If We Ever Decorated The Outside Of The House

This ones for you honey,

Love,

The Wife .

Transitions

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It's odd to have the tree in one piece. Up until last year, we hadn't put up a tree in 8 years because  I could not deal with any of it at all. My father passed away January 9'th , 2004 . Finally last year, I felt that it was time so the tree went up.

Mind you, an artificial tree is not meant to  stay in the attic . LOL. You guessed it . That's where we stored it so last year and the poor thing looked like it had mange, we threw it out and decided to get a new one. Now, as much as I like BIG trees, it just doesn't make sense for us to have the Jethro Beaudine size. The previous tree was a 4 1/2 foot tree that we got from Lowes . It fit on the end table and so we thought it was fine. It was actually too big so this year when Walgreens had one for $19.99 , off he went . this thing is maybe 3 feet tall and perfect. Of course it takes smaller ornaments so I will pick some up after the holidays. Other than that it meets all the requirements.........it's pre-lit/pre-wired. You don't want to be in the Casa when hisself has to string lights...I personally don't want to be on the planet.

Sadly tho, we have no kittens stirring to climb it or play with ornaments or sleep under it. I never realized how much I would miss fussing at them as they chose ornaments to fondle. Everyone was a decorator with an opinion. I used to get so irked. Of course now as I have demonstrated, the ornaments don't bounce off the wood floor like they did on carpet to again I have to remind myself..." Soft cloth foldy ones on the bottom.".


Every tradition has to start somewhere so we will adapt to an only child who can't quite figure out if she is supposed to be entertained by all of this or not.

Feliz Navidad Y'all.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

For My Boshi Ya Ya

Dear Baby,

We miss you so much already my baby, we really do. Daddy and I are so very sorry that we couldn't make you all mo bedder, we tried honey , we really did . Dr. Tom said that it was all just too much for our wee girl and that it's all just part of the plan. I am taking as much comfort as I can knowing that the three of you are together again and that you have Andy and Munchie and all the others to play and wrestle and nap pile with.

We are going to take care of Gracie Marie with your aunties help so she won't be lonely as an only child.

Kissy face, love the pooh.

We love out baby girl.

Mama and Daddy.

Thus Far Or " Look Honey, We Haven't Seen That $80.00 Bottle Of Orbox In Two Months ! "

Lately we had noticed that Gracie Marie had been sneezing more than the occasional " Damn Mama , could you dust the wood floors ?" ..so I made a call to Dr. Tom.last Tuesday and scheduled for 9:30 am on Saturday..I know..I know..anyhoo Thursday night we noticed that Boschka was looking like she felt puny and she had also been sneezing so I called and arranged to bring both the girls in .One of my personal pet peeves is appointments that show up with more than the scheduled number of people/clients/victims.  I see it all the time at the firm and it just pisses me off. There was no problem so of we went.

Gracie Marie is just fine, peachy keen in full health.

Boschka.............................not so much.

My baby's sick y'all.

She has a stuffy nose so she hadn't been eating. If cats and I assume dogs for that matter can't smell their food they won't eat. This led to dehydration. Her tonsils are enlarged and inflamed with what sounds for all the world like Feline tonsillitis.

Four hours of tests/ waiting time later....

She has an upper respiratory infection , a UTI and then it  got better.

NOT !

Tom did a pretty extensive blood panel when he came back in to tell us that her blood sugar was through the roof. They took another urine sample and at that point this heathen was praying for all it was worth....

Yep.

Diabetes.

Tom is not sure if it presented because :

1. The stress of being sick.
2. The stress of being sick and having to go to the vet. ( that would be considered being outside for my baby, she's an indoor girl.)
3. There the whole time and flaring up now.

So..she has 3 meds to take, one a liquid Valium to stimulate her appetite ( brat won't share either ) . We have to give her baby food mixed with pedialite orally and she goes back Saturday at 9 am.

I am just beside myself.

Her Mama.

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

Happy Friday and ............HUZZAH  !

Close the damn door Canada, we are freezing to death down here !

WE'RE GONNA DIE !

It's 37 effing degrees down here for crippessake.


In other stories....

Guess what we get to do tomorrow ?

Hint :

PTU's are involved.

Two of them..

Gracis is still sneezing a bit more than I like considering what we went through with Munchie so I made her an appt.....Then Boshi starts sneezing.

Yep.

The one who is the most skittish cat that I have ever had , and really only relates to me, Nee Nee or Space Ghost. The slender, petite Twiggy of the feline world who triples her tensile strength when she is in greased pig escape mode.

That one.


So the plans like this :

She usually is out front when we get home so..................................................

1. Once it is confirmed that she is out front, one or both of us , but I think it should be the Daddy since she will stay with me will go down the hall and close all of the bedroom doors, thus cutting off escape routes leading to the Cat Cave Fortress of Catnipitude aka the small open hole under the water bed head board and inner crawl space area that is Madames fav hidey hole.

2. Those doors will remain closed and all accessable food and water , treats included will be pulled at bedtime or 11 pm which ever comes first.

3. Hisself will sleep on the sofa and I on the waterbed as usual but the door ro the master is to remain closed.

4. I WILL GET UP AT FRIGGAN OH DARK THIRTY ON A COLD , WINDY RAINY SATURDAY MORNING TO WRESTLE MY CHILDREN INTO THE PTU'S.

I only can hope that the meds that they have to get are not as Loki's and Xena's were..2 or 3 x daily for at least 2 weeks. Dosing a cat is just about the worst thing ever....


And here I had simple hopes of getting the tree up.


Le Sigh.

Have a great weekend.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Two Years Today .

Dear Pooky Bear Panda Pants ,

I can't believe it's been two years now that you've been gone. Sometimes when I am on the deck and I look over at the aunties gazebo, I really expect to see your happy butt flying over the corner of the fence hauling paws towards the door. Your Plumbago I am happy to say is doing very nicely and you would approve of the Jasmine growing on the other side of the arbor.

We are putting up a tree soon and I know that while we never had one while you were here , if you ask your bubbie and sissies they will tell you all about it. Your stocking will still be hung up with all of the others so never fear, you are always in our hearts.

Ii want you to take care of all of your sissies and brofur Loki for me . I know that you are but keep special attention on your older brofur . Remember , he is know the brightest of lads , but he is one of the most loving, and that counts more.

We all love you and miss you every day baby boy.

Mama, Daddy, Boschka and Gracie Marie .

This And That For Your Tuesday Reading Pleasure..

Now y'all can throw crap at your screen if you want, though if that is your goal, use spit balls for heaven's sake, these flat screens ain't that cheap yet..
I have officially not only begun Christmas shopping in earnest, I am almost done.

Done.
Over
Ended


Yeah, yeah , slap my silly ass later.

Sistah, the Hickory Farms is headed to your office like we did last year and should be there next week.

For Dakota ( who never fear, isn't going to read this crap ever ! ) , I found in the Met Museum catalog/website a small artists kit that has all sorts of bits and bobs plus a huge packet of paper.  Yes, I paid extra to have them gift wrap it and ship it to Colorado..makes no damn sense at all to have it sent here then just have to ship it out.
\
Amazon had the best price on the Tortuga rum cakes so a dozen of the small variety are on their way to the office...

Since everything on the tee slant vee is a rerun tonight , I figure I may as well stop and Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up some small bits..bonus....20 % off coupon is in my purse and wonder of wonders ..still valid...SCORE !

I am sure that there will be more than a few things that I forget or go completely batshit over when all is said and done, but I have a head start on the stress and feel a lot better.

Have a great week.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

How To Have A Stress Free Tuesday Or Any Other Day For That Matter ~ !

This is going to make me laugh all damn week.

1.  

Yep..gonna laugh out loud all week . At least I can find Bloom County on line along with the others I miss seeing on a daily basis..9 Chickweed, Andy Capp ( one of my late fathers favorites ) One Big Happy..

Have a great week.

Ciao.

Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

Happy Friday y'all.

Well, I think I'm getting my groove back.

I've posted a couple of recipes that Lady L will kick my ass over, and found a picture of Bruce in a cowboy hat...NOT from Brisco County .

This is unusual.

It's colder than a well diggers ass right now in H town so of course everyone is just freaking their shit out....kinda funny if I do say so.

I spent a bit of time looking for something that I had posted last year or the year before and in the process , I began to read some of what I had cobbled together, especially during the holidays when I realized a couple of things :

1. I can still crack my own ass up ...yeah me.

2. I remembered how much I enjoy posting my self indulged narcissistic drivel with the occasional poignant thought thrown in for good measure.

3. This blog has the power to cheer my sorry ass up when needed and sometimes that is more than I need or am entitled to .

It's been a busy and heartbreaking year and there have been times when it's been all I can do to get out of bed and make it to work. Losing the 4 of them in the last year and a half has shredded me emotionally so bear with me as I try to pull my shit back together.

Love y'all..more than you know.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

Hootenanny

I ran across this recipe that I'd forgotten about. I haven't had this since I lived on the East coast and my favorite variation is to tip this with melted raspberry jam or sweet orange marmalade....easy peasy for the weekend or the holidays..or just because .

Hootenanny


Serves 3-4



1 cup flour

1 cup milk

5 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup butter, melted



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Blend together all ingredients, except butter.

Pour the melted butter over the batter in a random manner..don't smooth it out...drizzle it.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Inhale.

Enjoy.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Swedish Almond Cake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar 1 free-range egg 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract 2/3 cup milk 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 8 tablespoons butter, melted Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F Beat sugar, egg, almond extract and milk together. Add flour and baking powder, finally adding the butter.

Spray baking dish (approx. 10" by 7") with spray oil or any non-stick coating. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until skewer or toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Cool for 20 minutes, then remove from pan.

When ready to serve dust with icing sugar and cut cake into slices approximately 1" by 3.5"


I have a real love hate relationship with being half Swedish .

There are some things I really love :

ABBA
Spritz Cookies
Good Salmon
Krrumkaka.

Other things I really dislike, for example :

IKEA ( I mean really , have you EVER had one of those whatchahootzits ever get assembled the way it was intended ? )
Badly made Swedish meatballs
Lutfisk


While I really love Norse Mythology, having named number one son Loki , I spent far too many years having the Lutheran credo rammed down my throst and so there are times I just ran like hell from all of it.

Now that I have gotten officially old, and the grandparents and mother are long gone, there are times I actually miss the family connection of it all.....or the baking . They are forever entwined in my memory with the vivid pictures of Grandma Engwall baking up a storm from scratch dontchaknow on Saturday afternoons while Grandpa worked on the next days sermon.

I can see in my minds eye my Grandmother making this as she kept an eye on the coffee on the stove for Grandpa ..

Must be the holidays creeping up on me.

Any who..try this tea bread , because that is really what it is..

What can I say , I've got the baking Jones going ...

WHEE !

Have a great weekend.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

OMG ~ Whiskey Tango Foxtrot !

I posted this almost a year ago...hahahahah ....

I may rethink the whole tree issue.

LMAO !

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

It's Not That I Hate The Holidays ...........

Part of me really enjoys the holidays...mwahahah.

Also known as your Aunty is a professional on line shopper, kids ..go run with scissors and leave the professionals to work their magic..oh look...cookies.....and beer......RUN !

The other part...

I think that SU is finally beginning to get how I feel since he took a mental health day today which he sorely needed .

Today was the annual triptophan coma hootenanny ( whole lotta hoot and a lil bit o nanny) wherein folks took equal delight in stuffing themselves in an orgasmically gluttonous frenzy all the while snarking about the various dishes that were presented by both Luby's and fellow co workers . I mean really...how gracious not to mention talented of you heffers to both malign and masticate at the same time.

Bravo !

I kind of want to throw my hands up in the air.

Mea Culpa, I should have gotten a lot moe done by now but WTF , ya know  ? I want to go and get a new tree to put up but just the same, waiting until they are all on sale after the actual day has it's merits too. I've got the holiday cards ( yeah for me ) and I think if I can get a jump on cleaning the dust bunnies in the humble abode this weekend then with an extra day off post T Day, I can get some stuff done.

BUT IF YOU THINK THAT I WILL BE AT THE MALL, YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR E'FFING MIND.

I know exactly where I need to go and I will get it done asap.

Living with the Grinch doesn't mandate that I make it any harder or stressful than I need to .

I have actually given it some thought and this year I won't be the maniac ...well..gonna try at least.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Shiney !

I was jammin around Facebook this morning ( oh like I am the only one that does that at work..yeezus, if you believe that , you need to amp up your Klonopin pronto)..anyhoo....I found the above off a Dr. Who page and hopped over to Mr. Linky.

It's friggan perfect.

The Tardis and a black kitty.


MINE !


It's 8 .5  x 11 inches so it's not super big and I have an idea where to put it on a small wall in the hallway or where MONA used to be in the bedroom so I am a happy girl.


I have been looking for art work for the house ever since the renovation and I know that I have some small  Real Musgraves somewhere but the Tardis/kitty is the first thing that I have seen that just spoke to me in that little demented voice in my head that said " Buy me now bitch ".


Yes, sometimes I let the voices win.

I will find what works for the guest bath sooner or later, I can't describe what I want but I will know it when I see it. I operate on instinct in a lot of my life and for the most part I've been pretty happy that way, it's kept me out of jail amongst other things...

Now all I have to do is find the proper mat and frame.

Note to husband....you've b een asking about Christmas prezzies for Moi and since you did such an outstanding job on the real Musgrave....just an idea honey..

Have a great Friday.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

More Mundane Than Manic Mondays Lately It Seems ......

I know, I know it's been a while.
No, I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth, it just seems that way.


There just has not been anything going on, I'm even beginning to bore my own bad self.

I'm good, he's good, kittys are good, house is good, jobs are good tho they do indeed suck sometimes..it is what it is.

I haven't been doing any baking lately because I just haven't made much progress on the weekends beyond laundry  , chores and the kindle on the deck with Gracie.

We , the girls and I have developed clearly divided mommy and me time.

Gracie is happiest when she and I have our outside time. She won't yammer longer than about 10 minutes to go in/out  in/out...lather , rinse , repeat.

Boshi on the other hand is happiest when Gracie is out and she has my undivided attention. She makes full use of my lap and is happy to just hang out there. SBHe has gotten better around her daddy since she is used to him giving her treats so she won't run off quite as fast and in fact latgely has been approaching him more..not head butts ( I'd faint clean away ) but the interest is there.

Christmas cards have been ordered from MD Anderson Childrens Cancer project so I will be able to start on them soon, I have the list of things that I need to pick upi for gifts and I need to get that in motion since we and by we I mean my department is going to be very short staffed next month....more so than the norm that they pull. One of the gals husband is  going to have knee replacement surgery so she till be out from the 19'th of December through January 6, 2014..yeezus..2014.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyhoo....the other one has already scheduled 3 days off In December and I am sure that there will be more to come....

Since neither one came to work today and it was not scheduled in a traditional sense . WE ALL know ( the entire office ) knows that Cha Cha won't be in the day after A Texans game....no matter when the game starts. I kid you not. The other one, bum knee wifey...no clue...I've heard truck problems which happens.

So I am my own department today.

I am one of the pro's from Dover...lmao...name that movie !

Ah...good to be back posting...

Have a great week.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

A Dream Come True !

I saw this and had to lay my head  down on my desk, oh sweet Jeebus, it's worth the feet swelling up !

Ciao ,
Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

Happy Friday everyone !
I know it's been a while ..what can I say ?
It's been a combo platter of getting used to a new environment at the Casa and frankly just nothing of any real interest to write about .

I mean really....how many f'g recipes usig pumpkin are out there ? I swear I have seen them all. Have you ever noticed that some food item it the thing of the moment much less the year ? Well this year it is pumpkin. I am not actively going out of my way to find things to read/pin that don't use this item..yeah...lottsa luck there.

We've had the boat load of rain over the last few days and now that it's dry....thank you Jeebus. Last Sunday we lost power for 5 hours so I do what I do best..I rolled over and went back to sleep..yeah for ME ! It finally came back on and woe to any living creature that got between me and the coffee pot...I got skillz !  The yard had a bunch of debris but the roof was okay..yeah, that is the first thing..actually secong thing after coffee..lol..I checked the roof because since it was a year old, this kind of storm would be the one that would show the damages. Unfortunatly , out neighbot ( not the gals ) had another tree ripped out of her flower bed..so she is not a happy camper. This tree replaced to 40 year old eucalyptus tree that Ike ripped out so perhaps she should consider not replacing it..knowing Kay, that won't happen , too much drama to be wasted..mwahahah..she's like that .

And of course it is the time of the year where hisself has all these plans ..golf...Ren fest...he can't resist being out and about while I am just as happy puttering around or losing what little mind I have left playing candy Crush.

Before we know it , the full on consumer press for the holidays will here....oh wait....it's already here..

Le sigh.


Have a great weekend and if you're on the East Coast ( LADY L....You ...Yes  YOU..) please be careful..hear y'all have some high wind headed your way.

Stay safe.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

Just Another Manic Monday ~ !

First of all, mea culpa for all of those ghastly typo's in the previous post. Blogger is still acting up and if I don't catch them right away , I can't go back in and fully edit/correct. Y'all know me so it could and has been worse so there you go.

It's that time of year when the weather is one of two things..hot or rainy. I prefer the rainy since we really need it but I'll take what I can get. Hisself had to work on Saturday which was fine since I could putter around with laundry . He came home to get the old dvr box and I askedd him to pick up a bag of potting soil and red mulch..then I stopped and said that since I had some empty clay pots on the deck ( oh horrible hell) could he pick up a couple of somethings ...you know the cute variety ? Yup...now I know for the most part that it will be mums which is fine for a bit of fall , not in a comitted relationship kind of thing but them he surprised me with the above . I believe it is called Oxalis and is is really cute..full shade which is perfect for the pot that is next to the prayer plant wwe werew given a year ago after my stepmothers passing ( miracle of miracles..I haven't killed that one yet....But here's the thing, according to some of the reading that I did on the Oxalis, it is considered clover or dollar weeds prettier, Tri Delt pledge ..but still a weed.

Um..okay.

Lets get a tiny grip here, shall we ?

I don't know about anyone else but if a plant that I have not planted pops up in the flower bed of container that is not one I selected..it's a weed. Some are prettier than others true, but if I didn't plant ya ...don't get all green giant cocky and think you won't be yanked because you bloom or could pass for a flower.

I want to finish top dressing all of the clay pots this week if I can ..it may take a bit since you know who over did it din the drizzle yesterday..made sense to me since all of the soil would be damp and easy to work.

Time will tell.

Have a great week.

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of the Day ~ !

Yes...I'm back so to speak.

It's been a very hard week as I am sure you all are aware and I have found that when this kind of thing happens, sometimes I just have to step away.

Losing the four of them in the last year and a half is something that we could never have imagined in our wildest dreams .I find myself shaking my head in utter disbelief when I think about it . It was hard enough to go through the 3 1/2 years with Xena and her issues, but it became our normal after a short while and we really didn't think too much about it one way or the other, it simply was the way it was. Did we get irritated , of course we did . It was hard then impossible to keep the carpet clean with her rampant diarrhea. Back and forth to Banfield for tests and more tests until there was nothing that could be gained and we had to change vets. I wish we had done that sooner but hindsight is what it is and even Dr. Tom says that while he might not hav e been able to save her, he would have fought harder and I believe him .

Munchkin and ANdy, well that was different. Like Jakey J, we knew from the beginning that being FIV + put a certain challenge to raising Andy and like Jakey J , it was renal failure. It wasn't prolonged and we did the best we couldv . Munchkin..well...she was our oldest child together and pneumonia can be deadly in animals as well as humans.

But Loki....?

It was only a few months that we dealt with his situation. Ironically , like Xena , he had IBD but his presented completeely diffrentley. With Xena , her bodycould not absorb all the food and water she would take in so to be blunt..well..it's gptta go somewhere...and it did. But she was failing to maintain any weight. LOki on the other hand had intestinal walls that were 3 x's normal density and his GI tract became irritated..and so he dropped weight too.

Boshi for now is fine, and yes we are going to be taking her in for a well kitty base line check up ..when things are in a normal routine.

We have never been a 2 cat household.....ever.

We have always adopted 2 by 2 or 3 as in the triplets case. I think that the reason that Boshi always seemed so skitty kitty was that she was lost in the numbers and was not prone to be assertive.

She is now more verbal and less skitty, as if she has come into her own now .

Gracie is still more outdoor than in and I have to say that for all her tom boy-ish behavior, she was very kind to all of the kids in their last days .

It's sad, but oddly calmer at the house now.

I don't know what quite make of it.

Have a great weekend.

Ciao ,

Aunty Pol

For My Baby Dude

Dear Loki,

You were the BEST BOY for Dr. Tom, Daddy and I were so proud of you . I know that you are going to be okay because all of your bubbies and sissies and puppy cousins are up there and have Nip-Tini's and Tuna waiting just for you. Boshi wanted me to be sure to tell you that she misses you and she will be a good girl and will take care of the house. Gracie Marie will take care of the yard and will continue to take care of Aunt Lee Lee and Cindy Lou Who.

We love you baby and we will miss you every day..now run along.....I hear the bag of Treatio's being opened.

Uncle John sends his love too and says that you will like Buster and Casper so there you go baby.

Always..kissy face , love the poo.

Mama and Daddy.