Sweet Tea - Gotta Have It

My fav sweet tea

Ken and I usually do our grocery shopping on Friday or Saturday, but I'm already out of sweet tea which I have to have, so we went to the store today after our walk.  Ken doesn't really appreciate sweet tea and thinks I shouldn't drink it.  He thinks I am too obsessed with it and it's almost like a drug that makes me way to hyper for him to handle.  Ha! Ha!   He doesn't even recognize his refrigerator and pantry since I moved in.  His diet was way healthier than mine.  His idea of flax seed is this....ground up and added to his morning smoothie....

Mine is this...  right after I've had a couple of handfuls of chips and always accompanied by a glass of sweet tea in the largest glass I can find...

I go from eating something salty such as pretzels, crackers and potato chips, right to something sweet, usually cookies.  This amuses him.  Salty, sweet, salty, sweet.  This process goes on for most of the day.  Ken always has a grocery list when he goes to the store and he use to tell me to "just add what I wanted/needed to the list."  This didn't work for me because I don't know what I want or need until I get to the store.  It's usually Cape Cod Chips, some sort of cookies, crackers, cheese, bananas, power bars, fitness water, etc.  I have my favorite brands and I usually stick with them.  Now he just lists my stuff under "Barbie's (insert my real name here) Crap".

My crap includes, but isn't limited to some of these items....

Whenever Ken starts up on me about the sweet tea drinking, I come back on him about his beer drinking.  Ken's "crap" always includes these items....brands vary, but never, ever include Budweiser, Miller and most of the other domestic beers.  He's kind of a beer snob....

It's been over a year now and I'm still a sweet tea drinking, cookie eating Southern Gal and he's still my "piss drunk Irishman". ( I heard that expression once and thought it was funny so I use it on Ken since he's Irish even if he's not usually piss drunk.)   I told him if he wants me to give up my sweet tea then he's going to have to give up his beer.  I think I can safely say I'll be drinking sweet tea for a long, long time.

Found this and thought it was funny -Kamakura house and Maru.-

Sulking

Boo took over the cat climbing tree today, Cadence's favorite spot to hang out.   The top where Cadence usually sits was vacant, but Cadence wouldn't jump over Boo to get up there.

Boo loved it.  He hung out on the climbing tree most of the day today, looking at birds out the window.   At first I thought Cadence and Boo would get along and hang out together on the tree watching the birds together.  But, oh no, not Cadence.

Instead he ran downstairs and jumped on The Boy's bed and hung out down there sulking for most of the day.  He wouldn't even let me pet him.  He ignored me.  He ran away from Ken.  He tried to bite my hand when I got near him.

 Sulking...

 Sulking....  and maybe a little hint of a stink eye......

 More Sulking........

Then the "how dare you let Boo climb on my climbing tree" look.....

Conspiracy

Today I actually got up at 4:30 a.m to do a long run with the Running Nazi and another friend, who I will call "Ms. Harry Potter" or just Ms. Harry for short.  Ms Harry is actually a female, but she is obsessed with Harry Potter books, movies, etc so that's what The Running Nazi's hubby, Mr. Running Nazi calls her, so that's good enough for me.  I was rather proud of myself for this increasingly rare act of  training discipline.  Once upon a time, I was very anal about my training plan, but now I rarely have a training plan to get anal about.  These days that's the way I prefer it.

This morning there was a very large group of runners, who are training for a local marathon/1/2 marathon and today they were running the marathon course which is two 13.1 mile loops.  The group was meeting at 6:30 a.m. and some were doing the entire 13.1 mile loop (the marathoners) and some were doing an 8 mile loop (the half marathoners).  We decided to park about 3 miles away and run to where the group was starting, run the 13.1 mile loop with them, then run back the 3 miles to our car and then add another mile to run a total of 20 miles in all.  The Running Nazi and I are training for a later marathon than this one so we needed the 20 miler.   Their marathon is in two weeks so this group was tapering.

Initially, The Running Nazi and I were going to park where the training group was meeting and start with them to do the loop and then add on later.  Yesterday, I receive a text from the Nazi saying that there was a "large" group of runners doing 20 miles and they were meeting down the road at some mysterious church, the place changed twice before it was decided.  I had my suspicions.  Was this just another ploy of The Nazi to get me out a little further away from the group so if I changed my mind and got to my car I wouldn't be able to just quit at 13 miles and head home for coffee and a biscuit?  I would have to actually run the extra miles to the car at this church where the "large" group of 20 mile runners were supposedly meeting instead.  Also, this was 5:30 in the morning and it was still dark and we were meeting in an area that I feel isn't the safest.  It's kind of creepy when it's dark, but it's near Ms. Harry's apartment and I also think that she prefers to run from her apartment rather than drive somewhere.  Besides, she and the Nazi love running from there think the area is safe and that I'm just being a paranoid baby.

The Nazi already knows I don't care to run in this area of town alone, early in the morning, when it's still dark or with just the 3 of us women running alone, in the dark, at an ungodly hour.  Did I say it was dark?  I didn't like parking my car there and leaving it either.  Before I could even protest the place or the hour, The Nazi offered to pick me up and drive me to the meeting place and assured me that there was going to be a lot of people at this church to run with us.  I asked her how many people, who they were,  names, addresses, social security numbers (just joking on the last three).  She didn't know, but Ms. Harry assured her that there was going to be A LOT of people.

I reluctantly agreed, but had serious doubts about it all.

The Nazi picked me up and we headed to the church to meet the large 20 miler group near Ms. Harry's place.  We get there, it's pitch black, the place looks deserted, no runners at the church.  Surprise!  We park and see Ms. Harry running toward us.  She tells us to come on and we'll just keep running on by the church if we don't see anybody there.  NOBODY was there.  It was dark, it was creepy.   We had 3 miles to run, in the dark, all alone, to get to where the real large group of runners were beginning.  I'm looking around for thugs, crazy people, rabid dogs, who knows what could be out there in the dark around the corner to grab us.

It's barely 6 a.m and I am out of my cozy bed where I would've been snuggling next to Ken with little Cadence curled up next to me, purring and instead I am in the freezing cold, dark, scary streets running with a Running Nazi and Ms. Harry Potter, who I am starting to suspect to be two crazy nut cases.  These crazies were running and chit chatting like they were having the best time, catching up, girl talk and I'm looking around, thinking we were going to get mugged any minute, even though all I had on me was some chap stick and a couple GU.

When we finally got to the place where the REAL large group was starting, I was extremely happy.  I can't begin to tell you how happy I was.  Civilization!   I told The Running Nazi I was going to blog bad things about her.  Not to mention the fact that she kept trying to add more miles to our 20 miler.  I was keeping count of the mileage though.  If not we would've run 24 or 25 miles today.  She said she really, really, really didn't know that nobody would show up for the 20 miler.  That Ms. Harry had told her there was going to be people running with us.  A LOT of them.  I have my doubts.  Now I think The Nazi and Ms. Harry have a conspiracy going to get me up to run at ungodly hours just to scare the shit out of me.  I'm onto them now.

Mood Indigo - Atlanta

Fox Theater 

The past couple of days, Ken and I have been in Atlanta to attend a seminar and to look around at real estate.   Atlanta is a city on our short list of places we'd like to move since there's a good possibility of finding jobs there.  The reason we went to Atlanta, however, was to attend a seminar on a franchise we are interested in starting up together near the coast.  There are three franchise opportunities we are looking into opening, not in Atlanta, but down near the coast.  If we move to Atlanta, it will only be for a job, not to start a franchise.  The franchise idea came up because we both want to move to the coast, but there's not a lot of job opportunities down there.  Surprise!   Starting a franchise would probably be our only option if we want to be able to earn a living down there.

We have narrowed our list of cities we are considering moving to down to about five, one is to just stay where we are for 5 to 10 more years and get a job or open a franchise of some sort here.   Only my mom likes that option.  Ken and I are ready to move somewhere different.  Sorry mom!

We always try to pack lightly...

We were in Atlanta two nights, with one night at a hotel near the airport for the seminar.  The other night we stayed at a really cool, but sort of small, hotel in Midtown Atlanta called Hotel Indigo.  My first impression was that I had somehow become trapped inside a Pottery Barn catalog.  We had a huge mural on the wall behind our bed that looked like a giant knit sweater or blanket.   I felt that at any moment it was about to fall off the wall and smother us.  The floor was imitation hardwood instead of carpet.  That was different.   The hotel is in a building built in the 1920's or 30's.  Guess that's explains the small room.

Cozy room, very comfy bed

Weird "sweater" mural behind bed

Reminds me of something you would find in a seaside cottage

Very Beachy

The lobby, bar area and sitting areas were really cool.  I loved the pink accents and especially the pink chairs and chandeliers.  The walls were cool too.  The hotel is right across the street from the Fox Theatre and so the hotel walls in the lobby area had a movie ticket, movie type theme.  Really cool.  For extra safety they even had a "guard dog" patrolling the area.  A cute little Jack Russell terrier.

Love the Chandeliers

Love the colors and the walls in this area.

Love this pink chair!

Pink!

The bathroom was way to small for us though.  We need room to spread out, especially me, but Ken needs his privacy too.  Also, whenever one of us flushed the commode it made a really loud noise at the end that sounded like a cruise ship horn blowing.  We kept thinking we were heading out to sea.  This really amused me for a while and I kept flushing the commode just to hear the noise.  I'm easily amused.

Beware!  Flush at your own risk.....

                   

 

Old Commercials And Rock em Sock em Robot Kitties

I took this picture of Ed and Boo playing, but then it got a little out of hand when Boo got ticked off.  Reminds me of the rockem sockem robots that my little brother had as a kid....  I was waiting for Ed's head to pop up at any time.....

Sharing

Boo carries this red and white Santa cat toy around everywhere he goes.  The wild hair doll next to it, he usually drops in different spots near where ever I happen to be sitting.  The doll has one arm, one leg and a rat's nest in her hair.  Boo's been carrying it around in his mouth for at least 12 years.  It was his first toy, leftover from when The Girl (Ken's daughter) out grew it many years ago.  Now Boo enjoys "sharing" the doll with me.

New Mattress Adventure

No, the mattress adventure is nothing rated X or anything.  (maybe rated PG-13 for the drama)  Sorry!  The mattress adventure started today when Macy's delivered our new mattress and box springs and took away our old ones.  Anybody who has cats and are familiar with where they like to hide should know where this story's going.


We have needed a new mattress for some time now.  When I moved in with the Murph, we decided to use my bedroom furniture which has a king size bed instead of his queen size one.  The mattress was so old I don't even remember when it was bought and for some reason I'm thinking it might have been a hand me down mattress from my exe's parents back when I was married.  This could mean the mattress was for sure older than 10 years old and could possibly even be 20 years old, but I'd like to think it wasn't that old.  However old it might be, one thing I do know is that it was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever slept on in my life, including air mattress and tent floors back in the camping days when I was much younger.

When the Murph and I were in Hawaii last June, we stayed at the Four Seasons Resort in Maui and decided the mattress on the bed in our hotel room was heavenly.   Before we left, we took the sheets off to discover what kind of mattress it was so we could purchase one just like it when we got back home.  Sterne's and Foster pillow top plush.  We made a pact that when we got home we were going to order one.  Once home, however, we had a couple of unplanned expenses and so we put off the purchase until a couple of weeks ago.  My back was starting to protest the old mattress and I swear I would lie awake sleepless at night and occasionally hear a ping ping noise coming from deep in the box spring.  I think the springs were slowly collapsing.   Or maybe it was one of the cats crawling around up in the box spring.  It was Cadence's favorite hiding spot.

Easy to find Boo

So today, when the doorbell rang, all four cats scatter to their favorite hiding spots.  I knew right away where Boo and Phantom were.  They are just too large to crawl into very small spaces and so are easily found.  I didn't really think about Cadence being up inside the box springs because I thought he would be scared when the delivery men walked into the bedroom.  The delivery guys wrapped the old mattress and box springs in plastic and put them in the back of the truck.  I was checking out the new mattress (rolling around on it to be exact) when it suddenly hit me.  Where was Cadence??  I checked his other hiding places quickly and he wasn't there.  Terrified, I ran outside to the delivery guys who luckily hadn't left yet and told them I thought my cat might be in the truck inside the box springs.  The guys looked at me like I was nuts, but one of them went back inside the truck and felt around the outside of the box springs, shook them and said he didn't think the cat was there.  He said he thought he would've been able to tell if there was a cat inside.  I was doubtful, but took his word for it.  There wasn't much I could do.

Don't know what I'm going to do with little Cadence!

I went back inside the house as they left to head back to Atlanta and began searching for Cadence.  I spent the next hour pretty much on my hands and knees crawling around looking under all the furniture and feeling up inside the springs of all our couches and chairs upstairs in Ed and Boo's area and downstairs in The Boy's area and every place in between.  I even went outside calling and looking around just in case he was in the box spring and jumped out as they were carrying it outside.  Eventually, Ed, Boo and Phantom were all accounted for, but still no Cadence.   I called the delivery guys and left a message to please check the box springs again and pull the material off the back this time so that they could see up inside the frame.


Finally, when I was in total stressed out panic, covered in dust, kitty fur and god knows what else, who appears at my feet, but little Cadence.  I have no idea where he had hidden himself, but was so glad to see him I couldn't  reprimand him for ignoring my pleading calls.

And all this time I thought it was just The Boy taking years off my life!

Cadence making sure it's safe to come out

Maybe not safe, heading back under cover!

Phantom slowly coming back out

Traumatic day for me and all the cats!

Taking Back My Ugg Boots

I had a rare opportunity today while Ed and Boo were "sunning' to take back my Uggs since they were finally off of them.  The Ugg Boots have a little extra "fur" than usual, but none the worse for wear.

Sorry guys!

All Laced Up

Today I wore these new Jeffrey Campbell lace up boots since my Uggs have been occupied and turned into a cat bed and are now covered in cat hair.  I really like these boots, but I have to say I have been very spoiled with pull on type boots (such as the Uggs and my cowboy boots) and it was a job to lace these babies up.   Phantom didn't help matters either as he tried to chase the laces and chew on them as I struggled to get them laced up.  I almost lost a couple of fingers with those fat paws and sharp teeth coming dangerously close.   Lacing these boots up would probably be much easier without the Jazz cat's help, but oh well,  he was having fun and I still have all my fingers and no scratches.

After all the trouble to get them laced up, I have to say they are really starting to grow on me.  They are really super cute and versatile since they are two-toned ( black and brown) and a great alternative to my Uggs and the cowboy boots.  Ken isn't all that crazy about my cowboy boots, but I do love my red ones.    

He only called me "prairie girl" twice, but thinks they are just too much trouble to get on and off.  (He saw me struggling to get them on with the help from Phantom).  They are very comfortable though and even fit well over my large calves, which are very muscular due unfortunately to way too much running and biking.  Once laced up, these boots are decidedly on the way to my fave list.

Caught

Should I just wrestle the boots out from under the cats??

I made the mistake of leaving my Ugg Boots in the living room where Ed and Boo like to hang out.  Now they've abandoned the pink chair in favor of my Uggs.  They've been on the boots for most of the weekend, at least it seems that way every time I go in there and attempt to put the boots away.   I'm sure the Uggs are nothing but hair balls by now.

I could tell you what our new name for these two are, but it's not very nice!

Boo even has his little Christmas doll nearby.

Hey!  Get off my boots!

Ed And Boo And The Antique Chair

Ed and Boo (Ken's cats) are the sweetest cats of the bunch.  The other two cats (mine) are little rascals.  When I moved in with my cats and all my furniture, Ken wanted to give this antique chair to charity.  We couldn't find any of our friends or family who would take it.  After seeing these two kitties always hanging out on this chair, their favorite, I refuse to give it away.

 Ken says, "It has to go!"

I say, "No!"

The chair and these cats have endeared themselves to me.  Besides the chair is my favorite color.  Pink!

Internet Mystery Solved

This morning the Internet kept going down for some "unexplained" reason.  I was on my laptop and Ken was on his desktop computer and suddenly, for no reason at all, the Internet was gone.  I thought it was just being slow at first, but I tried for 20 minutes to get back online.  Ken finally gave up and got dressed to go work out.  Finally, I went downstairs to The Boy's area where our wireless router is located and just turned everything off and then immediately back on.  I came back up and got on my laptop, but the Internet still wouldn't come back up.  Frustrated, I gave up and went to work out at the gym.

When I got home I had ten missed calls and a text message from The Boy demanding to know why his servers were down.  I called him back and said I don't know, but I would like to know why our Internet isn't working. (We had a feeling The Boy had something to do with it)   I told him what I did earlier and he said "Oh, my gosh! I can't believe you did that!  Don't turn things off unless you call me first."

Apparently, The Boy was backing up his laptop to the server he has downstairs and it took longer than what he thought it would.  Ten hours.  So when we got up this morning and logged on our computers, he was taking up space with his backup almost 300 miles away.  Needless to say, it took me over an hour on the phone with him while he guided me through what to do to get the Internet back up and running.  I told him to NEVER do that again in the morning when we are always using the Internet.  He said he would let me know if it took that long again.  I just got a call from him wanting to start the back up over again now, since I screwed up his back up last night when I shut everything off this morning.

I told him to wait an hour or so and that seemed to be all right with him.  I really need to know what's going on downstairs on all those server things.  He was laughing at me today because I couldn't even figure out how to use the wireless mouse.  It had more buttons and things than I'm use to.  It's kind of scary knowing that The Boy is in control of our Internet set up!  If we ever have a problem with it, I don't think even the cable company that we get the Internet service from would know what to do to get us back up and running.  Not to mention the noise coming from down there....

Dorm Rooms and Pillow Shams

Basic Bedding, no pillow shams

I tried to get some pictures of The Boy when we dropped him off at his dorm the other day.  He wasn't being very cooperative.  This is all I could get of him and his dorm room.  The dorm wasn't in extremely bad shape although I'm sure he doesn't get around to cleaning it very often and left it in somewhat of a mess when he came home for the holidays.  I was a little surprised that it wasn't worse though.  


The comforter we picked out for his dorm room last summer came with matching pillow shams.  Neither he nor The Murph really knew what use pillow shams were (they weren't really even sure what shams are until I explained it to them) and we didn't have enough pillows on his bed to use them anyway. The shams are still sitting on the dresser where I left them last August when we moved him into the dorm.  I really should get a couple of pillows for those things.  The Murph and The Boy love to make fun of the shams.  I guess shams aren't really a guy thing.  The Boy's bed at home has both regular pillows with shams and European pillows with shams. His bed probably has a total of 9 pillows if you count the decorative ones and he doesn't even realize he has pillow shams on some of his pillows.  If I ever get brave enough to go down to his room and make the bed, I will take pictures.  He has a really nice Ralph Lauren comforter and sheet set that are very masculine and perfect for a guy.   His dorm comforter is a plain, dark grey, basic comforter purchased at Kohl's with matching sheets and pillow shams, of course, unused for now.

The Boy, not wanting his picture taken

One more try....