Tuesday-11:30am

Been very busy. Cut the colored paper I will need for another dozen angel bookmarks...that is what I forgot to tell you. The lady (Etsy) asked for a dozen more angel bookmarks! So now all the paper is cut for these and for the couple dozen birthday cards--tada! :)

Meanwhile--I washed clothes, finished the Soul Coaching book, balanced the checkbook, planned the budget, wrote out checks for bills, finished my 2010 Goal List, and am in the middle of watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. :)

Play Preview Times are changing for moody mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), motormouthed sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and crafty saber-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary) in this third installment of the beloved computer-animated children's franchise. Life heats up for our heroes when they meet some new and none-too-friendly neighbors: the mighty dinosaurs. High jinks and hilarity ensue in this fun family adventure that's packed with celebrity voices.

Just needed a little break. Almost forgot to blog! I have been up since 4:30pm yesterday and am getting pretty darn tired. Heading for bed when I finish chatting with you. The dinosaurs will have to wait. :)

Also finally added some new string to Karma's wand toys. She was really jazzed and all "capture and kill" mode. Didn't think she could move this fast, did you? hehe! She was a blur!
This is a feathery, spangly cat toy that Leah made for her. Karma hasn't seen it for a long time, so it was particularly thrilling.

I try to remember to rotate her toys so she doesn't get bored with them.

Karma was at her post for dawn patrol. ;)

We have a winter storm watch over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--Wednesday night thru Friday. Not good for all the people traveling. We're supposed to get 3-6 inches and south of us could get up to a foot. So--looks like it is going to be a really white Christmas. Will probably be very pretty for those of us watching it thru our windows--hehe! But I hope everybody travels safely.

Well--that's it for today. *yawn* Hope you are ready, or close to ready, for the holidays! :):)

Monday-8:45am

Good Morning!

All of this was happening in the sky at the same time this morning.
Dark, light--orange, yellow--interesting! To me, anyways. :)

This is what Miss Karma does every morning. She often gets into position on one of the chairs by the window way before dawn is even a hint in the distant sky. Pitch black. And I wonder what she is watching or waiting for?

I mean, later--closer to when the sun is coming up--there are people leaving for work and walking their dogs.

Karma keeps a close eye in the mornings for some reason. I have no doubt she does this when I am sleeping thru the sunrise, too--hehe!

Well...

I am glad I had made my birthday cards for 2010 ahead of time as I have three birthdays in January.

They're a bit girly for the guys, but I guess that's too bad--hehe! This is what they are this year. Oh well. It's hard to make them gender neutral every year. ;)

Karma's toys used to be in the top drawer of the cabinet that the 30 gallon sits on. I moved them into a small box I had. [Getting ready to give away the tank and move the cabinet to the dumpster. Just need to be on better hours before I post it. Never heard back from the lizard guy.] Karma tends to take out her red netty thingie first.

So--what have I been doing for two days? Still sleeping here and there, day and night. In fact, I've been up all night and will be heading for bed here pretty soon.

I did finally get caught up on my art blog. Summarized for September thru December. That's how far behind I was on my monthly posts! I hope to do better in the coming year.

That got me checking my goal list from last year. Sadly I only got 13 checked off. :( I started on a new list for 2010. Obviously, could just transfer a lot of them over to the new list--hehe!

I'll post the new list in January, of course--on the art blog. I suppose I might post it on my regular blog, too. Not sure.

And that inspired me to update, print off, and fill out my weekly list for the first three months in 2010. :)

I have one week left in the old calendar (on the desk). I am all set and ready to go!

I think I am especially glad to have my Christmas cards mailed, my birthday cards for 2010 already made, and now have my calendar & weekly checklists up to date because I've been so far behind most of the whole year. Like I'm thinking I will actually be able to keep abreast now? ROFL! We'll see. Time will tell. :)

Seems to me I was going to tell you something else, but I am getting so tired the brain is dimming. If I think of it I'll write it down so I can mention it next time. *yawn*

Nite! Nite! :):)

Saturday-1am

Karma was trying to stay awake to watch The Tudors with me--hehe!

I had it at the top of my Netflix list for when season three was released on the 15th and got them right away. Have been watching for the last three days--a disc a day--ahhh! This is the best Henry VIII version I have ever watched. Of course, they have the time to really reveal the characters and the layers of intrigue. I have been loving this series!

The sexually insatiable King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) romances third wife Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis) and ruthlessly quashes an uprising of rebels protesting England's break with Rome in the third season of Showtime's Golden Globe-nominated historical drama. But dissension within his own ranks leads Henry to question the loyalty of his closest allies. Grammy winner Joss Stone joins the cast as Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife.

I appreciate the scope. Many movies about Henry focus mainly on his love life and many wives, but this series delves into the social aspects, his personal life, and the religious turmoil in more detail than you usually see. Like I say--because they have the time with a series. Makes me want to read more about that time period.

Which reminded me--duh! My sister sent a book home with me a few years ago and I just went and dug it out of the bookcase. The Autobiography of Henry VII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers--a novel by Margaret George. This should be fun to read! Another 900 page book waiting for me this winter--hehe! But it has reached the TBR stack at least--chuckle!

They just had quite a bit about his relationship with his fool in the third season. I didn't know about Will Somers--so I was intrigued by that relationship. Fascinating! That's what I would have loved to be back then--a fool! (Not that I'm not one now--hehe!) They can say the things no one else can say--albeit carefully. Telling the truth behind a laugh--but telling the truth. There is such freedom in honesty! I probably wouldn't have done well with the false fronts in the king's court. Everything shows on my face. I would have had to play the fool or I'd have had my head cut off in no time--ROFL!

Oh--I love this quote from Nelson Mandala:

"Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for it to kill your enemy."

I heard it on the Bonnie Hunt show when Deepak Chopra was on.

I also read online that they are not renewing Bonnie's show! I don't think I will ever understand how they decide these things anymore. Networks never give shows a chance to establish a following like they used to. And you'd think with a billion channels to choose from they'd try even harder to give shows that chance--but they try even less. When are they ever going to realize that not everybody can come in first? Duh!

Here was a show people could watch and always be cheered up. Bonnie Hunt is such a wonderful, genuine lady who always makes me laugh. She and Ellen are about the only talk shows I will watch. Happy, lift your spirits shows. Now Ellen's has stuck around, tho. (Different network.)

Well, for those of us who are home during the day--I will greatly miss Bonnie Hunt's show. We need more shows like hers on TV. I vote for more positives and less negatives. I am very sad to hear that and hope another network will pick up her show. :(

It's gotten so that many people I talk to say they don't want to even start watching a brand new show because they cancel them so quickly--why bother? And TPTB at the networks wonder why the cable shows are becoming the cream of the crop these days...no surprise. Cable doesn't make the cookie cutter shows that network TV has been reduced to in the most part. Not that I like all of them, but I like more of the cable than network shows anymore. And I have to wait to see them when they come out on Netflix--hehe!

Well, enough boring TV talk. ;)

Have a great day!! :):)

Friday 1am

By golly! I got out the "python" and filled and emptied the tank a couple of times.

Karma was so excited! She won't leave the python even when I have stopped to take breaks.
So afraid she'll miss a chunk of leaf or a delightful ball of fish crud speeding past--up and into the sink. ;) She races back and forth along the hose like a mad woman--so funny!

When I am finished I lay out the hose to dry out inside before I roll it up for storage. Usually even drape it over the bedroom door for a day or two. Don't want mold to build up inside the tubing.

Karma can never quite believe the fun is over.

She's such a hoot! You know how cats can see imaginary prey?

Karma sees imaginary fish poop! ROFL!

Here's the embarrassingly dirty fish tank. Algae on the walls, dirty rocks, and the hood is cruddy inside. Oh well. I'll apologize to whoever picks it up, but I will stick to my promise to Leah.

I'm so dangdable sore lately that it certainly does make keeping that promise easier--chuckle! That's why I haven't been sleeping much at all for about a week or so--pain. Just happens sometimes with the fibro and arthritis. Bad spells. Fibro flares. I was finally so totally exhausted that I slept for 10 1/2 hours on Wednesday night, was up at noon, back in bed by 7pm, and now I was up again at midnight. My body is often in charge of my sleeping patterns these days. Most of the time, actually--hehe! Felt soooo good to sleep, tho--or should I say collapse? Ahhhh!

I'm so lucky to have Miss Karma around to make me laugh every day. Don't tell me cats don't have an imagination--ROFL! She entertained me for hours last night. She'd be sitting next to the python and suddenly--leap up--paws flying--thinking she saw something flit by through the hose. These pictures are from 3-4 hours after I was done!

Karma was still keeping her eyes peeled.

Head darting back and forth.

Well, until she'd doze off for a while...

...on the tubing, of course--for fear she'd miss me taking it away. She'd wake up and attack invisible aquarium gunk--fall asleep for a while...

...wake up, chase the poop ghosts.... This went on for hours until I finally took it away and hung it on the bedroom door. [I don't trust her alone with it just in case she'd try to bite her prey--hehe! Wouldn't be cool to have leaks in a water hose.]

Karma was in seventh heaven. I have never left the python out on the floor for such a long time after I was done cleaning. She took full advantage. I guess it was her python swan song and dance.

Speaking of songs..."We're having a heat wave...a tropical heat wave.." keeps going thru my head--hehe! Supposed to be in the low 20s for a few days. And at 2am (yes, my timer just went off--my hour is up) it is still 7 degrees! Woohoo! That's all for now folks! :):)

Thursday-1pm

Happy Thursday!

Well, let's see. The apartment complex folks came for their inspection in the morning. The guys from New Life came in the afternoon and had all six bags and the two wardrobes out of here in like 2 minutes--hehe! It just feels so good knowing that they give away a lot of the donations! And nice to have a little space back in here again. My place is crowded enough to begin with--hehe!

Then--the latest JoAnn's sale order came--tada!
Wow!

Those big white stickers on everything peeled off like a snap while they were still cold. I left them alone till Leah got here. :)

Leah dove right into the pile when she got here after work. So exciting! Everything got put away in an appropriate spot. ;)

Dagan came over after work, too, for a while. We had dinner. Always so nice to see my favorite son--hehe!

Leah and I went thru our colored paper--picked out what we were going to use for making some more birthday cards for Iggy. :)

And as long as we were going to be playing with caulk...decided to make up a bunch of extras, too. We could post them on Etsy. We love these cards so we aren't worried if they don't sell because we'll use them ourselves--hehe! :)

Leah sat and cut out the papers for the fronts and the insides so we are ready to caulk.

After she left I drug out the caulking tubes. We might need some more white--we'll see.

We squeeze the caulking out into a small jar and actually use our fingers to spread it on the stencils. I'll take pictures. Wonder if I could actually make a video of this messy process? Hummm? Maybe have to try that, too. :)

But today--first--I am planning on emptying the 30 gallon tank. Leah didn't think I should bother to scrub it down if I am giving it away on freecycle. She found someone wanting a larger tank who sounded kind of in a hurry about it. True. The more I thought about it--they could clean it up, right? I certainly would have been happy to do that for a free tank in years past. That's the reason I am getting rid of it. Too hard on my back--all that bending and scrubbing, etc. So, if this person doesn't want it (I sent them an email last night, but haven't heard anything yet)--I can just list it "as is" and tell them that it is not cleaned that well. True. Right? So today I am going to just clean the gravel out a bit and empty it (with the Python). Not going to scrub it down after all.

I know it doesn't sound like a big deal--but this is really difficult for on old Swede. Good grief, I pick up before the cleaning girl comes, ya know--hehe! ;)

Been a heat wave! I think it got to 10 degrees yesterday and supposed to get to 20 today!

Well, time to get the Python out! :):)

Wednesday-5:30am

Can hardly get a picture because the glass frosts up immediately.

Karma finally had to go out and look for snow on the porch. (Been so awfully cold she had quit asking to go out.) Not much snow. In order for us to get porch snow we have to have a strong wind to blow it thru the screen. The snow we had was much more drifty and pleasant. Karma was disappointed, I think--hehe!
All the areas and states and regions that got dumped with snow lately--we were missed. We've just been in the deep freeze.

Caroline came to clean and before she left she helped me wheel down the other clothing rack. I finished!! Six bags! Clothes, coats, shoes, purses, blankets, sheets, hangers... Feels so good to know I am clearing out so much I haven't been using.

A little sad, too. It's a letting go of my former life in a way. But it is time.

Karma's last times enjoying the clothing racks.

She has always loved them.

And smelled them.

Both of these wardrobes...

...and the six bags will be gone between 1-3pm this very afternoon! Hurray!!

Starting at 9am they are inspecting all the apartments today. Annual inspection by the building employees. I can tell them I only have one storage locker anymore, too.

I only slept for 2 1/2 hours and then couldn't get back to sleep, so I should try to lie down again for a couple of hours here. *yawn*

Leah is supposed to come over after work for Craft Night tonight. We'll decide what to work on next. :):)

The very last of my Christmas cards are already down in the outgoing mail slot for the mail lady to pick up today--tada!

Meanwhile. I have not had any bookcards for so long! Couldn't stand it anymore and made up half a dozen last night.

So nice to have all the parts pre-made! I can just pick out covers and inside pages--and then pick the embroidery thread.

Poke some holes and sew them up. :)

I must have been in a green mood--hehe!

Anyways, I thought I'd blog now because this is going to be a busy day, I think.

And I was up--chuckle! :):)

Tuesday-10:45am

Caroline's coming this afternoon--and how could I have forgotten to tell you that last time she was here (two weeks ago) the fire alarm went off?! Caroline got to see what I do once or twice a year--check the hallway first, get Karma in the stroller, gather up phone, camera, keys, and my bag, get coat and shoes... If there ever really was a fire I might be cooked up here on third floor. But, if I ever did smell smoke I wouldn't take the time to do all those things, of course. And Caroline carried the whole stroller down the stairs for me so we made it out much faster. (I have to lower the stroller one step at a time down three flights.)

Turned out that while they were working on the heating system that day they were soldering and set off the alarm...more than once, it turned out. Was very cold outside. We certainly shouldn't have a repeat performance today--hehe!

Apparently they have actually fixed the heat or done something new to it. Every since I moved here (be five years in February) I have hardly had to use the heat at all. In fact I had to crack windows open in the winter because it would get so warm in here--with no heat on. Now I suddenly have to actually use my thermostat--and I am not used to where to keep it. Having the subzero weather doesn't help, of course, and a lot depends on which way the wind blows--literally. Seems like it is either too cold or too hot--hehe! I'll figure it out. Better than always too hot. :)

I have slowly been trying to clean up my junk mail in my inboxes. That really takes some time and patience. You have to find the unsubscribe link and then it can take days for them to get to actually removing you. Was finally getting just ridiculous. I do a lot of online shopping--so then I get emails from tons of stores--not only the ones I actually shop, of course. I don't mind getting them from places I frequent--but it was getting to the point that I had 15-30 to delete right off the bat every single day! Times are hard. Some of the companies are sending out email ads several times a week with Christmas coming and all. Whew! I will keep at it. I am beginning to notice less junk in my inbox. Ahhh!

I'm suppose I'm lucky that is all I get--hehe! There was a time I was bombarded with male enhancement promises and endless ads for lonely college girls with cameras in their dorm rooms begging to entertain me. Apparently there is no such thing as a targeting an audience when it comes to email spam--ROFL! Thank goodness the spam blockers have improved over the years!

Well, now that I will be mailing off the last of the Christmas cards...I decided to get back to the clearing out/giving away process first. I plan to ask Caroline if she can help me wheel down the other clothing rack before she leaves today. I am soooo tired of the piled black garbage bags and the one empty rack standing behind the chairs. Be delighted to finally finish that project so I can call to have them come and pick it all up! Talk about the happy dance! hehe!

Wow! Only a little over a week till Christmas Eve! It all goes by too quickly.

Right now--I have to go pick up cat toys...later gator! :):)

Monday-11:30am

The clear plastic "treat" tube is still around here somewhere. Probably under some piece of furniture. Karma's new tube is metal--one of those tea container shapes. It is easier for Karma to reach into the back and it is too wide to fit under any of the furniture--tada!

Not as challenging--true--but Karma prefers it--paws down. I put some of her "treats" (just regular dried cat food) into the clear tube and she walked over and sat in front of the empty silver metal one and stared at me like she couldn't believe I had actually made such an obvious error. Humans can be so frustrating sometimes.
Good thing Caroline comes tomorrow. Karma can leave tiny pieces of food behind--hehe!

In fact, Caroline just called to see if she could come earlier tomorrow because of a final. No problem. :)

I washed clothes and worked on cards yesterday--and finished!! Now that the Christmas cards are behind me I looked around and realized how so many things have been left undone. Whew!

I had totally forgotten about the Soul Coaching book and if I was going to complete it this year I had best get busy--so I worked on that for a while.

I have to get finished with the other half of the deciding what to give away (clothing, linens, etc) so I can call and have them come and pick it all up (and get these black trash bags and the wardrobes on wheels out of here!). And finally finish cleaning the 30 gallon aquarium and getting that out of here, too. Those were two big projects that were halted midway and put aside until I got the Christmas cards done. So. I'll be back working on those now. It will be a huge relief when they are finally done! The clutter has been driving me crazy! (I know--short trip--but still!)

We might not be above zero until Wednesday. I took a couple of silly videos when I came back in the dark from the dumpster last night. Was sooo cold my fingers weren't working well when I started the one outside--hehe! I don't know what the clicking sound was on the camera. Maybe it got too cold? No idea. I hope it is nothing permanent.

Anyways--keep smiling! Have a great day! :):)

Sunday-1:45pm

As usual, I can't catch a picture of the huge floaty flakes that I love to watch dancing past my window...

...but this is what I woke up to this afternoon.
Right now it is 6 below. We had warnings again last night and today--between 30-45 below wind chills. You'd think it was too cold to snow--hehe!
Well, I am sad. Last night the bulb started to flicker on the Holtkotter reading lamp...again. *sigh*

Miss Karma sat right up in her chair to watch the light show.

She knew what would come next. The moving of stuff about to get another lamp over by my chair.

So. It must be the lamp itself. :(

I have had trouble with it ever since I moved here. I wouldn't doubt it might have been caused by the rough handling of the apartment movers who broke or damaged so many of my things on the dreaded move across the river up here. [They tried to charge me almost three times what they estimated--which I didn't have--harassed me on the phone--took me to court--and they lost. I had pictures of all the damages.] ??? Could be the cause, I suppose. Who knows?

Anyways, I'll have to check to see if by chance it has a lifetime warranty--doubtful--even if it is the Cadillac of the lamp world--hehe! But you never know, right? Then whether or not the fancy lighting store knows of a person who does repairs AND whether I can even afford to have it repaired in the first place. There's a reason people like me should stick to the cheap lamps at Target, I guess--hehe!

Miss Karma is not happy with this set up being back again. She normally jumps up onto the arm of my chair from the rear--right here--where it is now blocked by the TV tray, box, and lamp stacking.

Rough life. She has such a rough life. :)

Well, on a lighter note...we've had a kitten rescue in the news and by the news folk up here...

http://www.valleynewslive.tv/blog/

...and It's A Wonderful Life was on last night!! My all time favorite, favorite, favorite Christmas movie!! Now I'll have to watch A Christmas Story. Any Christmas movies after that are just frosting on the cake, but I watch those two--for sure--every year.

I just love, love, love the Christmas season!! :):)