I stole it, okay????

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

THIS is why I have 4 cats. They start out as kittens.
Stolen from Lady Banana - I figured if I'm going to sit and stare I might as well do it on my own blog and I got nuthin' anyway. Enjoy!

Maxine Monday

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It's a cat-asrophe! As Usual.

So, I was sleeping, right? The TV was still on so it had to be within 2 hours of going to bed. I heard a noise and knew right away it involved a cat and blinds. Even in my sleep. Somehow I can tell if a strange noise is related to a cat or a person or perhaps the weather. I’m a good sound interpreter when I am sleeping.

Okay, I heard a noise so I lifted my head, opened my eyes, and looked toward the window. Yep. Cat. Abby, the evil cat who bites, great, I get to get injured in the middle of the night. She was sitting on the window sill between the blinds and the window, but her head was completely through the blinds – looking into the room. And she looked like she was a bit stuck and about to have a hissy fit to remove herself. Arg-h-h. All I need to do is help her pull her head back to the other side of the blinds and I can go back to sleep. That was my thought.

I crawled over and grabbed the blinds with one hand and pulled them towards me while pushing Abby’s open mouthed head toward the window. Good, her head went back through, she wasn’t stuck, I could go back to sleep. Except that wasn’t the case.

Abby turned to get out from between the blinds and the window and as she jumped toward the floor I saw she was tangled in the cord from the blinds. I managed to catch her mid-jump (without getting bit) but not before she had reached the end of the cord and was hanging with the cord wrapped around her middle and somehow around her tail as well. And as she realized that her paws were not touching the floor I had a wild thought having to do with leaving her there for interrupting my sleep but – I thought better of it and helped her escape.

As I dropped off to sleep I remember thinking about the cats and how if one of them isn’t yelling at me for food, another one is climbing into my lap or yet another one is demanding water from the bathroom faucet. I cannot walk without tripping over or being followed by one and omg the HAIR!!! They take turns sleeping with me and they wait for me to come home from work every day. For the most part – I enjoy them. But I could enjoy TWO just as much (and probably more) than FOUR!!!

Never again.

Questioning.

I can't believe how upset I am about this.

Yesterday I watched as much as I could of the inauguration festivities. I didn't see everything and certainly couldn't hear everything because I was watching a live feed on my computer. Mostly I was working, so I missed a lot.

One thing I missed apparently, was the reaction when George Bush was announced at the inauguration. The man was still our president, our out-going president, but our president none-the-less.

Today I saw a video. With sound. I could not believe that at an important national event like the inauguration ceremonies of our new president, that people in the crowd would BOO the current president, showing him complete disrespect.

This was not a losing sports team. It wasn't someone who could not sing on American Idol. This man was our president for 8 years. Whether people think he did not do a good job, or people think his policies were wrong, is not the point. Everyone has their beliefs in that regard and I am not going to go into that now. But to boo a sitting president at the inauguration of the new one?

I was ashamed.

Our former president was nothing but lovely and gracious to President and Mrs. Obama. He wished them well and I believe he meant it. I also believe that Barack Obama would not have wanted that kind of behavior to mar such an important day.

You've heard the term, ugly American? Yeah. Here was an occasion that was supposed to be such an important step for our country, people gushing left and right about how momentous the whole thing was. People around the world were watching yesterday. We were moving forward, and making history. And some of those "ugly Americans" proved that we are exactly what other countries already believe we are.

I know it wasn't the majority booing. But it wasn't just a scattered few either. And any citizen of our country who was in that crowd yesterday was a representative for our nation in front of the world.

All of this talk of hope and change - none of that can take place if people are incapable of even basic human decency for goodness sake. Makes me wonder if some of us are actually ready for change after all.

**Edited to add - I said Thank You.

My house

Br-r-r ... I've been saying that a lot lately, haven't I? I took these pics before leaving for work this morning.

A better view -

On the other hand, when I left work to come home tonight - it wasn't dark! So I guess we're crossing to the other side. (pleasepleasepleaseplease)

Maxine Monday

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… and it feels good.

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What the . . . ?

You know how you know when something in your house just isn't right? I came home from work yesterday and 2 of the 3 doors to the outside were unlocked. That's weird. My son is a rule-follower. He leaves the house he locks the house. Period. And he wasn't home. So fine, he must have been in a hurry, but I was still shaking my head.

Once in the house I noticed a can of Diet Pepsi on the kitchen counter. A full, unopened can. My BF arrived about the same time I did so I asked if he had left the pop there. No, he hadn't. And it wasn't really cold either. Again, weird. But - whatever.

I went to my bedroom to change my clothes and happened to notice as I walked past a bookcase in the hallway, that a blanket that my daughter had so thoughtfully folded and tossed onto one of the lower shelves last time she was home, was no longer there. What the .. ? I glanced into her room and the blanket had been tossed in there, onto the floor in a little bundle. I started to think I was losing what little of my mind I have left. I mean, who notices little things like a moved blanket and a can of pop on the kitchen counter? It's not like there aren't a million other things on that counter.

Later in the evening I saw something on the carpet. I looked closer and realized it looked like one of the cats had puked and someone had cleaned it up. Not well, but none-the-less. Now, I know my son. He will only clean up cat puke if he steps in it (sometimes not even then) and never if it is not in his immediate path. He may see it in another part of a room - but if there is no chance he will be stepping over it - he keeps his blinders on. So who the heck cleaned that up?

Andy came home shortly after that and I started asking him questions so they would stop rattling around in my brain. Yes, he did lock the doors when he left. No, he didn't leave any pop on the counter. I would ask him a question and walk away. A couple minutes later I would go to the back of the house and ask him something else "hey, did you clean up cat puke today?" No, he didn't do that either. He was starting to look at me in a really strange way and I was saying to him "it's just so strange. I mean, I know no one broke into our house. People don't come into a stranger's house and clean up cat puke ... " and I walked away again scratching my head.

Finally when I approached him one more time with the question "oh, would there be any reason you would move Dani's blanket from the bookcase .. " "SHE DID IT!" he blurted. I was startled. "What?" Blink. "Who?" "Dani. She was here! Don't tell her I told you!" Oh. My. God.

Turns out my daughter had given her boyfriend tickets to see Blue Man Group for his birthday. It was kind of a last minute thing but they drove the 4 and a half, 5 hours up here, and stopped at the house before heading downtown. It was only after they got to the house that Dani realized they wouldn't be able to wait for me to get home from work to see me before the show, and when it was over they needed to leave right away to drive the 4 to 5 hours back. So my daughter in her infinite wisdom decided it would be better if I didn't know they had been here at all. I wouldn't need to know she had been in town and hadn't visited her mom.

Silly girl.

I called her today and said "Did you really think I wouldn't notice the doors all unlocked, the pop on the counter, the cat puke cleaned up and the blanket tossed into your room?" She knew I wasn't mad and she totally saved herself with "Well if it makes any difference I felt really bad being at the house when you weren't there and I missed you." Aww-w-w ...

And I felt totally better knowing that I didn't have a weird intruder who cleaned up cat puke and moved blankets, AND - I wasn't imagining things either. Whew! Dodged another dementia bullet.

I've got that going for me. And that's important.

Off to get the laundry out of the dryer.

No, I didn't forget to put the stockings away, I just miss Christmas and all the decorations already. But yes, these have been boxed up and put away for next year.

And here, on my cluttered kitchen counter, with fun-fetti forced into the frozen frosting on top and smoking candles - is the cake. THE cake. Isn't it sad? It's the first time one of my kids did not have their name on their cake (it was melting) and the first time one of my birthday cakes has ever looked even close to inedible. It's also the first time I did not put all the candles on one of their birthday cakes as well, but the time element and closeness of fire (warmth) seemed prohibitive. While I learned a lot about what NOT to do if I attempt an ice cream cake again, and it looked downright nasty, it tasted fabulous! Chocolate cake with Fannie May mint melt-away ice cream. Mmm-m-m...

This is what I have been doing the last two days. Going through beads and sorting the good stuff from the not-so-good - threw a lot out and organized a lot. Discovered there were beads I bought more than once because I couldn't find the ones I already had. Mostly spacer beads and stuff. But - I will be organized soon!

Oh, and the snow? I'm not sure how much we actually got, but they are predicting more tomorrow when I AM going to work. And this is my car in the deep freeze - if you look close there is even a layer of ice across the grill. If I were smart I would have warmed it up and cleaned it off when the sun was shining this afternoon, right? Not that smart.

Br-r-r-r-r!!!!

At work people know I have the uncanny ability to already have the day off when stuff happens. :)

Blizzard Warning for Cook County, IL

Issued by The National Weather Service
Chicago, IL
3:40 pm CST, Mon., Jan. 12, 2009

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT. A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ALSO ISSUED A BLIZZARD WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

IN ADDITION... ARCTIC AIR MOVING INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO PRODUCE BITTER WIND CHILLS OF 15 BELOW TO 20 BELOW TUESDAY MORNING.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

More Information

... BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING...

.A STRONG WINTER STORM SYSTEM IS MOVING INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA THIS EVENING. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED TONIGHT FROM THIS STORM... WITH TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS FAR NORTHERN ILLINOIS... AND 1 TO 3 INCHES ELSEWHERE. AS THE LOW MOVES EAST THIS EVENING... STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTING TO 35 MPH WILL DEVELOP WHICH WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND POSSIBLY BLIZZARD OR NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING WITH WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES OF LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF A MILE.

So yeah, I'm cozy and warm. Be careful out there ya'll!

Maxine Monday

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Martha Stewart I'm not.

I have been somewhat MIA lately, messing with my new computer and dealing with a virus I downloaded from somewhere. Ugh that makes me mad! I think it's gone now though, after trying every kind of malware, spyware, adware, virus killer, stomper, demolisher out there. Holy cow, some kind of Trojan that was giving me pop-ups out of nowhere. Made me nuts. At least the pop-ups themselves weren't obscene or anything.

Yesterday was my son's TWENTY FIFTH birthday, WHEN did he get that old??? But, he had to work so we decided to "do" his birthday today. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to make him a special *cough* cake. It's only him and me, my daughter is back at school. And since Andy will normally have 1 piece of birthday cake and then concentrate on the ice cream for the rest of the week, I decided I would make him an ice cream cake! That way he would actually help finish off the cake instead of leaving it all for me. Oh yes I would. Nothing better on the weekend than a piece of birthday cake for breakfast!

All I can say is that the next time I attempt to combine baked goods with frozen ingredients, I will not make a round layered thing. Maybe a sheet cake that remains in the pan. I baked the 2 chocolate cake layers last night. Formed the mint ice cream layer last night as well, popped it into the freezer to harden. I'm thinking I should have frozen the cake layers as well. A little while ago I thought I would give the assembly of said ice cream cake a go. It could have been an I Love Lucy episode.

I frosted the bottom layer - might have been a bad idea. Frosting is slippery. Didn't think of this. Frosted the top layer on a piece of wax paper so it would be ready to pop on top. Took out the ice cream layer, carefully unwrapped it and placed it on top of the bottom layer, placed the top layer on top of the ice cream, and voila! Right? Not exactly.

I decided I should try to frost the ice cream layer - I could do it reallyreally fast and maybe it would stick. Uh huh. NOT. Not only wasn't the frosting sticking to the ice cream, but the top 2 layers started sliding off the bottom layer. I would push it back one way and it would try to slide off the other way. The only thing left for me to do was to freeze the whole kit 'n kaboodle and hope it all held together in the end.

No room in my freezer for that - so now Andy's cake is freezing (hopefully solid) in a tupperware cake-safe in the garage, with a Samsonite cosmetic case sitting on top of it to make sure it's safe. I'm hoping there aren't any critters at all in my garage but you never know. Took me a minute or 2 to find a spot in the garage that was actually level but as I walked away all layers were in their appointed places. Cross your fingers for me. It's 26 degrees outside and the temps will be dropping lower than that soon, and it will be at least 5 hours before I need to actually cut the cake. Maybe time is on my side.

I can only hope, right? I'll let you know how it turns out. Um. . . I doubt there will be pictures.

.. how lovely are your branches ..

Okay, so my tree is still up. It is - and I like it. I AM going to take it down, I actually even went out to the garage a few minutes ago to get the boxes - uh ... I just remembered I didn't get the box for the tree itself. Hmm. Well, I'll get that later. I was going to take the tree down over the weekend but - I just didn't. Last night I was SO tired when I got home from work that I went to bed at 8:00pm to "watch TV". (obviously didn't take the tree down then.) I think I fell asleep right away and next thing you know it was 1:30am and I was wide awake. (THAT'S when I should have worked on the tree!!) So then I DID watch TV. I kept trying to go back to sleep but my body wasn't having any of it till oh ... about 5:00am when I had to get up at 7:00-ish. UGH-h-h.

So - I am dragging today but I think I am the last house on the street with a lit Christmas tree in the window and doggone if it doesn't look FABULOUS!!! But it's time to take it down. So sad, I always miss it when it's gone.

However - I have set some goals for myself having to do with getting my beading back up and going, and still having the tree up just doesn't quite jive with the other things I need to do. It's too bad because it's the only time of year you can get away with sticking something in the middle of your house that you cover with lights and sparkly stuff and decorate with all manner of things. There is no other venue for that kind of shiny, fun, excess. But, it comes down. Tonight.

Maxine Monday

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A few things I like ..

A funny thing happened after I mentioned Windows Live Writer on my blog. I was messing with it and I was trying to find what benefit it would have for me to post from there instead of posting directly from Blogger.

I got an email from one of the developers at Microsoft. I know, right?

He asked me what I didn’t like about Live Writer and what would make it better for the next version. He also gave me some links to some tutorials so I could see more of what it can do. I actually found it all very interesting.

I am going to continue to mess with is to see if it is just my resistance to change that makes it hard for me to accept or if it really isn’t for me. It does have that cross out strike thru feature that Blogger doesn’t have, and God knows that’s something I can make good use of. And you can set it up so you can post on one blog, and switch over and post on a different one – all from the same spot.

One thing I do like and I have been using, is that you can post pictures by copying and pasting or just by freaking dragging a picture from a folder or someplace! That alone was enough to get me to take a second look. And another cool feature – you can do a watermark right there on your post – no problem.

I’m not sure how people who use watermarks normally do it, but this is ridiculously easy. You can also put a frame around your picture, do the shadow like I did on this one and you can do some basic photo editing right on your post. That’s some cool stuff.

What I still don’t like is that if I actually hit publish from Live Writer it doesn’t keep my paragraphing. My paragraphing may not always be in the right places but I still want it where I put it. Still – I am going to save this post to draft on my blog so I can go in and edit it, make sure my paragraphs are in the right places and the font is right and I will publish from Blogger.

I’m wondering if some of my formatting doesn’t stay because my blog is not a Blogger template, but whatever. For me it depends on whether or not I am using pictures in a post or not. Right now. I am still exploring the other features because I like to fool with stuff. If you want to see more info you can go here, here, here or here. And no, Microsoft isn’t paying me.

Re-do

I've read a few blogs of people who would like to start the new year again due to bad ju-ju on the first or second day. Yeah, already. Thinking maybe I might want to join that group except I think I'd like to start the new year next week sometime. Would anybody out there object?

Cause really, my car shouldn't cost $700.00 to fix!!! I protest! That's puts really bad ju-ju out there for me for the rest of the year. I was going to count the car breaking down as bad luck on the last day of 2008, however the price of the repair is totally just as bad if not worse than sitting on the side of the road with your flashers on. And the repair is definitely in 2009.

Not liking this. Not liking this at all. Thank God for knights in shining armor.

Maxine - uh - NOT - ?

So yeah, I'm that smart. Spent a while searching my new computer see where I put my Maxine folders. Finally found them, picked a Maxine out and went to post it. Before I scheduled it for early in the morning tomorrow I decided against the one I had chosen and deleted it. Back to the folders again. Hmm-m. Which one, which one. Did a short Internet search for new Maxines. Yeah.


Not the brightest bulb, am I? Tomorrow happens to be Friday, not Monday. But for a good half hour or more - I thought it was Monday. Momentary lapses are one thing, but this time I just felt stooooopid!