Kittehs!!!! 2

Here's Jasper!!


And here's Patches!!

I think they're going to stay kitteh-sized forever and ever.

Kittehs!!!! 1

Here's Cookie!

In which 71 hours of labor was all worth it.

This dinner was made, almost single-handedly, by my darling daughter.

Who is the luckiest mom ever? That's right, I am.

Feel free to feel jealous!

I have nothing to say, really

But I needed to post a picture of something that nobody wants to see at his/her worksite, especially not me, at mine.

Hurting America

This blog is a celebration, of sorts, of all things stupid.

I apologize for taking so long to celebrate this:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Kitty paw pics

Happy 8 day birthday, little kitties!

Even more!

Patches is trying to make a break for it.



This is Cookie (the calico [she is, honest]) trying to get some warmth from Jasper, the black one.

All the babies huddled together for warmth. From bottom to top is Patches (gray and white), Cookie (calico) and Jasper (black)

And this is Maggie. She wants to make it perfectly clear that she's no darn cat. She's a hound dog.

More kitteh pics!

Another kitty pic

Here are all three of the kittehs at their 4 am feeding.

They are doing really well so far, at 48 hours old.



So, that's Jasper on your left, Patches in the middle, and (finally) Cookie on the right.

We found kittehs!

Yesterday morning, I walked out the front door on my way to work, and heard a mewling sound from the hedges. There we found a feral momma cat with three brand new kittens.

Unfortunately, the momma took off. We put the kittens in a box and left them outside, but the momma hadn't come back several hours later.

So, we've got three newborn kittens.


This is Patches

This is Jasper.

Cookie is our shy girl, but we'll get a pic of her soon.

All those Lowe's commercials got to me, and I spent my long weekend putting in a backsplash in my kitchen:



I ran out of trim so I need to put a couple of pieces up, but I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Oh, any handy folks out there--I don't know if you can see where the paint is coming off the drawer in the lower right corner, but I need to take care of that. Can I just take off the old paint and repaint it with latex? Or is it more involved than that?

Away from home...

I am traveling for my professional organization's regional conference in Birmingham, Alabama. It's alright, so far as it goes, but, man, do I hate not being home. My daughter is sick, my Girl is way back in Nashville, and I am stuck here, all by myself (though surrounded by 60 veritable strangers).

I am learning really good stuff, and it is good to be away from the office, I must admit. And, it is true, I am getting re-motivated about my job.

A note about my job: I do a job which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, very important. I have the opportunity to help people who are going through a very difficult time in their lives, and, while mostly I am unable to give them the help they have requested, the times that I am able to feel really damn good, as if I myself have waged a battle against Badness and have come out victoriously. But it is a complex job, and it is full of many, many more battles I come out of bloody and defeated. The people at this conference understand, and desire to win more battles, and are available for strength when times get tough. These are good people. And I am proud to be one of them.

But I have a headache (hotel ventilation systems do it to me every time). And I want my girl and my Girl with me...if they were here, it'd be perfect!

Stupidest Survivor Move

Uh, I am just in shock! But in order to protect the innocent from spoilers, I won't go into detail.

But what a maroon!

More Marathon Pics, Please!

Here are some more. The last pic is Jennifer. She was great.

In fact, I was amazed at how good everybody looked for having run 13 (thirteen!!!) miles, knowing they still had 13.2 left. There were runners going past us having conversations with each other, for heaven sake. I am pretty sure that after running 13 miles (as if) I would have to remind my lungs to breathe, let alone carry on a conversation.

Country Music Marathon Pics

What a fan-freaking-tastic day to be out watching other people run 26.2 miles! It was cool, overcast, and calm. My friend Jennifer isn't quite finished yet as I write, but she has passed the 20 mile point.

Anyway, here are some pics from our vantage point at the 13 mile marker. Enjoy!

I love The Hills

There, I said it. And yes, I mean the "reality" show on MTV, with Lauren "LC" Conrad, Heidi Montag and all the rest.

Why? I have, admittedly, nothing in common with these girls, barring poor choices in men (which I continued right on into my mid-30s). So what is it that draws me to spare space on my Tivo for this show?

I think it might be my desire to see Spencer finally get his comeuppance, preferably in the form of a whomp upside the head that miraculously wipes the smirk from his perpetually-smirking mug (maybe he reminds me of a younger version of GWB?). He's a turd. Oh, and also my desire to see Justin-Bobby bathed--not the actual bath itself, but the after-effects of said bath.

[PS: The Country Music Marathon is tomorrow--get up earlier and cheer on your crazy dedicated friends who haven't yet learned about the internal combustion engine. Or bicycles.]

More Softball

/\ The color of the knot on my forehead.


I am playing catcher--I do seem to have some natural ability to catch a ball; unfortunately, I am at best an unpredictable thrower, and I can't run, so catching is the best position for me.

Last night, I took a shot to the forehead from a foul tip in the first inning, did some funky thing to my knee trying to get an out at home, and bruised up my right shin somehow.

When I bat, I usually like to get it over with, almost always swinging at the first pitch, but, my last at-bat yesterday, I actually took 4 pitches, thinking to myself how nice it would be to not have to run to first.

Blog for the hell of it

Not much to add today.

Did I tell you my girl and I are on a softball team? It's supposed to be for fun, but it seems as if our competitors haven't gotten that particular memo. As an adult, if you need to prove your prowess to the world on a softball field in a recreational league, perhaps some soul-searching is in order--what do you have to prove that can be proven in that venue?

Do you ever listen to the local news?

I hate all of the local newscasts at all 97 or so hours a day they are broadcast. All of them suck.

And yet, I am watching one now. "Tonight, Hollywood is mourning the loss of an acting legend." If he was just the acting legend, when is the permanent legend going to be installed? What happened to the former legend? Aren't news writers supposed to be able to actually write or something? It is almost like we are witnessing the world promised to use by "Idiocracy." A suggestion: say the stupid words out loud before programming them in the TelePrompTer. Ya know, so you have some idea of how stupid they'll sound in time to maybe edit them or something?

And then there is the inanity of the stories which have no business on a newscast: while little Cassie singing "Best of Both Worlds" was really cute and all, we're actually fighting two wars (not counting The War On Drugs, or The War on Poverty, or all those wars). And the economy is in the crapper.

But keep us ignorant, Local News! It makes us happier.

[ETA: I stupidly failed to give "credit" for the broadcast that has me all spun up: The honor goes to "News"Channel 5, WTVF, Nashville 10 o'clock Sunday broadcast (website looks really great right now, but that is because it is under construction). Oh, HD. They're really, really proud of that HD thing. As if the pretty picture of their broadcast makes up for the seriously lame content.]

I just cannot hang

My sister, her partner, and their mothers are in town for a few days, which has been a lot of fun They live in Michigan and since we are all busy, we don't get to see each other often. But Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion played a gig at The End last night, and my sister, her partner and my step-mom are all Big Fans, so they traveled down her to see the show.

We had a really nice time at dinner (though, if anybody knows what happened to the restaurant at Coco Loco's, please let me know--they were really disappointed it was closed). And the opening acts for B+TEC were pretty good. But doors opened at the club at 9, and the first of two opening bands went on at 10:30 or so. Normally, I am in bed by 9, because I am an old fart and I need my sleep.

Anyway, it was midnight by the time B+TEC went onstage.

I now know why I never could be a rockstar. It isn't lack of ability or desire or talent.

It's because I need my sleepy time.

Working through the shame spiral

So, dear readers, as you can no doubt tell, blogging has taken a back seat to other life events. Every so often, I click back over to The Stupid, feeling like a neglectful parent.

But a friend did a little online mini-intervention, and invited me back into the blogging fold. He described his personal demons with not making his blog a priority and how he eventually had to change his stinkin' thinkin'. (Please note, his blog is funny and well-written; I can promise no such thing).

So, I am going to try better, Dear Readers, because you deserve better.

Meanwhile, a pretty picture:


I took that in November somewhere along the Natchez Trace. Pretty, huh? Too bad I didn't rotate it one click counterclockwise for you to really enjoy it!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Happy March, everybody! This is the most snow I've seen in Nashville in at least 5 years. It started at about 6 last night, and is continuing on now, after 7:30 am. It's supposed to continue until at least noon. The city is pretty much shut down, and we are happy to stay in.