And I think he still looks like a bat.

Today was a full day. We made it to the Y agai today and when we got home there was a message from the Out-laws saying they would be by for a visit this afternoon. (Jee, wasn't it nice of them to ask if maybe I had plans?) But, I digress. They came over and informed me that my FIL will have a heart catheter(sp) done on him tomorrow morning, that the blood pressure medicine wasn't why he felt so bad last week. His Cardiologist wants to see if he has another blockage, or if his stint that was put in is collapsing. MIL wants Chris to be there and I suggested to Chris when I talked to him later if maybe he should take the day off. So, he did/will/has.

After they left I decided to edge/weed-eat the lawn and could not keep line in the machine. I had to stop and fill it 3 times. And, um, couldn't remember how to do it at first. *g* I finally got it all done, but by the time I was finished I had 2 extra cracks in the siding of our house (No, Chris isn't mad at me.) at the very bottom and lots of grass to sweep up. *sigh* It was so hot out I thought I was going to be sick by the time I finished. But, it's done.

So, between the Y, the Out-laws and the yard, I am tired. It feels as though it has been a LONG day.

I haven't had a chance to read anything today either. BUT, I just found out the library has one of the books I've put on Hold in, so I'm going to pick it up sometime tomorrow. (After the Out-Laws call and let us know how the procedure went.) And yes, I am worried about FIL. Very worried. He's a pretty great guy most the time.

I hope you all have a fantastic friday and that there is some FUN involved somewhere, whether it be a simple smile or a book callig your name or even just great weather. B.

Exercise: 3.28 miles on the Elyptical for 32 minutes and a level of 5. (Chris tried it today and said his legs felt wobbly when he got off, y'all should have heard him moaning *HAHAHAHA* when we got home and he had to climb the stairs!)

Midnight has NO shame!

Do you see this cat? He's hilarious and has absolutely no shame in being photographed! Notice how tiny his head appears in relation to his body? To me he looks like one of those Egyptian cats in statues. *g*

We didn't go to the Y today. I felt exhausted even after sleeping for 7 hours and Chris doesn't like to go by himself. *g* He's been doing well though. He has been able to 'up' his speed on the treadmill to a fast pace in the past week. I am so proud of him! I'd like to take a yoga class there, but am not sure where to fit it in my schedule.

Son is doing great with his school work and often asks to do extra on the weekends! Daughter is always in need of prodding. She would rather spend her day goofing off. This is going to be a difficult year with her, I can tell.

I finished the book I was reading, Whispers At Midnight by Karen Robards. It's one of my "keeper" books. I like the interaction between the hero and heroione. And the heroine doesn't come across as TSTL. Always a must for me, I have no interest in reading a book where the heroine is just plain wimpy. *g* Then again the whole "me man, you woman, me smarter" thing tends to tick me off, too. What kind of heroine and hero do y'all like in books? (They don't have to be romances, all books.)

I may not have gone to the Y today, but I did sort of exercise (and I have the blisters to prove it on my hands). I mowed the lawn. And again, the hill is a killer. I like it when the lawn looks freshly mowed. Now I just need to remember how I put 'line' in the weed-eater so I can edge the lawn as well. Considering how much I was sweating while mowing the lawn, I'm sure it counts as exercise because I was past "glowing". *g* I looked the same as when I work out, which is bright red face and soaked in sweat! (Pretty image isn't it? *g*) I bet the people around me at the Y think because my face turns so red that I look like I'm about to stroke out. (I'm just VERY fair skinned.) *g* Am I the only one whose skin does this, are do y'alls skin do the same thing?

I hope your day was light and full of smiles. But, if not, there is always tomorrow! I wish a wonderful thursday for y'all. B.

Layla attempts to read by osmosis!

Layla looks totally adorable to me, but then I'm predjudiced. *g* I set down the book I am currently reading on the ottoman and the next thing I knew Layla had laid claim not only to my ottoman, but my book as well!

Today was nice. We managed to get up on time to make it to the Y to work out before Chris had to leave for work. Son is loving the time he gets to spend one-on-one with his Dad.

I sat Daughter down today and explained that the internet can be a scary place if you don't take precautions, such as staying away from chat sites and the dangers inherit with those. I don't know if I got through to her, but I know she won't be getting on the computer any time soon. We have the closet door with the lock and the passwords on the computers. Hopefully, combined it will all work until her Dad and I feel as though we can trust her again. I have to say, that seems like a very long time far off in the future.

I'm rereading Whispers at Midnight by Karen Robards. It's one of my favorite books and has been on my keeper shelf for years. And Michele? My library has a copy of that book you mentioned. I placed it on hold. Thanks for the recommendation. For over month now, I have been waiting for my library to get in 2 books I have on hold. I'm starting to wonder if I will EVER get to read these books! Agh! AND, they still haven't added a copy of Foul Play by Tori Carrington to the database yet. My library is starting to seem awful! *G* I'm thinking another trip to the UBS is in order soon. I hope y'all have something good to read!

I also hope that y'all had a good day and that it wasn't too very hot wherever you are. It was HOT here today, so much so we had another thunderstorm this evening. I sincerely hope that your wednesday is nice and stress free! B.

Exercise: 32 minutes on the Elyptical at varying speed from 5.6-6.9 with a level of 5. I did 3.o8 miles. (Chris is doing great too!)

Fuzzy, but funny!

Oreo saw a moth in the house the other day and would not stop chasing it. So much so, she tried to climb my lamp. Again and again. I wish y'all could have seen her at the time. She ended up knocking everything on that table over and the only reason she didn't knock the lamp over is because we were holding it at the base. So she keeps trying to climb the lamp now and we keep grabbing the base of the lamp. *G*

Today was bad. Bad as in I lost my temper with Daughter again. I found out today that she has been sneaking on chat rooms with us in the same room! While she is not allowed on the computer unless it's to help Son for a moment online when her Dad and I are busy. So, I guess now I'm not allowed to trust her at all. I honestly don't get it. What's the big attraction? We don't keep her isolated from other kids, she has friends. AND she was lying about her age online! Saying she was 16. Luckily it didn't have her correct spelling of her name, but she had the town we live in on there too! UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE! And that thud you heard? Yeah, that's the sound of my head against the wall, not to mention my heart up in my throat! GAH!

Okay, trying to calm down again.

Other than that, the day was okay. We didn't make it to the Y this morning, I felt like snot. I always do after a headache, luckily it wears off. I had to run to the pharmacy today and to the gorcery store to pick up some waters. I have to tell y'all, it's hot as heck out there. And the humidity didn't help. I was ever so happy to get back home to my air condtioning. I did manage to exercise here at home. Right before the thunder and lightening started! *G*

I tried to finish the Sherryl Woods book, but the heroine got on my nerves. AND Michele, you're going to hate hearing this, but the Kitty book just wasn't for me. Sorry. I did try it though!

That's it for tonight. With all that went on today, I am tired and can't wait for the night to be over. I hope y'all had a good day and if not, well, it must have been a monday thing. Have a fantastic tuesday to make up for it! B.

Exercise: 3.5 miles on the treadmill at a pace of 3.6 and a level of 7.

Awwww!

Fireball looks like he lurves Layla, doesn't he? She on the other hand could probably do without his attentions. Luckily he kept it low-key and she didn't stomp off in a huff.

Notice anything? LIKE PICTURES? Can I just say ALL HAIL CHRIS! My sweetie has managed to upload most programs I had before, except for one thing. I had XP Professional on my computer, but now I only have XP home. Our Porfessional disc was somehow corrupted and we had to order a new one. In the meantime, I am without all my favorite, links and pictures. BUT, I can add new things on this version and add them to the other later. At least Chris thinks he can do that. *g*

I've been battling a migraine all day and no matter how many ibuprofen I've taken, it's not kicking it. Hopefully, it will go away tomorrow.

I'm throughly enjoying my new chair. I've been trying it out a bit today and it's a great chair to sit and read in, not to mention write. It's a bit tricker balancing my computer how I sit now, but they don't call them laptops for nothing! Speaking of which, sometime next week I should receive the replacement. We'll see if they try and hawk a lesser quality computer off on me. It's supposed to be of comparable value. Do you believe they'll do it? Because I don't! If they try something Chris is going to be so ticked. *g* I love it when he gets upset on my behalf, he's my hero. *g*

Let's see, my FIL is in the hospital this evening. His heartbeat went too low. It starte yesterday and today they called Ask a Nurse and they told them to go to the ER. The ER is holding him overnight and thinks it's his blood pressure medicine. They're going to adjust FIL medication and he'll go home tomorrow.

Other than that, not much else to tell y'all. I've started the Sherryl Woods book and am about halfway through it. It's not as strikingly good as the other one in this series that I read, but it is still a good story. I'll have to be on the look out for the other in the series that was released in April.

I should be able to visit each of y'all this week, I hope! I'm trying to reconstruct my favorites so wish me luck. I hope y'all Sunday was restful and relaxing for y'all. I also hope your monday is pleasant and non-stressfull! B.

My New Chair!

This is my new chair and ottoman, please excuse the tags! (I was sooooo excited to take a picture of it!) I have been enjoying the chair and ottoman and it's the perfect reading-a-book chair.

Ghost, Interrupted by Sonia Singh

Ghost, Interrupted by Sonia Singh

Ghost, Interrupted by Sonia Singh was a delightful and quirky look into the world of Parapsychology, or rather Ghost-Hunting. The Characters were entertaining and approachable, but most of all likable.

*Anjali Kumar has hidden her psychic “gift” for years. Not only to please her family and fit in, but to make her life and her life with her family easier. After losing her job and feeling dissatisfied with her life a not-so-chance encounter at the grocery store with Scott Wilder, a stock-broker turned “ghost hunter”, turns her life around. Instead of ignoring and hiding from her abilities, she decides to work with Scott and starts to feel acceptance for her abilities instead of shame.

Scott Wilder quit his high paying stock-broker job to follow a dream, to finally have a connection to the world of Parapsychology. Opening “The Cold Spot”, a Ghost-Hunting” firm, he has finally realized his dream and with a select team of gifted psychics he hopes the firm attains the respectability and reputation to become the best in their field.

Coulter Marshall knew he was different sine he was a small child, even without his own mother calling him the ‘Spawn of the Devil’. On his own for more years than he cares to count and conning his way from one side of the country to the other, this Tennessee charmer will take his power of telekinesis from conning people out of money to a real job working with Scott and Anjali.

As Anjali, Scott and Coulter each come to terms with their abilities; each also learns their limitations and how to work together as team. Will their newfound successes convince them that they are worthy of the attention they receive from the public cause them to stick together, or disband their newfound friendships?*

The quips, jokes and comedic laughs abound as well as a surprise romance. Sonia Singh delivers a delightful cocktail full of fun, humor, ghosts and love. All in all this book is a cute read full of surprises and laughs.

No Picture tonight, sorry!

I am incredibly sorry to have to tell y'all that there will be no picture up tonight, or probably tomorrow night as well. My computer has decided to be (excuse my language) craptastic and died, where Chris had to reboot and then call Dell and fuss at them for their piece if crud computer. He has it working a bit now, but it's on a basic level. Hence no pictures! The good (sorta good) news is that Dell has agreed to send me a reconditioned computer in a model close to mine. The bad news, it will take 7-21 days. Chris told them he is never buying another Dell again and y'all should have heard him on the phone. He wouldn't give up until the computer rep actually listened to him and then had her agreeing for the replacement. He still maintains this will be the last Dell we buy and has promised to buy me an Apple MacBook within a year. (HA!)

My chair came tonight. The cats had a blast with the wrapping for it and Layla took to it immediately. Midnight soon followed and Oreo is trying to stake the ottoman as hers.

Did I tell y'all I sprained my pinky toe sometime this week and didn't really notice (I must have noticed the original pain, right?) until the other day. Sad to say, it has become routine for me to do that.

I took Son to the library today and he picked out 2 movies and 4 books (3 of which have cats in them) and I picked up 2 books as well. I found the next in the series of the Sherryl Woods book I had read last week, A Slice of Heaven and I also picked up a new to me author Sonia Singh's book, ghost, interrupted. I started Sonia Singh's book tonight while Chris was battling my computer and Dell and had time to finish it (If that tells y'all anything!). Oh, AND I had time to write a review for it too, so that should tell y'all that it is now close to 2:30am. *sigh* I am bone tired and have a stress headache. Hopefully sleep will cure all.

In funnier news, literally, our local newscaster couldn't pronounce the word tuberculosis(sp). (See, I can't spell it, but can pronounce it and she couldn't pronounce it, heck she probably couldn't have spelled it either!)

I hope y'all had a good day and that you find your sunday to be restful. Hopefully y'all will hear from me again tomorrow! (Well, I hope, y'all probably not so much!) B.

Pink is SO her color! Another classic kitty pic.

I am still battling my computer to download my pictures and am getting pretty steamed. So, y'all will have to suffer (HA!) through a few older pictures of my cute-as-heck kitties. Doesn't Layla look thrilled to pieces that I like to drape her in ribbons! (Yes, I did that.) Bad Mommy. *g*

Today did not start out well. Both Chris and I woke up achey(sp), but I had the dubious pleasure of sounding like a bull frog. Not to mention the lovely headache I've been sporting most the day. (One bad thing about exercising every day at a gym, we are subjected to germs no matter how much lysol they spray on the machines!) I'm hoping this passes quickly. Needless to say we did not go to the Y this morning as usual. I was supposed to do Yoga today, had planned to do Yoga today, but have decided not to. I am just too tired. However, I will do my best to pick up the slack sometime this weekend.

I have promised Son a trip to the library tomorrow. He begged today, but with everything else, I tld him no. So, we'll go tomorrow and he'll be happy. And tomorrow Chris goes to pick up my chair, I am so excited and a bit apprehensive. I am worried that during the time that has lapsed, I'll not like it! I'm sure I will love it, it's just that it's been 2 weeks! AGH!

Would you believe that I have yet to start any of the books I picked up yesterday? Peeked at the first few pages of each, but not actually sat down and read a book.

I will tell y'all that I had more internet problems today, but that Chris handled it (from work) admirabley, for me. I will tell y'all he went all geek on the service rep who was renedered speechless! And that within 10 minutes, my internet was fixed. (For now, *knock on wood*) Trust me, when he gets home he's getting a big 'ol smooch! (Hey we share germs all the time.) TMI? Probably! *G*

That's all from me tonight! I hope y'all had a fun day, that many smiles were involved. If not, I am so sorry and will definitley say that I am sending smiles to y'all. Have a restful saturday! B.

Exercise: no. I feel guilty, but too tired today.

Kitty Yoga, a classic kitty pic!

Oreo is a small kitty, but seems larger due to her attitude. Way, way larger. *g* She can be quite a sweetie, but is very jealous of Layla. So much so that it's worrisome. But, have no fear, I'm here to protect Layla and Oreo is still loved. (Apologies for the older picture today, still battling my computer to download my pictures!)

Today was almost fun! We went and worked out this morning. But, at about 2.5 miles into my workout the muscle above my ankle in the back of my leg started hurting painfully. I almost got off, but kept going. It's still bothering me tonight. Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow. After coming home and having lunch Chris went to work and the kids and I took a trip to the UBS. It's always so nice going in there. The ladies are so sweet and actually ask about our lives. (Which is a funny thing because I had to borrow their restroom! Using Dru as an example I have upped my water intake and am glad for it, but my bladder might not be!)*G* Taking another example of Michele's, I stepped out of my predictable reading box and am trying 2 new (to me) authors. One is Kitty and The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn and the other is Safe Harbor by Christine Feehan. I also picked up The Island by Heather Graham and Midnight Remedy by Eve Gaddy (an old loveswept). So, a total of 4 books to read! YAY! After the UBS I took the kids for a treat at their favorite Bakery. Daughter went for something with chocolate (an Eclair) and Son decided on a Cupcake not only with a chocolate shell top, but with icing on that! Needless to say, both were grinning on the way out. *g* After that we headed home and have (thankfully) been here the rest of the day. I say thankfully, by the way, because it it HOT outside and the combiniation of the heat and my allergies leaves me feeling sick if I'm out in it very much.

No laundry today, can you believe it? Although, I'm sure if I look before bed, there is a load just waiting for me to start!

In other news, my new chair will be available saturday. We could have had it delivered, but it cost extra, so we decided to pick it up ourselves. (One of the small perks of driving a mini-van.) I have been counting down the days! *g* And can't wait to see how the cats react to a change in their environment. *G* Some cats react okay to change, others f-r-e-a-k out. I have a few in either category.

I hope you all (miss my southern 'drawled y'all?) had a good day and that it was as free of stress as possible. I also hope that your friday is fun and full of smiles (it's the weekend, well the start of the weekend, it's worth a smile or 2!). Have a wonderful day! B.

Exercise: 3.25 miles in the elyptical at 32 minutes, on level 5, average speed of 6.

Butterscotch is WEIRD!

Butterscotch is weird, strange, out-there, nutso.....Whatever name you want to call it he is IT. (His wheels still going but his hamsters dead.) Tonight he was trying to batt at his shadow on the wall. AND you should see how worked up he gets over a fly in the house! This picture is him sticking his head out of a hole in the side of his tent. If you notice, not only did he stick his head out of the hole, he then proceeded to go to sleep.

Today itself was fine. We (Chris and I) ended up entertaining/babysitting the kids from across the road while their parents went sofa shopping. They were gone for 3 hours. And no, we didn't know how long they would be or we might not have agreed to watch them because we needed to run to the gorcery store today for drinks for Chris (waters for me because I'm trying to be healthier) and a lighter for the fireworks.

All ended up fine though, we made it to the grocery store (can you say SALE on cokes?) and we ate dinner, all the while having our kids breathing down our necks, for the Fireworks. After dinner (It was dark by then, we ate late, at 9:15pm.) Chris got everything ready and the kids set up chairs at the garage door and Chris set up the fireworks at the end of the driveway. I's have shown you a picture or 2, but my computer seems to have "lost" the program allowing me to download them and Chris can't find it, so it'll have to be re-installed. *sigh* Our foreworks lasted almost an hour and everyone enjoyed them.

Anyway, last night after work Chris went to see the new Transoformers movie. Yay Chris. (Excuse me while I feel it was a bit unfair. I gave him permission to go, so I have no one else to blame but myself.) While he did that, I managed to get more done in an hour without him here than I usually do when he's home, at bedtime. I cut Son's hair, vacummed it off the bathroom floor and then wiped it down with a damp washcloth (feeling like Cinderella. I even started to sing the Cinder-elly song!), folded towels, scooped the cat litter, started the dishwasher, started a load of darks, get Son settled and asleep and managed to get a shower myself. All within an hour. I'm good. *G*

Anyway, he said the movie was good, for anyone that is interested in it.

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and that your Thursday is not too stressful after your day off! Have a great day! B.

Exercise: None, took the day off. Back to it tomorrow.

Tiger has a secret!

I found Tiger's secret this evening while sweeping off my porch and cleaning out the "kitty" house we bought him. Under his cedar chip filled bed was (EEEWWWWW) a dead field mouse. I admit I screamed when I saw it. I'll spare you the details, but I will say it had been there a while.

We overslept this morning and didn't make it to the Y to exercise. But, it worked out okay because Chris had a Doctor's appointment to update the new Doc on how he's been doing. And it was funny because when he called afterwards to let me know how the appointment went? He said she seemed almost puzzled that he hasn't had but one migraine since his last appointment. His blood pressure was perfect and she was happy that he had started working out. He won't have to go back until he needs to. YAY!

The Out-laws visited today. They wanted us to go over for dinner tomorrow, but knowing how much the kids were looking forward to fireworks tomorrow, we told them no. I really don't understand their obsession with having us eat at their house for EVERY single holiday. They brought the kids some t-shirts from Old Navy that have 2007 and the Flag on them and decided to take the kids to Sonic for ice cream. Which would have been fine, if Son hadn't been having an "attached to Mom" day. (Meaning he has been hanging off me all day and won't really let me out of his sight.) When I stated that I thought I would stay here (Instead of being crammed into the back of the Out-laws car with the kids with no air conditioning, which they have they just don't use it, and banjo music playing.) Son had a fit! He started begging and pleading with me to go, and then even started crying. So, I caved. *sigh*After we got back, they left and it was like a light had switched on for Son, because he started to play and let me get things done around the house. I have no clue what Son's problem was with his Grandparents today.

Daughter is still rebelling in her own way. Her room is messy and is getting on my nerves, especially when I have asked her repeatedly to clean it up. The teen years are not going to be easy.

I finished another book last night, Code Name: Bikini by Christina Skye. I liked it much more than her last book, as a matter of fact I liked it better than her last 3 books. I also admit to missing the Draycott Abbey series she had. I have all the books (well, almost all, I don't have 2 of the novellas) and may reread them soon. I have no idea what to read next, whether it will be a reread or a new to me book. I should have gone to the UBS today, and may still go on thursday.

That's it from me tonight. I hope y'alls 4th of July is Specatacular! Don't forget those who have fought for us in principle, in truth and physically! B.

Exercise: 45 minutes of Yoga and 10 push-ups girly style.

Cats in Boxes Part V

Midnight is fond of the box too. Funny when he gets in the box and won't share. Even funnier when another cat tries to get in and he won't let them.

I'm posting this as fast as possible because out stupid internet connection through AT&T is malfunctioning, including the blankety-blank modem! AGH!

Let's see, we went and worked out this morning, Chris and Son were able to swim. Daughter is still being punished. *sigh* I think it's her little rebellion. If I made my mother feel like this at any time in my teen years.......I hope she realizes, in Heaven, how very sorry I am.

Laundry and cleaning, not to mention a very hyper 5 year old have made for an interesting afternoon and evening. He's playing on the computer right now. (He goes to bed when Chris gets home.) I know that it's late for him to be awake for some, but we keep later hours because of Chris' hours. Not to mention it's one of the perks of homeschooling.

Took a trip to WW today, I thought going when it what early afternoon would mean I would not have to contend with the mass of people that are usually there, but I was SO wrong.

Finished Michele Bardsley's Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire. I really enjoyed it, as a matter of fact, I liked it even better than the first in this series. I might try a review of it, or not.

That's about it from me. I'm trying not to push my luck with my internet connection. I hope your day was good and that everything went nicely for y'all. I also hope that tomorrow is a happy day for you and that some laughter may lighten your lives!

Exercise: 35 minutes on the elyptical at a varied speed and level 5. 3.36 miles.

Is this not adorable?

Seriously, look at this picture! I'm keeping this box just because Layla likes it. I had to get rid of the other 2 I had because the cats have been chewing on the boxes. I guess they felt they needed the fiber? *g*

I would say today has been boring but we went to Mass this morning and then home where Chris has proceeded to PAINT. MY WALLS. OMGosh, the aliens have visited! The wall he had to fix the wholes in has been painted, the bathroom has been painted and he will be hanging the new mirror in there before we go to bed! I seriously want to know what has happened to my husband. Who is this handy man willing to do handy work?! *G* I don't know who he is but since he has Chris' pretty crinkly blue eyes and quirky smile, I'll keep him. *G*

And me? Well, I haven't exactly been sitting around all day, I had Chris' ironging to do (Over an hours worth), not to mention the ubiquitis laundry. I also *gag* cleaned out the refrigerator. Why do kids save food for another time when they are absolutely not going to eat it later? Daughter is the worst at this.

I haven't had time to read anything today, but am hopeful that I can squeeze a few pages in before I fall asleep. I hope. *g* (It's been a LOOOONNNGGGGG day.)

I hope ya'll had a good day, that you had fun or was able to relax at some point to prepare for the following week. Have a great monday and don't forget to start your day with a smile, I'll start you off. ;) B.