Fascinating.....

.....simply fascinating.
Now if I could just get her to start doing the laundry instead of just watching it....

Violet's Feet

The cats, and sometimes the dog, love to sleep in this box that sits in front of my bedroom window. Today, Violet was in the box, and the only parts of her that were sticking out of the box were her feet and the tip of her tail.

Best Buds

I have so many pictures of these two like this. It's almost an everyday occurrence that they lay together in the sun. In colder weather they seem to snuggle up together more.

So much for posting a picture a day!!! Some days I forget; some days it just seems there's nothing different to take a picture of.
I'll try to catch you up on the last couple weeks.

On Saturday 11/14 Fred had to go to Harrisburg for his brother Dennis' bachelor party. My friend Kim and I made plans to go to Atlantic City for dinner, shopping and gambling, and Rachel stayed over night at her house. We did shop and we did have dinner, but neither of us really felt like gambling. So we did a little more shopping. I was home by 10:00.
I had planned on getting some work done, but made the mistake of turning the TV on and saw that The Wedding Singer was on. I've never seen it before, so I grabbed the laptop to check out Facebook and watched the movie in bed. Well part of the bed. I had a little company. And I fell asleep right before the end of the movie.

One day last week we realized that our spare refrigerator was dying. This is the one we keep in the garage. It's mostly for drinks and we stock, obviously, frozen foods in the freezer. So I took all the beer I had in it (about a case of Heineken) over to a neighbor's garage to store in their extra refrigerator. Quite honestly, the beer was mostly for the neighbors anyway! Fred and I don't like beer, so I just keep it on hand for friends. We have to get something to replace the fridge. Fred wants to get a Coke machine. But how are we going to store stuff like extra milk and orange juice, or even leftovers, in a Coke machine? Not to mention the lack of a freezer.

This was Rachel working on her "Daily Geography" cards on a Sunday night.

Yesterday there was a little mini hot rod parade in our court, led by this Trans Am and followed by a few Grand Nationals and Monte Carlos. Turns out they were there to meet up with a neighbor who goes to a lot of car shows.

Also yesterday, we hung our outdoor Christmas lights. It was a beautiful day, and since we won't be around much this weekend and we don't know what the weather will be like, we took advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures (about 60 degrees). We transitioned to all LED lights outside this year. Last year the lights on the roof line were LED and the lights in the bushes were just regular bulbs, and it drove me nuts that they didn't match. I'm old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas, so I don't like the looks of the LEDs quite as much. They're so bright! But they save on electricity. Our meter stayed the same after turning all the lights on.

Rachel climbed the ladder and got on the lower roof for the first time! It's a little harder coming back down the ladder, but she did good.

With both Thanksgiving and Fred's brother Dennis' wedding, I'm hoping to have more picture opportunities this week. Tomorrow I have a 9:30 job, and Rachel has an 8:30 orthodontist appointment. If Fred can't take her, we'll have to reschedule that. Then tomorrow night I have to make a cheesecake for the rehearsal dinner, Rachel has cheerleading, and Fred has to pick up his tux. Wednesday morning I have to clean the house and pack, pick Rachel up at school at 1:15, stop in Philly for my check, pick up Fred at work and head to Harrisburg, drop Ferris off at my in-laws and be at the church in Hummelstown by 6:00. I'm praying for few traffic delays. Yeah, right. On the day before Thanksgiving.

Leaves

Rachel was off school today (NJ Teachers' convention) and as part of her chores, she raked leaves in the front yard. These leaves are from a silver maple tree that we planted our first summer here, the summer of 2003. The tree cost $16 from Home Depot and fit in the back of our Expedition. Six years later and it's as tall as the house.

Of course, you can't rake leaves without having a little fun.

Violet enjoyed being outside for a change, too. Ferris is almost always out with us, and if the cats are out at the same time, all he does is chase them. So this time Ferris had to stay in and Violet got to play in the leaves.

Snoozing

Rachel and I were watching the World Series tonight. As soon as Rachel laid down like this Violet jumped up and got comfortable on her legs. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep.
A short time later Violet woke up.

Ssssttttrrrreeetttcchhhh!!!!

Violet and Beavis enjoying some time in the sun.

On the Couch

This was the scene on my couch this morning. Rachel came down for breakfast, laid on the couch and went right back to sleep.

Got Milk?

Violet has to have a little milk every morning. This morning when she was drinking it, she looked up at me and had little droplets on her eyebrows, her whiskers, her nose and her chin. I think she was really enjoying it.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! (Days 73, 74, 75)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!

We wish we could have spent it with you, Dad/Grandpa!

You, too, Dad/Pawpaw!

Along with a couple DVDs, Whoppers and a jacket, Fred also got lottery tickets. I think these were his favorite. Rachel helped him scratch them off, but he didn't win anything. :(

Violet checked to make sure they didn't win.

Ferris was rather bored by the whole thing. He said "pfft, if I'm not getting a present, I'm going to bed.

Friday was Rachel's last day of 4th grade. She looks thrilled, doesn't she? But she came home with report card full of A's, and she got a teacher for 5th grade that she really likes, and one of her good friends will be in her class. She's already excited for 5th grade, and on Sunday Fred let her buy a few school supplies at Staples.

Saturday Rachel had a surprise visitor. Her former coach, Ashley, came to visit us. Ashley moved to North Carolina after our season ended last year. Rachel had gotten really close to Ashley and was sad when she moved. It was a nice visit with Ashley, but Rachel wasn't feeling 100%. Her mouth is really bothering her from canker sores and her braces. Then Saturday night we realized one of the brackets had become uncemented and was not attached to her tooth anymore, but it's still attached to the wire. Our orthodontist's office is only open Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the orthodontist is on vacation this week, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. I got up and called first thing this morning. I'm waiting for a call back, but I'm not holding my breath. I have a feeling I won't hear from them until tomorrow. I really hope these sores in her mouth clear up before we leave for China next week. She can barely talk or eat.

I've been busy trying to get caught up on all my work, get caught up on laundry and get things ready for our trip. I still have shopping to do, but not really for anything big.....dog food, cat food, toiletries to take with us, little gifts for the orphanage staff, a fanny pack for Fred, Ziploc bags, extra luggage locks. And I still need to transfer about 1,000 pictures from my camera card to the hard drive, write instructions for the neighbors taking care of the cats, instructions for family taking care of Ferris and PACK, PACK, PACK!

Two Parties and a Cat (Days 69, 70 and 71)

This is Delaney and Haleigh, my sister-in-law Dawn's girls. Dawn had a reception on Saturday to celebrate her wedding last November to Brian. Fred was taking pictures at the party and somehow managed to NOT get a picture of the bride and groom. Sunday I took Rachel to a friend's birthday party. This is not the friend having the party. This is another mutual friend. Because, like Fred on Saturday, I managed to not get a picture of the guest of honor at the party.

Sunday night we were sitting out on the deck for a while and let Violet out with us. She normally stays on the deck with us, but this time she jumped into the grass. I think at first she was chasing a mouse or a mole or some small critter in the grass. She had a mouse trapped the other day in the grass, but I distracted her and she lost it. This time she lost the mouse or whatever all on her own, and then started stalking the birds around the birdfeeders. In this picture there is a robin on the corner of the shed that was not too happy about Violet being there. The robin had food in its mouth and was apparently trying to get to a baby in the nest under our deck. A couple other small bird (wrens or finches maybe?) landed on the grass not too far from the basketball and I thought for sure Violet was going to get one.

Violet has a tough life. If she's not outside stalking prey, she spends a lot of time here, on her perch, hanging around. She's looking a little annoyed here because I had the nerve to wake her from her 45th nap of the day. Poor thing.

Memorial Day (Day 54)

For love of country they accepted death... ~James A. Garfield

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SERVICE MEN & WOMEN, PAST & PRESENT

Including this one, even if he is pointing a Super Soaker at my camera. :-) See what I have to put up with from these neighbors of mine?

Just kidding. I love all my neighbors. We have too much fun together. Sometimes way too much fun. *** New Year's Eve a few years ago ***

The kids had a lot of fun today, too. This was the second round of swimming. Rachel had two other friends over earlier in the day. Two of our friends here are camera shy. And one is wearing clothes instead of a bathing suit because she came right from a water balloon fight in her back yard and jumped in the pool. She was already wet, so why bother with a bathing suit!

Violet had a good day, too. Fred was making bacon-wrapped bbq shrimp kabobs and she could smell the shrimp. The kabobs were laying on a piece of foil, and she kept reaching up. I thought for sure she was going to pull it all down.

My Dinner Companion (Day 34)

Every night at dinner, this is who's sitting to my left. See that devilish smile? She knows what she's doing. She sits there looking all cute, waiting for a handout. I swear she thinks she's a dog sometimes. She begs at every meal.

This is her other side. This is the side of Violet that wants no part of being a dog. In fact, she pretty much kicks Ferris' butt on a daily basis. And he keeps coming back for more! He gets right up there in her face and she hits him repeatedly. It's fun to watch. Beavis does the same thing to the dog. The cats really look fierce sometimes, with their ears flat against their head. I figure if they're not enjoying it on some level they'd run and hide. And when they've had enough, that's what they do.

Spring Planting (Day 18)

Look!!!! I planted a Violet!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

We finished putting the rest of the patio stuff out today. We're ready for our first barbecue of the year!

Dandelion (Day 8)

This was waiting for me when I ran out to pick up our Joe Corbi order at school this afternoon. Hmmm....who could have put it there? I wonder. Could it have anything to do with the picture I emailed someone of a dandelion in their front yard on Saturday? I also let that person know the dandelion had an identical twin close by. And that Fred was currently out in our yard spraying for weeds. Some people are so touchy. ;-)

If anyone has any suggestions for how to stop this from happening, please let me know. Violet is so persistent. We already keep a spray bottle on the table to spray her when she gets up there. Sometimes you have to spray her 7 or 8 times before she jumps down. I even spray her in the face! She'll get down, but as soon as you turn your back, she gets back up. It's become much more frequent since we got Ferris. She's driving me nuts. I'm pretty liberal with my animals and let them get away with a lot, but being on the table is just too much for me.

A Beautiful Palm Sunday (Day 5)

We went to church today for Palm Sunday. We attend Gloucester County Community Church, though we aren't officially members. Yet. I really enjoy it there. It's contemporary, so they have a full band and play contemporary Christian music. Growing up in a home where church/religion wasn't the norm, my knowledge of religion is limited. But I can understand the sermons at GCCC. And the Pastor has a great sense of humor during service. Children 5th grade and younger go to Sunday School. This morning I signed Rachel into the 5th grade class. She's in 4th. Oops. I didn't even notice until I went back to pick her up. She was in the 4th grade class, and no one said anything to me, so it must not have been a big deal.

We did get our palms this morning. Wanna know the best thing about getting palms?

Free cat toys!

This? Almost never happens. Either the dog is chasing the cats, or the cats are hissing at the dog, or the dog is trying to (playfully) bite the cats' tails, or the cats just run away when the dog gets near. But this time Violet and Ferris had their eyes on the same robin. That and they were enjoying the beautiful day.

It's days like this that make working from home so hard. Weekdays are one thing, although there are plenty of distractions then, too. But nice weekend days I just hate to stay inside. Ferris feels the same. He enjoyed his popsicle outside in the sunshine.

Slurp!