Spring Is In The Air!

Shoes...it's all about spring-time shoes!
Do you have your spring flings yet??
I and my fellow squackers do!
(Though we seem to be missing one foot.)

~~~
xoabb

I Have Officially (Or Not) LOST MY MIND!!

I haven't been sleeping very well the past several days. I chalk this up to the change from regular to daylight savings time. I could be mistaken about this, but I choose not to be.

Went to bed at 11:00pm last night. This is highly unusual for me as I am a night human and consider midnight to be an early bedtime. I haven't been sleeping well as of late for many different reasons....none of which involve feeling sorry for myself......really, that's true. Anywho - I hadn't been sleeping well since the changeover and decided to go to bed early. It was a wonderful idea until around 5am this morning. I woke up, saw the time and went back to sleep. However, it was the kind of sleep where you think you're awake even though you're sleeping and your sleep reality becomes your awake reality. In other words, you're really screwed up!

My alarm went off, I looked at the clock AND COMPLETELY PANICKED!!!!! IT WAS 5 MINUTES UNTIL I WAS OFFICIALLY LATE FOR WORK AND I HADN'T EVEN GOTTEN OUT OF BED, LET ALONE SHOWERED BODY, BRUSHED TEETH, AND DRESSED!! WHAT WAS I DOING????? Obviously it was not the right thing.

I tore out of bed, took one look at myself in the mirror and immediately set out to find a bag to put over my head. Found the bag, then threw on some clothes, washed my face, vigorously rubbed my eyes - puffy's gotta go - and tore out of the house to go to work.

Hmmm....why was it so dark out?? Why were there so few cars on the road.....why wasn't my work mate, let alone the main office picking up my calls?? And stranger yet, why was it that my work parking lot had exactly 3 (three) cars in it?? I WAS AN HOUR LATE, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD! WHAT'S GOING ON, PEOPLE??? Something was very amiss!!

I saw the building super's car so went to find him, as he knows everything, and I most definitely needed to know everything.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK...."Yeah, who's there?" Al sounded surprised and wary. "It's ME, Al! Open up!!" Al: "Who's you? Oh, you mean you!" Me: "Yeah, Al, it's me, Ann...Don't we have school today? Where IS everyone???" Al, beginning to giggle,: "Ann, ("you freaking idiot" - I swear that's what I clearly heard him mutter under his breath), school doesn't start for another hour." Me: "Al, it's very early, do not toy with me!!!" Al: "ANN, look at the clock, you're here an hour early!!" An hour early....an hour early.....O MY GOD.....I'm at school an hour early!! And I'm unshowered and unshaven!! Ewwwwwwuuuuuu!

I'm going home, then. Al, guffawing long and loud, told me around his gasps for air that I shouldn't do that as I would actually be late by the time I got back. So what?!?!? I was an HOUR early for work the first time, so I can be 10 minutes late for work the second time around. It's in the same day for cryin' out loud!

Got myself all buffed and puffed and headed back. The first clue I had that all was not well and good was when I passed Donna, our greeter at the side door, who upon setting eyes on me BURST into laughter. She muttered something to me through her giggles, and I'm proud to report I didn't understand a word that she said! Then I saw Al....needless to say when someone takes one look at you and bursts out laughing it's not a good thing! Got to my office....work mate Jane says with a HUGE sh*t-eating grin, "So, I heard you had some issues this morning!" Peter, her 6 year old son piped in: "Yeah - I told everyone what happened!" I am so very pleased! My day is off to a fabu start!

Al managed to find an excuse to stop by our office three more times today. Each time he would wait until he caught my eye, and then....all hell would once again break loose - you could hear him laughing for miles around...I am not kidding. Can anyone say wet-your-pants-you're-laughing-so-hard??? Ahhh it was good, even at my own expense!

Footnote: To add abysmal insult to injury, I was busily typing away on my PC later in the afternoon when I decided I needed something out of my purse immediately. Plopped my bag onto my keyboard...SUDDENLY WHAT SHOULD BE THE TOP OF MY COMPUTER MONITOR IS NOW ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THE MONITOR!!! WHAT THE HELL??? What was I going to do now!??!?!? Crook my head to the left?? Turn the monitor sideways??? What to do, WHAT TO DO???

Jane, my Little Miss Brilliant Office Mate said she'd call her hubby who knew more than a thing or two about PC's and would know what to do. He easily fixed the sideways screen problem. Of course I didn't write down what he told me to do, so the next time this happens I'll have to call him again, take up his time again, and try to convince him I'm a worthy person to help.

HELP! Is there such a thing as a computer nanny? I need one!

~~~~
xoabb

Lil' Miss Magic's Still Life

Bella's Not-For-Long Still Life

I was challenged by a friend to produce a ~Still Life~ with the added caveat of creating fancy-schmancy lighting for your fancy-schmancy photo shoot. Since I'm lucky to even get a picture that's half-way focused, the lighting angle is completely out of my league. However, as you can see from my still life photo above, the lighting is quite luminous...ethereal I'd venture to say.

Last Sunday, Bella, our Little Miss Magic, came over for Sunday Family Dinner along with her cousin, Connor-Man. As you can clearly see, she is plotting her escape from Connor's protective arm so she can wreak havoc at Auntie's house. PLANTS & PUPS BEWARE!!!

"What...you're talking about me? Sweet, innocent, little old me??? Auntie, I would never tear the leaves off your houseplants.
Pull the cat's tail, me? Never!
Well....maybe never....oh alright! You know me too well!
I will have my way!!"

"(Sigh) Having my way is just exhausting in a still life kind of way!
Must sleep now so I can get my energy up for another day of havoc!"
Night night, sweet Bella, our little Miss Magic!


~~~
xoabb

4 Stalks a Bloomin'

Dear Amaryllis
The Beauty You've Shared With Me
Thanks! Next Year Too...Please?

~~~
xoabb

King of the Side Table....

.....cannot stand it when I have the nerve to go into the bathroom and close the door. I wonder what he could possibly be thinking? The dogs don't mind, but Trey-you? Ha! It drives him crazy! I decided to try to catch him in the act, as a trip to the bathroom doesn't include bringing a camera with you. To try to speed things up, I called the cat and blatantly let him see me go into the bath and close the door, instead of trying to sneak in there like I usually do.

Of course, he was giving me that cat look that all cats are good at - some better than others - that clearly said he couldn't care less about what I was doing, actually I could drop off the face of the earth for all he cared as long as there was another human around that would feed him. He didn't fool me for one little moment! I just knew that I'd hear him throwing himself against the door and then see his paw under the door any minute after that. Yep.....he's now throwing himself at the door.....umm, now he's trying to look under the door - I know this because I hear him vigorously sniffing. Look! There's his paw! He kept it right there and didn't move at all so I shuffled my foot a little, and then...

Eureka!the old boy couldn't stand it another moment!

In for the kill he and his paw came! Another bathroom and it's occupant conquered - King of the Side Table once again rules! When I opened the door, Trey-you immediately straightened up and looked away, and then sauntered away with a quick glance over his shoulder that clearly said: "Who me? You thought that was my paw under the door? Don't be silly! I would never stoop to doing something as lame as that!" Oh right, I think, it must have been our other cat! You know, the invisible one. (sigh)

~~~
xoabb

Thought of the Day

Brynnly & me

"Of all the things I've lost, it's my mind I miss the most."

Big night in Cocktail Corner.  Must rest now.

Yep, I'm a copy-cat...

~~~

xoabb

Word of the Day

Cathartic - as an adjective

Adj.	1.	cathartic - emotionally purging psychotherapeutic healthful - conducive to good health of body or mind; "a healthful climate"; "a healthful environment"; "healthful nutrition"; "healthful sleep"; "Dickens's relatively healthful exuberance"
	2.	cathartic - emotionally purging (of e.g. art) releasing artistic creation, artistic production, art - the creation of beautiful or significant things; "art does not need to be innovative to be good"; "I was never any good at art"; "he said that architecture is the art of wasting space beautifully" emotional - of more than usual emotion; "his behavior was highly emotional"

"It was cathartic for me to be able to finally tell my husband that he just had to stop bringing me a dozen roses every week....it had become so mundane."

~~~

xoabb

This Just Says it All...

(above courtesy of Pardon My Planet )

~~~

xoabb

The Circle of Life Continues....

For me February is the worst and the best month of the year. The worst because it is usually an ugly month here in the Northeast. (Though we've had winters with snow on the ground from December through March, most winters we don't.) The temperatures fluctuate wildly in February so that we're left with either a mud-bath or frozen mud "sculptures" that will break your ankle if stepped on wrong. Toward the middle to late February, just about the time I've had ENOUGH of this dreariness, without fail my little friends pop their heads up to remind me that once again, nature and all her wonders has come through....the circle begins again. Crocus popping has happened in February every year we've lived here. I took the below pictures today, but drove by this field last Wednesday (2/27) and they were all in full bloom. The weekend was cold so they "folded", but today we had highs in the 50's. Once again out they all came in all their lovely glory!

Part of the lawn the crocus are growing in. Each year they expand their reach further into the lawn. I must check, but I think these are snow crocus - they bloom 2 - 3 week earlier than other crocuses (is the plural croci?)

Snowdrops! We have snowdrops!

The snowdrops are back in droves!

You can see why they're called snowdrops - look at the snow that's still on the ground even after a mid 50's day. Lovely! My soul is re-newed!

Hundreds under the trees....

One last picture...

Same bloom - top picture taken w/flash, this one without.Can you ever doubt why hope springs eternal?

~~~

xoabb

Turkeys in the Tree (Branches)

Someone please explain to me how big big turkeys

manage to hold tight to tiny tiny tree branches....
...all night long

~~~

xoabb