A Lily video

Adventures in Home Carpentry

The Mister's husband had the brilliant idea to build me a bookshelf for all of my beloved books.  So they started.  And now he's nowhere to be found.

The Mister, luckily, is soldiering on.  They got the cases together and Mister's been working on the shelves.  He picked out the wood and the trim pieces--he knows how much I love vine stuff.  He loves me an awful lot.  I'm a very lucky girl.

Case on it's side (to be sanded)

Bare trim piece

Bare crown piece

Bare shelf and trim piece before stain (messy garage full of boxes of books)

Shelf with trim after stain

First book case after stain (more messy garage)

Mister nailing together the trim & shelf....

Then he sands them....

And then he starts staining them...

Last night as he was finishing up the stain work on miscellaneous pieces he took a break to come inside and make pained faces at me.  After I asked what was wrong, he said he got a big sliver in his finger.
Me:  Are you ok?
Him:  No!  I might die!
Me:  Oh no!  That must be a hell of a sliver!  Do you need me to do anything?
Him:  No, I gave myself mouth-to-mouth out in the garage.  I think I'll be ok now.

That's my Mister

Strange cat

I happen to think Smudge is a dog.  Or at least, part dog.
You see, she does dog-like things.
For example, she sleeps on her back.  I've never encountered a cat who likes to sleep on her back the way this "cat" does.

Left twist.

Right twist.

She also likes to stand on her hind legs.  I have no photographic proof of this because, I suspect, she doesn't want anyone to clue in on her clever disguise, so she stands down when I grab the camera.  Damn, she's smart!
She makes funny faces while she sleeps, too.

"Tasting" the air?  Part snake?  What kind of creature is living with us!?!?

Here, she's just being lazy.  Laying down while you eat?   How much lazier can she get?

Who knows, maybe cats are different "these days" compared to the cats I knew as a child.  Could be.  But I still have my suspicions....

Why I'm happy without kids

I was thinking about it earlier today and figured I'd come up with a list of reasons why I'm happy without kids. The Mister may have his own reasons, I'm sure, but these are mine.
Why bother thinking of them?  Because so SO many people automatically assume that since we're married we should have kids.  It's almost a post-requisite for being married.  I think it's a societal thing that's been drilled into our heads since birth--grow up, get married, buy a house, have kids, live happily ever after.
I must be too feminist to follow that.  Well, I still shave my armpits, so I must not be THAT feminist, but anyway....

Why I'm happy without kids:

• No post-pregnancy bladder issues.
• There will never, ever be something moving around in my stomach, taking over my body, even temporarily.
• No poopy diapers to change.
• No poopy diaper stories to (embarrassingly) share.
• No puke to clean up.
• A messy house that can be picked up in 5 minutes--not 5 hours.
• There's no waking up in the middle of the night for years-on-end.  Sleep is one of my best friends.  In fact...
• ....
• ....
• ....
• ....
• *wipes drool from chin.  Sorry!  Lily woke me up at 3:30 this morning.  We've only had her about a month and I'm ready for her to sleep through the night already!
• I won't have to worry about making sure someone besides myself is fed.
• The possibility of having a boy.  I know everyone says they're easier, but I would freak out if I had one.  Freak.  Out.  *twitch
• The certainty of being embarrassed in public by a screaming child.
• I like quiet.  Kids aren't quiet.  Unless you drug them with Nyquil and duct tape their mouths.  Not that I know that from experience...I'm just thinking creatively.

• I like to be lazy on weekends.  Kids aren't lazy.  They always want to do something.  Yeah, well, my something happens to be napping.
• Worry quotient won't go up!
• I'll never have to consider putting a baby seat in the back of Nigel.  Or trading in Nigel for something that I can put a baby seat in.
• Having to get rid of my beloved Nigel for something "reliable" and "safe"
• Taking a spontaneous (me? hah!) trip anywhere, anytime.
• No back problems.  No baby on my hip!  No 20 lb. mom purse!
• No poopy diapers.  Oh, did I already mention that?  Well...
• NO POOPY DIAPERS!
• Hearing someone slam a door after yelling, "I hate you!"  Yeah, I'll never have to experience that.
• Money issues aren't so worrisome if you don't have to think of a kid that needs food, clothes, a Sony Playstation because so-and-so has one, but..! etc.

There may be a couple of reasons I can think of that would be cool for having kids, but really, when they pop into my head, I just visualize a poopy diaper.  Or inspecting poo to make sure it's "healthy".  Or putting a thermometer...ANYWAY.

I'll stick with dogs, thanks.  They may leave hair everywhere, but they're always happy to see you, they never talk back, and they don't need a car seat.

I hope all parents love their children more than they thought possible.  I know parents like that are out there--they're just not me.  But they can call me if they need Nyquil or duct tape!

Silly Lily

Lily discovers the hook on the crawl space access. Oh boy!

The Fur Family

The kids:

First, and foremost, is Amber--she's my soul soother.  She's been with us for almost 8 years and she's been the absolute best dog anybody could ask for.  Unless you're asking for an a-hole dog.  Which, really?  

Amber likes to make herself look weird--here she forces her head between my crossed legs.

This is her "unimpressed" face

Next is Smudge.  She's the cat we didn't really need, but Mister thought she looked "so cool" because he saw her at the local pet store and notice she was missing the tip of her ear--"she's a scrapper!"  So we brought her home.  Thanks to a magical mystery allergy shot Mister got he can be around her and not have a coughing/sneezing/wheezing fit.  Alacazam!

*We later found out that female cats in shelters get the tips of one of their ears snipped off when they're spayed because it's hard to tell otherwise.  She's not really a scrapper.

This is her "unimpressed" face
(I think she and Amber practice these on each other while I'm at work)

Following the arrival of Smudge in late June, we searched for another playmate for Amber.  Smudge isn't really into playing with others, you see.  Or so we thought.

Here Smudge "plays" with Lily

So Lily found us.  We searched high (Kalispell) and low (Billings) for another Golden Retriever.  Lily hales from Forsyth.  I think she'll like it here better.

This is Lily.  She's a precious monster.

She's a great cuddler.  A precious cuddler.

Amber had reservations about the new addition.  Lily doesn't know what reservations are.

"You want me to play with her!?"  *Amber's unimpressed again

Lily attempts to mimic Amber in the hopes Amber will like her.
Amber doesn't notice since she's sleeping.

When that fails, she sleeps on my shoes.  Isn't that precious!?

So I must prance through the house (as prancing is the only way to traverse the house) in my bare feet.
We must not disturb the sleeping monster.

Coming soon...

Something more than a picture and title.  There's the Beginning of Us for now.  Up top.