Happy New Year 2011!

It's almost New Year's eve. It's the time when you want to start "anew" with New Years resolutions.

Every year I vow to stop swearing.

That lasts for a total of one hour.

Every year I vow to be nicer and calmer.

That last for about 2 hours.

Although I will make another attempt this year.

I will also try to be a bit more open minded and not so judgemental.

I will also try not to be so paranoid and neurotic about things.

I"ll keep working on my "sainthood" status.

It's not easy, but I'm consciously working on being the best that I can be.

I've given up donuts and cookies. I will continue to stay away from foods that I can not control.

I have to laugh when I see the sale paper ads this time of year. It is loaded with exercise equipment and diet suppliments. Many people must buy these things as a part of their New Year's resolutions but let's face it by March, these exercise machines end up being coat racks and dust collectors.

I think it is almost impossible to start a diet at the peak of winter.

There is a shortage of fresh veggies and fruit. The winter just makes you hungry for comfort foods. I can only hope for is to not fall off the wagon and give in to the sugary comforting carbs.

I try to get out there and go for a run everyday even if it's a short one. I try to stick to an ongoing routine. The same goes for working out in cell block#9. The progression is slow but it is still progressing.

I work (and struggle) to improve myself in body, mind and soul.

It's working.

I think.

Happy New Years!

post holiday letdown

I had a very nice Christmas.

I hope all of you did too.

Now this is the part I have a hard time with.

The day after.

Yes, I am one of those jerks that go into post holiday depression.

It's like the party is over and now you have to pay for it by being thrown into a dark dank cold endless prison pit for three months now.

It's as if something switches off. And now, I will have a dull suffocating migraine for the entire month of January.

It happens every single year without fail.

I don't know if it is because it is so dark, cold and dry or what. It's not just a mental thing but a serious physical thing for me.

I don't know how the people who live in northern countries deal with winter for six months of the year.. ugh...

Thankfully, I only put up a small Christmas tree so it is not such a daunting task when you have to take down the decorations. I leave the "santa frogs" out and all my Christmas cards up longer to enjoy.

Right now, here on the east coast, we are getting pounded with a major blizzard.

We are expecting two feet of snow.

Thankfully, I declined a few customers over the holiday. I wanted to spend time with my family rather than to go to work. I refered them out to other pet sitters in the area. As I look out the window with the snow still coming down I am so glad I made that choice. As much as I like my job the weather plays a huge role.

I am also glad I had adopted "Patches"( the rescue cockatiel) too. He has quite the personality.

There is nothing I enjoy better than spending time with all my birds, especially on cold snowy dark days. They bring so much joy to my life.

I think everyone should have pets, especially if you suffer with the "winter blues". I am going to go downstairs now and play with my birds. :-)

It's Christmas eve!

OK here it is-Christmas eve!.

Many people have their interpretation of "what Christmas is".

It ranges from cries of "it's a Haaaaaallmark holiday", "it's a pain-in-the-ass time of year", "Crass commercialism" to "just a day off of work","a reason to get the family together", a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Christ" and "a time to reflect and show kindness to others", or whatever.

I dunno, I'm enjoying this time of year.

I am reading this book right now called "Father Joe". I don't have the book right in front of me right now but the author is one of the former castmates of Monty Python. Parts of the book is funny coming from a wise-ass sarcastic comedian but most of book revolves around the simple non judgmental common sense thoughts of a benedictine monk without all the rules and bias that you would think that would be hammered at through Catholic indoctrination.

The author met this monk when he was just a boy.. The author tried to fight Father Joe's gentle and noninvasive ponderings by desperately trying to trick the monk up with his moral dilemnas and shenanigans all without success. Father Joe was an unique calming soul without judgement and without the expected lectures.

I kind of makes you think.

Keep life simple.

Don't over think things.

So many people are unhappy and angry by way of their own doings.

People can be selfish, self absorbed and make life complicated for others around them as well as for themselves by committing themselves in a ridiculous cycle of self imposed drama.

Step off the ever ending treadmill, remove the ear buds, put down the iphone and just breath and watch the leaves from the trees fall.

Thrive to keep your life simple and clean.

Your soul will benefit from it.

Have a Merry Christmas, no matter how you celebrate it.

The nuttycracker

When I was a kid, my mother would take us on a day trip to downtown Boston to see the Christmas village at Jordan Marsh. We also went to see Edaville railroad and Pleasure Island at Christmas time to get into the holiday spirit.

Last weekend, my mother and I went to see "A Christmas Carol" at one of the local small playhouses. I have to say, it was terrific. We both really enjoyed it.

A few years ago, my best pal of many years suggested we 'doll up" and see the "Nutcracker" (ballet) in Boston. I've never been to it so I thought, "that sounds like it would a classy elegant festive thing to do!". We wore our best holiday velvets and (faux) fur coats.

When we got there it was packed with kids.

Grouchy spoiled kids dressed like they were going to play video games. The parents weren't that much better. I have no idea why parents would drag their kids to a ballet.

I got to tell you, after five minutes, I was questioning myself of why I was there as well.

It was awful.

After watching teddy bears prancing around I thought to myself, "what the f*&%!"...

It only got worse.

Adult men dressed like "tin soldiers" with rosy red cheeks and flesh colored skin-tight tights that seriously enhanced their man-hood were up on their tippy toes scooting around the stage..

My immature sophomoric side came out full force at this point.

I started to giggle, whispering to my friend, "oh my God..we are on the second floor balconey and I can see those guys puds"...

She elbowed me to shut up.

"A gay man's dream..!"

Another elbow to the side.

"Oh no! They are bending over!"

Another jab to the side.

Now I was out of control but it only got worse.

Somebody near us had passed some serious noxious gas.

It was as bad as my mother's ancient old dog Tony's rotten farts. I wrapped my scarf around my face with my eyes watering. I leaned to my friend and said, "oh Jesus, let's get out of here FAST. Some pig really let one rip". She agreed and she was also gagging.

We bolted for the door.

Seriously, it was the worst thing I ever went to.

When ever I see the commercial on TV advertising "the Boston ballet's Nutcracker" I burst out laughing. My husband would then say to me, "I would never take you to see that".

I chuckle to myself, "Thank God!"

Victorian tea Christmas rip-off

My husband and I traditionally make reservations to have our own little Christmas dinner at a nice restaurant just before Christmas.

This year, we decided to something different.

We made reservations for an afternoon Victorian tea party at a Victorian bed & breakfast Inn. You had to make reservations far in advance because seating and times were limited before the Christmas holiday. You also had to pay in advance which was $64.00 per couple. I thought that was a bit steep for "lunch" but I figured, OK, it must be pretty la de da. I've been to high tea before in Bermuda (and London) and I really enjoyed it. As I had posted in a previous post I am bit of a tea snob.

I think this is where I made a mistake.

I guess I had high expections.

When I sat down, the server handed us each a tea bag and pot of tepid water.

I thought to myself, "you've got to be shitting me. This tea isn't even brewed? Gross."

I said nothing and just tried to stay positive.

(In Bermuda, we each got a pot of freshly brewed tea.)

Next, the server came out with a small plate of four tiny bite size sandwiches. I ate them in a period of two seconds figuring that they were just appetizers.

That was the meal.

(In Bermuda, we got a multi-tier of all different sandwich halves to sample. I was actually full from just munching on those sandwiches and did not need to have dessert.)

Then the server then came out with the dessert plate which consisted of four petit fours to share. I whispered to my husband, "I think this is it". He whispered back, "oh no, they must be coming back out with a main meal soon".

That was indeed it.

When we left the inn, we sat in the car in silence for a few minutes before speaking letting the reality sink in that we got totally ripped off.

I was the first to speak and said,"OK, that was a f*&^ing rip-off...and I'm still hungry."

He replied, "Yeah, I think you're right. That wasn't like Bermuda's high tea".

"You wanna get some Chinese food?"

"Definitely!!!!"

I guess we have to fly to Bermuda to enjoy a proper high tea.....

Life is like an art project

The one thing I really like about this time of year, believe it or not, is the all the events and parties I get invited to.

No, I'm not a 'party person" but I do enjoy dressing up for an special occasion and seeing close friends and family.

I'm not a social butterfly by any means. If anything, I'm a bit standoffish. I was the kid in the playground by myself but it never bothered me. It bothered my mother since she was "Miss prom Queen" but it never bothered me. I had to consciously learn to be social.

I have a real hard time mixing at my local Chamber of Commerce "mixers". It's a real conscious psychological effort for me to put on my "Mitt Romney" face to shake hands and talk about my business. I tend to sit by myself. It does not come naturally for me. Some people are born naturally charismatic and have a knack of being someone of interest.

I'm not on facebook or care to be on any of those social networking nonsense either. I really don't get it, seriously.

The people I want to see, I see.

I look at going to these social events like it is an art project.

I spend hours deciding on what to wear, putting on make-up and thinking about topics of conversation. Everything is an art project to me.

Sometimes my 'project' is successful and sometimes it is not, just like my many paintings.

It's a conscious thoughtful planning event. I map things out in pictures.

I am guessing engineers approach everything too like they are solving a mathmatical equation as well.

I know my husband does.

Just putting a tie on he has to calculate carefully how the end result will look.

I bought this new covergirl ageless foundation make-up to cover up my aging imperfections. I figured Ellen Degeneres wears it.She's looks pretty good and she is a "no fuss kind of gal" so I figured it must be pretty good stuff.

Don't buy it.

It's like putting tar on your face. It took three days of cold cream to get this shit off of my face and it just sits in the lines on your face. The worst part is when I thought if I could add a little oil of olay to it to thin it out, a few days later the make up dried up like a lump of clay and had to be thrown out. The blush was just as bad.

I still like Maybelline's age rewinder foundation the best as well as Bonny Bell's bronzer. The bronzer doesn't feel like make-up and it looks really natural. Maybelline still has the best eye make-up of all the eye make-up I've tried. And believe me I've tried all kinds of brands and it's crazy fad colors and I keep going back to Maybelline.

Estee Lauder and Mary Kay so far have the best lipstick. Avon is OK but Mary Kay's lipstick doesn't 'bleed".

Yes, it's not any different than buying paint at an art supply store. Some of the new products are just crap and some of the old and true products are still the best.

Life is like an open canvas.

Early Christmas present

As I was walking Mattie (the naughty little Jack Russell terrier) a neighbor on her street pulled up to me in her car asking if I knew of anyone who would be interested in adopting a 3 year old male puggle (part pug /part beagle dog mix). I responded, "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?" It turns out the dog has seizures and the owner doesn't want to pay the $9.00 a month for medication to control the seizures. If the owner can not find someone they can unload the dog onto they will put the dog down. Needless to say I was horrified that a so-called pet owner could be that cheap and refuse to put up less than $10.00 for medicine for a family pet. As far as I knew the dog didn't have behavioral issues but just this medical problem that was easily controlled.

I then responded,"Oh for God's sake! Why don't they just take the dog to a shelter instead? There a plenty of people who would have pity on a dog with a handicap!" The woman responded that all the shelters in the area are completely full and can not take anymore animals in.

About a month or so ago I visited a close friend of mine up in Maine.

She loves cats. She greeted me at the door with a sheepish grin and told me she had just adopted a new kitty. She wanted to know if I would take a ride with her to the shelter where she obtained the latest cat to her clan so she could drop cookies off to the staff working at the shelter.

The shelter was a mad house. It was completely crammed with all kinds of animals. I saw a pair of conures (small parrots) next to the front desk and asked the staff about them. These poor birds needed medical attention and a new lifestyle change including a new diet. They had "scizzor beak' which is attributed to a long history of a poor diet which in turn affects the liver. They also were feather pickers. There are many reasons why they are feather pickers but I am guessing again, poor diet and because of other deficiencies. The staff was hoping I would take those birds but I did not.

I have ten birds already and I just was not prepared or interested at the time in taking anymore birds-especially ones with 'special needs" since I already have a 'special needs' bird already. IF I were to take in another bird I would have to plan properly. Whenever you take in a new addition you really do need to plan ahead and not just on a 'whim".

A month went by and I drove up to Maine to see my friend again. She had told me about a newly renovated 'bird rescue" and wanted to know if I wanted to go visit the facility, plus they had a store there to buy all kinds of bird supplies. I said, "sure!" She said to me,'why don't to bring a carrier...just in case..."

I responded, "I'll only take home a bird if it is an older male who is a pied cockatiel!" I figured by setting up those guidelines I would not be bringing home any birds since pieds are uncommon in New England.

Well, guess what? There was this beautiful 10 year old male pied cockatiel who had been at this rescue twice. I figured, "oh what the heck" so little "Patches Kennedy' came home with me. I immediately took him to the vet for a "wellness check" and he checked out A-OK, so far.

He's a vocal comical little fellow. I can't save all the birds but I saved this one.

"Patches" is my this year's Christmas present! :-)

lady luck

Last night my husband and I were invited to a local dive club holiday party by the captain and his lovely wife of Easy Diver (scuba diving charter boat).

It's alway nice to see our dive buddies even when we are not donning our wet suits. It's fun to catch up on news, the latest "rants & raves" and the newest adventures that lie awaiting in the forecast.

I had bought some raffle tickets in hopes that I would win a new regulator. Fellow dive buddy Laurent also bought some tickets as well to test his luck in hopes of winning the shiny new regulator. As people started to depart the party, they handed us their raffle tickets because they just couldn't wait for the drawing. Between my husband, Laurent ,and myself we had a pile of raffle tickets for not just the regulator but other smaller dive related items. We were sure we would've won something from the number of chances we had.

However, we didn't score a single item.

The next morning, after our usual morning run on the beach it started to rain. As we were driving home after picking up the sunday paper in the neighboring town of Seabrook I was joking to my husband how funny it was that out of all those tickets we had sitting in front of us that not a single one was a winning ticket.

We must be unlucky.

As soon as I said that my husband started saying, "oh shit shit....... SHIIIT.....SHHHIIITTT!" with panic in his voice. The rain had turned to black ice and our car was spinning out of control. It was spinning two full 360 degree turns barrelling down the street. I had then realized that I forgot to put my seat belt on after I had ran to get the newspaper. We were headed straight for a telephone pole and could hear myself saying, "oh shit, brace for impact...".

I was envisioning my obituary notice saying something like, "here lies some dumb shit who forgot to put her seatbelt on..."

The car went up on an embankment and missed the pole by inches.

A car coming in the opposite direction minutes earlier wasn't so lucky.

He hit the pole across the street totalling his vehicle.

After we regained control of our car and took a couple of deep breaths, I told my husband ,"drive like a f*&^ing turtle..and pull over to see if the driver of that car is OK".

There was no driver in the car. He must of gotten out and went to one of the houses by the side of the road for help.

As we inched down the road a police car was flying up the road. I wanted to wave to him to slow down before he went around the bend but it was too late. He flew right by.

I am hoping the cop didn't get in trouble with the invisible trecherous ice up ahead.

When we finally made it home in one piece we both concurred that we were both really lucky on this one.

Lady luck was surely with us on this one.

Have a Tacky christmas!

Christmas brings out the best ,and the worst as far as tackiness.

*(As vividly demonstrated by the attachment photo (above) that has been circulating around on the internet.)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really enjoy driving around checking out the Christmas decorations around the neighborhood. Some homes are beautifully and tastefully done up. I have to admire the decorating artistry of some imaginative folks.

And then there are some that are catapulted beyond the "tacky-meter".

I drove by one house where bits of vinyl siding is missing and hanging off the roof line. There were trash bags that are torn laying about the yard along with a rusted grill and a tipped over bird bath. A sting of colored light with only half of them working are hung up haphazardly along the roof line. Giant (filthy)) plastic snowmen are perched in the yard and of course, no tacky yard is complete without those gigantic blow-up santas. Do these people step back to look at their creation and actually think their house looks nice?

I've seen some houses are a decorated nicely but they ruin it by piling a bunch of those blow-up santas, snowmen, snoopys and grinches all over the place. There was one house with a big yard in Rye that had at least a hundred of those blow up ornaments. They are so bad that they are actually good. I think little kids might get a kick out of it. I know my Father does! Ha!

I think it is beyond tacky when a bunch of "barneys" (liberals) gather about protesting and asking for the removal of Nativity scenes displayed in public places.

Get a F*&^ing life people!

And of course the "fashion police" would have a bloody field day with some of the "holiday " outfits people dare to wear. Nothing is worse than those sweatshirt you see at Walmart with sayings that say, "Ho Ho HO", "Santa, define Naughty", or anything with a stupid snow-man on it.

I think cute small colorful holiday pins are fine on a suit collar, or sweater but those giant dangling Christmas bulb earrings are just wrong.

And I have to mention tacky gifts too.

Anything at Walgreens that is advertised "as seen on TV" is super tacky. These items are chia pets, snuggee blankets, the clapper (oh my God...) and the newest item I saw advertised is the "booty pop". It is a butt enhancer advertised as making your butt go 'from flat to fab". Seriously can you imagine getting one of those as your gift?

Walgreens also sells dancing Christmas trees, santa mice that 'rap" to christmas music and the worst one is santa with his pants down sitting on a chimney toilet. When you press a button, it plays Christmas music as way of a farting sound. My brother had one of these and the kids love it. Little boys love anything that gross!

Regifting is tacky too. I think they only way to can get away with regifting if you recieve a really nice box of chocolates or wine, and you need to get someone a gift ASAP. Of course you need to check the expiration date to make sure that box of chocolates weren't regifted to you, plus it has to be good chocolates like Godivas (none of that Whitman sampler crap)

I have gotten some obvious regifted 'gifts" that were pretty bad (and thoughtless)

Seriously?!? Dollar store salt & pepper shakers? Cheap wooden coasters with old wrapping paper still stuck to it?

I can understand not having alot of extra dough to spend on gifts but give something that you would like as a gift such as home-made fudge wrapped nicely. I know when I give someone a gift I say to myself "would I like to recieve this?"

This may be tacky of me but I found writing this post rather fun.

Oh what the heck, have a Tacky Christmas! (wink)

babes in toyland

Every year our town runs an annual toy drive for kids in need for Christmas.

My family was not rich by any means but I was never without toys for Christmas.

I can not imagine getting stiffed by 'santa" so I make sure I donate toys and games for the toy drive.

I have fun picking out toys that I think some little kid would like. I actually pick out toys that if I were still a little kid that I would like. I like the old classics such as: cute stuffed animals, barbies, game classics such as candyland, monopoly and cooties plus colorful puzzles, and things like that.

As I sit and type this, I reminisce about some of my all time favorite toys that I just loved as a kid.

I've had a lot of favorites, and I am sure after I finish this post I will say, "oh yeah, what about..."

Of course, my favorite (and still my all time favorite) is the troll (wishnik) doll.

I still have my first troll (wishnik) doll proudly displayed on "the special troll shelf."

His name is Peter. (circa 1966)

I also loved stuffed animals (and still do). I had this one stuffed siamese cat that I had for years. It finally had to be "donated" to the dumpster because of it's scrofulous condition. Woody woodpecker was an all time fav too. Woody had been replaced by a newer and cleaner version in the later years.

I had a talking car which you could take apart. That was pretty cool.

One of the best gifts I got, which only lasted a day, was this James Bond gun set. My mother didn't want me to have it but my father snuck out and bought it for me. It had a cigarette lighter that shot (fake) bullets, a watch and other secret agent shooting devices. Needless to say after a fun day of shooting everyone in sight from my brother to the pet cat that secret agent gun set 'mysteriously" disappeared.

My Aunt surprised me one year with a "bewitched' barbie doll. I thought this was the most beautiful barbie type doll ever. This doll also had the biggest boobs of any other barbie doll. She was sort of the Pam Anderson of dolls.

I also liked science toys like dissecting kits and microscopes. I was forever playing "mad scientist".

Comic books were always a hit too. Archie, super heroes, Richie Rich and scary ones too. (I hated mickey mouse and uncle scrooge. Those ones sucked and were really boring.)

I also like artsy toys that you could make things out of like 'creepies crawlers". You poured this booger-like substance of various colors into a mold, baked it in their special heater and, viola! You made a big huge colorful insect! You then could add pins to them making them into "jewelry. I could never understand why my mother did not wear my special hand-made humungous rubbery spider pin on her sunday dress. I always thought she liked the color flourescent pink!

And of course, everyone including myself, loved getting a stingray bike with it's fancy banana seat.

Yup, those were good times!

"inspirational quotes"

Have you ever recieved those obnoxious "what is a friend?" inspirational emails?

Those are the worst!.

My sister gets these lamo "what is a mother?" emails as well. She hates these attachments. I can't say I blame her.

I've seen these Hallmark inspitational magnets and plaques in gifts shops with these corny poems and sappy quotes.

Me, being the cynical-smarty-pants-wise-arse that I am, I just don't "get" the emotional message. Sometimes I really just can't comprehend certain emotions.

I see these "life is good" t-shirts everywhere with this completely lame stick figure riding a bike, swinging on a hammock or playing golf. I see half of the citizens in Newburyport wearing these t-shirts . I scratch my head in amazement that this simple stick drawing resonates something inside of people to make them to wear them. Down the street from the "life is good" t-shirt place is another type of gift shop that sells "life is crap" t-shirts. I don't particularly adhere to the "life is crap" way of thinking but I think the t-shirts are at least funny.(see above picture)

There was this one woman who designed these simple "women empowerment" t-shirts that sold like hot-cakes in one of the downtown's speciality shops. The t-shirts had sayings that said, "simplify" "who needs prince charming?", and things like that. I am really glad she is doing well in her business . I always like seeing women do well in business. But for me, I still didn't quite get her message.

I guess it is like greeting cards you buy. Some people buy cutesy cards with snoopy on them or some people buy gross cards with fart jokes in them or off-the-wall cards with pyscho clowns on them. Each cards resonates something in them to make the reader respond positively or negatively, depending on that person.

As I was doing some online Christmas shopping, (I'll admit, mostly for myself. Ha! ) I found a site that hosts artists and their wares. I absolutely fell in love with one artist with her quotes and simple but super imaginative art pieces.

Finally, somebody out there "gets" people like me.

I bought a bunch of magnets and a necklace on her site. The necklace I bought has a picture of a love bird wearing a dress and leopard print high heels. On the back of the necklace it says, "Sadly, she's rarely judged on how good she is at recycling".

I thought to myself, "oh My God! How perfect! That is exactly how I feel 90% of the time!"

I find that to be so true. You live a simple life and no one seems to notice the little things you do to make the world a better place. It seems that people are more readily available to crititize you instead on nit picky stupid shit nonsense rather than pat you on the back and say, "hey, you're A-OK".

I just wanted to say that I finally found a real artist that I truly found inspirational!

www.allisonstrine.com

Christmas past

The race is on in preparation for Christmas.

As I decorate, wrap gifts and write out Christmas cards, I stop to pause and reflect on Christmas's in the past. For the most part, I would say I've had some really nice Christmas's. Those happy ones are the Christmas's that I drink in and savor like hot apple cider.

The bad ones, and we've all had them, I stuff in the (Burke Breathed) "closet of anxieties" of Christmas's past", and lock the f*&^ing door.

Deaths, illnesses, divorces, family fights, drunken tirades, tantrums and really really bad holiday party incidents. ....shiver.....can all stay locked up, thank you very much.

As I age, the holiday changes and evolve. New traditions emerge and the old ones are put away as happy memories.

It's all good.

I remember like it was yesterday on Christmas eve, my father would take us to kids to see the USS Constitution. We would hang out with him for the day walking around on the ship while my mother was home busy (I assume) wrapping gifts and cooking dinner. We would make a stop in the North End where he would buy cartons of fruit at a discounted rate. I would get grossed out at all the squished fruit on the street. He would stop by the bakery to buy "special' Italian pastries to bring home for dinner. When we got home we were allowed to open one "special" gift from him.

It was special.

Sometimes we would go to early evening Christmas eve mass. We would protest too much if we had to go to Christmas mass on Christmas morning. We were too enthralled with all of our toys to be disturbed by having to go to church. I know that sounds bratty but we were all hyped up little kids.

We also had a tradition of going into Boston to see the tree lightings at the Boston Common. It seemed to be always the coldest night ever but we didn't care. We would drive around the neighborhoods first in my family's "caddy" to see the neighbors decorations and also by Mahoney's Rocky ledge greenery to visit the live reindeers. We would then come home to watch one of the many Christmas specials on TV that seem to always fall on the same night as the tree lightings. Some of the shows were: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, the Grinch who stole Christmas, the little drummer boy and Mr. Magoo's Christmas carol.

My Aunt "Joan" would have Christmas parties at her home with all of my father's relatives. Santa would stop to visit.

I particularly remember my Aunt Joan's Christmas tree. It was one of those "mod" silver aluminium trees with the revolving colored light wheel. I thought it was pretty cool. My mother thought it was awful.

I figured out real fast that this was not the "real" santa who stopped by my Aunt's house because I always got night-clothes as a "gift". The "real" santa would've known I would've hated that polyester-thin-itchy-flammable-night gown with a picture of "quick draw McGraw" on them. I would've prefered a pair of warm flannel pajamas with "Woody woodpecker" on them instead. I would sulk and my mother would poke me telling me to "cut the crap" and that "santa is watching".

Sometimes we would go to my Aunt "Tillies" house too. I didn't care too much about going to her house. It was always crowded and I would always seem to get in trouble for something. She always seemed to have cold beets (yuck) there for dinner too. My older cousin, Susan, however DID have this gigantic troll doll that I could play with.

We also had a big dinner with my Aunt "Marie" and her family. Sometimes my mother would have them over on Christmas eve and sometimes the week before. My mother would get really stressed out because of all her major preparations she felt she needed to do. I liked it because I got to hang out with my cousin "Kim".

Things change as we've all gotten older.

My brother hosts a big family breakfast on Christmas morning.

My Mother still has a Christmas eve dinner.

I have dinner before Christmas at my house with my cousin "Kim".

Parties seem to come and go.

Yeah, it's still all good.

Fifth Anniversairy Nov 29th

November 29th was the fifth anniversairy of my Aunt's passing.

It is hard to believe that she has been gone for five years now.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I visit her memorial bench at least twice a year. I visit it more during the summer months when I take some of my dog customers there but I make a point of visiting "her' on May 25th (her birthday) and on November 29th (the anniversairy of her passing).

It was bit cold and overcast but at least it was'nt windy or drizzily which made my "visit" doable.

I placed a small bouquet of flowers on her bench and sat there enjoying the view over the Merrimack river. It was sort a meditative moment for me where I just emptied my mind and took in the smell of the leaves and pines. I thought to myself what a nice painting this would make of the reflection of the 95 bridge over the river with it's fall colours.

As I sat there, I heard something that sounded like wind chimes. I thought that was odd because it wasn't particularly windy and there isn't a house nearby for about a half a mile.

As I sat there, the chimes got louder and louder. I am not a superstitious person but I was starting think my Aunt was "sending me a message" of some sort.

I turned around and there was my cousin and her three dogs coming up the hill.

The chimes were the dogs mini cow-bells on their collars. She looked as surprised as I was to see me sitting there.

She was on her way along with her two brothers to commemorate their mother's passing.

"Don" brought a wreath for her bench and had a copy of a special poem he had prepared to recite in her honor. After he said his serious piece, we joked around a bit afterwards repeating verbatim some of our ribald childhood "poetry" such as the infamous "Paul Revere's poop wagon ride".

We joked around quoting some of the things my Aunt would've said when we placed the wreath and flowers on her bench, "oh you should'nt have." Save your money." "What did you do that for?"

I do believe she was with us at that moment enjoying our get together and revelling at being "the star of the show".

Yes, I do believe her spirit was with us.

This guy needs a beating

Julian Assange, founder of wikileaks.

All I can say is that he needs a serious beating.

TSA

Tough Sh*t A$$holes.

That is what TSA stands for. (Not for Transportation Security Administration.)

What a joke.

You know, I am all for upping security to keep our country safe but these new "regulations" that validate a "free for all" pass to grope and xray private citizens (without a radiologists license) really REALLY bothers me. It was bad enough having to take off your shoes to go through security. I get the shivers just thinking about walking on those dirty nasty floors with my stocking feet. Yuck.

Seriously, has taken off your shoes standing in a check-in line made the skies any safer?

It's all just "window dressing" to make it look like security is doing something. The terrorists and other assorted whack jobs are always thinking of new schemes to blow up airliners. What needs to be done is luggage needs to be checked more closely, cargo holds to need to be checked more closely and electronic devices from cell phones, computors, clocks and watches really need to be checked. Our "instinctive profiling radars" need to be on alert especially.

Never mind this silly "politically correct" crap.

Never mind this invasive naked scan nonsense.

I knew from day one there would be abuses, especially geared towards women, in regards to these so called "security checks".

I just read in the paper how one woman was singled out in the Orlando airport because she had large breasts.

It was a "random" security check.

Right.

As always women are victimized and abused and told to shut up. Meanwhile, suspicious looking middle-eastern type males yell discrimination and threaten to sue if they are "profiled".

It's digusting.

And stupid.

John Pistole, the joke administrator of the TSA offers no apologies to those (women) in particular who are violated under the guise of airport security . The only crime these women committed was that they wanted to go to Disney.

"It's all for the sake of national security!"

Pistole is a total wanker.

It wouldn't surprise me that you find out later that he's been bagged in some sort of weirdo sex scandal.

Obama should be a ashamed of himself allowing this clown to be in charge.

But then again, Obama did nothing to get help to stop that disastrous 3 month oil leak either.

I think this is the last time that I'll be traveling by plane.

It's just not worth it anymore.

It's expensive, sickening, dirty and I don't feel safe anymore.

It's a disgrace and a bloody joke.

Thanksgiving "specials"

I got a couple of store sale flyers in my newspaper this morning advertising sales on Thanksgiving Day.

Huh?

Are you serious?

Shopping on Thanksgiving day?

Isn't this a "day off' day?

Isn't this one of those few days you get off to solely spend with friends or family?

Does Walmart really have to be open on Thanksgiving day?

WTF!

The first thing that enters my mind is what sucky bosses they must have at Walmart to make their employers work. I mean, really, that is just plain f*&^ing mean.

I had pet sitting customers this morning but it is a necessity job for me to give people a little freedom for those who want to travel to see friends and family. I charge a little more on the holidays for this service. Pets need to be cared for. There is no day off in taking care of your pets. Period.

I work around my schedule so that I do have 'family time" so it is not that big of a deal. Pets have to be taken care of. They can't be left alone for an extended period of time. There is a difference between working on a holiday that differentiates between what is a necessary job and what isnt.

Working on Thanksgiving day in Walmart is just plain stupid.

I remember working all day on big holidays and it sucked big time.

I was working in a nursing home while I was in high school. Unfortunately I had to work. I didn't want to but I was threatened with being fired if I didn't work two of the big holidays. Nursing homes needed staff to care for the residents there. My father always had to work Christmas too since he was a cop.

I think this is what irritates me about Walmart being open on Thanksgiving is that I somewhat doubt workers volunteered to work on Thanksgiving. And it isn't one of those life or death type of jobs like being a nurse, fireman or policeman.

I know I am going to sound like an old fart but I think this is one of the reasons why there is so much problems with broken families and lack of unity is because family time is not encouraged in this country. It seems like making a buck is more important.

Shopping on Black Friday? Yeah..go for it. It's a contact sport.

Shopping on Thanksgiving? Boycott. No way would I ever go shopping on this day.

Thanksgiving

I think Thanksgiving is a decent holiday.

It is definitely one of those family get together holidays.

The best part is that I do not have to cook or clean up.

I have to admire those who take over the cooking, shopping, preparation and cleaning chores of the day.

My mother actually likes doing it. Matter-of-fact she insists of doing it. I can't even bring anything over unless it is something I didn't cook like coffee, wine or a fruit basket.

She is the domestic reina of the day.

She is in charge.

She is the boss of the day.

When I suggested one year that we all just go out for dinner instead figuring it would be easier for her I thought her laser stare of ' that-would-be-a-sin-not-to-cook-dinner" would almost fry me on the spot.

I already know she is making preparations for the day, and it's two days away.

I don't, however, eat turkey.

I stopped eating turkey years ago.

Just before Thanksgiving, I was in a shopping mall many years ago. There was this grand turkey on display in an enclosure. I saw kids poking fingers at him, laughing and teasing him mocking that they were going to be eating him soon. I walked over and saw this large beautiful bird being disrespected and I was disgusted. At least when native Americans eat what they have hunted they show a sign of respect by saying a prayer of thanks to the creature.

I felt sick to my stomach seeing those little shits tease that bird.

I never ate turkey again.

I've seen turkey "farms" depicted on TV awaiting 'the big day'. All these white turkeys mass produced are crammed into a industrial enclosure awaiting their fate. The grocery stores advertise 59 cents a pound for these mass bred turkeys.

If I had to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving, I would buy one from a local farm where at least, the turkeys are walking around outside enjoying the sunshine. They advertise $2.89 a pound but at least these turkeys aren't those sad white ones squished in a cement enclosure for their entire sad lives.

Thanksfully, my Mother doesn't push turkey on me. She makes me a pile of veggies and her famous apple pie. (Yes, I will have one slice!)

While everyone lays around afterwards like snakes that swallowed a giant rat they will be watching the football game. I will sneak into the bedroom to watch the Westminister dog show instead.

Yes, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving.

curve ball

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you have to step up to the plate.

You just hope you don't get hit in the head by the ball.

This morning I was lining up and confirming my Thanksgiving holiday customers.

One of my customers is an elderly lady with two kitties. She had called a few weeks ago to book a Thanksgiving weekend pet sitting appointment. When I called my senior customer's phone number, the operator recording came on and said,"I'm sorry this number is no longer in service".

I called again to make sure I dialed the right number and the same recording came on.

I searched the numbers on my cell phone around the time she called to make an appointment but I couldn't find her number or a number that was unfamilar that could possibly a 'new' number, if she had changed her phone number for some reason.

Needless to say, I got a little nervous wondering if something happened to her.

My first thought was to go over to her apartment right now to check on her.

I opt to call the person in charge of her elderly housing complex instead.

I told her who I was and that I was concerned since the phone number I had for "Mrs. C"was out of order.

The superintendent of the complex said that number I had given her of this tenant was the same number she had. I asked her if she could check on her and call me right back.

Thankfully, this turned out to be a happy ending.

"Mrs. C" called me back within 20 minutes, apologetic, explaining that she had changed her number because she was being hounded by unwanted phone solicitors.

I told her I was glad she was OK and that I was a bit worried when I found her number out of order. She had given me her daughter's phone number this time as well for an emergency contact.

This story might not have had a happy ending.

I have heard from one pet sitter a few years ago that had this one job to take care of a dog when the owner was out of town. When she arrived at the house she saw smoke coming out of a window.

She called 911.

She managed to rescue the dog but the apartment was engulfed in flames by time the fire engines arrived.

Two years ago, I had this client with three beautiful high-end breeder dogs. They were regular customers. One morning, I found one of the dogs dead in the living room.

It was awful.

I was in full blown panic mode. I tried as calmly as I could call the owner to inform her of what I found. (I was a mess) I rushed the dog (with the help of my husband) to the vet. The dog had just died of a sudden heart attack. It was a freak thing.

I no longer have this client as customers anymore and it is not because the lady "fired me". I continued to care for her two dogs for another year or so until they had puppies. I was too nervous around these dogs and the dogs could sense it so I had to quit.

Nothing can prepare you for some of the things that are thrown at you.

You just have to stop, breath, think calmly and hope for the best.

Christmas favs

During this time of year, I will occasionally hear a few people declare, "I hate Christmas!" "Bah humbug" "It's just a hallmark holiday!' etc...

Yeah, all the preparation can be kind of a pain.

TV commercials do bombard you with a 'buy buy buy!" in-your-face hard sell to the point of being obnoxious.

And there are some folks that reminisce sad events that has happened to during the Christmas season. Maybe a close friend or family passed away during that time. Perhaps there was an illness in the family or a layoff at the company. Maybe it was a relative that got obnoxiously drunk and selfishly ruined the holidays. It could be just the pressure of having to buy gifts, visit relatives or whatever.

It's kind of sad.

For the most part, I have had nice Christmases. The very few that were a bit of a bummer I blot out of my mind. It's pointless, at least it is for me to dwell on the 'nasties".

Hey, every once in a while you are going to step in shit. That's the way life is sometimes.

Here are some of the things I really like about Christmas:

1) Christmas parties. The kind of parties that you can 'doll up" for.

2) Christmas breakfast at my brother's house. It's the best!

3) Christmas eve dinner at my Mother's house.

4) Having "mini" Christmas parties with close friends and cousins.

5) Christmas cards. I love sending out "special" cards and I love getting cards.

I'm talking about real cards via snail mail (not those lame e-cards.)

6) Religious Christmas music. Church choir music or classics on the radio.

(oh God, nothing is worse than rap "holiday music" or anything by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Elvis, the Chipmunks or Paul McCartney. GAG!)

7) Fireplaces

8) Christmas specials on TV.

9) Decorations (so long as they are taken down soon after New Years Day. Nothing is grosser than seeing "raunchy Claus" in a dirty pee-stained snow bank in February)

10) The smell of evergreen trees and wreaths

Yup, this can be a nice time of year!

decorating for the holidays

I really don't mind seeing Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving.

I kind of feel that Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's day is one big holiday amalgamation. It takes so much preparation for just one day that you might as well spread it out and just enjoy it.

I like to put my decorations up on Thanksgiving morning.

However, the day after New Year's day, I have to put everything away. After New Year's day, everything looks old, stale AND depressing. I can't stand to look at it after that.

For years, and I mean for years, I would put up a big huge Christmas tree and decorate t it with a 'fish" theme as well as alot of old ornaments I have had since I was a kid. For the past few years, I found the task of putting this tree up with all it's ornaments (and taking them down) daunting. My birds hate "the big scary tree" too. I started to feel overwhelmed and a bit of depressed.

I can't explain why either.

Life changes, you know.

Ideas, themes and feelings change.

I know alot of people get depressed during the holidays. I know some older folks get stuck on a antiquated notion of what they think the holidays are suppose to be like.

So, I decided to shake things up.

Why stay stuck in old ways if it's stressing you or bumming you out? That's ridiculous.

I no longer put the big tree up anymore. I now buy a small live tree that I decorate modestly with "parrot"or "fish" decorations and then, I'll plant the tree in the yard afterwards.

I put out a few "new" decorations that I had recently bought that make me smile. I have an array of "santa' frogs. Yes, large santa frogs that I strategically place in my living room.

I keep my religious icons out all year long. I mean, that is what Christmas is really all about, right?

I put just a few of my, now, "new" favorite pieces out from Thanksgiving to New Year's day to enjoy.

I know some people go completely "whole hog" in decorating for the holidays.

My mother is one of those people.

The amount of time and effort she puts into it is amazing. Even her bathroom has a 'winter" theme with snowman towels, a snow flake soap dish and a matching shower curtain. The yard is adorned with lights, wreaths and a moving lighted wire reindeer. Of course, there is a fully decorated Christmas tree, an adorned fire-place mantle and Christmas theme plates on a pointsetta printed table-cloth arranged perfectly on the dining table.

One of the things I like about the holidays is seeing all the decorations.

I hadly ever go in shopping malls but I will go in for one day to see the decorations. I'll drive around certain neighborhoods just to see their outdoor displays. Alot of my friends decorate their homes too. They also change up their decorating theme like I have which is fun to see.

Hey, it can be a really nice time of the year if you allow it to be! :-)

tis the season!

Well it's that time of the year that I have to organize, plan and finish shopping.

Some of you may be thinking, "huh?!?! What do you mean finish shopping!?!? I haven't even started yet!"

I was always one of those kids in school whenever I was assigned a project I started it right away. If I knew a project was going to be assigned I would already start to plan my stategy. I am not one of those "last minute Charlies." I do not do well under pressure nor am I a procrastinator.

As far as shopping goes, I buy gifts all year long. If I see something cool and unique that "so and so" would like, I pick it up and save it for that special occasion. I give a good deal of thought into what I will buy for that individual. Like I said, I do not wait til the last minute and I do not buy just something for them because I have to.

Nothing screams "I -bought-this for-you-because-I-had-to" like a crappy made-in-China arcylic walmart sweater.

Seriously.

What is even worse is when you know someone's "re-gifted" something and it is something shitty that they just wanted to get rid of it.

That's bad.

You don't have to break the bank either to buy something nice. Sales and coupons work. Hand-made or home-cooked things are nice too.

I also have to buy little things for my loyal customers as well. I usually make them something to honor their pets. One year, I made little wooden jewelry boxes. I painted their pet's picture on the lid. I started with this project in the spring so I could take my time with it. This year, I am making individual bracelets with their pet's picture attached to a tiny locket.

I also have to make up gift baskets for various local charities since I am considered a "business owner". I buy little items all year long that are on sale to make up these baskets. It gets costly so I have to plot, plan and know how to shop effectively.

I actually like to buy things online too. I think it is because I love getting stuff in the mail, even if it is not for me.

Here are some of the stores I buy online from:

http://www.landsend.com/ They sell no nonsense well-made ladies clothing. Nothing fancy but practical. They always have internet sales along with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/ They don't just sell books. If you buy over $25.00 worth of stuff you get free shipping

http://www.bn.com/ They sell books and CDs. They always have online coupons. They also have free shipping over $25.00 worth of stuff

http://www.ebay.com/ They sell everything from used to new to unique. They also provide links to various stores.

http://www.cafepress.com/ They are for the most part local vendors selling their wares. OMG you can find the funniest t-shirts on the planet on this site. They also offer online coupons and deals at certain times.

http://www.etsy.com/ This is a new online site I just found. This site sells "one of the kind" wares from artists. Really cool stuff. I bought myself two gifts on this site.

http://www.zazzle.com/ Another cool site for unique items. My husband bought me a pair of ked sneakers with cockatiels printed all over them. OMG they are sooooo cute!

http://www.retailmenot.com/ This site links you with various stores that show what is on sale and shows you links to coupons offered.

My cousin and I have made it an annual time to attend "the church of fairs" event in Amesbury. Don't you remember going to your church's Christmas fair? I always loved going to them and I still do. I like seeing (and buying) home-made items. My cousin bought this beautiful huge afghan blanket made by lady who is 102 years old. It is truly a peice of art. You are supporting the church by buying items like this as well as appreciating the handiwork. (It's certainly not some peice of shit made in China!) At these fairs, there is always a bake sale of home-made yummy treats and jams. Of course, I have to buy something! Ha! There is something comforting about attending these old time church fairs as a part of the Christmas ritual.

It's kind of like visiting a Grandma. :-)

Enjoy the season!

hot tub time machine

Oh my God.

I do not know what is wrong with me lately. I have had these nasty bouts of serious anxiety attacks over stuff that brews and festers in my head followed up by burning migraines.

I am trying to figure out why this is happening.

However.

Recently, I had changed my brand of vitamens. I am beginning to think this has something to do with aggravating the situation.

You may be thinking , "huh?"

Maybe it is, maybe it is not, but lately I feel like I am speeding my F*&^ing brains out.

I feel like I have been infused with "red bull" or "jolt cola".

Bing BING BING ricochet rabbit !

It is not a good feeling.

Since I started on the WW diet 26 weeks ago I started taking women's "centrum" vitamens. I had just ran out of them and bought "one-a-day 50+ "advantage" vitamens instead since they were on sale.

I thought most 'ladies" vitamens were pretty much the same. Of course, after I bought these vitamens and I had been consuming them for nearly a week I noticed that I've been feeling really jittery. I read the ingredients afterwards and read that this brand did not have iron in it (which I need being a vegetarian) .It also has this added ingredient called ginkgo biloba for "memory support".

I think this shit is a serious stimulant.

This is something I definitely do not need.

I can't even drink a can of cola without feeling obnoxious.

I'm chucking these and going back to the centrum vitamens.

A pal of mine called me and suggested we do a day spa treatment to unwind.

She could defintely tell I was not myself. I thought she was going to bitch slap me because I was so out of control.

But, she calmly said, "we are off to the Wentworth to get facials and to use the hot tub to relax our muscles".

Oh yeah, there is nothing like a facial.

My skin is so scrotty and dry due to wind burn. A facial is like a nice massage on your face and shoulders with lovely smelling creams soothing your tired crusty face.

We were given plush bath robes to use afterward to use after swimming in the indoor pool.

We headed straight for the outdoor hot tub.

Instant relaxation therapy.

The water was really hot but it felt good especially with the pulsing water jets hitting our backs.

We sipped tea and entertained ourselves by telling funny ribald stories.

All of a sudden the electricity went off.

The lights went off and the water jets stopped.

We didn't really care since the water was still hot.

We carried on reminiscing on all our wild and crazy days transporting us back to another time until we noticed the filtration system was backing up.

Out came dead flies, bandaids, and hair.

All of a sudden this digusting gelatinous blob came out and stuck to my arm.

Needless to say, we screamed and scurried out frantically.

Thank God the showers were working so I could scour that big scary jizzy booger off.

Regardlessof this incident, spending the day at a spa is a perfect way to decompress.

I feel a little better and hey, at least now I have a new gross out story!

Who owns who?

About fifteen years ago, a friend of mine said to me abuptly after spending a few hours with her, "It's time for me to go home. I need to tend to my cats".

At the time, I was a bit offended, thinking "what a lame excuse in order to ditch me". I''ll admit that it was a bit egocentric of me to even think that her departure had even something to do with me.

Well, now that I have pets of my own , as well the responsibility to care for other people's pets, I realize that this was no lame excuse but something she really had to do. When you care for animals you have to be considerate of sticking to a schedule.

Pets thrive by a regular routine of expectations.

This includes cats, even though they appear to be pretty independant and act like they don't even acknowledge your presense. Believe me, they expect you be home at a certain time.

By keeping pets on a schedule, a regular routine, keeps me in business. If a client wants to go out for a dinner date, the client will call me to come over at dinner time to feed and take their dog(s) out so they do not have rush back home. Dogs will get anxious if their schedule is interrupted. They can act out by either pooping on the floor, tearing shoes up or whinning incessantly. Cats can do the same thing by pooping outside the litterbox, scratching the furniture or biting you.

When I take care of people's pets I generally stick to a regular time specific schedule so the animals know when to expect me.

I know myself, if I am out all day, I get panicky and anxious worrying about my birds. They are used to their daily schedule of their papers, food, and water changed plus "flight time" outside of their cages at approximately 7:30am and at 5:00pm. They are also used to their "TV time" too where they will get cuddled and have their heads scratched. If their schedule is thrown off they will screach, sulk and can be nippy. If I have a meeting or an event to attend to in the evening, I will either make sure my husband can tend to them or hire a pet sitter. Yes, my birds rule my life.

Alot of my close friends have pets so when we give each other 'the look" that we have to get home at a certain time we now have that understanding of why. They are little souls that depend on us for everything even for entertainment and our company.

So if I tell you have to be home at a certain time please be understanding that I am responsible for the care and well being of my companion critters. They are living creatures who depend on entirely on me. I completely understand now why my friend had to get home for her cats!

* the photo above is "Cuddles" the cocker spaniel taken by my cell phone. As you can see she is also a Red Sox fan!

week 25 on WW

I haven't weighed myself for about a month just to see what I would weigh by not obsessing about my weight and to just eat normally.

When I mean eat normally, I mean not obsessing over calories but staying away from fats and sweets. When I feel full, I stop instead of thinking that I have to clean the plate. I've gotten into the habit of planning my weekly menu and also when I have the raging hungries I just eat a big bowl of fruit (with FF cool whip) and have a cup of tea.

I seriously look forward to my morning cup of coffee. I buy really good flavored coffee which is a nice treat ( green mountain coffee is on sale with week at the local grocery store, yippee!)

I'll admit my portions have been bigger but I think this may be OK since I still have not gained any weight. When I am hungry, I eat. Sometimes I will add soup to a meal to fill us up.

I do believe the biggest thing for keeping the weight off is that I still have NOT had a single donut, pastry or cookie in 25 weeks! And, I am still working out 5 days a week down in cell block #9.

And there are some days, alot of days, I drive by the dunkin donuts thinking this will be the day I fall off the wagon.

But I haven't, yet.

I found that chips, pita chips, and salsa chips are highly addictive. Once I have "a few' I can't stop. So I think this is something I'll have to add to the 'no fly list".

I get really annoyed when people will stick cookies or desserts in front of my face and say, "here, I made it especially for you!" Seriously, would you hand an alcoholic a beer and say the same thing? I suppose some people think that person can be satisfied with just one drink (In my case, just the one donut could throw me over the edge). Sometimes I wonder if some people do it on purpose just to sabotage my diet. I dunno , I guess I am just being paranoid.

I don't want to look like a fat dumpy middle aged woman..

I don't mind getting old because the alternative is, well, death.

So, I am trying to fight the dreaded middle age spread naturally through exercise and a healthy diet.

Ah yes, my friends, it is a battle.

And the holidays are right around the corner.

November rain

"I saw you..(and him, and him)

walking in the rain.....

You were holding hands and....

I'll never be the same.."

*This is a excerpt from the song, "the rain" , by Oran Juice Jones in 1986

Whenever I have to walk in the rain I sometimes hum this song to myself. I kind of have to laugh to myself because it's sort of a romantic song (with a catchy rhythm).

When I walked the dogs on thursday, the day was anything but "romantic".

It was freezing horizontal gusting rain.

It sucked being out.

When it rains on a hot August day, I love being out in it. I love the smell of the rain hitting the steaming pavement. When it's hot and sweaty out the rain feels so refreshing.

However, this past thursday , it was one of those days you could easily find yourself standing in a puddle, freezing, soaked, and crying.

It was awful.

"Mattie", the naughty Jack Russell terrier, just glowered at me with her ears down, her eyes wide open and shaking like a leaf.

She did not want to go out.

Matter-of-fact, she left a huge turd on the carpet to let me know that she didn't need to go out because she already went. I had to seriously bribe her with treats to get her off the couch and go out the door.

She kept turning around looking at me as if to say, "are you kidding me?"

I can't say I blame her.

The rain was running down my storm pants like a rivulet into my wellies (boots). My feet were completely soaked inside my boots.

"Kd", the poodle who wears a diaper, was not keen on going out either. Once her feet touched the cold water she gave me "the look." I told her ,"once you poop we can go back in". I swear dogs understand what you say because she promptly pooped when we reached her favorite pooping spot and ran back to the house. I dried her off and put a fresh diaper on her. I had never changed a human baby diaper in my entire life but here I am changing a dog's diaper. It's a bit surreal.

"Kd''s companion "Riley, the hyperactive springer spaniel, was another story.

This was one dog I HAD to get outside, walk around for a good 30 minutes, and to make sure she "emptied out".

She has had liquid diarrhea for two weeks now.

"Riley's" owners were away on business so I had to make sure she got out at least twice while I was on duty or else there could have been disastrous results.

If you know what I mean.

Regardless, it was still pretty bad.

After Riley purged a liquid mess, she dragged her bum across the mud as if that was suppose to clean it and then decided to roll in it. I felt like I was running in slow motion trying to remove her away from the toxic pile.

When we got back to the house, I had to wrestle with her with a towel to dry her off since she decided that she would rather dry off by ramming her snout between my legs using my pant legs as a towel. Not only did I have to wrestle with this dog to get her managably clean but immediately after that I had to race through the house to close all the bedroom doors so the dogs couldn't go in.

Wet smelly dogs love to roll around on clean bedcovers.

I don't think the owners would appreciate having their bed soiled with mud, dog hairs and shit.

My cousin's three dogs know the routine when it rains or at least, they have trained me to know what to do. Both "Jackie" and "Cuddles" run out in her fenced-in yard to do a quick potty break. Neither one of them like going out in the rain for walks.

"Ruby" doesn't mind at all. Matter-of-fact, she figured out that she'll get 'one-on-one' attention if she goes for the walk if the other two dogs wimp out. She does A-Ok in the rain. She also enjoys getting toweled off without all the drama.

Even so, again, I have to make sure the bedroom doors are closed just in case Ruby decides that I didn't dry her off enough.

At the end of the day, when I came home, cold, wet and smelly.

I thought to myself, "Ok, tough it up. The winter hasn't even started yet"

cookware hunt

My husband likes to watch those cooking shows and exclaims, 'oh that looks good. We should try that!" He also likes to watch those home improvement shows as well. All those shows makes things look simple to do but you need the right tools for both jobs.
In regard to cooking, I look at my scrottily looking pots, pans and dishware that I've had since my 'single days". I've kept these pans because they are made of stainless steel. It seems everything out there is made of non-stick and/ or made in China. Anything made in China I do not trust. For God's sake, they still made toys with lead in it.
When you have pets, especially birds, you have to be careful of any emissions that cookware can give off. The cheap and popular non-stick cookware give off an odorless toxic fumes from PTFE and PTOA coatings so when heated at a certain temp can kill all your birds. If it can kill birds it can't be good for you either.
When I had to buy a gas oven for my house I had to "special order" an oven that did NOT have a self cleaner. A self cleaning oven has a special coating made to be heated a high temp to melt off the crud in your oven. It was hard to find an oven without the nonstick coating plus it cost more but luckily, I found one..
Alot of the heart healthy meals I cook require a dutch oven. A dutch oven is basically a pot with rounded interior. Most dutch ovens are cast iron for it's slow cook properties. Cast iron weighs a ton. The other option was the light-weight nonstick version. I spent alot of time searching for the perfect pot. I found a stainless steel dutch oven made in Italy. It is perfect for making various rice dishes.
Yesterday I bought a new skillet. Finally, there is a type called 'green ceramica" that environmentally safe without the toxic coatings. Again, this pan was made in Italy.
It seems like most of my purchases surround what is safe for my birds.
I don't have an waffle iron because all the waffle-makers have that non-stick crap on it. High end coffee makers also have that nonstick crap on it's burner. George Forman grills have the same thing.This includes irons and their ironing board covers!
This shit is everywhere!
Products such as air fresheners such as febreze and glade candles are highly toxic to birds. If your house stinks, just open the windows to air it out!
I hate those artifical smells too.
They make me sick. I've heard of tragic stories on my cockatiel chat line about people using fabric softeners sheets and nonstick cookie sheet (parchment) paper about what happens when these products heat up and release fumes.
Holiday candles are an issue as well. Many have lead wicks (plus fragrants) that are bad news. Thankfully for people who like candles, you can buy soy candles with simple cotton wicks that do not release toxic fumes. When the house was carpeted I had the carpet guys unroll the carpet to let any fumes dissipate outside for a few hours before they installed it. Scotchguard is a hazard.
It should be of no surprise I am very cautious about cleaning products. I spend alot of time reading labels. I buy "green' products. One product in particular which is a bit pricey is "dragonfly organics".
Cheap jewelry is another concern. Anything with lead and zinc is toxic to birds.
I guess this is a good excuse as any to wear just 14K gold!

The day after...... THE election....

ARGHHHHHH!

I need to vent.

As a warning to my readers I am going to use today's blog to purge my disappointment in last night's election results.

The Massachusett's state governor's election results is as followed:

Democrat Deval Patrick led 49% of votes over Republican Charlie Baker's 42% of the votes.

Independant Tim Cahill sucked 8% of votes which, I believe, from Charlie Baker.

The day before the election I actually recieved a call from Cahill's campaign to vote for him. I told him what I thought.

First of all, I asked the caller why he is calling me since I am a registered Republican. Cahill is sucking the voters from Baker which makes him a spoiler for Deval. I wouldn't vote for Cahill because he supports and would push for casinos in Massachusetts.

As a result, Deval got re-elected, in which, I absolutely can not comprehend.

Seeing his snotty smiling face as the victor gives me the same sick feeling in my stomach as looking down in a full porta-potty.

He reminds of those shitty lazy bastards you got stuck with doing a 'group project' in grade school. He was the kid who sat on his ass, reading comic books, bossing you around while you did all the work, and then claimed all the credit if you got an "A". If you got a "D", he would put all the blame on you without so much as lifted a finger contributing to the project's final results.

He's a parasite.

This entire election was obnoxious not only across Massachusetts but throughout the whole country.

We were bombarded by nasty negative ads.

Governor "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown of California called highly qualified opponent ebay executive Meg Whitman a "whore".

Are you kidding me?!?!

And people re-elected that ASS-HAT spewing that degrading sexist insult!?!?!?!

Would he have gotten away with a racist slur if she were a man of color?

Or are people OK with degrading remarks towards women?

It is a bloody disgrace.

Thank God the election is over even though none of the people I voted for got elected.

The same goes with the referendum questions.The mentality is skewed. People actually voted to keep the 6.5% sale tax.(!?)

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one not blocking out the world listening to an Ipod. I don't walk blindly texting on a blackberry impervious to my surroundings. AND, I have refused to drink the group kool-aid.

ARGHHHHHHH!

OK ,I feel better now getting that off my chest...

Well, at least, until I read today's daily news.

Halloween

Halloween is a funny holiday.

I used to love to dress up and go to parties on halloween. I wonder if dressing up in costume is an expression of one's subliminal alter-ego.

My favorite characters I liked to dress as was either "Prince" of the purple rain fame or a policeman.

And yes, as a part of my police costume I would carry the requisite bag of donuts.

I never dressed up as a clown or a princess or anything scary.

How lame.

Last year, my cousin and I goofed around dressed as the "Billy Bob cousins". We were absolutely out of our minds, cracking up at our own stupid jokes and uproarious at how silly were looked with our fake rotten hill billy teeth. We were instantly transformed at back at being two little kids again.

We had great fun.

And we were completely sober.

Yesterday, my husband and I took the train to Salem to check out the festivities during the day.

I wasn't sure if people were dressing up during the day so I sort of went "in between" dressed more like Dorian Grey. It was a total mob scene there. People were dressed in some of the craziest costumes. People really go all the way out with some of their costumes. It's really fun to "people watch' there.

I had been to Salem on Halloween night before some years back but it was a bit out of control due to a few jerks drinking way too much. It is suppose to be a family event but a few trouble-makers wreck things by causing trouble. I distinctly remember that year these two guys dressed as giant penises .

Yes, you read this right.

It was kind of funny, in a surreal way, seeing the cops chase these two giant penis guys through the crowded street. These guys were acting like jerks doing obscene things is why the cops were after them. They were alter-ego dicks, really.

Right now, I am giving out candy out to neighborhood "trick or treater" kids and reminiscing of all the crazy halloween parties with all it's great characters.

Oh how I miss Tammy Fay Baker!