Random Thoughts Tuesday

Yay it's Tuesday!!

If you don't know already, Keely over at The UnMom, hosts Random Thoughts Tuesday. We all link together and throw out our random thoughts. Click on the button to check out more random thoughts.

I love Tuesday because it means I work from home. I'm on my new comfy over sized chair, I have a comfy blanket, a great view of my beautiful backyard, and I tend to spend the majority of the day in what some might call "pajamas."

My cats breath smells so wickedly bad. I bought a little kitty toothbrush and toothpaste for her, but well....this seems like it's more torturous than trying to give her a bath. Or making her ride on the back of a large dog. Or giving her a long, relaxing pedicure (pawdicure? ha!). I think I might have to try it later, as it's REALLY bad. Like something died inside of her bad.

The cat we had when Andrew was younger had really bad teeth too (I'm sure this is just coincidence and not something that we are doing!). When we went to travel to Korea, the vet who had to sign off on her health certificate wouldn't sign off on her being certifiably healthy until we fixed her rotten teeth. And they were ROTTEN. When she was about 6, she had two that had to be pulled. They literally rotted and when she went to eat one day, they just broke. It was a horrible bloody mess (and not just in the British way of saying bloody). Anyway, so the health certificate vet tells me that the teeth must be cleaned and by this point, the little kitty toothbrush is not going to be sufficient. I had to pay to have little kitty knocked out and have her teeth lasered. LASERED!!! Her teeth were much better after that. My wallet was not. So anyway...if you hear a loud earth-shattering noise later tonight, rest assured we are not having an Armageddon. It is just my cat getting her teeth cleaned.

I realized earlier this week that I have a hole in my tooth. Remember how when you were little and you got those metal fillings? And then you grew up and found out that they aren't meant to last a normal human lifespan? Well, one of mine had cracked a tooth a while back, and I let it go...and now it's apparently busted through and I can fully see a hole where there once was a tooth. Sad. I absolutely despise the dentist. And I really really despise the dentist bills. Even with insurance, dentists are ridiculous.

I can't believe it's mid-July already. Are we on some kind of time-accelerator?? I hate it. I want it to slow down.

I read this book called Notes Left Behind, 135 Days with Elena. It's about a little girl who has brain cancer-it's her parents journal. I knew how it ended all along, but still...when the moment at the end of the book comes, I was devastated. I'm not a big cryer....but I had a BIG cry in this book. It's really really sad, but very touching.

I also read the new Dean Koontz, and in typical Dean Koontz fashion-I couldn't put it down.
And last week I read a book about a female doctor who went to work in Saudi Arabia, and all that she went through while working there. Very interesting story...I'll have to find the name of it for you all. I love reading about other cultures from a first-hand account of someone who lived through it, not for the purpose of living in another culture, but by some other circumstance, like the doctor who took a job there.

It's almost 8:30am, is it too early for microwave kettle corn and a cherry coke?

I'm going to start a puzzle today. I must keep up my superior puzzle skills if I'm going to go pro some day.

Weekend Wrap-Up, in Photos

This was Friday night: I did not drink all these.

Blackberry brandy slush!! YUM!

I may have drunk(en?) most of this myself.

Cheesecake!

I for sure did not eat all these myself (though I could have).

This looks more exciting than it was...One of the girls is a henna artist and showed us her skills.

This came about about 4 hours later...it is exactly what it looks like.

Just two drunken girls rubbing up on a half-naked man. Typical Friday, right?

And then today we had a small get-together with some friends who have kids...a more tamer version of Friday night. WAY more tame. And for some reason, I didn't take any pictures of anything other than the food...

And this most beautiful little girl!!!

That's her real hair, though it looks like extensions...it's real. And she's the most adorable little girl you could imagine.

Better Than Ice Cream

I worked in the backyard on Thursday...thinning out the strawberry patch (it was out of control!) and cutting back some bushes and probably pulling out things that are meant to be flowers but I thought might be weeds. Andrew came home and helped towards the end, but this is where he was most helpful - raking.

Not raking the yard.

Raking the itchiness off my arms:

this is a look of pure joy

Grasses and trees and such make me very itchy, red and miserable. Andrew unfortunately seems to have inherited this lovely skin of mine and as I was finishing up, I see him off to the side of the yard and he's using the rake to scratch his leg, to which I yelled, stop that!! It can't be good for his skin, right?

But then he brought it over to me and said, check this out...and I am not kidding that it is the best feeling in the entire world!!! You should all rush out and buy this rake cause it will satisfy your itchy arms/legs better than anything you could imagine.

Make sure you test it out in the store. Take a friend, it's a 2-person job.

I Heart Sweden

Yay for Ikea!!

My friend Nancy and I headed out to Ikea yesterday. We had three agenda items:

1) Break Nancy's Ikea virginity and introduce her to the world of the
Swedish
2) Exchange the broken hinge from my son's futon and get a new one (no, I
don't have a receipt, yes it's over 90 days -it's actually been 3 yrs).
3) Find something for my mantle.

And over a 2.5 hr time frame---we actually accomplished all three!!!

I held Nancy's hand and coaxed her through the store. (not really) We opened every cupboard, every drawer, every cabinet. We looked at every utensil, every glass, each vase, every picture, touched each rug. We are Ikea experts now. Most important lesson---bring your own carrying bag!! They have nothing you can pack your stuff into after checking out. So if you were to buy lots of little kitchen gadgets, you're left to carry them out yourself. You can use the cart, but who wants to just drop all that in the back of your car??

I somehow got the nicest customer service person EVER at the return desk and she took one look at my broken piece, and about three minutes later, she had a brand new un-broken hinge for me to walk away with. And when I jokingly told her that the guy on the phone said the price was only $4.00, even after she said it was five, she then charged me only four!! I have not ever had such a good Ikea experience!!

I got some tall glass vases for the mantel. Nothing to hang up yet, because I am SUPER picky about what I hang and especially about spending over $50.00 on something to hang up. The vases are working for me. I think a bigger vase of fresh flowers in the middle will make the end result lovely. Stay tuned for pictures. You'll be amazed. It won't be anything like the great paintings I did, but it'll be pretty.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Oy, Michael Jackson memorial...please be done now. He's gone, he was great, blahblah, I suspect there are a large number of families (with young boys) who he affected who are not in mourning and who were "touched" by MJ, but not in the same way as, say, Brooke Shields and Usher apparently were. The news media is insane on this - one of the reporters on CNN said "everyones heart is literally breaking." And I thought, she's a reporter and just used the word literally that way?? My heart is not breaking. I'm sad for the people who are sad. The end. Let's move on. Literally.

We are training the cats to use the kitty door into the garage so I can put the kitty litter in there. So far, it's a lot of pushing-not a lot of using of the paws. I think that once one of them figures it out, the other will figure it out quickly. My bet is on the female cat, cause females are literally smarter.

I have been watching Chelsea Lately lately. Anyone watch this? She's a spunky smartass and I really like her. Set your dvr today! If you're paying for your dvr, you're losing out. Seriously---call Comcast and tell them that you are switching to Verizon because you were offered a free dvr and a great plan. I can literally guarantee you that you will get a discount. Literally.

I have two sprinkler heads---I suspect one of them was broken when I moved in. The other had an unfortunate run-in with the lawn mower (thanks Alison!). I can fix the mashed head (it's okay Alison!!) easily enough, says the internet. The one that doesn't have water coming out of it at all is another issue altogether.

Oh, back to the MJ Memorial - LA had to have 1/3 of its' police force working today. Um, who paid for that?? Not me, thank goodness. I suspect that if you live in LA, you are responsible. And we all thank you. Cause we literally would have been lost without the memorial. Literally.

I am drinking on Friday. For those of you who know me recently, this is a rare occurrence. Our family has a history with alcohol and I don't typically avoid drinking around my son...and so he has been tasked to find somewhere to spend the night Friday and I have about 10 friends coming over to help toast my new house. Housewarming party number one!! We're having a normal, non-drinking party on Sunday. Andrew is welcome at that one. Everyone is really. My family can't make it. Sad. But that means we'll get housewarming party number 3!! Yay!

I'm going to Ikea to fight for a broken piece of Andrew's bed. Sound familiar? I literally have had to do this before. It was successful last time-wish me luck. Maybe while I'm there I can find a painting to hang on the wall, since I am a total failure at painting. Literally.

I've lost at bingo three times in a row now. I may as well give it up. I had all my luck all at one time and now it's over.

Is there anything as weird as when a cat cleans their feet? They spread them out and they look alien. Check it out sometime. It's creepy.

That's all for me....peace out.

I Am Not An Artist, Evidence B

a little blurry...but you get the point...

You know how "they" say that you can do anything you set your mind to? Well, they are definitely wrong, as Evidence B above.

I set my mind to recreating a couple works of art I saw in magazines, art that was EASY to recreate....one which was really just rows of color. ROWS - how hard is it to make rows with different colors of paint?? Apparently, judging by my first painting, rows are hard to do. And apparently, picking the right colors to create the rows is VERY important. Somehow, I recreated the gay pride flag instead of the very pretty rows of color piece of art I saw in a magazine.

And the green mess above was a recreation of a really pretty piece that was just a very pale color with small sections where there was a little darker of the pale color...I didn't have enough white to make a really pale green and so I had to make a slightly light green...but then I ran out of that light color so I had to do the other green, and I felt like it was just too green...so I added a blue square...but then it looked like yet another flag!!! So I had to make it appear like it was meant to be abstract like that all along...sigh.

Ridiculous.

People who can paint obviously have some kind of witchcraft powers, because I really really try - I envision, I plan, I think really hard, I say a little request to god, jesus, buddha and allah...and then I end up with a green/blue mess and a gay pride flag, neither of which look anything at all like my original idea. I am hanging up my paints. I am going to look into a new creative outlook of some sort. Painting is just not my thing. [Insert sad face here]

I Am Not an Artist

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Today I handed in my keys to my old apartment. You may remember that I had issues with the apartment management. I still do. I have HUGE issues....but it doesn't matter at this point because it's OVER. I will never ever ever (hopefully) live in another apartment and never have to deal with this again. But just to fill you all in on the story: I did end up calling the management company, who took FOREVER to get back to me and when we finally did touch base, it was for her to tell me that no matter how good of a tenant I have been for five years, it would really set the tone for them to be asked to let others out of their lease, blahblah, sorry, can't help you.
Great, whatever. So I paid for the last month at the apartment and didn't live there. Great, whatever. I did feel free to take all the garbage from my new house over to the apartment complex to offset a little of the cost, though I was told I'm not allowed to put anything in the dumpster that wasn't created or came from living in the apartment. Whatever. I just saved myself $30.

We did the walk through today and the mean manager pointed out the stupid little things, like there's no light bulb in the storage unit. There never was, I said, but then she starts flipping papers and says, well, it wasn't noted here, so I have to charge you for it. WHATEVER.

After we had finished cleaning and pulling out the very last of the stuff last night, I told Andrew to give a wave goodbye to the place where we spent the last five years, and he held up his middle finger. I didn't feel bad (okay, I laughed). I did the same today as I drove away. I hope I never ever ever have to see the mean lady or her smelly maintenance guy again (though granted, he was really nice).

My housewarming party is coming up!!! Feel free to check out my gift registry and buy up as much as you can before the party!!! I'm registered at Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Search for Kaylen. Last name Miller. Go ahead, try it!!! I'll print out your picture from your blog and make sure all the real life party guests know that you are one of my biggest fans! Go ahead. I'll wait....

Back? Okay, great, on with random stuff.

If you came across an older blue vacuum in a parking lot of a local grocery store today, it may or may not have been left there by me. If I am arrested anytime soon, you can suspect this is the reason.

Tonight is my big art project night!!! That sounds really big and exciting, but really it's just me, a bunch of paint and some canvasses. I might have pictures to share. Unless it turns out horrible, which is VERY possible.

Cereal is way too expensive. But there was some mostly-sugar-cereal on sale for $2.50 and while in the aisle, a nice lady came along and offered me some of her $1.00 off coupons which were expiring. So I got cereal for the price that it should be in real life before the company decided to over-inflate the price!

I won about 5 times in a row at bingo...and then lost twice in a row. The winning streak is over. Sad. We're going back Friday afternoon so we'll see if it was just a temporary winning streak or if it was a temporary losing streak. I like to think I'm a winner on hiatus.