Woman in the Middle

I know, we all say it every year. But I can’t believe it is the last day of November and Christmas is almost here! Life has been busy in these parts and I am in NO WAY ready to  clean the house and start putting up Christmas decorations. Just give me a month, then I think I will have it all together.

I don’t know why this year in particular I feel so behind, mentally, in being ready for the holidays. I have all the parties written down on the calendar. I have some Christmas shopping done. I think it is because I have other things I want to do right now.

Youngest Daughter and I have been furiously listing Christmas type items on Ebay that came from Mom in Law’s house. We need more time to do that.

I am turning a counter in the hallway that is useless into a useful  present wrapping area, but it isn’t done yet. I need more time for that.

I have been exercising and watching what I eat in order to lose a little weight. But the holiday goodies are already rolling in. I need more time for that (the good eating, not the goodies).

But, no matter how much I kick and yell, Christmas is coming. Today I am putting away the fall decorations. Tomorrow I will start getting out the Christmas decorations. I guess December will be coming whether or not I am ready!

Lumos has a particular toy he really likes. It is several pieces of slightly fuzzy material braided together. I found it at a dollar store and he just loves to carry it around and pretend it is his prey. But, he has a new thing he likes to do with his favorite toy. Eldest Daughter threw it for him one evening while we were watching TV. He ran and got it, jumped right back on the couch, and dropped it by her side. She threw it again, and he brought it back a  again. This happened at least a dozen times before he tired of the game. Then he did it with me the next day. We have played fetch with him at least once a day ever since.

Excuse me, but isn’t it dogs that are supposed to play fetch? It appears I have a puppy in kitten’s clothing!

What are you talking about? I still say “meow!”

My birthday was right before Thanksgiving. Here is the “recipe” that made it wonderful.

1. Wake up to find flowers form Hubby waiting for me. (This is the 33rd birthday in a row he has given me flowers.)

2. Have a healthy smoothie for breakfast.

3. Go to Zumba class. (Thought about skipping Zumba. After all, it was my birthday. But, I decided the best gift I can give myself at this point is good health.)

4. Have the daughter who isn’t working go to class with me.

5. Use the two freebies on my Starbuck’s card to get a protein box and a tall double chocolate Frappuccino for lunch.

5. Go to my favorite store in all the world, Dress Barn, and look at all the lovely things, then buy myself a new top (on clearance!) and a pair of earrings. Even better, find a few things for Christmas presents as well.

6. Have a delicious burger and onion rigs for dinner at a local burger joint.

7. Open presents from my family.

8. Have my favorite Marie Calendar’s pie for dessert. (I have studied Marie Callender’s pies for many years. The absolute best, as far as I am concerned, is the German Chocolate pie!)

I am one of those mothers who saves artwork my children made way back in elementary school. I didn’t save absolutely everything, but how could I not save at least some of those adorable things they made, especially in kindergarten?

The girls both had the same kindergarten teacher, two years apart. The nice thing about that it that they did many of the same crafts. At Thanksgiving they both did  a coloring sheet that said ”I am thankful for….” with a line after it. The teacher asked each child what they were thankful for. She carefully recorded their answers and wrote them on the sheet. She then laminated it into a placemat they could take home and share with their parents.

Eldest Daughter’s answer was short and sweet, She was thankful for her home. Two years later Youngest Daughter had much the same thought, but with a twist. “I am thankful for my house because if I didn’t have a house I would be living on the streets.” I can just imagine her teacher laughing to herself while she recorded to the last pithy word what Youngest was thankful for.

Every Thanksgiving I put those mats out and every Thanksgiving we talk about how those two statements are so our daughters. One answering the teacher with a short and sweet statement (even if she was thinking something different). The other, saying something that ought to be coming out of the mouth of a world-weary old lady.

Eldest grew out of her super sweet phase and Youngest isn’t quite as world-weary as her five-year old self would lead you to believe. But both are still just as funny as ever and those placemats make them (and their parents) laugh every year!

This is Eldest’s coloring job on her placemat.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I love Boho style clothing. According to Wikipedia, “Boho-chic is a style of fashion drawing on various bohemian and hippie influences.”  Of course, you can only be so bohemian living the middle class, middle age life in suburbia. But, whatever the case, if it is Boho, I seem to be drawn to it.

The problem is, Boho really doesn’t go will with kittens. I bought a new jacket/cardigan kind of thing that has fringe all along the bottom. Oh so Boho! I am looking forward to wearing it during the holidays. However, the kittens discovered it in my closet. They just love playing with the fringe. The fringe now needs a trim as a few are longer than the others.

Over the weekend I got out another Boho wrap of mine. It has a lovely combination of colors and ties at the neck with a leather tie which has feathers on each end.  Try getting ready to go out when there are two kittens on the bathroom counter, desperately trying to play with the feathers on your outfit while you try to put on makeup. Yes, it was as hilarious as that sounds.   I finally had to throw the ties back over my shoulders to keep them from the kittens so I could get my lipstick on.

If you want to be a walking, talking kitten toy, I highly recommend Boho-chic for you! But, if you want to be able to keep your clothing intact, you may want to go for a different look.

It finally cooled down around here in the middle of November. We have really been enjoying it. Then a very warm “Santa Ana Condition” rolled in. That is when we get our warm, hard winds. Sometimes the winds are cold, but most of the time they are warm. With that, we got warm temperatures again. Yesterday it got up to 89!

Last night we went to a high school football game. The school Hubby and I went to as well as Brother Dear and the girls, was in the quarter finals. Whoo Hoo! The game was at the local high school so, what the heck, we decided to go. Usually, at this time of year. we would, at the very least, be wearing a sweat shirt, long pants, and tennis shoes.  But it was so warm last night most people in the stands were in short sleeves and no sweaters or sweat shirts in sight. Hubby and I kept commenting on how warm it was for November 20th. Unfortunately, our boys lost, but it was still a great season for them.

The wind is still blowing, but it is supposed to be a bit cooler today. I have absolutely no idea what to wear. Hubby had to go into work this morning and he wore shorts.  We are going to Oak Glen this afternoon to sight see a bit before our colonial dinner. Here is hoping it will be cool enough up there for pants!

Ah, the life of a cat! It tends to go like this, at least at our house.

There is nothing better than a warm desk chair. If Lumos is hanging out in the room where the computer is located, he almost always grabs the desk chair the second I stand up to do something. Of course, I am usually gone for just a minute, so then he has to get kicked out of the chair, in spite of all his efforts.

Napping is always better with a friend. Nox and Lumos love napping where ever Blackie is. This time it was Nox and Blackie in the window seat. Now that it is a little cooler, all three are usually snuggled together on Eldest Daughter’s bed.

Cat videos are interesting to everyone, even cats! I saw Blackie and Youngest Daughter together on her bed, looking at her laptop, and asked what was going on. “We are watching cat videos,”  she said. Of course, what was I thinking?

If mom won’t let you into her lap while she is at the computer, another good place is on the back of the desk chair. Well, if you are a kitten. Blackie hasn’t fit in a lap or on the back of a desk chair for 16 or so years.

Now, if I can just get a photo of them harassing the dog, which they both love to do now. I guess it makes up for all those months she barked at them.

I have a problem anymore remembering appointments, meetings, and such. It doesn’t help that I have so many of them. I now write everything down in a little calendar I keep in my purse. The next big challenge I am working on is remembering to actually look at the calendar!!! So many steps to this process!

I actually remembered to look at my calendar this morning. Win for me! But, what was wonderful was the fact that today was absolutely blank. No meetings to worry about. No appointments to keep. Yay!

The weather is beautiful today. The temperature has gone up again and it may hit the low 80′s. FYI, the low 80s is lovely at this time of year because it really cools off at night. The house stays cool, and you can even get away with long pants if you feel like it. That blank calendar page and the lovely weather make me want to get out and do something. Maybe I will talk the girls into going to the mall. Exercise with window shopping sounds enjoyable to me!

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I mentioned a few weeks ago that we went to Oak Glen, our local apple growing area. After hearing about us going, some friends decided to go to Oak Glen as well. They ate at a place that does colonial themed dinners this time of year. It sounded like fun and they invited us to go along. So this Saturday we are stepping back in time and moving east to enjoy time in colonial America. While our time travel won’t be completely authentic (I am sure the people serving us will have bathed recently and  food preparation methods will meet modern health standards), I am such a history nut I am sure I will  enjoy it very much. I will tell you all about it after we go.

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Recently we turned off the sprinklers after a rain. We were so proud of ourselves for conserving water and impressed with how green our lawn stayed. That grass must have deep roots, we thought. Then we realized that even though the sprinklers were turned off, they were till coming on three nights a week.  The sprinklers are now officially off and our front yard is turning the “California Gold” color the billboards are telling us it should be. I am not looking forward to the inevitable flooding, but I am looking forward to the rain they say we will be getting this winter. California Gold isn’t quite as pretty as Grass Green.

I have a list, in my head, of what I would really love right now. These are not pie in the sky things, I don’t think, but things I wish could happen. Here they are:

1. A weekend get away with Hubby. There has not been enough vacation in my life. Blame the cats.

2. A new recipe for a delicious, easy dinner, that does not require me to chop, cut, slice, or brown anything.

3. An amazing book, one I just don’t want to put down.

4. A German Chocolate pie from Marie Callendar’s. (The only thing on this list that might actually happen some time soon.)

5. More time to see old friends.

What is on your list?

Day before yesterday, I pulled out a sweatshirt to wear for the first time since spring. Wow, how things can change in just a few months!

Who would have thought back when that sweatshirt was last put to use that I would be on our local Parks Board when I next needed it?

Who would have thought that two kittens would have taken up residence in our house?

NOT ME!!!!!! IT just goes to show life is always full of surprises!

Speaking of kittens, they continue to delight, confound, and occasionally scratch us. Lumos made me laugh yesterday when he got so involved mauling his favorite toy that he fell backwards off the couch. No worries, though. Those claws come in handy and he broke his fall before he hit the floor by grabbing on to the couch.

The confounding part involved Lumos as well. In order to keep animal feeding order around our house, and to keep Honey the dog from eating al the kitten food, the two boys get fed on the counter in the master bathroom. Lumos jumps all over the place but he has decided he just can’t jump up on that counter. Nox has been doing it for weeks. So, anytime Lumos wants food, he follows me back there and mews in a pitiful way. I then have to pick him up to put him on the counter so he can eat. I swear, we have tried everything to convince him to jump. I am sure he will do it one of these day. Until then, I am an orange kitten elevator.

Then there is the scratching. No one in in the house has been deliberately scratched by the kittens, except a certain annoying dog. However, there have been accidental scratches. I seem to be the person who gets most of those, for some reason. Probably because I feed them and that makes me the most loved human in the house.

Last night was particularly bad and actually drew blood. Nox wanted to go from my lap to my shoulder to the back of the desk chair. But the shoulder part didn’t go so well and he slipped. One claw, just one, came out and dug into my shoulder. Ouch! Antibacterial cream and a large Band-Aid were applied and I survived.