My Gosh - We Are SLACKERS!

Katie and I have kind of ignored this blog for the past year. I don't want to let it go, but now that she is home for the summer, we have ample opportunity to talk face to face. Stay tuned - things should pick up once she heads back to the U of M!

Heat is Overrated!

Well, winter is almost here. Do you want to know how I know this? The furnace broke again. It breaks at least once or twice a year - and it is always the same... I can hear the burner trying to turn on (three times in a row), and then it gives up and sends out cold air. I woke up yesterday and it was 59 degrees in the house. I managed to get it to work temporarily and got the temp back up to 64 at lunch time. Sadly - when I got back after work, it was again 59 degrees inside. The Minnegasco guy was supposed to come and fix it - somewhere between 8 AM and 8 PM. He had not shown up when I left for Mankato at 4:00. I wish I would have been home when he came - I was hoping that perhaps he would show me how to fix it, since it is the same problem all the time. (Probably not, huh?). Anyway, I got home at 6:00 and the house was toasty warm. I ran around putting away groceries, etc. and boy - the house was toasty warm. In fact, I was working up a sweat. Hey - wait a minute! I checked the thermostat and clearly there is a conspiracy in the works. My programmable thermostat had been tampered with. The heat was set all the way up 68 degrees! Apparently Minnegasco wants me to increase my usage of natural gas...

Things that go Blech! in the Night

There is nothing more disconcerting that waking up to hear a cat heaving somehwere nearby. And then hearing it again, further away. Except for getting up in the morning and finding NO physical evidence on the floor. Do I dream of cat barf?

WTF??

I have company every time I come home for lunch. All God's creatures might be sacked out on my bed sleeping, but just let me open a bread bag and Jester comes running. He jumps onto the counter, purring loudly, and tries to horn in during my sandwich making. He has no concept of personal space. I have been known, on occasion, to crack him in the head with my knuckles if he gets too close. This seems to work marginally well. The other day, I had a beef roast in the crock pot. When I came home for lunch, I took the lid off so that I could shred up the meat. Of course, my old friend was sitting on the counter watching every move I made. I turned my back for a second to put a fork into the sink, and turned back just in time to see him dipping into the crock pot with his paw. Thankfully, I yelled before he actually touched anything - he would have burned himself for sure. Then I got to thinking - as distasteful as it is to imagine his dirty little toes in my supper, perhaps burning said toes would have solved this little problem. I don't know...

Give me a D, give me an R....

Keep spelling and you get DRAMA!!!!

Yes, my friends, that is what college is....you may think that it stops in high school...but noooo.

By college, I mean one of my roommates who creates her own drama and stress...I know that sounds familiar (ahem), but she is worse. She came back from a weekend at home only to be yelling at her mom. Apparently her mom glued her shelf thing wrong and it wouldn't hang on the wall. She yelled about it being wrong after she screamed at her mom to hang it up. This is the same girl that called her mom to yell at her because her mom forgot to pack the cleaning supplies. Since when does your mom pack up your stuff for college??? Not in my lifetime.

I always thought that relationships were supposed to be mutual and depend on efforts by both people...but not in her mom/daughter relationship. I don't think that the daughter brings anything good to the relationship. I guess that's what they mean when they say that you can't get rid of your family....because believe me, she would be cut out is she could.

SO Tired!

I am beat. I went to bed around 11:30 last night, but couldn't get to sleep. My legs were all restless and my back hurt, so I kept moving around. I also couldn't get my mind to stop thinking. I hate that. I did manage to get up at the normal time this morning (points for me!). I fed cats, turned on the coffee, showered, fed Mollie and got her outside. Then I went for that all important first cup of coffee for the day... and found a moth floating in the pot. I asked myself - do I really want to wait for another pot to brew? Nope - I fished the damn moth out and drank the coffee anyway. Aren't you proud?

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Last night was very relaxing (meaning I chose not to do anything on my never-ending list of chores). I was able to let two of the cats outside for a jaunt - they spent about an hour exploring the backyard. Of course, then we had to play the game where Gabby comes to the screen door and meows to be let in. I open the door, and then she takes two steps back and lays down on the deck. We played three rounds of this game before she finally came in. I was watching TV, but in the background I kept hearing a noise I hadn't heard before. It almost sounding like running water, but it was very brief. This happened for a short time before I began exploring. I walked into the living room and found Gabby laying on top of the finch cage. The sound I heard was the birds flying in a panic. Gabs looked very relaxed up there, although the cage top was bowing in the middle due to her weight. I managed to get her off without the cage tipping over, but now I am paranoid that she is going to do it again. I think she has an evil mind...