Sorry To Neglect You Konabarbie Blog!

Today when I got on this blog I realized I haven't done a blog post since Tuesday. Apparently my half ironman training isn't the only thing getting neglected around here!

What can I say except it's been a really busy summer. I don't know exactly why it's been so busy, but it has been and it's flown by so fast. Tomorrow will be September already! Maybe I'll even do a new September yoga kitty pose blog post because it seems that I missed Ms. August's pose entirely.

I think.

Friday was yesterday so there's no fashion Friday this week. I totally missed it again! This is as much fashion as I can handle these days. As I was washing clothes the other day it seemed like everything was either work out wear or lounge wear, not really pj's, but close. Nothing I would wear in a public setting.

Thursday we went out to meet some friends who drove over from Daphne for dinner. I wore this Free People maxi dress that I love. I don't know how long it will last before either I wear it to threads or my cat, Cadence does a number to it with his paws. He is very talented at pulling threads with those sharp talons of his.

Dress:  Free People;  Purse: Coach; Necklace: purchased at an art show several years ago; Bracelet: old

It was a very pleasant evening. I tried a new drink similar to an Orange Julius. It was a delicious frozen concoction that tasted just like those orange and white dreamsicles. So delicious that I didn't even have time to get a picture before it disappeared. It was so rich and delectable that I decided I better not get sa second one so I chose the Chipotle Pineapple Mojoto.

Pineapple with a little bite and almost gone before I remembered to get a photo.

I also got a Strawberry Mango Mojito, but no photos because our friends had arrived and I don't know if they would understand the weirdness of taking food and drink photos that we bloggers tend to do. It was bad enough they had to suffer through cat stories. Luckily, they are cat people too and have four of their own so they understand. They even had their own cat stories. We shared photos of our four legged babies. Well at least I did. She had left her phone in the car so no photos.

I also didn't get a photo of the food, but I got the shrimp and grits and they got grouper sandwiches. The Murph chose very ice cold beer and lots of it! He got take out later at his favorite sports bar down the road.

Our view from the restaurant...

Phantom is doing good with all the chemo and holistic things he's on. He even has his own blog now. He just begged me for one so how could I resist? Click Here for his latest post about the Boy's visit.

We had to come to Birmingham this weekend and of course Phantom has to come too. He LOVES it because he is the "only"cat while we are here for the weekend and he gets ALL the attention. He's at my feet right this very minute as I'm typing this post listening to the jazz CD that the Murph has playing. Somebody named Paul Desmond who played with Dave Brubeck in "Take Five". Something I'm suppose to remember because I've heard it before, but I don't. The Murph rolls his eyes and says my cat has better taste in music than I do. I'm sure I would remember it if I heard it again. I hear jazz every single night so it's no wonder I'm confused about which CD is "Take Five".

The one we are listening to now is a very nice CD. Phantom loves the saxophone. Now if we could just get him to eat! He only eats when the other cats are around so they can't get any.

Saying Goodbye To The Pensacola Beach Observation Wheel

This was all that was left of the Pensacola Beach Observation Wheel a few days ago. It is being disassembled and moved to Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia. We never even got to ride in it. I guess many people didn't ride in it because lack of interest seems to be the reason it is moving. I also read that the owners were going to have to change out the lights because it was disrupting the nesting sea turtles. 

Guess they thought moving it would be wiser than changing out all the lights. I don't really understand why the sea turtles are attracted to the lights anyway. Seems like they would want more privacy as they lay their eggs. Or maybe it's the baby turtles who see the lights and want to go to the lights instead of the ocean because ferris wheels are just as much fun as swimming.

Does anybody really know?

I have to admit I have gotten use to seeing the wheel and I think it has been a great and unique attraction for Pensacola Beach. I sure hate to see it go!

The Dilemma

Last week we decided to spend a few days at the beach.  We were in a dilemma over what to do with our three cats. In the past when we had four cats, we locked two, Ed and Boo, upstairs in their room and let the other two, Phantom and Cadence, roam the rest of the house.

Now that Boo has died, we can't lock Ed upstairs all alone, but we have to keep him separated from Phantom.  The last time we went to the beach for a few days, we let Ed and Cadence have free roam of the house and locked Phantom downstairs in the Boy's area by himself.

He didn't like it one bit.

I just couldn't do it again so we decided to take Phantom with us to the beach this time and left Ed and Cadence home with a sitter coming a few times while we were gone to check on things.

 I guess you could say we rewarded Phantom's bad behavior by taking him with us where he would get soft food and snacks daily (while the other two only got them a couple of times) and Phantom would receive 100% of our attention, while the other two were left lonely, cold, and abandoned.  (Well, maybe not THAT abandoned.)

What we quickly came to realize was that Phantom LOVES being an only cat.  His entire behavior changed.  He even became more "kittenish" and wanted to play.  After all, he did have more time on his hands, um I mean paws, since he didn't have to guard the food and the litter box from the other two cats.

I can just imagine the other two cats after they realized Phantom was gone.  They would've high fived it if they could.

And Phantom was beyond joy.  He was all like "Woo Hoo!!  I'm on vacation!"

After rubbing all over everything and marking everything with his scent, he became very mellow.  He enjoyed the Boy's brief visit even though the Boy took over his bedroom.  Phantom just moved to our bed for a while.  No problem.

Now we are back home and things are back to "normal" for the cats.

Which means Phantom is already in time out for going after Ed.

Short Beach Visit

It's great to be back at the beach even if it's only for a couple of days.  The trip to New Jersey for my fiances' brother's funeral took top priority last week.   So sad since the Murph's brother was only 53 years old.  He was very obese and his body started shutting down.  Another good reason to exercise and stay fit.

Tomorrow we are heading to the University to pack my son up and bring him home for the summer.  I am so proud of him completing his first year of college with excellent grades.  I think he has been lonely this semester and is ready to come home for a while.  We've spent hours on the phone the past couple of months with the conversation ending when one of our cell phones die.  Then it's on to skype.

 Hopefully, he will find a job for the summer.

The weather at the coast has been cloudy with some rain and lightning.  Doesn't look like we are going to get any beach time.  It's still very relaxing to just be here.

I took these pictures yesterday.  Most were as we were coming across the bridges onto the island and as we were leaving for dinner in the evening.

Here's the freshly painted water tower on Pensacola Beach.  I've cut back on the amount of tap water I drink when I am on the island because I noticed whenever I am here I start having problems with swelling and inflammation under my toes, right on the joint, much like calcium deposits or gout.  It always flares up within two days of me being on the island and clears up immediately when I am back home.   The Murph says I don't have gout because it goes away too quickly and predictably.  The only thing different I do here is drink the water.  It is a mystery.

I am very happy that my toenails are finally growing back.  I lost both nails from my big toes last November after I ran the Pensacola Marathon.  Growing them back has been a slow process.  I can only imagine what my pedicurists think when they see my feet.   They usually take one look at all the callouses and now my lack of toenails and start talking to each other in Vietnamese.  It can't be good... 

Sephora by OPI nail color

The Murph patiently letting me take pictures when he's really ready to go get a beer.  His usual response to me when I hand him the camera to take a picture or I tell him to stand still so I can get a picture of him is "Ok, Blogger!"