Happy Halloweeeeen!

I have harvested my Halloween Watermelon and will be carving it up sometime today in the tradition of a Halloween Pumpkin. Pictures will follow.

My mysterious post for tomorrow is no more. The only mysterious thing you will be getting from me is a truly boring regular post, which is not really mysterious at all. What it WAS going to be about was a very dear friend going through some really bad times. I was extremely angry at a certain choice she had made that I had found out about. I finally got to talk to her yesterday evening and understand MUCH more of what she is going through and my anger is no more. I'm very grateful I gave it a few days before posting what I had pre-posted. It wasn't a bad post, but it was a serious post and since I'm all about butterflies and lemon drops here on this blog, I was happy to push the delete button. My friend, she's doing good. She's hurting, but she's seeing clearly the direction she needs to go. I love her, and miss her, and think of her often. (She lives a few states away) I do not envy her the healing she will have to go through. I've been there, she's been there before, and we both know the time thing is the bugger to get through. There is nothing harder then having to change the way you think and/or feel about someone. But it can be done.

So on this year's Day of Remembrance, let us remember the dead relationships of our past and learn from what they can tell us about how they have determined our now. For me, I know my life would be much different if not for each and every one of my past relationships. I feel blessed to have experienced the things that I did... I cherish all of the good memories, I learned from all the bad ones, and I have moved on and survived when I thought I couldn't and came out so much stronger in the here and now.

Have a monsterly witchy night!

For The Inquiring Minds

Yes, I'm storing up all my great blog ideas for November. Okay, not really. I just haven't had any ideas. I have absolutely no back up posts at this point and I'm already anticipating November sucking royally as far as me writing anything of interest to anyone, even myself. I had a certain topic I was going to write on today, but I think I'm going to save it for later. This will give me time to think about what I need to write, how to write it and hopefully it will give me the chance to hear the rest of the story besides what I know now. I am currently scheduling the mysterious post for November 1st.

In other news... its freaking cold! 36 is what my temp gauge is reading at the moment.

If I don't see ya before, I'll see you on the 1st. It's only a couple of days away, so you won't have time to miss me. By the end of November, you prolly won't want to read my blog any more anyway.

Dead Things

So that cold front that came through... well... I guess I must live in what they call a low lying area because when I woke up this morning, there was frost on my car. Which means my Hibiscus will probably not be alive much longer. Or the watermelon that I keep waiting to pick. Might have to pick that thing today just because it's not going to last out in this cold. Shouldn't I be harvesting pumpkins instead of watermelons, you might ask? Yeah... my watermelon growth was a fluke of sorts.

I got a late start on my flowerbed this year. Brought on by a mean person who didn't approve of my yard, it got my rear end out there to make it look pretty. And I did. And I'm glad I did. The problem with that flowerbed on my front porch is that it doesn't hold water well, no matter how much peat moss I use, and it doesn't get rain since it sits under the porch easement. So I installed an automatic sprinkler system. And by automatic sprinkler system, I mean I have to turn the water on by hand, it's just been a permanent fixture that I didn't move all summer. And my flowers thrived! But so did the watermelon seeds of 2006 that were deposited by my ex-roommate the first summer we moved in here.

The Morning Glories have all but bloomed themselves out as well. It's a sad state on my front porch right now. But the weather is supposed to be fantastic for the rest of the week so I plan on doing a bit of clean up out there in the next day or so.

I'm wondering right now how many of you, after reading the title of this post, thought I would be talking of dead rodent things? None have been found but then again I haven't been looking, and there are no offensive smells... yet. But things ARE much quieter in the attic area.

One more thing... guess what next month is? November, right? Yeah... and all the bloggers are talking NaBloPoMo which starts November 1st. For those new to the blogging craze, that stands for National Blog Posting Month and those that sign up try to accomplish posting every day in the month of November. I cheated and had to post a couple of times a day after missing a day or two. My goal is to not cheat this year. We'll see how THAT goes. Like last year, if anyone has anything they would like me to express my opinion on or if you would like to know more about certain things in my life, I take all requests seriously and seriously would appreciate the requests. You request it, I'll post about it and even take pictures of it if I can.

Pumpkin Spice And Everything's Nice

This is the time of year where pumpkin spice is everywhere. In the 7-11 coffees, in cooking, in candles. Tis my favorite time of year for scents. I think it may have to do with the cold weather and closing up the house so none of the spiciness can escape. Which is what I have done this evening.

We had a cold front blow in today. Strong north winds whipping lots of trash into my yard for me to pick up later, my trashcan blown around the neighborhood, the cats running around like their arses are on fire. So I brought out the spice candles and oils, put away my lavender candles and oils and am currently enjoying a sensory overload of tranquil type feelings on my lonely Wednesday evening. Except I'm not really lonely... and it's a most wonderful feeling. I've got mellow tunes caressing my ears and the lights are dim. I have no plans this evening, but it's sure to be a relaxing night off after a hectic and long work week.

Nights like this with it's perfect ambiance, make me wish for one of those big giant garden tubs piled high with bubbles and spicy scents from that as well. I love my simple life, yet I do dream of little extravagances from time to time.

I wish for you a peaceful night as well.

Because I Have Nothing To Say...

And because they made me laugh...

Who needs expensive cat toys when you have a big piece of paper!!!










AND A BOX

What Your Kids Are Doing At College

I never did post the pictures my daughter took when she moved in to her new apartment a month or so ago. So I thought I would do that now.

The latest report from roommate central is: Things are SO much better with the new roomies then in previous years. So far, this is her best year of college because of living conditions and awesome classes. Mom worries a lot less when she hears things like this.

HERE THEY HAVE THE TYPICAL COLLEGE MEAL:

THERE IS NO ONE WHO HAS MORE MEASURING CUPS AND COOKING UTENSIL THAN MS.BRANDI:
OR... SOME DAYS THEY EVEN COOK THEIR OWN FOOD:
OR... PJ IS PROBABLY PLANNING AN ATTACK ON MS. BRANDI'S ARM:

MMMMM... COLLEGE FETTUCINI:

K HATES BROCCOLI MORE THAN SHE HATES FEET:

COLLEGE KIDS ARE POOR... NUFF SAID:

K TREATS HER ROOMIES LIKE SLAVES:

STICKERS FOR HOMEWORK ON THE FRIDGE INCENTIVE:

INGENIOUS DIET MECHANISM:

THE, "WHY, OF COURSE I'M IN COLLEGE" LOOK:


FINDING PERSPECTIVE:

PLAYTIME:


SHOWING MOM THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY:

First Degree Murder

So I live in an old, drafty house. Lots of nooks and crannies for rodent type things to live comfortably. Not on the inside, though, which is a small blessing. Either that, or four very playful kitties on the inside are enough to deter any entry into my living quarters. But alas... they (it) are (is) in my attic playing havoc with my structural integrity. At first it was only occasionally that I would hear some scuttling up above my head. But now the constant chewing is keeping me awake thinking I'm smelling burning wire as I drift into sleep twilight, where noises and smells seem to be amplified. And I fear I have only one option. Poison.

I don't know a lot about rodent poisons, and sadly I don't even know where my attic access is. I think in the garage. I'm not for sure though. I would prefer to stay ignorant of the killing of a living thing. I have a very deep seated aversion to such things. But I'm good at denial, so I'll be making a house call to my parents to discuss with my Dad the possibility of him throwing some killing machines up inside my attic to avoid waking up in a house on fire, or coming home to a house burned down with the knowledge of my kitties being trapped inside. The thought of the latter is enough for me to agree to the killing(s).
***

So I talked with my Dad. Yes, my attic access is in the garage. I wrote the above last night... tonight (depending on when you read this vs when I put it up to post) there is nothing going on above my head. I took a late nap today (it's now 1115 pm) and all is quiet. Which means that somewhere things are dying or are dead and now I'm kind of sad, but I do feel a lot safer knowing that no more damage will be done. Not that anyone is concerned about resale value of this house or anything, but I still have to live here a bit longer and I kind of like the idea of things not burning down around me whilst I sleep.

And because I'm a girl and have girl tendencies, I now feel the need to repay nature somehow. Might have to adopt another cat. (Haha! Kidding MOM!)

Oh, and it's official. I now consider myself one of the millions who suffer with allergies. Never thought I'd ever say that... I've never had a problem with it in the past. But this year Clariton D is my friend. I've still not found anything I'm allergic to, although I did use a botanical facial mask that gave me hives on my face that I won't be using any more, if that counts. I just don't know if it was the actual botanical ingredients, or a manufactured ingredient that did it. So anyway... sniff, sneeze, cough... blooooow.

Things

The gorgeous Chef Roco DeSpirito was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars. Sad to see him go, but as nice of a guy that he is, he wasn't the best dancer, although I could have watched him dance all day long and then some.

My latest impulse buy for $5.00. I'd say it was a success:

Kittehs Like Forts, Too!

Happy Belated Anniversary

So my plan was to remember that on October 1st of last year I started blogging. Needless to say, it's HOW many days past the 1st? Yeah... I have started calling these lapses of remembering stuff "my 40 year old brain". It's frustrating. And I know it only gets worse from here on out.

A whole year of dribble from my brain! I've talked about family and friends, work and going out on the town, stupid people and mean people, weight loss and weight gain, failed Kitty Cam attempts, and lots and lots of cat stuff. Not much has changed in a year. I don't consider that a bad thing. After having so much change in my life around 2006, it's nice for things to stay the same... and comfortable. Some people say that being content is bad, but I say it's stress-free and I'll take stress-free any day!

I've got some new fun things I've been thinking about for this blog. Getting Kitty Cam up would be nice, too. I'll probably take down my favorite music section. I put up a pretty risqué song a little while back to see what kind of response I got. I got no response. But that's okay. I'm cool with trying new things and having them flop. You never know until you try, right? So with the coming year and my coming boredom, maybe I'll come up with an epiphany to entertain you and keep you coming back wanting more! Until then... please enjoy the dribble.

Festivus Among Us

Every October the Birdville High School Marching Band hosts a Marching Festival. I attended exactly 4 of these in past years. One for each year my son was part of all that. My daughter was a part of it as well with her year or so of Flags that she did. It was the coolest thing ever to have both of my kids on the field at the same time, doing very different things, yet working together. I had to eventually come up with a system to be able to watch both of them, though. I would take turns with each game or competition and try to watch each one depending on whose turn it was. Of course, very rarely did this work. I always wanted to watch both!

When I get home from work and open up my house and hear the bands warming up, I always tell myself that I sure would like to just hop on over there and sit for awhile and watch. But I never have. Mostly because I know the really small schools perform in the early morning hours and although cool to watch, they just don't compare to the bigger schools with massive amounts of marchers on the field. Those schools play up in the late afternoon and evening when I'm usually asleep. Plus, I got very spoiled when my son went to college and his first two years included marching with the UTA band. There is nothing more awesome then seeing a college marching band live. It makes the really big, really good high school marching bands look like the small school marching bands; weak and kind of boring.

So I'll sit here this morning and I'll enjoy the beautiful Fall air with the hint of marching band memories that I will fondly cherish the rest of my days. Not only my own days of marching, but more cherished, my children's days of marching.

Early Morning Alertness

Have you ever noticed in the movies, that if anyone was going to be doing any kind of window action shot, that there are never any screens on these movie windows? Sometimes shutters that can be opened and closed... but never any screens. I'm curious... is this only a movie thing, or do people in other states and towns commonly practice not putting screens on their windows?

Here in the south, especially around this time of year, it's nice to not have to use the air conditioner and be able to sleep with our windows open, as I have done the last couple of nights. I know the kitties like it as well. We use window screens as a way of keeping mosquitoes and other pesky bugs out of our house.

About an hour ago, I was awaken suddenly by a very LOUD cat fight in my room. Seems the window screens also keep out other cats because the cat fight was happening at my window... a cat on the outside and one on the inside. Which brings me to my million dollar idea... What if you could harness the volume and intensity of the sound of two cats fighting and put it in an alarm clock. I know they have the cute "mew mew" alarm clocks... even a nice cute doggy bark one. But I like those sounds... they are peaceful and I would sleep through them. Give me a violent cat fight and I'm up with my feet on the floor in .0025 seconds, adrenalin pumping, yelling "hey hey HEY HEYHEYHEY" until the fighting stops and the unknown cat's departure is heard through the flowerbed. I think my heart is still racing. One things for sure... there was no sleepy walk to the coffee pot this morning. I can't remember when I've ever BEEN so wide awake. Seriously... million dollar idea.

Dedicated To My Son

I adore the fact that my son is so musically talented. Granted, the music his band plays is not of my taste, but even I can enjoy it when I see him up on stage pouring out his feelings through his guitar. He's not all heavy metal, though. He's done some amazing acoustic stuff as well. MOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jag7oTemldY

Really... I LOVE My Job!

I worked a 12 and a half hour shift last night. Lots of stuff can happen in 12 hours... and lots of nothing can happen as well. When I work 12 hours, I am working half of evening shift and I am reminded during these times exactly why it is I work the shift that I do. It's called "crazy people". Some days it's "stupid people". Last night, though, it was the crazies. Wow.

I've mentioned before that I work for a pretty small city. Some nights we truly believe that crazy is in the water because the percentage of crazy people compared to non-crazy people is frighteningly close. Stupid people make up the difference.

The nice, normal people that I occasionally get a call from actually gives me hope for the human race from time to time... but that feeling of hope is never long lasting. I will never fear losing my job to downsizing because there will never be a lack of crazy stupid people and SOMEONE has to take those calls.

There are many more nights then not where I can just shake my head after a crazy call and move on. After so many years of doing what I do, it is somewhat sad that I deal better with people getting robbed and beaten then I do with crazy people. The calls of possible heart attacks, people getting body parts cut off, people shooting themselves in the head with nail guns are easy for me. It's all the other calls, which are the majority unfortunately, that drive me to want to drink strong alcoholic beverages when I get home.

If you have ever come across a situation where you were unsure if you should call your local police department, 911, or any other emergency service, or if you often call these places, here is some insight on what a seasoned employee of one of these places is thinking while talking to you and/or after we hang up the phone with you, taken directly from my almost 20 years of being in this line of work brain, on midnight shift: (in no particular order of annoyance)

I am NOT in animal services. If there is a dog running loose in your neighborhood, stay inside your freaking house. If said dog is trying to break down your door or window, fine... call me. We can come out and shoot the damn thing.

If a cat has had kittens in your back yard, do not call at 0230 in the morning when you know your local animal shelter is closed. We can't do anything about it, no matter how cute the kittens are. And please, for the love of all that is holy, do NOT bring said kittens in a box to the police department! We have NO place to put these sweet things nor do we have any way to take care of them. Chances are, the momma would have been back to take care of them. Even though you THINK they are abandoned and you THINK you are saving them, the action of you scooping them up and bringing them to me, more times than not, has sealed their fate with death. A police department is NOT EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH ANIMALS. Leave them alone and call your shelter during business hours.

If you come across an animal that has been severely injured, call me. We are not so inhumane that we won't pay our animal people overtime to come out and help the animal.

If you hear a strange noise in or around your house, do not hesitate to call me. Very rarely is it anything of significance, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

A black male walking down the street does not constitute a suspicious person no matter what time of day or night it is. Now, if said man is stopping and looking into car windows, call me. If you see this man walking back and forth, walking around your neighbor's house and yard and you know he has no business there, call me. But come on people! You live in a neighborhood where 75 percent of the people are of African American decent. If you have problems with someone other than your own race, you need to move. They have as much right to walk down the street as you.

If you are a frequent caller because your husband keeps beating you up, we tend to start not having as much sympathy for you. This may seem cold to some of you, but when we have the same female calling every weekend because her husband has come home drunk and beaten her, and we respond, and we put the guy in jail, and 30 minutes later she is at our police department dropping the charges, our patience wears thin. We understand the psychology of women staying with men who beat them. We wish the ones who are truly scared and in need of help would call us more. Unfortunately, those usually aren't the ones calling the police every weekend. And you may hate me and never read my blog again for saying this, but our frequent callers are the ones who we "jokingly" say probably instigated the whole thing to start with.

Dear paranoid schizophrenics... you make me tired. Take your medicine! Quit calling me. Please.

When you dial 9-1-1 from your cell phone, I can not magically know where you are. If you do not know your address or where you are calling from, please, for the sanity of dispatchers everywhere, call from a land line. I understand that there may be instances where this is not possible. But do not get mad and yell at me and call me ugly names because you do not know where you are. This makes us not want to help you very much at all.

Teach your children that 9-1-1 is NOT for their amusement! Teach them that when they call 9-1-1 over and over again and tie up the 9-1-1 line, that someone who really may need our help could very well die because they think it is funny.

When you call me and are screaming into your phone I can NOT understand you. The louder you scream, the less I can understand you. I know that you are in duress and something major has happened and you are scared. But if I can not understand you, I can not help you. Stay as calm as possible when you call me and we can avoid wasting precious time by me telling you over and over to calm down.

Calling me and telling me your life's story is a waste of my time. If you have a problem, please limit the call to the problem at hand. I honestly don't care that your grandmother's niece's 2nd cousin is somehow related to my Chief of police. WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME? That's all I need / want to know.

I'm asking you all the questions because I'm NOT going to send my officer someplace and have him blindsided. I don't ask questions for fun. I ask questions because it's my job and unless you answer them, you no get no help.

I know that you think your teenager was wrongly incarcerated and that he/she is totally innocent because he/she would NEVER do drugs! I promise you, though, our officers have MUCH better things to do then plant the drugs we found in his/her pocket.

And much... much... more.

Today In Libby Land

October Update

So I've been messing around all morning avoiding writing this post. Thinking and knowing that if I don't post my update for the new month, many, if not all of you probably wouldn't take notice. And let me tell you, avoiding things is my forte. If it paid well, I would have lots of money. But avoiding things, especially when it comes to my weight, is what got me where I am. NOT avoiding my weight has been the hardest thing I've had to do this year. Avoiding today's post is not an option for me.

I'd be a liar if I said the numbers don't matter. Although I'm not ruled by the scale on a daily basis, once a month I am. And when I know I've not been as good as I should have been over the last month, stepping on the scale is the 2nd hardest thing to do. But I did.

I gained 5 pounds. Admitting that to myself is bad enough. Posting about it is worse. But NOT posting about it would be avoidance and I need to be accountable because that is the only way I'll be able to keep this up. So here I am. Being accountable. I wish it were easier.

Don't worry though. My quest is far from lost. Setbacks are okay if you understand what they mean, and I do. I've been lazy and I know I've been lazy. Each month gives me the opportunity to do better and I like that. I also know that the only way I could call myself a failure is to throw up my hands and say, oh well... I might as well go buy some french fries and a chocolate milk shake and call it a year. But that's what I used to do. And that's not what I'm going to do any more. This in itself is an accomplishment.