Word{s}

1. continental ~
2. toss ~
3. drizzle ~
4. help ~
5. add ~
6. basic ~
7. pirate ~
8. gone ~
9. points ~
10. china ~

!

Maybe.

Doesn't matter how tough we are, trauma always leaves a scar. It follows us home, it changes our lives, trauma messes everybody up, but maybe that's the point. All the pain and the fear and the crap. Maybe going through all of that is what keeps us moving forward. It's what pushes us. Maybe we have to get a little messed up, before we can step up.

~ Alex Karev

Happy Saturday!

Smokey is lounging on our freshly laundered comforter.
The kid and I are heading up for a family lunch in a bit.
What are you doing today? Whatever it is I hope you have a lovely day.

*hugs*
~ b

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
What do you wear on your feet when you are at home? Barefoot? Shoes? Socks? Slippers?

Soup ~
How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning?

Salad ~
Do you talk to yourself? What do you talk about? Do you get answers?

Entrée ~
For two weeks in a row I have missed my favorite show of the week due to phone calls. What have you missed this week because your phone kept ringing?

Dessert ~
What is the colour of irresponsibility?

Awkward Shots.

I found these {see photo below} in my backyard today. If you were my neighbors you might have been thinking I had lost my mine if you had seen me. When I find something photo-worthy I have no problem getting right up close and personal with whatever it is I have found. So there I was down on hands and knees {No comments from the peanut gallery} in very awkward positions, contorting myself to get the perfect shot. I don't think I did half bad.

{click it to big it}

QOTD:
What have you done recently that might have your neighbors wondering WTF you are doing and why?

Wordless Wednesday.

Word{s}

1. team ~
2. spin ~
3. quarter ~
4. here ~
5. cotton ~
6. less ~
7. random ~
8. sweep ~
9. daily ~
10. snickers ~

~

Happy Caturday!

Open Mic Night.

Who's up first? {notice I did NOT say who's ON first. tee hee}

What can I get you to drink tonight?

Happy TGIF!

Meal at the Manor

What?
Where's the meal?
No meal today?
What's up with that?
Well.
In the words of Phoebe Buffay:

"I wish I could but I don't want to."

That being said, come back later. It's open mic night. Use the time you would have spent answering the questions to come up with a song or a reading to share with us tonight. Bar will be open on a new thread. {Non-Alcoholic treats for you, dear T.} See ya in a few hours.

Happy Friday!

Snappo!

QOTD:
When was the last time you got locked out of your house or car?

wordless wednesday.

Word{s}

1. shamrock ~
2. blarney ~
3. snakes ~
4. green ~
5. stout ~
6. leprechaun ~
7. soda ~
8. pot ~
9. emerald ~
10. kiss ~

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Days.

75 to be exact. Today is the 75th day of 2009. My year thus far has been okay. Nothing spectacular but I don't have a problem with a quiet life.

Rudy and I continue to enjoy our relationship and look forward to the day when we will be together for good. The ring discussion continues and I will be sure to let him know when I have convinced myself that it doesn't matter what his zip code is when he asks. I honestly never thought I would find a relationship that is so easy and so satisfying. I thank the Lord daily for bringing Rudy into my life and the lives of my children.

I have been sick twice, the kid more times than I can count and two weeks of sick cats is about all I can take. Thankfully we are all just about well at the same time now and with warmer days coming about more often I hope we can stay that way.

The kid and I made our first snowman with snow he brought down from the mountains. He and I had his first real snowball fight as well that afternoon. What fun that kid is.

We have been in awe of the wildlife and plant life we continue to see from our windows and in our yard. We are less than amused by the gophers we seem to have bought with the property but still quite intrigued by them and the quest to remove them. Who knew that moving less than an hour away would give us such wonderful surprises? Certainly not us.

I had words with my sister as she attempted to repossess something that wasn't hers to begin with nor was it part of my Momma's estate. I made sure she understood that I am not mad {as she believes I am} but rather I am just not returning something that was given to me by Momma over 12 years ago. I am just not. She will come around eventually. She always does. Until then I am not losing any sleep over it all.

The kid took his NREMT and is now also licensed to be an EMT within our county. He is working on his Ambulance Driver license so he can get out there and do what he is trained to do. He also spends weekends volunteering at his favorite Vollie Fire Station in the desert and enjoys it very much. This past weekend he saw fire. HUGE deal! LOL! Gotta love that kid.

The marrieds are doing well and are looking forward to the son-in-law finishing up and graduating in June. Then they will move about 3 hours my way and will be so much closer for visits. We can't wait and have many plans to spend as much time together as our lives will permit.

Last month Rudy visited and he and I took a weekend trip to Arizona to visit his parents. It was a meet the parents and extended family type people weekend and I had a great time. His parents are very cute together. I have been mother approved. YaY! They showed me some of their favorite places to go while we were there. We visited an Art Studio, a gorgeous Mission and a pizza joint with an amazing organ setup. Too bad the guy playing the organ didn't enjoy his job. That made me sad for him. Our weekend was over all too soon and I hope to be able to spend a few more days together next year than we did this year.

During our trip to AZ Rudy introduced me to The News From Lake Wobegon. I am hooked. It is quite funny and you should check it out. You can get the podcast for free on iTunes.

All things considered I would have to say that thus far 2009 has treated me very well and I feel very blessed. That is all the news that is fit to print {or that I can come up with on half a cup of coffee anyways} from Shenanigan Manor, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average. {tee hee}

QOTD:
How has 2009 treated you thus far, 75 days into the year?

Et Tu?

G'morning.

May your pockets be heavy
and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you
each morning and night.

3.14

Under Seige.

If you have spent any time reading my blogs you know that flying things freak me out. Especially birds. They are unpredictable and fly about haphazardly as if they own the whole damn airspace.

Picture, if you will, a quiet morning of catching up on blogs and news while sitting at the kitchen table which is located directly in front of the kitchen window. A hot cup of coffee to my left. One cat sitting curled up on a blanket on the chair beside me to my right. The other cat curled up on my newspaper at the opposite end of the table from me. Such a peaceful morning.

Smokey, the other cat, is currently employed as a window stalker. He spies birds, cats and/or dogs outside the windows and will race from window to window stalking. He takes his job very seriously and if we yell for him to come *get it* he will arrive on the scene very quickly and get to the task of stalking whatever we point out to him.

This morning he is watching the birds that flit in and out of the yard, dancing in the sun and singing their chirpy songs. All is well.

Until....

I see something out of the corner of my left eye and then

BLAM!!!

I quickly look and see a bird flying away from the window after having HIT the window. WTF? I think he was trying to take me out. He didn't hit the side where Smokey was doing his stalking but rather on my side. GAH!

The birds have gone from being content to eating the little bits of seed and bugs in my front yard to trying to take me out! HOW is this good, I ask you? I am afraid to go outside now. {which I did, btw, to make sure that the bird I saw leaving the scene of the fly-by was actually the bird that hit the window. I hoped and prayed that I would not get out on the front porch and find a dead or half dead bird. Thank goodness that was not the case.

The bird attacked! I spilled my coffee all over the table but skillfully missed spilling it on my computer, cell phone and tv clicker. Smokey was quite bothered and now runs for safety if I move about the house too quickly. Kitten is still on the blanket covered chair, sleeping and blissfully unaware of the danger we were all in 15 minutes ago.

Lest you think that I have recently cleaned my windows and that is why the bird flew into it I assure you that no window washing has occurred. In addition to that there are some stupid protection and alarm stickers stuck to the damn thing so I don't think that bird, to be referred to as the assassin, thought it was just more outside. That bird was doing nothing more than trying to take me out.

Send food.

I am being held hostage by assassin birds and flying things freak me out!

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
I can't sleep. What would you suggest to help me do so?

Soup ~
What is your favorite ingredient to cook with?

Salad ~
How do you like your potatoes?

Entrée ~
What special food do you make on St. Patrick's Day, if any?

Dessert ~
What is the colour of satisfaction?

Thursday Thirteen

13 ingredients used
in yesterday's baking extravaganza.
{See Tired Thursday Post Below}

1. Guinness
2. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract {the only vanilla I will use}
3. Powdered Sugar
4. Shamrock Shaped Sprinkles
5. Meringue Powder
6. Sour Cream
7. Granulated Sugar
8. Heavy Cream
9. Unsalted Butter {I only buy unsalted}
10. 7 Eggs
11. Brown Sugar
12. Cocoa
13. Love

Yeah. Yeah. You are not hallucinating. Blondie actually has two postings today and has posted every single day this week. Go figure. And don't get used to it. tee hee!

Tired Thursday.

I spent wordless Wednesday baking and cleaning up from baking so that I could send a care package of goodies to Rudy in time for St. Patrick's Day. I think the baked goods turned out fairly well and are pleasing to the eye.

QOTD:
What kept you busy on Wordless Wednesday? Don't you wish you were on my care package send list?

wordless wednesday.

word{s}

1. stress ~
2. angry ~
3. obsessed ~
4. weary ~
5. un ~
6. overwhelmed ~
7. cry ~
8. fretful ~
9. pain ~
10. dejected ~

Do Not Burn.

I came across this photo today and it made me laugh. Not because of the burnt dinner but rather because my first beer was a Schlitz. I am not gonna say how old I was but I was far from legal. I wasn't cooking at the time either. Still brings a smile to my face as I close my eyes and am taken back.

I haven't a clue what my first legal beer was. It was probably a Michelob because that is what my X thought was good beer at the time. Today my beers of choice are Bass Pale Ale and Red Stripe. If you were to open my fridge today that is what you would find along with Rudy's Guinness.

For the record, I can't remember the last time I actually burned dinner. I try to keep a close eye on things when I am cooking or baking. I can, however, recall the last time I burned myself while baking. Last month as I was baking chocolate chip cookies for my men and trying to watch LOST at the same time. I was probably drinking too, but not Schlitz. I burned the fingers on one hand after grabbing the pan I was dropping. Sigh. Quick thinking and an ice pack {yeah yeah. I know. don't put ice on a burn.} kept me from blistering. YaY! P.S. The cookies were yummy, weren't they, darlin?

Q{s}OTD:
What was your first beer? What was your first legal beer? What beer is now your beer of choice? If I were to visit would it be stocked in your fridge?

QOTD2:
When was the last time you burned dinner?

When you're out of Schlitz,
you're out of Beer.

Give it Back!

I am not amused at losing an hour of sleep last night. I want it back. I feel sluggish and bleh. I am blaming how I feel on the lost hour. I am not getting everything done today I had wanted to do because of this lost hour. {that's my story anyways.}

QOTD:
What are you not getting done today because of your lost hour?

Springing Forward,

Reluctantly.

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
Staying where you are what can you reach if you stretch out your arms?

Soup ~
What is the colour of exhausted?

Salad ~
What is your favorite item of clothing and why?

Entree ~
If you could give everyone in the world 25% more beauty or 25% more sense, which would you choose?

Dessert ~
Things go better with _____.

25 candies in the box

and only the text on one of the candies was clear enough to read the entire message. Was it a sign?

Rudy gave me the candies on Valentines Day. I didn't actually open the box until last week after Rudy was back in frozen land. My thought was that I could make a cute graphic or wordless out of what I found inside. Imagine my surprise to find what I did. I was so surprised that I even shook the box again to make sure there wasn't a ring inside.

I really knew there wasn't a ring inside since the box was still factory glued shut.Plus we have an agreement that states we should actually live in the same zip code before becomming officially engaged. I have had a few conversations with myself about this very pact and sometimes I tell myself that it is silly to have those conditions set in stone. {diamond stone?? tee hee}

So there you have it. The true story of the white candy in the box. hmmm. *Marry Me* was clearly printed on a white candy. Perhaps it truly IS a sign.

This is what was really in the box from my wordless yesterday. Isn't it pretty and sparkly?? {ty honey. I love it!}

{click it to big it}

wordless wednesday.

word{s}

1. paint ~
2. buy ~
3. odd ~
4. hike ~
5. control ~
6. great ~
7. four ~
8. under ~
9. sugar ~
10. puppet ~

Proposition 3.17

It's that time again. Time to gather signatures in an attempt to make St. Patrick's Day an official holiday in the U.S. As you can see by the graphic below, I signed.



QOTD:
Are you in favour of making St. Patrick's Day {3.17} an official holiday? {click the graphics to visit the Prop 3.17 site and vote}


Sláinte!

On St. Patricks Day,
and every day,
please drink responsibly.

In Like a