Hauling Out The White Clothes and Shoes

 You can't open a door around here without this cat running out.  And I thought I could condition him to think that every time he gets out he would get a bath when he comes back inside.  He hates baths, but I still have some work to do to get him to make the connection.  Outside = Bath.

I think I can officially start wearing all my white dresses and shoes now that it's after Easter.  I never wait until Memorial Day.  It's already hot here in the south.   I wear white year round except shoes and summery dresses like the one I'm wearing here.  I chose to wear pink Tory Burch sandals today though instead of white ones.  I thought a contrast would be better.

This is one of my favorite white Free People Dresses.  See Phantom trying to get past me to run down the steps and off the porch.  Don't worry, he didn't make it past my leg.  I'm faster.  I love his tuxedo!

While I was running errands today I stopped in Lululemon's and spent way to much on athletic wear.  I don't feel too bad about it since I wear work out clothing everyday for almost the entire day, except going out or sleeping.  My friend at styleodyssey.blogspot.com turned me on to them when she was visiting over Christmas holidays.  She warned me that I would get addicted and there would be no turning back.  She was right!  I love it and I'm not getting paid to say that.

Even the Lululemon bags are way cool.  Or should I say "Hip".

Getting Along

This is Cadence (at the top of the climbing tree) and Ed and Boo sharing the window yesterday.  No biting, scratching, hitting on the head with paws just getting along nicely.  Brotherly love in recognition of the Easter holiday.

Hipster Kitty

See more on Know Your Meme

The Boy sent me a link to this Hipster Kitty meme website last night after I wrote this post about him...
http://konabarbie.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-eggs-herbs-and-omg-i-failed.html

He also meows at me when he's around and pretends to be a cat so now my new name for him is going to be Hipster Kitty.  He has constantly reminded me over the years that he is so not mainstream.  It started back in third grade when he refused to wear the GAP jeans I bought him.

  It continued through the years with his dislike of my mainstream music and clothing ideas.   I never understood how he could not like the Abercrombie and Fitch clothing I always bought for him.   There's hope for him though.  He wears Abercrombie and Fitch now and is more open to my other clothing suggestions.  I am still going to call him "Hipster Kitty".

Easter Eggs, Herbs And OMG I Failed!

What a day!  Internet was out for most of it and we had to get the cable guy out here.  He ended up running totally new cable because the old cable was all beat up (he said).  I felt sorry for him having to crawl through the scary place under the house to run the cable.  Lots of creepy crawlies down there.  Now the internet is much faster and WORKING!

While I was having withdrawals from not being able to get online,  I dyed Easter eggs and The Murph and I went to the store and bought some vegetables and herbs to plant in the garden.  I couldn't get The Murph to dye any eggs though.  He's too manly for that kind of girly stuff.

Here's some of the herbs we bought... (they are all legal)

I snuck some catnip in for the cats along with the other herbs.  The Murph doesn't spoil his cats like I spoil mine so he wouldn't have approved of the catnip if he had noticed.  I can spoil his cats along with mine though.  Catnip should not be legal from the way my cats act around it.

I was skyping with The Boy last night and he asked me if I would help him find some sources for a paper he had to write.  I try to discourage this and make him find his own sources, but if he can convince me how terribly busy he is and he's working on another paper, studying for a test, etc, then I will help him a little.  I told him that I might if I had time, but I was in the middle of something so don't depend on it.

Well, I was busy and totally forgot to find any sources for him so just now as I am sending him a message that our internet is back up and running he skypes me with this very dramatic, over the top message that goes something like this...


The Boy:  "WHY HAVENT YOU GIVEN ME ANY SOURCES

                 YOU FAILED

                 YOU

                 FAILED!!!!!!

                 OMG
                 WHY DIDNT YOU DO IT

                 DID YOU EVEN LOOK

                 I DONT EVEN THINK YOU LOOKED

                 OMFG

                 WHY??????????"

I know this is a bad thing for him to say to me (extremely disrespectful), but I cracked up.  I don't know why I thought it was so funny.  The Murph did NOT think it was funny at all.  

I skyped back to him...

Me:   "No,  I'm not a failure.  I graduated from college 25 years ago." 

I didn't even get a chance to say anything else about it or give him another lecture on being a responsible adult now that he's 19 years old because the drama king had already gotten over it.  Before I could say anything, he was trying to test his server (which is with us 250 miles away from him in his bedroom)  to see if our new internet connection was any stronger than the old one.  

He says it's not.

I should send him some eggs.

The Not So Great Baby Chick Idea

I had this really, really great idea to surprise The Murph this year with a few baby chicks for Easter.  I thought wouldn't it be great to have our very own egg laying chickens so we could have healthy organic fresh eggs to eat.  Sure we live in a subdivision, not out in the country, but so what.  Every year The Murph has a little spot in his yard where he has a little vegetable garden.  We also planted several different types of herbs last year, so wouldn't it be great to throw in a few chickens and build a chicken coop behind the garden and have fresh eggs as well?

I researched all about it on the internet, found a hatchery that ships 1 day old baby chicks in small quantities (I was going to order 5) in a mixture of white egg layers and brown egg layers.  I found out what you would need to take care of the baby chicks until they got big enough to put out in the yard and was ready to buy a starter kit which included a heat lamp, feeder, waterer, and starter food.  

I even found a really cute place that makes "green" chicken coops that look like an English estate, made of recycled wood from old houses and approved by Martha Stewart.  I mean OMG MARTHA STEWART!  We have the absolute perfect place to put a coop in a separate fenced area in the back yard that was The Girl's play yard when she was little.  The baby chicks would even have an old swing set to play on.  

For the past several months I have really been getting excited about this chicken idea.  I even had names picked out for them depending on their individual personalities of course.  There would be little Tuula,  Sophia Grace,  Rosie, Angelina, Martha Claire...all great names for chickens I think.

So the other day when I am about to place the order, actually pulling out the credit card to make the payment, a sudden disturbing thought stops me.  

Are chickens even allowed in this golf course neighborhood community?  How would I found out?  

So I took a shot and googled the covenants for my neighborhood, not really expecting anything to come up on the internet, but there they were, right there at my fingertips, much like the baby chicken order.

I was extremely disappointed to discover that live poultry was NOT allowed in this neighborhood at all.       Absolutely forbidden.  Pit Bulls, deadly snakes and wild boar, perfectly acceptable, just NO chickens.  So much for fresh, organic, home grown eggs.  

I broke down and confessed to The Murph, told him all about my great idea for fresh eggs, but he didn't think the idea was so great.  The eggs at the the grocery store are perfectly fine with him he said and he's now very thankful for those neighborhood covenants.  Four cats are enough.

Too Old For An Easter Basket?

Every year since The Boy's been born,  I have given him an Easter basket full of various things depending on his changing interests through the years.  Now he's 19 years old and in college, but I still wanted to send him one this year.  It's a mom thing I guess.

Yesterday I went to the store and bought a little Easter basket, a bag of easter grass, jelly beans, assorted chocolate candies wrapped in shiny pastel Easter colors, gum, a chocolate bunny and a stuffed animal - a mommy chicken hugging her little baby chick.  I put this all together along with an Easter card that had a bunny picture and some of The Boy's other favorite snacks to send him as sort of an Easter/Care package.

The Murph humored me on this, but thinks that Easter baskets usually stop by the time children reach their teens.  I teased him that maybe his parents just didn't love him enough.  I think you're never too old for Christmas stockings or Easter baskets.

I tried to explain that I enjoy doing it every year and it's as much for me as it is for The Boy.  I don't expect him to jump up and down and get all excited when he opens up the box in his dorm room and pulls out a stuffed chicken and a little basket, but I do think he will enjoy the candy and the snacks.  Even though he'll probably roll his eyes at the other things, I just hope he knows I love him and am always thinking of him.

The UPS store is familiar with me and my little care packages by now.  They didn't think it was all that strange when I brought in the stuffed animal, basket and candy to send to The Boy, not even when The Murph pointed out that he's "only 19".

It's a sad day when your too old for an Easter basket.

World Autism Awareness Day

The month of April is World Autism Awareness month and today kicks it off with World Autism Awareness Day.  I have spent most of the afternoon reading autism news, blogs, articles, etc., anything related to Autism/Asperger's awareness.  It is so good that there is starting to be more information and support for families with children on the autism spectrum.  It is clear, however, that we still have a long way to go.

The Boy wasn't officially diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome until he was in 8th grade, yet looking back, all the signs were there.  I had never even heard about Asperger's or knew anyone who had it until he was diagnosed with it.  I knew something was wrong, but something related to autism was not even considered.   The Boy's dad and family mostly blamed bad parenting for the Boy's problems.  Bad parenting by me, of course.  I guess they considered the Boy's dad a "great" parent, but if that was the case then why didn't he step up to the plate and "correct" me if I was such a bad parent.  Are mom's always to blame?  I have to admit that I even started blaming myself and thought that maybe I was doing something wrong.  I began wearing myself ragged trying to be a better parent.

 The Boy was 10 years old when I filed for divorce from his father.  At that point, I started taking The Boy to a child psychologist.  The Boy's dad and I were fighting so much that I thought it probably wasn't a bad idea to get him into counseling.  I had tried to get him into counseling months before filing for divorce.  That didn't end up well when the psychologist asked The Boy who he liked better his mom or his dad.  When The Boy told his dad this, his dad hit the roof.  I suggested that next appointment, The Boy's dad come and we could get to the bottom of why this question was asked.  Needless to say, The Boy's dad got ugly and accusatory and the psychologist didn't have a chance to explain.  I just wanted to disappear.  I never made another appointment with him.

The new psychologist was a female child psychologist recommended through the court system.  She was very good and did help me in some of the more immediate problems I had with The Boy, such as getting him to sleep in his own bed and help during the stress of the divorce.  What I will never, ever understand is why, why, why did she not once see that The Boy had signs of Asperger's?  We saw her once or twice a month for five years.  It wasn't until The Boy was diagnosed with ADD and he was having stomach problems and withdrawal issues from his meds that the school advised me to take him to a psychiatrist to help coordinate his ADD meds.  This man, who we saw approximately once every 6 months for less than two years when he diagnosed The Boy with Asperger's.  Finally the answer!

It's difficult thinking of all the lost years The Boy could have had specific help for his diagnosis!  He fell through the cracks for so many years despite the school knowing something was wrong, me knowing something was wrong, my friends and other parents knowing something was wrong, but nobody know what that thing was.  That thing called Asperger's.

After the diagnosis I cried.  I was so relieved.  The Boy was relieved.  I know it must be hard and a blow for families to learn their child has an autism spectrum disorder when they are toddlers, but take my word for it, it's a blessing to know and to take action early than to not know and not get the help they need.  The Boy had had IEP's and speech therapy, but the diagnosis made him eligible for so much more of the help he needed.  Best of all it took "behavioral problem" out of the picture.   As a mom, I knew my son was NOT a behavioral problem.  Don't even get me started on that one!

 It was still tough.  There were always some teachers who didn't want to accommodate and The Boy's dad still doesn't think there was any problem other than that I suck as a parent.  I am just so thankful the there is such a strong Autism/Asperger's community out there getting the word out.  I hope no other parent goes through what I did.  Even if The Boy had been diagnosed when he was a preschooler, there was very little out there to help him in this state.  Now we have Mitchell's Place, which really helped The Boy when he was first diagnosed.  He attended a summer camp there and went on to do the after school program his freshman year of school.  

This is the fifth year for the annual World Autism Awareness Day and I am thrilled.  I hope it continues and helps educate the public and get the support and funding for the families, children and adults who are faced with autism every day.  I feel inspired to do whatever I can do to help get the word out.  There's no time for blame, only for action.

Hiding Place

 Cadence got sprayed with the water bottle Saturday for going after Ed and Boo.  He's not as aggressive as Phantom is with them so we don't lock him downstairs to sleep at night and he's free to roam and cause trouble.  He doesn't bite the other cats, but he has pretty mean claws despite the fact I try to keep them clipped.

Later, after I hadn't seen him in a while,  I looked all over for him in all his favorite places.  I walked past this cat box hiding place at least a dozen times and never noticed him inside the thing.  I never thought to look there because Cadence hasn't used it since he was a kitten.  Of course, he ignored me as he watched me walk past a dozen times calling his name.

Prosecco

I have been searching for a replacement drink for my usual margaritas.  I am trying to cut back on hard liquor.  A lot people I know stay away from tequila because they don't want to end up dancing on tables stripping their clothing off.  I never had this problem with tequila.  I handle it extremely well.  Really...  I do.  My other drink of choice when I'm not drinking a margarita is Riesling.  

Lately however, I have been drinking prosecco, an Italian sparkling white wine similar to champagne.   It is very light and works perfectly with cranberry and pomegranate juice.  I don't even miss the tequila. Last night the Murph and I met some friends at Satterfield's.  I decided to stick with a prosecco cocktail and got a drink called Strawberry Splash.  It had strawberries, balsamic, vanilla syrup, tarragon extract and prosecco.  Delicious!    My usual Satterfield cocktail is called The Royal Flirt and has vodka, fruit juice and prosecco.  It's not as sweet, but still very good.

I have cut back on alcohol and processed foods and snacks overall in an attempt to eat healthier.  We'll see how long it lasts.  At the grocery store today I told the Murph that I wasn't eating meat anymore.  He totally ignored me as he was picking out steaks and chicken and other dead animals in the meat department.  Then as I'm in mid sentence explaining why I've suddenly decided to become a vegetarian, he looks at me and says...

Murph:  "Are you ok on sandwich meats?"

Me:  "You're just totally not listening to me!"

Murph:  "No I'm not."  as he's tossing a big fat dead chicken in the cart

Me:  "I just said I'm not eating dead animals anymore."

Murph:  "We'll see how long that lasts." followed by a snort and some more bloody meat in the cart

The problem is he's right.  Becoming a vegetarian and not eating meat is about as tough as following a gluten free diet.  I tried gluten free once when the Boy had just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.  I read a book on gluten free diets for children with Austism or Aspergers and became inspired.  I spent a small fortune on "gluten free" items at the grocery store that ended up tasting like cardboard.  The Boy ate most of it without complaining too much and I tried to eat it because I felt if he had to go gluten free than I should too.  We went gluten free for less than a month before I broke down and ordered a pizza.  It's just tough. And I'm weak when it comes to food.  I ended up buying drinkable yogurt and giving the Boy one every day.  That seemed to help most of his stomach issues.  We didn't have to go lactose free.  Thank god for that.

As far as not eating meat, I've done pretty good so far.  Last night for dinner I had a cheese tray with some apple slices and bread at Satterfields.   No meat.  Today I had cereal for breakfast and for lunch the Murph "saved" me from eating meat by stealing the Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich that I had tucked away in the fridge.  He apologized and said he thought it was his sandwich.  All he left for me were the soggy curly fries.  

My Favorite Nail Color

Yesterday I got a much needed manicure and pedicure.  I really love this color nail polish and have been using it for a few of months now.  I purchased it at Sephora last year.  It's Sephora by OPI's "It's all about me".   This color matches almost all my pink clothing perfectly.  I use to do the french manicure pink and white acrylics.  It looks great and I like it much better than getting white tips, but it takes FOREVER.  I would do pink and white over white tips for a french manicure any day though if I was going for french. It's worth the extra time it takes.  Now that I'm not doing french nails anymore it takes at least an hour less to get them done.  It's hard for me to sit still long, especially when I'm getting a pedicure too.

My toes nails don't look so good right now.  One nail has come completely off from running the all marathons and half marathons over the winter.  My big toe looks a little black.  I had it painted over pink anyway, but it needs help.  I hope it doesn't look that way at the wedding this summer.  No pictures of them for now.

Ambiguities From The Boy

Yesterday evening I was sitting outside on the porch swing talking to the Boy on the phone and watching the sunset through the trees in our neighborhood.  It caught my attention because it was striking and looked like the trees were on fire.  I mentioned this amazing sunset to the Boy and he said the sun had already set where he was, which is only about 240 miles south of where I am.  I always thought that since he's directly south of me that it would get dark about the same time.

Now I didn't realize there was such a difference in sunset times between Birmingham and the coast.  I questioned him.

"Was he SURE it had set already?"

He said it was probably because he's at sea level and I'm at a higher elevation.  I had trouble believing him and questioned him again about just how dark it was there.  He said again that it was almost dark, but not totally dark.  Doubtful, I asked him again if the the sun had gone down.

He said  "YES! It had!!"

Perplexed and curious about this sunset mystery (I just got back from spending a week at the coast and didn't think the sunset times were any different there than here), I decided to google sunrise/sunset times in Alabama today just to see the exact sunset time here and the exact sunset time where The Boy lives.  I would have expected from my conversation with him last night that his sunset would be a few minutes before mine.  Imagine my surprise when I see that my sunset time is actually 5 minutes earlier than his sunset time.

 Now, he told me the sun had already set where he was, but mine had not.  I have to ask, Was it cloudy there and he was just incorrect in his sunset assessment?  Was he just not paying much attention to the position of the sun and wanted me to shut up about sunsets in general?  Are the charts on the internet just all wrong??

 Or is he on a road trip somewhere east of here (where the sun would have already set) and just making me think he's at school studying hard.

I haven't had time to question him on this discrepancy, but it probably won't do any good if I do...

Hyper Kitty

Taking a picture of this hyper little kitty is tough because he moves around so much.  Just like the bunny picture I took of him the other day.  All I got were hind legs even though I was going for full body.   I tried again yesterday and all I got were these. 

Not the face!

Here's the butt

I'm gonna turn and lick myself at the last minute

This morning I left the pantry door opened and went to get something out of the fridge.  When I turned back around, Cadence was sitting up on one of the shelves in the pantry next to the crackers and chips.  I froze and called out for the Murph to grab the camera and quietly but quickly come into the kitchen with camera turned on and ready.  Of course, Cadence is too fast for us.  He was down before the Murph made it to the kitchen door.  It would have been a cute picture.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

The only time lately that we can get good pictures of this little guy (other than when he's stalking us and gets into our pictures accidentally) is when he's like this....

                                                                          Asleep...

Huh?

Huh?

I have been distracted a lot lately and every time the Murph says or asks me anything my standard response usually is "Huh?"  Sometimes I will even know what he has just said to me but I will still say "Huh?" just out of habit.

Murph:  "What do you want to do for dinner?"
Me:  "Huh?'

Murph:  "It's getting hot in here.  I'm turning on the air."
Me:  "Huh?"

Murph:  "I'm keeping my Eye on you keeping an Eye on that bad cat so he won't go after Ed."
Me:  "Huh?"

Murph:  "I just stepped on the cat."
Me:  "Huh?'

The Murph says I sound like Scooby Doo and so now he calls me Scooby whenever I say "Huh?"  The Murph actually does sound like Scooby when he's mocking me.   He will ask me something, I will say "Huh" and he comes back at me with his perfect Scooby imitation, "Huh? Scooby Dooby Doo!" in hopes to make me aware of what I'm doing so I will then Stop doing it and actually say a complete and coherent sentence.

The Murph is a communications guy (he even majored in Communications in college) and this kind of lame response, as well as the over use of pronouns, really irritates him.  When the Murph is irritated he takes it upon himself to correct the situation.  He's called "the Mayor" around here for a reason.  He also takes it upon himself to teach people correct driving skills whenever we are in the car going anywhere.

He, I mean The Murph (no pronouns here!)  has a challenge ahead of him trying to transform me into a great communicator.  Being the Mayor is a tough job, but some one's got to do it.

This Cat Doesn't Approve Of Being An "Indoor Only" Cat

Phantom at the back door wanting out...

I made the mistake of letting Phantom outside to explore hoping he would get some of his "stalking" and predator instincts out of his system on bugs instead of the other cats.  He has always been an indoor cat, but has wanted out ever since he's been a kitten.  I let him out yesterday for two hours in the fenced back yard while I read a book and got some sun.

When he came back inside, I immediately gave him a good bath just in case fleas had started setting up housekeeping on his underbelly.  He did not like it one bit, fighting and screaming (yes screaming) at the top of his lungs.

Today he wants back outside and has been sitting by the door (or scratching it), trying to get out all morning. Unfortunately, I don't have flea powder or a flea collar to put on him and another bath is not going to happen this week.  One bath a month is too many.  I got a better workout bathing him yesterday than I ever do in the gym.

Poor guy's been driving us crazy with his plaintive meowing and scratching on doors and roaming around stalking the other cats nonstop.  He should have been an outdoor cat.  He would've been much happier.  The Murph says he's ok with me opening the door and letting Phantom out permanently.  Very funny - NOT!  I don't even let this cat outside by himself.  I watch him like a mom watches her toddlers at the playground.  I'm an overprotective cat mommy.  This does not work well for Phantom.  He's already left the back door and is now begging to get out the front door.  It's so nice out that I can't say I blame him for wanting out, but he's driving us crazy!  

Phantom now at the front door worn out from all the scratching and begging....

Ironman Florida and IronKids

I came across some old racing pictures this weekend of me competing in my first Ironman triathlon, Ironman Florida about 8 years ago.  I think I was much thinner back then.  What happened??  Too many almond pillow cookies from The Fresh market or adult beverages maybe...  I've cut back on both as I am trying to get faster so I can one day qualify for Kona World Championship.  My run has gotten faster, but I've still got some work to do on the swim and bike.  I need to run faster too.  Anyway, I've got a LONG way to go!

The Ironman Florida 2.4 mile swim is in the Gulf of Mexico in Panama City Beach, FL.  It is two 1.2 mile loops, but I always get off course so my loops were probably about 3 miles each as I floundered around trying to find my way back to the shore avoiding any sea creatures that may be out there.  I'm in this picture somewhere getting kicked in the face.

Ironman Florida Swim

 I looked a little worn out in this picture.  I think I was just coming out of transition off the 112 mile bike ride and about to start the run.  The run is two 13.1 mile loops in Panama City Beach, Fl.  It starts at the Boardwalk Beach Resort, goes out to a loop in St. Andrews State Park and back.  I had run that 13.1 mile run at least a dozen times at the Gulf Coast Half Ironman, which is in May.  It's flat and HOT!   Doing it twice was tough though, hearing the announcer calling out finisher's as they were crossing the finish line, knowing I had to go back out and do the entire loop again.  I watched the sun go down as I headed back out toward St. Andrews State Park.

Back in those days, I even got The Boy to do a kids triathlon or two.  This one was about 10 or 11 years ago in Panama City Beach, FL.  It was part of the Ironkids Triathlon Series that several elite athletes, including Lance Armstrong got their start.  Back then I think he had to swim 100 yds in the pool, bike 2 miles and run about a mile.   I've still got that red Finisher line tape that The Boy ran through at the end of the race.  I was amazed The Boy agreed to participate and even did the swim to bike transition fast and put his shoes on by himself.  And he ran like crazy when he got off the bike.  I was so proud!!