New Roof!

Well, I had written a pretty clever entry about our new roof but then blogger promptly lost it, I don't know how but they completely disappeared it. And I don't feel like writing about the roof again just yet. Nothing feels just as clever the second time around. So instead I'm going to give you an update on the kittens.
The numbers are in and officially there's four of them, two calico and two gray stripey ones. And I've found the runt of the litter, I think it's Mr. Adventure because he doesn't follow the others. For instance, the other afternoon I was watching them from the kitchen window and there was all four plus mom. Mom went and walked toward the neighbor's yard, possibly on the hunt. Then one of the calicos followed close behind, then one of the grays, then the other calico dawdled a little and then ran after the others. What does runty little Mr. Adventure do? He continues to play in the sun, jumps on a few leaves, then promptly walks in the opposite direction. Few moments later, he's heading over towards his siblings, but at his own pace. Clearly this little guy plays to the beat of his own drum, and I've got this hunch that he's just not going to keep up with the others. It's just a sense, but I keep feeling like he's going to get left behind in the winter and end up being supported by two adopted moms. Maybe he'll be just fine, but the size difference between him and the other three is pretty remarkable when you see them all together. Everything about him is just smaller. There's actually alot about him in size, stature and personality that reminds me of my nephew. Troublemakers, both of them, and darn cute too. He's gonna stay an outdoor cat though--mark my words. We don't need another goofball in the house, two is plenty.

Surprises and Squirrels

Whew, there's be a lot going on lately at the house. Let's see, HJ and I did some work on the bathroom, we secured the shower door track to the tub so no more little puddles after showers, and we re-caulked (it's beautiful). Then HJ regrouted lots of tile sections and she did such an awesome job you can't even tell where she worked! We did some major clean ups, putting boxes in their places, finding rugs to cover old rugs that need to come up, fancying up the crazy 3rd floor bathroom a little bit, clearing out the dining room, oh the projects! All in preparation...
Little did my sweetie know what was in store for her... A big huge thanks to everyone who helped out, whether it was getting her out of the house so I could get to work, coming over early to help decorate, shopping with me, prep the snacks, keep me calm, pick up the cakes, bring the music, everything--you guys are great. I couldn't have pulled this off without all the help I got, and you'll be happy to hear this is the first and last surprise party I'm doing. Man, I really thought I'd have a heart attack at some point, talk about the stress. Geez! It was all totally worth it though--she deserved it so much and it was so awesome to see her face!
I'm really glad you all came out and made it, it really meant so much to her to be surrounded by her friends, you can actually read all about that on her blog ;)

Another surprise we had recently at the house was the scampering of little feet and it ain't no babies! UGH yes, there are squirrels in the attic....if only it were just flowers....
Anyways, yesterday I was doing some paperwork in the tv room and Stormey was really intent on the window, which was odd as it's chillier over there and he likes to be warm and snuggly. So I turn off the t.v. and go over to him, why yes, I heard that too, but there was nothing to see so of course my first fear is "Please God don't let it be termites!" we got rid of those and they're not allowed back. It was such a faint sound, like a bird working on a nest or something, but no matter what window I hung out of, I couldn't see anything--so I went to the third floor and noticed a little squirrel running down the gutter--aha! HJ had heard squirrels before above her studio and Deirdre had totally freaked out about that--chased the sounds all over meowing "Intruders! Intruders!" When we first heard them about a week or so ago, I had called around to see about having them caught and released in some squirrel relocation program and I learned a valuable piece of information--typically there's a mama and 3 pups so they'll catch 4 of them for you for about $500 (yikes!). I watched them in the magnolia tree next to the house from the studio window and sure enough, I saw 3 little ones--and can only assume that mama was out foraging while the 3 pups where testing their skills in the tree. They're really fascinating to watch, how they communicate with the clicks they do and the way they move their tails around, it was a tender moment of sorts until they crossed the line and went into the house. I had to hold my ground, so I banged on the wall and that worked but then they started to team up and stare at me, so I stared back--hard. And when they tried to come closer--I barked at them. It worked, really it did, although now I'm pretty certain that if any of the neighbors heard (which, I mean really how could they not?) they'll for sure think we're pretty crazy. Lucky for me I was in HJ's room so maybe they'll think SHE'S the crazy barking one.... At least now I've found their point of entry into the house, which should make it easier to fill up and block them out.

Added to the excitement yesterday was that I noticed our back roof (which is to be replaced sometime this week or next depending on the weather) has an active leak that while small, is still there and made me nervous for the rain they've been predicting for this week. This is out of HJ's other window and it's too steep to climb out of so putting a tarp down just didn't seem feasible....hhhmmm what else can I use? GREAT STUFF! it's that foaming stuff that's water resistant/proof and expands to fill gaps and holes, plus it's got this long nozzle that makes it easier to stretch and direct so that's what I did. I hung out of her other window (sans squirrels) and sprayed the hell out of the roof. I'm hoping it works, and I'm glad it's all getting taken off and replaced because now it looks like a graffiti incident gone bad out there....almost like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man sort of exploded himself on our roof...I can't wait to hear the roofers comment on this one...

National Coming OUT Day

Today, I must stray from my usual genre for this blog to pay homage to a certain young man who will be celebrating his very first coming out day. For those of you who have been lucky enough to meet my boy Jimmy, you already know how loveable this kid is. He'll change your mind about teenagers, really. Anyone who's got ill feelings about those high school age angsty complainers who start trouble, do nothing, and expect to be waited on hand and foot, this kid's different. Oh, he's got the angsty in him, and he'll be lazy if you let him, but unlike some pain in the ass kids, Jimmy comes through for you each and every time. He's a powerhouse. I just don't even know where to start to express to you how I love the Jimmy.
Let's see, after we got the house and were getting ready to move in, Jamesy here was going to stay with us for the week--everyone who moves knows this week of transition is a hell week, it's a non-stop work week, it's a manual labor overload week. And moving into a new house? Geez, there's so much to do, cleaning, last minute packing, anxiety attacks, hauling, shoving, lifting, sweating, pulling, pushing, cussing out the damn couch, tripping on the new stairs, being hungry and thirsty and forgetting you moved the food already, exhaustion!
Jimmy was like a Mambo Mover all by himself, he was up at a decent hour! (CRAZINESS!) and he didn't complain--even when his cousin got a little nutty and snappy about some stuff. He was so easy going, and lots of times just started helping out without any direction--aside from all the boxes this studmuffin relocated all throughout the house, and the air conditioner he carried single handedly, he took on our dining room chandelier--he created his own mix of cleaner and took down each and every teardrop of crystal (glass?) washed it by hand, dried it completely, and rehung it. It's such a beautiful thing. I would guess that it hadn't been washed or even dusted probably in the past 30 years. I would have never thought of tackling that, I would have noticed it was a little grimy but would never have actually had the interest or motivation to take it on. Jimmy did and what a difference it makes for that room, oh my God! This boy leaves beauty in his wake wherever he goes. And he's a damn fine dancer too! Everybody should be so lucky to have themselves a Jimmy in their life. I can't wait for him to come and visit again--this time I promise we'll go to the movies!

Now in regards to the title--Jimmy's gonna be a heartbreaker. He'll killer on the stage (totally worth the 8 hour round trip!), kind hearted and loving (as described above), dead sexy--I know we're family and all but it's a fact, I mean what do you want from me, we've got hot people in our family and Jimmy is DEFINITELY one of them. He gives great hugs, is thoughtful (beautiful flowers for my birthday). He's a good friend, smart (when he studies--nothin but A's and B's this year kiddo!). When he smiles, well, it's the kind of smile that makes you have hope in the world. And don't even get me started on that laugh! I used to do the most ridiculous things when he was little just to get him to laugh, it'll make you pee if you're not careful!

My boy James is bound for great things and if you know him, get to see him on a regular basis, ever have the lucky chance to date him--so help me if you don't appreciate him. Really, I'll come find you...

Happy First Coming OUT Day Jimmy!!!!

The Block Contest

Some of you may be thinking "gee, she's very ambitious to be working so much on the yard, I mean, they've only been living there for just about a month..." Perhaps I should offer some background information. Partly, it's true that I am so very excited about having a backyard that I can mow, weed, trim, and garden all my own. However I might have started out pacing myself a little bit differently if we didn't start receiving notices from the block captain about "clean-ups" and a contest that involved at least 35 judges from various city agencies. We didn't want to be the reason for anybody loosing a contest and trust me when I tell you that we would have been the reason...remember the Amazon...
There must have been at least 5 notices, many addressed to our house directly. There was also a block meeting where I got to meet the majority of the neighbors who live on the same street as our backyard (the front of our house faces one street, the yard faces another--it's a lotta yard!). At this meeting, I learned all about my "end" and how it's a "problem end" because "people don't care what the end of their yards look like" and the street is "just a glorified driveway for them". A-hem. I am sitting right here thank you. So given the established tension between the little houses and the big houses, AND that the block captain confided to me that the people who used to live in my house "never took care of this street side", I mean really we had to represent. So there's the background for the neurotic attention to the yard, because the contest was this week!
Our latest achievements include a brand new paint job to the garage courtesy of our household painter Ms. HJ. She did a really awesome job. At one point she needed to use the little girls room and asked me to do some painting because there was rain on its way and we had to work fast. Let me start by saying that I like ladders, and I'm not typically afraid of heights, I mean, I hung off that tree to break it (see Hulk) but she was up REALLY high and I was kinda nervous. I did my little corner and was very very glad when she got back, thank god it was a fast trip cause I really preferred my feet on the ground. Maybe it was the angle, I mean painting a garage is a little awkward. Maybe I'm just making excuses but I was very glad that the height wasn't an issue for her at all! And she did a stellar job.
You might be wondering what the hell I was doing while HJ was doing all this painting. Well, some of my time was spent holding the ladder to ease my own anxiety about just how high she was...but the majority of my time was spent weeding, yes it's true, now you can see our driveway. But let me tell you, there were several times I thought I might need to stop and just leave those weeds where they wanted to be cause when I pulled, sometimes there was some concrete moving along with them. I mean we're talking BIG pieces of our driveway...so I weedwacked those. I weedwacked alot, you know if you hold it the right way it'll work as an edger for you. My sweetie's dad came by to let me borrow it and offer some supportive encouragement to me when HJ said she was just fine on that ladder and I wanted to keep holding it even if it wasn't going anywhere--it's times like these that it really helps to have someone take my side, all the better if it's her family. hee hee.
Now all the weeds are gone, the vines are gone, the mulberry tree is gone, we hope the poison ivy is gone, the garage has a fresh coat of paint (at least on one side) and the contest is over.
I think we need a "Most Improved Yard" award, or at least some big good neighbor points...I mean, we took their contest seriously and all when we could have said forget it, we just moved in, screw you and your silly contest. Did I mention we got from free paint, brushes, roller, and a drop cloth? Yeah, that part was cool. Free stuff is always good.
Oh, and lastly, the kittens are back...