Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Tradition states that on your first wedding anniversary you present "paper" to your spouse. And thus it was that one year ago, today, we took possession of The Haven. Our "paper" was in the form of a mortgage. Life doesn't get much more thrilling than that. At least not in my boring world.


Traditional Celebration of Year 1: CHECK!


This morning was supposed to be exciting. Our second anniversary. The theme for a 2nd Anniversary? Cotton. Traditionally you present cotton. Fun ideas that I found online suggest beach towels for an amazing vacation. Maybe new bed linen, attractive underwear or lingerie, a hammock, personalized T-shirt, cotton clothing or a cotton canvas shopping bag with your photo on the front. Alas, I woke up this morning in dire need of a different kind of "cotton".

o.o



I'll spare you most of the disgusting details although I must say:

1) I thought that birth control was supposed to help you "control" when this sort of thing happens. And BOY did it happen. What the heck?

2) WAH! Not on our pretty new bed linen! Why, oh why!!

3) I don't think my DH will eat gummy candies for a long time thanks to my comparison of them to something I found floating in my bathwater shortly after I got out of bed.

4) Bless the DH's heart for zipping off to the store in order to purchase the items necessary for me to go about my crampy, grouchy day.


Traditional, though unconventional, Celebration of Year 2: CHECK!



Ms.B

It's a Carnival! .... oh joy

This Saturday will be the annual Facility Carnival for our care center. Most years I've been up to my armpits in crafts and paint for a good two months prior to now. This year, however, there were enough distractions that I didn't take a look at what we had (and would need) until this past weekend.

My kitchen at the Haven is buried under a pile of wooden bird houses, etched glass ornaments and fake flowers. All waiting to be prettied up with color and detailed touches. I'm told I'm rather good at that stuff. Butter me up much? Every time I walk through the kitchen my anxiety builds. Partly because I know there is a lot of work to do before Saturday, and also because I like my kitchen table clean. Thank goodness it will all be resolved by Saturday.

And then I'll not want to paint a dang thing for a whole year!

Ah... HEAVEN!

Each time I attend a concert, I leave the venue thinking "That was the best show I've ever seen."

But really, THIS was the best show I've ever seen. I'm normally a fan of more upbeat music but Josh Groban was AMAZING! There is nothing quite as satisfying to the soul than a performer who can take their radio hit and reproduce it live in a fashion that is better than the studio version.

*happy sigh*

Prediction #1 came true. My ears are still ringing. Prediction #2 fell flat. The only person who lost their top was the husband of the woman next to me who tore his shirt off to get the attention of their friends on the other side of the arena. !!! Oh my! Thank goodness they spotted him quickly and the man quickly re-dressed himself. I almost died from laughing.

The crowd was already buzzing with anticipation for the show when a charming man with a killer British accent introduced himself and explained that OUR SHOW was the one that was being filmed for the DVD Special of Mr. Groban's AWAKE tour. That announcement was the one time during the night where the crowd went into a bit of a teenie-bopper frenzy. I expected panties and bras to go flying... and maybe even a pace-maker or two!! Yowsa.

But honestly, it was a great show. Josh Groban is a talented man that delivers an amazing performance that showcases not only his soft-as-velvet pipes but the musicians on the stage with him. I could gush about all the fun moments here in this blog entry but I have the luxury of being a little lazy and just saying "Buy the DVD this winter."

And just maybe you'll see me on it... though you'll never know. Mua ha ha.


Ms.B

*throws her bra on stage*

EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.................!!!!

DH and I are on our way out the door to a Josh Groban concert. I'm so excited. It should be a good concert.

Prediction #1: DH will scream louder than I do at the show.

Prediction #2: I will be able to throw my bra further than he throws his. *wink*



Ms.B

1 more day...

until my VACATION!

*runs around the room madly while leaping into the air and clicking her heels*

Fluffy Update

I think in addition to removing her female bits, the vet also took out her "evil". We have a different cat in our house now. Still playful and pouncy (as a healthy kitten should be) but she is loving too! I actually scoop her up for snuggles and carry her around the house.

I wonder if this operation has the same effect on humans. I am sure there are husbands out there who's wives had the snip who could verify this for me. Hrrm.....

Pet Peves

* Sniffling. If you have snot in your nose, blow it into a tissue. Why try to keep it up there? Are you saving it for later? It's not brain fluid, people! Just get rid of it and be done.

*Gum Chewing. I know a few people who manage to enjoy gum in a tasteful fashion, but most gum chewers look like a cow with cud. And those who can't chew it without resisting the urge to pop it continually while in a meeting should be strung up by their toes, coated with honey, and left in the Forest for the bears.

* Have you ever been stuck behind the type of individuals that drive 10 under the speed limit because they feel that this makes them a "safe" driver? ARG!!

* The attitude that: "What I think is the only way to think and if you think I'm wrong you should just stop thinking!"

* People who have to tear down your happiness to make themselves feel significant.


Ms.B

Memories of Girls Camp

*Realizing I should have grabbed a fist-full of toilet seat liners before heading into the wilderness.

*Enjoying the energy and innocence of young girls and realizing that it really hasn't been that long since I experienced it myself.

*Decorating a pillow case with markers that have a 105% chance of washing off if said pillow is laundered.

*Hunting for Snipes.

*An air mattress that, without fail, goes flat 5 minutes after being inflated

*Sleeping on nice, soft rocks all night. Comfy.

*Forgetting my pillow

*The DH coming to my rescue with one he picked up at the Wal-Mart.

*DH also picking up a foam pad so that I felt fewer rocks the 2nd night at camp.

*Seeing some of the girls cook or do dishes for the first time. (!!)

*Never has a hot dog tasted sooo good! I normally LOATH hot dogs. Blah.

*Throwing gooey pieces of donut to a chipmunk and watching it do a somersault while trying to lick the last bits of cream off its toes.

*Packing up the last few pieces of equipment for the trip home.


....................

Good times, good times. I might even consider going again next year... if they dare ask me!

Ms.B

She doesn't want to talk about it...

Fluffy paid the price for a loving home at the Haven today. She's now resting in the bathroom with a litter box and a blanket. The door is shut so that curious Haven dwellers can not poke and prod her.

All things considered, she's great. She just doesn't want to talk about it.

And I am pretty sure she flipped me the bird as I was leaving the bathroom.


Ms.B

Nothing says "I Love You" like...

Back in March I shared my glee over the idea of Bampoo. Who knew there would be more shit inventions to come!?

Direct from Yahoo!News

Panda poop to be recycled into souvenirs

By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 30, 6:05 AM ET

BEIJING - Nothing says "I love you" like a photo frame made from panda poop.

The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base has come up with a dung-for-profit scheme that turns droppings from the endangered species into odor-free souvenirs ranging from bookmarks to Olympic-themed statues of the animals, state media and base officials said Monday.

The facility in the southwestern province of Sichuan houses about 40 bamboo-fed pandas who produce less than a ton of excrement a day.

"We used to spend at least 6,000 yuan ($770) a month to get rid of the droppings but now they can be lucrative," Jing Shimin, assistant to the base director, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

The products will be made at a local handicraft company mostly from undigested bamboo culled from the panda waste through a special process, Xinhua said.

An official who answered the phone at the Chengdu facility said the dung is "carefully selected, smashed, dried and sterilized at 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit)." He refused to give his name but said the products will be of all colors because they will be dyed.

"They don't smell too bad because 70 percent of the dung is just remains of the bamboo that the pandas are unable to digest," Jing said.

While no price has been set, he said the most expensive souvenirs will contain a panda hair — collected from the wild — in each package.

The 2008 Olympic statues will feature "athletic pandas performing various Olympic sports," Xinhua said.

In March, base officials said they were looking into making high-quality paper from the fiber-rich panda excrement, inspired by a trip to Thailand, where they found paper made from elephant dung.

The Chiang Mai Zoo in northern Thailand already sells multicolored paper made from waste produced by its two resident pandas. Making paper there involves a daylong process of cleaning the feces, boiling it in a soda solution, bleaching it with chlorine and drying it under the sun.

The panda is one of the world's rarest and most beloved animals, with about 1,590 living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the western province of Shaanxi. Another 180 have been bred in captivity.

...............................

Ms.B

Was he THAT late?

Today, on the way to work, I had another opportunity to play my "Crazy Driver Intervention" game that I blogged about at the beginning of the year.

Shortly after my exit from the freeway, a white truck began to weave around everyone desperately trying to find an open route so that he could speed. As he tore through the School Crossing zone, I thanked my lucky stars that no children were present. A few seconds later he was out of site and I continued my way to work. Only a minute later, I reached a stop light and waited to make my right-hand turn behind a few other drivers. I could see a white truck stopped along side the road up just around the corner and wondered if the speeder had run out of gas. As I worked my way up to the corner I noticed a woman laying on the ground, holding her arms to her body and writhing in pain. Two men were standing over her, one of which was talking animatedly on his cell phone. From the look of the situation it is pretty safe to bet that the white truck struck the woman as she was starting to cross the street.

I wonder if the driver of that truck still feels that a quick arrival to wherever he was going was more important than that woman's life, or the lives of the other drivers that he wrecklesly passed before he got to her.

I also have a sense of guilt. I could have done my intervention techniques and kept him stuck behind me if I had wanted but today I wasn't in a sassy mood.

I simply let him pass.

A Kitten's Life

I've often wondered what it would be like to experience a day as one of my cats, specifically Fluffy, our little wood-pile kitten. Her days are full of mystery and excitement. Adventure and fun.

She bravely comes in the bathroom when the scary hair dryer is on and stubbornly stays in the room while the vacuum is running. Seconds later she is startled by a shadow on the wall, swells like a puffer fish and zooms across the house to the safety of the cat tree. Heaven help anyone if they happen to be standing between her and that tree.

She loves her cat tree. My father built it for me years ago from some large tubes, wood, and old carpet. She climbs it all day long and sleeps in the little loft. From the moment we brought her home she figured out that this was the place to scratch and claw. So smart. When perched on the very top shelf she is eye level with my DH. Fluffy feels like Queen of the World on that perch.

She spends her nights with the other two cats, romping around the house and creating chaos. Her days are spent plotting the many different ways to attack the three dogs and her two people. We walk from room to room constantly on guard. Daily we see her ride one of the dogs bareback up the hall; Fluffy desperately hanging on as the dog tries to buck her off. Yee HAW!

If something is moving, it must be investigated. If it is jiggling it must be attacked. My husband learned these truths this morning as he stood by our kitchen table in the buff. OUCH! I bet he'll wear his underwear from now on!

I've never had a cat that followed me around and sat at my feet before. And when she battles with you she doesn't use her claws. Granted, the teeth are bad enough so there are no complaints. We suspect that she learned this technique because she spends more time rough housing with the dogs. She's never thought about using the claws when playing.

It's been interesting to watch her carve out her territory in our home.

People sometimes ask me how I can live with so many pets. I wish I could find a way to convey to them how interesting it is. Three dogs. Three cats. And not two of them alike.

I feel sorry for folks that don't appreciate the joy an animal (or 6) can bring.

Ms.B