Sleeping in

Let me start by saying that I wake up Monday through Friday at 3:30 a.m. Why so early?!, everyone usually asks in dismay.

Well, it's because I:
Hit the snooze once and it's about 3:40 when I get up out of bed.
So by the time I'm done with my shower and downstairs staring at the coffee machine it's 4:00-ish.
Which leaves me 45 minutes of "me time" to drink coffee, watch the news, check e-mail and give myself a pep talk before I get dressed, do my hair and head out the door.

So, last night the plan was when going to bed, I was so psyched , I was going to sleep in this morning.  Bound and determined I was to not wake until at least 6:00 a.m. 

All week long I dreamed of finally sleeping in.  Being a lazy bones.

And this is how my morning ended up in reality:

4:53 am: Eyes open of their own volition
5 seconds later: Realize something large & heavy is laying across both legs/shoulders
5 seconds after that: Realize Mr. Wonderful is sleeping next to me? He is supposed to be at work... (he got cancelled which left him on call for today and tomorrow - gag.)

4:54 am: Furious toe wiggling commences as getting up to pee is considered & delayed as long as possible
5 seconds later: Black flying furball launches itself at wiggly toes beneath the blankets
5 seconds after that: Dislodge claws from toe & begrudgingly stumble-limp out of bed to bathroom

4:56 am: Walking back from bathroom step in something cold & wet in the hallway - pray it is a stray penny on the floor
5 seconds later: Grab cell phone to use a light so Mr. Wonderful isn't wakened and investigate hallway blob
5 seconds after that: Realize a cat ate random yarn & regurgitated it

4:57 am: Grab wad of toilet paper and pick up cat yarn-goober & pitch it
5 seconds later: Crawl into still warm bed next to space heater-esque husband
5 seconds after that: Crack open right eye and stare into cat face 2 cm away from own


It looked something like this
(This is Icky the day we moved into the house - I woke up to his face this close)



4:58 am: Give up all hope of going back to sleep & trudge downstairs to make coffee

Yeah, I was out of bed by 5:00.  Not leasurely lazing about in bed at 6:00 trying to decide if it's still too early...

Maybe tomorrow though.  Hope springs eternal.



Out of Whack

I don't know about anyone else, and it may be that I am a complete weirdo, but as I get older if something disrupts my "routine" then I'm all out of whack.  For days.

Well, that's what happened over the weekend.

I forgot, until late Friday, that I had a knitting class to teach on Saturday.  Right smack dab in the middle of my afternoon.  And only one student showed.  But, and it's a mighty big but, it was a student that I had taught in my Knitting 101 class less than a month ago.

She thought I did a great job and had been practicing so she signed up for another! WooHoo!

Then yesterday we drove up to visit Mr. Wonderful's Dad. 
We had a scrumptious meal and then Mr. Wonderful's dad took us on a tour of

 ::drumroll::









Flint. 

Yeppers...

Flint Town.  Buick City.  The Birth Place of General Motors. 

Mr. Wonderful's family is from Flint, when it was a thriving and vibrant city.

Is it possible that Flint is more dead than Detroit? I seem to think it is.  I started taking pictures but had to stop because it was so sad.

There is a 130 acre lot called Chevy in the Hole. It's called Chevy in the Hole because it is quite literally located in a natural depression of the Flint River.

There, in the heyday, there were GM plants running full tilt 24-7.

Now, it's a brownfield. 130 acres of cement and weeds.  The land is so contaminated that it is difficult to redevelop.  For the longest time no on wanted to own it.  But, I believe the city of Flint has bought it.

Hopefully they will be able to remediate it and move ahead with plans to build a park there.

Here are a few pics that I got

They take out the doors and windows to discourage squatters and the like

There were huge depressions on either side where other houses used to be

Just another random, abandoned factory

Maybe that's what happened to Flint, they got out of whack.  On a grand scale.

Things I Love: Day 10 (missed!)

Nike.
Nike Celeste! (usually said in dismay)
The Huntress.
Nike Nuts.
What the?...
Itty Bitty Black Kitty.
Princess Pukes-A-Lot.

A rescued barn kitty.  The runt of the litter.

Nike is nigh on six years old and still barely five pounds.

She is the quintessential scaredy cat.

Unless your a bird, squirrel or bug.

(She only gets to "hunt" from the inside safety of the glass)



Of note:

For the very first time in the six years I've had her, today she is sitting here on my arms as I type this.  She never really comes around me for longer than 6.3 seconds worth of petting then disappears again.

But, she loves Mr. Wonderful.  Unless he's standing. 

Sitting or laying is how she likes her humans.

Things I Love: Day 9

Door to Door Organics.

Look at the yumminess they deliver to my door!

Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, Lettuce,

Pears, Bananas, Oranges, Apples,

Mango, Yams and Red Skin Potatoes.

Honest to goodness,

I lost the yams.

I will have to look for them again tomorrow.

Things I Love: Day 8

Poppies.

It may have something to do with my name...

And Tiffany if anyone has any castoffs they're looking to get rid of.

Things I Love: Day 7

It was many moons ago when I saw this at a City Wide Garage Sale.

It instantly took me down memory lane to the good ol' days.

We used to have one of these when I was growing up and I just had to have it.

"No matter the cost!" I shouted to my cohorts.

That day my pockets were lightened by twenty cents!

Two whole dimes!

But, we don't have Saltine's. 

We have fancy-schmancy Ritz!

I can afford them because I paid so little for the cracker box.

As a side note and the reason I remembered I had this picture - Yesterday, I am not quite sure how I managed to meander over to a section of Etsy where people were selling these.  They were selling them for between $10-12.00!

My memories of the cracker box are certainly not worth that kind of money, are anybody's, really?

I mean, I looove my cracker box but c'mon peeps isn't that a bit excessive?

Things I Love: Day 6

Nothing Earth shattering or ground breaking in this post. 

Not that there usually is...

But it is simply beautiful.  And mine.

My Wedding Ring.

Nothing "normal" for me.  Nope, no way, nuh-uh.  



Things I Love: Day 5.5

I may have mentioned once, here, that I enjoy making New Traditions. 

It started innocently enough with The World's Cutest Salt & Pepper Shakers:

As witnessed in my blog post -- To Have or Have Not.

Well, I got this crazy idea in my noggin that I want a pair of Special Salt & Pepper Shakers for each and every month and only set out for that one month. 

Odd? Yes.  Totally Me? Hell yes.

October: The Awesome Halloween Spider Couple

December: The Cutsie Snow-Couple

Etc.

Etc.

I only have six pair thus far... I'm hunting down some more.

This is March's set

Perfect, huh?

I'll have to get out April's on Friday.

I can't wait!

Gah!

I missed a day! I had a picture all lined up and everything... then I started reading. 

And kept reading, and reading, and reading...

I'll tell you this, it's a really good book and I'm one chapter away from finishing it.  And, I started it Saturday.  If I hadn't been so busy this weekend I'd be done.

I'll finish it off this morning at work on my break.

Things I Love: Day 4

Three things:
Earth Hour
Scrabble (especially by candle light)
Winning (I don't do it very often)

The opening volley in my battle to smoke Mr. Wonderful.

I won.

Finally.

Okay fine, he one a game too.  We finished the night in a tie.

Things I Love: Day 3

I am a culinary namby-pamby. 

Mr. Wonderful has adventurous appetite.  He will try nearly anything!  He likes virtually all foods!  There isn't a single veggie he doesn't like or eat with a certain joie de vivre.

Unfortunately I am able find the smallest, most infinitesimal, bit of something which offends my taste buds and I will immediately think "What is the quickest way to get this horror off of my tongue?" 

Mushrooms? Never.  Not a snowballs chance in Hell you'll ever get me to eat fungus.

Onions? Stinky, slippery, slimy.

Okra? Hairy! Who wants to put hairy stuff in their mouth?!

Garlic? S-t-i-n-k-y! I think I am part vampire.

Broccoli? Tried to like it, it smells sulfur-ish when it gets close to my mouth.  Even covered in cheese.

And that's just veggies.  Poor Mr. Wonderful.  I try to add flavor to cooking with spices since I'm such a lily-livered picky pants.

One day I was on a tear demanding that he go find the poor, burning body of whatever beast had crawled into the heat duct and died. With the putrid smell of charred fur and my eyes burning I went and counted the cats, just to be sure.

I was literally on my way to a teary meltdown thinking of the poor animal that died and was stinking up my house when I realized he was making brussel sprouts.  I had never even smelled brussel sprouts before.

Honestly, I hadn't ever banned any food from the house.  Until that day.  He'll have to go elsewhere for his brussel sprouts.

Anyway, back to the thing that I love: Mr. Wonderful's love of all different types of food.

We saw this at the grocery store.

I giggled like a school girl.









This is what it looks like on the inside.

He swears it is wonderful.
I nibbled a piece.  After taking out what I think may have been raisins.
I wish I were braver when it came to food.

Things I Love: Day 2

Icarus.
Icky.
Ick.
Icky Monkey.
Stinky Icky Monkey.
Icky Cat.
Mr. Meowser Socks.
Thunder Paws.
κακό αγόρι
The list can go on for days... You can come up with a lot of nicknames in 13 years.

This is my special boy.  I picked him out at the Humane Society in 1998.

He has been with me through it all.  I love him.  Always will.

Even when he aerates the toilet paper.