Snoring

snore
snore
snore
twitch twitch
snore
snore

This is what my kitty, Mocha, is doing right now.
It's a really soft snore, but still a snore.
She has all four of her paws out in front of her, which turns her body into a triangle.
Her ears keep twitching and every so often her nose twitches, too.
She is dreaming.
Her paw just moved. I wonder if she caught what she was chasing in her dream.

I love to watch her dream.
Oh, she must have heard me talking about her - she woke up and snuggled up next to me. Guess I won't be getting a photo.

Have a great night!

Expect a Check

When I walk out to our mailbox each day I say outloud (most of the time)

Expect a Check

I rarely have any idea where these checks will come from, I just expect a check.
Today I got two checks. One I literally knew was going to be there and the other - I had no idea. It was a rebate check but I had totally forgotten about it.

This actually happens all the time.

I get checks in the mail.

The Secret, as you know, if you read my blog with any kind of regularity, is one of the most influential movies I have ever watched. I hear myself saying quotes from that movie all the time. When I drove to Michigan a few months ago I purchased the audio book of The Secret. I think I liked it better because I had seen the movie first. I was able to put all of the faces to the voices on the audio book.

I didn't want to go into a long commercial about how much I love The Secret, but I do want to go into a long commercial about how you really need to expect a check!

I expect to have money come to me easily and frequently.

I expect a check and I am not emotional in any way about the bills that do come in the mail.

I am happy to pay the bills (I even write Thank You on the bottom of each check)

I no longer buy things just to buy them. I buy things because I truly want or need them. I come home happy with my purchases.

So, expect a check!

Have a great day!
Kristin

Just Funny

Knives and Bandaids

I love my knives. I've had my set of knives, Cutco Knives, since about 1996. I have a set that looks an awful lot like this set pictured...the classic set, brown handles.

The pearl set just wasn't my style. It looked too girly LOL

So these knives have served me real well the past 12 years, but this past year I'd really noticed that they needed to be sharpened. REALLY. I was using the knives inappropriately, I was not cutting properly anymore. I was being really casual with my knives and not giving them respect because they had lost their edge.

So I sent them off to the Cutco sharpening center for the super duper professional sharpening service that comes with the purchase of the knives. It cost me $9, plus the cost to ship them to the company. I think that's a great deal.

I really should send them back more often, much more often.

So we got the knives back and immediately needed to go out and buy some bandages. Those babies were SHARP!!!

Before losing any more blood, I decided to go back to the "Respect the Knife" usage. I actually got cut three times just washing the darn things.

Just a few minutes before my husband left for his trip to Michigan he grabbed a knife to cut off the top of a package and skewered himself. Another bad habit from using dull knives. Thankfully he didn't have to rush to the ER for stitches, but I think he probably should have. I just bandaged him up real good and sent him on his way.

I came home today with a box of fingertip bandages. I haven't needed them in a week, but I figure those work best for the little nicks on the ends of my fingers.

I have always put the knives in my dishwater on the exact same side, each and every time - but my method of grabbing the knives needs to change. The first few days that we had the new knives, I had three cuts. Thankfully all minor.

Be careful when handling knives. Always respect the knife blade. Always use your knives properly and take my advice -- keep your knives sharp and you will never have a chance to disrespect the knife.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Just a Funny

I really hope this is a real photo. I doubt it, but it makes me laugh.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Name your house

I have always wanted to name my home.

In Nebraska people have ranches - the Circle Bar Ranch, the Double J, Martha Stewart has Turkey Hill, the Queen of England has Windsor Castle, Scarlett O'Hara had Tara. A few years ago my husband and I lived in a house which I did name, but it didn't stick. I named the place Lima Charley. That's pilots speak for LC - the first letters of both of our last names. It was fun for the community where we lived but still, I couldn't seem to make that house into Lima Charley.

How does one make the house name stick? Do you have to have a sign in the yard? Should there be a plaque on the house? Do you have to have lots and lots of land?

I just don't know.

My husband has a small little place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that has a name, it's called Piper Camp. His family has a place just a few miles from Piper Camp called Dead Mans Farm. Those names stuck. The neighbors know the places by name, not by street address.

Right now I live in a condo. I feel like I should put a plaque on the door that states that this is the "__________ Suite" just like a fine hotel. Filling in the blank is the hardest part. What do you name a condo?

I once thought about buying a B&B (Bed and Breakfast) and I was very excited about naming the rooms. It's the little things, isn't it. Not the income from the business, not the breakfast menus or the comfort of the beds...all I could think about was naming the rooms! Good thing we didn't go through with that plan.

I do own some rental properties and I've been thinking of naming them. They are also small condos in a large community, but being a rental it seems easier to have them named, than our home. Right now they are 502, 504 and 206 --ooooh, exciting!!

I found this site that helps you come up with a name for your home. I might poke around a bit.

Have you ever thought of naming your home or land? Is your home already named? Do tell!

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

Random Zora

Here are just some pictures I wanted to share of Zora. These were taken within the past month or so. Enjoy!

I received this in the mail a few days ago. Zora's mom wrote my name on a piece of paper and Zora copied what she saw onto the heart. She isn't as familiar with my name, but she can write Mommy and Daddy and Zora and Herman (the cat) all without help. She also really likes to add in "To" and "From" when she writes out names. I bet she knows how to write Nanna, too. Zora loves to spend Fridays with Nanna.

This is a glass of pomegranite juice and an egg (with a bite out of it) Just a random weird shot when my sisters, the kids and I were all sitting in the backyard at my mom's house.

This was Zora's snack and she seemed to love it. The juice is sitting on a coaster made by the Mouse Rug people. I love those coasters & mouse rugs. I gave this particular set to my mother for Christmas I think. I use my mouse rug and my coasters every day. Just had to point that out, since I love them so much.

When she saw me taking pictures she asked if she could pose. I said Sure! so this was her pose. I love it.

Zora rarely smiles for the camera, so this was a great pleasure to take.

We all went to Brunch & Zora was all dolled up - she had her hair in a ponytail, she had on a headband, a necklace and a bracelet, too. She just had her picture taken with her grandpa and Alison is showing her the shot.

This is the picture I took from the other side of the table. Clearly they are not looking at me! Zora and my Dad both have blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes.

Secret Scrolls

Yes indeed it's another installment of quotes from The Secret calendar pages.

I realized last night that this is probably one of the very first times that I have kept reading any type of daily calendar. Usually by about May I'm weeks behind and finally I just toss the whole thing in the trash because I'm tired of looking at that easle with 280 daily pages just begging to be ripped off and read.

I've only been behind in tearing off the pages a few times and those were due to vacations.

The pages I like a lot (99% of them) I cut off the date from the side and then fold the remaining paper into quarters and place it in a large clear vase.

When I'm looking for a little inspiration or a pick me up - I stick my hand into the vase and pull out a few of the folded squares and read them again.

The quotes that really buzz I post here.

Enjoy!

No matter what you have manifested in regard to your body, you can change it - inside and out. Start thinking happy thoughts and start being happy. Happiness is a feeling state of being. You have your finger on the "feeling happy" button. Press it now and keep your finger pressed down on it firmly, no matter what has manifested.

Giving thanks for what you want in advance
turbo-charges your desires and sends a more
powerful signal out into the Universe.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Late night phone call

My husband called me tonight. He's staying at his parents house, so I was happy to see that the 1am phone call was from their house phone and not his cell. But then again, why is calling me at one o'clock in the morning??

However, my first reaction was - I'd better answer the phone quickly so it doesn't wake up Tom.
I've even noticed that I keep the TV on really really low at night, so as not to disturb him. I guess with him being 1250 miles away, he isn't going to hear the TV or the phone!

So he called.
He needed to call someone, so he called his wife. Me.
He had a slight giggle in his voice, which was really odd.
Afterall, it was 1am.
He said, "I just don't know what to do."
He had a bat flying around in his bedroom.
He didn't want to wake his parents, but he was also nervous about dealing with the bat himself.
So I gave my husband the best advice I could (after I laughed)

When my sister and I lived together in an old building in 1995 we had bats. Not too many, but enough that we had a game plan to rid the house of the offending creatures when they decided to invade in the middle of the night.

A tennis racket, a towel and an open door or window or both.

I didn't like to use the tennis racket because it seemed so harsh - but it worked real well to stun the bat enough so that a towel could be tossed over the bat and then tossed out the door or window. Once I actually just guided the bat out of the house with the racket.

I gave Tom my best advice and asked him to call me back when he was successful.

Thankfully he called back within 30 minutes. Tom found his fathers racquetball racket, a towel from the bathroom and he opened a window. He managed to get the bat out the window without much harm and used all the resources he had gathered.

He is going to try to go back to sleep, but I'm sure he'll have one eye open most of the night. I know I never could really get back to sleep after my bat eviction evenings.

Sleep well my dear husband, sleep well.
Kristin

Free Hugs

This video is not new. I saw it on Oprah a few years ago and I cried. It was just so neat how something as simple as a hug can be so moving, inspirational, heart warming and the list goes on. I just ran across this video again today and thought I'd share it. The music is kind of loud, so be prepared when you click play.

I last a full 30 seconds before I burst into tears.



I live in condo building with a lot of retired folks. My neighbors Jim and Virginia are in their 80's and Virginia has been having a lot of health problems the past two years. I'm always a little nervous when I see that the newspapers haven't been picked up in the morning, in front of their door. I tend to check in on them a few times a week. The other day I met them in the elevator and they were on their way to the Emergency Room because her pulse was really low.

Today I knocked on the door and before she said anything, I gave Virginia a big hug. The newspapers had been picked up the past two days, but I hadn't heard a sound from their side of the hallway. She had a bad reaction to some medication - she'll be just fine.

Then I saw the hug video today.

Today is all about hugs I guess.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Happy Birthday Rachel

Happy Birthday Rachel!

In honor of the Olympics I chose a graphic that includes many different languages. I hope they all say Happy Birthday lol

Hope you have a great day!

Kriby

*Kirby is my online name - but Kriby is what she calls me most of the time.

The Pergola

The house on Jupiter is almost finished. Dan is constructing the pergola on the front of the house. This is the vision that I saw when we first drove up to this house.

All of this will be painted white (except for the decking) so it won't stick out like a sore thumb. The cross beams will really shine, I do believe.

I thought this was in focus when I took the picture, but obviously not. This is the completed front of the house. Railings and stairs and all.

I am so proud of this place.
Kristin

Dishtowels

This is the Goodrich's Shop-Rite in East Lansing, Michigan. It is one of my favorite places to shop when I go home. It used to be the place to get exotic food, because it was so close to the campus of Michigan State University and the diverse cultures that live in the housing near-by. Now most grocery stores have a larger selection of ethnic foods, but the isle I love most at Goodrich's grocery store is the dishtowel isle.

It isn't all dishtowels...they share the isle with napkins, aprons and oven mitts.

A few of these beauties made it into my shopping cart. The only dishtowels that I bring home are 100% cotton, preferably made by "TAG" but the "DH" label is good, too. I do not like the waffle weave towels. Not even a little.

These dishtowels will be pretty useless the first few months. They need to be washed again and again. Do not use fabric softener on them. Never. Fabric softener will literally put a waxy barrier on your towels to keep them from being absorbent. My favorite dhistowels are about 20 years old, but I keep buying new ones so that I always have towels that are work horses. (I buy about 4 or 5 new towels each year)

I drove to Michigan a few months back to attend my cousins graduation. I brought nearly all of my dishtowels with me because I just knew that they'd be a real help with all of those people and dishes and spills. It turned out that it was the perfect thing to bring.

I really use my dishtowels, too. I dry the dishes, wash the floor with them, clean up spills, use them to dust, dry off the coffetable, etc. They wash in the washer and I dry them on high heat in the dryer. They are virtually indestructible. I don't think I have ever thrown one away.

If there was a fire in my home - I'd save my cat and probably put all of the dishtowels in the cat carrier --- because anyone who knows my cat, knows that there would be no way I'd get her into the carrier! The carrier would certainly make it easier to carry out the towels though.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Men's Relay (Swimming)

I am just so excited. There was some fun at the Water Cube just moments ago.

In the Men's 4x100 meter Freestyle Relay the United States beat out the French team by eight one hundredths of a second. They posted a new Worlds Record, too. It was a Gold Medal run.

The excitement comes from the French saying that they were going to Smash the Americans. The French were in the lead until the very last eight one hundredths of a second of the race. When first place went up as USA the French team was more than stunned. The looks on their faces was priceless.

One of the announcers just kept saying things like - There is no way the US team can catch them, or it's too bad the US won't win gold because they're swimming well. I kept telling him (ya think he heard me??) to Think Positive! Sheesh, the US could win - watch!!

I was standing up hollering - GO!! Faster!! GO!! You can do it, go go gogogogogogogogo!

Whooooo Hoooo!!!
Have I mentioned how much I enjoy the Olympics?

Opening Ceremony

I finished watching the Opening Ceremony last night. Boy do I love my DVR. I was able to forward through all of the commercials & pause it and stop it and rewind.

I loved the ceremony. I loved the drummers in the beginning. I had to laugh when the commentator said that the drummers were told to look less scary looking, so they tried to smile more. The funny thing to me was all of the dark hair. I guess I am so used to the United States - black, red, white, grey, brown and blonde hair all together.

My absolute favorite part of the ceremony was the boxes. I watched that one twice. I was shocked when it was revealed that there was a person under each box. I heard today that those people worked 8 hours a day on the routine and as they got closer to the Opening Ceremony, their hours were extended.

I watched the routine the first time thinking that it had to be computer controlled and then at some point, I thought I saw feet. I was in awe.


These little lit up green guys were a hoot. Just a few days before the Opening Ceremony these outfits were black, but the overall vision was not working with everyone in black, so they were changed to green. In three days 2008 new outfits were constructed. Oh dear.

It took me two days to watch the ceremony. It was totally worth it.

I love the Olympics.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Allergy Update

I just awoke from a nap.

2 hours of solid, put lines in your face from the pillowcase, rock hard sleeping, nap.

Last night I slept from 1am (I was watching some of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics on the DVR) until 5:30am. Then I fell back to sleep at 7am until 10am. This is going real well.

I think I am going to adjust the time that I take the evening allergy tablets. They seem to work real well, but only have a 6-8 hour window keeping my nose fairly clear. (this is only day two though) I'm gong to take that tablets as I'm heading off to bed, so maybe I can avoid that middle of the night awake period.

Have you ever fallen asleep so hard that you don't move the covers? I know I've had a really long hard day or haven't gotten much sleep lately if that has happened. Well, it happened during the 1-5:30 sleeping time.

crawled into bed
layed on my side for a second
went to my back
out

Even the cat was still snuggled up next to my leg when I woke up
We are all very thankful for me getting sleep.

I will continue to update on the allergy medication because it seems important.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

1974

I was wandering through some of the blogs that I read and found a list of the top 50 songs of 1974 (the year my husband graduated from high school.) I'm surprised at how many songs I knew. I was 7 most of that year. The last few months of the year I was 8.

So the past half hour I have been performing a hilarious karaoke of songs from the 70's.

This is where you can find the original list, at List of the Day.

The David Hasselhoff video that was featured on the List of the Day was the highlight, though. Watch it. Laugh. Enjoy.

Allergies

A box of Kleenex. Sometimes I think I am defined by that image. I'm a girl with allergies and my nose is the most affected part of my body.

I went through my high school years carrying a box of Kleenex with me almost every day. I sneezed a lot. I was known for having a red nose. I used to wake up in the morning, sit on the edge of my bed and sneeze a dozen times or more.

I moved to Albuquerque.

I had allergies in Albuquerque, too.


I got allergy shots for years and I suppose they helped some.

Then one day, Claratin became an over the counter allergy tablet.

My life changed.

I could breathe.

I still had Kleenexes in every room of my house and in my car, but I didn't have to have them on my lap.


Fast Forward to February, 2008.

My nose stuffed up. I mean it stuffed up so much that not even a hint of air could get through. It was hard to eat, it was nearly impossible to sleep and it was most certainly hard to breathe. I didn't have a sinus infection, just a very very stuffed up nose.

This situation has not really improved.

I can get my nose cleared up enough to sleep a few hours each night but mostly I'm running around each day in a fog. I'm just sleepy.

I've changed my diet, I've started vacuuming more, I've become very consistent with taking my vitamins each day, I learned how to use a neti pot, I've tried warm compresses and even over the counter nose sprays. All of it works for a few minutes to a few hours but nothing has helped for an entire day...or night.

The other day I went to my local Native Sun health food store and asked a lot of questions, got some answers and suggestions and came home with an arm load of goodness, I hope.

First off, I got a product called "Clear" -- it is a "soothing and moisturizing nasal wash with xylitol" and it can be used as often as I'd like without harming my nose tissue. The OTC stuff can really do some damage & I was starting to get nervous about using it anymore. The "Clear" spray is great. I highly recommend it.

The next thing I got was an herbal allergy system. It's called "100% Natural Allergy ReLeaf System" I've taken it for just one full day, so we'll see how it works. I've been suspecting for quite some time that my body has gotten immune to the Claratin, so I hope this will be a good replacement.

The final product is a probiotic called "Natren, Healthy Start." This product is supposed to contain beneficial bacteria that help with "internal wellness." I've only just started yesterday so once again, we'll see how it goes.

It's 4:20am right now, a typical time for me to be awake, but the good news is that I got 5 hours of sleep (5 hours in a row!) before waking up because of my stuffed up nose. The past few months I get about 2-3 hours of sleep, then am awake for several hours and then sleep a few more hours. None of it has been truly restful.

I just took another round of the allergy tablets and used the nasal spray - I can feel my head clearing up. I should be able to get back to sleep in a little while and probably get in at least three more hours of sleep.

I will be continuing to update on the progress of my new experiment to better breathing.

Have a restful sleep,
Kristin

The Olympics

I love the Olympics. I just love them.

I love to watch nearly every sport shown.

I cry.

I cry when people win, when people lose, when they fall, when they stick the landing.

I cry at the stories, the smiles, the outfits, the flames, the medals.

Sometimes the tears just make it to the surface and then I stop crying.



I can hardly wait for the games to begin!

My husband will be out of town, so I am looking forward to watching to Olympic games and crying in peace lol He always teases me at my emotional-ness.

Appraisal

The appraisal is in for the house on Jupiter.

It is above the price we wanted. (Insert hooting and hollering)

Looks like we are going to close on Friday.

Maybe my headache will finally go away.


Our contractor has been hard at work the past two days finishing up the pergola on the front of the house. I will need to get it painted.

I can hardly believe we still have work to do.

Photos coming tomorrow. (***Updated - Photos below)

Have a great day!
Kristin



This is the side gate area (which was so abused during the flip that the gates had actually fallen off.)

The new owners installed the new gates.

The back of the house

Before

After



Before

After

Before

After
After