I give up

I just don't have the time or patience to dick around trying to fix the damn template on the new format. I somehow managed to get back to my old template, don't ask me how, but the pepto bismol look is going to have to suffice till I figure this shit out. The "tips for bloggers" was not helpful and I couldn't find where to put all my links.

Mutant Dog Toys II

A few months ago, I did a blog post about a couple of mutant dog toys I'd found at Safeway, one of our local grocery stores.



We named this guy "Poxy" because of his skin condition.



We call this guy "The Lion Thing" because I'm not quite sure what this legless, leopard spotted, lion-headed thing is supposed to be.

So I'm at Safeway last Saturday, and was picking up some chewstix in the pet aisle. I turned around to see if they had any good toys and I found 2 more from the Mutant Dog Toy Collection, so I had to get them.

Apparently these poor beasties seem to suffer from a genetic problem that renders them legless. With the exception of Poxy, none of them have legs. This li'l fella appears to be a raccoon suffering from severe hypothermia, right down to the tip of his ringed tail. We haven't quite settled on a name for it yet, but I've been calling him "Hypothermic Raccoonie Guy".

I'm open to suggestions on the species of this one. He has antlers, so is it a reindeer? Moose? Deer? Elk? I've never seen any of those animals with thick, long, ringed tails. Is he a cow? A bear with antlers and spots? Is it an okapi? A baby mountain tapir with a squished-in snout?

Haven't come up with a name for him yet, but I'm sure we'll think of something creative. As I said, I'm open to suggestions.

Fall 2008

Thanks to a warm, dry September, the foliage was outstanding this year. Everyone was talking about it. It was shaping up to be a good year, but all of a sudden, everything was bright yellow & red, out of nowhere. I wish I had taken my camera with me to work because it was everywhere.

This is the barberry bush in our backyard.

These next few were taken about 2 weeks later. In the 10 fall seasons we've been here, I never remember this tree getting yellow.

Even the dogwood tree leaves turned red.

Bright yellow maples peeking around fir and cedar trees.

The barberry bush went from red to blazing scarlet.

Then we had this killer full moon & clouds a couple of weeks ago.

The economy may have crashed around us, but at least we had pretty things to look at.

Another Before and After

This is a picture of my kitchen and the horrid vertical blinds, or what's left of them, that came with the house when we bought it. They were made of fabric and the weights at the bottom kept falling out. Out of complete frustration, I stuffed the weights back in and stapled the little pocket shut on both sides to keep them from falling out. They didn't do much to keep out the hot summer sun either. Then you have our enthusiastic but adorable Sagan. Whenever he is really, really excited, he jumps up and down. He jumps straight up in the air, like he's on a trampoline. He jumps up really high too. He's done it ever since we got him. Whenever he knows we are letting him out, or whenever we come home, he jumps up and down. It's a hoot to see his big silly laughing face bouncing up and down in the front door window. Even if he's out in the yard and I'm driving up the driveway and he's at the fence, he jumps up and his head easily clears the top of the 6' fence. Unfortunately, when he's upstairs and jumps up and down at the kitchen slider, his feet would tear down the fabric pieces. It got to the point where, as you can see by the photo, there was a HUGE gap where the blinds should be. Now that it's dark in the morning, I didn't like sitting there eating my breakfast at 6:00 a.m. without some modicum of privacy, so I hung that pitiful, ineffective wood blind thing outside.

It was clear that we had to get something new, but we aren't exactly "handy". Not at all. You won't find us browsing Home Depot or any other hardware stores for DIY items. We can't do ANYTHING ourselves, except paint. So I went to blindsgalore.com and ordered new "faux" wood verticals, and when they arrived, we had them installed.

Looks much better, eh?
They're not perfect, but they'll do. The company cut the blinds a 1/2" longer than the valance, but since it's on the microwave side, no one can see it so we don't care and it's certainly not worth sending them back and waiting another month.

OK OK, I'm updating!!!

Hi, sorry to be so neglectful, but yes, Danger Panda hit it on the head with her rebuke about my time on Facebook. I confess to hunting for the rare koi eggs........all the live long day on Saturday. And I do mean all the live long day. But I did manage to clean the house, which badly needed it. Brian has been pitching in by vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms, but I really needed to scrub the place. So 2 hours, 6 empties of the Dyson, 3 Swiffer wet jet pads and a box of Swiffer dusters later, I finally finished at 7:00 p.m. last night.




Oh, and a note from Axe: The IT people where she works screwed up her computer and internet big time so she is unable to blog for the time being. I told her I'd let everyone know.




Still no news on the job front for Brian. Although we are, of course, thrilled with Obama's win, the economy continues sliding, we continue to watch our 401(k) and investments hemorrhage money and more people up here are being laid off as businesses shut their doors. We're still weathering the "storm" OK, but the low morale has taken it's toll on everyone. I'm not in the mood for the holidays at all and I didn't even bother pulling out any Thanksgiving decorations. I'm not sure what I'm doing about Christmas decorating yet. I'm just so blasted tired when I get home. Mentally, emotionally and physically drained. I don't want to go anywhere (read: "I don't want to go to the gym") or do anything but watch TV and Facebook. Weekends are too short. Mondays come too fast. TV news is all bad. I'm just hanging on for my upcoming 5-day Thanksgiving vacation.







Is anyone going to go shopping at 4:00 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving? Me neither. I just don't see the point of getting up at the crack of 3:00 a.m., to stand in line in the cold (and likely wet) morning just to be trampled trying to get an X-box on sale. It's not happenin' people. My shopping is pretty much done, and I plan to spend the long weekend colouring, making holiday cards and just relaxing with Brian and our doggies.








Speaking of cards, I got an email from one of my friends with a cool idea. Send an extra holiday card to:





A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington DC, 20307-5001






So that's all the news that is news from this part of the country. I will try to be better about keeping my blog updated more often!!!

Technical Difficulties

Well it appears that I am majorly hosed on this new blog template. I had no idea this was going to happen. It's going to take me awhile to try and figure this out so that I can add everyone's blogs again. I will try to visit and make comments, but it's going to take time to find & add all of them.

I will need Axe and "The Moralized Criminal" to send me new invites so that I can add you both again.

I'm just too frustrated and annoyed to deal w/ it today. You would think that Blogger would have built in a feature that would keep your everything the same if you just wanted a new look.

Thanks for your patience......Please Stand By.

Time for a new look

The hot pink was making my head hurt. Nothing like looking at a pepto bismol coated blog. So I'm trying out a new look for now. Blue is soothing to me. Nice and cool. Here are some recent pics of the fuzzlings.

Snuggsy my bedtime beanie pal. "Juss becuz you gets up at six, not means I hasta gets up at six!"

Silly happy Sagan.

"I has a crabby patty!!!"

Rolling on his toys.

"Yes. Thank you for blinding me. We are NOT amused."

Nom nom nom nom.

OK, just one more political post and I promise I'll leave off for awhile

Prior to the election, "Newsweek" magazine had cut a deal where they would be allowed to sit in on and record the candidates' every move, with the agreement that the magazine wouldn't publish anything until after the election. Pardon the asterisks; Blogger refuses to acknowledge my double and triple spacing between paragraphs today.

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As if anyone had any doubts as to Sarah Palin's IQ, or lack thereof, here is an excerpt of information that is now pouring out of the McCain camp, as reported by "Newsweek":

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"Now that the 2008 election is over, reporters are spilling all the juciest, and previously off the record, gossip from the campaign trail. Much of it is about the infighting between Palin and McCain's staff, as Newsweek's treasure trove of post-election gossip reveals.

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However, perhaps one of the most astounding and previously unknown tidbits about Sarah Palin has to do with her already dubious grasp of geography. According to Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, there was great concern within the McCain campaign that Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, a heartbeat away from the presidency," in part because she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA, and she "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

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Palin was apparently a nightmare for her campaign staff to deal with. She refused preparation help for her interview with Katie Couric and then blamed her staff, specifically Nicole Wallace, when the interview was panned as a disaster. After the Couric interview, Fox News reported, Palin turned nasty with her staff and began to accuse them of mishandling her. Palin would view press clippings of herself in the morning and throw "tantrums" over the negative coverage. There were times when she would be so nasty and angry that her staff was reduced to tears."

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(I highlighted the above sentence....the Vincent Vixens will crack up. It figures. Nicole Wallace).

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HELLO!!!! How the hell did Palin not know Africa is a continent????? Of course this is the same woman who also believes that the world is only 6,000 years old and that humans co-existed with dinosaurs. Someone needs to tell Stupid Sarah that "Land of the Lost" was just a television show. What part of "science" is she not grasping? Fucking pick up a book Sarah, you stupid moron. How does she not fall down when she walks??

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I was recently taken to task on Facebook by someone who stated that she admired Palin and anyone who didn't like her was "threatened by her intelligence". I guffawed so loud. As if!! I assured this person that, as one who was in the National Honor Society in high school, graduated from college in 4 years on the Dean's List, and has worked as a paralegal for nearly 20 years, that I was not at all threatened by Palin, who dropped out of four colleges before finally graduating. Then I got a snotty answer back that she wasn't specifically referring to me. So then don't make a stupid statement like that.

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She is the one that lost the election for McCain. McCain is the one who lost the election by picking a completely clueless running mate with zero experience. Being the governor of our least popular state (650,000) does not a politician make. The mayor of Seattle has more constituents than she does.

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Let's hope she fades into oblivion, never to grace our presence again.

"You have seen the heavy groups, now you will see morning maniac music, believe me, yeah...

...It's a new dawn!"

Look what's happening out in the streets

Got a revolution

Got to revolution

Hey I'm dancing down the streets

Got a revolution

Got to revolution

Ain't it amazing all the people I meet

Got a revolution

Got to revolution

One generation got old

One generation got soul

This generation got no destination to hold

Pick up the cry

Hey now it's time for you and me

Got a revolution

Got to revolution

Come on now we're marching to the sea

Got a revolution

Got to revolution

Who will take it from you

We will and who are we

We are volunteers of America

YEAH, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A hearty thank you to all of my international friends for their support, prayers, spells, thoughts, karma, WHATEVER!!!!! WE DID IT!!! This is a Victory for all of us.

VOTE!

VOTE....For change.

VOTE....Because we can.

VOTE....Because we have the chance to make history by electing the first African American President.

VOTE....BECAUSE THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING!!