Chase's First Cut

I know I already posted before and after pics of her on Facebook but I wanted to get a blog post written about it too before I forgot and it ended up on the pile of "to do" in my life.

This was her first cut for the season, I was waiting for the weather to warm up so she wouldn't be cold outside during the day. It is amazing how much lighter she is just without all that hair. She had so much hair on the floor at the groomers. She got a shower while she was there too and she still smells like the shampoo...which is nice. Now if only I could do something about the fish breath...haha.

All the rest of the cuts will be faster than this one since she will already have short hair. She will stay cut until it gets cold here again...it is actually so much better to keep her this way in the summer. She doesn't shed, or get hairballs, which means I don't have to clean up hairballs. And she stays cooler which is always a plus since it is very hot and humid here and she spends a fair amount of time in our backyard (enclosed so she can't get out).

She did really well at the groomers...purred through most of it because I always stay to help and make her feel comfortable. She doesn't like the underarm parts since she has to be contorted into a weird position and she is also not too thrilled with the rear end being clipped but I think that is just an instinctual thing...

So here she is...before and after...

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Not What You Want To Hear

Blogging Community Sadness

I found this blog through another blog that I read (reed) or at least read (red) frequently. I have been slacking on my blog reading for ages but that is due to being very busy in other aspects of my life. Anyhow, Chatty's blog mentioned this blog and I went there, and I got caught up in the story. This was around March of 2008. I read consistently for some time but at some point decided to stop following it as close.

For a while now, I have been meaning to check in. Today, I did. Seems it was too late...she passed away in February....so hard to read and think about what her family must be going through. She was only 42. One of her great posts touched on something that really hits home for me...life is too short and you need to tell those that you care about how you feel NOW!!!

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Three and 1/2 Years Ago on In My Words...Epiphany

Amazing Skies

We have had some amazing looking skies lately. I have always been a bit of a storm hound and these clouds just grab my attention everytime. This shot is of one of our many sugarcane fields in my neighborhood with some tremendous clouds behind it. I was on a walk and just couldn't resist. It started to pour the second I put my feet in the door too...very lucky indeed.

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Me, Myself, and I

Amy's Vegetable Lasagna

I just had this for dinner...mighty tasty for something I was able to make in 7 minutes...highly recommend and only 360 calories too!!! I am a huge fan of all the Amy's tasty treats...especially the Mexican food.

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Five Chicks

She Figured It Out

It has been months since we moved Chase outdoors (limited to our back deck area). We live in a tropical climate which means that during rainy season, it rains once a day but isn't necessarily cold. She has been an indoor kitty long enough now that she is not particularly fond of getting caught in the rain.

Until this week, if it started raining while she was out there, she would sit next to the door in the rain and meow...even if no one was home, and manage to get soaked in the mean time. This week she had a breakthru.

In this picture, you can see her lounging in the sun on the deck absorbing the rays amongst the puddles of water from the night before. It was beautiful out and I envied her the time and inclination to soak up the sun.

Not ten minutes later, it darkened up and started to pour. I went over to the glass to see where she was....she FINALLY figured out that if she got under the table with the umbrella on it, she wouldn't get wet. This did not stop her from meowing at me through the glass but at least she finally figured it out.


I went over and opened the door for her, she bitched at me for a minute and then went about her day. I am proud of her for figuring it out and it relieves me that I don't have to worry about her quite as much if a storm should pass through while I am gone and she is stuck out there.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Mystery Bump

Sunday Accomplishments

I had the urge to be lazy this morning but I managed to fight it off and here are the things I was able to accomplish...some of them have been lingering on my list for too long...I feel great that I checked some of them off and will be guilt free tomorrow at an all day event...

Completely dismantled and cleaned big fishtank (so I can get some new fish soon)
Cleaned fish vase (smaller tank with plants in it)
Vacuumed entire house
3 loads of laundry (washed, dried or hung, folded and put away)
Bills and a few other financial tasks
Ordered a few things that I have been meaning to
Dishes (twice)
Brushed Chase
Cleaned drains in shower (big huge drains that trap everything in them)
Updated rosters
Wrote 4 blog posts
Downloaded pics off camera and organized them
Cleaned up creative table so I can get started on Mother's Day cards
Watered houseplants

Sometimes it is a good thing to not leave the house on Sunday.

And now off to get some Wii Fit in before bed time...

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Last Year on In My Words...I Found Them

Card Making and Socializing

I went to a friend's house the other night to take one of her monthly card making classes. It is a great deal...food, cards and friends all for a few dollars in supplies. We made some beautiful cards (a few of which I will copy for Mother's Day cards this year), and ate some great food as well (too much food probably). She even made some banana pudding like my grandma makes with Vanilla Wafers...took me right back.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with for our next class...

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Technical Difficulties

ABCs of Me

A - Age: 39

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Litterbox

D - Dog's name: No dog currently but hopefully in the future

E - Essential start your day item: Contacts

F - Favorite color: All earthtones

G - Gold or Silver: Both

H – Height: 5' 6.5"

I - Instruments you play: Flute and trying tolearn guitar and piano

J - Job title: None currently, but that doesn't mean I don't work my butt off most days

K - Kid(s): No kids but one fiesty cat

L - Living arrangements: Renting while here

M - Mom's name: Valerie

N – Nicknames: Mishka

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Hernia surgery when I was 9

P - Pet Peeve: Inconsiderate and ignorant people

Q - Quote from a movie: "Standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her"

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: My wonderful little sister

T - Time you wake up: 7am or earlier

U- Underwear: Thong

V - Vegetable you dislike: Overcooked limabeans

W - Ways you run late: Traffic

X - X-rays (defined broadly) you've had: Only one on my arm when I was in Jr High

Y - Yummy food you make: Guacamole and Thai food

Z - Zoo favorite: Not too fond of zoos as a whole...the whole cages thing...

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Losing Its Appeal

NASCAR.COM - Lap-by-Lap: Phoenix - Apr 18, 2009

My favorite driver won the Phoenix race today....it was awesome!!!

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Cell Phone Free Zone

Afghan Women Protest New Restrictive Law

I am glad to see that they are protesting...that is a step in the right direction, but I am sad to see that the government is currently caving to politics as usual. I hope that the Afghan president does appeal most of this for the sake of the people of his country.

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Goodbye Amazon Again

Okay, I am reposting my peeve from last year because this really pisses me off. I started to use them again because it seemed that they had changed their ways but they have not...I have complained to them until I am blue in the face about how I can get the same products from their competitors that they refuse to send to me. I am done with them...so tired of it. I will just continue to use their competitors.

I am recommending to everyone if you live out this way or if you have family that uses them that you stop doing so. What a disservice they are doing.

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They are on my sh1t list right now. They have changed their shipping policies (for the hell of it, it seems) and most of the stuff you can get from them can no longer be shipped to me. This sucks because when we lived here before, they were one of the few companies I did business with because shipping here was so easy.

So I have made my wishlist private so no one will buy me anything from them and I am not doing business with them again until they change their ways. In the last two months I have tried to order three different items to be shipped to me and none of them could be shipped but I was able to order the item from other sites and they were shipped with no problem.

So goodbye Amazon, until you can get you sh1t together!!!

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18 Months Ago on In My Words...Goodbye Amazon

Tasks, Tasks, Tasks

Okay, I know that I have done nothing but post about my To Do list on my Facebook status for weeks now...that is because I gave myself a month to get a few things done that have been on the back burner for a while and just needed to get off my list.

Thing is, I haven't been making actual lists for a while, so I figure, in celebration of the fact that I have been making a ton of headway in the last few weeks, I would make myself a list and then strike out all the tasks I have completed...this does not in any way void my list of things to do that is semi-permanently attached to the top of my blog, but it does give me some gratification and that is ultimately what this is about...haha.

1. Dust, vacuum, swift entire house (done biweekly)
2. Put out green mesh to keep cat off tree garden in pond
3. Replace motherboard, video card, and DVDRW drive in PC
4. Uninstall Norton and install Avast on both computers
5. Attend board meeting and luncheon for OIWC (done monthly)
6. Attend steering committee meeting (done quarterly)
7. Volunteer at giftstore or for ACGO more than 40 hours
8. Practice with Magic Sing, and Wii when time allows
9. Make many sets of wine glass markers to sell at giftstore
10. Take 3 carloads of stuff to the thriftstore
11. Organize and overall simplify the house
12. Attend various small get togethers and meetings
13. Troubleshoot and fix 3 friends computers or peripherals
14. Volunteer on the Google help boards for Blogger
15. Everyday housework of dishes, trash, bathroom cleaning and laundry
16. Exercise and try to eat right
17. Read three books
18. Plant herbs
19. Take one more carload (at least) of stuff to the thriftstore
20. Give Jocelyn the rest of the liquor that is taking up space in our storage shed
21. Regrip golf clubs
22. Install rear stereo speakers in car
23. Practice Japanese
24. Hit golf balls and play when time allows
25. Play tennis with Lara and Heather
26. Stay on fitness program
27. Do front bed yard work and clean out leaves from pond
28. Plant flowers
29. Finish troubleshooting friend's external harddrive

I guess those that are not crossed out will keep me busy for a while...

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One Year Ago on In My Words...I Found Them
This post is so appropriate right now because I can't find a Netflix movie we just got in the mail.