Scribblings

Things I'm Thankful For

TB uploaded the pictures for me and these are what I would have chosen from to post yesterday:

I wanted one good shot of the tablecloth and settings while it was still brand new and clean!

I'll share more pictures tomorrow!

Ten on Tuesday

10 Things You're Thankful For

1. Jesus
2. My family--hubby, kids, grandkids and extended relatives
3. My health, such as it is
4. Our house
5. We can pay our bills and save some
6. We have enough to eat
7. We have enough to clothe ourselves
8. Music to listen to
9. Cats to love--yeah, and even ADD
10. Health insurance and prescription coverage ;P

One thing I am not thankful for is the huge serving of spam this weekend. I had more spam than turkey! ACK!

My Baker's Dozen Weekend

Baker's Dozen

I took loads of pictures this weekend but haven't uploaded them to the computer. TB's shown me like 5 times but I can't seem to retain the information longer than 5 minutes.

1. The kids and I saw HP and the Goblet of Fire on Saturday. It was the best of the series--they just keep getting better and better.
2. It was great to have Billy home for the weekend!
3. We didn't get to see Tomas as was planned. We hear that he is sick with something and we hope the little guy is feeling better. It hurt not to see him after looking forward to it for so long.
4. There was no leftover turkey to eat over the weekend--we gobbled it all up in 2 days!
5. No Black Friday shopping for us...the girls and I went to workout and burn off some calories
6. Heidi had to work 3 days over the holiday weekend so she's getting used to running around
7. Are holidays supposed to be like this? Much of the weekend seemed filled with conflict. I hate it.
8. I've been listening to lots of holiday music this weekend but it's not helping this time
9. The weather has been hot and cold all week. Now it's getting hot again
10. I'm almost totally done with Christmas shopping. Thank you, Internet!
11. I've been sorting and organizing the gajillion pictures I had stored in one dresser drawer
12. I'm actually almost done with one album!

Sunday Blahs

We hear that Tomas is sick and so we were unable to see him this weekend. We were all so disappointed and sad. Hope he's feeling better!

Billy is on his way back to RPI after what turned out to be a fast, stressful weekend. He'll be back soon--his last exam is on December 16th. It was nice to have him home, absent mindedness and all and I miss him.

Heidi and Ted keep butting heads. She thinks he dislikes her and he thinks she doesn't like him. It's very stressful and downright depressing.

Unconscious Mutterings:

I say...and you think...

1. Stuffed:: turkey
2. Armstrong::Neil
3. Bruise:: black & blue
4. Content:: satisfied
5. Musical:: Sound of Music
6. Assistance:: help
7. Scrambling:: mixing
8. Battle:: of the Bulge
9. Extended:: added on
10. Discount:: sale

Feline Friday: Black Friday Edition

Here we sit waiting for all the human pets to get back after venturing forth on "Black Friday", whatever that is! What foolishness! Yesterday they stuffed themselves with cat food--turkeys are supposed to be for us, right?

Oh, here they come now...bearing gifts! What did they bring for us?

What! Nothing! And after we busted our cat butts guarding the place!

Some nerve, I'm outta here! Where's that left over turkey?

Want to read more kitty cat blogs? Check these out:

Carnival of the Cats--this week's Carnival is being hosted at IMAO

Friday Ark

Cat Lovers' Blogroll

Happiness Is...

Holding Tomas again after so long

Heidi holding Tomas after so long
Billy coming home today for the holidays
the day of sunshine we'll have tomorrow
Christmas music to listen to
feeling thankful for everything we have
the anticipation of seeing Little T again on Saturday!

Ten on Tuesday:

10 Things You Like Eating at Thanksgiving Dinner

Turkey!!!!
Stuffing--especially made with cornbread
Creamed onions
Yams
Mashed potatoes
Cranberry sauce
Gravy
Pumpkin pie!!!!
More turkey!
More pie!

My Baker's Dozen Weekend...

Baker's Dozen

1. We hosted Carnival of the Cats for the very first time and it was a lot of fun! The girls are totally worn out though!

2. TB and I were chauffeurs, that's what it's come to, LOL, driving teenagers around! It's nice that Kristin has such nice friends!
3. B-101 started playing Christmas music 24/7 and I'm like a kid in a candy store ... it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas!
4. We went on a big shopping spree and spent a lot of money at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Costco...and no, we're not done yet!
5. The happiness I felt at seeing Tomas on Thursday carried over into the weekend
6. TB spent most of Sunday playing with the new leaf blower. Then he bagged all the leaves himself and overdid it :(
7. I've sorted through all the pictures I had in the bottom drawer of the old night table and now I need to get them into photo albums
8. We did some more Christmas shopping--we're making a dent in it...a little one, anyway!
9. Kristin is the latest family member to come down with the plague sickening everyone in the family
10. Heidi carried a 5 gallon bucket of water up or down a long flight of stairs at work and then figured out she didn't really need to do it
11. I gave in to a bag of cheese doodles :(
12. What happened to November? Wasn't it just Halloween?

87th Carnival of the Cats

When we remembered we were hosting the 87th Carnival of the Cats--a first for us, we immediately got nervous and needed to nap and escape from it all! We hope we did this right, if not, blame the pet, not the cats! Make sure to click on Continue Reading for the extended entry!

Caesar of Niobium enjoyed a midnight snack--some of it, anyway.

The peaceful kitties of Your Moosey Fate show how well they get along.

Pepper of Cascade Exposures is all boxed in but then poses for some really beautiful head shots!

Tiny of Sisu posed with dignity after also catching a mouse in "On the internet, everyone is famous for 15 people"! Her choice was 'out of the bag' for Sisu's candidacy for a card in the hearts suit in Aaron's "Deck 'O Bloggers 2005" competition.

Sasha and a still slumbering Sergei of Music & Cats can't believe it's Friday morning already!

Tommy of Striving For Average posts a profile of a bright wide eyed kitty sporting a cute little 'stache with an unfortunate resemblance to a person of infamy.

Little Annie of Lisaviolet's Dear Diary sleeps off a catnip party!

After a long day on the set Butterscotch of Mensa Barbie Welcomes You also enjoys a little cat nap!

LeeLoo of Skullsnbats has got to be Harry Potter's greatest feline fan!

Panda of TrailGrams has developed FKS--but not to worry, this is a good thing!

Kiri of Eat Stuff is happy that Clare Eats is much better and will be back to posting regularly again soon and so are we!

The kitties of The Blog Pound plot a takeover of the living room couch!

Some toys can cross "ine" lines, as playful kitty of Maggie's Meanderings & Shameless Plugs demonstrates that a feline can enjoy a canine toy!

Gabriel of Middle-Fork shows off his fluffy and very long long tail!

Peanut of Composite Drawings lovingly administers daily ablutions to her human lovey.

Spike and Boo of Watermark would like to know what's up with all the fake kitties? Real is better!

Poor Gigolokitty is devastated by the early Christmas present he gets from Santa.

There are two very contented Kitties on Josh's Weblog.

Doby and Jackie of The Blue Parrot take a moment to pose peacefully together. They sure are a pretty pair!

Pasha of Just Between Strangers also cooperates for the camera and provides an engaging close-up! Earlier in the week, Pasha and Pixel were in for feline feminine surgery!

Betsy of Baboon Pirates says empahtically: I meant to do that!

This pissed off kitty of CyberVassals is truly scary!

A stray kitty shows up in A Common Room's back yard. Could this be a kitten who's found his way back?

Check out the playful kitties of Where the Dolphins Play. Who says cats don't like water? Well...they have to turn it on first!

Bandit of i-pets.com, then and now...what a cutie!

Isn't amazing how flexible cats are? See how Pip of 7610 can stre----etch!

Sleeping Mommy was treated to a tuxedo-ed serenade

Smacky of Lunar Obverse says "Yes, I like to wash but I don't do laundry!"

Pixel of Lab Kat "bimbles off"!

Thalia of Athenamama says "You've got to be kidding--there are no bad cat pictures!"

Her Ladyship of Elms in the Yard asks Mr. Neighborcat, "Haven't you read that poem by Robert Frost about fences and good neighbors?"

Alex of Texas Oasis is feeling well enough to become a suggle bunny. Glad he is feeling better!

Mister Gato of Pencil Roving has turned his hunting capabilities to catching shoe laces!

Mr. Right of The Right Page posted an internet goodie--How to Give a Cat a Pill

Jack and Brother of Diary of a Feral Cat Colony are introduced. There sure is a strong resemblance!

Meowza of the Mind of Mog wonders where is the rootkit? and then went looking for it? And Izzy makes an appearance for Feline Friday!

Now this is one blissful kitty on Daily Rosie!

The kitty on Beezer Song is missing the most important elements of a comfy bed!

Ace of A Shareware Life is in no way no how interested in playing with silly string!

One of the kitties at Manx Mnews gets into a treasure box much to the delight of little Gracie!

Jerome and Miss Maple, "Beauty and Beast" of Gus Van Horn's blog, pose together.

Ferdinand T. Cat of Conservative Cat would like his pet to get his priorities in order saying --or is it giving?--cheese always comes first before snapping the picture

Rafe and Rhett of No Deep Thoughts show off their pretty eyes!

Hakuna of Blog d'Elisson basket-naps!

Tonks of Allan Thinks also shows off his gorgeous baby blues

A mystery surrounds Willow of M鬡nge -- so what is up with that leg?

Wow, check out Little Boy at The Oubliette!

Nardo is getting quite a workout at IFOC. Well, they say no pain, no gain but he really isn't hurting! There's links to kitty movies, too, but I couldn't get either to open for me yet.

Morris, at Ego, is combating hunger and fatigue--which feeling will win out?

Mouse: That wraps this one up!
Amber: Am I tired!
Mouse: Why? You didn't do anything!
Amber: I watched you supervising our pet didn't I? That was mind-numbing, now I'm exhausted!

Thanks for stopping by! Next week's Carnival of the Cats will be hosted at IMAO. Seeya!

Feline Friday

We're hosting Carnival of the Cats for the first time on Monday! Mommy just went to check on the submissions so far...we better get a lot of rest, we're going to need it! ;)

In other news: So yesterday was a real emotional roller coaster of a day. I was very very happy to see Tomas again and so was Heidi. Kristin missed the visit and so did TB so they were both pretty down about it. Last evening was stressful and so today I just feel totally emotionally drained.

New Jersey Needs A Slogan

I couldn't resist this story from my yahoo news page:

Get a Load of This! N.J. Seeks New Slogan By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Nov 14, 6:40 PM ET

Make us a slogan we can't refuse, the state of New Jersey said. We got your slogan right here, the people replied.

A push to come up with a new slogan for the Garden State has become an excuse to crack New Jersey jokes. Among the not-so-serious entries:

"New Jersey: You Got a Problem With That?"

"NJ: How You Doin'?!"

And "Most of Our Elected Officials Have Not Been Indicted."

The search yielded nearly 6,200 possibilities in all, many of them attempts to sum up the land of Bruce Springsteen, "The Sopranos" and smelly interstates in one pithy phrase. The deadline for submissions was Monday.

"We're really pleased with the response and proud that New Jersey residents take so much pride in their state," said Kelley Heck, a spokeswoman for acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.

The program began last month after Codey rejected a consultant's recommendation ? "New Jersey: We'll Win You Over" ? as too negative. That slogan, developed as part of a $260,000 contract by global image consultants Lippincott Mercer, was shelved a day before it was to be unveiled.

Instead, the state opened the process to the public, establishing a Web site and telephone hot line to receive suggestions, which included the lyrical ("The Ocean, The Motion, The Magic") along with the satirical.

New Jersey, which once used "New Jersey and You: Perfect Together," has not had a new marketing slogan in four years. "Get Away, Without Going Far Away" has been used in the interim, but tourism officials say it does not resonate with out-of-staters.

"We have the opportunity to craft a new message for our tourist literature to reflect the pride we have in our many parks, open spaces, farmlands, quaint villages, boardwalks and beaches and our exciting cities," Codey implored would-be slogan writers on the Web site.

The governor and the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission will "pare down the suggestions and go from there," said Karen Wolfe, a commission spokeswoman.

The state's musical legacy ? Frank Sinatra called New Jersey home, Springsteen still does ? led one person to suggest "From Ol' Blue Eyes to the Boss: Jersey Is Singing Your Song." Another entry: "Born to Fun."

Others found New Jersey's reputation for mobsters, toxic waste sites and lowbrow taste fair game. "Bada Bing! Choose New Jersey" was one suggestion.

The campaign was run by the state, but newspaper columnists, talk radio and "Saturday Night Live" got into the spirit, too.

"New Jersey: It Always Smells Like This," one Philadelphia Inquirer reader suggested. "New Jersey: Come Glow With Us," another said.

Codey and his staff will evaluate the slogan proposals and within two weeks pick five or 10 that will be put to a public vote, perhaps in the same way the suggestions were collected.

The governor, who is filling an unexpired term, expects to announce the new slogan by the time he leaves office in January, Heck said.

With the way I feel lately about government, our officials, politics and legal matters in general, my own person favorite is the one that brags none of our elected officials have been indicted. I would just add "yet".

Ten on Tuesday:

Ten Favorite Movie Characters

Some of these are oldies:

1. Elwood P. Dowd from Harvey
2. Teddy Brewster from Arsenic and Old Lace
3. Forrest Gump from Forrest Gump
4. Indiana Jones from the series of movies
5. Norma Rae from Norma Rae
6. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind
7. Rooster Cogburn from True Grit
8. Evelyn Couch from Fried Green Tomatoes
9. Daisy Werthan from Driving Miss Daisy
10. Tie: Brewster sisters from Arsenic and Old Lace

There's many many more but the meme asked for just 10

My Baker's Dozen Weekend

Baker's Dozen

1. Heidi worked her first day at Acme, way to go, Heidi! The pay ain't much but it's almost all yours!
2. "All the leaves are brown..." (almost)
3. Heidi's friend Shirley stayed overnight with us yesterday...she and her boyfriend are breaking up--and she lives with his family. Awkward.
4. I wonder where Shirley will stay now?
5. I spent most of the weekend coughing my head almost off. Time to go to the doctor.
6. I love the weather we've been having lately! Maybe because we have it so rarely?
7. TB put up my new shelves and they really help!
8. I still have too much stuff
9. Nanowrimo is going to turn into Decnowrimo for me!
10. TB and I spent Saturday evening watching our recorded episodes of Criminal Minds. There was nothing else on--thank heavens for technology and DVRs!
11. "I Love Rock & Roll"--especially from the 60s-80s...eeek! My music is 20-40 years old!!!!
12. Now that we need to sort through years of pictures previously hidden away, we needed about a half dozen photo albums!

Buddy Blogging: Quiet!

No question about it...Buddy is a barker. I figured out how to make life quieter around here during the day. I took some advice I heard from Dr. Phil to parents of a hyperactive toddler: catch him being good. So when some time has gone by and Buddy hasn't barked, I go out with a small treat and praise him. So far...so good!

And now for Buddy's amazing parlor trick:

The Amazing Dog Fan!

Are you more...

01) An intimidator when you want to change someone else's behaviour or passive-aggressive when you want to change someone else's behaviour? I dunno, I've been both...maybe I'm more passive agressive. I'm definitely wishy washy!
02) A fan of comedy movies like 'Office Space' or a fan of light drama movies like 'Something To Talk About'? I haven't seen either of those movies! I would say I'm more a fan of light drama movies though.
03) One who will dive right in and try a new, exotic food or one who will stare at it and wince when talking your first bite in case it tastes bad? I stare, wince and usually won't even take the first bite
04) A wiseguy with the Italian mob or a gang-banger with a street gang? What? I'm more like Mother Goose, where does she fit?
05) Thinking James Bond is great because he always pulls off his mission with aplomb or thinking James Bond is great because he always bangs the hot European chick afterwards? I don't think James Bond is great period.
06) One who thinks models look hottest when naked or one who thinks models look hottest when slightly covered with lingere/underwear/swimwear/whatever? I find it's sexier to leave things to the imagination
07) A person who absolutely will not swear in public or a person who will let 'er rip if you're reasonably certain no kids are around? It depends on where in public I am
08) A believer that medical care should be paid for like anything else or a believer that medical care should be a right of everyone? I think everyone should have access to decent medical care, it shouldn't be a privilege of the rich or insured.
09) Someone who thinks time travel will, eventually, be found to be possible or someone who thinks time travel will never be possible? I think it's possible
10) In touch with your inner child or quite oblivious to your inner child? I have always had trouble staying in touch with my inner child--she likes to hide

The need for exercise

I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting my mind around this Weight Watchers program. I have to admit the last time I joined, with Michele and Linda way back when, I had the same problem -- an attitude about the program. Is it because I've tried Weight Watchers so many times? I tried to tell myself to follow the program and get to maintenance (which I've never done before) but for the last 3 or 4 weeks, all I've done is gain weight. So now I'm checking into other programs. One is Curves and the other is Global Fit. Curves would be great, it's very convenient but I'm not sure how my ankle would hold up. Global Fit gyms have pools--but they're not women only. Have to visit each place and ask questions!

Ten on Tuesday

10 News Stories You're Sick Of

1. The Terrell Owens soap opera--thank goodness Coach Reid fired him!
2. The governor's race in New Jersey--and the race for all other political offices
3. Flu vaccine shortage
4. Scary stories about how we're not ready to deal with a pandemic/avian flu
5. What President Bush needs to do to get confidence back in government (fire Rove, staff shake-up, etc)
6. The detainees and whether or not they're being tortured -- do the terrorists worry about what they do to us?
7. Strikes--management just wants to keep passing the cost of health insurance on to the workers
8. Brad and Angelina--I don't care if they were walking on the beach holding hands or whatever
9. Madonna, Britney Spears, and all the rest of them
10. Supreme Court nominees

My Baker's Dozen Weekend

Baker's Dozen

1. What a wonderful weekend! The weather was glorious, perfect for a road trip to Washington Rock State Park, which is where Heidi took this picture. She takes nice pictures! It was hard to choose just one!
2. For more pictures of the weekend, check out TB's entry here

3. We saw the two homes where TB grew up, in South Plainfield and Greenbrook. The house in Greenbrook was in a beautiful area, on top of a mountain and located on a one lane road with a golf course practically in the front yard. Now I have houses to match the stories TB tells me about his childhood! :)
4. TB hoped to stop at a Texas Weiners and we accidentally stumbled across one just before we got to Greenbrook. He and Kristin had chili dogs but Heidi and I opted for club sandwiches. TB said the wieners taste just like they did when he was a kid! I'm glad we ate there.
5. We also got to see the place where TB works. It sure is a looooooooong drive for him!
6. We went to see Jarhead and I liked it very much! I thought it might be a propoganda type film like The Green Berets but it wasn't. It also wasn't as graphic and frightening as Searching for Private Ryan
7. The sound was up way too high in the theater! What's wrong with the managers? Do they think they need to drown out all the chatty Cathys and Carls? TB was left with a terrible headache!
8. I am still sorting through stuff! We have way too much stuff!
9. B101 is going to start playing holiday music the weekend before Thanksgiving--they announced that on Saturday. Eeeeeeeek...now it's really time to think about shopping!
10. I wonder if we'll get to see Tomas at all?
11. Eating out too much really adds on the pounds. Am I the only person to join Weight Watchers and then gain weight the first 3 week?
12. I wrote a little on my story for Nanowrimo.

Sunday Brunch

What a lovely weekend it's been so far. The only thing that would have made it better is if we'd seen Tomas. We miss him so much.

Today we're going to the movies. TB and I are going to see Jarhead and the girls want to see Doom even though Heidi heard it was "sucky". They want to see it because it's based on a video game. :P

Unconscious Mutterings:

I say ... and you think ... ?

Deeper and deeper:: digging yourself in
Can?t help ...:: loving you
Devil?s advocate:: defending the Dark Side
Superpower:: USA
Threatening:: scary
Played:: fooled once, maybe twice or 3 times
War:: futile
Violate:: destroy
Invest:: save
Choke:: Heimlich

A New Look!

I haven't posted since Hallowe'en for a couple of reasons ... one is because I'm participating in Nanowrimo and mean to go through to the end of the month and beyond...

...and the other is because we bought a lovely new bedroom set at a great price. Gordon's Furniture has been going out of business for the last 6 weeks and we'd been in to look at their stuff a while back. At that time, they weren't very negotiable about their prices and so we figured we could wait a little longer to get our set--we'd already waited 3 years, right? Anyway, last weekend we were out shopping and on whim I asked TB to stop by Gordon's again. This time they agreed to our price!

I meant to take before pictures of our bedroom and I did--but it wasn't until after we'd begun moving things around and cleaning up. So here are some before pictures:

This is our bed...and this is just about the way it's looked except usually the pillows are more organized and sometimes I put my stuff animals on it.

We emptied out our dressers and two bookcases and put the contents into boxes. TB moved the furniture out so we could make room for the new stuff.

Where did all the stuff go? Much of it went into the hallway between our room and the family room but a lot of it ended up here:

and here:

And then...our new furniture arrived on Thursday! Here is part of our room now...

Naturally, Amber and Mouse believe the new bed set is just for them.

Well...but we have a looooong way to go because TB and I are such packrats!

I have been going through our stuff little by little and have gotten rid of a lot--I just have tons more to go through!

Saturday Special:

Words Ending In AKE ~ I Say, You Answer

1. Earthquake...you answer? death & destruction
2. Peaceful Lake...you answer? Lake Placid
3. Chocolate Cake...you answer? my downfall!
4. Snowflake...you answer? pure