"There are no ordinary cats." - Colette

This "little" girl brings me joy everyday.

Really, how can you not smile when you walk by and see this?

I'm sure she was saying,
"Please don't tell the kitten where to find me..."
I love my Spazzy Jazzy!

“The soul was never put in the body to stand still.” - John Webster

The tree is up. Finally. I delayed the set up because I thought Tik would destroy it. However, it hasn't happened. Thankfully.
However, Spazzy Jazzy has tried bringing the tree down a few times. Go here and check out her first Christmas tree experience. She is trying to recreate it, yet she can't because she is 'slightly' larger than she was three years ago. Notice in the photo above she looks very concerned about what Troy may be doing to "her" tree.
Perfect weekend - movies, baking, decorating, being lazy yet getting *stuff* done, "talking" to a dear friend for a bit (you know who you are!)...Love these low key weekends!

And...a big Happy Birthday to Tami in the Stone House! Hope your day was as wonderful as you are...and by the way the snow was my present to you (haha)!

"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." - Joshua J. Marine

Yesterday we had a wonderful Spring storm. It was, for awhile, what Pooh may refer to as a blustery day. One of my favorite things about Spring is the lilacs. I think I inherited this love from my step-dad. What a wonderful thing to inherit. There is nothing more scrumptious than lilacs. So, yesterday when I stepped out back to cut a bunch for a few vases I snapped (a lot of) pictures. I am sure there will be more. I love the picture above though for the beauty of the lilacs and the ominous clouds that caught me in a down pour as I continued to take photos and cut flowers.
The girls were trying to decide if they liked these new flowers that were taking up precious counter space. (Ellie May, above; Spazzy Jazzy, below).
So, here's to Spring storms and the beauty of lilacs. Happy May friends!

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? Christmas came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” —Dr. Seuss

Food. Family. Presents. Laughter. Christmas may have come, but it is not gone. We enjoyed a big lunch with my family yesterday - a nice, relaxed afternoon of Christmas cheer. It is the day after Christmas and we are expecting family in a few hours. Troy's parents are on their way...Yay!

Our very own Cat in the Hat...or Rapper Spazzy Jazzy (you can pick)!
Isn't she adorable?

We woke up Christmas morning to many inches of new snow, which meant we needed to shovel (again).

I know there is a Jetta under there somewhere.

“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.” - Jeff Valdez

It is "oh so sad" at our house right now. The girls (aka Ellie May and Jazz) do not enjoy the snow. It was bad enough when it was just cold. They didn't like that, but this horrible, wet, white stuff is just too much for our sweet cats to stand.

Jazz spends a lot of her days sitting on a chair (so she can see over the drift) alternately looking outside and at the door nob (or in this case the door handle). When she wants out she goes to a door and just looks at the handle. If that doesn't work, you know, like...when no one is in the room, she will cry - not meow, but cry. It is sweet and sad at the same time. She has spent a lot of time crying this week. She wants out so bad.

See? She wants me to make the snow go away. I think she would even ask please if she could. Her little face is so sweet...she just wants to go OUT!

In between asking to be let out, then recoiling from the nasty that meets her when the door is opened and checking all the windows for snow around the house...Ellie May has become a tad depressed. She has been asking less and less to be let out and has been spending more time right here on Archer's bed asleep (probably hoping that when she wakes up the snow will be gone).
Poor girls. Too bad they don't like cocoa and Christmas movies...

friday.

This "week in my life" project is really fun. Even when I don't take the pictures I mean to take just slowing down and really thinking about the little things has been such a blessing this week.

Today was all about home. I put on my iTunes play list (an eclectic assortment of music) and cleaned away...with the aid of coffee of course. I'm getting the house in order. Cleaning. Purging. Organizing. Enjoying. Troy and I seem to do our "spring cleaning" in the fall/winter months - saves the spring for enjoying the rain and sunshine...My first cup of coffee for the day. Checking emails, facebook, twittering, and cruising blogs before the real work starts.
There has been a lot of change in my daily life this (school) year. I'm not teaching this year. I am doing academic testing for special education referrals and a little subbing along with my cemetery work and volunteering at the museum. The thing is I don't have a set daily schedule and I like that, however on days that I'm not "working" I can get a little restless. And then on the days I do work I can feel a little out of control. One of the tools I implement, mostly for myself, is a week calendar. I love it. I write down my jobs then fill in "to-dos" on other days. I used this kind of calendar for the family when I was working/going to school - it helped with knowing who was where and when. Anyway I am adjusting to my new "schedule" fairly well and enjoying the flexibility.

Another cup of coffee. Look at the pretty cream swirls. One of the main reasons I like cream. No, just kidding...I like just a tad bit of flavor. Loving right now: Coffee-Mate Italian Sweet Cream - not too sweet.

Our sweet Spazzy Jazzy all cuddled up. She is such a relaxed cat. We love her because we can scoop her up and cuddle her, carry her around, do all those things that little kids like to do with cats but usually can't. She would be a perfect little kid cat. Since we are like little kids in this house she is perfect for us. She loves to be "tucked in" when she is sleeping and usually doesn't mind if we wake her from a sound sleep to play a little. Such a good sport.
Really, tell me that isn't adorable. She woke up to play a bit with Troy, stretched out long enough for several pictures then curled back up and cuddled back in.

cute Thursday

I thought you may like a few "cute" pictures for this almost-Friday!

Um...CUTE! I found these little witch duckies when I was in Bellevue.
What happens sometimes is when you make orange hot chocolate and you look at the cute ducky sitting there just minding its own business is this. You think "now this ducky wants to swim in my orange hot chocolate" and the ducky says "take my picture." And you do because really if a rubber ducky talked to you you would probably do whatever it said. Which is how this cute picture came to be!
And the little ducky's friends they sometimes get sad because they are too big to go swimming in orange hot chocolate, but mostly they are happy. And when you look at them you are happy because...really...look at those faces!

(tall, standing lamp is my oldest Halloween decoration. He was my mom's and was a fixture at Halloween - my mom's favorite holiday. The pumpkin bucket was mine when I was a child. It still has my name, in my mom's handwriting on the bottom -love that! The mugs are adorable and from Starbucks last year.)

And then...You wake up on a chilly, September morning only to notice a sweet kitty looking longingly at you from outside the back door. You open the door because "oh poor kitty has been outside all night with the big bad nighttime outside scariness" and the kitty runs in eats and curls up on a chair and falls fast asleep. Then your son thinks she is so cute that he tucks her in before he leaves for school with his favorite fuzzy blanket (because she isn't fuzzy enough) and she sleeps and sleeps and sleeps (and has been for the past 3+ hours).
Sleep tight sweet kitten (who isn't a kitten anymore...but she is MY kitten so I can call her kitten if I want especially since she doesn't know her name...whatever!).

soaking in...

Last week Archer caught the girls (Ellie May & Jazz) soaking in the last bits of summer. They believe the chairs out back were put there for their comfort and really who am I to argue with these sweet faces? Let me tell you that they are not a bit happy about the onset of autumn. They don't feel quite the same about the changing of seasons as I do. Ellie May believes that water might make her melt (pretty tough for an outdoor cat) and Jazz is just confused by it all. Granted they have had a bit of rain this summer, however they never deal with it well.

(Ellie May, 9.5 years; Jazz aka Spazz 2 years)

What autumn and winter means for the humans in a cat house is cats who want to go outside soooooooo bad and when we open the door they will just look at us like we are nuts. They may venture out for a few minutes and need to come back in because it is wet and how dare we make them go outside in the wet! Sometimes they will even head for a different door with the hope that it won't be wet out that door...Poor kitties. Then, in an effort to amuse themselves they will run around our oh-so-big house playing chase...well...one will be playing chase and the other will just be mad. Oh the glory of living in a cat house.

good news & bits 'n pieces

The good news: The "real" computer (aka "big" and "mine") is ready for pick up (still under warranty for 27 days!)! Yay!

Bits 'n Pieces: 

• we have used zero throw-away water bottles in the last two weeks 
  
• my pumpkins are growing (after Spazz ate the blossoms off of them a few weeks ago I was a little concerned)
• the fireworks booth begins on Saturday - love the fun of fireworks, thankful we live somewhere we can still light them off
• I have a whole lot of pictures on my camera ready to come off and make their way onto a blog...
• I found Seventh Generation supplies (just a few, but some nonetheless) at the local Ace Hardware store
• going to see The Love Guru with Archer today
• hopefully a trip to Village Books is in the cards today. I have almost $4o.00 in VB money! I really want The Big Green Purse and something fun...Any ideas?

Happy Thursday! Enjoy the sun.

Here it is.

I have completed the clean on my side of the bed. As is typical Jerrie fashion when I decided it was time I took everything out of the corner, piled it on my bed (or moved it to the end of the bed), and vacuumed and dusted everything. Then seeing the pile of crap :) I didn't really want to clean anymore. I just wanted to go in the other room and take a nap...However, since all the crap was on my side of the bed and I couldn't go to bed until I moved it all I dug in.

First I went through the what is working, what isn't working, what I need right now, what I want in the future...

What is working? I had all my crap/stuff right by me. I like the little basket filled with lip balm and other beauty related items (finger nail clippers, files, lotion, Burts Bees cuticle cream...you get the idea).

What wasn't working? Um...I had all my crap/stuff right by me! Interesting conundrum isn't it? Already read magazines/books piled w/ unread magazines/books. Could never find a pen when I needed one...It was a mess!

What do I need right now? A place to keep all my library books together, a place for magazines to read and books I am currently reading, a spot for pens and post-its (as anyone who has ever borrowed a book you will know I LOVE my post-its while I read). What I did...I gathered a basket devoted to just library books (on my dresser) and one for magazines (on the red chair). I brought the cute trio of pots from on top of the kitchen cupboard that weren't being used to hold pens, post-its and other little stuff. I stole the red chair from the kitchen to hold the magazine basket (and there is a pillow under for Jazz to cuddle on). I stream-lined the books to books that a) I am currently reading, b) my Bible, c) a devotional.

So far I like it...It works for now...
What I want in the future? Oh let me dream...I soooooooo want a new (to me) dresser (one that has drawers that don't sag...preferably not press board), a new lamp (this one is fine and still somewhat new, but so boring), a new (to me) side table, oh a new bed would rock (but is low on my list), and I want to paint (but I HATE to paint so Lorinda needs to come out and paint!).

I know this picture is unrelated to the bedside cleaning, but here is Jazz who decided to climb in the tub. She loves water (namely the toilet) and has been fascinated by the tub for sometime...finally decided to take the plunge! Weird cat.

Snow Boys

Archer really wanted Calob to come over today - he wanted someone more fun than mom and dad to hang out with evidently! So, after much convincing I gave in and went to get Calob as his mom didn't want to get stuck in the alley - whatever. So, in my jammies (I said it was jammie day) I braved the streets and the other drivers so the boys could hang out.

They went out to build a snow fort (and throw a couple snow balls). I, while I love the snow and snow days, do not enjoy being outdoors in the snow. I usually only venture out to take a few pictures and occasionaly pick up or drop off a kid.



And the cats finally mellowed out enough to slumber their way through the day. Ellie May is quite upset about the snow - she really wants to go out, but this snow is making it difficult. Jazz has been sleeping most of the day with a few moments of being tempted outside, but stopping short when feeling the snow on her paw. And Horton...Horton isn't really interested in the snow as he is a fully indoor cat (oh, he does like an occasional jaunt out with us in nice weather, but that is unusual)...He has been sleeping the day away.


By the way - I did finish cleaning my room - picture to come! :)

addicts.

These girls were going crazy for the nip last night which is evidenced by these photos of them sticking their heads IN the container. Jazz would stick her paw in and try to scoop some out as well. Yikes. They were mad for the nip. Horton, who has much more manners than these two didn't attempt putting his head in the container, he just waited for Troy to hand it out. Troy is the nip-dealer. They loved him after (of course)!

Lovin' her life

Jazz loves her life right now. Her absolute favorite place is under the Christmas tree. Not only can she play with the shiny balls (a tree with toys - fantastic!) but it is quite warm and I think it makes her feel like a big, bad outdoor-type cat! She is going to be so sad when the tree comes down this weekend. Sorry Jazz! Cheryl and the kids came over today and while here Cheryl grabbed my camera and shot a few pictures of our sweet kitten! The pictures came out very nice (thanks Cheryl)!