a little bit of heaven . . .

In case you are wondering how come I am not losing weight even though I walk so much:

That, my friends, is called Pasta Rambo.  It normally comes with crab meat but I like mine with chicken and sausage.  Slurp!  Oh, and the olive oil with the spices to dip my bread in . . . the top right hand corner . . . that might have something to do with it too.  Swoon.

and so . . . .

In case you are wondering, I am still hauling @ss four morning a week . . . five miles a pop.  It feels good and I am addicted . . . well except for mornings like today, when I rolled over, texted Joanie and told her I was wimping out.   Hey, an hour and a half of strenuous exercise five times a week is a good thing.   So happy that yoga will be back Tuesday. 

And in case you thought I was playing slug today, I was indeed, not.  I did three loads of laundry, shuttled the 9TS back and forth from the gym, paid all my bills, did all my hand laundry, ironed the ever growing stack into nothingness, marinated the salmon and drank wine.  Amen.

See, that's the thing about having a blog.  I can be as self absorbed as I want.  It is, after all, my blog.  Thank you, my friends for putting up with me.

carpenters, cats and cold air . . .

I'm trapped like a rat in my bedroom with three totally freaked out beasties clinging to the underside of my box spring by the tips of their little tiny claws.  Bear is wide eyed and frantic, Ninja a tad more stoical but none the less, twice her normal size.  Pippin is, well Pippin.  She is dancing between the bedroom and bath, her brain churning in 90 different directions goaded by the sounds outside the doors.

The men are installing the new air conditioning unit.  Now.  Hooray.  It will be an all day job.  If all goes right, they will be done by 6:30 and we will be warm once again.

Meanwhile I swear the cats have already picked up on the fact that two of them are headed to the vet's office this afternoon.  I think they will all need a little kitty valium.

And speaking of critters, the installers just let us know that the attic is housing a colony or two or three of carpenter ants.  EEK.  I hope they are building something useful up there!!!!   A kitty condo maybe or a second kitchen.  I always thought it would be nice to have a wet bar upstairs . . .

I just keep telling myself tonight we will be warm and toastie once again.  And I remind myself that things could be worse . . . what if we lived in Alaska???  But then, we wouldn't have our gifted carpenter ants building creative accoutrements for the those too lazy to go downstairs for ice.

Over and out, spaceman.

and so it came to pass . . .

My friend Robin, when hearing about the Miata giving me fits and knowing all the rest of what has been going on, suggested tongue in cheek that I go outside, raise my arms to the sky and shout:  BRING IT ON!

So of course I did.  And the Gods replied, "Let the temperature drop below freezing and let your AC/heat unit die the death of a 1000 dogs.

And so it was . . . .

But, we still have a small stack of seasoned oak and more being delivered at 4:00 this afternoon, we have ceramic space heaters and the man cave is on a separate unit. 

Not that I want to tempt the Gods yet again but we're doing fine.  However, if our 24 year old hot water heater gives up the ghost, I will have to admit defeat with a final score of:   The Gods 4, us ZERO.  Amen.

very, very . . .

Well, besides my little Miata's clash between its master cylinder and slave cylinder, our A/C slash heat system has decided to slowly pass into oblivion during the first freeze of the year.  We are gathering estimates tomorrow.  The dishwasher, not to be left out of the fray has gone on strike and is literally throwing rusted pieces of the racks like cupid darts, out of the machine and into anything in their path.  Not to mention that unless the dishes are 99% clean before entering the washer, they aren't coming out spotless.  My karma must be bad.  Very, very bad.

To top off my otherwise joyous day . . . the lunch bunch met and happily slurped lunch at La's . . . my next door neighbors decided to trim the large, fully matured Laural Oak in my front yard without asking for permission.  Now I understand their right to trim those branches that cross the property line into their yard but pulling their ladder and gas saw onto my property and hacking off limbs at the trunk of my tree made me see red.  Color me hostile.  Very, very hostile.

So we will be camped out tonight in front of the fireplace, soaking up the warmth and ignoring the fact that tomorrow morning will bring chilly temperature both outside and in.  We will be very, very comfy for the time being.

We have a half cord of oak being delivered tomorrow at 4:00.  Very, very happiness!

Stay warm, enjoy your family.

Peace out.

snort . . .

I don't know how many times I walked past our neighbor's house before I noticed the differences between Mr. and Mrs. Moose. Particularly the anatomically correct part.

Credits:  Template: Studio DD, Paper & Frame: Katie Pertiet, Font: Matilde.

9TS update 7956 . . .

The 9TS met with a pain management physician here in town on Friday.  She prescribed Gabapentin for the nerve pain caused by the surgical removal of the bottom lobe of his right lung eighteen months ago and by the pain those rascals Mel and Anoma are causing within the ribs..  It's one of those drugs that needs to be increased in small increments before its full benefits are recognized.  Hopefully, it will do what it is supposed to and change the way the body senses pain . . . meaning, the 9TS will no longer feel the pain.  I vote for that.  If it works  . . .  one in three chance . . .  he can reduce the amount of morphine taken on a daily basis.  YAY!!!

He also starts PT this week so they can show my favorite gym rat what he can and cannot do for exercise. 

In other news, Kidlet texted me at 2:13 a.m. last night to tell me she was home safely and I could now sleep.  How well she knows me.  Gotta love that kid.

And before I forget, a very Happy New Year to you all.