The Kaj

Kage Neko (Shadow Cat). What can I say about this cat? Lots, but not much of it is very nice! We have that love-hate relationship… I love to hate him and vice-versa but it’s a very loving hate relationship. My nicknames for him include spawn of satan, cartoon face and el gato feo (the ugly cat). Let’s start at the beginning when our daughter conjured this hairball. Conjured? Yes, conjured. Ray had been asking for another cat. Specifically she wanted a long-hair black boy kitty with green or yellow eyes. This year she was in the Coming of Age program at church, which is a year-long program for 7th and 8th graders where they explore their spirituality. As the finale of the program, these middle schoolers gave a testimonial about their beliefs. Ray’s specifically mentioned magic and mysticism. The following day a teeny tiny kitten appeared on our deck, a deck standing six or seven feet high with steps taller than this little kitty. It was a tiny fluffy ball of black fur with white ear hair. Ray spent the entire day on the back porch with him cradled in her lap because I refused to let it in the house. We already had a cat. She was getting ready to leave *the very next day* to spend the summer with her father. Well, Mom is a softie and eventually gave in to the cuteness. That cuteness was just a ploy. I should have known better! I tease Ryann about her conjuring her cat by calling him “cartoon face” because his face doesn’t quite fit.

Kage is a beautiful cat on the outside. He reminds me of those super models or actors who are drop-dead gorgeous, but are not very nice people. I swear he spends the day thinking of ways to annoy me and others around him. For example, we have a bird house in the middle of our back yard and this summer we have a family living there. You can see mama and papa, tiny little birds, flitting in and out all day long. Kage has taken to sleeping in the yard. He has *never* slept in the middle of the grass. Inside the house we can hear one of the parent birds scolding Kage, a constant chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-chee. I believe Kage fully knows the angst he is causing these birds and gets pleasure from their pain. Kage will position himself in a room so as to bother Ellie Mae because he knows Ellie can’t stand him and she can’t do anything about him. His favorite spot in our bedroom is lounging on our tall chest of drawers taking a bath (aka “kitty yoga”). If anything happens to be in his way, he just pushes it off. He will wait until I walk into a room to begin scratching on the couch or rug.

Shortly after we moved to our new home, we almost lost Kage or at least a part of him. This cat has to be one of the luckiest animals I’ve ever met. Ryann was spending the day with her friend and my son had a soccer tournament scheduled for the weekend. Unfortunately his team didn’t make the cut so we just happened to be home when an awful ruckus erupted outside. If you’ve ever heard a cat fight, you know the sound. Only add barking into the mix. Two dogs had attacked Kage, cornered him before he could get up a tree. As we ran outside, the dogs took off and we found Kage lying listless under a tree. Clark wrapped him in a towel and picked him up. We knew he was hurt because this is a cat who hates to be picked up. He simply lay in Clark’s lap as I drove around on an early Saturday evening, trying to find an open vet. We finally found one getting ready to close. I dropped off Clark then the boys and I went to pick up Ryann, who after losing Daisy was extremely upset. The vet stabilized Kage and recommended an overnight facility to monitor the IV and medications with instructions to bring him back in the morning. They did not think the back leg could be saved. Lots of stress and money later Kage went into surgery Monday morning to have his leg removed. The vet, a different one from the weekend on-call vet, left surgery to call Clark. He thought the leg could be saved. Clark told him that we’d love to save the leg, but we really didn’t have any more money to put into the situation. The vet said he’d do what he could at the quoted price and if later the leg needed to come off he wouldn’t charge us. Now this is a vet who cares for the animal more than the bottom line. This was his last week in the office as he was retiring at the end of the week. I am so thankful we had him in the surgery room with Kage. Fast forward to present day. Kage had one more surgery to remove the pins in his leg, but he has all four legs. When he runs that injured leg will splay out in a funky way, but he jumps and runs and gets around like any other demon cat. He is a little more cautious now and you can see his worry whenever he hears a neighbor dog barking. Perfectly understandable.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Pretty Pouty Precious Princess Mimi, Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty

On a trip to Petsmart after we lost Daisy, Ray found a timid little tortoise shell kitty, which she named Mimi. This new kitten could not be any more different from Daisy. She was a shy little creature who spent most of her time sequestered away in Ryann’s bedroom. It was so bad that one day, before the other cat’s arrival and before we moved, I stood at the bottom of the stairs and could not remember this cat’s name! It was as though Mimi wanted to become invisible and succeeded! Looking back, though, you can see the bond between Ryann and Mimi. Over the years Mimi’s nickname has evolved so that now she is known as Pretty Pouty Precious Princess Mimi, Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty.

How in the world did this meek creature get the nickname “Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty”? In the first couple of months, before she went into seclusion, Mimi would sometimes wander into Clark’s and my bedroom in the early morning hours. She’d jump on the bed and I would wake up to her pouncing on my toes. The way Mimi attacked—all four paws held together and hopping from spot to spot—reminded me of a grasshopper. Ryann had just entered her fascination of all things Japanese so we researched the word “grasshopper” so we called Mimi “Kirigirisu.” Around this same time Mimi performed an act of daredevilry so phenomenal we are still amazed. Clark firmly believes this was Mimi’s one and only act of rash behavior and we just happened to be present when it occurred. We had one of those tall cat condos, looming over my own 5’6”, sitting next to the low-back couch, a 40+year old pullout couch that Clark slept on as a child when he visited his grandparents. One day this tiny timid feline climbed up to the very top of this structure and launched herself down onto the back of the neighboring couch. With her tortie fur and all four paws spread out, she really resembled a flying squirrel and I swear she meowed, “Banzai!” as she fell.

Gone are these carefree reckless days. Now Mimi is a mature regal creature. Over the last few years, since the arrival of our other cat, she has changed very much. On retrospect, I wonder if she was depressed as an only kitty in a two-dog house. Before Kage’s arrival, Mimi was, as I mentioned, a recluse, but she was also extremely fat, so fat you could hear her moving around in Ryann’s room and on those rare occasions she ventured down the stairs. I do not remember exactly when she lost the weight, but today she is a slender shadow of her previous rotund self, with quite the skin flap that wobbles then she trots!

When Kage arrived, Mimi started emerging from Ray’s room more and more often. She even started nosing at the back door if we left it cracked. Over the last year in our previous house, Mimi got braver and braver. She’d sniff the open door for several minutes then put a single paw out for a heartbeat before running away and back upstairs. Eventually she got all the way out the door only to rush back inside. By the time we moved, she was spending several minutes hunched just outside the back door, as long as the door remained open and none of us inside moved.

Once we moved, Mimi started immediately spending more time outside. She was and still is a very timid kitty. Loud noises and sometimes even no noise startle her and she darts into hiding. Thunderstorms scare her and, even though we have a tiny house, she has hidey holes where we can’t find her. One time, shortly after our move, Mimi was outside when a thunderstorm hit and we weren’t home. The following morning we realized we hadn’t seen the Kirigirisu for a long time. Ryann and Clark went outside to call and call for her while I searched the inside. After quite a while they heard a weak little mew and finally located Mimi cowering in the crawl space under the house. She was in the farthest corner and refused to budge. Finally I opened a can of tuna fish and Ryann, who HATES this cramped bug-ridden crawlspace, went in a little ways. It took almost an hour, but Mimi finally was coaxed out. Hooray for tuna!

This summer, with the kids gone, Mimi has been spending more time with me than ever before. I spend time every day in the bedroom writing at my desk (a beautiful built-in made by my wonderful hubby when I went back to school). Within 2-3 minutes of sitting down and turning on the desk lamp, Mimi jumps up and demands a few minutes of petting before she settles down under the lamplight. If I remain in bed too long, she will also jump up and walk across my body with her tiny little painful paws (think about a woman’s stiletto heels!). Then she’ll get right up in my face with her whiskers tickling my nose. It works better than the alarm!


¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

You're a Good Dog, Lucky Pup!

When Kyle was six-years old we added Lucky to our family and this dog’s lovable goofy personality reflects a six-year old’s personality. His full AKC name is Lucky Rascal Thunder Goober because Kyle fretted over picking the right name. Lucky, Rascal and Thunder were the three choices. Goober was added after Lucky had demonstrated his gooberiness. He is after all a chocolate-covered nut!

When we arrived to the country house to pick out our newest family member, there were only two pups left. The couple who owned the house also owned the mama dog. She was a big yellow lab, a little older for a first litter. Turns out they had bred her to their son-in-law’s chocolate lab in order to get another yellow lab female. This litter was large… eight puppies… all male… all chocolate. Best laid plans and all!

Kyle picked Lucky because he was the runt. He was 12-weeks old and still had that yummy puppy smell, eyes still blue but getting ready to turn and big tummy. Turns out the big tummy was from worms and he also had tons of fleas. These people had a shed out back where the puppies lived and I don’t believe Lucky had ever been inside until we brought him home. He definitely had never climbed stairs and we lived in a 2-story house at the time. The poor thing could not get his back legs to coordinate with the front legs. We still have a good laugh at that memory!

Lucky also has his own theme song. We sing “Lucky Pup Tennessee” set to the tune of Rocky Top, which is the UT Vols theme song. I worry I may have crossed a line with that song. I’m not a native to TN and these people take their orange seriously in this state.

One of the best things about having a chocolate lab with the personality of a six-year old is that he is always happy. His tail is always wagging unless he is sitting on it or sleeping. To be kind let’s just say he doesn’t have a full bag of kibbles. For years Clark used his Gomer Pyle voice to vocalize Lucky. The running joke is that Lucky has two brain cells; one of those brain cells is powered by his tail and if you stop his tail you cut his intelligence in half!

We kennel our dogs and Lucky loves his kennel. When we moved to our new house we had trouble finding a place to set up the kennels for both dogs, so we made the decision to put away the kennels and just lock the dogs up in the boys' room. Lucky was lost. There were times when he would worm into the closet or under chairs to get that cave feel. So last year, Clark built a platform bed for Kyle's bed and put a kennel sized cave under it. Lucky is happy, except for when Ellie Mae steals the cave. She's such a bully!


Lucky has never met a person he didn’t immediately love. The whole world is his best friend, but his boy is his bestest best friend. With the kids gone in the summertime, Lucky mopes around the house, as though he realizes the passing of time and his boy has been gone a little longer than a couple of hours. Whenever Lucky spies a boy, he perks up and his tail goes crazy, but then droops a little when it’s not *HIS* boy. I know exactly how he feels. We’re both anxiously waiting next Wednesday when the kids return and Lucky is reunited with his boy.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Ode to Daisy

In continuing this week’s pet theme, I found myself struggling to choose which pet to write about this morning. When I finally picked one, I could not get started because I was thinking about the pet that preceded our two current kittens. That would be Daisy. Although Daisy was only with us about ten months before she was struck by a car on our very busy road, she will forever live in our family’s memory as the best cat ever. Unfortunately, this little Tonkinese was camera shy and I do not have any pictures of her.

When our family moved from California to Florida we left all our pets behind and I promised both kids when we moved into a house we would get Ryann a kitten and Kyle a puppy. We picked Daisy up at the local Petsmart’s cat adoption event. Going in our daughter had said she wanted a tabby or black-and-white, fluffy, big cuddly cat. What she latched on thirty seconds after entering the store was a skinny, Siamese looking half-grown kitten. Within five minutes I realized Ray had made her mind up when she told me the kitten’s name was Daisy. Having two dogs, Max the elderly Springer Spaniel and Lucky the rambunctious chocolate lab puppy, I asked the lady about this cat with dogs. She laughed and said Daisy would have no trouble. Evidently, this lady had adopted Daisy the month before from Petsmart, but the lady’s long-term cat had spent that entire month under her bed, refusing to come out. This lady wanted to have her cat back, so chose to put Daisy up for adoption.

Daisy was a hunter, primal, diligent, and lethal. One morning as the kids and I were getting ready to pull out of the driveway to go to school, we saw Daisy on the prowl. Talk about fascinating! I felt like I was watching one of those Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom segments about lionesses hunting on the African savannah. Needless to say, we were a little tardy that day! In the months following Daisy’s death, we noticed wildlife returning to our big open backyard (about 1/2 acre of unfenced open grass), we realized that during Daisy’s short reign we had no squirrels, rabbits or birds loitering in the area. We also found many of Daisy’s trophies in the corners of our garage…skeletons or desiccated carcasses of all types of critters, mainly mice, moles and bunnies. Daisy was not a large cat, but some of those rabbit remains appeared to be much larger than that little kitty.

Aside from being an amazing hunter, Daisy had a huge personality. She was unlike any cat I have ever known. When we researched her breed, we discovered Tonkinese are called the dogs of the cat world. When someone would come in, Daisy would bound in to greet them. She was very social and enjoyed being part of the collective, the pack, but she wasn’t overly cuddly, except with Ryann. Those two had a bond that was so special. It broke my heart to tell her that her cat had died.

To this day, I still tear up thinking about that awful awful summer. Ryann and her brother had just left a couple of days earlier to spend the summer with their father in California. Clark was on the road with his salesman so I was home alone. I am not normally a hysterical person, but I completely lost my mind when I walked out on the front porch and there saw Daisy’s corpse. Evidently she had been hit on the road and crawled back down to the house. The worst part was contacting my ex to explain Ryann’s cat had been killed and him telling me that he would not break the news to her, that it was my responsibility. Well, there was no way I was telling my ten-year-old daughter about her cat’s demise *over the phone* so the only option was to wait until they returned in ten weeks. For the rest of the summer, whenever I spoke to the kids Ryann would talk about her cat and how much she missed Daisy. When they did return and I broke the news, Ryann was so devastated. Never before and only three times since have I seen my girl break down and sob so hard.

So here’s to Daisy, the best cat ever! If there is a heaven for cats, I’m sure she is keeping it clear of mice, moles, rabbits, squirrels and birds.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Her Smelliness

Last week had an auto theme, so why not an animal theme for this week? Our family loves our animals and we consider them members of our family. Currently we have two Labrador Retrievers and two cats, and each of them have quite the personality.

Today I’ll talk about my dog, Ellie Mae (aka the Smellie Mae with the stinky feet). She is a black lab that we found in a lab rescue program in Knoxville in April 2001. The kids and I drove over to look at three dogs that day… an older male chocolate lab, a one year old male chocolate lab, and her Smelliness. On the drive over, I already had an idea Ellie Mae would be the ideal candidate. The old dog was too old and already overweight with some health issues. The young dog was just too much puppy, and I was over puppies, having raised our other lab. So, on the two-hour drive I kept thinking, “Please don’t let her respond to ‘Ellie Mae.’ Please don’t let her respond to ‘Ellie Mae.’”Well, she did, but that was really the only negative to this dog. She and our other dog had no problems. She is the alpha, no problem. She was young and energetic, friendly with me and the kids, so we brought her home. She did respond to the name, so although I did not like it we did not try to change her name.

We believe Ellie Mae spent her first year on the streets of Knoxville, which is probably why she hates to go outside when it is raining or snowing, although she LOVES to go swimming. It is also why she is a four-legged garbage disposal, eating anything and everything, and subsequently getting sick.

When we picked her up, the rescue program’s vet had said she was 3 or 4 years old. I believe the vet was mistaken, maybe because she was a street dog and suffered from malnutrition she appeared older than she was. When we first brought Ellie Mae home, her behavior and energy echoed our chocolate lab, who was one at the time.

The first six months we had her she did not utter a single sound—no barks, no whines, no whimpers, nothing. Then after six months she started barking and eight years later she simply won’t shut up! She is especially passionate about the postal truck and diligent about chasing him away every day. She does such a good job that he doesn’t even show up on Sundays! Our front door has three vertical windows, so she will check the outside world several times a day. Sometimes a leaf falls or a squirrel wanders across the yard and she is very good at guarding us from those dangers. Clark refers to Ellie as our 60-pound yappy dog.

Dogs are pack animals and need to know where they are in the pack hierarchy. We say that Clark is top dog and I’m second dog, so Ellie thinks she’s third dog. My son has always taken offense to this, asserting that *HE* is third dog, not Ellie. I tell him he and his sister are just pups, so Ellie thinks she’s their boss.

As I mentioned above, we also have cats. When we got Ellie, we only had the tortie, who was always hiding out in our other house, so we didn’t have many confrontations. Then the black cat arrived in 2004 and he makes his presence known at all times. It is amusing so often I’ll all be sitting in the den, watching TV, a sleeping Ellie Mae nearby. Suddenly a low growl starts emanating from Ellie Mae and I’ll look around. Sure enough, there is a cat in the room. Both of our cats have very loud purrs, so my theory is that Ellie thinks the cats are growling at her. Poor dog. She simply does not understand why the cats (called “KATT”s) are allowed to growl at her, but she gets in trouble for growling at them.

Ellie has an interesting vocabulary. For example there are some four-letter words, bad words that she does not like to hear. Cats as I mentioned are KATTs. We also kennel our dogs when we leave and during the night, which she does not like. So when we say “kennel” her spelling is “KENL.” Vet is “VETT.”

Ellie also has a couple of nicknames like “Her Smelliness” or “Ellie Mae of the Stinky Feet and the Smellie Ears” or simply “Smellie Mae.” Our thought is that her personal odor issues hearken back to her puppyhood being spent on the streets with garbage. The first couple of years she was with us, she would get terrible ear infections, hence the smelly ears, but those seem to have disappeared. She does still have some flactuation issues. We joke when Ellie Mae is very happy she relaxes and farts. So the phrase “Ellie Mae’s really happy” is actually code for “INCOMING!”

When we brought Ellie home, I did not expect her to become my dog. We wanted another dog so Lucky would not be alone, but she is my shadow. Wherever I go in the house, she is usually in the same room. Before we moved and I went back to school, I spent lots of time with Ellie. We did agility together and after the move we would go walking at the nearby Lake Radnor. Almost every time we went to the lake, we would see deer. Ellie Mae seemed to be awed by these creatures, like she could not quite figure out what they were. So, they became the “Big Dogs” and whenever I got ready to go to the lake, I ask her if she wants to go see the “Big Dogs” and she gets very excited.

It’s hard to believe Ellie has been a part of our family for 8 years now. Her black fur is spackled with lots of gray, especially her muzzle, eyes and paws. She has slowed down her fetching a little and some afternoons she doesn’t hear the postal truck. Being a realist, I know Ellie Mae is entering old age, but really hope we have many more years of Ellie Mae sleeping on the couch next to me, twitching as she pursues squirrels in her dreams, and announcing her happiness with stinkiness.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Bye bye, Sunny!

It's been a vehicle kind of week, so I thought I'd keep the theme going at least one more day!

I have always been a believer in the Internet. After all I met my awesome hubby on AO-hell back in the “You’ve Got Mail” heyday. But right now, my hat’s off to Craigslist. When the job sites were failing me back in December, I found my part-time job on Craigslist. Last month we purchased a lawn mower on Craigslist. This past Friday night we made arrangements to buy a new car on Craigslist and tonight we sold our van on Craigslist… in less than two hours! No kidding! Hubby had the van cleaned up this afternoon and took it to CarMax, just so we could get an idea of what they would offer. Not much as it turns out, so I researched the Kelly Blue Book price. Even marking it with over 200K miles and “fair” condition (the lowest besides poor), KBB said we should ask around $2,500. Now I’ve already mentioned in this blog that I am a cheapie when it comes to cars. The van runs well, but the front windshield needs replacing, the motor for the driver’s side window needs to be replaced and a/c is blowing hot air. The inside is very clean but the exterior has a bunch of dings, one dent and a lovely key scratch down one side. So realistically I personally would not have bought this vehicle for more than $1000 or $1500, so we compromised and listed it at $1250. The rest, as they say, is history. Less than 20 minutes after posting we received two phone calls. The first guy lived over an hour away and started towards Nashville immediately. Less than 20 minutes after his arrival, he and hubby had a deal. So, tomorrow is vehicle day. Hubby will get a check for the truck and finish that in the morning. Then when I get off work in the afternoon we’ll take the van down to its new home. One more time…. Craigslist rocks!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Pick-em-up Truck

I did have a plan to get Friday's post done last night, but got distracted with car shopping.... Yes, we're in the market for a vehicle. I *HATE* looking for cars. I've found that most private sellers think their vehicle is worth way more than I do. LOL I admit it I'm a cheapie when it comes to houses and cars. So every day I have been looking for something on Craigslist, Cars.com, AutoTrader, any place I could find. And Friday I found it... '95 Ford Ranger XLT. The ad was on Craigslist, posted around 5pm and we went to look at it around 7pm. She had already had several calls and there was a guy already there to look at the truck. It has everything on it that the hubby and I were looking for... manual transmission, working a/c, and cheap ($1800). This also has a couple of bonuses...the extended cab, bedliner, CD player and it's been driven by a girl since '96 (Sorry, guys! Not being sexist here, just realistic!). After driving the truck it was late, so we put a deposit down to hold it. Then hubby took the truck to a mechanic this morning and the truck got a thumbs up. So Monday morning, hubby will complete the transaction and we'll have us a "pick-em-up" truck, as my dad says.

The plan is for me to drive this until April when the boy-child turns 16. Then this will become his vehicle to get him to school, soccer and work (yes, he has a job waiting for him as a ref at the YMCA, just as soon as he turns 16!). When I spoke with K earlier this week I told him I was looking at vehicles, either a Jeep Cherokee Sport or a small truck. He was really hoping for a truck, so I'm sure he'll be happy. The hardest part for me will be keeping it quiet until the kids return in two weeks!














¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Blackjack

Have you ever done something that you later regretted? Something big like give your car to your teenage daughter? Your favorite car? Yeah, I did that. When our daughter got her license last fall, we handed her the keys to our 1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet, dubbed “Blackjack” by the family when hubby drove it back from Chicago in 2002.

As the kids are in California with their dad, I’ve been driving this car during the summer so Clark can drive the air conditioned Malibu as opposed to the van with no working a/c. I had forgotten how great this car is to drive.Yes, It's 17 years old….and the a/c no longer works… and the instrument panel doesn’t work if the weather is too warm… and, if the transmission is warmed up, it CLUNKS into reverse… and, as I learned during yesterday’s torrential rain, the roof leaks. Still, I…love…this car! With the top up, the interior is cozy and intimate. With the top down, you’re immersed in the driving experience… sound, feel, smell.

This isn’t the first Cabriolet our family has owned. When the kids and I were in California, their father and I traded in our van for a 1986 VW Cabriolet and cash to buy an old Chevy Suburban. They were named “Putt-Putt” and “Bump-Bump” (hey, my kids were three and six at the time!). “Putt-Putt” was bright red with black leather, over which I put black and white fuzzy cow print seat covers. I loved that vehicle, but when we moved to Florida, we sold it.

Anyway, back to “Blackjack”… When we were looking for a high mpg car for hubby, who was driving to Memphis 1-2 times a week, Knoxville a couple of times a month and other places all over Tennessee, he mentioned the VW Jetta he had in his first marriage. I countered with the Cabriolet and, being the great guy he is, Clark was intrigued by the idea of a convertible. This was back before Craigslist, so I looked on eBay. That didn’t work. The local newspaper’s classifieds went to Cars.com, which was a bust. Remember the good old days when you would go to the auto parts store and pick up an Auto Trader? I did and discovered Auto Trader was online. We found a car advertised by a used car lot in Chicago that had everything we wanted… a/c, manual transmission, glass rear window… and it was a manly black on black color scheme. Clark flew up to Chicago and drove that baby home. The only downside? The car lot obviously didn’t know the difference between an automatic transmission and a manual. Oh, well!

This little car was Clark’s main vehicle for a while, while I drove the *shudder* minivan (another long story, one with which I won’t bore y’all today!). Then after the layoff, I started using this car to drive the boys, our son and his best friend, to school. They loved it! So did I. I can’t emphasize enough how much fun this car is to drive. There is nothing like tooling down the road, crisp fall air rustling through your hair, a canopy of trees full of autumn color overhead!

My daughter has been driving her dad’s van and Toyota Tacoma pickup while in California; yesterday she told me she can’t wait to get home to HER car. Excuse me? I’d been so happy driving “Blackjack” that I almost forgot I’d have to relinquish it when they got back home. Guess I’d better enjoy it over the next two weeks! Giving up my favorite car is a very small price to pay to have my kids back home!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Climbing Back on the Wagon

The end of July is coming into view. With it comes the return of my kids and the end of summer. While I've done really well on writing my novel and better updating this blog, I must confess I fell off the exercise wagon this summer. This is nothing new for me. It's very frustrating! I have managed to make writing a part of my daily routine. I have cut refined sugar from my daily diet. But exercise remains that one fatal obstacle. I get off to a good start, then it just fades away. I don't think I've ever exercised regularly for more than six weeks in my life. So once again I resolve to climb back up on that wagon with eternal optimism that I will manage to hang on this time!

Last night I researched 5K events for September and found some events I'd like to do. Once I get my son's soccer schedule I will actually register. I also located a program that takes you from walking to running in 8 weeks. Now, I was an athlete all through high school--volleyball, basketball, track & field--but I have never, never, never been a distance runner. Heck, two laps--880 yards--use to wipe me out! The program looks like it might work and, even if I don't actually get to running, it should help keep me focused for eight weeks!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Finished Pottery Pieces

I'm so excited!! Our first few pottery projects were ready for us last night. They all turned out so well!!

I will confess I was very surprised how beautiful the glaze turned out. These pieces were a puke-pink color after the first firing and the glaze wasn't too much better. I should have taken pictures and will try to remember for next week as the teacher was beginning the first firing last night.

The mug was the project from our very first class. With that piece I used two different glazes which I dipped both coats. With the little blue bowl I dipped the first layer then sponged on the second glaze. The oak leaf bowl's really cool mottling was from individually sponging on three different glazes. I'm looking forward to our next batch of glazing. I have a couple of wavy bowls along with the moon/star votive and snowman (pictures posted in an earlier blog).

Last night I worked on a basketweave bowl. It was very simple to begin...just cut out lots of strips of pottery and drape row of 4-5 strips over a bowl mold. Then came a slightly advanced move...weaving another 4-5 strips through the first set of strips. Everything looked nice and I was feeling good. Then came the difficult part...weaving the sides of the bowl. I was a little brain dead and unlucky. I had a 50-50 chance of doing the weave right or wrong. Guess which 50% I got? Yep! The wrong way! So I had to re-weave my sides, every single weave, all the way around. Ugh! So I get that done and now is the most difficult part...creating a two-coil twist for the top of the bowl. All this is down with the bowl upside down on the mold. Twists and coils are not my forte, lemme tell ya! They take patience with an extra helping of patience. Now I'm patient in many areas of my life, but I've discovered I'm not a patient potter! I did get the coil on after lots of cussing (in my head, not aloud) and left the piece covered in plastic so I could finish it up next week. I started wedging the clay around 6:30 and finished that @#$% coil at 9:00 sharp. I certainly hope this bowl doesn't end up in the Discard Pile, but.... we'll see!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince #6 **SPOILERS**

We prepared the entire week for our Saturday date with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Clark's son was with us this week and every night we watched one of the previous films in order. I also pulled the book off the shelf just to reacquaint myself with the story. I'm glad I did. The movies are all very wonderfully produced, but they do have to pick and choose what story lines to include.

[NOTE: DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE ANY SPOILERS FOR EITHER THE BOOK OR THE MOVIE]





























A couple of major differences between the book and the movie include...

1) Bill and Fluer - No mention of their engagement throughout the movie. Makes me wonder how the wedding is going to play into the next movie. Which brings me to my next difference...

2) Tonks and Lupin - In the book, this relationship was kept to a minimum until the end. Tonks was distraught, but Harry never connected her with Lupin. In the movie, Tonks and Lupin spent Christmas with the Weasleys and in leaving their house, Tonks referred to Lupin as "sweetheart". Makes me wonder if the huge wedding is going to be Tonks and Lupin, who actually had a small wedding in the book. There are many issues in book #7 that happen at the wedding that I'm interested in seeing how the movie makers handle them. Also, mentioning Christmas at the Weasleys....

3) Fire at the Burrow - in the movie, the Weasley's house is burned down. Huh? Now the wedding definitely won't be taking place here.

4) Dumbledore visits the Dursleys - I was so looking forward to Dumbledore popping in on the Dursleys, especially them refusing to drink the wine he pours and the glasses subsequently bopping on their head, spilling wine! LOL That would have been funny. Aside from having Dumbledore appear on the train platform in front of a billboard saying "Divine Magic" what was the reason behind having the opening scene in a coffee shop where Harry makes a date with a muggle girl? Hmmmm.... not the best deviation from the book (imho). However....

5) Aragog's death as the 2nd best deviation of the movie from the book. In the book, the building up to Aragog's funeral was a bit overkill and just having Harry show up to Hagrid crying over the spider's body was enough to introduce the situation without having to spend lots of time on the subject. Which leads into the best deviation...

6) Slughorn's fish - The scene where the drunk Slughorn refers to his pet fish just *snap* disappearing from his bowl does a great job of setting up many aspects from the book that may have taken lots more time to develop as the book does. First, it introduces Lily into the conversation so Harry can persuade Slughorn to divulge the memory. Next, it makes reference to the fact that when a person dies, so does their magic. Slughorn's fish had been given to him by Lily and when Voldermort killed her, the enchantment ended. Overall, a much more touching scene in the movie than it had been in the book.

7) Dumbledore's death scene - I was very very very very disappointed that the movie people decided not to have Dumbledore stun Harry. Why? So we could watch Harry stand by and watch Snape kill Dumbledore? At least in the book, Harry was unable to help, not unwilling. In the movie he simply stands by and watches his mentor, his father-figure get blasted? I think not!

Anyway, I'm sure there are other issues I will think about soon, but right now those are the major points for me. I did enjoy the movie, but cannot imagine watching this series without reading the books and feel sorry for those who do. You are missing so much by not reading the books.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Simple Things...?

Yes, it's the simple things in life that make it good. Right now I am reclining in the love seat next to my hubby, laptop in lap with a mug of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, twittering and watching Morning Joe, after having written 900 words on my novel already... the makings of a great morning!

But even though the things themselves are simple, it took me years to achieve this moment. And it all started with finding the right person with whom to share these things! Let me just state for the record--My hubby is awesome-sauce! Simply put, my good mornings couldn't happen without him.

For starters, Clark brings me a mug of delicious Dunkin' Donuts coffee EVERY morning. And my laptop? Oh, boy! That's a story that I've avoided sharing with people until now. Basically I broke my laptop by... uhm, *cough*pickingitupbythescreen*cough* a few of weeks ago. The computer worked fine, but the display was DOA. Clark and my dad bought this for me in March '08 as an early graduation present and it's a wonderful machine (except for Vista, but that's another issue not related to hubby), so I was devastated when the screen cracked. We looked around for the receipt for the warranty, but couldn't find it. Clark didn't panic (like I did!). Using our daughter's monitor, he set me up in the den with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Then he researched screens online and found the price was not too bad, so he ordered one. Yesterday he installed the screen, so this morning I am once again mobile with my computer. I did not realize how much I used my computer outside the den until I couldn't move it. Now let's see if having my mobility back helps me blog more! ;-)

So, here is to the simple things shared with the right person! ¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Friday I accompanied Clark down to Georgia to pick up his son, who is staying with us for a week. On the way home we stopped in Chattanooga for dinner and to walk around the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. It is one of those situations of history where I know the famous song which makes me aware of the history, where in truth there was the history which inspired the song! According to a plaque, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo travelled from Cincinnati to Chattanooga beginning on March 1880 and was the first public transportation between the North and the South. We arrived too late to go through the museum, but did get to tour the model railroad display. Clark is a big fan of model railroads and I am fascinated by the details in this particular exhibit. One of the trains had more than ninety cars! After spending a good amount of time here, we headed over to a dining car for pizza. Through the windows from our seat, we could look into another dining car, which had linens and flower arrangements, definitely the romantic dining experience. The pizza, although thin crust, was quite tasty. Next we went into the ice cream and candy shop to get Hunter an ice cream cone. I am happy to report that for the first time in my memory I left a sweet shop without getting *any* sweets! While the fudge looked quite tasty as did the ice cream, I’ve been suffering from severe headaches for a while and sugar seems to be a trigger for those headaches. I just didn’t want to end a nice day with a headache. By this time, evening had set in and the temperatures had dropped enough that the walk through the garden area was quite pleasant. They have a nice koi pond with neat fish fountains which squirt water to oxygenate the pond. There were other statues and fountains sprinkled throughout. Before leaving we headed back into the main building to use the restroom facilities before beginning the trip back to Nashville. For those who are not aware, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo is a hotel created in an old railroad depot. Using the restroom reminded me that at one time this was a public facility. I love airports just for the people watching opportunities and here in this old depot, I could imagine the people who congregated on the platform through the years… businessmen in suits, mothers with their gloves and hats herding their flock of chicks, newlyweds heading to the big city for a honeymoon, soldiers being deployed. The history. The memories. How nostalgic it makes me feel! All-in-all the visit was a very nice experience. I think some day Clark and I should go back and stay in one of the railroad car hotel rooms. I definitely would like to go through the museum and learn more of the history.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Giving in to the Darkness

In May, my poor Pantech had a little accident. When we were getting in the car to leave the TN Ren Festival, I forgot about placing it on the roof of our car. It wasn't until much later, as we were leaving Arrington Vineyards, that I remembered the last place I'd seen my phone. Oops! We remember a thump when we pulled off the dirt road onto the asphalt, so Clark dropped me off at the drive and I walked the edge of the road, using his phone to call mine. Wasn't I lucky that 1) the phone still worked and 2) I had turned the ringer back on! I was also fortunate that the phone was virtually unhurt, except I lost the button panel, which makes navigating a little difficult. AND I was blessed that our contract with AT&T was almost up and on June 18 I was eligible for an upgrade.

Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Pantech. It slides up to reveal the number keypad and then slides another way to reveal the qwerty keypad. But I realized I have outgrown my little phone. I need (yes, need!) more from my phone...twitter, facebook, gmail, etc. Being tethered to technology is my new security blanket. So, being the INTP that I am, I started researching phones. A qwerty keyboard was a must, most everything else was optional. Well, qwerty and cost. I refuse to pay $$$ for my cell phone.

When I had narrowed down the field, I asked my twitter buddies for their input. Of course, most want to know why I'm not going for the iPhone. Long story short? Aside from the $$$ for an iPhone, I made myself a deal back when the iPhone was released... when I sell my novel, I can get me an iPhone. So, I may never be eligible! Well, Wemnar highly recommended the Blackberry, which I have been avoiding for years.

After Internet research was exhausted, I went down to the AT&T store and spent some time feeling out the Blackberry Curve, the Samsung Propel and the updated Pantech. I wanted to see the new Motorola Karma, but the sales guy didn't know anything about the new Motorola and hadn't heard about a pending delivery. He even told me he had heard Motorola was getting out of the cell phone business (As the spouse of a Motorola employee, I wasn't too surprised, although I know the Karma was a new release. Why release something if you're not going to support it? But I digress *again*!).

Well, last Thursday evening I bit the bullet and placed an Internet order for a Blackberry Curve 8310 ($20 cheaper ordering it online than purchasing in the store), then waited, not too patiently. The phone arrived Tuesday and a whole new world opened up for me. It's a little overwhelming and I've been feeling extremely inept and inadequate (can you say "Blackberries for Dummies"?). Turns out the data package I had was not compatible for the Blackberry. Yesterday afternoon before church, Clark and I went online and figured things out and I am happy to report the Blackberry is humming along just like it should. My emails are coming in. The Ubertwitter app is twittering. I am still vague on specific details, like how to silence the ringer (I simply turned the phone off during RE class last night).

My biggest concern when trying out the Blackberry Curve in the store was the little trackball thing-a-ma-jig. It felt awkward and uncomfortable under my thumb, but it's not!! I can't believe how easy the trackball is to use and how quickly I adapted to using it!

So, now I must admit I am on my way to becoming a crackberry addict. Yes, I'm going to be one of those people who are glued to their device! I have crossed to the darkside.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Glazing

So last night in pottery class we glazed the pieces that June had put in the kiln last week. I am always fascinated at how drastically different the pieces look before and after firing. Even when we go to All Fired Up to paint pre-made pieces, you have to use your imagination to picture what your colors and patterns will look like after being fired. Clark had three bowls he had thrown on the wheel and his mug from the first night. My pieces included two thrown bowls, my first night mug and the leaf bowl. We did not paint the glaze on the items, but instead dipped or sponged. I had imagined making my leaf bowl all different colors--reds, oranges, yellows, etc.--but it didn't happen. The technique June showed me, sponging on three different colors, is going to be interesting to see. The mug and bowls also received two different colors. Clark was more adventurous than me with his bowls. He dipped a main color then dipped, sponged or flicked different colors. Next week should be interesting! I will post pictures!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Exploring Westhaven

Since Friday was a holiday for my hubby, we did some of our yard sale running around on Friday instead of Saturday. After our routine stop at Dunkin' Donuts, we headed out to Franklin for a couple of yard sales. Now one of the problems with being early birds is that many of these people putting on the yard sales are NOT early birds! LOL So we find ourselves out at a subdivision at 7:15 a.m. looking for a sale that doesn't start until 8. No problem, we'll just head back towards Nashville and hit that handful.

Well, let me state here that one of the greatest things about my hubby is that he doesn't get upset about wrong turns or detours. We were heading back towards Hillsboro Road when we both commented on a large subdivision. I said it looked like one of those communities where you have your grocery, doctors, restaurants, etc., all within walking distance. Clark hesitated at the turn lane, looked over at me and I said, "Let's turn!"

The Westhaven houses were beautiful! The architecture reminded me of turn of the 20th century, like many of the houses in the Belmont area in Nashville. In a large portion of the division, garages and mailboxes are positioned along alleys running behind the houses. There is a huge fountain, club house, playground and tricked out pool, plus a green way, a couple of squares (like Ryann and I saw in Savannah) and sidewalks! Lots of sidewalks! Sidewalks everywhere!

Now, dear reader, if you are not from the South, you may not understand my fascination with sidewalks. Most neighborhoods in Nashville do not have sidewalks. We saw several people out on leisurely walks, a couple with dogs, many with coffee mugs, and a couple of iPod runners. As with most towns in the U.S., this little mini village has its economic divisions as we discovered driving far into Westhaven. We drove past mini-mansions that were definitely million dollar homes. Very pretty! There was one house with a bird's nest type room up on top. Being up on the hill, the view from the street was nice so I can imagine the view from that room was spectacular!

It makes me very happy that my hubby and I can explore places like Westhaven and talk about what we like about it without either of us truly expecting anything to materialize from those comments. We know we are in Davidson County until our children are grown. We know we want a place in the country. We know this subdivision would not be our ideal location, but we can discuss the advantages and how it appeals to others. Oh, and we spent enough time exploring that we were able to go back and catch the 8am yard sale! ;)

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Independence Day

While my feelings of patriotism may have changed over the years, on this day, I always feel extremely blessed to have been born a citizen of the United States of America. America the Beautiful is the patriotism of my youth and How Beautiful Our Spacious Skies reflects my current mood.


How Beautiful, Our Spacious Skies

How beautiful, our spacious skies, our amber waves of grain;
our purple mountains as they rise above the fruitful plain.
America! America! God's gracious gifts abound
and more and more we're grateful for life's bounty all around.

Indigenous and immigrant, our daughters and our sons;
O may we never rest content till all are truly one.
America! America! God grant that we may be
a sisterhood and brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

How beautiful, sincere lament, the wisdom born of tears,
the courage called for to repent the bloodshed through the years.
America! America! God grant that we may be
a nation blessed with none oppressed, true land of liberty.

How beautiful, two continents, and islands in the sea
that dream of peace, non-violence, all people living free.
Americas! Americas! God grant that we may be
a hemisphere where people here all live in harmony.

So, Happy Birthday, United States of America! May we continue to work on the arc of justice and may next year see some more changes. ¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Social Media

So hubby and I facilitated an adult religious education class on social media at church last night. This is a topic we two had discussed for a couple of months, but had no idea how popular it would be with our fellow congregants. I’m still reeling this morning from the response we had and the mix of participants—social media pros, computer novices and quite a few in between.

I think some in attendance may have thought we were going to discuss the mechanics of different social media sites, but that was not our purpose. We covered the history and background of social media. Some of the figures that stood out for me…

In 1965, 35% of adult evening views could name a brand advertised in shows just watched. In 2000, less than 10%.

In 2005, 8% of the adults online had a profile on a social network site. Today, 35% do.

In December 2008, 54.5 million people visited Facebook – a 57% increase from the previous year. 22% of adults online have a profile on Facebook.

In December 2008, 4.5 million people visited Twitter – a 753% increase from the previous year. 70% of twitter users joined in ‘08. 5-10 thousand new accounts are created daily.

On an intellectual level, I realized that marketing has changed over the last couple of decades, but several slides really brought this message home for me.




This graphic echoes the article I read about today’s consumer being “unplugged” or “not paying attention.” Just a few years ago when you went to an airport or doctor’s waiting room, there was a television playing and you were a captive audience. The same holds true with home television viewing. Today everyone has a portable media device—laptop, iPod, Mp3 player, cell phone—which holds our attention. At home we record more and more programs and thus fast forward through the commercials.




This was Clark’s favorite graph—a timeline showing the evolution of the internet. Personally I was surprised that email began in 1971. I do remember hearing that the government created the internet to facilitate communications between universities. The one application missing from this timeline that Clark and I both agree was a major player in early internet, and in our opinions, the first social networking platform is American Online, AOL, or to some ex-customers, AO-Hell. Remember “You’ve got mail!”? While it is not a specific site, AOL was a way for non-technical “ordinary” people to access many people with like interests.




While Clark liked the timeline, this was my favorite graphic. With traditional marketing, whether it is email or television or radio, the consumer is being talked at. With social media marketing, it is a conversation, an interaction from a source with whom the consumer feels he/she has a relationship. As I asked the participants last night, if you see/hear a commercial from a company plugging a product and then receive a favorable review from a friend, which endorsement carries more weight?



¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N