Maybe I should spend more time cleaning my house...

Instead of decorating the yard, maybe I should clean my house?  The neighbors are starting to look at us funny.  I blame my husband somehow...

Never...ever feed him after midnight...

 

Sure - he's all cute during the day until he stops your clock to trick you into feeding him after midnight.  THEN look what happens.  Sigh....

Which reminds me...I haven't watched Gremlins yet this holiday season.  Isn't that a Christmas staple?  I wonder if its on Netflix...

Not you too Skelly

We probably shouldn't get into how I feel about motorcycles and my phobia about how the riders of such turn into puddles of goo on the road.  Umm...ok...anyway.  I came home one day to find Skelly sititng on the bike of a friend of my husband's and asking my husband if he could come on their next road trip.  I just rolled my eyes.  I don't get boys and their toys.  I banned Skelly from pedicures for a week after that maneuver. 

Creeper

 

Funny.  I took his photo and them left him there for a couple of hours.  I forgot to tell my husband what I was doing and he just about jumped out of his skin.  If we end up getting divorced over all the poses I put Skelly in, I do wonder what reason we can use for the paperwork....

Skelly vs the Grim Reaper

 

 I can only imagine that their conversation went something like this...

"Hey Grim Reaper....remember the time when you took my life?  Hah!  That was funny wasn't it.  Thought I really died didn't you?  Well guess what?  Boo!"

Decorating

Apparently I fail at Halloween uploads....stare at some decorations that we had around the house.  :)

Cauldron

Forgot to hit publish on this one and the other Halloween ones.  Skelly was trying to lure the cat into his cauldron.  Surprisingly, the cat appears to be smarter than he looks....

Thieves!!!

I was very excited to harvest my garden this fall after sampling a few baby carrots, some baby potatoes, peas and green beans.  Little did I know, my plan had been thwarted by not one, but two forces of evil.  All my carrots had been eaten by a mouse or mice who burrowed under the ground and ate them…leaving nothing but a thin outside shell behind.

The potatoes were infected with slugs! I had no idea that I even had slugs.   I hate slugs. Why, why, whyyyyyyyyyyy?  Sigh.

Accessing his feminine side

Skelly had a blast at Target while they were clearing out their summer hats.  Between he and my daughter, I think they almost cleared out Target's whole supply.

Playmobil

When I wasn't looking, Skelly pushed my daughter out of way and took over the pirate Playmobil set.

Work it Skelly!

Skelly knew Matthew was no match for his defined abs.  Poor Matt gave up and went home shortly after this...

Road trip!!!

That's MY Tree

You might remember me posting this tree last year.  Every fall I walk to it during my lunch hour to see if its turning red yet.  It's a perfect climbing tree and the leaves are so huge.  Anyway without going on and on...here is the tree this year

Walking

I spent about 40 minutes walking through my neighborhood this afternoon. Just me. :) we lived near a new construction neighborhood and it was fun to watch all the activity going along. I discovered 4 new show homes in the area and made a mental note to visit them on our next free weekend. I have no interest in moving but like to wander the floor plans and get decorating ideas.

Of course by the time I was done my walk I had about 30 questions related to home building. Lol sometimes I feel like a 5 year old. Why? How come? Can they? Lol I need either an expert or a know-it-all to walk with me to answer these questions as they occur to me. 

Lunches - saving time by planning ahead

We don't have a lot of time in the mornings to make lunches and we are never quite organized enough to make lunches the night before.  As an alternative, we've come up with some shortcuts...

This bin sits in our pantry and is filled with school safe (no nuts) snacks.

This bin sits in our fridge and holds all sorts of things depending on the week.  In this picture we have jello, yogurt, sausage, cheese, apples and plums.

This is the last bin.  It also sits in the pantry and holds fruit, fruit sauce and pudding.

Be Sanitary...

Skelly thinks its very important to cleanse your hands before eating.

Hanging out

Skelly was put into stall number 2 of the public washroom when I had my scrapbook retreat.  He gave a few people quite a fright.  I think he enjoyed it....

Not enough coffee in the world ...

for this hangover...poor Skelly

Taking up a hobby...

It seemed like the most natural thing in the world for Skelly to take up scrapbooking.

It's love!

Oh Skelly, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways....

Marmite

I had a coffee with someone at work yesterday. He is originally from England and has just moved here with his wife from Toronto. 

Apparently that while peanut butter does exist in England, it isn't very popular and marmite is a more preferred spread.

He has never tried peanut butter and has no interest in doing so which almost sums up my feelings about marmite ... Although I would try a speck just to know what it tastes like. Does anyone want to bring me a minuscule sample? :)

Is it weird that while I lay awake on the couch this evening , I'm looking up marmite on Wikipedia and craving peanut butter?

I ate a spider baby....

Skelly thinks that spider babies are the most decadent delicacy there is....

Tickle those ivories....

Do you take recommendations Skelly?   I'd like to hear the Entertainer right now.

Organize it

We switched contents from our front closet to the back door closet yesterday.  I need to remember to print some labels...but here is where we keep the kid's craft supplies.  Wax crayons, markers, pencils, notepads, stickers, pipe cleaners, scissors, glue, glitter...    The hanging shelves are from Ikea and the plastic containers are from Rona.

And yes, we are exactly the type of people who change closet contents because we are bored.  :)

Enjoying the great outdoors

Here he was directing a long line of zombie walkers for a photo shoot (true story).  Photos of zombies to follow in a couple of weeks.

I don't think True Blood can help you now...

It may work for Eric and Bill but I think you might need a little bit more than that...

Oh Romeo ....

Me thinks Skelly spies his lady friend and is preparing to dance a flamenco...

On the first day of school, my true love gave to me...

Skelly didn't want to be left out of the first day of school excitement.

When I turned on the bat signal, I didn't expect this...

Oh Skelly, you have such an imagination.

Faster! Harder! Go!

He thought he worked hard enough to make the cast of the Biggest Loser but he got voted out before he even began....

Scrubbed a little too hard....

Oh Calgon, take me away....away to the place where people actually bathe using water, and bubbles.....

Slept in a little too long

Clearly Skelly isn't a morning person either...might be the harsh lighting...

Safety comes first

Skelly knows how important it is to protect one's skull when out galivanting on one's tricycle. 

Skelly

Getting a little too comfy in my house....I think its time that I lay down a few ground rules for Skelly since he seems to have made camp here.

Skelly

Decided supper was too long in coming...

We all have skeletons in the closet

Smells like death

Skelly wasn't a big fan of me barging in during his private time...

Fluffing Up

Laying on the couch trying to sleep and turn my brain off, I wisely decided to play candy crush. As I madly began sliding candies  around, I felt a thump beside me and heard an almost  deafening purr start up.

"Hello Tucker" I whispered.

The noisy rumble was punctuated with a happy whirr and he began kneading the blanket beside me.

In the 9 year break between having our old cats and getting Tucker a month ago, there was one thing I missed the most... The kneading. Or fluffing up as I like to call it.

Tucker turned his attentions from the blanket to my stomach, certainly not caring if it was a little soft due to too many potato chips, instead finding it the perfect spot to prepare a little nest for himself. Settling into his preparations with a focus that only cats can have, I paused my candy crush game to enjoy the purring and impromptu massage. His purr reached lawn tractor levels as he ramped up his fluffing up of my stomach before stopping suddenly - perhaps realizing that preparing a nest on my stomach was entirely pointless since I was laying in my side.

With a small sound that I can only assume is disgust, Tucker leapt over me, turned around once and promptly fell asleep on my feet.

I smirked as he began to snore and turned my attention back to my phone only to realize that my mind had grown silent and I was ready to sleep. Defeating the world of candy can wait another day.  

Crickets

Well, frogs actually.

I have the bedroom window wide open and I can hear them. I love it. I loved hearing coyotes more as I went to sleep but there has been too much development around us since we've moved in and the coyotes have found other houses to howl at.

So now it's frogs. I feel like I'm camping or that my wildest fantasy has come true and I now own a lakefront cabin. Either way, I'm feeling pretty content in my alternate reality. 

Content enough to ignore my neighbor two doors down who keeps mooing like a cow. He has a fire pit, the smoke from which is being sucked into my bedroom adding to my camping virtual experience. I'm not sure why he's mooing though. Must be a country boy missing his home.

As for me, if I don't turn off this phone right away I'm going to miss my chance to fall asleep reading as I do each night and that would be a damn shame.

Goodnight loyal but tiny following. Goodnight stars, goodnight air... Goodnight noises everywhere.

2 am

2am thoughts can be skewed.

When my son was a newborn I hated 2 am. He wasn't big on sleeping (and still isn't 8 years later) and I often found myself up with him at that time. I'd sit rocking him in a chair by his bedroom window thinking longingly of my warm bed. I know some people love those middle of the night moments but I've always preferred them during the day after a full night's rest. :) 

I'd sit in that chair gazing out the window at the blackness of night and darkened windows, firmly believing that I was the only one awake in the universe at that time. 

2 am thoughts can be skewed.

8 years later - not much has changed. I still hate 2am. I *am* the only one awake in the universe. :)  This time I don't have a newborn to fuel my irrational night thoughts. This time I have only an over active brain that thinks too much for 2am...

2am thoughts can be skewed.

Nothing rational can come of 2am thoughts. 2am thoughts are usually overly dramatic or sentimental with only a gossamer thread of reality woven through. At least I'm clever? enough to keep my thoughts to myself tonight instead of typing them and feeling silly in the morning when reality shines its harsh light on my fanciful thoughts leaving me feeling somewhat foolish and remorseful...

Because 2am thoughts can be skewed.

Pink13 - ITSM Conference

Had a wonderful time at the conference.  Attended a session in almost every timeslot which meant from 7:15am until 5pm and then the nightly reception from 5-7pm.  I won't talk about what I learned in the sessions here as I'm guessing my whole 10 readers are not into ITIL so instead I'll post some pictures of the food and drinks from the receptions:

This was one of the welcome treats upon registration.  Yum!

One night the evening reception served mashed potato martini's.  There were 3 different kinds to choose from.  They were delicious and now I want some glasses like this so I can make them at home!

Another night there we had mac and cheese martinis.  Again - there was a choice of which one to take. This one was the homestyle one and it was great.

These pink drinks were served each night and were really good...and free.  :)

The highlight of the trip was when our team won the ITSM Project of the year!!  We are on their website here:

http://www.pinkelephant.com/Pink14/ConferenceOverview/IT-Excellence-Awards/