Cats Rule!

Why do dogs get all the credit when it comes to protecting their owners? Sure, they may scare away intruders with their intimidating barks and pointy teeth, but really, what else do they do besides slobber, beg for food and look cute?

In my opinion, cats do way more when it comes to protecting their owners from the real dangers of everyday life - dangers such as catnip-filled mice and those plastic rings that come from milk jug caps. Have a problem with those pesky dangling mini-blind cords? Don't worry, your cat has it covered. Not entirely convinced that the lump under your blankets is really just your own feet? Your cat is there and ready to pounce at the slightest movement.

My own two cats are constantly on the prowl to protect Picky and I from all sorts of dangers that are lurking in our home. Dangers such as rogue plastic drinking straws, the carpet runner on our stairway and anything that moves or makes a sound at 5:45 in the morning are no match for our cats.

Another danger that is often overlooked in the modern home is the printer. You never know when a piece of paper will shoot out of the printer causing all sorts of havoc. Thankfully, this cat has it all under control:

(It's only about a minute long and the best part is at the end so be patient.)

Cat vs Printer @ Yahoo! Video

(I kid about dogs of course. I would love to get a black lab someday. I would name him Ed.)

Dames-A-Pedia, answering your most random questions - Volume II

Dames-A-Pedia, answering your most random questions - Volume II

In case you are wondering what the heck a Dames-a-Pedia is, or have a burning need for semi-useless information about penny farthings, please click here for Volume I.

Volume II

Question: What is Macramé?

Answer: Macrame is a form of textile making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting.
It reached its peak of popularity in the 1970’s and was apparently, very useful for making hanging plant holders and owl wall decorations.

Until I actually looked it up, I’d always confused macramé with God’s Eyes, otherwise known as the crafts we made over and over and over again in first grade.

I swear, my elementary school school must have gotten a really great deal on yarn and popsicle sticks, because I think we made these things every single week. Sometimes, for a “treat” we would be able to go outside and pick out actual twigs (from nature, as our teacher used to say) to use for our projects, although I have a sneaking suspicion that the teacher just needed to go outside and have a smoke. I used to prefer to make mine out of alternating threads of blue and white yarn, but for some reason the white yarn was always at a premium and I always had to fight Natalie M. for the white yarn. That girl never liked me anyway, not since I got elected class president in the first grade and she had to settle for the vice presidency.

Anyway… Macramé…. The art of knotting rope to make hanging plant holders. Lots and lots of hanging plant holders. With the occasional owl wall decoration thrown in.

Next week: Dames-A-Pedia volume III - Random Food Edition!

Beauty

The other night we closed the windows of our house and I actually wore socks to bed. Snowflake socks. The days are still warm but we’ve been greeted with a fine layer of frost on our windshields on more than one occasion in the past week. The sunsets are coming earlier and the night air has lost its heavy stillness. The leaves on some of the more overanxious trees are already starting to change. It seems, sadly, that yet another summer has slipped through our fingers. My pleas for a couple more weeks (We never made it to Boston! We never had a chance to camp at the beach! There are more games of beer pong to be played at Alison’s lake house! ) seem to have fallen on Mother Nature’s deaf ears. Soon, sightseers from all over will descend upon our highways and scenic routes to view the beauty of the changing leaves. Yeah, I’ll admit that the changing leaves are beautiful (if not a bit dated… gold, orange and red? The seventies called and they want their color scheme back…) and raking the crackling fallen leaves on a brisk Saturday afternoon is marginally more fun than weeding flower beds in 90-degree heat. But for all of the beauty that comes with Fall, I can’t help but let my pessimistic side remind me that once the crisp refreshment of October is lost in the grey filter of November* those bare tree branches mean that it will be months until we feel the warmth of the Summer sun again. It will be months until we see live, green grass (or any grass at all) and months until we dare venture outside without multiple layers of heavy clothes. Winter is not my favorite season.

While I’m all for enjoying the beauty of Fall, I much prefer the beauty of Spring. I prefer the pastels of the first spring blooms, the giddiness of a balmy afternoon and the optimism that comes when the landscape changes from brown to back to green.

I recently found these pictures that I took at Churchill Park in May on my hard drive. As you will see, I am a terrible photographer. Seriously, I should not even be allowed to operate a camera. I’m not going to pretend that these pictures are any good from a photography standpoint, but I think they accurately convey the beauty, the promise that comes with Spring.
Can anyone tell me what these cute little flowers are? They are about the size of my thumbnail and grow in clusters. I would love to have these all over my yard.

Not that you can tell by this picture, but the sky way really blue that day. I couldn't find the "really blue sky" setting on the camera, so this is the best I can do.

Look! It's an artsy, angled closeup of the tall grass! Never mind that I took this picture by accident when I was leaning over to tie my shoe!

*Don’t EVEN get me started on the month of November… that’s another blog post for another day.

Hi Mom, Hi Dad!

Sooo, I guess my parents read this blog. That's great! Sorry about the swearing, mom and dad. I'm a thirty-year old married woman, yet I still can't bring myself to swear in front of my parents... I have had a particular fondness for the "A" word lately, but I blame that on my younger sister! :)

Also, your anniversary cake is coming soon. :)

Love,
Dames

Dames-a-Pedia: Answering your most random questions - Volume I

My sister works in an office where they don’t allow internet for personal use. (The horror!) She often finishes her work by 11:00am, which leaves her approximately oh, too many hours per day to be bored out of her skull. So, she and her office mates must find other ways to pass the time, such as building cubicles out of cardboard boxes and decorating them with impressive fake diplomas and stick-figure family portraits.

They also have random, random conversations. And from these conversations come random, random questions - very important questions that require immediate answers. Of course, it’s impossible to get the answers to these important, random questions without internet access. That’s where I come in. I do have internet access at work, and I’m not afraid to use it! Hardly a day goes by in which I don’t get a text or phone call from my sister demanding the answer to an important, random question. Sometimes I know the answers without looking them up, but more often I just Google the question and see what pops up. I’m sure if my employer ever looked at my Google search history they would be a little bit concerned about my mental health…

Recently, my husband suggested that I post some of the questions and answers on this blog, so here it is… I shall call it Dames-a-pedia!

I’ll probably post one or two entries at a time. Have a question? Just ask! Random questions only, please. I guarantee that the results will be accurate passable not pulled from my ass. Occasionally my husband will contribute as well, with answers to burning questions such as “What is Chef Boyardee’s first name?” (answer: Hector, of course!)

Dames-a-pedia Volume I: Penny Farthing

Question: What are those old bicycles with the big-ass front wheel called?

Answer: Penny farthings! Penny farthings were popular in the Victorian era among wealthy folk who liked to ride them to the mercantile or to church socials and who apparently had little regard for any of the bones in their bodies. The name "penny farthing" is a reference to British penny and farthing coins of the time; the side view of the bicycle resembled the coins placed next to one another. The first penny farthings were produced in 1870, however no one could figure out how to actually get on one of the damn things until about 1879. Eventually ladies got into the penny farthing craze, wearing sporty outfits specifically designed for exercise:

Note how this woman’s wrists are almost showing… scandalous!

The penny farthing fad was rather short-lived, however, and died out quickly when people realized that it was far less painful to fall from a bicycle in which the front wheel was the same size as the back wheel.

On a more ridiculous note:

Yeah.

Dear Tropical Storm Hanna: I want my Saturday back!

I know I shouldn't complain about this storm. It sucks, but it could be so much worse! But we had outdoor plans all day today, and there aren't many Saturdays left before the dreaded winter begins. It is raining buckets and we are stuck inside with the windows closed against the wind and rain. It's like a steam bath outside and its about 110 degrees in here. Pleasant.

Our satellite went out hours ago and I was BORED. So bored that I decided to tackle some projects around the house. Very, very important projects.

Ever since RT saw the movie Juno he has been on this kick where he wears a wristband when he runs (like Paulie Bleeker), so we have several terrycloth wristbands lying around the house. Problem is they are small, and like hair elastics, scissors , and Hershey's Bars you can never find one when you need one. So, I took it upon myself to invent a solution to this very pressing problem:


(Disclaimer: This blog is in not endorsed by Puma... or anyone else for that matter.)

My solution: Velcro and clothes pins, stuck to the inside of the closet door. The whole thing cost about $1.50, so it is both classy and economical. Move over Martha! With an awesome wristband storage system like that, who cares if the rest of the closet looks like this:


(Good lord, my cell phone camera is pathetic! Someone please send a real camera!)

I suppose I could actually clean out the closet, but I think I'll bake some cookies. Or better yet, eat some raw cookie dough and call it a day. Priorities, people, priorities!